THE GREEN FLASH 2
A Gravity Falls/Steven Universe Crossover story
This story is a sequel to the original "The Green Flash," published here as well. It assumes readers have read that story, kept up with Steven Universe up to Season Two, Episode 78 ("Log Date 7 15 2") and Gravity Falls Season 2, Episode 35 ("The Last Mabelcorn") and takes place right after the events of these episodes.
"That is the space that I'm interested in, the in-between space… To activate that space. To activate means to fill it with meaning and connections so that we can think about it. We can connect with it and make it happen as a space and time in between things."
-Orozco, "Games," par. 2
CHAPTER 1
Dipper Pines held a hand to his chin, examining the large flickering screen in front of him. The low electrical hum of the analog equipment seemed to perfectly capture the internal tension within the young Pines. He gnawed relentlessly on the cap of a pen, studying the blown-up pixels of the enhanced camera phone photo.
Marred by grain and digital artifacts, the image displayed the edge of Gravity Falls forest at night. Partially obscured by tree trunks was an unmistakable humanoid figure; cranking up the saturation had revealed the figure to be a pale greenish color. By human standards the proportions were off; the head much too large for the body.
Could it really be…
An alien?
Snap! Dipper grunted in surprise as he popped the cap off his pen.
"Gotta stop doing that…" He grumbled, just as his companion walked back into the room.
"It's ok, we've got plenty more of those." Dipper brightened at the voice of his Great Uncle Standford Pines. While Ford had graying hair, square shoulders, and a somewhat imposing demeanor, he and adolescent Dipper still bore an uncanny family resemblance.
"Alright, this should have the rest of the photos… uhhh…" Ford held up the USB drive and examined it with some embarrassment. "I actually don't know how to use this."
Dipper's heart soared at the chance to help. "It's ok! I'll show you! You just…"
Dipper interested the drive into the computers expansion slot, and navigated the files as efficiently as he could. He felt a constant pressure to prove himself to Ford, the person who wrote the journals, the person who invented a portal to another universe, and the only person who might really know about aliens.
As Dipper scrolled through the images, a sense of disappointment slowly dawned on him.
"Why are they all so blurry?! How did they manage to miss its face in like, EVERY single photo? And how high IS this ISO?" Dipper grumbled.
"Hmmm… perhaps it emits some kind of signal that disrupts technology." Ford surmised. "Just because it looks vaguely terrestrial doesn't mean it will behave like a terrestrial organism."
"Or maybe nobody in this town knows how to snap a photo." Dipper rubbed the back of his head anxiously. "I'm sorry if this is just a hoax…"
After a few unproductive hours of staring, studying, and researching, both Pines failed to come up with any concrete ideas about the images. Taken by residents all over Gravity Falls, the "alien" had become something of a local legend overnight. Lazy Susan claimed it asked her for directions, Wendy and her gang of friends had nearly run the thing over, Old Man McGucket complained it had run off with some his… possessions.
"I just don't know, Dipper…" Ford said, arms crossed. "Where could it have COME from? That's what concerns me."
Dipper watched Ford's eyes glance nervously towards where he had stored his interdimensional rift, it's immense power currently contained.
"Do you think this has anything to do with your Beach City universe?"
Dipper swallowed.
The truth was that Ford wasn't the only one to have crossed into another Universe and returned. Dipper was also an interdimensional traveler. He and Mabel had even, against Dipper's better judgment, kept an open channel of communication with this other Universe. They had memories and friends on the other side of the Green Flash.
While he and his sister hadn't opened their personal portal since Ford had arrived back in Gravity Falls, Dipper still felt hot whenever he remembered those pastel beaches, the smell of the open ocean. His interdimensional travels had given him a deeper connection with Ford, but he and Mabel had kept their personal portal a secret. They used dust from the monster that had started the whole affair to maintain connections with Beach City, and kept it under wraps for fear the adults would put a stop to it.
So much had happened since then. So much had changed. And yet… it still felt like this crazy summer should never end.
"Well, uh, I'm gonna go to bed then…" Dipper said awkwardly to Ford, who was glancing back and forth between his notes and the screen.
"Goodnight kid. Hopefully I'll have something figured out by tomorrow morning."
Dipper followed his pre-bedtime routine without interruption. Pajamas on, he shuffled off to his room where Mabel was waiting. She was scribbling excitedly in a notebook; probably working on her Crystal Gem story… fan fiction, really.
"Dipper! Check out my newest chapter: "The Power of Love: Amethyst's Secret."
"Maybe tomorrow…" Dipper muttered, climbing into bed and fixating on the ceiling.
How was Steven doing? What about Connie, and the Crystal Gems? In his mind Beach City never seemed to change; it was an immortal place where the sands of time never shifted. But Dipper hadn't talked to Steven in… weeks…. Weeks? Months?
"I've written a dozen chapters since we've last seen Dipper and Connie…" Mabel said, sounding uncharacteristically solemn. "Without Steven's incredible design direction, I wonder if my story is getting stale…" She lowered her voice. "We should go see them soon!"
"I know…" Dipper muttered. "I miss them too. But I think we should figure out this whole "town alien" thing first."
Mable clicker her tongue dismissively and rolled unto her side, away from Dipper.
"There's always SOMETHING. Ever since Ford came back he's the only one you wanna hang out with."
"Mabel!" Dipper hissed angrily. "That- that isn't true! I-"
Mabel grabbed her pillow and wrapped it around her head.
Dipper slumped into his bed, a new wave of anxiety chasing away his sleepiness.
Clutter on the desk between he and Mabel's bed was illuminated by soft rays of moonlight. A plastic figure stood on a chapter book: "Unfamiliar Familiar: Book One."
Dipper reached out and grabbed the toy, turning the little "G.U.Y" over to read the handwritten initials on the feet: DP.
Steven had written that. He'd written Dipper's own initials on the gift he'd given him. Steven had a matching figure back in his own Universe. It was a strange thought, but it had a warm feeling, this connection to another reality.
Dipper gave a long sigh. Maybe his sister was right. Dipper had passed up two scheduled meetings with their Beach City friends after Ford had arrived; that added up to three if you counted the one they missed because of the portal craziness.
"I wonder if they think I don't want to be friends anymore…" Dipper muttered, suddenly feeling miserable. Dipper had been ecstatic to tell Steven all about the journals author, but he could never find time to slip away and open that portal.
Every second he spent with Ford felt so essential, he had so far found it easy to brush off most of his other concerns. He had already learned so much… including how to really trust his other uncle.
But Dipper still didn't feel ready to trust Ford with the secret of those friends in another universe. How could he possibly convince Ford to regularly let him open what was, beyond a doubt, an interdimensional portal that carried obvious and documented risks? He could hear his own voice echoing in his head, "But they're my friends…!" The Dipper in his brain sounded painfully immature, and he hated it.
He jolted back to reality as rain suddenly pattered against the window. A storm had crept up on the Mystery Shack, and the sound of trickling water made Dipper aware of a biological urgency.
The sound of raindrops chased him to the bathroom, where he relived himself.
Just as Dipper flushed the toilet, a distant bolt of lightning illuminated the room through the square window in the musty bathroom.
A cold sensation began to creep into Dipper's body as he let the sink water rush over his soapy hands. He blinked in confusion as water misted the right side of his face, gasping as he turned to face the window-
It was open.
Dipper could literally feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, the sound of the running faucet louder than thunder. The shower curtain was closed… and there, glaringly unusual, was a shadow behind it.
Dipper bit his lip and slowed his breathing. It was just bath toys Mabel left in there. Huge, vaguely triangular bath toys.
Something kept him from turning tail and running out the door, and so Dipper stood paralyzed, wishing that Mabel or Stan would stumble to his rescue. Mindlessly he snatched up a toothbrush, gripping it like a sword. He could do this.
Slowly he gripped the edge of the shower curtain, fingers almost numb. His awareness seemed to eclipse all of his five senses; he just KNEW that a living creature was behind this veil.
With an involuntary squeak, he pulled the curtain aside.
"EEEP!"
There was a resounding THUD as the thing in the bathtub smacked its head on the tub's faucet, effectively ending what might have been a swift escape.
Choking on a yell, Dipper stumbled back, swinging the toothbrush reflexively. Lying in he and Mabel's bathtub was a humanoid figure of a pale greenish hue, with an oversized head that it was clutching in pain.
"Ooooowww…" it hissed, glaring at Dipper from behind some kind of visor on its face.
"W-what are you doing in here?!" Dipper stuttered, voice cracking.
The alien slowly got to its feet, eyes darting between Dipper and the opened window. It sneered at Dipper's toothbrush.
"You stupid CLOD, I know that's not a weapon!" The alien spoke in perfect English, albeit rude English.
For a moment Dipper, the alien, and the window held a tense staring contest.
"rrrGGGHHH!"
Suddenly the alien lashed out in frustration, snatching the toothbrush from Dipper and tossing it at his head, effectively beaning him right on the temple. As Dipper recovered from the blow, the creature leapt out the window in a green flash.
"No, wait!" Dipper called, missing the alien's foot by a hair.
He heard scuffling, followed by a distant thud and low moan from below the window.
"DIPPER!" Light flooded the room as Stan rushed in, his voice edged with fear. Mabel wasn't far behind him.
"Are you ok?" Mabel said in confusion, rubbing sleep out or her eyes. "Were you arguing with yourself in the bathroom again-"
"No! The alien!"
"It was right… right here! It jumped out the window! Let's go after it!" The words rushed out of Dipper's mouth as he gestured frantically.
His sleepy family stared at him for a second, but just then Ford joined the party.
"Did you just say alien?!" Ford said. "Was it HERE?"
There was…
"No time to explain. C'mon!" Dipper rushed towards the stairs, his companions following with varying levels of enthusiasm.
Dipper exploded into the chilly nighttime rain, his socks squishing into the wet earth. He raced around the Mystery Shack to where the alien must have fallen…
There it was!
Dipper watched as the green figure spotted them, paused, and then bolted into the darkness of the woods.
"Darn!" he pouted, but heard the buzz of an engine behind him.
"Get in! Let's go after it!" Ford drove the Mystery Kart right up to Dipper, spraying him with mud. Dipper scrambled into the kart, losing one of his socks. As they pulled away from the Shack, Dipper watched Stan and Mabel recede into the distance.
"Good luck! We'll keep looking around here!" Mabel called, and he waved to her, screaming over the growing torrent of water.
"THANKS!" Dipper called.
They lurched through the forest, the dim beams of the kart illuminating narrowly dodged trees. Driving rain needled Dipper's face, and he could barely see his own hands, much less one single alien in a forest.
SLAM.
The steady grip of Ford's lurching arm was all that kept Dipper from flying into the night as their vehicle struck something solid. The kart lurched to a halt. For a moment, the two of them caught their breath as the rain pattered on the kart's roof.
"Did we… hit it?" Dipper ventured, straining his eyes as he probed the incomprehensible darkness of the rainy night.
Ford grunted and made a three point turn, aiming the karts lights back towards the Mystery Shack.
They both gasped. The alien was leaning on one arm, trying to prop itself up. Dipper was transfixed by its huge eyes as it glared up at them.
He recognized the unmistakable flush of pain on the creatures face. What had they just done?
"We hurt it." Dipper said flatly, feeling a twinge of empathetic guilt.
The kart swayed as Ford stepped out of it.
The alien collapsed face first into the mud, and then with slight poof, vanished.
"No!" Ford cried, rushing forward. Dipper leapt out of the kart and followed him. The two of them stood over a rapidly vanishing indent in the mud.
"Did we… or did it just… teleport?" Ford frantically tried to rub water off his glasses.
"Wait…" Dipper muttered, catching a small gleam of light in the mud as a crack of lightning shuddered across the sky. As quickly as he could, Dipper plunged his hand into the wet sludge and closed his fingers around something.
He opened his hand slowly, allowing rain to chase away the dirt. In his palm was a small, multi-faceted green gem.
"Fascinating." Ford said, leaning close to get a better look. Dipper's body shook from the cold.
"You can hold unto that," Ford said, clasping a hand to his shoulder as they headed back to the kart. "We'll study it in the lab when we get back!"
Dipper nodded absentmindly. He gently traced the edge of the stone with his fingers, heart pounding louder than the rain.
He couldn't wait to share this with Mabel. And Steven and Connie, too.