-23: Dipper-
Dipper had decked out the wall with notes, instructions, and helpful illustrations (courtesy of Steven and Mabel) and now he was standing in front of a couple of expectant gems, ready to tell these adult aliens how to fight this battle. But he had to remind himself that wasn't alone. He had Connie, standing next to him, and Steven, Mabel, Stan, and even Soos and Wendy listening in from the portal. The thought of all those people crammed around a hole in a closet was hilarious. Focus, Dipper! Focus.
"Ok..." He sighed, starting into an explanation of how they had discovered the "wormhole degradation effect," and how they could use it to defeat the moth. Connie helped him along. So did the clarifying illustrations.
"That's all very nice." Pearl said tersely after he had finished, "But how, exactly, will we be able to chase the moth back and forth? We have no idea how to locate it quickly."
"I KNEW you would say that!" Dipper announced theatrically, because he knew by now that Pearl would be the first to spot any holes in the plan.
"We have... THIS!" He held up a present Grunckle Stan had so generously procured when bothered. It was a GPS tracker, and Dipper needed it too much to ask Stan about why he would own such a thing.
"You're welcome." Stan called gruffly through the portal, and the gems shoot a few disturbed glances at the sound.
"If we can get this unto the moth, we can track it through the portals using smart phones. Luckily, Connie and Steven both have one. I've loaded the software and all that onto them already. We even tested it to make sure the portal doesn't break it quickly. We have to get the tracker on the moth, and do everything we can to chase it back and forth between the worlds as fast as we can."
"Do you really think that'll be so easy?" It was Pearl again. "What if that moth appears across the WORLD? We won't be able to reach it for days. And by then, it'll be too late."
"Well..." Dipper said. "So far, the moth has stayed local. I think it's trapped locally, actually, or it should have gone elsewhere already. But if what you say is true, then ya, I guess this won't work" He conceded.
"Also..." Amethyst this time. "We don't know where the moth is. And it's in your world, not ours. And who's gonna fight it over there?"
For a moment no one said anything. "Uh, that's your cue over there!" Dipper called to the portal.
"Oh! Oh ya!" Steven called. "You're wrong because we DO know where the moth is!"
"And you're also wrong because we CAN fight monsters "over here!" Mabel added.
Dipper stood staring at the gems, the initial high of his informed speech fading into anxiety.
"Sooo uh, is this an ok plan? They go look for the moth, we track the moth, and chase it back and forth until it dissolves or whatever...?" His voice was losing confidence fast.
Garnet stood up. "It's the best plan we've got. We should do it."
The other two gems followed. "OK. We'll see how this goes." Pearl said nervously. "I'm cool." Amethyst was always cool.
"OK guys," Dipper said, his pulse racing, "Operation Green Flash is go!"
-24: Steven-
Steven held his breath, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Mystery Shack crew as they faced the moth's lair. In front of them stood a small restaurant called the "Greasy Diner." Groups of voyeuristic citizens milled about behind rolls of "caution" tape.
"Alright kids. Are we ready for this?" Stan asked, and Steven was the first to reply with "Yes, Gruncle Stan!"
"Kid, I'm not your uncle." He grumbled. Stan was grumpy, but Steven liked him anyway. He had been very helpful with Dipper's plans, and now he was going to help them fight the moth too!
The entire group walked carefully up to the diner, and to Steven's surprise, the door creaked open when Stan approached it. Steven heard that same familiar humming noise that had echoed through the crystal cave. A shudder of apprehension passed through him. What if someone got sucked through the portal again?
"Hey." Someone whispered in his ear, "You OK?"
It was Mabel. Steven was embarrassed; was he not a crystal gem?
"It's just... we need to be careful." He replied. Hearing Dipper explain it, the plan seemed so simple, so neat. But nothing ended up being simple... and if the gems couldn't beat the moth, what chance did this group stand? But they didn't have to "beat" it...
As his eyes adjusted to the dark of the diner interior, appealing smells of breakfast still in the air, Steven watched as everyone's heads turned upward. He felt a trill of joy; he'd told them about how the moth had ambushed the gems from the ceiling, and they wouldn't be fooled by that trick again.
There it was. Glowing green, wonderful emerald wings resting against the wood ceiling, bushy antennae twitching. He saw the dart gun in Stan's hand as he slowly raised it, aiming steadily at the massive insect, which was so far ignoring the group of people.
"HEY! No civilians allowed in here!" Voices blasted behind them. Two policemen stood angrily at the open door.
"Dang it all to heck!" Stan "cursed," as the moth roared to life at the all the noise.
A blast of silver nearly cut Steven in half, who gasped as Soos snatched him out of its trajectory.
"No way!" Wendy was swinging an axe, an altogether awe-inspiring sight. She slung the weapon with a grunt, and everyone watched in rapture as it narrowly missed the moths torso and pinned a wing to the wall.
"Hit it now, Stan!" Mabel was screaming, holding her hands over her head as they were showered with silver blasts and the ear piercing screams of the moth.
Stan was on his butt, raising his weapon again. Steven called a bubble up around himself and Soos, fearful a stray beam would strike them. The others were too far away... his heart pounded as he watched Stan focus his eyes and steady his aim once again...
The gun gave a sharp hiss as it launched a dart fitted with the gps tracker towards the moth.
"Heck YES!" Soos yelled as the tracker embedded itself deep within the moths furry chest. The creatures wing tore painfully as it pulled clear of the axe, the wound closing up swiftly just as it had when Pearl wounded it. It started to scream, and Steven mind rocked with recognition of the cry.
"EVERYONE! We hafta leave! Now!" He howled over the moths agonizing cacophony. Soos held Steven under his arm as they all fled the diner, dodging silver beams along the way.
The restaurant glowed with an unearthly white light as the moth opened up its perfect portal. Clear of the pull zone, Steven's group huddled together as their prey disappeared into the pastel light of Steven's world, the portal shuddering to a close.
Still dizzy, Steven spoke up, "Wait. Shouldn't I have like, followed it...? That was my own world..." He felt confused. Had he just made a huge mistake?
"It'll be back, right?" Mabel said shakily.
"How many rounds of this will we have to take?" Wendy asked, breathless.
"As many as it takes." Stan replied, and Steven let his mind rest on the old man's confidence.
They gathered themselves next to Stan's car, fixated on the GPS software on Steven's phone. Right now, it wasn't getting a signal.
"Ha, what if the satellite went out right now?" Wendy mused.
Stan replied, "Please don't." They went quite again, waiting painfully.
"aAHHH! AHHH! There it is!" Mabel screamed as a blinking dot appeared on the screen. The gems, Dipper, and Connie had done it! The moth was back already!
"Oh god, it's in the middle of the lake." Stan said.
"No, Stan, that's an island. Skuttlebutt Island!" Mabel said. "We gotta hurry!"
They raced to the lake, and Steven knew that Stan was definitely breaking some traffic laws. By not driving on the actual road and all that.
Soon a beautiful lake opened up in front of them, literally because Stan had driven right to the edge of the water. In the foggy distance Steven saw a small island.
They raced to the water, where a young couple was getting into a small, probably rented boat.
"Ummm..." Steven began, but Stan leapt into the boat, revered the motor, and called for them to get in.
"Sorry!" Mabel called as they screamed away from the shore and the bewildered tourists.
"We went to an island the first time we fought it..." Steven muttered to himself, but Mable was listening.
"Maybe it likes islands." She said, sounding excited. "Me, Dipper, and Soos went to that one already. It has some beavers. But no mythical sea monsters."
"Really?" Steven was surprised, from Dipper's book it seemed likely that magical monsters lived in every corner of the town. "Well, now it has a mythical moth."
"Not for long," Stan grumbled, as he nearly crashed the boat into the shore and stepped out.
They ventured deeper into the island, the fog and spooky atmosphere getting under Steven's skin. It was actually really fun, to be venturing into a new place with a group of friends. He wished the reality of the situation didn't have to be so serious.
The moth's telltale humming grew louder as they approached a cave inset into a rocky side of the island's hills. Why did it have to be a cave AGAIN?
"Crap." Stan was standing by the cave's opening, unable to fit his rather broad shoulders through it. "I think the only ones who can get in here are... Mabel and Steven." His already wrinkled brows furrowed with frustration.
"We'll be OK, Gruncle Stan." Mabel said, but Steven had to wonder how they would get the moth to switch universes without killing them both first.
"We just have to annoy it and leave, right?" Mabel answered his question, trusting eyes fixed on him. "And you have your hamster ball shield!"
They all startled at a screech echoing from the cave entrance. The moth was in there, and it was awake.
"Ya. Let's do it." He said with a nod at Mabel.
The two kids squeezed into the cave, leaving the adults to talk nervously outside.
"It's dark." Mabel stated, and they pushed forward, stumbling over rocks and banging into the low ceiling. Finally, the cave opened up, illuminated by the pale green glow of the moth that was waiting on the ceiling, just as it had before. As the pair of children fell into the clearing, it cried out and started firing silver beams at its agitators.
Steven had called up his bubble immediately. The surface shuddered as the beams slammed into it, but it was a memento of his mother, Rose Quartz. It wouldn't be broken by such an attack.
"Ummm..." Mabel yelled, "It's not going anywhere."
She was right. The moth just hovered, raining its silvery terror down on them after about a full minute. What should they do? Steven tried to think of something, but he couldn't bring himself to consider any solution that involved lowering his force field.
"Lower the bubble, crystal gem Steven!" Mabel was standing up, a weird contraption in her hand.
"Is that a hookshot?!" Steven cried. He'd always wanted to see one in action. But he paused. If he followed Mabel's orders, she could get hurt.
"C'mon, Steven, trust me!" Mabel was frowning at him.
"Okay." He breathed, inhaling a massive breath as he willed himself to call the bubble away.
"Steven?" Mabel asked. "I've almost got it!" Steven replied breathlessly, finding he was almost too nervous to lower his shield at all.
"BAM!" Mabel yelled as the bubble came down, and her hookshot launched foreword. Steven heard the moth's signature scream as the metal end of the tool hit it right in the face, but the victory was short lived. A beam soared over Steven's head and crashed into Mabel, who was launched into the cave wall behind them.
Steven felt the powerful tug of the moths portal as it snapped open. He clung to the rocky side of the cave, holding Mabel between himself and the moth. He felt his shoes get torn off, his hair lashing widely, but he would. Not. Let. Go.
He gasped as the portal slammed back into thin air.
"Mabel?" He cried, inches from her face, her eyes closed, body limp. A raw gash ran from her shoulder to her belly button. Steven's vision swam as the tears rushed into his eyes, stinging with despair and the ash from Mabel's singed clothing. "MABEL?"