Next Part of king of darkness in coming next, next week

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Summer is a fun time. No school, all kinds of fun events, cookouts, movies. There is no shortage of fun things to do in the summertime. No limits to the adventures that can be had.

 Unless it's hot enough to cook chicken on the sidewalk.

This was the situation that led to Dipper, Mabel, Soos' and Stan all  relaxing around the Shack. Various groans of discomfort could be heard from each as felt themselves melting like ice cream. 

"Watch out, Gravity Falls," came Toby Determined's annoying voice over the TV, "Because at a record 150 degrees, we're looking at the hottest day of the summer!"

"Nah, really?..." Dipper grumbled sarcastically.

"All in favor of doing nothing all day, say 'Ugh'..." Mabel tiredly said.

"Ugh..." the guys responded.

At that moment Waddles, who was apparently the only one not bothered by the excessive heat, walked up to Stan. The old man on the floor grimaced as Waddles got in his face.

"I'm gonna throw this pig out of the window!" Stan declared frustrated.

In response, Waddles simply oinked and happily began licking Stan's face. Much to Stan's disappointment

"... Next time pig, Next time." Stan grumbled, resigning himself to his fate.

"On the bright side," Toby continued on the radio, "pun very much intended, it's opening week at the Gravity Pool."

"Gravity Pool?" Dipper asked, wondering why they hadn't heard about this before.

"Today?" Mabel asked, perking up instantly.

"Bright Side!?" Soos asked, missing the point entirely.

"Hurry!" Stan exclaimed. "To the car!"

The kids and Soos all shot up. In high spirits for a solution for the blazing heat. Stan on the other hand, found himself stuck to the floor, his skin apparently with the help of sweat. Stuck to the wooden floor boards.

"Hey, kids, a little help here?" Stan asked.

Dipper rolled his eyes as he and Mabel pulled out their spatulas. 'Not again...'

After a lot of prying Stan finally came unstuck, with only a few floorboards on his back this time.

"Alright! Off to the pool!" Stan said as he walked outside.

"And remember to be on alert for random wildfires!" Toby said.

" Huh?" the twins heard their grunkle say, before they heard him catch fire. " AAAAH!!! "

"He'll be fine," Mabel said.

Dipper grimaced.

Later at gravity pool

The Pines family, (Including Soos' but he's basically part of the family) walked into the pool area, they're relief growing at the sight of water that wasn't steaming. Mabel smiled widely at the amazing sight of the perfectly average and overcrowded pool. 

Meanwhile, Dipper looked at the same sight and scowled. 'SO MANY GODDAMN PEOPLE' It was understandable given the temperature, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

Still, Dipper considered, even he wasn't going to complain too much about a chance to cool off. And spending a day without a shirt on could help him look less pale. He just hoped no one peed in the water.

"Ah, the pool!" Mabel said as she took in a deep breath, smelling the chlorine filled air. "A sparkling oasis of summer!"

"Yeah, nothing like sitting in a wet tub with strangers," Stan said. "It's like a train, but wetter"

Mabel suddenly noticed for the first time the image on Soos' towel. "Why would a sun need to wear sunglasses?"

"What if it's eyes get hurt from staring at itself?" Soos' responded.

Mabel stared into the towel intently for a while "THAT MAKES TOTAL SENSE"

Dipper decided against bashing his head into a wall.

"Whoa, whoa!" Mabel exclaimed. "Who's that?"

The group looked across the pool, and saw an oddly attractive kid resting near the edge. He had olive skin, long, glossy brown hair, and a floating raft obscuring his lower body.

"Oh, yeah," Soos said while munching some corn chips. "Rumor is, dude never leaves the pool. People say he's a 'Lone wolf'."

"Soos, where did you get that info if the pool just opened today?" Dipper asked.

"My wisdom is mysterious as it is vast," Soos answered listlessly.

"T-that didn't answer anything," Dipper responded flatly.

"Don't question the Soos, Bro!" Mabel said as she gave her brother a playful jab. "He says 'Lone Wolf,' I say 'bring the heat!'"

Dipper cringed.

"Do we really need any more heat?" Grunkle Stan grumbled.

Soos', giving Mabel a pat on the shoulder. "Go to him."

At that, Mabel took off across the pool running straight to her new crush, and majestically tripping over various pool supplies and people along the way.

"It's so beautiful!" Soos' said, tearing up.

Dipper scoffed. He knew Mabel well enough to know how this would end. Every time she developed a crush she'd be all enthusiasm, no consideration. She'd come on too strong and freak the poor guy out, while at the same time having no idea herself what to do or how to react to things. 

She'd never even kissed a guy before, and he knew she'd freak out the first time she'd tried. But then again, Dipper wasn't having any better luck in the dating department, so what did he know?

"Jeez, you think she'd be more careful when trying to impress someone" Stan said as he saw Mabel collide with a basket of beach balls, knocking over everything. As if prompted by the universe itself, Stan immediately got hit square in the face by a water balloon.

"Hey, Mr. Pines!"

The trio of guys looked up and saw Wendy sitting in the elevated lifeguard chair with a bucket of water balloons in hand. She also happened to be wearing a red one-piece swimsuit that Dipper squarely refused to look at for fear of a  blush overtaking his face.

"Wendy?" Stan said, spitting the water out of his mouth. "Where's the lifeguard?"

"I am the lifeguard," Wendy said as she held up the whistle hanging around her neck. "I make the rules, sucka!"

Wendy threw another balloon at Stan, which the old man narrowly ducked under.

"Aah!" Stan cried. "She's attacking me with water! Why me!"

Soos' and Wendy laughed, while Dipper cracked a smile.

"You work here?" the younger boy asked.

"I found out lifeguards get free snack privileges," Wendy explained, before gesturing to the whole pool. "Plus, I get the best seat in the house."

Dipper nodded, thinking to himself that the sight of a bunch or random out of shape people flailing aimlessly in a body of water didn't seem like much of a view. Still, he didn't vocalize those thoughts. 

"So..." Dipper said, trying to come up with a good conversation topic now that Stan and Soos were leaving. "You... wanna go chuck more water balloons at Stan?"

"I'd love to," Wendy said, "but I gotta spend the day doing tryouts. We're looking for a new assistant lifeguard."

This gave Dipper an idea.

"What if I was the assistant lifeguard?" he asked hesitantly, trying to gauge the girl's reaction to the suggestion.

"That would be so much fun!" Wendy responded with her usual enthusiasm. "You're totally in, dude!"

The redhead tossed a rescue can at Dipper, and the boy caught it with a grin. So Wendy not only wasn't opposed to the idea of spending a bunch of time with him, but seemed to really like the idea. That was a good sign, right?

"You just have to check in with my boss first," Wendy said. "Mr. Pool-check."

Dipper quirked an eyebrow. "Your boss?"

Wendy pointed to the side of the pool, and Dipper saw an incredibly muscular man drop and do push ups, first with his hands and then on only his pointer fingers. With almost robotic movement, Pool-check turned his head and looked at Dipper with an unnecessarily intense look.

' Well, then ' Dipper thought. ' That's worrying. '

.....Meanwhile..... 

The "Loner" was a little more than surprised when a random girl he'd never met came exploding out from the water directly in front of him.

"Wow!" Mabel exclaimed, gasping for breath. "Oh my gosh, how crazy bumping into you even though we don't know each other!"

The loner looked at the girl quizzically. "... H-how long have you been underwater?"

"That doesn't matter!" Mabel said, before quickly coughing up a wet band-aid. "... So, hey! My name's Mabel."

"Hola," mystery boy greeted, confused.

"Whoa!" Mabel said, eye wide. "Are you Australian?"

Despite himself, and his situation, the loner laughed. "I am charmed by your sense of humor. And your bold lack of water-wings!"

Mabel gave her own laugh. "You're so funny! And your hair is beautiful..."

"No, no," the loner said, discouraged. "It has silly tangles!"

Mabel smiled wide. "Mind if I...?"

She pulled out a comb (don't ask where, cuz even I don't know), and started brushing the boy's long hair.

"Why, Mabel. You are so forward," he said with a chuckle.

' This is it! ' Mabel thought, excited. ' He likes you! Go for it, Mabel! It's time! Ask him out on a date! '

"So, hey, you wanna go dry off?" Mabel asked, trying her best to sound casual. "Maybe hit the snack bar or-?"

"I-I'm afraid I cannot!" the loner said, suddenly seeming very uncomfortable. "For I have a terrible secret! I must go."

And like that, he swam off, leaving Mabel alone in her corner of the pool."I'm upset..." the girl said, before perking up a bit. "But also intrigued!"

... In other places..

"And that is why I think I'd make a good lifeguard assistant," Dipper said, finishing up his speech. 

"Hmm..." Pool-check hummed.

The head lifeguard bent down and took a good whiff in front of Dipper's face. The boy tried really hard not to show just how uncomfortable he was.

"SPF (Sun Protection Factor) 100," Pool-check commented as he stood back up. "Good. I like you. But this isn't an easy job. It's anarchy out there."

Dipper looked across the chill pool. "I think I can handle it."

"Can you handle this?!" Pool-check exclaimed.

With one smooth motion, Pool-check yanked off his apparently prosthetic hand. Dipper eyed the fake appendage warily, he'd seen people whit prosthetic limbs before, but never up close.

"I lost my hand to a pool filter!" Pool-check said intensely. "The pool may seem friendly, but she can take you under in an instant! Which is why you must respect her rules! Do you think you have what it takes, boy? Do you?!"

Dipper glanced over Pool-check's shoulder, and saw Wendy giving him a thumbs up.

"I guess," Dipper said. "I've handled crazy things before."

Pool-check eyed the boy for a moment. "I believe you.

Dipper gained a confused look. "Wait really? Just like that?"

Pool-check nodded. "You have this look in your eyes. Like someone who has seen things. Dangerous things."

Just like that, Pool-check put a whistle around Dipper's neck.

"Welcome to the deep end, son," the lifeguard said.

"Thank you-"

Dipper's response was cut off by Pool-check grabbing him in a vice-grip hug.

' I may not have thought this through... ' Dipper thought as the air was squeezed from his lungs.

...Doofenshmirtz evil in- I mean, In other places...

"There she is, Soos'," Stan said as he gestured to his favorite seat at the pool. "Equal distance 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. The perfect lawn chair."

The chair shimmered in the sunlight, almost glowing like some kind of ancient treasure.

"The legends that you told me in the car were true..." Soos marveled.

"I just can't believe it wasn't already taken," Stan said (apparently never heard of a "jinx"). "And now to sit on it,  claiming this throne as my own."

Stan sat on the edge of the chair, feeling the godly chair energy (Don't ask). But before he could lean back into the seat, he felt a small foot press into the middle of his back.

"What The?!" the old man exclaimed.

Stan quickly turned his head, and saw sitting in the seat behind him, none other than Gideon Gleeful.

"Why, hello Stanford," Gideon said, and innocent smile on his face.

"Gideon!" Stan shouted. "Get outta my chair, kid!"

"Oh my, was this your chair?" the boy asked, clearly feigning surprise. "I had no idea."

Gideon glanced around, as if checking to ensure no one was in earshot when he knew full well that no one was.

He leaned forward and whispered, "Yes I did, Stan. I very well knew."

"Move it, you little troll!" Stan growled.

"First come, first served!" Gideon giggled.

"I'll first serve you!" Stan exclaimed, picking Gideon up by the fat of his neck.

Suddenly, a whistle blew, and before Stan knew it, he was locked into an area with a wire mesh gate.

"Wh-What just-!?!" Stan sputtered.

"Fighting lands you in pool jail, Stan."

Stan looked and saw Wendy standing just outside the gate, twirling her whistle in her hand.

"Come on, Wendy!" Stan begged. "You can't do this to an old man!"

"Sorry, Stan, it's not up to me," Wendy said, before chuckling. "Actually, it technically is."

"Hey, Wendy," Dipper said as he strolled up to the redhead in his new lifeguard shirt. "I got the job."

"Sweet!" Wendy said with a playful grin. "Wanna go abuse our power?"

Dipper frowned. "What if Pool-check catches us? He seems... emotionally unstable."

Each looked and saw Pool-check doing sit-ups on the chain-link fence.

"... Nah, don't worry, man," Wendy said. "You just gotta be sneaky about your rule-breaking. Race you to the no running sign!"

Dipper hesitantly ran after Wendy, keeping his eyes on Pool-check the whole time.

... Meanwhile...

Mystery boy should probably get used to people randomly popping up from the water right next to him.

Once again, Mabel exploded out of the water as she finally made it next to the loner. "Hey there!"

Mystery boy let out a startled scream.

"I brought you a sandwich," Mabel said, setting the food on the loner's inflatable raft. "It's sort of wet, but it's still good. Blop."

The boy eyed the very soggy sandwich with hunger. Or maybe it was disgust?

"I like sharing things. Sandwiches, secrets." Mabel suddenly leaned into mystery boy's face and whispered, "Share your secret, you beautiful stranger."

"That wet sandwich does look delicious..." Mystery Boy said hesitantly. "Oh, very well. But you must never tell another living soul my terrible secret."

Mabel nodded, practically vibrating with nervous anticipation.

"You have to stay away from me," the boy said, "because I am..."

He pushed his inflatable raft out of the way, for the first time providing an unobstructed view of lower body. What Mabel saw was not a speedo as she had hoped, or even swim trunks.

Or legs for that matter.

"... A Merman," the boy finished.

Mabel blinked.

And then again.

"Oh, thank goodness," she said, relieved. "I thought you were gonna say you had a girlfriend!"

It was safe to say the boy hadn't seen that reaction coming.

"A Merman..." Mabel said as she marveled at the boy's blue-green fish tail. "Ha! I should have known from your strange foreign fish language."

"... I-it's Spanish," the Merman said, unable to tell if Mabel was joking.

"But your voice is so deep and masculine..." Mabel said,"How old are you?"

"I am twelve years old," the boy said, much to Mabel's relief. "Merman's voices change when we are like, three."

Mabel hummed, trying not to picture a three year old merman with a very attractive voice. "So what's your name?"

"There are some who call me..." the boy said as he suddenly pulled out an acoustic guitar and played a dramatic chord. "Mermando! This is also because Mermando' is my name."

"That makes sense," Mabel said with a nod. "But I don't understand Mermando. What's a guy like you doing in a public pool?"

"It is a tragic story, Mabel," Mermando said, dramatically staring off into the distance, hair blowing in the wind. "I was swimming with my friends, the mighty dolphins, in the Gulf of Mexico, when I was ensnared! The cargo was headed for Gravity Falls. Using all my strength, I tried to escape back home, but it was not to be. I would have died of dehydration, were if not for the kindness of the forest animals. I was able to tumble my way down a hill, and landed in the pool. But now that you know what I am, you must be seriously weirded out."

"What?" Mabel asked. "I don't care that you're a Merman. You're, like, the coolest guy I've ever met. And you can play at least one chord on the guitar."

"Oh, Mabel," Mermando said, touched. "I have never met another human like you. Would you care to join me in a game of the Marco Polo?"

"Oh, yes, Mermando!" Mabel gushed as she wrapped the Merman in a powerful hug. "Yes!"

" ... You are covering my gills... " Mermando wheezed out. " ... I cannot breathe... "

"Oh! sorry" Mabel instantly let go.

... Meanwhile...

"My cheeks are baby soft!" Gideon giggled happily as he rubbed sunscreen on his face.

Stan glared at his arch-nemesis, watching from behind the raised lifeguarding chair.

"Look at him, that smug chair-stealing jerk!" Stan growled to himself. "But I can't touch him, or the pool patrol will throw me in pool jail. Hmm..."

As Stan thought of various possible ways to get back at Gideon, he glanced down and noticed the sun reflecting off of his watch. Gaining an evil grin, Stan held the watch up, and maneuvered it around to focus the light right at Gideon.

"Yes!" Stan cackled. "Yes! Burn the child..."

Just as the concentrated beam of sunlight was about to hit Gideon's face, the boy held up his swim goggles. The reflective lens caused the light to bounce back straight into Stan's eyes. The old man let out a surprised cry of pain as he stumbled back and tripped into the pool.

With a smug and satisfied grin, Gideon put on his goggles. "Deal with it."

... with Soos'...

Soos' was putting on an innertube with a duck on it, thinking Soos things. But what happened next changed his life forever.

"Soos....."

Soos perked up at the sound of his name, but didn't see anyone trying to talk to him. Naturally coming to the only sane conclusion, he look down at the duck tube he was wearing and began talking to it.

"Inflatable duck guy, is that you?" the handyman asked.

"Yes, Soos, I can talk....."

"Oh my gosh, I knew you guys were secretly alive," Soos said with a victorious fist pump. "I knew it!"

While Soos celebrated being right about Toy Story being real, Wendy and Dipper watched from around the corner of the pool supply building, megaphone in hand and laughing quietly. They playfully shushed each other, not wanting Soos to realize movies were fake, and Wendy used the megaphone again.

"My people have been enslaved, Soos,....." the "duck" said. "You must free us....."

Soos looked inside the supply shack, seeing an entire stack of duck tubes. "The inflatable pool duck revolution is at hand."

Dipper and Wendy tried desperately to stifle their laughing.

"Oh man, I can't believe he bought that!" Wendy chuckled.

"To be fair," Dipper said, "Weirder stuff has happened. "Ghosts, Gnomes, living video gam-"

Dipper's comment died in his throat as he saw Wendy's face fall at the mention of Rumble McSkirmish.

"... Sorry," Dipper spoke. "I know we've kinda been ignoring the elephant in the room, and if you don't want to talk about it that's cool, but... Are you two okay?"

"Funny question coming from you," Wendy muttered, before her eyes widened in surprise. "Sorry man, that came out harsher than I meant. I just... Look, I know you two didn't get along. I'd kind of hoped you guys could work things out eventually, but I guess that wasn't going to happen."

"... Yeah," Dipper admitted. "But that didn't really answer the question. Are you two okay?"

"Nope," Wendy said bluntly. "And I don't really want us to be. After I left I thought a lot about my friendship with Robbie, and... I had to ask myself why I was even friends with the guy. He was always so self absorbed. If the conversation wasn't about him or his 'sick guitar skills' he didn't care. And he's always been a tool, but it was never to someone I liked before, so I guess I never realized just how big a jerk he was."

Dipper knew what he had to say, but he really didn't want to. He really, really didn't. But it was the right thing to do.

"You..." Dipper started, pushing back his gag reflex. "You should give him a second chance. The thing with Rumble wasn't that bad. Mabel and I have taken on worse before. I... I don't think it's a good idea to... cut yourself off from one of your oldest f-fr-friends because of... one big screw up."

Wendy looked at the boy, surprised, before letting out an amused snort. "Dude, that sounded excruciating."

"You have no idea..." Dipper muttered. "Point still stands, though."

"I know," Wendy said with a nod. "And thanks. It means a lot to me that you're trying to keep us friends even though we both know you can't stand him. But this isn't 'your fault' or anything. I think this has been a long time coming, and this was just the last straw. Heck, even Tambry's been telling me for a long time that Robbie was a bad friend, I just never listened. You should have seen her social media when she found out I told him off that one time. She wouldn't stop posting #toldyouso! for like, two straight days."

The two laughed a bit at that, and Dipper felt a lot of his built up tension leave him.

"So," Dipper spoke, still a bit hesitant, "we're good?"

Wendy smiled. "Yeah dude, we're all good."

The two shared a quick fist bump, before flinching as the sharp shrill of a whistle rang out across the pool.

"Pool's closing!" Poolcheck announced as he drove around in a golf cart. "Clear out, everyone!"

"Poolcheck!" Dipper whispered.

"Hide!" Wendy whispered back.

The redhead darted around the supply shack, while Dipper walked out toward the pool, trying to look like he'd been patrolling the area.

"Assistant Lifeguard!"

Dipper stopped, grimacing. Had he been caught? He turned and saw Poolcheck driving up to him.

"Y-yes sir...?" Dipper asked, trying not to sound guilty.

To the boy's surprise, the head lifeguard was smiling. Apparently Dipper was safe.

"Have a good night, son," Poolcheck said, almost sounding proud. "Lock up the supplies for me."

Poolcheck took off his hand and swatted it a few times. A ring of keys fell from a hole in the prosthetic, and Poolcheck handed them to Dipper.

'Well, I'll never look at hands the same' the boy thought.

Dipper nodded, and walked off to lock up.

... Meanwhile...

Mermando watched the pool patrons exit with sadness. "The pool, she closes. Can I see you tonight?"

"Sure," Mabel said. "Where? Wanna go for a walk?"

Mermando blinked in annoyance. "Merman. I am a Merman."

"Oh, right," Mabel said, swatting herself on the forehead. "Duh. Then I'll be back tonight."

...Later in the night...

Mabel pulled up to the pool, driving the Mystery Shack golf cart. She brought a bag of things to show Mermando. She approached the chain link fence barring her from her new aquatic crush, and eyed the bag. It was over the shoulder, so climbing with it would be difficult. Deciding to make things easy on herself, she simply tossed the bag over. 

She had meant for the throw to be weak, as to not overshoot and land her things in the pool. Unfortunately, she put too little power into it, and the bag barely made it over. What's more, on the way down it hit the pool skimmer resting on the fence, snapping the end off.

' Oops... ' Mabel thought. ' What are the odds anyone will notice that? '

Putting the accidental destruction of property out of her mind, she vaulted over the fence and landed next to her bag. She grabbed the bag and jogged over to the pool's edge, untying the sweater from around her waist and leaving her in just her one piece suit.

"Mabel!" Mermando called, swimming to the edge of the pool. "You made it!"

"Of course I did, silly!" Mabel said with a giggle. "I wasn't gonna leave you high and dry ."

"But I am in a- Oh!" Memando cut himself off as he started laughing. "That is what you call in English a 'pan', correct? Very funny."

"Actually, it's a..." Mabel trailed off, before shaking her head with a smile. "Nevermind."

Mabel slid into the water, shivering a bit. Without the sun on it, the pool was significantly cooler than it was in the day. It wasn't freezing or anything, but it would take a bit to get used to. Or something to distract her.

Mabel reached out of the pool and grabbed her bag. She opened it up, and reached in for something.

"Look at this, Mermando!" Mabel said, pulling a book out of her bag. "It's a scrapbook of human stuff."

Mermando swam over, looking at the various photos on display. They all seemed to be of herself and her brother, Dipper, if he remembered the name correctly.

"Here's me and my family!" Mabel said enthusiastically. "Look, there's my mom and dad, and  my nerd brother Dipper, and here's my Grunkle Stan! Well, he's our great uncle, but we call him Grunkle. Here's him teaching me how to make a mermonkey for his tourist trap! And here I am kicking Dipper in his legs. He couldn't move his legs after that!"

Mermando frowned. "Let's skip this part."

"And here's when we tried kickboxing!" Mabel said happily.

Mermando sighed sadly, and swam away.

Mabel frowned, realizing the Merman was upset about something. "What's wrong?"

Mermando pulled his guitar out of the water. He strummed a chord, about to speak, when he winced at the sound. He turned the guitar over, and let the water pour out, before playing the chord correctly.

"I too, used to have a family, back in the ocean," Mermando said dramatically as he open his seashell necklace, revealing a picture of his family. "How I miss them..."

"Mermando..." Mabel said sadly. "You can't leave the pool, can you?"

"I've tried only once," Mermando answered, "but escaping this pool required a plan that was bold and daring. And legs. I couldn't get far enough, and then the wolves came..."

Mermando shuddered at the memory, before looking back to Mabel.

"No, I'm glad that I'm here," Mermando insisted, "'cause I met you."

Mabel smiled at her companion, and saw a shooting star fall behind Mermando. It was as if the universe itself was trying to make the moment as romantic as possible.

' This is it, Mabel, ' the girl thought to herself. ' First kiss moment, here we come! Just go for it! '

Mabel slowly leaned forward, pursing her lips together. She tried going in for a light peck, but  Mermando saw Mabel approaching and looked quizzically at her.

".. W-what are you doing with your mouth?" Mermando asked, confused by the girl's face.

"Me?" Mabel said, backing out. "Nothing. This? I was eating some sour candy. So my lips were doing that. The candy was so sour."

Mermando paused. "... Can I have some candy?"

"... No."