Oohohohoho OK. So... I have some... explaining to do for the two month hiatus I put this fic on, huh? All I can really say is that I blame it on two things: 1. moving to a new apartment at the end of the year and 2. MAJOR creative burnout. So I put the pause of UF for awhile to get my desire to work on it back, started rewatching SU again and wow, here we are in a new year with a new chapter finally! And for my return, this ones... ok. I definitely think the ending of it is a lot better than the beginning (mostly bc I had written like half of it before I decided to stop working on it whoooooops), but for getting my stride back I think its ok. So with all that outta the way, let's get our first glimpse of CONVENPER and get started!


Chapter 84: Crack the Whip

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"All right, we may be awhile," Pearl announced as her and Garnet stepped up onto the warp pad. The pair made sure they were well-prepared for the task that awaited them, hoping that they'd finally be ready for an eventual ordeal after just how unpredictable the past week had been. But even then, Garnet's future vision could only be relied on so far to guide them along in their search for their at-large foe. A threat that had to be tracked down sooner rather than later if any of them wanted to see a semblance of peace.

"Wait!" Steven called after the pair as he ran up to the pad. Even so, Pearl and Garnet were clearly already ready to go.

"Amethyst," Pearl looked to the purple Gem reclining on the far side of the house.

"What? I'm busy," Amethyst rebuffed, flipping through the magazine she'd been reading.

"Amethyst, hold down the fort," Garnet instructed. Even then, Amethyst only lightly heeded her.

"Aye, aye, captain," Amethyst offered her a lazy salute. "No surprises while I'm on duty." She was almost immediately proven wrong, however, as the front door suddenly burst open, startling her in the process.

"Surprise!" Connie brightly called, Dipper trailing into the house behind her. They both toted their training equipment, clearly ready for a rousing session of sharpening their sword skills. "We're early!"

"...I was trying to tell you," Steven turned back to Pearl and Garnet. "Connie and Dipper have sword training today!"

"Oh!" Pearl gasped in flustered realization. "I completely forgot! I'm so sorry, kids."

Amethyst cleared her throat at this, offering Pearl a teasing grin. "Very irresponsible of you, Pearl."

Pearl shot her an annoyed glare at this, though Dipper was quick to catch her attention once more. "So… we're not training today, then?"

"Unfortunately, no," Pearl sighed. "It looks like we'll have to reschedule today's session…"

"Is it because of Jasper?" Connie asked, curious. "Are you headed back to the North?"

Garnet nodded, adjusting her shades. "She's on the move."

"We can't just have her out there attacking random monsters for whatever reason," Pearl added far more fretfully.

"Yeah, because Jasper is clearly the biggest thing we have to worry about now…" Dipper muttered, aside. And while none of the Gems heard him, Steven did, even if he did somewhat misunderstand exactly what he was referring to.

"Shouldn't we be looking around town for more of those dimensional portals?" the young Gem asked, frowning.

"W-well, yes," Pearl noted apprehensively. "That is important, but-"

"Ford is already out searching for them," Garnet said tersely, almost tightly even as her future vision gave her the proper insight. Dipper nodded confirmation of that fact, knowing that Ford had left the shack earlier to do exactly that.

"Which leaves us to look for Jasper in the meantime," Pearl concluded pointedly.

"Of course," Connie nodded. After all, it wasn't hard for her to understand the importance of such an undertaking, especially after Mabonnven's brief, but concerning encounter with the orange Gem in the Great North a few days prior. "Be safe!"

"That's my line," Pearl smiled before looking back over to the purple Gem. "Amethyst-"

"Got it," Amethyst waved them off, still not moving from her spot or glancing up from her magazine.

"We'll train next week without Jasper hanging over our heads," Pearl assured Dipper and Connie.

"Best case scenario," Garnet added. And with that, the pair warped out, hoping to put this ongoing chase to its necessary end.

"Well," Steven turned to Connie and Dipper after Garnet and Pearl had left. "Since training's cancelled for today, maybe we could try to catch up with Mr. Ford to help him look for those portals."

"Eh, it's kinda too late for that," Dipper said. "He already left a while ago; Mabel went with him, actually."

"Really?" Connie asked, confused by such an odd team. "I wouldn't have pegged Mabel as the 'portal hunting' type."

"Well, Great Uncle Ford had invited both of us to go along with him," Dipper explained with a hunt of a smile. "But since I thought we were going to train today, I turned him down. Mabel seemed pretty hyped about going with him though. She says she wants to meet another version of herself, because that turned out so well for all of us the last time..."

"Yeah, Reverse Us didn't exactly leave the… best impression…" Steven frowned, rubbing the back of his neck at the thought of their sinister selves.

"Still, with everyone else busy," Dipper took on a more serious expression at this. "Maybe we could spend our time getting ready."

"Uh… for what?" Steven asked, confused.

"For when Bill shows up again, duh!" Dipper exclaimed with a diffident huff. "We all know he's not just gonna hang out in the Nightmare Realm doing nothing for long, not after everything that just happened. Heck, he's probably planning his next move against us even as we speak!"

"Dipper, dude, chill," Amethyst piped up, hopping up from her seat. "You're sounding like, super crazy paranoid right now."

"Oh, you know what, you're right," Dipper countered, his tone absolutely deadpan. "I guess I shouldn't be paranoid of the demon who literally burned my memories to a crisp!"

"Ah… r-right… Sorry," Amethyst flinched, glancing away awkwardly. "B-but hey! Lucky break for you guys," she quickly perked up once more, flashing the kids a playful smile. "You get the training day off. Why waste it on stressing about a way to track down that triangle chump or any lame portals to some other weird, wacko dimension? All that junk will take care of itself anyway."

"I… doubt that," Dipper said flatly, shaking his head over just how flippant and nonchalant Amethyst was over such significant threats.

"So," Amethyst largely ignored him, throwing her arms around Steven and Connie's shoulders as she offered them a daring grin. One that encouraged them to let their pressing worries go in favor of something far more fun instead. "Since you guys have got all this free time on your hands… what do you wanna do with it?"


The answer to Amethyst's question turned out to be, in her opinion, just about the most boring thing the kids could have ever decided to do. Because instead of taking the free day they had off from training, they had taken to doing exactly that.

The kids had set up a temporary training ground down near the Mystery Shack, where they began sparring with one another. Steven held his shield steady, allowing Connie and Dipper to bounce their swords off of it as they practiced various maneuvers Pearl had been teaching them lately. All the while, Amethyst sat perched upon the shack's roof, dully watching their duel as Lion slept peacefully on the ground below her. While at first she paid a decent amount of attention to the impromptu training session below her, her focus soon began to wane as she lay back onto the roof to soak up the late summer sun. At least until she heard Steven's call for her from down below.

"Amethyst! Did you see that?" he grinned, hoping that she'd caught sight of the impressive moves they'd just pulled off. Only to find that the purple Gem wasn't even sparing a glance their way at all. "Amethyst!"

"S'up?" Amethyst asked coolly, sitting up slightly.

"Are you even watching?"

"Sure," the purple Gem shrugged. "What's it look like?"

"Like you're not watching?" Connie pointed out.

"Oh, all right, ya got me," Amethyst grinned as she sat up briefly. She quickly laid back down, however, but only after shapeshifting her eyes down onto the soles of her feet. "Is that better?"

"Ew… gross!" Steven exclaimed, laughing alongside Connie and even Dipper over such a bizarre, but amusing trick. Even so, it was enough to placate the kids as they got back into training, this time with Amethyst keeping her eyes-or feet rather-on them, at least until she quickly began to grow bored of their back and forth spar once more.

"Did you see that?" Steven asked her upon the completion of another successful round of blows.

Amethyst answered by sitting up again, this time shapeshifting into Pearl as she offered the trio on the ground a hearty round of applause. "Excellent! Amazing! Pearl-fect!"

"Hey!" The training session was put on an abrupt pause as Stan burst out of the shack's nearest door. "Who's out here making all that noi-" The conman was cut off as Amethyst, now back in her usual form, suddenly dropped down to land on his shoulders.

"Heeeeeey, Stan," she cooed playfully, pushing his fez a bit to the side from her perch.

"Ugh, Amethyst," Stan groaned as he shoved the purple Gem off his shoulders. "Should've guessed. And what do you runts think you're doing?" he asked the kids. "I don't have the kind of insurance that covers the kind of accidents that might happen from you swinging a bunch of swords around, so go do that somewhere else!"

"But Grunkle Stan, we have to practice!" Dipper protested sternly.

"Aren't you supposed to be off doing that with Pearl at some arena or something?" Stan asked, raising a caustic eyebrow.

"Well, we were, but she's off with Garnet looking for Jasper today," Connie said.

"Who?"

"Ya know, Jasper," Amethyst shrugged, shapeshifting into the orange Gem in question as she flexed her momentary muscles. "She's that Homeworld Gem I was telling you about. Big, buff bully, kinda off her rocker? Garnet and Pearl think she's a "problem", so they went off to find her and left me to hold down the fort for the day."

"Tch, the only thing you can hold down is your lunch," Stan joked, playfully elbowing her as she shapeshifted back into herself.

"Ha!" Amethyst laughed back just as bawdily. "Yeah, and breakfast and dinner and a midnight snack and-"

"Ok, can we get back to training already?" Dipper interrupted impatiently.

"Yeah… we probably should," Steven agreed. "Pearl always says practice makes perfect after all."

"And we can use all the practice we can get…" Connie sighed, fretfully glancing down at the sword in her hands. "My stance was all wrong in that last round, a-and my grip is a little soft…"

Amethyst scoffed upon hearing this, and likewise, Stan couldn't help but roll his eyes. "What are you worried about all that little stuff for?" the purple Gem asked, hands on her hips. "It's not gonna matter in a real fight."

"It does, though," Connie countered earnestly. "We've been up against some huge threats lately, and they're not gonna hold back just because we might not be ready to face them. That's why we have to train so hard… So we will be ready."

"Yeah, maybe if we had trained harder before," Dipper glanced down at the training blade he was holding, a familiar kind of shame filling his features as he did. "Then maybe we might have actually been able to stop Bill for good after all…"

"Geez, kid, you're still hung up on that whole Bill thing?" Stan asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes, I am!" Dipper exclaimed honestly, passionately. "I-we had a perfect chance to get rid of him, and I-I mean we blew it! And now… who knows when we'll get that kind of a chance again…?"

Dipper paused as a comforting hand suddenly found a place on his shoulder. It took him a moment or two, but eventually he found it in him to return the warm, yet still weak smile Steven was sending his way. A silent reminder of the solidarity the two of them shared in their perceived failure to bring the dream demon who had nearly destroyed them both down. As well as their resolve to make that failure right somehow, someday, together.

At the same time, Stan and Amethyst exchanged a brief glance upon hearing this, their expressions mutually softening as they did. Because despite their own passive attitudes towards the troubles they'd all been facing lately, it was easy to see those problems were still bringing the kids so much stress, stress that should have never been theirs to begin with. Which was why the least the pair could do was try to find a way to ease that stress, even if it was only in some small, temporary way.

"Sounds to me like you guys are all too much in your own heads," Amethyst began, her tone turning a bit more sincere as she began offering her advice. "In a fight, against Bill, Jasper, or anyone else, really, you never know what's gonna happen. You just gotta go with it."

"That's right," Stan nodded in agreement. "You can't be ready for something when you don't even know what the thing you need to be ready for even is. Does that make sense?"

"Um… I think?" Steven shrugged, exchanging a confused look with Dipper and Connie.

"Point is, you can't be ready all the time," Stan clarified. "The most you can do is roll with the punches, go with the flow-"

"And be loose!" Amethyst chimed in, extending her arms and wiggling them around.

"Wow, that's some strategy," Dipper remarked dryly.

Even so, Steven was by far the most taken with the idea of such spontaneity. "I wanna be loose!" he exclaimed, stars in his eyes.

"Then you gotta trust your gut," Amethyst patted her own stomach. "Fighting's all about that feeling deep down inside you. So… what do your guts feel like?"

Before any of the kids could even answer verbally, Steven's stomach just so happened to rumble loudly as if it was responding to the question instead. "Hungry!" he exclaimed, eliciting brief, amused chuckles from Dipper and Connie alike.

"Mine too," Amethyst said with a daring smirk.

"Can't argue with your guts, kids," Stan added with a similar wry grin.

"Snack break, snack break!" Amethyst began chanting, and it didn't take long for Stan to join in too. "Snack break! Snack break!"

"Well…" Connie said, looking to Dipper and Steven. "We do need energy to practice…"

Dipper didn't seem as ready to budge on the matter, however, at least until he met the hopeful, somewhat pleading look Steven was sending his way. And under it, he caved almost immediately. "Ok, fine," he sighed tiredly. "But only as long as it doesn't take too long."

"Yay!" Steven cheered before readily leaping into the ongoing round of eager chanting. As well as the idea of a pleasant, however brief stall from the drudgery of training. "Snack break! Snack break! Snack break!"


Ford took in a deep, steadying breath as he reached the top of one of the several hills that connected Gravity Falls to the countryside surrounding it, peering across the spanning fields before him for any signs of a recently-opened portal. According to the handful of sensors he had built, interdimensional activity remained plentiful in the town's general area, even after the gateway to the Reverse dimension had been closed. And after how surprisingly daunting and dangerous several of the denizens of that dimension had proved to be (his own twisted Reverse counterpart in particular), the author wasn't about to take any chances. Any remaining portals to different worlds had to be found and shut down as soon as possible, a task that was already proving to be easier said than done. Even with the help of the more than eager 'volunteer' who had cheerfully opted to venture out this far with him today.

"Grunkle Foooooord!" Mabel called blithely as she caught up with the author, digging into the backpack she'd brought along with her. "It's time for… a snack break!" She beamed as she pulled a colorful, if not somewhat messy snack cake out and handed it up to him. "I hope you like it! I made it myself; I call it 'Mabel's Special Surprise Sweetie Pie'! Don't tell anyone," she dropped her voice down to a dramatic whisper as she glanced around carefully. "But the secret… is sweets!"

Ford winced as Mabel pulled one of her snack cakes open to reveal a broad range of various types of candy packed within it. "Er… thank you, Mabel," he said with a diffident smile. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a rain check on this snack break. After all, too much sugar can easily upset one's stomach out in this kind of heat."

"Oh really?" Mabel asked as she shoved one of her pies into her mouth, despite Ford's advising against it.

"Besides, we need to keep going," the author continued down the nearby hill towards the fields. "We could very well stumble upon another parallel dimension portal at any given minute out here, and we need to be prepared for when we do."

"Ooo! If we find one, are we gonna go through it and meet up with the versions of us who live there?" Mabel asked curiously. "I hope whatever me we find there is way less mean than Reverse me was. She may have dressed to impress, but her personality was the worst."

"As much as I'd like to say we wouldn't have to travel into another portal," Ford began with a fretful frown. "I'm afraid that, for the sake of activating the Parallel Portal Permeater to shut it down, we'll have no choice but to do exactly that."

"Yes!" Mabel cheered, only to recant her excitement upon catching the frown Ford was sending her way. "Uh, I-I mean, aw, man, that's not gonna be any fun at all… um, right?"

"I doubt it would be," Ford nodded as he pressed on ahead. "And really, fun isn't the aim of our mission here; it's making sure that the fabric of reality doesn't tear itself apart at the seems, thus wiping every living thing in existence out completely in the process."

"...W-well, who says we can't have a little fun while we do that?" Mabel asked, still managing to maintain a smile despite the grave circumstances they were facing.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Mabel," Ford offered her a brief, if not somewhat befuddled smile. "But this is something we need to take very seriously. Especially since we've only managed to find one of these portals so far…"

"Aw, I'm sure we'll find more soon!" Mabel encouraged warmly. "And if we don't have any luck, then we can always go ask the Gems for some extra help."

"Mm… y-yes, I… suppose we could do that…" Ford glanced away uncomfortably. After all, he didn't really need to think too hard about how badly asking the Gems for their assistance amid the anger they still harbored toward him would likely go. "B-but I think we can manage just fine on our own."

"Oh! Or even better yet, we could ask Peri to help us!" Mabel suggests, running ahead of the author a bit. "We're all the way out here near the barn anyway; I'm sure she'd be happy to figure out some cool, nerdy, techy way to track those portals down."

"Hm… that's not a bad idea…" Ford mused, glancing out towards the barn's direction. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to pay Peridot a visit and see what scientific insight she might be able to give on the matter."

"Yeah! And after we're done with that we can have some fun hanging out with Lapis and Peri!"

"Now, now, Mabel," Ford called her back in before she could run too far ahead of him. "Our focus isn't fun, remember? It should be on closing those portals down and keeping our universe from falling to pieces."

"Right, right, keep the universe from falling, got it," Mabel nodded vigorously. "Now c'mon, Grunkle Ford! We don't wanna keep the best pair of barn mates I know waiting!" She then proceeded to hurry forward across the fields, running toward the barn afar in the distance with a wide grin on her face.

"I'm not sure how we can keep them waiting when they don't even know we're coming," Ford remarked, though he couldn't help but smile all the same as he trailed after her. This was the first mission he'd ever embarked on with just Mabel alone, and the difference in demeanor between her and her brother was like night and day. Still, the author hadn't been lying when he'd said he appreciated her enthusiasm, even if her boundless energy was a bit more than he had bargained for. Still, Ford hoped he could find a way to help his somewhat flighty niece channel that energy into the paramount task ahead of them. After all, there would be plenty of time for all of the fun and games she wanted to enjoy after the universe, and everything in it, were saved from the brink of eventual collapse.


"Who wants donuts?" Amethyst called, leading the way up to the Big Donut. Stan and the kids trailed after her, most of them just as eager as the purple Gem was for their upcoming snack break.

"I do!" Steven brightly raised both hands.

"Maybe just one," Connie agreed with a small laugh.

"At least it'll be quick," Dipper said with a small sigh of relief over such a simple snack choice.

"I'm up for a nice cup of joe myself," Stan flashed Amethyst a knowing grin. "You buyin' or what?"

"You know I am," Amethyst winked before shapeshifting into Lars. She casually strolled into the convenience store, the trio of confused kids doing the same as Stan followed, already struggling to hold back his pressing laughter at the purple Gem's scheme.

"Be right there!" Sadie called from behind the counter as she finished stocking shelves. She quickly popped back up to greet whoever had just entered the store. "Welcome to the Big Donut, how can I hel-huh?" She blinked, bewildered upon seeing "Lars" step inside, hands shoved into "his" pockets as "he" offered her a loose, casual wave.

"Heeeeeey, donut girl," Amethyst grinned, leaning up against the counter. "It's me, donut boy. You mind if I grab a couple of krullers?" As dumbfounded as she was, Sadie didn't get a chance to reply before the purple Gem lightly pushed her aside so she could lean in to raid the donut cabinet behind her. "It's cool, I totally work here!"

Sadie stepped to the side, balking as she shook her head while trying to make sense of the strange scene unfolding before her. "What the…?"

"Eh, s-sorry, Sadie," Steven spoke up, flustered. "That's just Amethyst being Amethyst… by not being Amethyst."

"Oh, uh, i-it's no problem, Steven," Sadie assured with a small smile. "It's just a couple of donuts."

"Hey, 'donut boy'!" Stan called, his arms loaded with several full, large cups of coffee. "I got the goods; let's book it!"

Amethyst didn't hesitate, rushing after the conman with her large load of more than a few dozen donuts. The pair nearly made a clean getaway too, at least until Amethyst accidentally bumped into Stan, sending several of his coffee cups spilling onto the floor. After a small beat of awkward silence, the pair erupted into loud laughter over it as they continued making their escape with plenty of stolen coffee and donuts still in tow.

"...Ok, maybe it's a problem," Sadie said to the kids once the thieving pair had left. Steven, Connie, and Dipper let out a shared sigh as they emptied their pockets to pay for everything Stan and Amethyst had taken. Fortunately, between the three of them they had just enough to compensate for the pair's misdeeds before they caught up with them on the bench just outside of the Big Donut, where they were happily guzzling down their stolen snacks.

"Ah…" Stan sighed with a contented grin as he took another swig of coffee. "The only thing better than a hot cup of joe is a free cup of joe."

"Tell me about it," Amethyst said, now shapeshifted back into her usual form. Her mouth was full of no less than five donuts all at the same time, which she greedily swallowed all at once. "These free donuts hit the spot!"

"Uh, yeah, none of that was actually free," Dipper dryly pointed out as the kids joined them. "We just had to pay for it all."

"Aw, you did?" Amethyst grinned. "Thanks, guys! That was soooooo nice of you."

"Yeah, real generous of you," Stan added just as flippantly. "Say, you wouldn't mind going back in there to nab us a few bags of chips, would ya? Your treat, of course."

"Uh, shouldn't we be getting back to training?" Connie asked somewhat diffidently.

"Yes, we should," Dipper insisted, crossing his arms.

"Aw, but we haven't even had a chance to have any donuts yet…" Steven protested, rifling through the several bags of treats, only to come up empty for any. "Uh… Amethyst? What happened to all the donuts?"

Amethyst burped as she finished tossing the last of the donuts into her mouth. "What happened to the what now?"

"Ugh, forget the donuts," Dipper groaned, annoyed. "Let's just go back to the shack and keep training already like we should have been doing this whole time."

"Geez, kid, what's the rush?" Stan asked as he finished off his coffee. "Learn to relax for a change. It's not like you don't know how to swing a sword around already, after all."

"Yeah, but I can always do it better," Dipper countered, genuinely frustrated. With Stan and Amethyst, and, even more so with himself. "I-we need to be better." Amethyst sat up a bit straighter upon hearing this, and likewise, Stan's callous expression evened out. The serious strain in Dipper's tone, however soft spoken his next statement might have been, was enough to get both of them to pay attention. "Maybe if we get better, stronger, then… things will be different the next time we face him…"

Steven's hand found a place on his shoulder once more while Connie silently, solemnly nodded in agreement, sharing his sentiment in longing for such strength moving forward. Amethyst was silent, unsure of what to say, but fortunately, Stan filled in the silence for both of them, taking in a long, patient breath before speaking his piece. "Look, Dipper, I get it," he said, catching his nephew's curious gaze right off the bat. "You wanna get even with that one-eyed creep, and to be honest, I'm pretty sure all of us do after what he did to you boys."

"Yeah, man, we'd totally pummel that triangle chump to a pulp if we could," Amethyst readily agreed, punching her palm with a vengeful gleam in her eyes.

"But the point is we can't," Stan added earnestly. "At least not right now, as much as we all just wanna get it over with. I know you kids probably hate to hear this, but… there's not a lot we can really do right now. Heck, the most we really can do at this point is just… learn to deal with it, ya know?"

The kids fell silent at this, all three of them exchanging a fretful glance at this advice. None of them could deny it was true though; there wasn't much any of them could do to stop Bill at the moment, with the connection to the Nightmare Realm currently closed as it was now. And even if it wasn't, after their last harrowing struggle against the dream demon, none of them were too sure about how they'd fare in another encounter with him so soon. True, it was an inevitable fight, one they all wanted to be ready for. But as for when and how that fight might take place, none of them knew, just like none of them knew how it might unfold when it finally happened. Which meant that sure enough, Stan was right. All they could do for now, was simply accept that uncertainty and try to move on past it. However difficult such a feat might be.

"So instead of spending so much time training and stressing," Amethyst piped up, reclining back on the bench with a growing smile. "Why don't we let loose like I said… and have a little fun?"

Stan shared the goading grin Amethyst took up at this, one that the kids didn't really know how to react to as they exchanged a somewhat uneasy glance. At least until Steven posed the question all three of them were thinking. "What did you have in mind…?"

As it turned out, what Stan and Amethyst had in mind was much more than Steven, Connie, and Dipper had bargained for. Their snack time had extended as they raided yet another small shop in town for sodas (that the kids once again had to foot the bill for). Ultimately though, those sodas went to waste as Amethyst shook the bulk of them up before letting loose a geyser of sticky liquid upon Stan and the kids. Though initially disgusted and disgruntled, the soaking-wet group got their revenge by shaking their own sodas before spraying her clean off the back of the park bench they'd all settled on. It was enough to immediately send Stan and Steven into an uproarious fit of laughter, and it didn't take long before Connie joined them. And while he still thought their time could be used much more wisely than on antics like this, Dipper couldn't help but crack at least the smallest of a smile all the same.

The group continued further into town from there, and with Lion casually trailing alongside them the entire time, they were quite a sight for some. Stan managed to convince a passing crowd of curious tourists that Lion could actually speak, and with Amethyst hiding just out of sight to "speak" for the pink cat, the conman was able to not only fool the unsuspecting group, but fleece them out of a few good dollars for pictures with magical beast too. From her hiding spot, Amethyst was practically on the floor laughing the entire time, and the kids barely managed to stifle their own amused snickers over just how ridiculous the entire scam seemed. Especially since they knew for a fact that even if Lion couldn't talk, he could do much more spectacular things than that entirely on his own.

Eventually, they ended up heading near the lake as the afternoon wore on. Along the way, Stan finally caved and used a bit of his own money to properly purchase the kids some glow sticks from a street vendor. This surprising bout of generosity was enough to put smiles on all three of their faces as they wore those glow sticks proudly while they sauntered down to the lakeshore. Amethyst had shapeshifted into a boombox, and sat perched on Steven's shoulder, somehow blasting music across the surrounding area for all to hear and for the kids to playfully jam to. Suffice to say their spirits were all high, much higher than they had been just hours before as they let themselves gently ease into the warm summer evening.

As they finally let themselves cut loose and relax, and let themselves forget, if only for a little while, all of the threats they've been facing for so long now. As they finally let themselves have fun.


"Knock, knock!" Mabel proclaimed in a sing-songy voice as she knocked on the barn's already open doors. Ford followed not far behind her, still baffled by the changes Lapis and Peridot had made to it over the past few weeks alone. They'd somehow managed to mount the tail end of a pickup truck above the barn's entrance, though considering its precarious placement the author couldn't help but be somewhat concerned as Mabel obliviously stood directly underneath it. "Lapis! Peri! You have companyyyyyy!"

"Hm?" Lapis turned from where she had been hanging strings of empty cans to the barn's loft. "Oh! Hi, Mabel!" she greeted the girl with a smile as she flew down to her level. "Hi, Ford. What are you two doing here?"

"Hiiiiii, Lapis!" Mabel caught the blue Gem off guard with a sudden hug. "We're just checkin' in on our favorite pair of 'down home country Gems, ya hear'?" she giggled, throwing a bit of a western tang into her voice.

"...What?" Lapis asked, not following.

"We just popped in to say hi," Mabel grinned. "And to tell you I love what you're doing with the place! It's starting to look so cute and cozy! That truck up there is soooo cool! How'd you even get it up there?"

"Peridot did that," Lapis remarked with a bit of a soft smirk.

"How'd she-"

"Erm, s-speaking of which, Lapis," Ford hastily interjected before the conversation could drag on anymore than it already had. "Where exactly is Peridot? I'd like to see if she could help us track down any more of those interdimensional portals."

"Oh, well, she probably could, if she wasn't dealing with a, uh, what'd she call it again? …A 'situation' right now."

"A situation?" Ford and Mabel exchanged a confused glance at this. They very quickly got their answer, however, as a loud, aggravated cry from none other than Peridot herself pierced the air. She stumbled into the barn, not even paying any mind to Ford or Mabel as she frantically reached up toward her triangular hair. She nearly crashed into Lapis before the blue Gem stepped out of her path just in time, though she did ultimately end up clumsily falling into a large pile of stray cans on the far side of the barn.

"Augh! I've HAD it!" Peridot yelled angrily as she poked her head out of the pile. "Get it out! Get it out! Get it OUT!"

"I've already tried getting it out," Lapis crossed her arms as Peridot stormed over to her. "We don't even know what 'it' is, if it's even there at all; I wasn't able to find anything the last time I looked or the time before that or the time before that, remember?"

"I don't care!" Peridot stomped her foot impatiently. "I swear I'll go completely mad if I have to deal with this… this infestation for one more second! Also, Mabel and Ford are here!" she greeted the pair every bit as hotly.

"Hi, Peri!" Mabel waved brightly.

"What… infestation are you talking about, exactly?" Ford asked with a bit of a worried frown.

"I'm talking about the infestation that's embedded itself within my cranial cover!" Peridot cried, severely annoyed.

"You mean your hair?" Lapis asked, deadpan.

"If you want to put it in the laymen's terms, then yes. My hair!" Peridot groaned, attempting to reach into said hair for whatever was apparently hidden inside it.

"Oh, Peri, sounds to me like you've just got something tangled up in there," Mabel noted as she retrieved a chair from the over end of the barn. "Pop a squat; Mabel will have your 'do all fixed up in no time! I've been meaning to get ahold of your hair anyway; the triangle look is fine, but I think you'd look great if you tried something new."

"Now, hold on just a moment, Mabel," Ford interjected as Peridot sat down so she could get to work. "I'm not so sure we have time for-"

"Please, let her take care of this," Lapis practically pleaded to him. "Peridot's been whining about whatever's in her hair all day. She says she's gonna go crazy, but I think I've already beat her there just having to listen to her."

"...Alright, fine," Ford relented with a small sigh. "Just as long as it doesn't take very lo-"

"Aaaaaaand, got it!" Mabel proclaimed as she began pulling a small shape out of Peridot's hair.

"Ha!" Peridot shot Lapis a pointed look at this. "See? I told you there was something in there!"

"Oooooooh my GOSH!" Mabel gasped as she got her first good look at what she'd just retrieved was. "It's not just something. It's something ADORABLE!"

"What?" Peridot spun around as soon as Mabel finished pulling this unknown object out of her hair. "What is it?! What despicable creature dared invade the sacred privacy of my hair?!"

Mabel beamed from ear to ear as she held the tiny creature up, a small, fuzzy animal that neither her nor Lapis were very familiar with. "Ta da!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "It's just a tiny kitty! And a super cute one at that! Aren't you, you little sweetiekins!?" She cuddled the brown tabby kitten close to her sweater, eliciting spirited meow from it as it readily nuzzled in close.

"A what?" Lapis asked, confused.

"A kitten," Ford said, though he elaborated upon catching bewildered glances from the pair of Gems before him. "Um… an infant cat? Not that either of you are very likely to know what that is either..."

"Ohhhh a "cat"," Peridot understood. "Yes, I'm familiar with such Earth creatures. They're immensely popular on the 'net', as I quickly discovered back when I still had my beloved tablet. I didn't think they were actually… ya know, real, though."

"Me neither…" Lapis frowned, looking over the small creature in Mabel's arms curiously. "It's so… small…"

"That's 'cause it's just a baby," Mabel explained, gently rubbing the kitten's head with her finger. "It must have nuzzled up in Peri's hair 'cause it was cold. Poor little fella."

"Hmph, I never gave that… thing permission to nest inside my hair," Peridot huffed indignantly.

"Aw, but he likes you, Peri!" Mabel held the kitten out to Peridot, who begrudgingly, awkwardly took it.

"...Why is this animal vibrating?" Peridot raised an eyebrow upon catching the strange noise the creature was making.

"It's purring," Mabel chuckled. "That means he's happy."

"Well, I'm glad we were able to get to the bottom of your little, um… 'pest' problem," Ford concluded staunchly, somewhat impatiently. "Now, can we please-"

"So what are we supposed to do with this thing now?" Lapis interrupted, cautiously taking the kitten as Peridot handed it over to her.

"No, no," Ford tried to interject. "There will be plenty of time to discuss what happens with the cat after we-"

"Well, if he's all the way out here, all on his own, then I guess the poor baby is a stray," Mabel explained with a sympathetic frown. She was quick to perk back up, however, as a sudden idea struck her. "Oh wait! I know! You guys could adopt him!"

"Wonderful," Ford huffed, slightly annoyed. "Yes, the two of you can adopt him and sort all of that out later. For now, we need to-"

"Adopt him?" Peridot asked, largely ignoring Ford as Mabel and Lapis were too.

"What's that mean?" Lapis added, just as fascinated.

"It means he'll be your pet!" Mabel brightly explained. "You guys will have to feed him, give him a nice place to sleep-you've already got that covered with Peri's hair-and give him plenty of love and cuddles. Oh, and you'll also have to name him."

"Which is something you can take all the time you want once we locate another por-"

"Isn't it's name 'kitten'?" Peridot cut Ford off once more. This time, the author simply let out a frustrated sigh of defeat, realizing he was getting nowhere here. So instead, he opted to let what he largely believed to be a waste of time unfold as he took to sitting on a nearby hay bale, hoping that the others wouldn't remain distracted by this unexpected feline for too much longer.

"No, that's just what he is," Mabel laughed. "He needs a name, and a good one at that. Like my cat back home." She fished a photo she always kept on hand of her beloved cat out for the pair to see. "I named him Muffin, 'cause that's pretty much all he eats. But you guys can name your kitten anything you'd like!"

"Anything, hm…?" Peridot grinned, intrigued by the idea. "Well in that case, we should name it Peridot."

"Uh… Peri?" Mabel frowned. "You can't name him after you…"

"Why not? You said we could name it anything we'd like! And I like me, so that's why we should name this 'kitten' after me. As you can see, my logic here is foolproof."

"Yeah, but… this cat's a boy…"

"Plus, if we named it after you, then we'd have two Peridots running around here," Lapis remarked dryly as she held the kitten close. "And one is only about as much as I can take."

"Well then what do you suggest we name it, Lazuli?" Peridot scowled, hands on her hips.

"I don't know. I've never had to name anything before…" Lapis glanced down at the kitten thoughtfully for a moment. "What do you think we should call it, Mabel?"

"Well, that's up to you guys, but if you need a little inspiration…" Mabel began with a thoughtful grin as she tapped into her boundless creativity. "You could name him after what he looks like, something like 'Stripes' or 'Tiger' or-"

"Or Coffee because he's brown, just like the delicious stimulant nectar!" Peridot proposed.

"Uh, no, we're not calling him Coffee," Lapis winced. The kitten also let out a small meow of protest. "That stuff is gross."

"Ok, so if Coffee is off the table, then you could always try naming him after a character from a show or movie you like," Mabel suggested as she reached out to scratch the kitten behind the ear.

"Oh! Oh! I know!" Peridot enthusiastically raised her hand. "Let's name it Pierre, after the objectively best character in Camp Pining Hearts!"

"Eh, I dunno," Lapis frowned. "He kinda looks more like a Percy to me…"

"Whoa, Lapis, you watch CPH too?" Mabel asked, surprised.

"Yeah, sometimes," Lapis shrugged with a light smirk. "It's growing on me."

"Ok, so we've narrowed it down to Percy and Pierre," Mabel concluded. "Now we just gotta pick between those two and-"

"Wait," Lapis interrupted, holding the kitten up to carefully inspect it. He let out a loud, yet contented meow as its tail casual whipped back and forth, his paws perched against her hands. "You said we could name him after something we like?"

"Uh huh," Mabel nodded.

"Well… then I think we should name him Dipper."

"...What?" Peridot asked flatly.

Meanwhile, Mabel let out a loud squeal that quickly turned into a bout of immensely amused laughter over such a suggestion. "Oh my gosh, yes please name him after Dipper!" she practically pleaded with Lapis between her continued giggles.

"Tch, why would we name our furry Earth creature after Dipper?" Peridot rolled her eyes, her expression sour. "Especially when Pierre is by far the more superior name."

"Because he sort of reminds me of Dipper," Lapis smiled, gently petting the kitten on the head. "He's small and sweet and his hair is brown, just like Dipper."

"And because it'll be hilarious when Dipper finds out!" Mabel added, still laughing. "Better yet, name him 'Dippurr', like with a 'purr' at the end! That's even cuter and funnier!"

"Alright, well then that settles it!" Ford suddenly interjected, seizing a perfect opportunity. "You'll name the cat Dipper-"

"Dippurr, Grunkle Ford," Mabel corrected.

"Nuance," Ford quickly waved his hand. "Anyway, that means we can finally finish discussing this, and move onto much more important matters like-"

"Like how we are not naming it Dippurr!" Peridot huffed impatiently as she grabbed the kitten out of protest.

"Yes, we are," Lapis insisted. "I want to and so does Mabel."

"Yeah, and the little guy likes the name too!" Mabel nodded at the kitten, purring happily as he began to settle back into his former spot in Peridot's hair.

"Yes, yes, very good," Ford cut in once more as he stepped forward between the group. "Now let's move on already to working on something of actual substance, such as-"

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Mabel gasped. "Naming him is only the beginning! I'll have to show you guys what he needs to eat, the kind of bed you should make for him to sleep in, what kinda toys he'll need to play with, where all of the best spots to scratch him are-you two have soooo much to learn about being responsible pet owners. Fortunately, with all the expertise I've gotten taking care of Muffin and Waddles and Lion on occasion, I'm basically a pro at keeping cute animals happy and healthy, so I can tell you everything you need to know, starting with-"

"Hold it! Hold everything!" Ford suddenly shouted, catching Mabel, Peridot, and Lapis equally off guard. Likewise 'Dippurr', as he was now more or less named, let out a small, frightened hiss before he rushed to retreat further inside of Peridot's hair, not that the green Gem even noticed amidst the newfound tension filling the barn. "I believe I've been incredibly patient up to this point, but we desperately need to get back on track already!" Ford continued, thoroughly frustrated and not afraid to show it. "The only reason we came out all this way was to get some assistance in locating more interdimensional portals, not to waste all of our very precious and limited time on… on this nonsense!"

"N-Nonsense?" Mabel repeated, her voice a soft, startled whisper.

Even so, Ford hadn't heard her. "So, could we please stop talking about that infernal cat and focus on what really matters here for a change?"

"Hey! Our 'cat' is not infernal! It's adorable!" Peridot rebuffed, pulling Dippurr out of her hair and holding it close.

"Yeah, seriously, Ford, calm down a bit," Lapis eased with a critical frown. "I mean, finding those portal things is important, yeah, but-"

"It's not just important, it's the most important thing right now!" Ford countered harshly. "If we don't shut those portals down, the fabric of reality will begin to crumble all around us, Bill could easily find a way to slip back into our dimension, and Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl will never forgive-" The author sharply cut himself off at this, catching the wide-eyed looks the others were sending his way over what he'd just said. Looks that didn't go away as he awkwardly tried retracting it. "I-I… I mean-"

"Grunkle Ford…" Mabel spoke up softly. Her tone conveyed a new sense of sympathy that made the author's heart sink even more when he heard it. "Are… the Gems… mad at you or something?"

Ford hesitated to answer this, though what ultimately made him fold was the knowing glance Peridot offered him in particular. It was hard to hide something that was really so obvious, it seemed. "Y-yes…" he sighed sadly. "They are."

"Why?" Lapis asked. But it was a question Ford had no easy answer to, least he let anyone else in on the secret that had put Steven and Dipper's lives in such grave danger just a few short days ago.

"It's… complicated," he offered instead, wringing his hands anxiously. "Simply put, I… made a major miscalculation, one that resulted in…" He trailed off, trying his best to tread carefully, to not say too much. And to somehow be honest amidst all the lies he was still telling. "Er, w-well… it contributed to these portals we've been dealing with. Which, of course, is why I made it my personal responsibility to track the rest of them down and seal them shut. Because if I do then…."

"Then… the Gems will forgive you?" Mabel inferred. Even so, Ford only let out another long, tired sigh as he sat down upon the hay bale once again.

"I'm kidding myself with that kind of logic…" he admitted, his head in his hands. "I know I am, I know how the Gems can be when they're upset, and yet… I still can't help but foolishly hold onto the hope that doing whatever I can to fix my mistakes might just be enough to set it all right in the end… Even if there's a very high chance that it won't..."

The others fell silent upon hearing this, none of them quite sure what to say. Lapis glanced away, genuinely wanting to comfort the despondent author, though given her own rough history with the Crystal Gems, she knew her reassurance wouldn't really mean much. Peridot bit her lip, nearly on the verge of reiterating to him what she'd said before, that the Gems would change their tune eventually, that they'd give him the forgiveness that he so clearly sought after, but ultimately, she held back, worried that he wouldn't accept such sentiments now. Which left it up to Mabel to try and raise her uncle's spirits in everyone else's stead.

The way she did so caught Ford off guard as a sudden small, fuzzy shape was gently placed into his lap. The author bulked down at Dippurr as he quickly got comfy, purring and kneading into his lab coat as he settled in for a light nap. Ford looked between the tiny kitten and Mabel as her hands lifted away from the cat, her expression solemn and sincere as she began to say what he needed to hear.

"Whatever the Gems are angry about, they'll forgive you for it sooner or later," she said evenly, earnestly. "I know they will."

"I-I'm… not so sure about that, Mabel," Ford shook his head morosely. "To be perfectly honest, they have… every right to be angry too, after what I've done." He nearly, nearly adds that Mabel would be just as upset as the Gems were if she knew the full extent of the truth. If she knew that what he'd told the boys to keep hidden, the incredibly secret he'd burdened her brother and best friend with, had nearly cost them both their lives to Bill's power and spite. But in the end, he tells her none of that; he can't stand the thought of someone else he cares so much about turning against him too.

"Well… you said so yourself," Mabel counters, finally putting on a small, hopeful smile. "Whatever you did, you're out here doing your best to fix it all. That's gotta be worth something, right?"

"It won't be worth much of anything until I can actually find and close them all…" Ford muttered, already exhausted by such a momentous, seemingly impossible task.

"But that's why we're all here to help you find them!" Mabel insisted warmly. "You don't have to do it all on your own. Right, you guys?"

"Uh… sure?" Lapis shrugged, though she smiled all the same.

"Absolutely," Peridot staunchly nodded. "Anything to keep Cipher as far away from here as possible…"

"See?" Mabel grinned, though it did falter as she stole another glance down at Dippurr. "Uh… I'm sorry for getting us so off track before, Grunkle Ford. I guess, I just… didn't know how much finding these portals meant to you… But I won't get distracted by anything else anymore, I promise! No more breaks until we've found and sealed up every last one of those portals and saved the world and patched things up between you and the Gems!"

Ford said nothing for a moment or two, though even so, he was unable to deny just how much he appreciated Mabel setting herself on such a focused, steadfast path. And yet, with that appreciation came just the slightest bit of guilt. Finding the portals was an important task, true, but perhaps it wasn't as direly urgent as the author might have felt like it was. Especially if there were currently no open portals to even be found. But because of his instance on finding something that might not even be there, he'd diminished his niece's natural enthusiasm, ignored her innate drive to help those around her, even when it came to something as simple and mundane as taking care of a cat. And as he looked down at said cat, still peacefully snoozing on his lap, Ford couldn't help but smile as he decided that perhaps, just for a little while, the portals could wait in favor of something a bit more important to him: his friends and family. "Actually," he began with a light smile as he gently pet Dippurr before glancing back up at Mabel. "I think a break sounds perfect right about now. After all, you still need to teach Lapis and Peridot all about how to properly care for this little guy, don't you?"

Mabel gasped, stars in her eyes as she realized what her uncle was doing. She readily hugged him for it too (carefully though, as not to wake Dippurr up) before making the most of the break he was offering her. "Ok, so first thing you need to know? Kittens need cuddles, and lots of 'em!"

Peridot and Lapis listened carefully as Mabel began to detail everything they'd need to know to care for a creature like Dippurr. At the same time, Ford allowed himself to sit back with said kitten still slumbering on his lap, unable to hold back a small, yet contented smile as he did. It was perhaps the first time in quite awhile that he allowed himself a moment to truly relax, to let his mind finally drift from rifts and portals and demons and guilt. All of that could and would be dealt with later; for now, the author figured he might as well take a page out of his niece's book for a change. A page on focusing on something as simple, yet undeniably necessary as fun for a change.


Though Lake Gravity Falls was unstirred by any sort of waves, Amethyst had still found a way to "surf" upon its waters all the same as she glided across its surface on the surfboard she'd shapeshifted her feet into. She laughed wildly all the way, even as she nearly barreled straight into Steven from his spot in the water. The young Gem narrowly avoided her by dunking his head back underwater, allowing Amethyst to hop clean over him before he burst up above the surface once more with a loud bit of laughter himself.

"Come on, you guys!" Steven called to Dipper and Connie, who were still standing by on the shore. "The water feels great!"

"I didn't bring a swimsuit!" Connie chuckled, excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"In the heat of battle, you're not gonna have a swimsuit, Connie!" Amethyst quipped as she surfed by once more.

"By jove, I guess you're right!" Connie beamed, letting the last of her hesitations go before she ran into the lake fully clothed.

"Go on, kid, you too," Stan smirked as he lightly shoved Dipper forward toward the water. He ended up tripping on a rock and falling into the shallows, though he was unable to stifle a laugh of his own on the way down.

"Grunkle Stan!" he shouted in faux protest, pulling his sopping west vest and cap off before tossing it at the conman. Stan easily caught them and toted them with him as he reclaimed the beach chair he'd "found" moments ago, reclining back onto it so he could watch the kids and Amethyst from the shore while Lion peacefully napped in the sand nearby.

"Woo!" Steven cheered as Connie and Dipper both joined him further out in the water. He gave them both a hearty splash, one that they readily returned as an impromptu water battle commenced.

"I don't think I've ever had this much fun in one day!" Connie proclaimed, still chuckling brightly.

"Bungacowa!" Amethyst shouted as she surfed past the kids, spraying them with a solid stream of water in the process.

"Heh, yeah, I gotta admit, I wasn't feeling it at first, but…. This has been pretty great," Dipper agreed with Connie, his wide smile genuine and warm. A far cry from the sullen spirits he'd been in just a few hours ago.

"We should hang out with Amethyst and Mr. Pines more often," Steven added. "They're the best!"

"You're the best!" Connie rebuffed, catching Steven off guard with another splash, one that he was more than ready to send right back at her and Dipper.

Their splash fight was back in full swing, at least until the water suddenly shifted violently around them. Likewise, the ground itself back on shore began to shake, knocking Stan out of his recliner as the trembling grew even more erratic. "Hey!" the conman snapped as he sat up on the sand. "What's the big idea he-" Stan was abruptly caught off by the kids' shared, frightened cry as a large, looming shape suddenly emerged from the lake behind them. "Kids!"

His concerned cry went unheard, however, as the massive monster rising up out of the lake let out a fearsome roar. The orange beast lumbered forward onto the shore, scaring Stan stiff as it towered over him, growling feral all the while. Fortunately though, it made no move to attack as it suddenly turned, its attention drawn back towards the group of kids in the lake behind it.

"W-what is that?!" Dipper asked, aptly alarmed.

"It's one of the corrupted Gems we fought in the Great North!" Connie exclaimed, baffled. "But… what's it doing here?"

That question remained unanswered as the corrupted Gem snarled viciously, rearing low as it prepared to pounce upon the kids in the water. "Uh… w-we remember you too, buddy," Steven offered the monster a nervous smile, though it did little to allay its savage manner.

"Whoa now!" Stan shouted at the creature upon realizing its intent. "Leave them alone, ya overgrown mutt!" He took the first thing he had on hand-which just so happened to be Dipper's still-wet vest-and lobbed it at the creature, though it hardly phased it. Instead, it finally leapt at the lake, and the moment it did, Steven wasted no time in surrounding himself, Dipper, and Connie in a large, secure bubble. But the monster never touched them as Amethyst's whip suddenly latched onto it in midair. Still on her "surfboard", the purple Gem circled back around, using Steven's bubble as a ramp to launch herself into the air toward the creature. The moment she landed on its back, Amethyst pulled her whip taunt and tight, using all of her strength until the corrupted Gem's body could no longer handle the strain. It's form was obliterated in a bombastic explosion, and Amethyst fell back toward the shore as a result, the now-defeated gemstone falling along with her.

"Yeesh, that was hairy," Stan frowned as he approached Amethyst to help her up. "You ok?"

"Pfft, 'course I am," Amethyst shrugged, brushing the sand off of her. "It was just one corrupted Gem. Nothing I couldn't handle." Even so, she still looked quite disheveled from the fight, and a bit out of breath from the effort of it too, though she was quick to recover for the sake of the kids as they rushed toward her.

"Amethyst, that was amazing!" Connie exclaimed, duly impressed.

"Yeah, you took care of that monster surprisingly fast," Dipper agreed with a small grin.

"What's so surprising about it?" Amethyst rebuffed, smirking. "I'm a Crystal Gem, remember? Beating up monsters is what I do."

"Well, that monster was the one me, Connie, and Mabel fought in the snow a few days ago," Steven informed her. "At least… it looked like it was…"

"Pretty sure you'd remember an ugly mug like that, kid," Stan remarked, hands on his hips.

"Well…" Steven frowned as he bubbled the corrupted Gem and sent it back to the temple. "There were two of them."

"Wait…" Amethyst stilled at this concerning news. "Two of them?"

As if on cue, tremors suddenly started overtaking the lake and the shore once more, signaling the arrival of that second unaccounted for creature. The teal-colored monster emerged from the water just like its companion before it had, only this one wasn't alone. Because rising high and proud upon its back was none other than Jasper herself, her helmet summoned and her manner fierce and already ready for a fight.

"Rose!" the orange Gem shouted at Steven as she spotted the group on the shore before her.

"Jasper!" Steven cried nervously, though Dipper echoed his sentiment much more bitterly.

"Jasper…" he scowled, his hands clenched in tight fists, both of them practically begging for a sword he no longer had. But if he did, he'd certainly make good use of such a weapon against her, especially after how she'd threatened and nearly trapped Lapis all over again the last time he'd seen her.

"Glad I found you," Jasper grinned hastily from atop her corrupted mount. "I've decided to build my own army. Where's the rest of yours?"

"They're not here right now!" Steven exclaimed, perhaps a bit too boldly for Amethyst's liking.

"Shhh!" she quieted him tensely. As far as she was concerned, Jasper didn't need to know that Garnet and Pearl weren't on hand to offer backup if needed. But now, thanks to Steven, she had that knowledge all the same, giving her a dangerous advantage in the inevitable battle ahead.

"So, it's just you lot?" Jasper raised an eyebrow as she surveyed the group before her. Her vicious grin widened as her sights settled on Dipper in particular. "Good. I've been waiting for a chance to get even with a few of you."

"I hope that doesn't include me, because I've never seen this wackjob before in my life," Stan muttered, aside.

"Go ahead and try it!" Amethyst exclaimed, summoning all of her courage as she called upon another whip. "I can whip your butt all by myself!" At this, Amethyst lashed out, her whip hitting the corrupted Gem's front legs hard. The creature squealed in protest as it reared back, tossing Jasper clean off its back before it charged at the group in retaliation.

"Watch it!" Stan called to the kids, pushing all three of them aside just before the monster could rush into them. It skidded to a stop on the far side of the shore, though it quickly turned to race for the group once again.

"I got Jasper," Amethyst hastily instructed the kids. "You guys handle that dope!"

"Right!" the kids all immediately agreed, taking on their respective weapons to do exactly that. Stan stood by, watching worriedly as Amethyst leapt off to confront Jasper while the kids hurried off with Lion to face the monster on their own.

"Wait, you three, you can't just-!" Stan shouted after them, though his concerned cries were ultimately ignored by the overzealous trio. "You know, I wish I wasn't so used to watching you kids rush headfirst into danger like this!"

"Ok, we get a second chance at this," Connie called as they continued approaching the rampaging monster.

"Between the three of us, this should be easy," Dipper added as he poised his practice sword for the brawl.

"Just stay together!" Steven added, his shield summoned and ready to go.

There wasn't any time for anything else as the corrupted Gem slammed its heavy foot towards the kids. Steven blocked the brunt of the attack with his shield, allowing Dipper and Connie to dodge out of its path to try and land a pair of starting blows with their respective swords. At the same time, Amethyst took up an offensive stance across from Jasper, who merely regarded her with a callous sneer before their battle could even begin.

"I came here to fight Rose and take out Lazuli's pathetic human pet. I'm not here for some runt," she said, her glare sharp as she aimed it down at the much smaller Gem before her.

"Well, too bad, 'cause you got me," Amethyst countered, flexing her whip a bit. "You think you can just keep showing up and picking fights with us? Why don't you get a life?"

"Fight is my life!" Jasper shot back fiercely. "It's what I was made for. It's what you were made for too, runt!"

"So?" Amethyst shrugged flippantly. "I've got other stuff goin' on. Naps, snack breaks, Revenge Trips, and none of that stops me from fighting just fine."

Amethyst threw her whip forward at this for a steady initial hit. She was caught off guard, however, when Jasper very easily caught the other end of it. "Well then, let's see it!" the orange Gem grinned as she yanked the end of the whip hard. Amethyst flew towards her, and before she could even try to stop her own momentum, Jasper did so instead by kicking her in the stomach hard. While Amethyst let out a pained gasp from the brutal blow, Jasper was far from finished. The moment the purple Gem landed in the sand, her opponent was upon her, racing over her prone form with a rapid spin dash, a move that Amethyst herself had used many times before. But when Jasper did it, it was much faster, much stronger, much better than the purple Gem had ever been able to pull off, something she was able to feel all-too well as she was run over by the manic maneuver over and over and over again.

Eventually, the aggressive barrage finally came to an end, leaving Amethyst weak and wounded in the sand. Up until this point, Stan's attention had been on watching the kids battle the corrupted Gems, but as he spared a glance at the purple Gem, he got a clear view of just how quickly the tides had turned against her. "Amethyst!" he called to her, getting ready to lend her a hand. Amethyst gasped as she began pulling herself off the ground, her eyes wide with alarm as she noticed the conman heading over to her.

"Stan, stay out of this!" she shouted, her voice shaky as she rubbed her sore arm. "I've got it covered!"

"It sure looks like you do," Jasper remarked as she towered over the weakened purple Gem. "You oughta let your little human friend help you. After all, it's not like you stand a chance against me on your own."

Amethyst let out a small, pained groan, but she still worked up enough nerve to offer the orange Gem a hateful, resilient glare all the same. "S-shut up!" she barked, pulling two whips out of her gem this time. She simultaneously lashed them both out at Jasper, who once again, caught them with no trouble. The orange Gem took the opportunity to use them to launch Amethyst high into the air, throwing her Stan's way until the purple Gem collided into him roughly, sending them both flying back onto the ground.

"Aw, geez, my back," Stan winced as he slowly sat up. His concern was quickly moved, however, to the disheveled purple Gem lying in the sand alongside him. "Yikes, Amethyst, you're not lookin' so hot."

"I'm fine!" Amethyst snapped harshly, forcing herself back onto her feet. She stumbled forward all the same, however, newfound agony rippling through her form as she struggled to so much as walk back over to Jasper. To keep this fight going and put an end to it, no matter how impossible that might seem.

"What, you want more?" Jasper sneered in disgust. "You're not even trying! Is it because you know you're already a failure? You're a quartz soldier, just like me. But you're not like me, are you?"

Amethyst offered her no answer, her teeth bared and her expression tense as she tried her best to steady herself. Stan had gotten back onto his feet by now, searching for some way to assist her after he briefly made sure the kids were still faring fine on their own. And indeed, they were, much better than Amethyst currently was against Jasper, it seemed.

"Ha!" Jasper cruelly laughed at the purple Gem's expense as she landed a heavy punch. It knocked Amethyst clean off her feet, though she was soon thrown slammed back to the ground as Jasper hit her with yet another brutal blow. "You're small! You're WEAK!"

As this twisted taunt echoed across the shore, the kids finally caught onto what was happening as their own attention was briefly diverted away from their own fight against the corrupted Gem. "Amethyst?!" Steven cried, immediately alarmed upon seeing the poor state the purple Gem was in. She could barely keep herself steady anymore, collapsing onto one knee as she reeled from the immense damage her form had already taken thus far. Still, she refused to let that damage overwhelm her, to fall apart at a moment like this. She wouldn't, she couldn't let Jasper beat her, not this easily, not when she knew every single word the orange Gem was saying to her was right. Not when she wanted nothing more than to somehow prove her wrong all the same.

"Are you that desperate for troops, Rose, that you keep a defect like this around?!" Jasper shouted at Steven, but Amethyst was the one to offer her an answer in his stead.

"R-Rose said… I'm perfect…" she began weakly, her voice withering as her body trembled from the effort of merely standing alone. "J-just the way I am!"

"Then she had low standards," Jasper hissed coldly. And the moment she did, Amethyst found she couldn't take this any longer.

With a furious shout, the purple Gem rolled herself up into a spin dash, charging at Jasper with as much speed and strength as she could possibly muster. She didn't get very far, however, before the orange Gem stopped her in her tracks with her leg alone. "You could have been me!" she snapped as she kicked Amethyst high into the air. "And what are you instead?" Jasper caught her by her leg as she fell back toward the shore, holding her tight upside-down. Amethyst's eyes were wide with newfound fear as the orange Gem pulled her in until the two of them were face to face. And from the vicious smirk on her face alone, Jasper's violent intent was more than clear. "Just a joke."

With this, Jasper threw her head forward, her helmet slamming hard into Amethyst's body. The moment it struck her, her already-heavily damaged form caved completely, unable to bear the strain of any more injuries.

And as Amethyst's physical form imploded out of existence, Jasper was the one to catch her gem.


After about an hour or so of kitten-centric discussion, Ford and Peridot did finally get to work as the author had intended. The green Gem took a closer look at the one of the several interdimensional sensors Ford had invented, helping him calibrate it into a more efficient tracker for parallel portals in particular. It wasn't perfect, but it was certainly much more efficient than simply blindly searching for any newly-open tears in the fabric of reality. While the new tracker couldn't exactly pinpoint where any potential portals might open up, it did have the capacity to notify its user of if and when one had opened up. And, as far as Ford and Peridot were able to read, none were really currently open, at least not anywhere nearby. A thought that allowed the author some momentary peace of mind as he began preparing for whenever the next one might appear.

While the pair tinkered on their tech, Lapis and Mabel spent their time tending to Dippurr, who already seemed to be making himself quite at home at the barn with Lapis and Peridot alike (even if his favored napping spot was still the green Gem's triangular hair). By the time it was time to go later that evening, Mabel was mildly disappointed to part ways with the pair of Gems and their new pet, but both her and Ford bid them a fond farewell all the same.

"Bye, Lapis! Bye, Peri!" Mabel called back to the barn as they began to leave it. "And gooooodbye, Dippurr, you absolute little angel!"

"Yes, have a good night!" Ford also waved to the pair as they saw them off. "Thank you again for all of the help, Peridot! I'll be sure to let you know if there are any further developments."

Peridot supplied a loud answer to this, though even still it wasn't that easy to hear the further Ford and Mabel got from the barn. Even so, after a beat or two, the author spoke up once more, offering his niece a small, warm smile as he did. "I believe I owe you a good bit of thanks too, Mabel."

"Yeah? For what?" Mabel asked as she trailed alongside him.

"For reminding me just how important it is to take a step back sometimes and simply relax," Ford said with a small chuckle. "Despite everything I claim to be an expert on, that's… one of the many things I always seem to forget."

"Everybody needs a break sometimes, Grunkle Ford," Mabel noted with a sincere smile. "Even super cool geniuses like you. You wouldn't believe how many times I have to tell Dipper the same thing; at least you actually listened to me…"

Ford frowned briefly at this, unsure of what to say to that as he instead opted to try and raise his niece's spirits by placing a gentle hand on her head. "Well, what can I say? It's some very sound advice," he mused, filing said advice away in his mind with all of the countless other things he knew he had to worry about. "When did you get so smart, Mabel?"

"Grunkle Ford, I've always been smart," Mabel flashed him a proud, beaming grin. It softened somewhat as her tone turned a touch comforting instead. "Oh, and uh… when it comes to the Gems, don't worry; whatever they're mad about, I know you guys will make up soon, whether you close down all the portals or not."

"...I hope you're right," Ford sighed, though he couldn't help but smile at the thought all the same.

"I'm always right about everything!" Mabel concluded broadly, eliciting an amused laugh out of her uncle. She stopped short, however, as they walked to the top of a nearby hill, one that overlooked the rest of town as they returned toward it. Or more specifically, gave a perfect view of the lake and its shore. "Uh… what's that?" she frowned, noticing the large teal shape rampaging on the distant beach.

"I'm… not sure," Ford shook his eyes, straining his eyes to see better. Though even still, whatever was on the shore was still an uncertain blur at best. "It could be trouble though; we'd best head down there and investigate."

"Woo!" Mabel cheered as she readily ran after Ford's lead. "The adventure continues! This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Well, if whatever this thing is doesn't end up trying to destroy us," the author began, offering her a genuinely playful smile as they made their way toward the shore. All the while allowing himself to enjoy her company and the chance that, in whatever they were about to face, they might just have a good time doing it after all. "Then yes, I suppose it will be."


"Amethyst!" Stan's intense cry echoed across the shore, immediately catching the kids' attention and queuing them in to what had happened. They were only able to briefly look away from the corrupted Gem they were still fighting, but when they did, they saw something that made them gasp in shared shock. Amethyst was gone, her gem held tightly in Jasper's unyielding grip… and perhaps even more terrifying than that, Stan rushing in to try and save her.

"Let her go, ya big orange lughead!" the conman shouted, charging straight at the orange Gem. He was armed with nothing but his bare fists alone, which he somehow hoped would be enough to free Amethyst from her hold and get her far away from this fight if nothing else. Unfortunately, he didn't really get close to accomplishing such a goal as Jasper quickly stopped him in his tracks just by halting his approach with the firm hand he ran into instead. "D-don't think I'll hold back just because you're a broad!" Stan threatened as he struggled to push his way past Jasper's outstretched arm. "I've seen what you Gems can dish out and take, a-and trust me, you're not ready for a tussle with the likes of-whoa!"

Jasper quickly got tired of contending with the conman as she suddenly shoved him back onto the shore. Stan let out a sharp yelp as he landed on his already-sore back rather painfully in the sand. "Augh! Fu-f-fudge!" the conman quickly corrected his would-be swear, remembering the kids were only a few short feet away. "Y-you better watch it, ya oversized tangerine, or I'm gonna be sending you the bill from my chiropractor!"

Jasper simply sneered at such remarks, rolling her eyes as she scowled down at Stan, Amethyst's gemstone still held tight in her grip all the while. "No wonder she's such a waste of space," she remarked coldly, glaring over at the gem resting in her palm. "She spends all her time hanging around useless humans like you."

"O-oh yeah?" Stan challenged even when he knew he shouldn't. "I'll show you who's useless, you-Ow!" He yelled, his back ringing with fresh pain as he tried pulling himself up to stand. "Gah, if I was a good 20 years younger, you'd be the one on the ground right now, I swear!"

"Yeah right," Jasper scoffed, standing her ground as she continued to tower over the injured conman. "I might as well finish you off. Unless… you'd rather watch me get rid of this disappointment first…"

Stan paled, all of his former bravado completely gone as he watched Jasper's hold on Amethyst's gemstone tighten, the purple stone looking so small and fragile in the orange Gem's much larger hand. The conman glanced around, desperate to find something, anything he could to do save her before it was too late, though given his own current condition, he was hard pressed to even try. Fortunately though, he didn't have to, as someone else rushed in to do exactly that instead.

"No!" Steven, Connie, and Dipper all yelled in equal protest. The trio ran together, the corrupted Gem behind them completely forgotten as they linked hands, keeping in step with each other as they charged across the shore, rushing to save Stan and Amethyst, to stop Jasper, to end this twisted onslaught in its tracks. And as they did, a light pink glow began to overtake the kids, one that flooded out from Steven's gem, until their various battle cries merged into one.

Until the three of them fused into one.

Not that they even noticed. They continued running, Rose's sword in one of their hands, Steven's shield posed on another. Jasper only had time to let out a baffled gasp as she looked up at them before they kicked her squarely in the chest, sending her stumbling back. As startled as she was by the sudden blow, she dropped Amethyst's gem, though they easily caught it with their free hand, holding it tight and close. From there, they wasted no time positioning protectively in front of Stan, who could only gape in awe up at the towering fusion who had just saved him and Amethyst alike.

"Whoa… ya know, I appreciate the save, but did you kids really have to get this flashy about it?" the conman asked somewhat diffidently.

"Huh?" the new fusion glanced back at him, confused. Jasper quickly caught their attention again as she recovered from the blow they'd sustained.

"You fused?!" she shouted, both bewildered and outraged.

"What?" the fusion raised an eyebrow. "No, I didn't-" They cut themselves off with a gasp as they glanced down at themselves, at their tall, tanned form, their set of three arms, their combined, overlapping clothes, their short, shoulder length dark hair. They only spared a second to take a look at themselves in the reflective blade of Rose's sword, a constellation shaped birthmark with a small star inside resting on their forehead, just barely peeking out under their abundant bangs. On each of their wrists was a glow bracelet their components had been wearing, and their feet were bare as Connie's blue tank top rested over Steven's shirt, Dipper's shorts worn on top of Connie's. And of course, none other than a telltale pink gemstone positioned on their exposed midriff as the best piece of proof as to what they were now. "O-oh my gosh, we did fuse!" they exclaimed, their fitting voice hitching in surprise as their two upper hands found a place against their face.

"What's the big deal about that?" Stan asked from his spot on the ground behind him. "Aren't you kids fusing with each other all the time?"

"Y-yeah, but the three of us have never fused before!" the fusion exclaimed pointedly. "We didn't even mean to! I-I just wanted to save you guys, s-so we just-"

"You became that abomination!" Jasper shouted in disgust. "You must have pulled this same trick up in the mountains too. I can't believe you Crystal Gems would stoop as low as to fuse with humans!"

"Whoa, hold on, I'm an abomination?" the fusion retorted, absolutely appalled. "That's some pretty bold talk from the Gem who was the worst half of Malachite!"

"I was the strongest part of Malachite until you helped split her up!" Jasper practically screamed, infuriated.

"Yeah, I did," the fusion brazenly proclaimed as Stepper's shield journal formed above their third, open palm. "And I'd do it again too. I'm ready to do anything to stop you from hurting any of my friends again!" They held up Amethyst's gemstone at this, glaring Jasper down fiercely over what she'd done to the purple Gem.

Their bravery hardly seemed to matter to Jasper, however, as she raced forward to do the exact same thing to the fusion. They countered her charge evenly with Steven's shield, using it to push her back hard across the shore once more. At the same time, Lion continued holding up the fight against the corrupted Gem in their absence. The pink beast roared a magical portal into existence under the monster's feet, sending it falling through space until it reappeared in the sand right next to where Jasper had just landed. The creature made a frantic attempt at escaping back toward the lake, only for Jasper to grab its tail just in time and carelessly slam it back into the ground.

"Oh no, you don't!" she yelled, refusing to let another "soldier" in her fledgling "army" slip away from her. As the orange Gem mounted her monster, Lion ran to the fusion's side and reared low, offering them the same sort of advantage in the decisive fight ahead.

"Stay back here where it's safe," the fusion instructed Stan as they climbed onto Lion's back. "And keep an eye on Amethyst too, ok?" They placed the purple gemstone into the conman's hands, entrusting its safety into his care.

"What, are you kids crazy?" he asked incredulously. "You're really gonna go toe-to-toe with that basketcase?"

"Someone has to," the fusion said, resolved. "And if she wants to pick a fight so badly, then she might as well pick one with someone her size for a change."

"...Can't argue with you there…" Stan agreed, winching as he rubbed his aching back.

"Head to head," Jasper called with a violence-craving grin from atop her monster. "Just the way I like it!"

"Ready when you are!" the fusion shouted back just shy of both of them pressing their respective mounts forward. The two beasts charged at each other across the sand, though when they met, the fusion was the first to strike. They launched themselves off Lion's back, their shield journal flipping open as they sent several small, sharp shields flying from its pages. Jasper easily evaded most of these, and even caught one of them in her open hand with a smug, triumphant laugh. And yet, while she was distracted, she failed to see the fusion's sword until it came crashing down against the top of her helmet in a swift, powerful strike. The incredible force behind it was enough to throw Jasper against her corrupted Gem hard enough to poof its form completely, throwing the orange Gem back into the sand.

"Wow…" Stan mused to himself, his eyes wide as he watched the fusion hold their own so flawlessly. "Note to self: never get on their bad side, huh, Amethyst?" He smiled wearily down at the purple gemstone in his hands, only for it to suddenly begin to glow in a bright white light. The conman flinched, surprised as the stone hovered away from him, Amethyst's silhouette surrounding it as it shifted and steadied itself, though even that seemed to be a struggle for her after all the damage she'd sustained. When the purple Gem did finally manage to properly reform, she collapsed into the sand breathlessly from the rushed effort of putting herself back together again. Not much about her form had changed as a result, the only key difference being the inverted colors of her leggings and boots, and her now-white top, slightly tattered along the bottom edge. Yet even so, Stan could tell she still looked out of sorts, despite her former injuries being all but gone; her hair was wild and messy, her eyes wide with alarm as she glanced up and frantically looked around the beach for the fray she'd been taken out of before.

"G-guys! I'm back!" she called, stumbling to stand. "Everything's gonna be fine! I'll take care of-"

"Actually," Stan spoke up, slowly rising to stand himself. "Looks like we can sit the rest of this one out. The kids have it covered."

Amethyst jolted as she looked off in the direction he was pointing to see Jasper struggling against some tall, strapping, unknown figure. One with three arms and a set of conspicuously familiar mismatched clothing. "Wha-d-did… did they fuse?" she asked, stunned.

"Yeah, they did," Stan nodded, unable to hold back a proud smile. "And I gotta say, they're really giving that stripey psycho what for, just like she deserves for what she did to you."

"...B-but… I…" Amethyst trailed off, her voice barely audible as she continued to watch the fight unfolding before her.

Jasper tried ramming her helmet into the fusion once more, only to again be repelled by a sturdy shield. The orange Gem retaliated by throwing a handful of punches, which the fusion easily dodged out of the way of before using their journal to conjure up an illusionary sword. Now dual-wielding, they swung both blades broadly and skillfully, nearly catching Jasper in several of their slices before the orange Gem found herself backed into a corner with the edge of the lake behind her. The fusion paused at this standstill, one third of them completely ready to finish the job here and now; their other components only narrowly managed to hold them back, even if their shield-made sword twitched under the strain.

"Fusion!" Jasper shouted hotly as she approached defeat. The monster's downed gemstone was the only thing she had on her side now, though without the beast itself to back her up, she was quickly starting to realize just how high the odds were stacked against her. Especially against such a versatile, clever, widely-armed fusion as this. "It's always FUSION! That's all you filthy rebels know how to do!"

"Stand down, Jasper!" the fusion ordered, pointing the tip of Rose's sword at her. "You're outnumbered, three to one. It's over."

"Far from it," Jasper countered hatefully. She slowly began to walk back into the lake, the corrupted gemstone still in her grasp as she marched further back into the water. "This was just a warmup! Get ready for next time, Rose, because that's when I'm finishing this, once and for all! Jaspers don't give up! Jaspers keep going, until we get what we want…"

And with that, the orange disappeared below the lake, with only her twisted taunts and threats hanging in the air after she was gone. "...I guess she lives in the lake now?" the fusion said to themselves with a puzzled frown. "That might turn into a problem later on…"

"Nice goin', you three!" Stan caught the fusion off guard as he clapped a hand onto their back (even if he had to reach up quite a ways to do it given that they were nearly double his height). "You really showed that Jessica what for!"

"Uh… you mean Jasper?"

"Come on, you really expect me to keep all these names straight?" Stan deadpanned, hands on his hips.

"You guys… won?" Amethyst spoke up, her voice soft with disbelief as she slowly approached the fusion.

"Amethyst!" the fusion exclaimed with a brief, relieved smile. "You're back! And you're ok!"

"Y-yeah…" Amethyst glanced down, rubbing the back of her neck. "I-"

"Did you see us?" the fusion asked eagerly. "It was just like you said! You were in trouble and we just had to fight! Everything we knew came together, a-and then… well, here I am!" They motioned to themselves, scarcely able to contain their excitement over their unexpected formation or their even more incredible victory. "And what's better is, we won! Well, we didn't win-win, but we're bound to stop her for good next time. Hmph, we better; she's been running around unchecked for way too long now, and I-"

"Alright, alright, quit your rambling," Stan cut themselves off with a light laugh. One that Amethyst didn't join in on in the slightest. "We get it; you're three small nerds combined into one bigger nerd and you're excited."

"Heh, guess I can't help but get a little carried away…" the fusion blushed with a flustered grin. "But we've gotta show the others! They'll be so impressed! Just wait until Mabel gets a load of us!"

"No need to wait." The group was caught off guard as Ford's voice reached them from the far end of the shore. "She already has."

Sure enough, Mabel stood alongside him, her jaw dropped and her eyes starry as she stared at the fusion. They smiled at her, though they weren't able to get a single word in edgewise out before Mabel's excited, elated scream sounded out across the shore.

"OOOOOOOH MY GOOOOOOSH, YOU GUYS!" she yelled as she barreled into the fusion, wrapping her arms tightly around their tall legs. "You FUSED! And you beat Jasper! And you look so cool, uh… mmm… let's see here…"

"Mabel?" the fusion frowned, confused as to what she was trying to think of.

"Oh! I got it!" she snapped her fingers. "Connie, Steven, and Dipper makes… Convenper!"

"...Who, me?" the fusion pointed at themselves.

"Yeah!" Mabel nodded vigorously. "So now we got Dipevebel, Mabonnven, and last, but certainly not least, Convenper! The magical, super-amazing, Mystery Kids Trifusions!"

"Convenper, huh?" the fusion, or Convenper rather, chuckled warmly. "I like that. And Trifusions has a pretty nice ring to it too."

"I know," Mabel nodded proudly. "I'm pretty much a pro at naming things today. Now, come on!" She pulled Convenper by the arm so they could head back toward the temple. "You gotta tell me how you beat Jasper just now."

"Didn't you already see how?" Convenper asked, still laughing.

"Yeah, but I wanna hear it from you, since you're the one who pulled it off!"

"Yes, I'd like to know more too," Ford grinned as he followed after the pair as he pulled his notepad out. "And I'd like to know how you were able to use three drastically different weapons at once so seamlessly like that. I'm assuming it's because of the equal combination of all three of your physical abilities as a fusion?"

"Or is it just because you're just that awesome?" Mabel chimed in, still completely beside herself with excitement.

Convenper smiled, more than ready to answer all of their questions as they left the lake shore, and Stan and Amethyst still standing on it, behind. "Well, you see…"

"Hmph, great," Stan remarked sardonically as he crossed his arms. "Now they can all go off and have one big fusion freakout party together, huh?"

Amethyst didn't even bother to show a smile as Stan playfully elbowed her. Instead, she kept her sights trained on Convenper, even as they disappeared back into town alongside Mabel and Ford. "...You guys didn't need me at all…" she whispered so softly that Stan was barely even able to register that she'd said something at all.

"Huh?" he asked, glancing down at her.

Yet for her part, Amethyst said nothing, her thoughts all too quickly crashing into each other just as the shallows of the lake were against the shore behind her. She had tried, she had tried so hard to face Jasper, to beat her, to even just survive against her, to show she was worth her mettle as a Crystal Gem just as Pearl or Garnet might have in her stead. But in the end, not only had she failed, but she had proven everything that Jasper had said right. She had proved that she was small, that she was weak, that she wasn't what she was supposed to be at all.

And because of that, because she was wrong, because everything about her was wrong, she'd failed. She'd failed and put Stan and the kids in danger. She'd failed and had to be saved instead of being the one to save all of them. She'd failed… and she had no one to blame for that failure, but herself.

"Hey." Amethyst's torrent of distraught thoughts broke as Stan spoke up once more. The look of concern he sent her didn't feel like one she'd earned, didn't feel like something she deserved in the slightest after how short she'd fallen. After how much of a mistake she'd shown she really was. "You sure you ok?"

She forced a quick smile on her face, one that she knew Stan wouldn't actually believe. A smile that only barely hid the remorse and resentment rising behind it.

"Yeah," she said simply, softly.

They both knew it was a lie.


So yeah, a bit of a downer ending. But still a pretty fun chapter overall, I gotta say I've been looking forward to introducing Convenper for awhile, and now we've finally got all three of our beautiful Trifusions! But what comes after that...? You'll see soon enough ;) For next time though, I think its time for another parallel dimensional adventure! I'll leave you to guess where our gang will be heading next, but for now, don't forget to REVIEW please! Until next time! :D