"I think this is their hiding spot," Dipper said as he pushed through the bushes.

"You suuuure this is a good idea?" Mabel asked hesitantly.

"This will work, Mabel," Dipper insisted. "Remember the plan."

"Right," Mabel said with a grimace. "I wonder what Gnomes do out here all alone in the forest?"

Dipper shrugged as the twins made their way out of the brush and into the familiar hidden clearing in the woods. They paused in silence as they saw Jeff the Gnome.

Bathing.

In squirrels.

What the f-?

"Aaah!" Jeff exclaimed as he saw the twins staring at him with bewildered looks. "This... this is normal. This is normal for Gnomes. Scrub scrub."

Jeff rubbed a squirrel in his armpits, flashing a hesitant smile. The weirded-out looks from the twins told him they didn't believe him.

Jeff coughed awkwardly. "... Well, well, well. Look who came crawlin' back. So, changed your mind about marryin' me, did ya, Mabel?"

Dipper had to admit, Jeff's ability to bounce back into bravado was impressive. Not working, but impressive nonetheless.

"Ew, hardly," Mabel said, cringing. "We need your help. And seriously, ew!"

"You want our help?" Jeff asked incredulously. "After you left me at the altar? No dice!"

"But what if we were able to get you a new queen?" Mabel asked. "One even more beautiful than me."

"Her name's Gideon," Dipper said, "and she has lovely white hair."

"Whoa," Jeff said, interest piqued. "Mature woman, huh? Hey Shmebulock, get my cologne!"

"Shmebulock!" the called Gnome said as he entered with the bottle of cologne.

"I-is Shmebulock all you can say?" Jeff asked.

The old Gnome paused for a moment, before nodding dejectedly. "... Shmebulock..."

Jeff shrugged, before extending his hand to Dipper. "It's a deal!"

Dipper nodded and shook the Gnome's hand. ' And everything falls into place.' 

[Meanwhile back at Abuliela's 

Stan lounged glumly on the living room couch as Abuelita vacuumed the window curtains. The old man let out a sigh, pondering what his options were. He quickly came to an important conclusion: He didn't have many options. Gideon had taken everything from him, and Stan had nothing to work with. Even if he did somehow get the deed back, what would that accomplish? The whole town was on Gideon's side, so even if he stole the deed back, Gideon could accuse him and Stan would get arrested again. There was no way to win like that. Gideon had all the cards. Stan had lost completely.

"How did you do it, kid?" Stan asked as he looked at his Gideon pin. "Why are you always one step ahead? Maybe he is psychic after- Argh!"

Stan flinched as a painful mechanical shrieking overtook his senses.

"My hearing aid!" Stan growled. "What keeps causing that?"

Stan pulled his hearing aid out and looked it over. It appeared to be in good condition, and the battery wasn't running out of power, so why was the thing constantly sounding like the worst kind of feedback from a microphone?

"Wait a minute!" Stan suddenly exclaimed. "That's it! I know Gideon's weakness!"

At that moment, Abuelita walked in with a cup. "Would Mr. Pines like a-?"

Stan placed an elated kiss on Abuelita's lips as he charged out of the room, formulating a fool-proof plan for getting the Shack back.

Abuelita blinked. "i- I go vacuum my face."

[Back at the shack]

"Where are you, Journal?" Gideon muttered as he dug various holes in the dirt. "Where are you!?"

"Boy," Bud said as he approached his son. "I hate to interrupt you, but you have some guests."

"What?"

"It's, ah..." Bud stammered. "It's the, uh, Pines twins."

Bud had been expecting an angry reaction from his son, frustrated by the interruption by the boy's enemies. But to his surprise, Gideon smirked.

"So they're finally making their move, eh?" Gideon said confidently. "'Bout time. This shouldn't take too long."

Gideon set down his shovel as he walked to the front of the Shack. He snapped his fingers as he walked past his two burly bodyguards, the jacked men following just behind him as he walked. As Gideon made it to the front of the building, he saw the twins, standing on the other side of the wire fence he'd set up on the edge of the property. He smiled at the glares the siblings were giving him and clasped his hands together as he walked forward.

"Greetings, you two," Gideon said, faux friendliness in full effect. "What ever could've brought y'all to the sight of Gideonland?"

"Give us back the deed to the Shack," Dipper said simply. "Or else."

Gideon laughed, glancing confidently at his two bodyguards. "Am I supposed to say, 'Or else what?'"

Mabel gave a nod and shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

At that, the twins suddenly vaulted over the fence. By then, Gideon and his goons had gotten close enough that the two were able to crash their feet right into the guard's faces as they came down, Dipper landing on the one with all the tattoos and Mabel on the bearded one that had grabbed her earlier at the press conference. As the towering men crashed down on their backs, Dipper and Mabel tucked and rolled as they hit the ground. The bulky guys shot back up immediately to their feet, heads hurting and a bit dazed, but still ready to fight.

As they turned to face their small opponents, the twins slid forward on the grass, each kicking a foot up right into their respective target's family jewels. The bodyguards howled, hunching over in pain, as the twin quickly rose. Dipper and Mabel, perfectly in sync with each other, landed brutal uppercuts on their opponents' chins.

The legs of the buff men turned to jelly, and they once again fell to the ground, this time out cold.

"Told you you'd be in a world of hurt," Mabel taunted her unconscious foe, sticking her tongue out at him again.

Gideon glared at his beaten bodyguards, deciding that they were getting a serious pay cut for this.

"Well, well," the child performer said, maintaining an air of confidence. "Y'all keep managin' to surprise me with just how tough you both are."

"Guess you were smart to use TNT to steal the deed for the Shack out from under us," Dipper said, glare intensifying.

"Sometimes the most complicated situations have the simplest solutions," Gideon said with a nod. "But dynamite can't solve all my problems. If y'all thought you could just storm up here and take the deed back by force, I hate to tell you but that ain't happening."

Gideon nodded behind the twins, and they saw a security camera aimed right at them.

"Got them wired up all over the Shack," Gideon explained. "You lay one hand on wittle ol' me and I'll take the tapes to the police. I'll get the deed back and sue you for every penny you don't have."

Gideon laughed at the grimaces the twins got.

"Just give it back!" Mabel whined frustratedly. "It's ours!"

"Possession is nine-tenths of the law, Mabel darlin'," Gideon chuckled. "I stole the deed fair and square, therefore it's mine. I got this whole hick town wrapped around my wittle ol' finger. Who do you think those idiots will  believe?"

"Yeah," Dipper said. "If only there was some way we could take the deed back so that you couldn't show the footage to anyone. Oh, wait."

"NOW GUYS!!!" Mabel shouted.

Suddenly, Gnomes exploded out of the forest, hopping the fence and charging through the wire on the backs of deer. Several Gnome archers (using other Gnomes as arrows, obviously) lined up on the roof of the Shack, locking onto Gideon. Within seconds the boy was surrounded by the tiny creatures, being held at a razor hat point.

"I guess you could try showing this security footage to the cops," Dipper said. "But we'll just point out how fake it is. I mean, what kind of idiot would believe some crazy story about an army of Gnomes stealing a deed from someone?"

"Alright, alright," Jeff said as he rode up to the three on the head of a deer. "Let's wrap this up, and let the marriage ceremony begin!"

Gideon sighed as he reached inside his suit. "Very well. I suppose this deed belongs to-"

Suddenly, Gideon pulled out his dog whistle and blew into it hard. As the high-pitched noise rang out, the Gnomes all dropped what they were doing, covering their ears in pain.

"Ha!" Gideon said victoriously. "What do you know? Works on Gnomes too!"

Gideon used his whistle again, and all the Gnomes fell to the group, convulsing in pain.

"Stop! We'll do anything! How can we serve you, your majesty!?!" Jeff cried as he began bowing before Gideon. "The most beautiful girl we've ever seen!"

"I am not a girl!" Gideon shouted.

"Really?" Jeff asked. "But your skin is so soft. You moisturize, or...?"

"Subdue them!" Gideon commanded as he pointed at the twins.

The Gnomes grunted and mumbled as they charged Dipper and Mabel. The two tried fighting off the tiny men but were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. The twins were held in place, both struggling as they were restrained.

"I have to admit, kids," Gideon said with a nod and a laugh, "I am impressed by your creativity! How did you ever-?"

"Let go!" Dipper growled as he struggled, before feeling something slide out of his jacket. "No!"

Gideon's eyes widened as he saw a book fall from Dipper's letterman. A very familiar book.

"No!" the boy said in shock as he approached the book. "Could it be? Is it...?"

Gideon squealed as he grabbed the book, a smile breaking out across his face.

"It's mine!" Gideon cackled, looking at Dipper. "It's finally mine! Now I get it! All this time, I thought you were clever, that you were dangerous, but you were just using Journal Number- 3!?!"

Gideon looked at the front cover of the book for the first time and saw the 3 written across the golden six-fingered hand. He looked back up at Dipper, confusion evident.

"There are THREE of them?" Gideon asked frantically.

"You didn't know that?" Dipper asked. "If you knew there was more than one, but not three, then I guess that means you have 2, but not 1, right?"

Gideon flinched, realizing he'd said too much before his smirk returned. "Sure, but that doesn't matter now, does it? Now I've got your Journal, and you've got nothing left!"

"Yeah," Dipper said, getting a smirk of his own. "I wonder about that..."

Gideon felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was then he realized that he felt some paste-like substance on his thumb. He looked down at the Journal in his hand and moved his thumb around the golden hand. His eyes widened in panic as he saw the gold on the hand rub off.

"No..." Gideon said, realization slowly dawning on him. "No no no n-!"

As Gideon opened up the Journal to check the content, he was cut off by a huge mass of pink goop exploding into his face.

Dipper and Mabel both grinned viciously.[

[Earlier, when the twins were at Abuelita's house]

"Mabel," Dipper said as he and his sister looked at the page on the Gnomes. "I've been thinking."

"About why we definitely shouldn't trust the Gnomes?" Mabel asked hopefully. "And we should do something else?"

"I know we can't trust the Gnomes," Dipper said with an eye roll. "With our luck, Gideon will probably do something that'll get the Gnomes to work for him at the last minute. That's part of what I wanted to talk about. Something's been bugging me ever since Gideon got the Shack."

"Like what?" Mabel asked.

"Like, how did Gideon summon Bill?"

Mabel's thought process stopped as soon as she took in her brother's question. She narrowed her eyes as she considered the idea.

"... Yeah, how did he summon a super-powerful dream demon?" Mabel asked herself. "I mean, we only knew about him because of-"

"The Journal," Dipper finished with a nod.

At that, the boy opened the front cover of the book and showed the piece of paper that said "Vol. 3".

"I've always known there were more Journals out there," Dipper explained. "I've had this theory for a while, but I think this thing with Bill confirmed it. Gideon has at least one of the Journals. That must be how he knew about Bill or got his magic amulet."

"Okay," Mabel agreed. "That makes sense. But what does that have to do with all of this?"

"Mabel, why do you think Gideon wanted the Shack in the first place?" Dipper asked. "I found Journal 3 near the property, so-"

"So maybe he's been after the Journal this whole time!" Mabel exclaimed, the pieces falling into place in her head.

"Exactly," Dipper said with a nod. "And he doesn't know we have it. We can use that to our advantage."

"How?" Mabel asked.

"We'll get the Gnomes to help us," Dipper stated. "With any luck, we'll get them to stop any big surprises Gideon has. We might even just him just with that. But if things go wrong, we can use his drive to get the Journal as a backup plan. I need you to flex your arts and crafts muscles and make a fake Journal. We can rig it so that when it opens, we can get him with some of your Mabel Soup."

"Alright!" Mabel said, clenching her fist. "Chef Mabel is cookin' up a trap!"

Dipper nodded in satisfaction before his face scrunched up in thought again. Mabel noticed, and tilted her head in confusion.

"What's the matter, Bro-Bro?" Mabel asked.

"There's still the problem of the town," Dipper said. "Even if we get the deed, Gideon could just accuse us of stealing it and he'd win. We need... I don't know, something else. Something that would guarantee we keep the deed after getting it."

The two thought for a moment before Mabel turned to her brother with a sly grin.

"I've got an idea," the girl said. "And I think you'll like it."

[Present time]

' Still explodes into a sticky mess when exposed to air, ' Dipper thought with a grin as he watched the Mabel Soup coat Gideon's upper body. ' Never have I been so thankful for Mabel's bizarre recipes. '

"Now's your chance to beat it before he unclogs his whistle," Mabel said smugly to the Gnomes as Gideon tried ripping the gunk off of his face.

Jeff looked between the twins and the struggling and stumbling Gideon. "Good enough for us. Move out, guys!"

The Gnomes all scampered off, leaving the trio of children behind. Once released, Dipper ran up to Gideon and, careful not to touch the Mabel Soup, kicked the boy right in the stomach. Gideon fell to the ground, the pink goo holding him down. As the performer tried to claw the sludge off of his face, Dipper reached into his suit. With a smirk, Dipper pulled out both the deed to the Shack and Journal 2.

"Got it!" Dipper called to his sister. "Let's get this to Stan!"

The twins dashed off through the hole in the fence ripped open by the Gnomes. Gideon, with a mighty tug, ripped the Mabel Soup off of his face. He let out a pained squeal as removing the goop ripped off his eyebrows in the process, and ground his teeth together as he tried to regain his senses. He slipped out of his suit jacket, leaving the blue article of clothing stuck to the ground. As Gideon rose to his feet, panting in anger, he saw the twins hop on a bus heading into town.

"No no no no NO!" Gideon shouted as he ran to the giant statue of himself constructed next to the Shack. "You there!"

Old Man McGucket looked up from the last bit of welding he was doing on the statue.

"Is it ready!?" Gideon shouted at the old inventor.

"Hee hee hee!" McGucket cackled. "Only one way to find out!"

The crazy old guy pulled a lever on the back of the statue's head, and the metal titan lit up, lights flashing as its mechanics turned on. Gideon stood on a platform before the foot of the statue and was slowly lifted into its metal leg. As Gideon rose through the statue a skintight motion capture suit was slipped over him. As Gideon rose into the head of the statue, the eyes opened, and he looked out to all before him. He did a twirling motion with his hands and the statue mimicked him perfectly, spinning the Gideonland sign it held before slamming it into the ground. Gideon smirked, satisfied by the mechanical giant's performance, and got the Gideon-Bot to run off after the bus.

McGucket watched happily as Gideon chased after some children he planned to brutalize with his giant robot. "I've got a good feelin' about that kid!"

[Meanwhile at a random bus station]

"Mr. Bus Driver Guy?" Mabel spoke. "We need to get outta town, ASAP!"

"Oh, hey dudes!" the very familiar bus driver said.

"Soos?!" the twins exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, it's me, Soos," the guy said. "Ever since the Shack closed down, I've had to work a bunch of part-time jobs. Gravedigger, an awesome cook, and bus driver. So what's up?"

"We got the deed back!" Mabel exclaimed happily.

"Whoa, seriously?" Soos said with a smile. "That's awesome news, dudes! You should totally tell that giant robot running up behind us!"

"Giant what now?" the twins asked, before turning to look out the back window.

What they saw was a not-so wittle ol' Gideon made of metal and hatred charging straight at them.

"You compensating for something Gideon?!" Mabel smirked as she yelled at the robot

"Soos, drive!" Dipper shouted urgently.

"Don't worry guys," Soos said reassuredly. "I've been a part-time bus driver for at least 40 minutes. One of these is probably a clutch..."

Soos fiddled with the bus' controls for a moment, before they accelerated just out of the robot's grasp.

"Hang on, dudes!" Soos called back to the kids.

" Halt! " the Gideon-Bot, amplifying Gideon's voice from inside. " I command you to halt! "

Soos zigged and zagged across the road, always managing to keep out of the robot's reach. The driver put the pedal to the metal as he raced into the town, ripping through the streets as the Gideon-Bot stayed close on the trio's tail. The metal titan, grabbed a streetlight it ran past, tearing it from the concrete.

" Give me back my Journal! " the robot thundered as threw the streetlight like a javelin.

The three each let out startled exclamations as the streetlight pierced through the top of the bus, impaling itself in the back seats.

"Uh, dudes!" Soos called back. "I don't think this pointer doo-hickey is supposed to do this!"

The twins glanced up at the console and saw that the gas meter was dropping from full much faster than it should have.

"Gideon must've ruptured the fuel tank!" Dipper shouted. "We're gonna run out of gas!"

"That's bad, right?" Soos asked as he swerved out of the way of some pedestrians.

"We need to stop this now!" Dipper yelled over the thundering steps of the metal titan close behind. ' If only Gideon hadn't figured out how to handle the Gnomes already. What can we do?! '

Mabel's eyes lit up before an uncomfortable groan escaped her lips.

"Okay, I have a plan!" she told her brother, before turning back to the front. "Soos, drive us to the water tower and whatever you do, don't stop!"

"I'll try, girl dude!" Soos shouted back as he looked warily at the declining gas.

The chase continued to race through the town, drawing lots of attention as they ripped through the street. As Soos left behind the buildings and bystanders, he drove past some trees, rapidly approaching their destination. Mabel moved back and got up on one of the bus seats, opening the escape hatch in the ceiling.

"What are you doing!?" Dipper shouted as his sister climbed out of the bus.

"Just get up here, quick!" Mabel called back.

Dipper shrugged and jumped off the seat. He gripped the edge of the opening and pulled himself up onto the roof of the bus. He steadied himself as Soos sped toward the water tower.

" I've got y'all now! " the robot shouted as it reached for the twins.

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted, waiting for her brilliant escape plan.

"Not yet!" she yelled back.

The two scooted back, trying to stay out of the Gideon-Bot's reach. Mabel turned and saw they were almost to the tower. She grabbed onto her brother and reached behind her.

"Hold on tight!" Mabel shouted. "And when I say to...!"

Time slowed in the girl's mind. The bus was right next to the tower, about to zip past it. She had to wait for the exact moment they passed the tower. Almost. Almost -

"Jump!" Mabel shouted.

She and her brother kicked off of the bus roof. They lept to the left, toward the water tower. Just as they were about to fall, Mabel whipped out her grappling hook from behind her and shot it. The hook latched onto the railing on the top of the tower. The two held tight as they swung around the tower, and back to the robot. Mabel pressed a button on the grapple gun, and the line began retracting, pulling the twins higher up into the air. As the two swung up, Dipper realized they were flying right at the Gideon-Bot's face.

"Go get him!" Mabel shouted as she threw Dipper ahead of her.

Mabel's momentum carried her straight up, and soon after she fell back, landing on the platform at the top of the tower. Her legs were shaky from the stunt, and she gripped the railing, refusing to look down. Instead, she looked up just in time to see her brother crash through one of the eye-shaped windows of the robot.

"AAAAARRGH!!!" Dipper roared as he flew into the robot.

"What in the-!?!" Gideon exclaimed in shock, covering his face as glass sprayed around the area.

Dipper landed in a roll, instantly springing to his feet and charging at Gideon. The smaller boy's eyes widened in panic, realizing the peril he was in. Gideon suddenly whipped his head down, causing the robot's head to jerk down. Dipper slid back down the now steeply inclined ground. Gideon suddenly threw his head back, Shooting the floor up in the opposite direction. Dipper grunted as the floor crashed up into him and launched him into the back wall of the head. He landed hard on his side, feeling a sharp pain in his shoulder. At that, Gideon began twirling his head around in circles. This cause the room to tilt violently, throwing Dipper around in circles as he was constantly struck by the walls.

Gideon laughed maniacally at having his enemy at his mercy, while Dipper blocked out the pain from the strikes to focus. Just as he was shot through the air in front of Gideon, Dipper whipped off his jacket and threw it right into Gideon's face. The evil boy panicked as his face was covered, stopping his head spinning to grab the jacket and throw it off. He realized his mistake too late, as the first thing he saw when his vision was restored was Dipper catching the letterman as he ran at Gideon. The shorter boy panicked seeing Dipper so close and instinctively brought his arms up over his face to try to protect himself.

As he ran, Dipper slid his right arm back through its sleeve, and as it pulled through the cloth it shot forward, breaking through Gideon's guard and planting his fist right into the smaller boy's chubby cheek.

Gideon stumbled back, wincing in pain from the strike. The smaller boy threw a desperate punch at his opponent, but Dipper was completely unphased. The taller guy caught the punch with ease and gripped Gideon's wrist.

Dipper proceeded to punch Gideon in the face with his own fist repeatedly, the robot's fist colliding with its face and smashing open the eye holes even more. Gideon's legs went slack under him, but Dipper used his free hand to hold the human punching bag up. Dipper then used Gideon's fist to punch him in the gut, each harder than the last. He felt the robot shudder under his feet and heard the sound of various things breaking and a few small explosions.

At that, Dipper let go of Gideon. Dipper ran out of the giant hole in the robot's face before Gideon's back hit the ground. The robot fell back just as Dipper jumped out of it, sailing through the air and toward the water tower.

And fell just short of grabbing the railing.

Dipper yelled as he fell through the air, grasping wildly at nothing. Without a second of hesitation, Mabel dove over the wooden rail. She grabbed her brother as he fell, and shot her grappling hook back up. It latched back onto the water tower and caught the two twins just before they hit the ground.

And just as the smashed-up Gideon-Bot crashed into the dirt, the sound echoed throughout the woods.

The twins were panting, hearts racing as the adrenalin slowly started leaving their systems. Dipper looked down and saw they were a mere few inches above the ground, held securely by Mabel's grapple gun. He had to admit, picking it from the shop those weeks ago had been a good choice on his sister's part.

Apparently, Mabel agreed with his sentiment.

"Grappling hook!" Mabel exclaimed with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah," Dipper said as he let go of his sister and began rubbing his ear. "Not so loud, I'm right here."

Mabel dislodged the hook from its perch, letting the line retract back. The twins stepped hesitantly closer to the downed robot. They saw Gideon crawl out of the robot's face, his mo-cap suit ripped and shredded, but some patches were still stuck on thanks to the lingering Mabel Soup. The smaller boy let out a pained groan as he slid down the side of the robot. Landing on shaky legs as he tried to ease his disorientation.

Before anyone could do anything more, they heard police sirens as the sheriff's car pulled up to the clearing. Not far behind were various townsfolk, having followed the trail of destruction to the water tower.

"Is this the thing that tore up the town?" one man asked.

"What's going on?" a woman asked.

"Gideon!" Deputy Durland cried as he ran to the slightly dazed boy. "Oh, good heavens! What on earth happened here?"

Gideon shook his head in an attempt to clear it, before exclaiming, "It was the Pines twins! They stole my deed to Gideonland and vandalized my statue! Arrest 'em!"

"He's lying, officers," Dipper said calmly, "and we can-"

"Wait!"

Everyone turned and saw a familiar red car speeding into the clearing, bumping into the cops' car in the process.

"Wait!" Stan shouted as he exited his car. "Stop everything! I've got somethin' to say!"

"Not this guy again," Sheriff Blubs muttered.

"Just wait!" Stan insisted. "Look! You guys all think Gideon is so perfect and honest. ' Oh! I could never tell a lie! I'm Gideon! '"

"He's more honest than you!" Blubs countered.

"Yeah!" Durland agreed. "And he's psychic too!"

"You sure about that?" Stan asked. "Everyone take a good look at you Gideon pins. Yeah, you're all still wearing 'em, right? Watch this."

Stan crushed his pin in his hand, and the people standing closest to him saw what he wanted.

A tiny camera.

"Bam!" Stan exclaimed. "That's right, these pins are hidden cameras! And my hearing aid was picking up the feedback! Who's the fraud now?"

Several members of the crowd started breaking apart their pins and were all shocked to see that each one did contain a camera. They all turned to Gideon, who was looking very nervous.

"Gideon, we gave you our trust..." Durland mumbled.

"You LIED to us!" Manly Dan shouted with rage.

"Please, I..." Gideon stammered. "It's not what it looks like... A-And besides! They still stole property that's rightfully mine and assaulted me! Do your jobs, officers!"

Blubs and Durland glanced at each other hesitantly. While they were hurt by Gideon, he was right.

"I... I guess so..." Blubs said. "Unless you kids have some kind of proof you didn't?"

Dipper glanced over the cops' shoulder and smiled. "Actually, yeah. She just showed up."

Everyone turned to see what Dipper was looking at and were greeted by Wendy pedaling up on her bike, out of breath.

"Man..." the redhead wheezed as she came to a stop. "You guys... you were really moving... Wow..."

"Hey, Wendy!" Mabel greeted happily. "You got it?"

"Oh... Oh yeah..." Wendy panted, slowly regaining her breath. "I got it... got it all... Whew..."

As Wendy tried to steady her breathing, she pulled out a video camera from her pocket. She opened it up and shifted through the recording a bit. When she was satisfied, she turned the screen to the police officers and hit play.

"Guess you were smart to use TNT to steal the deed for the Shack out from under us," Dipper's voice came from the camera.

"Sometimes the most complicated situations have the simplest solutions," Gideon's recorded voice agreed. "But dynamite can't solve all my problems."

Gideon's face blanched as he looked at the twins, each shooting him a cocky smirk. Mabel's backup plan: Get Gideon talking before the Gnomes show up while having Wendy hide in the nearby woods and record anything incriminating the performer said. And from the looks of things, it worked perfectly.

"Th-This is circumstantial!" Gideon cried. "That doesn't prove anything!"

"Oh, wait," Wendy said, a smile on her face. "This is my favorite part!"

"Possession is nine-tenths of the law, Mabel darlin'," Gideon's voice spoke in the recording. "I stole the deed fair and square, therefore it's mine. I got this whole hick town wrapped around my wittle ol' finger. Who do you think those idiots will believe?"

The crowd all looked back to Gideon, some looking hurt and others looking angry.

"Lil' Gideon," Blubs spoke, "you are under arrest for conspiracy, fraud, and breaking our hearts. Durland, the tiny handcuffs."

The deputy pulled out an adorably tiny set of handcuffs, and slapped them on Gideon's wrists, crying the whole time.

"No!" Gideon shouted as he was dragged off. "No! Watch the hair! You can't do this to me! Y'all are sheep! You need me! I'll be back! You'll hear from my lawyers!"

"Yes!" Mabel exclaimed, high-fiving her brother. "We did it!"

Dipper grinned, ruffling his sister's hair. He look over to Wendy, who was cheering on the cops shoving Gideon in the back of the squad car. She looked back at Dipper, smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up. He smiled back giving her a nod, silently thanking her for her help. Wendy nodded back as if to say, "Anytime."

"There you have it," Shandra Jimenez reported into her news camera. "Local heroes the Pines family, have just exposed Li'l Gideon as a fraud. Anything you have to say to the town, Stanford?"

Stan grinned into the camera, hugging the twins. "The Mystery Shack is back, baby!"

[A few days later]

Mabel smiled as she and her brother finished unpacking their stuff. The repairs to the building had been finished that morning, and the Mystery Shack had its grand reopening all day. Now that she thought about it, Stan should be closing for the day soon. The old man had been ecstatic. The publicity he'd gotten from exposing Gideon had ensured the Shack got tons of business all day, and Stan didn't miss a chance to get an extra buck out of people.

Mabel rolled her eyes, an affectionate smile on her face. So maybe Grunkle Stan wasn't the best role model, but at the end of the day, he was a pretty cool guy.

Speaking of the old man, he walked up into the twins' room, having just closed the Shack. "You kiddos settlin' back in okay?"

"Yep!" Mabel said happily. "All of my favorite moldy spots on the ceiling are still there! Even you, Daryl."

Dipper scoffed at his sister's named health code violations, before glancing away. He considered his thought for a moment, before making his decision.

"... Hey, Grunkle Stan," the boy spoke, "Mabel and I have been talking, and I think there's something we should finally tell you."

Stan raised an eyebrow, curious.

Dipper let out a breath and pulled the two Journals out from under his bed.

"This is a Journal I found in the woods," the boy explained as he handed the books to Stan. "This one I got from Gideon. They talk about all the crazy stuff that goes on in Gravity Falls. Gideon nearly destroyed the whole town trying to find mine. This is why he wanted the Shack. I don't know what they mean, or who wrote them. But, after all, we've been through, we figured you should finally know about them."

Stan flipped through a few pages of each of the books, before gravely closing them both.

"I'm glad you showed me this, Dipper..." Stan said in a very serious tone, which he managed to hold for about three seconds before cracking up. "AHAHAHA! Now I know where you've been getting it all from! Spookums and monsters. This spooky book has been filling your head with crazy conspiracies!"

"No Grunkle Stan!" Mabel insisted. "It's all real!"

"Haha," Stan chuckled. "You too Mabel? You both gotta quit readin' this fantasy nonsense for your good. Although, some of these would make great attractions! Can't come up with this stuff! Mind if I borrow this? Thanks!"

Stan got up and left, taking the books with him.

"No, Stan wait!" Dipper called, panicking at the loss of the Journals.

"Relax, kid," Stan said over his shoulder as he walked down the stairs. "You can have your magic books back after I've gone through them a couple of times. Heh. 'Magic books'. Ridiculous!"

Dipper grumbled a bit to himself, reluctantly accepting Stan's terms. ' Should've known he'd do something like this... '

"It's fine, Bro-Bro," Mabel said, patting her brother on the shoulder. "Now that Gideon's out of the way, we probably won't need those things for a while anyway."

"... I guess you're right," Dipper eventually agreed. "But if Stan doesn't give those back in a week, I'm ripping his office apart."

"Eh, don't worry," Mabel said with a dismissive wave. "You'll probably get them back soon. I mean, what would a boring old man like Stan want with the books anyway?"

[Later that night]

Stan input the code to the vending machine, and the secret passage behind the food dispenser opened. Glancing around to make sure no one saw him, he walked into the hidden passage, shutting the secret door behind him.

Journals in hand, he descended a dimly lit staircase, until he arrived at an elevator. Inputting the code he knew by memory, the elevator doors were opened, and Stan stepped into the lift. He pushed the button for the floor marked "3", and the elevator began lowering.

When it reached its destination, Stan stepped out onto a floor with large, old-school computers filling the room. He walked past them, and various monitoring devices, until he arrived at a desk. The desk had a lamp, various notes piled up, and a picture of the twins on it. But most importantly, it had a drawer.

Stan pulled the drawer open and removed Journal 1.

"After all these years..." the old man muttered as he set the three Journals next to each other.

He flipped through the pages of each until he got them all on the pages he needed. He lined up the books next to each other, in the shape of an inverse pyramid. The images on the pages lined up, forming a complex blueprint that had been split between the three books.

"Finally, I have them all."

Following the directions in the Journals, Stan input data into a nearby terminal. When he finished, the loud humming of a device turning on was heard. Stan's eyes widened as lights in the next room turned on for the first time in decades.

"It's working!" Stan shouted as he ran into the other room.

A large machine shaped like an upside-down triangle lit up, power, at last, surging through it. Stan grabbed the large lever in front of the device and flipped it with a grunt. Glowing runes surrounding the circular hole in the center of the triangle appeared. With a crack of electricity, a light came out of the hole, further illuminating the room.

Stan stood with his hands on his hips, proudly staring at the machine as the air in the room stirred slightly.

"... Here we go."

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HA! YOU THOUGHT MABEL SOUP WAS JUST A ONE-OFF GAG, BUT IT WAS I, DIO! Wait, no. I mean- BUT YOU WERE WRONG! MABEL SOUP IS THE KEY TO VICTORY! MABEL SOUP IS THE KEY TO EVERYTHING!

Secondly, For a while now, I've been trying to figure out what to do about Tale of Two Stans. Namely, should I not do the episode in this story? The episode is almost entirely focused on Stan and Ford, both of whom are the same as their canon counterparts.