A/N: Okay, guys, I'm really getting worried about you. Did you all die? I hope not. I know for some of you this week is supposed to be your week off from school. But I do thank AppleSpongeCake for keeping up with her reviews. X3
And for all the faves and followers.

Moving on, here's a close to that cliffhanger! give it up for Chapter Twenty-Five! where a new character will be introduced!

Also, by the way.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Displaced Anomaly II

There was really no one around. It still struck as strange, even though they'd been here for the past few minutes. The few people who were seemed rundown, like the buildings, and just as ragged in the face as the lady, but they were all youthful, couldn't be any more than in their thirties or less. Stan kept it up, going back and heading a little deeper into town. He kept walking, and then saw something green that stood out against the dreary atmosphere. He thought it looked... humanoid.

"Hey there!" he shouted, ecstatic that he finally found someone.

The humanoid jumped out of her skin, letting out a strangled yelp, and her triangular hair became even more frazzled and her floating fingers started freaking out. She thought she'd been found. Oh, this was it. She was going to get taken back to Homeworld and shattered, and it'd be the end for her.

Stan ran up to her, huffing and puffing. "Hey... do you know where we could buy... some fuel for our ship?" he was still struggling to catch his breath, even though he had run like ten feet to get to her. It really showed how much he aged.

She was still hysterical, but once she got a good look at him, she soon realized her thoughts weren't the case at all. For one, Homeworld hated organic life. For two, she knew no one there who appeared completely male. These two facts, among others, helped her calm down. She raised an eyebrow at the man, now processing what was said, her fingers gradually moving back into place, but her hair was still messed up. She knew the concept of fuel,—it powered her ship after all—but that type of fuel was probably not how things worked here. She pursed her lips, repeating the word, "Fuel...?"

"Yeah, you know, like oil. I'd like to know where some is, if you know," he stared at her, interest piqued. She almost reminded him of the monsters from Weirdmageddon... but she was a little too humanoid.

"Oil..." she pulled up her touchscreen and started searching for anything about it. It was definitely organic, nothing like what Homeworld used. She hummed, and then realized that she'd seen a kind of little shop around here that sold that type of "oil". It was a wonder she ever noted it though, with how incredibly frazzled she was.

"Uh... hey, I have an idea. Follow me," by this point Stan knew she wasn't just some cosplayer. She was something different. She didn't fit here in this town, for certain, and he felt she would only fit in a place like Gravity Falls. But not exactly. "So... my name's Stanf—Stanley Pines. What's yours?"

She blinked, noticing the slip-up as well as the change in conversation topic, but pushed this aside, and replied quite simply, "Peridot."

She had a small urge to list off her type, but pushed this aside as well. One person passed them by, but barely batted an eye. He surely would have if the town wasn't so down in the dumps.

Stanley started walking, "Peridot, huh? that's a nice name." He was stalling. He didn't want her to rush off or anything. He had abandoned the notion of getting oil for the ship. This was more important, he felt. Here was an anomaly where there should not be.

She blinked, and followed him, retracting her touchscreen, "Uh, thanks," and then raised an eyebrow again, "but what about your 'oil'?"

Peridot wasn't about to let that go. She knew how important it was.

"It can wait. I wanna introduce you to someone—my brother."

The unnaturally tall Gem blinked once more, pursing her lips. She asked, "What's a 'brother'?

This wasn't part of the society back on Homeworld. So it wasn't in her database. It was unimportant. But she was stranded here, with no going back to her home. So she thought it would be nice if she got more information on the world upon which she crash-landed and would definitely have to stay for a while.

"Yeah, I think we should talk to him first," he nodded, seeming to ignore her question, picking up the pace, turning the corner and hoping to see Stanford either at the window or on their ship.

"But what is a 'brother'?" she was hopelessly confused, her brow furrowing and her floating fingers levitating away from her hand a little ways. She kept following him nonetheless, also picking up her pace.

Stanford had gotten the food a few minutes ago, and was hanging around the restaurant for a bit. He had thought about asking the clerk if they sold or had any fuel, but she creeped him out too much. That and he trusted his brother. He whistled a little melody, kicking a rock as he clutched at the bag containing their meal.

"I guess you'll only find out if you follow me, pumpkin," he smiled. Hopefully this stranger could help them. He hoped this plan wasn't a bust. When he saw his brother, he waved. "Over there, that's Stanford—and he'll tell you what a brother is."

She frowned slightly, not bothering to ask about the nickname, but nodded. Stanford soon noticed his brother, and smiled, waving back, but his wave was cut short when he noticed the tall alien standing behind him. His mouth was wide, and so were his eyes, and he very nearly dropped the bag of food. He began walking up to them, wishing he had his fourth Journal on hand—he'd left it back on the ship.

Peridot raised an eyebrow as she stepped out from behind Stanley, watching the other old man carefully. She noticed the two looked almost exactly the same. But they weren't Gems at all. She began wondering what this sorcery was, and maybe if the term "brother" had something to do with it.

"Uh, Poindexter... this is Peridot. She's... well, I'm not sure what she is. I ran into her while looking for someone on the streets," he omitted the part about her wanting to know what brothers meant. She could ask Ford herself.

"I see..." he said, finally reaching them. He looked her up and down, and noted the gem on her forehead. The green alien wasn't exactly comfortable with this, for she grumbled a bit, narrowing her eyes. They then asked their questions at the same time, Ford asking what she was and Peridot asking what a "brother" was. Their eyebrows rose as they both realized what they did, and they seemed to mirror each other, leaning backwards with slight surprise.

"You know what? I'll just go get Journal 4," Stan ran over to the boat, glad for the excuse to get away for a bit. He grabbed it, checked on the quantum destabilizer, then ran back to Ford, handing him the book and a pen.

Ford put away the bag of food, gladly took the book and pen, and flipped to an empty page. He began sketching her and writing down notes about her, while Peridot watched, completely and totally lost once again. She blinked and then asked her question again, and Ford began explaining, still writing, "Oh, it's one of those familial terms for someone who's related to you."

It was vague, however, for he was still into this. The Gem deadpanned. She had a sort of clue what "familial" meant, but Homeworld society didn't work like that, so it was unimportant. She knew "related" though, but her counterparts weren't necessarily relatives. And there was more than one term? in short, she had more questions than answers, and grew ever more curious. She figured she'd learn more about it later though.

The old man kept scribbling stuff down, and then he asked his question again, and she sighed, explaining, "I'm a Gem..."

But that was it, and it was just as vague. Ford barely cared how vague it was, writing this down too. It explained the gem embedded on her forehead, certainly.

"You two seem busy," Stan began, "doing whatever you two are doing. I'm going to do what I set off in the first place to do," and he headed back deeper into town to find someone who was just casually walking around, which were very few in number.

Stanford kept metaphorically poking at her, only waving at his brother for a second, and Peridot answered every question he had, although she was getting increasingly annoyed...

One such someone in Stanley's path looked suspiciously similar to a Gravity Falls resident, like Toby Determined, but with one look in the face one could tell he wasn't Toby. But, thankfully, his face wasn't as ragged as the rest of the people in town, but he was slouched over. Of peculiar note was that he had a mayor's tassel pinned on his shirt.

Stan walked over to him. "How's it hanging?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. And then he went on to say, "Say, do you know where I can find some fuel for my boat down by the docks? she's on a sixteenth of a tank."

The mayor sighed, and nodded, tearing up a little bit, "Sure. I can lead you there..."

The very fact he was tearing up answered Stanley's first question. Things were not going so well. And they hadn't for... well, he'd lost count of the years.

He nodded. "Lead the way, then," he smiled a little, trying to lift the poor guy's spirits up. The old man sighed again, barely smiling back, and started walking deeper into town. Stanley kept following, waiting, wondering how Peridot and his brother were getting along. And, for a hint only to the audience, the Gem's eyes were getting narrower as her fuse got shorter; she wanted now to leave. Ford was unaware, but at least he'd stopped asking questions. For now.

Soon, the mayor stopped in front of the same store Peridot had seen. It had seen better days, just like the rest of this town. The sign sticking on its front was somewhat tattered and chipped, and the paint job could have been better. He sighed again, "Here it is."

Stan nodded and entered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome..." the guy stood outside, waiting.

The blond clerk looked up and stared at Stan with dry, hazy blue eyes, bearing a similarly ragged face. He cleared his throat, and asked, but his voice was still hoarse, "How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for some fuel for my boat, down by the docks. We're heading off to Beach City real soon."

"Oh, that place..." he seemed to sigh, as if envious. But he brushed that aside, and soon asked, "What type of fuel?"

"How about you come take a look at her? my brother built the engines, so I think I'd have to ask him, as well," he began to walk out. The man nodded, and got out from behind the counter and followed Stan. The mayor was still waiting outside, swaying just a tad and mumbling to himself.

Stan ignored him now. Ignored all the dying and crumbling things. It didn't seem possible he himself could fix it right now, so why worry about it? they had bigger things to worry about. The mayor and seemingly sole authority figure looked at them both, shrugged, and went on his way. Eventually Stan was back at the docks. The clerk blinked at the ship, barely even noticing Ford and Peridot aboard it, and the former apparently was a little afraid, with the latter looking a little too annoyed but exhausted. Of peculiar note was how the bespectacled old man had ink splattered on his shirt, the cover of the Journal, and some of his face, and he was still holding his unnaturally busted pen and said book.

"Say, Fordsy, what kinda fuel do we need for the ship?" Stan yelled to him.

Ford snapped out of his small fear and looked towards his brother, while Peridot ignored the voice with a slight groan, and answered with his ink-blotted face scrunched up confusedly, "I thought this was your ship, Stanley!"

The clerk simply watched, no emotion in his face whatsoever.

"Yeah, but you're the one who rigged up the engines and the power supply!" Stan argued.

He blinked, and then sighed, rubbing at his head, unknowingly getting ink in his hair, "Oh, well, right. You're going to need residential fuel. It's usually in a red container."

Peridot saw this as a chance to get away for a while, and stepped off the boat, intent on heading for the oil shop. The clerk raised his eyebrow, but that was it. Stan frowned. "So, uh, how is she?" he glanced towards Peridot, who largely ignored him and his semi-identical clone.

"She's, erm... alright," Ford smiled weakly, not even attempting to get the ink off his face and shirt. Though he obviously had attempted to get the ink off his Journal, but there were still obvious stains. Peridot glanced at the clerk, immediately knowing who he was,—she'd peeked in the shop looking for a place to hide, and saw him behind the counter—and took him by the arm and began walking back to the shop. He didn't really bother protesting, and she mumbled something about getting their "oil".

Stan frowned, stepping onto the ship, "So, what is she, exactly?"

"She says she's a Gem," he answered. "It explains the gem on her forehead. They're holograms with mass they project from said gem. And hers is her name..."

Of course, what Peridot had actually said was much more complicated, so Ford had to break it down so other people could easily understand.

He nodded. "Is she coming with us? it'd be nice to have a lady onboard," Stan waggled his eyebrows.

Ford scrunched up his face, but answered, "Yes. I mean, we can't leave anomalies unchecked and unsupervised. She could be secretly hostile."

Her display earlier notwithstanding. He finally set down his book and tossed the ruined pen into a trash bin, and then pulled out and inspected the bag of food, which was, much to his luck and relief, not blotched with ink. He opened it and set it down on a little pedestal. Stan reached in and grabbed a burger and some fries. He sat down and began munching on it, waiting for Peridot to return. Speaking of anomalies... "It doesn't seem like anybody here has seen Bill, does it? and it definitely doesn't look like the world is ending. D'ya think Wendy could have lied? or someone else is keeping him locked up?"

"Wendy isn't particularly one to lie..." Ford frowned a little, wiping his hands on his pants to get rid of the ink before he too reached in to get a burger, sitting down as well and eating it with a couple of fries. He gulped it down before saying, "She sounded really serious over the phone. And that's usually not like her. Also, locking Bill up is a no sell, unless you had the right materials."

And unless he actually reformed powerless. But he didn't say that. Just kept it to himself. It was an assumption, not fact, and they couldn't run off of wild assumptions. Then again... no, Wendy wouldn't lie about this... he looked troubled by the whole prospect. Stan eventually shrugged. He continued eating, but in silence, feeling he had put his two cents into the matter. Ford sighed, and then took another bite of his burger and another couple of fries, frowning softly.

Peridot, in the meanwhile, was now trying to find out what money was, since she needed some to buy this "oil". The clerk was barely helpful, still listless, and it irritated her quite a bit. She remarked, "I honestly don't know what money is. Can't I just take this... 'residential fuel'?" gesturing to the red canister she had in her hand.

His lip quivered and he shook his head, "No, my business is barely staying afloat as it is. I need you to pay for it."

"Then what else can I do?" her fingers were floating almost everywhere, and her lips were almost in a snarl, albeit a confused one, "I don't know what money is!"

The clerk stared blankly at her, and then shrugged, and this was apparently the last straw for Peridot once more. No one seemed to want to explain. And then all the objects in this shoppe that were made of metal or even contained a little bit of metal started floating dangerously as her eyes glowed with a tinge of blue. She was apparently unaware of this happening, even as the clerk began cowering, honestly his first real show of emotion for the longest time. Shame it had to be fear.

Stan kept eating with the vague and ever-persistent feeling that something was wrong—the same feeling he had ever since Wendy's call. He largely ignored it. Ford felt this feeling as well, looking back over at the town every once and a while, still eating. But it was ignored; he was hungry after all.

"Okay, okay! take it! just don't hurt me!" the clerk stammered a bit, his tone actually emotional.

Peridot seemed confused now, and the blue glow to her eyes vanished, the metallic objects settling back into place. She felt a little exhausted, groaning a bit, but ignored it for now, deciding to ask with a raised eyebrow, "Why would I hurt you?"

Fear didn't allow him to answer. The tall Gem gazed at him for a bit with confusion, then shrugged and began exiting the store, canister still in hand. She stared at it for a while, scanning it so she'd remember, and then proceeded to stalk back to the ship, rubbing at her head for a while.

The former conman kept sitting there, eating, enjoying these gentle times the most he could. He then asked, "So, uh, how much money did you give her, for the fuel?"

The former scientist suddenly realized he didn't give her anything, and he slowly looked up and then stared off into space a little horrified, still holding his burger. Stan pursed his lips, but said nothing, thinking that Ford was thinking about the answer. He looked out at the town, and could see the green Gem in the distance, lugging back the red canister. The journalist grimaced, and soon saw her too, having come out of his trance. He was horrified for a moment. But, much to his relief, he saw no crimson marking any part of her body. Peridot had recovered from her exhaustion, and was now walking at a fairly brisk pace towards their ship.

Stan frowned, tilting his head, "What's bugging you?" he had been studying Ford as Peri approached. He balled up all his trash and tossed it into the bag it came from.

"..I didn't give her the money..." he finally admitted, almost flustered—his brother, other than raised eyebrows, didn't really care. Ford lost his appetite a little bit, but didn't want the burger and fries to go to waste, so he kept eating. Perhaps now they wouldn't have to stock up on food. Beach City was, after all, a few miles away from here. Farther north, specifically. And, with these engines, they'd get there in a few hours, at least. Maybe. He kept thinking on this, relieved that he was getting his mind off the Gem. Peridot was a few inches from the ship at this point, and she announced, setting the canister down into the boat, "I have obtained the 'residential fuel'!"

Stan nodded at her, and, after a while of silence, elbowed Ford, wanting him to be the one to ask Peridot aboard. Ford, jolted out of his thoughts, frowned at Stan, but sighed, looking at Peridot now, "You can come on aboard."

The tall Gem nodded and climbed aboard, causing the boat to quiver slightly. He sweatdropped, just as he had the first time. Stan had taken to looking in the direction they were headed, searching for any faint inkling of the town. It was impossible to see even an inkling of Beach City at this point. They were still a bit too far away. Stan then decided to get behind the wheel. "So... that way, right?" he pointed off in the distance, towards the shore. He checked a compass that was connected to the boat, making sure that direction was still north.

"Yes," was Ford's simple reply, finishing up his meal and tossing the wrapper into the bag. He got up and began pulling up the anchor. Peridot was examining the boat, not having had a chance to examine it the first time, noting how fascinating yet primitive it looked. These two humans kept interchanging its name using the words "boat" and "ship". She wondered which one it truly was, because her ship didn't look like this at all.

Noticing Peridot admiring the boat, Stan asked, "She sure is beautiful, isn't she?"

She nodded, also noting how gender was inexplicably assigned to a mere object, but offhandedly stated, "It could be better."

Ford set the anchor where it used to be, a little exhausted from lifting it. It was certainly a lot harder than throwing it into the water. He glanced over at Peridot, but didn't get offended. He knew she was from a highly-advanced planet. He only hoped his brother wouldn't. And thankfully...

"Sixer, we ready to set sail yet?" he asked, smiling, ready to show this boat off to Peridot. He didn't take any offense.

"We're gonna need to refuel it first, don't we?" he asked, a little relieved. "Or do you think we have enough for the trip?"

Peridot tilted her head a little, and then gazed out into the ocean, examining it as well. She'd never seen this back on Homeworld. And it looked... pretty.

"Well, we could refuel while we're going, right?" he asked, frowning.

Ford nodded, sitting down, "Yep."

Peridot seemed to mimic him, sitting down as well. She pulled her legs up to her chest, and hugged them. She was still a little anxious that Homeworld would come for her gem and shatter it. She was sure of it. And now she'd put these two in danger...

"Then we're off," Stan grinned and started up the engine. It revved dangerously, and then the boat began to shoot through the water, wind blowing in their faces.

Peridot was really surprised that it could go this fast, letting out a yelp. But other than that, she didn't budge. Ford, too, was barely affected, other than his hair whipping around, but he frowned a bit, simply saying, "Going this fast will drain our fuel faster..."

The tall green Gem stared at him now, wondering how he could be so nonchalant about it. Had he faced this before? Stan sighed and let the ship slow down, "Alright then, Poindexter. You might as well refuel it now, as we're on our way. Next stop—Beach City!"

Ford nodded, smiling a bit anxiously, and got up, heading for the canister. Peridot observed this. Things worked so much differently here... looked so much different here. And she wanted to understand it. She wondered if she'd get to experience it all before they came for her...

A/N: And that's it! next one will come hopefully next Thursday or Saturday! or this Saturday, right? hehe, well, either way, it gets to be read. I played Ford and Peridot, the newcomer, as well as the mayor and oil clerk, and Ace had Stan. XD And the references continue! you'll get cookies if you find them.

Heh, continuing on, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly have and will be. X3 WE STILL HAVE LEFTOVERS! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! keeps screaming even as I walk out the door. CYA!