In to The Woods (Part 3)

(Somewhere in the woods…)

Ford screamed once more as he tried to free himself from the strong clutches of his small captors.

"Stop squirming kid, you're making this way worse than it has to be." Jeff said.

"Please why are you doing this to me!" He cried.

"I told you the magic we used on the Queen went wrong." Jeff said. "Now in order for the magic to stay in effect our queen must eat a human sacrifice once a year."

"Sacrifice?!" Ford screamed. "You're going to feed me to your queen!"

"In a word yes." Jason answered as they continued to pull him along.

Ford clawed at the ground desperately, trying to escape, but their hold was like a tight vice. He's helpless, and in an instant, he knows it. 'Stan, Stan can save me.' He realized. "Stan! Stanley!" He screamed.

"I'm coming Ford!" He heard his brother scream. "I'll save you from that zombie!"

"Zombie?" Ford asked in disbelief.

"You stole all the brains didn't you kid?" Jeff joked.

How he could joke at this moment was beyond Ford's limit of understanding. "Help!" He screamed.

"Hold on!" Stan shouted.

Suddenly Heather, and Fids drove up in the Golf Cart beside him.

"Get in!" Heather ordered.

Stan wasted no time, he jumped in and they raced off.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Stan asked hopefully.

"I've got the gas pedal all the way down." Fids yelled.

"Stan help me!" Ford's scream sounded much closer now.

"Over there!" Stan pointed left, and they drove towards the sounds, finding Ford and the Gnomes in at the mouth of a cave.

Jeff was standing off to the side, supervising, while the rest of the Gnomes wrestled with Ford. "The more you struggle, the more awkward this is gonna be for everyone!" Jeff said. "Just- o-ok, just get his arm there, Alex."

"Let go of me!" Ford yelled, punching Alex off of his arm. The Gnome bounced to the side, leaning against a tree as he puked a rainbow.

"What the heck is going on here?!" Stan cried, catching everyone's attention.

"Stanley! Quick these gnomes are trying to feed me to their queen!" Ford yelled, punching a few more of the Gnomes. "And they're not cute and harmless like the journal makes them out to be! Gah!" He choked as a Gnome grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar. "Neck, neck!"

"Gnomes?" Stan questioned "Oh, I was way off." He admitted sheepishly.

"Hey! Leave my friend alone!" Heather yelled at the leader.

"Look kids we wish things could be different?" Jeff admitted. "But if our Queen doesn't feed on human flesh by dawn she'll die."

"That's not our problem." Stan yelled. "Now let him go!"

"And if we don't?" Jeff Challenged.

Fids found a shovel in the Golf Cart and handed it to Stan.

Stan took the shovel and held it as if he was holding a bat. "Let him go, or else!" he threatened.

"You think you can stop us, kid?" Jeff asked. "You have no idea what we're capable of. The Gnomes are a powerful race! Do not trifle with the-"

Stan cut him off by sticking the shovel underneath his feet and flinging him into a nearby bush. He then uses the shovel to slap the gnomes off his brother.

"Yay!" his friends cheered as Stan helped Ford to his feet.

"Thanks bro." Ford said as he drop-kicked the last Gnome off of him before they climbed onto the golf cart.

"Step on it!" Heather screamed.

Fids didn't need to be told twice.

"He's getting away!" Alex cried, as they drove off. "No, no, no!"

"You've messed with the wrong magical creatures, boy," Jeff growled. "Gnomes of the forest, unite!"

The Gnomes grouped together, locking arms, and standing on top of each other until they formed a giant Gnome beast.

"Hurry! Before they come after us!" Ford yelled, looking behind them fearing that he would see an army of Gnomes coming after them.

"Ha! I wouldn't worry," Stan smiled.

"Yeah, did you see their little legs?" Fids managed to joke.

"They're right Ford." Heather tried to assure him. "You're safe now, there's no way they'd catch up to us."

Suddenly the cart jumps up in the air, as the ground shakes around them.

The cart stopped as the group turned to see a large colossal Gnome, made of the several Gnomes grouped together.

"Dang," Stan said.

"Alright boys, together!" Jeff ordered. "Like we practiced!"

"Move, move, move!" Stan shouted, causing Fids to slam on the gas pedal.

"Come back with our sacrifice!" Jeff screeched.

"They're getting closer!" Stan cried.

The Gnomes worked together to shoot several Gnomes forward like darts. They landed on the cart, using long, sharp nails to tear off the top. Stan punched a Gnome off, while Ford grabbed Schmebulock and slammed him into the dash board a few times.

"Schmebulock..." the Gnome said, dazed, before Ford threw him off. Another Gnome jumped onto Ford's face, clawing at it.

"I'll save you, Ford!" Stan yelled, punching the Gnome a few times. Once the Gnome flew off, Ford was revealed to have a black eye and several scratches.

"Thanks Stan," he said, dazed.

"Don't mention it," Stan said.

The Gnomes worked together to uproot and lift a giant tree, throwing it at the group of friends.

They screamed as it landed in front of the cart, causing them to swerve out of the way. The cart landed on its side miraculously in front of the Mystery Shack. Stan, Ford, Heather, and Fids crawled out of the cart dazed.

"Man, Grauntie Mable is gonna kill us when she sees this." Stan whispered.

The ground began to shake around them.

"Hu Stan, I think we've got worse problems right now." Heather said.

Stan turned to see the Gnome Giant approaching.

"Stay back!" Ford said, his voice quivering only slightly. He grabbed the shovel from his brother and threw it at them.

The Gnomes caught the shovel and threw it far away.

Leaving them defenseless.

The four children clung to each other, screaming.

"Where's Grauntie Mabel?!" Ford cried.

(Meanwhile inside the Shack…)

Grauntie Mabel is just waking up, it's just before dawn, and she had a busy day today.

She drags herself out of bed, and turns on her bed room TV.

BANG!

"What was that?" She asked herself.

Suddenly a man appeared on the TV holding a chained watch. "Behold the world's most distracting object," he said swinging the chain back and forth "Just try to look away. You can't!"

Grauntie Mable's eyes widen as she becomes entranced by the watch. "I can't even remember what I was talking about," she said.

(Back with Ford…)

"It's the end of the line, kids!" Jeff announced. "Ford surrender to us now before we do something crazy."

"Yeah, like sacrifice all your friends too!" Another Gnome added.

"There's gotta be a way out of this!" Heather panicked.

"But how?" Fids asked. "They're huge."

"Don't worry Ford, I'll protect you." Stan said, stepping in front of him protectively.

Ford frowned, and looks to his brother and their friends.

They were all there, protecting him, and Ford realized that this was how things had always been. He always needed someone to save him. He stepped forward. "I'll go," he said.

Heather's eyes widen. "What?! Are you crazy?!"

"They'll eat you!" Fids reminded him.

Ford ignored them and started walking towards the Gnomes, ready to give his life for his brother, and their friends.

"Stan what are you doing stop him!" Heather cried.

But Stan wasn't listening. His eyes narrowed as he spotted something in a pile of leaves beside them, the leaf blower. Suddenly he had an idea, a plan that could possibly save them all.

But he had to get them closer.

"Wait!" He yelled.

Ford froze.

"Now what!" Jeff asked.

"What if I told you I knew a way to save your queen?" Stan blurted out.

"Stan!" Ford shouted. What was he doing? He couldn't possibly know a way to save her. Didn't he know lying would only make things worse?

"Trust me," Stan said.

The words of the journal echoed in Ford's mind.

TRUST NO ONE!

Ford looked at his brother's face, he was bluffing, he could tell. And Ford knew that his brother's lies always got them into even more trouble sooner or later.

"Ford, just this once. Trust me!" Stan repeated.

Ford is still unsure, but he knows he has no other choice, it was either die, or take a chance with his brother.

He chose Stan.

Ford nodded and ran to the safety of his friends.

"You really know a way to save our queen?" Jeff asked.

"Yep, it's hidden in those leaves." Stan assured him.

"Hot dog!" Jeff exclaims. "Help me down there, Jason!" He says climbing down over his fellow Gnomes as he goes. "Thanks, Andy! All right, left foot, there we go, watch those fingers, Mike."

He approaches Stan eagerly holding out his hands. "Give me, Give me!" He demanded.

Stan reaches into the leaf pile, and pulls out the leaf blower, and turns it on.

"Ah! Hey, hey, wait a minute! Whoa, whoa! WH-what's going' on?!" Jeff shouts as he gets sucked into half-way into the leaf-blower.

"That's for chasing us!" He screamed increases the sucking power. "THAT'S for scaring me and my friends."

Jeff slowly getting sucked in further. "Ow! My face!"

"And THIS is for messing with my brother!" He says aiming the leaf blower at the rest of the Gnomes.

The Gnomes stare at them like a deer in the head lights.

"Wanna do the honors?" Stan asked Ford.

Ford smiled and put his hand on the switch. "On three!" He said, and all four friends counted down.

"One, two, three!"

Ford flipped the switch to blow out, blasting Jeff towards the gnome monster.

The Gnome Giant explodes into separate gnomes as Jeff continues to flying off into the distance. "I'll get you back for this!"

"Who's giving orders? I need orders!" Mike yelled.

"My arms are tired." Alex complained.

"Anyone else want some?" Ford asked boldly as Stan moves the leaf blower back and forth, blowing gnomes away.

The Gnomes ran off on all fours back into the forest.

The Four friends laugh at the sight, only stopping as their sides begin to hurt.

"Man, that was intense." Heather exclaimed.

"Yeah, I think I've had enough adventure for a while." Fids agreed.

"Hey Stan." Ford said, looking at his brother.

"Yeah?" Stan asked.

"Thanks." Ford said truthfully, his head bowed.

Stan frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Yeah, we just stopped them." Heather told him.

"No Stan stopped them." Ford corrected. "It's always you saving me Stanley." He sighed. "From bullies, from wild animals that strangely love chasing me, and now monsters."

Stan forced a smile. "Cheer up bro maybe next time you'll save me from a monster, maybe even two monsters."

Ford found a smile slipping on his face. "You're just saying that." He said.

"High six?" Stan asked, holding up his hand.

"High six," Ford said, giving his brother a high five as the sun began to rise above them.

"Well, I guess their queen is gone now." Heather said.

Ford frowned. "I know they tried to feed me to her and all." He said. "But do you think they'll be okay?"

"Them?" Fids asked. "What about us? You heard him, he said they'd be back."

"Let them try." Stan said, holding up the leaf blower proudly. "They'll be no match for the mystery gang!"

Everyone gave him a weird look.

"What? That's us." He told them. "Because we solve mysteries."

"What are we Scooby Doo now or something?" Heather teased.

Fids, and Ford chuckled.

"You guys laugh now, but you'll see; it'll grow on you." Stan assured them.

"So, what now?" Fids asked.

"Well, I guess I should call Danny and let him know we're back." Heather answered him.

"And you guys?" He asks the Stan twins.

"We can find the Author another day." Ford assured him.

"Yeah, it's like you said; we've had enough adventure for a while." Stan added.

"Well, I'll see you guys." Heather said, before walking down the street on her phone.

"Bye guys." Fids said as he began to walk in the opposite direction as her towards the docks.

"Bye!" The twins told their friends before heading inside. Where their Grauntie Mabel was counting money.

"Yeesh, you two get hit by a bus or something?" She joked.

The twins ignored her as they went to go upstairs.

"Uh, hey!" She said looking around, trying to think of something fast. "Why don't you guys pick something out from the gift shop? On the house." She said.

"Wow, thanks Grauntie Mabel!" Stan smiled and went to look around.

Ford joined him and noticed a shelf of empty journals. He picked out one with a cool maroon color with a golden trim.

Inside the notebook was a page of gold-colored paper.

"This should do," Ford smiled.

"And I will have," Stan pulled something out of a box, and punched his fist into the air, showing off his choice, "brass knuckles!"

"Ha-ha, works for me!" Mabel laughed.

"Yes!" Stan exclaimed.

"So how was the camp out?" Mabel asked.

"Crazy." Stan admitted, not missing a beat.

"Yeah, I don't think we slept a wink." Ford added.

"Well, it's your summer." Mabel said. "And if you want to spend the weekends staying up all night, and sleeping all day that's fine by me." She told them. "Just remember you got work come Monday morning."

"Thanks, Grauntie Mabel." The boys spoke as one before dragging themselves upstairs, and in their room.

Stan began playing around with his new brass knuckles right away, pretending to punch imaginary monsters. "Take that you Gnomes! Still want some? Well, here it is!"

Ford laughed before plumping down on his bed, and pulled out a pen, and began tracing his hand on the gold paper in his notebook. He then cut out the tracing and glued it to the front of his notebook. He then wrote the number one on it proudly.

"Wow Ford you made your own Journal." Stan noticed.

"Yep." Ford said. "Who knows what's still out there, just waiting to be discovered." He added before he started to write his first entry.

Stan smiled and left him to it, going back to fighting the imaginary Gnomes.

Ford smiled as he wrote:

'The journal I found here told me that there was no one in Gravity Falls I could trust. But when you battle 1000 Gnomes side-by-side with someone, you realize they've probably always got your back.'

"Hey Stan, could you get the light?" Ford asked, as the glare began to bother him.

"I'm on it," Stan said. He punched the lamp out the window, causing him and Ford to laugh.

"Brass knuckles!" Stan exclaimed.

Ford shook his head and scribbled down one last sentence.

'Our aunt told us there was nothing strange in this town. But who knows what other secrets are waiting to be unlocked!

Meanwhile downstairs in the gift shop…

Mabel was walking to the door to go upstairs, a lantern in her hands. She stops at the foot of the stairs as if to listen.

Silence.

'So, the boys did go off to bed.' She thought to herself. 'Good now I can focus on more important things.'

With that thought fresh on her mind she turns to the vending machine, punches in a code, and the machine opened up, revealing a secret hallway.

Mabel looked around as if to make sure she was truly alone, once she had done so she disappeared behind the snack machine, and closes it.

Leaving no trace that anything out of the norm had just transpired.

Season 1: Episode 2-END