~~~~~~~~~Your POV~~~~~~~~~

I was working at the counter a little before noon; the only customer around was Tyler Cutebiker, a nice little man that found joy in just about anything. Stan was also behind the counter cleaning the cash register, trying to ignore the client.

It was around that time that the twins walked over to us, Dipper speaking first. "Grunkle Stan, can we go to the diner?"

Mabel moved her stomach around. "We're hungryyyy....!"

"Hungryyyy....!" Dipper repeated before the two started poking their stomachs to each other, to which I laughed at.

Stan simply rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure, as long as this yahoo makes up his mind."

"Do you have this in another animal?" Tyler asked as he pointed at a mounted up fish.

"Can (y/n) join too?" Dipper asked, slightly fiddling with his fingers. "Y-you know, if- if he wants to.."

"I'm down." I replied with a smile. "I skipped on breakfast today anyway."

"Fine, but then I'd have no one to watch this lunatic!" Stan nods over to Tyler once again, when an idea popped into his head. "... I'm fine locking himself if you are."

And so he did, through I felt a little bad, but I was ninety percent sure Tyler would even notice.

Anyway, we quickly found a booth at Greasy's Diner, sitting out and looking at the menu, when Stan looked up at the waitress. "Lazy Susan, there's my little ray of sunshine! Where were you yesterday~?"

"I got hit by a bus!"

Laughing loudly, Stan punched the table. "Hilarious!!"

"Thank you!" Susan also laughed, though it was for a bit too long that it made the rest of us uncomfortable.

Stan then asked. "You do split plates, right?"

"Maybe~!" Grabbing the eye lid of her permanently closed eye, she opened it before closing it again. "Wink~!"

"Great!! We'll all split a one fourth of the number seven, plus a free salad dressing for the ladies and a small plate of ketchup for the boys!"

"But, Grunkle Stan, I want some pancakes!" Mabel complained as she looked at her uncle.

"With the fancy flour they use these days? What am I, made of money?" A dollar bill peeked out of his sleeve, which he quickly tapped back in. "Tap tap."

"Aww..."

"Don't worry, Mabel." I pulled out my wallet. "I can get us some pancakes, I know what a cheapskate your uncle can be."

"Hey!!"

"Ugh, (y/n), you are a darling!!" Mabel smiled brightly. "It's no wonder Dipper l-!"

A napkin then landed on her face, making her stop talking, to which I looked at Dipper, seeing his red in anger face. "Uh.."

He then let out a heavy sigh, pulling down my wallet a little. "Don't worry, guys, pancakes are on me! I'm gonna win some by beating that manliness tester."

Stan raised an eyebrow. "Manliness tester?"

"Beating?" Mabel added, the two sharing a glance before bursting into an uncomfortable laughter.

I was confused to why they'd laugh, and Dipper seemed to be so too with a mix of frustration. "What? What's so funny?"

Mabel wiped off a tear. "Oh no offense, Dipper, but you're not exactly Manly Mannington!"

"Hey, I am too manly- mani- or whatever it is you said!"

"Look, face the music, kid. You got no muscles, you smell like baby wipes, and your scream sounds like a two year old baby."

A growl escaped Dipper's lips, and I quickly placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, looking at the other two. "Hey c'mon, lay off him a little! Dipper's done some pretty incredible things these past few weeks."

He smiled at that, cheeks a little rose, until Stan took a swig of his drink before speaking. "You clearly haven't heard of last Tuesday's incident."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dipper stood in front of the mirror wearing nothing but a towel around his waste, singing into a hairbrush.
Disco girl!
Coming through!
That girl is you!

Stan then opened the bathroom door, Dipper quickly screaming. "DON'T COME IN DON'T COME IN!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mabel snickered. "You were listening to girly Icelandic pop sensation Babba?!"

Letting out an awkward giggle, he looked away in embarrassment. "No, haha, I wasn't-! Look, I'm plenty masculine!! See this chest here?!"

He ended up pulling down his shirt, all three of us looking away, though I looked away for.. o-other reasons....

"PUT IT AWAY!!! PUT IT AWAY!!!" Mabel yelled, followed by Stan.

"SO SMOOTH!!! MY EYES!!!"

"Oh man.."

Once Mabel and Stan continued to laugh, I knew it was safe to look, Dipper finally had enough. "Fine, family of little faith, get ready to eat your words. And a plate of delicious pancakes."

Walking over, he stretched to get ready. It was one of those 'Test your grip' games where you had to push this lever as hard as you could. Dipper gave it all he had, and I assume he got a bad score because he turned to everyone to say, "This thing is broken, it's totally broken, guys."

That's when Manly Dan, Wendy's Dad, walked over to the machine. Dipper tried to say that it was broken once again, but Dan simply pushed the lever with his pinky finger and ended up breaking the machine, pancakes flying into everyone's plates, and when Dipper looked over to us, Stan and Mabel only laughed that much more.

I felt.. horrible..

He ended up running out of the diner, to which I quickly stood up and ran after him. Once I reached the forest, his footsteps were easy to follow, and it didn't take me long to find him as he- ...

Tried to lift 'weights' with a twig....

"Two.... three..... four......!" He panted for air as he threw the branch away, then looked under his shirt. "No chest hair yet.."

"You know,"

"AH!!"

"I don't think puberty works that way." I walked over, arms crossed.

His cheeks grew red. (y/n)!! Uh- h-how long have you been standing there..?!"

"Long enough to know this really affects you.."

He stayed quiet for a bit, then let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter, you guys were right about me.."

"They're not though.." I sat down on a fallen log behind him. "So you're not the strongest in a physical aspect, but you have other strengths.. I mean, who's the one that saved Mabel from the gnomes, and who fought the wax statues, and defeated the ghosts at the convenience store..?"

"But most of those times you were there helping me, I wanna be able to do things on me own..!" He pulled out a bad of jerky, the label reading You're Inadequate. "You said it, brother.. I need help.."

However, we both tested when the ground began to harshly. I assumed it was an earthquake at first, grabbing Dipper's wrist and keeping him behind me, until a stampede of forest animals can running by, as well as Manly dad yelling, "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY, RUN!!!"

And after all that, we saw it..

A beast, around nine feet tall at the very least, with similar characteristics to those of a bull, storming over to us.

We both screamed in terror at the sight, though Dipper felt the need to fix his scream into sounding much deeper, which resulted in him coughing.

Still standing in front of Dipper, I yelled with a glare, "Don't come any closer!!"

"YOU!!!" He pointed at us, voice booming throughout the forest, until he pointed down at the bag of jerky. "Gonna finish that?"

I looked back at Dipper, who quickly answered. "No?"

The beast instantly started devouring the jerky, and I let out a heavy sigh. "Well, we were bound to find something in the woods eventually."

"I can't believe it..! Part animal, part human.. are you some kind of Minotaur?"

"I'm a manitaur!!! Half man, half uh.. half taur!!!"

"So did we like summon you or-?"

"The smell of jerky summoned me!! JERKY!!" The beast punched through a tree, then broke a boulder with his skull before laughing. He then paused, looked down at Dipper and sniffed the air. "I smell... emotional issues..!"

I raised an eyebrow, "How do you-?"

"I got problems, manitaur.." Dipper instantly said. "Man related problems.."

To my surprised, the manitaur said down and patted his leg, telling Dipper to continue. "Well, my own uncle called me a wimp, and I kinda flunked this manliness video game thing.. Hey, you know, you seem pretty manly, maybe you could give me some pointers?"

"Hm.. very well!" The beast stood up once more, turning around. "Climb on top of my back here, child!"

"Uh, okay..?"

"I'll go too." Stepping forward, I crossed my arms. "Someone's gotta keep an eye on you."

His cheeks seemed to grow a little pink at that, yet he had a look of regret in his eyes, soon letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, (y/n), I know you mean well, but this is something I have to do on my own, you know..? This way I can catch up in saving you!"

"I get it, I really do, and it's not that I don't trust you." I leaned closer, hoping the beast wouldn't hear me as I whispered, "I just don't trust these guys.."

"These guys?"

"You won't even know I'm there, I promise, I just want to make sure you're okay. For my anxiety's sake."

He thought for a while, scanning my face with his eyes. Another sigh escaped his lips, and he looked up at the manitaur. "Okay, Mr. Manitaur, my friend (y/n) is coming along with us."

Turning to me, the beast's eyes narrowed, and he stayed quiet for a few seconds before leaning close to me, sniffing. I heard a gasp escape his lips, and he instantly pulled away. "Sorry, he's not allowed."

"What? Why not?!"

"Listen, little man, I don't know who you are, but your scent.. familiar, and I don't trust it, you're not allowed to join." He grabbed Dipper by his vest, placing him on his back.

Dipper seemed confused by the manitaur's reaction, wanting to know what he meant, but instead he sheepishly smiled at me. "Don't worry about me, I'll be back before you know it!"

"Uh.. okay.. stay safe..!"

And with that, the beast ran away.

I guess I should've expected that, manitaurs may be incredibly dumb, but never underestimate their sense of smell..

Whatever, I-I'm sure Dipper will be fine..

Trying not to think about it too much, I found my way back to the Mystery Shack, finding a sight that brought a lot of questions to mind. Mabel and Wendy were beside a nervous Stan, with Soos on the other side dressed like Lazy Susan?

"Uhh.. what's going on?"

Mabel turned to me, smiling brightly, "(y/n), you're just in time!!"

"For what exactly....?"

Wendy was on her phone. "We're trying to help Stan ask out Lazy Susan."

I looked at Stan in surprise. "Wow, really? You have feelings?"

"Shut it, kid."

Letting out a chuckle, I looked back to Mabel. "What can I help with though?"

"We just need all the help we can get...."

"Got it."

~~~~~~~~~Dipper's POV~~~~~~~~~

The day had gone by in a flash!

Turns out there were tons of manitaurs living within the mountains, or man caves as they call them, and they've all been teaching me super manly stuff, like how to conquer your fears, and face them head on with brute force!

I felt stronger with every minute that passed!

At the moment, we were resting in one of the hot springs, laughing and chatting away, when I started the new topic. "Guys, I just wanna say that these last few hours have been.. I-I feel like there's really been some growth!"

"I have a growth!" One of the guys said as he pointed at his head.

I let out a laugh. "Glurk, you are hilarious today!"

Smiling proudly, he pointed a finger gun at me, before I continued. "It's just you guys took me under your wing, and have just been so supportive."

The one who I originally met, who I now knew was called Chutzpar, waved me off in dismiss. "Oh, stop."

"No, I'm serious! The only one besides you guys that didn't make fun of me is-" I suddenly stopped as a memory came back to me. It had happened that same day, but the day had been such a busy one that I completely forgot about it until now. "Hey, Chutzpar, can I ask you something?"

"If you wanna know your final test, that's still under planning."

"No no, it's not that, it's.. Earlier today, before you took me to the cave, you denied access to my friends because his scent was strange."

He seemed to tense up with that, sharing glances with the other manitaurs.

Things started clicking in my head.
-(y/n) lived alone in the woods.
-He seemed to be physically really strong.
-Clearly very agile.
-He arrived in less than a minute that night at the warehouse.
-And these guys seemed scared of him..? Or at least, who they think he is..

I don't understand, how can these tall, heavily built beasts of the wild seem afraid of a thirteen year old boy?

Just what was (y/n)'s story..?

"Listen, Destructor," Chutzpar finally turned to me, "Although we are not fully certain, that boy's scent is strangely familiar to something we have once faced. We don't quite remember what exactly it is, but we do know that it is dangerous."

The others nodded, murmuring between one another.

(y/n) was dangerous..?

I found it hard to believe, he had saved me so many times.. Was it just to gain our trust..?

Oh who am I kidding, he's kid just like us, what can he really do?

I should stop worrying so much, I'd just stress myself out.

"Well, back to the subject at hand, thanks a lot for what you've all done. I think I feel like I'm finally becoming a man here!"

Chutzpar waved a hand. "Not yet, Destructor. One final task remains. The deadliest trial of all."

"I've survived forty-nine other trials! Whatever it is, bring it on!!"

~~~~~~~~~Your POV~~~~~~~~~

And so I spend the rest of the day helping Mabel with Stan. He was... a mess. I didn't know why Mabel kept trying, but I guess I admire her determination.

The part that worried me though was that Dipper still hadn't come home..

I know he can take care of himself, to an extent, but I also knew just how reckless those manitaurs could be, it was as if they had no brain!

Dipper's the first friend I've made in a really long time.. The last thing I want is to see him hurt, or worse..

My train of thought was cut off when Mabel's voice was heard, and I came back to the reality of being beside the couch she sat on, holding up a picture of Stan. "Okay, Grunkle Stan, you started like this, and became..."

In front of us stood a much messier and dirtier version of Stan, with flies around him. "Can I scratch myself now?"

"No! No no no!! Is that throw up on your shirt..?!"

"... I dunno how to answer that."

She ripped the picture in half in frustration as she let out a heavy sigh, and I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Face it, Mabel. Your uncle's unfixable. Like that spinning pie trolly thing at the diner."

Her eyes lit up at that, turning to me. "(y/n), you genius!!"

"Eh?"

"Grunkle Stan, come with me!!" She grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the door, "And leave your pants at home!!"

"With pleasure!" He replied, following behind.

Once at Greasy's Diner, Susan was still punching the pie trolly and trying to get it to spin, when Mabel walked over.

"Lazy Susan, listen. I know he's not much to look at, but you're always fixing stuff in the diner, and if you like fixing stuff nothing could use more fixing than my Grunkle Stan! Also women live longer than men so your dating pool's smaller and you should really lower your standards."

"So, Lazy Susan, w-what do you say?" Stan's smile was awkward as he asked, only for Susan to turn around and walk away.

However, just as we were about to leave, we heard her voice again. "Hey!! Here's mu number! Why don't you give me a call sometime?!"

"Really?!"

"Really!!" She laughed, placing some pie on the table beside us. "Also, here's some pie, on the house! For you!!"

As she laughed, Mabel let out a squeal, and we all sat down. "We did it!!!"

"Nice work, Mr. Pines!"

"Thanks, kids. Although I'm not so sure what I did exactly," he replied with a shrug, starting to eat the pie.

Mabel was too excited over this. "When are you gonna call?! You wanna call now?! I don't have a phone!! Let's buy a phone!! We can put it on a credit card!! Let's get a credit card!!"

"Mabel, let a man enjoy his pie, huh?" Stan replied, making me chuckle.

And that's when Mabel pressed her face against the window and yelled, "DIPPER!!"

My eyes grew wide, head instantly turning to see him walking down beside the diner, and once I saw he was okay, I let out a sigh of relief.

"IT'S ME MABEL!!! I'M LOOKING AT YOU THROUGH THE GLASS!! RIGHT HERE!!! THIS IS MY VOICE!! I'M TALKING TO YOU FROM INSIDE!!"

He nodded, clearly confused, and about a minute later, he sat down beside me.

Mabel smiled. "Did you see me through the-?!"

"Yes..."

I quickly grew worried. "Why the long face..?"

"I don't wanna talk about it.."

"Good," Stan replied, which Dipper ignored.

"It's just these half man half bull humanoids were hanging out with me."

"Here we go."

"But then they wanted me to do this really tough horrible thing but it just wasn't right, so I said no.."

"You were your own man and you stood up for yourself."

Dipper looked up at his uncle. "Huh?"

"Yeah, you did what was right even though no one agreed with ya! Sounds pretty manly to me, but what do I know?"

A smile grew on his face at that, and I felt my cheeks heat up at the sight. It was nice seeing him happy..

Mabel's eyes then widened. "Wait a minute, do my eyes deceive me?! You have a chest hair!!"

He instantly pulled his shirt down, and as mentioned, there was in fact one strand of chest hair. "You're right, I do!! This is amazing!! I really do!! Take that, man tester!!! Take that, Pituitar!!!"

Stan raised an eyebrow, "Pituitar?"

"This guy has chest here!!"

Mabel ended up pulling it off with a pair of tweezers and placing it on her scrapbook, which ... ew. "Scrapbookortunity!"

I couldn't help but laugh at the look of disappointment in Dipper's face, then Stan started talking, "Don't worry, kid. If you're anything like me there's more where that came from."

He ended up ripping his top to show off all the chest hair, and we all had to look away unless we wanted to throw up, although we did laugh.

Until Dipper stopped it, "But seriously, that's disgusting."

Merry Christmas Eve, guys!!! 'Till next time!!!

❤️❤️❤️