Universe Falls (Gravity Falls x Steven Universe)

Summary:

When Garnet reveals her unique ability to see potential possibilities for the future, Steven and Dipper get a little carried away with worrying about all of the ways the future could go wrong.

Lazy afternoons in the Mystery Shack's gift shop weren't uncommon, but if there was anyone who knew how to get through the dull, dragging hours of her job, it was Wendy. Early on into the summer, she'd begun doling out her tips for getting out of work to Dipper and Mabel, along with ways to keep Stan from noticing. Today was no exception as they worked together to invent a new game to pass the idle time–dubbing over the shack's video security feed in real time. 

"'Do you have this tee-shirt in my size?'" Dipper threw his voice a bit to voice over one of the gift shop patrons. 

"'I have something even better!" Wendy filled in Stan's response as he happened to bend over. "Behold! My butt!"

The trio broke down laughing, though it was soon interrupted as Mabel spotted someone stepping into the shack. "Oh, look! It's Steven–and Lion! I got this one!" She cleared her throat for what Dipper and Wendy assumed would be an impression. Only to use her usual voice to talk over Steven as he offered Stan a bright grin. "Hi, Grunkle Stan! It's me, Steven and I'm carrying a box!'"

While Wendy let out a small chuckle, Dipper simply looked at his sister, incredulous. "Mabel, I don't think you're getting the point of this game."

"Oo, you guys are playing a game?" Steven asked as he stepped up to the counter. Sure enough, he had a box full of stuffed animals in tow, one that he had to pull away from Lion lest he start chewing on its contents–again. "Mind if I join in? I'd love to get a break from clearing all of my old toys out of the temple."

"Whoa, dude, that's pretty mature of you," Wendy said, impressed. 

"Well, I knew this day had to come sooner or later," Steven sighed, looking down at his box of toys. "It's a little tough letting all of them go, but I'm a Crystal Gem. I'm a big boy now. And I've gotta stop saying things like 'I'm a big boy now'."

"Yeah," Dipper chuckled, not noticing Steven's sudden blush. "You might wanna hold off on that one."

"Well, if you don't want these cuties anymore, I'll be more than happy to take a few of them off your hands," Mabel reached into the box, grinning as she pulled a stuffed pig out. "Especially this guy! He's so pink, so precious ! Just like Lion, only you know, more of a pig than a lion."

Lion simply let out a contented growl as Mabel plopped the stuffed pig onto his head. "Wow, they're practically twins," Wendy joked, smirking. 

"Yeah, they are!" Steven readily agreed as he handed the rest of his box over to Mabel. "Here, Mabel. You can have all of them if you want. That way, I can come and visit them any time!"

"Oh my gosh, thanks, Steven!" Mabel beamed. "These guys will fit in great with all the rest of my stuffed animals!"

"As if she needs any more to clutter the attic with," Dipper deadpanned to Wendy, aside. 

She snorted out a laugh, one that was soon cut short as Stan shouted for her from the museum. "Wendy! Some brat knocked over the Fiji mermaid tank again! Get in here and mop up, will ya?"

"Ugh," Wendy groaned, shoving herself out of her seat. "Duty calls. Wish me luck–I always need it whenever that gross fake mermaid is involved."

"Good luck!" the kids called after her. Almost as soon as soon as she left, however, Lion suddenly sat straight up from his spot, his lips curling back into a bitter snarl. 

"Whoa, Lion, are you ok?" Steven frowned as he tried to calm his companion down. He paused, however, upon catching a sudden strong whiff of something in the air. "Hey, do you guys smell a gallon of body spray?"

The source of that smell soon became clear as Robbie approached the counter, a bored look on his face as he leaned against it. "Hey, have any of you dorks seen Wendy around?"

"Who wants to know?" Dipper asked, crossing his arms. 

Robbie didn't answer; instead, he raised a suspicious eyebrow down at Lion, who was still glaring up at him distrustfully. "What is that thing?" he asked. "The world's most girly stuffed cat?"

"This is my lion, Lion," Steven said. 

"Sure, and I'm a panda," Robbie scoffed. As he passed Lion by, however, the fuming feline didn't hesitate to lash out, snipping at the teen and tripping him up when he caught his sneaker with his sharp teeth. 

"Hey!" Robbie snapped, angrily reclaiming his shoe. He made a point of ignoring Dipper and Mabel laughing behind him as he shot Lion a fierce glare. "Stupid pink mutt. Stay outta my way!"

"Aw, Lion!" Steven hugged his pet in the hopes of both calming him down and reining him in. "Don't be upset; you're not stupid–you're super smart!" 

"Yeah!" Mabel agreed as she fixed Robbie with a scowl. "He just doesn't like mean or grumpy people like you ."

"Tch, that thing nearly bit my leg off," Robbie sneered, turning his nose up at the kids. "I'll be as 'mean' and 'grumpy' as I want-"

"Robbie?" 

He quickly cut himself off, letting out a sharp, high-pitched squeak as he spun around to face his girlfriend when she emerged from the museum. "W-Wendy! I, uh, was just… paling around with these dweebs and their, uh…" He winced when he caught sight of Lion growling at him again. "Totally not-rabid dog."

"Lion," Steven corrected.

"Whatever."

"Uh huh…" Wendy crossed her arms, not impressed. "Sure you were."

She didn't have much else to say to him as she walked past him to reclaim her spot behind the counter. Robbie joined her, slicking his hair back as he tried his best to come across as "sauve". "So, Wendy, Nate and his girlfriend are going to Lookout Point this weekend. Maybe we should go too?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Wendy shot him an incredulous look. "First you stand me up last night, then instead of apologizing, you want me to go with you to Lookout Point? You can't honestly expect me to let you off that easily, Robbie."

Sensing the rising tension between the couple, Dipper, Mabel, and Steven stepped back a bit to give them some privacy. Albeit not much as they continued eavesdropping from the far side of the gift shop, curious to see exactly what was about to unfold.

"Look, Robbie…" Wendy began, sighing. "I'm just… not sure this relationship is working. Maybe… maybe we should see other people."

"Whoa, hey!" Robbie nervously exclaimed. "Before you do anything crazy, I, uh… I want you to hear this." He reached into his hoodie, pulling out a CD. Strangely, its dark surface seemed to glisten in the light, catching the eye of all three of the kids as they watched Robbie put the disc into the CD player. 

"I wrote this song just for you," Robbie said as a brooding tune began to play, one that he sang along to just as moodily. "When I think about you, I feel feelings so deep. I'm tossing and turning, and you know I'm losing sleep."

"Yeesh," Dipper cringed over the song's sappy lyrics.

"Aw, I think it's kind of sweet!" Mabel exclaimed, grinning. 

"Yeah, sweet enough to rot someone's teeth out," Dipper deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

"And I know I'm goin' crazy when I look into your eyes," Robbie continued singing. It wasn't lost on him–or any of the kids–when Wendy abruptly went from barely listening to turning her rapt attention over to him. "Just listen to this song, and you'll be hypnotai-ai-ai-zed."

By the time Robbie finished the song off, Wendy was inexplicably awestruck. Her eyes were wide while her mouth hung agape, at least until she shook her head, almost as if she were breaking out of some sort of daze. "You know what?" she said, finally slipping on a small smile. "Maybe I was being too hasty. I'll give you another chance."

"Yes!" Robbie cheered as Wendy gave him a kiss on the cheek. The kids, meanwhile, couldn't help but be confused over what they'd just seen.

"How'd he do that?" Dipper wondered, bewildered.

"Do what?" Steven asked.

"Get Wendy to change her mind with nothing but a sappy song!" Dipper shook his head. "It just doesn't make any sense…"

"Boys, boys, boys," Mabel said with a knowing grin. "You just don't get it. If there's one thing ladies love more than anything, it's being sweetly serenaded by a charming prince. Of course, Robbie isn't really what I'd call 'charming' or a 'prince' so… maybe he just got lucky?"

"Yeah, and maybe Robbie doesn't smother his hair in gallons of hair gel every day," Dipper dryly retorted.

"Let me go grab my coat," Wendy headed back into the den. Unable to quell his rising suspicions any longer, Dipper approached the teen in the hopes of getting to the bottom of this newfound mystery. 

"Alright, Robbie, we saw that weird CD," he began. "What the heck are you up to?"

"It's called romance, kid," the teen sneered. "Something you'd never understand."

"So… is that CD made out of romance then?" Steven asked, confused.

"What? No," Robbie scoffed. "But it might as well be, with how well it worked."

Before the kids could pry any further, Wendy returned, sending Robbie an affectionate grin. "You ready?" she asked, linking arms with him. "I can't believe you wrote that song for me."

"I know. I'm just so insanely talented," Robbie smugly agreed as he led Wendy out of the shack. 

"Ugh, Wendy, girl, what are you doing?" Mabel groaned, even though Wendy was long since out of earshot. "She's way too good and fun to be going out with a lame guy like Robbie ."

"Aw, I dunno, you guys," Steven shrugged. "I think they make a pretty cute couple. Plus that song Robbie wrote was–" He stopped short when he noticed Dipper, inspecting the CD Robbie had left behind by, strangely enough, sniffing it. "Uh… what are you doing?"

"Ok, look," Dipper held the CD up for the pair to see. Sure enough, it was quite unlike any other disc they'd ever seen before, practically pitch black as it dully reflected the light around it. "Call me crazy, but I think Robbie might have used his song to hypnotize Wendy!"

"Whoa…." Steven gasped. "But… I thought you needed a watch to hypnotize people…"

"I'm sure music could do it somehow too!" Dipper countered. "How else would Robbie get Wendy to forgive him just like that?"

"Maybe Wendy just liked the song?" Mabel shrugged, not convinced. "Not everything has to be some sort of bonkers conspiracy, Dipper. Music just has a way of bringing people together."

"Yeah!" Steven agreed. "Take my mom and dad for example; they first met at one of my dad's concerts and they fell in love!"

"Yeah, but this is totally different," Dipper argued. 

"Different… how, exactly?" Mabel asked. 

"It just is!" Dipper huffed, annoyed. "Mabel, you said so yourself: Wendy is too good for Robbie, and she doesn't even realize it! And how can she, if he's just gonna keep using music to mind control her into liking him?"

"Hm…" Steven tapped his chin as he approached a nearby shelf to check out a new snow globe. "You know, maybe you do have a point-" He was suddenly cut off when, without warning, the shelf he was reaching for snapped clean off its rusty hinges. Steven let out a fearful cry as its contents began tumbling down at him, only for someone to slip in front of him, saving him just in time. 

"Garnet!" Steven gasped as he watched her take the brunt of the snow globes shattering all over her. Not that she was even remotely bothered by them. 

"Good afternoon to you, Steven," Garnet nodded down at him and the twins. "Dipper, Mabel."

"Oh my gosh! Garnet, are you ok?" Dipper asked, alarmed. He had every reason to be too, for all of the bits of broken glass poking out of Garnet's hair.

"I'm fine," Garnet confirmed as she plucked a few of those shards out of her afro. "I've taken a lot worse hits than that."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Stan shouted as he stormed into the shop. "Who's in here breaking all my merchandise?!" He paused, turning even more sullen as soon as he spotted Garnet standing in the midst of the mess. "Oh, I should have figured."

"Garnet didn't break anything, Mr. Pines," Steven explained. "She saved me! Boy, Garnet, I sure am lucky you showed up when you did."

"Luck's got nothing to do with it," Garnet said, adjusting her shades.

"Ooo, that sounds mysterious ," Mabel said with a curious grin. "What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it," Garnet said as she turned to leave. The kids, however, weren't about to let her slip away so easily. 

"Hey! Aren't you gonna pay for all this stuff?!" Stan called after Garnet as the kids followed. As intrigued as they were, Stan was left to be all but ignored. 

"Oh, come on!" Steven begged as he ran to keep up with Garnet. "How do you always know where to be?"

"Seriously, it's almost kind of creepy how you seem to know what's going to happen before it happens," Dipper agreed. "What's up with that?"

Garnet stopped just shy of the door, her hands on her hips as she looked between the trio of kids, all staring up at her expectantly. "I don't think you three can handle that information."

"What? No way! We can totally handle it!" Dipper protested.

"Yeah! We can handle anything !" Mabel zealously added. 

"Yeah! I'm a big b—large man now," Steven said, catching himself just in time. 

Under the pleading smiles all three of the kids were sending her way, it didn't take long for Garnet to cave and tell them. For better or worse. "Well…. I guess you could say I have a sort of… future vision."

"Future what?" Dipper repeated, puzzled.

"Future vision?" Stan raised an eyebrow. "You mean like some sort of hokey crystal ball-reading fortune teller? You know, my ma used to dabble in that. She was living proof that kind of stuff is just about the biggest sham there is."

"Well, this isn't," Garnet shook her head. "I'm able to see possible outcomes to most situations. Which comes in handy, since you kids seem to attract a lot of danger."

"Well, danger is my middle name," Steven grinned, trying to act tough.

"That's a lie," Garnet knelt down to his level, giving him a playful tap on the nose. "Your middle name… is cutie pie." 

"So let me get this straight," Dipper cut in. "You can see into the future?"

"No one can see into the future," Garnet replied, standing. "I can see objects and trajectories. Time is like a river that splits into creeks or pools into lakes or careens down waterfalls. I have the map, and I steer the ship."

"Whoa… like a time pirate!" Mabel exclaimed, grinning. 

"Something like that," Garnet said with a small, sly smirk. 

"Pfft, this whole 'future vision' thing still sounds like a bunch of baloney to me," Stan scoffed. "If you can really see what's gonna happen in the future, then what am I about to do right now?"

"I just said I can't see into the future," Garnet corrected. "But as for what you might do in the future… You'll probably send Soos in here to clean up this mess and then go back to stocking meat up for the apocalypse."

"Ha! Shows what you know, shades!" Stan grinned smugly. "I wasn't planning on doing any of that! It just goes to show that fortune telling or future vision or whatever it was you called it is completely bogus."

Without sparing another word, Stan turned on his heel and headed back into the house, though not before he unintentionally proved Garnet's vision to be completely correct. "Soos! There's a huge mess in the gift shop!" he called. "Get in there and clean it up for me, will ya!? I'm busy stocking up on all of that brown meat I have to get ready for the apocalypse!"

"Wow! That's amazing!" Mabel looked up at Garnet with stars in her eyes. "Everything you said totally came true, Garnet!"

"It doesn't always work out exactly like I say it will," Garnet said. "But most of the time, I'm pretty close to the mark, at least."

"Ok… I think I get it now…" Dipper began, thoughtful. "So, your… future vision lets you see possibilities of what could happen in the future… Am I right?"

"You got it," Garnet nodded.

"Oh! Oh!" Steven exclaimed, raising his hand. "What do you see happening next, Garnet?"

"Hm…" Garnet paused, thinking for a moment as another vision came to her. "A farm truck is about to break down in front of the shack."

Before any of the kids could question this, the loud sound of a truck backfiring sounded from right outside. Curious, the kids ran out to find that, sure enough, a truck had stalled in the yard. The farmer driving it stood before its open hood, completely confused as to what the problem with his vehicle could possibly be. 

"No way…" Steven gasped as Garnet joined them. "Your future vision really is spot on!" 

"Mm hm," Garnet nodded as she shifted her shades once more. 

"Do you need any help over there?" Mabel called over to the farmer. 

"Aw, consarnit!" the farmer pulled his head up from the hood, revealing his face smeared with engine oil. "I just can't figure out what's wrong with ol' Bessie here!"

"Oo, maybe I can help!" Mabel volunteered as she ran over. 

"Mabel, you don't know the first thing about how to fix a truck," Dipper dryly pointed out. 

"Maybe I don't," Mabel shrugged as she offered Garnet a hopeful grin. "But Garnet's future vision might!"

Garnet smirked, not even needing to take a closer look at the truck to foresee what might be stalling it. "Check just to the left of the engine," she advised. 

Mabel did exactly that, gasping as she grabbed onto something and pulled it out. "Aha! Here's your problem! You've got a potato stuck in there!" she held the vegetable up before dropping into the farmer's hands. 

"So that's where this sneaky little feller rolled off to!" the farmer exclaimed, baffled. He wasted no time turning his key again, and just like that, the truck's ignition roared to life once more. "Gosh and golly gee, little lady! You really saved me and my bacon– literally !" He headed over to the back of his truck, flinging it open to reveal his impressive haul of-

"PIGS!" Mabel squealed, delighted, when she saw the herd of piglets packed into the truck bed. 

"Yes, siree," the farmer nodded. "I was just on my way to market with 'em when Bessie gave up the ghost. Say…" he tapped his chin as a sudden idea came to him. "How's about you take one of the lil' critters, little lady? Consider it my way of sayin' thanks for reuniting me with my precious Spudsy here." He grinned as he lovingly caressed his prized potato. 

"No. Way." Mabel gaped, utterly awestruck. "Really?"

The farmer nodded, grinning. "Go on. Pick any one of the little porkers ya want."

With a wide, eager smile, Mabel looked over the herd, scarcely able to pick between all of the immensely adorable piglets. Eventually though, one particular pig caught her eye, the smallest of the bunch, and by far the pinkest . 

If she wasn't already taken with the tiny piglet before, Mabel was even more dazzled when it let out a bright, adorable oink. "He said 'Mabel'!" she gasped, beaming. "Either that or doorbell. Did you say 'Mabel' or 'doorbell'?"

The pig oinked again, and that was all it took for Mabel to make her choice. "This one!" She reached forward, grabbing the piglet and hugging it tight. "He's perfect !" 

"Welp, he's all yours," the farmer concluded. "And so are these." He handed her a fork and knife, confused when Mabel winced away from them. "What?"

"Oh wow!" Steven exclaimed, excited. "That's so cool! Having a stuffed pig is one thing, but now Mabel has a real pet pig! What do you think she's gonna name it?"

Once again, Garnet consulted her future vision, smiling warmly as she offered up an educated guess. "Waddles."

"I'm gonna name you… Waddles !" Mabel quickly proved her right. She proudly cradled her new pet, hardly even noticing as the farmer drove off to continue on his way. "What do you guys think?" She ran back over to Steven, Dipper, and Garnet, more than happy to show Waddles off. "Isn't he just the cutest little thing you've ever seen?"

"Yeah!" Steven chuckled as he fondly scratched Waddles behind the ear. Likewise, Garnet nodded as she lightly patted the pig on his head.

"Uh, sure he is," Dipper frowned, gently pushing Waddles away when Mabel shoved him into his face. 

"Oh my gosh, Lion!" Mabel practically screamed, beside herself with excitement as the feline strolled out into the yard. "Get over here and meet Waddles! I can already tell you two are gonna be the best of pink pals ever !" 

Steven gasped, just as enthralled by the idea. He nearly followed Mabel as she ran over to introduce their pets, but instead, he stopped short as he looked back at Garnet, deeply impressed. "I can't believe how right you were about all this, Garnet!" he exclaimed."How come you've never told us about this whole future vision thing before now?" 

Garnet was quiet for a moment, her smile slowly fading as she looked between the boys before her and said, "You'll figure that out soon enough."

While Dipper wanted to press her for more, he stopped short when he overheard laughter coming from the other side of the yard. There, Wendy and Robbie were hanging out near the teen's van, something that Dipper still couldn't help but find suspicious. But even if he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong with that picture, that didn't mean someone else couldn't. 

Someone who could just so happen to peer into all of the possibilities the future had to offer. 

"Say, um, Garnet…" Dipper began a bit leadingly. "Since you can, you know, see what might happen in the future and everything, I was wondering if you'd be willing to-"

"You want me to help you break Wendy and Robbie up," Garnet finished.

"I mean, I wouldn't have put it that bluntly, but yeah, I guess?" Dipper shrugged. "Or at least help us figure out how he convinced her not to break up with him before. So, maybe you could just-"

"No."

"What? But why not?" Dipper asked, dismayed. "All I need is a little intel. It won't be hard!"

"That's not the point, Dipper," Garnet shook her head. "It would be wrong for me to help you break a couple apart. Future vision or not, I don't support getting in the way of love of any kind."

"Oh, that is true," Steven nodded. "Garnet is a big fan of romance."

"More than you know," Garnet muttered, smiling slyly. 

"Yeah but… but what if Wendy and Robbie aren't really meant to be together after all?" Dipper countered. "Just today, Wendy almost broke up with Robbie, but then he won her over again using this!" He pulled the CD out of his pocket, holding it out for Garnet to see.

"That's a disk," she noted flatly. 

"No, no, he sang this really cheesy song to her and it somehow convinced her or brainwashed her or did something to her that made her fall in love with him all over again!" Dipper sighed, exasperated as he handed the disk over to Garnet. "That doesn't sound like true love, does it?"

"Hm…" Garnet looked between the CD and the couple in question, casually flirting with each other in the distance. While her future vision didn't offer any immediate answers, her intuition alone was enough to tell her something was indeed off here after all. "No, it doesn't."

"So… you'll help us out then?" Dipper asked with a hopeful smile.

"Yes," Garnet nodded, still staring at the disc in her hand. "But only because there's more to this than there appears."

"Like what?" Steven asked, curious.

Garnet finally smirked as she knelt down to the boys' level, wrapping her arms around their shoulders. "We'll just have to figure that out for ourselves."

As it turned out, Lion and Waddles hit it off almost immediately. As soon as Mabel sat the two of them next to each other, they quickly took to each other as if they'd always been the best of friends. Even now, Mabel watched, completely enchanted, as the pair cuddled up close to each other in the shack's den, with Waddles happily napping in Lion's soft, thick mane. 

"I have gotta be the luckiest girl in the entire world…" she whispered, completely captivated by the snoozing duo. 

Despite how adorable the pink pair was, Dipper, Steven, and Garnet were far too distracted to pay them much mind. Instead, they sat around Robbie's CD, following Garnet's suggestion that they "look further into it". Little did either of the boys know she meant that literally . 

"So… is something supposed to be happening?" Dipper asked after a long bout of silence.

"Maybe the CD will get up and start talking!" Steven theorized. "Then it might be able to tell us whether it's really hypnotic or not!"

"No," Garnet shook her head. "We're simply analyzing it for now."

"For what exactly?" Dipper frowned.

"Proof."

"So have you found any proof yet, Garnet?" Steven asked.

"Not yet, but we will," Garnet adjusted her shades. "Trust me."

Dipper sighed as he leaned back in his chair, struggling to do that. For as much as Garnet had already proven her foresight's accuracy before, it wasn't really doing much to help them now. Still, if she believed this would yield results, he figured he might as well go along with it. Anything to prove himself right, anything to help Wendy get out from Robbie's apparent, underhanded control. 

For however intensive their "analysis" might have been, it was soon interrupted when Stan walked into the den. He stopped in his tracks, surprised when he noticed not just one, but two pink creatures occupying his recliner. "Hey, hey!" he shouted, storming over to them. He simply sneered as Lion offered him a low, sleepy growl. "Yeah, right back at ya, bud. And where the heck did that thing come from?" he asked, glaring down at Waddles. 

"Grunkle Stan, meet Waddles!" Mabel grinned as she popped up from the other side of the recliner. "I got him off the back of a truck! He's gonna live here now. Isn't that great?"

"Oh, he is now?" Stan scoffed, hands on his hips. "That's funny. I thought I ran a tourist trap here, not a barn." 

"Aw, Grunkle Stan, please let me keep him!" Mabel pleaded, putting on the most convincing pout she could. "I promise I'll take super good care of him! I'll keep him clean and fed and I'll make sure he doesn't get into any of your favorite snacks and-"

"You might as well go ahead and say yes, Stan," Garnet spoke up from the other side of the room."You know you're going to let her keep him anyway."

"W-wha–how do you-" Stan cut himself off with a frustrated, relenting groan. "Fine, whatever, keep the stupid pig! But I better not catch that little runt rooting around in any of my secret cash stashes or else he's outta here!"

"Yes!" Mabel cheered, waking Waddles up from his nap as she gave him a celebratory hug. 

"And as for you three," Stan turned to face the group at the table. "What are you up to over there? Don't tell me you're trying to 'gaze into the future' by staring into that disc or something."

"We're analyzing it!" Steven replied, smiling.

"There's… a little more to it than that," Dipper countered. "But you wouldn't understand."

"Aw, c'mon, kid," Stan rolled his eyes as he took a seat. "Try me."

"Well… this might sound weird…" Dipper began. "But I think Robbie might be brainwashing Wendy with music."

"So we're looking at his CD to try and find proof," Steven added. "Right Garnet?"

"Right," Garnet nodded. 

To the boys' surprise, Stan's skeptical expression completely faded into a much more serious look. "I've seen this before."

"Really?" Dipper asked, surprised.

Stan nodded gravely, mournfully. "Her name was Carla McCorkle. Carla 'Hotpants' McCorkle. Me and Carla baby would cut a rug together at The Juke Joint, our favorite 50's themed 1970's diner. For a while, everything was all sunshine and roses between us. Then one day, this new-aged tree-hugger starts playing his transcendental hippie music. Carla's hotpants turned into bellbottoms before I even knew what happened. And then they shot off into space in an explosion of rainbows."

"Whoa, really?!" Steven asked, amazed.

"Eh, my memories get a little hallucinationy at the end, but you get the gist."

"Wait, so you actually believe my theory?" Dipper asked.

"You're darn right I do!" Stan firmly exclaimed. "And we're gonna get to the bottom of it!"

"That's what we were already doing," Garnet pointed out.

"What, by staring at that record or whatever it is?" Stan scoffed. "You're not gonna get anywhere just by looking at it."

"So what should we do?" Steven asked, before letting out an excited gasp. "Wait, wait! Garnet! What is Mr. Pines going to say we should do?"

"Kid, what-" Stan tried to ask before Garnet interrupted. 

"The most probable outcome is that he'll say we should check the CD for any subliminal messages. It's a pretty good idea, actually."

"...Tch, lucky guess," Stan crossed his arms. "Y'see, kids, music has subliminal mind control hidden in it all the time. If you listen closely, even the music I play in the gift shop has subtle hidden messages."

"Oh, like the really loud one about buying more keychains?" Steven asked.

"That's just one of many," Stan smirked, taking the CD as he headed to the record player. "If you wanna hear mind controlling messages, you gotta slow the record down. Let's try it out with this LP."

"That isn't going to work," Garnet warned as Stan put the disk on the record player.

"Why? Because your 'future vision' told you so?" Stan deadpanned as he put the needle on the CD. Of course, it wasn't a record, which was why the only sound it produced was an earsplitting, unintelligible scratch.

"No, because common sense told me so," Garnet returned just as dryly.

"What kind of subliminal message is that?" Steven asked, frowning. 

"Probably not the one we're looking for," Dipper flatly replied. 

For his part, Stan could only stare at the record player, baffled as the needle continued skipping over a CD that clearly wasn't meant for it. "We're doing something wrong here, but I can't put my finger on it…"

"Alrighty, we've got the butterfly hat for Waddles," Mabel smiled as she finished tying the themed hat onto the pig's head. "And the ladybug hat for–Lion, no!" She gasped when she turned to Lion, only to find that he'd ripped the much-too-small hat off his head in favor of gnawing on it. "I just finished knitting that! Drop it!" She ran after Lion as he trotted off, ladybug hat still held tight in his maw. " Drop it !"

As she chased him through the kitchen and out into the yard, the group sitting around the table barely even glanced up. Instead, they kept their focus on the CD they'd been focusing on for well over an hour now, each of them trying to come up with some way to unlock its unheard secrets. 

"So what if we up the pitch a whole lot? Will that do anything?" Dipper asked Garnet. By now, he was all but relying on her for estimates on any idea, hoping that her future vision would be able to guide them to the right one. 

"Chances are that'll probably just make the song sound even more grating," Garnet stoically replied.

"Ok… maybe we should translate the song into another language and then translate it back," Dipper proposed. "Maybe that'll give us something."

"The probability of it being anything understandable is extremely low…" 

"Oh, come on!" Dipper groaned, facepalming. "What else could we possibly do?"

"You've listed off just about everything we can do, kid," Stan deadpanned as he got himself a can of soda from the fridge. "The only thing you haven't thought of is to break the disk in half to see if any secret note or hidden code pops out."

"Now that definitely wouldn't work," Garnet confirmed.

"Ugh! This was so stupid!" Dipper exclaimed, frustrated. "Of course there's no hidden mind control messages in that song! We've been wasting all this time on nothing."

"Hm…" Steven mused, picking up the CD nonetheless. Even if Dipper was on the verge of giving up, that didn't stop the idea that suddenly came to him upon examining the disc one final time. "Oh! I know! What if we play the song backwards!?"

"Backwards?" Dipper and Stan repeated in confused unison. Garnet, on the other hand, finally cracked a smirk at this suggestion.

"You might be onto something with that, Steven," she said, pressing the rewind button on the CD player. This time, however, instead of an unintelligible bunch of nonsense, a very clear, very ominous message came through: 

"You are under my control. Your mind is mine."  

"Holy mackerel!" Stan spat out his soda, shocked.

"Bingo," Garnet nodded knowingly. 

"Wow!" Steven gasped, awestruck. "It looks like you were right after all, Dipper!"

"I know!" Dipper exclaimed with a small, relieved laugh. "It really is mind control! Oh my gosh! We have to tell Wendy!"

"Finally, a good reason to punch a teenager in the face!" Stan grinned vengefully.

"You might want to be careful about how you let Wendy know, Dipper," Garnet cautioned. 

"What? Why?" Dipper asked, confused. "This'll be simple: we show Wendy the message, she breaks up with Robbie, and he gets humiliated like the total jerk he is. How could anything possibly go wrong with that?"

Garnet opened her mouth, more than ready to list all of the outcomes she could see. Before she could get a single one of them out, however, Wendy strolled into the room with Robbie trailing not far behind her. 

"Hey, guys," she greeted the group at the table with a brief grin. "Forgot my keys."

As she slipped into the gift shop to get them, Robbie hung back, raising an eyebrow at the equipment they'd been using to analyze the CD. "What's all this junk?" he asked, shooting Dipper and Steven a condescending smirk. "Are you dweebs trying to figure out how to be less lame? Heh, good luck with that."

If Dipper needed any further motivation to move forward with exposing Robbie, that snide remark was more than enough to convince him. Even despite Garnet offering him a silent, simple warning as she shook her head. 

Robbie quickly put a fake, charming grin back on as Wendy returned to the room. "Ready to go to Lookout Point?" she asked, smiling fondly. 

"Am I!" Robbie grinned as they began to head out. "Later, dorks. Catch you on the rewind!"

"Wendy, wait!" Dipper called her. 

"What's up, dude?" she asked, turning back to him curiously.

"Um, well.." Dipper hesitated, sparing a glance over at Garnet. She said nothing, simply crossing her arms as she left him to make the final call. And, with whatever warning she tried to give him now unclear, he had little other options than to take the leap. Regardless of how it might go. 

"There's something you need to hear," he said, resolved. He pressed play on the CD, letting the love song roll normally first, before he hit rewind to reveal the secret message hidden behind it. 

"You are under my control. Your mind is mine."

Wendy gasped, floored by what she was hearing. "Whoa," she turned to her boyfriend, eyes wide with alarm. "Robbie, what is that doing in our song?"

"B-baby, I promise, I didn't know anything about that message!" Robbie exclaimed defensively. "In fact, I didn't even write that song. I ripped it off from some other band! So we're all good, right?"

"No, we're not all good!" Wendy scoffed, aptly angry. "I don't care about the messages. You said you wrote that song for me, and I actually thought it was sweet, you big liar!"

"I know, I know," Robbie rubbed the back of his neck. "I lie about a lot of stuff. Like using your makeup and fighting a bear, although-"

"No. You know what? It's over, Robbie. We're through!" Wendy sternly, bitterly exclaimed. 

"What?! Wendy!"

"Just… just go, Robbie, ok?" Wendy sighed, turning away from her now ex-boyfriend.

"But Wendy, I-" Robbie began. Whatever he wanted to say, however, ultimately fell through when he realized just how majorly he'd messed up. "Oh man…"

"Look, if it makes you feel any better, the apocalypse is coming soon," Stan told the depressed teen as he hung his head in shame. "Bury your gold! You've been buying gold, right?"

"Aw, Wendy, we're so sorry about what happened with you and Robbie," Steven frowned sympathetically.

"But, you know, since your night is free now, maybe you'd like to go bowling or something with all of us instead?" Dipper suggested with a reassuring smile. Despite this effort to cheer her up, however, it almost immediately fell through as Wendy spun back around, tears in her eyes. 

"Are you serious right now?!" she exclaimed hotly. "I just found out my boyfriend was lying to me for who knows how long! The last thing I wanna do is hang out! Ugh, what is wrong with guys? You only think about yourselves! All of you should just leave me alone!"

Before anyone could try to stop her, Wendy stormed out, still in tears even as Robbie ran after her. "Wendy, baby, wait! I'm sorry! Wait!"

"Well… that could have gone a lot better…" Steven exchanged a fretful frown with Dipper. Because even if their intentions had been good, they'd ultimately ended up hurting their friend instead of helping her. An outcome that, for as much as he wanted to be proven right, Dipper wished he'd had the foresight to see coming. 

But even if he hadn't, he was quickly reminded someone else had instead. Garnet stepped forward, arms crossed and her face set in a disappointed frown down at Dipper. He could only sheepishly meet it as he rubbed his arm and said, "Uh… so I guess I should have waited and listened to all those outcomes, huh?" 

"Mmm hmm," Garnet simply nodded. 

"Well, maybe we could have avoided that mess if you'd just told the kid some of those 'outcomes', don't ya think?" Stan shot Garnet a critical look. 

"I tried," Garnet shrugged as she took her leave. 

At the same time, Dipper and Steven exchanged a wide-eyed, worried glance. Because if not listening to Garnet's future vision could lead to trouble like this, then what else could it cause? What other disasters could they forestall or even avoid, if they only heeded the wisdom she was so willing to give them? What other frightful futures could they find facing living if they didn't ? 

With all of those troubling questions in mind, one thing was perfectly clear: Garnet held all of the answers to what the future might hold. Answers that Steven and Dipper were downright desperate to hear. 

"Garnet, wait!" the boys exclaimed in frantic unison, all but scrambling over each other to follow her. To seek her guidance when it came to every aspect of their futures, both big and small

Stan simply shrugged as they left him behind, hardly noticing their rising panic. "Geez. So much drama with those two. What do you think, pig?" he asked Waddles. The pig simply offered a small oink as he passed by; honestly though, it was more than Stan had been expecting out of him. "Huh. Good talk."

"Garnet!" Steven and Dipper managed to quickly catch up with Garnet as she stepped off the shack's porch. She stopped short, looking down at the pair expectantly as they made their anxious appeal. 

"Uh, e-even though all this secret message stuff is over with," Steven began, wringing his hands nervously. "You wouldn't happen to want to spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out with us, would you?"

"You know, j-just because?" Dipper added with a wide, wavering grin. "Not for any particular reason, e-especially not any that has to do with your future vision."

"I have a feeling it does have to do with that," Garnet said, hands on her hips. "Still, I'll join you two as you head into town." She folded into a small smile as she continued on her way, letting the boys follow close behind her as they both heaved a relieved sigh. 

"Um, so," Dipper cleared his throat to keep it from coming out too tight. "Just out of curiosity… there's not anything… bad that could happen to us on the way to town… is there?"

"Hm…" Garnet looked around the surrounding forest before offering her intel. "Well, for starters, an old tree could fall and completely crush you both."

"O-oh?" Steven asked as he broke into a cold sweat. 

"You could step into a patch of poison ivy–or poison oak"

"R-really?" Dipper warily searched the ground for the offending plants. 

"Or a pack of ravenous foxes could mistake you for their next meal and attack."

"Um…" The boys looked at each other, aptly afraid in light of all of the many different ways they could meet their demise. Ways they never would have even considered before now. 

"W-well, it's a good thing we're almost there!" Steven said, relieved as he spotted the first signs of town peeking past the trees. Thankfully, they arrived without any foretold harm befalling them, though that didn't mean they were completely in the clear just yet. 

"There can't be any unforeseen danger just from walking down Main Street, right?" Dipper stopped just shy of turning in that direction. 

"If the two of you head down Main Street," Garnet began a lengthy, daunting list. "Then one of you might trip on a crack in the sidewalk and scrape your knees. Or you both could be robbed by a passing mugger. Or you could cross the street without looking both ways and get hit by a truck."

"I guess we aren't taking Main Street then…" Dipper muttered, swiftly turning in the opposite direction. 

"What if I just order some fry bits?" Steven asked as they approached Gravity Fries. "Are there any possible futures where we might get hurt by that?"

"Hmm…" Garnet mused before bluntly saying, "Tons."

"Like?" Dipper stressfully pressed.

"Well, for starters, Steven, you could be just going about your business, eating your fry bits, and suddenly you choke to death! Or you could both get so distracted that you fall down a manhole. You could get food poisoning, or be bullied by wasps. And that's just a few instances off the top of my head."

As Garnet listed each deadly outcome, the boys' eyes widened in increasing horror. With each suggestion came another way they could be injured, another way their lives could end , all so simple, all so sudden, all so unforeseeable. Or at least they used to be. 

"W-what if we stand perfectly still?" Steven asked, trying his best to do exactly that.

"You'll probably get a really bad sunburn," Garnet shrugged as she began to walk off. Of course, the boys hurried after her, not wanting to risk a single moment without her intel. Without knowing what disasters seemed to await them around every last corner. 

"Garnet, wait! What'll happen if we go by the lake?" Dipper anxiously asked. "Will we get eaten by some sort of freshwater shark or something?"

"Or what if we go to the Big Donut?" Steven asked, his hands curled tight into trembling fists. "Are there any futures where the sign might fall on us?"

"O-or a future where we head back to the Mystery Shack and it catches on fire in a freak accident?"

" Or a future where we're just walking along and all of the sudden Cookie Cat comes down from space and turns out to be evil and zaps us with his spaceship and we-"

"Steven! Dipper!" Garnet suddenly cut them both off. By now, they'd come full circle, making it all the back to the crossroads between the temple and the shack. "Both of you need to calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen to either of you."

"But you keep telling us about all of the bad things that might happen!" Dipper protested. "How do you expect us not to freak out about that?!"

"Just because I see all of those terrible possibilities doesn't mean they'll be the ones to actually happen in the end," Garnet rationalized. 

"But… but we…" Steven trailed off as Garnet knelt down to his level, placing a hand on both his and Dipper's shoulders. 

"Listen," she said. "I have to go on a solo mission and I need both of you to stay here."

"You're leaving?!" Steven clung onto her arm as tightly as he could. "You can't go! We need you!" 

"Yeah!" Dipper agreed, just as distressed. "At least tell us what'll happen if we-"

"Shh," Garnet calmly quieted them both. " "I can't be with either of you all of the time. Just trust me when I say that you both are in control." 

She offered them a soft, reassuring smile, one that the boys slowly found themselves sharing. At least until they heard the final warning Garnet had for them. "One more thing," she said, her tone suddenly deadly serious. "It's going to storm later. Do not go outside when it does. No matter what!"

Without another word, Garnet leapt off towards the temple. And as she did, she left a pair of very confused, deeply concerned boys behind in her wake, struggling to make sense of what she'd just said. 

Struggling to face a future neither of them were able to clearly see.

"One popcorn for you," Mabel grinned as she tossed a piece of popcorn up into the air. While Waddles didn't catch it, he did blink adorably as it lightly bounced off his head. Still, he readily ate it as it fell back onto the bed before him. "And one popcorn for me!" Mabel tossed another piece up, and much like Waddles, it also missed her mouth. Not that she minded much as she continued munching on her snack alongside her pink pet. As far as she was concerned, it was the perfect snack to enjoy while she watched the major meltdown unfolding on the other side of the attic room. 

"Why did she tell us not to go outside during the storm?" Steven asked, pacing in step alongside Dipper. "What will happen if we do?"

" Anything could happen!" Dipper exclaimed as he ran a hand through his hair. "We could get struck by lightning, or… or get carried away by a flash flood-"

"Or we could get soaked by the rain and get really sick and die!" Steven proposed, frantic. "Or tons of other terrible things we probably haven't even thought of! What are we gonna do, Dipper?! What are we gonna do ?"

"You think I know!?" Dipper pulled back from Steven after he grabbed him by the vest and shook him. "Garnet's the one with all the answers about the future and she's gone! Until she gets back, who knows what might happen?!"

"What are you two freaking out about?" Stan poked his head into the attic. "What, are you still crying about how Wendy yelled at you, kid?" he asked Dipper.

"No, but thanks for reopening that wound," Dipper said, frowning.

"Garnet left to go on a mission," Steven explained. "Which means she can't tell us what's gonna happen in the future, which means we don't know what's gonna happen, which means anything could happen, which means-"

"Geez, kid, slow down!" Stan interrupted. "You keep talking that fast, then you'll get a speeding ticket. Ha!"

"Grunkle Stan, this is serious!" Dipper stressed. "Our lives could be in danger!"

"Oh what? Just because shades isn't here to give you a weather forecast?" Stan scoffed."I don't know why you two are worrying so much about stuff that might happen. Who cares about the future? You can't control it anyway."

"That's exactly what we're afraid of…" Steven sighed.

"Listen, kids," Stan pinched the bridge of his nose. Even so, what he had to tell the pair next was surprisingly sincere. "Both of you should get your heads out of the future and start living in the now, just like I do. Plus, the way I see it, the long term doesn't really matter anyway, what with the apocalypse coming up and everything."

With this, he left the pair to heed his advice, however bizarre it might have been. Or at least, they would have, if their own rising dread wasn't still taking charge instead. "T-the apocalypse?" Steven nervously wondered. "Garnet didn't say anything about that!" 

"The only thing she did tell us about was that storm," Dipper let out an unsteady sigh. "And we still don't even know what's going to happen with that ! How are we supposed to-"

"Oh my gosh, relax already, you guys," Mabel piped up as she rolled over the edge of her bed. "Grunkle Stan was right. You're both getting all bent out of shape about all of the bad stuff that might happen; did you ever think that something good might happen instead?"

"Good?" Steven questioned. "Like what?"

"Like what happened earlier, with the farmer's truck!" Mabel grabbed Waddles, pulling him to a tight hug. "Garnet was right about that, and it led to me and Waddles finding each other, like fate or destiny–or both!"

"Mabel, do you actually have a point with all this?" Dipper asked flatly. 

"The point is," Mabel huffed. "I don't think Garnet spends all her time looking into the future for ways we could all get hurt or die. And I don't think you two should either. Whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen, whether you see it coming or not. So why spend all your time stressing about the future when you can just look forward to it instead?"

As much as neither of the boys really wanted to admit it, Mabel had a surprising point. Simply knowing the future couldn't really do much to change it, try as they might to prepare or anticipate what it may hold. What good did stressing so much over it really do for either of them in the end? What was the point of panicking over something they were ultimately powerless to prevent? 

The thought was almost enough to calm them both down, or at least it was… until a loud crash of thunder rattled the entire shack from somewhere outside. 

"Ahh!" Steven gasped, his eyes wide with terror. "The storm! Garnet was right!"

"We can't go outside!" Dipper exclaimed. "Steven, come on!" Without wasting another second, he grabbed Steven's hand and together, the boys ran out of the attic, determined to hide from whatever unknown horrors the future might have in store for them. 

"Huh," Mabel glanced over at Waddles with a satisfied smile as she watched them headout. "Glad to see they're taking my advice to heart."

"Ok, g-go fish," Steven said as he struggled to focus on his cards. Likewise, Dipper was largely distracted from their game; ironic, since the game was meant to distract them away from the storm in the first place. Only to end up doing anything but. 

Instead, both of them tensed up whenever thunder roared beyond the den's walls. Instead, they kept sparing nervous glances out the window at the pouring rain. Instead, they dreaded each flash of lightning as if it were the last thing they'd ever see. 

And for all they knew, it very well could be. 

Dipper let out an uneasy sigh as he drew a card from the pile, though it soon slipped from his grasp when another thunderbolt roared somewhere high above the shack. As on edge as he already was–and had been for the past several hours–this proved to be what finally pushed him over it entirely. "Steven, what are we doing?" he asked, setting the rest of his cards down. 

"Um, trying not to think about all the different ways we would get hurt if we go outside?" Steven replied, frowning

"Yeah, but why ?" Dipper stood, his hands in tight fists at his sides. "I mean, it's just like Mabel said: whatever Garnet saw is probably bound to end up happening somehow, right? So why are we sitting in here hiding from it like a bunch of babies?"

Steven hesitated, but it didn't take him very long to agree. "Y-you're right. We can't keep living in fear like this! I mean, we are big boys, aren't we?"

"Uh, I wouldn't exactly put it like that ," Dipper rubbed the back of his neck, flustered. "But yeah. Yeah, we are!"

"And big boys, er, uh, large men– whatever we are–aren't afraid of some silly old storm, are we?!"

"Heck no, we aren't!" 

"So let's face this thing–the future – together !" Steven boldly exclaimed as he took Dipper by the hands. "Come on, let's go!" 

"Wait, you mean, like, right now?!" Dipper anxiously asked. Still, there was little he could do to stop Steven from dragging him to the door. They burst outside into an absolute downpour, to rain falling in thick sheets and a sky as black as night. It took only seconds for both boys to become drenched as they ran out in the yard, searching high and low for any signs of potential danger. 

"Ok, we're out here!" Dipper shouted over the heavy rain, bracing himself for the worst. "So what now?"

"Yeah! What are you gonna do to us, future?!" Steven shouted up to the sky. Despite their bravado, however, the storm still kept going steady, without a sign of breaking–or even getting worse–in sight. 

"Why isn't anything happening?" Dipper asked, bewildered. "Garnet made it sound like something was supposed to happen! She wouldn't have told us not to come out here otherwise, right?"

"Maybe we're not in the right place…" Steven gasped as he spotted a ladder left perched against the side of the shack. "The roof! That's gotta be it! Come on!"

"The roof? Steven, what-" Dipper didn't get a chance to ask as Steven pulled him along once more. Still, he didn't bother arguing with Steven as he followed him up the ladder and onto the shack's slippery-wet and dangerously high roof. 

"Alright, this is it," Dipper said, trying not to shiver against the chilling rain. "Whatever's gonna happen to us is bound to happen here, so-"

He stopped short when Steven cut him off with a tight, sudden, tearful hug. "Dipper, I just want to say that if we're both about to go out in some horrible, unforeseen accident, I'm so glad that at least we get to go out together!" 

"W-wow, Steven," Dipper stiffened, before slowly, sincerely returning his hug. "Me too."

They stayed like that for longer than they normally would have, if only to brace for whatever disaster they were certain was about to strike them both. Except… 

Nothing came. 

Instead, they jumped, practically startled out of their skin, as a firm shout reached them from somewhere on the ground far below. "Steven! Dipper!" Garnet yelled over the storm. "Get down from there!" 

"No!" Dipper protested just sternly. "Our minds are made up! Whatever's gonna happen to us… we're just gonna let it happen."

"Neither of you understand!" Garnet argued, concerned. 

"No, you don't understand!" Steven shouted back. "Everything we do shoves us violently towards the end! The more we know, the more we don't know!"

"It's just like what happened with Wendy and Robbie!" Dipper adamantly exclaimed. "Things only went wrong because I didn't listen to any of the ways it could end badly. I thought things would be alright, but now they're worse off than ever before!"

"No, that's not-" Garnet tried, only for Steven to cut her off.

"Augh! We can't live like this!" Steven cried, gripping the sides of his head. "Why did you even tell us about your future vision, Garnet?! What's going to happen outside?!"

Garnet paused for what seemed like forever. And then, she took a deep breath and simply said, "This."

"W-what?" Steven and Dipper asked as they exchanged a puzzled glance. 

"I knew you both might do this if I told you about my power," Garnet shook her head as she explained. "I saw this, but I told you anyway."

"But why?" Steven asked, confused.

"I took a risk at the expense of both of you," Garnet sighed. "I was hoping that you would understand this, that you'd learn from it…" 

To the boys' surprise, Garnet removed her glasses, revealing her trio of eyes and the clear remorse filling all three of them. "Steven, Dipper," she said, her voice noticeably tremulous and earnest. "It's true that there are so many things that can hurt you. But it's not your job to worry about any of them."

"That's… kind of like what Grunkle Stan and Mabel said…" Dipper said, frowning.

"Then they were right," Garnet put her visor back on with a small smile. "There are millions of possibilities for the future, but it's up to you to decide which become reality. Please understand; you both choose your own futures."

For a moment, silence filled the thick, stormy air, only broken by the pattering of rain against the shack's roof. In the end though, the boys slowly found sense in what Garnet was saying. In spending so much time and energy focusing on the future, they found themselves missing out on the present, on learning from the past. When it came to the future, as frightening as it might sometimes be, they still had some control over how it might turn out. 

And as far as they were concerned, some control was better than none at all. 

"I… we do understand…" Steven slowly relented. "I can't believe it took us this long to do it though…"

"Oh man, what are we even doing ?" Dipper asked, embarrassed. "We really took this way too far."

"Yeah, we… might have gone a little overboard," Steven chuckled, rubbing his arm. "I guess we can't really see a future for ourselves up here, huh?"

"Probably not," Garnet smirked. "But I can see a future where the three of us go inside where it's safe and dry and where I'll see if Stan will let me make some hot chocolate for you both."

"Sounds good to me!" Steven readily agreed. He led the way back down the ladder, running over to Garnet to give her a tight hug, one that he didn't hesitate to pull Dipper into. "And don't worry, Garnet," Steven said, smiling up at her. "We'll watch out for ourselves from now on."

Garnet paused for a moment, distracted with the stormy skies above. With both boys still held in her secure embrace, she slowly lifted her free hand up in time to catch a lightning bolt just before it could strike them both. 

"What was that?" Steven asked, oblivious to the passing danger. 

Garnet shrugged, ultimately deciding to leave them out of the loop of this one. After all, there were some futures they didn't need to know. "Oh, nothing important."

True to her word, Garnet made hot chocolate for Steven and Dipper as soon as they went back inside. Of course, when they stepped into the kitchen soaking wet, Stan and Mabel had plenty of questions, which the boys answered as they dried themselves off from the ordeal. 

"So let me get this straight," Stan asked, raising an eyebrow. "You two nearly got yourselves killed in a thunderstorm just because you thought something bad might happen to you?"

"Yeah…" Dipper admitted, frowning. "Now that you mention it, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense."

"Your reaction was understandable though," Garnet reassured as she handed both boys mugs of cocoa. "And at least none of the bad outcomes I foresaw during that storm actually came true."

"Oo, like what?" Mabel curiously asked as she shifted Waddles in her lap. 

"Well.."

"We don't want to hear them!" Steven and Dipper exclaimed in sharp, sudden unison. After all, the last thing they needed was to slip into yet another paranoid spiral anytime soon. 

"Y'know, if I was a more responsible uncle, I'd think twice about letting you kids hang around the Gems after all the times they've put your lives in danger so far this summer," Stan crossed his arms, shooting Garnet a critical look. 

"You could think twice about that," Garnet said, grinning knowingly. "But you won't."

"Oh yeah, and how do you know-" Stan cut himself off, remembering Garnet's future vision. And, for as much as he still might not have believed in it, he ultimately shrugged in defeat all the same. "Eh, you know what? Fair enough."

"Well, I'm just glad everything turned out ok in the end," Steven smiled as he sipped on his hot chocolate.

"Yeah, everything except for what happened with Wendy," Dipper sighed. "I shouldn't have meddled in her personal life. She probably hates me now."

"Aw, chin up, kid," Stan encouraged, grinning. "That's just how women work. You ruin their date, drive their hippie boyfriend's van into a ravine and somehow you're the 'bad guy'."

"Whoa, who did all that, Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked, intrigued.

"Eh, just a guy I used to know."

"So um, Garnet?" Dipper began. "I probably shouldn't even ask this but, uh… can you see any futures where Wendy forgives me?"

Garnet smiled, nodding as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. And to his relief, this time her prediction was as comforting as it could be. "Plenty."

"Oh! Oh!" Mabel raised her hand. "Garnet, how many futures do you see where Waddles is the most perfect, precious pig on the entire planet?"

Garnet couldn't help but laugh as she fondly patted the pig's head. "Also plenty."

"Hooray!" Mabel cheered. She proudly held Waddles high over her head as she paraded him around the kitchen, much to Steven and Dipper's amusement. 

Stan, however, wasn't as taken as he let out an exhausted groan. "That 'future sight' or whatever it's called of yours wouldn't happen to see any way Mabel and that doofy pig of hers get less annoyingly adorable, would it, shades?" 

"Sorry, Stan," Garnet grinned, adjusting her shades. She didn't even need her future vision this time, not when the answer was already so obvious to everyone. "I don't think that's possible."