Monster Falls

13: A Purr-fect Reunion

"Grunkle Stan! I see it!"

The gargoyle's yellow, glowing eyes widened as he walked up beside his niece. Finally. They were here. He grinned. "Well, it sure took ya' long enough, kid!" He joked, rubbing Mabel's head, warily avoiding her shimmering, golden horn.

The half-unicorn smiled, nudging Stan with her elbow. "Says the big loser who got us lost!"

Stan chuckled, walking ahead and wincing when a sharp branch flicked his long, lizard-like tail. "Yeah, yeah. I've heard all the jokes already," he remarked, adjusting his work jacket, and wincing when he heard the material in the back rip even more. Geez, if there wasn't a gaping hole nearly the size of his entire back he'd be shocked.

Mabel trotted closer to the Shack happily. She was pretty convinced that Dipper was pretty worried about her, so she was happy and waiting for a big hug when she arrived. "We're almost there!" She exclaimed, her horn lighting up in excitement.

Stan grimaced. He'd been kind of having a hard time adjusting to the girl's rather...reactive horn. I mean, it flashed when she was sad, flashed when she was happy, flashed when she was asleep, it was overwhelming, especially when he was forced to see through the reflection of his own glowing body part. Stan was praying that his brother had been able to find a cure. He couldn't handle finding any weird new quirks about his or anyone else's bodies. "Mm-hmm," he mumbled.

Mabel turned, glancing at her uncle. "You okay?"

Stanley huffed. Not this again. Gee, the kid was too selfless for her own good! He shook off the thought, smiling awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm great, sweetie," he huffed.

Just great.

Mabel pushed open the door, grinning. "WE'RE BACK!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, causing even the gargoyle behind her to wince. When there was no reply, Mabel stiffened, frowning. She walked in, her pink, glittering hooves clacking on the wooden floor. "Hello?" The girl called, confused. "Where is everyone?"

Stan furrowed his brows. "Y-you check upstairs. I'll go into the basement."

The half-unicorn nodded, racing towards the stairs while Stan turned into the gift shop, walking to the vending machine. He stopped at the door, looking around the room. He'd boarded up the windows, even though the whole town was changed. Oh well. He probably had an angry mob of assorted monster types rallying against him at this very second. Punching in the code mindlessly, he watched the door open for the thousandth time.

As he rode the elevator down, he heard the sound of Stanford's voice. Stan sighed with relief. It was nice to know that his brother was okay, even if Ford didn't exactly care about him. He walked out of the elevator, catching sight of Stanford sitting at his desk with some blonde kid on the floor in front of him. "Ford?" He called, staring at the sphinx.

Stanford looked up, eyes widening. "'Ley--Stanley? Where the hell were you?" He asked, standing up.

Stan shrugged. "I dunno, looking for you," he remarked, crossing his arms and pointing at the young man on the floor. "Who's this?"

Ford smiled awkwardly, chuckling lightly. "This--this is our guest, remember? Will the magician?"

The man on the floor grinned. "Charmed," he greeted, looking quite delighted. "I've heard a lot about you, Fe--Stanley!"