Steven laughed, taking out a plastic bag labeled 'Chaaaps!' In bright yellow letters. "Dipper, calm down. There's nothing wrong, see? See the chip? I'm feeding him the chip. He likes it!"

Dipper's skin color flashed from tan to pale blue in response. He opened his mouth, brows furrowed, ready to deliver some explanation involving statistics and accounts of the forest and their should-be knowledge to never trust it, before a deep, shaking BOOM shook the earth. The kids fell off their feet, landing none-too-gently on their backs.

"What was that?" Mabel said dumbly. The rabbit shook its nose in fear and leapt off to the forest undergrowth. It disappeared.

A moment passed in silence.

Dipper blinked -

A claw came down, matted and dirty grey, colliding violently with the rose-colored dome erecting itself hastily around and over them.

Steven grunted as the sabretoothed wolf-bunny thing swiped at his bubble and rammed its tusks at it, cracking the brittle force field almost immediately. Dipper exchanged glances with Mabel, who nodded at him, face set in her own brand of serious mode. Simultaneously, they rolled to a crouch on Steven's either side and pulled out their weapons. Their hair bled to metallic blonde and whitish blue, respectively. Their skin chroma-morphosed. Dipper's cape rolled once to waterfall itself evenly across his back, while Mabel's skirt flared around her feet like flames.

"Steven!" Dipper called out. "Get ready!"

The monster snarled, leapt off the bubble and started circling the kids, giving Steven a chance to regain his breath before it then pounced again. He yelled in alarm, repaired shield reinforcing itself.

"For what?" he replied, breathing heavily. Drops of sweat converged on his chin before dripping off.

"Wait for it... Wait for it..." Mabel tightened her grip on her crossbow. A white-hot rod like a miniature spear appeared between the guide, head spiked like a small supernova frozen in the time of its explosion. It glowed with heat from within.

Steven yelped and drew away from its searing warmth, which he could feel even with the distance between him and Mabel's hands. Unbeknownst to either him or Mabel, Dipper was watching from the corner of his eyes, and a small frown marred his face.

The monster finished off two short blows and growled at them, jumping off. Dipper took his chance.

"NOW!" He yelled. Steven dropped the shield.

"Wait! Dipper!"

Dipper rushed forwards, cutlass rearing back. He roared a battlecry as he ran past a panting Steven, who dropped onto his hands and knees after letting the bubble drop. Dipper ran as far as he could away from him and Mabel before the monster took more interest in him. It growled, long whiskers and even longer rabbit-like ears twitching in frustration. Mabel watched in growing horror as its body started to coil, a low growl shivering out of its slobbery snout between two long mammoth-like bottom teeth.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Steven looked up, just barely, enough to see Mabel's sunset-colored boots fly out of his field of vision. Fiery arrows flew through the corner of his eyes, and his ears picked up a low growl followed closely by a high-pitched squeal, then galloping footsteps as the monster ran. He saw a frayed corner of silvery blue cloth disintegrate into sparkles as it settled on the ground.

Then, silence. Stillness.

Chin pressed against the dirt, Steven rolled his eyes upwards to see as much as he could.

"C'mon, I'm fine, really..."

"Dipper, that was - you can't just - "

"Mabel?" Steven huffed, rolling over to his back, then sitting up and turning his head around. "Dipper, what's the matter -"

"Nothing! I-"

Steven walked over and crouched down next to the Mabel in genuine curiosity. He might've looked around once or twice to make sure there were no more surprise forest creatures leaping at them from the foliage again, but none of that mattered as soon as he laid eyes on Dipper's gem.