The Green Flash

Chapter 13

-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.