After that eventful day with Rumble McSkirmish, things started returning back to some semblance of normalcy. There were a few times since then where Mabel woke up in the middle of the night, screaming and crying that she was "falling", but fortunately, she always went back to sleep after Sammy and Dipper gave her some comforting words and hugs. Stan was able to conquer his fear of heights though, so that was good. And Robbie got a new phone, even if that didn't quite make up for the whole almost-getting-killed thing. Also, Sammy noticed that Dipper was acting a bit strange as well, though not alarmingly so. For instance, there were many times where Sammy caught Dipper staring at him with awe and even a little bit of envy. And there was also that time where Sammy saw Dipper in front of the bathroom mirror with his shirt off, flexing his muscles. Sammy had no idea if this was some kind of "phase" that he didn't know about, but he decided not to pry. Overall, however, things were finally starting to quiet down.
One morning, Sammy, Stan, and the twins were watching Duck-tective together. "You've gone too far this time, Duck-tective!," the policeman on the screen was saying. "Quack quack, quack quack quack quack," the duck replied back in quick succession. "That duck has such a way with words," Sammy commented. Then, the doorbell rang. Stan, thinking that it was just another tourist, put on his best smile and walked to the door. "Welcome to a world of mystery!," he said, opening the door. A stern looking man with combed back hair and a suit was standing in the doorway. "Stan Pines?," he asked. "The tax collector! You found me!," cried Stan, quickly throwing down a smoke bomb before running inside and ripping off a decoration on the wall, revealing a duffle bag filled with money. "Whoa! Mister Pines, what's going on?," Sammy asked worriedly. "Didn't you hear me, kid? That was the tax collector!," said Stan, frantically searching the tiles of the wall. "I'm not going back behind bars! Not today! Aah… uh… which one of these is the trap door?" The man in the suit walked inside. "Mister Pines. I'm from the Winninghouse Coupon Savers contest, and YOU ARE OUR BIIIIIIG WINNER!," he announced.
Before anyone knew what was going on, a cameraman and two women walked into the room. The women were holding an enormous check for ten million dollars. Gold confetti was thrown in Stan's face. "Heh? My one and only dream, which was to possess money, has come true!," said the conman. "We're rich! I'm gonna get a butler!," cried Dipper. "I'm gonna buy a talking horse!," cried Mabel. Sammy, however, was far more skeptical than the rest. "Hold on a minute, sir," he said to the man in the suit. "What exactly did Mister Pines win in?"
The man's eyes widened slightly. "Er… you know… that contest! The one he entered a long time ago. You remember, don't you, Mister Pines?" Stan appeared to be deep in thought, then snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah! I remember now!," he said. "Great! Just sign here for the money," said the man, offering Stan a contract. "You bet!," said Stan, eagerly signing it. All of a sudden, Gideon Gleeful himself jumped through the enormous check, ripping right through it. "Ha! Stanford, you fool! You just signed over the Mystery Shack to liddle ol' me!," he cackled, singing and dancing. "Uh, might wanna take another look there," said Stan.
Confused, Gideon started reading the contract. "'The shack is hereby signed over to…" He gasped loudly. "SUCK A LEMON LITTLE MAN'?!" Stan and the others started laughing at Gideon's expense. "How dare you!," the child star growled, tearing up the contract. "Better luck next time, Gideon," Sammy couldn't help but quip. "I am not a threat to be taken lightly!," yelled Gideon. Then, he reached up his arms like a toddler. "Come here, hon'. I need your arms." The man picked up Gideon. "I'll get you, Stanford Pines! I'LL GET YOU ALL!" After the man carried Gideon out of the shack, Stan immediately turned to face the others. "Wanna see what else is on TV?," he asked casually, as though he didn't just get threatened by an insane child star. Of course, Sammy and the twins nodded in agreement, and the entire group went back to watching television as if nothing had happened. Later that day, Stan went to take an afternoon nap, which left everyone else to their own devices. Soos and Sammy were doing a little cleaning around the gift shop while Dipper and Mabel were invested in a game of chess. "Little guy to black space nine!," said Mabel. "It's a pawn, that's not your color, and stop stealing the tiny horses!," said Dipper. Mabel, to nobody's surprise, had hoarded all of the knight pieces in her sweater pocket. "They like it better in here. Don't you babies?," she asked, making horse noises.
"And… checkmate!," Dipper declared, knocking over Mabel's king. "What? Boo!," cried Mabel. "O-oh! Dipper wins again!," cheered Dipper, picking up a notebook that he had by his side. He added a tally mark to the number of wins he had so far. He had won 85 games, while Mabel had won none. Dipper sighed and stretched his arms. "That was fun, but now I need a challenge," he murmured, looking around. Then, he got an idea. "Hey, Sammy! Why don't you come over and play a round with me?," he asked. He had no idea if Sammy would be good at chess or not, but he had to be better than Mabel, who didn't even follow the rules half the time. "Sure," Sammy said with a smile, always happy to spend some quality time with the twins. He sat down in Mabel's place and helped Dipper rearrange the board. It took some time for them to coax Mabel into giving up her horses, but eventually, they got everything set up.
Dipper made the first turn by moving one of his pawns. To his surprise, Sammy made his first move almost immediately after. Dipper thought for a moment before moving his bishop. But then, Sammy had the gall, the audacity, to take down Dipper's bishop with his knight! Dipper looked up at Sammy with wide eyes. Sammy looked back at him with a smirk.
Dipper narrowed his eyes challengingly. Oh, it's on, he thought.
As the game went on, Dipper and Sammy continued making move after move after move, with barely any pauses in between. On both sides, the pieces started disappearing from the board, and Dipper started to feel a sense of panic as he watched Sammy's forces closing in on his king. He tried to move his king away, but made a fatal error and accidentally had his own king cornered. "Checkmate," Sammy said smugly, knocking Dipper's king down.
Dipper was too shocked to say anything, so Mabel did it for him. "Whoa!," she cried, staring at the now empty board. "I can't believe you just beat Dipper at chess, Sammy! Dipper's never lost at chess before!" "Well, there's a first time for everything," Sammy chuckled. Shaking his head, Dipper glared at Sammy. "Let's do this again. I want a rematch," he said.
Happy to oblige, Sammy helped Dipper set up the board again. This time, Sammy decided to go first. The second round blew through even faster than the first one, with both of the players making moves at such a fast pace that Mabel and Soos could barely even keep up with what was going on. In the end, however, it was Dipper who emerged as the victor. "Yes!," he cheered, raising up his arms in celebration. "Looks like it's one-to-one," said Sammy with a smile. "Do you want to play one last round to break the tie?" Dipper nodded eagerly. Never had he felt so challenged in a game of chess before. After setting up the board game, both players started making blindingly fast moves, their brains going into overdrive. The third and final round didn't even last for a minute, and when it ended, they were surprised by the results.
"What? We both got checkmates?," cried Dipper, bewildered by what he was seeing on the board. "But how is that even possible?" "Beats me," said Sammy, before holding his hand out to Dipper. "Good game, Dipper." Dipper smiled and shook Sammy's hand, even though he was still a bit bewildered by what just happened. "Yeah, good game," he said.
"I gotta say, dudes, that was the most awesome thing I've ever seen in my life," said Soos, going back to his cleaning. "Yo, Mabel? Can you pass me that brain in the jar? The lady one?," he asked. "I got it," said Dipper, standing up. "Thanks, but Mabel's taller," said Soos. This immediately made Dipper feel a bit self-conscious and insecure, even though he was pretty sure that he was the taller one. "What? No, she's not. We're the same height. We've always been," he said nervously. But Soos shook his head. "Better check again, dude," he said, taking out a tape measure. Dipper and Mabel quickly lined up while Soos used the tape measure on both of them. Sammy narrowed his eyes and looked closely. "I don't really see any difference," he said thoughtfully. "Nope, Mabel's got exactly one millimeter on Dipper! See?," said Soos.
"What?!," Dipper gasped. He snatched Soos' tape measure and carefully looked over it to see if there were any flaws in its design. Meanwhile, a huge grin spread on Mabel's face. She was so going to milk this. "Woah, don't you see what's happening, Dipper? This millimeter is just the beginning. I'm evolving into the superior sibling! Bigger! STRONGER!," she cried, flexing her arms. "Like some kinda alpha-twin!," Soos chuckled. "Alpha-twin! Alpha-twin!," Mabel chanted excitedly. "C'mon, guys, nobody even uses millimeters," said Dipper. "It only makes you taller than me in Canada." Sammy noticed the irritated tone in his voice and wanted to say something, but Mabel beat him to it. "Y'know Dipper, I've always wanted a little brother. Who knew I already had one? Ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah!," she laughed. Seeing Dipper's mood getting worse, Sammy tried to step in. "Alright Mabel, that's enough," he said calmly. But then, Stan suddenly entered the room in his white shirt and boxers. He looked around and rubbed his hands eagerly. "I was awoken by the sound of mockery. Where is it? Show me the object of ridicule!"
"I'm taller than Dipper!," said Mabel. "By ONE millimeter," Dipper huffed. "Hey, hey, don't get… short with your sister," Stan joked, laughing. "Mister Pines," sighed Sammy. "Now, Grunkle Stan, I hope you don't think little of him," said Mabel, getting in on the jokes. "Mabel!," Sammy scolded. "Ha ha! Yeah! And, and, uh… he's short!," said Stan. "That wasn't even a good joke!," said Sammy. "Yeah dude, maybe you should lay off a tiny bit," said Soos, also noticing Dipper's worsening mood. "Ha! 'Tiny!' Soos is in on it now!," said Stan, as both he and Mabel started to laugh. "N-no, I didn't mean that," said Soos, his eyes widening. Dipper, having had enough of the ridicule, stalked out of the room while grumbling under his breath. "Dipper!," Sammy called after him, but was ignored. "Dipper will forget," said Mabel. "He's got a 3… 2… 1…"
"Don't you finish that…," Sammy warned, narrowing his eyes. Mabel and Stan stared at Sammy for a while… then said it anyway. "SHORT-TERM MEMORY!," they yelled out together, laughing. "POW! We are on FIRE!," cried Mabel. The two of them high fived each other, though Stan quickly snatched his hand away in pain. "Ow! Ooh. That's… ah!," he said, staring at Mabel in surprise. "I high-five hard," Mabel said proudly. Sammy rolled his eyes. "Okay, while you two stay here and continue with your so-called 'comedy act', I'm going to find Dipper," he said before stepping out of the room. "When you find him, make him wear a beard and a pointy hat!," Mabel said with a smile. "Then he'll look like one of the gnomes!" Sammy poked his head through the door and gave Mabel a deadpan look. "Mabel, even you know your brother's not that short," he said, pausing for a moment. "...I think." Then, he went upstairs to look for Dipper.
Upon entering the attic, he was met with the sight of Dipper pacing around in circles, grumbling to himself. "Ugh! Stupid Mabel! I'm not short!," he muttered. Sammy gently knocked on the doorframe to let him know he was there. "Hey, Dipper. How are you feeling?," he asked. "Fine," sighed Dipper, walking over to the bookcase where the journal was on top of. He tried to reach for it, but even by jumping up and down, he couldn't reach the journal. "Oh, come on," he groaned. Sammy walked over, took the journal off the bookcase, and handed it over to Dipper. "Thanks," Dipper muttered, taking the journal from Sammy's hand. As he began flipping through it, Sammy tried to think up something to say in order to fill the awkward silence. "Your sister was only joking, you know," he said. "She was just riling you up a little. Siblings do that to each other all the time. Well… I've never had a sibling before, so I probably wouldn't know…"
"Uh huh," said Dipper, though he was only half listening, his attention focused on the journal as he was flipping through it. "It's not something you should be bothered over," Sammy continued. "So she's a bit taller than you. That doesn't mean she–" "Sammy, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but can you tone it down a little?," Dipper asked in a slightly irritated tone. "I'm trying to find something in this journal that could get me taller." "Oh. Sorry, I… wait, what?," asked Sammy, realizing what Dipper just said. "Dipper, you can't be serious–" "Aha! I found it!," Dipper declared excitedly, stopping at a page in the journal. "'Legends of miniature buffalo and giant squirrels have led me to believe there are height-altering properties hidden deep within the forest.' This is perfect!" He started running for the door with the journal tucked under his arm, but Sammy quickly stepped in front of him. "Whoa, hold on! Dipper, this is a bad idea," he said. Dipper looked up at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?," he asked.
"You're about to go into the woods to find some sort of supernatural artifact with height changing properties just because you want to be taller than your sister," said Sammy, raising an eyebrow. "Do I even need to explain myself?" Dipper sighed. "Look, I understand your concern, but you don't know Mabel like I do," he said. "Unless I do something about it, she's going to hold this over my head for the rest of time. I'm not gonna do anything drastic, okay? I'm just gonna make myself a little taller, that's all." "I don't know, Dipper," Sammy said uncertainly. "Isn't there a better way other than going after another paranormal… thing? Can't you just wait and grow it out? Like the old fashioned way?" "Sammy, if I just wait until I grow taller, not only will that take forever, but it'll give Mabel time to grow as well!," Dipper argued. He squeezed past Sammy and was about to head out the door, then stopped and turned around. "By the way, can you do me a favor and not tell Mabel or Stan about this?," he asked. "I don't want them to know. Oh, don't tell Soos either. You know he's terrible at keeping secrets." Sammy was about to argue, but thought better of it and sighed. "Alright… your secret's safe with me," he sighed. Dipper beamed at him. "Thanks, Sammy! I knew I could count on you." As Sammy watched Dipper leave the attic and run down the stairs, he sighed again. I want him to trust me, he thought sadly. I want him to feel like he could count on me for anything. But… this isn't what I had in mind at all…
Since there was nothing else to do other than wait for Dipper, Sammy laid down on his bed and started doing some light reading. It didn't take long, however, before Dipper returned, holding a strange crystal in his hand. "That was quick," Sammy commented, eyeing the crystal warily. "So that's what you were looking for? It doesn't look like much…" "Just wait until you see what it can do!," Dipper said excitedly. He took out a flashlight and tied the crystal to the bulb, then took out a chess piece and placed it on the floor. "Stand back, Sammy. Behold!"
He turned on the flashlight and shined it at the chess piece. The beam shone through the crystal and, to Sammy's shock, caused the chess piece to shrink rapidly. "Whoa!," gasped Sammy, his eyes wide. "And that's not all. Watch this!," said Dipper. He flipped the crystal to the other side, then shined it at the chess piece again. The chess piece started growing quickly… too quickly, as a matter of fact. "TOO BIG!," cried Dipper, turning off the flashlight just as the chess piece grew so large that it burst through the roof of the attic. "Aw, not the roof!," Sammy bemoaned. "Soos and I just fixed that roof…" "Sammy, how can you be more concerned about the roof after what you just witnessed?," asked Dipper. "We now have a device that can actually change objects' sizes! Here." He suddenly placed the flashlight in Sammy's hands. "I've thought about it, and I think it's best if you use it on me instead of me using it on myself."
"Wait, wait, wait," Sammy said quickly. "This is moving kind of fast! How do you know this thing will work on living organisms? What if something goes wrong? What if I accidentally shrink you into microscopic size?!" "Hey, hey, relax," Dipper said with a disarming smile. "I saw some deer, a bald eagle, a mountain lion, and a butterfly get affected by this crystal with no negative side effects. I'll be fine! I trust you." Sammy looked down at the flashlight in his hands with some apprehension, then looked at Dipper, who stood in front of him with his arms held out, patiently waiting. He thought about it, then sighed. "I'll only give you that one millimeter, okay?," he said sternly. "Only one millimeter, just so you and Mabel will be the same height. But no more than that, alright?" Dipper nodded eagerly and waited. Sammy sighed again and aimed the flashlight at Dipper. Remembering how fast the chess piece grew, he turned the flashlight on for less than a quarter of a second before turning it off again. Dipper looked over himself. "Do I look any taller to you, Sammy?," he asked. Sammy squinted his eyes at him. "I can't really tell any difference, to be honest," he said. "Well, only one way to find out," said Dipper. The two of them left the attic and went downstairs, where Mabel and Soos were talking to each other about clothes.
"Hey guys, notice anything different about me?," asked Dipper, standing at the door with Sammy close behind him. "Holy hot-sauce! You've grown an extra millimeter!," Soos replied in nearly an instant. "You noticed that just by looking at him? How?," asked Sammy, wondering if Soos really did have the eyes of a hawk, as he always said so. "Wh-wh-what?," cried Mabel, more shocked by the fact that Dipper was now as tall as her. The twins immediately lined up with each other while Soos measured them. And sure enough, they were now exactly the same height. "What can I say, sis? Growth spurt," Dipper bragged. "So that's it, then!," Sammy said enthusiastically, a hopeful smile on his face. "You're both the same height now. That means no more fighting, no more competition, no more being jealous of each other. You guys can finally get along now!" However, Mabel was not ready to admit defeat just yet. "Yeah, mine happened first. I'm gonna be taller in the end. It's science, Dipper," she boasted. "...or not," Sammy sighed, his shoulders slumping. "What? But we're the same height now," said Dipper as his confidence was shaken once again. "Alpha-twin! Alpha-twin!," chanted Mabel. "Oh yeah?," said Dipper, his eyes narrowing sneakily. "Something tells me I've got another growth spurt comin' on right now." He immediately ran out the room, while Mabel and Soos watched him leave. Then, they glanced at each other. "He's up to something, isn't he?," asked Mabel. "You know that Dipper's really not good at being sneaky, dude," said Soos, nodding. "Uh oh," Sammy murmured, already knowing what Dipper was about to do. He ran after Dipper with Mabel following close behind.
The two of them burst into the attic just as Dipper was done growing himself. "Give it up, Dipper!," said Mabel, who gasped when she saw how tall Dipper was. "What happened?," she asked. "Y'know, puberty and stuff," Dipper said with a shrug. Clearly not believing her brother, Mabel looked up at Sammy. "Come on, Sammy, I know you're in on this. Spill the beans!," she demanded. Sammy bit his lip. "I mean, I promised not to tell…," he said uncertainly.
Mabel thought hard for a moment, then gasped in realization. "WAIT A MINUTE! This is some kinda magicky thing. Isn't it?," she asked accusingly. "Was it a wizard or something?" She walked towards the closet and pointed at it. "There's a wizard in this closet, isn't there? ISN'T THERE?" "What? No!," said Dipper. "You're telling me that there is not a wizard in this closet. You're telling me that if I open this door right now–," said Mabel. "Fine! Open it!," said Dipper, already fed up with his sister's antics. Mabel opened the closet door, only to reveal… nothing. "An invisible wizard! REALLY, Dipper?," said Mabel, shaking her head in disappointment. "Does he only respond to incantations? Expecto wizarium! Wizzle! Wizar–" "It's not a wizard!," groaned Dipper, taking out the flashlight. "I grew myself using this magic flashlight!" Mabel's eyes turned wide upon seeing it. "Lemme see that thing!," she cried, pouncing for it. Dipper dodged past her and ran down the stairs, with Mabel hot on his trails. "What the– guys! Get back here!," hollered Sammy, flabbergasted by what just happened. Realizing that they weren't going to come back, he groaned and was about to run after them when he thought he heard a sneeze coming from the closet. He froze and stared at the closet, waiting, but there were no more sounds. There can't actually be an invisible wizard in there… right?, he thought nervously. Shaking his head, he ran after the twins. Alone in the closet, the invisible wizard sighed in relief.
Sammy ran outside and saw the twins fighting over the flashlight. He also saw a giant caterpillar crawling over a nearby car, crushing it under its huge weight. After rubbing his eyes to make sure that what he saw was real, he ran towards the twins in order to break up the fight. He snatched the flashlight from Dipper's hand and held it high up in the air so that neither of them could reach it. "Stop it, both of you!," he scolded. "You guys are acting like children!" "We are children!," Dipper retorted. Suddenly, Mabel tried to climb onto Sammy's head to snatch away the flashlight, which caused Sammy to lose his balance and collapse on top of the twins, the flashlight falling out of his hand. They all quickly got back on their feet and gasped at what they saw. Standing in front of them was none other than Gideon, holding the flashlight and curiously inspecting it. "My, my, what delightful manner of a dohickery is this?," he asked.
"Maybe he didn't see us use it and doesn't know it's a magic flashlight that can grow and shrink things," Mabel whispered. Gideon, who was literally right in front of them, stared at them, having heard every word. "Really?," Dipper deadpanned. With a huge grin on his face, Gideon aimed the flashlight at them. "Click, boop," he said, turning it on. "No, no, no–!," Dipper, Mabel, and Sammy cried, running towards him, only to get caught in the magical beam.
In just a few seconds, the three of them reduced to the literal size of ants, staring up in horror as Gideon loomed over them, booming with laughter. From their perspective, he was as tall as a mountain, and his laughter sounded like thunder. Then, Gideon took out an empty jar and scooped them into it before quickly closing the lid, trapping them inside.
After that, Gideon happily skipped home with his new prizes in hand. He had to walk past his father, who was trying to sell some cars to his customers. "Say there, son, what's in the jar?," Bud asked. "That's my widdle secret!," Gideon replied, acting cute and innocent. "Awww!," the customers said in unison, easily fooled by Gideon's charm. Once Gideon was far enough away from them, he dropped his act and scowled. "Mouth-breathin' fools…," he muttered under his breath. He walked into his house, where his mother was vacuuming the living room, looking as though she just came out of an asylum. "Mother," Gideon greeted coldly, walking past her. He went straight to his room and dumped his shrunken prisoners onto his dresser.
"You three!," Gideon roared. "What are you going to do with us?," Mabel asked nervously. Gideon laughed and stroked Mabel's head with his finger, much to her discomfort. "Don't touch her!," snapped Sammy, quickly pulling her away. Gideon narrowed his eyes at him, then gave Mabel an unnerving smile. "Why Mabel, I wouldn't hurt a hair on your itty-bitty head– if you agree to be my queen!," he said. "We live in a democracy! And never!," Mabel retorted. "Maybe you'll change your mind after THIS!," said Gideon. He flicked Sammy away with his finger, knocking him on his back, then picked up Mabel like she was a tiny kitten.
Mabel struggled to free herself. "No! I will fight you until the day I–" She gasped with joy when she saw the huge - from her perspective - bag of gummy koalas that Gideon was about to drop her into. "Gummy Koalas!," she cheered, changing her tune very quickly. Gideon dropped her into the bag and watched with amusement as she hungrily tore off a gummy's head with her teeth. Then, he turned his wrathful attention onto Dipper and Sammy. "As for you two… Tell me," he growled, shining his lamp on them. "How exactly did you come upon this magic item? Hmm? Did somebody tell you about it? Did you… READ about it somewhere?" Dipper glanced down at the journal hidden inside his vest. Then, he noticed an air horn that happened to be nearby, and a plan formed in his head. "Lean closer and I'll tell you!," he said, trying not to smile.
Surprisingly, Gideon fell for it. He closed his eyes and leaned forward with his ear facing them. "Well don't mind if I–," he said, then fell back with a scream when Dipper sounded the air horn right into his ear. "AAAAAAAH!" Then, recovering from the scare, he loomed over him and raised his fist in the air. "Grrrrr! I COULD SQUASH YOU RIGHT NOW!," he roared.
Dipper squeezed his eyes shut and cowered, waiting to be smashed into a pulp, and even Mabel, whose face was covered with gummy juice, gasped in horror as she gripped the side of the plastic bag. Thinking quickly, Sammy dove in front of Dipper and pulled the petrified preteen behind him, using himself as a human shield. Both Sammy and Dipper had their eyes closed, but when nothing happened, they slowly opened their eyes. Surprisingly, Gideon hadn't squished them yet, even though his fist was still in the air. The white haired child appeared to be deep in thought as he scrutinized Sammy with narrowed eyes, the gears turning in his head as he wondered what he ought to do next. After an extremely tense moment, he slowly lowered his fist, the sneer still on his face. "I ain't gonna kill you, Samuel," he said. "I remember you saved my life the last time we met. I haven't forgotten that." Ignoring the confused looks on their faces, Gideon walked to the center of the room before stomping his feet in frustration. "Agh! Curse my merciful and benevolent nature!," he yelled angrily. Then, after calming down, he walked back to the dresser with a sinister smile on his face. "It doesn't matter. I need y'all alive for this anyway," he said. He took out his phone, dialed an unknown number, and held it to his ear.
After the phone rang for a while, someone on the other end picked it up. That "someone" turned out to be Stan Pines, judging by what Gideon said next. How he even got Stan's number in the first place would forever be a mystery. "Stanford Pines, listen to me very closely. I have your niece and nephew. Hand over the deed to the Mystery Shack right now, or great harm will befall them!" He paused. "This is Gideon, by the way." Stan was saying something on the other end of the phone, which angered Gideon. "I have them in my possession! You don't believe me? I will text you a photo!," the child snapped. There was another pause. "But– Hello? Hello?!" Stan had hung up on him! "Arrgh!," yelled Gideon, tossing his phone at the wall, which shattered into pieces. He started laughing insanely. "What am I doin'?! I don't need ransom! I have THIS!," he said, holding up the flashlight. "I'll shrink Stan and take the Shack for myself!" He turned to his tiny prisoners. "You'll all be helpless to stop me. And if any of you step out of line, SMASH!" To illustrate his point, he took the dolls of Sammy and the twins that he made himself and pulled off their heads, laughing maniacally. "Gideon! The ice cream truck is here!," Bud suddenly hollered. "Oh! Coming!," Gideon giggled. He took a hamster out of its cage and plopped it down next to his prisoners. "Guard them, Cheekums. I'm coming!" Then, he ran out of the room.
Meanwhile, Dipper and Sammy stared at the hamster apprehensively. To test if it's dangerous or not, Dipper grabbed a Q-tip and poked Cheekums in the side. The hamster barely responded. "We've gotta get out of here and save Stan!," said Dipper. "I know!," said Mabel as she stuffed a half chewed gummy koala down her sweater. "I will see you later."
"Okay, how are we going to do this?," asked Dipper. "Gideon's got magic and, like, a zillion inches on us. On the bright side, at least me and Mabel are finally the same height again." A look of uncertainty appeared on his face. "Actually, we should check. Sammy, can you get us a ruler?" Sammy rolled his eyes, but did as he was told, muttering under his breath as he got a nearby ruler and raised it up so that the twins could measure themselves again.
"You're still taller? Arrgh! How did this happen?," groaned Dipper, seeing that Mabel still had that extra millimeter on him. "I guess it's another mystery," Mabel said with a shrug. "Just another reason we've gotta get that flashlight back," Dipper muttered. "Dipper, really?," sighed Sammy, placing the ruler down. "You're still hung up about your height? Just let it go already." "Yeah, Sammy's right!," said Mabel. "We've got bigger fish to fry, like saving Grunkle Stan and the shack from Gideon!" She quickly climbed onto Cheekums' back and rode him like a horse. "Cheekums, to freedom!," she cried, giving the hamster a pat. Nothing happened. "To freedom!" Still, the hamster didn't move an inch. "Oh, you're just a big old dummy-dum!," she said, rubbing her face against the hamster's fur with glee. Sammy looked over the edge, which seemed to be a long way down. "We're pretty high up. Any idea how we could get down?," he asked. Dipper looked around for any ideas. His eyes landed on Gideon's hairbrush. "I have a plan."
In no time at all, the three of them were able to make a rope out of Gideon's hairs and used it to slide their way down. Then, they ran all the way to the living room, where Gideon and his father were eating ice cream together. The three of them hid inside of a shoe.
"Clean me!," Gideon demanded. After Bud wiped Gideon's face with a handkerchief, the latter immediately put on his cute act again. "Father, could you give widdle ol' me a ride to the Mystery Shack?," he asked. "Oh, I'd love to, sugar-pie, but I have a heck of a lot of cars to sell, I do! I do!," said Bud as he started playfully tickling his son. "No, no, NO!," yelled Gideon, causing his father to back off fearfully. "DON'T TICKLE MEEEE! NO!," he screamed, throwing his ice cream at the wall, nearly missing his mother, who was still vacuuming. He turned to his father in fury. "NEVER! Never tickle me! What have I told you? What have I told– look at me– what have I told you?!" "Ticklin' is no laughing matter," said Bud, hanging his head in shame.
"There we go," said Gideon, patting Bud's head as though he was merely a disobedient dog. "Do you still need a ride?," asked Bud. "I'll just take the BUS!," snapped Gideon, knocking the table over in anger. Then, he stomped out of the house and slammed the door shut behind him. "Precious memories," Bud sighed. "Just keep vacuuming. Just keep vacuuming…," said Gideon's mother, looking like she was about to mentally snap at any moment.
"That poor woman…," Sammy murmured, feeling intense sympathy for the mother. To be living under the same roof as a psychotic son and an uncaring husband for all these years… he wished he could do something to help her. But right now, they were on a mission.
"Come on!," said Dipper. The three of them ran across the living room, making sure that they weren't spotted, and crawled through the dog door out to the parking lot. "We need to get higher," said Dipper, looking around. "Yeah, especially you, 'cause you're short," Mabel teased. "Mabel!," both Sammy and Dipper snapped, causing the girl to shrink back. Sammy looked up and saw a green balloon in the shape of a dollar sign floating high up in the air. "Up there!," he said, pointing up at it. The three of them climbed up to the balloon and looked down. They saw Gideon waiting at a bus stop with Lazy Susan. "What cute little thing are you off to you cute little cutie-face?," Susan asked. "I'm gonna annihilate my archenemy's entire family," Gideon said coldly. "Oh, okay… Yaaay…," Susan said weakly, not sure how to respond to that.
"He's heading to shrink Stan!," said Dipper. "Oh flying discount dollar, if only you could fly us back to the Mystery Shack," said Mabel. Sammy looked at the balloon's wings, and an idea formed in his head. "You're not that far off the mark, Mabel," he said with a smile. "Do either of you have something to cut this thing loose?" In response, Dipper took out a Swiss army knife and used it to cut the rope tying the balloon down. "Yaaay! Wooh hooo!," they cheered as they flew across the sky, using the balloon's wings to steer them through the air.
"Down there!," said Dipper, pointing down at the moving bus. "To the Mystery Shack!" Cheering, they steered the balloon, following after the bus. Eventually, the bus stopped in front of the shack, and Gideon stepped off with the flashlight in his hand and a jar in the other. They quickly caught up with him, but realized that there was one big problem: they didn't know how to stop. So Mabel had the brilliant idea of crashing their balloon into the totem pole.
Fortunately, nobody got hurt. "We're just in time, but how are we going to stop him?," asked Dipper. Suddenly, a woodpecker flew up behind him and started pecking his head. "Ah shoo ah ha ah!," he cried, shooing it away. Then, Mabel noticed a wire leading to the roof of the shack. "Leave that to Mabel," she said. The three of them were able to shimmy across the wire and onto the roof, right above Gideon, who was about to burst into the shack with the flashlight. "I'm comin' for ya, Stanford!," he said gleefully. Mabel took out the severed gummy koala head that she had been keeping in her sweater and looked at it in sorrow. "I'm sorry, gummy friend," she whispered, before dropping it into Gideon's hair. "It's for the greater good," said Dipper as he pat Mabel on the back. "Yes, Mabel. Your gummy friend will not have died in vain," Sammy promised solemnly. "Ugh! One of those infernal Gummy Koalas has gotten into my perfect hair," cried Gideon. He tried to reach up and get it out of his hair, but his hair was too large and his arms were too short. "I can't defeat Stan looking like this." He dropped the flashlight, then went over to a nearby bathtub to use it as a mirror. He took out a can of hairspray and sprayed it on his hair. "Woo! Woowee!," he cried. "Now's our chance!," Sammy whispered.
The three of them ran to the flashlight and set it up. "Dipper, get in front and I'll re-grow you," said Mabel. "Okay," Dipper agreed. Then, he paused for a moment. "Wait, you're gonna grow us back to equal height right?," he asked worriedly. "Dipper! That doesn't matter right now," groaned Mabel. "Well if it doesn't matter, then why don't you just do it?," Dipper retorted. "Guys, we don't have time for this!," snapped Sammy. "Gideon's going to come back any second!" But neither of the twins listened to him. "AWWW! Why are you acting so weird? Why can't you just accept that I'm a little bit taller than you?," Mabel said in exasperation. "Oh, I'm acting weird? You're the one who keeps calling me names and stuff," Dipper said angrily. Mabel narrowed her eyes. "Oh, what?," she asked. "You mean like little–" "Don't say it!," growled Dipper. "Enough!," Sammy hissed, really starting to lose his temper. "I don't know what's gotten into the two of you, but if you don't quiet down, Gideon will–!" Unfortunately, it was already too late.
"Well, hello down there!," said Gideon, looming over them. He picked them up with his fingers and held them up to his face. "You should've listened to Samuel. You would've defeated me, if it wasn't for your sibling bickering!" Then, he kicked open the front door of the shack. "The Shack is mine, Stanford Pines!," he yelled out victoriously, aiming his flashlight and turning it on. "Noooo!," Sammy and the twins cried as Stan's fez fell to the floor. Gideon walked over to it and picked it up. "Well, well, Stanford, it appears I've finally gotten the best of– What?!," he cried out in shock. The person that he had shrunken was not Stan. It was actually Soos.
Soos looked around in puzzlement, unaware that he was now an inch tall. "Alright, something's definitely different here…," he said, putting his hat back on. Furious by what just happened, Gideon picked up Soos and tossed him into the jar along with Sammy and the twins. He shook them around angrily. "Tell me where Stan is!," he demanded. "Never! You'll never find Stan: on the second floor to the left down the hall," said Soos. He paused for a moment when he realized what he just said. "Wait, why did I say that?" Gideon shoved the jar down his pocket and went to find Stan. "Stanford, I'm coming for ya!," he said in a maniacal tone.
Meanwhile, the group tried to break out of the jar, but to no avail. Seeing Gideon's photo on a school ID nearby, Mabel blew a raspberry at it. "I guess I kinda Soosed that one up, didn't I?," Soos sighed sadly, sitting down. Dipper was about to tell Soos that it wasn't his fault when Mabel suddenly snapped and turned on him. "Ugh! Dipper, what's gotten into you?!," she asked angrily. "If you had just let me use the flashlight on you, we would've stopped Gideon by now!" "Hey, it's not my fault we're in this mess!," Dipper yelled defensively. "You're the one who kept teasing me for being short! Why don't you explain that, sis?!" "Ugh, we're twins, Dipper!," Mabel groaned. "We tease each other all the time!" "Uh, guys?," Soos asked worriedly, wondering what happened between the two of them, but he was ignored. "Yeah, but you know how sensitive I am about my height!," said Dipper. "And you just kept rubbing it in my face over and over again, no matter how many times I told you to stop!" "I'm not the only one who does that, you know…," Mabel muttered in a bitter tone, looking away. Dipper's anger quickly changed into confusion. "Huh? Mabel, what do you mean by–?" Suddenly, Sammy let out a loud yell of frustration and punched the inside of the glass jar, then shook his hand in pain while cursing in some kind of foreign language that neither Soos nor the twins had ever heard before, bewildering them all. "Mẹ kiếp, nó đau như búa bổ ạ! Tại sao mình nghĩ đó là một ý tưởng hay thế vậy!?"
"Uh, dude?," Soos asked worriedly. "You okay there?" Sammy slightly calmed down and sighed heavily. "Honestly, I've been better. Thanks for asking, Soos," he said in a tired voice. Then, he turned towards Dipper and Mabel, looking much more haggard than before.
"I don't know what's gotten into you two," he said in a disappointed voice, "but I've had it up to here with you guys. You're both at fault for this. Mabel, if you hadn't kept teasing Dipper about his height, he wouldn't have put together that shrinking device. And Dipper, if you hadn't become so obsessed with your height, you and Mabel could've worked together to stop Gideon by now." He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry for losing my temper just now, but it's clear to me that you both have some serious baggage to unload. I know it's not my business to pry, but I think if you guys just sit down and talk it out… it would be better for all of us in the long run."
At first, it seemed as though neither of the twins were going to speak up. Then, Mabel let out a sigh and hung her head. "I guess it's that, you're better than me at like everything, and you always rub it in my face, Dipper…," she said sadly, handing Dipper a notebook. Curious, Dipper grabbed the notebook and started flipping through it as Mabel kept on talking. "Chess, checkers, ping pong. I guess I finally felt like I was winning at something for once." As Dipper was flipping through the notebook, he realized it was the same one where he recorded the wins and losses of each game that he played with Mabel. No matter which game it was, Dipper was always the one who won, while Mabel never got a single win to her name. At that moment, guilt formed inside of him as he finally realized where Mabel was coming from. And now that he thought about it, he was kind of insufferable every time he won against Mabel, maybe even more than Mabel herself. "Oh man, now I feel like a big jerk," he sighed. Despite the somber mood, Mabel couldn't help but crack one more joke at Dipper's expense. "Don't you mean a little jerk?," she asked with a tiny smile. This time, the joke was actually welcomed as everyone else laughed a little. "Oh! Alright I walked into that one," he said with a chuckle. "Are we cool?"
"We're cool," said Mabel, giving him a fist bump. "Am I cool?," Soos asked eagerly, holding out his fist. "You're cool, Soos," said Mabel, giving him a fist bump as well. "Yes!," Soos cheered. Meanwhile, Sammy sighed in relief, glad that the twins made up. "Come on, then," he said. "We need to find a way to get out of here." Dipper and Mabel glanced at each other, then looked back at Sammy. "But Sammy, we haven't even apologized to you yet," said Mabel, which took Sammy by surprise. "Huh?," he asked oh so eloquently. "Sammy, we've both been so hung up in our fight that we completely ignored you," said Dipper, looking down at his feet. "But… me, especially. I didn't listen to you, even when you were trying to help me. I even forced you to go along with my plan!" "I mean, 'forced' is kind of a strong word…," said Sammy. "Well, still, that's not what a true friend is supposed to do," said Dipper. "I should've listened to you, but I didn't, and now we're stuck in here while Gideon is about to take the shack by force. I know we don't deserve it, but… can you forgive us?" "Pretty please?," asked Mabel, trying to make herself look as cute as possible. Sammy chuckled. "Put those puppy eyes away, Mabel. Of course I forgive you both," he said. The twins ran towards Sammy and hugged him at once, and even Soos joined in, wrapping his arms around them and nearly squeezing them to death.
After that, the four of them were able to escape by stacking themselves on top of each other to reach the lid. Mabel, who was on the top, managed to push off the lid. "Let's get that flashlight before Gideon gets Stan," said Dipper. They all crawled out of the jar and peeked out of Gideon's pocket. "Do you see the flashlight anywhere?," asked Sammy. "There it is!," Dipper said, pointing at it. As they crawled out of the pocket and climbed up Gideon's back, Mabel was immediately enamored by Gideon's hair. "Woah! His hair's so shiny!," she gasped.
"No! Don't look directly at it!," cried Dipper, pulling Mabel back. Soos suddenly jumped onto Gideon's neck and let himself sink into the fat. "His neck is really squishy! Hey look, I'm making fat angels," he said, happily moving his arms and legs around. "Soos, no!," gasped Sammy, but it was too late. "Ew! Termites!," cried Gideon, reaching behind his neck. Soos was knocked off by a single swat of his hand, and fell through the air. "Tell my storyyyyy!," he cried before disappearing into the carpet. "Oh, no! Soos is gonna be fine, right?," Dipper asked in worry. "He'll be fine, Dipper," Sammy assured him. "The carpet broke his fall."
Meanwhile, Gideon was starting to lose his patience. After being lured by Stan into the mirror maze, one of Stan's newest attractions, he was being bamboozled by the conman's many reflections, unable to tell which is the real Stan. Gideon tried to shoot his flashlight at one of the mirrors, but the beam ended up being reflected back, nearly hitting himself and shrinking a moose head pinned to the wall. "Ha, ha, ha, ha!," laughed Stan, who was having the time of his life making a fool out of his child rival. Roaring in anger, Gideon smashed the mirror by throwing his flashlight at it. "Hey! Watch the merchandise!," Stan snapped. Hatching an idea, Gideon ran to all the mirrors and began smashing them up, one by one. Eventually, there were no more of them left, meaning nowhere left for Stan to hide. "You little troll!," said Stan, walking out into the open unwittingly. "Those mirrors cost me ten, I mean twenty-five, five-hundred. Five-hundred dollars each, and you're paying for all of 'em!" "Oh contraire," Gideon sneered, stalking towards him with the flashlight in his hand. "It will be you who pays!" Meanwhile, Sammy and the twins were watching from Gideon's neck, unsure on what to do. "Grunkle Stan is doomed!," Mabel cried. "Don't lose hope, Mabel. It's still not over!," Sammy tried to reassure her.
Dipper frantically racked his brain for any ideas. Suddenly, one came to him. "Sammy's right, we're not completely doomed! To his armpit!," he said. "Uh uh," said Mabel, shaking her head with a grossed out look on her face. "Just! Uh! Come on!," groaned Dipper, pushing her down Gideon's shirt while Sammy followed close behind. Meanwhile, as Gideon walked towards Stan threateningly, the latter noticed the flashlight in his hand. "Woah! What is that thing?!," he asked, nervously backing away. "Finally after all these years, after every humiliation!," growled Gideon, approaching Stan menacingly. "Your business, your family, everything will finally be mine! You have no one to protect you now! Prepare for the wrath of Gideon Glee– Gideon glee– oh oh oh ah oh oh ah!" Suddenly, for no known reason, Gideon fell to the floor and burst out in laughter, rolling around. "Eh. I don't even know how to respond to this," said a bewildered Stan. "Uh ey ey ey! No! No! Stop it! Ha, ha, ha!," laughed Gideon. "Look um, kid. I think this rivalry thing is getting to you," Stan said awkwardly. "Ha, I understand. I mean, I'm a formidable foe, what can I say." "No!," Gideon screeched as foam started coming out of his mouth.
"Hey now, come on, you'll get me one of these days," said Stan. "Maybe, you know, run your evil plan by some friends next time, huh? Workshop it, but first get your issues in order there." However, Gideon was still rolling around in a fit of laughter, unable to even speak. Stan awkwardly started gently kicking him across the floor. "Up over the carpet, there we go, around the end table, and out the door." Eventually, he managed to get Gideon to the front door and kicked him down the steps. As Gideon rolled his way down, Dipper, Mabel, and Sammy jumped off of him, unnoticed by anyone else. Gideon, who finally stopped laughing, patted himself down and realized that his flashlight was missing. "My light!," he cried, reaching out to Stan. "You're the light of my life too, pal," Stan snarked before closing the door. "Whoa, freak show," he then muttered to himself, walking away. After he was gone, Dipper, Mabel, and Sammy emerged from the carpet, laughing together. "I can't believe your plan was to tickle him, bro-bro!," Mabel giggled. "That was awesome!" "What can I say? I'm just full of great ideas," Dipper bragged. "I'll say," Sammy chuckled. "So are you two ready to grow back to normal size now?"
The twins agreed eagerly, and they quickly set up the flashlight. "After you," said Dipper, getting behind the flashlight. "It's okay, you can go first if you want to," said Mabel. She cried out in surprise when Dipper suddenly grew her back to normal without warning. Then, after Dipper and Sammy were grown back to normal size, the twins measured against each other. "Hey, you let me keep my extra millimeter!," said Mabel. "You earned it," said Dipper. "Awww!," said Mabel. "Thanks! Little brothe–!" "Stop it," Dipper quickly said in a rather irritated voice.
"Well, I guess we should destroy this thing. You know, so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands and junk," said Mabel. "Seems like the smart thing to do," said Dipper, handing her the crystal. Mabel immediately threw it to the ground and aggressively stomped it to pieces. "Die, die!," she cried. "Well, I'm glad that's all over with," said Sammy, sighing in relief. "Yeah," said Dipper, nodding in agreement. "By the way, what language was that you spoke after you hurt your hand? I don't think I've ever heard it before." Sammy gave Dipper a playful smile. "Well, I could just tell you right now… or I could let you figure it out on your own. You're the smart one, after all." Dipper pouted, but he couldn't deny that he did love a good challenge.
"Hey, by the way, do any of you feel like you're forgetting something crazy important?," asked Mabel. Before Dipper or Sammy could ask her what she meant by that, they suddenly heard a voice from below. "There you dudes are!" The three of them looked down and saw a still shrunken Soos standing in front of them, waving his arms in order to get their attention. He had already arranged some of the glass shards to spell HELP SOOS, a message that none of them had even noticed until now. "I've been trying to get your attention," said Soos.
The group looked down at the shattered remnants of the crystal that Mabel had just shattered. Then, they looked at each other. "Glue," said Mabel. "Lots of glue," said Dipper. "Enough to sink a boat," Sammy agreed. This… was going to take a while.