Fortunately, Stan fell back out of the hole in mere moments, though from Stan's own perspective, it felt more like hours. The bottomless pit was definitely one of their more tame adventures, something that Sammy was pretty grateful for. If he had to be honest, he was starting to get a bit overwhelmed with the strangeness of this town, so that was a welcome change of pace. Not only that, Mabel seemed to have noticeably cheered up since their visit to the pit, and had seemingly forgotten about the entire incident with the Gremloblin.
A few more days passed with not much going on. Then, one day, it was sweltering hot outside. The sun was practically roasting the entire town alive. Squirrels burst into flames when they went outside. Everyone stayed inside and did their best to fight the heat, but it was a losing battle. The wallpaper was peeling off and the water in the fish tank was boiling, though Sammy managed to take all the fish out and put them in ice cold water before they could be boiled alive. Since it was so hot outside, there were no tourists, so the shack was closed for today. It wasn't as though they had planned on working today, anyway. After all, who in their right minds would be working on such a hot day? "Watch out, Gravity Falls, because at 110 degrees, we're looking at the hottest day of the summer!," Toby Determined spoke through their radio.
Stan, Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Sammy were all in the living room. Stan was laying on the floor with a bucket of ice cream near him, which had already completely melted. Dipper and Mabel were also laying on the floor, and if it wasn't for the sweat on their bodies and the groans emanating from them, one would've assumed they were dead. Soos was sitting against the wall with his shirt lifted up and covering his face. Sammy had taken off his sweater and was flipping through the channels on the television with a tired look on his face. They had all stripped to their undergarments, but it didn't really help. "All in favor of doing nothing all day, say 'ugh'," Dipper groaned. The others raised their hands and groaned in unison. "I'm definitely taking a shower at the end of the day. I'm sweating like a pig," Sammy sighed. Suddenly, Waddles walked into the room, seemingly the only one who wasn't affected by the heat. "Ha. You said 'pig' and Waddles came. Ha, ha…," said Mabel, trying to laugh but too worn out by the heat to do so.
Grunting obliviously, Waddles walked up to Stan and stared at the chocolate ice cream that was covering the conman's face. "I'm gonna throw this pig out of the house!," Stan growled. Then, Waddles started licking the ice cream off his face. "You called my bluff, pig."
Meanwhile, Toby continued talking on the radio, and one sentence caught everyone's attention. "On the bright side, pun very much intended, it's opening week at the Gravity Falls Pool." Everyone perked up. "Gravity Falls Pool?," gasped Mabel. "Today?," said Dipper. "Pun intended?," asked Soos, somewhat missing the point. "I didn't know this town had a pool!," Sammy said excitedly. "Quick! To the car!," said Stan. He tried to get up, then realized that he was now stuck to the floor. "Hey, kids, a little help here?," he asked. Dipper, Mabel, and Sammy worked together to pry him off, and eventually, they succeeded. "Alright! Off to the pool!," said Stan, who still had some floorboards stuck to his back. "Uh, Mister Pines…?," said Sammy, but the conman was already on his way out. "And remember to be on alert for random wildfires!," Toby said on the radio. "Wait, what?," said Stan, before suddenly catching on fire outside. He screamed. "Oh, goodness! D-don't worry, Mister Pines! I'll go get the fire extinguisher!," said Sammy, running out of the room. "I'll help, dude!," said Soos, running after him.
Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. "He'll be fine," Mabel said optimistically.
Fortunately, Stan did turn out to be fine, even though he had to go back inside for some new clothes after his old clothes were burned right off. After Sammy finally told Stan about the floorboards stuck to his back and helped him get them off, the group got into the car and drove to the pool. They made a quick stop on the way to buy some swimsuits first.
Once they got there, it was like they found an oasis. The pool water appeared to be surprisingly clean, and overall, there seemed to be a cheerful mood. After changing into their swimsuits, they stood in front of the pool and admired the view. "Ah, the pool! A sparkling oasis of summer enchantment!," said Mabel. "Yeah, nothing like sitting in a moist tub with strangers. It's like the bus, but wet," said Stan. Sammy cringed at the mental image. "Well, it's still better than spending the day in the shack, sweating our butts off," he said. Dipper glanced at Soos' towel and saw a picture of a smiling sun on it, wearing sunglasses. "Why would a sun need to wear sunglasses?," he asked. "It's best not to think about it," Soos said vaguely.
As Mabel scanned the crowd, she noticed someone in the pool who immediately caught her attention. Unsurprisingly, it was a Hispanic boy about her age, with long hair and facial hair above his lip. Just the type of boy that Mabel was attracted to. "Whoa, whoa! Stop the presses! Who's that?," she gasped, pointing at him. "Oh, yeah," said Soos, eating a corn ship. "Word is, dude never leaves the pool. People say he's a 'Mysterious loner.'" While Mabel was enamored with this new stranger, Sammy noticed something strange that Soos just said. "Hold on. Never? As in, he's never left the pool?," he asked in confusion. "Pretty much," said Soos, backing away while eating more corn ships. Sammy looked at the boy in the pool. "Huh. I wonder why his skin isn't pruney from being in the water for so long…," he murmured. "So he's handsome, has facial hair, and flawless skin? Oooh, Mabel likey!," squealed Mabel, hopping up and down.
"Mabel, can't you go for one week without having a new crush on some random guy?," asked Dipper. "Uh-uh. Just look at his little mustache hairs!," cried Mabel." Soos walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder. "You are clearly enamored. Go to him," he said in a dead serious voice. Mabel nods and immediately starts running towards her new dream boy, though she accidentally trips over a bucket, stepping on two people relaxing in their lawn chairs, and knocking over a basket of beach balls in the process. "It's so beautiful!," said Soos.
"You know, considering all of her previous 'boyfriends', I'm a little worried that this new one is going to be another supernatural entity," Sammy said worriedly. But Dipper was rather unconcerned. "Eh, I wouldn't worry about it," he said, shrugging. "Mabel's all talk, anyway. You wanna know a secret, Sammy? She's never even kissed a guy before. She always messes it up." "Oi. Women," said Stan. "By the way, what's this I'm hearing about superna–?"
Suddenly, a water balloon flew into Stan's face, splashing him with water. The two boys looked up and saw Wendy sitting up in a lifeguard chair, wearing a red swimsuit and a whistle around her neck. "Hey, Mr. Pines!," she greeted cockily. "Wendy? Where's the lifeguard?," Stan asked. "I am the lifeguard," said Wendy. "I make the rules, sucka! Boosh!" She began throwing more water balloons at Stan. "Aah! She's attacking me with water!," cried Stan, running away from the bombardment of balloons. Wendy, Soos, Dipper, and Sammy had a little laugh together at Stan's expense. "Man, I've been wanting to do that to him for a while," Wendy chuckled. She looked down at Sammy, and her eyes widened with surprise. "Whoa, Sammy, you are ripped. I didn't know you work out," she said. Sammy was only wearing green swim trunks and sandals, meaning his physique was there for everyone to see. "O-oh, it's no big deal! I just go jogging every now and then," he said, rubbing the back of his head with a bashful smile.
"So you work here, Wendy?," asked Dipper. "Yep. I found out lifeguards get free snack privileges," said Wendy. "Plus I get the best seat in the house." "Yeah, you do!," said Dipper. He laughed for a while before he stopped and whispered, "I've been laughing for too long." Sammy could immediately tell what was going on between them, but Soos was a bit more oblivious to what was happening. "Dude, are you and Wendy having a staring contest?," he asked, much to Dipper's mortification. "'Cause I think you're winning–" "Uh, hey, Soos!," Sammy said quickly. "I think Stan's calling us! Why don't you and I go to him and let these two catch up?"
As Sammy herded Soos away from them, Dipper gave him a grateful smile and nodded, which Sammy returned with a smile and a thumbs up. Eventually, Sammy and Soos caught up to Stan, who seemed to be looking for something. "Soos? Sammy? What the heck are you two following me around for?," he asked, raising an eyebrow at them. "Didn't you call us?," asked Soos, looking just as confused. "Sorry about that, Soos," said Sammy, smiling sheepishly. "That was just me trying to get you away from Dipper and Wendy. You were kind of… embarrassing him." "Oh. That's okay, dude," said Soos, accepting his apology without hesitation.
"Well, since you two knuckleheads are here anyway, I wanna show you something," said Stan. "Now where the heck is it…? Ah, there it is!" He walked over to a single lawn chair at the corner of the pool, which was currently empty. Sammy and Soos followed him.
"There she is, guys," Stan said proudly, gesturing to it. "Whaddya think?" "Wow. It's… a lawn chair," Sammy said awkwardly. "Ha! Not just any lawn chair, kid," said Stan. "Check it out. Equidistant from the snack bar and the bathroom, just the right amount of sun and shade. And pointed away from where Old Man McGucket lotions himself." "Whoo-wee!," McGucket's voice could be heard from the other side of the pool. "Ah, my eyes!," cried the voice of an unfortunate man. Good thing that Sammy had enough sense not to look in that direction.
"The perfect lawn chair," Stan sighed contentedly, admiring it like it was a beautiful painting in a museum. "The legends that you told us in the car were true," said Soos, who was just as impressed. "Oh, yeah. The whole drive here, you wouldn't stop talking about it, Mister Pines," said Sammy. "I just can't believe it wasn't already taken," said Stan, tossing his towel onto it. "And now to sit on it, thereby claiming it as my own." "Uh, Mister Pines," said Sammy, pointing at the chair. "Someone's already taken it." Stan spun around and was shocked to see none other than his archrival, Gideon Gleeful, relaxing on the lawn chair that had been empty only a few seconds ago. "WHAAAAAAAT?!," Stan shouted out dramatically.
"Why, hello, Stanford," said Gideon, clearly enjoying the trouble he was causing. He looked at Sammy and narrowed his eyes. "Sammy," he greeted with a sneer. "Um… Gideon. Hey," Sammy said awkwardly, nodding his head. "How were you so fast? Stan literally turned his back for only a few seconds." "Nevermind that!," growled Stan, looming over Gideon. "GIDEON! GET OUTTA MY CHAIR, KID!" Despite the obvious size difference between the two, Gideon was not afraid in the slightest. "Oh my, was this your chair? I had no idea." But then, he leaned in and whispered into Stan's ear. "Yes, I did, Stan. I knew." He flopped back onto the lawn chair and rolled around in it like it was the most comfortable bed in the world. "Mm! Ooh!"
"Move it, you little troll!," yelled Stan, not one to be deterred from losing his favorite lawn chair. Realizing that the conman was causing a commotion, Sammy tried to intervene. "Mister Pines, just drop it. There are plenty of other lawn chairs you can use," he said.
"You don't get it, kid," said Stan, looking back at him with narrowed eyes. "This isn't about the lawn chair anymore. This is about Gideon thinking he can just take what's mine!" "You literally stole his family's painting a while ago," sighed Sammy, rolling his eyes. "No offense, but you're acting pretty immature. Besides, nobody owns any of the lawn chairs at this pool. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm on Gideon's side on this one. He was there first."
Gideon was taken aback that Sammy would take his side instead of Stan's, but he also couldn't deny that he was enjoying seeing the baffled look on the conman's face. "You heard him, Stanford. First come, first serve!," he said mockingly, before giggling and rolling around on the chair. Finally, Stan had had enough. "I'll first serve YOU!," he yelled, picking him up. Then, a nearby whistle blew. They all turned towards the sound and saw Wendy standing nearby with the whistle near her lips, a smug smile on her face. "Uh… I can explain," said Stan.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't even get the chance to explain himself, and before long, he found himself locked up in pool jail. "Come on, Wendy! You can't do this to an old man!," he said, gripping the bars while Wendy locked the cell door with a key. "Sorry, Stan, it's not up to me," she said. Then, she chuckled. "Actually, it is." Seeing that she wasn't planning on letting him out anytime soon, Stan turned towards Sammy. "Come on, Sammy. Do me a favor and get me outta here." "...Have fun in pool jail, Mister Pines," said Sammy, smiling at him.
Stan grumbled under his breath about "traitors in his midst" but begrudgingly accepted his fate, turning to face the wall with his arms crossed. "He was getting a little bit carried away earlier, so I think some time to cool off on his own would be good for him," Sammy explained to Wendy. "Yeah, you're telling me. I could hear him from the other end of the pool," said Wendy. Suddenly, Dipper ran to them excitedly. "Hey, Wendy, I got the job!," he exclaimed.
"Job? What job?," asked Sammy. He noticed the whistle hanging around Dipper's neck and quickly put two and two together. "Oh. Ooooh," he said, smiling cheekily. "So now you're a lifeguard too, Dipper?" "Um… y-yeah," said Dipper, looking down with his face turning red. "I'm Wendy's assistant now, technically." Sammy couldn't resist teasing him a little more. "Right. Just her assistant. And nothing else," he said knowingly. "Sammy!," Dipper hissed, his face flushing with embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry, I was only kidding around," Sammy said quickly, chuckling a little. "Well, congratulations. Not many kids your age get their own jobs so soon."
"Thanks," said Dipper, sighing in relief. "Hey, Dipper," said Wendy, causing him to jump a little. "Wanna go abuse our power?" "Sure!," Dipper said, but quickly became worried. "But what if Poolcheck catches us? He seems emotionally unstable." Meanwhile, Poolcheck, presumably Wendy and Dipper's boss, was doing intense sit ups on the chain link fence. He paused for a moment and observed his surroundings like a hawk, then went back to doing sit ups. Sammy couldn't help but be impressed by the man's fitness, and a childish part of him wanted to know how he would fare if the both of them competed against each other in exercising.
"Nah, don't worry, man," Wendy said casually. "You just gotta be sneaky about your rule-breaking. Race you to the no running sign!" As Wendy and Dipper raced each other along the pool, Sammy waved after them. "Have fun, you two!," he hollered. Even though he did not really approve of their rule-breaking, he was still glad they were having a good time.
"Ahem!," someone impatiently cleared their throat next to him. Sammy looked around, but was confused to see nobody there. "Hey! Eyes down here, Samuel!," the voice snapped. Sammy looked down and saw Gideon standing right next to him, glaring up at him.
"Oh. Um, Gideon. …Hi," Sammy said slowly. "Do you… need something?" "You could say that, Samuel," said Gideon. "For starters, you could tell me who you really are." Sammy's eyes widened by just the tiniest margin. "I'm not sure what you're talking abo–"
"Don't patronize me, boy!," Gideon growled. "I've seen you before! I don't know when, and I don't know where, but I've seen you before, Samuel! And I know you keep your secrets close to your chest. Well, I'm here to find out what they are!" Sammy tried to stay calm on the outside, but on the inside, he was panicking. Oh no, oh no, oh no, he knows, I don't know how but he knows, and he says he's seen me before but I sure as heck haven't seen HIM before, what is he going to do, oh no, he'll tell everyone, he'll tell my friends and I'll be driven out of town and everyone will hate me and– Inwardly, he took a deep breath to calm down. Then, he looked Gideon in the eye and gave him a friendly smile. "I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree, Gideon," he said calmly. "I'm pretty sure I would have recognized you if we had met before. Anyway, you said I have secrets. Doesn't everyone? I'm sure you have secrets of your own as well. And if someone came up to you and demanded that you tell them, you wouldn't feel too comfortable sharing them either, would you?" Gideon narrowed his eyes and sneered at him. "Look at you, putting that silver tongue of yours to work again," he growled. "The Pines family can't see through your lies, but I do. Now you're gonna tell me who you are or…"
Suddenly, for some reason, Gideon couldn't finish his sentence. He tried to continue speaking, but found his mouth had gone dry. Sammy looked down at him, the smile still on his face. "Or what?," he asked. "Why did you stop, hm? What are you going to do if I don't tell you anything?" At first, Gideon had no idea why he couldn't bring himself to talk. He didn't know why it felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest, or why he suddenly felt smaller than he had ever felt before. Then, he realized why. It was Sammy. Sammy wasn't doing anything at the moment. He was still standing there, waiting for him to speak up with a smile on his face. It was his eyes that changed. There was now something hidden in those eyes that Gideon didn't notice before. Something dark and dangerous. In that moment, Gideon felt like he was being stared down by a wild tiger or a grizzly bear. He began to genuinely fear for his own life.
"Well, Gideon? I'm waiting. Or are you not going to say anything else?," asked Sammy. Once again, Gideon couldn't bring himself to answer. "Alright," Sammy said gently. "It seems like you've finished saying your piece. So I'll start with mine." He got down on one knee and placed his hand on Gideon's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. It was a small squeeze, but Gideon could still feel the power in his grip, and he realized that he was in a very dangerous position. In fact, he had no doubt in his mind that Sammy could kill him if he wanted to, right then and there, and that there would be nothing he could do about it. If it wasn't for the fact that they were in public and thus surrounded by other people, he probably would have done so already.
Sammy leaned in and whispered into Gideon's ear. "You're right, Gideon. I do have my own secrets. And I would do anything to keep them hidden. Did you really believe that you were the only one willing to get their hands dirty? The truth is, I'm more dangerous than you can ever imagine, Gideon. You may have that cute smile, and that catchy song-and-dance number, and the whole town eating out of your hand, but I know people too. Powerful people. People who are just as dangerous as me, if not moreso. All I have to do is give them a call. Just one quick, short phone call. And these people owe me favors, Gideon. They would do anything for me. And trust me, some of them are not nearly as nice as I am. I'm going to give you some advice, Gideon. I think it would be in your best interests to take it. Would you like to hear it?"
Gideon silently nodded, unable to do anything else. "...Drop it," Sammy whispered. "Just drop it. That's all you have to do. Whatever investigation you're doing on me, just put an end to it. Do that, and we'll be on good terms. I don't care what else you do, Gideon. You can keep on putting on your little shows. You can even keep on pestering us like you've always been doing. But if you threaten me like that again, I'll show you exactly why I'm not to be crossed. Do you understand me?" Gideon nodded again, shaking from head to toe, now pale.
"Good!," Sammy said cheerfully, patting him on the back and standing up. Just like that, Gideon was able to breathe again. The petrifying fear he felt had almost vanished, though some of it still lingered. The dark look in Sammy's eyes was also gone. He looked just as friendly and warm as he had always been, as though what had occurred between them didn't even happen. "I'm glad that you can see reason, Gideon," said Sammy. "Now go on. Have fun."
Wasting no more time, Gideon ran away from him, sneaking fearful glances over his shoulder as he ran. Sammy waited until he was out of sight. Then, once he was sure Gideon couldn't see him anymore, his smile dropped and he buried his face in his hands.
"Idiot," he murmured to himself. "You idiot. Why did you do that? He was just a child. You didn't need to traumatize him like that. But… I had no other choice. He almost caught on to me. I had to do something. Ugh, that's not a good excuse. Mình đúng là thằng ngốc mà!"
"Uh… Sammy?" Sammy quickly removed his hands from his face and saw Mabel in the pool, looking up at him worriedly. Next to her was her newest crush, the Hispanic boy with facial hair, who also looked pretty worried. "Oh, um, Mabel," said Sammy, clearing his throat. "Sorry, you sort of… caught me at a bad time. So… who's your new friend?" The boy reached out his hand. "Hola. My name's Mermando. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sammy. Mabel has told me a lot about you." Sammy smiled and shook his hand. "Glad to finally make your acquaintance, Mermando," he said. "Sammy, are you sure you're okay?," asked Mabel. "Me and Mermando wanted to tell you something, but if you're dealing with some stuff, we can just–"
"No, no," Sammy said quickly. "It's alright. I'm fine, really. What did you two want to tell me?" Mermando gave Mabel a nervous look. Mabel smiled and nodded encouragingly. Sighing heavily, Mermando tossed away the inflatable raft that he had been hiding behind, revealing his lower body. Instead of two legs, there was a single tail attached to him. A fish tail.
"...Huh. So you're a mermaid," said Sammy. Somehow, he only found the revelation slightly surprising. This town had really changed him. "A merman," Mermando corrected him. "Right, sorry. A merman," said Sammy. "And I'm guessing that Mabel already knows?" "Yep!," said Mabel, nodding her head. "...So why are you telling me this?," asked Sammy.
Then, Mermando proceeded to tell Sammy everything he had gone through leading up to being trapped in the pool. He explained how he was the prince of an underwater kingdom, and how he was swimming with dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico when he was captured by some fishermen. Fortunately, he was able to jump out of their truck and escape into a lake. Then, to get back to the ocean, he tried to swim to the top of a waterfall, but even though he momentarily succeeded, a log smacked him in the face, causing him to fall into the forest. He would've died on land if the deer hadn't come by and licked his face. After that, through a convoluted series of events, he fell down a pipe, through the forest, over the fence, and into the pool.
"And that is how I ended up here," Mermando finished his story morosely. "I'm so sorry, Mermando," Sammy said sympathetically. "But if you wanted to get back home, why haven't you tried escaping?" "I have tried," sighed Mermando. "My last escape attempt… didn't end so well." "And that's why we're telling you all of this, Sammy!," said Mabel, barely able to contain her own excitement. "We want you to help us break him out of here! Will you help us, Sammy? Please, please, please, pleeeeaaase?" Both her and Mermando gave him the biggest puppy dog eyes they could muster. Fortunately, Sammy was already convinced. "Of course, I'll help you escape, Mermando," he said. "You will?," asked Mermando, before splashing around excitedly with a big smile on his face. "Oh, thank you so much, señor! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"No problem," Sammy chuckled, his mood now improved by the kids' excitement. "So what's the plan? You two do have a plan, right?" Mabel and Mermando exchanged sheepish glances. "Well, we have… the beginnings of a plan… sort of…," said Mabel. Sammy sighed in amusement and shook his head. "Alright, just fill me in on what you have so far, and I'll help you with the details," he said. And for the rest of the day, that was exactly what they did.
Soon, night was falling and the pool had to be closed. Sammy and Mabel bid Mermando farewell, promising him that they would come back later tonight to put their plan into motion. The two of them, as well as Stan and Soos, went back to the Mystery Shack, but for some reason, Dipper insisted on staying behind to make sure none of the pool equipment gets damaged or stolen. After they returned to the shack, Sammy and Mabel spent some more time going over their plan. Then, it was time for them to go to sleep. But Sammy made sure to set his alarm to four in the morning, so when his alarm rang, he immediately woke up and went over to wake up Mabel. "Mabel," he whispered, gently shaking her. "Mabel." Mabel groaned and rolled over. "It's too early. Five more minutes," she mumbled. Sammy chuckled. "Alright, then. If you're that tired, you can sleep in if you want. I guess I'll have to go rescue Mermando on my own."
Upon hearing Mermando's name, Mabel instantly sat up, wide awake. "I'm up! I'm up!," she cried. "Shhh!," Sammy shushed her. "Remember, we don't want to wake up Stan." Mabel's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Right, right," she whispered in a much quieter voice. The two of them got dressed, then snuck out of the shack and used the golf cart to drive all the way to the pool. Of course, since Dipper was patrolling the pool, they made sure to hide the cart in a bush. Then, they waited for the right opportunity to break in. However, things took a turn for the unexpected when Sammy and Mabel, while hiding in the bushes, saw Stan's car driving up to the fence. Stan, still in his underwear, got out of the car with a pair of fence cutters.
"Hold the phone! What's Grunkle Stan doing here?," Mabel whispered. "I have no idea," Sammy whispered back. "But maybe this is a good thing. He could help us break in."
They stayed in the bushes and watched as Stan sneaked up to the fence and began cutting a hole in it. However, it wasn't long before Dipper caught him in the act. "Freeze!," he shouted, then paused when he realized who it was. "Grunkle Stan?" Stan froze like a deer in the headlights. "I, uh… I'm sleepwalking! Also now I'm sleep-talking. Nice hat, by the way," he said. "You! You're the one destroying pool supplies!," Dipper said accusingly. "What?," Stan scoffed, as though destroying pool supplies was something beneath him. "No! My crime is a lot better than that." He walked through the hole he made in the fence. "I'm gonna get that seat and be ready in the morning when Gideon comes. Then maybe I'll destroy some pool supplies. Night's still young." But Dipper had no interest in letting his grunkle go scot-free. He took a deep breath and blew into the whistle. "Yeesh, alright, I'm goin'!," said Stan, backing away.
But then, when Dipper least expected it, Stan immediately changed direction and began running in the direction of his favorite lawn chair. "Hey!," yelled Dipper, chasing after him. Once both of them were out of sight, Sammy drove the golf cart out of the bushes. Mermando, who was waiting for them in the pool, saw the headlights. "Mabel! Sammy!," he cheered, swimming to them. "Shhh," Sammy shushed. He looked around and kept watch while Mabel used a hair clip to unlock the pool supplies door. "Are you ready to see your family?," she asked. "Yes, but how can I, a merman, possibly escape?," asked Mermando. Mabel took a piece of paper out of her sweater and showed it to Mermando. It was a crudely drawn picture of Mermando, but with fish sticks taped to his lower body to form legs. "Okay, my original plan was to tape together a bunch of fish sticks to make you a prosthetic pair of people legs," she explained.
"Intriguing," said Mermando, who surprisingly didn't think it was such a bad idea. "But then Sammy said we could just transport you in this cooler," said Mabel, filling up a cooler box with a hose on the back of the golf cart. Once it was all filled up, Sammy gave Mermando an encouraging nod. "Come on, Mermando. In you go!," he said. "Ha-ha!," said Mermando, leaping out of the pool and into the cooler. "Well, that was easier than I thought it was going to be," said Sammy. "Hey! Who's there?!," they heard Dipper yell. "...Me and my big mouth," Sammy sighed. Mermando began to panic. "Quick! Hide me! My kind must not be seen!" Mabel quickly closed the lid of the cooler just as Dipper arrived on the scene. "Mabel? Sammy?!," he cried, sounding especially surprised at the latter. "You guys are here too? Is there anyone not breaking into the pool tonight? What, is Soos here too?" Sammy looked over Dipper's head and saw Soos trying to climb over the fence. "Would you like me to answer that last question?," he asked.
Soos finally managed to pull himself over the fence, but fell onto his face. "I'm okay," he said. "Go home, Soos," sighed Dipper, not even bothering to turn around. "You got it," said Soos before attempting to climb back over the fence again. "Soos, try putting your feet in the holes of the fence!," Sammy said helpfully. "Thanks, dude," said Soos, trying to follow Sammy's advice. "So, why are you two here?," Dipper asked Mabel and Sammy. "Uh, no reason," Mabel said nervously. Then, from inside the cooler, Mermando cleared his throat, which Dipper heard. "Did that cooler just clear its throat?," he asked suspiciously. "Uh, t-that was me!," Sammy spoke up, clearing his throat as loudly as possible. "Ahem! Ahe-he-he-ack!" It only made him sound like there was something stuck in his throat. "Sammy, I know it wasn't you. Come on, what's going on here?," asked Dipper. "Nothing's going on here," Mabel said quickly. "Don't be silly. There certainly isn't a merman in that cooler, if that's what you're implying. Who said anything about a merman?" "Tone it down, Mabel," Sammy hissed under his breath. "Mabel, I don't have time for your games," said Dipper. "If neither of you give me those supplies, I'll lose the coolest job ever!" Mabel and Sammy glanced at each other and nodded. Time to enact the plan.
"We understand," Mabel sighed. Suddenly, she pointed in a random direction. "Hey, look! Wendy in a bikini!" Dipper quickly spun around. "Really? At night?," he asked, searching for her. Hook, line, and sinker. While Dipper was distracted, Sammy and Mabel climbed into the golf cart and drove through the fence, making another hole next to the one that Stan made.
"Sorry, Dipper!," Sammy hollered as they drove away. Behind them, they could hear Dipper angrily shouting their names. "Ugh, I feel terrible for doing this," groaned Sammy, tightly gripping the steering wheel. "Don't worry, Sammy. Once we release Mermando, I'm sure Dipper will understand," Mabel said optimistically. Suddenly, they heard the sound of tires skidding on the road behind them. Sammy looked in the rearview mirror and saw Dipper chasing after them in the pool mobile. It even had a small catapult attached to it. Mabel glanced back at Mermando, who was peeking out of the cooler. "We're gonna get you home!," she assured him.
Mermanodo gave her a thumbs up, then narrowly avoided a water balloon that hit the side of the cooler. Dipper was using the catapult attached to his vehicle to throw water balloons at them. "Hand over the pool supplies in the name of pool law!," Dipper yelled at them through a megaphone. "Sorry, Dipper!," Sammy hollered back. "We really need these supplies right now! They're for something very important!" "Pool law is dumb! And so is your hat!," Mabel yelled at Dipper. "Mabel! Don't antagonize your brother when he's engaging us in a high-speed car chase and throwing water balloons at us!," Sammy scolded. Dipper continued to chase after them and launch water balloons at them. Fortunately, they were getting closer to the lake. "Look! Gravity Falls lake!," cried Mabel, pointing at a sign that said Lake 3 Miles as they sped by.
But then, things got worse when one of Dipper's water balloons hit the knob on the cooler and knocked it off, causing the container to rapidly leak water. Mermando desperately gasped for breath. "I cannot breathe! You must hurry!," he wheezed. "Just hold on for a little bit longer, Mermando!," Sammy pleaded, stepping down on the gas pedal harder.
Finally, they passed by the sign that said Welcome to Lake Gravity Falls. The lake was literally in front of them. Sammy took his foot off the gas pedal and slammed it on the brakes, causing the cart to nearly tip over. Sammy, Mabel, and the cooler fell out. After landing on the ground painfully, Sammy quickly got up and went to check on Mabel. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Mabel! I didn't mean to stop the cart so abruptly! Are you alright?!," he asked.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Come on, we need to get Mermando into the lake!," she cried. But it was already too late. Dipper finally caught up to them. He got out of the vehicle and ran over to them with both anger and concern on his face. "Alright, the jig is up! Hand over that cooler!," he demanded. "Never!," cried Mabel, holding onto it tightly. "Why not?!," groaned Dipper, almost at his wit's end. "Why do you guys even need it?! What the heck is even in there?!"
Sammy sighed heavily. "We'd better tell him the truth, Mabel," he said. "I know," sighed Mabel, before blurting it all out in just one breath. "We needed the cooler to save our new friend because he needs to go home and he's really nice and we combed each other's hair and he needs to be in the cooler because he breathes water because he's a merman!"
Mabel opened the cooler and tipped Mermando out of it, who rolled along the ground until he was right in front of Dipper. "Hola," he said casually, waving to him. "Whoa! Way to bury the lead, guys," said Dipper, staring at Mermando's fish tail. "Wait a minute. If you were trying to help him all this time, why didn't you guys tell me about it? I would've understood."
"Sorry, Dipper," said Sammy, looking down in shame. "We kind of promised Mermando we wouldn't tell anyone else about him or his species. They need to be kept a secret. You know, so fishermen like the ones that caught him don't come after his family. We're really sorry about this, Dipper. Especially me." He prepared for the tongue lashing he believed he rightly deserved, but to his pleasant surprise, Dipper was much more forgiving than he had hoped.
"Hey, it's okay," said the preteen, smiling. "I get it. You and Mabel were just trying to help a merman get back to his home. I mean, you did destroy some of the pool property back there, which will probably get me fired, and you did make me chase you guys all the way to the lake while throwing water balloons at you, but don't worry. I still forgive you." Sammy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Dipper," he said gratefully. "Anyway, let me introduce you guys!," said Mabel. "Dipper, Mermando the merman. He's a merman." "Nice to meet you," said Mermando. "I will not lie, the strong bond between you and Sammy almost drove me to tears. I am glad to have been a witness to such a touching moment." "Aw, thanks, Mermando!," said Sammy, smiling at him. But then, his smile dropped. "Wait a minute. How are you still breathing on land?"
"Oh yes, that's the other thing. I think I am dying," Mermando replied casually. Suddenly, he began gasping and suffocating on the ground while flopping around like… well, like a fish on dry land. His face began turning blue from lack of oxygen. "Water! ¡Agua! ¡Yo necesito!" "Oh, no! Mermando!," cried Mabel. She quickly turned towards Dipper. "Dipper, you're a lifeguard! Give him CPR!" "Mermen don't breathe air!," Dipper retorted, also in a state of panic. "Then give him reverse CPR! Doi!," said Mabel, as though that was supposed to explain anything.
Thinking quickly, Dipper ran to the pool car and took out a bottle of water. He ran back and poured water into his mouth, but didn't swallow any of it. Then, like a mother bird feeding her babies, he began spitting the water into Mermando's mouth. He did that repeatedly, blowing water into Mermando's mouth from his own. "I hate this! I hate this!," he cried between breaths, but kept on doing it. Sammy suddenly realized what Dipper could've done instead and tried to tell him. "Dipper, just put him in the–" "Shhh!," Mabel shushed, putting her finger to his mouth. She slowly took out her phone, a big grin on her face, and snapped a photo of Dipper making mouth contact with Mermando. "Blackmail!," she laughed. "Mabel," sighed Sammy.
Mermando finally came to and coughed harshly. "Thank you for saving me, but why didn't you just roll me into the lake?," he asked, gesturing to the lake, which was only a foot away from them. Dipper groaned and smacked his forehead in frustration.
Together, Sammy, Dipper, and Mabel picked up Mermando and threw him off the pier and into the lake. The merman resurfaced shortly after and made dolphin noises at them. He coughed again. "I am weak from coughing. How will I get my family to hear my call from the mighty depths of the ocean?," he asked. Mabel thought about it for a moment, then got an idea. "I've got it. BRB," she said. She ran to the pool mobile and grabbed the megaphone. "Problem solved!," she said proudly. However, Dipper was quick to put a stop to that and snatched the megaphone away from her. "Mabel, those are pool supplies. I'll get fired!," he said.
"Dipper! Don't you know what it's like to fall for someone? Even though you know in your heart that it'll probably never work out, but you'd do anything for that person?," Mabel pleaded. Dipper hesitated, knowing exactly what that felt like, but he still wasn't sure about handing back the megaphone. "I… I don't know," he said uncertainly. "Dipper," said Sammy, placing his hand on Dipper's shoulder, "I know the real reason why you want to keep this job so badly. You want to get closer to Wendy. But if Wendy was here right now, what do you think she would want you to do?" Dipper hung his head and sighed, already knowing the answer. "Give Mermando the megaphone," he said, handing it back to Mabel. "Thanks, Dip," said Mabel, before tossing it to Mermando, who gratefully accepted the gift. "Mabel, I have never met anyone like you," he said. "Same here. Except for a zombie, a gnome, and a couple of cute vampires," said Mabel. "I don't remember the vampires," said Dipper. "Yeah, when did that happen?," asked Sammy.
"I don't tell you guys everything," said Mabel, before turning back to Mermando. "Well, Mermando, I guess this is it." "Not quite. This is!," said Mermando, suddenly jumping up to her. Before Mabel even knew what happened, Mermando had his hands on top of the pier and was locking lips with her. "Whoa! Okay, that's gross. Ugh," groaned Dipper, quickly turning away. But Sammy didn't share that sentiment. "I think they look adorable together!," he gushed.
After they separated, Mabel had literal stars in her eyes, and her face was also slightly red from blushing. "That was my first kiss!," she cried joyfully. Then, she looked back at Dipper teasingly. "Hey, it was also kind of your first kiss too, huh? Huh?" "Ugh, please don't involve me in this," groaned Dipper, shuddering. Mabel turned back to Mermando. "Goodbye, Mermando," she said sadly. "Goodbye, Mabel. And farewell, Sammy. I would never have made it this far if it wasn't for both of you," said Mermando. "Goodbye, Mermando," said Sammy. "I wish you luck in finding your family." Mermando nodded with a smile, then turned and swam away.
Mabel let out one last sigh and walked back to Dipper and Sammy. "You did the right thing, Dipper," she said proudly. Dipper rolled his eyes but gladly accepted the praise. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "So how are you feeling, Mabel? Are you going to be fine without Mermando?," Sammy asked as they started walking back to the carts. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine," said Mabel. "The important thing is, he's finally free. Oh, wait, wait! One last thing!" She suddenly ran back to the pier and jumped onto a small rocky peninsula in the water. She struck her fist in the air and cheered right as Mermando leaped over her head. "I've always wanted to do that." She walked back to the others. "Okay. Now we can go back to the pool," she said.
By the time they came back, it was morning again. Mr. Poolcheck was already there waiting for them, and he was not happy at all. "YOU!," he roared upon seeing Dipper. "GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE, BOY!" "Wish me luck, guys," sighed Dipper, walking over to Mr. Poolcheck. "Look around you, boy!," yelled Mr. Poolcheck, gesturing to the huge mess around them. "I told you to keep watch, and look what happened! A wrecked fence, dents in the pool mobile, and a missing megaphone?!" He gripped Dipper's shoulders and shook him roughly. "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!," he screamed.
"It's my fault, sir. I'm sorry. I got in too deep," said Dipper. "HAND OVER THE WHISTLE, BOY!," yelled Mr. Poolcheck, reaching his hand out. Dipper handed over his whistle, and was shocked to see the man toss the whistle into his mouth and start chewing on it. He backed away cautiously, believing he had just dodged a bullet with this job. He was about to walk back to the shack when suddenly, a water balloon hit him in the face. To his surprise, it was Wendy. "Hey, doofus, you'll never guess what happened. I just got fired," she said, walking with him. "What? Really?," asked Dipper, unable to stop a smile from forming on his face. "Yeah," said Wendy. "I guess Poolcheck found out I was taking too many snacks." "How many?," asked Dipper. With a cheeky grin, Wendy took off her hat, revealing an entire stack of chip bags on her head. "Hey, wanna go break rules somewhere else?," she asked. "Of course!," said Dipper.
Sammy watched the two of them walking and laughing, glad that things worked out for Dipper after all. Then, he turned his attention towards Mabel, who was sitting by the pool and kicking her feet in the water. Despite that, she didn't look really happy. "Hey, it's alright," Sammy reassured her. "It's like you said earlier. He's free now, and that's what's really important." "Yeah, I know," sighed Mabel. "But I still feel all sad inside. Is that how Dipper always feels?"
"Don't worry, Mabel," said Sammy, smiling a little. "I have a feeling that you'll hear back from him much sooner than you think." Mabel looked up at him in confusion and was about to ask him what he meant when suddenly, a green bottle popped out of the pool grate beneath her. Mabel picked up the bottle and realized that there was a message inside of it. She opened the bottle, took out the paper, and unrolled it. She gasped. "It's a letter from Mermando! Sammy, how did you know?" Sammy couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, yesterday at the pool, when you went to get something from the snack bar, I may have reminded Mermando to write back to you after he gets back home. It seems like he's finally found his family again," he said.
"Oh, thank you, Sammy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!," cried Mabel, hugging him tightly. Then, she immediately went back to reading Mermando's letter, while also noticing more of the same bottles popping out of the grate, making her giggle with joy. Sammy smiled as well, glad that everything worked out in the end. He turned around and was about to walk back to the shack to get some much-needed rest when he saw Stan on the lawn chair. For some reason, the conman was struggling to get off it. "Kids, get the spatulas! KIDS!," he yelled.
Since Dipper was somewhere far away with Wendy and Mabel was too busy reading Mermando's letters to notice, Sammy quickly went over to Stan. "Kid, am I glad to see you!," he said, sighing in relief. "Quick, get me off this thing so I can go after Gideon and pummel that little brat!" "Wait, Gideon did this to you?," asked Sammy. "Ugh, yeah," said Stan. "Turns out he knew that I was gonna break into the pool at night and steal the lawn chair for myself. So he put super glue all over it, and now I'm stuck here! The little demon even came by earlier and gloated about it to my face." That was all Sammy needed to hear. He ran to find Gideon, leaving Stan trapped to his sticky fate. "Wait, wait, wait, where are you going?! Sammy, get back here!"
Meanwhile, Gideon was walking back to his house, still cackling over the trick he pulled on Stan. Super glue was one of the oldest tricks in the book, so he was surprised that Stan still fell for it. Actually, scratch that. He wasn't surprised at all. "Gideon!," a familiar voice called out to him. Gideon turned around and saw Sammy running up to him. Without even being aware of it, he took a step back in fear, then reasserted himself and glared at Sammy. "Samuel! You dare harass me like this? And in public, no less? I guess you're not so noble after all…"
"Wait. Please, Gideon. That's not what I'm here for," said Sammy, catching up to him. Gideon wanted to tell him to get lost, but held back for two reasons. One, he was taken aback by the guilty expression on Sammy's face. And two, he was still a little afraid of him.
"Gideon, I want to apologize to you for my behavior yesterday," said Sammy, wringing his hands nervously. "I thought over what I had done, and I'm deeply ashamed. I didn't mean to scare you so badly… O-okay, that was a lie. I did mean to scare you… but I shouldn't have done that. It's just… you were pretty close to discovering who I really am, and I panicked. I did the first thing that came to mind, which was to threaten and scare you into submission. That was wrong. I-I'm not like that person anymore. I don't want to be that person anymore!" "...What in the world are you even talking about?," Gideon asked bluntly, staring at him like he had grown a second head. "Oh! I was rambling, was I?," said Sammy, cringing. "Sorry. It's a bad habit of mine. Look, what I'm trying to say is… I'm sorry. What I did was downright horrible, and I've felt terrible about it ever since. I would never maliciously harm you, Gideon. Or anyone, for that matter! Could you ever forgive me?" Gideon remained silent, his expression stone cold, but on the inside, he was bewildered by what he heard. Just yesterday, Sammy had frightened him away with threats and promises of vengeance if he ever tried to dig into his past again, and now, he was apologizing to him for it?! The child star didn't even know what to think about Sammy anymore.
But oh well. Now that this was happening - not that he ever thought it would happen in a million years - Gideon might as well take advantage of the opportunity presented in front of him. If Sammy wants it so badly, then sure, he'll play the role of the forgiver… for now.
"Oh, but of course I'll forgive you, Samuel!," he said, putting on a fake smile that won over dozens of crowds in the past. "I understand completely. You didn't want your secrets to be found out, so you resorted to threatening and bullying. I get where you're coming from. In fact, I've done that plenty of times myself." His voice was as sweet as honey, but his words were like barbed wire, which was intentional. As he kept talking, Gideon observed Sammy's face closely and noticed the guilt and shame on his face growing more apparent with each word he spoke. Good!, he thought viciously. I've got you right where I want you, Samuel! "But hey, you gotta do what ya gotta do," Gideon continued, smiling brightly. "You don't have to worry anymore, though. I solemnly promise to leave your past alone from now on." He raised his hand up, as though he was reciting an oath. "I, Gideon Gleeful, will never again pry into your private affairs. You have my word, Samuel." Sammy smiled. "Thanks, Gideon," he said. "You know, behind all the evil plans and the megalomaniacal attitude, you're not actually that bad." He turned and walked away, a huge weight now lifted from his chest. "Same to you, Samuel," said Gideon, watching Sammy leave while the smile on his face turned a little darker. "Same to you…"
The whole time, Gideon was hiding his other arm behind his back. And if Sammy had just paid a little more attention, he would've realized Gideon had his fingers crossed.