Universe Falls (Gravity Falls x Steven Universe)

Summary:

Steven, Dipper, and Mabel discover a mysterious mirror with a strage sort of power...

On most days, Stan only barely tolerated Steven's presence at the Mystery Shack. He was a bit too cheerful, a bit too saccharine for his liking or his patience. But if there was anything Stan was more than willing to let him hang around for, it was free labor. And fortunately for him, Steven was always more than happy to help, which was how he ended up spending the better half of the morning helping Dipper, Mabel, and Soos haul boxes around the shack.

"Thanks for letting me hang out today, Mr. Pines!" Steven flashed Stan a bright grin as he toted a large box past him. "Carrying all these boxes is great exercise!"

"Yeah, yeah," Stan waved his hand as he continued counting through a stack of money. "Just be careful with that stuff, kid. Customers don't want to buy broken garbage. Just regular garbage."

"Grunkle Stan, why did you have us bring down all of this junk from the attic anyway?" Dipper asked. He and Mabel had taken to sorting through the boxes Soos and Steven brought them, on the hunt for anything even remotely valuable. Unsurprisingly, their efforts hadn't yielded much so far. 

"Because apparently someone needed more room for their sweaters…" Stan said, scowling.

"Aw, but Grunkle Staaaaan," Mabel crooned, throwing on the most charming smile she could. "My sweater collection grows by at least one new sweater every day! Each of them needs enough space, or else they won't be as poofy and cozy as I like 'em. And that cramped closet just wasn't cutting it."

Stan rolled his eyes. " Anyway , I figured that instead of letting all this stuff sit up there and collect dust, we might as well go through it and see if there's anything worth selling here in the shack. Tourist season is starting up, which means we're gonna need some hot new inventory. Inventory that I don't need to spend money on, like all this stuff."

"Oh, so it's like a yard sale?" Steven asked.

"Nah, it's more like… a turnover," Stan corrected. "We'll clean a few of these old trinkets up, brand it as 'limited edition' merch, and folks will eat it up like it's going out of style! It's a business model that can't fail!"

"At this rate, I don't see how it won't fail," Dipper frowned as he pulled a broken coffee mug out of one of the boxes. "Who would even want any of this busted up junk anyway?"

"I dunno, dude," Soos proudly presented his latest find. "You know what they say: one guy's trash is some other guy's treasure. Like this cool frisbee I just found!"

"Soos, that's a pie tray," Dipper pointed out.

Soos's smile only briefly faded as he looked back at the tray, before he quickly shrugged it off. "Well, now I have something to hold a pie in if I ever make one. That's still pretty cool to me."

"You kids find anything sellable in there?" Stan stood over Steven and Mabel as they rooted through another box.

"I found this pair of old glasses," Steven laughed as he tried them on. "Are these yours, Mr. Pines?"

Stan snatched the glasses away with a surprising amount of speed. He looked over them, frowning deeply, before securely tucking them away into his pocket with a huff. "They're not mine. Some poindexter must've left 'em here years ago, o-or somethin'."

"I found this neat old book," Mabel held up what she'd discovered. " Radical Fashion for Total Nerds, 1983 Edition ! It even has pictures! Check out this trendsetter!" She flipped the book open to reveal the traditional gaudy, neon style of the 80's, complete with oversized blazers and multicolored pants. "Can I keep it, Grunkle Stan? Pretty please?"

"No way," Stan took the book from her. Whatever strange sort of melancholy that had fallen over him moments ago was completely gone without a trace now. "Some nostalgic nutcase will buy something like this in a heartbeat. If you want it, then it's $20, base price, no haggling."

"Aw…" Mabel's shoulders sagged in disappointment. "I could have gotten so much inspiration out of that book!"

"You wanna know a good way to get inspired? By finding me more stuff to sell," Stan ordered as he turned to his nephew. "Dipper, haven't you found anything yet? All I see sitting next to you is a pile of trash!"

"That's because there's nothing in here but trash," Dipper dryly replied. Sure enough, as he searched through the box in front of him, he found nothing of note other than a notebook with all of its pages ripped out and a few broken sea shells. He was just about ready to put everything back in the box and take it outside to the trash before he checked it one more time. And, to his surprise, he'd managed to miss the peculiar object lying at the bottom of it. "Huh? What's this?" Dipper raised an eyebrow as he carefully pulled it out, holding it up so the others could see what it was: 

A mirror. 

It was clearly old, but surprisingly elegant–crystal clear glass set in a curving silver frame. But even more intriguing was the teardrop shaped stone fixed to the mirror's back. It might have once been beautiful–shining as blue as the sea itself–if not for the deep crack splintering its otherwise smooth surface. Dipper only had a moment to look it over before Mabel suddenly plucked it straight out of his hands. 

"Ooo, what a pretty mirror!" she grinned widely at her own reflection in it. "Almost as pretty as the person inside it. Isn't that right, Mabel?" She let out a coy laugh before handing the mirror off to Steven so he could see it.

"Whoa… It's so fancy…" Steven said, thoroughly intrigued. "I wonder where it came from…"

"This thing looks way too interesting to just be sitting at the bottom of a box of old junk…" Dipper mused as he took the mirror again, turning it over in his hands. "Grunkle Stan, how long have you had this?"

"Heck if I know, kid, but I do know this," Stan swept in to snatch the mirror. "It's gonna make me a fortune! Just look at this old thing! Chances are I probably won't even have to lie about this mirror being a rare antique; it already is one!"

"I bet that mirror belonged to some rich dude back in the day," Soos theorized. "Like a king! Or a TubeTube star!"

"Well, now it belongs to another rich guy," Stan flashed a greedy grin at his reflection. "Me!" When he turned the mirror over, however, his smile quickly fell. With a disgruntled scoff, he tossed it back over to Dipper, who only barely managed to catch it.

"What's wrong?" he asked, steadying the mirror in his grasp.

"Haven't you seen that rock on the back of that thing?" Stan crossed his arms. "It's broken. And like I said earlier, no one wants to buy broken garbage. Much less broken garbage they can see themselves in; it'll only make them feel even worse about their miserable lives than they already do."

Steven, Dipper, and Mabel exchanged a glance before turning their attention back to the mirror. True, the stone was cracked–probably irreparably so. But everything else about it seemed pretty intact. Then again, none of them could claim to have the same sort of intel about antiques or selling them as Stan. Not that he had much intel himself when he regularly passed old soda cans off as "rare treasures" to his gullible customers. 

"Aw, it's a shame the mirror is broken, Mr. Pines," Soos frowned. "But it's not totally ruined. And who knows? Somebody might still buy it."

"Yeah, for a few bucks at the most," Stan turned his nose up. "It's not even worth the effort to try to sell it. I'm trying to make big bucks here, not chump change."

Steven couldn't help but smile at the mirror when Dipper handed it over to him again. It never really took much to impress him–living with the Gems made sure of that. But a discovery this unique was more than enough to easily excite him all the same. "It doesn't seem broken to me!" 

"Aside from that stone on the back, it's not really broken at all," Dipper said. He stole another glance at said stone, noticing how it glistened when it caught the light. If not for the crack, it would have certainly shined even more radiantly than it already did. 

"Oh! Oh!" Mabel looked to her uncle with a pleading pout. "Grunkle Stan, can we keep the mirror?" She laid it on even thicker by hopping up and running over to him, hugging his leg tight. "You don't want it, so why not let us have it instead? Please? Please? Please ?"

"Alright! Alright! Fine!" Stan shoved her away. "Take the dumb thing. At least if you kids have it, then there'll be less clutter lying around the gift shop."

Mabel and Steven shared an excited gasp as they held the mirror high between them. "This thing is great!" Steven happily proclaimed. "You know who would love something this cool? The Gems!"

"Yeah!" Mabel readily agreed. "We should totally go and show it to them! Come on!" Not wanting to waste another moment, she grabbed Dipper by the arm and dragged him along as she and Steven bolted out of the shack.

"Kids, wait!" Stan called after them. "We're not done going through these-" He was cut off as the door slammed shut behind the trio. "Boxes…" He sighed in annoyed defeat as he turned to his handyman. "See, Soos, this is why I don't believe in giving away things for free. I knew I should have charged those kids for that piece of junk mirror."

"Don't worry, Mr. Pines. I'll help you finish cleaning out these boxes," Soos said with a dutiful grin. For the moment however, he was preoccupied with flipping through Radical Fashion for Total Nerds. "Just as soon as I figure out where I can get these 'totally tubular' sunglasses…"

After a quick trek up to the temple, the kids found the Gems were away on another mission. They hardly minded though; there'd always be a chance to show them the mirror later. For now, they opted against returning to the shack (and to work) by taking their new prize out on the town instead. 

"Mirror, mirror, in my hand, who's the best Mabel in the land?" Mabel playfully asked it. She answered herself, though she pretended her reflection was doing so instead. "'Why, you are, Mabel, of course!' Well, thank you, mirror! How nice of you to say that!"

"Oh, let me try!" Steven took the mirror and held it a good distance away from him. "Now I see me…" With a quick flip of the wrist, he turned the mirror over to its non-reflective side. "Now I don't! Now I see me. Now I don't!"

"You guys sure are excited about that mirror," Dipper cracked a smile as the pair erupted into bright laughter. 

"Oh, come on, Dipper, don't act like you're not," Mabel elbowed him. "Even you gotta admit this mirror's pretty amazing."

"It's only a mirror," Dipper deadpanned. "It's not like we made any huge, incredible discovery by finding it."

"Says the guy who found it and said it looked 'interesting'."

"Compared to all of the other junk in that box, yeah it was," Dipper crossed his arms as he eyed the mirror, unimpressed. "But on its own, it's just an ordinary old mirror."

"I don't know if I'd call this mirror ordinary…" Steven mused, smiling at the mirror. "I think it's pretty special. I don't know how to explain it, but I can just… feel it, you know?"

"You can feel it?" Dipper questioned, skeptical. "Steven, that doesn't make any-"

"What's it feel like?" Mabel interrupted, fascinated.

"Hm… It's sort of like-" Before he could finish, he happened to run right into Lars as he and Sadie were setting up tablets outside of the Big Donut. The kids had been so focused on the mirror that they had hardly even noticed that they were coming up on the convenience store. Until now, of course.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, you little-" Lars sharply cut himself off when he met Sadie's disapproving glance. "Sssssteven!"

"Oh! Sorry, Lars!" Steven said. "We're just excited about this mirror here and we-"

"Mirror-schmirror," Lars scowled. "Just keep on walking. Can't you three see we're trying to work out here?"

"Lars, don't be rude!" Sadie scolded before turning to the kids. "Sorry, you guys. He's probably just a little stressed since we have to set this extra seating up before the summer rush starts rolling in."

"Wait, Gravity Falls gets a summer rush?" Dipper asked, surprised. After all, from what he'd seen so far, Gravity Falls was a sleepy little town, squarely in the middle of scenic nowhere. And aside from its more… unusual facets, there wasn't really much worth visiting for. 

"Sure," Sadie grinned. "Folks come from all over the place, most of them wanting to 'get in touch with nature' whatever that means. It's nothing to really get excited over. Just more people than usual running around town for a few weeks. But Lars has big plans."

"You bet I do!" Lars put on a daring smirk. "All of those out-of-town summer babes traveling away from home without their boyfriends, if you know what I mean."

"Nope," Steven shook his head, oblivious.

"He means he's going to hit on girls, Steven," Dipper flatly explained.

"Ohhhh… I still don't get it."

"Oh, that makes me wonder if any cute boys are going to be coming to town!" Mabel gasped, stars in her eyes. "I have a feeling my pool of potential dreamboats is about to get a lot bigger!"

"Maybe I'll get a few numbers…" Lars sighed wistfully, still caught up in his own fantasy. "Maybe I'll even… call one!"

Sadie couldn't help but hold back a snicker. Still, there was a hint of bitterness in her tone as she offered a snarky retort. "Yeah, well… maybe I'll meet some new friends!"

"That's a great idea!" Steven warmly agreed. "New special friends to have all sorts of summer fun with! Like you guys!" He gladly pulled both Dipper and Mabel into a sudden, but welcome hug. 

"Oh my gosh! You're right, Steven!" Mabel shared his smile. "We've already had so much summer fun together. Maybe if we keep using the mirror to guide us, we'll find even more !"

"Guys, I already told you, it's only a mirror," Dipper said, exasperated. He quickly changed his tune, however, when he noticed they were already starting to head off without him. "Hey! Wait up!" 

"Next time you see me, I'll be on the arm of a hot woman!" Lars confidently called after the kids.

Sadie winced, looking away from him. "You can stop talking about it now."

With the mirror in hand, Steven and Mabel's hunt for their next summer adventure was on. They'd taken to walking backwards down the sidewalk, using the mirror to guide their way. By the time Dipper caught up to them, he was undoubtedly confused. "What are you guys doing?" he asked, walking forward as he fell in step beside them. 

"We're gonna walk backwards into whatever super cool thing the mirror helps us find!" Mabel enthusiastically replied.

"You should join us, Dipper!" Steven encouraged. "That way, when we find it, it'll be a surprise for all of us."

"Steven, I'm not gonna-" 

Dipper's protests proved pointless as Steven and Mabel suddenly grabbed him and turned him around anyway. Squeezed between the pair as he was, he wasn't able to turn back around, even as the mirror was handed over to him so they could all see where it was leading them. Thanks to their backwards stroll, it wasn't very easy for them to stay on the sidewalk. The mirror could only show them so much as they inevitably stumbled backward into the street. Fortunately, it was free of any traffic–until it wasn't. 

"May-or Dew-ey, May-or Dew-ey!" The mayor's campaign van droned as it turned the nearby corner, rolling down the street the kids were on. It was still a good distance away, out of their notice as it zoomed straight toward them. But even though they hadn't seen it yet, something else had. 

"Hey! Watch where you're going, you little-"

"Huh?" Dipper started at the sudden sound, somehow coming from the mirror. Likewise, Steven and Mabel heard its warning, confused as to why it had come out in Lars' voice. Still, it was enough to direct their attention back to the mirror, which showed them a full view of the van speeding straight at them. 

"Nooooo!" Steven cried, pulling Dipper and Mabel along with him as he spun around. With no time to clear the street, they braced themselves for impact. Fortunately though, the van screeched to a stop just a few feet away from them. 

Mayor Dewey leaned out the window, offering the kids an annoyed scowl as he scolded them through his megaphone. "Car wash kid! And uh…" he raised an eyebrow as he looked at the twins. "Aren't you two staying with Pines over at the Mystery Shack?" Dipper and Mabel prepared to answer, but Dewey was quick to cut them off before they could. "Ah, it doesn't matter. What does matter is why were you kids walking in the middle of the street?!"

"I don't know," Steven shrugged. "Why were you driving through here? Isn't your office only a few blocks away?"

"I'm the mayor!" Dewey protested sourly. "I'm not gonna walk anywhere. Now, go get run over somewhere else. I'm late for a speech."

Turning his nose up at the kids, the mayor drove off, his van still glaring " May-or Dew-ey " all the while. Steven and the twins watched as the grumpy politician left, but they could hardly focus on that in light of the miraculous warning they'd somehow received. 

"What just happened?" Dipper asked, looking over the mirror. To his surprise, the mirror actually somehow managed to give some form of a response. Its reflective surface suddenly whirled into what was almost like a recording of Steven and Mabel laughing from earlier. All three of the kids watched, astonished at what they were seeing. There was no doubt about it now; this mirror was far more special than they ever could have imagined. 

"Whoa!" Steven gasped, awestruck. "You can talk?!"

"You can talk?!" the mirror repeated, mimicking his voice perfectly. 

"Oh my gosh! This is so cool !" Mabel beamed as she grabbed the mirror from her brother. "It really is like a magic mirror! Ask it something, Steven! See if it'll answer!"

"Um… ok…" Steven cleared his throat, giving the mirror a friendly smile. "So what's it like being a mirror?"

The image in the mirror whirled again, this time to something Dipper had said earlier. "It's only a mirror."

"Ok, this is kinda weird…" Dipper frowned, uncomfortable. "Am I the only one who thinks that? I can't be the only one who thinks that."

"Weird? No way!" Mabel shook her head. "This mirror's the best! Can you repeat anything?" she eagerly asked it. 

"Yeah!" the mirror exclaimed in Mabel's voice.

"Then that gives me an idea…" she broke into a mischievous smile as she stole a glance over at the nearby town square. There, Mayor Dewey was preparing to give a "rousing" speech to the tiny crowd that had gathered to hear it.

"Hello, Gravity Falls, my friends!" the mayor began with bravado from atop his van. "It's great to be here to celebrate the start of the summer season. A warm summer breeze wafts through the air."

"Ok, Steven, do it now!" Mabel urged as they arrived at the fringes of the crowd. 

Steven smirked as he put their plan into action. He placed his palms to his mouth and let out a very loud, very clear fart noise. "PFFFT!"

A soft snicker rose up from the nearby crowd, but Steven and Mabel both knew that was only the beginning. Dipper gave them a curious look, unsure of where they were going with this. At least until Mabel knowingly pointed at the mirror in her hand. 

"We all look forward to the sounds of the summer season," Dewey continued his speech. And, somehow, the mirror knew to chime in, right one cue. 

"PFFFT!"

"The smell of the mountain air…"

"PFFFT!"

"The hot wind blowing through the trees…"

"PFFFT!"

"The time to take that pressure that's been building up all year and just let it out!"

"PFFFT!"

By now, Dewey had caught onto the fact that he was being mocked, especially when the crowd broke out into full-fledged laughter. Steven and Mabel high-fived over their success, soundly getting even with the mayor for his rude behavior earlier. Refusing to keep going under such conditions, Dewey gave up, annoyed, as he retreated to his van and the crowd quickly disbanded. 

"Wow, you picked that up fast!" Steven chuckled, and the mirror imitated his laughter in reply.

"Ok, ok, that was pretty funny," Dipper said, grinning. It quickly fell, however, as he looked back at the mysterious mirror again. "But I'm still not sure we should be playing around with that thing."

"Oh boy, here comes 'Mr. Fun Police' again to ruin our fun…" Mabel sighed, exasperated.

"I'm not trying to ruin anything," Dipper said, defensive. "I'm just saying we should be careful. We don't even know how that mirror works or where it really came from! All we do know is that it's been sitting in a box in Stan's attic for who knows how long. And from the way he acted, he didn't even seem to know it could do… this."

"Maybe the mirror wasn't able to talk until we did something to activate it?" Steven suggested. He smiled as he looked down at the mirror in his hands. "Is that it? Did we help you get your voice back?"

The mirror hesitated for a moment, but it eventually offered up a nervous snippet from Sadie. "M-maybe…"

"Well, that was vague," Dipper said, making no effort to hide his growing suspicion. 

"Come on, Dipper, can't you just loosen up and have fun for once instead of questioning everything?" Mabel asked. "So what if it can talk back to us? You said so yourself: it's just a mirror. It's not like it's dangerous or anything."

"You know, considering all of the crazy things we've seen in this town so far, I'm kind of regretting saying that," Dipper frowned, rubbing his arm. 

"I'm sure you'll warm up to the mirror eventually, Dipper," Steven warmly assured. "After all, it's got so much personality!"

"…Sure, Steven," Dipper rolled his eyes. He kept a withering look on his face as he stared at the mirror, refusing to trust it as easily as Steven and Mabel already had. Something was off about it, something unnerving. And while he couldn't place exactly what that something was, he was resolved and ready to figure it out. 

Because with so many mysteries tucked away in this town, what was one more to add onto the list?

While Steven and Mabel had already been enthralled with the mirror before, now that they knew it could communicate with them, it was on a whole other level. As the trio continued their walk through town, they pressed it with even more curious questions, all of which it gladly answered. The way it made use of its material was quite creative to say the least. It would reply in snippets of sentences from anyone it had overheard, from Stan and Soos, to Sadie and Lars, to even Steven, Dipper, and Mabel themselves. Its memory was impressive, yet it didn't seem to mind the trivial questions Steven and Mabel posed to it at all.

"Ok, I got one," Steven began. "What's the funniest joke you've ever heard?"

The mirror responded exactly how Steven hoped it would with a hearty "PFFFT!"

"What a classic!" Mabel laughed along with Steven. "Oh! I have another one. Now that we know you can talk, mirror, I've been meaning to ask you… who's your favorite Mabel?"

"Why, you are, Mabel, of course!" the mirror playfully imitated her. 

"Yes! I knew you'd say that! You're so smart, mirror!"

"Seriously? The only things the mirror actually knows is what it's heard other people say," Dipper said, underwhelmed. 

"Yeah, but it uses that stuff to come up with some pretty great responses," Steven said. "Why don't you try asking it something, Dipper?"

"Um… ok…" Dipper cautiously took the mirror. "I guess I'll start with something simple. How long were you in that box for?"

The mirror's image flashed, going back to something Dipper himself had said earlier. "…who knows how long."

"That's what I'm asking you!"

"Don't be rude!" the mirror scolded in Sadie's voice.

"The mirror's right, Dipper," Steven chastised. "You should be nice to it, like me and Mabel are. Maybe then it'll really answer your questions."

"Yeah! You should say you're sorry to it," Mabel urged. 

"You guys can't be serious," Dipper said, disgruntled. Even so, Steven and Mabel were adamant, which was why he ultimately folded, as much as he didn't really want to. "Ugh, fine ... I'm, uh, "sorry", mirror."

"Well, thank you!" the mirror blithely replied. Dipper groaned when he realized it was essentially mocking him with such a sarcastic response. Not that it was able to do much else with the limited words available to it. 

"Great!" Steven chimed in nonetheless. "Now we're all summer fun buddies again!"His bright smile only grew as he noticed they were passing in front of Funland Arcade. "Whoa! Check it out! Looks like Mr. Smiley replaced some of the games those light monsters busted up a few weeks ago. They've even got a new Meat Beat Mania cabinet!" 

"No way! I've been dying to try that!" Mabel grinned as they headed inside the arcade. "I heard they added a skillet special mode and everything! Let's play a round, Steven!"

"Yeah!" Steven readily agreed. While Mabel was already making her way over to the game, Steven paused, turning back to Dipper as he held the mirror out with a pleading grin. "You don't mind holding onto the mirror for us while we play, do you, Dipper?"

"Um, I guess not," Dipper shrugged, hesitantly taking it. 

"Thanks!" Steven called as he joined Mabel at the machine. And in doing so, leaving Dipper alone with the mirror.

"So… um… hi," he greeted it awkwardly. And of course, the mirror didn't hesitate to repeat it right back to him.

"So… um… hi."

"Are you just gonna repeat everything I say?" Dipper asked, already annoyed. 

"Are you just gonna repeat everything I say?"

"That's not funny, you know."

Instead of mimicking him again, the mirror flashed back to Steven and Mabel's laughter, making its amusement more than clear. And while Dipper didn't really want to indulge it and its aggravating teasing, he couldn't help but give in and let out a small chuckle of his own. "Ok, fine, you got me. I hate to admit it, but you're actually kind of clever."

"You're actually kind of clever," the mirror retorted.

"Wait, are you actually being serious or are just mocking me again?" Dipper asked, unable to read the mirror's intent.

The mirror's image whirled again, but it didn't get a chance to say anything else before it was interrupted. "Hey, Dipper!"

"Oh! Hey, Wendy!" Dipper offered her a wave and a smile as she approached. That smile soon fell, however, when he noticed the sullen teen she was with. 

"You remember my boyfriend Robbie, right?" Wendy asked, nodding over to him. For his part, Robbie had not much more to offer Dipper than a bored sneer. 

"S'up, dork," he said, his hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets. 

"Wait, Robbie is your boyfriend?" Dipper asked, confused. 

"Uh, yeah, duh," Robbie made a point of wrapping an arm around Wendy's shoulder. "Why'd you sound so surprised about that? What, you don't think I'm 'good enough' for a total babe like Wendy?"

"Uh… well…"

"Ugh, chill, man," Wendy frowned at her boyfriend as she pulled her shoulder away. "So," she turned back to Dipper, curious. "Who were you talking to just now?"

"Oh, uh… no one! No one at all," Dipper tried playing it off with an awkward laugh. He knew the idea of a talking mirror would be a hard sell to just about anyone. Much less two teens who he didn't want thinking he was crazy. 

"So you were talking to yourself?" Robbie cocked an eyebrow. "Tch, figures. And what's with that girly mirror you've got there?"

"Oh, it's not mine," Dipper anxiously glanced down at the mirror. Thankfully, it was silent for the time being, almost as if it knew he wanted to save face here. Despite the rough start he'd had with it, he couldn't help but be grateful for that much. "I was just holding it for—Hey!" he started when Robbie suddenly swiped the mirror away from him.

"Ha, look at this thing!" he smirked as he looked it over. "It's older than my grandma."

"Come on, man, give it back!" Dipper protested. After all, he knew just how devastated Steven and Mabel would be if something were to happen to the mirror.

"Seriously, Robbie, don't be a jerk," Wendy crossed her arms, unimpressed by her boyfriend's behavior. 

"It's cool, babe, I'm just checking it out for a sec," Robbie grinned snidely at his own reflection. "I don't know where you got this piece of junk from, kid, but you might as well take it back. It looks like it belongs in some old lady's basement or something."

Dipper pulled back from trying to reclaim the mirror when he heard this. He could only hope the mirror managed to catch his drift as he flashed it a wry, knowing grin. "I dunno, Robbie," he said coyly. "I wouldn't exactly call that mirror a plain old piece of junk."

"Oh, what? Is it like a 'magic' mirror or something?" Robbie scoffed. "Yeah right. I bet you dug this dumb thing up out of a dumpster somewhere. Well, I-"

"PFFFT!" the mirror suddenly interrupted with its favorite gag. Startled, Robbie let out a frightened scream as he dropped the mirror. Fortunately, Wendy managed to catch it right before it could hit the ground.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed before handing the mirror back to Dipper with a wink. "Close one."

"W-what the heck was that ?!" Robbie asked, alarmed. "What did that freaky thing just do?!"

"Hey, I told you it wasn't an ordinary mirror," Dipper said with a satisfied grin. 

"Ugh, I should have known that mirror was weird, just like you, kid," Robbie bitterly accused.

"Geez, Robbie, relax," Wendy rolled her eyes. "Even you have to admit that was pretty funny."

"No it wasn't! It was-" Robbie cut himself off as he let out a frustrated growl. "Whatever. If you need me, I'll be fixing my hair in the bathroom. In a normal mirror."

"Yeesh, somebody's a poor sport," Wendy said as Robbie stormed off. "But seriously, dude, that mirror is sweet. How does it work? Is it like a tape recorder or something?"

"I'm honestly not sure how it works," Dipper said, smiling at it. "Steven, Mabel, and I found it earlier today at the shack."

"Well, it's easily the coolest thing anyone's ever found there," Wendy nodded. "You know, I'd love to see what else that mirror can do, but I should probably go make sure Robbie didn't pee his pants or anything. See you later!"

"Bye!" Dipper called out after her. As soon as Wendy was gone, however, his attention swiftly turned back to the mirror as he offered it a grateful grin. "Ok, I take back everything I said about you before. What you just did was awesome!"

In response, the mirror repeated another phrase he had said earlier. "That was pretty funny."

"Pretty funny? It was hilarious!" Dipper laughed. "Robbie totally had it coming. The look on his face was priceless ! I can't believe I'm saying this to a mirror of all things but… thanks."

The mirror hesitated for a moment before echoing his gratitude right back at him. "Thanks."

"Wait… what?" Dipper's smile faded into confusion. "Are… are you really trying to thank me?"

"Yeah!" the mirror answered in Steven's voice.

"I… I don't understand. What for?"

Instead of relying on a single past phrase or word, the mirror suddenly did something entirely different. This time, it combined words it had heard out of context into a completely new phrase, flashing between Wendy, Mabel, and Stan, in that order. "You—found—me!"

Needless to say, that alone was enough to surprise Dipper. But exactly what it said caught him off guard even more. "W-what?" 

"Whoa!" Steven exclaimed. Dipper nearly jumped out of his skin, alarmed when he and Mabel suddenly rejoined him. "It made something new! How'd you get it to do that?"

"I don't know… It just sort of… did it on its own…" Dipper said, giving the mirror a curious look.

"Ooo! Mirror, say something else!" Mabel urged, pulling it away from her brother.

"Mabel—is—hilarious!" the mirror exclaimed, this time combining material from Steven and Dipper.

"Aw, thanks, mirror!" Mabel blushed, grinning. "You're so sweet!"

"You're so sweet!" the mirror parroted. 

"No, you're so sweet!"

"No, you're so sweet!"

"No, you're so sweet!"

"Ok, Mabel, that's enough!" Dipper cut in, annoyed as he reclaimed the mirror and passed it over to Steven. 

"Just when I thought this mirror couldn't get any cooler, it does!" Steven beamed. "There's so much stuff we could do with it! Oh! I wonder if it still remembers its favorite joke…"

"PFFFT!" the mirror quickly answered. 

"It never seems to forget that one," Dipper said, smirking. 

"Man, it really got a lot of mileage out of that joke," Steven chuckled, holding the mirror. "You're pretty funny for a mirror."

"You're pretty funny for a mirror."

"I'm not a mirror!" Steven blithely corrected.

Once again, the mirror combined statements to create something new, utilizing words from Steven and Lars. "You're pretty funny for a—Sssssteven!"

"There you go!" Steven gave it a hearty thumbs up. 

As he and the twins shared a laugh, none of them happened to notice who was watching them from just behind the corner of the arcade. He narrowed his eyes, in disdain first as he eyed the trio, but his tune quickly changed as he shifted his gaze to their peculiar mirror. A mirror with the ability to somehow speak, to echo back everything it had ever heard. 

And certainly, it must have heard more than a few secrets in its time. Secrets that Gideon was determined to get his hands on. 

"Got any other words of wisdom for us, mirror?" Mabel asked. 

While the mirror started whirling with a new message, it abruptly stopped. It gave the kids no time to be confused before it pieced together a sudden, sharp warning: "Look–out!" And then, just like it had with Dewey's van before, the mirror reflected a newfound threat rushing at them from behind. Albeit a much smaller threat. 

The trio didn't even have a chance to turn and face Gideon before he suddenly slid through the gap between them, ripping the mirror out of Steven's hands in the process. From there, he hopped back to his feet, triumphantly running off with his stolen prize in hand. 

"Gideon!" Steven, Dipper, and Mabel shouted after him, not hesitating to give chase. 

"Sorry, ya'll!" he glanced over his shoulder, smirking smugly. "But this fancy-schmancy magic mirror is mine now!" 

The chase continued down the street, and soon enough, the kids found themselves having to bob in between passing pedestrians just to keep Gideon in their sights. The mirror did its best to help them, blaring random words and phrases so they could keep track of it. But in the end, it was all for naught when they ultimately ended up losing Gideon in the crowd. Even more so when he tucked into a secluded alley to put the mirror to the test. 

"Alighty, now that the rabble's gone…" he gave the mirror a devious grin. "I demand you tell me all there is to know about those pesky Crystal Gems!" 

For a long moment, the mirror was silent. Gideon's smile quickly shifted into an annoyed scowl, his already low patience plummeting. But then, the mirror slowly responded, echoing a quiet "...what?" from Dipper. 

"I said I wanna know all of the Crystal Gems' dirty little secrets!" Gideon snapped, shaking the mirror. "All of their powers, their weapons, their weaknesses ! Tell me how to get the upper hand on 'em once and for all!" 

The mirror responded, though what it had to say was far from coherent. Instead, it almost seemed to glitch out entirely, flickering between broken bits and pieces of everything it had heard that day, scarcely able to get a full word out of any of them. Its glass flashed erratically with faces and images, far too quickly for Gideon to even begin to make sense of any of them. Its speed only increased as it tried to force something out, as sharply scrambled as that something was. 

"Nnnnnn-no–not–Crrrrrrystal–"

"–o-one–onnnne of–NOT one ooooof–"

"–Gems–Crystal Gemssssss–Hommme–wrrrrr–"

"Trai–Not–SSSSSSTOPPPPP! Reblssssssss–NOOOOO!"

"OOOOOOUUUUUTTTT! Let–me–ouuuuuuuu-"

"What in the world…?" Gideon wondered, aptly alarmed as the mirror kept crooning nonsense. He shook the mirror again, finally managing to snap it out of its frantic daze, though even still, Gideon was far from satisfied. "Confounded thing! Are you broken or somethin'?"

The mirror flickered, seemingly catching itself from its meltdown. It planted itself back in the present, turning its focus back on Gideon as it finally offered him a proper response. Just not the one he was looking for. "Are you–dumb–dork?"

"W-wha-?" Gideon started, offended. "How dare you!? Do you have any idea who you're speakin' to, you-"

"You little-piece of junk!" the mirror teased, courtesy of Lars and Robbie. 

Gideon gasped, scandalized as his grip on the mirror's handle tightened sharply. "Now you listen here. Nobody, and I mean nobody speaks to Gideon Gleeful like that! Now you'd best get to answerin' all my questions or I'll shatter ya to smithereens!" 

The mirror clearly didn't take his threats seriously. Instead, it simply, smugly doubled down on its putting Gideon in his place. "Try–it–jerk."

"GAH!" Gideon yelled, unable to curb his temper any longer. He tossed the mirror as hard and as far as he could, eager to watch it meet its end against the concrete ground at the alley's entrance. Fortunately, that wasn't what happened as it landed safely in Dipper's hand instead. 

"Got it!" he announced, relieved, as Steven and Mabel joined him. 

"Yeah!" Mabel cheered, giving her brother a hearty pat on the back. "Nice catch, bro-bro!" 

"W-wait, no!" Gideon charged at the trio, hoping to reclaim the mirror. He didn't get very far, however, as Dipper was easily able to hold it high out of his reach. "Give it back!" 

"I don't understand," Steven frowned. "If you wanted to keep it, why'd you throw it away?"

"'Cause that darned thing was makin' fun of me!" Gideon snapped, furious. 

"Really?" Mabel let out a snicker. "Oh man, I wish we could have been here for that! It must have been soooo funny. Mirror, you really are the best!"

"I-know," the mirror proudly affirmed in Stan's voice. 

"If ya'll know what's good for you, you'll hand that mirror over right now ," Gideon growled. Despite his best efforts at being threatening, none of the kids felt very intimidated by him without the power the amulet used to give him. 

"Yeah, not happening," Dipper said, lightly shoving him away. "I don't even get what you thought you had to gain by taking it in the first place."

"Do you think I'm daft, boy?" Gideon narrowed his eyes at him. "I know that mirror's another one of them magical Gem artifacts, one that I thought would hold all the answers I've been lookin' for. Instead, I was sorely disappointed by nothin' more than a malfunctioning menace ."

"You're–the–menace!" the mirror shot back, much to Mabel's amusement. 

"Ha!" she chuckled. "Got 'im!" 

"Uh… I hate to break it to you, Gideon," Steven began. "But the mirror isn't a Gem artifact. We found it at the Mystery Shack this morning."

Gideon took pause, genuinely surprised by this news. Dipper, Mabel, and Steven were unsure of what to make of the small, oddly sinister smile that spread across his face next. "...I see," he said simply. Whatever he might've meant by that, they had no idea. Still, they were relieved when he began to back away into the shadows of the alley. "Go ahead and keep that silly ol' mirror then," he said, his smirk deepening. "I have a feelin' I'll be finding all the answers I wanted it to give me–and then some–soon enough somewhere else …"

With that, he vanished into the darkness, leaving an aptly confused trio behind. "Well," Dipper said, frowning. "That's ominous."

"Do you think he knows that's a dead-end alley?" Steven asked. 

"Who cares?" Mabel shrugged as she led the way back out onto the street. She took the mirror from Dipper, happily holding it high as a show of their victory. "Sorry you had to put up with Gideon , mirror, but we're soooo glad to have you back!"

"Thank-you!" the mirror returned, showing its gratitude the best it could by adding another unique phrase into the mix: "Sssssteven—Dipper—and—Mabel—are—my—new friends!"

As surprised as the kids were by this, they couldn't help but exchange a set of warm smiles with each other and with the mirror. "Really?" Steven asked. 

The mirror confirmed it with his own laughter, followed by a cheerful "Yeah!" 

"Oh, mirror, you're our friend too!" Mabel joined the mirror as it let out another bright chuckle. 

"You know, normally I wouldn't really consider something like a mirror as a friend," Dipper began with a small, fond smile. "But…"

"Oh my gosh!" Steven gasped, stars in his eyes. "Dipper! You warmed up to the mirror, didn't you?"

"Maybe… Just a little…" Dipper shrugged, despite his lasting smile. 

"This is so great!" Mabel bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "Oh! You know what? We still haven't shown the mirror to the Gems yet!"

"You're right!" Steven exclaimed, turning to the mirror. "They've gotta be back from their mission by now. The Gems will love you!"

"Nooooo!" the mirror suddenly shouted in all three of their voices. 

"Well… that's concerning…" Dipper said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Oh, I'm sure it's just being a little shy," Steven said, offering the mirror a comforting smile.

"Yeah, I mean, it did take the mirror a while for it to start talking to us," Mabel added. "It'll just have to get used to the Gems too!"

"Ok, but… are you guys sure that showing the mirror to the Gems is a good idea?" Dipper asked. "You do remember how much they freaked out over the journal, don't you?"

"But this is totally different," Mabel protested with a wave of her hand. "For starters, the mirror isn't full of all sorts of super-personal junk about the Gems like the journal was."

"And besides, we agreed that we were all going to trust each other," Steven said earnestly. "What better way to start then by letting the Gems in on this?"

While Steven did have a solid point, Dipper wasn't so sure he totally agreed with it. From what he'd seen of the Gems so far this summer, he knew they could be a bit… over-reactive sometimes. What had happened with both the Light Prism and the journal had been proof enough of that. There really was no way to know what they'd think about something like the mirror. But even so, if there was any to keep their promise to the Gems, to show they trusted them and prove they deserved to be trusted in turn… Dipper figured this would be it. 

"Alright, fine," he finally agreed. "Let's go show the Gems."

"Noooo!" the mirror screamed again, but Steven quickly, warmly reassured it.

"Don't worry. They're a good audience."

By the time the kids made it back to the temple, night had fallen. Sure enough, the Gems were back from their mission, relaxing in the den when the kids arrived. 

"Guys!" Steven exclaimed they burst into the house. "Wait till you see-"

"Yo! Ste-man! Dipstick! M'bel!" Amethyst playfully greeted each of them. 

"Howdy," Garnet pointed a finger gun at the trio. "Bang."

"Hello, kids," Pearl said politely. For some reason, she'd amassed a tall, yet very neat tower of random objects. She continued adding onto it with various household objects in the hopes of making it even more organized and aesthetically pleasing.

"Um… what's with the huge pile?" Dipper asked.

"Pearl got in one of her 'cleaning moods' today," Amethyst explained, smirking. "So she did… that. You guys wanna see something hilarious?" Her grin grew mischievous as she grabbed one of Steven's stuffed animals, sitting it on the edge of the pile. Pearl only let it stay there for a split second before her spear skewered straight through its stomach. 

"You don't understand!" she scolded, the stuffed bear still impaled on her weapon. "Symmetrical means both sides have to be the same !" Amethyst broke down laughing as Pearl plucked the bear from her spear, throwing it down into a pile of other ruined items Amethyst had tried to add to the stack.

"M.C. Bear-Bear!" Steven cried, horrified at the fate of his favorite stuffed bear. He quickly got over it, when he stole a glance down at the mirror in his hand, letting excitement overtake him again. "Okay, that's great. Anyway, check this thing out!"

With a huge smile, he held the mirror up so his guardians could see it. The second they so much as caught sight of it, however, they stiffened, their eyes growing wide with alarm as silent shock filled their faces. 

"You guys are speechless, aren't you?" Mabel asked, unbothered by their reaction. "We totally get it. This mirror is pretty amazing."

"W-where…" Pearl finally regained her voice. She took a wavering step closer to the kids, her focus fixated solely on the mirror in Steven's hands. "Where did you three find that mirror?"

"It was stored in a box down at the Mystery Shack," Steven explained.

"What?!" Pearl balked, bewildered. "All these years we spent looking for it, and Stan, of all people, had it all along?! Amethyst, you didn't give that to him, did you?!"

"Uh, no," Amethyst crossed her arms, defensive. "Don't look at me. You're the one who lost it in the first place, remember?"

"Wait… You guys know about this mirror?" Dipper asked, surprised. 

The Gems were quiet for a moment, only exchanging a brief, apprehensive look before Garnet finally replied. "That's no ordinary mirror. We found it at the Galaxy Warp centuries ago."

"Y-yes!" Pearl added, nervously wringing her hands. "It's a Gem-powered mirror that can capture and display any event it's witnessed in all of Gem history!"

"Whoa… really?" Steven asked, stars in his eyes.

Pearl slowly began to settle down as she knelt down beside Steven, putting an arm around him. "I have to admit, I'm very surprised you kids found this. But you're in for a real treat! It'll offer you everything you've ever wanted to know about our fellow Gems and our culture!"

"Hold on," Dipper cut in, immensely intrigued. "You mean there are other Gems?"

"Uh duh!" Amethyst grinned. "There's like, tons of us out there!"

"Wow!" Mabel exclaimed, awestruck. "Well, where are they?! We wanna meet them all!"

Another beat of suddenly awkward silence filled the air. The Gems hesitated, all in different ways; Amethyst shrunk into her spot on the couch, Pearl slipped a hand over her mouth, and in the end, Garnet answered with a vague, emotionless response. "That's… impossible."

"What? Why?" Steven frowned. Before any of the kids could press them for anything else, Pearl jumped in again. Largely in the hopes of distracting them away from such an uncomfortable topic above all else. 

"O-okay!" she sharply exclaimed, turning the kids' attention back to the mirror. "Why don't we activate this mirror and give it a little test run?" Pearl cleared her throat before addressing the mirror firmly, authoritatively. "Show us the Galaxy Warp." 

Oddly enough, the mirror was completely still and silent, a complete contrast to how chatty it had been all day. "Show us the Galaxy Warp!" Pearl tried again, growing annoyed "Oh, come on! I know you've seen it!" She tugged on the mirror, glaring at it. She sighed, disappointed, when she turned it over and saw the cracked stone on the back. "I suppose it is in pretty rough shape. It must finally be broken." She shook her head as she handed the mirror back to Steven. "What a shame."

"But it's not broken!" Mabel countered. "It's been talking to us all day."

"Wait, what ?" Pearl asked, taken aback.

"Yeah! It's like a person!" Steven added. "Here, we'll show you. Say "hey"," he instructed the mirror. But once again, it didn't utter as much as a single sound. "Lil' buddy…" he urged gently, but still, the mirror would not comply. "Uh… excuse us."

The twins joined Steven as he turned away from the Gems so they could speak with the mirror in private. "Come on, mirror!" Mabel encouraged. "Don't be shy! The Gems won't bite! Well, Amethyst sometimes does, but they won't bite you!"

"Um… guys? I'm really not sure about this…" Dipper muttered. He stole a glance back at the Gems, taking notice at their mutually anxious, downright disturbed expressions. As sure a sign as any that this reveal wasn't going anywhere near as well as they'd hoped. 

Steven didn't pay him much mind in favor of practically pleading with the mirror. "You wanna come out, don't you? You have so much to say and funny noises to share from across the ages. Aren't we summer fun buddies?"

For what felt like forever, the mirror remained still, almost as if it was in some sort of unspoken conflict with itself. Until it finally gave in with none other than its favorite joke once again: "PFFFT!"

"There's the mirror we know and love!" Mabel happily cheered. 

"You just couldn't help yourself, huh?" Steven asked, chuckling.

"Just for—you—guys!"

The Gems could only watch on, dumbfounded, as the mirror launched into another round of repetitive laughter. "It's… talking to them?" Pearl whispered, incredulous. "It shouldn't be doing that. I-it should just be following orders."

"Garnet, do something…" Amethyst urged between clenched teeth. 

Sure enough, Garnet stood, towering over the kids as she stepped over to them. "Steven, Dipper, Mabel," she began, her voice somehow even sterner than it usually was. 

At the sight of Garnet's approach, the mirror quickly switched from laughter to a panicked cry, startling the kids in the process. Still, even as they shrunk a bit away from her, Garnet did not back down. "You should give the mirror to us. It will be safer where we can watch it."

"Yeah! Let's bubble it!" Amethyst growled, cracking her knuckles.

"Nooooo!" the mirror wailed. The kids looked at it, torn between rising confusion and fear. Fear that only grew when Garnet held her hand out to them expectantly, demandingly . 

"H-how will it be safer?" Mabel asked, worried.

"It just will be," Garnet answered. The low light of the room filled her shades, making her entire face look uncharacteristically dark and cold. "Don't make me take it away from you three."

As the mirror howled in terror once more, Steven hugged it close to him. His eyes were wide but his stance was firm as he turned back to face Garnet, his heart aching all the while. "It doesn't want to go with you! Can't you hear it screaming?"

"Steven, it's just a mirror, a tool," Garnet stoutly dismissed his concerns. "It can't want anything."

"You're wrong!" Dipper spoke up. While a part of him regretted his boldness, he didn't flinch when Garnet shot a harsh glare his way. After all, the last thing he wanted–the last thing any of them wanted was for the Gems to abscond with the mirror and leave it to a fate unknown. "It talked to us! It has a personality and everything! You can't just-"

"I can," Garnet asserted. "And I will. You three should have never found that mirror in the first place. You'll thank us for this later."

As distraught as they were, the kids felt painfully powerless as Garnet began to reach out to take the mirror from them by force. All the while, the mirror kept on screaming, the faces in it changing rapidly, as if it were begging them to do something, anything . But what could they do? 

True, they had promised they would start trusting the Gems more, but how could they trust them now, after all this? The mirror's desperation and fear was startlingly clear, to the point that all three of them felt it, shared it. But even despite that fear, there was one thing they knew for certain: they weren't about to hand over their new friend so easily. 

"NOOOOO!" the mirror shrieked, somehow louder than ever before. And its cry, echoing their own voices right back at them, was enough to finally force one of them into action. 

Steven let out a frustrated growl, unable to keep his dread, his worry, his anger contained any longer. "It wants to be with US !" he shouted, slapping Garnet's hand away just shy of the mirror. His hand went even further than that as he struck her in the face, entirely on accident, knocking her shades off to reveal–

Not just one, but three eyes, all piercing them straight through with a burning, icy glare. 

For a moment, nothing but deafening, crushing silence echoed through the house. Somewhere behind Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst stood, shocked stiff. The kids weren't far off from them; for a moment, they were only able to stare back at Garnet, floored and fearful, unsure of what to do or say or even think. That is, until the mirror screamed again. And once more, that was all it took to get them moving, to kick them off on the same exact, terrified thought: 

They had to run . 

Before Garnet could even move to try and take the mirror again, they had bolted out the door. As they rushed down the porch stairs, Steven cried out a distraught apology for his guardians. Not that he thought they'd ever forgive him for what he'd just done. "I-I'm sorry!" 

In the aftermath of their hurried retreat, Pearl and Amethyst approached Garnet slowly. She was still seething, clearly, even as she slipped her shades back on to hide her trio of eyes away again. "Those three kids are in big trouble," she said, her hands curling into tight fists as she stormed after them. 

"G-Garnet, wait!" Pearl called as she and Amethyst hurried to follow. As they dreaded every second of whatever was about to come next. "I'm sure they didn't understand what they were doing!"

Finally, the mirror had stopped screaming, not that it made matters any less worse. The kids darted through the darkness of the woods, with only the dull light the mirror put off to guide them. And while that would have been frightening enough on its own, their hearts still pounded with fear over what had just happened with the Gems. True, they knew they wouldn't hurt them if they found them, but the kids were hardly worried about themselves. Instead, their concerns rested solely with the mirror, with the way the Gems had reacted so badly to it, with the way they wanted to take it, to silence it, as if it didn't deserve to have a voice of its own at all. 

They couldn't let that happen, not now, not ever. And if that meant betraying the Gems' newfound trust in them, if that meant all but burning their bridges with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl alike… then so be it. Anything to protect their newfound friend. 

Eventually, the kids were forced to stop simply just to catch their breath. They tucked away behind a large tree near a creek, resting against it for support. They knew it'd only be a matter of time before the Gems found them, and once they did… they couldn't bear to think about what might happen. 

"What do we do?! What do we do?!" Mabel asked in a breathless frenzy.

"Uh… I-I don't…" Steven bit his lip. He glanced down at the mirror, at a total loss. 

"We are so dead!" Dipper sharply explained. He narrowly resisted the urge to pace around out of panic, if only to keep their hiding spot hidden. "They're probably chasing after us even as we speak! How are we supposed to keep the mirror from them if they find us?!"

"We can't let them have it!" Mabel said, her voice wrought with dread. "It doesn't like them! It likes us! It should be with us!"

"What's their problem with you anyway?" Steven asked the mirror. He was taken aback by the sight of his own reflection in it, at the wild terror filling his eyes. Terror he doubted he'd be able to shake any time soon. 

To his surprise, the image in the mirror quickly changed, glowing brightly in the surrounding darkness. "A-are you trying to say something?" he asked as Dipper and Mabel pressed in closer to see for themselves. 

The mirror's image shifted quickly, its message distorted and disjointed, yet strangely clear enough all the same. "Away from home," it began in Lars' voice, though it whirled to show several other faces as it relayed a desperate plea. "Let—me—OUT!"

"What? What's it talking about? Let who out?" Dipper asked, shaking his head.

"We don't understand!" Steven exclaimed, gripping the mirror like a vice.

"Steven! Dipper! Mabel!" Pearl's distant call echoed through the woods. It was as good of a reminder as any that they were quickly running out of time.

"Oh no! They're coming!" Mabel whispered tightly. 

"Please!" Steven pleaded with the mirror. Tears filled his eyes as he stared at its ever-shifting surface. "We want to help you! What can we do?!"

Suddenly, the mirror's image changed to something completely different, completely new . Instead of using borrowed responses, it displayed a trio of silhouettes; it didn't take the kids long to see themselves in them. They watched, practically entranced, as they pulled on the stone on the back of the mirror, until at last, it was free. 

None of them had any idea what would happen if they did this, but they did know they had little time to question it. Instead, they simply exchanged a silent, resolved nod, determined to do whatever it took to help the mirror, regardless of the consequences. Steven gripped the smooth stone first, with Dipper and Mabel holding onto his wrist for extra support. 

Even so, they struggled to pry it out of its perch, to the point that none of them noticed a thin stream of water crawling across the ground from the creek. More water soon joined it, slowly tracing an intricate pattern on the ground at their feet. Yet still, they paid it no mind, not when the stone suddenly began to budge, not when they could hear the Gems' calls growing ever closer, not when they knew the mirror, their friend was depending on them. 

And, with one final, fierce yank, the kids pulled the stone free. 

In an instant, the mirror shattered as the stone flew out of Steven's hand. It glided over to the stream, stopping just short of its edge. The kids watched, awestruck as a bright blue glow poured out from it, illuminating the entire forest surrounding it. And from this light, a figure–a woman –emerged, with short hair and a dress billowing out as the stone claimed a spot upon their back. She hovered in the air, only for a moment, until the light abruptly faded, leaving her to fall to the ground on all fours. 

Unsure of what else to do, the kids slowly, carefully began to approach her. From what they could see of her, she was slim, agile, almost graceful in a way. She kept the coloration of her gemstone, with blue hair, blue skin, and a simple blue dress. And yet still, the crack on that stone remained, and if that wasn't worrying enough on its own, then her eyes certainly were. She slowly glanced back at them with a vacant, mirror-like gaze, with eyes that reflected the kids as they stared into them. Her expression, while weak and weary, still carried some level of gratitude all the same as she softly spoke. 

"T-thank you…" she almost sighed the words out in something akin to relief. She began pushing herself up off the ground, only to collapse, unsteady on her feet. Steven and Dipper both rushed to her side to support her when she tried again. To their surprise, she was only a few feet taller than the three of them once she pulled herself to her full height. 

"You three... You actually talked to me. You helped me!" she offered them a warm, genuine smile as she looked between the three of them. "Let's see… it's… Steven… and Dipper… and Mabel… right?"

While still awash in awe, the kids returned her smile and nodded nonetheless. For her part, the woman's own grin widened just a bit. "I'm Lapis," she introduced herself. "Lapis Lazuli. Are you three really Crystal Gems?"

"Oh, we're not," Mabel pointed to herself and Dipper. "But Steven is!"

"Yeah!" Steven nodded with a bright smile.

"O-oh…" Lapis frowned as she turned her attention to the twins. "So then… what are you two?"

"Um… we're human?" Dipper informed her.

"Really?" Lapis asked, genuinely curious. "Two humans and a Crystal Gem… But… you set me free."

"But—wha-?" Steven questioned. Lapis didn't get the chance to explain, however, before the Crystal Gems abruptly arrived on the scene. 

"Kids!" Garnet shouted as she broke through the woods first, her gauntlets already summoned. Amethyst and Pearl gasped as they noticed the frightened Lapis, calling upon their own weapons for a fight. A fight that the kids could see coming just as much as they were resolved to prevent it. 

"Wait!" Steven ran over to the Gems, while the twins stayed with Lapis. They weren't sure if they could do much to protect her from their inexplicable wrath, but as they soon found out, they wouldn't need to. Lapis could protect herself more than well enough. 

"YOU!" she hissed at the Crystal Gems. As her hands curled into fists, the stream behind her suddenly swelled high into the air. It formed into the shape of a massive fist, towering high over everyone below it. As startled as the kids were, they could do nothing to stop Lapis as she flew into a fit of rage that far surpassed that of any of her apparent foes. 

"You three knew I was in there, and you didn't do anything !" she shouted, outraged. "Did you even wonder who I used to be?!" 

With a sharp cry, she brought her water arm down hard upon the Gems. While Pearl and Amethyst rolled out of its path, Garnet caught it squarely, though even her formidable strength wouldn't be able to keep it at bay for long. 

"Steven! Dipper! Mabel! Run!" Pearl warned as chaos unfolded through the clearing. The kids hardly heeded that warning as they kept their spot near Lapis, baffled by her power, by her sheer might. By how someone so strong had seemingly been stuck in that mirror for so long. 

"W-what are you doing?!" Dipper asked her. However, as caught up in her rage as she was, she made no effort to explain herself. 

"I'm Lapis Lazuli!" she declared fiercely, both power and pain ringing through her voice. "And you can't keep me trapped here anymore!"

Without even moving a finger, Lapis called upon the creek again. She raised its water high above the bank, forming a path that cut somewhere downstream. "They're not going to let us leave…" she scowled, sending a hateful glare the Gems' way. 

"Leave?" Dipper asked, confused.

Lapis shook her head, using some of the creek water to push the approaching Gems back to buy herself some time. "Steven, Dipper, Mabel, come with me," she said, offering her hand out to them.

"Where?" Steven questioned, warily eyeing the creek behind her. 

Lapis held her head high, her voice stern with yearning and resolve alike "Home."

"Y-you mean the creek?" Mabel asked, nervous.

"No," Lapis took a wistful glance up into the night sky. "I mean home ."

Needless to say, the kids had no idea what she was talking about. None of them got much of a chance to ask her, much less answer her either. After all, their anxious silence alone was enough of an answer for Lapis. 

"Fine…" she relented sadly. She allowed the wall of water blocking the Gems to finally fall as she turned to the kids one last time. "Don't trust them," she warned, her face awash in both anger and despair. "Goodbye."

Without another word, Lapis stepped into the empty creek bed, letting its water wash over her. The creek spilled over in a heavy wave from the sudden overflow, knocking both the kids and the Gems back into the woods. By the time they'd gathered their bearings and finished coughing up water, the kids glanced up to find that Lapis–

Lapis was gone. 

It wasn't long after that the Gems descended upon them. Pearl was the first to pull them into a tight, protective embrace as she fretted over them for any potential injuries. "Are you three alright?!" she asked, pulling them even closer to her.

"We would be if you let us breathe, Pearl," Dipper tightly complained. 

"O-oh, yes! Of course." She quickly let them out of her arms, allowing them the space they so clearly needed in the aftermath of… whatever just happened. 

"So… that was another Gem?" Steven asked. He stared off in the direction Lapis had fled, to the point where the creek disappeared somewhere beyond the distant trees. 

"Yes…" Pearl let out a long, remorseful sigh.

No one really knew what to say after that. Really, what could they say, about the mirror, about Lapis, about anything? Though the creek had settled and returned to its normal flow, signs of its upheaval still rested all around them, in the drenched ground and uprooted trees. Just as signs of the upheaval between the Gems and the kids still rested in the tense, uncertain silence standing between them. 

In the end, that silence was eventually broken by Garnet, who only, simply said: "Steven, you're grounded."