OK! Here it is! This only took forever and a day.
I UPDATED the last chapter, go read that if you haven't already.
Mabel
After me and Dipper got back from an adventure today, Stan told us that Alice and Caleb had stopped by and whisked Steven away for lunch.
"I'm sure Steven will tell you details later." Grunkle Stan rolled his eyes, "But you two have got to work the shop now." Dipper responded with a quiet, annoyed, groan. I personally like working the shop! Dipper just wanted to run in and grab snacks before going back to look at the UFO (we didn't actually go inside earlier, but we're planning to later)
After around two hours (nothing happened, it's a slow day) Steven came back.
"So where did you go?" Dipper perks up when Steven walks in.
"Well, they're the grandparents I had never met before" Steven flashes us a toothy grin. Those teeth are so cool and weird at the same time. Dipper says that isn't normal and thinks Bill has something to do with it. I said that would make sense if we had seen Bill when we were on the boat trip, but we didn't.
"Caleb and Alice are your GRANDPARENTS!?" I squealed. Steven really is related to us! I mean I knew he was, but he's a closer relative than I had thought!
"Yeah, they took me out for lunch and I got to know them. They're really nice!" His eyes are bright and there's a wide smile on his face. He's so happy! "What did you guys do today?" Steven tilts his head slightly and leans on the counter. Dipper likes how Steven pays attention to his theories. I like it too cause now I don't have to listen to them.
"We're trying to find a way into the old UFO. Ford says it's at least a couple thousand years old." Dipper states, "I've been inside once before, but didn't get a very good look."
"UFO huh?" Steven's nose is wrinkled up in thought.
"Yeah! But we couldn't find the entrance…" Dipper huffed.
"Well I can help you." Steven stands up straight, his hands still on the counter, "Maybe you should bring Ford too."
"Bring me where?" I nearly jump out of my shoes when Ford walks in from the living room (not his lab, strangely).
"We're gonna go look at the UFO!" I slam my fists down excitedly on the counter, making some of the nick-nacks rattle.
Steven
Before we even leave I know that it's a gem ship. I'm excited. We're walking through the woods (I should have worn bug spray).
"Now keep in mind," Ford talks loudly (not a yell, but pretty close) "This place is extremely dangerous and filled with booby traps." Ford's face is stone, but I can hear Mabel snickering.
We're walking up a pretty steep hill and Ford puts a hand on my shoulder. I think he felt all of my muscles tense up, because he backs off.
"There you can see where the ship broke through the twin cliffs!" He points, and I can see the shape. Then I realize, we're standing on the ship right now. There's a few bare patches of metal and my heart starts beating fast.
"I couldn't find the hatch." Dipper explains to Ford.
"I covered it back up, I didn't want anyone falling in." He shoves a rock aside and underneath is a metal plate.
"Can I try opening it?" I speak up and Ford's head snaps towards me.
"Of course, here." He hands me something that looks like a gun, "It's a magnet gun, it's very strong, so be careful." I set the magnet gun down next to me and I sit criss cross on the ground.
Mabel comes up behind me, "What are you doing?"
"Opening the door." I place my hand on the door and veins of light reach across the metal and towards my hand.
"How are you doing that?" Dipper is at my other side, leaning over my shoulder.
"I think the door is bro-" Before Ford can finish, there's a rumble at the base of the hill. Earth is crumbling away to show a closed door. We hurry down the hill where the veins of light lead me to a familiar hand shaped button.
"How strange. I've never seen this before…" Ford looks at the door and then looks down at me, studying me. I hold eye contact with him for a moment before looking away.
"It's a handprint!" Mabel squeals and slaps the button. Unsurprisingly, nothing happens. Ford starts pressing the button, but nothing happens.
"It's broken." Ford states and stands up straight.
"No it's not." I shove past Ford and slap my hand down on the handprint. It glows pink and the door opens. I puff my chest out proudly. As the door opens air hisses out and dust wooshes past our faces. It makes Dipper sneeze (his sneeze is so cute, it sounds like a baby deer).
"Awe, Dipperrrr!" Mabel smacks the bill of his hat and his face turns red with embarrassment.
"How did you do that?" Ford turns to me again. His voice is stricter and makes me want to recoil into a shell and hide. But I don't, I stand my ground.
"I'm familiar with this model." I shrug (I was trying to sound cool) and walk through the door. I can feel Ford's glare on my neck, but I refuse to look back. Dipper and Mabel run up next to me.
"Have you really been in one of these before?" Dipper's eyes are wide.
"Yeah, but not this exact model." I confess. Some of the lights flicker along the hallway, and I notice there are old footprints in the dust.
"Were you in this part of the ship last time, Dipper?" Mabel is turning in circles and walking backwards, to get a good look at everything.
"You've been here before?" I tilt my head towards Dipper.
"Yeah! Ford took me here last summer." Dipper motions towards his Grunkle, so I look back at Ford. He's walking just behind us, taking note, but he looks annoyed.
Mabel
This place is SO cool! There's vast, dark hallways and I want to explore every single one. The hall opens up into a control room sorta thing. Ford clears his throat.
"Be careful, this is where the most traps are set." He looks around curiously.
"I could look into turning them off." Steven is brushing off the control pad beneath multiple huge screens. He finds another hand shaped button and presses it. It flashes pink and the screens start to flicker and flash. Ford is staring at Steven, but I don't think it's in awe. His eyes are squinted and his nose is wrinkled. Steven slammed a fist down on the console and the screens lit up steadily.
Steven mumbled something under his breath and started expertly flipping through different screens, until he came across a map of the ship.
"Maybe if I…" Steven bit his lower lip and scrunched up his face. Dipper jabs my side and I whip around to yell at him, but he shushes me.
"Look." Dipper nods towards Steven.
"What?" I hiss back under my breath.
"He's got fangs." I look at Steven again, and… Yeah! He does have fangs! Is he a vampire? Like, a real vampire? But he was in the sun at the beach… And the gem… This doesn't make any sense! I look back at Dipper with wide eyes. He gives me a shrug in return.
"We'll talk about it later." He whispers again.
Steven
Something catches the corner of my eye, tucked under the console, buried in the dust. After I (hopefully) turn off all traps and alarms and reach for the dust covered object. I let out a sharp gasp and pull my hand back. I'm not sure why, but Dipper's already walking over, so I quickly grab it. It's a gem. I'm not sure what kind though.
I stand up and blow the dust off of the gem, it's marbled green and white. I turn the stone over in my palm and notice that there's a decent sized chip, part of the gem is missing.
"Can I see that for a moment?" I jump, I hadn't realised that Ford was looking over my shoulder.
"Yeah, hold onto it, but me careful." I crouch down. I balance on my toes and look through the dust for a missing piece.
"What are you doing?" Mabel couches down next to me.
"Looking for the missing piece of the gem." I look up, "Wanna help me look for it?" Mabel grins brightly. I smile at her without showing my teeth. I don't think they've seen my fangs yet. We sift through the dust.
"Is this it?" She holds up a green sharp.
"Yup! Perfect! Thanks, Mabel." She drops the shard into my palm and I stand up and my knees pop. "Can I see that?" I hold my hand out to Ford. He hesitates before giving it to me. I know he's suspicious of me, but I don't know why.
I know I didn't go into much more detail with Steven and his grandparents. There's a couple reasons I made it this way.
1. I kept running into SO many dead ends.
2. Steven deserves to have some "off script" time with his grandparents. You know?
But don't fret, we'll find out how the lunch ended later, but for now, enjoy this lil part.
OH! I FORGOT! Any guesses on what kind of gem he found?! Correct guesses will get a shoutout at the end of the next chapter!