Honestly, I don't have much to say, all I know is that this chapter took foreverrrrrrrr to write.
Beach City was pretty self-explanatory with its name; even though it could hardly be considered a city, it was entirely surrounded by a beach and the ever-expansive ocean, so it was allowed to have the name by technicality. Its size was a notable downgrade to Echo Creek, though it was seen to be on par with Gravity Falls, minus the surrounding woods filled with oddities it owned. Activity within the town was vaguely sparse as the kids viewed it upon the hill, all of them noticing only a few figures walking here and there to wherever they were heading.
"Beach City?" Mabel questioned with a raised brow after reading the sign herself, finding the name interesting no matter how plain it sounded. "Now that sounds like something from a romantic comedy."
"Really? I was thinking more of a cheap horror movie honestly," Marco shared his two cents on the name, though the group was quickly taken aback by a sudden gasp from Star.
"Look! There's Ludo!" Star exclaimed with widened eyes as she pointed down the hill, Dipper, Mabel, and Marco's eyes trailing to what she spotted below.
Sure enough, they spotted the small figure of Ludo sprinting down the hill as he ran after the rolling orb containing the fire hydrant that fell through the portal, his feeble legs having difficulty keeping up with its speed. "Curse my unathletic body..." Ludo exhaled as he stopped to catch his breath, wiping the beads of sweat from his head. "I should really work out more often..." After gaining a small dose of his energy back, he continued his chase after the ball as it rolled into the town.
While the kids continued watching Ludo run, their attention was quickly drawn to a sudden noise behind them. They spun around to the source of it, spotting an injured Buff Frog fall face-first out of the portal as he struggled to stand from the multiple wounds he gained from the brawl. The kids let out a collective gasp, predicting that the army of monsters were on their way to assist Ludo despite their heavily-injured bodies.
"Hey, something tells me we should really get going," Marco suggested aptly, watching as Lobster Claws fell out the portal and on top of Buff Frog, a groan of pain escaping from the amphibious monster.
"Way ahead of you there, Marco," Star assured confidently as she pulled out her wand and aimed it before the five of them. "Super Speed Narwhal Ride!" the princess announced before a beam of magic fired from her wand, the magical tool creating a large, pink narwhal fit with strapped saddles for the four of them. A small puddle of water surrounded the magical marine mammal as Star quickly jumped in the front seat, the princess wanting to take the first spot. "Come on, guys!"
Seeing that more of Ludo's army were arriving in a dysfunctional pile, Dipper, Mabel, and Marco wasted no time and quickly took to their seats, all the while Waddles remained in the comfort of Mabel's arms. "Uh, are there not any seatbelts on this?" Dipper asked as he checked around the saddles, clearly worried that he or someone else could potentially fall off.
"Nope!" Star answered casually with a grin despite the obvious safety hazard before she pointed down to Beach City for the narwhal to see. "After that ball!"
The magical marine mammal let out a series of excited clicks before it graciously leaped in the air, everyone but Star holding on for dear life before it summoned a small wave underneath it, using the new source of water to jet down the hill at high speeds. It hadn't taken long for the kids to enter the town and jet down the street, Star maneuvering the narwhal carefully to avoid crashing into anything in their way, her skill of riding wild horses in Mewni being of good use. A few of Beach City's citizens watched in apt surprise as the narwhal soared down the street, the waves it rode drenching everything around, including the of a man who just finished cleaning his car.
"Aw, dang it..." the man frowned from all his hard work being for nothing.
Down the street, Ludo steadily caught up with the rolling orb as he reached out to grab it, the glass texture of it proving hard to slow down as his fingers kept slipping off. "Come on already!" he exclaimed with a disgruntled groan at his numerous failed attempts to retrieve it. He held a small amount of hope that his fingertips would hinder its speed, but that quickly vanished once the orb was snatched from him by the hands of Star zooming by. Additionally, he was completely drenched in water from the waves of the narwhal.
"And that makes another point for us," the princess grinned proudly as she held the orb, blissfully unaware of what was approaching before Dipper made it apparent.
"Look out!" the boy exclaimed urgently, quickly pointing up ahead to where they were heading. Star looked ahead to see they were rapidly speeding towards a van reversing out of the driveway, the speed of the waves showing no signs of slowing down in the slightest. The kids let out unified cries as Star pulled the narwhal's horn back to stop it, though the force of the waves continued to push them against their will.
The narwhal saw how close it was to crashing into the vehicle despite its attempts to stop, so in an effort to avoid the van, it leaped high into the air and over the vehicle, flinging the kids off its back as they landed on the street. With the assistance of the speed of the waves, it gained enough height and distance for it to land in the backyard of a house and into a body of mud, the sticky matter splashing everywhere. Shaking the mud that covered its face, it looked up to see a lone boy staring blankly at it as he held a running hose, the child continuing to fill up his little mud puddle despite the appearance of a narwhal in his backyard.
Meanwhile, the kids recovered themselves from their abrupt landing on the road, none of them sustaining any injuries. Star stood up and dusted off her dress before she noticed the orb sitting out in the open in the street, the ball having fallen out of her grasp after the abrupt landing she endured. She quickly ran over to grab it, though she was thrown off when Boo Fly unsuspectingly flew down from above and seized the ball into the air with a fiendish grin. "I got the thing, Ludo!" he called to his boss as the wicked leader and his fellow monsters arrived on the scene, albeit some of them very slowly due to their wounds.
"Well, bring it over already, we can't afford to lose anything!" Ludo reminded sharply as he shook off the water that drenched him, his army shielding themselves from the sprinkling. "You know how much I need that wand in my hands!"
"That's what you think, Ludo!" Star remarked with a sly grin, spinning her wand in her hand. "But we'll be taking that orb back with us," she declared proudly before she fired a rainbow blast from her wand at the orb in Boo Fly's hands, the fly monster reeling back as the fire hydrant was knocked out of his possession. All eyes were locked onto the ball as the force from the blast sent it into a sequence of events, causing it to bounce off a nearby streetlight, and then against a tree, and then against a car, and then against a window, and then against a trash can, and then pummeled into Man Arm's face, who fell unconscious, and then against a mailbox before flying through the air down a different street. The princess noticed everyone looking at her with blank, questionable stares, quickly gaining the feeling that her idea didn't work all that well. "Okay, maybe I didn't really think that through."
Ludo furrowed his brows from the lack of action his minions displayed as what they were sent to acquire was soaring away from them. "Don't just stand there and gawk at it, you imbeciles! Go get it!" the wicked leader demanded of his army with a wave of his staff to show his authority, the group of monsters doing as they were told and began their chase after the orb as Ludo hitched a ride on the head of Lobster Claws.
The kids were quick to pursue the army in a hurry, spotting the orb in the air about to land. Star saw this as a golden opportunity to jump atop the monsters' heads and traverse across them to get closer to the falling object, using Ludo's skull as the final jump where she caught the orb out of the air. "Gotcha!" the princess grinned as she ran away from the pursuers.
Ludo groused in frustration at the princess' athletic feat, adjusting the skull on his head back to its correct position from her using it as a pedestal. "Pick up the pace already!" he chastised his minions, the army following his very command and running as fast as they could.
Dipper, Mabel, and Marco eventually caught up with Star in the pursuit, the monsters hot on their tail. They didn't have a concrete idea of where to head to seeing that Beach City was unknown territory for the group. "Uh, so what's the plan now that we have this thing?" Marco asked the obvious question, karate-chopping one of Ludo's monsters that dared to attack them from the side.
"We just need to try and lose them somehow," Dipper advised, holding onto his bag tight. "Then we'll find out what to do with it."
"Leave that to me," Star insisted as she twirled her wand and aimed it at the monsters. "Mega Wind Storm!" she announced as a burst of wind fired from her wand and towards the rushing army.
The group of monsters let out a collective gasp at the wind barreling at them, Ludo fearful of being on the receiving end of it. However, as the gale rushed closer, Ludo took notice of his staff glowing a soft white light, oblivious to what it was doing. Just as the wind was set to collide with them, a shield was shortly summoned before the army, sending the wind all elsewhere in the area.
"Huh?!" Star gasped at the sudden use of magic being used to deflect hers, not at all expecting the sudden defense.
Frankly, not even Ludo himself expected the shield to form without some form of command, though he was certainly pleased to have a form of protection against the princess' magic if his cocky grin on his face was anything to go by.
"Diamond Strawberry Blast!" Star announced again as her wand fired a blast of the encrusted fruits, yet they were rendered useless as they bounced off another summoned defense. "Jelly Glitter Mist!" she announced once more, her wand firing a jet of sticky fog that only deflected against another shield again. "Uh, I don't think my magic is working against them!" she exclaimed as they continued to run from the monsters, the group's attention suddenly caught at the sight of Big Chicken, who fell from above and hauled the orb out of the princess' hand with his claws.
"Hey!" Dipper shouted before he instinctively jumped to take the object out of the glorified bird's possession, the avian monster flying higher and higher into the air to shake him off.
"Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed worriedly as she watched her brother get lifted farther into the air. Thankfully for Dipper, Star immediately thought of a solution to get him down as she aimed her wand precisely at the bird before she sent a rainbow-packed punch from the device towards the fowl monster, the giant bird releasing his grip on the orb as he plummeted to the ground and into an open trash can, startling a couple of Beach City citizens walking along the sidewalk.
Dipper let out a scream of panic as he fell to the ground, his eyes widened as he watched the ground get uncomfortably closer. Thankfully, Star was quick to ensure the boy's safety with a spell of hers. "Super Bouncy Pillow Pile!" she announced as her wand summoned a large pile of fluffy-looking pillows under the spot Dipper was falling, the boy soon coming into contact with them as he lightly bounced in the air from the sheer force of his drop. He let out a sigh of relief from the pillows breaking his fall, though the orb eventually came down and bounced off the pillows and into the air once more, bouncing him off and onto the ground in the process.
Dipper groaned as he picked himself up from the rough landing, his bag cushioning the fall despite the belongings inside. As he stood up, however, he took notice of the bystanders who witnessed Big Chicken's plummet only a short distance away from him. Their appearance was abnormal as Dipper took note of their features: peculiar limbs, strange accessories, colorful skin tones, and one of them had only a singular eye. Some could say they were in costume for a special occasion, but the more Dipper analyzed them, the more they looked all too real to be fake. Truth be told, he had nearly forgotten the main reason he was here in the first place until he heard Mabel's voice snap him out of it.
"Come on, Dipper!" she urged as she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the street, the pursuit after the orb continuing.
The commotion between Big Chicken and Dipper had given the monsters a lead in the chase for the hydrant, notably Bearicorn running far ahead of all the others to catch the orb first, the object soon falling into his paws. "I got it, boss!" he called to Ludo as he skidded to a halt to show the wicked leader his attainment, unaware of the approaching kids before his vision burst with stars as he received a kick in the face from Marco, the hydrant flying out of the bear's hands and into the teen's.
The group's accomplishment was left short-lived as they dodged a slash of the sword from a charging Emmitt, the minotaur intent on getting at least one hit. He swung with all his might at the kids, but each was met with failure as they kept avoiding his slashes, the beast growing frustrated with every missed slash. Using a last-ditch effort, he jumped high into the air and plunged his sword down with a nefarious grin. Dipper spotted an open exploit with the beast's attack, using the minotaur's vulnerable position to send a punch from his cuff at him, the strike sending the minotaur barreling against the ground and into his colleagues like a bowling ball, only a few managing to avoid him while others toppled like pins.
The chase went on more as the kids rounded the corner, the army of monsters still in hot pursuit. From the rushing army, Buff Frog saw a parked car just ahead of the group, a fiendish idea forming in his mind as he quickened his run. He leaped towards the car with his incredible jumping prowess, for which he then used his broad strength to lift the vehicle before throwing it at the kids.
"Duck!" Dipper advised urgently at the sight of the flying car, everyone doing as he said as the vehicle narrowly flew over them.
Ludo let out an alarmed gasp as he saw the car hurdling towards them, frantically questioning why his staff wasn't putting up a defense by now when it was needed the most. Thankfully, in his case, Lobster Claws ducked under the vehicle before it could strike either of them, though the other monsters following weren't so lucky as the car barreled into them.
"Oooh..." Buff Frog winced at the unintentional collision before he was shortly struck in the face by Star's magic.
Ludo grew more and more fed up with his army's idiotic attempts at trying to steal back the orb, the simple task seeming almost impossible. As the kids entered what seemed to be Beach City's park, he knew he had to take matters into his own hands if he wanted to get the job done. "Come on! Work you lousy thing!" he berated his staff as he shook it harshly, still unsure of how it was supposed to work. "Shoot a death ray or something!" He continued to shake the staff around in hopes it would follow his command, his wish seemingly becoming granted as it began to glow before shooting out a beam of light behind the group
The new form of magic exploded behind the kids, sending them sprawling against the ground from the sheer force of the blast, the orb dropping from Marco's hands and rolling out in the open. "Aha!" Ludo cheered with a triumphant grin, thrilled to see his staff work its newfound magic once again as Lobster Claws guided him over to the orb, the wicked leader snatching it off the ground and holding it high. "Finally! That wand is as good as mine!"
"Nice going, Ludo-" Lobster Claws congratulated his boss but didn't take account of his surroundings until he crashed into a statue, sending Ludo and the orb off of him as he slumped to the ground, his vision fading in and out of consciousness.
Ludo faceplanted on the ground as the skull on his head fell off, the wicked leader groaning miserably as he picked himself up from the fall. He shook his head as he regathered his bearings, placing the skull back on his head where it belonged and dusting off his clothes. However, he felt like he was missing something extremely important. It was then when a dreadful pit entered his stomach, his eyes widening as he watched the orb roll out of the park and towards another section of the town. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!" he exasperated with a facepalm before he ran the hydrant by himself once again.
Meanwhile, the kids slowly picked themselves up from the blast, none of them retaining any serious injuries despite landing on the tough concrete. Dipper was the first to stand and dust himself off, quickly taking notice of the lack of Ludo when he noticed Lobster Claws' unconscious body on the ground. He looked in the distance to see the wicked leader running off after the hydrant yet again, the object rolling to what looked like the boardwalk part of the town. The boy looked behind him to the others and their recovery, watching as they all checked over each other from the explosion, a selfish feeling arising within him for what he was about to do.
With a determined mind, Dipper ran out of the park and chased after Ludo, fully intent on stopping the wicked leader from getting his hands on the orb. It hadn't taken long before he made it to the boardwalk, his attention shifting to the movement from the corner of his eye as he spotted Ludo running down the wooden path and rushed after him, the task of catching up to the wicked leader not too difficult due to the leader's feeble build. Just as Ludo was about to finally acquire the orb, Dipper tackled him and the object to the ground, the two tussling for ownership of the hydrant until Dipper forcibly kicked Ludo away and held the orb close to him, lying on the ground as he tried to catch his breath from the short fight.
Just when he was already peeved enough, Ludo was practically seething from his plans being foiled by a simple child. His golden chance to finally gain the wand sat in Dipper's hands, and he hadn't known what would happen if Vyódin found out that he lost a piece he was sent to retrieve, but he knew it wouldn't be swell. The wicked leader shot up from the ground, snatching his staff off the wooden boards as he eyed the boy with a daggered glare. "I've waited long enough without that wand in my hands, and now that I have the chance to finally get it, you decide to get in my way..." he scoffed through gritted teeth as he approached the boy slowly, his grip on his staff tightening with each step.
Dipper sat up once he regained his breath, watching as Ludo walked towards him with an angry scowl. He wasn't intimidated one bit by the wicked leader considering he could easily kick him away, but his attention shifted to the staff in his hand. The top began to glow a bright white as energy swarmed around it with each step Ludo took, the boy raising a confused eyebrow as he involuntarily scooched back without thinking.
"I will not let some peasant like you stop me from what I want!" Ludo exclaimed as he struck the staff against the ground, the light suddenly growing blinding as Dipper shielded his eyes. The energy grew stronger around the staff as the wicked leader brought it down in front of the boy, a wide, malicious grin forming across his beak.
It hadn't taken long for Mabel, who held Waddles, Star, and Marco to arrive at the boardwalk, the group letting out a unified gasp of horror at the building power from Ludo's staff. Seeing Ludo wield something this supposedly powerful was a very oddball sight to Star, and it made her wonder even harder as to why he still even wanted her wand to begin with.
Right before the staff could fire whatever magical attribute it could, Ludo felt the presence of something else before him as he noticed a large shadow overtake his small body, taking a glance up to see who dared to interrupt, only for his heart to drop to his stomach from what stood behind Dipper. He had seen his fair share of creatures and whatnot from other dimensions, but to think he would be face to face with a large pink lion was the last he ever would've expected. "U-u-uh..." he stuttered, the hardened anger he once had completely replaced with fear at the sight of the beast.
The pastel beast barred its deadly teeth with a low growl as it glared at Ludo, stepping closer to the frightened leader who instantly took a step back. Confused, yet thankful from the lack of magic taking effect on him, Dipper slowly creaked his eyes open to see Ludo's frightened state backing away from him, the energy on his staff fading away until it was completely gone. Seeing an open opportunity against the wicked leader's position, he chucked the orb against the wicked leader's face with as much force as he could, sending him and his staff tumbling across the boardwalk.
Ludo groaned as he sat up from the sudden punt to the face, shaking his head to regain his focus as he saw the lion glare daggers at him from behind Dipper. Seeing that he was essentially a walking piece of food for the beast, he scurried himself off the ground and grabbed his staff. "This isn't over!" he warned crossly with a hateful glare at Dipper before he hastily ran away to gather his beaten army from across the town.
"...What was that about?" Dipper questioned as he picked up the orb as it rolled back to him, confused as to why Ludo was suddenly fearful that moment ago. However, that confusion stuck with him as he felt a presence lingering behind him, turning around to see the eyes of the lion staring down at him, though they hadn't held the same vein as they had with Ludo. Appropriately, he let out a frightened shout as he took a step back from the pastel animal, holding an anxious breath as he knew the potential chase that would happen if he just so happened to run away. The lion only tentatively stared at him as it strode over to the boy, Dipper shutting his eyes tight as he felt he was about to become the animal's next meal. Fortunately, though, the lion had no intent to eat him as it nuzzled against him instead, its fluffy mane getting all over Dipper's face. The boy cracked one eye open to see the action, both bewildered and surprised to see that a random lion was showing affection to him, even when he had to push some of its hair out of his face.
The others had showed up just in the nick of time to see the ball of affection nuzzle against Dipper, finding the scene sweet despite the weird appearance of a lion on a boardwalk. "Awww, he likes you," Mabel gushed as she took to petting the lion's thick, majestic mane.
"What's a lion doing all the way out here on a beach?" Marco questioned, though this was the least weird thing he'd seen during his ventures.
"I don't know, but he's so soft," Star said as she joined Mabel in petting the lion's hair, the pastel beast's focus still on Dipper.
Despite being heavily focused on the lion, the sudden sound of a bell rang from behind the group, grabbing everyone but Dipper's attention to the building behind the lion as a single boy stepped out of the shop, a confused look on his face as his eyes drove over to see the lion still pushing against Dipper's face. "Ah! Lion, I thought I told you not to do that to people!" the boy called out to the animal as he ran over to the lion. He was short with a relatively stocky build, curly dark-brown hair, and fair-skin, wearing a salmon-pink shirt with a bold star in the center, a pair of jeans, and a pair of pink sandals. "Not everyone can handle your majestic hair!"
Dipper stood relieved as the lion did as it was told and backed away from him at the boy's request, exasperatedly picking at his hair from the amount of pink that came from the pastel beast's mane. As he dusted himself off, Mabel didn't hesitate to pluck a piece of the beast's hair off her brother's sweater and put it in her bag, planning to add it to her scrapbook to remember the incident fondly.
"Sorry about that," the boy apologized with an earnest smile, giving the pastel beast a tender pat on the head as it sat down with a bored yawn. "Lion can get pretty affectionate sometimes whenever he feels like it."
"Whoa! This is your lion?" Star asked in amazement as she broke into a wide grin. "That's so cool! I wish I had a lion as a pet, especially one that's as soft as him."
"It was like if a pillow and a cloud had a baby!" Mabel summarized with an excited smile. "And if that baby was covered in baby ducks as well!"
"Yeah, Lion does make a pretty great replacement bed," the boy laughed cheerfully, a burning question rising once he took a good look at the group, their appearance unfamiliar to him. "Hey, are you guys new here? I don't think I've seen you guys around before."
"...Uh, you could say that," Dipper replied skeptically, the scenario starting to feel like when he and Mabel first arrived in Echo Creek.
"Wow, it's not often Beach City gets any new people around," the boy said with a friendly smile, aware of the town's sparse population. "My name's Steven, by the way. And you've already met Lion of course."
"I'm Dipper and the person who's stuffing her face in your lion is my sister, Mabel," Dipper introduced himself as he nodded over to his sister who went back to pressing her face against Lion's majestic mane.
"He's so soft..." Mabel muffled as she continued to press her face against his fur, Lion seemingly unbothered with how far the girl smothered herself.
"And I'm Star Butterfly!" Star greeted with a wide grin before she pulled Marco over to her. "And this is my best friend, Marco Diaz!"
"The Marco Diaz, don't forget the the," Marco quickly corrected the princess to maintain his coolness, even if it didn't work in the slightest.
"And this is Waddles, my precious little pink angel," Mabel grinned as she held up Waddles for Steven to see, the pig letting out a small oink.
"Aw, he's adorable," Steven smiled, giving the pig a gentle pat on the head, which he happily accepted with a happy oink. "So where are you guys from?"
"We're actually from another dimension," Star answered casually without a hint of realizing how absurd her sentence sounded, not noticing Dipper's eyes widening in shock from how open she was.
"Another dimension...?" Steven questioned with a confused eyebrow, eyeing the princess in disbelief at the strange answer.
"That's just what we like to call our neighborhood back home," Dipper insisted hastily with an awkward laugh, trying to prevent Steven from thinking they were crazy. "You know, good old-"
"Dipper, we can be honest," Mabel assured, not seeing any reason to fake it this time. "He has a pet lion who's pink for crying out loud; I think we can say where we're from."
"...Alright, fine, we are actually from another dimension," Dipper corrected himself, albeit hesitantly at first. "Well, me, Mabel, and Waddles are from another dimension and Star and Marco are from a different dimension."
"We're all from different dimensions!" Mabel exclaimed ecstatically, Dipper silently preferring she kept her voice down in case anybody else heard her.
"That's... cool?" Steven said, certainly perplexed. The thought of people arriving from other dimensions to Beach City sounded a little too farfetched, even with his past experiences when it came to the reaches of outer space. However, his eyes wandered over to the orb in Dipper's hands, his curiosity growing when he saw the hydrant sitting inside the glass-like orb. "Hey, what's that?"
"That? It's a fire hydrant that was about to get stolen from our dimension," Marco explained.
"Stolen? Why would anyone wanna steal a fire hydrant?" Steven questioned, the very thought of stealing such a prop being outlandish.
"Because some big evil guy is taking stuff from our dimensions and using it for some big evil plan," Mabel answered sharply. "But with our brains and various degrees of weaponry, we're gonna kick his butt and save the day!"
"...Huh?" Steven questioned, having trouble understanding anything the girl said.
"It's a bit of a long story, but we should really get going now," Dipper advised, not wanting to take up Steven's time any longer.
"Don't worry guys, I already got us covered," Star assured with a grin, rummaging around her dress for her pair of dimensional scissors to get back home before Ludo did. However, she didn't feel them in the spot she normally put them, growing frantic as she patted her dress down for any sign of where she put the magical scissors. "Uh... uh oh..."
"What's wrong?" Mabel asked with concern.
"Uh... I don't think I brought my dimensional scissors with me!" Star revealed in elevated panic as she had already searched her whole dress to no avail of the scissors being with her.
"Huh?!" everyone but Steven exclaimed in shared shock, their one-way ticket back to Echo Creek supposedly gone.
"I think I left it behind when we were packing!" Star gasped in realization. "Huh, I had a feeling I left something behind."
"Star, please tell us you know a spell or something that can help us get back!" Marco asked urgently as he shook the princess' shoulders to emphasize his rising panic about the situation.
"I-I don't think there's any! Only dimensional scissors can take us to other dimensions," Star answered honestly with a shrug, aware of the lack of trans spells from her time in Mewni.
"So what are we gonna do?" Dipper questioned with an apt frown, the worry of not stopping Vyódin slowly picking at him again. "We can't stay stuck here forever, there has to be something we can do..."
"I could look through my magic instruction book for a spell, but who knows if there's anything in there that'll work," Star said as she pulled the magical book out of Mabel's bag to find a proper traveling spell, hoping she could find one before Ludo made it back to Echo Creek to cause more destruction.
"I think I might be able to help you guys out," Steven said amidst the group's collective panic, all eyes turning to him.
"Say what?" Mabel inquired curiously.
"I know some pretty special people who could possibly get you guys back home," Steven replied aptly with a smile. At first, he thought the group was joking about being from different universes—and admittedly it was very strange to hear someone say they were—their distraught reactions were able to justify his belief that they were indeed in need of assistance. "I'm not really sure how much stuff they know about other dimensions or anything, but there's no harm in trying. Plus, it's the least I could do after Lion got his hair all over you."
The moment of reassurance between the group was short-lived as everyone's attention was drawn to the door of the shop opening behind Steven. "Hey, Steven, you didn't forget your donuts right?!" one of the shop's workers, Lars, called out to the boy.
"Oh, right, my donuts!" Steven remembered, completely forgetting about it due to Lion's affection attack earlier. "I'll be right back guys!" he said as he ran to retrieve the sugary dessert.
While the possibility of a potential way back was great to hear, Dipper stood as the only one who felt skeptical about the whole thing. Granted, Steven didn't give him the same vibe he had when meeting Star and Marco for the first time, but the coincidence is what threw him off. Even despite this, he didn't retort against the offer at all as the existence of Lion was enough proof that Steven had to have some knowledge of supernatural activity.
"Are we sure about this guys?" Dipper couldn't help but ask. "I mean, doesn't this seem a bit too... convenient?"
"I say it's worth a shot," Marco said with an honest shrug. "Who knows, he might actually be able to get us out of here."
"Besides, bro-bro, as long as we make it back before Ludo destroys more of the town, I don't think there's anything we gotta worry about," Mabel assured with a bright grin as she placed a reassuring hand on her brother's shoulder, shortly noticing a few more strains of Lion's hair in Dipper's hair before she dug through his hair to add to her collection for her scrapbook.
"Mabel, seriously?"
Within the boundless captivities of space, Tórel stood in the cold comforts of the prism whilst staring at an orb that lay before him, the contents inside being that of a single, frail flower sitting upon a dry dirt clump. Beside the sphere stood an orb containing a tiny puddle of water with a small portion of grass surrounding it, the little entity humming with a hand under his chin as he inspected the two carefully to choose which one to organize first from the request of Vyódin, though Hókin was quick to scoff at him once he saw how much time was being wasted.
"Tórel, could you make yourself useful and organize those like Vyódin said?" he berated his counterpart as he lifted a hefty bunch of orbs into a pile.
"But I'm deciding on which one to organize first," Tórel defended as he kept looking between the two. "Should I add the flower near the orbs filled with fire? Or should I put the water near a bunch of that lava we got from that volcano? You can't exactly rush perfection."
"Well, you know how he gets when we don't do our orders efficiently enough," Hókin deadpanned as he placed another orb into a pile.
"Oh, lighten up a little, Hókin," Tórel waved off his counterpart, not finding his negative views all that helpful. "The worst thing Vyódin does is talk about how you should do better while letting me get away with it. We'll be just fine."
Hókin could only give his counterpart a defeated roll of his eye. "Why do I even bother..." he groaned as he continued to work on what he was instructed, not exactly in the mood to face the repercussions of not doing his job.
Soon after Hókin had shifted a few more orbs around, a portal formed a short distance away from the two assistants with a light flare, the tall form of Vyódin stepping out into the prism. He came to a standstill as he looked down at the palm of his hand, a single glowing crystal laying upon it with a steady flow of energy seemingly coursing through the rock with a dim light. He then began to clutch the crystal with a tight grip, the light the crystal once owned slowly fading away the more he grasped it until it was only a husk of its former self, the celestial anomaly dispensing the rock into a small portal he formed as he found the stone no longer of use to him.
Vyódin's attention was soon carried over to Hókin and Tórel who continued to organize the orbs as they were instructed, the two assistants unaware of his arrival before he made himself known. "I see that you two are doing as I have told, and I must say, what an excellent job you've done," he said to his assistants, clearly pleased with their work, though that would soon be diminished as an orb slipped from Hókin's hands and rolled away from the organized pile, Vyódin's pleased attitude now replaced with a disapproving stare. "Unless an excellent job is subjective in this case. But keep at it, the better we keep these all together, the greater the plan will exceed. And neither of you must get distracted, for that would slow us down greatly."
Fate happened to strike the celestial anomaly as Bill made a sudden return back to the prism with a pop. "Hey, Roadkill, where should I put this giant smiley face building?" he asked with a snap of his fingers, summoning said giant smiley face building behind him. "Personally, I kinda like it! Feels like we could make this a second hangout, wouldn't you agree?"
"Please just add it to the collection of other buildings, Bill," Vyódin sighed exasperatedly, not at all wanting to deal with the demon's antics.
"Come on, wouldn't it look great next to the prism?" Bill asked as he floated up to Vyódin in hopes he would agree. "Besides, this place needs a little sprucing up anyway. How about some fire in here?" the demon then snapped his fingers, summoning a surrounding blaze in the prism that circled around the edges. While Hókin and Tórel were startled by the sudden blaze, Vyódin only gave Bill a critical glance, making it quite obvious he wanted nothing to do with the flames. "No fires then, huh? Suit yourself, I guess," the demon sighed in defeat as he whisked the flames with a wave of his hand before snapping the smiley face building away to the others, crossing his arms in annoyance afterward. "I guess someone hates honest decor."
Now with the flames dispersed, Vyódin's attention was brought to a sudden noise behind him, turning around to see a gray portal had formed shortly away, the creator of it stepping out of it and into the prism. "Ah, Ludo, it's good to see you return once again," he greeted the wicked leader as he approached him, his body greatly towering over Ludo's. His sole eye was drawn to the lack of orbs he remembered sending him to retrieve in Echo Creek, fully aware of how he made himself clear when giving instructions. "Hm, it seems you haven't brought back what I requested of you... In fact, my senses informed me you were no longer in Echo Creek. Did you not do what I requested of you?"
Ludo nervously picked at the collar of his cloak, sweat daring to form on his forehead once he realized he had to tell the celestial anomaly the events of earlier. All he knew is that if he was kicked out from the group, then he could say goodbye to easily getting the wand. "Oh, don't worry, I got just the stuff you wanted!" he grinned with a timid laugh, holding his staff behind his back. "You see, it's just that there was a slight... situation."
"And what would this situation be, perhaps?" Vyódin inquired, his voice strangely calm.
"Well, I got all those pieces you wanted obviously, but I may have... lost one," Ludo winced as each word left his mouth, unsure if Vyódin had a temper at all given his powerful abilities.
"And how did you manage to do that?" Vyódin questioned, his single eye peering down at Ludo.
"Because of Star Butterfly!" Ludo exclaimed, all sense of nervousness replaced with anger. "If it wasn't for her I would've gotten everything you sent me for. Not to mention that karate boy and a couple of blasted peasants."
Vyódin knew much about Marco and how he accompanied Star in her daily life, so he was well aware that he would be noted on the scene, but he didn't recognize the two peasants Ludo was referring to. "And who are these peasants to be exact?" he asked, clearly interested.
"Some boy wearing a dumb hat with a tree on it, and some girl wearing a sweater that made me want to barf confetti," Ludo described based on his memory. "That stupid boy was the one who knocked me away from having my hands on that one ball! I would've gotten it if it wasn't for him...! And maybe there was a lion there too, but that's not important!"
The descriptions Ludo gave were ones Vyódin was easily able to recognize in an instant, having believed he wouldn't have to deal with them interfering with his work after sending them away. He turned towards Bill with an emotionless gaze, his hands clenched tight into fists under his cloak as a sense of ire began to build. "It seems those Pines children have managed to make a scuff in my plans," he said, his voice going rather cold.
"Pine Tree and Shooting Star are still alive and kickin'? Huh, it seems that luck is just always on their side when the time is right," Bill said coyly, his hands suddenly erupting into blue flames. "Ha! Too bad that's all about to run out! I'll just go ahead and give you their skulls as souvenirs, maybe that'll be the thing to liven up this dump."
"No, no, that won't be necessary," Vyódin disclosed the demon's need for torture as he changed his focus to the leader behind him. "Ludo, do you recall where you were last?"
"Uh... Well, I remember seeing this sign saying something about Beach City when I was trying to get that ball," Ludo recalled from a jog of his memory. "Bit of a scam if you consider it a city though."
"Beach City, you say?" Vyódin questioned, thinking for a brief moment before he made everyone's eyes on him. "There's been a change of plans, everyone. I suppose we have the saviors of Gravity Falls dare challenge what I'm trying to achieve here. However, that is something that will not halt me or my goal in the slightest," the celestial anomaly glanced at Bill, a calculated look in his eye. "Bill, how about you go fetch the family of those two in Gravity Falls and bring them here, will you? I'm sure they'll be ecstatic to see you again after all this time."
"Wow! I thought you'd never ask, Roadkill," Bill quipped, thinking of the reactions he would receive on his grand return to the abnormal town. "You know, I was just gonna go back in secrecy and not tell you at all anyway, but it looks like I don't need to do that anymore! Be right back!" The demon then snapped himself away to fulfill his duties, awaiting the reunion between him and the Pines family.
"And Ludo, how about you head back to Echo Creek and get me those pieces I needed," Vyódin instructed as he turned back to the wicked leader. "All of them are crucial, so be sure not to lose another one again."
"O-of course!" Ludo answered with a salute, quickly pulling out his dimensional scissors and hurrying back to Echo Creek, his injured army of monsters already awaiting him there.
Once the two evildoers made their leave to their tasks, Hókin and Tórel approached their leader with a glint of confusion in their eyes. "I hate to intrude on your ideas, Vyódin, but what's the new plan you have?" Tórel inquired, curiosity clear in his voice.
"One that involves much more work than I had originally imagined," Vyódin answered his assistant, looking at the piles of organized orbs sitting around, feeling a hint of spite from his goal being foiled with. "Now, I must make an acquirement I was hoping to complete later on," the celestial anomaly sighed as he snapped his fingers, the enriching chime echoing through the prism before a portal formed in front of him, its destination on the other side unclear. "If these children have chosen to disrupt what I've been working for centuries on end, then so be it. For them, their fates have already been sealed the moment they decided to get in my way."
After Steven had gotten his donuts situated, he started his guide back to his place to meet the "special people" he was talking about. While the kids had walked along the sands of the surrounding beach, Waddles had hitched a ride on Lion as the pastel beast followed alongside them, Mabel taking it upon herself to snap a picture of the strange yet adorable interaction for another addition to her scrapbook, gushing silently as the animals seemingly acquainted with each other despite their radically different species.
"Hey, if you guys don't mind me asking, how did you guys get here to Beach City?" Steven asked the group. "I guess it's kinda strange knowing there's a whole bunch of other dimensions out there."
"Well, my archenemy got hired by this Vyódin guy to help him steal parts from Earth because he's always out to get the Royal Magic Wand, so he'll do anything to get it," Star began to explain, though Steven was confused about what wand she was talking about but let her continue. "Then we ended up fighting him and his army of monsters and he chased after that red thing in Dipper's hands through a portal, and that's how we ended up here."
"That's... a lot," Steven mused, the infodump of information taking a while to process through his brain, but there was one part that stuck out to him. "Wait, who's Vyódin?"
"Some big evil jerk who kinda looks like a deer if he was also a wizard," Mabel replied. "Maybe he's both; a wizardeer..."
"He's the reason we're all here in the first place," Dipper added. "We discovered him when we found out he was the one taking things from our dimension, but he threw me and Mabel through a portal after we found his hideout that took us to Star and Marco's dimension. None of us know what he is or what he's planning, but he's using all this stuff to create something."
"Yikes, that doesn't sound good..." Steven frowned, feeling sorry for the group. "Hopefully the Gems have an idea to help you guys, I'm sure they will."
"...The Gems?" Marco asked, Dipper, Mabel, and Star also wondering who Steven was referring to.
"Yeah, the Crystal Gems," Steven answered with a small smile. "They live just up here at the temple, which is where I live too. We used to go on missions and protect humanity from anything threatening, but we haven't had to do that in a while."
"Oooh! Are you a Gem yourself?" Mabel guessed, clearly interested.
"Well... I'm only part Gem," Steven began. "My dad's a human, but my mom was a Gem herself. See?" As they paused their walk, he lifted his shirt up to show a rose quartz gem where his navel would be.
"Whoa..." the group said in unified awe as they looked upon the pink gem, realizing how real it looked rather than some tacky decoration.
"It's so shiny..." Mabel gushed, her eyes twinkling an equal amount to the shine Steven's gem glistened.
"And sparkly..." Star whispered in equal delight. "Does it do anything?"
"I can do a lot of things with it actually," Steven replied as he put his shirt down. "I can summon a shield and make a bubble, but we'd be here all day if I explained everything."
"Oooh, magic..." Star said with a pizzazz of her hands.
As they continued their trip once more, Dipper had grown more convinced that Steven was far more special than he had initially shown. While he had a skeptical feeling about the boy before, that quickly subsided as he couldn't help but feel his curiosity peaking. With him having a pink lion as a pet, being a part of these "Crystal Gems", and leading them to a temple, he wondered if there was more to Steven than meets the eye.
"Here we are, guys!" Steven grinned as his house came into view once they rounded the corner, everyone but young Gem looking up with in awe at what sat above his home. A towering statue of a divine giant woman was carved into the hill above Steven's house, the group noticing its strange yet ethereal sculpture fit with two faces and eight arms, though it didn't stand the test of time as a few of its hands were broken off and sunken in the sand below, along with the mass of greenery that covered some areas.
"Wow... that's one big lady," Star commented with a wide grin as she pointed up to the giant woman as they walked up the small hill to the house.
"This is the temple?" Dipper asked, growing confused about if the beach house was the temple itself as he tucked the orb into his bag for safekeeping, thankful that it hadn't added any weight.
"Yeah! My house is kinda just the entrance to it," Steven said as he made his way up the stairs and to the door before he opened it, making his presence known to the other residents inside. "I'm back, you guys!" he announced with a broad smile.
In the kitchen of the abode were a trio of women conversing with each other, their conversation coming to an end once Steven made his announced return. However, the three women weren't exactly as regular-looking as one would see. The tallest one from the group had a solid, firm build and dark-maroon skin, a black, fairly-puffy, cubical afro, wearing marigold shades that took the shape of the top of a star, and a bodysuit of various magenta, pink, and blue colors. Alongside her was a much shorter, though she was more on par with Steven's height, stout woman as she sat upon the kitchen table. She had bright lilac skin and messy lavender hair that covered one of her eyes, the length of it long enough that it reached the table. Her outfit of choice was a black tank top with some light rips, medium gray shorts with black stars on both legs and torn white fabric at the bottoms, and a pair of white boots. The final woman was significantly taller than the latter, as she had a slender build and ivory white skin, light peach-colored hair and a pointy nose. She wore a cropped, short-sleeved cyan blazer with a yellow star on the back with a light-teal top underneath, cadet blue leggings, and light pink ballet flats.
"Welcome back, Steven," the tall woman greeted with a warm smile.
"Hey, Stev-aroni," the short woman greeted with a casual grin as she waved at the boy.
"You're back early, Steven," the slender woman greeted with a welcoming smile, her tone polite. "I thought you and Lion were having a whole day out to yourselves?"
"We were, but we got a little sidetracked—and it doesn't have to with Lion digging through trash or anything" Steven replied as he stepped aside from the door. "Come on in, guys!" he said to the group as he motioned them to come inside the beach house.
Dipper, Mabel, Star, and Marco shortly entered the home they were invited into while Lion and Waddles were the last to enter, the four taking in how neatly furnished and decorated the place was before they came to a pause, standing agape in awe at the three women in the kitchen. Of course, all of them had seen enough oddities to write an entire novel about them, but the colorful ladies were still a surprising sight to behold. And while confused at first by Steven initially mentioning them, the group noticed how all three women had exposed, shining gemstones located someplace on their bodies, confirming to them that these were the "Crystal Gems" the boy was talking about.
"Guys, I want you to meet my new friends: Dipper, Mabel, Star, and Marco!" Steven introduced the four newcomers to the Crystal Gems with a wide grin before he switched his focus to the former group. "Guys, meet the Gems! Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl!"
"They're so colorful..." Mabel gushed with a delightful grin, stars in her eyes as the Gems approached them.
"Hello, Steven's new friends," Garnet greeted with a welcoming smile as she held out a hand for them to shake. "Pleasure to meet you."
The kids had shaken the Gem's hand in a show of good manners, albeit Mabel and Star shook more excitedly, though Dipper was still on the wary side of things. "So... you guys are the Crystal Gems?" he asked the Gems, seeing that they had to be something other than human given the gemstones.
"We sure are, dude," Amethyst replied. "I mean, not to brag or anything, but we're a pretty big deal around town."
"Oooh! So does that mean you guys are magical as well?" Star asked eagerly.
"You bet we are," Amethyst grinned before a light enveloped her body as she shapeshifted into Star, her appearance identical to the princess, the only difference being she was entirely purple. "It's like looking in a mirror, isn't it?"
"A purple mirror..." Star said with a stunned expression.
"But... are you guys living gems?" Dipper asked, finding their mere existence questionable but intriguing. "Or are you gems but are able to turn into anything you want?"
"It's quite simple, really," Pearl answered the boy's burning question before she began to explain. "Our bodies are purely projections generated from our gemstones, where, unlike humans, we don't have organic structures. "
"So you're basically like holograms but with mass?" Marco asked with an unsure shrug.
"That's a great way of summarizing it!" Pearl grinned with an approving nod.
"Nice mass, Garnet," Amethyst joked as she nudged the tall Gem.
"Thanks," Garnet said with an amused grin.
"Well, now that everyone's gotten to know each other, we could really use your guys' help right now," Steven said with a small frown as he turned to the Gems.
"Is there a problem?" Pearl asked, concern in her tone.
"Uh... I think it'll be better if you guys explain it," Steven insisted to the group, the whole situation still confusing to him, but he was thankful when Dipper chose to speak.
"Okay, what I'm about to say might sound a little crazy and probably borderline insane, so bear with me here," Dipper began, trying to sound as serious as possible. "Me, Mabel, Star, and Marco are from different dimensions and we're stranded here all because of some evil... deer, wizard thing. So we're trying to figure out how we can get back to our universes to stop him, and Steven said that you guys might be able to help us."
Such an admission was met with a look of confusion from the Gems, though Pearl had shortly gained an idea as to what the boy was speaking of. "Oh, I get it!" Pearl grinned with an amused chuckle. "You kids must be roleplaying!"
"What? We're not roleplaying!" Marco retorted firmly, pulling out the orb from Dipper's bag and showing it to the Gems. "See this? This was taken out from me and Star's dimension. Doesn't this look otherworldly to you?"
"...Isn't that just a fire hydrant?" Amethyst asked as she crossed her arms, not at all convinced.
"No! I mean, yes, but it's not from here," Marco corrected. "It's from our universe and we have to make it back before more things are taken. You have to believe us!"
"Well, it's kind of hard to believe that when-" Pearl didn't get the chance to finish as she was cut off by Garnet, the tall Gem's tone sounding firm.
"They're telling the truth."
"Huh?" Amethyst and Pearl exchanged a confused glance at Garnet, neither of them expecting her to agree.
"They aren't joking about any of this," Garnet "They're dealing with a threat of unknown origin, and I believe it's only right for us to help them out. We protect humanity after all, and that extends to people from other universes as well."
"Wow... you're so poetic," Mabel smiled broadly.
"I know," Garnet gave a smile of her own as she adjusted her shades.
"So do you guys know a way we can get back?" Dipper asked.
"Hm..." Pearl mused as she thought of a solution. "Well, there is one way we could get you kids back, but I'm not sure how well it would work."
"What is it?" Steven asked curiously.
"Centuries ago, the Diamonds had commissioned a Universal Warp that was built for them to colonize more planets out in other universes," Pearl explained, even if the group had no idea who the Diamonds were. "However, the project was quickly abandoned when the Gems testing it to see if it worked never came back. Nobody knows if they had gotten trapped out on their own without a way back, or suffered something much worse. But, it's worth a try to check if the site is still standing."
"But, how will they activate it?" Steven asked, seeing that none of them had gem powers.
"With the Warp Whistle, of course," Pearl answered as she pulled a small, flute-like instrument out from her blazer.
"The Warp Whistle?" Star questioned, confused. "What's it do?"
"It's a device that will activate warp pads, so it's the only way humans can travel upon them," Pearl explained eloquently. "If you use it on the Universal Warp, it can activate and send you all back to your desired destination."
"Oooh! Can I use it?" Mabel asked eagerly as she ran up to Pearl, a wide grin on her face.
"I don't see why not," Pearl shrugged with a smile as she handed the magical whistle to the girl.
"I'd be careful with that if I were you, Mabel," Dipper advised, knowing his sister's occasional tendency to accidentally break something.
"Careful is my middle name, Dipper," Mabel remarked as she twirled the whistle in her hands effortlessly, but she ended up smacking herself in the face with it, for which Dipper could only give her a deadpanned look. "Okay, maybe it isn't."
"We best get a move on then; the sooner the better," Garnet insisted as she walked to the main portion where the temple began and stood on the lone warp pad in the center.
Dipper and Mabel dropped their bags off as everyone else followed behind Garnet, the former taking out his journal to conduct more research on the Gems, seeing as though they did count as an oddity to any other regular person. The twins joined everyone else on the warp pad as they awaited them, Dipper wondering how the warp pad itself was supposed to activate.
"You guys ready for a ride?" Amethyst asked with a wide grin.
"I'm always ready to ride!" Mabel exclaimed excitedly.
"Uh... are we about to do anything dangerous right now?" Dipper questioned, not at all liking the connotations that Amethyst implied.
"We'll be just fine," Garnet assured to ease the boy's worry, only for that to retract a second later. "As long as you don't fall out the stream that is."
"...The stream?"
Dipper wasn't given enough time to think before the world lit up around all of them as the warp pad activated, the ground disappearing underneath them as a stream of blue surrounded all sides and lifted them into the air. And just as the stream had vanished, silence had taken over the temple as everyone was whisked away.
Same as before, I don't have much to say, but I hope you enjoyed it!
Until next time!