Chapter Text
Chapter One: Road Stop
Steven Quartz Cutie Pie Demayo Diamond Universe was tired of driving.
He’d been staying in towns and cities on and off, for up to maybe a week at most at a time. He’d covered a dozen states so far in his cross country travels. He certainly wasn’t going to rush things, but he’d been on the road for so long now, he was starting to feel unsettled.
Connie had suggested he try to stay somewhere for the summer, and suggested Oregon. He’d not spent much time in any mountainous places after all, and the culture would be very different from Delmarva and Beach City.
Besides, it would make it easier for her to go visit him if he was in one place, and he liked the sound of that.
He’d stopped at a 8/12 gas station to grab snacks for the road, where he was delighted to see they actually sold Chaaaps at this location. He had no idea some brands could be practically regionally locked. Oregon was impressing him already.
Steven spied a large slushie station with an equally large neon plastic slushie mascot. Well, he certainly wasn’t going to pass that up!
As he got his thick neon red sugary beverage (was it a beverage? A dessert? Connie would know this.), an old man in a tattered hat, overalls, with a large red tinted nose, burst into the store.
The cashier snapped up from her dozing on her chair and cried out. “MckGucket! You’re banned! Out, out, out!”
She stood up and grabbed a nearby broom, holding it up threateningly.
“Aw schucks and boondockles!!” The strange old man, this McGucket, said in a thick southern accent. “I’ve just had such a hankering for y’alls fine as a dandy sweeter than molassey slushies, won’t you let a poor old geezer have one?”
“Absolutely not, last time you tried to take the mascot off of the machine!”
“Ain’t my fault the tubin was just right for one o’ my dinosaur robots!”
“You destroyed company property and like, that affects my paycheck!”
If the bizarre old man didn’t have Steven’s attention before, the mention of dinosaur sized robots had.
“Robots? Dinosaur sized?” Steven said, stars in his eyes, quickly approaching the old man.
“Kid, no, don’t encourage him, he’s delusional.”
“Ain’t not!” McGucket argued, producing a handful of gears in his hand and a screwdriver. “ See?”
Steven stared at him. “ See…what?”
McGucket giggled. “…Robot Dinosaur droppings! Aahahah!”
He then grabbed Steven’s slushie and ran out of the door.
“ Hey!!” The cashier huffed as the strange old man ran out the door and down the side of the highway, disappearing into the woods. “ Ugh, that’s the third time this month.”
She looked at Steven. “ Sorry about that sir, go ahead and get another one, on the house.”
“Oh, uh, you sure?” Steven said. “ I don’t want to be a bother.”
She waved her hand. “ It’s fine, honestly, we make a huge profit off of those slushies, they only cost a few pennies to make. Doesn’t mean I don’t get in trouble when Gravity Falls can’t contain its weirdness and spills it in here.” She huffed. “Gravity falls?” Steven inquired as he got himself another slushie. A small one this time, though. He wasn’t about to take advantage of this cashier’s generosity.
“It’s a small town nearby. It’s…nice. Scenic. Has an old arcade place I like to go to, a decent greasy diner, and this weird tourist trap called the Mystery Shack.” She said. “I got a cousin that lives there, and it’s…okay…but…” She frowned.
“ But…?” Steven pressed, his curiosity piqued.
“ I don’t know, its stupid, its just–something about the place throws me off, you know? Has a weird vibe. Plus I get a headache if I think about it too long.” She said with a shrug.
Steven’s brow furrowed in thought as he put his purchases on the counter. “ That…doesn’t seem normal, does it?”
“If I don’t think about it, it is.” She said with a sudden tenseness, and quickly changed the subject. “ Anyways, that’ll be 10.75.”
Steven handed her a twenty and grabbed his purchases. “Thanks, keep the change!”
“Oh– wow, thanks!” The Cashier called out as Steven left.
Steven loaded back into his dondai in the small parking lot. It was a bit hot in his car, the noon sun baking the pavement. He sipped on his slushy and brought up his phone, and boogled “Gravity Falls”.
___
Steven decided to take a quick drive through Gravity Falls, at first, but the longer he spent within the small towns borders, the more he felt sure he should at least stay the night.
It wasn’t a remarkable place, he’d seen many towns like it, but something about this town made him want to stay just a little longer, and he’d learned to trust his gut by now.
He drove to the first motel, but it was covered with a giant black tarp and several people in hazmats suits were wandering around. A short dark skinned cop told him he was out of luck.
“Oh, uh, are there no other hotels in the area?”
“Well there’s Dino Dee-Lite, a little bit out of town, got a big godzilla lookin monster as a road attraction if you’re into that sort of thing…So…bye.” The cop said, and waved Steven to move on.
He sighed and again, boggle directions for this strange hotel. The first picture was a giant faded pink godzilla statue that towered over the hotel building proper.
Steven threw his phone into the back seat and groaned, so much for that. Maybe he should just move on after seeing a few things the cashier had mentioned.
He drove to the edges of the town nearer to the forest to think for a bit. Driving around made it easier for him to get his thoughts in order.
What was it the cashier had said was around here? A diner, an arcade, an earthquake–
Earthquake?!
The world around Steven was shaking, and he saw a huge shadow cross over the car–just before a huge log landed just in front of the Dondai. Steven slammed on the brakes, but not in time.
There was a crunching sound, and then black.
___
He heard a ringing noise, and muffled sounds–voices?
“Is he dead?!”
“He’s not dead Mabel–look, he’s waking up-hey!”
Steven blinked. His car door was open. The front half of his car was nearly totalled.
In front of him were two kids, who couldn’t be older than twelve. One wearing what Steven considered to be one of the most fabulous sweaters he’d ever seen, the other in a vest carrying a large book. Both looked rather disheveled, a few scrapes and bruises, leaves and branches in their hair.
“Are–are you guys okay?” Steven coughed, sitting up and putting a hand to his head.
“Uh-yeah?” The boy answered.
“We ought to be asking YOU that, silly, your car looks like a metal accordion!” the girll exclaimed. “We took the golf cart back to check on you as soon as Dipper and I dealt with the gnomes–”
“Mabel!”
“Oh-uh–nevermind that, uh–”
“Gn..gnomes…?” Steven said, fog from his probable concussion starting to lift from his mind.
Before either twin could answer, Steven heard rustling in the back seat. Dipper opened the backseat door and three tiny men in beards and pointed hats stopped mid thievery of Steven’s clothing from his suitcases.
“Out! Out of there, get!” Dipper threatened. The little men hissed and ran out of the car, taking a few socks with them.
Steven stared at the gnomes, and then the kids, then his car, and back to the kids.
Was…this how normal humans felt when they found out about gem stuff? Because whatever was going on here, this wasn’t normal. Right? He was pretty sure his dad would have told him if gnomes were real.
Steven stood and left the car, blinked a few times, then looked at the Dondai. He searched the back seat and grabbed his phone.
He cringed as he picked it up and pieces of glass fell off of it. Even his cute stickers were ruined. He wasn’t sure if the damage was the accident or the gnomes, but either way he’d have to find a telephone to call for a tow truck. He grabbed his suitcase from the back, closing it up, and looked back at the kids.
“So..uh, I’m Steven Universe.” he said awkwardly, turning back to the kids. He held up his phone. “ And…you said two had a golf cart? Could we take that somewhere where I could…make some calls?”
“You’re not going to ask about the Gnomes? You seem awfully calm considering you just saw proof of cryptids, and you just crashed your car!” Dipper said, gripping the journal tightly. “ I dont think anyone else knows but me and Mabel…”
“I’ve gotten by pretty well without asking too many questions.” Steven stated. He saw Dipper’s expression shift into deeper worry. Why was keeping this a secret so important? He supposed he’d better go along with it for now.
“Uh, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I don’t think they’d believe me anyways.”
Dipper nodded and Mabel spoke up.
“But since you know about them now do you wanna hear about how we defeated them!?” Mabel spoke up excitedly, grinning ear to ear. Steven noticed a cut on her cheek and kept up a fake smile.
These two were running around going on adventures where they could get hurt by mysterious and apparently aggressive beings, and they were keeping it a secret. Steven couldn’t disapprove more. Who knew what else could be out there besides these malicious seeming gnomes. They should be at home playing video games, watching television, eating unhealthy snacks!
“Sure, of course, that sounds like quite an adventure, huh?” Steven said, heading towards the golf cart with the two kids. “Oh, sorry, what are your names?”
“I’m Mabel!” The girl announced loudly as she skipped towards the golf cart. She pointed towards the boy. “ And this is my twin brother, Dipper!”
“Nice to meet you two.” Steven said with a grin.
Steven took the front driver’s seat before Dipper could protest, and he decided not to argue about it and took the back instead, while Mabel sat beside Steven. It took a few tries to get the slightly busted golf cart going again, and Mabel began spinning her tale.
“So it all started when Mom and Dad sent us here to get some fresh air, and to visit our Great Uncle Stan, or, Grunkle Stan, as we call him…”