Hey guys! I AM SO SORRY about the late update! I went back to school and have been bogged down with homework and work, so updates are going to be A LOT less frequent. But I HAVE NOT given up on the story, and it most certainly isn't over. Please enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe, Rick and Morty, or Gravity Falls
If there was one thing Wendy hated, it was being pushed to the sidelines. She wanted to be out there, helping the Pines family and these Crystal Gems or whatever kick butt! Instead, she was guiding Robbie, Tambry and Bismuth through the forest and to the Gravity Falls dump. It wasn't difficult to find, and was thankfully deserted minus the creepy one-eyed bats.
Bismuth walked forward, morphing her arms into hammers- making quick work of the annoying creatures. Turning back to her accompanying humans, she asked: "Remind me why we're here again?"
"We're supposed to be making giant mechs out of old cars and construction equipment or something, and getting them ready to fight Bill." Wendy explained the crazy plan Ford and Dipper came up with. "Or flying saucers, or just anything big enough to go toe-to-toe with Bill!"
"I can make them bigger than a citadel, but that won't make them a match for that thing." Bismuth shrugged. "And why are those two here?"
"We're here to see if we can contact anyone in the town." Robbie explained.
"Seriously- this place is near the strongest cell tower." Tambry explained. "Btw, I LOVE your hair."
"Thanks, completely useless humans." Bismuth had no idea why she was stuck with arguably the most useless of the humans. She tried to argue that she should stay at the Mystery Shack with Peridot and old McGucket guy to prepare technological weapons, but they insisted that she and this Wendy-human go to the junkyard to see if anything more mechanical could be used. Ford had recommended anything with iron and silver, cause it was magic repellent or something.
"Hey!" Robbie protested. "We're here to setup communications for the cell towers, to see if Bill can be stopped at an electromagnetic level or something!"
"...Why couldn't Peridot come with us?" Bismuth groaned. But then again, it could be worse- she could be stuck with those Gideon and Soos humans.
/
Gideon was huffing and puffing in annoyance as he walked through the thick brush of the forest, muttering about how he had to get another perm before asking Mabel to marry him. Instead of getting his hair done or helping his beloved battle Bill, he was sent on an impossible errand with Soos of all people! He had no idea why he got stuck together with him, but he supposed if anyone was more qualified in gathering more unicorn hair than his beloved Mabel- it was him.
He knew the first two journals inside and out, but he never read the third one- the one that actually contained information about unicorns! Though in working with the Gravity Falls supernatural for years, he had a pretty good idea of where to find them.
"Keep up, will you!" Gideon snapped behind him, as Soos continued to stroll and look around. "We need to gather as much unicorn as we can, as fast as we can!"
"I know dude, but how? Didn't Mabel say they were real jerks?" Soos pointed out.
"Leave the negotiating to me! I got a whole prison full of criminals to follow me- convincing couple of four-legged simpletons to make a hair donation will be easy!" Gideon huffed.
As they continued, both stopped at the sudden sound of a loud BANG! "What in the nutmeg was that?!" Gideon shouted as he and Soos ran forward towards the sound.
They pushed aside a bush that was in their way, and were shocked to find a familiar face with a skeet gun. "Hey... aren't you one of the Northwesterns?"
The girl turned around, but lowered her gun when she saw who it was. "Gideon Gleeful? And... Gravity Falls work guy?"
"It's Soos, but that's cool." Soos smiled.
"What are you guys doing out here?! Shouldn't you guys be at the Mystery Shack?!" Pacifica asked.
"We happen to be on a very important mission to retrieve unicorn hair! You on the other hand, got no business being out here during this apocalypse little lady!" Gideon argued back.
"He's right dudette- what are you doing out here?" Soos asked.
"Trying to get to the Mystery Shack." Pacifica admitted. "I figured it'd be the safest place in town."
"You'd be right, but why are you out here? The Mystery Shack's about a mile or two from here." Gideon pointed out.
"I got lost in this stupid forest! Why are there so many trees around?!" Pacifica yelled in frustration.
"Dude... you're a local right?" Soos asked.
"Yes! But I never went outside unless it was for shopping or something else cool!" Pacifica complained.
"Yeah... you want to come collect unicorn hair or not?" Gideon asked, hoping she'd say no.
"Ugh! Fine! Someone has to take charge." As Pacifica flipped her hair, Gideon clenched his fists and remembered the patience exercises he learned in prison.
/
Peridot and McGucket worked as quickly as possible on the machines in Ford's lab, with Peridot making any kind of weapon that interfered with matter and McGucket trying to tweak the dimensional gate to somehow force Bill out and trap him somewhere. While both were accomplished engineers, Peridot and McGucket had very different ideas on who to tackle the Bill problem.
"Um... McGucket was it?" Peridot asked, as she started a soldering iron.
"Yeah?" The old man didn't look up from his coding.
"While I appreciate your idea of a resolution, wouldn't it be more prudent if you were to collaborate with me in creating a weapon to either destroy or at least disable Bill?" Peridot asked in annoyance.
"Considering we don't know what Bill is actually made of, you can make as many disruptors as you want, but they probably won't be any good." McGucket shrugged.
"Nonsense. Everything is composed of matter, even the 'supernatural' elements of your Gravity Falls. Though I must admit, I do prefer the more straightforward technology of Homeworld gem tech over this quandary of unknown factors." Peridot explained.
"Homeworld sounds like a scary place." McGucket commented.
"Scary would not be the right word." Peridot answered. "Orderly would most adequately describe it, but punishment by shattering was imminent if your occupational duties were not completed."
"...Sounds pretty crazy to me." The old human responded.
"No. That makes Homeworld adhere to patterns of behavior, making them predictable. The situation we're in... that's scary." Peridot argued. "The fact that no matter which of our efforts perseveres, none may make a difference against that Triangle deity creature. The fact that it may not even guarantee Steven's return is weighing heavily on everyone's mind, so no- Homeworld is not scary. Not compared to this."
"Yet we keep going." Fiddleford pointed out.
"We do." Peridot nodded and continued her work. "We can't stop until all options are exhausted, even if that means holding out long enough for all our parties to converge. We must continue our preparations... Steven's counting on all of us."
/
Rose Quartz gripped her shield tightly, as she had surrounded herself and her comrades. Bill may have been powerful, but most of his energy beams seemed ineffective against her shield. Pearl and Amethyst had followed suit, with Pearl testing whether or not her spear could do any damage and Amethyst seeing if her whip made an impact. While it seemed to bother Bill, both had to jump away after making impact to survey the damage.
Seeing as he sustained slight scratches and wasn't healing, it could be considered a good start but not nearly enough if they were going to distract him.
Rose clenched her fists and called to her Crystal Gems: "Garnet! Amethyst! Fuse into Sugilite now! Pearl! Fuse with me to make Rainbow Quartz!"
Pearl clenched her fists but jumped away from the Pines Twins. "What about Mabel and Dipper?"
"Don't worry about us!" Dipper shouted as he and Mabel locked hands, while she shot her weapon at a different tree. That was when Pearl and Amethyst noted Stan and Ford Pines were also running for deeper cover in the woods- where they were going, neither of them could guess.
Amethyst looked at her friend in worry. "Pearl come on... you know you have to... it's for Steven."
"I know." Pearl unclenched her fists and dropped down a fair distance away from Rose Quartz, and got upright on her toes. "I never thought I would do this again with you."
Raising her arms into the correct position, Rose sighed. "Neither did I. I know you're angry at me for the things I didn't tell you, but you'll understand once we fuse."
Pearl started tiptoeing to gain proper balance to do her twirls, "Does this mean you won't close me off anymore."
"After we get Steven back, I will be gone forever. And I want to leave you with no regrets Pearl." Rose Quartz shifted her position again, to better angle her body as Pearl got closer. "You were, and always will be my closest confidant... I loved you."
Pearl stepped to the side before Rose Quartz could twirl her, a scowl on her face. "You LOVED me. You stopped once you met Greg, and then you abandon us without warning and leave Steven in your wake. None of us were even there for his birth Rose! Only Greg... got to say goodbye. So yes, you did love me... but you clearly stopped caring about me."
"No Pearl!" Rose Quartz argued. "I didn't want any of you there because... I couldn't say goodbye. I've always been terrible at goodbyes, this time probably won't be any different. If Greg hadn't been there, then no one would've found Steven. I didn't want anyone there honestly, but I had to make a choice."
"We ALL had to make choices after you left!" Pearl snapped and stretched her leg tall and wide, keeping a gap between the other gem. "On the other hand, we had no choice in carrying the burdens you left behind with Steven."
Rose Quartz stilled herself, as did Pearl. "Do you hate me?"
Clutching her arm, Pearl shed some tears as she spoke. "I hate the fact that you did such things behind our backs, from Lion to Bismuth- it feels like there's no end to your secrets Rose. But no... I could never hate you. Because even after all this, I still love you. I don't think it's possible for me to stop."
Smiling, Rose Quartz walked up to her and placed a hand on the smaller gem's shoulder. "For the record, I never stopped loving you either but we couldn't be together... and you know very well that it has nothing to do with Greg."
Intertwining her fingers with her former leader's hand, Pearl sighed. "I couldn't watch you become shattered."
"And I you... which is what led us to end our relationship to begin with." Rose Quartz squeezed Pearl's hand, before leading Pearl's arm to form a circle.
"It was my fault Pink Diamond was shattered, it was my fault the Gem War had to happen... do you think Pink Diamond would be alive if we hadn't started our affair?" Pearl leaned into Rose.
"I can't say for sure but never take on the blame of those situations on your own- I wasn't there when she was shattered either." Rose twirled Pearl and leaned her down, then brought her up again. She smiled at her comrade. "Let's save Steven."
"Yes!" With one final twirl, Pearl felt the familiar love and warmth she had forced herself to forget. She slowly felt hers and Rose's conscious become one, and slowly felt the memories and experiences of former leader rush into her.
Meanwhile, Garnet and Amethyst and fused awhile ago and were busy keeping Bill at bay with Lapis. The feral gem fusion looked at the water gem. "Cover the Pines family!" Lapis didn't need to be told twice, and quickly left deeper into the forest.
"As amusing as this is! I'VE GOT A WORLD TO DESTROY!" Bill raged in red.
"Hey! Eyes on me, buddy!" Suglite quickly wound one of her arms up, and punched Bill straight in the eye. The one eyed demon gasped, but then started producing a giant laser eye beam!
"YOU IDIOT! YOU CAN'T DAMAGE MY EYE!" Bill screamed and started falling, with the veins showing and tears leaking out. The Crystal Gems weren't' sure how genuine this reaction, but he seemed to be in pain.
Sugilite quickly crossed her arms over her face, and growled when she felt the heat onto her skin concentrate.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT! NO ONE TOUCHES THE EYE!" Bill was hysterical at this point, just eager to destroy the giant purple gem. As he continued to fire his laser, he felt a sudden impact that took him off balance a little. Looking down, he was surprised to see a multicolored gem with big white hair and had rainbow pattern. "Oh! Another fusion, isn't that just GREAT?!" Bill raised his hand, and the sky around them darkened once again.
Rainbow Quartz quickly leaped onto Suglite's shoulder. "Let's show Bill what the Crystal Gems are truly capable of!"
/
As Mabel was swinging herself and Dipper through the jungle, their eyes widened at the upcoming eyeball bats. A strong stream of water shot out of them, with Lapis quickly appearing beside them. "Get on my back! We'll find your uncles!"
Nodding, Mabel dislodged her grappling hook when they got to the next branch, and fell on to the water gem's back with her brother. Mabel held onto her brother's middle, as the Lapis began to pick up speed- most likely to search as much of the forest as possible, before being forced into hiding.
"What now?!" Mabel shouted to Dipper.
"We find Grunkle Stan and Uncle Ford!" Dipper responded, and frowned when he saw they weren't anywhere on the forest ground. "I don't see them!"
"They're not here! You need to tell me where to go!" Lapis shouted, as she dodged through trees. She hated flying through the forest, but flying above the trees meant being spot by Bill.
Dipper was stuck, and honestly didn't know where to go. Half of him wanted to go back and help the Crystal Gems with Bill, while the other half of him wanted to find his uncles.
Suddenly, Mabel spoke up: "Find Soos and Gideon! They're in a deeper parts of the woods, where there's this waterfall and clearing!"
"What about Grunkle Stand and Uncle Ford?!" Dipper shouted. "What'll finding Soos and Gideon do?!"
"They may need help with those unicorns, and with Lapis- we can get them to Wendy and the others as soon as possible!" Mabel explained.
"But-"
"I'm worried too Dipper!" Mabel interrupted. "But Stan and Ford are twins and OUR uncles! They're unstoppable when they're together!"
Dipper smiled. "Right!"
"GREAT!" Lapis shouted in annoyance from constantly dodging trees. "Where am I going exactly?!"
Mabel thought for a second, and then Dipper spoke. "Head where you sense falling water! It's a big waterfall in the forest, you can't miss it!"
"Got it!" Lapis changed the course of her direction slightly, and veered towards the thicker area of the woods.
/
Stan grumbled under his breath as he was dragged through the dark tunnel by his brother. They were currently under the Gravity Falls forest, going who knows where. They had been running for the past five minutes, and were eventually forced to slow down to catch their breath. While both were in great shape for their age, they couldn't run as well as they could when they were outrunning bullies back East.
"I don't like this Ford!" Stan frowned. "I don't like not being Mabel and Dipper! Why are we going to this thing anyway?!"
"Because Lapis Lazuli will have an easier time protecting two children she can carry, rather than two old men who can make better uses of themselves!" Stan huffed. "The Crystal Gems are keeping Bill busy, so now's our chance to retrieve some of my old weapon stashes."
"My goody-two-shoes brother has weapon stashes?" Stan raised a brow.
"I had no choice! As Dipper experienced first-hand, most of the creatures in Gravity Falls weren't very receptive to strangers!" Ford hastily explained.
"Okay. So where we going?" Stan asked.
"We're almost... and here!" Ford stopped, and put his phone up to show where they were. Stan's eyes widened in recognition- it was the dinosaur cave! Where he had to risk his life for that stupid pig! Speaking of which, he hoped the little guy didn't mind being locked in the cellar during this whole thing. The swine had the tendency to eat precious heirlooms of people he didn't like.
"You had weapons down here?!" Stan exclaimed, as Ford crept quietly around the amber-preserved dinosaurs. "I almost got eaten by a giant scaly bird- and you had weapons down here this whole time?!"
"Why would anyone come into a plethora of live prehistoric reptiles, without some form of defense?!" For shot back. "Did you and the kids really come down here without any means of protection?!"
"We'll summarize that later! Just get the stinkin' plasma guns or whatever yah got!" Stan urged.
Rolling his eyes, Ford walked over to one of the wooden support-beams of the mine and began to feel around the base. He eventually found what he was looking for, pulling out a tool case from the ground.
"Seriously?! It was right there the whole time!" Stan shouted.
Ignoring his brother, Ford shifted through the box and eventually found what he was looking for. "Found them!"
"Found what?" Stan frowned.
"The quantum destabilizer gun and plasma gun!" Ford stated. "I kept these weapons in this area, in case I would need to make a hasty escape."
"Fine, but there's only two of them. How's that gonna help everyone else?" Stan pointed out.
Quickly taking out his phone, he dialed a number. "Fiddleford! It's Stan! I have a plan! I'm going to call the others in a moment, but it's vital you and Peridot concentrate your efforts on the two weapons specifically!" After a moment, Ford answered again. "Any weapon involving quantum destablization! We're going to erase Bill out of existence this time!"