The Green Flash

Chapter 14

-25: Dipper-

Dipper's heart was doing cartwheels in his chest as he saw the little "ping" on the screen that indicated that the moth was back in Beach City.

"It's here again! Where exactly is this?" He handed the phone to Connie, who was much better at reading the GPS.

She bounced excitedly. "It's at the Big Donut?!" She squawked.

"Oh." Pearl said calmly. "That's close."

"Sure, but people work there! Let's go!" Dipper said, remembering the nice clerk who had given him water and her surly companion.

They had corned the moth for the first round at a peculiar place they had taken the warp pad to, some kind of strawberry coated battlefield. He was happy they had chosen to return to the beach house to wait for the next round, as it was as close as you could get to the Big Donut.

Sadie and Lars intercepted the group as they plunged down the hill.

"Oh. Good." Lars said joylessly.

"Told you they would already be on this. Good luck guys!" Sadie called to the gems.

"Just to make sure, a giant moth materialized in your shop, right?" Dipper asked briskly.

"You got it, new kid!" Lars answered, clearly over this whole mess. He plopped down on the ground, looking miserable.

The moth has made a mess of the shop. It was humming and crying, enormous wings sending chairs, tables, and donuts flying. As the gems leapt into action, the creature exploded thorough the shops front window and crashed, spectacularly, into the huge BIG DONUT donut.

The humans watched from a distance in awe. No need to get close when the gems were, well, almost invincible and skilled at combat. Amethyst pulled the moth to the ground with her whip next to the demolished giant donut; Pearl spun gracefully unto its back and stabbed it neatly, and finally Garnet punched it back into the shattered shop window with a single blow.

"I wish we had some popcorn right now." Dipper muttered to Connie.

"You kidding?" Connie replied. "This is better than any movie. It always is..." Dipper nodded in solemn agreement.

"Haha, you guys make this sound like this isn't a disaster." Sadie said, but her tone suggested that she had seen this kind of action before and was adjusted to it.

Lars snorted. "We are basically experts at... whatever this is."

"Dipper! Do you want to go back?" Garnet was calling him. He stood up, watching as the moth crossed its rings and prepared to travel to Gravity Falls. But it was too late for him to make a choice. The moth was already gone.

"Dang." He said bitterly. "There's so much going on I keep forgetting about that "a way home" part."

"It should come back." Connie said. "Did it seem tired or hurt up to you? Like... is our plan working?"

"I hope so." Dipper sighed, glancing at the "no signal" message on the GPS tracker. "I really hope so."

-26: Steven-

Steven fought back the raw panic that hovered in his mind like darkness right before sleep.

He remembered slowly. He had healing powers. HEALING POWERS. He could save Mabel. It's what he was for. Saving humans. Healing injuries. But as he looked at Mabel's torn body, all he could think of was what was to come. The faces of the people waiting outside the cave. Dipper's broken heart. Waddles sadness when his owner never came home.

"No." He muttered. He had healed Dippers leg. He could heal this, too.

His arm shaking, he placed his palm on Mabel's chest where the wound the worst. He gave a chocked gasp as he felt a slight fluttering beneath her chest. She wasn't actually dead! She was still alive!

The relief he felt was the cool wave of joy one feels when they wake up from a ghastly nightmare, a joy that filled his whole body. There was still hope.

Steven was surprised by a warm pink glow that found even the darkest corners of the cavern. He felt strength leave his own body and transfer into Mabel, her wound closing up, rapidly congealing into a thick scar that finally faded into a nearly invisible line.

Steven closed his arms around her and sobbed.

Distantly, he heard voices. "hey kids, what is going in there? Mabel? Steven? We need to go!" It was the others, waiting outside!

Steven hoisted Mabel into his arms, slowly working his way through the sharp, cramped corridor that led back into the fading daylight. Finally he collapsed outside, to the horrified gasps from the waiting adults.

"MABEL!" Stan howled, picking her up and staring with dismay at the damage to her clothes and body. "She-? What happened?" Steven was very freaked out to see tears in Stan's eyes. He seemed like a man who never cried.

"S-s-she got hit by a- a beam, and I healed her so I think she's ok." The words gushed out.

"You HEALED her? Dude..." Soos touched Mabel's arm gently. Wendy was covering her mouth, in shock. Steven inched closer, wanting the comfort of other humans.

Finally, Mabel coughed back to life. "A-Wah? Stan? Are you... crying?" Stan set Mable down, who swayed a bit as she caught her balance. "Woooh, what happened to everybody? What's with the waterworks?" She smiled like nothing was wrong, her braces glinting.

Now everyone was laughing AND crying.

"Wow, that hurts like CRAP!" Mabel said, patting the thin scar on her torso.

"Mabel, don't!" Steven cried in alarm, but she smiled at him.

"You saved my life! You're my hero!" She gave him a sloppy hug. "Ow."

"Ok, ok" Wendy spoke up, rubbing water off her face. "The GPS went off. The moth is back near the Mystery Shack. Should we...?"

"Maybe we shouldn't..." Stan started, but Mabel shouted him down.

"No way! We have to save the universe! "Are you all just gonna give up just because I got hurt!? I'm not even dead! Have some backbone!" Mabel huffed.

They couldn't argue with her now. The group shuffled back to the boat, preparing for another round with the accursed moth.