Chapter 8: Return of Old Faces
In the forests not too far from the Mystery Shack, a group that Dipper and Mabel were unfortunately very familiar with were plotting, or rather, returning to an old plot: gaining a queen to lead them. This time however, things were far more dire:
In the wake of the day gravity vanished for a few minutes and the appearance of the black and white monsters, another Gnome had begun to gain popularity in leadership; an older looking and buff Gnome who was a traditionalist to the point of banishment by eagle-eating.
Oh correction; sacrificing to the 'Great Watcher in the sky.'
"You have until nightfall."
That was all he had said to Jeff, the current de-facto leader of the Gnomes, whose track record was...less than confidence inducing, let us say. His last few attempts had ended up with most of the Gnomes being sent flying away by a leaf-blower, working for Gideon (who they thought was a girl) and a brief stint where he almost had become the most powerful being in Gravity Falls...only to loose the Gems that made him that way.
And all thanks to the Pines Twins.
This time, failure was not an option.
RWBY-GF
A parade was in motion to celebrate Mayor Tyler's inauguration...and feed the Northwest family's ego, as they paid for the whole darn thing; merchandise and all.
From a float that was decorated with balloons of their faces, the richest family in Gravity Falls smiled and waved at the 'commoners' they despised so much...including, to most of the townsfolk, their daughter Pacifica, who was actually sitting in the crowd, a look a like in her place.
Yes, the Northwests were THAT rich.
From the sides, Weiss held her little sister-figure's hand gently, to both comfort her and forget her own memories of being a trophy daughter for Jacques.
Needless to say, the Remnant natives and Pines Twins were not enjoying this farce, unlike say Soos, whose collection of Northwest merchandise was almost complete.
"I'm having flashbacks to Atlas." Jaune confessed. "And NOT the good ones."
"There were GOOD Atlas moments?" Blake asked.
"Ford punching my father, Ozpin and Goodwitch calling Ironwood a moron and him admitting it...and Oscar somehow converting my brother to our side in half an hour." Weiss recalled off the top of her head, shooting her best friend's boyfriend a grateful smile. "After that...yeah, that was pretty much the WORST two weeks of my life."
"Do we wanna know?" Mabel asked.
"Think the 'Wizard of Oz' and meets the 'War of the worlds.'" Ren said plainlly. "Aside from those moments Weiss mentioned...that sums up our time in Atlas."
"'Spare the humble and weaken the pride', indeed.'" Oscar quoted. Dipper looked at him.
"Did...did you just quote...?"
"Yes." Oscar smiled proudly, shooting his friends that clearly said 'do NOT tell him who I'm really quoting.'
Thankfully, the etense atmosphere was broken by a cheerful call.
"Hey baby!" Yang cheered, motioning Thompson over. The boy did just that, along with Wendy and the rest of her friends.
Ruby smiled; happy for her sister. From what she understood; Yang and Thompson's date had gone wonderfully; the young man had paid for all the expenses, they had talked about their interests and Yang had even started to give him lessons on riding a motor-bike.
Admittedly, he was still nervous as heck on said machines and blushed like a storm whenever Yang came around, but Thompson was, in Ruby's mind, a perfect possible brother-in-law.
That didn't mean however, that she wasn't going to tease the heck out her sister for this! Oh yes, payback would be sweet! Soon, Yang would know the humilation and embrassment she had bestowed upon her and Oscar...!
As soon as she got some material. Ruby would have to give Yang credit, when she was happy in a relationship, she kept knowledge of what happened between herself and the date.
Her sister was now with her arm firmly clamped around Thompson's
"Enjoying the show?" Wendy asked the group.
"No different than the parades back home." Weiss retorted, finding her nails more interesting than the floats in front of her.
"Still got to admit, this is very good for next day." Ren noted.
"Yeah, but its still boring!" Nora and Mabel groaned together.
"Well, after those black and white monsters attacked the election, this is kind of boring." Tambre noted.
...
...
...
"Wait...you guys remember that?" Oscar asked.
"Well, kinda hard to forget monsters, don't you think?" Wendy noted.
"Or the fact that you guys are monster-slayers." Robbie added.
"...You saw us fighting the Grimm?" Ruby asked in worry,
"Saw? It's on Youtube!"
Tambry then pulled out her phone and played a clip of Ruby slicing a Beowuld in two, Yang punching an Ursa into the sky, Oscar breaking a Nevermore's neck while Jaune and Weiss split another down the middle, Neo using her umbrella like a machine gun and so many others...
...
...
"...Oh..." Yang started.
"...Crap." Ren and Blake finished.
"Um...kids?" Oscar said, handing them a wad of cash. "How about you get yourselves some snacks and play some games? We...need to have a meeting."
Reading the situation, the twins and heiress waved goodbye to their older friends and went to check out the fairgrounds. Yang gave Thompson a kiss on the cheek before joining her friends at Sue's to talk about this new development.
At least, that HAD been the plan, before Dipper and Mabel rushed in, worry.
"They kidnapped Pacifica! They kidnapped Pacifica!"
Weiss was already out the door.
Without a moment to lose, the other Huntsmen and twins raced towards the forest, weapons at the ready and their minds preparing for battle...only to find an unamused Pacifica dusting herself off, several tiny men groaning in pain around her.
"Oh hey!" Pacifica waved. "Took you long..."
Weiss was already at her side.
"What happened? Are you hurt? Who grabbed you? Do you need some water? Juice? Coffee? Oscar, give her your coffee!"
Yang whistled in pride.
"That is some GOOD big sistering right there."
Mabel and Dipper nodded in agreement.
"Weiss, I'm fine. As turns out those self-defense courses weren't a waste of money." Pacifica explained, a little surprised and proud of herself.
"Who...or what...are these things?" Nora asked, poking one of the tiny men.
"Shembulock..." One of them groaned in pain.
"Guys, meet the Gnomes." Dipper explained. "Gnomes, meet the Huntsmen and Huntresses."
Weiss had already unsheathed her sword and levelled it at the kidnappers.
"You have 5 seconds to explain why you dared to kidnap my little sister-figure, before I unleash EVERY summon I have and use Time Dilation to force you to feel it for years!" Weiss growled
"And I thought Yang was scary!" Jaune and Ruby mouthed
"Mental note; give Weiss am all expense-paid vacation with Neptune when this is all over." Oscar said to himself, pushing his cousins back
"We were just trying to get a new Queen!" Jeff confessed, hoping to be spared by the angry white swordswoman in front of him.
"You're STILL on that?" Mabel groaned. "Thought you;d have learnt your lesson after what happened when you tried to grab me!"
"...What."
The air turned cold as Oscar prepared his cane, his brows furrowed and anger in his eyes.
"Um...Oscar?" Dipper asked, fearing his cousin's sudden change in demeanour...which grew as he stepped forward and joined Weiss at leveling his cane at the attempted kidnappers.
"Explain." He growled trough his teeth. "Now."
And so, Jeff did explain; how he had until sundown to come up with a Queen for all 10,000 of his people, or he would be sacrificed for his failures as a leader and the buffer Gnome would take over.
Dipper and Mabel, in spite of all the trouble he'd put them through, felt a pang of sympathy.
"Wait...You guys can help me!" Jeff said. "You like helping people right?"
"Give us just a moment please." Ruby smiled as she dragged her best friend and boyfriend back with the others.
"I say we can their little butts to kingdom come!" Pacifica growled
"And I agree!" Weiss followed
"Third that!" Nora beamed, spinning her hammer in anticpation.
"Now I like what you're saying," Yang started. "And normally I would agree without a second thought. But that's not our call. Ruby? Jaune?"
The two team leaders shot each other a look, then Dipper and Mabel. While Dipper seemed hesitant at whatever seemed to be the shared consensus, he was out-voted and motioned for them to proceed.
"One of you will marry me?!" Jeff beamed
The ladies all stepped back, disgust and irritation clear.
"...I take back what I said." Yang growled. "Ruby, Jaune, we're killing him!"
"No, no we are not killing him!" Jaune stepped in. "Look at him; he's smaller than Adrian!"
"I dunno who this Adrian is, but I'm grateful for his existence." Jeff whispered to himself, it seeming to finally dawn on him what kind of situation he was in.
Ruby then stepped forward, knelt down and said bluntly:
"We'll teach you to be a better leader."
RWBY GF
The next four hours were draining to say the least.
Jeff was very set in his ways; it took them 3 hours to explain why kidnapping was NOT a good way to go about getting a queen. It then took another two to get him to understand that sacrifices sometimes had to be made by a leader.
Ren actually tore some hair out trying to teach the Gnome etiquette
Then it was an obstacle course to make him faster and stronger. After ten times, he got it to a time that Ruby and Jaune accepted as 'close enough.' He had tiny legs after all, and not Speed Semblance...
Sadly, the Gnomes did not care when Jeff promised to be a better leader: having wanted a queen above all else.
"...In hindsight, we probably should've seen this coming." Dipper pointed out, many nodding in agreement.
The group found Jeff standing in front of a hole with a cross made of sticks behind it.
"This is the last spot we saw our last queen...before she vanished."
"That's a badger den." Dipper noted.
"...That WOULD explain all the Gnomes who come vanish." Jeff realized before a badger with a snake wrapped around it emerged and growled at him. "OH NO! The beast is back! And it grew another head! It's going to eat me for being a terrible leader!"
"Snadger!" Mabel beamed at the creatures she had set up together...before realizing everyone was looking at her. "I mean...wow, a Snadger! What an oddity that you could only find her in Gravity Falls and that I had nothing to do with...!'
"Mabel..." Oscar frowned with the tone of a parent...or a teacher.
"I...may have asked someone to use Love Dust to make badger and snake fall in love." She confessed.
"...Love...Dust?" The Remnant natives asked.
"Magic Dust that makes you fall in love?" Mabel explained. "This guy called 'the Love God' made it."
"So Dust DOES exist in this reality?" Weiss asked, already planning on expanding the SDC into this dimension. "And in ways Remnant's doesn't? Excellent...Very interesting..."
"Oh no, she's regressing into ruthless businesswoman mode!" Ruby shouted in worry. "Quick! Someone bring her back!"
"I don't think that Dust was the same as yours." Dipper said. "And before you ask, no, we have no idea how to contact this 'love god.'"
Weiss returned to normal.
"My apologies."
The Snadger had been growling at Jeff the whole time, salivating at the tender morsel in front of it...when Jeff grabbed a stick and hit it. The creature then ran off whimpering, but not before kicking up the dirt, forcing a rock to hit a tree...from which fell...
"A...coffin?" Mabel asked, then gasped in shock. "Guys! There's a little girl in here!"
Everyone, even Jeff, who was in shock at what he had done, rushed forward to see that there indeed WAS a little girl inside; very much alive though, considering the small cloud of fog that kept appearing and disappearing.
She looked about 5-6 years old, with tanned skin and white hair in a green dress, holding what appeared to be a wooden toy horse.
"T-that's our queen!" Jeff shouted in shock. "She's been asleep all these years?!"
He then fell to his knees.
"Please, I'm begging you! Wake her up! I'll never...No! The Gnomes will never bother the people of Gravity Falls again if you do this!"
Jaune knelt down and channelled his aura into the child, who suddenly began to stir...just as the other gnomes appeared, apparently ready to sacrifice Jeff before they saw their former Queen.
A few minutes later, Jaune cancelled his Semblance and moved away as the little girl rose up, letting out a yawn and stretching her arms before she saw she was surrounded by people she didn't recognize...aside from one:
"...Daddy?" The girl asked Oscar.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"HUH?!"
"Oscar...!" Yang growled, her form nearly aflame.
"N-now wait a second!" Oscar begged, backing away from his enraged future sister-in-law.
"Yang, I'm sure there's an explanation!" Jaune and Ruby begged
"Whether or not its a good on remains to be seen." Dipper noted, Ren nodding in agreement.
"Wait." Blake stopped her partner. "She's...I think she's one of...that woman's children."
Memories flooded Teams RWBY and JNR; memories that a Genie had shared with them invovling the force that even though gone, still gave them nightmares. Memories of a time where she had been almost human...at least in terms of emotions.
For this child to be here...and to call Oscar that...
"Oh." Ren started
"Poop." Nora followed, which made everyone look at her. "What? There are children present."
Ignoring the awkward atmosphere, Ruby knelt down and smiled warmly at the child, reaching out a hand for her to shake.
"Hi there, I'm Ruby. What's your name?"
The little girl let out a worried gasp and then rushed behind Oscar, shyness clear. She clung onto his leg when she saw there were other people, before a gentle gloved hand patted her head. She glanced up to see her 'daddy' smiling sweetly at her.
"It's okay." Oscar softly assured her. "You can trust these people."
Shyly, the girl poked her head out and said.
"Daisy."
Instantly, Yang, Weiss, Nora and Mabel were in love with the little girl, their eyes sparkling with adoration. Daisy didn't stray too far from Oscar but came from behind his leg.
"I believe this is yours?" Ren smiled as he pulled something out of the ground the child had been sleeping in, dusting off the dirt to reveal a wooden horse.
"My horsey!" Daisy beamed, reaching for the toy and hugging it when Ren happily gave it to her. "Thank you, Mr. Green!"
Ren couldn't even be bothered with her name for him.
"We have a queen!" The Gnomes hollered, moving towards the little girl before Dipper, Mabel and Pacifica blocked their path.
"Hey wait a second! She just woke up!" Dipper pointed out
"And she's been reunited with her daddy, give her a moment." Pacifica growled.
The Gnomes did as asked, some even shirking back at Pacifica's growl...and probably because the Ursa summon behind her growling alongside her. Weiss simply patted the girl on the head.
"I am very worried." Dipper confessed, getting understanding nods from Ren and Oscar.
"Who are the funny little men, daddy?" Daisy asked Oscar. "And why do you look so young?"
"...You...you don't remember us, your majesty?" One of the older Gnomes asked, hurt in his tone. Many of the Gnomes started walking back in worry.
"Well, she was bitten by that creature!" Jeff weakly tried to cheer up his people. "Maybe it messed up her memory. Just give it a second..."
"You don't have a second." The coup leader growled, marching towards Jeff. "We gave you until Sundown to find us a queen. Now its only an hour away, and aside from empty promises, you have provided us with nothing! For all we know, this is merely an imposter!"
"Look, if you could just relax for a sec..."
"No, it is time for you to be...!"
Before the other Gnome could continue, an Alpha Ursa charged through into the clearing. Ruby was quick to grab Dipper and Mabel out of harm's way (Oscar's hands where full with Daisy) while Weiss pulled Pacifica into an embrace. The children where then placed behind the heroes, who drew their weapons and prepared for battle.
"Gnomes of the forest!" Jeff called out. "ASSEMBLE!"
Aside from the buff one, all the Gnomes heeded Jeff's call, and soon a sight Dipper and Mabel had forgotten greeted all those in the area: A Shack-sized creature of red, sharp teeth, a white beard and a hat.
"Well." Ruby sighed. "That just ruined Santa for me. Anyone else?"
"Yep." Nora nodded.
"Definitely going to be seeing that in nightmares." Jaune replied.
"It is kind of cool in a way..." Oscar mused.
"When you're not then ones being chases, yeah." Dipper pointed out.
The Santa like creature (AN: Does it have an official name?) slammed a fist onto the Ursa, which stumbled under the surprising force of the fist, dizziness clear. The Gnomes then lifted up a tree
"COVER OUR QUEEN'S EYES!" Jeff commanded the Huntsman and kids, who did as he ordered.
The second Daisy's eyes were covered, the Ursa was impaled by a tree and sent flying into a boulder.
For a good minute, no one said a word. Then all broke into an applause
"JEFF! JEFF! JEFF!" The Gnomes chanted, throwing their leader up in the air and catching.
"Wait!" The buff Gnome who had stayed out of the fight called out. "So he helped us beat one of those monsters..."
"While YOU did nothing." Ruby and Jaune pointed out, a lot of the Gnomes agreeing with this.
"...He still didn't get us a Queen!"
Those where the last words that the coup leader said, before he was snatched up by a Nevermore and never seen again.
Yet again, for a while no one said anything. Before the Gnomes shrugged.
"Bummer."
"Eh, I never liked the guy anyway."
"Can anyone remember his name? I can't."
"Shembuelock."
Daisy giggled at the Gnomes.
"He did kind of seem like a meany."
"Oh you have NO idea!" Jeff said, then looking up at the little girl. "So...um...Your majesty? Do..do you want to come back?"
The Gnomes started cheering at the prospect of having their Queen back, whihc made Daisy uncomfortable
"Now hold on!"
Nora walked up to the Gnomes
"What EXACTLY is a Gnome queen supposed to do? Cause if its what I think it's supposed to be...I'm breaking some tiny legs!"
"Aren't you guys going to try and stop her?" Dipper asked Jaune and Ren.
"Dip, it has been a day and a half." Jaune sighed. "And this is NORA we're talking about."
"Besides," Ruby interjected, trying to settle this situation peacefully. "Look at what you guys did just now; you just took down an Alpha Ursa and didn't loose a single Gnome."
The Gnomes realized this...and looked to Jeff, who simply said:
"The Gnomes will never again bother the humans of Gravity Falls. Neither will we forget their kindness. If you need any help and you think we can help..."
"We get it." Pacfica growled. "Sorry, still a little ticked you tried to kidnap me."
"We deserve that." Steve noted.
And with a bow, the massive creature returned to the woods, punching a Nevermore away in the process. With a smile on their faces, Teams RWBY, JNR, the Pines twins and Daisy made their way back to the Shack
"We're keeping her." Ruby said, no room to argue as she carried the little girl in her arms.
"Yes dear." Oscar smiled knowingly, rubbing Daisy's head.
"Are you my new mommy, Miss Ruby?" the little girl asked hopefully.
In her mind, Ruby squeeled with delight, while outside, she nodded. Daisy let out a cheer and hugged her neck before they nuzzled noses.
"Wait, does this mean..." Mabel realized something, which her brother caught onto.
"Are...are we an aunt and uncle?" Dipper finished.
And for once, the twins sharing giddiness on the same subject as they started to bounce ideas off on how to spoil or play with their nieces. Yang was adding her own two cents as she occasionally made a funny face to make her new niece giggle.
"Well, this has certainly been a day." Blake noted a tired smile on her face.
"I for one cannot wait to hit the hay, leadership lessons are hard." Weiss admitted.
"Still wish YOU had been made team leader?" Ruby asked
"Please, I got over that years ago." Weiss retorted. "Sides, if I HAD become team lead we'd probably have fallen apart the first time my name or money couldn't solve a problem."
"That's true."
"Probably."
"No doubt, Weiss-cream."
"You were kind of a brat back then."
Weiss frowned at all the accurate critiques.
"At least you grew out of it." Ruby pointed out as Dasit began to stir.
"I wonder what Stan, Ford and Neo got up to." Jaune asked.
RWBY GF
Back at the shack, Neo was watching soaps while eating ice cream while Stan handed a box to a shady looking fellow in exchange for two suitcases of cash.
"Si, si, we'll meet tomorrow with the pugs, I comprende, I comprende!" Stan said, shooing his business associate away. "Vamanos! Andele and all those other Spanish words! Get!"
'I don't even speak that language and I know you're saying and or using those words wrong.' The mute former criminal said.
Stan then slammed the door and marched back to the kitchen to grab some sodas befoe returning to the TV room, where a Kroean drama was playing. All he could make out was 'Costco' and the fact that someone was in trouble they thought they could avoid.
'Yeah Hoon, you make him take you to Costco!' Neo cheered on the heroine.
Stan than sat next to her, and they clinked their canned drinks together.
"I ain't got no clue what they're saying, but I love it."
Neo then nodded, and they sat down to enjoy the show.
Just then, the others trudged in, and without even for them to announce themselves, Neo leapt into the air and spun like a drill towards Oscar, a gleefully psychopathic grin on her face
'YOUR HEAD IS MINE TODAY, OZZIE!'
It was then that she saw the little girl in Ruby's arms and lost her focus for just a millisecond...which was all Oscar to stop her spinning with the end of his cane, then sending her flying backwards with a tap.
"Neo? You okay?" Jaune asked; he knew she was fine (and that Oscar held back), but still...
'No fair! No using human shields!' Neo ranted, jumping up and down in anger. 'Especially adorable little ones!'
RWBY GF
That night was...an event, to say the least. The highlight of which had to be the little girl's introduction:
"Um...Ford? H-how would you feel about becoming a grandpa?" Oscar had asked his father when the three 'at homers' asked who Daisy was.
Ford had outright fainted and was now lying on the couch, sound asleep and not waking up any time soon. Because of this, the revelation of some folk remembering the Grimm and how to deal with that
had to be put on hold.
"Wonder how dad is going to take it?" Yang had mused out-loud, sending fear down Ruby and Oscar's spine, especially Oscar's, as he remembered the first time he'd met Taiyang in a 'dating (his) daughter mindset.'
But that's for another time.
Once he stopped laughing at his twin's reaction, Stan had immediately offered Daisy every GOOD piece of candy, cookies or sweets he had in the Shack. She had been a little scared of him at first, but warmed up to him by the end of the night after he gave her a shiny necklace that was NOT part of his usual collection.
Neo immediately grew to adore Daisy, who tried to ride Waddles like a horse...much to Ruby and Oscar's worry. Yang and Ren had smirked at this; already knowing how in a few hours how someone can become so precious to one. Surprisingly, Waddles had no objection to becoming Daisy's noble steed, the two running around the shack for hours. A visiting Soos, who was dropping off some tools for a big repair job the next day, had quickly become the little girl's favourite grown up when he gave her a toy horse he just so happened to have on him.
"Never hurts to be prepared, dood." Was all he said when asked HOW and WHY he had such a thing.
Daisy quickly grew accustomed to TV and scrolls, although she was still happy with her toy horse and storybooks. She and Mabel spent a good two hours playing together while Dipper, feigning great reluctance, read from a book that had come with one of Mabel's unicorns. Not even Pacifica proven to be immune to the 5-6 year old, letting her dress up in some of her nicer clothes and trying out different hair styles.
"Look at what I can do, daddy!"
From Daisy's hands came several multi-colored orbs, that flew through the air in a dazzling performance. Some bumped into each other, creating small flakes of snow or leaves. Not even the jaded Stan could hold back an adoring smile.
Suddenly, one of the orbs raced towards Oscar and hit him, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Daddy!" Daisy called out in worry, racing alongside Ruby and the others.
From Oscar's mouth came an entirely different voice; a calm, refined and very 'teacher' one.
"Why hello children. My name is Professor Ozpin. Might you tell me where I am? The memories are a little jumbled..."
To be continued...
So, this chapter was inspired by the Gravity Falls Deep Woods episode 'Return of the Gnomes', which I thought, due to the high quality and not reading the title/ doing enough research, was an unmade GF episode. Please! DO check out Gravity Falls Deep Woods.
While many where probably expecting and looking forward to see the Remnant natives would deal with the GF Unicorns, I decided to introduce a few interesting plot changes; some GF townsfolk remembering the Grimm for starters. Also, Oz is back!
So for the next chapter, we have two possibilities: Either the anticipated Unicorn/ Pug trafficking episode, or another flashback to show how the kids got to Atlas with Ford's help and how Oscar and Whitley's friendship began. Let me know which you'd prefer in either reviews or PMs.
Have a great day, keep warm and safe.