Universe Falls

Chapter 12: Copies and Clones

Ok guys, I'm sorry for this taking so long, blah, blah blah, you've heard it all before. So I'll keep this short. My family is moving and I have to get a summer job, which is why things have been so slow lately. Hopefully things will pick up as I get into more of a routine for the summer! Anyway, here we have a chapter that I've been looking quite forward too. Hopefully, it won't get confusing for you guys, even though we're dealing with quite a few doubles in it. And with that out of the way, let's get started with reviews!

Jarvis R. Yeriel: Yeah, Gideon's kind of a boring antagonist, not like the true villain of Gravity Falls (Bill, of course). But thanks anyway. And good luck wih your story!

Matt: Eh, actually this chapter sticks pretty close o what happens in both Double Dipper and Steven and the STevens. But we'd all be in trouble if Onion happened to come across the copier machine!

Ember Neutron: I can't say much about that but... keep an eye out... ;)

starburst98: Yeah, maybe, but I figure that Steven gets stronger as he goes along, and thiis is still fairly early into things. And besides, the amulet is pretty powerful...

meme-asaurus: Oh man, Gideon and Onion together? That sounds like a really bad combo that we might end up seeing yet...

Disney Dreamer: You're totally right! And I think it would be safe to say that the amulet is sort of like Lapis, in that its trapped and used as a tool. But as far as me doing anything with that later on, we'll have to wait and see!

PerryGamer: Pacifica is indeed going to have a bit of a larger role here, mostly because I like her so much as a character! I especially have some things planned for her post Northwest Mansion Mystery. I haven't really thought about Dipper holding onto a gem destableizer, but I could see how that could lead to some drama later on, just like the memory gun. And yeah, most of the other Homeworld Gems don't know about BIll and YD (save for the Diamond Authority, of course)

Whiteling: Oh don't worry! I have some exciting plans for Dreamscapers, as well as Gideon Rises!

Well, with that out of the way, let's get started! And don't forget, now that we're in arc 2, we're using Atbash!

Chapter 12: Copies and Clones

WFKORXZGVH LU WRKKVI
Z HFIKOFH LU HGVEVM
DRGS HL NZMB XOLMVH
RGH SZIW GL YIVZP VEVM

The Sea Shrine, as its name implied, rested deep at the bottom of the ocean, making it one of the most remote Gem structures on Earth. Its glass walls and high-vaulted ceilings allowed for a grand view of beauty of the deep sea, but what made the submerged temple even more interesting was the diverse collection of hourglasses lining its long, singular hall. With awed curiosity, Steven examined each hourglass from a distance, which varied in size from as big as his hand to as tall as the high ceiling, remembering Pearl's firm warning not to touch any of them. The other Gems weren't too far away, inspecting the other hourglasses in search of the one they had come to this ancient place for: the glass of time.

"Hey, what about this little one?" Steven called to the others, pointing out a small, round hourglass that had caught his eye. The tiny sphere was easily small enough to fit into the palm of his hand, though he refrained in picking it up. "Its adorbable."

"Steven, the legendary glass of time won't be nearly so small and insignificant," Pearl explained, turning her nose up at the petite hourglass. "It will be beautiful and grand. Like this one!" The white Gem's eyes were filled with delight and wonder as she looked over to another nearby hourglass, which was medium in size and very elegant in design.

"I think it's this one," Garnet remarked, her hands on her hips as she gazed up at the largest hourglass in the shrine. It easily towered over all of the Gems, its imposing statue not lost on their youngest one.

"Whoa..." Steven muttered in amazement as he stood in the shadow of the massive hourglass, stars in his eyes. "I've never seen an hourglass so huge!"

"But how are we supposed to even get this back to the Warp Pad?" Pearl asked with a concerned frown.

"I can carry it," Garnet affirmed, cracking her knuckles as a show of her strength.

"Garnet, wait!" Pearl exclaimed, placing a hand on the Gem leader's shoulder to stop her. "We need to be careful about which one we touch. You remember what happened the last time we were here, don't you?"

"What happened?" Steven asked curiously, though before he could answer, Amethyst spoke up.

"Hey guys, I'm makin' the call!" the purple Gem shouted, picking up a rather intricate hourglass with several connected bulbs. "It's this janky one right here!"

"Amethyst!" Pearl exclaimed in a sudden panic, which only intensified as the entire shrine began to shake.

"Uh.... I guess it wasn't..." Amethyst frowned as she looked at the hourglass she had chosen, which had apparently been the wrong one.

All too soon, sea water began to surge into the temple, pouring into the glass structure from a panel in its roof that had suddenly shattered. "Look out!" Garnet shouted, leaping into action to grab Steven and save him from the heavy deluge. The Gem leader landed squarely upon the warp pad on the far end of the temple, with both Steven and Pearl in tow "We don't have much time before the shrine is completely flooded," Garnet noted. "We need to leave. Now."

"Amethyst, come on!" Pearl impatiently urged the purple Gem, who hopped up onto the warp pad herself only as Steven leapt off of it. "Steven! Where are you going?!"

"Amethyst got to keep her hourglass!" Steven called back as he ran towards the hourglass collection, slogging through the water that was already knee-deep.

"Darn tootin'!" Amethyst proclaimed with a proud grin, holding her hourglass up in triumph.

"I wanna get the one I picked out!"

"Steven!" Pearl and Garnet called out in worried unison, though the young Gem hardly paid them any mind as he approached the smaller hourglass from earlier.

"Hi there! My name's Steven," he greeted the spherical hourglass with a fond grin as he scooped it up into his hands. "You're gonna come live with me!"

"Steven, come on!"

"Coming!" Steven called back as he ran for the warp pad, fully aware of the huge wave of water at his heels the whole time. Pearl let out a panicked squeal upon seeing this, but Garnet, as calm as ever, quickly shapeshifted her arm, stretching out to catch the young Gem and pull him towards the warp.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Amethyst urged anxiously, though thankfully Garnet managed to pull Steven to the warp pad just in the nick of time.

"Well done, Garnet!" Pearl praised with relief. There was no time to celebrate as the heavy wave rolled upon them, forcing them to warp out of the flooding shrine just seconds short of being swept away.

Unfortunately, the Gems hadn't been quick enough to warp back without taking a majority of the massive wave with them. Water poured into the house, soaking everything in sight, including the Gems who stood upon the warp pad dripping wet, and Steven, who was more than happy to ride the wave as it flowed onto the floor.

"Woo hoo!" the young Gem cheered in merriment as he landed onto the floor, his clothes and hair sopping. "That was great! We're doing that again, right?!"

"Unfortunately," Pearl began in aggravation, plucking the seaweed that was stuck to her hair off. "We can't. We'll have to wait another hundred years for the Sea Shrine to reform all because somebody couldn't keep their hands to themselves."

"Oh well," Amethyst shrugged with little concern as she held her hourglass close. "At least we didn't leave there empty handed this time!"

Pearl cast the purple Gem a bitter scowl, though it was quickly broken with Garnet's next statement. "You have a lobster on your butt," the Gem leader pointed out stoically, causing the white Gem to panic once more and the purple Gem to break out into a loud round of laughter.

Likewise, Steven also chuckled in amusement at his guardians' shenanigans, until his alarm clock suddenly sounded throughout the house. "Oh! I almost forgot about the party!" the young Gem exclaimed as he rushed to turn the alarm off.

"What party?" Pearl asked curiously.

"Mr. Pines is throwing a party tonight down at the Mystery Shack, and every kid in Gravity Falls is invited!" Steven explained with an excited grin. "Me and dad are supposed to play a few songs there so I gotta hurry down to the car wash so we can rehearse."

"Whoa, Stan's throwing a party?" Amethyst asked, a mischievous grin spreading on her face. "I just might have to crash it and see if he's got any good snacks..."

"Haven't you caused enough trouble for today, Amethyst?" Pearl asked caustically, ripping the lobster off of the back of her skirt.

"You know me, P. I can never cause enough trouble."

"Well, I had a lot of fun, you guys," Steven said to the Gems as he rushed to the door. "I'll see you later!" Despite his excitement, the young Gem did pause to let the crab that had accidentally warped back with them out the door first. "After you, sir," he said politely, before running out head into town himself. "Bye!"

Even though the Mystery Shack had closed early for the afternoon that hardly meant that its employees were idle. Stan had put Soos, Wendy, Dipper, and Mabel to work setting up for the party, which namely consisted of decorating the floor room with streamers, banners, and balloons. Even though their grunkle was expecting them to be working, the twins had taken to playing with the silly string for the party as soon as his back was turned, with Wendy eagerly joining in on their fun. Of course, it didn't take Stan too long to notice their loud laughter and grow impatient with them wasting the party favors that were meant for their guests later that night.

"Alright, that's enough," Stan said gruffly, breaking up the fun as he confiscated the cans of silly spray from the kids. "Party supplies are now off limits."

"Aw... Grunkle Stan, party preparing is so boooring... We were just having a little fun!" Mabel pouted, but the con man was having none of it this time.

"Yeah, at my expense," Stan said as he put the silly string up for later. "Party stuff doesn't come cheap, you know."

"Didn't you buy all this stuff at the dollar party store in town?" Dipper asked knowingly, crossing his arms.

"Who asked you?" Stan quickly snarked as he began to unroll a pin the tail on the donkey poster.

"Mr. Pines, who's birthday is it again?" Soos asked as he continued hanging streamers.

"Nobody's. I thought this party would be a good way to get kids to spend money at the shack," Stan replied. "If the young people of this town want fun, I'll smother 'em with it!"

"Maybe comments like that are why kids don't come to the Mystery Shack," Dipper said caustically as he poured himself and Mabel some soda.

"Hey! What did I say about the party supplies!?" Stan exclaimed as he took the bottle of cola from his nephew and instead shoved a flyer into his hands. "How about you kids actually make yourselves useful and copy these flyers?"

"Oh boy, a trip to the copier store!" Mabel grinned with excited delight.

"Calendars, mugs, t-shirts and more! They've got it all at the copier store!" Soos rhymed with a smile. "That's not their slogan; I just really feel that way about the copier store."

"Save the trouble of making the trip all the way into town," Stan said with a wave of his hand. "You know the old copy machine in my office?"

"You mean the one that's being held together with duct tape and band-aids?" Wendy asked with a casual grin.

"That's the one!" Stan grinned proudly. "I finally fixed the old girl up, good as new! And this way, I won't have to spend extra money on that fancy, high-quality paper they use down at the copier store. It's perfect!"

Complying with their grunkle's need to horde money, the twins hurried to the con man's office, easily locating the outdated, beaten up copy machine against the wall. Despite the obvious wear and tear is showed, a few lights on its exterior still flashed dully, giving them the impression that it still functioned, at least somewhat.

"Dipper, check it out! A winky face!" Mabel exclaimed cheerfully after drawing a face onto the layer of dust coating the machine with her finger.

Dipper largely ignored her as he lifted the scanner lid up. "Does this thing even work?" His question was quickly answered as he happened to rest his arm on the scanner, only for the machine to come alive with a bright green light. The machine managed to scan over Dipper's arm before he could lift it away in surprise, and sure enough, it slowly produced a grayscale copy of the boy's arm.

"Ha! Success!" Mabel cheered as she pulled the paper up out of the tray, holding up in the air for her brother to see. Her excitement was quickly replaced with surprise however, as the page suddenly began to shake on its own accord, prompting her to abruptly drop it. "Whoa!"

The twins watched with wide eyes as the paper inexplicably began to crinkle up on the ground before them, until, against all logic, the copied arm somehow managed to pull itself up out of the page and into existence. Dipper and Mabel let out a shared frightened gasp as the disconnected arm began to slowly and unnervingly pull itself across the floor towards them.

"Stay back!" Dipper warned, protectively pulling Mabel behind him as he grabbed her cup of soda and threw it at the still moving arm in alarm. Thankfully, this method actually worked, for as the liquid splashed onto the copied arm, it began to bubble and disintegrate, until it was nothing more than a puddle on the floor.

"Wow..." Mabel whispered in awe. "I gotta hand it to that copier; I didn't expect it to do something so armazing! Ha!"

Despite the fact that his initial shock was still wearing off, Dipper rolled his eyes as his sister's rather ridiculous puns and instead focused on the oddity they had just witnessed. "Mabel, I think this copier can copy human beings!"

"No way!" Mabel gasped, her eyes wide with wonder. "Do you realize what this means?" She briefly paused for dramatic effect, but instead of offering a legitimate answer like Dipper was expecting, she suddenly pulled out the silly string she had managed to hold onto and playfully sprayed it all over him. "BLAAAHHHHH!"

Before hurrying over to the car wash, Steven had decided to pop in at the Mystery Shack briefly, overwhelmed with excitement for the party. It was rare for any kid-centric events to be held in Gravity Falls in the first place, but the young Gem was even more elated about such a party being thrown at the Mystery Shack, one of his favorite locales in the entire town.

Steven hummed happily to himself as he hopped off his scooter, setting it against the shack as he hurried to the door and discreetly poked his head inside. Though Stan, Soos, and Wendy were all too busy setting things up to notice his arrival, Dipper and Mabel weren't as they just so happened to be returning from the con man's office, a large stack of flyers split between them. "Steven!" the twins greeted in cheerful unison, alerting the others to his presence.

"Hi, guys!" Steven smiled as he stepped into the shack fully. "Are you ready to party tonight?"

"I am always ready to party!" Mabel proclaimed, energetically pumping her fist.

"She's not kidding," Dipper said with a knowing chuckle, well aware of how enthusiastic his sister was about all things party-related.

"This party's gonna be intense, dudes," Soos said with a wide grin. "Especially since I'm gonna be DJ!"

"Only because you begged," Stan reminded from across the room. "And 'cause you work for free."

"You won't regret it, Mr. Pines," the handyman assured. "I even got a book to teach me how to DJ r-r-right!"

"Not encouraging," Stan deadpanned before turning to Steven. "You and Greg are still on to perform tonight, right kid?"

"You bet!" Steven heartily agreed. "In fact, I was just heading down to the car wash so we can get some last-minute practice in."

"Don't you wanna stick around and help set up, Steven? I'll let you tie the balloons!" Wendy offered, holding up a pack of uninflated balloons.

"Ooo, that sounds tempting..." the young Gem agreed, though he knew he had to resist it. "But I can't. The party's only in a few hours and there's still so much to do! I'll see you all later!"

Steven was quick to head out as the others bid him farewell, leaving them to finish preparing. "Ok, party people... and Dipper," Stan called, gathering everyone in front of him and ignoring his nephews annoyed glare. "Let's talk business. We already know that Soos is DJing and the Universes are gonna provide some live entertainment. So, Wendy, I'm putting you and Mabel at the ticket stand."

"What?" Mabel asked with a disappointed frown. "But Grunkle Stan, this party is my chance to make some new friends. You can't just stifle my outgoing personality like this!"

"Um... I could always work with Wendy instead," Dipper volunteered a bit awkwardly, not at all minding the idea of getting to work one-on-one with the girl he had a rather sizable crush on.

Stan sarcastically rolled his eyes at this, not really thinking that Dipper was up to such a task. "You do realize that if you do, you gotta commit to staying at the ticket stand all night with Wendy. No getting out of it. Just the two of you, alone, all night. Can you promise me that you'll stick to it?"

Dipper paused before answering, stealing a glance over at Wendy as her and Mabel used some silly string to paint a face onto Soos's stomach. As the teen let out a bold, amused laugh, Dipper couldn't easily hide the small, admittedly love-struck grin spreading across his own face as well. If there was any task that he would be more than happy to commit himself to, it was this one. "I promise."

Steven pushed his foot off the sidewalk with gusto, propelling his scooter forward as he rode through town. The young Gem always looked forward to jamming out with his father, but this special occasion had him all the more excited, especially since they were being presented with the opportunity to entertain the whole town with their music. He pushed his scooter a bit faster as the car wash came into view, and in his enthusiasm, he barely noticed the large, wide-load lumber truck stuck in the wash entrance.

"Dad!" Steven called as he rode up to Greg, who stood beside Manly Dan inspecting the situation. "Dad! Are you ready to rehearse?" The young Gem stopped short when he finally noticed the truck, its stacks of logs jutting out of the wash awkwardly. "Whoa..."

"Uh... We're having a bit of a day..." Greg said, scratching the back of his neck in exasperation. The former rock star cast a nervous glance over at the lumberjack, who was practically seething in rage, letting out a frustrated growl with each breath.

"Is it stuck?" Steven asked with a concerned frown.

"Yeah..." Greg nodded.

"Why does a lumber truck need a car wash anyway?" the young Gem inquired, though Manly Dan was quick to answer in his usual surly way.

"Because clean wood is TOUGHER!" the lumberjack shouted, storming over to the truck to attempt to pull it out himself.

"Mr. Corduroy, wait!" Greg called, knowing that was a dangerous idea. "Oh, sorry, buddy," the former rock star turned towards his son with an apologetic frown. "I don't think I'll be able to play at the party tonight. I gotta deal with this..."

"You're bailing on the party?" Steven asked with disappointment clear in his tone. "But the whole town's gonna be there!"

"Steven, that's like twenty people," Greg pointed out.

"But what about Mr. Pines? He's counting on us to play tonight!"

"I'm sure he'll understand," Greg reassured, placing a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "I know this stinks, bud, but I'll be there next time. I promise." The former rock star offered his son a consoling smile before he hurried to go help Manly Dan before he could make the situation any worse. "Wait! Mr. Corduroy, you don't have to punch the—Oh... too late..."

Steven let out a disgruntled sigh as he hopped onto his scooter, slowly riding away from the car wash as he muttered to himself dejectedly. "Stupid truck, getting all stuck..." he scowled, blaming the truck alone for diverting his father's attention away from what would have certainly been a great evening. "Nobody likes you, truck! I wish I could have been there to tell my dad you were too fat!"

No more than a second passed after Steven had said this before the young Gem abruptly and completely disappeared into thin air, leaving only his scooter and helmet behind. In just the blink of an eye, Steven found himself back at the car wash, much to his absolute confusion, especially as he glanced around the corner to see Greg helping Manly Dan guide his truck into the wash.

"That's it!" Greg called confidently, waving the lumberjack on. "Just back her in! She'll definitely fit."

"W-what the...?" the young Gem whispered in bewilderment, before a sudden realization struck him just in the nick of time. "Dad," he gasped, his eyes widening before he dashed out to meet his father. "Dad!"

"Hey, stoo-ball!" Greg greeted cheerfully as he turned to his son. "You excited for the party tonight?"

"Dad! Dad! Fat! It's fat!" Steven shouted, hopping up and down anxiously. "Fat, fat, fat!"

"Rude..." Greg muttered in embarrassment as he glanced down at his own rotund stomach.

"Not you! The truck!" Steven corrected, pointing to the truck just seconds before Manly Dan backed it into the wash.

"Huh? Oh! Hey! Wait!" Greg called to the lumberjack in a sudden panic. "Stop the truck! Stop the truck!"

Manly Dan slammed on the breaks just in time, poking his head out of the window as he let out an impatient, confused growl. Even so, the car wash operator gave his son a congratulatory pat on the head. "Nice catch, Steven."

The young Gem smiled in relief as his father went to explain the situation to Manly Dan. Now that he had a moment to catch his breath, only to feel a burst of warmth in his pocket. "Whoa!" Steven gasped in awe as he pulled the small hourglass he had gotten from the Sea Shrine out of his pocket, noticing it was enveloped in a dim glow. "The thing! You took me back in time, didn't you? Oh man, Pearl's gonna flip when she finds out that you're the real deal!"

Steven's elation was cut short as he glanced over at his father, who was trying to reason with the very incensed lumberjack. "Look, I'm sorry, but the truck's fat," Greg explained as calmly as he could.

"My FIST is fat!" Manly Dan shouted gruffly as he held his large fist up, prompting the former rock star to take a nervous step back.

"Oh no!" Greg exclaimed as he noticed the lumber truck begin to roll backwards in light of Dan failing to properly park it. "Your truck!"

Before anyone could stop it, the front end of the truck crashed into a nearby telephone pole, which easily toppled over onto it. The wire immediately caught fire, which spread across the line and onto the very flammable wood on the truck bed. Steven and Greg let out unified screams of horror as the roof of the car wash itself lit up in flames, while Manly Dan simply punched the side of his truck in a heated rage.

"I gotta save the van!" Greg exclaimed fearfully as he hurried to pull his van away from the dangerous inferno, leaving Steven to watch in shock as his father's business burned. Though he had tried to help Greg avoid disaster, he had inadvertently created an even bigger one. And yet, as the young Gem happened to glance down at the hourglass in his hand, a new idea quickly came to him, one that he sincerely hoped would work.

"I-I wish I could go back and stop myself from stopping my dad!" Steven exclaimed hurriedly. Thankfully, the hourglass complied, enveloping him in its glow and teleporting back to just moments before the accident. The young Gem took in a tight breath as he caught sight of his past self running towards his dad, and, knowing he only had a few seconds to act, Steven ran for his other self.

"Dad!" the past Steven called, though he was abruptly cut off as someone tackled him just before Greg caught sight of him.

"H-huh?" the past Steven's eyes grew wide as he saw exactly who had attacked him, namely himself. "Are... are you... future Steven?!"

The future Steven nodded gravely, his expression serious as he began to explain the situation. "Listen, two-minutes-ago-Steven. We can't go around trying to change time stuff. It just makes things worse."

Before the conversation could go on any further, both Stevens' jumped at the sound of a rough crash coming from the other side of the car wash. They both peeked around the corner to see that, as expected, Manly Dan's truck had gotten itself stuck in the wash yet again, much to Greg's distress.

"Oh no!" the wash operator exclaimed as he hurried to go help the lumberjack. "How did this happen?"

"Aw, man!" the past Steven let out a defeated sigh. "That's what I was trying to prevent! This is the worst... I really wanted to play at the party. Too bad you and I can't be in a band together."

The future Steven frowned in sympathy, before both Stevens suddenly perked up, reaching the same exact conclusion at once. "Wait a minute!"

Steven pushed his foot off the sidewalk with gusto, propelling his scooter forward as he rode through town. The young Gem always looked forward to jamming out with his father, but this special occasion had him all the more excited, especially since they were being presented with the opportunity to entertain the whole town with their music. However, before he could make it to the car wash, Steven found himself suddenly being tackled off of his scooter completely out of nowhere. He landed on the pavement roughly, though he let out a stunned gasp upon seeing the two figures who were pinning him down.

"Steven!" the future two Stevens exclaimed with wide grins.

"Whoa... Steven?" the past Steven asked in worried confusion. "And... Steven? What's going on?"

"No time to explain!" the first Steven urged.

"Wanna join our band?" the second Steven asked eagerly.

The third Steven stared at his two future selves for a moment, bewilderment written all over his face for a brief moment before he gave them a very definitive answer. "Yes. Yes I would."

The other two Stevens helped their past counterpart up off of the ground, the first three members of their makeshift band locked in. "Oh, this is gonna be so great!" the first Steven proclaimed. "Everyone at the party is gonna love us! What could be better than a band of Stevens!?"

"Nothing!" the second Steven cheered heartily.

"But wait..." the third Steven frowned. "Isn't Dad supposed to play with us tonight?"

"Oh, he had an emergency at the car wash."

"Well then, we should go help him!"

"No!" the first Steven was quick to stop his past self, remembering well what had happened before. "There's nothing we can do. The truck's fat, trust us."

"Okay..." the third Steven's brows knitted together in confusion. "So who's our fourth? We need a drummer."

"Oh, good thinking, Steven!" the second Steven grinned. "Don't worry. We got this covered."

The first two Stevens smirked in confident unison as they held up their respective hourglasses, ready to head back in time once again to gather the last member of their band. "Hey, is that the time thingy?" the third Steven asked, though he received no answer as the trio of Stevens teleported to the past together.

Dipper smiled at his reflecting as he finished adjusting his bowtie, knowing that it would be a nice way of sprucing up his usual outfit for the party. He knew that if he was going to get anywhere with Wendy, then he had to exude confidence, which was something he admittedly normally lacked. But fortunately, Dipper had already anticipated that he might end up blundering, which was why had spent the past hour or so preparing for the evening in more ways than one. If all went accordingly, then his evening with Wendy would go without a hitch.

However, Dipper's air of confidence was suddenly broken as he turned to see Mabel standing only a few inches away from him, startling him quite a bit. His surprised expression turned into a plaintive scowl as he noticed his sister's broad, teasing smirk, and he could only guess that she was more than ready to poke fun at him yet again. "What?"

Mabel's grin widened as she stepped away from her brother, lowering her voice so she could mimic him. "'Uh, uh, I could work the ticket counter with you, Wendy! Let's kiss!'" To top her impression off, she wrapped her arms around herself and made over exaggerated kissing noises before breaking into a round of giggles.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want," Dipper rolled his eyes, not phased by Mabel's antics. "But I've devised a plan to make sure my night with Wendy goes perfectly. And when I end up landing a dance with her, then we'll see who's laughing."

"Plan? Oh, no... you're not making another one of those over complicated listy things, are you?" Mabel asked with a frown, knowing that her brother had a tendency to overthink nearly everything, especially things like this.

"Over complicated?" Dipper scoffed. "Please. Let's just take a look here..." He paused as he pulled what appeared to be a small piece of paper out of his pocket, though Mabel flopped down to the floor in exasperation as she watched him unfold what was actually quite a lengthy list. "Okay. Step one: getting to know each other better with playful banter. Banter is kinda like talking, only smarter."

"Ugh... That sounds like a dumb idea for poopheads," Mabel groaned boredly.

"Yeah, see? This isn't banter. This is what I want to avoid with Wendy," Dipper asserted, glancing back to his list again. "If I just follow steps one through eleven, then nothing can keep me from getting to the final step: asking her to dance!"

"Oh, Dipper," Mabel laughed, interrupting her brother's daydream of dancing with the teen of his affections. "You're the only one getting in your way! Why don't you just walk up to her and talk to her? You know, like a normal person?"

"Step nine, sister." Dipper grinned confidently as he pointed number nine on his list, which was indeed "talk to her like a normal person". Mabel simply rolled her eyes as she let out a relenting sigh, knowing that there was no reasoning with her brother when he had his mind set to, what he perceived, was a perfect, though far too intricate plan.

"Can't you see it in my eyes?"

"I'm the one—I'm the ONE!"

"TWO!"

"THREE!"

"FOUR!"

"I'm not like other guys..."

"He's not like anybody!"

"Well, that's not completely right. There's a few that I'm just like!"

"Steven and the Stevens! We're gonna make you smile!"

"Me, myself, and I, and him, are all the same guy!"

"Steven and the Stevens! Come on, now, don't be shy."

"Me, myself, and I, and him-"

"That's me!"

"Are all the same guy!"

The quartet of Stevens finished off their rehearsal in perfect harmony, the final note of their upbeat tune ringing out throughout the temple. Despite the fact that their band had only existed for a few hours, they had already succeeded in not only writing a song, but practicing and perfecting it. Of course, all of the Stevens attributed their cohesion and cooperation to all of them being essentially the same person, but even so, excitement reigned in the group as they exchanged a round of congratulatory high fives.

"Great singing, Steven!" the second Steven, labeled "Steven 2" by the original, praised his counterparts with a wide grin.

"Thanks, Steven!" the original Steven nodded proudly, glad to see his idea was working wonderfully. "Everyone's gonna love us tonight!"

"They sure will!" Steven 3 readily agreed. "Hey, how about I sing lead this time?"

"Well, I usually sing lead when I play with dad," Steven pointed out, his smile fading a bit.

"So do I!" Steven 2 exclaimed.

"Me too!"

"Me too too! We all do!" Steven 4 concluded. "We're all Steven!"

"Oh yeah!" the other Stevens laughed, though the original wasn't as amused.

"Well, we can't all sing the lead. One of us has gotta be the band leader," he said as the others offered a hum of agreement.

"Oh, I got it!" Steven 4 perked up. "The leader should be the original Steven!"

"The one that's been around the longest!" the other Stevens agreed in unison.

The first Steven beamed upon hearing this as his counterparts from the past all pointed his way. "Yeah, alright," he shrugged, passing off his role of leadership off as though it wasn't a big deal. "I guess I can be in charge... And since I'm the leader, I say, we're more than ready to play at that party!"

"Yeah!" the others cheered happily, raising their instruments up in revelry.

"So, without any further ado, let's get going!" Steven urged as the rest of the group eagerly gathered their instruments and hurriedly freshened up before the party. Needless to say, they were all chattering excitedly amongst themselves as they headed out of the house and bounded down the hill towards the Mystery Shack.

The party had largely kicked off in full swing, with a line of zealous kids of all ages lined up outside the shack, all of them ready for a night of fun and excitement. Stan was elated upon seeing how many guests had shown up for the widely-advertised events, and at ten dollars a ticket, the con man figured that this party would turn in a generous profit. "So, can your uncle throw a wild party, or what?" Stan asked Mabel as the two of them stood together and looked out over the dance floor. The party kept up a consistent flow of activity thanks to Soos's DJing, even if he was largely a novice at it.

"The energy! It's electric!" the handyman called out over the mic, before turning to his keyboard to find an appropriate sound effect. Of course, instead of finding a lightning sound he went through several others that were mismatched with the techno beat playing. "Let's see... lightning... lightning... lightning..."

"I gotta hand it to you, Grunkle Stan," Mabel grinned up at her uncle. "This party's a lot cooler than I expected it to be!"

"Hey, just cause I'm old doesn't mean I don't know how to be 'hip with the kids'."

"Uh... no one talks like that anymore-" Mabel pointed out, though Stan was clearly too caught up in the excitement to notice or care.

"Now, I'm gonna go see if anyone's dropped spare change out there on the dance floor," Stan said, rubbing his hands together greedily. "Since your brother's on ticket duty, I guess that frees you up to 'mingle', or something like that. Have fun, kid."

A huge grin spread on Mabel's face as her uncle left to collect all of the discarded money he could, excitement filling the girl at the prospect of make new friends. "Time to go out there and be a mingle master!" she declared, rushing out onto the dance floor without delay.

Dipper had no problem keeping the promise he had made to Stan as he sat alongside Wendy at the ticket booth outside. While he was indeed happy to hang out with her one-on-one, he had scarcely made any conversation with her yet, though that was something he planned on changing very soon.

As Wendy was busy selling tickets, Dipper took advantage of the moment and quickly pulled out his list, scanning over it once more under the table. "Step one: casual banter," he reminded himself with resolve. Thankfully he had already thought through several simple conversation-starters beforehand, and, after surprising his nerves, he boldly leapt right in. "Hey, so here's a casual question!" he addressed Wendy, cringing at how forced and still his own voice sounded. "What's your favorite type of snack food?"

"Oh man, I can't pick just one!" Wendy grinned, and though she intended on continuing, Dipper accidently cut her off.

"No way! Mine too!" he exclaimed hurriedly, though he was quick to realize he hadn't heard what she had said over his own rapidly racing heart.

"Wait, what?" Wendy frowned, confused at his odd answer.

"Uh... I... I mean..." Dipper stammered, knowing it was far too late to catch himself. Wendy looked to him expectantly, which was why he quickly diverted her attention away from him the only way he could think of: by shoving a large handful of popcorn into his mouth. The cashier simply shrugged casually as she got back to selling tickets, while Dipper hunched over his list in a panic once more. "New topic! New topic!"

Thankfully, the boy was saved from having to restart the conversation as a round of rowdy cheers sounded out from inside the shack. Curious, Wendy stood and glanced through the window behind them, excitement spreading on her face as she watched the party heat up. "Whoa! Sounds like the party's getting nuts, huh?" she asked Dipper, who was quick to shove his list out of her sight as she turned to him. "I gotta get in there! Will you cover for me?"

"O-oh... well, I... um-" Dipper began, his heart sinking at the prospect of Wendy leaving, though the teen was clearly already on her way inside as she offered him a grateful smile.

"Thanks, man!" she called as she stepped into the party, leaving Dipper to run the busy ticket counter by his lonesome. The boy let out a disappointed sigh as he looked back through the window, enticed by the sight of Wendy dancing enthusiastically inside. Certainly, as busy as Stan probably was inside, he wouldn't notice him slip away to share just one dance with the teen, right?

"I'll be right back!" Dipper called to the large crowd still waiting to get their tickets, standing up from the table to go into the party. He didn't make it very far however, before a firm hand grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.

"Hey!" Stan scowled down at his nephew, his arms crossed and his expression irritated. "Where do you think you're going, kid? These suckers aren't gonna rip themselves off!"

"Yeah!" one of the kids in the crowd shouted in agreement.

"B-but I was just-" Dipper began to explain, but Stan wasn't hearing it.

"You promised, remember?"

"I did?" Dipper asked innocently, even though he did clearly remember doing so.

The con man didn't offer a response himself, but instead let the tape recording he had on hand of the boy promising to work the ticket stand do all the talking instead. Dipper let out a defeated sigh, knowing that he wouldn't be shirking away this responsibility so easily with the con man about. Stan returned to the party, but not without making it clear that he would be keeping an eye on his nephew throughout the night.

Realizing he was stuck at the ticket stand, Dipper returned to his seat disgruntledly, showing little interest or effort as he continued selling tickets to the eager patrons. Of course, it only irked him all the more to think that, just on the other side of the wall, Wendy was inside, living it up and just waiting for someone to come along and dance with her. "If only I could be in two places at once..." he muttered dejectedly, though his train of thought was soon broken as another customer stepped up to the front of the line.

"Four tickets to the party, please!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Dipper glanced up, managing a small, yet still half-hearted smile as he greeted the young Gem. "Oh, hey, Steven," he said, though he was quick to pause as he noticed the three figures also standing at the table. "A-and Steven?"

"And Steven!" Steven 3 chimed in.

"Don't forget about Steven!" Steven 4 added.

"Wha—Steven, since when are there four of you?!" Dipper asked, his eyes with shock after he wiped them to make sure he wasn't seeing double.

The four Stevens all exchanged knowing, amused grins as they discreetly held out their respective hourglasses for Dipper to see. "I went on a mission with the Gems earlier and swiped this thing," the original Steven explained. "I guess it can teleport people back in time? I'm still not really sure how it works, but since my dad had an emergency at the car wash, I used it to round up past versions of myself and make a Steven band to play tonight!"

"Pretty cool, huh?" Steven 2 asked, not noticing that Dipper was still trying to make sense of the situation.

"Wait, wait, wait," the boy shook his head, looking between the four young Gems. "So basically, what you're saying is... you all are essentially copies of the same person?"

"Yep!"

"Pretty much."

"We're all different versions of the same Steven!"

"A Steven quartet, if you will."

Dipper didn't respond as he gaped at the four Stevens for a moment or two, an idea budding in his mind, especially as he recalled the mysterious copy machine in Stan's office. While different in execution, this new plan would be essentially the same as the one Steven had carried out, though instead of forming a band, the boy figured he could just as easily use it to help him gain ground with Wendy after all. "That is really cool, Steven—er... Stevens," Dipper said rather quickly as he hurriedly exchanged their money for tickets. "Well, here you go! Have fun in there, you guys!"

"You know we will!" Steven 4 exclaimed readily.

"It's a shame you have to have to sit out here and sell tickets, Dipper," Steven 2 said sympathetically. "It sounds like that's some party."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Dipper said with an unconcerned wave of his hand, solidifying his plan in his mind. "I'm sure I'll see you all in there soon enough..."

"Well, until then, we better get on in there," Steven urged the others as they all waved Dipper farewell and headed inside. "We only have an hour until we preform, so in the meantime, let's go have some fun!"

Energy and excitement seemed to course through Mabel's every vein as she danced freely and cheerfully, her bright laughter ringing out despite the fact that she was dancing alone. Clearly though, she had already become something of the life of the party, as quite a few people had gathered to watch her enthusiastically cavort about the dance floor, all of them appreciating her apt enthusiasm. Of course, even despite her verve, Mabel eventually found herself in need of a break so she could catch her breath, which she took as she skipped over to the refreshment table to grab a bottle of water. Her chipper mood brightened even more, however, as she encountered a familiar face there.

"Oh my gosh!" Mabel exclaimed with delight as she caught the other girl's attention with a friendly embrace. "Connie! I'm so glad you're here!"

"Hi, Mabel!" Connie greeted just as warmly as their hug disbanded and she finished getting her cup of punch. "How's it going? It's been a like a week since I've hung out with you guys thanks to my parents' insistence on violin and tennis practice..."

"Aw, don't worry about it," Mabel said with an easy chuckle. "I'll catch you up on everything out on the dance floor!"

"O-oh... Well... I'm not much on dancing..." Connie frowned a bit anxiously. "But maybe we could just sit and you can tell me about everything?"

"That's fine too!" Mabel agreed as she began leading to the chairs against the wall, taking a healthy swig of her water. "I'm a little danced-out at the moment to be honest. Besides, that just makes it easier to tell you about the beautiful light canons and the crazy child psychic who has a crush on me."

"Steven already filled me in on a few of the details..." Connie laughed as her and Mabel took a seat. "But I'd love to hear more."

"Sure thing! Well first of all, we-" Mabel stopped short as she happened to glance over at the larger girl sitting on her other side of her, or more specifically, the lizard resting on her shoulder. "Wow!" she exclaimed in awe, catching the girl's attention. "You've got an animal on your body! That's the coolest thing I've seen all night! I'm Mabel, and this is my friend Connie," she introduced herself with a friendly grin as Connie also smiled and nodded in greeting.

"Hi, I'm Grenda," the large girl smiled, her voice surprisingly deep and masculine. "And this is Candy." She motioned to the smaller, beglassed Asian girl sitting next to her, who waved to the other two girls, despite the forks attached to each of her fingers.

"Why do you have forks taped to your fingers?" Connie asked with a bemused grin.

Candy's smile widened as she reached her forked fingers into the bowl of popcorn on Grenda's lap, pulling it out with a bounty of popcorn on each finger. "Improvement of human being," she explained simply, yet eloquently.

Mabel could scarcely contain her excitement as she realized she had just met two kindred spirits. Even upon a first impression, she could tell that both Candy and Grenda were quite unique, which was a trait she could safely say, she shared with them. "I've found my people..." she whispered happily, though before she could really strike up a real conversation with them, the girls were suddenly interrupted by a new arrival.

"Connie! Mabel!" Steven, the original Steven, greeted cheerfully as he ran towards the group. He had let his counterparts disband throughout the party and entertain themselves for the time being, at least until they had to regroup and preform. "Oh hey! I see you guys have met Candy and Grenda! Long time, no see, you two!"

"Hi, Steven!" Grenda exclaimed rather loudly, her voice rumbling across the dance floor despite the fact that the young Gem was right in front of her.

"Hello, Steven Universe!" Candy greeted more formally, though she still wore a friendly smile as she waved her forks.

"How do you guys know each other?" Connie asked curiously, even if she was already well aware that Steven knew practically everyone in Gravity Falls thanks to his outgoing nature.

"Aw, we go way back," Steven chuckled fondly. "Right, guys?"

"Yeah!" Grenda heartily agreed. "Steven's the BEST!"

"We met at the Big Donut a few years ago," Candy explained with a smile. "And we shared a dozen delicious glazed donuts."

"Boy, were they ever delicious!" the young Gem recalled. "And we've all been friends ever since!"

"That's so cool!" Mabel gushed excitedly. "Now we can all be friends and party together! Could this night get any better?!"

Before the new group of friends could converse any further, however, they were interrupted by an announcement from Soos over the microphone as he manned the DJ table. "Remember, dudes!" the handyman called out, briefly glancing back at his DJing book before continuing. "Whoever, um, 'party hardies'—what? Uh, they get the party crown!" Soos held up said party crown, which, despite clearly being made out of plastic, was bejeweled and quite fancy. "Most applause at the end of the night wins!"

Mabel, Connie, Steven, Candy, and Grenda all "ooed" in unified interest upon hearing this, but before any of them could see about entering the contest themselves, someone else stepped forward. A trio of girls, all of them clad in rather expensive clothing, stepped forward, the leader of them, a blonde dressed in purple, holding out her hand demandingly as she stood before the DJ table. "Party crown? I'll take that, thank you very much!"

"Who's that?" Mabel asked curiously.

"The most popular and richest girl in town, Pacifica Northwest," Candy replied with a hint of ire in her tone.

"I always feel bad about myself around her!" Grenda exclaimed, glaring at the spoiled, wealthy girl.

"One time, I tried saying hi to her, and she just turned her nose up at me..." Steven frowned, though he couldn't exactly claim to have the same harsh feelings towards Pacifica as Candy and Grenda apparently did. Mabel frowned herself upon hearing this, not liking the sound of anyone who made her friends, new or otherwise, feel bad.

"I'm sorry, but I can't just give you the crown," Soos explained to Pacifica as he held it up out of her reach. "It's sort of a competition thing, you know?"

Pacifica simply laughed haughtily upon hearing this, spinning around to give a caustic look to her potential challengers. "Honestly, who's gonna compete against me?" she asked sarcastically. "Fork fingers? Lizard lady? Glasses girl?" After slamming Candy, Grenda, and Connie, the heiress turned to Steven, her confident grin turning to a distasteful scowl. "Oh, and—what's your name again? Sammie Galaxy?"

"It's Steven, actually," Steven corrected. "Steven Universe."

"Whatever," Pacifica rolled her eyes, clearly not caring whatsoever.

"Hold me, Candy!" Grenda exclaimed fearfully as her and Candy embraced each other for support.

"Our kind isn't welcome here!" Candy cried morosely.

Connie and Mabel both shot the heiress an incensed glare, neither of them willing to put with such cruelty. "Where does she get off, treating people like that just because she's rich?" Connie asked with a scoff. "Someone needs to put her in her place."

"Don't worry, Connie," Mabel said with a bold grin as she stepped forward. "I've got it covered. Hey!" she exclaimed to Soos, standing before the table alongside Pacifica. "I'll compete!"

Connie, Candy, Grenda, and Steven all gasped in surprise at how forward and unflinching Mabel was in this resolve, even despite the hateful scowl Pacifica shot her way. "Hi!" the girl greeted the heiress cheerfully, holding out a friendly hand for her to shake. "I'm Mabel!"

Pacifica sneered, rejecting Mabel's handshake as she placed her hands on her hips. "That sounds like a fat old lady's name," she goaded coldly.

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Mabel quipped brightly, clearly not intimidated at all.

"I don't know how you think you have a chance at beating me," Pacifica said, crossing her arms as she seized her opponent up. "But I guess the better partier will win in the end. Which, of course, will be me."

Not sparing another word on her new rival, Pacifica commandingly snapped her fingers, regathering her two friends as the three of them walked away menacingly. "Nice meeting you!" Mabel called after her with a kind grin, though her smile grew daring as she addressed the others. "She's going down."

Dipper hesitated as he stood before the copy machine in Stan's office, the potential kinks in his plans starting to become apparent. While rounding up an army of clones seemed to be working well enough for Steven, Dipper wondered if it would be the best course of action for himself, especially since his lengthy plan didn't include anything about cloning himself. What if this all ended up backfiring on him and only failed in getting him any closer to Wendy? Or worse, what if Stan found out and he ended up getting in even more trouble? He forced himself to think past these concerns, however, hoping that, for once, everything would turn out his way. After all, if there was anyone he could trust, it was himself, right?

With a deep breath of resolve, Dipper lifted the copier head and carefully climbed up onto the scanner. Fortunately, he was just short enough for his entire body to fit onto the glass as he laid down upon it before reaching over the side to press the copy button. Another burst of anxiety ran through him as the scanner bar ran over him with its bright green flash, but he knew there was no going back, especially as the copy printed out into the tray. Dipper watched with anticipation from atop the copier as the paper slowly slipped onto the ground before it began to steadily ripple. As if on cue, the full copy of the boy began to come to life, pulling himself out of the paper and slowly, clumsily rising to stand before turning to face the original.

"Whoa... It actually worked!" Dipper whispered in awe. He offered his clone a slightly awkward smile as he jumped off the copier and stood before him. Indeed, it was like looking in a mirror, save for the fact that the copy was slightly faded in coloration, though it was hard to tell unless one was looking very closely.

"So, um..." both Dippers began in unison, though they quickly stopped short as they talked over each other. Still, they continued to do so, even if it was by accident. "Sorry, you first. No you! Stop copying me!" They let out a shared amused laugh at this, a testament to the fact that they had the exact same sense of humor.

Knowing that there needed to be some sort of method of distinction between them, the original Dipper was quick to label his clone by marking a 2 on his cap in place of where the pine tree would usually be. "I'll call you: number 2."

"Definitely not," the clone dissented as he repositioned his hat. "But you know a name I've always wanted?"

Both Dippers exchanged a knowing smile, their wavelength in perfect harmony as they both responded in unison once more. "Tyrone!"

"Okay then, Tyrone," Dipper began, deciding to bestow their coveted name onto him to make things less complicated. "Let's get down to business. I'm thinking you cover for me at the ticket stand, while I go ask Wendy to dance."

"I know the plan, buddy," Tyrone assured him, pulling the list out of his pocket as Dipper did the same. The original took a slightly nervous step away from his clone upon seeing this, realizing that there was a certain level of unexpected creepiness in this situation.

"Hey, um, we're not gonna get jealous and turn on each other like the clones in the movies do, are we?" Dipper asked with a disconcerted frown, thinking that this could be another way this plan could go awry.

"Dipper, please. This is you you're talking about," Tyrone said with a reassuring grin. "Plus, if things go downhill, you can always just disintegrate me with water!"

"Oh yeah," Dipper said with a small smile of relief, glad that there was a simple way to abort this plan if need be. "Well, Tyrone, let's get out there and do this!"

Tyrone nodded firmly as the two of them headed out to the party, taking care not to linger too close to each other, lest they cause unnecessary confusion. However, they didn't make it very far before they ran into, incidentally enough, two of the four Stevens.

"Whoa, Dipper! There are two of you!" Steven 2 exclaimed with an interested grin. "Did you find a time thingy of your own too?"

"Nope," Dipper shook his head. "I just used the copier in Stan's office. Can you believe it can make real, living copies of people?"

"Like me!" Tyrone said with a proud grin as he pointed to himself.

"Wow!" Steven 3 gasped in amazement. "And I thought the time thing was cool! We should all get together and have a giant clone party of our own! It'll be clone-tastic!"

"I wish we could, Steven, but we have a plan to carry out, right Dipper?" Tyrone said, wrapping his arm around the original's shoulder.

"We sure do," Dipper confirmed with a confident nod. "This guy's gonna help me score a dance with Wendy."

"Neat!" Steven 2 smiled. "I hope you guys do. In the meantime, we should probably find the others and get ready for our performance."

"Oh my gosh, you're right, Steven!" Steven 3 exclaimed as he began to pull his other self away. "We're on in only a half an hour! Good luck, Dippers! We're rooting for you guys!"

"Thanks!" Dipper and Tyrone called out after the Stevens as they disappeared into the crowd. The two of them exchanged a knowing nod at this juncture before separating to go to their decided roles in their shared plan. As Tyrone headed outside to man the ticket stand, Dipper anxiously approached Wendy, who was taking a break from the dance floor as she enjoyed a cup of punch near the wall.

"Great news, Wendy!" Dipper grinned as he fixed his tie. "I got someone to cover the ticket booth for me! So, I'm pretty much free for the rest of the night."

"That's awesome, man," Wendy smirked. "Now you can hang out with me and Robbie."

"W-what?!" Dipper asked in alarm as he noticed the older boy standing near Wendy, his arms crossed as he shot the boy a distasteful glower.

"Robbie, you remember Dipper from the convenience store, right?" Wendy asked Robbie, who was quick to turn his nose up in a scoff.

"Uh, no," the teen said rather crossly, quickly changing the subject as he pulled his electric guitar out. "Yo, Wendy, check out my new guitar."

"Whoa, cool!" Wendy said, clearly impressed as Robbie skillfully played a riff on his guitar. Dipper let out a horrified gasp upon seeing this, his mind already racing over how disastrous this night would be if Robbie stuck around. Even if Robbie was unintelligent, arrogant, and largely dull, Dipper knew that he didn't stand a chance against him when it came to competing for Wendy's affections. Which was why the boy knew he had no other choice; he had to get Robbie out of the way; and fast.

Fortunately though, it seemed as though Tyrone had the same exact though, as Dipper found himself getting a call from his clone only seconds later. "Hey, buddy, it's me, you," Tyrone said over the phone as he glanced into the party through the window. "I see that things aren't going exactly as we planned..."

"I don't know what to do, man," Dipper said, stepping away from Wendy and Robbie so they wouldn't overhear his conversation. "But we gotta get rid of Robbie if I ever wanna dance with Wendy!"

"Hey, Dipper!" Wendy called to the boy as her and Robbie began to walk away. "We're gonna go sit on the couch for a while. Meet us when you're done!"

"H-heh, sure thing!" Dipper said with a fake smile before he frantically addressed Tyrone again. "Oh no! They're sitting on the couch together! The couch, Tyrone! They might as well be getting married!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Dipper," Tyrone cautioned. "We just need to think of another plan; we're good at that."

"Y-yeah... you're right..." Dipper let out the nervous breath he had been holding in as he glanced around the stuffed room, until he just so happened to spot Robbie's bike propped against the nearby wall. "Wait. I think I have an idea..."

"I have the same one," Tyrone said, not even needing it explained to him. "But we're gonna need some help..."

"Ok, Stevens," Steven addressed his copies as they all sat against the wall, their instruments in hand. "We'll be on in just a while, so I think one more practice session is in order. After all, we wanna go up there and amaze everyone, right?"

"Right!" Stevens 2 and 3 agreed, though Steven 4 wasn't as convinced.

"Eh... I think we already sound great, to be honest," he said with a frown. "Why can't we go enjoy the party a little while longer?"

"Yeah!" Steven 3 quipped. "I wanna see who wins the party crown!"

"Oh, I hope its Mabel!" Steven 2 smiled, though before the others could converse about it, the original Steven cut in firmly.

"Come on, you guys!" he urged sternly. "We need to prepare for our number! Can't you all be serious for a little while?"

The other three Stevens merely gave him blank stares, leaving the original to let out a sigh of exasperation. "Maybe we need to set some ground rules first..." he muttered, hoping that would give his copies some focus. "Here's how things are gonna go: Steven 2, you're the smart one, Steven 3, you're the funny one, and Steven 4, you're the sensitive one and..." He paused dramatically as he swiftly combed his hair up into a quaff. "I'm the handsome one! Is everyone ok with that?"

"Okay!" Stevens 2 and 3 nodded in contented unison.

"Okie-dokie artichoke-y!" Steven 4 joked, though the original was anything but amused at this.

"Steven 4, what are you doing? You're not the funny one; Steven 3 is!" Steven scolded.

"Well, we are all the same person, so we're all equally prone to our own moments of hilarity," Steven 3 mused eloquently.

"No, no! That was too smart of an observation for you, 3! You're the funny one, remember?!" Steven asked, quickly growing frustrated.

"Wait, which one am I again?" Steven 2 asked, finding it hard to keep up.

"Dang it, Steven 2, you're the smart one!"

"Hey, if the original Steven is the handsome one, does that mean the rest of us aren't good looking?" Steven 4 asked with a concerned frown.

"No way! We're all extremely attractive!" Steven 3 affirmed confidently.

"Let's go get jobs as models!" Steven 2 quipped proudly.

"Stop it!" Steven exclaimed with an annoyed scowl. "None of you are the handsome one! I'm the handsome one, okay?!" He stopped short however upon noticing the hurt expressions his past selves were giving him, all of them clearly offended by his impudence.

"D-do you really mean that, Steven?" Steven 3 asked with a saddened frown.

"Of course he does!" Steven 4 said bitterly. "He hates us all!"

"Wait, no!" Steven clarified, realizing the situation was quickly falling out of his hands. "I don't—I didn't mean... We—Ugh..." He sighed in defeat as the other three Stevens glared at him coldly. "Let's take five..."

"There's a fifth Steven?!" the other three asked in unified horror.

"No!" Steven exclaimed in clear irritation. "I mean, let's take a five minute break!"

"We know!" all three Stevens laughed, aggravating the original even more. Needing to clear his head, Steven left his copies to their own devices for a while, hoping that, by the time he returned, they would finally take things seriously.

"I can't believe it!" Steven mumbled to himself disgruntledly. "I'm so... annoying! I sure hope Dipper's having a better time with his clones..."

"And that's where you come in, number 3," Dipper finished briefing his second clone as Tyrone labeled his hat with a three. Both of the first two Dippers had agreed that the best course of action was to bring in another one, who could hopefully divert Robbie away from Wendy, at least long enough for the original to ask her to dance.

"Okay, I think I get it..." Dipper 3 said, though there was hesitance in his tone. "But what if Robbie catches me? I'll be all alone!"

"Yeah... He makes a good point..." Tyrone agreed thoughtfully.

"Okay, one more," Dipper nodded, knowing that if Steven could handle three copies of himself, than so could he. "Four Dippers. This is a four Dipper plan."

The other two Dippers stood by and watched as the original pulled himself up onto the scanner again and made another copy of himself. However, the machine let out a loud, rattling shutter as it inconveniently stopped up, the paper getting stuck halfway out of the printer.

"Uh oh, paper jam," Tyrone commented as he pulled the page out of the machine. However, something was amiss as this particular copy came to life; this clone was quite deformed thanks to the wrinkled paper he had been made on, and as he pulled himself off of it, he let out a continuous, incoherent screech.

"Yikes..." Dipper frowned with slight pity as he watched the disaster that was his newest clone cling onto Tyrone for support.

"Oh, come on, you're seriously not gonna make me team up with him,are you?" Dipper 3 asked a bit callously.

"Shh! Don't be rude," Tyrone scolded before he turned to the paper jam clone, giving him a comforting pat on the back. "Hey, buddy, it's ok."

As Paper Jam Dipper continued to shriek wildly, the original Dipper realized that this clearly wouldn't work. He needed two clones who were on top of their games to drive Robbie away successfully. "Okay," he said with resolve as he went over to the copier once more. "Just one more clone."

With the party crown at stake, the party had heated up intensely, with Mabel and Pacifica competing at the center of it all. The heiress had taken the stage first, throwing passion into her performance as she dazzled the crowd with her apparent charm and talent.

"Always means forever..." Pacifica sang boldly, closing her eyes as her voice rose to an incredibly high pitch for the final note of her song. "ALWAAAAAYYYYSS!" The crowd was stunned at just how high she was capable of going as she finished her number off, winking confidently at her audience as she whispered, "Forever."

"I used to sing like that," Grenda commented to Mabel, Candy, and Connie. "Before my voice changed."

"And Pacifica pulls ahead!" Soos announced to the cheering crowd as the heiress headed offstage.

"Oh, that wasn't that impressive," Connie crossed her arms. "You can do way better than that, Mabel."

"Thanks," Mabel said with a confident grin, more than ready to tackle the challenge Pacifica presented to her.

"Aren't you nervous, Mabel?" Candy asked.

"Nope," Mabel shook her head. "Not at all. Like I said: I got this."

Pacifica smirked challengingly as she passed the mic off to Mabel, still relishing in the crowd's applause. "Try and top that!" she declared, though she didn't walk off before making another offensive dig. "Oh, and Grenda? You sound like a professional wrestler."

"I wanna put her in a headlock and make her feel PAIN!" Grenda shouted fiercely after Pacifica was out of earshot.

"It's not over 'til it's over, sisters!" Mabel reassured, grasping the mic boldly. "Watch this!" Without a moment's hesitation, she rushed onstage, grinning brightly at her awaiting audience. "Soos! Give me the 80s-ist, crowd pleasing-ist, rock battle-y-ist song you got!"

The handyman nodded as he complied, putting on a passionate, retro rock ballad, one that Mabel was more than familiar with. "Perfect," she smiled, taking in a deep breath as she sang along to the tune with gusto. "Don't stop un-believing! Never don't not feel your feelings!"

The crowd cheered wildly as they all got caught up in Mabel's clear enthusiasm, Connie, Candy, and Grenda among the loudest out of all of them. Pacifica clenched her fists tightly at her sides in anger upon seeing this, knowing that she would do whatever she had to in order to claim her crown. All the while, Mabel continued putting on a show for the crowd, spinning the mic gracefully before she shouted into it. "I'm gonna do a flip!" she exclaimed daringly, jumping as high into the air as she could before inevitably falling flat on her face. This hardly phased her however, as she lifted her head up off the stage, blowing a few stray strands of hair out of her face before calling to the audience again. "That was for YOU guys!"

As Mabel had hoped, the crowd continued to show their excitement for her performance as she continued putting her all into it. In the midst of all this, Dipper, or more correctly, one of his clones, discreetly ran up on stage, passing a message onto Soos as he continued DJing. The handyman nodded as the boy hurried off, before speaking out over the microphone. "Dudes, would the owner of a silver and red dirt bike please report outside," Soos announced. "It's being stolen right... now."

"Wait, what?!" Robbie exclaimed as he perked up from his spot beside Wendy on the couch. The teen was quick to rush over to the window to see that two unknown figures were indeed making off with his dirt bike. Of course, what he didn't know was that the culprits were both copies of Dipper, who laughed triumphantly as they rode Robbie's bike off into the woods, even as he began to give chase after them. "Hey! Come back here!" he shouted as he ran outside, giving the original Dipper plenty of time to take a seat on the couch near Wendy.

"Oh, tough break..." he said with mock sympathy as both him and Wendy watched Robbie run out. "I wonder who those two guys are who aren't me because I'm right here."

Before Wendy could make a comment, Soos spoke out over the mic once more as Mabel's performance came to a close. "Up next we have our live performance by Steven and the Stevens!" he announced, reading off the card that Steven had handed to him earlier. "But first, we're gonna bring it down for a minute. Ladies, dudes, now's the time."

A slow, rather romantic pop song began to play as the lights dimmed a little, giving way for couples to take the dance floor. "Oh snap, I love this song," Wendy smiled as she contentedly swayed her head to the music. Dipper took in a deep breath as he watched her, knowing that this was the perfect opportunity. However, before he could actually work up the nerve to ask her, Mabel happened to hurry over and interrupt him first.

"Hey, goofus! Now's your chance to ask Wen-" Dipper was quick to cut his sister off by throwing an arm over her mouth. Before Wendy could even notice, he managed to drag Mabel away from her, his patience towards her incredibly low at the moment.

"Now's your chance to ask Wendy to dance!" Mabel finished with an eager grin. "C'mon! Go!"

"Ugh, Mabel, it's not that simple," Dipper frowned, glancing back at Wendy, who he couldn't deny, looked absolutely radiant in the low light of the room. "I haven't gotten to that part of the plan yet!"

"Who cares about your silly plan, Dipper?" Mabel scoffed. "You should just do what Garnet told me to do when I was dealing with Gideon a few days ago: be honest and just go for it! Believe me, you'll be glad you did."

"But this is totally different!" Dipper clarified, not wanting to admit that he just wasn't ready. "For starters, I actually like Wendy."

"Dipper..." Mabel groaned admonishingly, giving her brother a forceful shove back towards the teen.

"Ok! Ok! If it will get you off my back, I'll do it!" he exclaimed, ignoring the thumbs-up his sister was giving him as he began to head back over to Wendy. Though he wanted to think that he had enough courage to ask her one simple question, it all quickly crumbled as the cashier happened to glance over at him and offer him a casual smile.

"Hey, man," she greeted, her tone as relaxed as ever. "What's goin' on?"

"I... I, uh... Well, I was just..." Dipper stammered nervously, knowing he was quickly floundering. His mind desperately searched for something to say to recover, especially as Wendy's smile faded into a look of concern. But eventually, he knew he had to count his losses this time and try again later. "Uh... I'll be right back!"

"Oh, I agree; you can't just go DANCE with her all willy-nilly!" Tyrone assented as him and Dipper paced around the attic, trying to brainstorm about what to do next.

"The dancefloor is a minefield," Dipper said, his tone serious and slightly panicked. "A MINEFIELD, Tyrone! Literally anything could go wrong!"

"What if there's a glitch in the sound system?" Tyrone asked, putting forth a hypothetical situation.

"Stan might get in the way," Dipper suggested, hoping that the con man hadn't already discovered he had abandoned his post at the ticket table.

"Robbie might come back," Tyrone added objectively.

"There are just too many variables," Dipper concluded. "We need help."

"And lots of it," Tyrone agreed, already leading the way down to the office.

In almost no time at all, eight more copies of Dipper came to be, flying off of the copier at a rapid, successive pace. Fortunately, all of them had the exact same mindset, which was, of course, to help the original finally ask Wendy to dance. With more Dippers, their already complicated plan only became more lengthy and complex, but all of them agreed that would certainly help instead of hinder them. At the end of their quick, yet productive planning session, each Dipper had been assigned a concrete roll, and all of them were ready to execute their mission, as though they were all parts of a well-oiled machine. Certainly, with so many Dippers all working together, things would go off without a hitch. Right?

"I just don't know what to do, Connie!" Steven exclaimed after he finished confiding his clone troubles to the girl. "No matter what I do, they just won't listen! They're so stubborn!"

"Well, they are you, Steven," Connie laughed knowingly. "And you can be a little stubborn sometimes."

"Yeah, but not like that! Why won't they do what I say!?"

"Maybe you were a little hard on them," Connie suggested as her and Steven grabbed a few cookies from the snack table. "I mean, I can't imagine establishing authority to be easy when you're trying to reign in different versions of yourself."

"I know..." Steven sighed in frustration. "But they should listen to me! I was the first one! I've been around the longest!"

"They might not see it like that," Connie said rationally. "Maybe they think they're equal with you, which, I gotta admit, they kind of are."

"You're right..." the young Gem said with a remorseful frown, suddenly regretting his past behavior. "The more I think about it, the more this seemed like a bad idea after all. I guess it's time for me to quit the music business..."

"Don't be so torn up about it, Steven," Connie encouraged as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you can still put on a great solo!"

"I guess..." Steven said, even if he wasn't as easily consoled. "Well... I might as well go tell the others that the gig is up. Where are they anyway?"

As if in response to his question, an ear-splitting noise resounded from right outside the shack, breaking through even the din of the party. Steven and Connie exchanged a confused glance before they hurried outside, finding the trio of Stevens practicing their act on the other side of the shack. However, instead of the light, upbeat song they had written together earlier, the Stevens had apparently composed a new tune, a hard, metallic rock song, one that was far from pleasant to the ears.

"Steven's a big fat meanie!" Steven 3 practically screamed into the mic, bereft of melody or even rhythm, as the other two jammed out on their instruments. "A big fat meanie zucchini! Let's chop it up! Chop-chop-chop it up! And serve it with linguini!"

Both Steven and Connie covered their ears upon hearing this terrible racket, but before the young Gem could put a stop to it, someone else did instead. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" Stan yelled over the clamor as he emerged from the shack. "What's with all this noise?! It's interrupting my party!"

"Yeah!" Steven agreed as he took a step forward, angrily glaring at his counterparts. "I thought we all agreed that Steven and the Stevens was going to be a light-hearted throwback to early rock and roll, not this mess of screaming into distortion!"

"Wait..." Stan interrupted, his eyes widening as he realized there was more than one of the young Gem. "There are four of you now, kid? As if one wasn't enough of an annoyance..."

"Yeah, there are four of us, Mr. Pines!" Steven 4 proclaimed pointedly. "But only three of us are going to be preforming tonight!"

"What?!" the original Steven asked in dismay.

"Wait, what happened to Greg?" Stan asked, crossing his arms as he looked between the quartet of young Gems. "Did he find out you were actually a set of quadruplets and bail?"

"He couldn't come because there was a problem at the car wash," Steven quickly explained. "And I thought I could make an even better band out of my past selves, but clearly, I was wrong."

"You sure were wrong!" Steven 3 shouted bitterly. "Especially about you being the handsome one!

"Yeesh," Stan rolled his eyes, not wanting to be in the middle of such a strange conflict. "Listen, I don't care how many of you there are, the folks in there are still expecting some live entertainment. So you all better sort things out and fast, or else I have to resort to letting Soos beatbox, which I'd really rather not."

With nothing else to say on the matter, the conman returned inside, leaving the Stevens to have it out as Connie stood by, watching the confrontation anxiously. "What do you guys think you're doing?!" Steven asked rather harshly, forgetting Connie's advice to be patient with them.

"Look, Steven," Steven 2 began calmly. "Steven and I were talking, and Steven agrees. Your attitude... just wasn't working for us."

"We've been a lot more productive without you," Steven 3 said pointedly.

"We already wrote an angsty song about that time you made us feel bad for not being handsome," Steven 4 informed scornfully.

"So you're kicking me out of the band?!" Steven asked in disbelief. "Wait... who's playing drums?"

"Amethyst said she'd do it."

"Yooooo, Steven," the purple Gem greeted with a playful smirk from her spot at the drums.

"Really, Amethyst?" Steven asked with a distressed frown. "Wait, what are you even doing here?

"Well, at first I just snuck down here to get some free snacks," Amethyst said as she twirled her drum stick in her hand. "But then these three jokers asked me if I could drum for them, so I said sure. I'm down for whatever."

"Oh, come on!" Steven exclaimed in exasperation, realizing that enough was enough. "Listen up! You can't kick me out of the band! I'm the original Steven! I created you! Steven and the Stevens was my idea!"

"Um... Steven?" Connie cut in, clearly concerned, but Steven ignored her as he continued his rant.

"So either you all shape up and get smart, or... or you can all just leave!"

A beat of prolonged, uncomfortable silence followed in the wake of this harsh demand, all of the Stevens staring at the original with offended shock. Amethyst was the one who actually ended up speaking first, even if it was just a simple comment spoken under her breath. "Whoa, dude..."

Steven 2 spoke up next, a look of tranquil rage on his face as he spoke strangely calmly. "Ok. We'll go... But if we do, then you won't have a band at all."

"I know," Steven said succinctly. "And I'm fine with that if it means I don't have to deal with you guys."

"Well, good!" Steven 3 shouted, as him and the others set their instruments down. "Because we didn't want to deal with you either, right Steven?"

"Right!" the other two Stevens agreed crossly as the trio headed off, not even bothering to say goodbye. The original let out a sigh of relief as he watched them go, even if he couldn't deny that he felt the slightest bit bad for how poorly he had treated them.

"Man, Steven..." Amethyst said as she left her place at the drums to stand alongside the young Gem. "I didn't know you could be so harsh... Well, anyway, I'm gonna go inside and raid the snack table again. Catch ya later!"

"Are you ok, Steven?" Connie asked worriedly as she placed her hand on the young Gem's shoulder.

"Yeah..." Steven sighed tiredly. "I just wish things hadn't gone downhill like that... We made a pretty good band when we actually got along... But at least they're all going back to the past. And I'll never have to deal with myself again!"

"Sure, Steven," Connie laughed in amusement as the two of them returned to the party, hoping to enjoy the rest of the evening in peace. Of course, neither of them knew about the three figures still roaming about in the woods around the shack, plotting and planning amongst themselves.

In contrast with the bitter conflict between Steven and his copies, things were running quite smoothly for Dipper and his clones. All of them were at their stationed posts, preforming their assigned roles perfectly. Soos had been aptly distracted by one Dipper as another one took over his spot at the DJ table, making sure that the perfect set of music was playing. Another Dipper had taken on the task of diverting Stan's attention, namely through the use of money, while two more had taken on guard duty to keep a steady watch out for Robbie. Once everything was in order, yet another rang the bell from the hall, which sounded down to the attic, where the original Dipper and Tyrone were waiting.

"There's your cue," Tyrone said. "Everything's all set up. Now's the perfect moment to ask Wendy to dance. Good luck, me!"

"I don't need luck," Dipper smirked confidently, more than assured that things would finally work out this time. "I have a plan." With one final resolute nod, the original sauntered down the stairs, only to stop short as he rounded the corner into the hall to see none other than Wendy herself leaning against the wall.

"Oh hey, Dipper," the teen greeted with an easy smile. "What's up?"

"W-what are you doing here?!" Dipper asked, his eyes wide with panic. He was quick to catch himself though, knowing that he couldn't afford to freak out in front of her again. "I... I mean, wouldn't you rather be out on the dance floor in, uh, like exactly 42 seconds?"

"I'm just waiting for the bathroom," Wendy said, her smile fading a bit as she nodded to the door next to her.

"O-oh, um, ok..." Dipper said, his voice tight and anxious. He broke out into a cold sweat as he quickly turned away from her, pouring over his list once more for answers. "Small talk. Make small talk!"

"So, hey," Wendy spoke up, apparently launching into small talk first. "Let's say everyone at this party gets stuck on a deserted island. Who do you think the leader would be?"

Dipper was too dumbstruck to offer an immediate response as he stared blankly at her, desperately trying to think of something to say. Fortunately though, Wendy continued regardless. "I think I'd go with this lunatic," she pointed out a short, sweaty man out on the dance floor, who was hopping about to the beat rather aggressively.

Dipper found himself joining in on Wendy's bout of laughter, and in light of this, he also found some of his nervousness fading. He took another tentative look at his list, before deciding that, perhaps, he didn't need it after all. "I'd probably go with stretch over there," he said, motioning to a very tall man doing the moonwalk. "Because, uh, tall people can reach coconuts?"

"Speaking of tall, wanna see something crazy?" Wendy asked as she finished around in her pocket for a moment before pulling out an old photo. "Those are my brothers," she said, referring to the three young boys in the picture. "And I'm... boooooop." Her smirk widened as she removed her thumb away from the picture, revealing a younger version of herself, who was quite gangly and easily towered over her brothers.

Dipper couldn't hold back an amused laugh upon seeing this. "Ha! You were a freak!" he exclaimed, though he hurriedly covered his mouth as soon as he said it.

"Yep," Wendy admitted with a chuckle. "Guess I finally grew into my height though. At least puberty's good for something."

"You know, kids used to make fun of my birthmark before I started hiding all of the time," Dipper admitted with a small smile, though he quickly regretted even bringing it up, especially as it peaked Wendy's interest.

"Birthmark?" she asked, raising a curious eyebrow. "What birthmark?"

"Uh, no!" Dipper exclaimed, his face lighting up in bright red embarrassment. "It's nothing! Nothing at all!"

"No way, dude," Wendy grinned, clearly not buying him trying to pass it off. "Now you have to show me. Show me! Show me!"

The teen continued eagerly chanting this until Dipper finally relented, hoping that she wouldn't laugh too much. Taking in a deep breath, he hesitantly took his hat off and slowly pushed his bangs up to reveal a series of interconnected marks on his forehead, which just so happened to be arranged into a clear, familiar shape.

"The Big Dipper!" Wendy gasped in realization as she recognized the outline of the famous constellation. "So that's how you got your nickname! I thought your parents just hated you or something."

"Yeah, well..." Dipper said with a small, bashful grin as he put his hat back on. "Mabel's the one who came up with the nickname when we were really little. It's just sorta stuck with me ever since."

"Well, hey, I guess this means we're both freaks," Wendy smiled broadly, clearly showing no shame in that fact. Relief filled Dipper as he shared a warm laugh with her, glad to know that, not only did they have something in common, but they were able to bond through that. For perhaps the first time ever, he was actually glad to have such a unique birthmark instead of resenting it as he had always done.

Before their conversation could continue, however, the bathroom became available as a very irritated Pacifica Northwest stormed out of it and returned to the party. "I'll be right back," Wendy said to Dipper as she turned to head in. "Wait here for me?"

"Of course," Dipper nodded, more than happy to wait for her as long as he had to. After all, despite his earlier dread and worries, he had actually managed to uphold a proper, genuine conversation with Wendy, that didn't end with him running off or making a complete fool out of himself. If he could just keep this up, then certainly, he would earn a dance with her before the evening was through.

"Hey!" Dipper's contented train of thought was suddenly broken as he turned to see nearly every one of his clones gathered behind him, none of them looking very happy with him as Tyrone spoke up. "What are you doing up here? Number 10 has been distracting Soos for fifteen minutes with a laser pointer! He's gonna get tired of chasing that dot eventually."

"You won't believe it, guys!" Dipper said with a wide smile, even as his clones continued to glare at him. "I bumped into Wendy on accident and things are actually going great!"

"That's nice and all, but not the plan," Tyrone said, clearly not amused. "Do we have to remind you?"

In eerie unison, the other Dippers all pulled their lists out, each of them reading a different step over each other as the original watched in slight discomfort. "Oh man, you guys sound crazy," Dipper frowned, taking a cautious step away from his perturbed clones. "Look, maybe... maybe we don't need the plan anymore, you know? Maybe I could just talk to her like a normal person, open and honestly."

The other clones gasped together in shock, as if this was the most outlandish idea they had ever heard. "You bite your tongue!" Dipper 7 scolded in offense.

"Don't you know anything?" Dipper 9 asked crossly. "Things are never gonna work out without the plan!"

"And if you're not gonna stick to the plan, then maybe you shouldn't be the Dipper to dance with Wendy," Dipper 5 mused coldly as the others all consensually agreed amongst themselves.

"Oh you guys, come on," the original Dipper scoffed, even though he knew things were quickly going downhill fast. "We said we weren't gonna turn on each other, remember?"

"I think we all knew we were lying..." Tyrone said, his tone and expression both rather dark and unsettling. Dipper backed away from his clones once more as they all began to steadily approach him together, knowing that there was a good chance that things were about to get ugly.

"Uh, well... i-it's been great, you guys..." Dipper said with an awkward laugh as he took a glance behind him to make sure his path was clear. "But... I gotta go! Bye!" Without another word, he turned on his heel and took off in the other direction into the party in the hopes that he could shake his obsessed clones, even as they all immediately gave chase.

Steven let out a pensive sigh as he trudged his way through the crowded party, quite ashamed of the fact that he now had to inform Stan that he would be playing what would most likely be a very sub-par solo in just a few minutes. He couldn't deny that he wished that things had turned out better with his past counterparts, but it was too late for such regrets now. At least he could take solace in the fact that all of the Stevens were back in their own continuities now, giving him three less things to worry about. Or so he had thought.

"Hey, Steven!" The young Gem stopped in his tracks and spun around in shock as he heard his own voice call him out challengingly. Steven let out a gasp as he saw the trio of Stevens standing behind him, all of them looking quite angry and disgruntled as they glared bitterly at him.

"O-oh, Stevens!" the original exclaimed somewhat nervously. "What are you all doing here? I thought you all went back in time!"

"We did," Steven 3 said vaguely, casually tossing his hourglass up and down in his hand. "And we managed to round up a few... friends..."

Steven gasped in shock as he watched even more Stevens step out from behind the original trio, each one apparently having gathered two more young Gems of their own to make up a grand total of nine Stevens. The original Steven stepped away from the incensed group fearfully, knowing that he would never be able to take them all on alone, especially as angry as they all were with him.

"Since we couldn't keep the original band together, we all decided to go back and start Steven bands of our own," Steven 4 explained with a mischievous smirk.

"Yeah! And we're all gonna play the party together!" one of the countless other Stevens spoke up. "Without you."

"Are you guys nuts?!" the original Steven asked in disbelief at this ridiculous scheme. "Do I need to remind you all that without me, there'd be no band!? You all would be nothing without me!"

"Actually, I think it's the other way around..." Steven 2 remarked, taking a bold step forward. "Sorry Steven, but your nothing without us."

Acting quickly, the original Steven only narrowly managed to leap out of the way as three of his copies lunged for him. "Get him!" Steven 3 ordered, the others all hurrying to comply. Knowing there wasn't a moment to waste, Steven scrambled to his feet and bounded away from the angry mob of copies. He was admittedly surprised at how violent they were being, though he supposed it was somewhat understandable, considering how condescendingly he had treated them earlier. But all the same, he wasn't about to be done in by himself, especially in such a literal way.

Steven was hardly paying attention to where he was going as he barreled through the crowds of party goers, which was why he was unable to stop before he accidently ran right into Dipper, who was, coincidentally enough, also fleeing from his own angry clones. Both boys bounced off each other roughly as they landed on the floor adjacent to each other, though they didn't stay down for too long, lest their copies catch up with them. "Steven, what-" Dipper began, though Steven was quick to cut him off.

"Shh! They'll see us!" the young Gem whispered tensely as he tightly grabbed the boy's wrist and began to pull him away. "Follow me!"

"Wait, who will see us?" Dipper asked, checking over his shoulder to see that they had fortunately lost his clones as they emerged into the hallway.

"Me!" Steven exclaimed in a panic. "Well... not me me, but the other me's! Our band broke up and now they've all gone mad with power lust!"

"Your clones too?" Dipper asked in surprise as the two of them stopped to catch their breath. "Mine all flipped out just because I didn't wanna follow the stupid plan we all came up with! They're completely obsessed!"

"Well, we can't stay here for too long," Steven said between fatigued breaths. "We gotta think of a way to stop all of our clones, before they-"

"Too late!"

A fearful gasp escaped both Dipper and Steven as they spun around to see that both groups of clones had managed to trail them and catch up with them. "Oh, hi, Dippers!" the various Stevens perked up, grinning amicably as they noticed the boy's clones standing alongside them.

"Hey, Stevens!" the group of Dippers greeted, all of them sharing friendly grins that quickly faded as they turned to the originals.

"Do you guys mind helping us out here?" Tyrone asked the Stevens. "We're trying to get a dance with Wendy, but we need to get him out of the way first," he said, nodding to the original Dipper.

"Sure!" Steven 2 said eagerly. "But only if you guys help us with him-" he pointed to the first Steven. "-so we can jam out without freely, the way we us Stevens were always meant to!"

"Okay!" the Dippers agreed, boldly turning to face the originals as the Stevens did the same, their alliance solidified. Both Steven and Dipper knew they were no match for the combined forces of their respective clones, especially since both groups were equal in number and intentions.

Much to their shared distress, Dipper and Steven found that they were backed into a corner as their copies and clones pressed them, their united efforts easily overwhelming them both. A multitude of various hands from both groups latched onto them, and despite their struggling, both boys found themselves being shoved into the nearby supplies closet before they could escape again.

"Wait!" Steven and Dipper cried in unison as they rushed forward, only to have the closet door slammed in their faces. The two of them exchanged a brief, worried glance, before Dipper happened to come up with a makeshift plan that could possibly get them out of this.

"Ahh! We can't breathe!" he called out to the clones outside, his tone rather unconvincing.

"Yes, you can!" Tyrone responded from the other side of the door, clearly not tricked.

"We even put some snacks and a coloring book in there for you so you guys won't get bored!" Steven 2 called cheerfully. "Have fun!"

Dipper let out a defeated sigh as he promptly took a seat and opened the pack of cheese and crackers the clones had left for them, sharing them with Steven, who remained standing as he stood near the door in frustration. "I can't believe we let them trap us in here!" the young Gem exclaimed, resting his head against the door in exasperation.

"I can't believe they all teamed up so easily, no questions asked," Dipper remarked caustically.

"Well, I guess it does make sense," Steven shrugged. "After all, none of them have any reason to be mad at each other like they do for us."

"Wait a second..." Dipper sat up, his eyes widening as he realized something important, something that could very well help them win the day yet. "Steven, that's it!"

"Thanks for the help, Dippers!" Steven 2 grinned as he shook Tyrone's hand in celebration.

"No, no, Stevens; thank you," Tyrone said with a casual nod before he turned to address the other Dipper clones. "Okay, so now that the original Dipper, or 'Dipper Classic' is no longer fit for it, I nominate myself to dance with Wendy instead. I've been around the longest, so it should be me, right?"

"Oh, you know, he makes a good point, you guys," Steven 2 said to the other Stevens. "That's why I think I should be the leader of our brand-new Steven ensemble! I think you'll find that, unlike our previous leader, I'm firm, but fair."

The other Stevens muttered amongst themselves as they considered this idea, while the Dippers continued discussing who their respective leader would be. "You make a fair point," Dipper 10 said to Tyrone. "But... I have a counterpoint; maybe I should get to dance with Wendy since I've been around her the least!"

"That makes, like, zero sense," Dipper 5 remarked, crossing his arms.

"YOU make zero sense!" Dipper 10 retorted crossly, giving number 5 a rough shove into Dipper 6.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"Don't shove people!"

"I wouldn't have to if it wasn't for-"

Dipper 5 was abruptly cut off by the sudden, incoherent screeches of Paper Jam Dipper, who had somehow managed to lumber down from the attic. As Tyrone went to quiet the disfigured clone down, the Stevens watched on as the other Dippers continued to quietly argue amongst themselves.

"Yeesh," Steven 2 frowned as he turned back to the others. "It's good to know we all get along here, right guys?"

The others were hesitant to agree, especially as Steven 8 spoke up. "Um... Steven? We're not so sure you should be in charge... Or anyone else for that matter."

"What?!"

"Well, trying to pick out a leader was what caused all this trouble in the first place," Steven 5 pointed out. "Maybe we should all be the leader!"

The other Stevens all assented over this plan, even as Steven 2 shot them a cross glare. "Of course, even though we're all in charge, one of us should be the most in charge," Steven 9 stated with a sly smile. "And that should be me!"

"What? No way! It should be me!" Steven 7 argued.

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"ME!"

"Hey, you guys!" Tyrone cut through both sets of clones squabbles, a sudden realization occurring to him as he turned away from the jammed clone. "I just thought of something. If you were trapped in a closet, what would you do?"

"Break out," all of the Steven and Dipper clones answered in unison, as though it was obvious. Of course, this prompted all of them to turn towards the closet, only to find that it was empty, the door swung wide open.

"I told you we should have locked it," Steven 2 said to Tyrone, who could only face palm at this turn of events.

"Hurry! We have to find them before they get back to the party!"

The others all nodded as they began to fan out through the hall, keeping a close eye out for the originals. "Gee, I wonder where they could be..." one of the Dippers mused to Steven 6 inconspicuously.

"I dunno," Steven 6 said, his manner serious. "But keep a look out. They could be anywhere..."

"Yeah..." Dipper said, surprising a sly smirk. "Oh, by the way, Steven... I was wondering if I could see that hourglass thing of yours. I've been dying to get a closer look ever since you guys told us about it earlier."

"Oh, sure, Dipper," Steven 6 said with an amicable grin as he pulled the hourglass out of his pocket. "But be careful with it, ok?"

"Whatever you say, man," Dipper nodded as he took the small sphere in his hands before quickly spinning around. "Steven, now!"

"Huh?!" all of the Steven's exclaimed, though only one of them really understood.

"Hey, Dipper!" Steven tapped the shoulder of the Dipper closest to him, which just so happened to be number 7. He turned around, but before he could respond, the young Gem was quick to throw the cup of punch he had scavenged at the clone. "I'm sorry!"

As all of the copies turned to watch as the Dipper clone disintegrated on contact with the punch, the original took advantage of the moment and threw the hourglass he had claimed from Steven 6 down onto the ground. The sphere shattered into countless pieces, and as it did so, the Steven who had once wielded it let out a panicked scream before quickly dissipating into a sand-like substance. Chaos exploded among the clones as the lost two of their collective number, all of them easily singling out the originals who had managed to blend into the group.

"There they are!" Dipper 10 declared, pointing to the originals, who were more than ready to fight back.

"Get them!" Steven 4 demanded as the clones rushed forward, not sparing any brutality. Though they were grossly outnumbered, Steven and Dipper held their ground, fighting back with the same weak slaps and punches their clones were throwing out. Despite the fact that they didn't have any more punch or water to use against the Dipper clones, they did their best to try and snatch away the hourglasses from the Steven copies, knowing that would make them disappear back to their own continuities. They weren't all too successful with this, however, as Steven was only able to rip the hourglass away from Steven 9, only for it to be immediately reclaimed by Tyrone, who quickly handed it back to its rightful owner.

"Come on, you guys," the second Dipper clones said as he pinned the original down. Likewise, Stevens 3 and 5 kept the first Steven pressed against the wall, immobile. "Just give up already. You're overpowered.

"Maybe," Dipper said with a resilient glare. "But think about it. All of us Dippers are equals mentally and physically-"

"And all of us Stevens are equal mentally and physically!" Steven added, even as his copies pushed him harder against the wall.

"And if we fight like this, then it will just go on for infinity and none of us will win," Dipper finished, hoping that he could get them all to see reason.

Both sets of clones paused upon hearing this, none of them able to deny that he did have a point as they agreed amongst themselves. Of course, Dipper and Steven took their opportunity as the young Gem broke free from his copies' tight hold on them, managing to snag Steven 3's hourglass away in the process. As he stomped it under his foot, both the third Steven, as well as the seventh and eight Stevens, all instantly collapsed into dust, giving the original an exciting realization about how to get rid of the rest of his copies.

Meanwhile, Dipper managed to repel Tyrone with a rather harsh left hook, slipping out from under him as he recovered. He wasn't sure where he was going to find enough water to melt the rest of his clones on such a short notice, but he could only hope that he could think of something. After all, he wouldn't be able to hold them back forever.

Confusion spread throughout both groups of clones as they all began to fight each other, hoping that they would single out the originals some way or another. Order was completely left by the wayside as the various copies of both Steven and Dipper began skirmishing indiscriminately, throwing punches, pulling hair, and shoving each other about. In the tumult, several of the Stevens ended up meeting their ends as their hourglasses were accidentally broken, leaving less than half of them behind. Of course, as they were all caught up battling each other, none of them noticed the originals crawling through the quarreling crowd and start to escape. That is, until one of the Stevens happened to spot them.

"Hey! They're getting away!"

The clones were quick to stop their senseless fighting as they regrouped and opposed their sources together. Dipper and Steven were only able to round the corner before they found themselves trapped once more, between a wall and the disgruntled clone army, all of them more than ready to finally end this struggle.

"S-stay back!" Dipper warned the collective group nervously as him and Steven pressed against the wall. They clearly had nowhere to go and nothing to get them out of this tight spot, but as a last-ditch effort, Dipper hurriedly pulled the party popper he had in his pocket from earlier out, aiming at the clones, who clearly weren't intimidated by it.

"What's that supposed to do?" Steven asked in distress, knowing that water or a hammer would be much better weapons against their crazed clones.

"Help, hopefully," Dipper shrugged, clearly just as panicked as he fired the party popper off. The clones all simply laughed at this poor effort of warding them off, though none of them noticed the thin stream of smoke that rose up from the weak explosive. As the smoke reached the sprinklers on the ceiling, water immediately began to pour from them in a heavy shower, something that both Steven and Dipper considered to be nothing less than a miracle. The remaining Stevens gasped in surprised horror as they watched the Dipper clones begin to melt as the water rained down upon them from above. In the midst of this chaos, Steven charged forward and tackled Steven 4, stealing his hourglass away just in the nick of time. As he had hoped, Stevens 4, 9, and 10 disappeared entirely as he smashed the sphere, leaving him with just one more Steven to get rid of. Dipper helped him out with this, however, jumping on Steven 5 and, after a brief struggle, managing to claim the hourglass and crush it under his shoe.

Both boys let out sighs of exasperated relief as the sprinklers stopped, leaving nothing more than the watery, dusty remains of their clones in their wake. "Huh... how about that," Dipper remarked with a relieved smile, glad to be rid of his unhinged copies.

"I guess there really is no better way to get rid of yourself," Steven said with a small laugh.

"Stop right there!"

Despite the fact that Steven and Dipper were certain they had gotten rid of their clones in one fell swoop, they had apparently forgotten about two of them, namely Tyrone and Steven 2. The copies stood together in offense against their originals, both of them clearly seeking revenge.

"Uh oh..." Steven and Dipper said in worried unison, both of them already dreading the do-doubt violent confrontation that was about to take place.

A testament to her enduring energy, Mabel's bright smile never faded as she did her best to win the crowds over, something that was clearly working. Dancing the worm had been a huge crowd-pleaser, and she could tell every time she glanced in Pacifica's direction that the rich girl was far from amused.

"Ok, one more song dudes!" Soos announced as Mabel took a break. "And then its time for the bestowing of the party crown! It's gonna be the-" He paused as he hit a key on his keyboard, an explosion sound blasting over the speakers. "Nailed it."

With an amiable smile, Mabel approached Pacifica after exchanging confident grins with Connie, Candy, and Grenda. Despite the fact that she wanted to beat the heiress as payback for insulting her friends, Mabel still wanted to be a good sport about things, even if Pacifica had no intentions of doing the same. "Pacifica, I just wanna say that, whoever wins, it's been a super fun party."

Pacifica ignored her show of kindness as she let out a snide sneer, her hands placed on her hips as she gave Mabel a condescending look. "Aw, it thinks it's gonna win," she patronized coldly. "Hey, did you hear that? People clapping for the weird girls? Yeah, me neither."

Mabel's bright smile vanished as Pacifica let out a haughty laugh as she sauntered off. Candy, Grenda, and Connie were quick to rush over to her and comfort her, even if Mabel wasn't really that hurt by her disparaging comments.

"Ok, that's it," Connie said rigidly, fed up with the heiress's rotten behavior. "Mabel, you have to win. If only so we can see that smug grin of her's disappear."

"Wow, Connie, I didn't know you could be so... hostile," Mabel said with a somewhat nervous smile. "It's kinda scary honestly."

"Well, what can I say?" Connie replied, crossing her arms as she sent a glare Pacifica's way. "Steven's not the only one who's feeling feistier than usual tonight."

Clearly, both Tyrone and Steven 2 were much more tactile and tougher than the other, now-disappeared clones as Dipper and Steven found themselves having a hard time contending with them. As the pair of Dippers tussled on the floor, the two Stevens grappled for each other's hourglasses, even if neither of them were getting very far.

"Give me your time thing, Steven!" Steven 2 shouted angrily, trying to reach into his counterpart's pocket to steal it.

"No!" Steven retorted defiantly. "Why do you need both of them so badly anyway?!"

"Just hurry up and give it to me!" the second Steven griped, even as the original shoved him away.

At the same time, both Dippers were essentially slapping each other senseless, trying to wear each other down as much as they could so that would of them could emerge victorious in the end. Despite the fact that they were an equal match, however, Tyrone was clearly inching ahead as he had a momentary advantage over the original. "Say it!" he demanded fiercely. "Say I can dance with Wendy!"

"Never!" Dipper exclaimed resiliently, not about to let that coveted dance slip through his fingers again. Though their scuffle could have continued indefinitely, it soon came to a grinding halt, however, as both Dippers caught onto the sound of a familiar laugh coming from the dance floor.

"Wendy?" they both asked in confused unison as they let go of each other and hurried to the doorway, only to see something that made their hearts simultaneously sink. Much to their shared despair, Robbie had returned, and had easily garnished the cashier's attention as the two of them conversed and laughed together. Both Dippers couldn't help but feel the same bitterness upon seeing this, knowing that one of them easily could have been out there with Wendy instead, if they hadn't been so caught up with their petty battle instead.

As the Dippers witnessed this disheartening sight, Steven at last gained the upper hand over his counterpart, pinning him down and snatching his hourglass away with little effort. Fear flashed across Steven 2's face as he looked up at the original, knowing that his end was near. Yet it was only as Steven held up the final hourglass and caught sight of his frightened copy's expression that clarity, as well as heavy guilt struck him. "This... this isn't right..." he said quietly as he lowered the hourglass. Steven 2 frowned in confusion, but listened as the original continued. "When Steven fights Steven, who really wins? What have we become?" Steven 2 was silent as he glanced to the side, clearly ashamed of his own previous, antagonizing behavior. "We are not the Stevens we once were. But I plan on fixing that right now."

Steven 2 shut his eyes tightly, anticipating that Steven intended on shattering the hourglass. However, instead he extended his hand out in offering, an apologetic smile on his face as he helped his surprised copy up off the ground. "Steven, I'm sorry... I got really carried away... But I think this belongs to you."

The second Steven smiled softly as he accepted the hourglass Steven was holding out to him. "It's ok, Steven. And I'm sorry too. Especially about the whole, you know, trying to kill you part..."

"Well, it looks like we all blew it tonight," Dipper said pensively as him and Tyrone joined the two Stevens. The four of them shared a tired, somewhat sad sigh as they all sat together against the wall, silence falling over them for a moment or two before Tyrone offered a suggestion.

"I dunno... You guys wanna go grab a couple of sodas or something?"

"Sure," Steven shrugged as Steven 2 nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, why not," Dipper said, casting one last longing glance at the party, knowing that all of his careful planning and worrying had been for not in the end. "It's not like we're gonna be doing any dancing tonight anyway..."

The party had just about reached its end, which meant the ongoing competition was also coming to a conclusion. Mabel and Pacifica stood alongside each other on the stage as the audience waited in rapt attention to see who would emerge the victor. "Let the party crown voting commence!" Soos called as he played a bell sound on his keyboard.

"Good luck, Mabel," Pacifica remarked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're gonna need it."

"Thanks, Pacifica!" Mabel quipped blissfully. "Good luck to you too!"

The heiress simply rolled her eyes as Soos relayed the instructions to the audience. "Applaud to vote for Mabel!"

As the girl had hoped, the crowd went absolutely wild for her. Candy, Grenda, and Connie all howled their support from the front row, and even Stan stopped to clap loudly for his niece. "Let's check the applause meter," Soos said as the audience continued to cheer. The handyman raised his hand up, smiling as he gave the girl a confident not. "Oh, very good!"

Mabel smiled broadly, bouncing up and down on her toes in excitement over how well things were going so far. "And now, for Pacifica!" Soos called, and, compared to how they had clapped for Mabel, the audience was clearly much less enthusiastic about the heiress. Refusing to accept defeat, Pacifica shot the audience members a burning glare, her wealth and authority proving enough to get them to hesitantly support her louder.

"Uh oh, a tie," Soos said as both of his hands raised to the same level. "This has, like, never happened before."

Knowing that she was quickly losing ground, Pacifica glanced around the room before coming up with a quick plan that would ensure her victory. Before the crowd could simmer down, the heiress rushed over to the benches, pulling a dollar out of her pocket and waving it in front of Old Man McGucket, who lay sprawled sleeping over the chairs. The old man instantly awakened at the scent of nearby cash, and he was more than happy to let out a rowdy, wild cheer as he took the dollar, even if he had no idea what he was clapping for.

Soos frowned as he raised his hand up for Pacifica just a bit higher than Mabel's. "Ladies and gentlemen, we... we have a winner..." the handyman said reluctantly, giving Mabel an apologetic look as he continued. "The winner of the contest is... Pacifica Northwest."

Unsurprisingly, there was little fanfare as Pacifica greedily claimed the party crown as her own, smirking triumphantly as she positioned it on her hand. "No fair!" Connie exclaimed to Candy and Grenda, clearly incensed. "She cheated! Mabel should have won, fair and square!"

"That is just how it goes for popular girls..." Candy mused in disappointment.

"They always win!" Grenda growled bitterly, cracking her girthy knuckles angrily.

"Thank you, Jorge!" Pacifica said to Soos, not even caring that she had gotten his name wrong. "Thank you, everyone! You all are invited to the after-party on my parent's yacht! Let's go!"

Despite the fact that few people in the audience had wanted Pacifica to win, none of them were about to miss out on a much fancier party. The crowd chanted the heiress's name happily as they carried her off and out of the shack, leaving the dance floor largely empty in their wake.

"Ugh, I still can't believe she beat you, Mabel," Connie said, still somewhat aggravated. "For what it's worth, you totally deserved to win. You were awesome out there!"

"Thanks, Connie," Mabel grinned warmly. "But you can't win them all, I guess,"

"Well, it's getting pretty late..." Connie frowned down at her watch. "My parents will be expecting me home soon, so I better go find Steven before I go and make sure he's alright. Candy, Grenda, it was great meeting. I'll see you all later!"

"Bye, Connie!" Mabel called as Connie left, Candy and Grenda waving their farewells. "I'm sorry I let you guys down," the girl said as she turned to her new friends, the slightest hint of remorse in her tone. "I understand if you wanna leave."

"But then we will miss the sleepover," Candy said, a small smile appearing on her face.

"The what?"

"We want to call our moms and see if we can have a sleepover with you," Grenda explained. "You're like, a total rockstar!"

"I have magazine boys!" Candy grinned as she pulled out several teen magazines out of her backpack for Mabel to see.

"And I have nail polish!" Grenda exclaimed, taking out several bottles of polish she had stored in her pockets.

"Oh... you guys!" Mabel gushed in absolute delight.

"Maybe we don't have as many friends as Pacifica," Candy began as she adjusted her glasses. "But we have each other, and that is pretty good, I think."

"It's not just good," Mabel affirmed as she drew her new friends into a tight hug. "It's the best. Soos! Play another song! This thing's going all night!"

"Way ahead of you, hambone!" Soos grinned, already setting another track up.

"This is it!" Mabel proclaimed excitedly, already taking the dance floor as Candy and Grenda joined her, cheering her on all the while. Even if she hadn't won the competition, Mabel knew that she had won something far better: not one, but two budding friendships.

The last two remaining Stevens and final two Dippers had taken to the roof for a while, all of them needing to calm their nerves and blow off some steam after everything that had happened. They all sat in silence for a while as they enjoyed their sodas, watching the glowing stars high ahead in the peaceful, summer night's sky.

"Some night, huh?" Tyrone asked, exhaustion clear in his tone.

"You said it," Steven 2 agreed as the others nodded.

"I still can't believe things got so crazy back there," Steven frowned. "But I guess we all learned some important things tonight. For example, I learned that I'm really bossy..."

"Eh, maybe..." Steven 2 shrugged. "But our heart was in the right place. For the most part... I guess..."

"Hey, at least you guys didn't end up making huge fools of yourselves," Dipper said with a remorseful sigh before addressing Tyrone. "Sometimes it seems like we won't ever have a chance with Wendy. I mean, she's 15, we're 12..."

"I don't know, man," Tyrone said, looking back towards the starry skies. "I hope so, but we're making zero progress the way we're doing it. The only good conversation you had with her was when you didn't bother with any of that list stuff."

"Wait, you guys actually tried using a list to get a dance with Wendy?" Steven 2 asked, cracking an amused smirk. "No wonder things didn't work out. That's way too complicated!"

"Says the guy who went back in time just to put a band together," Tyrone remarked under his breath good-naturedly.

"I know..." Dipper admitted sheepishly. "Turns out Mabel was right. I do get in my own way."

"Literally!" Dipper and Tyrone exclaimed in unison as the Stevens laughed together.

"Speaking of getting in the way..." Steven said as he pulled out his hourglass. "I guess we should give these to the Gems? Or at least one of them? I'm not sure..."

"We'll figure something out," Steven 2 said confidently, casually tossing his own hourglass up and down. "After all, we-" He stopped short as he accidently failed to catch the hourglass as it came down, watching with horror as it slipped through his fingers and fell off the roof and onto the ground far below. All four of them cringed as the hourglass shattered, tears already starting to fill the original Steven's eyes as he watched his last remaining double began to dissolve into sand.

"Steven!" the young Gem exclaimed in distress, clinging onto his quickly fading counterpart as the pair of Dippers stood by watching helplessly.

"I-its ok!" Steven 2 assured with a weak smile as his lower body melted away. "This was bound to happen anyway."

"B-but we could have played an awesome duet together!" Steven cried desperately. "We could have-"

"Hey! It's alright! If I know me, I know you'll find another way!" Steven 2 said as the original dropped down to his knees so they could be level with each other. "Stay cool forever, Steven." The second Steven give his present counterpart a parting kiss on both cheeks as he began to disappear entirely. "Arrivaderchi!"

Steven's hands were trembling as the last of Steven 2 spilled out of his hands and dissipated into nothingness. "Alas... Poor Steven..." he muttered despondently, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I knew him well..."

"Oh man..." Dipper said with a sympathetic frown as he put a consoling hand on the young Gem's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Steven..."

"Yeah, but look at the bright side," Tyrone said with a reassuring smile. "At least he'll always be a part of you. Or something like that..." Realizing he had failed to be poetic, the second Dipper took an awkward sip of his soda without thinking. He soon realized his mistake however, as he stole a glance down at his stomach only to realize that a hole was starting to melt through it. "Oh boy... Don't look now..."

Steven and Dipper gasped in alarm as they watched the last clone of either of them begin to melt. "Tyrone!" Dipper exclaimed in a sudden panic. "Not you too!"

"It's ok, dude," Tyrone said, putting up the same kind of dignity Steven 2 had at the end of it all. "I had a good run. Remember what we talked about!"

"O-of course," Dipper choked, accepting Steven's hand on his shoulder as the young Gem moved to comfort him now.

"And quit being such a wimp around Wendy, ok?" Tyrone said, even if he was practically completely melted away by now. "For my sake!"

The final clone's words still lingered even has he was reduced to nothing more than a puddle. "Oh... Tyrone..." Dipper sighed sadly. "You were the only one who understood..." As once final show of respect to the fallen clone, the boy poured some of his soda onto Tyrone's remains before taking a sip himself. Likewise, Steven decided to pay one final tribute to Steven 2 by stomping on the hourglass, knowing that it wasn't worth all the trouble it had caused.

"I'm really gonna miss them..." Steven said with a forlorn frown. "But at least they're in a better place..."

"Sure..." Dipper said, not entirely convinced since both clones had blipped out of existence completely. "But all the same, I'm pretty sure this whole ordeal has scarred me for life. So you wanna go back to the party? It's better than moping around up here."

"Ok," Steven agreed with a small smile. "There's probably a few snacks left that Amethyst hasn't stolen yet... Wait! That gives me an idea! Come on!"

Dipper nodded, letting the young Gem descend the roof first as he lingered behind for a moment and pulled his list out of his pocket one last time. As Tyrone had said, the list had done little to help him out with Wendy in any regard. It was clear that if he intended on getting anywhere, he truly had to rely on himself and his instincts instead of any overcomplicated, convoluted lists he might come up with. Which was why the boy had few regrets as he ripped the list up, watching with a small, relieved smile as its pieces scattered to the wind. "Hey, Steven!" he called out after the young Gem as he hurried down the roof himself to return to the party. "Wait up!"

"Can't you see it in our eyes?" Steven sang with a bright smile as he strummed his guitar, more than happy with his newfound band. "We're the one, we're the—one!"

"Two!" Garnet called with a smirk, showing off her skill on the keytar.

"Three!" Pearl sung out, hitting every note on her violin perfectly.

"Four!" Amethyst shouted, beating away the rhythm of their song on the drums.

"We're not like the other guys..." Steven continued, looking out at his rather small audience. Since most of the party goers have left with Pacifica earlier, the Pines, of course, still remained, as did Soos, Wendy, Candy, Grenda, and even Connie, despite the fact that she had to leave right after the performance. But still, the young Gem was glad to have this audience, as intimate as it was, especially as he watched everyone enjoy themselves as him and the Gems jammed out.

"We're not like anybody!" Amethyst harmonized on Steven's cue.

"By the way, don't go back in time," Steven sung, deciding to put a meaningful spin on his rewritten song. "Or you'll destroy yourself!"

"Steven and the Crystal Gems! We're gonna make you smile!"

As Steven and the Gems continued to perform, Stan happily counted the bountiful sum of money he had earned thanks to this party, knowing that he would be laughing all the way to the bank tomorrow. Soos worked the lights as the Gems played, giving them a perfectly-timed light show as their upbeat melody flowed through the dance floor. Mabel, Candy, and Grenda all danced to the tune in their own unique way, and though Connie wasn't much of a dancer, she still smiled her support up to Steven as she tapped her feet to the beat. And though it couldn't be officially called a "dance" in the way that he had wanted it to be, Dipper still succeeded in dancing near Wendy at the very least. And, considering what he had been through earlier to get here, that was good enough for him.

"I accidently created an, alternate timeline!" Steven proclaimed, not noticing the concerned glance Pearl sent his way upon hearing this. "Steven and the Crystal Gems! Come on now, don't be shy!"

The young Gem took in a deep breath as he geared up for his big finish, even as everyone already prepared to generously applaud him. Yet that hardly mattered to Steven, who was simply reveling in the fact that he was playing with people he deeply cared about in front of people he deeply cared about. And in the end, that was all he had wanted. "I learned to say true to myself, but watching myself die..."

Well, what do you know... Another super long chapter! But hopefully, you guys really liked it, since I really got into writing it! For next time, I think I'll say things will be a little different, but still super fun as we fall right into it! ;) For now, I hope you all are also enjoying In Too Deep! I know I am (even though I couldn't resist and watched the leaked episodes!) Anyway, I suppose that's all for now. I plan on starting the next chapter right away, so hopefully it won't take too long! Until next time!