Challenge #01441-C346: Stranger Friends

Wander and Sylvia

1) With Stanford Pines

2) With Dipper and Mabel -- Anon Guest

[AN: This will put me one ahead for Yule. Huzzah]

The Stan o' War II, somewhere in the Bermuda triangle...

"Engines on full, Stanley! It's got us in its vortex!"

"They're already on full, poindexter. You want more power, grab an oar and paddle."

"Say, you folks look like you're in a spot of trouble," said a new voice.

The speaker was a hairy, orange... thing... seemingly riding a blue... thing... with a red crest. The hairy orange one had a large, green hat as the only other item of clothing but his shoes and socks. They were floating inside a gigantic... pink... bubble.

"Can we help?" said his mount.

Stan looked at Ford, who looked back. They shared shrugs.

"Okay," said Ford, "But if you try any rectal probing, you're going to have a fight."

"Euw," said the orange thing. "Customs around here are downright strange..." He shrugged and dismounted. "Ready, Sylvia?"

The blue thing stretched and cracked her knuckles, "Ready, Wander."

The orange one -Wander- Blew another gigantic pink bubble, which neatly encapsulated the ship. High and dry above the vortex. The blue thing -Sylvia- hoisted the ship onto her back, lifted Wander in a flip up to the deck. "Hi there, I'm Wander, I wander the galaxy lookin' for folks to help. Sylvia's my faithful steed and best friend. Do you mind gettin' dropped off by the nearest land mass?"

"Oh, that'd be great," said Ford. "We're Stanford and Stanley Pines. Brothers, adventurers, and occasional treasure hunters."

"Yeah for real interesting definitions of 'treasure'," grumbled Stan. "Those rocks you picked up from Atlantis are still only useful as ballast."

"Patience, Stanley."

Wander made a polite rictus. These two were going to need a lot of help.

2)

"Sure we can make it to Gravity Falls," Dipper mocked. "It's only twenty miles in a straight line."

"It still..." Mabel panted, "...is..."

"Yeah, but not vertically. You didn't say there was a mountain in the way, Mabel..."

"I didn't see the mountain on Google Maps, Dipper. You were the one saying how it was the best way to find your way anywhere."

"What'd you think those concentric lines were?"

"Party target?"

Waddles, who had grown enormous during the rest of the year, stopped to scratch his butt on a standing stone. He loosened some moss and revealed an ancient carving.

"And just great! Your pet has probably wakened up some ancient magic or some c'thuloid horror to eat us. Way to go, Mabel."

"I knew it! There it is," said Grunkle Ford, somewhere high above them. A pink bubble descended like Glinda the Good Witch, and popped, leaving both Grunkles and two other... things... on the ground nearby.

"Grunkle Ford? Grunkle Stan?" Dipper boggled at the obvious aliens and started taking hurried notes.

"This is exactly the stone I've been looking for..." said Grunkle Ford, clearing the rest of the moss off. "Your guess was correct, Dipper. This is an ancient Atlantean transport system. Ancient magic."

"Howdy, howdy, howdy," said the orange thing, shaking Dipper's hand, Mabel's hand, and Waddles' trotter. "I'm Wander. This is Sylvia. And this is amazing. Everyone put this planet down as a nowhere backwater, but I have never seen so much variety on any single place I've ever been. I might just hang around here for a while."

"Try going to Gravity Falls," said Dipper. "Absolutely nobody would notice that you're there."

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