A few hours earlier…
"You've got plenty of leftover macaroni in the fridge. Don't forget to lock the door, and be sure to turn off those video games so you can get some sleep…"
Steven Universe watched as his body sighed in frustration as Pearl lectured it, the pale gem standing primly in front of the warp pad. Garnet stood next to her, arms crossed.
"But…" He watched the impostor Steven whined expertly, stepping forward. "I wanna keep looking!"
The sprit of Steven Universe, disconnected from his own body, floated above the scene.
"Guys..." He muttered, once again. "It's not me... it's not me...! Why can't you see through him!?"
Steven had never felt so helpless.
They couldn't see him.
They couldn't hear him.
They couldn't touch him.
He was alone, stuck between reality and the other side of nothing.
"Steven…" Pearl offered the fake Steven a sympathetic sigh. "You've been awake for over 24 hours. I know how badly you want to find Peridot, but you your human body needs to sleep. We have to draw the line somewhere… according to the your father, that's severe sleep deprivation!"
"I know, but…"
Amethyst gently slapped the fake Steven on his back, strolling up next to Pearl.
"Chill out, Steven. Little dudes gotta get their rest. We'll find P-dot."
"I still don't understand why she would disappear like this." Fake Steven said, repeating himself. "I…" He sniffed, water well up in the corners of his eyes.
"ARRGGGH!"
Real Steven trashed in mid air, brought to the very edge of frustration.
"You're good! But that's not quite good enough! They'll figure you out!"
He watched as Garnet lowered herself to talk with his body face to face, gently brushing away those crocodile tears.
"Steven. We'll find her. She's a Crystal Gem now. And that means a lot."
Even in this state, Garnets trust in Peridot filled Steven with joy. The sudden disappearance of the newest gem was, by all accounts, rather suspicious. They couldn't know that Peridot had been sent away by the impostor inside of his body!
"T-thanks, Garnet." Steven's body replied.
She gave him a thumbs up, and the gems stepped into the icy glow of the warp pad.
"Make sure you actually sleep, Steven!" Pearl's final demand echoed through the ring of the warp pad as Steven's family vanished into the light.
"I will…" He replied to the empty air, slowly turning around. "NOT!"
Steven's face, those innocent wide eyes and genuine frown, melted into a hateful glare. The pupils contracted into slits, and ghost Steven found himself alone with the thing that had stolen his body.
Bill Cipher.
"Boy, oh BOY." Bill sighed, swaying on Steven's knees. "What a bunch of SLOCK! Throw a few tears there way, and they just eat out of your hand! Pretty good, huh Steve?"
Steven glared back at Bill, clenching his pudgy fists.
"Shut up! You can't keep this up forever!" He tried to sound brave, but his wavering voice betrayed his true terror. Bill had kept it up for days now. Maybe there was no limit to his charade.
Bill shrugged, pulling at Steven's hair.
"You might be right. This body kind of sucks. I really don't want to, but Gravity Falls is only a portal away..."
Steven puffed, floating higher as his heart was raced. They'd had this conversation already.
"No it isn't! My body will pass out from portal sickness! And then I'll take it BACK!"
Cold dread passed through Steven as Bill slumped his face into an angry frown. He'd hit a nerve.
Bill forced Steven's body to stand up straight, glaring around the room.
"I guess you wouldn't mind if I destroy this body then? I mean, it's a pretty unfair deal for me if I don't get anything out of it!"
He lumbered over to the kitchen, roughly pulling open a cabinet drawer. Steven's ghostly blood ran cold as he heard the clattering of knives and forks from within it.
He felt tears sting his eyes, although no actual water materialized.
"Stop." He begged.
Bill was smiling through his face.
"I can say I had an accident with the macaroni..."
"STOP!"
As if to punctuate his desperation, a loud green flash tore into the room. Both boy and demon gasped, eyes drawn to the source of the glow.
"Steven?"
A voice sounded from a hole in reality. It was a voice that Steven recognized. It was the voice of a friend, and hearing it now made his head spin with shock.
Someone had appeared in Steven's room.
Bill abandoned the silverware, hustling up the stairs.
"No." Steven whispered. "No, no, no..."
A ragged circle cut into his bedroom, and a familiar sight popped into view.
It couldn't be.
"DIPPER!" Steven howled. "MABEL!"
His friends from Gravity Falls! Why had they opened a portal NOW, of all times?!
A darkened Gravity Falls forest loomed behind Dipper, his sister standing next to him. They were greeting Bill Cipher, all smiles.
Steven Universe watched in horror as Dipper reached out and grabbed his body's hand.
"Dipper! Don't do it! That's not ME!" He screamed, voice echoing into the abyss. "STOP!"
He felt numb with dread. Dipper was completely ignoring him. The twins stared right through him.
He wanted to cry.
Gritting his teeth, Steven floated through his body just as it touched Dipper. Nothing. No reaction. He knew he couldn't get his body back that way.
"AUGH! Stop! Please!"
He watched a glow spread from his body into Dipper. Steven felt numb as recognition sounded in his mind like an alarm.
Bill was trying to fuse with Dipper!
A deep sense of revolution spread over Steven's ghostly form. How DARE he!
"I-It won't work…" Steven muttered. "It can't work! It's wrong!"
His life had become a literal nightmare.
Steven gasped as Dipper's body and his own body fell backwards, away from the portal. For a split second, he glimpsed that evil triangle rise from the shimmering air where he and Dipper's half-formed fusion had floated. Laughter rang into the air, then faded.
"THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!"
Steven whimpered with happiness. Bill had failed! The fusion hadn't worked!
Steven didn't care about what the monster meant about "memories." His own body lay before him, unoccupied at last.
It looked pretty worse for wear. Poor thing hadn't gotten any real sleep.
But it was HIS body!
Steven braced himself, then floated straight into his vessel.
This time, something stuck.
The first sensation he had was one of darkness. He wasn't sure how long it lasted.
Then light seemed to dance along his skin, a sublime sensation. He gave a ragged gasp, feeling air rush into his lungs. He faced the ceiling of his room, moonlight scattering rays of light over his body.
HIS body!
Slowly, Steven tried to get to his feet. His body felt too warm, too heavy. Everything hurt.
Sniveling, he steadied himself. The portal into Gravity Falls was gone!
Had he been asleep?
Worry prompted him into standing up.
He was ravenously hungry, yet nauseous. He had to get some water.
Slowly, he found his way into the kitchen. He gulped down water from the sink, feeling life flood into his dehydrated body. Then he turned to the fridge, pulling out a half-eaten bowl of ma-n-cheese. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted.
Then he sat on the floor and didn't move.
What could he do? Everyone he relied on was out of his reach. Should he just wait for the gems to come back?
Steven wasn't strong and independent like his Connie or Pearl, a leader like Garnet or his mother, or smart and resourceful like Peridot or Dipper…
Dipper!
PERIDOT!
The last he'd seen of Dipper, he'd been falling away as Bill released him. Was he ok?
And Peridot. She had to be in Gravity Fall. Lost, confused. He could rescue her.
Or, he could just wait on the gems to come back.
Steven got up. He'd made up his mind.
Groggily, he gathered up his portal supplies.
He shook the spray can as hard as he could, aiming it carelessly at a video game poster on his wall above his bed. Hands quivering slightly, he pulled out the bag of moth dust and powdered the page up.
Finally, he lit the match and threw it. There was a flash, and then a forest stood quietly in his bedroom.
"I'm coming back, don't worry. I promise. I gotta check on something first." He shoved the moth dust into his pocket, giving the warp pad one last nervous glance.
Steven stumbled through his portal, twisting as it electrified his exhausted body.
"Whew." Steven groaned, laying prone in the grass. He faced thousands of stars that danced just out of the reach in the tall pine forest.
How far was he from the Mystery Shack? He'd made the trek once; he'd do it again.
Steven's dull senses faded in and out as he hiked past rivers, trees, stumps, squirrels…
Distantly, he heard birdsong. The wind. Nothing human.
The forest gradually became a maze.
Eventually, gravity knocked him to the ground. Steven collapsed face down, letting his body rest on the forest floor.
Half conscious, he could feel the earth shuddering as he lay there. Deep voices rumbled towards him. Steven tried to raise his head.
"Whoa, dude, is that a human kid?" A voice so manly it shook the air sounded above Steven.
Through his blurry vision, he could make out fur, and lots of it. It smelled like Amethysts room combined with beef jerky.
Something sniffed his body, almost inhaling his shirt.
"Ugh, bro, smells weak. Should we eat it? Can I eat it? It looks tasty."
"Pubertaur! It's just a boy!"
"d-Dipper… help… you know the way to… the mystery shack?" Steven slurred, only half hearing the conversation.
"DIPPER? Hey kid, did you just say "Dipper?"
A huge, breaded face loomed over him. Steven nodded weakly.
"You know him? He's our bro, man!"
Steven continued to nod. His impression of these "bros" was that of large, powerful mountain men. Almost like animals.
"C-can you… tell me the way to the Mystery Shack? I'm looking for Dipper." Steven tried keep himself together, but his vision was blurring in and out.
"He smells WEAK, man."
Steven heard a loud snorting, and then a manly yelp. Something stomped back towards him.
"Yeah, no problem, chubby little dude! I'm Cutzpar, by the way!"
"H-hello!" Steven's world was swaying. "Thanks, dudes."
He collapsed again, darkness and the smell of sweaty hair engulfing him.
Dipper awoke to the sound of heated voices. He groaned as the living room swayed into view.
"Oh, you're ok! Thank goodness!" Mabel's voice soothed his ears.
"Ugh… wha-?" Dipper composed himself, wrestling with memories of what had just transpired.
Bill Cipher.
Dipper sat on the couch in the living room.
The first thing he saw was Peridot creeping around the room like a caged animal. Stan tracked her with his eyes, suspicious.
Ford was following her.
"Calm down. Tell us what Bill wanted with Dipper… oh, Dipper! You're awake." Ford rushed over to the couch. "That's a relief. Are you ok?"
Ford put his arms on his sides. He looked both worried… and cross. Stan and Peridot joined Ford, examining Dipper like he might explode at any moment.
"I'm fine." He croaked, coughing.
Dipper gave Mabel a serious stare. "Mabel… did you…"
She put her hands to her face.
Mabel's words gushed out.
"AGH! I did, Dipper, I spilled the BEANS and they went all OVER the place… y-you were hurt and they found me dragging you home and I was so afraid…!"
"It's ok, Mabel." Dipper sighed. "I guess it was inevitable anyway."
"Please, tell me what happened." Ford asked.
"I-I'm not sure. Bill, he... took some of my memories." Dipper tried to remember, painful flashes of memory glancing through his mind.
"Which ones?"
"Ummm… of Beach City. Of the in-between place! I think those are the ones he wanted!"
Ford stood; holding a hand to his chin. His face was dark with worry.
"Does that makes any sense to you?" Stan asked Ford.
"Maybe…" Ford grumbled. "Dipper. Mabel."
The twins perked up at his serious tone.
"WHY did you keep opening the portal? Why did you keep this a secret?"
Dipper swallowed. Here it was. THE conversation.
"I- I…"
"We wanted to see our FRIENDS." Mabel sniffed. "Y-you woulda stopped us."
Ford looked furious, but suddenly shook his head. "It's… it's ok. Bill might have been able to pass through even before the first tear opened. But you shouldn't have kept it a secret."
Dipper hung his head. Ford was right. He'd never forgive himself if their actions had lead to Steven's possession by Bill.
Suddenly, The entire group jumped as there was a loud knock on the front door.
"I'll get it." Stan said.
"L-let's all go see who it is." Dipper was paranoid, and everyone else seemed to feel the same.
They followed Stan downstairs to the door. A shadow blocked the small window on the Shack's gift shop entrance.
Stan swung the door open, revealing fur. And lots of it.
"Ummm… is Dipper home?"
Dipper heard Mabel squeak as the face of a Manatour floated in the door, all beard and horns and raw testosterone.
"Cutzpar!" Dipper's voice cracked. "What are you doing here, man?" Dipper recognized his Manatour friend from earlier in the summer.
"We found this in our forest. I think it's yours?"
The beast held out its massive hands, cradling the body of a young body in a red shirt with a yellow star on the front.
"STEVEN!"
The entire group squawked with varying flavors of surprise.
"Cool! Here ya go. I hope it's not dead."
Cutzpar dropped Steven into Dipper's arms like a sack of potatoes, and Dipper swayed backwards with the weight of Steven's body.
"T-thanks, dude." He croaked.
"Nice seein' ya, man!" The giant man-beasts began to lumber away. "Come visit the Man Cave sometime!"
Dipper gave a tiny wave from underneath Steven's body.
"Steven! Oh! Oh! STEVEN!"
Peridot frantically lifted Steven's body off Dipper, shaking it.
"Steven! Are you asleep? Is it really you? I'm so sorry!" She closed her eyes and grimaced. "I failed my mission! I f-f-f-f-failed!"
Peridot looked like she was about to burst into tears, pressing her face into Steven's shirt.
"Mmm…" Steven started to mumble. Dipper didn't dare take a breath.
"Peridot… hey… I'm proud of you…" He awkwardly patted the shocked gem on the chest, looking delirious.
"Hey, I…" Steven blinked. His eyes looked clouded by exhaustion, but his pupils where round, natural. Dipper let himself take a breath. This was Steven Universe.
"I found you! I found you!" Steven collapsed into Peridot arms, nearly knocking her over.
His upper lip quivered. "I f-found… you…"
"You're ok!" Dipper took in a deep breath. He felt like he was experiencing a miracle.
Peridot was taking in heavy breaths, still looking like she was working herself into a sob.
"STEVEN!" Mabel cried, wrapping her arms around their confused guest.
"mmmAAAGGGHH!" Peridot gave an inhuman wail and followed Mabel's example, burying her face into Steven's poufy hair.
Dipper gave Steven an awkward back pat, on account of there wasn't much more of Steven to go around.
"You guys!" Steven was blubbering, tears streaking his dirty face. "I… I just… I'm so happy to see you… I've missed you…"
"Stop! Don't do that! Y-youre making me wanna do it too…" Peridot gave a huge sniff, tears finally rushing down her visor.
"Oh my stars… what IS this?" She gently touched her face, and then began to rub her eyes in a panic. "How do you stop it?!"
"Y-you've never cried before?" Dipper ventured, feeling the sting of waterworks threatening his own face at this touching reunion.
"MAYBE!?" Peridot snarled, and then turned to Steven, who wrapped his arms around her.
"Awww, Peridot, that's great!" He blubbered.
"No, it isn't." Peridot blushed, leaning on Steven's head as she shut her eyes and let more water stream down her face.
"E-everyone…" Steven stammered, and Mabel and Peridot rushed to help him get to his feet.
"H-he tricked me. This guy… this yellow triangle jerk… he TRICKED me! Dipper, that wasn't me!"
The Pines exchanged knowing glances.
"I know." Dipper replied, watching Steven's eyes widen in surprise.
Peridot gasped, searching anxiously over Steven. "That monster that was controlling you? Did he hurt you?!"
"This is all that... things fault!"
Dipper gave a weary sigh.
"Welp. That solves a few mysteries, doesn't it?"
He caught Ford's frown out of the corner of his eye. Their eyes meet, and Dipper's joy at the gems reunion was overwhelmed with worry.
"Peridot. Steven." Ford began. "Please tell us everything."