Looking Backwards

by ToastyMagic

(Self Insert) After arriving in Gravity Falls by literally falling into it, Matt is dazed and confused. He is sent back from 2020 to 2012 with his knowledge of the show and he soon finds himself in the Mystery Shack where Stanley Pines takes him in. How'd he get there? Why are things changing? I guess you'll have to find out along with him.

3. Legend of the Gobblewonker

Remember when I said that chapters in the future wouldn't be as long as 'Tourist Trapped?'

I lied

It has now been a couple of days since the whole gnome incident and things have been relatively calm. My wounds and bruises were healing well, Dipper and I bonded some more, Stan got us put in jail for a little bit and Mabel learned how to use telekinesis. So you know, just another day in good old Gravity Falls. Mabel was trying to do the iconic "Crush a spoon with your mind" thing and it worked, kind of. Instead of crushing the spoon, I could only watch as the couch that Stan was occupying got lifted up off the ground while he was asleep. But yeah, besides that and the counterfeit cash thing, the past couple of days have been normal. Of course that wouldn't be the case for long.

This morning, I walked into the kitchen and smiled at the sight before me. Dipper and Mabel were both holding bottles with dripping syrup coming from them. "Go! Go! Go!" Dipper chanted with an outstretched tongue.

Mabel was in the same position, "Almost… Almost…" She then hit the butt of the bottle forcefully causing the drop to fall quicker than her brother's "Yes!" She exclaimed in victory and began coughing uncontrollably. "I won!" She said in a strained voice and began coughing again.

Dipper held an unamused look and then noticed that I was now present and gave a smile. "Hey, Matt. Sorry we didn't wake you up."

I waved a hand at him dismissively, "Ah, don't worry about it, I'm not that hungry anyway." Today, I was proudly wearing my new question mark t-shirt, it fit perfectly. Dipper began reading a magazine and grabbed my attention.

"Ho ho, no way! Hey guys check this out," Dipper said flipping the article so we could see.

Mabel squinted her eyes, "Human-sized hamster ball?" She then gasped "I'm human-sized!"

"Oh yeah," I said while pulling out a chair. "You would definitely fit in that thing."

Dipper shook his head, "No, no, Mabel. This." He pointed to one of the opened pages with an outstretched finger that said 'Monster Photo contest' and it showed a very obvious fake hairy gremlin. "We see weirder stuff than that every day," He concluded. However, one thing was off. Instead of one thousand dollars as the grand prize, it was five thousand. Huh that's weird.

"We didn't get any pictures of those gnomes, did we?" Dipper asked, looking back and forth between us.

I crossed my arms, "Nope, just memories."

"And this beard hair," Mabel said nonchalantly, taking a clump of white hair out of nowhere. She stretched her arm across the table and into her brother's face with an innocent smile.

"Why did you-" Dipper started, but as soon as I fully realized what was in Mabel's hand I reached out and took it from her.

"I'm taking this from you for your own good," I said with a stern expression and Mabel gave an 'aww' in reply which actually made me feel a little bad, but it's for the best she doesn't hang onto it. She might somehow poison Grunkle Stan with it or something, who knows! Speaking of which…

"Uhh! Good Morning, knuckleheads," Stan said walking in with a rolled up newspaper and with a surprising smile on his face. "You three know what day it is?" He asked with a hopeful tone.

The twins looked at one another. "Um… Happy anniversary?" Dipper asked.

"Mazel tov!" Mabel responded cheerily.

Stan brought down his rolled up newspaper over Dipper's head, but I intercepted it with one hand and shook my head without even looking at him. "Baah! You're no fun," Stan said, slightly annoyed and I just shrugged in response while Dipper gave me a grateful look. "It's family fun day!" Stan turned and opened the fridge behind him. 'We're cuttin' off work and having one of those ya know," He paused to sniff some expired milk. "Bonding type-deals."

"Um Stan, is this going to be remotely close to a family day, or is it going to be like our last," I gave him air quotes. "'Bonding' day?"

Mabel shivered, "The county jail was so cold."

I crossed my arms again with a mocking tone, "Yeah not my definition of 'fun' oh sweet grunkle of mine."

"All right, maybe I haven't been the best summer caretaker," Stan said with the smallest hint of sincerity in his voice.

"You can say that again," I said under my breath, earning a snicker from Mabel.

Stan walked over to us and put his hands on our shoulders. Why did I let the profesional con man do that? I don't rightfully know. "I swear," Stan started. "Today we're gonna have some real family fun. Now, who wants to put on some blindfolds and get into my car?"

The twins both raised their arms in the air and yelled, "Yay!"

I just facepalmed, "Seriously?" The twins didn't say anything like I had expected them to, they quickly stood up and ran out of the room with excitement. I followed them reluctantly, but only after I tossed the gnome hair in the garbage. Cue the theme song I guess.

We were now all seated in the car speeding down one of the backroads of Gravity Falls, actually speeding is an understatement. Flying better fits our situation. I watched in the rearview mirror as Dipper and Mabel bounced violently in the backseat and were, to my dismay, wearing blindfolds.

Stan reached down to tune his radio, making the car swerve. "Blindfolds never lead to anything good," Dipper said with a sigh. I slapped Stan's hand away from the radio and he rolled his eyes at me.

"Wow I feel like all my other senses are heightened." I glanced back in the mirror to see Mabel blindly examining her hands, and I couldn't help but smirk at this. While her brother was super tense and desperately holding his legs to his body, Mabel was joking around without a care in the world. With outstretched hands, she turned to Dipper and began rubbing them on his face."I can see with my fingers," She whispered, making her brother loosen up and laugh. I would have laughed too, if the car hadn't gone airborne again.

I threw my hands in the air and looked at Stan who was casually looking out the window, "For goodness sake Stan, keep your eyes on the road!"

Dipper was tense again. "Grunkle Stan, are you wearing a blindfold?" He whimpered.

Stan turned, took his right hand of the wheel and rested on the back of his seat to look at his nephew. "Ha! Ha! Nah, but with these cataracts, I might as well be," He said completely carefree. I sighed in relief as his eyes drifted back to the road… only to be distracted by something in the sky. "What is that, a woodpecker?" I braced myself in the passenger seat as we broke through a wooden guardrail, making the kids scream.

After our little mistrip into the woods on the side of the road, we arrived at Gravity Falls Lake with little interruption. This is because I did not take my hands off the steering wheel while the car was in motion to ensure our safety. Once we were safely parked, I helped guide the kids out of the car while Stan changed into his fishing gear that he took out of the trunk.

"Okay, okay, open 'em up," Stan said once he was situated. I stood behind the Pines twins as they took off their blindfolds. They squinted at the bright sunlight that had been denied to them for so long. Stan had one foot propped up on his tackle box while both of his arms were spread out wide like an eagle. "Ta-da! It's fishin' season!" He exclaimed, making me remember that he was really looking forward to this. I couldn't blame him, I enjoy fishing too.

"Fishing?" Mabel asked curiously.

"What are you playing at, old-man?" Dipper said with a pointed finger.

"You're gonna love it!" Stan said, turning around to face the lake behind him. "The whole town's out here!" It was true, I saw a bunch of recognizable Gravity Falls residents enjoying themselves. I couldn't help raising my arm above my head to punch the sky as the Corduroy boys excitedly cheered and chanted for their dad. Luckily no one noticed.

Stan placed his hands on his hips, "That's some quality family bonding!"

"Grunkle Stan," Dipper started as he crossed his arms. "Why do you want to bond with us all of a sudden?"

Stan turned back to face us and started to walk over. "Come on, this is gonna be great! I've never had fishin' buddies before. The guys from the lodge wont go with me. They don't like or trust me," He said with very extravagant finger quotes.

Mabel then looked at me and Dipper. "I think he actually wants to fish with us," She said, in a surprised tone.

"Hey, I know what'll cheer you sad sacks up," Stan said reaching behind his back. "Pow!" He placed fishermen hats very similar to his own on Dipper and Mabel's heads. Stan then cleared his throat. "Whoops sorry Matt," He apologized reaching into his fishing vest to pull out a hat for me. "Only got two hands ya know," He said as he threw me the hat.

The three of us examined our new gifts. "Pine's family fishing hats," Stan exclaimed proudly. Dipper and Mabel looked at theirs with a good deal of disinterest while I could not help but smile at mine. Stan had somehow managed to flip the first 't' in 'Matt' upside down, which, in my opinion, makes it even better. "That's hand stitching, ya know," Stan added with a bit of reluctance. "It's just gonna be you, me, and those goofy hats on a boat for ten hours!"

"Ten hours!" Dipper yelled with bulging eyes.

"I brought the joke book," Stan said tauntingly, pulling the book out of his pocket.

"No. No!" Dipper exclaimed in horror.

"Yeah, Stan," I said, grabbing his attention. "While I would love to go fishing with you, I think ten hours is a bit extreme. I only have so much sunscreen after all." I rubbed my left arm to prove my point.

"Grunkle Stan, is there something else that we can do?" Mabel asked sincerely.

"I SEEN IT! I SEEN IT AGAIN!," A loud voice yelled from a dock nearby.

"Oh boy," I said under my breath with an eye roll. While I did say a few days ago that I was stoked to go on all the adventures that the Pines go on, I was kinda hoping that this one wouldn't happen. Despite all of the old-man antics, Stan has been pretty fun to be around and I didn't want to ditch him for the fake Gobblewonker. I saw how upset he got when the kids ditched him, I don't want to see it in person.

McGucket ran off of the dock and started throwing fishing poles and flipping tables, even knocking a sandwich out of a poor guy's hand. "The Gravity Falls Gobblewonker! Come quick before it scramdoodles away!" Then he did the most frantic jig I've ever seen.

During all the comotion Dipper, Mabel, Stan and I made our way over to see what all the ruckus was about.

"Aw," Mabel started with an outstretched hand, "He's doing a happy jig."

"No!" McGucket yelled, grabbing Mabel's shoulder. I quickly noticed how uncomfortable the old prospector made her. I stepped between the two with an outstretched arm for the twins to hide behind, which they accepted gratefully. I squinted at the old man making him back off, but he continued to yell. "It's a jig of grave danger!"

"Hey! Hey!" A voice from behind us yelled. A man was exiting the fishing lodge with a spray bottle making McGucket scream and cover his face. Even though he clearly submitted, the man sprayed McGucket with the bottle making me frown. "Now what did I tell you about scaring my customers?" The man yelled, "This is your last warning dad!"

"But I've got proof this time, by gummity!" McGucket yelled, making his son stop squirting him. He quickly led the surrounding crowd of people on the dock pointing at a destroyed boat. "Behold!" McGucket exclaimed. "It's the gobblywonker that what done did it! It had a long neck like a gee-raffe. And wrinkly skin like- like this gentleman right here." Everyone's attention went to Stan who was picking his ear.

"Huh?" He asked, turning to face him while wiping the now cleared ear wax on his pants.

"It chopped my boat up to smitheroons!" McGucket proclaimed with hands raised in the air. "It shim-shammed over to Scuttlebutt island!" Now the old man was pointing to the eerie looking island shrouded by fog out in the distance. "Ya gotta believe me!" He shrieked frantically.

At this point all the comotion had attracted the attention of the police, who had now arrived in their own boat with its lights flashing. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland looked at McGucket with a bored expression. "Attention all units," Blubs started as Durland shook his head. "We got ourselves a crazy old man." Everyone on the dock except us Pines, ahem, sorry, the Pines and I, just stood there awkwardly.

"Aw donkey spittle! Banjo Polish…" He said as he walked away with his head hung low. Despite all the trouble he had caused, I found myself feeling bad for McGucket. It wasn't his fault that he was like this and it wasn't his fault that he wanted attention. I shook my head, not at the old prospector, but at the rude people still laughing at the old man.

"Well that happened," Stan said matter of factly, "Now let's untie this boat and get out on that lake." Stan beant down and started to untie the boat from the dock as Mabel and Dipper dived into their own conversation.

"Hey Stan," I asked as he climbed into the Stan o' War. "I can tell that this fishing trip really means a lot to you, but is there any chance that we could do something else that doesn't involve us sitting in a rickety old boat for ten hours?" Stan's face fell at my request. "Don't get me wrong," I said frantically trying to fix the situation. "I would like to go fishing with you and all, but I think we should do it another day." I could tell that Stan was seeing where I was coming from and just when he was about to respond Dipper leaned down and put an arm around his grunkle's shoulder.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper said in an over friendly manner. "Change of plans. We're taking that boat to Scuttlebut Island and we're gonna find that Gobblewonker." He stood back up and chanted with his sister. "Monster hunt! Monster hunt! Monster-" They stopped the chanting to eye McGucket who made his way back over to the dock and began chanting as well.

"I'll go," He said sadly once he realized that no one was chanting anymore. Then a loud boat horn went off making me and Stan jump. I was startled because it came with no warning, Stan must've been scared because he thought the cops were coming back for him.

The person at the helm of the new boat was revealed to be Soos. "You dudes say somethin' about a monster hunt?" He asked, making Dipper and Mabel smile. As much as I love Soos, and trust me I do, I was a little upset that he showed up. Now the twins were one-hundred percent going to ditch Stan.

"Soos!" Mabel said happily.

"What's up, hambone," Soos asked, giving Mabel a fist bump. "Dude, you could totally use my boat for your hunt. It's got a steering wheel, chairs- normal boat stuff."

I looked over at Stan's boat and cracked a smile. It had neither of those 'Normal Boat Things' and Stan knew that too.

"All right, let's think this through," Stan said, climbing out of his boat and onto the dock. I really wanted to go on this monster hunt with the twins and Soos, but I couldn't bring myself to ditch Stan. He'll end up talking to his reflection or something, probably treating it like his brother. I can't just leave him! Within that split second I had an idea. Maybe I won't have to. "You kids could go waste time on some epic monster-finding adventure, or you could spend the day learning how to tie knots and skewer worms with your Great Uncle Stan!" Stan finished.

"Or...Our Great Uncle Stan could come with us," I said while crossing my arms.

"Pardon me." Stan asked.

"You heard me," I said squinting at him with a smile. "Why don't you just come with us. You did say yourself that you wanted to have 'some real family fun' earlier. Or are you too chicken to join us?" I added. "Afraid that some big monster is going to get you?"

I turned to look at my friends, Soos looked shocked by the way I was talking to his boss and Dipper and Mabel could hardly contain their laughter.

"So that's how it's gonna be kid?" Stan asked and I nodded in response.

I started to walk over to the boat but I held my eye contact with Stan and said, "You said that you wanted to go fishing, so let's go catch the biggest fish there is." I helped Dipper and Mabel climb into the boat and then I stepped in myself. "I bet the boys at the lodge would kill to fish with the guy that caught the Gobblewonker." That took the cake. Within seconds Stan tied up his own boat, and he smiled as I put on the fishing hat that he gave to me once he joined us.

"Let's go catch us a Gobblewonker!" Stan declared cheerfully. And with that, we set sail out into the lake.

He's going to be mad once we don't actually catch the thing, but I'll deal with that thought later.

Dipper made his way to the bow of the ship and set his foot on the railing and looked back at us. "Hoist the anchor!" He called to us, which Soos was already doing, that's how we started moving anyway. "Raise the flag!" Mabel complied and held a towel flowing in the wind. This wasn't much of a flag, so I set her on my shoulders and she cheered and held the towel higher.

"We're gonna find that Gobblewonker!" Mabel exclaimed.

"We're gonna win that photo contest!" Dipper yelled.

"Do any of you dudes have sunscreen?" Soos asked and Stan's face fell as he forgot to give the twins some.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the requested item with Mabel still on my shoulders. "I got some right here, dude," I said tossing it to Soos.

"Yay!" The twins and Soos cheered while Stan nodded in approval.

A few minutes later, everyone had a sufficient amount of sunscreen applied and we were stopped just before the heavy mist around the island. The five of us gathered in the back of the boat as Dipper began to speak. "If we're gonna win that photo contest we've gotta do it right," Dipper stated.

"Why do I keep hearing about this contest?" Stan asked. "Unless the prize is money, I'm not interested." Stan crossed his arms.

"The grand prize is five thousand dollars, but I guess we can split it four was if you're not interested, Grunkle Stan," Dipper said with a smug look.

Stan's eyes lit up. "Were you not listening kid?" Stan asked with excitement. "I'm one hundred precent on board with this now that money is involved!"

Dipper rolled his eyes at his great uncle. "As I said, we need to do it right," Dipper started. "Think. What's the number one problem with most monster hunts?"

"If you're a side character you die within the first five minutes of the movie," Soos answered. "Dude, am I a side character?" He asked frantically. "Do you ever think about stuff like that?"

I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Soos, you're too great to be a side character," I stated, calming his nerves.

"No, no, no. Camera trouble," Dipper said while waving his hands. "Say bigfoot shows up. Soos, be bigfoot." The large man child proceeded to do an impeccable impression of the creature. "There he is! Bigfoot!" Dipper exclaimed in a monotone voice and proceeded to pat himself down. "Uh-oh! No camera! Oh wait! Here's one! Ah, no film. Ya see? Ya see what I'm doing here?" We all nodded. 'That's why I brought twenty-five disposable cameras!"

I couldn't help but scoff at this. I was about to speak up and say that we could just use my phone, which was conveniently sitting in my pocket. Although it was an easy solution to Dipper's problem, I didn't voice it. I looked over to Stan, who seemed to be amused by his grand nephew's paranoia. Stan hasn't seen me use my phone at all yet, which, now that I think about it, is a very good thing. If he found out I had a phone, he would realize that I had a way to get home this entire time. Or at least that's how it would be in his eyes. In reality, it wouldn't be that simple since, ya know, I'm from another reality. The phone that rested in my pocket suddenly felt like it had a lot more weight to it, one screw up with it and I'd be done.

I was shaken from my thoughts when Dipper handed me a bag with four of the disposable cameras in it. I took it and realized that Dipper was upset, probably because when I was thinking about the phone situation, the whole crisis with the cameras began.

"What about co-captain," I heard Mabel ask.

"There's no such thing as co-captain," Dipper stated matter of factly.

"Uh, whoops," Mabel said as she tossed a camera into the water.

"Okay, fine!" Dipper yelled with a voice crack making Stan laugh, "You can be co-captain!"

"What about me?" I asked.

Mabel walked over to me. "As co-captain, I require you as my lookout post."

I stared at her for a second. "Fair enough."

"Yes!" She exclaimed as I hoisted her up on my shoulders once more.

We made our way into the fog that surrounded the island. Stan was 'chumming' the water with the fish food that Soos had for some reason, while the big man himself steered us clear of rocks and other debris. As for me, I stood at the bow of the boat holding Mabel steady while she surveyed the area around us while making radar tower noises. This was quite entertaining at first, but after a while it got annoying. Suddenly she started beeping really really fast, and through the fog I could see land. "We're here!" Mabel said cheerfully as Soos slowed us down.

"Oh, thank god," Stan said while setting aside the fish food. "She stopped." I set Mabel down and we hopped off of the boat and onto the beach of Scuttlebutt Island.

"Hamster ball, here we come!" Mabel exclaimed. Dipper held out a lantern and led the rest of us deeper inland. Stan was lacking towards the back of the group with a look on his face that concerned me. I fell behind to talk to him.

"Is there something wrong Stan?" I asked, now walking right next to him. "You're being uncharacteristically quiet." That was a great choice of words.

Stan waved me off, "Yeah, I'm fine, kid." I shrugged and began to pick up the pace to catch up with the others but then Stan grabbed my arm, realizing that he could voice his concerns without being heard by the rest of the group. "It's just that I can't believe you dragged me into this. Now when we find out that the old prospector was telling the truth and that there really is a monster in this lake, I can't hide the supernatural from them anymore."

I didn't respond for a second, realizing that I didn't think that part through. There goes that plot point. "Well to be fair Stan, me and the kids fought an army of gnomes on their first day here. They've known that this stuff exists." Stan just looked at me as I continued. "I think that it would be better for their great uncle to be open with them instead of denying that the supernatural exists. That way, one of them doesn't do something stupid trying to prove that it is real."

Stan looked forward at his niece and nephew and processed what I said to him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." We walked up to Soos and Mabel while Soos covered up part of a sign.

"Butt Island," Soos said while trying not to laugh.

"Soos, you rapscallion!" Mabel said overdramatically.

Realizing that we didn't miss anything important, Stan pulled me aside once more. "Should I tell them now and get it over with?" He asked me in a nervous tone.

I shook my head. "I don't think now is the best time, but when the opportunity presents itself to be open, don't pass it up." Then, an ominous roar made its presence known to us. This made the twins halt whatever shenanigans they were up to and gaze around at the surrounding mist with fearful eyes. Stan looked concerned as well as we walked over to join them.

"Dude, did you guys hear that?" Soos asked.

"Kinda sounded like a chainsaw," I answered.

"Was it your stomach?" Mabel asked Soos.

Soos shook his head. "No, my stomach usually sounds like whale noises," He replied, letting Mabel press her ear to his belly. I looked at them with amusement, but the rustling of some nearby bushes grabbed my attention. A possum suddenly bolted out of the bush straight for the lantern that was lying by Dipper's foot.

"Dipper!" I yelled, making him quickly look at me. "The lantern!" Now believe me, I understand that we are supposed to lose that lantern, but knowing how hard it will be to see without it, I'm not willing to let it go.

Dipper tried to make a grab for it before the small mammal got a hold of it, but he was too late. "Our lantern!" Dipper gasped as the little critter made a run for it, holding the item desperately in its mouth. "Gah! I can't see anything," Dipper said, raising a hand to his head to hopefully improve his sight. Like that's gonna do anything. The fog and mist quickly swallowed our group making it impossible to see clearly. This misfortune, substantially added to the already creepy vibe that was kicking hard.

"Dude, I don't know, man," Soos said nervously. "Maybe this isn't worth it." Stan nodded in agreement, even with money in the line, he didn't want to admit to the supernatural.

"I shudda, stayed on the 'Stan o War,'" Stan said with a sigh and a quick look around at his surroundings. Maybe bringing him along was a bad idea after all.

"How could it not be worth it Soos?!" Dipper asked. "Five-thousand dollars is on the line, man!" Dipper shared a quick look at his sister and she threw her arms up in the air.

"I'm in!" She yelled with excitement.

"Me too!" Dipper replied. The twins then proceeded to recklessly run further down the faint path that we were following.

Soos stood there for a moment before quickly following them into the fog. "Alright, dudes, I'm comin!" I gestured Stan to come along, which he did so reluctantly. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Stan really should not have gone on this adventure. There was a reason that he stayed behind in the show, and I completely ignored it. Maybe he's nervous because his brother studied stuff like this. That is the reason why he got sucked up into the portal anyway. Stan was only here because I called him out and appealed to the insecurity that he had about having no fishing buddies. I guess the real lake monster really is me, I thought, remembering that's what Soos said to the twins after they realized that they had ditched their grunkle for nothing during this episode. I know that it wasn't directed towards me or even spoken yet, but... it still fit.

Stan and I had to pick up the pace in order to reach Soos and the twins. Once we caught up we saw Soos beatboxing to Mabel's absolute fire rap that she was spitting out. Gotta give her props for coming up with that on the spot. Dipper was ahead of both of them with a camera ignoring them and surveying the surrounding area. "Guys! Guys, guys," Dipper whisper yelled. This made Soos and Mabel, along with Stan and I, stop and listen. "You hear that?' Dipper asked as the echo of another growl rolled through the forest. In response to the roar, a large group of birds frantically flew away from a nearby tree.

"This is it!" Dipper gasped. "This is it!" Mabel stepped forward and started to lightly punch her brother's arm. Soon Dipper did the same and they both started making sounds of excitement. I looked to Soos who bent down to pick up a sharp, thick stick and then to Stan who pulled a single brass knuckle from his vest pocket. Realizing how under prepared I was, I lifted a large rock off the ground and held it to my chest. Soos then fixed his cap and the three of us followed. The fog grew denser and more thick as we reached the opposite end of the island, and through the mist was the unmistakable figure of the Gobblewonker. Of course it wasn't really the real one, but it was still bone chilling to look at. I could have sworn that the tail moved but it must have been the wind.

The five of us took cover behind a fallen log and we soon peeked over to get a better view. Once the figure was in our sight again, I realized that it was much larger than the one in the show and I squinted in curiosity and the fog slightly cleared up. I was able to make out more of the figure and my heart dropped. The creature had green skin and scales all across its large body, with two frills dominating the monster's back and neck. Scars covered the monster's face and one of its tusk-like teeth was broken, making it less sharp but still menacing. I could feel my breathing accelerate, this wasn't the wooden boat the figure was revealed to be in the show. This was the Gobblewonker, the real Gobblewonker.

"Everyone… get your cameras ready," Dipper commanded as he readied his own. Soos dropped his spiked stick and took out one of his cameras, Mabel did the same. Stan and I just sat there with wide eyes. "Ready? Go!" Dipper yelled. Dipper's abrupt yell that shattered the silence in the area and made the monster quickly turn its head in our direction. Despite the danger before him, Soos ran out behind cover and started spamming pictures with his camera. He was yelling and the flash from his camera irritated the monster, making it swiftly retreat under the water.

I let out a breath of relief realizing that the danger was no longer present and I ran over to Soos. "What the heck Soos!" I yelled once I reached him. "You can't just run right at him!"

The large man child looked to the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, sorry dude. I guess I scared him off didn't I?" Soos replied, not sensing my real concern.

I looked at him in disbelief. "What! No!" I continued. "Well, yeah you did scare him off, but that's not what I'm talking about!" Soos looked at me with confusion. "That thing could have taken your head off! You saw how big it was!" I didn't notice the large shadow in the water approaching. "Next time just be more careful, 's what I'm concerned about, not the stupid monster." The water behind us suddenly splashed violently, making me and Soos turn around to face the angered monster. It's bright yellow eyes burning into our souls "Shi-" I started, but was then drowned out by the mighty roar of the monster. That was a clear warning, he was not happy. I booked it with Soos in tow.

Now running for our lives, the five of us went straight for the boat with the Gobblewonker hot on our heels. Since this thing was mostly a marine freak of nature, it had a tough time chasing us to the boat. The monster made several desperate grabs with its giant mouth for us, and if that wasn't bad enough, the sheer weight this thing had was flattening trees. Dipper had to tackle his sister to the ground in order to dodge a falling tree and just barely had enough time to recover and continue running. My heart has never beaten this fast.

The boat was within sight and it looked like we were all going to make it, but looks can be deceiving. I was the last one in the group, since everyone else got a head start and Soos ran ahead of me with surprising speed, so I was the only target. With one clean motion, the Gobblewonker's head swept down, chomped and bit down on the back of my question mark shirt, mere millimeters from my skin. At first I thought I was fine, but my mood changed as I was raised into the air by the monster because of the hold it had on my shirt. I looked over my shoulder to see the two fierce yellow eyes glaring back at me.

And then the thing opened its mouth.

If you have been paying any attention, you would be able to guess that I am now very high up in the air and you would be correct. Out of pure instinct, I grabbed hold of one of the large tusks so I wouldn't fall and was now dangling from the creature's mouth. The Gobblewonker began to thrash violently so I would release my unwelcome hold on it's already damaged tooth. Not being able to hold on any longer, I was thrown hard into the now nearby lake water. When I emerged with a large gasp for air I saw the boat speeding towards me.

Stan was leaning off of the starboard side with one arm reaching towards the water. "I got ya, kid!" He yelled once the boat was closer. Due to my shock of what just happened, I was having trouble staying afloat. Probably should have taken a life jacket. I made a grab for Stan's hand and was relieved that he caught hold of me. Stan was having a hard time pulling me out of the water with just the use of one arm, so I pulled my other arm out of the water for him to grab. With a mighty grunt he pulled me onboard and we both sprawled out on the deck.

I closed my eyes once I knew I was safe."Thanks," I said in no more than a whisper, the image of the Gobblewoner's eyes still fresh in my mind. I shakily stood up and helped pull Stan to his feet, only for us to almost get knocked down by the force of a wave that the Gobblewonker created after it tried to bite the boat. "Try and lose it!" I yelled to Soos. He nodded and went for a lap around the island that we had just escaped from.

He must have not been paying much attention because a big group of beavers on some boat wreckage was just ahead. "Soos! Beavers!" Dipper yelled as he realized where we were heading, but it was too late. We all braced ourselves as we smashed through the wreckage, making beavers rain from the sky. Most of them landed on the boat and started chomping in protest at the destruction of their home. They were on my shoulders, Mabel's arms, Dipper's head and on Soos's face.

"Why do animal's hate my clothes!" I yelled as the beavers on me started to tear at my shirt fabric. Great, another article of clothing ruined. Stan quickly punched the beavers off of me, since he was spared the delight of having any on him.

Soos had somehow managed to get the beaver that was latched to his face off of him. With his now regained sight he exclaimed, "AHH! BEAVER WITH A CHAINSAW!" I turned around and sure enough there was the little gremlin with a small but still very dangerous chainsaw in its mouth.

Since Soos had been temporarily blinded, Mabel was now in control of the boat. She made a swerve to try and dodge an attack from the Gobblewonker. This action made everyone on the boat, including the beaver with a chainsaw, lose their balance. Dipper saw the opportunity and threw the confused beaver off of the boat. The chainsaw now rested against the back wall of the boat. With the last of the beavers gone, Mabel now increased the boat's speed to its maximum, and wouldn't ya know it, we were actually losing the Gobblewonker. Slowly the beast submerged itself in the water as we got further and further away.

"Yes! We lost it!" Dipper exclaimed with a small sigh of relief. I wasn't so sure. Nothing is ever that easy, especially in Gravity Falls.

Stan sat down on the deck as the boat started to slow. "My heart hasn't beaten this fast since that self entitled mother almost called the cops on me during a tour," He said weakly while clenching his chest. I couldn't help but scoff at that remark.

The lake was oddly quiet now with the monster submerged in the depths of the water. Why did the Gobblewonker retreat? It could have easily caught up to us and there is no way we intimidated it so why did- My eyes bulged in sudden realization. "Soos! Get us out of here!" I yelled, making the other four occupants of the boat look at me with confusion. You can call me paranoid, but in my mind the only thing that would make the Gobblewonker run off like that is another Gobblewonker.

My gaze flew over the side of the boat to see a series of rapidly approaching bubbles that confirmed my suspicion. My body jolted forward just before I yelled again, we were moving again, but nowhere near the speed we needed to be at. "The Monster is gone, dude. There's nothing on the fish sonar." Soos said at the helm, making me glance at it for myself. He was right, there was nothing. "I don't know why you're still freaking out." I wanted to believe him, I really did, but I knew that those sonars pick up living organisms... not machines. Plus the sonar was completely empty, showing no fish at all, indicating that they were scared off by a dangerous presence.

I looked to Soos and crossed my arms. There was a large splash and then the entire boat was covered in a dark shadow. "Oh really," I started with a lack of tone in my voice, "What's that then?" I didn't even turn around, I already knew what was there.

We were at cruising speed, but Soos quickly gunned it, making it hard for Stan to stand up. "Remind me to never doubt you again, dude," Soos said with wide eyes that were now glued to the water ahead.

The robotic Gobblewonker that McGucket had created was now hot on our heels. "There are two of them!" Stan exclaimed worriedly. "Why are there two of them!?" No one cared to answer him. Our bodies were now pumping the all to familiar adrenaline once more. With a lack of other options, Soos had no choice but to steer us through a large group of boats to avoid the robot. The mechanical beast submerged itself under the water to avoid detection from the surrounding fishers, but held its head just before the surface to make a bulge in the water without breaking its surface tension. While Soos was trying desperately to dodge and weave between the innocent bystanders, the 'Gobblewonker' went right under them to get to us, sending people flying out of their boats.

Realizing that there was a lack of boats in our immediate area, McGucket brought the monster's head out of the water to attack us. Instead of going for a bite, the monster swiped at our boat with its head supported by its long neck. Soos reacted quickly and swerved the boat out of the way and I braced knowing that the second swipe would not miss.

But to my surprise, it did.

That instantly threw me off, it seemed like things were back on track to how the events were in the show, but now something was wrong. McGucket was now chasing us instead of the real Gobblewonker, we got all the beavers off the boat, Soos is driving the boat- I facepalmed at my realization. Mabel was the one that was supposed to be driving, instead it was Soos and his experience with the vessel must have been the reason why we didn't get hit.

I looked forward, we were speeding right at a waterfall. The cliff faces encasing the lake were becoming more and more narrow, offering little hope of escape. "Oh dude! Where do I go?" Soos asked frantically.

I stepped in between Dipper and Stan so the old man couldn't see his great nephew take out the third journal. "Um-Uh-" Dipper started quickly flipping through the journal, "Go into the falls! I think there might be a cave behind there!"

"'Might be!'' Mabel yelled repeating her brother's words. Everyone began to scream except for me as I held onto the boat so I wouldn't be forcefully flung onto the cave floor. We crashed through the waterfall…

But there was no cave.

Instead, there was a small little bank of sand that halted the motion of the boat entirely just before the large rock wall behind the falls. Since I was the only one that braced, I was the only one who remained on the boat. With a groan, I brought my gaze over the railing of the boat to see Dipper, Mabel and Soos all sprawled out on the sand. Stan had landed on top of Soos, cushioning his impact. The roar of the falls above us was so deafening that I couldn't even hear my feet land on the shore after I jumped off the boat.

Everyone was spread out a fair amount, Dipper and Mabel were to my left and Soos and Stan were on my right. No way Stan could be hurt after landing on a guy like Soos, so I made my way to Dipper and Mabel. What just happened? I thought as I ran over to the twins. Why is there no cave? I'd think about that later, right now my friends could be hurt.

Mabel was flat on her face, undoubtedly getting a ton of sand in her mouth and braces. Her brother was starting to sit up while fixing his hat, also making sure his journal was still secure in his life jacket that he had changed into earlier. I helped Dipper stand up and then flipped his sister onto her back so that she actually had a chance to breathe. "Are you guys okay?" I yelled over the roar of the falls. Dipper nodded and Mabel spit sand out of her mouth.

"Yeah, we're good," Dipper said, comforting his sister. "Where are Stan and Soos?" I turned back to the boat and just past it I could see them both. I was about to run over to them now that I knew that the twins were alright, but the mechanical Gobblewonker slowly stuck it's head and part of its neck through the rushing water of the waterfall to peer inside. Of course the monster spotted Soos and Stan with little delay.

I had to get McGucket's attention, I tried to shout but the roar of the falls drowned me out. With no options left, I picked up a rock I noticed was resting near my foot. I let it fly and it soared directly into the monster's right cheek… if you can even call it that. The impact of the stone not only caught its attention, but made a metal clunking sound that I was just barely able to make out over the waterfall.

The eyes of the mechanical Gobblewonker locked with mine. I squinted, knowing that McGucket was looking at me through the eyes of his creation. With no hesitation, I picked up another rock that was within my grasp and chucked it at the monster, this time hitting it on the top of its head. This made another loud metal thud and within a split second the Gobblewonker rushed over to in front of me. I held out my arm just like I had done before when we first encountered McGucket and the twins hid behind me once more.

The monster growled at me, but I didn't flinch. Instead I yelled as loud as I could, "McGucket!" I cupped my free hand around my mouth to project my voice. The monster didn't move. "You may be a lunatic, but even with that in mind, I know you won't kill us! Call that thing off!" The mechanical Gobblewonker slowly advanced closer to the twins and I. Eventually, the upper body of the monster made its way behind the falls and I could see a hatch open on the mechanical creature's back.

McGucket poked his head out and yelled back at me, "What was that? I never got a chance to instal audio receptors on this thing!" I was about to respond, but in the corner of my eye I saw a stone hurling towards McGucket. The rock made contact with the hillbilly's head, knocking him out.

"Stan!" I yelled as my gaze flew over to him. "What the heck!"

"What?!" Was all he responded with. Of course he couldn't hear me. I shook my head and turned to face the twins, Mabel was confused and Dipper was eying me suspiciously.

"How did you know that old guy was controlling that thing?" Dipper asked with a cocked eyebrow and crossed arms. It may have been a bad idea to do what I just did, but I don't know what would have happened if I didn't. I did say that I would step in if someone was going to get hurt, didn't I? "Well for starters, he was the only one who saw the Gobblewonker originally, no one else even knew what he was talking about when he was making a fuss about it earlier. I've seen enough movies to know that's a red flag." Mabel nodded in understanding and Dipper's expression had not changed. "Secondly," I continued, "This thing didn't come up on the fish sonar thing that Soos has, well, had, on his boat." I gestured over to the boat wreckage. "The other one came up clear as day," I lied. Honestly, I have no idea if that was true or not. "Thirdly, why would the creature completely slow down when it had us cornered." Dipper's expression started to ease and he grew less skeptical. "Lastly, when the rocks I threw at the monster hit its skin, it made an unnatural thud, implying that the creature was metal."

"Huh," Dipper said while uncrossing his arms, "I guess you're right." During my explanation that I completely BS-ed my way through, Soos and Stan had reached us.

"Way to knock the guy out Grunkle Stan!" Mabel cheered once he was within earshot. "You showed him!"

Stan rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at his great niece's praise. "Well, I can't have some crazy old guy harass my family, now can I?" Stan said, making Dipper scoff. "Oh come on, I'm part of the family I get to harrass you guys all I want!"

"Uh, dudes?" Soos said, butting into the conversation, "Shouldn't we, like, go make sure that guy is still breathing?

"Yeah, probably," Dipper responded.

Since McGucket wasn't able to bring his creation to the shore of the sand bank, our group needed to tread through knee deep water to get to the hatch. I made sure that my phone that was still somehow in my pocket didn't get damaged from the unexpected swim I took earlier. Even though I could barely use it because I didn't have any internet connection, I don't want to lose the hundreds of songs I have downloaded on it. After a short time we reached the 'Gobblewonker's' back flipper. Soos and I let Mabel and Dipper use us as makeshift ladders so they could pull themselves on the back of the monster. Next Soos gave me a boost to join the twins and then the same with Stan. Stan and I each grabbed one of Soos's hands so that we could hoist him up with us.

By the time Soos had joined us, Dipper and Mabel were already inspecting McGucket's knocked out form. "Well, at least he's got a pulse," Dipper said while retracting his hand from McGucket's wrist.

"Oh good," Stan said, stepping into the monster's control room, "I don't need anything else on my conscience." That's true. A silence descended over the group. "Are we going to wake him up?" Stan asked. "If he's delusional when he wakes up, I'm telling him that he owes me money."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Stan don't do that."

"Why not? He asked while spreading his arms out to emphasize his point. "The guy tried to kill us five minutes ago!"

"Huh, racoon wife? Is that you?" McGucket suddenly asked as his eyes flew open.

Stan cracked a smile. "Yep, definitely delusional," He concluded and leaned over to my ear. "Tell him to bring me my money!" He whispered and I just ignored him.

McGucket realized that we were in the machine with him. "What kind of hootenanny is this?" he asked, rubbing his forehead. "How'd y'all get in here?"

"The hatch was open so we climbed inside to check on you after some debris hit your head," I responded.

"Really?" Soos said. "Didn't Mr. Pines nail him in the head?" The four of us turned and eyed Soos while McGucket continued to rub his head. "I guess not, must've been seeing things, heh, heh..." Soos chuckled nervously at our glares.

After a moment of silence, I spoke up. "Did you make this thing?" I asked, gesturing around us knowing the answer.

McGucket quickly stood up. "Yes sir, I did!" He replied.

Dipper eyes went wide, "Wha- YOU made this!?" Wasn't that already obvious?

Mabel put her hand on her brother's shoulder. "Yes Dipper, he's the one that made this mighty contraption!" Mabel said in a dramatic tone. "Now, go ahead and overthink everything about this while we get some answers."

"I will," was all he responded with.

"Atta boy!" Mabel said while patting her brother's back. "So, mysterious hillbilly genius, why'd ya make this?" Mabel asked, her attention now back to McGucket.

McGucket looked at us with embarrassment, "I-I, uh, I just wanted attention…" Poor guy. Sure making a death machine is a stretch to get some attention, but he's been alone for so long.

"I still don't understand," Dipper said to himself, still lost in his thoughts.

McGucket thought that he was talking to him, "Well, first I just-"

"No," I cut him off, "Why did you make this?" I said, restating the question to a broken minded individual. Patience is gonna be the key on this one.

"Well, when you get to be an old fella like me," McGucket started, taking off his hat, "Nobody pays any attention to you anymore. My own son hasn't visited me in months." He then placed a hand under his chin. "Or was it years? Oh scrapgummity, I can't remember..."

"So, did you ever talk to- Wait, do you hear that?" I asked. It sounded like groaning metal.

"Huh, yeah I think I do hear som-" Soos was cut off as the 'Gobblewonker' got pulled out of the waterfall and back into the lake.

Dipper was snapped back to his senses now and he pointed to the still open hatch, "Quick close the door!" McGucket ran over to the hatch on all fours and then hopped up to grab the door to pull it back in place before we submerged.

There were multiple monitors and screens displaying live feed of the 'Gobblewonker's' surroundings and on one of them it showed a familiar green sea monster. "The real Goblewonker is back! Looks like he's not scared of this thing anymore!"

The whole machine shook violently as the Gobblewonker rammed into its fake counterpart. "We're safe in here right?" Stan asked, a little panicked. "What's this thing made of?"

"It's got a steel alloy with mattress springs supporting the neck and air jugs in the belly for floatation," McGucket explained.

"He's kidding… right?" Stan asked and McGucket did not give an answer.

"Oh, dude, he's not kidding," Soos replied.

We were now completely under water, trapped in a confined control room of a mighty mechanical beast. McGucket took a seat in front of his computers that must be the way that he controls this thing. I walked up behind him and placed a hand on the chair that he was sitting in. "Can you get us out of here?" I asked, watching the Gobblewonker on the live feed. It looked like, no, it was coming in for another attack.

"I have no idea!" Was all McGucket responded with as he pulled a lever next to one of the screens.

"We are so dead." Stan said bluntly.

The 'Gobblewonker' instantly straightened out and turned around making everyone except McGucket lose their balance. The great machine was now staring down the real monster, making it slow down its charge in anticipation of an attack. But we didn't move. The Gobblewonker noticed this and opened its mouth as it gained speed, aiming its sharp teeth at the 'Gobblewonker's' neck. "Hang on, fellers!" McGucket yelled, pressing down hard on a pedal with his bandaged foot. This action made us dive down just before the Gobblewonker made contact with the robot's metal alloy. Once we were clear, McGucket somehow pulled a stick shift with his long white beard, making us level out once more and propelled his creation forward. The video feed showed the Gobblewonker quickly realize that we had evaded its jaws and swiftly turned to chase the 'Gobblewonker.'

"What are we going to do?" Dipper asked, gripping his hat tightly. "Diving to deeper water is only going to be a temporary solution!" He was right, the monster would eventually catch up with us.

Mabel's eyes lit up. "What if we fought it with this thing?"She asked while gesturing to the robot we were trapped in.

"Mabel, that's a terrible idea!" Dipper responded.

She completely disregarded what her brother just said. "Monster Fight! Monster Fight! Monster Fight!" She chanted while pumping her fists into the air.

"Now's not the time Mabel." I said blatantly, though not completely disregarding her solution. We could try and fight it off, but I don't know anything about the real Gobblewonker. I have no idea of its weaknesses, or even if it has any! This wasn't how it was supposed to go, this wasn't how this is supposed to go at all! We were never supposed to encounter the real Gobblewonker, is my presence making that big of a change on the story?

"Why is this thing so angry at us!" Stan cried, noticing that the Gobblewonker was rapidly closing its distance. In the short time that we have been, well, swimming from the monster, we had managed to make our way back to the main part of the lake.

"Dude, this thing is not giving up." Soos commented, making Stan roll his eyes at his employee. Soos was right though, the Gobblewonker was not showing any signs of stopping.

With a sigh I turned my head from the screen to McGucket who, surprisingly, was serious and concentrated with keeping distance from the monster. "McGucket, although I hate to say it, I think we are going to have to fight this thing. Will this copy be able to hold up against the real thing?" I asked reluctantly.

"Only one way to find out!" He responded in a crazy tone while grabbing the clutch with his beard, making my eyes widen.

"Wait!" I yelled. "There are people just fishing and minding their own business on the surface." I heard stan mutter something under his breath about how those people minding their own business could have been us, but I ignored him. "Just get us back to Scuttlebutt island so no one gets hurt." I noticed McGucket look upset at my request.

"Oh, all right." He responded, a little upset that I denied the chaos.

Once we reached the island McGucket pulled the clutch once more, making us do a one-hundred eighty degree turn to face the Gobblewonker. The crazy old hillbilly then pressed a button and his creation let out a roar that stopped the monster in its tracks. For a moment both beasts made no motion, staring each other in the eyes, almost daring the other to make a move.

"CHARGE!" Mabel yelled, and McGucket did just that. He opened the monster's mouth and sped towards the large, green flippered adversary. The Gobblewonker charged as well and once the monster was within reach, McGucket made an attempt to bite the creature's scaly neck. However, in a surprising move, the Gobblewonker dodged the attack by diving just before it got striked. The monster, now under us, hit the belly of the robot with its powerful tail, making all of us inside the victim fall on our faces. All except McGucket, who was still graced by having a chair to sit in. Instead of following up the tail slap with another attack like I had expected it to, the Gobblewonker went right over to where the land of the island met the lake floor and awaited our next move.

Dipper noticed this as well. "Why didn't it follow up?" He asked as McGucket turned to face the Gobblewonker. The monster was holding a defensive position in the water that it now occupied, and it awaited our next move. This thing is smarter than it looks. Before McGucket moved us again, I saw the monster quickly move its head to a large group of rocks at the base of the island and then quickly back to us as we approached.

Instead of going for the neck, this time the robot went for a ram at the Goblewonker's body. The lake monster was unable to dodge the attack this time and was sent forcefully out to deeper water. Now that the monster was clear of the area that it appeared to be defending, I was able to get a quick uninterrupted look at our surroundings. It looked like a cave entrance that was cut off by a landslide of rocks. I was able to see a small gap in the rocks that was too small for the Gobblewonker but big enough for a human to pass through.

We suddenly moved again to avoid the most aggressive and reckless attack from the Gobblewonker. It was weird, just a moment ago the monster was being careful and picking its shots wisely, but now that we were next to this potential cave entrance it was lashing out. It was clear that the Gobblewonker did not want us there. McGucket used the creature's recklessness to his advantage, the monster had tried attacking with so much force that it flew right past us and was left wide open. With the push of a button, McGucket slapped the Gobblewonker with his creation's metal tail, sending it to the sandy lake floor.

"McGucket, bring us back out to the open water." I requested, realizing that we had but a moment before the Gobblwonker would bounce back. McGucket complied quickly to my surprise and didn't think anything of it.

"What for, dude?" Soos asked.

"I wanna test something." I responded as the monster swam to the closed off cave entrance. "Wait for it to make the first move this time." We waited a full ten seconds, which may not seem like a lot, but in this tense situation, it felt much longer. And during this time, the Gobblewonker made no effort to push forward, resuming its defensive position that it had before. "Roar to try and provoke it." McGucket compiled once more and his creation let out another mighty roar. The Gobblewonker echoed its counterpart, but still made now attempts to move forward.

"Okay, now do what you did before and get this guy out in the open water." I inquired. We charged forward once more, going for another pummel. The Gobblewonker tried to dodge again, but its body was too big of a target and we made contact. "Now watch how aggressive it gets." I stated, making Stan scoff as the monster made another reckless attempt to bite us. "Pull back." I ordered. McGucket did what he was told and we were back to open water.

"Kid, of course the thing is going to get aggressive, we just headbutted it!" Stan exclaimed with outstretched arms.

"Then why isn't it attacking now then?" I asked while pointing at the monster on a computer screen. "Every time we've gotten to the position the Gobblewonker is in right now, it gets super aggressive and tries to desperately remove us from the area. But if we're not-"

"Then it waits for us to attack first." Dipper finished. "It's being super cautious with its moves when it has that area secured." He turned to me. "Do you think it's actually defending something?" Dipper asked.

"I believe so." I responded. "I caught a glimpse of what looked like a cave, but it's entrance was, well, caved-in."

"Is there something in there that it wants?" Mabel asked, making me shrug.

"I'm not sure, but there was a gap that one of us could probably swim through to get inside and find out." I stated and then turned to McGucket. "Do you have any scuba equipment in case of emergencies?" He opened a drawer and inside was a small rebreather and a pair of goggles with a missing eyepiece for the left eye. "That'll do… I guess."

Hold on a second there, kid," Stan started, "You're not seriously thinking about going out there, are you?" He glanced at the two objects in the drawer and noticed the state of disrepair they were in. I shrugged when he looked back at me. "You're kidding. That thing will tear you to shreds if you go anywhere near it!"

"Well I'm still going to consider it." I replied, taking the equipment out of the drawer. "There's gotta be a reason why the Gobblewonker wants to protect that area so badly."

"If it loves that cave so much then why doesn't it just go inside and leave us alone?" Stan asked and Dipper shook his head.

"He can't, Grunkle Stan. The cave is blocked, remember?" Dipper then put a hand on his chin and dove into deep thought.

Mabel spoke up, "Matt's right though. Why would that ugly momma wanna protect that cave so bad?"

After she said that, the answer clicked in my head, and I could tell that Dipper was thinking the same thing. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Matt, you don't think that he is a she, do you?" Dipper asked. It made sense, the Gobblewonker could be trying to protect its young.

"It's definitely a possibility." I nodded in confirmation. "Maybe when the entrance was cut off the monster couldn't reach its offspring and set it in a state of panic."

"Well, why don't the big critter just knock all them there rocks away?" McGucket asked.

"It might think that it will hurt its children if it tries that." Dipper responded.

Stan rolled his eyes at his nephew's hypothesis. "It's just a stupid Lochness Monster wannabe, it can't be that smart." Stan stated with crossed arms.

"Uh, I dunno, dude," Soos responded, "I think that story checks out."

"Yeah, Grunkle Stan! Why you bein' so Grunkly about this?" Mabel asked, approaching her Grunkle. I knew the answer, it's just a matter if he would say it or not.

Stan looked at me and then to everyone else. They were now staring intently at him, waiting for an answer. "Look when I woke up today, I thought it would be a fun idea to go fishing and spend some time with my family." Oh boy. "But, noooo. Instead, I get dragged into some insane monster hunt for a photo contest and I want nothing to do with it!" Stan yelled.

"But what about the grand prize?" Dipper asked.

"I don't care about that anymore!" Stan yelled back, surprising everyone in the control room. "We've almost died like three times so far! It's not worth it!"

"Actually, dude, I'm pretty sure it was four." I elbowed Soos to shut him up. "Heh heh, sorry dude."

Stan rolled his eyes. "You've gotta draw the line somewhere, we've been ignoring that fact for a while now. And now, I say it's time!" He yelled.

I put a hand on the old man's shoulder. "I know, Stan, but that monster might need our help." I said. He brushed my hand away and walked over to a corner in the room. "You do realize that the Gobblewonker is just trying to do the same thing that you are doing, right?" Everyone else was confused by my statement, but I knew Stan understood what I meant. He gave a huff, crossed his arms and looked away. Stan is just trying to protect his kids, just like the Gobblewonker.

Now that Stan was looking away, I turned to Dipper, took out my phone and handed it to him. "Hold onto this for me will ya?" He took the device from my hand and I set the goggles on my face. I bet I look ridiculous. My thought was confirmed when I heard Mabel giggle but I didn't say anything to her and held the rebreather close to my mouth. I turned to McGucket who was watching the live feed of the Gobblewonker intently, making sure that it didn't attack. It had hardly moved, just like I had suspected. With a deep breath that caught McGucket's attention I began to voice a plan. "Okay, I'm going to go out there, swim into that cave once the coast is clear and see what I can do about that blockage. In the meantime, you guys are going to buy me time. Every spare second you get, try and help me with the rocks."

"How would we do that?" Dipper asked, making me face him once more. "I mean, we could probably cover you, but how can we help with the debris at the same time?" His sister was moving towards the back of the room as she noticed something that caught her eye. "It's not like we have another long appendage that we could control."

"Hey, country bumpkin!" Mabel suddenly called to McGucket. Country Bumpkin? "What are these controls for?" She was gesturing to a powered down console with its own set of buttons and levers. I raised an eyebrow out of curiosity as I hadn't noticed it before.

McGucket glanced over to Mabel, who was now closely inspecting the buttons. "Well, I designed this lake critter to catch my son's fancy. So naturally, I implemented a control system for the robot's tail." He then looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "We would have brought so much destruction together." McGucket mused. "Father and son, striking fear into the hearts of children and grandmas!"

Mabel looked at me quickly and I just shrugged. "Riiiiight…" She responded worriedly. A split second later her tone was back to its cheery self. "Anyway, does it still work?"

"It might be a little rusty, but it should work." The crazy hillbilly replied.

Mabel grabbed a lever in each hand. "Okay good! You watch our front and I'll make sure Matt is all good back here at the rear." She covered her mouth to suppress a giggle. "Heh, heh, rear." I couldn't help but smirk and roll my eyes at that statement.

"Nice thinking, Mabel!" Dipper praised, completely ignoring his sister's immaturity.

"Okay Dipstick, I'm going to control the tail with my epic and awesome art craftsmanship hands while you use your big nerd brain to tell me which rocks I should move." Mabel stated as McGucket powered on her console. I must say, I am impressed with her logic.

"What about me, Soos!" The manchild exclaimed pointing to himself.

"You stay here and keep Stan company." I answered, earning a nod from the handyman and Stan himself just scowled. "I probably should have asked this earlier, but does this thing have an escape hatch that I could open that won't flood the entire vessel?" Stan scoffed and muttered something. I think it was something about being so clever that I was an idiot. I'm probably reminding him of his brother right about now. I felt terrible about this and I looked at Stan and he didn't bother to look back. His twin brother had taken this path once, one of supernatural occurrences and monsters and it got him lost between dimensions. This old man has seen first hand how dangerous all this crazy stuff can be, and I know that he doesn't want anyone he cares about to get hurt. "I'll be careful, Stan. I promise."

"You'd better." Was all he replied with, not even giving so much as a glance in my direction. Huh, wow, does Stan actually care about me? He hasn't even known me for a full week yet, but I guess I really was growing on him.

"We all good, McGucket?" I asked and he gave me a quick nod.

"I just double checked if there is an exit for emergencies, and I am happy to report that we have one!" I gave a laugh at the old man's state of mind, which thinking back on it, was kind of mean but I pushed those thoughts aside.

"Alright," I started, "Bring us in." McGucket gave another nod and pushed down on a foot pedal, propelling us forward. Instead of trying to ram the Gobblewonker like he had done before, McGucket went all out and went for a bite at the monster's neck. The Lake mo nster had not expected this, it probably thought that we were going for another ram like I did. The Gobblewonker tried last second to maneuver out of the way, but it was too late and now the creature was trapped in the jaws of the mechanical monster.

McGucket slowly backed up his creation so that we were just in front of the collapsed cave entrance. "Here's your chance, kiddo!" McGucket pressed a button and a tile on the floor opened up to reveal the dark blue depths of the lake. I took a deep breath and kicked off my shoes and socks, making sure that I had a waterproof disposable camera in one of my pockets and a flashlight that McGucket had given to me in the other. The control room flashed red a couple of times and my eyes flew over to a live feed monitor and it showed the Gobblewonker biting its counterpart back. "I've got her for now, but this hootenanny of a machine won't hold her back forever!" I nodded and jumped into the water.

I was shocked at how cold it was, the sun's radiant heat was unable to reach the depths of the water. I closed my exposed eye so my vision wouldn't be horribly disoriented between blurry and clear. I began to swim towards the cave, but the mechanical tail that was controlled by Mabel almost hit me square in the face making me stop abruptly. Maybe letting a hyperactive glitter monster we call a child have control of the massive robot tail wasn't the best idea.

I pressed onward after the little incident and as soon as I reached the rocks at the cave entrance, McGucket squirmed his way out of the Gobllewonkers' jaws. Once they were free, Mabel hit the monster in the belly stunning it for a moment and she then waved to me with the tail. I couldn't help but wave back. Mabel quickly found herself occupied once more as the Gobblewonker charged in for another attack. I needed to be out of the way so they could actually help me move some of these rocks. The hole that I had spotted was bigger than I thought, allowing me to go through with no problem.

The cave was extremely dark with the only the faintest of light passing through the hole in the rocks. I pulled the flashlight out of my pocket and flicked it on, good thing McGucket had a waterproof one lying around. Shining the light all around my surroundings, I found nothing, but I did discover a pocket of air at the top of the cave. Deciding that it would be wise to conserve my limited oxygen, I swam up to it and my jaw dropped at what I saw after I looked around. This obviously made me drop the rebreather that was previously clenched in my mouth, I panicked but I got a hold of it again. My eyes drifted back to what was laying on one of the large flat rocks that was poking out of the water, there were three Gobblewonkers huddled together.

Based on the size of their mother, I expected them to be at the very least the size of two or three Soos' but these were barely the size of Dipper or Mabel, their heads probably would make it just past my belly button.. These are definitely babies, maybe even newborns. No wonder Momawonker got so aggressive. I swam over to the rock they were laying on and started to climb up on top of it. I set the flashlight down so that it was balanced and pointing straight up, illuminating a large portion of this underwater cave and put the rebreather in my pocket. As soon as I took a step closer to them, two of the three's heads instantly looked up at me. They were green and looked like little seals, just with tails and a long skinny neck and the head of a dinosaur on top of it, so not seals at all.

The two looking at me started to growl, making me flinch and have to push my sopping wet hair out of my face. Despite showing signs of hostility, neither of them moved towards me, they weren't the most agile on land after all. I raised my hands and stepped forward once more so that maybe I can try and catch a glimpse of the third one that hasn't moved at all yet. As I got closer, the aggravated pair waddled over to me with their little flippers, which would have been adorable if they weren't ready to bite my hand off. They were slow on land, just like I suspected, and I easily avoided and got past them. I looked at the third one and let out a small gasp. Its entire little tail was trapped under a decently sized rock and as I got closer to it, the baby let out a cry. My face contorted in fear and I prayed that its mother didn't hear it, but despite my hopes, I heard a faint roar.

"Hey, hey, its okay." I said calmly to the now distressed babywonker. I looked away from it and noticed its brethren were now trying to come to its aid and tried biting at my ankles. I quickly stepped back and spread out my arms to make myself look as big a s possible, which slightly intimidated them. "C'mon guys, can't you see I'm trying to help?" I quickly walked over to the edge of the rock that we were all located on and waited for one of them to lunge at me. Fortunately, these little guys are just babies, and all babies are dumb. One of them tried to bite me and I side stepped out of the way and it fell right into the water behind me, making the other one stop its advance. I held eye contact with it while I walked past it, it was growling like a dog the entire time, but made no attempt to attack out of fear of me striking back.

I took a knee next to the trapped babywonker and set a hand on its exposed back and started to stroke it. I would try and move the rock right now, but this thing might squirm too much and get even more hurt than it already was. At first, my touch was unwelcome and the little monster tried biting at my hand, but eventually it started to calm down and realized that I wasn't going to hurt it. The youngling layed its head calmly on the rock. Now that it wasn't trying to bite my hand every few seconds, I was able to notice how soft and bluber-y its skin was due to a lack of scales. Its breathing rate became steady and I could feel the little guy's heartbeat pulsate through his body.

I looked over when I heard a little plop, the other baby Goblewonker had managed to get back on the rock after its unexpected swim. Both siblings noticed how calm their trapped sibling was under my touch and started to calm down as well. Once I was fairly sure I had gained all three's trust, I stood up. This, in turn, made the trapped Gobblewonker raise its head and look at me. "Let's get you out of there, huh?" I said, giving the baby one last reassuring stroke. The rock trapping the creature must weigh at least one hundred and sixty pounds based on its size. I placed both hands on its rough surface and began to push with my legs and it started to slowly move. I took a deep breath and began pushing again and this time I wasn't alone. The two free babywonkers tried to help by pushing the rock with me using their rounded, fatty shoulders. While they weren't helping much it was a very sweet thing to see, it almost made my grip slip when I saw them helping me because I thought they were trying to go another round at my ankles. With one final grunt, I pushed the dense rock off of the monster's tail and into the water with a big splash. I almost fell in after the rock, but I caught myself on my hands just in time.

By the time I stood up, the three siblings were huddled together in a makeshift hug. I walked towards one of the rock's edges and picked up the flashlight I had set on the ground. When I turned around the now free baby gobblewonker was looking up at me, I could see that the monster's tail had a big bruise on it, but somehow the little guy didn't seem to mind. "You okay?" I asked and it gave a little squeal in response. "Alright then, let's get out of here."

I placed the rebreather back into my mouth and jumped into the water with the flashlight, but only after I took a selfie with the babywonkers. My heart was warmed to see the three siblings back together, but now it is ice cold again after jumping into the water.

I was able to see a significant amount of light coming through the cave entrance, as most of the rocks were clear courtesy of Mabel. Me and the three little guys swam out of the cave once I knew that McGucket had the area secure. I could see the hatch on the bottom open up for me but a loud roar tore my focus from it. The still very aggressive Gobblewonker saw its young and made a mad charge forward. McGucket tried to hold his own against the attack, but the monster sent my friends into the rock wall next to the cave, which just so happened to be where I was. My eyes grew wide as the mechanical Gobblewonker came hurtling towards me. I tried to swim out of the way but the tail hit me directly, making the rebreather fall out of my mouth.

My head started to pound, every cell in my body was screaming for oxygen. I needed to take a breath, and I did. For some reason it didn't hurt like I thought it would, it was almost peaceful actually. I began to fall. I fell further and further into the darkness until it threatened to swallow me whole. The last thing I saw was the babywonker that I saved trying to save me.

The first thing I felt was weight, not weight on my chest trying to spring my lungs back to life, but weight in my lap. I opened my eyes to the bright sun, and I felt warm. I felt calm as well until I started coughing up the water and gunk that was in my lungs a few seconds after regaining consciousness. Slowly sitting up, I saw what the weight on my lap was. It was the babywonker. I smiled at it, the little guy looked comfortable.

"Looks like you saved me, now we're even," I said with a cough making the babywonker look at me. I could have sworn that it shook its head at me as the sun was suddenly blocked out by a large form. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the new lighting, but I wish they hadn't. Looking down at me was the Gobblewonker. I jumped back and scraped my hand on the rough surface I was laying on, but that hardly mattered right now. I knew any second this thing was going to open its giant maw and I'd be dead. I shut my eyes tightly in anticipation, but nothing happened.

I slowly opened them, to see that the big guy, well actually big girl, hadn't moved at all. It was just looking at me and all I could do was look back. I broke eye contact and brought my hands down my face, noticing that my goggles weren't there anymore, and made sure that I wasn't going insane. I somehow wasn't.

After I made eye contact with the Gobblewonker again, it slowly brought its head closer to me, prompting me to scoot as far away as I could. I looked over my shoulder once I ran out of room and saw the water and a flipper. I was on the Gobblewonker's back. "You saved me?" The monster answered me by bringing its head a foot in front of mine. Then it closed the distance, lightly nudging me with its head like a dog. "Thanks," Was all I could manage to get out. I guess this was just a misunderstood creature, it seemed to have a big heart and you can call me crazy, but I think the Gobblewonker was thanking me right now as well. I went into the cave and saved its young, whether it knew that or not I'm not sure, but I would like to think that. Why else would she save me?

Regardless, this was incredible. I began to lightly stroke its face with my hand as it gave a low hum in response. The moment didn't last long as I heard a splash come from the water making the Gobblewonker pull away and whip its head in the noise's direction. I could see the mechanical Gobblewonker racing towards us. I stood up and began to stroke the beast's lower neck, hoping that the action would calm it. Making sure that I was in line of sight of McGucket, I waved with my free hand showing that I was unharmed. The babywonker nuzzled itself next to my leg and I patted its head. "Man, I really need to give you a name," I said under my breath.

I could feel the surprise coming from everyone inside the robot as they slowed their speed, making me smile. The Gobblewonker began to make a low growl as they got closer. "It's okay," I said, speeding up my strokes on its neck. "They're friends." The monster tilted its head in my direction and seemed to calm down. However, she did not bring her guard down, she was still ready to strike if she saw it fit.

This was a very tense situation. A cold war pact was unanimously formed between the two behemoths, one that could easily be shattered by a certain trigger happy hillbilly, but I trusted him not to do anything dumb. The mechanical Gobblewonker came to a halt and the top hatch sprung open revealing Soos.

"Dude! Oh my gosh, dude, are you all good?" He asked and I gave a nod in reply, setting an awkward silence over the both of us. "So," Soos said after a couple seconds, looking at the monster. "Who's your friend?" I started to laugh at the question as Soos was pulled back down into the control room. Dipper and Mabel popped their heads into the air.

"How's it goin' you two?" I asked, now leaning on the Gobblewonker's neck.

"Matt, that is so cool!" Dipper yelled maybe a bit too loud. "How did you tame them?" Mabel was just relieved to see that I was okay.

I let out a scoff at Dipper's question. "I did no such thing," I answered, patting the monster's neck. "Turns out this girl here is not a 'stupid Lochness Monster wannabe.'"

Dipper let out a laugh and turned his head back down to the cockpit. "Ha! I told you Grunkle Stan!" Dipper exclaimed.

"Who's that little guy?" Mabel asked, pointing to the baby resting against my leg.

"Oh, his name is um," Way to put me on the spot Mabel! "His name is Greg," I replied.

"Meh, I think he looks like more of a Bartholomew."

"No way, Mabel." I gave a small laugh and squatted down next to Greg. "I guess this is goodbye," I said while giving him a pat on the head, prompting him to let out a small squeak. "Yeah, I'll miss you too." I stood up and hopped over to the mechanical Gobblewonker and jumped down the hatch, but not before I waved goodbye to the two monsters.

"Bye Mommawonker, bye Gregory!" Mabel called with an extravagant wave. "I guess that kind of has a ring to it." I gave her a smirk in ruffled her hair, making her giggle.

I closed the hatch and we submerged down into the water. "Well that was an unexpected adventure, huh dudes?" Soos asked.

"Sure was," I responded. He has no idea. I glanced over to Stan who was making his way over to me. "I'm sorry about all this, Stan," I said once he reached me. "We can go fishing tomorrow if you want."

Stan waved a hand through the air. "Ah, don't worry about it, kid. I guess I had a good time today, all things considered." I gave him a small smile. "Only time I get a rush like that is when I run from the cops!" I gave a laugh and he smiled.

"Well now at least you can't deny the supernatural exists, Grunkle Stan," Dipper said once my laughter subsided. Way to kill the mood, Dipstick.

"Kid I've always known about it," Stan replied with a scoff. He placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry about lying to you about it, but I only did it because I didn't want you to get hurt. The one thing that I know about all this weirdness is that it's dangerous. I don't want my family at risk." Way to go Stan, I didn't think he had it in him.

Dipper was a little shocked at this revelation at first, but he moved on from it pretty quick. "It's okay, Grunkle Stan. I guess I can see where you're coming from."

"Well I don't!" Mabel exclaimed with a mischievous smile. "My own grunkle lied to me, I think he needs to give me something in return."

Stan rolled his eyes with a smile and got down on one knee. "Would a hug be enough?" He asked with outstretched arms. The twins smiled and ran up to him and embraced him. I was smiling too until I caught a glance at McGucket. His face was slightly upset, undoubtedly thinking about his own family while watching the Pines interact.

A few minutes later we were back on the shore after a stealthy approach. We decided, McGucket included, that exposing either of the Gobblewonkers was a bad idea. We made our way back to Stan's car and Dipper let out a sigh. "It's a shame we never got any pictures for the contest," Dipper said, plopping himself in the backseat. Stan put the keys in the ignition and wordlessly handed his nephew one of the disposable cameras and a big grin found its way onto Dipper's face.

"Hamster Ball!" Mabel exclaimed while punching the air.

The ride back to the Shack was one of comfortable silence, but as we cut through town something caught my eye. "Hey Stan, can you let me out here?" I asked.

"Sure, kid," He replied. "Do you need us to come along?"

I shook my head as I exited the car. "Nah, I just need to go and check on something. Can you come back for me in an hour?" Stan nodded and I closed the door. I gave a small wave as they drove off. Once they were gone I turned and walked into the Gravity Falls Dump and spotted McGucket.

"Hello, McGucket," I said, making him quickly turn and face me.

"Oh hello visitor! Matt, was it?" The old man asked and I nodded. "What brings a young feller like yourself here?"

"Can I come inside?" I asked, which seemed to surprise him. He gave a quick nod and led me into his home.

"I-I'm sorry if this place is kind of messy, I usually don't get visitors."

"It's quite alright, Fiddleford. I've just come to give you some company," I responded. "I didn't know that your son doesn't talk to you," I lied. "I know I'm not a part of your family, but I don't like the thought of you being all alone." McGucket gave me a warm smile and I could tell that I was the first person that he could call a friend in a long time.