A/N: Just want to let you know that the Gobblewonker in this story is real, not a robot. I did it, because Fiddleford is only slightly crazy in this AU.
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"Will!"
Will's flew open, and he shot out of bed, falling onto the floor. He groaned, and looked up to see his brother, Bill, holding something that Will couldn't make out.
"What was that for?" Will asked, sitting up.
"It's twelve in the morning," Bill reminded. He grinned, and sat down beside him. He showed Will what he had, which turned out to be a newspaper. "Look what I found."
Will squinted at the page. "Human-sized hamster ball? That's incredibly unsafe."
"No, Will," Bill sighed. He pointed to an add for a photo contest. "They're looking for photos of the supernatural, and the contestant with the best picture wins $1000 in cash!" He then pointed to last year's winner's picture of a unconvincing monster. "We see weirder stuff than that everyday!"
"Do you have any pictures of those gnomes?" Will asked.
"No," Bill replied dryly. "I guess I have no choice but to go fairy wrangling."
"You worry me sometimes, you know that?"
"I'm just thinking here," Bill said, wrapping an arm around Will. "And what about Wendy? She is kinda a warrior from another dimension."
"Yeah, but she looks exactly like a human," Will noted. "Does the journal have any ideas?"
"Of course, the journal!" Bill remembered. He stood up, and walked to his bed, pulling the book out from under his pillow, before returning to Will.
They both looked through it, eventually pausing on a page, Will read it. "I begin to suspect that a prehistoric creature inhabitants the largest lake in Zero Gravity Town, any mortal who manages to encounter the beast, is never heard from again."
"Well, that solves it," Bill declared. "We'll take a picture of this dinosaur thingy, send it in, and get the money."
Will looked at him warily. "Are sure that's a good idea?"
"We need to go big," he said. "What's bigger than a giant monster?"
"The giant monster is what I'm worried about," Will said nervously. "And how are we suppose to find this lake? We still don't know anything about this town."
Bill smiled. "Good thing, we know someone who does."
❇❇❇
"Let me get this straight," Wendy said, resting on a tree branch. "You want me to lead you on a perilous quest for a lake monster, just so you can win a contest?"
The twins were on the ground, looking up at the woman in the tree. "Yes," Will answered.
"What's in it for me?" she asked.
Will shrugged. "We could give you half our winnings."
"Or not," Bill added.
"Bill, it's the right thing to do," Will told him.
Bill crossed his arms. "Not for me. What would she even do with the money? She lives in the freaking forest."
"Actually, I could go for a cabin in the springs," Wendy said thoughtfully.
"My lord, how you frustrate me, Red!"
Wendy laughed. "Chill, I don't need your money. And, of course I'll help you." She jumped off the branch, landing before them. "But, you need to know that it's fishing season, we have to get there before all of the boats are rented."
The brothers nodded, and followed the Guardian as she proceeded to walk down the road.
❇❇❇
"Welcome to Gravity Lake," Wendy said, gesturing to their surroundings. "The biggest lake here."
Bill scanned the area. Boats scattered across the water, filled with families and fishermen alike, enjoying themselves on the sparkling lake.
"Doesn't seem like a place where a vicious monster would live," Bill pointed out.
"There's more that meets the eye, here," Wendy said, beckoning them forward.
At one point, a couple walked up to them, regarding Wendy in awe. "Look, honey," the man said to the woman, probably his wife. "It's the Spirit of the Forest!"
His wife nodded, then without even asking the redhead, they both started snapping pictures of her with their cameras. Wendy shielded her eyes from the flash, obviously not liking the attention.
"Should've went with my human disguise," she muttered.
"Hey," the woman said, looking at Bill and Will. "These two have funny shaped pupils."
The man looked at them in fascination. "They're probably the Spirit's servants, some kind of cat people."
They were about to take pictures of the twins, when Bill hissed loudly at them, causing the couple to step back in shock.
"They're violent!" the woman gasped.
"Quick! Before they get the taste of human flesh!" the man yelled, and the two ran away.
Wendy rolled her eyes at their ignorance, before turning to Bill. "You must get that a lot?" she asked, pointing to the couple.
Bill shrugged, refusing to respond. Honestly, compared to the past comments him and his brother received about their mutation, those two were positive. He guessed weird stuff didn't faze anyone in this place.
"C'mon," he said, changing the subject. "I'll go rent a--"
"EVERYONE!"
The three, including the people on the lake, turned to see a short old man on the docks, who looked vaguely like a wizard. His voice was urgent, but his aura seemed calm, and he had big wise eyes behind his glasses.
Bill stared at him. "Who is--?"
Wendy hushed him, eyes fixated on the man. "Fiddleford McGucket, the Prophet," she explained. "Sworn to predict the future, close allies with the Guardian of the Night."
"Well, he looks crazy."
"Maybe a little," Wendy admitted. "Usually, he stays in his den, I wonder what made him come here."
"We're about to find out," Will said, indicating to Fiddleford, as he continued speaking.
"Stay away from the lake," he said. "The Legendary Gobblewonker has become restless! And it'll awaken from it's slumber and drag the innocent to it's nest in Scuttlebutt Island! So y'all better scrabdoodle away before it gets here!"
"Scrabdoodle?" Bill repeated, an eyebrow arched.
But, no one else seemed to share his skepticism. Everyone on the lake quickly paddled to shore, and retreated to their cars in the parking lot.
"Seriously?" Bill said, looking at them in disbelief. "They're just going to listen to some old guy in a pointy hat?"
"Trust me, I can't remember a time when his predictions weren't true," Wendy said.
Will looked at Fiddleford thoughtfully. "The Gobblewonker? That could be the monster in the journal."
Bill nodded determinedly. "Then we're heading to Scuttlebutt Island."
"But that's where it's nest is," Will said, anxiously. "Are we really going to risk our necks for some prize?"
"C'mon, imagine what we can do with $1000 dollars."
Will shrugged. "Buy groceries so we won't starve."
"That's good," Bill said. "But it lacks imagination." He then had a brief fantasy where he was standing on a mountain of bones, laughing maniacally.
"Are you having that disturbing fantasy where you're an unstoppable overlord?" Will asked.
"You can't tell me how to dream," Bill shot back. "We handled a tribe of little men and two powerful Guardians, I think we can handle this."
Will rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know. Wendy, what do you--?"
There was a loud blare of a horn, and they turned to see Wendy leaning against the railings of a boat, which floated at the docks. "Guys, I already rented a boat, are we going monster hunting or what?"
"Two against one," Bill said smugly, and Will sighed in defeat.