"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

Wendy Corduroy silently cursed for ending up in this predicament. When everything was said and done, the redhead could only blame herself for what had just occurred.

She shuffled her crossed wrists slightly, as she had every few moments for the last half-hour, in order to help keep the circulation going. It was the only thing she could do, seeing as they were tied firmly behind the seat she had been placed on.

The rope binding her hands traveled downwards beneath the chair's backside, only to be looped snuggly around Wendy's ankles. To make matters worse, the lash had been pulled taut, making it that she was unable to neither lift her shoulders upwards nor set her booted feet on the floor.

Despite her plight, the fifteen-year-old couldn't help but find herself impressed. Her kidnappers had it that she was in an almost-constant tug of war; making it that she couldn't raise or lower her arms or use her legs to move her wooden chair in the slightest. Forced pressure of any kind only resulted in feeling as if her joints were to pop out at any given second.

It was a tactic that if arrangements were reversed, Wendy would have implemented herself.

But such was not the case. Whisked away to a treetop hideaway in the Gravity Falls Forest, Wendy watched as her guards stood huddled together on the opposite side of the room. They whispered amongst each other, occasionally stopping to take a peek at their guest, as well as the closest window to look out for any unexpected rescuers.

Despite their best intentions, Wendy could make out bits and pieces of their secret conversation:

"– really think those townies have it?"

" Pfft! No way! She definitely has it! Like she would trust anyone else with it!"

"Even that boy? You know, the one that follows her around like a lost puppy-dog?"

"Definitely! She has a soft spot for that nerdlinger. She'd do anything to protect him. The same for that dopey girl with the braces, too. "

"Do you think they'll come for her?"

The tallest, the group's chosen leader, looked over his shoulder, "Maybe. Then again, they're natural-born wusses. They're not even in the same category as us. They probably ran home, and are crying to their ol' crazy uncle of theirs!"

Wendy let out a defeated sigh as she tested her bonds yet again, finding herself trapped without a hope of escape. She raised her sights to the ceiling, reminiscing exactly how she ended up as a literal prisoner of war.

Things had started out simple enough. Finished with work, the ginger had enlisted her friends and co-workers, the Pines twins, in an outdoor activity in the Gravity Falls Woods before the sun set that day. As per the rules of said game, Dipper and Mabel set off in one direction in search of a certain item – their particular goal – leaving Wendy to keep watch on the further path.

Perhaps it was the summer heat that distracted her. Maybe it was the fact that she was excited by the fact that someone else besides her brothers were actually participating this time around. Either way, the end result was clear – Wendy's instincts had failed her as the treetops swayed over her head unnoticed.

Wendy continued down her road when suddenly, her arms were jolted together at her sides.

"HEY!" she exclaimed loudly, "What in the – "

Before she knew what was happening, Wendy was hoisted several feet into the air. She swung and kicked her legs freely, finding nothing but emptiness. With her hands pinned, the crafty ginger was unable to reach the trusty hatchet on her belt to free herself.

As Wendy rocked back and forth off the ground, she looked up to see that a sturdy rope had been hooked around the highest branch of the tree stretching above her. It traveled downward and about her shoulders in a complete, yet pitching-tight hold. It was then she realized that she had been lassoed and left helpless.

"We got her! We got her!"

Wendy lowered her head to see her captors standing before her on the ground. The three cheered and celebrated a job well done:

"Whoa! That was too easy!"

"I still can't believe that worked!"

"Man, she must be slippin'"

Wendy shouted in her loudest, angriest voice in an effort to scare her subjugators, "Get me down! RIGHT NOW!"

Their leader crossed his arms and let out a sneer, "Or else what?"

"Or else," Wendy vowed, "You're going to be really sorry…"

The trio looked at each other and let out a series of deep, hearty laughs. Wendy only grew more furious as they cackled even harder, where tears formed in their eyes.

The chief wiped his face as he highlighted Wendy with his free hand, "Let's get her outta here. We don't want those city kids to find her just yet…"

The smallest follower climbed up the tree trunk and began to lower the line holding their teenaged detainee. As Wendy was set back safely on the earth, she let out a relieved sigh, "About time. I thought you were never – "

With a twisted smile on his face, the tiny warrior yanked back on Wendy's bindings, unexpectedly pulling her backwards off her feet. She crashed head-first on the green ground, making her cry out in pain. The devious prankster passed the rope to the second-in-command. With the lumberjack princess still stunned, he hurried to Wendy and wrapped more of the lengthy cord against her arms and chest until it reached her knees, further tightening the hold they had over her.

Satisfied with their work, the three each took a hold of the remnant of protracted rope and started to drag their prize deeper into the forest. The still-groggy Wendy turned her head side-to-side as she tried to figure out what just happened.

"What – " she stuttered as clarity swiftly returned. "What are you doing? I said to let me go!"

"You never said that," their boss corrected. "You asked us to get you down, which we did. Who said anything about letting you go?" The other members of the group snickered along as they continued to drag their victim down the foliage-covered road…

Wendy looked forward as the three kidnappers separated from their gathering place and slowly headed in her direction. With each sporting a mischievous, yet haunting Cheshire grin, the triumvirate took position around the restrained girl, forcing her to look around her center countless times in worry of any upcoming action.

The head spoke up, "Let's get down to business, all right? You know why you're here. We know why you're here, so let's not beat around the bush. Give us what we want, and we can end this here and now." He shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows? Maybe if you give up now, we'll let you go instead of having you wait around for your little friends to figure out where you are…"

The middle member, the team's preferred quartermaster, leaned behind his director and whispered to the youngest of the group, "Maybe when they're done shaking in their boots and wetting their pants…" prompting him to giggle lightly.

Wendy played dumb, breaking eye-contact and flicking her eyelids, "I don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about."

He drew his head back, "Oh, come off it! You know exactly what we want. And we're gonna get it, one way or another…"

The super-lanky teen remained ever-so-cool in the face of danger, "And what's that suppose to mean?"

"It can mean a lot of things…" The interrogator folded his arms behind his back and started to walk around Wendy's arms. "For example, it would be a real shame if you were stuck up here all night like that. It has to be so uncomfortable to be tied in such a way. Your arms and legs must be starting to cramp up. Your fingers and toes have to growing at least a bit numb by now. And remember, we're the only ones that know you're here…"

"That's…okay…" Wendy strained, forcing a fake smile as the tension in her wrists and ankles worsen with every thrash. "Totally fine by me. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Definitely been though way worse.

The scout's face lit up as he left rank and hurried towards a shelving unit in the nearest corner. He threw open the top drawer and began to explore its contents, messily tossing random objects on the shoddy, splintered floor.

"Maybe we have to take a different approach and make things a bit more…drastic…"

The auburn-haired cashier raised an eyebrow in confusion, "A bit more – what's that mean?"

"AHA!" The soldier pulled a tool from the shelf before slamming it shut loudly. He walked back towards Wendy. "It means that we are going to have to find another way to loosen those lips of yours…" The scout looked to his superiors for permission; they each approved with a swift nod.

Wendy squint her emerald eyes to see that the littlest one was clutching an electronic razor. He paused inches away from her face as he held the shaver a bit too close for comfort. "Swiped this baby a while ago, but I'm sure it can help give you a new, cool 'do for the summer." The scout mischievously moved the razor over Wendy's thick red locks, while making annoying *BBBBBUUUUUUUZZZZZZZ!* sounds.

She pulled back as much as her ropes would allow, turning her head away from her attacker, "Knock it off, you creepozoid!"

"What says you, Wendy?" The shaver came back around, "Will it be a pixie cut, or even something as crazy as a mohawk? Only the trimmers will know for sure!"

"STOP!"

The mid-tier interrupted the chaotic scene, making everyone immediately turn towards him. "I think we need something a bit more permanent here…" He stepped in front of Wendy, and dropped down to one knee. With almost-lightning speed, he snatched the cell phone partially sticking out of Wendy's blue jean pocket.

The young adult cried out in outrage, "What?! Give that back, you little thief!"

With a devilish grin, he paced back out of Wendy's line of sight, turning his back on her as he explore the contents of the phone, "Oh, I will, I will. But first, how about we make some crank calls to your stupid friends? Or maybe some interesting texts that'll start some juicy gossip?"

"You wouldn't – "

The soldier spun around on his heels, "Well, I guess that depends on your answer, huh?"

Wendy grew silent. She refused to surrender to the villains, no matter what the consequences might be.

"Hmph!" He grunted at her non-response. "So be it then…" He lowered his eyes towards the LCD screen in his hand as Wendy could make out numerous buttons being pressed in conjunction. After a few seconds, a loud beep echoed throughout the tree fort. The other two defenders hurried to the spot to see what made such a noise.

All three stared at the blinking screen, which now displayed a yellow, frowning animated face. With two X's representing closed eyes, it stuck out its tongue at the invaders as a flashing message repeated endlessly:

"ACCESS DENIED – PASS CODE REQUIRED!"

They gazed back at Wendy, who proudly flashed a triumphant smirk, "Hmm…imagine that…"

Outraged, the leader snatched the phone away and threw it at the floor in a fit.

"Watch it!" Wendy yelled. "You break it, you bought it!"

"Enough of this!" He raised his arms, fists tightly clinched, and threw them downwards in aggravation. The commander pointed straight at Wendy, "We are going to find out where she hid it, no matter what!"

The reconnoiter asked, unsure of what direction to go next, "So, how do we do that?"

The head stretched his arms outwards and bent them, opening his palms with fingers set in a clawing position. He began to chant slowly, making his next form of interrogation clear:

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

Wendy's green eyes grew wide. Of all the different contingency plans she played out in her mind, this was the very last thing the freckled-faced wonder could imagine. Just hearing the treacherous word made her spotted flesh crawl.

"Uhhh…"

Seeing their abductee's reaction, the other two joined in the chant, as the group again surrounded her from every angle.

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

Before she knew it, Wendy felt herself being lifted upwards. The smallest participant had flown behind her and tilted her chair back at an angle. The captain of the group moved his fingers closer to her exposed, flannel-covered ribcage.

"N-Now, wait a sec – " the tensed adolescent tried to backpedal.

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

"Can't – Can't we talk about this?"

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

Although she couldn't see it, Wendy could feel someone fumbling with her lumberjack boots.

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

The endless reciting flooded Wendy's hearing completely. She firmly shut her eyes and prepared herself for the worst…

*KA-BOOM!*

A violent explosion boomed out from the distance in the woods. The vibration shook all four within the tree house to a standstill. Wendy was dropped back down roughly as the three guards raced back towards the furthest window.

"What in the heck was that?"

"I think – it was an explosion!"

"But where did it come from?"

The only sign that they could make out was a thin cloud of smoke that rose up from the forest's floor. They turned back towards Wendy, who resumed her smug, over-confident expression.

"What?!" The leader demanded.

Wendy rolled her eyes playfully, "I think…the better question to ask is "who was that…?""

At first, the chief was left confused by the comment, but after taking a second to think about it, he let out a sardonic laugh, "Oh, yeah, right!"

"What is it?" The center crony asked.

"The twins," he responded. "She's saying those two freaks did that."

"Are you kidding?"

"There's no way!"

They all twirled towards Wendy, who remained hushed, enjoying as her incarcerators began to become unhinged with every passing second.

The senior officer slapped the lowest ranking member against his chest, "You should go check it out."

"Who, me?!" The scout questioned. "Why do I have to?"

"Because I said so! I'm the leader, so get to it!"

The frightened member looked to the lieutenant for support. He shifted his shoulders, "Sorry, man. He is the boss, after all."

Defeated, the scout hesitantly opened the door and carefully slid passed through it. He took an eternity to check around the area of the ladder leading back to the ground. His cohorts waited along with their hostage for an answer to what occurred moments before.

*CRASH!*

"AAHHHHH!"

The remaining two showed their true colors, sealing the door behind them. They crawled to the window, gently opened it a notch, and shouted out, "What happened? What's going on down there?"

Every second of stillness felt like an hour in passing. A stunned, shocked voice hollered back, "They – It's a trap! I fell in! I didn't even see it coming!"

The middle man inquired from his hiding place, "Can you get out?"

"I don't think so. It's too deep. Too slick to climb out. Aren't you gonna come get me?!"

Instead of replying, the leader shut the window, and tried to make sense of the situation. "I don't get it," he mused. "How could they possibly know how to do something like that?"

"Maybe they got lucky?"

"Oh, that…" They followed Wendy's voice, where she sat, enjoying the show that played out before her. "I may or may not have taught them some stuff…"

The boss asked, "What kind of "stuff?""

"Y'know," she prided over her protégés in training. "What to do if a case like this ever happened – if they had to defend themselves against the likes of you." Her beam grew wider as she good-humoredly taunted, "And it looks like they're doing a bang-up job…"

Seeing red, the superior threw himself in Wendy's face, "How dare you! You taught them our secrets?!"

However, Wendy didn't show an ounce of concern, "Hey, all's fair in love and war, right?"

He went to shout louder, only to stop as the three froze at the sound of nearby footsteps. They grew louder by the instant.

"The ladder!" The remnants rushed away from Wendy and took cover on the opposite ends of the door.

"They're coming up the ladder!"

"I know!"

"So, what do we do?"

"You go ambush them – that's what you do!"

"I'm not doing that!"

"As your supervising officer – "

"That crap isn't working with me! You're crazy if you think I'm going out there alone!"

"Well, one of us has to stay with her! She's the reason they're here!"

The two comrades paused as they thought of the best way to solve their current dilemma.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" The boss suggested.

"…fine…"

They each made a fist and simultaneously shook their arms three times.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

The middle man had chosen scissors, only to be crushed by the leader's selection of rock.

"Ugh!" The loser stood up in disgust. "Fine, I'm goin'! I'm goin'"

He pulled open the door, and after taking one last look inside, closed it behind him. The leader watched carefully from the window, barely taking a breath as he observed the scene.

Wendy chirped in, wishing to add to his troubles, "You know it doesn't matter who goes first; the guys are gonna get you both…"

Without taking his eyes from the window, he slightly shifted his body towards Wendy, "If you keep going, you're getting a big piece of duct tape over that fat mouth of yours…"

She tweaked her bound shoulders, "Suit yourself, then…"

Outside, the lieutenant explored the small walkway surrounding the simple hut in search of any clues leading to the Pines twins. He peeped over the railing, finding not a soul on the ladder. In the distance, he could spot the lowest-rank soldier pouting deep within a freshly-made hole in the ground. A selection of bright-green leaves was spread about, presumably in an effort to conceal the pitfall from untrained eyes.

Satisfied with his search, he turned around and spotted the leader of the group in the window. "There's no one here. We must have scared them off…"

The boss let out a sigh of relief. All of a sudden, his nerves rose again as he spotted something wrong with the prospect in front of him. Unwittingly, his next-in-command had stepped on top of an opened-end piece of rope, similar to that of a noose.

"Dude!" he screamed through the safety of the glass. "Move! Move now!"

"What?! Why?!"

He pounded on the window, "Just do it! Right –"

It was already too late. At that second, the snare tightened around the middle soldier's foot.

"Huh? No! Wait!"

He reached out for help as he was pulled over the carved railing. His screams trailed as he fell back to Earth, only to become louder as the middle man flew back upwards. He dangled upside-down from a nearby tree branch as he begged for someone to let him down – his swinging form left as an open reminder that swift vengeance was coming near.

The leader backed away from the window. Looking around the room for an answer – or even an escape, he could make out the faint, yet gentle laughter of a boy and a girl as they circled the quaint man-made getaway.

"Oh, nuts to this! They're not taking me down!"

Growing desperate, he spotted the electric shaver on the floor, and returned to his ace-in-the-hole. He stood behind the still-trapped Wendy and wrapped his burly arm around her, holding the blade on top of the girl's crown of copper hair as he held his finger over the "ON" button.

In spite of her present quandary, Wendy chuckled to herself as she felt the commander quiver with absolute fear.

"SHUT UP!" he blared in her ear as he raised his head, looking around for any sense of irregularity.

"DAPPER!" The desperate despot called out to the impending trespasser as his paranoia thickened.

"I think you mean "Dipper,"" Wendy corrected.

"Whatever!" He held Wendy closer. "Listen to me! If you don't back off, I swear, your girlfriend is going to get it bad!"

"Er, we're not – "

"I don't care!" He turned on the buzzer to show how serious he was. "You and your sister surrender right now! Or else, I promise Wendy'll be a total cue-ball before you can get to her. I mean it, man. We're talking total chrome-dome here!"

The childish laughter coming from the outside came to a halt. Suddenly, half of the natural light in the secluded room disappeared. The commandant looked towards the left-most window to see that it was now a pitch-black, save for a few speck of escaping light. It was as if something long was covering it from the exterior, like a sheet or blanket.

"What – what is this?"

"Ohh," Wendy mockingly moaned, "I wouldn't have done that if I were you…"

"What are you babbling about?"

"You shouldn't of threaten me…"

"And why's that?"

"It's like what you guys were talking about earlier," Wendy reminded him, adding a teasing tone to her voice. "I am super-protective of those two dorks – especially Dipper. But when it's the other way 'round, he has a tendency to get crazy when it comes to me. Like cuckoo-bananas crazy! Heck, you should see what he does to monsters that look at me the wrong way…"

"Oh, not you, too with that "monster" garbage! It's bad enough I have to hear it from the old man – "

"But it's true!" Wendy insisted. "But then again, it's cool if you don't believe me. You'll find out in a minute or two anyways…"

With that, the second window was also blocked off, eliminating another layer of valuable light.

"You think I'm afraid of that little pip-squeak? Let him try to take me down! I'll mop the floor with him!"

"We'll see…"

Amiss the darkness, no one spotted a tiny, stubby-fingered hand reaching through the partially covered windowpane until the last second. It dropped a tiny, round grey ball into the room that bounced towards Wendy and her final kidnapper.

Upon recognizing the object, Wendy took a deep inhale and held her breath, leaving her vanquisher confused.

"What the – SMOKE BOMB!"

The small sphere released a barrage of thick smoke that instantly filled the entire area. The leader released his grip on Wendy and blindly walked to the door. He grabbed the handle and pulled it open, hurrying past in desperation of a taste of fresh air.

"NOW!"

Still stunned, he was left unaware as he literally walked right into an outstretch net that was held over the door frame. Now fully wrapped and entangled, the fallen soldier collapsed to the ground as he was swiftly sealed inside.

"Oh, what?" He attempted to find a way out of the netting, only to give up a few seconds later, "Oh, man! I can't believe it!"

"We won! We won!"

Mabel Pines cheered as she entered the still-smoky clubhouse. "That was awesome!" She hurried to where Wendy had been left tied, "We totally kicked their butts!"

Wendy nodded with a sense of pride, "I'll say! You two definitely scared the crap out of them!"

Dipper entered the tree house next. Despite his best intentions, his face lit up upon seeing that his snatched-away sweetheart was left unscathed. "Man, Wendy," Dipper took off his Pine Tree hat and waved it in an effort to fan out the remaining fog. "No offense, but your family takes this "Capture the Flag" thing a bit too seriously."

"What can I say?" Wendy admitted. "My brothers can be a little hardcore at times. Maybe they'll think twice now that I've got my very own team that has my back!"

"WHOO-WOO!" Mabel celebrated again, hugging her bound friend even tighter. "Team Pines for the win! Go us! Go us!" The metal-mouthed pixie went further by christening her friend, "Wendy, you're an official Pines girl now! "Wendy Pines" has a nice ring to it, doesn't it, Dip?"

Dipper was caught off-guard, as he often fantasized such a thing becoming reality, yet in a totally different context. "It definitely…does…"

"Appreciate the gesture, Mabes" Wendy thanked, "But speaking of. Did you guys get it?"

"Sure, did!" She reached into her sweater and pulled out a torn flannel flag with the name "CORDUROY" sloppily etched in black marker. "They hid it exactly where you said it was. And you?"

"Still have it." Wendy used her chin to motion down towards her chest. "Let's say it's safe with "the other twins."

"So, we won fair and square! YES!"

"Yep! And now, if you guys don't mind…" Wendy tested her trapped limbs to demonstrate. "Can you guys untie me already?"

"On it, Wendy!" Dipper hurried towards his main squeeze, only to be halted by his sister. She held out an arm to block his passage.

"Hang on a sec, Dip."

"Mabel, what's up?"

"Yeah, Mabel." Dipper asked. "Why did you stop me? We have to let Wendy out."

An impish smile spread across her dimpled, rosy cheeks, "Think about it for a second, Dipper. When's the next time we'll have Wendy like this?"

"What do you mean?"

Wendy lowered her brow, "I don't think I like where this is going, guys…"

"I mean," Mabel started to explain, "Wendy always beats us in wrestling and pranks and junk like that 'cause she's big and stronger than we are put together." Her brown eyes focused on the vulnerable prey before them. "Now, we actually have a chance at payback…"

"Dipper…" Wendy cautioned. "Don't do it…"

After looking back and forth between his crush and his sister, Dipper asked Mabel, "What did you have in mind?"

"Guys?"

Mabel's face lit up. "I think I got it. Remember what Wendy's brothers were chanting before when we found them?"

Wendy's face fell, "No! Don't you dare!"

She turned towards her co-worker and stretched her sweater covered arms in almost-zombified manner. Mabel marched towards Wendy as she repeatedly over and over:

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

Dipper shortly joined in, as both Pines twins slowly made their way towards their friend.

"I'm warning you two…"

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

Their fingers wiggled as they approached their target, prompting Wendy to squirm a bit harder than before.

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

"You're going to be sorry…"

"Tic-kle! Tic-kle! Tic-kle!"

As Dipper and Mabel were nearly on top of Wendy, to their surprise, the lumberjack princess hopped to her feet with one final tug. They stopped in horror, realizing that Wendy was now free! The ropes that had bound her arms were now inside of her palms.

"Uh oh! She broke free!"

"Run for it!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Wendy hopped between the twins and spun the ropes around them with lightning speed. Before they realized it, the duo was joined together, sitting back to back on the floor of the Corduroy boys' treehouse as their friend dusted her hands off and walked around her quarry.

"How did – " Mabel faltered. "I didn't even see – she's like a ninja or something!"

Dipper was left astonished as he came to a realization, "It's not that." He lifted his head towards Wendy, "You could have freed yourself at any time, couldn't you? You just waited for us to come bring the flag and rescue you?"

Wendy crossed her arms and nodded. "You got it, Sherlock…" She humorously poked his red nose. "You two keep something in mind the next time you try to gang up on me: I may have taught you every trick you know, but not every trick I know…"