The starship that took the form of Shifty Solar's head zoomed closer and closer by the second as Mabel Pines descended from above to a halt. Star in arms, she had just made her way back from Skystation Galaxy. A braces-filled smile adorned across her face. She was contented to have captured her first star.

When she made a safe landing on the starship, she couldn't spot any sign of neither Shifty nor Big O' Blobbo. The starship had gently shifted beneath her feet. She could hear faint rumbling on the opposite side of the starship. Curious, Mabel headed over towards the direction. She stepped through a pair of tangerine bushes when suddenly she spotted three large monsters standing idle with their backs against each other. Mabel's jaws dropped, eyes wide with surprise.

The baby-blue Tyrannosaurus Rex, which whom she knew as Shifty's transformation form, lowered his gaze down at her. On both sides of him was a tall, lanky gray-furred dragon beast and a portly anthropomorphic boar heavily garlanded with clannish accessories and sashes.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mabel," whimpered Mega Shifty, shifting his feet on the ground uneasily.

Mabel, with star in hand, placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head forward. "Wait a minute," she said with a serious expression. "Are you three doing what I think you're doing?"

The boar wriggled his nose in an uncertain response. The gray monster sighed, a low, burbled noise rising from his throat.

Finally, Mabel threw her arms up in the air with excitement, her eyes brimming with glee. "You guys are bonding!" she exclaimed. Oh, how she loved it when enormous monsters try to befriend with one another! She placed her hands back on her hips, a weary smile across her face. "So, what are you men talking about?" she pressed on.

Mega Shifty's eyes hardened. "Mabel," he grumbled boomingly. He waved his long tail at the tall gray beast. "This… this is Quall."

For a moment Mabel thought she had water lodged in her ears. Did he say that that thing was Quall, that small, adorable, shy gray rabbit she met back at Star Bit Galaxy? She knew that every Shift Rabbit had its own devastating form, but the way Mega Quall appeared only sent several chills down Mabel's spine.

"Erm…" murmured Mega Quall uncomfortably. "Hi, Mabel…"

"Hey there, big guy," replied Mabel almost equally uneasily. "What is the meaning of all this? I caught the star." She held out the star to show both Megas Shifty and Blobbo. Mega Blobbo grunted with admiration while Shifty only attempted to do a forced smile. Mabel knew the pressure that Mega Shifty was being under at the moment. When the young teen looked over at Mega Quall, he looked rather miserable and dejected than pleased and contented. Feeling sympathy wash over her body like a slow river, Mabel sat down the Skystation Galaxy star and scuttled over towards the dragon beast, scrambling up his lofty, furry body. She clambered up on top of his shoulder and sat on it, patting him reassuringly on the neck, which seemed like a gray woolly wall to her.

"What's the matter?" she asked him, a worried look on her face.

Mega Quall was reluctant to answer. Ever since she placed herself on his shoulder the dragon beast was as stiff as a rock. His blood-red eyes gazed down at her and they all blinked simultaneously. This creeped Mabel out a bit but she pushed that feeling aside.

Mega Quall exhaled deeply. "It's just—I mean—I was looking for—you—I wasn't—G'ah!" Mabel knew that he felt as though he was being pressured. Under pressure, Mega Quall's muscles bunched up beneath his pelt and he threw himself off the starship, causing it to rock perilously. He flapped his eerie wings, flying off into the unknown with Mabel still on his shoulders, clasping for dear life now, shrieking in fear.

"Help!" cried Mabel.

"I got you, Mabel!" Mega Blobbo bore past Mega Shifty and reached out a colossal staff festooned with dangling jewelry. The butt of the staff was pointed towards Mabel as she bounded off of the frantic beast's shoulder, grasping onto the staff. Her feet hung perilously in the air and, when she looked down, she noticed that she was several meters above the ground. Fright was ebbed away by relief as Mega Blobbo drew the staff back in slowly, lowering it so that Mabel could land back on the starship securely.

By the time Mabel caught her breath both Shifty and Blobbo were back in their normal shift rabbit forms. The two cousins hopped over, with Shifty carrying the glowing star.

"Well done, Mabel," he said in his unique shift rabbit accent. "I am sorry for not acknowledging this earlier. We were in a… stiff situation." He cleared his throat and Mabel caught him furtively flitting his eyes towards Blobbo, who only smiled thickly in response.

Mabel rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, what was all that about anyways?" she asked.

Shifty, once again, glanced over at his closest cousin. This time Blobbo only shrugged, wearing his warm smile and lidded eyes as usual. Not a soul would be able to tell what that plump rabbit was thinking. Seeing that he didn't have backup, Shifty heaved a sigh. "He just… wanted to come see you. That's all." His voice was taut and hard as stone. Shifty's eyes were gloomy and aloof. Mabel had never seen him like this before.

"He's dangerous," continued Shifty after a long, hard silence had fell over him. "He will hurt you."

Surprised at what she had just heard, Mabel widened her eyes. "He just needs some friends, that's all," she retorted. She couldn't believe a single word he had said. And yet Shifty looked grim. He was serious.

After looking distantly at Mabel, Shifty adjusted his spectacles and turned away, walking off to the other side of the starship. "I'll place this inside the ship's Star Vessel," he called out over his back, his tone somewhat back to normal. "The stars we've collected will go here. Not only will they provide more energy to the starship overtime, but they will also offer themselves as a key to unlock to further worlds."

Mabel only nodded wordlessly. She was still taken aback by Shifty's solemnity from earlier.

A few galaxies and stars later, Mabel returned to the starship in one peace. She wiped her brow with a sweater-sleeved arm and collapsed on a soft patch of grass, lying sprawled out on her back. She heaved out a heavy sigh and stared blankly into space. She never knew that the outer space had so many stars.

The ground thumped softly beside her as she felt the presence of one of the shift rabbits.

"Sorry about earlier, miss." It was Shifty.

Mabel looked over to the side at the apologetic shift rabbit. His ears were drooped along his head and he was twiddling his fingers. He swiftly adjusted his large, brown spectacles as a weak smile played across his face. "You have to understand the emotions of us Shift Rabbits," he said. "We are strong and weak in terms of emotions and we are highly aggressive."

"'Aggressive'?" echoed Mabel in disbelief. "But you guys are so adorable!"

"Yes," agreed Shifty in a light chortle, adding in a serious tone, "Just know that Blobbo and I won't do anything to hurt you. We are your protectors as well as your friends. The Prophecy of the Constellations have chosen the two of us to look after The Shooting Star and The Pine. You are the Shooting Star. The Pine…" His voice trailed off as he looked down at his large feet.

Mabel drooped her eyelids halfway and laid her arms on top of her belly. Dipper is The Pine… she thought solemnly. Although she couldn't tell time in space, it instinctively felt as if a week had already passed by now. Though she wasn't too sure about it. Like a flash of lightning, the image of Robbie V burned in the back of her mind, eerie and wicked. She recalled the way how Robbie powerfully kicked her twin brother in the head, knocking him out unconscious. At first, Mabel had thought he was just out cold from the trauma and would wake up sometime soon, but she knew that it was too good to be true. Mabel folded her fists and they shook violently with searing rage. You're a smelly ol' teen but I never knew you'd be a cold-blooded murderer!

Shifty stepped closer towards her head and knelt down, brushing his muzzle against her cheek moistened by warm tears. "It'll be alright, my dear," he reassured gently. "I fear that this may affect the Prophecy of the Constellations."

Mabel's heart dropped in the pits of her belly. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually appreciated herself for once. All that was waiting for her was gloom, gloom, gloom. Sinisterly, she wondered where Robbie presently was at in this vast, void universe. He could be far, he could be close.

A silver, spherical escape pod hovered silently, untouched in the void space. Time had seemed to have frozen it in place.

Silence.

More silence.

Bang!

The door of the escape pod soared out, kicked down by a long hind leg. The tiny door, rutted by the strength of the kick, drifted mutely away from its home. A small head, its tuft of fur on his head lustrous and neatly groomed, poked out of the entrance of the escape pod. It appeared to be a light blue Shift Rabbit. It had cerulean eyes, a fine pink nose, and a tan tuft of fur beneath his nose that took the appearance of an unfinished mustache. This shift rabbit looked elegant and opulent, as if he was kept by a noble family during his past times. He looked both ways and cleared his throat, ducking back in the escape pod. After several moments, with a grunt, the shift rabbit threw himself out of the tiny pod, a few empty chip bags floating out slowly. With a final kick the shift rabbit sent his little transportation gliding swiftly away. He stared off after it until it was as tiny as a dime. What a journey has it been, eh?

The shift rabbit shook out his fur and brushed a hand along his sleek, golden tuft of hair on his head. He adjusted the red bowtie he wore on his tufty neck. He began searching high and low for what he could rest his hands on next on this journey of his. Like a fish, he began swimming in the void space, pacing through the stars and nearby comets. He enjoyed hearing the swishing and sparkling of nearby galaxies and stars. Environments like these really inspired him to work on his next project.

After a while of reeling through the space, he spotted a glint in the distance. The glimmer caught in his brilliant eyes and he felt a chill ripple down his spine. Swiftly, he thrusted himself towards the shining thing. Once he got into reach of it he realized that it looked like pieces of floating scrap metal.

"Odd," he thought aloud. "Recycled metal, out here in space? Untouched even?" He reached out and grabbed one of the pieces that was half the size of his entire height. "What specimen like this shall be missed?" He pressed the piece of metal against his chest, hard and cold, and gazed skyward, musing on what fascination he were to create out of this.

One particular creature came to mind. It was a warm and gentle image that had seemed to cue itself into his mind, as if answering all the questions he wanted to spill out to the divine around him. His eyes glinted with inspiration and he began rapidly taking the pieces of metal and junk.

Nearby was an isolated galaxy that had seemed to be covered in short grass and dispersed shrubberies and flower patches. The shift rabbit blinked at it and nodded to himself. I'll go here. That is where I'll build my next project.