Mabel and Norman are in the woods, surrounded by a beautiful scene. The plants light up the area.
"That is beautiful," one woman brings up. "It's worrying that you're alone but the scenery is still beautiful."
"Finally, we're alone," Mabel whispers. She was excited for this date, Dipper's words in her mind, but not how her brother would have liked.
"Yes," Norman said ominously. "Alone." The teenager was fiddling with the zipper of his hoodie.
"That's not concerning at all."
Back at the Mystery Shack, Dipper was desperately trying to get Stan's attention away from the visitors and onto him to no avail. "Stan! Stan!"
Stan put his head in his hands. Why could he not have helped the two? Maybe if he had helped they wouldn't have gotten into as much trouble. He remembered this day, now. He remembered how they looked when they came back to the shack and he wasn't happy to know that something dangerous truly happened; they hadn't simply been roughhousing in the woods as he originally believed.
Dipper noticed his grunkle's dismay and decided to pat him on the shoulder. He wanted to show the man that even though he didn't help them with this adventure, he still helped during other ones.
That was when he noticed Wendy driving up to the shack in the golf cart. "Wendy! Wendy, Wendy!" Dipper shouts, running up to her, waving his hands frantically. "I need to borrow the golf cart so I can save my sister from a zombie!"
Many blinked. That was such a weird exclamation. They could not expect Wendy to respond with an affirmative when what he was saying was crazy.
After a small pause, Wendy smiles as she drops the keys into the smaller boy's hand. As she walks into the shack she leaves him with one word of caution. "Try not to hit any pedestrians."
Those who believed the redhead wouldn't have given him the keys open their mouths in shock. That was not what they thought would happen.
Wendy was grinning. She might not have gotten the full story but that didn't mean she wasn't proud to have helped, even slightly. Her father might not know what happened, but he was always proud of his only daughter's strength.
Dipper hops into the driver's seat, backing up after starting the cart. He presses on the brakes when he sees Soos standing with a shovel and a baseball bat in each hand.
"Dude, it's me, Soos. This is for the zombies," Soos hands Dipper the shovel.
"Thanks," Dipper takes the shovel from his friend, placing it on the seat beside him.
Soos holds up the baseball bat. "And this is in case you see a pinata."
Soos blushed. He knew his reasonings weren't the best, but he gave Dipper two weapons the boy could use against the zombie. Well, from what he's noticed Norman was probably not a zombie.
When Dipper takes the baseball bat confused. "Uh… thanks?"
After setting the bat next to the shovel he drives off, leaving Soos to yell after him, "Better safe than sorry!"
With Mabel and Norman in the woods, Norman continued what he wanted to say. "Uh, Mabel, now that we've gotten to know each other, there's…" he exhales, steeling his resolve to tell the girl. "There's something I should tell you."
"Mabel, dear," Lazy Susan draws the young girl's attention. "Please, tell me that you are alright after this."
Mabel nods to the woman with a grin. "I was fine, Lazy Susan!" She pulls Dipper's hat down to cover his face causing him to shout in dismay. " After all, my brother came to make sure of it." Dipper lifts his hat back to its original position, a smile stretching across his face when he hears his sister's statement. He was glad she wasn't upset with him for not trusting her at that moment.
"Oh, Norman, you can tell me anything!" Mabel smiled at him, hoping to portray how happy she was. 'Please be a vampire, please be a vampire…!"
That earned a few snickers. Of course, it did, she had been talking about it earlier with Dipper.
Norman begins to show his nervousness, now. "All right, just… just don't freak out, okay? Just… just keep an open mind, be cool," he begs.
The small amount of amusement many felt vanished when they heard that. There was no way something bad wasn't about to happen. Mabel did say that Dipper had been there to help her. So, yes, they weren't confident in their understanding of the situation.
When he gets a nod from Mabel he unzips his hoodie and throws it off. Underneath are five gnomes standing on top of each other.
Gasps and mouths hanging open were the only responses. What else were they supposed to do? They knew that Norman wasn't what he said he was, but to think that it was gnomes, the very page that Dipper had accidentally turned to instead of the page on zombies.
The top gnome spoke, "Is this weird? Is this too weird? Do you need to sit down?" Mabel is staring at them in disbelief. Dipper had been right, but he had been wrong all the same.
"Yes!" Someone screamed. "Yes, this is too weird!"
Gideon doesn't know why, but these guys made him furious. That didn't make sense as he never met a gnome before. Yet he knew it was fury he was feeling.
"R-r-right, I'll explain," the 'head' gnome begins, clapping his hands nervously. "So! We're gnomes. First off. Get that one outta the way."
Mabel was frozen, still shocked at what was happening in front of her. "Uh…"
Mabel blushed at the sight of herself on screen. She knows that how she reacted was a natural response but that didn't change the fact that it looked quite uncomfortable.
"I'm Jeff," the gnome, Jeff, continues, not seeming to notice the girl's frozen state. "And here we have Carson, Steve, Jason and…" he motioned to each gnome as he spoke their name, stopping at the last one. A gnome with grey hair and a more messy appearance. "I'm sorry, I always forget your name."
"Shmebulock!"
"That's an… interesting name."
"Why do I feel like I've heard that before?"
Jeff snaps his fingers. "Shmebulock! Yes!" He was glad to have the last gnome of their group's name. Mabel sits on a rock, slapping herself on the forehead. "Anyways, long story short, us gnomes have been lookin' for a new queen! Right, guys!" Jeff does a small jig on top of the others.
"Queen! Queen! Queen!" The other four gnomes squeal, extending their arms toward Mabel while making grabby hands.
"Excuse me?" Stan growls. "She's twelve!"
"Heh," Jeff chuckles softly at the gnomes' antics. "So whaddya say?" He taps Steve with his foot causing the gnomes to work together to make 'Norman' kneel in a proposing fashion. A small case opens to reveal a diamond ring. "Will you join us in holy matri-gnome-y?" Jeff pauses. "Matri… matri-mo-ny! Blah! Can't talk today!"
Even while they were worried they could see the humour in Jeff's mispronunciation.
Mabel winces, rubbing her shoulder. "Look… I'm sorry, guys. You're really sweet, but…" The gnomes had been excited before she said but. "I'm a girl and you're gnomes, and it's like, 'what?!' Yikes…"
Jeff nods solemnly. "We understand. We'll never forget you, Mabel." The gnomes look sad and Mabel smiles, thinking that everything is fine. "Because we're gonna kidnap you."
"What?!"
"Huh?!" Mabel exclaimed before Jeff leaped at her, snarling like a beast. Mabel lets out a scream of terror that could be heard by Dipper not too far away in the golf cart.
"At least Dipper heard you so knew where he needed to go," Nate crosses his arms over his chest.
"Don't worry, Mabel! I'll save you from that zombie!" Dipper screams, hoping his voice will reach her. Little did he know that it wouldn't be a zombie he'd have to fight off.
Dipper groans. "I wish I hadn't thought of that." He had been trying to help and knowing that he got the wrong idea was embarrassing. It made sense, it was his first adventure so why would he get the answer correct right off the bat? Even so, it hurt to be wrong on such a level. Though, he hopes they never have to deal with the undead.
"Help!" Mabel's voice reaches him.
"Hold on!" He drives down a deep underground tunnel to the gnomes' hideout. That was when he saw the gnomes trying to pin down Mabel, ropes tying her to the ground.
"The more you struggle, the more awkward this is gonna be for everybody!" Jeff speaks, Dipper behind him with an unsettling look on his face. "Just, ha ha, okay. Get her arm there, Steve!"
Mabel has Steve biting at the arm of her sweater. "Let go of me!" She shouts, punching Steve off. He bounces around, standing upright before puking out a rainbow caused by inhaling the glitter from the girls' sweater.
Pacifica blinked. "How much glitter was on that sweater?" She whispers to herself. Her father glared at her for speaking about such things but also for speaking in a whisper. Nothing she did seemed to be good enough for her parents, but this time she didn't care. Oh, she knew she'd be punished for this later, but that didn't change her thought process.
"What the heck is going on here?!" Dipper raises his voice, stepping closer while showing the shovel plainly for them to see. The gnomes hiss at him, not removing themselves from Mabel.
"Dipper!" Mabel addresses him. "Norman turned out to be a bunch of gnomes! And they're total jerks!" A gnome pulls her hair with a look of anger. "Hair! Hair! Hair!"
Everyone with long hair knew that pain. Some wincing in sympathy with the girl, others internalizing the response, too enraptured with what was happening.
"Gnomes?" Dipper hadn't expected that. "Huh, I was way off…" He takes the journal out of his vest, reading the relevant page aloud. "Gnomes: little men of the Gravity Falls Forest. Weaknesses: unknown."
"How can the journal not have a weakness for them?" Grenda asks. "They're tiny!"
Dipper winced. He had made that mistake as well. At least things turned out well for the two of them, but that was pure luck, not skill.
Dipper lowers the journal to look at his sister who has been successfully tied to the ground. "Aw, come on!" She exclaims in frustration.
He walks up to Jeff, extending the shovel toward him. "Hey, Hey! Let go of my sister!"
Jeff doesn't seem to care that Dipper is threatening him. "Oh! Haha, hey there! Um, you know, this is all really just a big misunderstanding. You see, your sister's not in danger," he tries to convince Dipper. "She's just marrying all one thousand of us and becoming our gnome queen for all eternity!" Jeff turns to face Mabel when he speaks next, "Isn't that right, honey?"
One thousand? There were that many gnomes in Gravity Falls and they hadn't seen them? Well, many had but that didn't change the fact that having a thousand gnomes running around the town should have drawn attention, so why didn't they notice anything?
"You guys are butt-faces!" She screams before one of the gnomes covers her mouth, muffling her screams. The gnome looks terrified that Dipper heard what she said.
Candy giggles. She always appreciated how Mabel acted, even if they only met not that long ago. Still, she was glad she and Grenda had been invited to go around during Summerween with the twins, even if things turned out… strange. Yeah, that was the best way to describe that night.
In response, Dipper holds the shovel up after lowering it. "Give her back right now, or else!" He threatens, narrowing his eyes at the seemingly Gnome King.
Robbie had forgotten that Dipper could be aggressive when it came to the people he cared about. After all, that was the reason behind that fight by the water tower. He hates that he has to admit to himself that he was glad Dipper won against that video game character.
Jeff laughs before turning serious. "You think you can stop us, boy? You have no idea what we're capable of. The gnomes are a powerful race! Do not trifle with the— Ah!" He is cut off by Dipper putting the shovel underneath Jeff, picking him up and tossing him to the side.
Giggles and laughs ring around the room. All that talk, and he was thrown away in nothing more than a few seconds.
He takes the shovel, swinging it down on the ropes that were holding his sister hostage. "Yah!" Mabel exclaims as she kicks the gnomes on top of her away, running back to the cart with her brother.
"Nice hit, Mabel," Wendy grins at the girl. She was proud that even without Wendy helping her learn more self-defence, she still knew enough to begin with to take on small opponents. It wasn't something she'd see often, but that wasn't a bad thing. At least she knew something.
"He's getting away with our queen!" Jeff screams, trying to follow them as fast as he can. "No, no, no!"
"Seatbelt," was all Dipper said when they took their seats. They both buckle up before he backs up, heading toward the exit of the forest.
Many snicker at Dipper focusing on something so simple while they're running away from something that had previously been a threat. Understandable, due to the gnomes being so small that they shouldn't be able to catch up to them, especially while in the golf cart. But that begs the question, what had been chasing them at the beginning?
"You've messed with the wrong creatures, boy!" Jeff shouts after them. "Gnomes of the forest… Assemble!"
Hearing Jeff's thunderous cry, hundreds of gnomes come out of giant mushrooms and trees to gather around Jeff in the middle. They stack themselves up, linking their hands to form a pyramid with Jeff at the top.
That… That was not what they expected to happen.
"So, the thing chasing you both in the beginning was the gnomes!" No one knew who shouted, but that was fine. They were all thinking the same thing, anyway.
Outside, Dipper drives the golf cart at full speed with Mabel beside him. "Hurry, before they come after us!" Mabel shouts fear etched on her face.
Dipper chuckles, "I wouldn't worry about it." He moves two of his fingers in a walking motion. "See their little legs? Those suckers are tiny!" While he was speaking he hadn't noticed the sound of huge footsteps until it was right behind them. He stops the cart as he hears the stomping sound; a giant stacked gnome monster stopping behind the cart.
"Dang," Mabel's mouth is wide open in shock. Dipper could understand. Neither of them expected something like this.
"I wish I hadn't been so confident in that statement," Dipper muttered. Mabel rubbed his back with a wince. She knew what her brother meant by that and could agree with him.
On top of the monster, Jeff stands using the hats like levers. "All right, teamwork, guys, like we practiced." The twins see the gnome monster raise its arms in the air, roaring.
"So they've practiced this and we haven't seen anything?" That was concerning. Why were they all being so blind to their surroundings? It was understandable to ignore some crazy occurrences, but to ignore almost every serious situation… That was incredibly terrifying. If these beings and creatures had wanted to, could they have killed someone and no one noticed?
"Move, move!" Mabel screams, shaking her brother's shoulder as he presses on the gas pedal. He avoids the arm of the monster, which smashes onto the ground into gnomes before they grapple with themselves to form the arm once again, continuing their chase of the children.
Many were biting their nails or sitting on the edge of their seats, hoping that the two made it out of this perfectly fine. They seemed to have forgotten that the twins were sitting in the room with them, next to their great uncle.
"Come back with our queen!" Jeff shouts in anger.
"How about, no?" Mabel quips. That earned her a few chuckles. She was glad she could break the ice on such a serious situation.
"It's getting closer!" Mabel yells as the gnome giant throws several gnomes at the cart. They chew through the cart and cause chaos, one hanging from the top facing in at Mabel and laughing. In response, Mabel's elbow punches him off.
"Ouch," Thompson winced. Sure, they knew that the gnomes were attacking his younger friend, but that didn't change the fact that he knew how that felt. He rubbed his jaw at the phantom pain he felt when he saw Mabel elbow the gnome in the face. Lee noticed his friend's action and avoided his eyes.
Shmebulock jumps up behind Dipper, who grabs him and slams him into the steering wheel out of annoyance. "Shmebulock…" the gnome groans before falling to the ground behind the cart, narrowly avoiding getting stepped on by the giant.
"Damn," Manly Dan grins. "I never thought you'd do that."
Dipper blushed. "He was annoying."
Another gnome pounces onto Dipper's face, who screams trying to stay on the path and not crash. "I'll save you, Dipper!" Mabel shouts, repeatedly punching the gnome until he lets go of her brother's face and falls behind them along with Dipper's hat.
Many gasped when the gnome launched at Dipper's face, trying not to laugh when they saw Mabel punching him and subsequently her brother.
Even though Mabel had good intentions, Dipper was still dazed from the punches as well. "Thanks, Mabel…" he says, practically seeing stars.
"Don't mention it," Mabel doesn't seem to notice her brother's predicament. The gnome giant picks up a tree, throwing it over the cart. "Look out!" Mabel and Dipper scream as they drive under it, the cart going out of control before turning on its side in front of the Mystery Shack.
Sighs of relief were heard around the room. Knowing they made it back to the shack was enough to cause it.
That was when the twins noticed Stan hadn't spoken for a while. Turning to face the man showed them how worried he had truly been. He was gripping the arms of the chair in a vice grip, knuckles white as freshly fallen snow and jaw clenched tightly. The two of them flank their grunkle on either side of him, showing him that they were fine and there was no reason to worry at that moment.