"Rise and shine, squirt!"

Who in the world would dare to refer to him in such a...casual way?! Mason cracked open one eye and slowly raised his head to see a red-haired teenager in his room.

Right...Gravity Falls. Wendy. He had hired her to help him get dressed in the morning. He slowly sat up and she walked over to pull his blanket off to encourage him to get up faster.

"Come on, I gotta get you washed and dressed and fed and then out the door before the shop opens. Soos has your sister covered, your uncle's taking care of breakfast." She tapped a non-existent watch on her wrist. "Let's go, Mason."

He sighed and climbed out of bed before picking out his clothes and following her to the bathroom closest to his room. There, she bathed and dressed him and combed his hair until he was satisfied and then they went out to join the others downstairs in the kitchen.

"I'm going to need Wendy and Soos to help me in the shop today, so you kids just wander in town and see the sights, call if you need anything. There's a bus you can take, or you can walk it." Stan said as he served them all pancakes. "Maybe you can ask Pacifica to give you a ride again."

"I was actually thinking of exploring the forest." Mason commented. "I thought I saw something last night and I wanted to look into that."

The three locals exchanged glances before Stan looked at him. "Don't go too far into those woods. They can get pretty spooky."

"I will be perfectly fine." Mason assured him.

"I'll be with him!" Mabel assured him.

"I'm worried about the both of you." Stan frowned.

"We'll be fine." Mason smiled. "Don't worry."

--

"It's certainly different from any of the woods we've been in before." Mabel said as they walked down the path.

"If you mean that this is more unkempt than a national park, then I suppose you would be correct." Mason said, looking around.

"Look, that area is so colorful and shiny!" She pointed to a section of the woods away from the beaten path.

"It is." Mason stepped off the path and walked towards it, his sister following right behind. "Look, this leaf is sparkling." He gestured to a bush just inside the new section.

"Ohh, can I have it?" Mabel asked, her eyes shining.

Mason reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a pocketknife, cutting it off cleanly before giving it to her. "For you, dear sister."

She accepted it and smiled. "Thank you!"

"Let's go back to the path." He suggested.

"Okay!" She put the leaf in her skirt pocket and then pulled out her phone to take a picture of the area before they headed back.

"I don't see what all the fuss was about." Mason said as they headed back to the path. "It seems perfectly safe to me. I don't even see any dangerous wildlife."

"We saw a deer earlier." Mabel reminded him.

"Deer aren't dangerous." Mason chuckled.

As they got back to the path and left the area, they didn't notice eyes peeking out at them from the bushes.

"Oh...she's beautiful..." A man in the bushes said dreamily.

--

The town didn't seem all that dangerous, but they promised to keep in contact anyway before going to explore it separately. For the next week, Mason went to the library to read the local lore and see if he could find any books that normal libraries didn't carry and Mabel wandered around randomly, each day coming back with a "funny" tale of meeting different guys and playfully flirting with them when they complimented her.

Mason didn't think it was so funny, but humored her stories regardless. She knew she was above them, in all ways possible.

"Friggin...fraggin...fudge pop-tarts..."

Mason looked up from reading on the couch in the living room and went to the giftshop, where his uncle was working on something.

"Is something the matter, great-uncle?" He asked.

"Soos got a flat so he's not back yet, and Wendy went to help him with the golf cart, but I need these nailed up." Stan sighed, looking at signs on the counter. "Guess I gotta head into the woods and nail these up myself."

"What are they?" Mason asked.

"Signs that point to the Mystery Shack. That is, if placed right." Stan shrugged. "I figure people can use them to find their way back."

"I can do that for you." Mason suggested. "I've been in and out of there a few times already, so I can place them accurately."

"You're not hanging out with your sister today?" Stan asked.

"Mabel will be fine; she has her phone and a tazer if needed." Mason shrugged.

"A tazer?" Stan raised an eyebrow. "Where is she keeping that?"

"In her pocket, of course. Now, are you going to accept my generous offer to assist your work, or shall I go back to my book?" Mason turned to go.

"Ahhh...well...since you offered." Stan said awkwardly. "Just...don't tell your dad, alright?"

"I offered." He turned back to him and walked over to take the signs. Stan handed him a hammer and a box of nails and then Mason headed out to the woods.

"Hey, where is Mabel, anyway?" Stan asked as he left.

--

"That takes care of that one." Mason stepped back from a tree, then picked up the next sign. "And the next one...there." He walked over to a tree and set the sign against it, holding it and the nail in place as the other raised the hammer.

CLANG. CLANG.

...That was odd. Trees shouldn't sound like metal when you hammered them. He set the sign and nail down and knocked on the tree with the hammer, once again being greeted by the sound of clanging metal.

"...Intriguing." He set the hammer down and then moved his hand over the bark until he found a slit in the wood, barely detectable. He tugged it until it opened and was greeted by a cobweb-covered switchbox. "Fascinating." He breathed, kneeling down to grab a twig and move the cobwebs away. Then he started to fidget with the mechanism, hearing a sound behind him.

He looked over and saw an opening in the ground. "...What is this?" He breathed, walking over and kneeling next to it. Inside, he saw a leather-bound book with a golden picture of a six-fingered hand on the front. The number "3" indicated it was the third one of a set.

Mason had always been fond of mysteries, secret codes and the Illuminati, so this town and now this book got him feeling more excited than he'd ever felt in years. He brushed cobwebs and bugs off the book and then pulled it out of the ground, opening it up. "It appears to be someone's scientific journal." He said as he turned the pages. "But whose?" He checked the front, but the name had been deliberately ripped out. "What a mystery." He went back to flipping, stopping on a page. "'Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed. I am being watched. I must hide this book before HE finds it. Remember, in Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust'." He looked up from the book. "What happened to you, mysterious author?"

"What'd you find?" Mabel poked her head over his shoulder.

"MAbel!" He jolted in place and she moved back, giggling.

"Grunkle Stan said you were in the woods." She said, explaining her presence. "What'd you find?"

"Someone's old scientific journal. There's no name and a whole lot of mysterious codes I have never seen before." He showed it to her.

"Maybe we can have the handwriting examined and compare it to the national database?" Mabel shrugged. "Is there one for handwriting?"

"No, not really." Mason looked back at it. "But, it sure is fascinating, isn't it?"

"Maybe someone in town would recognize it?" Mabel suggested.

"We could ask Pacifica, maybe." Mason turned back to the page he was on when she showed up. "But, this book suggests a dark secret about this town."

"Your eyes are shining." She pointed out.

"I'm excited, Mabel. This could be the greatest mystery in existence. Maybe, if I find the other journals, I can unlock the mystery of Gravity Falls and its ties to the Illuminati." Mason closed the book and got up. "I should finish this work, and then we can return."

"Oh, I'll help!" She reached for the hammer and he shook his head.

"Father would not be happy if your dainty hands handled such a heavy tool." Mason reminded her.

"Father...doesn't have to know?" She smiled pleadingly.

"...Ah, Mabel." He handed her the hammer. "One sign."

"Hooray!" She hopped in place and then followed Mason to a tree to put up the sign.

Once the signs were all put up, Mason picked up the book and carried it back to the Mystery Shack. They took the front door to get in and he headed up to his room to put the book under his pillow for safekeeping.

"Might be a good idea to start carrying a bookbag." He said thoughtfully.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" Mabel sat on his bed and kicked her legs. "I got a date!"

"It's 'I was asked on', not 'I got a'. Who have you been spending time with to learn such commoner speech?" He looked at her.

"Wendy." She shrugged.

"Of course. And why did you accept?" Mason turned to her.

"Uhm...to try something new? It's just a date, I'm not going to be accepting any proposals or anything." She shrugged again.

"Father would not approve." He sighed. "But...I suppose, as long as I supervise, one or two dates would not be a problem. When is your date?"

They heard the doorbell go off and Mabel grinned impishly. "Right now."

Mason went to get his bookbag while Mabel went to answer the door.

--

"Mason, come over here!" Mabel called as Mason joined them downstairs. She was standing next to a suspicious-looking teenager in black clothes, a hood over his head.

Mason raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Who is this?"

"This is Norman, my date! We met in the cemetery." She smiled at him adoringly.

"I see. Well, Norman, I must inform you that your trysts with my sister will be heavily supervised by yours truly." Mason said, walking over to them. "So...shall we be off?"

"Uhh, sure." Norman said awkwardly.

Mabel hummed happily as they left the house together.

--

By Mason's observation, Norman was quite unfit for a dating partner. He was clumsy and awkward and didn't articulate well at all. He acted like he was mentally impaired and when Mason texted Pacifica about him she had no idea who he was – and she knew everyone in town.

When the date was finally over and they returned home, Mason waited until Mabel waved goodbye and shut the door to give his opinion on the date. "That was just embarrassing. We are not ever mentioning him to the others."

"He wasn't that bad..." Mabel said, turning to him.

"Mabel, he fell over twenty times in three hours, couldn't open a door without smashing a window, barely held conversation with you, stumbled around like he was drunk, and he just should never be seen with you ever again." Mason said sternly.

"But—"

"Mabel," Mason crossed his arms over his chest, "that's my final word on this. No second date."

"...Okay." She nodded quietly.

"I know that you wanted to give him a chance, that you thought he was interesting, but he acts like he's on the first stage of becoming a zombie." Mason turned to go. "Come on, let's go see what's on the menu for dinner."

Mabel pouted as she followed him.

"Hey, you're back just in time! Who likes spaghetti?" Stan turned to them from where he was cooking. "Oh boy. What happened?"

"Mason found him unsuitable." Mabel took her seat at the table.

"He was an utter embarrassment to be around." Mason took his seat. "I would not even consider him suitable for being her friend."

"Well...maybe you're being hard on the guy, huh? Maybe he was just nervous about the whole supervision thing." Stan shrugged.

"You think I should allow another chance?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, but this time...don't be so obvious about the supervision." Stan suggested. "Watch from a distance."

Mason looked at Mabel, who was giving him puppy eyes. "...Alright. One last chance. But I will be armed." He warned her.

She nodded. "Okay."

"Text me for every location change." Mason tapped his finger on the table pointedly. "Keep your phone on and do. Not. Hesitate. To. Use. Your. Tazer." He tapped the table for each word for emphasis. "And if I call you and tell you to come back with me, you come. Understood?"

"Understood!" She nodded happily.

He smiled. "The things I do for your smile, dear sister."

She giggled.

Stan brought over their food. "Parmesan?" He held up the bottle.

"Yes." Mason nodded.

"Yes, please." Mabel smiled.

Stan poured it on their food and then on his own. "Besides, Norman's not a local, so he'll probably be leaving soon. Let her hang out with him while he's here."

Mason nodded, forking his food and then quietly chewing it.

--

"Wendy, how long have you lived here?" Mason asked as she washed him up for the day.

"Uh, my whole life, dude. Can't wait to move out when I'm an adult." Wendy carefully scrubbed his body. "Why?"

"Why is one part of the woods different from the rest?" He raised his arms so she could scrub under them.

"I don't actually know. That's the part of the woods we're all told not to go near." She shrugged. "Supposedly, monsters live in that part of the woods."

"Monsters? Do you believe in that sort of thing, Wendy?" Mason asked, moving his hands up to cover his face when she started to lather his hair.

"Nah, it's all just fairytales and legends. Things to tell little kids so they don't disobey. 'Eat your peas or the fairies will steal you away in the night'! 'Don't be out late or the vampires'll get ya'!"

Mason chuckled under his hands. "Vampires, really?"

"Like I said, it's all bunk. Just scary stories about the bump in the night." She rinsed out his hair with a bucket.

"What do you know of a scientist with six fingers?" Mason asked.

"No idea. I'd say to ask my dad, but he's been having some troubles with his memory. Oh, that desk is done, by the way. It'll be delivered today."

"Finally." He moved his hands. "What do you mean 'troubles with his memory'? Is he going senile? At his age?"

"Dunno. Hope not." Wendy pulled the plug and got up to get a towel. "Alright, short-stuff. Let's get you dried up and dressed."

"I still do not like that you're using unsolicited nicknames on me." Mason frowned.

"Hey, you paid for my hands, not my tongue." She stuck out her tongue.

"Do you not feel, even the slightest, that you are overly familiar?" Mason asked as he was lifted out of the tub and dried off with a towel.

"Do you not feel, even the slightest, that things are different here?" Wendy smirked. "You're practically family, dude. Get used to it."

"...Is that how you view Great-Uncle Stan?" Mason asked thoughtfully.

"He's like a funky uncle." She shrugged. "He's crotchety, but he really does care about us kids. He's just old and not sure how to show it." She grinned. "He's trying, though."

Mason nodded, then watched her go to get his clothes. "Is that why you work for him?"

"Well, that and it's better than being sent to a logging camp." Wendy shrugged.

"That would be a shame. I do enjoy your presence here." Mason admitted.

"Aw, I like you too, kid." She rubbed his head and then removed the towels to get him dressed.

--

After eating breakfast with Stan, Soos, and Wendy, Mabel went out with Norman again to hang out behind the Shack while Mason settled into the cushioned window that looked out at them, Journal 3 in his lap as he distractedly read it.

"Gnomes?" He murmured. "Yeah, right. Gnomes aren't real, they're just...fictional things that garden statues are made to look like."

Still, the book was full of many scientific entries on creatures that, by all facts and logic, shouldn't exist.

"If people mistake zombies for teenagers, then they got a real problem with teenagers being sluggish and unproductive." He remarked, then looked out the window at his sister and her date. "Zombies, hm..." He closed the book and got up, heading to his room.

Just in case, he should make sure he's armed with something a little more suitable for fighting zombies. He came back to find they'd left and bit back a curse before he pulled out his phone and checked a text from Mabel.

[Mabel: Going to the pretty woods! You know the ones.]

"Of course." He muttered, heading out to catch up to them.

--

"I heard it's dangerous in here." Mabel said as she walked with Norman into the colorful woods. She paused to admire a flower that looked like stained glass.

"Dangerous? Uhh...no, not dangerous." The teenager said, adjusting his hood a bit. "Look, there's something I need to tell you, Mabel. I mean, before we go any further."

Mabel fiddled with her braid. "Oh, well, we actually can't go fur—"

"Mabel! I have such strong feelings for you, that I--" He turned to her, then gasped as he stumbled forward and fell against her. "Whoa!"

"Ahh!" Mabel cried out as she was knocked down into the grass. To her surprise, Norman started to...fall apart? She watched in growing confusion as "Norman" turned out to be...several little, bearded men and a bunch of human body-parts. "Uhm...?"

"Okay...uhm...right." The leader brushed himself off. "Sorry about that. Heh. I'd help you out, but..."

Mabel looked at the body parts. "...We met in the cemetery." She said in realization. "You were collecting body parts for your disguise!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's why. Okay, first, we're gnomes. Get that out of the way. Phew." The leader stepped towards her as she got up. "I'm Jeff, and this is Carson, Steven, Jason, and...what was it?" He looked at one of the other gnomes.

"Schmebulock." The dazed gnome replied.

"Schembulock! That was it!" Jeff snapped his fingers, then looked back at Mabel. "Anyways, long story short, we saw you the other day and you are perfect for our new queen!"

"Do you...always take humans for your queens?" She asked, still trying to process what was going on.

"Well...no, not normally. But, we can make an exception for you!" Jeff assured her.

"Uhm...but, are you actually royalty?" Mabel asked.

"Oh, well, when we say 'queen', we actually mean in the sense of, like, bees and stuff. You'd be marrying all one-thousand of us gnomes and living in the forest, never to return to the human world again!" He declared cheerfully.

"Well...in that case, I will have to politely decline." She turned to go.

"We're really sorry to hear that. We'll never forget you, Mabel." Jeff said behind her.

"That's sweet, but let's just put this behind us." She said, heading for the path.

"Because we're going to kidnap you."

She stopped short and let out a scream as gnomes lunged at her from the treeline.

--

Mason heard her scream and ran deeper into the woods, stopping short when he found the colorful part of the woods, Mabel being restrained on the ground by vines and... "Gnomes." He muttered.

"The more you struggle, the more awkward this is going to be for everybody!" The ringleader said as Mason slowly walked up behind him. "Just, ha, just get her arm there, Steve."

"Let GO of me!" Mabel punched Steve and he fell back with a groan before puking out a rainbow.

"Come on, honey, it's not that—ahh, what's got me?!" Jeff cried out as he was lifted into the air from behind. Cold metal pressed against the back of his head and he swallowed nervously. "Ah...heh..."

"Mason!" Mabel cried with delight.

"Well, now. What do we have here?" Mason asked as Jeff heard something click behind his head.

"Oh, uh, this is just a big misunderstanding! You see, your sister's not in danger! She's just going to marry all one-thousand of us and live in the forest with us fore—"

"You have until I get to five to make them let her go before I blow your pathetic little brains out. One."

"Uh, hold on." Jeff swallowed.

"Two." Mason continued.

"Can't we talk about this?!"

"Three." Mason went on.

Mabel punched another gnome.

"I didn't even KNOW you had a—" Jeff started.

"Four." Mason growled.

"Let her go, guys!" Jeff screeched.

The gnomes quickly let her go and untied her and Mason dropped Jeff to the forest floor before aiming his gun down at him. "If you EVER come near my sister again, I will shoot you before you can say 'Mabel'. Is that clear?"

"C-Clear! Crystal clear!" Jeff said, stepping back.

Mason walked over and offered Mabel a hand up, which she took before standing up and hugging him tightly. Then he led her back to the path, his gun still trained on Jeff.

"He wasn't even human, much less anything of worth." Mabel sighed.

Mason turned the safety on and put the gun back in his bookbag before leading her through the forest. "Did you enjoy yourself, though?"

"I did, up until he fell apart and turned out to be gnomes in a human disguise that tried to force me to be their gnome queen and have their gnome babies. I mean, gross." She made a face.

"Let's return to the Mystery Shack and get something warm to drink." He wrapped his arm around her waist and she wrapped hers around his shoulders before they bumped heads and then switched to just holding hands as they walked on.

"So...gnomes are real." She commented.

"It seems so." He nodded.

"I wonder what else is real? Do you think we'll meet a vampire?" She gasped.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Let us hope we do not."

She giggled. "But, he might be rich!"