A/N: ODYSSEY, YA SEE? ODYSSEY, YA SEE?! WOOHOOO, IT'S ONE DAY BEFORE THE BIG DAY! or, rather, a few hours! aren't you all excited?! anyway, thank you, cefmlp, for favoriting and following this story! I really appreciate it! hehe, now, for what most of you have been waiting for.. CHAPTER SIXTY, THE RESCUE ATTEMPT! GO!

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Sixty: The Rescue Attempt

Ford was running as fast as he could across the vast sands of the beach, with Bill far ahead of him. He made sure of that, for he didn't want to get too close at all. The demon sighed. He could in fact teleport them all, but the old man didn't want him to touch him, so here they were. Stan was staying close to Ford, as close as he could. Connie was in between Bill and the twins, running, thinking about how much easier this would be riding on Lion.

"I never thought I'd ever team up with Bill of all people," the scientist whispered to his brother, still running. The triangle pretended he couldn't hear them, hand above his eye like a scouter. Stan didn't respond, too focused on running.

It took a while, and they were almost across the beach at this point. Bill grunted a little, "Can't you guys run any faster?"

Sixer shot him a quick glare, but couldn't gather enough breath to answer. He'd wasted it trying to stir up a conversation with Stan. Stan yelled, "That's easy for you to say!"

Connie kept going, starting to slow, as the old man did.

Bill groaned, hands on his "hips" now, "If you'd just let me teleport you into town..."

Ford groaned, losing his pace as well, "For the last time—!"

Suddenly, the object of Connie's thoughts ran in from the distance behind them, and the demon smiled a tiny bit.

"Lion!" she smiled, and then exclaimed, "oh, we can all ride Lion into town!" She liked the fact that she didn't have to run back. She then hopped on the pink fluffy creature, "Come on, guys!"

Stan stopped in his tracks, and looked at her like she had grown a second head. Bill followed her, not hesitating at all. He looked at the twins, grinning and silently egging them on. Ford bit his lip, raising an eyebrow. A pink lion? how? but he supposed things could only get weirder, and Bill having reformed was the weirdest of all so far. He got on too, "Beats running.."

Stan eventually shrugged and boarded him as well. Like Wendy, his brother thought it was going to be a ride back into town...

And it was, surprisingly. I mean, town wasn't that far away. Bill continued to scout, humming slightly. Ford blinked. He was honestly expecting something a lot more. Lion stopped when they reached the site of abduction, where everything was dropped. Ford gasped, eyes wide. There were her limb enhancers. And.. bracelets and candy? he got off Lion, and wandered over, picking them up. Bill took to the air, searching for Lapis and Jasper. The old man whispered, "This is really bad..."

"Yeah, they poofed her... I dunno where they could have gone... you guys know them, right?" asked Connie, hopeful.

Stan frowned. "Didn't the orange one say something like that?" he asked, glancing at his brother.

"No.." Ford sighed, answering both of them and standing up again. The demon kept searching for them. He soon caught sight of them near the docks, eye widening, and he immediately zoomed back to the group.

"I see them! they're planning to use one of those boats to leave this place!" he announced worried. But it was all for Connie. Ford merely cast him a glance, nodding.

Connie nodded too, and exclaimed, "Let's go!"

"Um, we need a boat, don't we?" asked the ex-Mystery Shack manager, putting his hands on his hips.

"Trust me, we won't need one," the demon grinned, floating onto the fluffy feline again. The lion was surprisingly serious about this. "Besides, they're just planning."

Ford frowned, looking at the bracelets. He took them, put on the blue one and stuffed the rest into his pocket. And then settled his gaze onto the limb enhancers. He couldn't carry them, so he just let them stay, and then jumped back onto Lion without questioning anything. As soon as they were all on Lion, he started running again, towards the Homeworld Gems. The triangle and old man held on tightly to his mane, eyes narrowed. They were going to get Peridot back. No matter what.

Jasper looked up, and saw the approaching lion and its occupants. Her eyes narrowed, and she growled, "No time for diplomacy, Lazuli!"

She picked up the fisherman, and threw him out of the boat and onto the dock, before she jumped into the vessel. The man couldn't keep his balance, and so he fell into the water instead. Luckily, Yellowtail could swim, and he immediately resurfaced, coughing up water.

"Hey, that's our ship!" Ford jumped off and started running after them. Lapis made a barrier of water from the ocean appear in front of him, and he skidded to a stop shortly before he ran into it. Bill hopped off too and flew towards them, generating a powerful electricity and shouting, "Let her go!"

"Get lost!" Jasper yelled, revving up the engines, having a rough idea on how to use this vehicle. "Lazuli, hold them off!" she ordered the water Gem, and then pulled off.

Lapis nodded, and stood her ground. She could easily fly to catch up. The demon flew right over her, heading towards Jasper, and Ford finally had the idea to go around the barrier and distract Lapis. Stan started shooting at the boat with his pistol, but it did little good. Lion ran after it and the increasing momentum allowed him to skip across the waters. Connie looked down at him, tilting her head, "Lion, do you know where they're going? and if you do, can you take us there?"

She was hoping maybe he knew.

The Quartz saw that the boat was beginning to go too fast, into the red category. But she didn't care—it wasn't her boat, and once she was at the Warp Pad, it wouldn't be her problem. Lion shook his head, but decided to follow the boat, still running at fast speeds across the water. Lapis glanced at the boat, and developed her wings and started flying after it. Ford growled, and jumped to grab her foot, and succeeded. The blue Gem gasped, but stayed in the air, carrying the old man across and trying to lose him. Bill soon caught up and bumrushed the ultimate Quartz, still charged up.

Jasper was ready. She dodged, and summoned her helmet, pounding down with it towards his eye. Connie glanced at Stan, and Ford, and everyone, surveying the situation. Stan took another shot, now that they were closer. The demon slightly dodged the helmet, but it hit his side instead, and the bullet just missed his top hat. Tears instinctively fell, but he wasn't going down yet. Even as he was gradually getting tired now. He sighed and eventually decided to take a risk at being found out, "Okay, you asked for it..."

He snapped his fingers, and something started going wrong with the boat, and it was starting to zig-zag in ways it shouldn't. The blue Gem struggled more to get Ford off her foot, even doing tricks, but the man wasn't exactly budging. Lion kept speeding along across the sea, eventually catching up to the boat. Jasper yelled, and tried to pound him down with her fists. She was engulfed in rage. Bill teleported a short distance away, and she just ended up losing her balance. He started panting a little, but refused to give in.

Jasper went back to controlling the boat, trying to make it go straight to the Galaxy Warp she could see sitting in the water in the distance. She stepped on the gas a little more. Stan tried to get a clear shot at the orange Gem again, aiming for her head. The boat still zig-zagged, and Bill twitched his eye. It stopped entirely. Ford was still, miraculously, hanging onto Lapis for dear life. She shouted, "Get off!"

"Give us back our boat and Peridot!" the old scientist shot back, refusing to let go.

Jasper raised an eyebrow, and then launched herself at Bill, just then, knowing he was behind this. Her eyes narrowed. "I know you... Bill Cipher! you... ARE GOING TO PAY!" she yelled, spinning like a disk towards him.

The demon gasped, but teleported again, behind her this time. So he was found out. Well, this time, he didn't care. Lapis heard the bellow, and her eyes widened. Bill Cipher? she heard that name before, didn't she?

Thanks to this, she was distracted enough for Ford to do something and take her down, crashing luckily onto the boat. Surprisingly, it held the weight just fine. The old man immediately got up and headed straight for Jasper, only to be magically restrained by the triangle, who chastised, "That's basically suicide! let me handle this!"

"I know what you did, you and Rose Quartz! what you did to my planet, what you did to my colony... what you did to my DIAMOND!" she roared, before rearing into him.

The demon slightly rolled his eye, and teleported once more out of the way. But this was starting to drain him even more, and he could barely float anymore. He huffed, "Yeah, yeah, I know perfectly well what I did..." and his expression suddenly softened, "I suppose it wouldn't help at all to apologize, would it?"

Ford merely watched this occur, wide-eyed, and so did Lapis, who managed to recover.

"Wait... Diamond?" Connie asked, confused. She didn't understand. Stan was too shocked for words. They had history together?

Jasper snarled, "There isn't a thing you can do to save yourself, you dirty Diamond killer!" She then threw a punch at him.

The demon caught the punch, too close to move out of the way, but it was slightly painful. He never really was athletic, having preferred to be a magical nerd. He then tried twisting it around. Ford was just as shocked. Even with all the years Bill had been alive, he only really thought of himself and Dipper being on the demon's list. Lion was starting to sink, so he started running around the boat to regain momentum. Jasper used her free hand to aim for his eye. "Killing you would be a mercy. No, I want to watch you suffer in front of the very Diamonds you betrayed!" growled she.

"Wait, who are the Diamonds? they sound important..." the brunette glanced at Ford for answers. She began to regret not bringing her sword, or, most likely, forgetting where it is.

"I dunno, kiddo. But do you think we should do something?" Stan asked, uncertain about everything. He knew he had a gun, but he didn't know it would do him any good. And it probably wouldn't.

Bill's eye widened, and he began tearing up just a little bit. He couldn't let go, and he began whispering some things, most likely how sorry he was, even as the white-haired brute of a Gem began beating him down. Ford shot Connie a desperate look, practically asking how he could ever know. Furthermore, his mind seemed to be slowly changing about Bill. He had saved his life, and was right now risking his own to save their friend. That took more compassion and courage than he ever thought the demon had. And he didn't even say thank you. Lapis was stock still, staring at the scene. The old man eventually got up, narrowing his eyes and deciding to step in, "Leave Bill alone."

"What makes you think I'll listen to you, human?! Lazuli, dispose of him!" she barked, before returning to her regularly scheduled programming. Lapis nodded, and got up, but with a swift sweep of his legs, was brought down once again, due to shock. Ford snarled. It was about time he did something. He ran at Jasper, but slid around her and delivered a kick towards her back. He was always good at fighting with his legs, after all. He just hoped it'd do something. Anything.

She grunted, winded for a second. And maybe, just maybe, that second was all Ford needed to put her out. The demon was in the same position Ford had been. He was about to pass out, and he saw stars. He was in no state able to help. The old man kicked at her again, ignoring how much it hurt. Lion let out a small roar, rocking the boat just a little bit and still running in circles. Jasper soon ignored this, and got up. It wasn't enough. She growled at Ford, before grabbing him and tossing him aside into the water, like a rag doll. She walked back up to the wheel, and found the engine was overheating, about to catch on fire. Through the windows, she could see the Galaxy Warp. She grinned. Almost there...

"Stanford!" his brother called out, before he leaped into the water after his brother. Connie didn't think that was the wisest thing, but she pulled on Lion's mane, urging him to rescue the twins. Bubbles started surrounding the area the old man was tossed into, and then Ford himself resurfaced after a while, coughing up water. Due to his legs hurting, it was hard for him to stay up. He yelled then, not for his boat, not for his brother, but, surprisingly, for Bill. Lion roared again and started heading their way, as of right now forsaking the mission of rescuing Peridot and Bill.

The triangle, in the meantime, tried his best to keep his eye open and stay awake, but it was becoming harder. He'd used too much energy in a single bound. But maybe he could spare one more. He charged himself up, intending to shock Jasper again, intending to maybe fix the boat as well.

"Come on, guys!" Connie went up to them, and outstretched her hand. Stan took it, and got onto Lion easily. He then held out his to his brother, with a sense of urgency. Ford soon took it without much hesitation, sparing a glance at their boat, and Stan pulled him up.

Jasper growled and slammed her fists on the console, no doubt knocking out a few wires. "Stupid primitive machine!" she shouted, before kicking it and knocking out more, and sticking her head out. "Lazuli! I want you to pilot this wreck until we get to our destination!" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth so the blue Gem could hear her better.

Lapis nodded, getting back up and heading towards the pilot area. She grumbled just a little bit, as she then glanced over the primitive controls. Bill sighed, and then decided to fix the boat, stop it from overheating, sending forth one last pulse of energy. This was much more important. It was Stan's and Ford's temporary home, after all. And he wanted to do one last right by them. And then he passed out, darkness clouding his senses.

Lion ran towards the boat at incredible speeds, making up lost time and almost breaking the sound barrier. Connie and Stan held on tight. Ford yelped, holding on tight too. Jasper watched Lion approach, after glancing at Bill, whom she put into a little orange bubble and placed to the side for now. Lapis grabbed the steering wheel, and tried her best to control it, biting her lip.

Jasper licked her own, "Almost there..."

"Faster, Lion!" Connie ushered him on, before Lion then broke the sound barrier, roaring and creating a portal, and whooshing into it. Ford screamed despite himself, hair flying everywhere. His eyes were wide, and his knuckles were white. However, his brother seemed to handle this just fine. Lion then appeared just ahead of the shift, to its left. The hydro-Gem soon saw the Galaxy Warp, towering over them all, and her eyes widened. Unwanted memories flashed across her brain, and for a while she couldn't do anything.

Lion jumped aboard the ship as it began to pass and bowed down to let the three of them off. The old man's legs still hurt, so he couldn't really get off. And he was beyond shocked as well. Guess this was the thing he was expecting. Lapis glanced over at the little, triangular demon, snug in a bubble. Bill Cipher, huh? why did it sound so familiar..?

Stan held tight onto his brother, making sure he was okay. Connie reached inside Lion's mane, slowly, fumbling around, hoping maybe, just maybe, it'd be... here! she pulled out Rose Quartz's blade with a satisfying sound. She grinned. Jasper gasped, recognizing it, "Rose's sword..."

Lapis looked back at the action every now and then, but couldn't do much about it. She had to pilot this thing after all. Though she did react for a second to that sword. The old man gasped, falling into yet another emotion of shock. He pulled out his Journal and quickly sketched it, before he put it back. He repeated Jasper's quote in a murmur, before he asked, "Who's Rose..?"

"Rose was Steven's mom, but she gave her life so Steven could exist," Connie explained, quickly, before she rushed towards Jasper, wielding the aforementioned sword.

Jasper laughed. "Even with a weapon like that, you'll never be able to defeat me!" the orange Gem grinned, and her helmet appeared on her head.

Ford was then left flabbergasted, before he shook his head, snapping himself out of it, "Stanley, we have to help her!"

He didn't know whether he was grossly underestimating her or not, but it was better safe than sorry. The blue Gem continued piloting the ship. They couldn't be any more than a yard away now. So she was preparing to do one thing so they could reach it.

Connie went in for a strike. Jasper ducked under. She recognized this kind of style, almost immediately. This brunette had been taught by Pearl, who had been taught by Rose. The style varied a little, but very strongly it resembled the pink Gem's.

"Stanley?!" Ford shouted again. Lapis pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes. Almost there...

Bill groaned a little, but still didn't wake up. The green gem next to him, but not bubbled, shimmered just a little bit, but not enough to reform. Stanley snapped out of it, "Oh, right!" and lifted his gun again, fumbling to reload it quickly. He began to seriously doubt it would do anything to the orange brute.

Connie swung again, aiming for her chest. She was quick and agile, against Jasper's bulky and tough form. The orange Gem, however, caught the blade before it sliced through her. She chuckled, as Connie fruitlessly tugged, trying to free her only weapon. Ford gasped, and struggled against himself. He ignored the pain in his legs as he pounced for the sword, hoping to help. He grabbed the hilt and struggled to wrench it away. Connie pulled too, but Jasper let go, so the two of them fell back onto the ship's hardwood floor. The scientist grunted, and soon yelled out. The pain was really getting to him now.

A shot rang through the air. It hit Jasper's helmet. Stan cursed, before taking another shot, which missed Jasper entirely despite the rather short distance. Lapis almost got hit by the stray bullet instead, and she yelped as it whizzed past her. Luckily, it didn't hit any vital machinery. Ford found he could only watch at this point, too hurt to do anything now. While the orange Quartz was distracted with Stanley, Connie rushed forth with her blade again, yelling a war cry, which, in turn, tipped Jasper off.

Stan passed Ford his pistol, preparing to fight by cracking his neck, and knuckles. Unlike Ford, he was better at fisticuffs. Jasper growled, and caught the blade Connie wielded again. This time, however, she ripped it from her grasp. "You don't deserve this weapon. You're weak, just an embarrassment!" she kicked Connie in the stomach, sending her flying into the water.

The scientist gasped, and frowned. He tuned the pistol just a little bit, and shot it at Jasper's hand, the one holding the sword, hoping to shock her enough to drop it. Lion growled, and rushed back into the water to rescue Connie. Jasper tilted the blade so the bullet ricocheted back at him, grinning. It caught his shoulder, and he cried out in pain. He soon started muttering, holding the bleeding wound, "No.."

"Lazuli! we go now," she grabbed the gem, and the bubble as well, and placed the gem inside the bubble, for the sake of simplicity.

Lion soon had Connie on his back, and that's when Lapis nodded. She pushed Stan and Ford off the boat via the ocean, and then vaulted the boat up towards the Galaxy Warp via the same method. Jasper could taste the sweet sense of victory...

...until the boat crashed onto its side and she saw the Galaxy Warp. She gasped, "No... it's destroyed?!"

She got out and stared at all the little pads, smashed to pieces by the Gem defenders of this planet. She kicked one of them and bellowed, "CURSE THIS PLANET!"

Stan frowned, a little disappointed that he didn't get a chance to properly fight, and did a head count. His frown only deepened as he asked, "Wait... where's Bill?"

He hadn't seen Jasper bubble him. Connie was busy thinking about how Steven would react to her losing his mom's sword. It was not a pleasant thought.

Ford gasped, and sighed, "Jasper took him... along with Peridot..."

They'd failed. But maybe they had a chance to win. But he didn't know...

Lapis cast her gaze to the ground, grasping her arm. She didn't like this place. She sighed, "Maybe Peridot could repair it?"

Jasper growled, but fished her out of the bubble, which she then set inside the ship, and placed her on the ground, waiting for her to reform impatiently and tapping her foot. The green gem may as well be inanimate. The being inside it may still be deathly afraid. Lapis stared at it, frowning. Bill groaned again, twitching, but still didn't wake up. Jasper glared at the little gem intensely. She had little doubt the humans wouldn't be able to follow them up here.

Soon, the gem began to shimmer, and rise. A familiar figure, much shorter however, formed around it, along with familiar clothes. When she was done, she was wearing a rather loose version of Ford's clothes, only the turtleneck was green and the trench coat black. She seemed stuck in the same position they poofed her, kneeling, eyes shut tight and crying, "Get it over with! just get it over with! as long as you don't harm Connie!"

Lapis blinked once. Twice. Connie, huh? that was that familiar girl's name? but what interested her most was the green Gem's attire.

"Get up, you wretch of a Gem!" the Quartz pulled her up by her collar. "Your only chance at redemption is this, traitor, so listen up!" barked the orange Gem.
Peridot gasped, opening her teary eyes, and looked straight at her. She didn't want to get shattered right now. So she figured she'd listen... maybe, hopefully, she'd get rescued.

"I want you to fix these Warp Pads. If you don't... I'll shatter you to a million pieces!" she shouted, smacking her fist into her palm and grinning.

The Gem gulped, and looked at the many Warp Pads that were broken. She bit her lip, and nodded, "Uhm, I can try..."

And she walked towards one, shakily pulling out a spare Robonoid. She was going to take as much time as she could... to allow for them, anyone, to rescue her.

Jasper watched. "Chop chop, pipsqueak!" she shouted, crossing her arms. "We don't have all day!"

"This is delicate work!" Peridot shot back, biting her lip.

Jasper crossed her legs then and leaned against the boat, "Get. It. Done."

"Okay, okay!" she sighed, and set the Robonoid down, giving it orders to fix every Warp Pad here, and she whispered to have it take as long as possible. And it set about doing just that.

Connie glanced at the twins after a while of silence. "Should we get Steven?" she asked, pursing her lips. She wondered if things would have gone differently, had he been here to face Jasper.

Ford nodded, managing to stay surfaced despite his legs and shoulder hurting like hell, "Yes.. we should.. they've got his.. best friend, after all.."

Lion grabbed the men by their collars and set them on his back. And then they rushed away, back towards shore, and back towards the Beach House...

A/N: What a rather depressing ending to this chapter, eh? but, fear not, this is not the end! Ace had Stan, Connie and Jasper. I had Bill, Yellowtail, Ford, Lapis, and Peridot, and we shared Lion. I drew what Peridot looks like now. I'll post it in a bit. :3 Ace also snuck in a few references in there. I hope you find it. :D I hope you enjoyed! and leave a review!

Also...

LET'S DO THE ODYSSEYYYYYY! (no spoilers please.)