Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Steven was rummaging through some things in his dad's shed that was recently put there. His dad told him he found a box of books lying on the street somewhere waiting for it to be picked up as garbage. Greg thought that they looked fine, so he brought them to his shed for Steven to look through. Steven opened up the fourth cardboard box.

"Aha!" Steven exclaimed when he saw the books. "Woah, who would want to throw all these books away?" he asked himself, smiling.

The books did look a little old and beat up as he went through them but that wasn't going to stop him. After picking out a couple books Steven was about to leave when a small bright blue box caught his eye. It was sitting on some of the other things his dad put in here recently.

He picked it up and it was labeled 'IMPORTANT.' I wonder what's so important. Right when he opened the box he thought maybe he shouldn't be going through his dad's things but it was too late. What waited inside was disc cases numbered 1-5 and an envelope.

It's probably another show my dad watches like that little butler thing, Steven thought. But what if mom left it for me? Like the tapes. No, it can't be, she wouldn't have left more than two. I guess I'll just go ask dad, he should know.

Greg was sitting on the end of his van. Steven had come to the car wash to show him something. "Important? Ah jeez, if it's really important then I totally forgot what it is," Greg worried.

"You don't know what this is?" Steven asked, puzzled.

"Nope, but there's only one way to find out!" Greg opened the envelope and a letter and a map was inside. "Uhh, this is weird. Someone must've snuck into the shed to leave this here."

"Maybe it was a mistake... just read the letter, I'm sure it'll make sense after," Steven surmised.

"Okay." Greg cleared his throat and read the letter.

"'Hello, I shouldn't be talking to everyone just yet so I'll spare some of the details. I'll be giving whoever is reading this the instructions. Your job is to gather up the 10 people on the back and all head for the marked location on the map.'"

Steven looked at the map.

Greg continued. "'Everything will be explained there. Bring the discs, there'll be a TV, make sure you get everyone and only them; you won't want to miss this.'"

"Uhh." Greg flipped the paper over to see if there was anything else. "Steven, do you know anything about this? Maybe it's a gem thing?"

"No, but I'm interested in what it is. What are the names?"

"Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Lapis Lazuli, Connie, Greg, Lars, and Sadie." Greg read.

There was a small circle and an arrow pointing to the warehouse. There was also a little note saying what floor and which room to enter. "The map says we need to go to the warehouse... in one of the basement rooms."

"Steven, are we really going to go through with this? I don't know, it seems sketchy, I didn't even know the warehouse had a basement."

"Dad, if it was meant for us to see I'm sure it's important. Like the box says."

"Alright, if you're sure about this then let's round everyone up."

Steven and Greg were able to quickly gather the Gems and Connie on the beach.

"Now we just need to get Sadie and Lars," Steven informed while pulling his phone from his pocket.

"Who are they?" Peridot asked, Lapis wondering the same thing.

"You'll see," Steven called them up and told them to meet them at the warehouse. "Good thing they're off work. This worked out perfectly."

"How does this person know about us? How can a human know about all of us? Especially if they're not one of Stevens' friends," Pearl contemplated.

"We'll just have to find out," Garnet told them.

"Maybe you should use your future vision, Garnet. Especially if they know about all of us and maybe more. That's pretty weird," Amethyst added.

"Yeah, I don't really like how some random person knows my name," Lapis grew anxious.

"Maybe they're a secret admirer. You guys did save the world," Connie stated.

"I don't know... some of the people on the list didn't save anyone," Peridot said.

"Hm. Nope. I don't see anything dangerous happening," Garnet said, fixing her visor.

"See, I told you it'll all be fine. Now, let's get to the warehouse before Sadie and Lars," Steven said, leading the way off the beach.

The group waited before the stairs to the warehouse basement.

"Hey guys!" Sadie called "Hope you weren't waiting long."

"No, we just got here," Steven told her.

"What is this about anyway?" Lars asked, kind of annoyed.

"We'll know when we watch the discs, I wonder what's on them," Steven answered. They went down to the basement and were met with a long hallway with rooms on each side.

"The map says to go in room 12," Pearl said.

Greg looked down the long hallway, "that's probably all the way at the end."

It was the last door which was closed. Garnet pushed open the door as everyone grew curious on what they were going to see. It was just a normal room. With a huge TV, three couches facing it in a semicircle, with a table in the middle with a bunch of food and drinks.

Connie was hoping for something magical and a little more interesting. Steven, however, was intrigued.

"Woah! It's like a movie theater in here," Steven said looking all around. He noticed a bathroom on the other side of the room.

"Movie theater?" Lapis wondered.

"Y'know a theater of movies," Peridot told her.

"Look at that huge TV!" Greg said with enthusiasm.

The door closed behind Lars.

"I guess we're just watching something. Can't be that bad," Sadie said mostly for Lars. She noticed he looked uninterested.

Lars was hoping to spend his day off from work doing something else. But, instead, he was woken up at 9 in the morning. "Well, there's food and a bathroom, obviously we're gonna be here for awhile." Lars groaned and Sadie frowned.

"Oh nice! Look at all this food!" Amethyst exclaimed, licking her lips.

"Amethyst, no eating. I'm positive that is for the ones who have to eat," Pearl told her.

"Alright..." Amethyst said, disappointed.

Garnet turned on the TV as everyone found a spot to sit. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl sat on the right couch, Greg, Steven, and Connie in the middle, and Lapis, Peridot, Lars, and Sadie on the left.

Sadie wondered why she and Lars were there, they weren't part of Steven's family and she knew Steven and Connie were close. She thought maybe this has to do with Steven since everyone here has a relation to him. Lars noticed the same thing but didn't think too much about it.

"Steven, the discs," Garnet stood in front of the DVD player.

"Right," Steven opened up disc 1 and put it into the DVD player. He went back to his seat and they all waited in anticipation.

"Hello, good morning, I'm going to inform all of you on what's going on," The voice from the TV said.

"Good," Lars said as the others grew more interested.

"So that's her..." Greg speculated.

"I've gathered you all here to show you your progress. You'll understand more once you watch."

"Progress?" Pearl questioned.

"Each of the five discs I've given you holds a handful of "episodes" that you will watch. Each contains an event that has happened and has to do with some, if not, all of you. So you're going to see yourself on TV countless times!"

Almost everyone grew a little nervous but excited at the same time. Everyone had some personal and emotional experiences that they preferred not to be released publicly.

"What does she mean by seeing ourselves?" Connie asked. Like a recording or something else?

"But when? What times will be shown?" Peridot asked

"She's not gonna show really embarrassing things right? It's personal y'know." Amethyst added. The whole room agreed.

"Let's keep listening," Garnet suggested and un-paused it.

"Once you're done watching all the episodes on this disc you'll have enough time to go home and come back the next day to view the next disc and so on. It'll be a while until you finish so that's why there is a bathroom and food. Now, please leave the food for the humans here, there should be enough if any gem wants to eat a little, but please, don't starve anyone."

"I hope you heard that Amethyst, that was probably directed towards you." Pearl told her.

"Eh, she said I could eat a little bit." Amethyst was already thinking of what food to eat first. Greg was restraining to grab some, it didn't even start yet. It's just like if he we're at a movie theater.

Why can't we just leave to get some food, Lars thought.

"I've gathered the 10 of you mostly because you show up the most and are vital. With the exception of some, I can't have you guys fighting in here."

"Makes sense," Pearl said.

At first Connie thought that Salem was implying that some of them in the room weren't important but then realized that was not the case. She's saying that some others are important but they're enemies.

"Fighting? Fighting who?" Sadie grew concerned.

Lars shrugged.

Sadie knew they fought monsters but of course, they're not going to bring them in.

She's probably talking about gems, gems like Jasper and Bismuth and maybe even the Diamonds, Steven realized. Will we see them in the episodes? Steven considered that some pretty personal things were going to be shown.

"Hold on." All eyes were on Peridot. She points to Sadie and Lars. "These two don't even know who is being implied."

The two wondered what she was saying.

"Okay... they'll know once we get to that part," Steven told her, not really sure what she was going on about.

"No, what I'm trying to say is that they're in the dark. They have no idea about this gem stuff but everyone else here does. Steven, I get that they're your friends and this is probably about you but they play no major role!" Peridot exclaimed.

Sadie frowned understanding what she was saying. Lars understood too but grew agitated.

"What? You think this is about me?" Steven asked, genuinely. 

"Well, yeah, you know everyone in here. And like... you're Rose's son," Amethyst tried explaining.

Garnet nodded and Pearl smiled. Steven figured that she was right and looked up at Greg.

"I'm sure you'll show the most progress," Greg put his hand on his son's head and smiled.

"Okay, but Peridot, if we're all here because we're so called 'important' than Sadie and Lars are important to me and I want them here. This gem stuff isn't a secret, I want them to know about this so they'll understand more about us. Don't you want that too?" Steven asked her. Sadie smiled and Lars calmed down.

"Yeah, I guess, fine."

"Steven's right, don't be rude." Lapis told her.

"Now keep going, I want to get to the good part." Amethyst grew impatient.

"We are very close to watching the first episode but there's a few more things I have to say: the last few episodes of disc 4 and all of disc 5 are events you have not experienced yet."

"Huh?" Amethyst questioned. "Yet?"

"I want to give you the upper hand and give you the choice to change your future, I think you all deserve it," the voice said, solemnly. "That is why I will be showing you the future in those episodes."

All of the room didn't think this to be possible and was confused.

"T-the future." Pearl stated "How?!"

"Let her finish," Garnet told her. Garnet was confused as well. How does she know the future?

"Nothing is permanent, you can change it with the right decisions if you would like. I know one of you can see possibilities of the future that can help you."

Lars and Sadie wondered who that was.

"That would be Garnet," Steven answered.

"Up until then you'll be seeing events that already happened, some not being there and seeing it for the first time. You're basically reliving past moments. Up until the future episodes at least. I'll let you know when the future episodes will play."

"Garnet what do you think? Do you think we're really going to see the real future?" Pearl asked.

"I think they’re implying that something big is going to happen. Probably bad. She'll show us what's going to happen and then we can work it out to change it, if we want too. I think something good will happen, too. And the only way to achieve that good thing is if that bad event will happen first. We'll just have to wait and see," Garnet concluded. 

People in the room grew anxious.

"Oh, and I will unlock the door once your screening is over."

"The door's locked...? Great," Lars grumbled.

"Isn't that a safety hazard?" Greg mentioned.

"I really hope we won't be needed during this," Pearl complied.

"I'll just knock the door down if it's necessary," Garnet told her.

"Perfect!" Pearl exclaimed.

"For now you can sit back, relax, grab some grub, because everything up until then is already set in stone!"

"Yeah, something bad is def gonna happen." Amethyst admitted.

"Why can't we just watch the future now? What's the point of watching stuff that's already happened?" Lars asked.

"To see everyone's progress, remember?" Sadie told him. Lars grumbled quietly.

"Now without further ado - the first episode!"

"Finally!" Amethyst exclaimed. The audience prepared themselves, a few grabbing a snack. Greg was ready for some food.

Pearl did wonder if some of the gem stuff they were about to see would be too much for the two unaware humans, maybe she should even consider Greg. She remembered some of the most intense things that have happened, there are probably other things that she hasn't witnessed. And if this is going to be about Steven... he's been through a lot; and Garnet seems to think there might be even worse stuff to be shown.

A shot of Beach City was quickly shown. Then a shot of the Big Donut.

"Hey, I know that place." Steven said, excited.

"Yeah I'm sure we all know that place." Lars told him.

"I don't." Lapis said.

"Noooooooooo!" Steven yelled making the screen shake. "This can't be happening! This has to be a dream! Lars! Lars!" Lars was opening up a box and Steven grabbed his waist from behind. "Please tell me I'm dreaming!"

"This was a very long time ago." Steven was ready to see his younger self be totally ignorant with his gem powers.

"Oh man." Amethyst giggled, remembering how Steven used to act.

"Get off me man, I'm stocking here!" Lars yelled, Steven falling on his face as Lars walked away.

"I'm sorry, Steven. I guess they stopped making them." Sadie apologized.

Sadie had to try and remember this event, but it came to her.

"Stopped making them?! Why in the world would they stop making Cookie Cats?! They're only the most scrumptious and delicious ice-cream sandwich ever made!" The Cookie Cat freezer was shown. "Don't they have laws for this?!"

"Steven, what is wrong with your voice?" Lapis asked.

"Yeah, your voice sounds strange." Peridot said.

"Uhhhh." Steven didn't know how to respond to that. A couple people in the room giggled or smiled.

Lars sighed. "Tough bits, man. Nobody buys them anymore. I guess they couldn't compete with Lion Lickers." Lars said as he took something out of the box. The Lion Lickers were shown.

Steven groaned "Not Lion Lickers! Nobody likes them! They don't even look like Lions! Kids these days I'll tell you what!"

"Oh, Steven, you were so young here." Pearl said, already getting emotional.

"Yeah, I haven't realized how much you've grown." Greg said, also getting emotional.

"Doesn't Lion like those?" Connie asked.

"Yes, he forces me to buy them." Steven replied in a grumpy tone.

"Well, if you miss your wimpy ice cream so much, why don't you make some with your magic belly button?" Lars said mockingly then laughing.

"See, they have no idea." Peridot said.

"That's not how it works, Lars."

"Well... I know now that's not how it works," Lars tried to defend himself.

Steven probably told him about his gem and abilities and he's mocking him for it? Lapis figured she wasn't going to like this guy.

"Right?" Steven lifted up his shirt and revealed his gem. His stomach jiggles as he squishes it.

Steven sighed "Oh, sweet Cookie Cats, with your crunchy cookie outside, your icy creamy insides" Steven started drawing a Cookie Cat on the freezer. "You were too good for this world." He kisses the freezer.

A few giggled over how dramatic he was getting.

"Uh Steven? Do you want to take the freezer with you?" Sadie suggested with Lars looking concerned. Steven nodded with his eyes getting watery.

Steven hums while running with the freezer on his back. He runs up to the temple and opens the door. "Hey guys, you won't believe this!" a centipeetle attacks Steven making vicious noises. Steven screams as a whip winds around the gem.

"What is that?" Sadie asked.

"A corrupted gem." Steven said remembering Centi.

"Do they all look like that?" She added. Sadie remembered fighting that invisible monster that seemed to be something like this.

"No, they look different depending on what gem they are. I'm sure it'll be explained. It's hard to describe." Steven told her. Lars raised an eyebrow.

Pearl had a feeling that these two will be asking questions a lot. There's most likely stuff about them but it's going to be mostly about Gems, and Steven learning about it as well. They'll learn with him from the episodes; Steven already knows a lot.

"Sup, Steven," Amethyst said, holding up two fingers and pulling the centipeetle off him. Pearl was on the warp pad fighting three of the gems with her spear.

They must be used to all this stuff, Sadie thought.

Garnet was fighting a couple centis with one landing on her head and she pulled it apart.

They just poof into nothing? Lars thought something came out of them like that time on the island and in the lighthouse.

Where's its gem? Lapis didn't know a lot about corrupted gems either.

Amethyst chased a centi while Pearl was pulling one out from under the table. Many centipeetles were crawling all over.

"Ugh, it's an infestation." Greg said.

Steven put the freezer on the couch next to him. "Awesome! What are these things?" he asked as one crawled in front of him.

Steven wished he could've found a different word than 'awesome.' These gems were suffering.

"Ugh! Sorry, Steven. We'll get these centipeetles out of your room." Pearl said as she held one. "We think they were trying to get into the temple."

"Aw. You don't have to get rid of them. They're really cool." Steven insisted. The one Pearl was holding spat out green acid onto the floor. The floor disintegrated into a hole.

"Yikes," Lars said.

Amethyst poofed a gem "Um, you guys? These things don't have gems." she said picking her nose.

Oh, yeah, that's what they're supposed to drop. Lars remembered.

"That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby." Garnet said, punching a centi without looking.

Like a bigger one? Sadie wondered.

Garnet chuckled

Steven thought that she used her future vision there but probably not. He was going to see all the times it was obvious she was a fusion when he didn't know.

"We should probably find it before anyone gets hurt."

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I come?! Can I?! Can I?!"

"Steven, until you learn to control the powers in your gem, we'll take care of protecting humanity, okay?" Pearl snapped the centis neck, falling to the floor than poofing.

"Show off." Amethyst whispered.

I thought he already knew about his gem powers, Lapis thought.

"Aw, man. Hey! Get out of there!" A centi was in the fridge. "Go on! Shoo! Shoo!" Steven scared it away.

"They're like mice." Lars pointed out.

"Those things don't eat." Peridot told him. Steven was about to say that one did, but it was a long story.

"Aw! They got into everything!" Steven said as Garnet cracked her knuckles and poofed it. "Not cool!" Steven looked in the freezer and saw a bunch of Cookie Cats.

Where'd they get those? Lars wondered.

"No way." Stevens' eyes turned to stars and smiled."I-It can't be! Wha- where did you get these?! I thought they stopped making them!"

Wow, he's really grown up since then, Greg thought.

"I'm still confused on why his voice sounds like that." Peridot wanted answers.

"Oh, you know, humans grow." Steven tried to sum it up for her as quickly as he could.

"Hmmmmm..." Peridot kinda understood now.

"Well, we heard that, too, and since they're your favorite-" Pearl started.

"We went out and stole a bunch." Amethyst interrupted sitting on the counter.

"Typical." Peridot said.

"I went back and paid for them," Pearl snarled.

"Also typical."

"The whole thing was my idea," Garnet said, her hands glowing.

"It was everyone's idea," Amethyst insisted.

"Not really."

A few giggled

"All that matters is that Steven is happy" Pearl told them.

Steven broke into song "Ahhhh! He's a frozen treat with an all-new taste 'cause he came to this planet from outer space"

"Oh, you're singing the theme song." Lars crossed his arms, he's only heard it a hundred times.

"A refugee of an interstellar war but now he's at your local grocery store"

Almost the whole room was smiling.

"Cookie Cat he's a pet for your tummy! Cookie Cat! He's super-duper yummy!

"It's even better with the music," Steven tried not to sing along.

"Cookie Cat he left his family behind! Cookie Ca-a-a-a-a-a-t now available at Gergins off Route 109." The gems laughed.

A few in the room giggled as well.

"I guess music can be anything," Peridot said, thinking back to Steven's lesson about music. And how she tried writing her own song. 

"I can't believe you did this! I'm gonna save these forever right after I eat this one."

"Of course." Connie laughed.

"They're all gone now." Steven frowned. He did miss them, they tasted really good.

Steven pulled off the wrapper taking out the cookie. "Hello, old friend." He took a bite off the ear. "Mmm! Mmm! Ooh! So good!" His gem started glowing. "I like to eat the ears first."

"That's the first time... I remember my gem doing anything. This is where it all starts." Steven announced.

"Oh." Lapis said, surprised. She thought he knew how to use his powers for a lot longer than that.

"Uh, Steven." Amethyst exchanged looks with Garnet.

"Wha? My gem!" Steven exclaimed, lifting up his shirt. "Quick! Try and summon your weapon!" Amethyst suggested.

A few were confused. If he couldn't do it before, what happened now that he could?

Isn't his weapon the shield or was it that bubble thing? Lars and Sadie thought similarly.

"I don't know how. "Aah! It's fading! How do I make it come back?!" Steven yelled freaking out.

"Calm down, Steven. Breathe. Don't force it." Pearl told him, him still freaking out over it.

"Yeah. And try not to poop yourself either" Amethyst said smiling.

"Please don't," Garnet said.

Steven's gem faded then he slumped to the floor. "Aw! I was really close that time!" he said with stars in his eyes.

"Wow you've come so far." Pearl said.

"When was this?" Amethyst chuckled.

"Two years ago." Steven said. The Gems and Greg felt as if the time flew.

He puts the Cookie Cat back in the wrapper. "Can one of you just explain how to summon a weapon?"

"Oh! I'll go first!" Pearl sang, raising her hand.

Pearl and Steven were under the tree. "Pay attention to these petals, Steven. The petal's dance seems improvised, but it is being calculated in real time, based on the physical properties of this planet!" A petal fell to the ground while Steven listened.

"What?" Lars said not understanding a thing of what she just said. Greg was in the same mindset.

"With hard work and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gem and perform your own dance!" Pearl summoned her spear, grabbed it, spinning it and landing it on the ground causing petals to fly. A petal landed perfectly in her hand. "Like so."

"Is it that sophisticated?" Connie asked. Steven shook his head.

"Of course Pearl explains it like that." Peridot said, earning her a look.

"It's not even that complicated, you just... do it." Lapis said.

"Yeah I don't have to think much when I do it now." Steven said.

Steven looked confused picking up some petals.

"Wah!" Steven and Amethyst were next to the Big Donut, Steven throwing petals in the air.

"Did Pearl tell you the petal thing?" Amethyst asked, donut in her hand.

"Yeah. I need to practice really hard so I can dance like a tree, I think." He said while petals were falling on him.

"That's not really what I was going for..." Pearl said.

"You don't have to dance, that's for fusion." Garnet added.

"Listen, Steven. All that practice stuff is no fun." Amethyst took a bite out of her donut. "Whenever I need to summon my weapon, it just happens." She pulled out her whip and cut the dumpster in half. "See? Didn't try at all." Steven rubbed his head.

Pearl made a disgusted face seeing all the food in Amethysts mouth.

"Amethyst explained it exactly how it is." Peridot said.

"Really." Lapis agreed. Pearl's face went blank.

"You were the one who kept breaking the dumpster? That costs money." Lars explained. Amethyst shrugged.

"Again?!" Lars exclaimed seeing the dumpster.

"Again?" Greg wondered.

"I was taking my anger out." Amethyst said loosely.

Garnet and Steven were on the cliff near the lighthouse. "So, I'm supposed to work really hard and not try at all at the same time?"

"Yes."

Steven seemed to be confused.

"Well, when my gem was cracked I was trying really hard." Lapis said.

Sadie and Lars wondered what that meant.

"Or you can link your mind with the energy of all existing matter, channeling the collective power of the universe through your Gem" a lot of different scenes were shown around Steven's head.

"This one's even more confusing." Lars said.

"Which results in" Garnet summoned her gauntlets while moving her arms around. "At least that's my way of doing it."

"Or you could just think the slightest about it." Peridot said.

A figure of Steven popped like a balloon.

"Yeah, I was so confused."

Steven and co were back in the house. "I think my best bet is to re-create what happened the last time my gem glowed. So Garnet and Amethyst were here." Steven pointed at them and then to Pearl. "Pearl was next to the fridge. Hmm. Hmm. Amethyst, I think your arms were crossed" he said pointing at her.

"Okay, your majesty," she said, folding her arms.

"I don't think that's going to work." Connie said, confused.

"And, Pearl, your foot was like this." Steven said, moving her foot the slightest bit.

Peridot laughed.

"It made somewhat sense to me back then."

"I don't think it works this way, Steven."

"And, Garnet" he moves her face in a weird way "uh huh yeah."

A few smiled including Garnet.

Steven opened the freezer grabbing a cookie and took the wrapper off. "Then I took a bite of this Cookie Cat. Oh! Wait! I sang the song first. Uh, he's a frozen treat all new taste interstellar war and now available at Gergins" He half sang while kinda dancing. The Gems stood there. "Aw! It was funnier last time!" Steven lifted up his shirt revealing his gem. "Maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem."

"You don't have to have gem powers to be a Crystal Gem." Pearl said.

"But it's in the name. Gem." Peridot told her.

"A Crystal Gem is an idea, it's someone who will risk their life to protect the earth against Homeworld gems. Of course, you'll have more of an advantage if you are a gem. And Connie is a Crystal Gem." Pearl explained, proudly. Connie half smiled with Steven smiling next to her.

Oh, yeah, they're rebels, Lars and Sadie thought the same.

"Well, I am too but I just thought... never mind," Peridot's voice fizzled out. 

Pearl quickly kneeled down next him. "Don't be silly, Steven. Of course you are." she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"And you're fun to have around, even if your gem is useless." Amethyst told him and Pearl snarled at her.

Amethyst chuckled.

"I mean you're one of us, Steven. We're not the Crystal Gems without you." Garnet nodded.

"Mmhmm." Garnet agreed.

"Yeah." Stevens' eyes turned to stars. "Even if I don't have powers, I've still got Cookie Cat!" he took a bite and smiled "Mmm! So good!"

I was so naive back then, Steven thought. He was always a Crystal Gem even if he didn't have powers. Like Pearl was saying, it's an idea. 

Stevens' gem glowed again. Steven's shield was summoned.

"Ooh you did it." Greg said, surprised, he didn't think it would happen.

"How-?" Sadie asked, she didn't understand why his shield came out.

Garnet and Amethyst gasped.

"Steven, it's a shield!" Pearl said, thrilled.

"Didn't you think it was going to be a shield because of Rose?" Greg asked.

"Yes but, I thought Stevens powers would be different because he's half human." Pearl told him. "We we're not entirely sure he would even have powers for awhile."

Lars still thought that Steven being half human was weird.

Steven opened his eyes "Oh! What?! I get a shield?! Oh, yeah!" Steven exclaimed, jumping for joy. His shield bounced all around the house finally slicing his TV. Pearl face palmed.

Amethyst laughed and kicked her feet. "Oh man!"

"Nice." Lapis said sarcastically.

A few laughed.

Steven looked at his treat. "Oh! Cookie Cat! I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!"

"No, I was just really happy both times," Steven explained.

"Yeah, your powers are tied to your emotions." Connie remembered.

"It kinda sucks sometimes, but it's only for the first few times before I get a handle on them," Steven informed, happily.

Pearl looks at the wrapper. "What's in these things?" The house started shaking. A bunch of centis and the mother crawled over the window.

"What was that?" Steven asked.

Garnet ran outside and looked up at the temple, seeing a centipeetle on it. "It's the mother."

"Woah." Sadie said.

"Centi." Steven said remembering his corrupted friend. Him saying that also jogged the Gems' memories of the centipeedle.

She jumped up towards it, Pearl and Amethyst watching.

"Stay in the house, Steven!" Pearl told him.

"No way! I'm coming, too!" Steven ran back inside, grabbed the Cookie Cats and extension cords and went to the freezer.

"I already know that is not going to work." Peridot said smiling. She noticed how this Steven was much more ignorant and unreliable. Steven now is much more useful.

Garnet kicked centipeetle and it chased her down to the beach, Amethyst and Pearl landed behind her. Centi leaned over them screeching a roar. Then shooting acid at them. The trio ran behind a hand in the ground. Centi sprayed acid on the hand causing it to melt.

"We could really use Steven's shield right about now." Amethyst said.

Steven threw a rock at the centipeetle and it looked over at him. "Hey" Steven put down the freezer. "Leave them alone!"

"Oh boy." Lars said.

"Steven! No!" the gems yelled peering from behind the hand.

"Cookie Cat crystal-combo powers, activate!" Steven took a bite of the Cookie Cat confidently. "Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm."

"Ugh." Steven face palmed.

Lars bursted out with laughter. "Wow."

Centi went over to him as he lifted up his shirt, nothing happened. "Uh-Oh." He grabbed the freezer and ran away screaming.

Lars was chuckling now.

Steven was in danger and he was just laughing. Sure, it already happened but he shouldn't laugh. Lapis was a little irritated.

"We need to save Steven!" Pearl yelled. The end of the centipeetle chomped the hand in half.

"Can we save ourselves first?" Amethyst told her.

Wrappers fell to the ground. "Goodbye, my friends" Steven shoved the ice cream into his mouth. Tears went down his face as his stomach gurgled. "Why isn't it working?!"

"Because I'm too stressed," Steven answered his past question.

Amethyst giggled, "oh, Steven."

"Don't tell me you ate all of them." Greg said.

"No, but a lot," Steven's voice held the pain of eating so many Cookie Cats that day.

"Why would you think that would work?" Lapis asked.

"Because it worked twice already." Steven shrugged.

Steven jumped out of the way of Centi's acid stream.

"That was close." Greg said.

"Steven!" Garnet yelled, catching Centis pinchers.

Steven got up seeing the freezer fried. He ran over to it. "No. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He tried touching it and it almost shocked him. "Cookie Cat, he's a pet for your tummy. Cookie Cat, he's super-duper yummy!"

Lars smiled finding this amusing.

He dragged the freezer over to Centi. "Cookie Cat! He left his family behind!" Steven threw the freezer onto the gem. "Cookie Ca-a-a-a-a-a-t!" Centi screamed as it was electrocuted.

"Now available nowhere." Steven fell to his knees.

"Steven never fails to surprise me." Peridot said, proudly.

"Yes!" Amethyst shot up her hand.

"Gems. Weapons." Garnet said to them. The three of them summoned their weapons causing the hand to explode in a bright light.

"Awesome." Connie said in amazement.

Centi was still being electrocuted. "Let's do it." The other two nodded. Centi screamed as she was poofed and a green cloud wafted over the town.

"Woah." Sadie said amazed.

Lars thought it was pretty cool too but didn't show it.

Centis gem fell in front of Garnet and she bubbled it and sent it off.

Steven buried a Cookie Cat wrapper. "Farewell, sweet Cookie Cats." Steven started to tear up and put a leaf on the mound. "I'll always remember the time we spent together." His stomach grumbled. "Shh. Hush now."

Some laughed a little.

"Are you crying?" Amethyst asked next to him.

"Only a little!"

"Well, I guess your powers don't come from ice cream." She said.

"Of course they don't come from ice cream." Pearl squared next to him. "Don't worry, Steven. I'm sure someday you'll figure out how to activate your gem."

"Yup." Steven said.

"Yes. In your own Steven-y way." Garnet said from behind smiling.

"I'm okay, guys.I just" Stevens stomach growled again. "I think I ate too many Cookie Cats. They all laughed and Steven threw up.

Steven smiled.

"That should teach you a lesson." Greg laughed.

"Even if there were any Cookie Cats left, I don't think I would be able to eat one for awhile." Steven admitted.

The screen went black and a menu appeared.

"Oh, it's over." Amethyst said.

"That was pretty cool." Sadie said.

The menu read "Continue?" and the only option was "Yes."

"Guess we don't have a choice." Garnet said.

"Great. Now when do I show up." Peridot insisted.

"Hmm, according to my memory," Steven thought hard, hands clapped together in front of his face. "Lapis comes in before you. Oh! I didn't even know you yet Connie." Steven remembered.

"Oh, you know when that is?" Connie asked, she was a bit nervous for everyone to be watching her do who knows what.

"Pretty soon I think, it depends how many events are shown before. But I met you before Lapis." Steven told her.

"I wonder what we're going to see next." Pearl said, a little excited.

"Well press 'yes' already, Garnet." Amethyst said impatiently.

Garnet hit play with the room having a better understanding of the episodes that will play before them.

Chapter Text

Laser Light Cannon

Steven and Amethyst are running towards the fry shop just as Fryman goes inside. "Hey, Fryman! Give me the bits!"

"The what?" Lars has never heard of food there called 'bits.'

"Steven, we're closed."

"Ohh, what?"

"Give him the bits! The bits! The bits!" Amethyst chanted as Steven joined in.

"The bits! The bits! The bits!"

"You should not of pressured him like that." Pearl told the two.

"But the bits." Steven said. Amethyst smiled as Pearl sighed.

"I mean, they are good." Greg shrugged.

"Okay, okay. Take it easy on the counter, will ya?"

"Yes!" Amethyst and Steven shared a high five.

Fryman took the strainer out of the oil and shaking the bits into a bag. "I can give you actual fries, if you want."

Oh it's just fry remains. Lars saw.

"Just the bits, please. Thanks." Steven said taking the bag.

"Don't you have to pay?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah, but since they're not actually on the menu I guess we're off the hook." Steven told her.

"Hm. Nice." Connie said.

The two started taking some from the bag. "Ahh, sunset my favorite time of day, when the sun goes down and the second sun gets bigger and bigger in the sky."

Garnet chuckled and Steven's quirkiness. 

Amethyst bursts out laughing spitting out fry bits. "Yeah, that big, hot second su-" Amethyst gasps when she sees the red eye. "Oh, no. What is that doing here?"

Steven gasped. "I remember this!" he exclaimed.

"Woah, what is that? Wait don't tell me I'm sure it'll be explained." Connie smiled.

Lapis didn't know what it was either.

"It's a Red Eye." Peridot said.

"Obviously." Lars said, remembering this day.

"No. That's literally what it's called." Peridot informed.

"What is it?" Amethyst picks up Steven dropping the bag. "Aah! My bits!" Amethyst runs off.

It must have been really serious. Sadie thought.

"This is bad." Garnet says Pearl beside her looking into the telescope.

"Look at the size of it! I had no idea these things were so big!" She exclaimed.

"Well they have to be in order to-" Peridot was cut off by Lapis nudging her.

"That's not important." Lapis stopped her from going on a tangent about Gem tech.

"Garnet! Pearl!" Amethyst yelled still carrying Steven.

"We saw. Some of us are trying to protect humanity. Where were you?" Pearl asked.

Amethyst puts Steven down. "Eating fry bits."

"Ugh." Pearl face palmed.

A few laughed.

"Can I see?" Steven looked into the telescope. "Whoa. It's a giant eyeball! Awesome!" The red eye was looking right in the telescope.

Why did I keep saying everything that's serious 'awesome'? Steven thought. He really had no idea what was going on back then.

"What does it do?" Lars asked.

"It's just a scanner, it was sent to Earth to see if there was any Gems left." Peridot informed him.

"How do you know that?" Sadie asked her.

"Because I was the one who sent and monitored it." Peridot pointed to herself, proudly.

"You did?" Lapis didn't know that, actually it was news for everyone.

"Of course it was you." Pearl said a tad annoyed. Pearl vaguely remembered Peridot mentioning the Red Eye in their face off under the Kindergarten.  

"Not awesome! It's a red eye!" Pearl exclaimed.

"A red eye?! It's going to infect us all!" Steven yelled.

"That's pinkeye, Steven." Garnet informed, Amethyst giggled.

"It's going to crash into Beach City and crush us, along with a bunch of oblivious, innocent people. We have to stop it." Pearl said determined.

"Yeah it was supposed to scan for any gems and I would retrieve the data. But you guys destroyed it before it could relay any information." Peridot told everyone.

Lars and Sadie wondered who this Gem was. It didn't seem like she was always on Steven and the others' side if she was sending giant eyeballs to Earth. 

"It probably wouldn't have even been able to relay information because you got it stuck in Earth's gravitational pull," Pearl told the small Gem.

Amethyst chuckled a bit. "Yeah, Peri, get better at flying Red Eyes." She said in a sarcastic tone, but Peridot could tell she was just joking. 

"I wasn't 'flying' it. I was monitoring it," Peridot stated as if it was so obvious. 

"What are we going to do?" Steven asked.

"The only thing powerful enough to destroy it is a Light Cannon that belonged to Rose Quartz." Garnet fixed her visor.

"My Mom?"

"If Rose were here, this would be so easy." Amethyst groaned.

"I know, but she's not, and the cannon is missing. We'll have to find another solution." Pearl told them.

"If it belonged to my Mom, I bet my Dad knows where it is. He can help us save the day!" Steven suggested "Huh? Eh?"

That doesn't seem very compelling to them, Connie noticed.

"Greg is nice, Steven, but I doubt Rose would entrust someone like him with such a powerful weapon." Pearl insisted.

"Well, who ended up having it?" Greg asked sarcastically. That earned him a look from the Gem couch.

"Your dad is kind of a mess, Steven." Amethyst put her hand on Stevens shoulder.

"I actually can't argue with that." Greg said.

"Amethyst!" Pearl growled.

"I'm just saying. Even if she did leave it with him, he probably broke it, or lost it, or dropped it in the ocean by now." Amethyst listed.

"True." Garnet agreed.

"No way! I'm sure he's just keeping it somewhere safe. I'll go ask him." Steven insisted as he started to walk off.

"We can handle this, Steven." Garnet told him.

Why are they all so opposed to him? Sadie liked Mr. Universe.

"Ready?" Garnet picked up Amethyst and jumped twirling her around then throwing her at the roaming eye.

Amethyst screamed as she his the eye and fell into the ocean.

"Now that is totally not going to work!" Peridot laughed. Lapis giggled too.

"What else were we supposed to do?" Amethyst asked.

Connie noticed how the gems thought throwing Amethyst would work better than asking Greg if he had a weapon that was sure to blow it up. Did it have something to do with Rose? She kept this thought in the back of her mind and she was going to see if anything about it came up later.

"Uh, I'm gonna go."

"Okay, good luck." Pearl said waving to him. Steven ran off.

Steven banged on his dads van. "Dad, it's me!" The car wash was shown. "Dad? Are you in there?"

Doesn't he live in the van? Lars remembered.

"Wake up!" Steven slammed is body on the van twice. "We have to save the world!" Steven climbed onto the van. "Dad!" He stomped his feet before jumping then fell over.

The car alarm went off and Steven smiled knowing that would wake him up.

Greg barged out of the car. "Who's there?! I have a waffle iron!"

"Dad, it's me!"

Greg turned around and dropped the waffle iron. He squinted his eyes and stopped the alarm with his keys. "Steven?"

"Pfft. Why're you making that face?" Amethyst laughed.

"I just woke up. Y'know when you get up too fast and you feel dizzy and everything is blurry?"

"Yes." Steven knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Uhh," Amethyst thought about it.

"Can't relate." Pearl said, flatly.

Steven jumped off the van and gave Greg a hug. "I almost waffled your face! What are you doing up so late?" Greg asked.

"What do you mean? The sun just went down an hour ago."

"Oh, heh." Greg face turned red. "It was a slow day at the car wash." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"Isn't it everyday?" Pearl asked half whispering. Garnet hushed her.

"Anyway, what's up? Just needed to see your old man, pal around, learn some lessons about life?"

"No! I need the Light Cannon that belonged to Mom to blow up that eyeball!"

"Eyeball?"

"That!" Steven pointed to the sky. Amethyst was flying to the the red eye screaming. She hit it and fell back into the ocean.

"How many times did you try that?" After the second or maybe third time Lars would've given up.

"Too many to count." Amethyst responded.

"We were kind of desperate." Garnet added.

"Wait! Is that a magical thing? The Gems told me not to get involved with magic stuff. It- it could be dangerous or interfere with what's left of my hair."

"Right..." Lapis wasn't sure about that last part.

"But they need Mom's cannon. You've got to know where it is!" Greg picked up the waffle iron. "Like a cave dungeon or a cloud fortress or in a clam at the bottom of the ocean."

Greg threw it into the van and shut the doors. "Well, I don't know about all that, but I have an idea where it might be."

The two walked up to a storage unit. "A magical storage unit!" Steven ran ahead.

"Huh. Not exactly. But some would say there's magic inside." Greg winked. Steven stared at him blank faced. "It's just a shed I use to keep things that don't fit in the van. If it's anywhere, it'll be in here." Greg lifted the door and stepped back so Steven could see all of it.

"Oh my gosh it's horrible." Pearl didn't know how Greg could live knowing there was that big of a mess just sitting there.

"Thats a lot of stuff." Sadie noticed.

"You mean junk." Lars whispered.

"That's where I found these discs." Steven mentioned.

"Good thing we cleaned that place out." Amethyst said.

Steven walked up to some boxes. He touched them and they fell. "If I'm going in there, I'm gonna need some gear." He grabbed a flashlight, a sock and tied them to his head and smiled.

"Aww." Pearl smiled.

"Here I go!"

"Good luck." Greg told him while Steven ran inside having an extension cord tied to him like rope.

Steven crawled in and looked around. "Whoa! Cool! It's like a Dad museum!" He looked all around with assorted junk piled to the ceiling.

Where'd he get all that stuff? Sadie wondered. He was definitely a hoarder.

Maybe he could sell all that stuff and get some money. Lars thought.

Connie spotted a few things that she might've wanted. I wonder if he has any books... but stopped wondering when she remembered what Amethyst said about cleaning it out.

"Some of that could make some pretty cool meep morps." Lapis told Peridot both of them smiling. Almost everyone had no idea what she was talking about.

He walked deeper coming out of a mattress. "Huh? There it is!" Steven picked up a golf bag and fell over. "Whoa! Ugh!"

"Wait, you thought the light cannon was a golf bag?" Pearl asked kinda offended. Steven just laughed, agreeing with Pearl on his ignorance.

"Do you golf?"

"Ah, I like to think of myself as someone who would golf, eventually." Greg was crawling through the path.

"Hmm? Yes!" Steven pushed some stuff off of a drum. "A drum."

Pearl frowned.

"I didn't know what it looked like." Steven defended himself.

Steven walked off then hitting it. He jumped over a few things then threw some things around. "No. No." He gasped. "Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Is this?" He lifts up the t-shirt cannon and shoots it. The shirt unfolds in the air and Steven catches it. "Buy T-shirt Cannons?" is what the shirt said.

"Wow you have everything." Connie told Greg, amazed.

Steven looks down at a box. "Hey, there's a bunch of copies of your old CD!"

"Huh. Oh, man.I couldn't give those things away." Greg was back outside. "You know, before I ran the car wash, when I was a one-man band, I traveled the whole country." Greg voice echoed and Steven slipped a CD into his pocket.

"Except you had Marty." Steven reminded.

"It was mostly me," Greg explained.

"I know, Dad."

"When I came to play a concert here in Beach City, no one showed up except-"

"An alligator!"

"No, it was your mother."

"I know!" Steven laughed.

Sadie smiled. It was really lucky that Stevens parents met the way they did.

"And we were always together after that." Steven was crawling deeper into the shed. "Until she gave up her physical form to bring you into the world."

That's such a weird way to put it. Why can't they just say she died during childbirth? Lars contemplated.

A sound of glass shattering rang. "I don't know what a magic lady like her ever saw in a plain, old dope like me." Steven moved his leg to reveal a picture of Greg and Rose.

Pearl felt a pang of sadness looking at the picture.

The humans in the room stared at the picture in awe.

Steven gasped. "Uh, Dad? I broke a photo."

"It's okay, buddy. If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs." The light cannon shined.

"All the way in the back." Connie stated.

"Yep." Steven said next to her.

"Huh? The Light Cannon!"

"Oh, boy. That thing's giving me the willies." Greg said looking at the red eye which go closer.

"Dad, I found it!"

"Really?"

Steven tied the cannon up with the extension cords. "Get the van!" Greg started the van after tying some cords up to it. He pressed the gas and burned rubber before pulling everything out of the shed. Everything fell over.

Greg chuckled.

"Oh my goodness." Pearl hated the sight.

"This thing could save the city! We've got to get it to the beach!"

"How? It's too big for the van." A wagon stopped beside them. "Easy does it."The two lifted the cannon struggling and dropped it on the wagon. The bottom of the wagon broke.

"Careful! With that..." Pearl stopped talking, a lot of eyes were on her.

They figured decided it would work.

They drove across town as van pulled it and it scratched against the road.

"You guys should've gotten us, the pavement could've damaged it," there was a hint of worry in Pearl's voice.

"Everything worked out fine, Pearl." Steven reminded her.

"Is it gonna be okay?" Steven asked.

"Mmhm." Greg shrugged. "If every pork chop were perfect-"

"We wouldn't have hot dogs!" Steven finished.

What does that even mean? Lapis didn't understand the saying.

"That thing's getting huge." The red eye was glowing. "It's freaking me out."

"Woah... It kinda makes the sky a pretty color." Connie said.

"Yeah, it does." Steven spoke, solemnly, seeing it.

"Can't the van go any faster?"

"This is faster!" Greg pushed the pedal and the speedometer went up.

"Don't worry. Come on. Let's put on your CD." Steven held up the case.

"What? Really? Uh, come on, you've heard it." Greg turned red.

"You come on." Steven put the disc in the player. Let Me Drive My Van (into your heart) started playing.

Steven danced along to the song. "Let me drive my van into your heart!"

A few smiled seeing Greg happy that Steven liked his song.

"Nice music." Peridot complimented.

Greg drove past the big donut as Sadie, Lars and Mr. Smiley looked at the red eye. The song was playing in the background.

The group thought it was cool how the song was going to be played during this, it was a nice effect.

"Kinda wish I was there." Connie mentioned.

The van turned onto the beach pulling up to Garnet and Pearl. The two noticed the van then looked down at Amethyst being washed up onto shore.

"Throw me again. I think I'm cracking it!"

"Trust me, you weren't." Peridot insisted.

She looked over at the van. "Is that?"

"Hey, guys!" Steven yelled as they jumped out of the van.

"He really had it." Pearl gasped.

"We're saved!" Amethyst yelled. Everything started rumbling when pieces of the house started to get sucked up along with a telephone pole.

"It's sucking everything up!" Connie saw.

"It's just so big it has gravity of its own. Like if the moon got closer the waves would get larger and society along with everything would fall apart!" Pearl informed everyone.

"We get it." Garnet told her.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Easy!" Fryman yelled as the sign fell to the ground.

"We have to use it now." Garnet insisted. The song ended.

"I don't know how it works! It was Rose's!" Pearl yelled touching the cannon.

"Dad, how do we use it?"

"Mm." Greg shrugged.

They don't know how to use it? Sadie figured Rose would tell at least one of them, but they obviously figured it out because it exploded.

Pearl turned Steven around. "Steven, this is serious. "The Gem!" she realized. "You have Rose's gem!" Steven lifted up his shirt.

"That's it!" Amethyst grabbed Steven and rubbed him up against the cannon. "Ugh! Come on!"

"Stop that." Garnet said.

"It's no use." Pearl told them.

"Fine! Forget it! Throw me again!" Amethyst jumped into Garnets arms.

"That's not going to work!" Pearl yelled.

"Whoa!" The van and cannon started to get sucked in.

"I got this." Greg unhitched the van from the cannon and started to get pulled in. "No! Wait! No, maybe I don't!"

"Please work. Unlock. Activate. Go. Please?" Steven banged on it. "Everyone's counting on you! You can't just be useless! I know you can help!"

"I don't think talking to an inanimate object is going to work." Lars said honestly.

"No, it worked." Steven replied.

"It's okay, Steven! We'll figure out something else, something even better!" Greg reassured him.

"R-right! If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs." the cannon started to glow. Garnet was holding onto Amethyst so she didn't fly off. The cannon opened up and Steven fell off of it.

A few noticed how the cannon resembled a rose when it opened.

"Wait, didn't it glow when you said that the first time?" Connie asked.

"Yeah, I guess mom set the phrase as it's trigger."

"It makes sense 'cause Greg was always saying it, she caught on." Amethyst added.

Sadie thought that was cute.

"It's working!" Pearl said. The cannon unhinged itself. The trio gasped. Steven ran over and lifted the end of the cannon to aim. He was struggling at first and then the gems helped him. "Steven."

"This is it!" Amethyst said.

"Brace yourselves!" Garnet yelled.

Some of the watchers leaned in anxious to see what was going to happen as the cannon made a whirring noise.

A pink laser shot from the cannon, the laser formed into Rose and hit the eye dead on. It cracked and the four watched as it exploded over the town.

The group sat amazed, feeling just what the gems and Steven were feeling on screen.

Chunks began falling from the sky. The chunks hit the ground and over the city as a few people fled being crushed and a car alarm went off. The lighting returned to normal.

"Hope no one got hurt." Greg said.

"Steven, you just saved most of Beach City!" Amethyst yelled happily.

"Sorry about that!" Steven yelled.

"What?!"

"How did you get it to work?" Pearl wondered.

"I just said that thing that Dad always says." Steven told her.

"That thing about pork rinds?"

"Hot dogs." Garnet put her hand on Pearls shoulder.

"Rose." Greg wiped tears from his eyes.

The humans realized that Greg, too, was missing Rose, they never saw him upset about his partner.

The ocean came up to their waists. They all started laughing as Greg watched his van get swept out. "My van!"

"It's okay, Dad. If every pork chop were perfect-"

"I live in there!" Greg ran towards it.

"Knew it." Lars said to himself.

"Wait up!" Steven and Greg ran after the van.

"Ah Geez! Whoa! Wait! Wait!" The screen went black and the menu appeared.

"All those resources went to waste." Peridot was the first to speak up.

"If those resources didn't 'go to waste', then no one would be here." Pearl told her.

"I think I like this episode better than the last one, the ending was pretty cool." Lars said.

"Yeah I agree." Sadie said. Some others nodded their heads in agreement.

"Everyone ready?" Garnet asked before pressing play.

Cheeseburger Backpack

Steven was sitting on a rock near the mailbox. "Hey, Mr. Postman, bring me a post, bring me the post that I love the most." Steven sang.

Jamie came from around the corner.

"Huh? My song came true!" Steven jumped off the rock. "Do you have a package for me today?"

Steven thought back on what he could be expecting.

"Hold on. Let me see what I've got here. Did you order a loaf of bread with a stamp on it?" Jamie asked reaching in his bag.

"A loaf of bread?" Connie thought out loud. Many thought that was strange.

"No."

"Did you order a jury summons for R.J. Finkle?"

"Why is he asking you even though he says it's for...? whoever that was." Peridot asked.

"I didn't know Jamie very well back then."

"That's not me, I'm Steven."

"Oh, right, right, right Steven. Here it is Steven Universe." He pulled out a package.

"Ha! This thing is gonna help me save the world!" Steven exclaimed.

"Oh its my cheeseburger backpack!" Steven remembered.

"Cheeseburger...backpack." Of course Steven would get something like that. Lars thought.

"Really? It says it's from Wacky Sacks supply company."

"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl think I shouldn't go on magic adventures because I don't know how to use my gem powers."

"That seems reasonable."

"Yeah that was a must." Pearl said. Greg agreed.

"But there are other ways I can help."

"With a Wacky Sack?" Jamie seemed confused.

"Exactly!"

"You know how you can save my world? Sign here, please."

"Ah!" Steven signed his name and drew a few stars.

"Barb yells at me if I don't get signatures."

Sadie giggled "She probably does."

"That's awful." A bright light came from inside the house. "Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are back!" Steven yelled taking his package.

That's the light from the warp thingy, right? Lars thought.

"W-wait! Steven! What is a Wacky Sack?" Jamie asked as Steven ran up the stairs into the house.

"Huh?"

"Hello, Steven." Garnet greeted with feathers in her hair.

Many people in the room wondered what that was about.

"Amethyst, we do not need that. It's not going to fit in the fridge." Pearl told Amethyst.

"What? I got this." Amethyst pulled stuff out of the fridge and dropped them, spilling everything.

The humans watched wondering in what world that was okay.

"Hup! Look it fits!" She slammed the door and it sounded like the egg cracked. "Ha! Oh, man, we could make a big omelet or a quiche or big sunny-side-ups!"

"I think it cracked." Lapis said loosely.

"Yeah, we weren't able to make anything out of it." Amethyst sighed.

"We fought a giant bird." Pearl told Steven.

That made sense.

We're only here for a second. We've got to go back out."

"What? Why?"

"We have to place this Moon goddess statue on the top of the lunar sea spire before midnight.

"Oh no..." Steven remembered how useless he was going all that way and forgetting the statue.

"It wasn't your fault Steven." Garnet tried to make him feel better.

"It was my fault." Steven whispered but Connie heard him.

Others wondered what they were talking about.

Without it, the whole place will fall apart! Oh, Steven, you should have seen the spire in its heyday." Pearl showed a hologram of the spire with her gem. "It was an oasis for gems on Earth."

"I heard the Lunar Sea Spire is really beautiful." Peridot said.

"Yeah, it was." Pearl agreed. From Pearls wording everyone who didn't know figured it wasn't there anymore. Steven felt a little guilty.

"It's abandoned now." The hologram disappeared. But we can still save it with this statue." She held it up.

Oh, maybe it's just abandoned, not gone. They probably restored it with whatever that is. Sadie thought.

"Wha that's perfect!" Steven exclaimed.

"What? Why?" Pearl wondered.

Steven set his package on the floor. "Because I can help carry it for you in this!" Steven opened the box and pulled the bag out making noises. "Whoosh! Whhhhhmmm! Whhhhhsssw! Pwing-pwing-pwing-pwing-pwing!"

Amethyst laughed and Pearl smiled.

"A hamburger?" Pearl saw.

"It's a novelty backpack shaped like a cheeseburger! Aw, I blew it." Steven swung the backpack over his shoulder. The gems exchanged looks. "I was just gonna wear it one day, and you guys would be like, "Dang, Steven, that's so cool! But this is obviously important gem business." He went on.

"Huh?" Lapis was so confused.

Peridot laughed.

This was the annoying Steven. Lars noticed.

"Yes, so you should let us take care of it." Pearl told him.

"What? I'm a gem!" Steven pulled up his shirt and pointed to his gem eyeing at it.

"But you've still got a lot to learn." Pearl said.

"So let him come." Amethyst insisted. "It'll be educational." She smiled and shook her hands.

"Hmm. Alright. You can carry it in your hamburger." Pearl handed the statue to Steven.

Steven took off the bag and unzipped it. "Mm! Check this out everything's a pocket! Even the cheese is a pocket!"

"That's actually a pretty cool bag." Sadie had to admit.

"I can fit a lot more stuff in here. Give me a minute. I'll pack extra supplies." he ran off.

Steven grabbed bagels, a sweater, kite, and raft while fun music was playing.

"When you said extra supplies I thought you meant water or something, not a kite!" Lars pointed out.

"Some of that stuff actually came in handy." Amethyst defended Steven.

He stuffed it all in, picked up the bag but stepped on Mr. Queasy. Steven lifted him up and started giggling.

"Kid, don't shake me!"

"Mr. Queasy!"

Steven continued to giggle. "Ohh, I got a medical condition."

"Do you still have that?" Peridot asked. She wanted to see what was making it talk. Earth inventions have started to intrigue her. 

"No, it blew up..." Steven said.

"How-" Peridot figured it would be explained.

"You're definitely gonna come in handy." Steven swapped out a first aid kit and put the doll in instead.

"Good thing we didn't actually need that." Steven realized his mistake.

"Steven, let's go!" Pearl called from the warp pad.

"Uh, coming!" Steven ran down the stairs and to the warp pad.

"Whoa, Steven, did you bring your whole room?" Pearl asked.

"Back that thang up." Amethyst joked.

"Let's warp." Garnet said. Steven stuck out of the stream.

"Suck it in, Steven!" Amethyst yelled. Steven sucked in and was able to go through.

"Do you remember how to do this?" Pearl asked Steven as he started floating.

"Ha! Just like my first time using the warp pad." Connie saw.

"Oh yeah," Steven thought back, fondly.

"Oh! Whoo-hoo-hoo!" Steven giggled flipping around as the gems floated gracefully. Stevens head fell out of the stream.

"Keep your head in. Come on!" Pearl grew agitated and pulled Steven back in.

Lars found that funny.

They warped to the sea spire, Steven still laughing fell on his back.

"Oof. Whoa! The sea spire!" Steven said amazed. The gems were dismayed about the state the spire was in. A huge piece of the tower crumbled off and fell into the ocean.

"Yikes." Greg said.

"Ohh. It wasn't like this a hundred years ago." Pearl trembled.

Just how old are they? Sadie thought. Lars took this into consideration as well.

Garnet was behind her. "I'm sensing structural instability."

"Oh, yeah, that's never good." Steven shook his head as the ground below him crumbled around him.

Greg grew worried.

"Gah! Steven!" Pearl yelled and ran to him.

Steven still didn't know what was going on. "What?" Pearl scooped him up right before the boulder fell off into the ocean.

"I didn't see that coming." Steven remembered.

Pearl held on to Steven. "All right, hold on. We're taking Steven back!"

"My achin' stomach!" The sound of Mr. Queasy came from Steven's backpack.

"Oh, !" Jumped off of Pearl and got the doll from his bag.

"Kid, you're killin' me."

Many saw that Steven wasn't taking the mission at all seriously. Steven wished he wasn't so childish, but he was a child.

"Steven! This place is your heritage! I want you to stay and help, but you've really got to take this seriously. Can you do that, Steven?" Pearl asked him.

"You got it, dude!" Steven winked giving a thumbs up with his tongue sticking out.

Facepalms and some trying to hold in laughter.

"Yes." Pearl didn't know what to say.

"Enough. We have to move." Garnet stated. The four of them ran up the hill to the trench separating them and the spire.

"Are there waterfalls all around it?" Connie asked.

"No that's the ocean." Pearl told her.

Connie couldn't get another question in before the TV started again. This made a few confused.

They stopped when Garnet signaled them to.

"What's the holdup? We can clear this easily." Amethyst questioned.

"No. The magic that sustains the whirlpool creates a vortex that will pull us below." Garnet told her. Water was rushing around the spire. Garnet threw a rock across, it stopped in midair and was sucked down.

"Woah." Lars saw. The other humans were baffled as well.

"Typical gem magic." Peridot said.

"So we can't jump?" Pearl asked.

"Oh, wait!" Steven pulled a sweater out of his bag.

"What are those for?" Amethyst asked him.

Steven tied two sweaters together. "They were for keeping warm, but check it out." Steven threw the sweaters threw a hole in the spire. He breathed in a was preparing to jump.

"Don't jump!" Greg exclaimed.

"It's fine dad." Steven reassured him.

"Yeah, Steven had it." Amethyst included.

"Whoa!" "Steven!" "Wait!" Each of the gems said at the same time. Steven ran to jump and the gems followed.

"Whoa!" Steven started to get sucked down.

"He's getting sucked down!" Amethyst yelled as Steven was struggling to hold on.

"Imagine he let go." Peridot said kinda awkwardly. That earned her a look from Pearl.

"That's not funny." Lapis told her.

"Steven!" The three yelled.

"Cheesebur-r-r-r-ger!" Steven ran up the wall and landed in the building. Steven lifted his arms up for balance and caught his breath smiling worriedly.

A few giggled.

"That was a smart idea." Connie complimented. Steven smiled.

Steven, way to go!" Amethyst called. "Come on, guys!" She summoned her whip and grappled to the spire. She grabbed Garnet and Pearl and swung to the other side. Hyup! Steven style." She sang.

"Don't ever do that again!" Pearl shrieked.

"Sorry." Steven said. Garnet rubbed his hair and Amethyst ran into him.

The Gems smiled.

"But it was pretty great." Pearl had to admit. They walked into a room.

"Oh, no, no, no. This is even worse than the outside." They walked upstairs as Pearl went on about the sea spire. "Ugh! That's oh! Oh, this didn't used to be so oh, and the water damage, this pillar oh, and this had a head."

It was clear to the humans and other gems that she cared for the spire a lot.

She stopped at a statue. "Oh, Steven, once the statue's in place, it'll restore all of this to its former glory." Some crystal shrimp crawled to the front side of the statue.

"What's that?" Connie wondered.

Pearl freaked out slicing the statue in half.

"What was that goober?" Steven asked.

"Crystal shrimp." Pearl told him the statue piece falling into the ocean.

"Oh." her question was answered.

"Aren't shrimp really small?" Sadie said.

"They're crystal shrimp, the gem kind are made of actual crystals." Peridot said.

"Yes, and the crystals on their back are very sharp." Pearl added.

"You guys, we got a problem." Amethyst yelled from atop of the stairs. Pearl and Steven ran up to them.

Pearl gasped. "It's an infestation!" The room was covered with shrimp. "And we have to pass through there to get to the top."

"They look like slugs." Lars thought out loud.

"In Buddy's book he called them sparkling slugs." Steven remembered.

"Buddy...Buddwick, that library?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, it was named after him." Connie said.

"Can't you just squish 'em?" Steven leaned towards one.

"Don't touch that their shards are deadly!" Pearl screeched pulling Steven back. "We need to clear a path. Amethyst," Pearl showed a holo Amethyst moving to the corner, spinning her.

"You know you were wasting your breath here." Amethyst chuckled.

"If you go around to the side and disturb them with a spin attack and, Garnet," Pearl used her gem to project a holo Garnet going to the ceiling. "if you move to the ceiling and strike this exact spot then I can advance with my-" Pearl had a holo of herself.

Why does she make everything so complicated? Lars noticed.

"Bagel sandwich!" Steven yelled throwing a bagel off to the side. And then to the other side to clear a path. The crystal shrimp moved out of their way.

"Good idea." Lapis said.

"Brilliant." Garnet complimented.

"Oh, hey. What do you know?" Amethyst saw.

"Uh, uh." Pearl got rid of her holo version. "How did you know that would work?"

"Well, if I were a shrimp, that's what I would do." Steven told her.

"You are a shrimp." Amethyst joked.

That made Steven smile.

"I just want everyone to know my plan would have also worked." Pearl told everyone as they walked up more stairs.

"Uh-huh." Peridot said.

"Watch out!" Garnet stopped everyone. Water burst through the walls and created a roaring stream across their path.

"Whoa!"

"What are we gonna do?" Amethyst wondered. The gems looked at Steven.

"What me?"

"What have you got?" Garnet asked.

"Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack! Pearl, come on." Amethyst chanted. Steven shuffled through his bag.

"Ohh, all right." She decided. "Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!" The two shouted.

That made some viewers want to chant with them.

Steven pulled out a yellow raft. "A raft!" He pulled the string and it popped out.

"Ha, of course." Peridot said.

"Whoa!" "Ah!" Garnet and Amethyst said in awe.

"Steven, that's so sensible." Pearl added.

"Whoa!" Steven through the raft in the water. They watched it get swept down the waterfall. Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl gasped.

Lars laughed.

"Heh, it was a good try." Sadie said.

Behind them, Garnet smashed a pillar down as a bridge.

"Good idea, anyway, Steven." Garnet told him walking across.

"Yeah, they can't all be winners." Amethyst said as they jumped off the pillar. They walked up even more stairs to the top of the spire.

"Woah, it's in the middle of the ocean, that's what you meant." Connie said, amazed by the sight.

"The magic coming off the spire makes the water get pulled around it, creating a kind of whirlpool." Garnet told the room.

Most thought it was cool that there was a tower sitting in a hole in the ocean.

"This is it, the Moon goddess pedestal. And the Moon is almost overhead!" Pearl looked up at the moon. It's not too late to save this piece of history!" Pearl was excited.

Steven had been dreading this part, he was not excited to see him mess up. Except this time it might be worse since he has a different view on everything.

"Steven, the statue." Garnet ordered.

Steven took off his bag and went through it.

Some of the viewers knew something not-so-good was going to happen because of how the music sounded. Like in the movies.

He grew worried when he couldn't find it."Uh, I-I, uh Uh, uh, I." He helplessly went threw each pocket as the gems waited.

He forgot it. Lars knew.

"What's the holdup?" Amethyst asked.

"I don't have it." Steven confessed. The gems gasped.

A lot of them frowned. Steven felt helpless.

"What?!"

"I must have left it on the bed!" Steven said defensively. They looked at the moon.

Greg knew Steven would feel bad for this even now. "Its okay, we all make mistakes right?"

"Yeah..." Steven replied, unsurely.

"I probably wouldn't have done any better." Connie told him.

"What? Of course you would have," Steven was appalled by her assumption.

"Shhh. I want to see how Steven pulls this one off." Peridot insisted. Steven always seems to mess things up, or show to be useless but does something to prove that that's wrong it in the end.

"There's- there's no time!" Pearl brought her hand to her mouth.

"Wait! I have an idea!" Steven yelled and took out the Mr. Queasy doll.

"Ugh!"

"Eh?" Peridot didn't see that working.

Some furrowed their eyebrows in confusion. Of course, it was a desperate act to fix the situation.

"Ah." Pearl didn't know.

"Could that work?" Amethyst wondered.

"Mm-mnh-mnh." Garnet didn't know either.

Lars and Sadie knew it wasn't going to work, they needed the statue of that woman.

Steven placed the doll on the pedestal. "Ugh! Kid, don't shake me!" A beam connected the doll on the moon. It started to slowly rise and started to shake.

The audience watched, and some hoped for it to work, but knew in the back of their mind, it wasn't.

"Wh-o-o-o-o-o-oa!" It got destroyed. The whole place started to come down. Water collapsed onto the spire. "Whoa!"

"That kinda looks like when the ocean rained back down when it disappeared." Greg said.

"Kind of." Steven said.

The viewers that were there during that event got a little excited to see that again or from a different perspective. Lapis wasn't really.

"Everyone, keep steady! Whoa!" Everyone started to shake as it all got sucked into the ocean.

"Ohh! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

It looked like a scary situation to be in, some of the room figured, being sucked into the ocean like that.

Steven came up gasping for air. The others came up as well. "This is all my fault. I broke it!" he confessed.

"No, Steven, the spire was falling apart when we got here. You handled everything well under pressure. You did great." Pearl comforted him.

But wasn't she just rambling how much she wanted to fix the thing? Lars thought.

"Yeah, 2 out of 4 of your ideas worked that's 50 percent." Amethyst added on.

That's still failing... Connie didn't want to say that out loud.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" He realized. "They can't all be winners." The raft popped out of the water. "Whoo!" Steven exclaimed. They all got on.

"Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!" Amethyst and Pearl chanted.

"It's a three-hour paddle home." Garnet interrupted. They stopped chanting.

"Killed the mood." Amethyst said.

"Anyone want a wet bagel?" Steven grabbed one from his bag. The episode ended.

"I'm sorry...again." Steven said.

"Why are you still upset over this? It was two years ago." Amethyst hated it when Steven blamed himself. He does it a lot, unfortunately. Steven had done plenty of good things that it was completely okay for him to mess up a few times. 

"I'm sure you wouldn't have made that mistake now." Garnet told him.

"I do miss the Sea Spire but what would we use it for anyway?" Pearl added.

"Yeah, it would be useless without the Homeworld gems running it." Peridot chimed in.

"If it was still standing I could've destroyed it when I took the ocean." Lapis added. Lars and Sadie didn't realize it was her until just now.

Everyone's so quick to make him feel better when he apologizes for something that was entirely his fault. Lars felt a pang of jealousy for having trouble thinking of who would do that for him. Also a bit of guilt for feeling a bit of resentment towards Steven at this moment.

"I-I guess you guys are right." Steven smiled. Others smiled as well.

"Let's continue." Garnet said hitting, the remote.

Chapter Text

Together Breakfast

Steven opened the window and looked out at the sunrise.

"Everyone's out. Guess I'm making us breakfast."

"Oh no, this is that 'together breakfast' you made?" Amethyst looked at Steven.

"Yeah, we didn't even get to eat it though." Steven said, shaking his head.

The others grew curious.

Steven kneeled on the counter which was very messy.

"I hope you cleaned that up." Connie said for Pearls sake.

"I did."

He put waffles, syrup and popcorn on the table. He put them in the toaster and grabbed them when they popped. Steven put them on a plate and poured syrup on them.

"Pearl! Garnet! Amethyst! Is anyone home?" He banged on the temple door.

He put popcorn in the microwave and dumped them on the waffles.

"You ruined it." Lars said bluntly.

"Popcorn on waffles? Gotta try that." Greg said.

Steven sat by the warp pad. "One, two, three warp in!" He fell down and groaned. "Guess they're still out saving the world."

Greg chuckled. "I know that feeling, buddy."

Steven made a confused face, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Having to wait by the warp pad all day for the gems to get back," Greg explained, solemnly.

Steven thought about what he said. Like... For mom? He wondered.

Steven took the whipped cream and put it on the waffles.

"Look at you. You are out of control." Steven opened the screen door. "Pearl! Garnet!" Then closed it. Steven struggled to find a spot for the strawberry.

"It's done!" Steven sighed throwing himself on the counter. "That thing's too good for me to eat alone. It's a together breakfast."

What Amethyst said before made more sense.

The warp pad activated and Steven fell off the counter. Garnet was holding a scroll. "Ah, Garnet! Perfect. Check it out. It's not exactly healthy, but it's in a stack, so I guess you could say it's a balanced breakfast."

Steven and few others giggled.

Steven smiled and Garnet just stood there. Steven was making a weird face.

That made a few more laugh.

"You know, like, I made us all breakfast. I thought we could eat together like- like best buds."

"I can't stay. There's a business to attend to inside the temple." Garnet activated the temple door with her gems. The door opened in thirds.

"Ah." Steven face palmed.

A few looked at him.

"It was so obvious that you're a fusion, two gems! And they're glowing red and blue!" Steven exclaimed, excitedly. 

Garnet smiled.

"Ha! I knew right when I saw Garnet." Peridot said.

"That's because he didn't know a lot about gems at the time." Lapis told her.

"Aw, business? Like what?" Steven put the plate on the counter.

"I have to burn this." Garnet revealed the scroll which had drawings on it. Creepy music and whispers started playing.

"What is that?" Sadie wondered out loud. Steven wanted to answer but he didn't know either.

"Cool!" Steven took a picture of it on his phone.

Garnet took his phone "I have to burn this too." She walked into the temple.

I guess it's secret gem stuff. Sadie thought.

"The scroll is on the disc though, will you have to burn it?" Connie was being serious.

"Probably. We'll get rid of the discs afterwards anyway." Garnet told the room. Everyone silently agreed.

"No! My apps!" Steven ran to the door. He lifted up his shirt and pressed his gem against the door. "Door. Open door."

"Haha, be careful, you might crack your gem." Amethyst half joked.

"Aw, you never work when I need it." He walked away.

"Dumb police! Uhh, you're dumb!" Amethyst cam through the door as a police officer. She shot the water gun towards the food.

What is the point of this episode? Lars wanted to see more gem fights and missions like the last three episodes.

Steven gasped. He jumped in the way of the stream. "Nooooooooooo!"

Amethyst started cracking up. Amethyst changed her head back to normal. "Oh, man. I totally got you. You should have seen the look on your face."

Sadie couldn't help but smile.

Steven got off the floor, his shirt was wet. "Oh, I knew it was you."

"Pffff, how?"

"Cause that's a water gun, and I'm not dumb." Steven put on a new shirt from the closet.

"You got something on your shirt." Steven looked down at his shirt.

Amethyst shot the water at Stevens shirt and face. "Duuuuuh-umb." She started cracking up again.

Lars was on the verge of laughing.

"Amethyst, this was all really unnecessary." Pearl told her.

"Yeah..." Lapis quietly agreed.

Amethyst rolled her eyes.

She stopped when her door activated.

"Hey! That's my door." She changed back into herself and ran to it.

That's so cool how they can do that, Sadie thought of what she would turn into if she could shape shift.

Peridot was still on the fence about shapeshifting. At least she has metal powers.

Pearl came out carrying a sword. "Oh, Amethyst, there you are. Care to explain what one of my swords was doing in your room?"

"Having a sword party."

"Oh, please. You took it."

"I did not."

"It's fine. It's in the past. I forgive you." Pearl put the sword on her shoulder.

Amethyst groaned.

"Also, I cleaned up your awful, awful mess. You're welcome."

"You did WHAT? I have a system." She ran into her room.

Do they not get along? Sadie noticed.

"Amethyst! Wait!"

"What's the matter, Steven?"

"I wanted us all to have breakfast together, so I made Together Breakfast, but everyone keeps leaving." He showed Pearl the breakfast.

"Oh, that's nice." Pearl activated her door.

She walked into her room and dropped into the water.

It startled some of the humans that she walked on water for a second.

"Oh, no! Not you too! I can't let this become together brunch." He grabbed the plate and stuck his arm through Pearls door. He pried it open and went through. There was several circular waterfalls.

"Woah, the waterfalls are supported by nothing." Connie pointed out.

"That's what I was thinking." Sadie said.

Pearl came out of one and danced bringing a bunch of swords out of the water. She put the sword in the empty scabbard fixing it. "There we go."

The younger humans thought it was pretty cool how she did it.

She's definitely a perfectionist, Lars thought.

"Hey, Pearl!" Steven watched from below.

"Steven!" The swords fell back into the water. "What are you doing in here? You know it's dangerous for you inside the temple." Her hand lit up and the door opened behind Steven.

"We're gonna have a nice together breakfast, even if I have to get my shoes wet." Steven dropped into the water.

"So Pearl can only walk on the water?" Connie asked.

"Yes, because it's my room." Pearl stated.

"Lion could walk on it." Steven added. Connie smiled.

"I never want to be in that furry freak again." Peridot added.

"Oh, the pink lion, he's cute." Sadie chimed in.

"Man, I wish Lion was invited." Steven said.

"Wouldn't he just... devour all the food on the table?" Greg guessed.

"Yeah..." Steven realized.

"It's for the better." Connie concluded.

"That thing has no self control." Pearl mentioned.

"You should see him when you show him a piece of cardboard!" Amethyst smiled.

"Or a lizard." Garnet added.

"That thing always scared me when I saw it laying in the dumpster." Lars remembered.

Steven smiled hearing everyone sharing something about Lion.

"What lion?" Lapis asked feeling excluded. A few laughed or smiled.

"Don't you remember seeing him when we came for the ocean. He's a huge cat, and... pink." Steven described.

"I don't remember..." She replied thinking back.

"I'm sure there's an episode dedicated to Lion." Connie said.

"There has to be... I didn't find him yet here so..." Steven trailed off. Garnet waited for a second then resumed the episode.

"What!? Get out of there!"

"I'll swim it over to you." He started paddling. "See? Doggy paddle, forward." Steven was coming close to a waterfall. "Oh, ! Doggy paddle, reverse, reverse!" He went down the waterfall still trying to go backwards.

Sadie giggled.

"Steven!"

The water direction changed to where it didn't make sense. "What the-"

"Does gravity like- not work in that place?" Lars asked.

"Not so much in some places." Garnet told him.

Steven screamed down a twist and bumps which got faster.

"That looks fun." Lapis said.

"Heh, it wasn't." Steven told her.

"Keep it together, breakfast!" He screamed going down a fall. He landed in what seemed to be a lake. He washed up on shore keep the food out of the water. He was now in Amethysts room.

Amethyst walked around the piles of garbage. She threw some junk somewhere else. "Better."

"Amethyst."

"Oh, hey, Steven. Did you come down the waterfall? Pearl gets so mad that I have her junk, but it's always falling down here."

"Yeah, maybe you should keep better track of your stuff." Amethyst told her.

"Did you not just see my perfectly aligned swords. Look at your things... all thrown around like that. How can you live?"

"I told you, I have a system, and Greg obviously likes my style better."

"Actually, I'd love to have everything organized like Pearl but I... don't have time to do it."

Yea they definitely don't get along all the time. Sadie noticed. They do seem to be very different from each other.

"Junk like what?"

"Junk like you!" Amethyst picked Steven up. "Imma throw you in the junk pile." Steven laughed as she threw him on the pile. "Isn't it awful? Pearl organized everything."

How can she even tell? Lars wondered.

"It still looks messy to me."

"Aw, thanks! I try. Boom!" She kicked some stuff.

"You take that as a compliment? I'd never have the barn looking like that." Peridot insisted. Lapis agreed and Amethyst shook her head.

"Oh, what's that, Steven?" She pointed to the breakfast.

"It's a together breakfast."

"All right! Snacks!"

"No! It's for everyone to eat together. That's the essence of together breakfast."

"Ahhhh...Give me! Give me!" Amethyst started chasing Steven through a tunnel.

"We have to eat it together!" Steven yelled. They started running upside down. The waffles started to fall but Steven caught them.

"Yeah, the gravity's weird." Connie said thinking back on what Lars and Garnet said.

They ran back to right side up.

"You can't outrun me! We both have short legs." Amethyst yelled. Steven saw an opening. "Steven. I'm hungry!"

Steven jumped in the floating rocks. "Just hold on. An exit. "Whoooo!"

The rocks reminded Steven of one of the gem battlefields.

Steven jumped down catching all the waffles that fell. "Skills."

"Get back here." Amethyst chased him.

"You're completely missing the point of this." The two ran into an open room and Steven jumped on a vein.

"Hey, wait a second." Amethyst was unsure.

"Steven. There you are." Pearl was on the other side of the room.

"Pearl, sweet. Two out of three."

"Steven, be careful" warned Pearl.

"Why?" Steven looked up at a giant heart. "Woah."

"And I thought things couldn't get any weirder." Lars admitted.

"That's cool. Is that the huge gem structures heart or something?" Connie wondered.

"Uhhh..." Steven looked to Garnet.

"Gems don't have hearts," Garnet, explained flatly.

I guess that's a no. Connie concluded.

"You really shouldn't be in here. This is the crystal heart. Oh! It's connected to the most dangerous areas of the temple. Hold on tight and don't look down." Pearl told him.

Steven looked down to see a hole below him. Steven lost his grip and started to fall down.

Peridot snickered, of course.

Pearl and Amethyst watched from above. Steven held on the vein as he slid through a dark part screaming. He got to a more peaceful part.

"Hey, that must be moms room!" Steven recognized the pink clouds.

"Yeah it looks like it." Connie said.

"Oh, hey. This isn't so bad. Never mind." He said as he went back to the dark area. Steven stopped in Garnet's room. Steven watched Garnet snapped his phone and threw it into the lava. Steven felt discouraged.

How'd she not hear him screaming. Lars wondered.

Garnet activated her gems and set the scroll on fire putting it in a bubble. It screamed. Steven slid to the ground and Pearl and Amethyst floated in.

"Steven, we're getting you out of here." Pearl whispered.

"Come on." Amethyst was too.

"Huh? This is great! We're all together!" Steven said loudly. Garnet gasped, keeping the smoke from getting out. "We can finally eat! I mean, we don't have any forks, but we can use our hands. I'm not gonna judge."

"Steven, go!" Garnet yelled.

They're going to have to fight this thing aren't they. Lars knew. Steven's so naive... Or was.

"Ok. Want to meet in the kitchen?"

The monster popped out of its bubble and the gems readied themselves.

"How are you gonna fight smoke?" Connie wondered.

"It wasn't really like that." Steven told her trying to leave out that it controlled the breakfast.

"It's trying to escape. Force it back." Garnet commanded. Garnet punched it causing it to chase Steven.

"Get back!" Amethyst whipped it. Pearl shanked it with her spear and it wailed. Garnet punched it again.

"Ah, I see." Connie said.

"Ugh. That thing is scary." Greg mentioned, cringing.

The thing went for Steven and made him fall over.

"Steven!" The gems shouted.

Steven looked at the plate. "Together breakfast?" It bounced then turned into a huge monster made out of waffles and syrup. Steven screamed as it towered over him.

"And I thought the huge heart was weird." Lars said.

"Careful, you might keep saying that for every episode." Steven told him, smirking.

"Yeah, wait until you see the fusion experiments." Connie said.

"Or the cluster itself." Peridot mentioned.

"Or Malachite." Amethyst added hoping for no reaction from Lapis.

Lapis forced the thought of seeing Jasper and her experience as Malachite out of her head.

"Or what's under Garnet's visor." Greg said. Garnet and the room looked at him. "It freaked me out when I first saw," Greg said, in defense.

"Well, I don't wanna see any of that." Lars stated.

"Well, that's to bad because you can't leave." Pearl said, eyes closed. Knowing everything that was just said will most likely be covered.

Sadie was excited to see what was in store in future episodes.

"Or my dreams." Steven decided to add.

"Now I definitely don't want to see tha-"

"Hush!" Amethyst demanded.

Pearl threw her spear through it. "It's taken refuge in organic matter." The breakfast stuck her to a wall.

"Now it has all the power of a breakfast. We have to destroy it." Garnet said.

"Aah! It's horrible!" Pearl cried as the monster spread.

Peridot laughed.

The together breakfast broke Pearl's spear. Garnet punched it getting her gauntlet stuck in the whipped cream.

Amethyst pulled her away.

"I didn't want this. I just wanted to eat together, like- like best buds." Steven cried pushing the food away.

"Steven, you've got to get away." Garnet told him still struggling with her gauntlet.

"But my breakfast." The monster shot a huge waffle at Garnet and Amethyst slamming into the wall.

"That's enough! I don't care if you are the most important meal of the day." Steven struggled to push the monster farther.

"There you go again, talking to things that can't even understand you." Lars pointed out.

Steven ignored it but mentally rolled his eyes.

"I made you to bring us together, not to tear us apart!" He pushes the monster into the lava, it bursted into flames.

"Nice one." Greg complimented.

"Yes." Pearl agreed.

Garnet punched a hole in the waffle, her and Amethyst climbed out. Pearl freed herself from the whipped cream. The gems walked over to Steven.

"I'm sorry, guys. I guess I dreamed too big." The gems looked sad, Amethyst and Pearl had their hand on his shoulder.

"You just wanted to eat breakfast." Connie stated.

"I know right," Steven said, defeated.

Garnet put waffles in the toaster and Amethyst put popcorn in the microwave. Pearl poured syrup on twice as many waffles. Steven put the popcorn on the waffles, Garnet added the whipped cream. Steven, again couldn't decide where to put the strawberry.

"It looks great. It's even more together and even more breakfast."The gems dishearteningly looked at the together breakfast.

They must've been scarred. Connie thought.

"I don't think I can eat this."

"Let's order pizza." Amethyst suggested.

"Pizza's a better idea." Steven agreed.

"It's good." Pearl said.

"It did try to kill us." Garnet added. End.

"Ha, that was... interesting." Sadie said.

"I liked it." Lapis smiled.

"Then lets see the next one." Steven insisted, the room excited.

Frybo

Steven was looking through a pile of clothes. "Where are you? You're a mess, Steven."

Pearl ran into the room looking near the counter mumbling to herself. "I know I had eight. Hey, Steven, have you seen a gem shard anywhere? It's very important."

"No. Have you seen my pants? They're also very important." Steven wasn't wearing pants.

A few giggled.

Peridot raised a brow.

"I'm serious, Steven." She held up the shards she had. "These shards have a powerful partial consciousness that has been harnessed by gems throughout history in order to create-"

She said it in a way that most in the room didn't understand.

Steven zoned out. "They weren't in the kitchen, either. Under the bed! No, wait. I looked there, too. And then Pearl walked in, Pearl!"

"-obedience waned as the shards-" Steven heard her say.

"If only you had listened." Pearl said.

"Why? What happened?" Greg asked.

"Frybo." Steven said, bluntly.

The rest of the room kept their questions to themselves knowing it would be seen.

"Oh, geez. She's really explaining something. I can't just start listening now. I'd be lost. Just like my pants." He contemplated.

"Is that how your thinking process works?" Lars asked rhetorically.

"Was that really what you were thinking?" Connie asked Steven.

"Something like that."

"-could become a monster. That's why it's very, very important that it's kept away from any kind of garment."

Stevens pants ran by.

"It was one of my shards making it come to life" Pearl said since her explanation wasn't heard over Stevens inability to pay attention.

"I think we all know where this is going." Amethyst said.

"If you see it, bring it to me right away. I'm going to check in town." She left the house.

"For my pants?!" He yelled. "I guess I'll keep looking here." Steven noticed his pants from around the corner. "That's unusual!" He pointed to the walking pants and started chasing them. "Come on! We used to be friends! We used to go everywhere together!"

Please tell me he didn't develop a relationship with his pants, Lars thought.

Steven threw himself on the jeans. "Whoo!" He rolled over holding on to them. "Got you now, pants!"

Sadie giggled. She missed how childlike Steven used to be and she didn't realize he grew up so much.

Lars, however, was glad Steven changed. He had to see the annoyingness of Steven all over again.

He got himself into the pants. "Hyah! I wear the pants in this relationship."

The pants were still restless. "What's gotten into you? Hmm?" He pulled one of Pearls shards out of his pocket and the pants stopped moving. "Oh! It's a thingy." Is this Pearl's shard thingy?" The shard glowed and drew in his shirt. "Whoa!" He moved the shard away.

"I can see how these were useful at one point." Greg said reminded of the watermelon Stevens Steven grew and could be controlled.

Steven grabbed a nearby sock and put the shard in. "Ha! Now, who's smart?" It started hitting him in the face "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop!"

Lars tried to hold it in but ended up laughing.

Sadie wanted him to stop.

Lapis felt a little annoyed at Lars again.

Amethyst smiled but was able to keep it in.

It stopped. "Oh. Thanks. I got to get you to Pearl."

He put the sock in his bag and zipped it up.

Steven walked down the boardwalk. "Hey, Pearl! Pearl! She must still be looking for my pants."

"Did you really think that?" Connie wondered.

"Yeah." Steven said embarrassed but not enough to show.

It was cloudy and seemed to have rained. The Frybo costume knocked Steven over.

"Please help me! No! Get them away from me!" Peedee screamed from inside the costume.

"Oh, that thing! Is this why that thing went berserk?!" Lars remembered.

"What?" Sadie wondered.

"Steven put the gem shard in the fry costume." Pearl explained.

"Huge mistake but I was trying to help Peedee." Steven defended himself.

Steven started screaming as well.

Peedee screamed as seagulls chased him.

Amethyst giggled a little.

"I'm not fries!" He took off the top and scared them away.

Steven exhaled in relief.

The door to the fry shop opened.

"Ah, where's your face, Frybo? Being part of the Fryman family means you got to sell fries." Ronaldo was behind Fryman on his phone. "And be my son, which you are."

"I can't see anyone wanting to get fries with that thing hanging around." Lapis said.

"Yeah, people we're afraid of it." Steven told her.

Peedee sighed.

"So, you're already halfway there. Keep at it, Frybo." Fryman shut the door.

"I'm Peedee." He said defeated.

Some were confused. Did Peedee's dad not realize it was him or did Peedee just want to be addressed by his name?

"Hi, Peedee!" Steven exclaimed.

"When I told my Dad I wanted to be part of the Fryman family business, I didn't think it meant being stuck in a sweaty old costume." He put the Frybo head back on. "Things used to be different, Steven." He helped Steven up. "Nothing to worry about back then 'cept making myself dizzy on the old seahorse ride at Funland."

How old is he? He was still really young, his childhood shouldn't be over yet. Sadie thought.

"Poor Peedee, so young and already tainted by reality and it's responsibilities." Steven shook his head.

"Come on, a job isn't that bad." Lars said.

"You have to realize that he's a young kid already working and probably doesn't even get paid." Greg told the teen.

Lars silently understood.

"Oh, Frybo, you're hilarious."

"I didn't really understand what he was saying at the time." Steven explained.

Peedee sighed. "I wish there was a way for this costume to do its job without me in it."

Steven thought for a second. "Maybe it can, Peedee. Maybe it can."

Some expected to see Steven put the shard in the costume, but was proven to be wrong.

Steven was in the costume this time. He sang out before the seagulls started to chase him. He screamed as Peedee watched holding his shirt shaking.

Amethyst giggled. "Was it that scary?"

"Yes, they wouldn't go away."

The two looked at the costume, it was covered with seagulls and one was chewing on a fry.

"Wait! I have another idea." Steven got out the magic shard. "Mnh! Mnh! Shoo, shoo!"

The birds flew away.

Steven threw the shard in and the costume started to shake. The costume came together and rolled around.

"Were these shards used in the war?" Lapis wondered, suddenly.

"No, they were used before that time." Pearl explained. "The drones were deemed dangerous because they would sometimes turn on their commanders and were then banned of usage. What happened was that they were evolving, developing, and getting smarter which was unexpected." Pearl summarized what she said to Steven that was drowned out.

Wait a war? Lars and Sadie didn't know of any war.

"Makes sense." Steven said.

"So they're illegal?" Connie asked.

"Only on homeworld. Homeworld has no jurisdiction over Earth." Peridot knew for sure.

"You guys should've given it a command to make it go rouge. You have to be careful what you tell it to do." said Pearl.

"Whoa." Peedee was in awe.

"Stop!" Steven yelled and the costume obeyed.

"Unbelievable!" Peedee exclaimed. "Get up! The costume stood.

"It was fun at first." Steven remembered.

They were making it seem like something bad happened. Something bad probably did happen.

"Do a little dance." Steven called.

The two smiled.

Frybo grew legs made out of fries and the kids were disgusted.

"I'd still eat it." Amethyst said.

"Ew," Lars said in disgust.

"You would?" Greg asked.

"Don't underestimate me, Greg, I won that hot dog eating contest. Remember? You were there." she bragged.

"Oh yeah. That was-that was gross," Greg had to admit.

She smiled.

Frybo started to flail itself around.

"Whoa! All right! Well, it's about ti- I mean, good job, buddy!" Fryman called.

"That's what he wanted to see?" Lapis questioned.

"That's what I'm talking about, Frybo."

The costume stopped.

"Keep it up!" Fryman threw a thumbs up shutting the door.

"Eee! I'm free!" Peedee grabbed Stevens shoulder. "You got the job, Frybo! Let's shake on it." He held out his hand.

Frybo picked Peedee up and shook him violently.

"Br-br-br-br-br-br-br-br!"

I guess it would make sense for it to take anything literally. Connie thought.

Steven laughed. "He's got jokes!"

Peedee stopped Frybo from shaking him. "Okay. No more shaking. Put me down!"

Frybo dropped him.

"Just go make people eat fries."

Frybo ran off.

"There it is." Pearl heard the command.

"It made people eat fries?" Wondered Greg.

"Yeah, pretty violently too" Steven said.

"Lars, did you say you were there?" Sadie asked.

"Yeah" he nodded.

Steven started to feel guilty, after all he was the one who put the shard in the costume. He was so ignorant. Why couldn't he just listen to Pearl. It was a scary situation even though the motive wasn't very threatening.

"Ha ha ha! Let's go be kids!" Peedee grabbed Stevens hand and ran the other way.

Peedee put a coin in the seahorse ride.

Him and Steven got on them and the jellyfish started up.

Peedee was really happy when the ride started but each time he went up and down he got more uninterested.

Some giggled.

"That's what happens when you get older." Greg said.

"This seahorse used to make me so happy. Now it's just giving me whiplash." The seahorse stopped. "I feel like there's just no point to it. You know what I mean?"

"I-I-I just feel tingl-y-y-y-y-y!"

Peedee sighed. "You'll understand when you have a job."

"I do have a job." Stevens ride stopped. "I protect humanity from magic and monsters and stuff."

"It's more like a responsibility now." Steven said.

"That's a job." Lars told him.

"I mean a real job that you get paid for."

"I'm paid in the smiles across the town's faces." Steven exaggerated.

"I do have to admit it is nice to see people smiling because of us." Garnet explained.

"Yeah." Amethyst agreed.

Pearl nodded and Steven smiled.

"I don't see anyone smiling. You pick up a job to buy a house or raise kids or to impress your dad. You work away your life, and what does it get you?"

"Smiles and faces?"

"No. You get cash, cash that can't buy back what the job takes. Not if you rode every seahorse in the world." Peedee sighed deeply.

Amethyst listened, "deep."

"I'm starting to think him not working is a good idea. Does his dad know he feels this way?" Greg wondered.

"Probably not." Peedee and and his dad weren't as close as Steven and Greg. Peedee doesn't have that relationship to comfortably talk to his dad about what's troubling him. It's something Steven never takes for granted, having such a strong bond with his dad. Hearing this conversation now, Steven understands it better than before.

"Whoa. Wanna try the jellyfish?"

Someone screamed.

"That came from the fry shop!" Peedee yelled.

It's something to be screaming over? Sadie wondered. She remembers Lars telling her about it but to be honest she didn't believe him. I guess anything can happen in this town.

The two kids ran down the boardwalk, hearing more commotion. They stopped before the fry shop seeing people run out.

Frybo grabbed onto Buck and Sourcream and pulled them back into the shop with its tentacle like hair.

"Woah, okay, I didn't know it could do that." Connie said.

"The shard gives the garment extra strength and abilities." Pearl described.

"We didn't tell him to do that! Did we tell him to do that?!" Peedee flipped.

Steven and Peedee ducked when a table shot out of the shop. They looked back seeing Frybo holding people with its hair and holding a handful of fries.

"Please! No more fries!" Mr. Smiley cried out receiving fries shoved into his mouth by Frybo.

It made some uncomfortable.

"Frybo, stop!" Steven stood up. Frybo slowly turned around revealing his creepy smile.

Steven was sure he had a nightmare about Frybo. Maybe Peedee did too. Should I ask him? Maybe...

The kids were frightened. Frybo threw Lars at them.

"I don't even like fries!" Lars ran away.

"I don't think anyone there can like fries after this." Lars said.

"Yeah, I feel bad for Peedee." Steven said, softly.

"Why isn't he listening?!" Peedee yelled.

"I don't know!" Steven answered helplessly.

"Peedee! Where's all this coming from?" Fryman came in and Frybo wrapped one of his fry tentacles around him.

Peedee watched.

"He really thinks that's him?" Lapis thought the moving fry hair would give it away.

Frybo started pulling him in.

"Aw, I get it. I pushed you too hard. I thought you wanted to be as good a Fryman as you could be. You're a tough kid for putting up with it as long as you did."

Frybo held up fries.

"The truth is, you're a valued member of Fryman Brothers, Incorporated, and all its affiliates!" He confessed.

"It's just a puny fry shop." Why were they making such a big deal out of it?

"I know right." Peridot agreed with him.

"It probably isn't even a chain." Lars added.

"It's their family heritage. It means a lot to them." Sadie defended the Fryman Family. 

Peedee got emotional.

Frybo forces fries into Frymans mouth as seen on a shadow.

"Why is this so dark?" Pearl wondered. "It looks way worse than it actually was."

"Effect?" Connie suggested.

"Getting fries forced in your mouth isn't a very pleasant thing." Lars told her a little sharply.

"Yeah Pearl, you don't even eat." Amethyst scolded her.

"D-a-a-ad!" Peedee cries out. Peedee jumps to go save him but Steven forces him down.

Steven couldn't blame Peedee, he couldn't imagine his dad being in the place of Fryman.

"No! He'll mash your potatoes!"

Amethyst laughed. "Now's not the time to be making puns."

"Bad habit." Steven shrugged.

"What are you gonna do?!" Peedee asked crying.

"My job!" He said proudly.

"Whoa! Ohh!" Fryman was thrown and landed on the both of them.

Frybo creeped over them.

"Steven!" Pearl yelled "Did you put my missing shard in that fry costume?"

"Yes!"

"Didn't you hear what I said about the living armor and infantries and many, many deaths?!"

"I don't think I was around for that." Garnet spoke.

"Me neither." Amethyst said.

"Yes, the crisis with the drones happened way before the war." Pearl explained.

"I mean Sapphire was around but Ruby wasn't." Garnet explained.

"I was made a few hundred years after the war." Peridot wanted to say since they were on that subject.

Lapis decided to share as well. "I was here far before the war and I think did hear about drones turning on gems."

"It's probably a good thing they weren't used in the war." Pearl contemplated. Pearl wondered if Rose could've gotten a better handle on them than other gems. 

"Hey, I think Peridot is the youngest gem here." Amethyst realized.

"Uhh... Steven." Peridot pointed to him.

"Y'know what I mean."

The war they're talking about happened on their land right? Sadie hoped. They're saying 'the' war so there is only one significant one. She didn't want to ask, she was sure it will be explained soon.

"No!"

"Oh, Steven" She summoned her spear, jumped on the table and threw it at Frybo. It pierced its eye spewing ketchup and mustard. The stream hit Pearl causing her to fall over, dropping the shards.

"Ketchup blood." Connie stated.

Frybo fell over and Peedee got his dad off of them.

"Pearl!" Steven yelled, running over.

"Ugh! The ketchup! It's everywhere. I can't see." She said.

"Shards. Need!" He ran off.

"Wha? Steven?" Pearl felt the table trying to find him.

"Dad!" Peedee held his dad's hand while crying.

Frybo got itself up with ketchup and Pearls spear in its right eye. It walked over to them making its weird noises.

"Please tell me you got rid of that thing." Greg said, getting shivers.

"Yeah, we burned it." Steven whispered to his dad.

"Go away!" Peedee cried holding a stick.

"Peedee?"

"You are awful! I hate you! I've always hated you!" He swung the stick causing Frybo to back up a little.

"Wait. You've always hated Frybo?" Fryman asked.

Everyone hated that thing. Lars remembered seeing the cool kids shying away from it the day before.

Frybo grabbed the stick and pulled it out of Peedee's hands, he fell into his dad's arms.

Fryman held his son.

Stevens pants with a shard stepped in and kicked Frybo in the face.

"Steven!" They said at the same time.

"Where?" asked Pearl.

Steven stood behind his alive clothing with a fry in his mouth.

"Your move Frybo." He ate the fry.

"Oh jeez." Lars put his hand on his forehead.

He's very creative with these things, Sadie noticed.

Frybo shrieked and charged towards Steven.

"Attack!" Stevens sweatshirt went first and punched Frybo. Stuff started coming out of its mouth. The sock wrapped around its wrist, the shoe stepped on its foot and his shirt bit him.

"Okay, thats gross." Amethyst admitted seeing whatever that was spewing from Frybo's mouth.

"I mean, it's working." Connie said.

"Yeah, good idea" Greg tried to be supportive.

Frybo cried out still fighting back. Steven came at him but he hit him away.

"I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. Underwear go!" Steven's underwear shot out and hit Frybo in the eye.

The pants kicked his leg, bringing him down. Steven ran over and jumped on him.

Peridot snickered quietly, only Lapis heard it.

He reached in Frybo's mouth and pulled the shard out. He smiled when the costume stopped moving.

"Another success," Connie reported, happily.

"Steven, are you all right?" Pearl touched Fryman's face.

"Fine." He mumbled.

"I only heard fighting so I was naturally worried." Pearl uselessly explained.

"I'm okay. As soon as I bared my butt, I knew he'd crack."

Connie couldn't help but giggle.

Lars sighed at the pun.

"I said it was a habit, but I think that was on purpose," Steven explained.

"But you said it so seriously." Amethyst pointed out.

The four of them were standing on the beach. Stevens clothes carried the Frybo costume onto a boat.

What's with the military themed like music? Connie wondered.

Greg noticed the music as well.

"You were great, Frybo." Fryman held onto his hat. "Kids today just didn't understand. And now they never will." He got emotional.

"What is this? A funeral?" Lars said.

"Weren't people scared of it before he attacked them?" Pearl asked.

"Shh!" Steven demanded.

"It's time to send him off." Fryman reached into his pocket and grabbed a lighter. He set the costume on fire and Pearl pushed the boat out.

"Now what's with the viking funeral?" Connie asked.

"That's what I was wondering" Greg spoke up.

"The Fryman wanted it to be done that way." Pearl said.

"People actually have funerals like that?" Steven asked.

"Not anymore." Greg explained.

"As greasy in death as he was in life."

"Dad, um I'll- are you going to get another costume?" It was awkward between them.

He thought for a moment. "I don't need another Frybo. I've got the Fryman." He pulled his son next to him making Peedee smile.

"Aw."

Hopefully this incident brought them a little closer, Steven thought.

Steven saw and smiled wide.

"Pearl, I think our work here is done."

"Put your clothes on, Steven."

Garnet started to clap slowly.

Everyone looked at her.

"Nice work Steven, defeating that monster." she stopped clapping. "You've been a Crystal Gem for longer than you been imagining." She smiled at him.

Steven turned red.

"Yes. Excellent job with that... unique way of handling things." Pearl was all for boosting Stevens confidence.

"These episodes are just getting stranger, I'm telling you." Lars directed that at Sadie but the whole room heard.

"And what did we tell you last episode?" Peridot asked, rhetorically.

"Do we want to see what weird thing is next?" Garnet decided to humor them.

"Yes!" Steven exclaimed.

Connie smiled wide at Garnet.

"Of course!" Amethyst followed Steven's mood.

"Is that supposed to be a question?!" Peridot said, excitedly.

Lapis threw a thumbs up. She was honestly enjoying the episodes so far, she just didn't want to get to the part where they see Jasper. Not just for her, but everyone will see what she did to her and how it was like being Malachite. She didn't know which was worse, having people she just met see what she's been through or Steven and Peridot seeing her suffer and having pity on her.

Garnet hit the remote before anyone else could yell.

Chapter Text

Cat Fingers

Steven and Greg were at the car wash.

"Almost done. Steven, get the hubcaps." Greg turned on his hose. 

"Hubbin' it up!" Steven scrubbed the tire rim. 

"Hub it good. This is a high-profile job."

Greg smiled seeing him and Steven hanging out at his car wash.

"You mean 'cause it's the Mayor's election-mobile?"

"If we do this right, we might get political favors."

"I'm not sure what that is, but I like it." Steven turned on his hose and the water sprayed over the van and onto Greg. 

They laughed and sprayed each other with the hose. 

Connie giggled. "That looks fun."

"Yeah! Dad, we need to have another hose fight." 

"Planned." Greg smiled and put his hand on Stevens' head.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm not paying for father-son bonding here." Mayor Dewey walked over when he was sprayed in the face by Stevens' hose. "Universe! Control that kid!"

Amethyst chuckled, "Nice one."

"Whoops," Steven smiled, shyly.

"Steven!" Greg came over and put his hand on his head. "I'm sorry, Mayor Dewey." He laughed nervously. "Uh, this one's on the house." 

"On the house, eh?" Mayor Dewey looked at his van. "I like the way you do business, Universe."

"On the house?" Lapis didn't understand.

"Like for free, you don't have to pay." Steven explained.

So it has to do with money. Lapis understood it a little better now.

"Mayor Dewey! Mayor Dewey!" The voice on the van echoed as it drove away. 

Greg sighed. 

"Political favors!" Steven told him. 

Greg picked him up "Ah, you rascal. Enough with the hose fights."

It's so great that Steven and his dad have such a close relationship, especially without Rose. Sadie couldn't say the same with her dad.

"Ah, okay." Steven laughed. 

"I still don't know what this is about." Steven couldn't remember.

Water splashed on them. 

"What the-" Greg started. 

Amethyst as a cat was holding a hose in her mouth. 

"Does that ring a bell?" First a pink cat and now a purple cat! Lars couldn't believe it. 

"Hmmm..."

"Whoa!" Steven and Greg said. 

"Oh, it's just Amethyst, showing off." Peridot said.

"I was just expecting Greg and Steven to be my only audience."  

"Huh? That's you?" Lars asked.

Sadie remembered a purple Lars coming in the Big Donut that one time.

"Yeah, doesn't the gem give it away?" Amethyst revealed her gem. "I shape shifted a few episodes ago." 

Lars looked at the TV and saw her gem in the same place. "Oh yeah."

Amethyst started chasing them, spraying them with the hose. 

Steven laughed. 

"What is with this cat?" Greg wondered. 

"You didn't even know?" Amethyst wondered.

"I tried to stay away from gem stuff as much as I could back then."

But Greg and Rose dated for years. She was probably showing him magic all the time. I guess everything changed when Steven was born. Connie thought.

Amethyst glowed and turned back into herself. "Ha-ha! Got you guys."

"Amethyst!"

"Uh, pretty cool, Amethyst." Greg admitted.

"Really cool. I wish I could shape shift like you." Steven exclaimed. 

"You could probably learn." Amethyst tied a knot in the hose to stop the water.

"Really?"

"Sure. You got a Gem." She lifted up his shirt.

"I know what this is..."

Some looked at Steven but by the expression on his face it wasn't going to turn out so well.

"Whoa! Magic stuff. Should I get out of here? Is there gonna be an explosion?" Greg asked.

"I really didn't have to worry."

"Ah, it's no big deal, Dad."

"Yeah, it's fuuuun." Amethyst said, shape shifted as a purple Steven.

"Gah!" Greg gasped.

A few had a tamer version of Greg's expression on their face. 

Steven and Amethyst were back at the temple.

"Hey, Pearl." Amethyst barked as a seal.

Steven giggled. "Do more!"

"Check it out." She turned into a wolf and howled, then into Purple Puma.

"Woah, hold on!" Lars exclaimed. "You're Purple Puma?!"

Garnet paused the episode.

"I mean... yeah?"

"S-so then who's Tiger Millionaire?" Lars wondered.

Amethyst and Steven looked at each other and giggled.  

Sadie noticed that. It's Steven all right. 

"How did you not notice? Do you think that 'Purple Puma' could really be a human." Pearl said.

"Well, yeah, I don't expect an alien to be wrestling," Lars said with sass in his voice.  

"I'm not an alien," Amethyst corrected him.  

"It sure looks like it." Lars responded.

"Lars, be quiet." Sadie said, strictly.

She turned into a bird and flew onto Stevens' hair.

"Whoa!" Steven was in awe.

"Amethyst, you are overdoing it." Pearl walked over.

"Uh, chill it, dude." She replied.

"Just because you can shape shift doesn't mean you should."

"Can you shape shift?" Steven asked Pearl.

"Well, of course-"

Amethyst interrupted shape shifted as Pearl. "Well, of course I can. I'm perfect. Whomp! Whomp!" She hit her butt.

Peridot laughed.

Pearl rolled her eyes.

Connie found that funny. It must never be dull living with the gems.

Pearl shoved her away, Amethyst laughing. 

"All Gems have shape shift powers, Steven." 

"No. Not me." Peridot said.

"Hm. Why is that?" Pearl wondered. She was sure every gem came with the ability to change their form. 

"Because I'm an Era 2 gem." Peridot said.

"What does that mean?" Connie asked. Steven told her everything he knew about gem stuff but he never explained this. 

Steven didn't know a lot about each Era, he just knew that Homeworld was in the second one now.

"Era 2 started after the war and it changed everything on homeworld, including gems" Garnet said. "I know because of the message Lapis sent us." She looked at her.

"Yes. Nothing is how it was in Era 1, I didn't understand anything at all." Lapis felt she needed to explain.

It made Pearl sad that she was never going to see homeworld the way it used to be.

"Is that why you came to Earth?" Sadie asked.

"N-no I kinda got stuck here. But I'd rather be here than on Homeworld." 

Peridot and Steven smiled. 

"Homeworld doesn't have enough resources to give every Gem shape-shifting powers. So, I'm not the only one." Peridot told everyone.

"So Lapis you can shape shift?" Steven wanted to know.

"Yes, though I never have a reason to."

The humans noticed how much Amethyst does it for fun.

Pearl showed Steven with the hologram of her gem. "We can turn into objects, we can change parts of our bodies, or we could do that." It disappeared. 

"Whomp! Whomp!" Amethyst did again. 

"I want to try it all!" Steven exclaimed. 

"Don't bite off more than you can chew, Steven."

"Whomp! Whomp!"

"Ugh!" Pearl left the house. 

"All right! Show me how to change into a huge lion!" He yelled. 

"Wait, this is your... cat dilemma?" Greg didn't know how to word it.

"Yes."

"Actually, for once, Pearl is right. If you're gonna do this, you gotta start with something easy."

"Like that cat you turned into?"

"That sounds good. Now follow my lead. First: think of what you wanna be, and then just shake it out." Amethyst turned herself into a cat. "See? Now your turn."

"Good thing Pearl wasn't explaining how to shape shift" Peridot whispered loudly. 

"Oh, please." 

"Okay. Ca-a-a-a-a-t." Steven started sweating and tearing up. 

I don't think he's going to be able to shape shift. Then Stevens' cat finger crossed Lars' mind. Well, he definitely can't change his body like the rest of them. 

"Nah, you're too tense." She opened a bag of chips. "Just relax and feel it." She ate a chip. "Biorhythms, yo'." 

"Fe-e-e-e-el it." Steven was stressing himself out. 

"Eeeh, if you are not ready, we can try later." Amethyst walked over. 

"No way. I can do it."

It is strange that Steven, half Gem, can somewhat shape shift but there are thousands of Gems on Homeworld that can't. Connie thought.

Amethyst turned back into herself. 

"Yeah. Yeah." Steven waved his arms around and shoved them in front of him. 

A second passed. 

"Well, it was a good try." She stood up. 

Then there was a muffled meow. 

Steven raised his finger and a little cat meowed. 

They smiled. 

"I would like to see how this one ends." Garnet stated.

"Is that all you can do?" Sadie asked.

"No, I can only change parts of my body, but I can't change into like... an animal."

"Oh."

"I am never turning my finger into a cat again," Steven concluded.

Amethyst giggled. 

"This is so cool!" Steven said. 

"You should go show your Dad. He's gonna freak out!" Amethyst suggested. 

The cat meowed again. 

"It is cute though." Connie said.

Greg was sitting in a beach chair at his car wash listening to music. 

"Dad, I'm back." Steven called to him. 

"Hey, Stu-ball." Greg raised his sunglasses. 

"Check it out." Steven showed his cat finger and it meowed. 

Greg freaked and flung his water onto Steven soaking the cat. 

It cried and frowned. 

A few noticed how it was deformed for a second and thought it was unusual.

"I shapeshifted my finger into a cat." Steven said. 

"Whoa!" He laughed nervously. "Is that a thing you can do now? That's pretty cool." He tried to be supportive.

"I know right? I'm gonna take this show on the road." He danced away. 

"It seemed like the cat liked you." Connie told him. 

"Sure, but well... I think it always did." Steven thought about it and the cats never hurt him intentionally. 

"That'll be $1.05, Steven." Sadie told him. 

"Mmm, okay." Steven reaches in his pocket. "Here's a nickel. And a buck!" The cat finger was holding the dollar it it's mouth. 

"Whaaaat?" Sadie and Lars exclaimed. 

Steven smirked seeing their reactions. 

The cat let go of the dollar and meowed. 

"Oh, Steven, that's adorable." Sadie started petting it with her finger. 

The Gems were surprised by her reaction. 

"Are you making it purr?"

"It kind of does what it wants."

"Really?" Lars poked it and it bit him. "Ow!" He pulled away. 

A few snickered. 

"You had that coming." Sadie said. 

Lars frowned. 

"See what I mean? Bad cat finger!" Steven scolded it. 

"Ah, I'm sure it just wants to play." Sadie said. 

"You're right! And he doesn't have any friends."

"Oh, my gosh! It's just like you, Steven." Lars said in a silly voice making a face. 

Lars smiled but it quickly faltered. He wished he hadn't said that. Everyone in this room loved Steven to death and watching him tease Steven was not something he wanted. He was just messing with Steven back then but he wasn't sure if his family would understand that. They tend to not understand humans very well. And It was obvious Buck, Sourcream, and Jenny liked Steven more than him. It was really him with the no friends. Besides Sadie. But even she held some opposition to him sometimes. He sighed, quietly. 

Well, it seems like his only friend is that girl, Lapis forgot her name. 

Peridot frowned. "As Stevens' best friend I can say that that is wrong."

"Uh, thanks Peridot." Steven said. 

She was hoping for more of a reaction. 

Steven stood back and breathed in, shaking his arms again. Four more cat fingers appeared on the same hand. 

"That was freaky." Lars said. 

"Ha-ah!" Steven exclaimed.

All the cats meowed as Steven ran to the fry shop. "Hey, Peedee. Whoa! You work the deep fryer now? Make me some fry bits." He demanded. 

"Steven, I take my job seriously. Please, use the actual menu." Peedee insisted. 

"Give me the bits. The bits!" He slammed his arm on the table. 

"Who taught you that?" Pearl made sure Steven knew proper manners. 

"Amethyst."

Amethyst laughed. 

"All right, listen. It'll be over sooner if you just give him what he wants." Fryman told Peedee. 

Peedee sighed and walked away. 

"Whoa. Hey, hey! It's not for me. It's for these guys." Steven brought up his hand showing his cat fingers. They meowed. 

"They don't look happy anymore." Connie noticed. 

"What the-" 

"Uh, here's your bits." Peedee was staring at the fingers. 

The cats started eating the fry bits. 

"Uhm. How are they eating?" Sadie had to admit it was strange. 

"Maybe they're not actually eating it?" Steven guessed. 

"Whenever I eat while shape shifted, no matter how weird it is, the food always goes to my stomach. So the food is still getting there." Amethyst said. 

"Through my... fingers?"

"I can't look away." Fryman was shocked. 

"Steven, that is freakish." Peedee said with the same expression. 

"No, it's not. It's natural."

Natural?! Lars thought. I guess that's what you think when you grow up with aliens. 

Greg was also thinking how unnatural it was.

Shake it out!" Steven made his other hand into cat fingers. "See?"

"Woah."

"You know who would love this? Your older brother. Yo, Ronaldo!" Fryman called. 

"What's up, Dad?" Ronaldo gasped and shoved Peedee out of the way. 

"He just pushed Peedee onto the floor." Amethyst lightly giggled. 

"I gotta take a pic for "Keep Beach City weird." He took a picture of Steven. 

"What's that?" He asked. 

"It's my blog! Keep Beach City weird." Ronaldo exaggerated. 

"Does he still have that blog?" Sadie remembered him boasting about it awhile ago. 

"Yeah, he's still going." Steven said. 

"He's obnoxious." Lars whispered to himself.

"Can I see the picture?" Steven dropped the phone because of the cats.

"I have that picture in my van." Greg noticed.

Steven chuckled. He always wondered why his dad decided to have that picture specifically. 

"Yikes! Oh, ooh. Sorry, guys. I guess cat fingers don't function well as fingers."

I wonder how he got rid of them, Peridot thought. It probably wasn't a simple solution. 

Back at the Temple, Steven struggled to open the fridge. 

"Shh! I'm just getting a snack." He was unable to pull the sandwich out with his hands. "Whoa!"

The cats hissed. 

"Steven! Need some help?" Amethyst called from the window. 

"Nah, it's cool." Steven was holding the plate with his elbows. 

"Oh, good. See you later then."

"Huh?"

"We're taking the Gem sloop out to sea to fight a living island." She left. 

"Yeah, Steven, you missed it! It was crazy." Amethyst exclaimed. 

"Aw."

"It was too dangerous for you at the time anyways." Pearl mentioned. 

"I can agree." Garnet added. 

They throw all this crazy stuff at him, it's a good thing they know when to keep him back, Sadie contemplated. 

"What?" He dropped his sandwich. "Uh Amethyst, wait! I wanna go on the Gem sloop! I want to see a living island!" Steven ran outside and down the porch stairs. "Wait, wait, wait!"

The gems were in a boat heading out. 

Steven jumped in and tried to catch up. 

"Steven!" Pearl called. 

"Come on! You can make it!" Amethyst giggled. 

Steven put his hands in the water but pulled them out because the cats didn't like it. 

"Just like actual cats." Connie noticed.

The gems gasped. 

"Steven! What's going on?" Pearl asked. 

"Uh i-it's nothing. Uh, I just turned all my fingers into cats." He showed them. 

Amethyst snorted. 

"We have to stay and help Steven." Pearl insisted. 

"We can't. This is a tectonic emergency. We'll deal with Steven when we get back." Garnet told her. 

"Amethyst, I blame you for this!" Said Pearl. 

"Eh, that's fair."

Pearl growled. "Steven! Just try to stay calm!"

Steven backed up, scared. 

The gems wondered how Steven got rid of the cats, he didn't tell any of them. 

Steven was back in the temple. "Enough! No more cat fingers. I want Steven's fingers! And I don't mean little me-heads on fingers. I mean my regular fingers." He put his hand on his head and it meowed. There was a cat face there now. 

Pearl gasped. 

A few frowned knowing it would get worse.

He fell off the couch and when he got up his arm was a cat stub. Steven freaked out. 

That's disturbing, Sadie saw. 

"Oh! Stop!" His foot turned into a cat. He fell over and more cats started to appear. "Amethyst! Pearl! Garnet!" He cried, eyes getting watery. "Dad!" He realized. 

Pearl got the feeling they should have stayed but clearly Greg was able to help him. 

Garnet tensed up a bit, she didn't like how Steven was crying her name when she couldn't help.

Greg was humming along to a song while he was running the hose. 

Some of the room giggled.  

"Ah jeez." Greg watched himself. 

He heard a noise and took off one of the ears to the headphones.

"Hello? Who's there?" Steven came crawling from the shadows. 

Most noticed the cat monster and found it very disturbing.

Steven hated feeling the way he did then, suffocated, weighed down, and all he could hear were meows.

"We're closed. Come back tomorrow." Greg grew scared and sprayed Steven with the hose.

Steven rolled back but went closer to him. "Da-a-ad." He cried.

The room grew tense at what they were seeing. It wasn't easy to look at. 

Connie didn't like it at all.

"Huh" Greg stopped spraying him. 

The cats went down revealing a shaking Steven. 

"Huh. Steven?"

"Dad!" Steven teared up while more cats appeared.

"Help! The cat fingers are taking over my body!" He looked to be in pain.

"Did it hurt?" Connie asked.

"Uhm. Yeah, a little bit. It was really the weight and pressure of the cats trying to go in all directions at once." 

"Shoulda jumped in the ocean." Lars said.

"Hold on! I'll get you out of there!" Greg tried moving the cats away but one bit and threw him. 

"Woah, those things are stronger than I thought." Connie pointed out.

"Dad! No! Bad! Bad cat fingers!" He walked into a puddle and the cats made Steven jump onto the corner of the roof. 

"They can control you too." Peridot added.

"Can't you make them go away?"

"I tried, but it made it worse. My life is over! I can't go on magic adventures! I can't even open the fridge." More cats appeared and Greg watched helplessly.

It's uncanny that with what was going on, the cats still meowed happily. Connie noticed.

Sadie covered her mouth, tense.

"And I'll never get to have another water fight with you, Dad, 'cause these things hate water. They hate water! Dad, spray me again!"

Greg sprayed him, pushing him off the roof. The cats came at him while Steven held on to the wall so they couldn't reach.

Steven didn't like hearing his dad scream like that.

"It's not enough water! Turn on the super-wash!"

"No! I won't do it! It's too dangerous."

"You've got to! I'm a monster! I'm an adorable cat monster!"

"No, you're not! You're my son!" Greg was crying. 

"Dad, please!" Steven was crying now. 

This is getting hard to watch, Lars thought. It was really freaking him out.

The Gems wished they helped, and didn't like what they were seeing, but didn't know how they would've handled it differently. 

Greg took off his headphones and flipped the switches to turn on the wash. 

Steven crawled his way through the building. 

He went under a curtain. Greg watched Steven get sprayed and the cats didn't like it. Then the brushes rolled over him and he got sprayed again. 

Steven watched with a frown, he didn't like seeing this again this but there were times way worse than this that he has to worry about.

Greg held a hose just in case but saw Steven without the cats attached to him. He sighed in relief with tears in his eyes. 

"Thank goodness that worked." Pearl said, relieved.

"Dad. We did it." Steven still had one cat finger and they both screamed.

"The original." Peridot tried ridding the negative atmosphere.

Greg sprayed it with the hose. It disappeared and they calmed down. 

Steven was sitting on the dock the next day. 

The gems came back in the boat. "Steven! Okay, let me see it." Pearl ran over and looked at his hands. "Well, you- you- you got them to go away?" 

Steven smiled. 

"It just goes to show always listen to me and never listen to Amethyst."

"I admit I shouldn't have entertained the whole shape shifting thing." Amethyst said.

"It's okay." Steven said. "I learned a lesson: to never expect my body to be able to do something a real Gem can do. Because it can't."

"That's fair." Amethyst and Garnet walked over. 

"It goes to show you should have a little more faith in Steven." Garnet corrected. 

"Yeah, that would've been a total cat-tastrophe."

"Now we have to go through this again." Amethyst closed her eyes.

Amethyst fake laughed and Pearl giggled a bit. 

"But I'm feeling much better, meow!"

The gems cringed. 

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Okay, that's enough." Garnet said as they walked off. 

Connie giggled.

"Wait. I've been coming up with cat jokes all morning. You guys, I'm feline fine! Everything's purr-fect!"

"That one's bad." Lars said bluntly.

Sadie snickered.

"Oh, come on! I'm just kitten around!"

End.

"I just realized how short these episodes are." Lapis said, shifting the topic.

Steven checked his phone. "We've only been here for like an hour."

"The episodes have each been about ten minutes long." Garnet said.

"So we've only watched six? How many episodes are on each disc?" Lars was actually enjoying it so there was no rush.

"Who knows. If we're going all the way up to the future there's probably a lot more because this is all still two years ago." Steven shrugged.

"Maybe it'll skip a lot of time?" Sadie guessed. 

"I don't think we can relive two years in a day." Greg added.

"I'm sure we’ll find out soon enough." Garnet announced.

Bubble Buddies

At the temple, Steven was holding on to his bike walking down the stairs. The ground shook, it sounded like a roar, Steven let go of his bike and it went down without him.

A corrupted gem? Sadie's mind immediately suspected. 

"I don't think they are earthquakes, they are too frequent." Pearl told the other two walking towards Steven. 

"It sounded like something roaring." Greg pointed out. 

"Hey, look, Steven's got a bike." Amethyst saw the bike fall in front of her. "Where are you going, Steven?"

"Just out for a ride." He said. 

"In the sand?" Asked Pearl. 

"Yup." He ran off. 

"Hey! That's the bike I got you for your birthday that year!" Greg remembered. "Do you still have it?"

"Yeah, it's in Lion's mane." Steven told him. 

Steven struggled to pedal in through the sand.

"I don't know why you thought you could go anywhere." Lars said. 

He saw Connie reading a book and pedaled faster. 

"Oh, I see." Lars smirked. 

Sadie smiled. 

"There you are Connie. I knew you'd show up pretty soon!" Steven said excitedly. 

"Oh, yeah. We get stuck in the bubble." Connie remembered, but also recalled breaking down in the end. "Oh..."

He stopped in front of Connie. "Some smooth ride. Five speeds. Handbrakes, electric-blue finish with the tiger bell." He looked at her after every pause. 

Greg smiled. 

Amethyst chuckled. 

He rang the bell and Connie just flipped a page. 

"Were you just ignoring me or...?" Steven wondered. 

"I don't even think I noticed you. The book I was reading was getting good."

Steven giggled. "I bet."

"I bet there are a lot of kids who would love to ride this babe." He tried getting on but fell over. 

Connie looked up. 

Lars smirked, finding Steven a bit amusing here. 

Steven ran off and threw his helmet off, screaming. 

Majority of the room laughed or giggled. 

Steven turned red. 

He ran in the house sweating and blushing. 

"You should have just talked to her." Lapis said. 

"Yeah, I wouldn't've rejected you or anything." Connie says. 

"What up?" He saw the gems looking through the window. 

"Who were you talking to?" Pearl asked. 

"That girl." Garnet said. 

"You saw?" Steven blushed. "She is just a girl I know. Except she doesn't know me. We've never talked."

Sadie wondered if Steven had some sort of crush on her. Maybe not anymore. It didn't seem like it. 

"You like her!" Amethyst held his face. 

"I like everyone." He replied, muffled. 

"Except for like... Kevin..." Connie mentioned. 

Steven nodded shyly. 

"Let's set up a play date. I'll write up an invitation and work out a schedule.  Oh, we'll have to find out her favorite kind of tea." Pearl said. 

"That's a little too much for a play date." Greg said. 

"Play date?" Peridot whispered. 

"No. Just talk to her." Garnet told him. 

"Okay. But you guys can't watch this time! It'll mess up my funky flow!"

"Funky flow?" Amethyst and Pearl asked. 

So that's what that was. Connie remembered. 

"We won't watch." Said Garnet. 

"All right." Steven ran to the fridge. He grabbed the bracelet out of the freezer and ran out the door. 

"I can't believe that lasted almost a year in there." Connie said. 

"I can't believe you kept that in there for almost a year." Said Amethyst. "I wanted to taste the glowing stuff," she squinted. 

"That thing’s filled with chemicals." Steven said, grabbing a cracker. 

Amethyst shrugged, "doesn't bother me."

"What's that?" Amethyst wondered. 

"Nothing!" Steven ran out and walked along the beach. "Hi! My name is Steven. Hi! My name is Ste-ven. Hi! My name is Stephen." He rehearsed. 

The roar happened again and a piece of the temple crumbled and was going to fall on Connie. 

Steven quickly ran to her. "Hi! My name is Steven!" His gem activated and the bubble appeared around them like a rose. The rock hit it and fell apart. 

"First time I used the bubble." Steven said, happily.

"Nice one." Greg complimented. 

It looked just like a Rose before it turned into a bubble. Sadie noticed. 

"Woah! How did I do that?" He looked down. "Hi! My name is Steven!"

"Connie." She fixed her glasses.

Steven helped her up. 

"What happened?"

"I'm magic. Well, half-magic- On my mom's side."

"You mean half Gem right?" Peridot asked him. 

"Yeah, but Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl described it as being magic back then." Steven realized they'd been hiding things from him as early as he could understand words. No. It wasn't 'hiding things' he didn't expect them to tell him they were aliens when he was a toddler; he wouldn't have understand. He really liked the idea that they were 'magic' when he was younger. He was proud of being 'half magic'. It was a good idea on their part to explain it that way. Then it wasn't until his dad said that they were aliens until he realized what exactly they were. 

"You did this?"

"Apparently. I'm a member of the Crystal Gems, we fight monsters and protect humanity and stuff." He told her. 

"And stuff..." Steven cringed at himself. I say that but I have no idea what's really going on. 

"Oh, that's kinda like my dad. He's a cop. Well, more like a private security guard."

"We're nothing like the police." Pearl said. 

"Yeah I guess so." Connie responded, now being a member of the Crystal Gems. 

Steven stood there. 

"Sooo how long does it usually last?" Connie asked. 

"Oh, right." He couldn't get rid of it so he lifted up his shirt and looked at his gem. 

"What's wrong?"

"It, uhh, doesn't seem to wanna go away."

"Oh."

"New powers never work right on the first try." Steven announced. 

"When you're a Gem, your powers are expected to work completely and you even come out knowing what they all do." Pearl thought she'd explain; mostly for the humans. 

"Really? No one's there to tell you or anything." Lars questioned. 

Pearl shook her head. 

"When I came out I was alone and I already knew what I could do." Amethyst said. "And, I knew I couldn't complete the orders that I missed..."

"How does that even work?" Sadie wondered. 

"Injections!" Peridot blurted. 

"It'll be explained later." Garnet said resuming. 

Steven really liked how by the end of this Sadie and Lars will understand him more if not completely. Though, hanging out with them might not be completely Gem ridden anymore. He liked having friends that had nothing to do with Gems.

Steven tried to push the bubble. "So, I don't see you around that often."

"My dad works for a bunch of different beaches, so we are never in the same place long." She put her hands on the bubble. 

"I go on adventures with the Gems sometimes. They usually say it's too dangerous for me though." 

"We don't really go on missions anymore." Garnet realized. 

"I know right! I miss them." Amethyst said. 

"Yes. Even though the lore behind corrupted gems is disturbing, I do enjoy seeing us on them again." Pearl said thinking back on the episodes they've seen so far.

"You guys just stopped?" Greg asked. 

"We got busy with other things." Garnet said. 

"We usually run into one. Like with Jasper, keeping them all in cages." Amethyst mentioned. 

Why would they do that? Sadie has never heard the name Jasper before. 

"She did that?" Lapis asked. 

Peridot nodded next to her. 

"Do you think we're anywhere close to getting all of them?" Steven asked. 

"Unfortunately not. Us and your mother have been capturing corrupted gems ever since the war ended. Which was a few thousand years ago." Pearl said. 

"There's that many?!" Lars was shocked. 

"Yes," Pearl said, plainly. 

They pushed past some rocks and Steven fell. 

"Do you always go in a bubble?"

"No. This is new. I don't know what this is. But it's okay! The Gems will know what to do."

"What can break it?" Sadie wondered. 

"With enough force you can usually pop it." Steven said. 

They pushed but weren't able to push up the hill. 

"Ohh, what?" He tried to push again.  "Hey, guys! Garnet, help!"

"I don't think they can hear you."

Steven facepalmed. "Oh, that's right. I told them not to watch."

"Were you worried at all?" Steven asked. 

"A little..." Connie thought back, "not until we were in the ocean at least."

"We can just wait here until they come out."

"No, no, no, it's okay! I've got other friends that can help!"

Lars bursted out with laughter "Way to go, Steven. Is this your magic love bubble or something? Did you make it... because you're in love."

Why'd this have to show me at my jerkiest times? Lars became annoyed. Seriously, though, his whole family is watching me tease him. 

Sadie was hitting the bubble with a hammer. 

"That's Lars. We're basically BFFs."

"How can you say that after what he says?" Lapis didn't understand Steven. 

"You're clueless." Peridot said, bluntly.

Lars tried to hide his face in his jacket as much as he could and grumbled.

Steven did seem to be ignoring Lars' comments. I wonder if he didn't pay any attention to him or he really was clueless. Connie thought. 

"Hm." Steven didn't even remember Lars saying that. 

"He makes weird faces." Connie pointed out. 

Lars made a kissy face then started licking the bubble. 

"Ugh." Lars facepalmed. 

Pearl cringed. She thought of how he was basically disrespecting Rose but factored in that he was just an ignorant human at this time. 

"Lars, quit being a jerk and help!" Sadie yelled. 

"What? I'm helping Steven on his date." He told her. 

"You're embarrassing him." Sadie said. 

"No, I'm not-"

Sadie was glad they didn't argue like this anymore. 

"He and Sadie run the Big Donut." Steven told Connie.

"Do they get along?"

Lars and Sadie were arguing and Sadie pushed him. 

"They're crazy about each other." He said. 

"It doesn't... seem like it." Connie whispered. 

Maybe it's that kind of love, Greg thought.

Sadie frowned.

"N-no," was all Lars could say. 

"I'm gonna go try something else." Sadie ran in the shop. 

"Anyway, this place has the best donuts. I come here like every day." Steven told her. 

"My parents don't let me eat donuts. They have trans fats."

"Whaaaat?" 

Lars was behind him making a kissy face again. 

Go away. Lars wished, he felt awkward. 

"Well, it's still a cool place to hang out."

Sadie ran out and broke a stool on the bubble. 

Steven laughed nervously. "I have a better idea."

"I appreciate you trying to help." Garnet smiled at Sadie. By the past few episodes she noticed how Sadie was accepting towards Steven. With the other one... not so much. 

Sadie smiled. Honestly, Garnet intimidated her. 

Lars frowned and looked at the ceiling.  

They were at the boardwalk's dock. 

"Whoa, a trawler. And a little skipjack!" Connie smiled. 

"You know a lot about boats."

"That's what happens when you hang out at the beach, and don't swim, and don't have friends. Y-You look at boats." She got quieter. 

Why'd I even say that? Connie immediately felt awkward. 

It's because she just moved here right? Greg thought. 

Steven was sure Connie made some friends at school by now. 

Steven chuckled nervously. "Oh, hey! Onion! Onion!" 

They ran down the dock. 

Onion waved. 

"That's..." Lars tried to remember. 

"Sour Cream's half brother." Steven told him. 

"We need a harpoon gun!" Steven yelled. 

"What?"

"To pop the bubble!"

"Can't we just go back to your house?"

"It's okay. I'm a Gem. Onion, we need a harpoon gun! Har-poon guuuun! Haaaar poooon guuun."

Onion ate popcorn. 

"This is like the first time I've seen him eat." Steven admitted. 

Steven sighed. He breathed on the bubble and drew a picture of a boat with a harpoon gun. "Haaaar-pooon guuun."

Pearl smiled at Steven drawing a picture to get his point across. 

Onion continued to eat. 

Steven groaned. 

"Let me try!" She breathed on the bubble and wrote 'harpoon gun.' 

Onion gave a thumbs up and ran off. 

"It just made more sense." Connie told him. 

A boat horn went off. 

Onion was at a harpoon gun. 

"No one locks those things up?" Greg wondered. 

"Even if it was locked Onion would still be able to get into it." Steven was sure. 

Steven and Connie got to opposite sides of the bubble. 

Onion shot the harpoon gun and it bounced off and hit another boat. The boat started to sink and Onion thumbs upped. 

"It's probably a good thing the harpoon didn't get through. It could've hit one of you." Pearl thought out loud. 

"The trawler." They watched it sink. 

"Funland?" Connie wondered as they walked in. 

"Yeah! Tons of horrible accidents happen here everyday! There's gotta be something to break this bubble."

"Um..."

"We just gotta find the right ride. Yeah! The kiddie-coaster!" 

"This was not my best idea." Steven remembered. 

"Definitely not." Connie admitted. 

They ran up to the top. 

"All right. We just roll down this ramp, as the carts are coming at us. And the crash will break us free!" Steven exclaimed.

"Wha-." Greg started.

"That's a horrible idea." Peridot explained. "The carts will run you over." 

"I know," Steven said, not seeing how his younger self couldn't see that.

"Oh, man." Said Sadie. 

"What happens after the bubble pops?" Connie asks

"We'll be free!" He exclaims. 

Connie stood blank faced. "Steven, this is a bad idea."

"It's a good thing the bubble didn't pop." Steven giggled. 

Connie nodded. 

The roar happened again and Steven pushed them onto the ramp. "This will work!"

The bubble rolled along the tracks until the cart pushed them the other way. 

Mr. Smiley saw and stopped the coaster. 

"I'm so lucky Mr. Smiley didn't recognize me. He definitely would've kicked me out the next time I was there." Steven said. 

The bubble was catapulted out into the ocean. They sank down to the bottom. 

"Where are we?" Connie asked. 

"The bottom of the ocean." Steven gave back her glasses. 

"Why are you so casual about that?" Lars would've been freaking out. 

Steven shrugged. 

Connie gasped. 

"It's okay!"

Steven noticed how much he was saying that. He was just trying to not freak her out with his powers. Especially since he kind of trapped her in the bubble. 

"Are we even close to the shore?" 

"Yeah, sure." He said nervously. 

"Let's start rolling." Connie suggested. 

They started walking.

"It's a good thing this bubble is air tight. Otherwise we'd be drowning right now." Steven laughed. 

"This is when I really got nervous."

"Don't worry, Connie. I have an idea that will definitely work. When we get back-"

A corrupted Gem swam above them and Connie was scared. 

"A huge worm! It's okay! Look! It only wants to eat that bright stuff." He reassured her. 

It chomped up some seaweed. 

"That's a corrupted gem right?" Sadie asked and Lars was wondering the same thing.

"Yes." Garnet said.

These things can be sea type creatures as well? Lars thought. That's so weird.

"See? Not scary at all!" 

The gem roared and went through the ground making the floor split apart. 

The room was able to see the monster's gem in its mouth. The few that didn't know realized it was this gem making the roaring sounds.

The bubble fell deeper into a darker place. 

It looks like they fell into a trench. How did they even get out? Lapis wondered.

Steven groaned and saw that he had his foot on Connie's face. "Sorry! Are you all right?"

Connie stood up. 

"It's not so bad! It-it's okay! I uh."

"It's not okay!" She snapped. "You keep saying that, but you don't know what you're doing! Now we're going to suffocate or starve at the bottom of the ocean. And only my parents will notice, because no one else cares about me!" She started tearing up. 

Steven watched. 

"I'm gonna disappear without ever making a single friend." She sat down and started crying. 

Connie just closed her eyes waiting for this part to be over.

The Gems grew a little sad but remained positive remembering Steven becoming her friend. 

Sadie understood, she didn't have many friends when she was in school either.

Steven frowned. 

Steven pulled out the bracelet, lighting up the area. 

Connie looked up. 

"We could be friends."

Some of the room smiled. 

"I saw you at the boardwalk parade last year."

In a memory, Connie walked away and her bracelet fell off her wrist.

"You dropped your bracelet. I picked it up, but then I couldn't find you. I saved it in the freezer, so it would last longer. In case I saw you again." Steven said. 

Steven's so sweet. Pearl was smiling. 

"Oh! You were the kid on the car-wash float." Connie remembered Steven sitting on top of the van in the parade. "You had soap bubbles in your hair." She smiled. 

"I remember that." Greg said.

"Yeah! Remember looking at all the floats after it was over?" Steven asked his dad.

Greg nodded. "The Big Donut one was my favorite besides ours of course." He smiled.

Steven giggled. "I-I was supposed to be a scrub brush." 

They giggled. 

Peridot chuckled. "That works."

"I'm sorry, Connie." He took her arm and put the bracelet on. "If I'd have returned your bracelet back then, you wouldn't be stuck in this bubble with me now."

"No, it's okay. I'm having fun." Connie smiled. 

The bubble popped, Steven took Connie's hand and swam to the top. 

"I don't understand your powers at all." Lars told him.

They reached the top and caught their breath. Steven started laughing when the worm gem burst out of the water. They washed up on shore and it started swimming towards them.

"Ugh" Peridot was disturbed. 

"Yeah that's freaky." Lapis said.

"Come on, come on! Hide in the rocks Steven!" Connie got Steven up and ran under the boardwalk. 

"Why is it chasing us?" Steven wondered as Connie dodged it. 

The room realized what it was after. 

"The bracelet! It eats bright stuff! Connie!" 

Connie ran from the gem. 

"Steven!"

"Give me the bracelet!" Steven ran to her. 

"What?"

"It's okay! Now, go! Go! Run that way! I'm sorry!" The worm started chasing Steven and Connie ran the other way. Steven went around the stilts with it following him. He jumped over it and landed right next to Connie. 

"That was cool!" Peridot said. 

"I don't know how I pulled that off, especially then." Steven said.

It wasn't able to get to them and they held hands. The stilts broke and the dock fell onto it, it poofed. 

"Steven!" The Gems yelled. 

"Your first corrupted gem." Pearl said proudly.

Greg was proud as well.

"Steven! What's going on? What did you do?" Pearl yelled. 

"He was incredible!" Connie exclaimed. 

"Really? You mean it?"

Connie nodded. 

Garnet ran behind them and retrieved the gem. 

"Here's your bracelet, again."

"Thanks!" She giggled while taking it. 

"So, are you going to introduce us?" Amethyst looked over his shoulder. 

"Steven was so excited to meet you! Right, Steven?" Pearl added. 

Steven nodded and laughed nervously. 

They're just like human parents embarrassing their kid. Sadie couldn't help but smile at that.

"Hey!" Garnet picked up Amethyst and Pearl. "Don't mess with his funky flow!" She walked off still carrying them. 

Amethyst giggled.

"Funky flow?" Connie wondered. 

Steven blushed and groaned.

Lars laughed in his head.

"I miss these days." Connie sighed.

"Me too." Steven agreed.

Chapter Text

Serious Steven

Steven opened his eyes to sirens and his ears ringing. 

Questions rose in the viewers. 

His vision was blurry, he looked at the broken teacups ride. Then to debris and people as his vision focused again. 

'Two Weeks Later' appeared on screen. 

"Is that going to be explained?" Lars thought out loud. 

"Were you in some sort of freak accident?" Connie asked the boy. 

Steven sighed. "Kind of? How is this even important?" 

"Ohh" Pearl laughed. "I forgot this even happened."

"Pay attention, Steven. This is going to be your first serious mission." Garnet said in the warp stream. "You need to be ready."

"Yes. I'm ready. I'm so ready!" Steven yelled being upside down. 

"It took me longer to get used to the warp stream than for you, Connie." Steven mentioned. 

"I thought it was because you were fooling around." Pearl said. 

Steven giggled. "No, I just couldn't stop spinning around."

"Steven, come on. You're going to make yourself sick." Pearl turned him right side up. "Why did you bring that?" She said as Steven's ukulele hit her in the face. 

"I don't know. I was excited and it's mine and I like it." The ukulele floated off his shoulders. "Wha-" He went up after it. 

"You should always be careful with that." Greg offered his advice, kindly. 

"Yeah, I'm lucky it didn't break." Steven replied. He needed to take care of his things, especially the ukulele his dad gave him. 

"Steven, get back here! You could get seriously-" Pearl yelled as the warp pad reached his destination. "-hurt!"

Steven was pushed out of the stream and fell into some strawberries. 

I wonder how exactly that thing works. They must be placed all over the world, Sadie thought. 

He groaned as he sat up. 

"Steven, are you-" Pearl worries as the Gems run over to him. 

"I'm fine. I'm good. I'm just gooey. Mmm." He licked his arm when a bunch of butterflies stuck to his face. "Aah, they're in my eyes!" He tried running from them and started screaming. 

Lars held in his laughter but saw Peridot laughing so he let it out. 

He ran back over and fell. 

Connie giggled. "They're only butterflies, they don't even bite."

Garnet waved them away from him. "They're just butterflies, Steven."

Steven laughed. "Well, they looked a lot bigger when they were on my eyeballs."

Sadie stifled a giggle. 

"Steven, you're a riot." Amethyst laughed. 

"I'm suddenly having second thoughts about bringing Steven on this one." Pearl told Garnet. 

Garnet put her hand on Pearl's shoulder. "Shh. Just look at him."

Steven had his arms crossed. 

I wasn't ready for this mission. Steven thought. It was way more intense than he thought it would be. 

"Now, let's go recover the gemstone." Garnet announced. 

They walked through the field where there were swords and shrubs covered in strawberries. 

"Unbelievable. This was once a gem battlefield. Now it's wild strawberries as far as the eye can see. Oh, that's what I love about the Earth." Pearl said radiant. 

Garnet stopped in the shadow of a temple. 

How did the strawberries grow so big? Sadie wondered. 

"Maybe this will be a light mission after all. Oh!" Pearl bumped into her. 

"Maybe not." Garnet said as they looked at the upside down triangular structure. 

"What? How is that even possible?" Lars thought out loud. It was weird knowing places like this existed around the world.

She summoned a smaller triangular prism and inserted it into a square in the temple. The door glowed and disappeared. 

"Whoa!" Steven yelled as they walked inside. "Whoa!" He yelled even louder seeing murals across the walls. 

"Wait! Hold on, is that mom on the wall?!" Steven shouted.

Garnet quickly paused the episode.

There was definitely a picture of Rose Quartz.

"She is." Connie saw. 

Steven looked at Pearl. The rest of the room wanted to know as well. 

"Errr... Well I-" Pearl didn't know what to say. 

Steven felt she was keeping something from him.

"It must have been some sort of battle." Pearl explained what was clearly shown on the mural. 

"It looks like she's holding a diamond." Sadie analyzed, obliviously. 

Steven looked up at the mural. Pink Diamond. 

"And who is she fighting? Connie wondered. 

"Is that... White... Diamond?" Steven asked with edge in his voice. He'd seen the White Diamond mural at the Moon Base but no one had ever brought her up before. He knew nothing about her. Maybe she had something to do with Pink Diamond's shattering? Was she there when it happened?

"Who?" Lars wondered. 

"It's not White Diamond," Peridot intervened.

"How do you know?" Connie asked.

"This mural looks like it's depicting a fight; Rose Quartz never fought White Diamond," Peridot analyzed. "Plus, White Diamond is pictured very differently in murals, big and elegant, not the same size as her opponent," she stated it as if it was obvious.

Steven thought that did make sense. Her gem also looked like a triangle and not a diamond. But why did it look like his mom was holding a pink diamond? It almost seemed like she was using Pink Diamond in a way. Did they... team up or something? No. That made even less sense; the war was Rose Quartz vs. Pink Diamond. Steven decided to let it go. 

"It's most likely a fight between Rose and this gem during the war," Pearl surmised.

"But who made it?" Sadie wondered.

"Who knows; the war was a big inspiration for many things." Peridot answered. 

"Maybe a human saw the fight and painted what they witnessed in this temple," Connie barely concealed the bit of excitement in her voice. 

"Could've been," Garnet said. 

"Steven's the best!"

"Steven's the best!" The building echoed. 

"Why, thank you, temple." Steven winked. 

"You're a doof." Amethyst told him. 

Steven looked around at all the drawings and then to a floating, upside down pyramid. 

"Hey. What's this thing? It's like a cool floaty triangle thing." He moved his hand under it. 

"Whatever it is, you probably shouldn't touch it." Pearl said, looking at something. 

Amethyst yawned. 

Steven touched it and it flipped. The temple started shaking. 

Why didn't I ever listen? 

"She literally said not to touch it." Peridot pointed out the obvious. 

"Steven! What have we told you about touching magical things?" Pearl asked the others coming over. 

"Definitely always never do it." He replied. 

They all got pulled upwards and went through a hole in the ceiling. "Whoa!" 

The Gems landed on their feet but Steven fell on his stomach. 

"That triangle controls the gravity." Garnet stated.

Garnet looked up at the hole as it closed. Torches lit up around the circular room with multiple doors. 

"Looks like we're gonna have to split up." Amethyst suggested.

"Right. Steven and I will stay right here where it seems to be safe while you guys go and solve the mystery of this place." Pearl held onto him. 

"Wait. I want to help solve the mystery."

"Yeah. Come on, Steven. Let's solve the mystery." Amethyst picked him up and started walking. 

"Yeah! Mystery solvers!"

Pearl took Steven back. "Nope. No, no, no, no, no. You two are a disaster waiting to happen." She put him under her arm. 

Sadie found this funny. They all acted like his moms, and they pretty much are. 

"Steven goes with me." Garnet said. 

"Really? Awesome!" Steven exclaimed. 

"But remember this is a serious mission." She told him. 

"Understood. Serious Steven- Pearl, can you put me down?"

"What? Oh, yes. Of course."

"I need to be standing, or else it doesn't work. Serious Steven, activate!" He yelled and walked off with his arms in front of him. 

"That's the opposite of serious." Steven commented.

Garnet followed. 

"But this could be the teacups all over again." Pearl said from the center. 

"Hey! I've put that behind me." He walked backwards into the doorway. 

"Was that the thing in the beginning?" Lapis asked. 

"Yeah," Steven answered.

"Ohhhh." Steven sang. "We're on a magic treasure hunt for some magic treasure junk something, something, magic something." They walked into a room and the door closed behind them. "Huh?" 

The door on the other side glowed then some of the tiles on the floor glowed as well. 

"This mission was really unique because the gem attached itself to the structure which affected the entire building," Pearl admired. 

"That happened with the lighthouse." Steven said, remembering the gem making the lighthouse seem 'haunted'. 

"Really?" Amethyst questioned. 

"That was freaky." Lars remembered. 

"So, does that happen when the Gem is inside the building when they become corrupted?" Connie asked. 

"Well, this temple was a gem structure so that would make sense. Can't say the same for the lighthouse." Garnet said. 

"Since the lighthouse wasn't around when the Diamonds attacked." Pearl added for clarity. 

"It was probably built around the gem then. Somehow." Connie concluded. 

"We need to stay on the glowing panels." Garnet told Steven. 

This doesn't seem like a dangerous mission. Greg was always worried about Steven when he went out on missions with the gems. 

"Right. Serious Steven go!" Steven and Garnet jumped on the panels to the other side of the room. "Oh, yeah!" Steven danced. 

"I thought you would've messed up." Lars said bluntly. 

The building shook and Steven fell onto a tile that wasn't glowing. "Uh whoa."

"Oh snap," Lars spoke too soon.

The panels glowed red and they started collapsing into a fire. 

Greg was proved wrong. 

"That's bad." Peridot feared. 

Steven jumped off the one he was on and was hanging on to the edge of another. He struggled to hold on. 

"Steven!" 

He lost grip and screamed as he started falling into the fire. 

Greg gasped. 

Garnet jumped along the sides of blocks as she grabbed Steven before he hit the fire. She landed on the side of one burying her feet into it. She held Steven by his leg. 

That was really cool,  Sadie thought. Lars thought so too. 

"That was close. I can't imagine what would've happened if you went with Amethyst." Pearl said. 

"I would've caught him." Amethyst reassured her, pridefully. 

Steven was laughing. "Whoo-hoo! That was- uh, seriously dangerous. Thank you, Garnet." He said in a "serious" tone. His hair caught on fire. 

"Almost dying is fun?" Peridot asked. 

"You'd be surprised." Steven chuckled lightly.

"Right..." Lars didn't know what he was talking about.

They walked into another doorway and Steven stayed back to put out the fire on his head. He sighed in relief as the door slammed behind him. He got startled and jumped away screaming. Bars went over the door and the temple shook again. 

Steven groaned. 

"We can take a break if you're not feeling well, Steven." 

"Huh? Oh, no. I-I'm okay. Let's keep going." He threw up his arms in a flexing position. 

"All right, but be careful. You might trigger a trap with that gun show." She joked. 

Connie giggled. Garnet was surprisingly funny sometimes.

"Right. I'll put these babies away and use my minds." He walked over to the wall. "Maybe there's a clue hidden in these ancient drawings. It looks like there's lots of triangles hidden somewhere in this room." 

"Yeah, spikes." Steven remembered.

The part of the wall he was touching moved inward. 

The ceiling opened up to spikes. 

"Run!" Garnet yelled. The spikes behind them slammed to the floor. 

"Woah." Sadie said, a little nervous.

Steven stopped right when spikes hit the ground taking part of his shirt and the ukulele strap with it. 

"That was close. Again." Pearl's voice rose.

Maybe they shouldn't have taken him on this one. Sadie thought. He was a little kid here but I guess he needed to learn what they wanted him to.

Garnet summoned her gauntlets and stopped the spikes from hitting the floor and Steven. 

Steven sat up. "Oh, my ukulele!" He started to retune it.

"Steven! Now is probably not the best time for that." Garnet said, struggling with the spikes. 

How does she have that much patience for him? Especially at that moment? Lars knew he was always yelling at Steven for being annoying back in the day. 

"Oh. Uh uh, right." He ran to the other side. 

Garnet cartwheeled her way to the other side after him. 

"Now, that was a pretty close one." She told him. 

Steven laughed nervously. 

The door opened and they continued on. 

"Yeah. That was a pretty close one." He said slowly. They came into another room and saw huge swinging axes. "Uh." Steven looked petrified as the door closed. 

In front of them were platforms divided by the swinging weapons. 

"Oh my goodness!" Pearl saw.

Lava was oozing onto the platforms and spikes continuously slamming onto the platform then erupting in a blaze. 

"That's a little much." Sadie said, a tad worried.

"I would've just turned around." Lars admitted.

Amethyst giggled. "I think you guys got the worst rooms. Well, actually, one I went into was filled with liquid nitrogen."

"Is all that even necessary?" Lapis asked, questioning the obstacles. 

"The structure was protecting the gem." Garnet said. 

Greg wondered how Steven even got across safely.

Steven looked like he couldn't take it anymore. 

"Get ready, Steven. This is gonna be intense." Garnet said seriously. 

'Two Weeks Earlier' appeared on the TV. 

"Get ready, Steven. This is gonna be intense." Garnet said to him, smiling. 

Amethyst giggled. "We get to see this again."

"It wasn't funny, Amethyst," Pearl demanded.

"No one was hurt," she protested.

"I'm ready!" He exclaimed. 

Him and the gems were at Funland in front of the teacups. 

"What happened to that ride?" Sadie said, rhetorically. 

"You're about to see," Amethyst smiled.

Mr. Smiley chuckled and pushed the ride lever. The teacups started spinning. People were enjoying the ride. 

Amethyst was snoring.

"I misunderstood the point of this ride." Pearl admitted, holding a tea kettle. 

"You thought it would have tea?" Peridot questioned.

"The name of the ride is 'teacups'." Pearl reminded her. 

"This is fun, Steven." Garnet smiled. 

Steven's stomach growled. "I think I need to get off this ride now." Steven jumped out of the teacup. 

Amethyst chuckled. "I still can't believe you just jumped off." 

Steven facepalmed. "Ugh!"

"Steven, no!" Garnet reached out. 

Mr. Smiley was still laughing as Steven fell on top of him and broke the lever. Mr. Smiley laughed nervously. 

"What's wrong with you? Why would you jump?" Lars said. Steven is always doing something crazy. 

"It wouldn't have been so bad if I could float back then." Steven said. 

"Didn't they have seatbelts up there? Or like a safety bar?" Greg wondered.

"No." Pearl said.

"Isn't that illegal?" Connie guessed.

"Pff. It's Funland. No one cares enough." Amethyst said.

"That checks out," Peridot believed. "The only time I've gone there a kid tried lighting one of the attractions on fire." She laughed at the memory.

"We just went on a bad day," Steven giggled at Onion's hijinks. 

"Now that you mention it, Steven and I were hit by the roller coaster when we went," Connie brought up.

Amethyst laughed. "Yeah. I love that place."

"What a good excuse to stay inside for the rest of my life." Though, Lars had a feeling all the commotion in this town followed Steven and the Gems wherever they went. 

The ride started spinning faster and all the cups broke off, some landing in the water. The people on them came to the surface. The other cups landed on the boardwalk. 

Mr. Smiley grabbed Steven and laughed nervously again. "Steven, you are banned from all the rides forever!"

"That wasn't the first time I heard that from him." Steven giggled. 

"Not a lot of people liked that ride anyway." Sadie mentioned.

Steven woke up in Garnet's arms. 

She put him down and he saw they were on the other side. 

"Whoa. We made it?"

"I carried you while you took a nap."

"I think I fainted." Steven said.

"N-n-nap?!" He ran after Garnet. 

They walked into the room where they first were. "We're back where we started." Garnet pointed out. 

"What?!" Steven said. 

"Garnet, there you are! The doors and rooms here make no sense. They all bring you back here." Pearl told them. 

"It's like a maze." Greg observed.

"Yeah." Steven replied.

Amethyst came out of a door and grew frustrated "Get me out of here!" She went into another. 

"There are 16 doors, and we entered from the Northeast and went through three consecutive rooms in a straight line-"

Amethyst came into the room"Ow!" Amethyst pulled a bear trap off her head and ran back in. 

"You're fast at it." Connie noticed.

"-but arrived back here out the Southernmost door, which can only mean w-well, I don't know what it means." Pearl said hysterically. 

Amethyst came out of a room frozen in ice. 

"This is a death trap!" Pearl said frantically as she pulled out her spear and hacked at the ice. 

"What?! what do we do?" Steven wondered. 

"We go back in again and again and again and again." Garnet said as Steven started sweating. 

"I don't think there was ever a way out through those doors." Pearl said, thinking of the structure after Garnet broke through it.

"I can't!" He yelled. 

"Steven." Pearl said. 

"It's okay." Garnet tried to reassure him. 

"No. No, it's not. You were all right about me. I wanted to do this so bad, but now I feel like I'm gonna throw up." He clung onto his shirt. "This is just like the teacups!" He exclaimed. 

"Oh, Steven. I didn't really mean that." Pearl admitted. 

"Wait!" Steven yelled. "Ah! Wait, you guys! What if this is just like the teacups? That's why we're getting so lost. That's why I'm feeling so sick. All the rooms are spinning us around so we end up here." He explained. 

"That makes a lot of sense." Peridot said.

"And that's why that incident was shown to us." Pearl added.

Garnet walked to the middle and summoned her gauntlets and started punching the floor. She kept punching until the floor collapsed. 

Garnet landed on a floating triangle and caught Steven. Pearl landed on one and the ice broke as Amethyst held onto another. 

"Woah!" Steven and the others looked at the prisms circling around the Obelisk in the middle of the room.

Lapis was surprised, she never saw anything like this at all on homeworld. It was the work of a corrupted gem and there were none there, the gems on homeworld had no idea there were others on this planet suffering. 

"This is unbelievable." Pearl pulled out her gem hologram. "This gem-powered mechanism, it's manipulating the rooms above. Every room we entered spun us until we came back to the central chamber." Her projection showed her explanation. "It's just like the teacup ride at Funland." The teacups flashed in her projection. 

"Steven already figured that out." Garnet shouted.

"He literally just said that." Peridot said.

"You don't need to say anything, this has already happened." Pearl told her. 

"Oh." Pearl's head came out of the spew of the tea kettle in the projection. Pearl forced her hologram back in her gem. 

Steven saw a gem on the pole in the middle of the prisms. "Garnet, I need to get off the ride now."

Garnet nodded. "Serious Steven go! She threw him towards the gem." 

He landed on it and slid down to where the gem was. "Whoa!" He started to pull it but then the triangle prism turned and the gem glowed yellow. "Huh?" He fell off taking the gem with him. All the prisms stopped moving. 

"I believe the gem was put inside the structure." Pearl was thinking.

Like what happened to Lapis, Steven thought.  

"Huh?" Amethyst moves her hair from her face. 

The gem glowed yellow again, then the prisms started turning yellow and deteriorating. Steven held onto the gem as it got brighter. The entire temple turned yellow and made noises before exploding. Pieces fell all over the strawberry field. 

"And without the gem, the host object can't sustain any longer." Pearl explained further. 

So it is like Lapis. Steven remembered how the mirror broke when he pulled out her gem. Except this gem was corrupted and she wasn't. 

"I think I know who created the mural," Peridot mentioned. 

"Who?" Steven wondered. 

"The corrupted gem," Peridot answered. "If the temple was trying to protect the host gem then maybe the mural was created from the mind of the gem and plastered on the wall."

"So, it's like... her memories?" Steven said.

"Exactly." She nodded.

So this gem must've been in a battle with mom, Steven believed. Did she have anything to do with the structure she was trapped in? Did mom put her in there? Steven stopped his intrusive thoughts. He couldn't exactly say his mother wouldn't do something like that knowing the things she'd done. His chest started to hurt thinking about it. 

Connie liked the idea of a human creating it more; it would probably better for the gem as well. Who knows what the gem was feeling? 

"Steven?" Pearl popped out of a bush. "Steven!" 

Garnet appeared behind her. 

"Where is he?" She was worried. 

"Oh, he's over here." Amethyst saw Steven laying in a bush, covered in strawberry holding the gem. 

"The gem." He said. 

Pearl encased it in a white bubble. "I'd say you handled that adventure very well." She made the gem disappear. 

Sadie wondered where the gem went.

"Yeah. Nice job, Serious Steven." Amethyst agreed, helping him up. 

"I prefer regular Steven." Garnet handed him his ukulele. 

"Hey! My ukulele." He took it and re-tuned it then started singing. "Oh, that's the end of another day, it was mighty serious, I'd have to say, the Crystal Gems looked really cool when they made the temple explode." He screamed when the butterflies returned. "They're in my eyes again!" He ran off screaming.

The room laughed. 

Tiger Millionaire

The Gems warped into the temple. 

"How could you possibly think punching a blood polyp was a good idea? Look at all the gunk you got on me!" Pearl flicked it off her arm. 

"Oh, here we go." Amethyst remembers all the times Pearl and Garnet scolded her for these things. Yeah, she was reckless back then but did they need to yell at her every second? She was just making things fun. 

"And look at Steven."

He was covered in it. "It's not so bad once you get used to it."

"Ew."

"See? He likes it!" Amethyst told her. 

"He certainly won't like it when it hardens." She said annoyed. 

"Uh what? I'm gonna go wash." Steven walked away. 

"He shouldn't have been so close in the first place." Pearl said. 

The stuff hardened and Steven was stuck in place. He tried to get out of it. 

"How was I supposed to know they'd pop?" Amethyst said in defense. 

"Uh, guys?" Steven called. 

"You're always putting us in danger with your little outbursts! Oh, you are just so childish!" Pearl grew agitated. 

Yeah, they definitely don't get along. Sadie thought back a few episodes ago. 

"I'm so glad you two don't argue anymore." Garnet was honest. 

"Yes, Amethyst has improved dramatically on... pretty much everything." Pearl complimented. 

Amethyst smiled. "And you're not as annoying anymore."

Pearl gave her a look. 

"That's a compliment," she said quickly. 

"I'm so proud of you two. Look how far you guys have come." Steven said, happily. 

Amethyst gave a small smirk. 

Amethyst mocked her. "Yeah, yeah. Don't forget "reckless," "vulgar," "loudmouth," and that's just what makes me so awesome, right, Garnet?!" She yelled. 

Garnet looked annoyed. "Amethyst, you are a Crystal Gem. You need to act like it."

Pearl crossed her arms. 

"Even Steven wasn't that obnoxious," Pearl said. 

"Fine." Amethyst walked into her room. 

"I think we really got through to her." Pearl said. 

Garnet grumbled. 

Amethyst didn't like when Garnet was upset with her. She thought back on Sugilite. 

"Right, Garnet?" Pearl followed her out the door. 

The two of them seem to always want the approval of Garnet, Sadie noticed. 

"Guys?" Steven stood there. 

"They left you." Peridot laughed. 

At night time, Steven was asleep, still stuck in the goo. He was drooling. 

Steven woke to Amethyst leaving her room with a blanket over her. "Huh? Wha?"

Amethyst ran out the door and Steven fell over breaking out of the gunk. 

Amethyst thought for a second. 

"Amethyst?"

"Oh, I know what this is." She said. 

Amethyst ran down the beach and started to shapeshift. Steven followed her. She ran up the hill into the warehouse.

Steven peeked in the window. 

"For those of you befuddled by the events of athleticism, you're about to see the Purple Puma." Mr. Smiley roared. 

Amethyst took off the blanket revealing her form. 

"Yes! The beginning days of Purple Puma and Tiger Millionaire!" She exclaimed. 

"Aw yeah!" Steven matched her energy. 

"Oh my gosh." Pearl facepalmed. "This episode is really going to be about this."

"Wait what? You guys are wrestlers?" Connie asked. 

"Used to be." Amethyst said. 

"Steven, what would make you wanna do that?" Greg wondered.

"Steven isn't. Only her." Lars pointed at Amethyst. 

Sadie laughed. "I think it should be clear to you now, Lars."

"I refuse to believe Steven is Tiger, they look nothing alike!"

Lapis couldn't help but laugh. She never saw Tiger Millionaire before but all these hints should make it obvious. 

Lars turned red at a few people laughing at him. 

"-is the single, most hated wrestler in Beach City underground's history!" He announced. 

The crowd started booing. 

"What?" Steven was still looking through the window. 

Sadie and Lars were in the crowd booing as well. 

"Wow, thanks." She said sarcastically. 

Amethyst took it all in. 

"So you're a hated wrestler?" Greg said. 

"Yep, that's what made it fun."

"All right, ladies and gentlemen. Let's introduce his opponent or should I say, victim?" He laughed. "The Lochness Blogster!"

"Can you tell who that is, Lars?" Sadie asked. 

"I don't know," Lars replied in monotone.

Sadie rolled her eyes.

Steven can't be Tiger, no way. He does not look up to Steven. But would it be so bad if he did...?

Ronaldo was in a costume and looked worried. "I'm-" he laughed nervously. "-going to end your reign of terror! Yaah!" He charged at her. "Ugh." He ran into Amethyst's arm. 

Steven flinched. 

"That was a little much, Amethyst." Pearl said. 

"You haven't seen nothing yet."

"Well, now, that was quick." Mr. Smiley said. 

Amethyst put her foot on Ronaldo and yawned. 

The crowd continued to boo. 

"Now I see why people hate you." Greg said, understanding now. 

"Yeah, yeah, I don't like it, either, but hey, what do you do?" Mr. Smiley said into the microphone. 

Amethyst threw Ronaldo out of the ring. 

"Nice." Peridot said.

She busted outside and roared, turning back to normal.

Steven came up behind her and put his arms around her neck. "Amethyst!" 

She quickly threw him off of her. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you a secret wrestler?" Steven asked. 

"Yeah." She admitted. 

Steven gasped. "But how? But when? But why?"

"Come here."

Steven shuffled over on his knees. 

"Let me explain something to you. In the ring, nobody can tell me what to do! And if they try, I hit 'em in the face with a chair!"

"And people like that?"

"Like it? They love it!" She exclaimed. "Well, they hate it, but it's all part of the fun, you know? Everyone here gets that." She growled. "You don't know what it's like having Pearl and Garnet on your back all the time!" 

"You're not gonna like this." Steven said, slightly smiling. 

"Are you kidding me?! Oh, Steven, I told you before not to take peanut butter on missions!" He imitated Pearl dramatically. 

Pearl was a little offended. "What?"

Peridot laughed. "It's perfect."

He moved his hair over his eyes. "I'm not going to say anything, but I expect you to understand that that was wrong." He impersonated Garnet. 

Lapis smiled. 

"That one was good." Greg whispered. 

Steven giggled nervously. 

"That was a good impression." Garnet smiled. 

Sadie was surprised. I think Garnet is nicer than her appearance makes her out to be. 

"Let me be a wrestler with you! I'm so stifled!"

"Well, I haven't won the tag-team belt yet, but you can't tell Pearl and Garnet." Amethyst told him. 

"Deal!"

Lars sighed. He knew it had to be Steven. 

-

Steven grabbed a shirt from his closet, straps from his drawer, a tie, and couldn't decide over a mask. He went with the cat one. 

Sadie smiled seeing the tie and tiger mask. She had a feeling it was him from the beginning. 

Lars looked defeated beside her. 

He pushed his hair back with margarine. 

Amethyst slept on the couch. 

"Are you ready?!" Steven yelled. 

Amethyst sat up. 

Steven jumped down onto the couch. "Presenting Tiger Millionaire!" He showed his suitcase with a dollar sign on it. 

Steven looked to Lars. 

"Don't look at me. I know it's you." He grumbled and looked away. 

"You're making a big deal out of nothing." Lapis said. 

"Finally." Amethyst let out a groan.

"Rich, feline industrialist from jungle island! Once the single child of the wealthy Tiger family, he clawed out his own destiny making money in the coconut mines." A picture of a tiger family and a tiger in front of mines was displayed behind Steven. 

"Where'd those pictures come from?" Connie asked, rhetorically. 

"You're so creative about it." Pearl marveled. 

"Wow! You just came up with all that?" Amethyst asked. 

"Well, yeah. What's your backstory?"

"Pumas are cool."

"Uh. W-we'll workshop that later." Steven suggested. 

-

Back at the warehouse. 

"Isn't that where we are?" Lapis wondered. 

"Yeah. But we're in the basement." Steven said. 

Why is there a huge hole in the wall? Isn't someone going to fix it? Lapis thought about it.

"Two local heroes in the ring tonight. They build hospitals for the sick, and they build muscles that look slick. Give it up for Concrete Heat and Chunk Truck!" Mr. Smiley introduced two wrestlers. "Facing off against the Purple Puma and our newest, mew-est competitor Tiger Millionaire!" 

Steven stuck his tongue out and waved his case. 

"You're getting hated on, too." Peridot said. 

"It was part of the fun." Steven said blatantly. 

"That little guy's gonna get creamed." Lars said from the audience. 

"From here, he kinda looks like Steven." Sadie said eating popcorn. 

"Yeah, right." Lars laughed. 

Amethyst exaggerated a laugh. 

Lars rolled his eyes. 

Steven started to go in the ring. 

"Steven, wait." Amethyst stopped him. "I'm just using you to get the tag-team belt. I'll do all the actual fighting."

"So much for the team in tag-team." Connie said quietly. 

"Do I still get to wear the costume?" He asked. 

"I don't care." She said bluntly. 

"Okay!" Steven threw a thumbs up. 

"Was that all you wanted to do?" Pearl wondered.

"Yeah, until I started fighting at least."

"Well, we could've made you a costume and... not fought anyone." She suggested. 

"That's no fun." Amethyst said.

The match started and Amethyst ran over to Chunk Truck and elbowed him.

"Ooh, a devastating move by Puma!" Mr. Smiley said. 

"Isn't using your powers on them considered cheating?" Greg speculated.

"Not only that, the three of us swore to never hurt a human with our powers and here you are." Pearl looked at the TV. 

Amethyst sighed, a bit annoyed. 

"I'm glad you two quit." Pearl added.

Lars wanted to ask why, but decided to save it for the end, they only stopped about a week ago. 

Concrete Heat came from behind. 

"U-uh, Purple- Purple Puma! Look out!" Steven warned. 

Concrete Heat put a traffic cone on Purple Puma's head. 

"What a gross misuse of safety equipment and your tax dollars." Mr. Smiley said from the table. 

Amethyst struggled with the cone. 

"That's not fair." Steven said. 

"It may not seem fair, but hey, anything goes in wrestling." Mr. Smiley announced. 

"It does?"

"Oh, yes, it does!" Mr. Smiley answered his question. 

"Looks like this Tiger's got to turn cheetah! Hey, Chunk Truck!" Steven yelled as Amethyst fell over. "I'll give you a million jungle bucks to throw the match!"

"I don't think you can get away with that." Connie said.

"What's this? It looks like Tiger Millionaire is offering a bribe!" 

Steven showed his case. 

"Why, we could fill 1,000 potholes with-"

Steven opened the suitcase, hitting him in the face.

"Oh! That was clever!" Peridot shouted. 

"Yeah! It was!" Amethyst said.

"Oh, snap! Did you see that?!" Lars stood up. The two spilled all their popcorn. 

Lars couldn't help but smile at Steven's move. 

Amethyst pinned Chunk Truck down. 

"Oh-h!" He cried. 

"Oh! I mean, just, wow." Mr. Smiley was excited but calmed down. 

Steven waved and Amethyst held his hand. "Way to go, Tiger!" She held him up. 

Amethyst pulled a shoe off of a wrestler. They ran but Steven hit him with a huge phone. Amethyst attacked him.

"Oh, a montage!" Steven smiled.

Greg wasn't sure if he liked the fact Steven used to be a wrestler or not. 

The crowd roared. 

Steven smiled. 

Garnet and Pearl started to get on the warp pad. They saw Amethyst and Steven give each other a high five. 

Steven looked over and Amethyst hid his cat mask, she laughed and walked away with him. 

Amethyst circled another wrestler and Steven threw coconuts at him. 

Amethyst smiled at him. 

"You could've hurt these people." Pearl said. 

"Yeah, don't you think that's a little much, Steven?" Greg agreed with Pearl. 

"But Amethyst hits people with chairs." 

"Amethyst is a bad influence... back then." Pearl said. 

Steven threw a coconut away and was holding a tennis racket. 

Pearl picked up a fake million dollar bill. 

Steven took it from her. He held it behind his back and ran away. 

Steven threw a bunch of newspapers in the ring and the contestant slipped on them. 

Amethyst picked him up and threw him on the ground. 

Amethyst elbowed Shark-O-Mania. Steven smiled wide. 

Purple Puma kicked a clown wrestler. 

She threw another wrestler on the ground. Steven ran around her. He jumped on the ring's ropes and threw his tie into the crowd. 

Lars enjoyed seeing Purple Puma and Tiger wrestle again. 

"You guys were really successful, huh?" Connie mentioned. 

"The other wrestlers feared us." Amethyst said happily. 

"Yeah! We were unstoppable!" Steven smiled. 

Lars caught it and put it on. "Ye-eah!"

Others booed and threw popcorn and trash at him. 

Steven wondered why Lars even liked him when everyone else watching hated him. 

"Record-breaking heat tonight, folks. Could it be? Tiger Millionaire has bought out our soda stand." Mr. Smiley was sweating. 

Steven walked down the aisle carrying a bunch of drinks. 

"Maybe he'll share with his thirsty fans- oh!"

Steven spilled all the drinks onto the floor. The people around him didn't like it. 

Peridot laughed.

"Steven..." Pearl was in disbelief. 

"Now there's no sodas for anybody."

Amethyst smiled. 

"Wha- and now he's putting on galoshes?!"

Steven stepped on the soda. 

Lars knew what was coming next.

"Wow, folks. This is really hard to watch." Mr. Smiley said. 

Lars laughed and was wearing the tie around his head. "Classic." He ran over to Steven. "Tiger! Hey, Tiger! W-would you sign this? It'd be so rad!" He held out a pen and his cup. 

Steven's chest felt heavy.

"You couldn't afford it!" Steven yelled as he hit the cup out of his hand. The drink spilled. 

Lars turned red and looked discouraged.

Peridot had to admit, she was surprised Steven did that. 

The whole room actually wasn't expecting that from Steven.

"Who-o-o-a." 

Steven's expression fell. 

Steven remembered how much he regretted that. 

Lars walked off and threw the Tiger Millionaire tie on the ground. 

"Never thought I'd live to see the day when a contender turned on his own fan."

Steven ran to the tie. "I thought we were just having fun!"

"S-sorry. I thought-" Steven started.

"It's fine man, really. I get it." Lars said, a tad annoyed by Steven's show of guilt. 

"Tiger Millionaire, you are the cruelest creature on the planet!" Mr. Smiley said. 

Steven flinched at the insult. 

The crowd booed around Steven. 

Steven held his mask. He was sitting on his bed in his underwear and looked up in regret. 

Amethyst jumped up to the loft. "Hey, Tiger! Are you ready to win our final match?!" She exclaimed. 

"Amethyst, am I the cruelest creature on the planet?" Steven frowned. 

Connie scoffed. "You took that insult seriously? He was being dramatic."

Steven shrugged.

Amethyst giggled. "Oh, Steven. Those are just words people use to describe how they feel about you." 

Steven felt worse and held himself. 

"Oh, Amethyst." Pearl said disappointed.

A few kind of thought that was funny. 

"Listen, Steven. You can't let anyone make you feel like garbage."

"Is that how you feel?" Steven asked. 

"I only feel how I want to feel." She said seriously. 

I guess it was good advice in the end,  Greg thought.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fans of wrestling, welcome to the tag-team championship!" Mr. Smiley was in the center of the ring. "In the ring tonight, they've stomped their way through the tournament and into our hearts. Give it up, y'all. Give it up! For Dashing Dave Doober and Handsome Hank Hackleschmidt!"

Peridot and Lapis didn't get the naming thing; they both didn't understand why wrestling was even a thing in the first place. They figured it was similar to sparing back on Homeworld. 

The crowd cheered. 

"Only one thing would make these men look better, folks, it's the tag-team belts!"

He pointed to the belts hanging on the ceiling. "But standing in their way, the ruthless kings of the jungle. They'll eat your kids and fire your parents! Oooh! Yes, it could only be the Purple Puma and Tiger Millionaire!" 

Amethyst flexed and Steven was frowning. 

Lars wondered if her Purple Puma form actually made her stronger.

"Don't you dare hurt those men, you monsters!" Someone said. 

How does slapping a cup out of someone's hand consider you a monster?  Lapis remembered a few months back when Jasper called her a monster, it still rang in her head to this day. But it was true. 

"Wow, people really hate you now." Peridot pointed out. 

"Man, people are really hating on Tiger M." Sadie noticed.

"He's awful because he hurt me specifically!" Lars was holding a sign that said 'Tiger is a jerk.'

That sign is so dumb, Lars thought back on it. 

Amethyst jumped into the ring. 

The lights turned on and Garnet and Pearl landed in the ring. 

I guess it was a good thing Pearl and Garnet jumped in, Amethyst pondered. 

"Pearl? Uh, Garnet?" Steven saw. 

"What are you doing?" Amethyst asked. 

"So that's why you guys showed up." Lars said in a shy tone. 

"It should've been obvious at that point if it wasn't already." Amethyst said.

"Oh, I added this to my 'proof that Steven is Tiger' list." Sadie told her, smiling. 

"What are we doing? What is this?" Pearl held up a poster Steven drew. 

Amethyst looked to Steven. "I thought we could use some promotion." He said defeated. 

"Looks like we have some new opponents!" Mr. Smiley said. 

"No, you don't! This match is cancelled." Pearl announced. 

People could just jump in whenever they wanted? That didn't seem very professional to Connie. But she had to factor in that this was just some small case wrestling tournament. 

"What? Why?" Steven asked. 

"Why?! I can't believe you've been sneaking off to this- this circus of violence!"

"And you!" She pointed to Amethyst. "Using your gem powers on humans" she whispered. 

"It's not enough that you're on my case all the time? You have to ruin this for me, too?" Amethyst yelled. 

"We're not here to fight." Pearl said. 

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" The crowd chanted. 

Peridot kind of wanted Amethyst and Pearl to fight, she wondered who would win. It's obvious Garnet could beat both of them. 

The Gems fighting each other? The thought never crossed Connie's mind and she wondered how it would turn out, probably not well. 

"Steven, Amethyst." Garnet started. 

"What?!" Amethyst shouted. 

"Go back to the temple."

"I don't wanna!" She pushed Garnet back. 

Most of the humans including Peridot and Lapis were surprised.

Pearl gaped and Steven gasped. 

"Don't do this." Garnet said. 

Amethyst threw a punch and Garnet stopped it. 

She summoned her gauntlet and pushed her into the wall. 

Everyone watched. 

"Amethyst, I would be rooting for you but I know Garnet will win." Peridot said. 

Amethyst nodded, understanding. 

Amethyst jumped out and Garnet punched her away again. She grabbed Garnet and started squeezing her. 

"Guys! Stop!" Steven pleaded. 

Garnet pushed her away and punched her again causing the ring to tip. 

"Woah." Connie said. 

Purple Puma is the strongest wrestler there but, Garnet's beating her easily, Lars thought. 

Steven grabbed the microphone. "Wait!"

Garnet and Amethyst looked over. 

"I want to tell you Purple Puma's backstory. He was the wildest cat in the jungle, so wild, the other cats couldn't take it. So she- I mean he, went to look for somewhere he fit in, somewhere with other people who felt misunderstood."

Lars and Sadie listened. 

Steven's great at swaying people with his words. He should be a public speaker, Garnet thought. 

"That really sounds like Steven." Sadie said. 

"Shh!" Lars elbowed her.

"That's why we're all here, to be wild and free and body-slam each other and wear cool costumes and make up nicknames."

Garnet got rid of her gauntlet and walked over. 

"-and and uh, so can't we just have this? Can't we just wrestle?"

Garnet took the microphone. "No."

She's joking, isn't she? Connie figured.

The three of them gasped. 

"Because we are the notorious order of wrestling haters." Garnet egged Pearl to join in. 

Knew it.

"That's right. Um-" She took the microphone. "We want to stop all wrestling everywhere! Are you going to let us destroy all wrestling?" She said dramatically and laughed. 

"You got to save wrestling! Come on!" Lars was standing on a chair with his sign but instead it said 'Tiger is not a jerk.' "Tiger! Puma! Tiger! Puma!" He chanted. 

"You really believed they were gonna end wrestling if they won." Peridot asked, confused. 

"W-well everyone believed that." Lars said, quickly.

Sadie remembered being embarrassed in that situation. 

Amethyst smiled at everyone cheering them on. 

"We'll stop you!" Steven yelled. 

"What a stunning turnaround!" Mr. Smiley spoke. 

Steven made Pearl fall over.

"Always so dramatic." Amethyst pointed out.   

"The jungle duo are fighting back!"

Amethyst grabbed Steven and swung him towards Garnet purposely missing. 

Garnet fell over. 

Connie giggled.

"And they've taken down Captain Square. But wait. Wait. It's the it's the good-looking gang with a ladder!"

The two of them were holding a ladder on their shoulders. 

"A-are they planning to steal the belt? No! Oh, they're actually helping Tiger up!"

Steven started climbing the ladder. 

"He's climbing an actual-"

"This is all overly dramatic." Lapis said.

"It's supposed to be." Greg told her, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry for, um, sorry." Amethyst knelt beside Garnet. 

"Same here." Garnet responded. 

"Tiger Millionaire has claimed the tag-team belts!"

Steven held up the belts at the top of the ladder. 

"Tiger and Puma have won the championship and saved wrestling!" Mr. Smiley shouted. 

"Lars, I'm really confused." Sadie said slowly, clapping. 

"We all are." Pearl admitted. 

"I love you, Tiger Millionaire." Lars shed a tear.

Amethyst laughed. 

Steven opened his mouth but Lars stopped him.

"Don't. Say. Anything." He said strictly.

Sadie giggled. 

"Why'd you guys quit anyway?" Lars asked. 

"Well, I was doing it for Amethyst, and she didn't need to do it anymore." Steven explained.

"And I was only doing it so I didn't feel like a burden or like I wasn't good enough, but I don't feel like that anymore." She explained further with a little nervousness to her voice.

I guess that's a good reason, Lars thought, he still wished they didn't quit. 

"You guys wrestled for two years?" Greg asked. And he didn't even know.

"I mean, sometimes we weren't on for a few weeks." Amethyst said.

"Anyone notice how this episode wasn't about Gem stuff at all?" Connie pointed out.

"Oh yeah." Steven realized.

"Why was this even shown then?" Lars wondered. 

"Why not?" Connie said, rhetorically. 

"I think it shows like... Amethyst needed something to make her feel better and now, she doesn't need it, so... progress!" Steven put together.

Amethyst smiled. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"I don't think it's that deep." Lars said.

"You think we're going to see more episodes like this? I mean, I don't mind." Connie asked the room. 

"If it's to show how much we've changed then, yes." Pearl answered.

"Can't wait to see how dorky Peridot looks in limb enhancers." Amethyst giggled. 

"I miss my limb enhancers," Peridot said softly. 

"Are all Peridots your height?" Steven asked.

"Era 1 Peridots meet the right height requirement and do not need limb enhancers." She said.

"There's more of you?" Lars asked.

"You'll see."

Lars and Sadie were confused again. How would they tell them apart if they all look the same and have the same name?

"What about Era 3 Peridots?" Steven asked knowing she's an Era 2. 

"There's no Era 3." 

"The end of the war marked the end of Era 1 and the start of Era 2 on Homeworld." Pearl explained. "And that's where they are now and will probably stay for a long time." 

So Gems that were made in Era 2 never had Pink Diamond, Steven thought. 

Garnet hit the remote.

Chapter Text

Steven's Lion

A sand tower collapsed to the ground, the Gems walked over the sand dune.

"Oh! This has to be about Lion!" Steven exclaimed. 

Connie's interest piqued. 

"And the desert glass." Pearl added. 

"W-water. Uh, so thirsty for water." Steven complained, crawling. 

"It'll be safer if you stand up and walk." Pearl told him. 

He continued to pull himself forward. "You don't understand. This is how you're supposed to act in the desert." 

"That'll just tire you out even more, kiddo." Greg said. 

He stood up but was exhausted. "Is this the thing? The place?"

"Yes, Steven. The power in this structure has turned aimless." Garnet explained looking out at the desert. 

"That's the illusive sand castle from Buddy's journal." Connie noticed. 

"Who is this Buddy anyway?" Greg wondered. 

"He was an explorer who recorded Gem structures in a journal and me and Connie read it." Steven told him. 

"Yeah." Connie said. 

"He even mentioned Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and mom in it. It's at the library." He continued. 

"A human did that? I'm guessing he got things wrong." Peridot guessed. 

"He got most of the names wrong." Steven said, giggling. 

"The moon goddess statue he got right." Connie told him. 

"Oh yeah." 

"And how long ago was this book written?" Sadie wondered. 

"Not too long after Beach City was founded. He was William Duey's first mate." Steven informed her. 

"Ohh, that's what that play Mayor Dewey had on the beach was about. And you were in it." Sadie remembered. 

"Hm. It's all connected." Lars thought. 

"Isn't history amazing like that?" Pearl was ecstatic. 

"It's building columns with no roofs stairs that go nowhere. This is out of control." Pearl added. 

"Then I guess we better... Whoops! roll on over there." Amethyst hopped over Steven and slid down the dune. 

"That was a bit unnecessary." Pearl said. 

"Nan nani ni nun-nani nani!" Amethyst mocked. 

"Excuse me?" Pearl said, irritated. 

A roar filled the area. 

"What was that?" Steven looked around. 

"What was Lion doing in the desert anyway?" Connie asked Steven. 

"He was looking over the desert glass. Actually... In Buddy's journal he was in this desert when he saw my mom. He said she was with a pack of lions."

She didn't have just one, but a whole pack? What was the point of keeping that from me? Pearl sighed. 

"A pack of pink lions?" Lars asked. 

"I'm sure Buddy would've said if they were pink." Steven told him. 

"So it would make sense for Lion to stay there." Greg thought. 

"Nice observation, Steven." Garnet did find it odd that Lion would be there if he wasn't protecting the Gem. 

Steven smiled. 

"Let's go!" Amethyst stood up. 

"It'll be best if you stay here, Steven." Garnet suggested. 

"We'll be quick." Pearl mentioned. 

"What if something eats me?" Steven grew worried. 

"Do not worry, wet one." Garnet flicked Steven's sweat back on his face. "There's nothing out here that can harm you. See you soon." She jumped off. 

"Except for a sunburn." Connie smiled. 

Steven giggled. 

"Heat stroke." Greg added. 

"Okay." Steven sat against a sand pillar. "Whew! It's so desert." Steven pulled his shirt onto his face. 

That place looks miserable. Lapis never really paid much attention to Earth's environment until now. 

Another low growl. 

"What was that?" Steven lifted up his shirt. He looked around. "Nothing can harm me. I am the wet one." He said confidently. He saw a figure in the distance. 

The figure turned and looked at him. 

"It's eyes glow...?" Lars has never seen it do that.

Steven screamed and ran behind the pillar. 

The shadow went up to the column.

"Good thing this column was here." 

The pillar collapsed revealing Lion with his glowing white eyes. 

"Woah." Sadie never saw him this daunting. 

"No, no, no!" Steven fell over and backed away from the lion as it walked closer. A sand wall stopped him from backing up anymore. 

"No! No!"

"He wasn't going to hurt you, was he?" Connie asked.

"No, you'll see what he does in a sec." Steven answered.

"Huh?"

Lion yawned and slumped to the ground. 

"Aw." Connie let out.

"Such an odd creature." Pearl commented.

"Huh." Steven inched his way over to the sleeping lion. He went to touch him, Lion's ear twitched and Steven jumped back. He walked up to him again. 

"Why is this lion pink anyway?" Lars asked.

The Gems hesitated. 

"We don't know exactly." Pearl told him. 

"By what Steven says, Rose had a pack of lions, for whatever reason, so she must've done something to it." Garnet added. 

"Did you know Rose had a lion, Greg?" Pearl asked. 

"No, I didn't."

"So if it's connected to Rose, then it's connected to Steven." Peridot speculated.

"That's what we're going with." Garnet said.

"I mean, Lion and Rose are both pink." Connie added.

"That's how we figured it out." Amethyst said.

"Actually it was that Lion held my mom's sword." 

Lion lifted his head up. 

Steven carefully touched his nose. 

"Don't bite." He stepped back. He started to pet Lion's face. "Aww. You just wanted attention. Didn't you? Didn't you?" Steven continued to pet him all over. "Your mane, it's so soft." He put his face in it and slid to the ground. "So you from around here? I'm just here on business." He climbed on top of him. "I really like your pink fur." Steven laid on his mane. "You're like the cotton candy of the jungle!"

"Does this ring a bell, Lapis?" Steven asked. 

"Maybe. Are they not supposed to be pink? What color are they supposed to be?" She asked.

"Really?" Questioned Lars.

"They're tan." Steven told her.

"And females don't have manes, that's their hair, so you can tell Lion is a male." Connie explained further.

"Oh."

Lion turned over and Steven fell off. 

Steven climbed back on. 

"I always wanted an animal friend, but I thought- ooh!" He rolled onto the ground. "-it would be like a goldfish or a dinosaur!"

"Dinosaur?" Peridot never heard of that before.

"But I guess fate had other plans for Steven Universe." 

Lion plopped his leg on Steven. 

"Uhh! And his best friend lion."

The sand castle in the distance exploded sending sand everywhere. 

"Amethyst, bubble it away!" Pearl was heard. 

Steven and Lion rose from the sand. 

"No! Quit being jealous, Pearl. My kill, my keep." Amethyst held the pillow. 

"I'm not jealous. Just be careful! If you drop it on the sand, it'll rebuild everything!"

"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are coming. Quick, put my head in your mouth." Steven reached for Lions mouth. 

Sadie chuckled. 

"Steven! What is that?!" Pearl exclaimed.

The Gems had their weapons ready. 

"What are you doing?!" She asked. 

"Uh stop! It's okay! Look, he's totally tame!" Steven defended. 

"Glowing eyes are not tame." Lars stated. 

"That's impossible." Pearl told him. 

"No, it isn't. I taught him to say "I love you." 

"I love you." Steven lip synced Lion's mouth. 

"That's so sweet! I-I love you, too." Amethyst said back. 

"Get your hands out of that thing's mouth. We have to get the desert glass out of the desert!" Pearl tried grabbing it from Amethyst. 

Amethyst pulled it away. "I got it."

"You should've just bubbled it. That thing could hurt people." Lapis remarked. 

"Thank you, Lapis." Pearl agreed. 

"Party poopers." Amethyst said, looking away. 

"Let's go, Steven." Garnet said. 

"Okay. Give me a sec. Hey, lion, I gotta go. I had a lot of fun. I feel like you really get me." He brought his finger to Lion's mouth. "Shhhh. This is already too hard for the both of us." Steven walked away. 

"Did you feel a connection to it?" Peridot asked. 

"Maybe..." But it could've just been his love for animals. 

Lion watched them go. 

"Amethyst, that pillow needs to be contained!" Pearl complained. 

"Yeah, yeah. I know what to do with it." She told her. 

Amethyst and Steven were sleeping under a pillow fort with the gem pillow on top of it. 

Steven heard the sound of something scratching at wood. 

"What's that sound?" He asked. 

Amethyst put her hand on his mouth. "All I hear is your mouth."

"I thought gems don't need sleep." 

"We don't. Feels good, though."

"Sleeping is nice." Lapis added. 

"You sleep?" Amethyst asked. 

"Yeah, when I have time."

"I'm not a fan of sleeping. Why sleep when I could use that time Cheeping?" Peridot stated. 

"You use social media?" Sadie questioned. 

"She was hooked at one point," Steven said.

"Social media's claimed another poor soul," Greg whispered to himself, dramatically. 

"Most of the time I just use it to video chat with Steven," Peridot told them.

Steven complained and went to the door. "Probably some kid trying to sell me lava insurance. Hold your britches!" He opened the door. 

Lion was standing there with glowing eyes. 

"Lion!" Steven exclaimed. "Oh! Oh, my gosh! This is such a surprise! You came all this way to see little old me?"

Lion tried to get in the house but Steven stopped him. 

"Whoa! You're fresh. You can't go in there." He closed the door. "Amethyst is pretend sleeping. But whatevs. We're together again. Now we can do everything best friends do!"

"Okay, here I come! I'm gonna jump! Get into position! Ready?!" Steven exclaimed. 

Lion was uninterested. 

Steven was atop of the ridge. "And catch me! I'm jumping!"

"What were you doing? The lion was never going to catch you." Pearl said.

"I was just trying to have fun with him." Steven told them.

Lion sat there. 

"Catch me! I'm falling! Do it! Catch me! I'll die! Eee!" Steven yelled. 

Lion stared at him. 

Lars couldn't help but giggle.

Amethyst held in her laugh.

"Okay, obviously, you're not into this-" Steven walked to the side and slipped off the edge and slid on his face. "Wah! Uhh! Ooh! -game." 

Amethyst laughed. "Do we need to put a fence there, too?"

"That's not a bad idea." Pearl was interested.

"I was joking." Amethyst told her.

"We don't need a fence." Garnet told the two.

Steven held a tennis ball. "Okay! Gonna throw this ball! Here it comes!" He threw it and it landed in front of Lion. "Whaaaat?! That throw was so good!" Steven ran over. 

"I wouldn't think Lion would have any interest in fetch." Connie said.

"Lion's not really interested in anything, besides lizards... and Lion Lickers." Steven explained.

"Lion, all you gotta do is catch it in your mouth. See?" He threw up the ball and caught it with his mouth. 

"Who knows where that's been." Said Peridot.

Lion looked away. 

"Aww." He spit out the ball. "Pfft! Ugh. You don't like that one, either? Okay, wait! I've got something you've got to like!"

The two walked along the boardwalk. "Fish stew pizza! Cats love fish. Everybody loves pizza. So you're gonna love this!" He looked through the window. "Whoa! This place is jumpin'! Wait here. We're gonna blow some minds." He opened the door. "Hey, guys!"

Ronaldo, on his computer, and Onion, with a drink, looked over for a second. 

Lars breathed a laugh when they didn't answer him.

"Two people is 'jumping?'" Lapis wondered.

"Beach City isn't the most populated town in this region." Greg told her.

"I'm doing okay, you know? Just getting some pizza. Kofi. Kiki." He leaned on the counter. 

"What are you having, Steven?" Kiki asked. 

"Large pizza, please. Extra fishy." He ordered. 

"You must be hungry!" She replied. 

"I'm ordering for two."

Behind Steven, Ronaldo spit out his drink. "Steven's pregnant?!"

"What." Lars questioned.

"I don't think so. But I have a giant pet lion right outside!" He told them. 

"You're not lyin', are you?" Kiki asked him.

"That's funny! But I'm not."

"I believe it! Lot's of weird stuff happens in Beach City. You'd know if you read my blog "Keep Beach City weird!" Ronaldo turned his computer around. "I also have buttons!" He opened his shirt. 

"You're on the device screen." Peridot pointed out.

"Oh yeah, with the cat fingers." Steven saw.

"I doubt that's the only picture of us on his website." Pearl stated. 

"Just go outside, and see for yourselves!" Steven told them. 

Ronaldo, Kiki and Onion walked outside. 

"This is amazing!" Ronaldo exclaimed. 

"Mm-hmm!" Steven nodded. 

"It's invisible!" He yelled. 

Steven ran outside. "Huh? What? He's not invisible. He's pink."

"Pink? How can he be invisible and pink?" Ronaldo was feeling the air. 

"I'm guessing this lion isn't very reliable." Lars announced.

"Well he is when there's danger." Steven said.

"Whatever Rose did to the lion obviously increased his intelligence." Pearl added.

"Maybe she healed him with her tears when he was hurt." Steven suggested.

"No, I saw what Rose's tears could do and it didn't make the beneficiary change color like that. It's something different... something that I don't know about..." 

The room felt Pearl's tone change.

"I'm sure we'll find out, maybe I can do it, too." Steven tried to make her feel better though he knew that the powers Lion held was not the thing bothering her. 

"There's nothing out here, Ronaldo. Steven was lyin'. Sorry for using the same pun twice." Kiki walked back in. 

"Bet you're not even pregnant." Ronaldo followed. 

"No, I'm telling the truth! He's real! Onion, you believe me, right?" Steven wailed. 

Onion had an angry frown on his face. 

Steven frowned sadly.

Steven walked back to the temple. He noticed Lion scratching at the door. "Huh? Hey! Hey! Lion! You left me at the pizza place! I looked like a fool!" He walked up the stairs to him. "I had to eat a whole pizza by myself!"

Steven giggled. "He probably wouldn't have eaten any anyway." 

Lion, with his glowing eyes, tore the door down and walked in. 

"Lion! Lion, no!"

Lion looked at the desert glass. 

"Lion?"

Lion roared, sending Amethyst and her fort backwards.

Of course he has powers, too, Sadie didn't know why she was surprised. 

"Keep it down, Steven." Amethyst told him. 

"What was that for?" Steven wondered as Lion looked at the gem. 

"The pillow?" Steven ran up the stairs and held the pillow. "Is this what you wanted? This pillow? I've been trying to play with you and feed you 'cause I thought we were best friends. Did all of that mean nothing to you?" He got emotional. 

I mean, it's an animal, it doesn't know what you're trying to do, Lars thought. 

Lion climbed up to him and Steven ran to the door. 

"Fine! I don't care! If you want it, you can have it!" He ran outside and threw it on the sand. 

The sand around it started to rise and the ground shook. 

"Well that wasn't a very good idea." Peridot stated. 

Now that Amethyst thought about it, she should've bubbled it. Lapis was right, it could've hurt someone when it was released again. And that would've been on her.

Steven ran down and saw the columns form. 

"Steven! The desert glass!" Pearl yelled with Garnet and Amethyst on the porch with her. "It's rebuilding its castle. Why didn't you bubble it earlier?" She yelled at Amethyst. 

"Welcome to shrug city, P." She responded. 

Pearl yelled to Steven. "Don't move! We're coming!" 

"Okay!" 

Dust clouded their view.

Lars wondered if the Gems ever got annoyed when Steven messed something up because he seems to do it a lot.

"Uhh!" Steven went against the sand. And more of it started to rise. "Huh? There it is the pillow!"

The pillow was on top of a bigger structure. 

"I have to get it off the sand." He ran up some steps and they started crumbling when he got to the top. "Huh?"

He jumped on a rising column. 

"It's still sand though, right?" Sadie asked.

"Yes. The corrupted Gem can manipulate the sand and harden it at it's will." Garnet explained.

"So, this corrupted Gem is just like the one in the triangle temple, it's protecting itself." Connie noticed.

Garnet nodded.

"If only these Gems knew they'd be safer in the bubble." Steven said. 

The Gems were stopped by a giant wall. 

Garnet punched it with her gauntlets a few times. "This wall's not moving!"

"We got to get through before things get any-" Pearl was cut off by Amethyst being lifted by a pillar and sent into the air. 

"Whoa!"

Steven jumped onto a column and then to stairs which eroded at every step. He got onto another column which brought him up closer to the desert glass. 

"Is it supposed to be building something?" Connie wondered. 

"It usually builds a sand fortress and wasn't a threat until it turned aimless. There was no predicting where it would spread to." Pearl told them.

The column he was on collapsed and he grabbed a column sticking out of the structure the pillow was on. Steven caught his breath then started to slide off. A slab grew for him to hold onto but snapped. "No!" Steven was going to fall on a bunch of spikes until Lion caught him.

"Too many close ones." Greg said. Greg was enjoying watching Steven on these missions. Most of the time Steven would tell him about them, but now he could actually see what was happening. 

"Lion! Woah" 

Lion jumped along the columns avoiding the spikes. He jumped onto safe sand. 

"You didn't come here to steal the pillow. You came here to protect us from it!" Steven exclaimed. 

"Maybe Lion would protect people from the pillow, but of course he can't actually bubble it." Peridot theorized.

"Hm, seems likely." Steven said. 

Lion growled. 

"Does he know what you're saying?" Lars wondered.

"I'm pretty sure, but he ignores me most of the time." Steven giggled. 

The desert glass surrounded itself with more sand bricks. 

"It's there! It's putting up defenses! How are we gonna get up there?!" Steven wondered. 

Lion destroyed the spikes in their way with a roar. 

"That roar is powerful." Sadie stated. 

"Yup. Sounds good. Let's go."

Lion ran off with Steven on top of him. They were stopped by more pillars. 

Lion roared, causing them to fall over. One column made a ramp to the pillow. 

"Really powerful." Lapis was in awe.

Lion ran up it dodging the growing defenses. 

"Now, Lion!" 

The cat roared and busted through the wall protecting the gem. 

Steven held onto the pillow as they descended. 

"Whoo! Roar!"

The sand deteriorated behind them. 

"Excellent work." Pearl complimented. 

Steven smiled.

Lion dived into the sand causing Steven to fall forward. 

He made sure to not let it touch the sand. 

The Gems appeared from under the sand. 

Steven laughed nervously. 

"We should have done this in the first place." Pearl bubbled the gem. 

"In my defense, I forgot." Amethyst said. 

"So I guess this is goodbye. We had some good times. But I'm sure you have other magical stuff to smash with other magical boys." Steven told Lion.

Steven made Lion mouth the words. "I love you, Steven. I want to stay with you forever."

Greg smiled and thought that was cute.

"Really?! Guys, you hear that?!"

"Are we really going to let him keep that?" Pearl asked Garnet. 

"We kept Amethyst." She replied. 

"Oh! "Kept Amethyst! Oh, Garnet! That's priceless!" Pearl cracked up. 

"I get that joke now." Steven stated.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh, huh, Garnet?" Amethyst asked.

"I actually didn't mean it like that, and it was just a joke." Garnet explained.

"Yeah, Amethyst, it's just a joke , you should know that." Peridot teased.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. 

"Hm." Lapis hummed.

"That joke makes sense?" Lars asked.

"It will, maybe..." Steven spoke low.

Lars grew curious, Sadie as well. 

"Yay! Lion! Wink!" He made Lion wink.

"Well, we got introduced to Lion. I wonder what we will see next since we already are aware of these things." Pearl thought out loud.

"We know, but Sadie and Lars don't." Steven corrected her. 

"Yes, of course. I'm just anxious to see the future." She replied.

"We all are." Greg reminded her.

She nodded. Sure, but no one else in this room has a secret that could cause everyone to go ballistic if they were informed of such. Maybe this is the bad thing that is rumored to happen. Maybe this is how everyone finds out, how Steven finds out. But it's not necessarily a bad thing that they find out, it's just how they take it. But if everyone discovers the truth from these episodes then what is to become of that timeline? Timeline? The future was confusing Pearl. She decided to forget about it for now, after all they were currently two years in the past. No major dilemmas have appeared yet. 

"I'm guessing the next episode will include... a mission." Amethyst spoke.

"Most likely." Peridot nodded.

"We could just watch and see." Lapis said.

Garnet pressed continue.

Pearl had a feeling that when the future episodes began, she would be frequently asking for Garnet to use her future vision.

Arcade Mania

The Gems walked through a cave. 

Garnet stopped. "Shh. This way." 

"Hey, a mission! I was right." Amethyst boasted. 

"Of course there would be a mission there's been one like every episode." Peridot said.

"Ugh. Steven! This is a stealth mission. You're making too much noise! Take off that jacket." Pearl whispered. 

"Uh, but I don't want to catch a cold!"

"Then why are you still wearing sandals?" She asked. 

"Do you even own closed-toed shoes?" Connie has never seen him wearing anything else. 

"Yeah. But I like to wear these more." 

"Steven, I get it if you're wearing sandals and we have to fight suddenly but you train in them too." Amethyst remembered. 

"They're comfy."

"I can be quiet! See?" Steven held out his arms. "Stealth."

"We're getting close." Garnet sensed. 

"Come on, then." Pearl said. 

They continued walking. 

Amethyst started making the sound of Steven's jacket behind him.

"Amethyst!" 

Pearl turned around. "Steven!"

"See, it was Amethyst." Steven pointed. 

"Hmm." Pearl looked at Amethyst.

Amethyst shrugged, giggling. 

"It wasn't me! Amethyst, you're making me look ba-" The rock under Steven's foot started to crumble. 

Steven flailed his arms trying to stay up.

"Steven!" Pearl yelled. 

"Stealth!" He put his arms out and fell off the ridge. He hit a rock on the way down and Garnet caught him. 

How'd she get down there so fast? Sadie noticed.

"Were you using your future vision there to see where I was going to land?" Steven asked the fusion.

"Pretty much."

"What's future vision?" Lars raised a brow. Sadie wondered as well.

"Garnet can see possible outcomes of the future." Steven explained.

"It's very useful during missions." Pearl added. 

"Yup, and it's impossible to beat Garnet in cards." Amethyst said.

"You're kidding." Lars didn't believe it 

"No joke. It's the Sapphire's unique ability. They're known for their power of seeing visions of the future." Peridot explained. "The Diamonds use them to predict how fights will turn out or how their colonies could run and the quality of the gems made there. Sapphires are elite gems and are well respected throughout the different courts. Without their future vision they're basically useless. No offense." She said quickly to the fusion. "All they can do is predict because their physique is pretty small and fragile. They can't build or fight. But could you imagine a Sapphire without future vision!" She laughed, loudly. "What a dud!"

"You sure are the Sapphire connoisseur." Pearl said, impressed with her spiel.

"Hey, Peridots are also useless without their attachments." Peridot waved her hands up. "So we have something in common. And even Era 1 Peridots have their tools they need to not be a burden." 

"Don't underestimate my Sapphire." Garnet stared at her. The glare in her visor was red. 

Peridot laughed nervously. "I'm not, I'm just saying and that Sapphire is special." Peridot saw the confused looks on the two teens' faces. 

"It's okay guys. I'm learning a thing or two as well." Steven directed to Lars and Sadie. 

"Same here." Connie added.

"I will forever be lost with gem stuff." Greg said. 

A corrupted gem crawled out of a hole in the ceiling and landed in front of Garnet and Steven. 

"That thing is huge." Greg noticed. 

"Ah, I remember this." Pearl said. 

Light blue spikes were shot out of its hide toward the two. 

Garnet held Steven while she dodged them. 

"Steven!" Pearl and Amethyst jumped down. 

Garnet set Steven down and jumped off. "Stay back."

"Come on, poofy." Amethyst carried Steven away. 

"What about Garnet?" Steven wondered. 

The gem threw its tentacles at Garnet but she easily dodged and jumped on one. 

"Go, Garnet! Go!" Steven shouted. 

The fusion ran on the tentacle dodging the others. She landed under the monster and punched away all the arms. She punched the opening with her gauntlet and it started to glow. It poofed and Garnet walked away with the gem. 

"And that's why Garnet's the leader." Amethyst said. 

The other Crystal Gems agreed. 

She doesn't even need the others, Lars thought. 

"Wow. She's so fast! Garnet, you're amazing! How'd you even do that?" Steven asked. 

"Look. The little ones didn't explode!They're drilling away!" Pearl pointed to the spikes going underground. 

"I got it!" Amethyst announced. She dived into one of the holes. 

"Smart." Lapis said sarcastically.

"Let them go. They're just parasites. If they want to be a problem, they'll have to answer to me." Garnet said while sending the gem to the temple. 

"So cool!" Steven was in awe. 

Garnet pulled Amethyst out of the ground. 

"I swallowed a rock."

Some laughed.

"We all worked so hard, we deserve a reward." Steven and the Gems walked along the beach. 

"Sounds like you have something in mind." Pearl stated. 

He laughed excitedly. "I'm taking you guys to the best place in Beach City... Funland Arcade!"

"This is about Meat Beat Mania." Steven remembered. 

"Huh?" Amethyst wondered. 

"It's an arcade game."

They stood in front of the boardwalk. 

Pearl turned to Garnet "Do we have anything else to do?"

"We don't." She answered. 

"Uh, don't you need money for that place?" Amethyst said. 

"Oh, don't worry. This one's on m-e-e-e-e-e-e-e!" Steven opened his coat revealing all the tokens in his pockets. 

"Welcome to a wonderland of fun-tronic game-ventions!" He showed all the games. 

"Humans find such fascinating ways to waste their time." Pearl looked around. 

"Like dancing in a fountain isn't wasting time." Lars said. 

"He's right. Human activities are way more exciting." Amethyst agreed. 

"Like creating meep-morps!" Peridot exclaimed. 

"I don't think that's a 'human' thing," Sadie couldn't tell what she was talking about. 

"That's what they call art, Sadie." Steven explained. 

"I guess I'm just old fashioned." Pearl said. "I was so amazed that humans could survive out in the wild with only a spear and a leaf. Time flies doesn't it."

"Well, humans don't need to survive out in the wild anymore so all we rely on is entertainment." Lars said, feeling weird that he was defending humans.

"And making money." Sadie added.  

"Just how old are you?" Lars wanted to ask this question since the beginning. 

"Older than the human race itself, I'm the oldest gem here, even older than Rose," Pearl answered, proudly. 

"Pearl, you're more than old fashioned if you're missing the days where humans didn't brush their teeth." Greg stated. 

"How can you be that old?" Lars said loudly.

"Gems are ageless," Garnet answered.

"But if we get hurt really badly we'll perish!" Amethyst added, very dramatically, even putting her hand to her forehead like she was fainting. 

Garnet continued once Lars processed all the info.

"Pearl!" 

"Huh?"

"Pearl, come on! You'll love this game!" He grabbed her hand and led her to a game. 

"If you say so. Road Killer?" Pearl read the name of the game. 

"Yeah! Pick the car you like. Then just go for it!" Steven instructed. 

"W-which one of these buttons is my turn signal?" She asked. 

"None of them. Have fun!" He walked off. 

"Vroom, vroom! Kill the road!" The game said. 

"O-kay?"

I don't think that one fits Pearl very well, Connie smiled. 

Steven gave Amethyst a ball. "This is skee-ball. Roll the ball into the hole, and you can even win tickets for prizes."

Onion traded his tickets and Mr. Smiley gave him a moped in return. 

"Whoa! Onion's the ticket master!" Steven exclaimed. 

The moped fell on Onion. 

"Uhm." Greg thought that was odd.

"Since when could you win a moped at Funland?" Sadie giggled. 

"Giving Onion the moped was a mistake. He drove it into the boardwalk and it exploded!" Steven exclaimed, throwing his arms up. 

"Where's his parents?" Pearl wondered. 

"Vidalia is his mom I know." Amethyst said. 

"Really? That little troublemaker is hers?"

"He's not a troublemaker, he's just misunderstood." Steven told his dad. 

"You just said he caused an explosion." Peridot pointed out. 

"Yeah, well..."

"Cool."

"All right. Good luck." Steven walked away. 

Amethyst smiled at the game. 

"Teens of rage!" The game echoed. 

"Garnet, this game is perfect for you!" Steven stood at the game. He chose a character for Garnet. "You seem like a Joe Rock kind of gal. His special move is forward, forward back, top towards half circle, medium kick."

"Oh, wait. Maybe that's an aerial move. Just punch, and you'll be fine." 

Garnet got ready. 

"Come on, chump!" A character from the game teased. 

Garnet punched a hole in the screen. 

"I saw that coming." Lars said.

"You took that a little too literally, Garnet." Greg laughed. 

"He told me to punch." She said. 

"Punch using the game controls," Connie laughed. 

Geez, these guys know so little about human things. I'm pretty sure the two next to me know even less. Lars thought. 

"I did it." She told Steven. 

Steven got nervous. "Uh let's try something else."

The two stood in front of Punch Buddy. 

"O-o-okay! This is a game you can actually punch!" Steven said. 

"Come on, give it the best shot, kid!" The game taunted. 

Garnet hit it, sending it flying. 

The game cried. 

"I win again."

"At this rate, you'll destroy the entire arcade," Connie was enjoying this scene. 

"They should make games suitable for us." Peridot said. "We deserve it." 

"Sure, but you guys don't go there enough." Steven said. 

"Uh. Um. Uh, how 'bout that one? Meat beat mania! There's no violence in this game. Just shake the meat to the beat!" He handed her the ham maracas. 

"Are you ready? Let's meat it! Shake it! Shake it! That's it! Well done! Keep it up! Now you're cooking!"

Garnet followed the display on the game screen. 

Amethyst and Pearl giggled at the sight.

"Ooh, tasty! Keep it up!"

"Awesome! Garnet, you're so good at this!" Steven giggled. "Whew! I wonder how the others are doing."

"You're horrible!" The game told Pearl. 

"Stop saying that!"

"Uh, having fun?" Steven asked. 

"Why am I doing so badly? I haven't crashed into anything."

"I don't understand these games, who would find entertainment in destroying things?" Pearl said, genuinely. 

"Everyone." Lars replied. 

"You're supposed to crash into everything." He explained. 

"What?! That's horrible!" Pearl responded. 

"You're horrible!" 

"Amethyst!"

Amethyst was sitting on the game shoving the balls into the hole. A lot of tickets were coming out. 

"Should've guessed you would do that." Greg said. 

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm-a win a airplane!" She yelled. 

"With that many tickets, I could've gotten one." 

"That's cheating! You're gonna get us in so much tro-" he pulled her off. 

"It's not cheating if no one finds out."

"It's still cheating." Lapis told the green gem. 

"Hey! Do you guys know what happened to Teens of rage?" Mr. Smiley asked. 

"Let's run!" Steven took off with Amethyst. 

"This place is fun!" Amethyst waved. 

"Pearl, we're leaving!"

"Good!" 

Steven grabbed Pearl's hand and ran. 

The car in the game crashed. "You're fantastic!"

"Garnet, we're leaving!" Steven yelled to her. 

"I've broken so many things at Funland." Steven stated. 

"It's a miracle they still let you in that place." Pearl said. 

Garnet was still playing the arcade game. 

"What happened to punch buddy? Who did this to you?!" Mr. Smiley looked around. 

"Uh, see you at home!"

At the temple, Pearl was practicing with her spear, Amethyst was laying on the couch and Steven was eating cereal. 

"So, w-what's today's mission? I hope it's... fighting a giant... foot!" He ate some of his cereal. 

"If we're supposed to fight a "giant foot, Garnet would let us know." Pearl swung her spear around. 

"Yeah. Garnet's the boss." Amethyst announced. 

"Well, we're all a team. Garnet just has heightened perception that guides us towards our mission objectives." Pearl explained. 

"Yeah. She's the boss."

"Why did you agree that Garnet is the boss now?" Amethyst thought back to a few minutes ago. 

"Well she is the leader, not really the boss."

"I'm both."

"Ehh," Pearl wasn't sure of that.

"Didn't mom leave Garnet in charge?"

"Yes." Garnet answered. 

"Makes sense to me." Lars said. Sadie agreed next to her. 

"You have double the strength and intelligence." Peridot said, agreeing with Rose's decision. 

"Rose was a better leader than I am, she began the rebellion and led us through the war. She even protected Pearl and I from..." She trailed off. 

"You guys are both inspiring." Amethyst filled the silence. 

I knew Steven's mom was beloved by everyone but I didn't know she was the one who started their rebellion. And she fought in a war, those three did too. Sadie looked to Steven. How does Steven feel about that?

They keep talking about a war and I want to ask about it but I don't think I should... I guess I'll wait until it's explained. Lars thought. And how many people were in the rebellion? There's only the three of them. 

"So, where is she? F-fighting the foot? Steven asked, chewing. 

"She's not "fighting the foot." You know Garnet goes off on missions without us all the time. She's probably doing something very important." 

"What were you even doing?" Pearl asked. 

"Playing Meat Beat Mania," Garnet answered.

"Oh, wait, Steven! I just remembered Garnet had a special mission for you." Amethyst exclaimed. 

"Really?!"

"Yeah! She says, um. You have to slam your face into that bowl of cereal."

"Okay." Steven did what Amethyst said. 

Peridot laughed. "You fell for that?!"

Lars laughed as well.  

A lot couldn't help but smile. 

Pearl sighed with Amethyst smiling wide next to her. 

"Good job, Steven! You stopped the foot!"

"There is no foot!" Pearl yelled. 

"Not anymore." Steven said proudly with milk all over him. 

"Ugh!" Pearl bowed her head. 

"It's harder to trick Steven now, but I can still do it." 

"There's nothing to be bragging about, Amethyst." Pearl told her. 

"Well now that that's done," he wiped his face off with his shirt. "time to comb the beach for quarters with my metal mutt!" He raised his metal detector. 

Steven hovered the detector over the sand and it barked. He reached in the sand. "Silver dollar? Useless!" He threw the coin behind him. 

"Not useless." Connie said.

"Come on." 

The dog barked again. 

"This better not be another cat." He picked up another dog detector out of the sand. "Double dogs!"

"What luck, kiddo," Greg was surprised. 

The detector barked. 

"Quarters!" He reached for the quarter and one of the parasites from the corrupted gem grabbed his hand. 

Steven screamed. He furious shook it off of him. "Help!" 

It went into the air. It was the shape of a star until it came together into a spike. It started spinning and fell toward Steven. 

Steven jumped out of the way and grabbed one of the metal detectors. 

Three of them came spiraling towards him. 

He used the detector to try and hit them but missed. 

"Use your shield." Lars said. 

"I couldn't yet," Steven reminded him. 

They hit the sand and Steven saw that the metal mutt was in half. 

More came out of the ground and he ran away, screaming. 

Steven tripped over a rock. 

Pearl and Amethyst came around the corner. 

"Steven!" Pearl called. 

Amethyst pointed. "It's the little guys!" She grabbed Pearl as they zoomed past them. 

More drill parasites rose from the sand. 

Pearl summoned her spear and stood with Amethyst. 

The drills went for the two and they missed trying to fight them off. More emerged from the sand and were shot at them. 

"There weren't even that many on the monster." Lars pointed out. 

"The gem might've been able to grow them back and they've been hiding for awhile, they could've also duplicated somehow but I doubt that." Garnet explained. 

Pearl and Amethyst ran and the drill parasites hit the sand. They grabbed Steven and ran for the boardwalk. 

Some came out of the ocean and drilled holes in the hill. More parasites came out of the boardwalk. 

"They're everywhere! Why didn't we see this coming?!" Pearl wondered. 

"Because Garnet wasn't with us." Amethyst said. 

"My future vision was busy with something else."

"We need Garnet!" Steven shouted. 

"We don't know where she is!" Pearl told him. 

Steven looked to the arcade. "Meat beat mania!" He ran in that direction. 

"Steven, where are you going?!" Pearl shouted. 

Steven ran into the arcade and saw Onion with his moped watching Garnet play. 

"You really played all night?" Greg said. "You didn't get bored?" 

"Why were you playing for so long?" Steven asked. 

"I continued to use my future vision with the game, predicting its every move." 

"Ohhh." Steven realized. 

"Huh? Garnet! You got to come quick! Whew!" He was out of breath. "Garnet! Those little guys are back, and- and they're a problem! Whoa." He looked at the screen. "Wh-o-o-a-a! I've never seen anyone get this far!" 

"I don't think it's humanly possible. They get really hard after a certain point." Sadie said. 

Garnet was shaking the maracas. 

"B-b-but you gotta get back and help the others! Uh, Garnet? Garnet, come on!" He tried pushing her. "Garnet! Hey!" He pulled on her leg but she wasn't budging. "This is serious! Pearl and Amethyst are in trouble!" He started to climb her. "Garnet, why are you so hard to climb?!" He got on her head and waved his head in front of her eyes.  "Garnet!" He removed her visor and revealed Garnet's eyes.

"That's rare!"

One of Garnet's eyes was hypnotized by the game.

"What the-" Lars freaked out. 

Sadie was a little freaked out too. So that's why she wears those dark glasses. 

"It's normal for a fusion to have extra body parts." Lapis said.

"I still don't know what that is," Lars snapped with no bite in his tone. 

"I told you what was under Garnet's visor would be weird." Greg said.

"And that's why Sapphire's eye was like that." Steven stated. 

"So you just got sucked into playing the game continuously because you foresaw what it would do next?" Pearl didn't think she was playing it for fun. 

"I became a bit obsessed with it at that moment."

"I won't bring you guys to an arcade ever again." Steven giggled nervously. 

"Oh, my gosh!" Steven dropped her visor and it disappeared. Steven gasped and fell off of her. He saw the plug. "I'll save you, Garnet!"

"Well done! Tasty!"

Steven unplugged the machine. 

"Now you're cookin-" The game's voice turned distorted before it shut off. 

Garnet blinked. She threw the maracas into the air and powered the game with her hands. 

"Meat the beat!" The game resumed. 

Garnet caught the maracas and continued to play. 

"And my mom says I'm obsessed with video games." Lars stated. He wasn't even going to begin to question Garnet's powers.

Sadie giggled.

"Time to turn up the heat."

Steven saw Pearl fighting the drills outside. "The rhythm has her. The only way to defeat the beat..." He pulled out two quarters and put them into the machine. He grabbed the maracas. "is with meat."

"A new cook has entered the kitchen."

"You're gonna lose." Peridot said.

"I have to win!" Steven shouted. 

"Let's meat it! Prepare your meats. Shake it! Tenderize!"

Steven was trying to keep up with Garnet while Onion watched.

"Player 1 wins. You're toast, player 2."

"Knew it."

Steven put more quarters into the game. 

"Eat it up!"

Amethyst saw herself running from the drills behind them. She laughed. "While we were out defending the town, you two were in here versing on an arcade game." 

Steven laughed as well. "I know right."

Steven tried harder but still lost. 

"A player 2 barbecue!"

"Aw, no! My last shot!" He fed the game his quarters. 

"Let's meat it! Rack those ribs! Spice it up!" 

Garnet was spinning her maracas while Steven was not doing it half as good.

"Thrill is in the grill. You're toasted."

Steven and Garnet moved their maracas around rapidly. 

"Just give up." Lars said after seeing how well Garnet was doing.

"This is it!" Steven yelled while pulling a pose but lost. He groaned. 

"Player 1 wins! You're toast, player 2."

"I can't do it! Garnet, snap out of it!" He teared up. "What's wrong with you?! You've got to stop playing this horrible ga-a-a-me!" He pulled on a part of the game until he ripped it off. He smashed it into the screen a few times and he groaned and slumped to the floor. 

"She can't come back from this." Lars said quietly to Sadie.

Garnet was no longer hypnotized. "Steven!"

"Garnet!"

She pulled down her visor. "You won."

Mr. Smiley came over and he was angry. "It was you! You've been breakin' my games!"

"Ohh busted," Amethyst commented.

Garnet jumped outside and destroyed a few drill parasites. "Pearl! Amethyst!" The three grouped together before jumping off again.

"I can help, too!" Steven tried running off. 

Mr. Smiley grabbed him. "Oh, no! No, no! Don't you go flippity-floppin' out of here!"

Steven was sweeping when he saw Garnet take down some drills. 

"The only reason I'm let back in is that I do some cleaning for him. Or pretending to be the game."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Steven." Greg told him.

But I somehow manage to screw things up every time I'm needed, even when I'm not needed. Even now. I can't screw up anymore, especially if we're going to see the future. I can see the mistakes my future self makes and hope to undo them. I'm sure I'll mess stuff up. Hopefully nothing really bad happens. Maybe I'll learn more about mom...  

"Yeah!" He mimicked her fighting excitably.

Mr. Smiley walked by and he stopped. 

"I'm working! See?" Steven continued to sweep. "Hmm? A quarter!" He smiled. 

"Now you're cookin'!"

"This episode wasn't gem heavy either, but this whole thing is about how we've developed overtime so I'm sure there will be quite a few episodes like this." Pearl explained. 

"I think it's for the better. We could use a couple calm episodes after really intense ones, ya know?" Amethyst's statement was met with nods. 

"You know when intense things start happening?" Sadie was curious.

Garnet thought for a second. "After Lapis is set free things start to pick up. We then find Peridot, Jasper shows up and so on."  

Set free? Sadie wondered looking at the blue gem to her left. Was the reason she took the ocean because she was so mad for being trapped? Sadie grew even more curious about the Gem she was sharing the couch with. 

"Let's keep going then." Garnet held up the remote. 

Chapter Text

Giant Woman

Amethyst thought for a moment before taking out one of Pearl's pieces in checkers. "Ha! Take that!" She pointed at her. 

"Wow, Amethyst, I'm impressed." Steven threw a water balloon on her. 

"Now it's your move, Pearl!" Steven was sitting on a lifeguard chair with sunglasses on and a handful of water balloons. 

"Steven, are the water balloons really necessary?" She asked. 

"Yeah! This way the moves really matter." 

"Classic Steven." Amethyst smiled. 

"But it's checkers. Every single move matters."

"It sounds like someone's being a sore loser." Amethyst said, twirling her hair. 

Pearl got frustrated. "I'm not a sore loser because I just won the game." She boasted while taking out all of the black pieces. 

"Amethyst, how'd you manage to set yourself up for that?" Peridot said. 

She shrugged. "I'm just that good."

"Whaaaa? Here it comes." A bunch of water balloons broke on her and she fell back. "Ahh, it feels good to lose."

"I certainly hope that's not the attitude you have during battle." Pearl was standing now. 

Amethyst stood up. "You're no fun anymore. This is why we never form Opal."

"We don't form Opal because you're difficult and a mess." Pearl told her, pointing at her. 

Connie perked up. I've never seen Amethyst and Pearl's fusion before. Actually the only fusions I've seen are Alexandrite and Garnet. And of course she was part of Stevonnie. 

Amethyst got in her face. "We don't form Opal because you're uptight and-"

Steven split them apart. "Guys! Guys! What is Opal?!"

I want to know that too, Lars thought.

It's like we're learning with Steven. Sadie was thinking. 

"Oh, it's the two of us, mashed together." Amethyst explained. 

Pearl scoffed. "Is water just hydrogen and oxygen "mashed together"?"

"Uh." Steven and Amethyst were lost. 

"Analogy wasted."

"But that has nothing to do with fusion anyway." Steven was confused. 

"Well, if you split apart water you get two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Combine them and you get water." Pearl explained. 

"Oh, I think I get it." Steven said. 

"Split apart water?" Lars asked. 

"Chemically not literally." 

"I hated chemistry." Greg added. 

"Look here, Steven. When we synchronize our forms, we can combine into a powerful fusion gem named Opal." Pearl controlled the sand and made a sand version of her and Amethyst dance and fuse. 

"Is this what you guys have been talking about? Fusion?" Lars asked. 

"Yeah! You guys will understand it after this." Steven answered. 

So they just... combine into one person? Sadie was a little confused. 

Peridot recalled seeing Opal a few months ago. 

Amethyst stepped on the sand Opal. "Except I don't dance like that ."

"Amethyst!"

"Wow! That's so cool! But tell me more about Opal!" Steven insisted. 

"Well, Steven, she's an ultra-powerful, stone-cold betty. That part's me. And she's like, kind of tall. That part's Pearl."

"She also has Pearl's long nose," Peridot added. 

The comment made a few giggle.

"Ugh." Pearl rolled her eyes and turned red. 

"What Amethyst is attempting to say is Opal is an amalgam of our combined magical and physical attributes fused into a single entity." Pearl explained. 

"Wow! Can you do it right now? Come on! Form Opal!" 

"Pfff!" Amethyst didn't want to. 

"Gems never fuse for no reason," Peridot said.

"There doesn't have to be a solid reason for it, Amethyst and I were just quarreling here." Pearl told her. 

"We only form Opal when it's absolutely necessary." Pearl told him. 

The warp pad activated inside the house. 

"Garnet's back!" Steven said. 

Steven ran inside the house. "Ooh! Ooh! Did you bring me anything?" 

Garnet handed him a rock. 

"Whoa! A rock! Thanks, Garnet!"

A few giggled. 

Connie thought it was funny that Garnet knew bringing just a rock home would amuse him. 

Steven lightly snorted. 

"So, was your mission a success?" Pearl asked. 

"I've located the geode beetles of heaven and Earth. We should split up to retrieve them." Garnet commanded. 

"Well, I'm going with not Pearl." Amethyst announced. 

"That's perfect because I don't want to go with grammatically incorrect people anyway."

Steven had the rock in his mouth. "Is her talking about me?"

"You three go together. I go alone." Garnet said. 

Garnet was interested in how their mission went, she knew the episode would follow them. She wondered how Amethyst and Pearl ended up fusing since they used to struggle on getting along. Obviously, Steven helped them to fuse somehow. 

"What? Why?" Pearl and Amethyst questioned. 

"The Earth beetle is at the bottom of the boiling lava lake, and only I can swim in lava." She activated her gems and summoned special goggles. "You'll find the heaven beetle at the top of the sky spire. It's safer."

Because that's possible. Lars thought sarcastically referring to being able to swim in lava and making goggles appear.

Sadie wondered what else gems can do. 

Garnet can swim in lava because Ruby and Sapphire's powers are hot and cold and balance each other out, right? Or was it just Ruby? Steven was thinking.

"You mean boring-er." Amethyst said. 

"You mean more boring." Pear corrected her. 

"So you agree with me."

"Come on, you two. Let's go." Pearl scoffed. Steven set his rock on the floor and followed them. 

"Steven, be sure to keep the harmony." Garnet told him. 

"No problem. Today's gonna be all about ha-a-a-a-rmo-o-o-o-o-ny!" They warped to the sky spire and Steven fell on his back. "Ugh!" 

"I see you haven't mastered the warp pad yet." Connie said. 

"Nope. Dad, when did you learn to use the warp pad?" Steven remembered the time when Greg used it without floating in the stream.

"I first used it with your mother of course," he reminisced. 

Amethyst laughed. "I remember that, you fell on your face." 

"So did I." Connie giggled. 

"I'm surprised how well Sadie did it the first time, but Lars was all over the place." Steven brought up.

"Haha yeah, that was our only time using it," Sadie responded. 

They were at the base of the mountain. 

"Whoa! Is this where the heaven beetle lives?" Steven asked. 

"Apparently." Pearl answered. 

"All the way at the top." Amethyst saw. 

"So, when you fuse, do you turn into a giant giant woman or just a regular-sized giant woman?" Steven wanted to know. 

"Ugh." Amethyst complained. 

"Does one of you control the right arm and the other control the left arm?"

"Now I know that's not how it works."

They got off the warp pad. 

"Come on, Steven." Pearl told him. 

Why don't they want to do it so bad? Sadie wondered. 

"Wait! These are extremely important questions."

The trio started to climb stairs. 

"Whew! There sure are a lot of stairs. How about you form Opal and give me a piggyback ride?"

"No!" The two said strictly. 

"What about if you eat a hot dog? Whose stomach does it go into, or do you share the same stomach?" Steven giggled. "That would be gross."

Steven's question made Sadie even more confused about fusion. 

They reached the top of the stairs. 

The bushes started to shake, Amethyst and Pearl got their weapons out. A goat came out of the brush and stood on a rock, eating a flower. 

"Look out! It's a magical goat guardian! Quick! You have to form Opal! It's the only way to defeat it! Hurry before it kills us all!" Steven exclaimed. 

A few laughed at Steven's desperation. 

"Steven, we only fuse for deadly situations." Pearl walked over to the goat. "Does this look like a deadly situation?" 

"Not anymore." Amethyst said. 

"Actually there are many times even before this that we've fused and we didn't need to in the situation," Pearl explained. 

"So that was just an excuse?" Peridot assumed. 

"Yes, though we won't fuse just so someone can see what we look like." Pearl explained. "We do it for us and no one else." 

Garnet nodded in agreement. 

The goat bit her finger. "Ow! Hey! Bad mountain goat!"

Peridot giggled. 

The goat bleated. 

Amethyst bursted out into laughter. 

"Darn it. Aw, I'm never gonna get to see Opal." He started singing. "All I wanna do is see you turn into a giant woman, a giant woman, all I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman." 

Pearl and Amethyst exchanged looks. 

"Compared to Blue and Yellow Diamond, Opal is just tall, not giant." Steven pointed out. 

"Yeah, those two are behemoths," Greg remembered. 

"You ran into them when you went to the zoo right?" Peridot wondered. 

"Yeah." Steven said. 

"Both at once?"

He nodded.

"Wow really?" Peridot was surprised. "What was it like seeing two diamonds at the same time?" 

"Uhh..." 

"Terrifying?" Greg answered. 

"I never want to see one of the Diamonds again," Lapis stated, honestly.  

"Yeah... I don't mind if I don't either." Peridot said after hearing Lapis. 

Zoo? Diamonds? No point of asking, Sadie thought. 

"How big are diamonds then?" Lars asked. 

"Blue Diamond fit me in her hand," Greg answered the teen. 

"They're that tall!?" Lars couldn't picture it. 

"Yep." Amethyst nodded. 

Connie has never seen any of the Diamonds before, I'm sure we'll see them in one of the episodes.

[Giant Woman starts to play.]

The three were climbing a ladder engraved into the mountain.

"I remember this song." Amethyst said. 

Pearl caused pieces of rock to fall on Amethyst's face. Amethyst glared at her and Pearl smugly shrugged. 

Pearl smirked. 

Pearl carefully jumped along the rocks across a river. Amethyst popped out of the water shapeshifted as a shark causing Pearl to fall in the water. Amethyst changed back and laughed at her. 

"That was unnecessary." Pearl told her. 

The three plus the goat walked across a rope bridge. Steven and Amethyst start to jump, making the bridge shake up and down. Pearl runs over yelling at them, Amethyst starts to argue back. Steven pulls them into a hug and Pearl and Amethyst look away from each other. 

It made some of the viewers smile.

They were climbing a steep hill and Steven was riding on the goat. 

"What's with the goat?" Connie noticed it was following them.

"Haha. That's Steven Jr." Steven said. 

"I'd really want to be a giant woman, a giant woman. All I wanna do is see you turn into a giant woman." Steven ended the song. 

The goat screamed and jumped off, throwing Steven off of it. 

The goat jumped along the floating rocks to the other side, it bleated. 

"Wait up, Steven Jr." Steven was about to follow him. 

"Wait!" Pearl stopped him. "Steven, I'm not sure you can make those jumps."

"Now why are those rocks floating?" Lars wondered. 

"We were in a gem-made place. The atmosphere and magic allow the rocks to float." Pearl explained. 

"Oh! You should fuse into Opal, and then lay across the rocks like a bridge!"

"We don't need Opal to get across." Pearl told him after looking at Amethyst. 

"Can you do it anyway? Please?" He begged. "It would be easier, wouldn't it?"

"Jumping with you in her arms would be even easier." Peridot said. 

"Not as easy as this!" Amethyst picked Steven up and threw him onto one of the rocks while jumping on it as well.

Steven got his balance. "Wow, Amethyst. That was a really good idea!"

"I know. I'm full of 'em." Amethyst bragged.

"Horrible idea." Pearl said bluntly.

"If you were able to float then we wouldn't have had a problem." Amethyst remarked. 

Pearl freaked.

"Aw, come on, Pearl! It's safe! Just look!" Steven started to make the rock tilt. 

Amethyst jumped and Steven fell off. Amethyst looked at Pearl and she freaked even more. 

"Can't trust you guys to do anything right." Garnet said sarcastically. 

"The way they saved me was pretty cool though."

Steven continued to fall while Pearl leaped off the side of a rock with Amethyst's whip around her. Pearl grabbed Steven and Amethyst pulled them back up.

Garnet smiled. Even though this happened a while ago, it made her happy seeing Pearl and Amethyst working together. 

"Seriously, Steven, you're close to falling to your death every episode," Lars pointed out. 

Amethyst giggled. "I didn't notice that." 

"That was so great how you worked together. Why don't you do that all the time?" 

The two met each other's gaze but looked away. 

They were finally atop the sky spire.

"I can't feel my legs anymore!" He was out of breath.

"There were a lot of stairs." Steven remembered. 

"Right? Garnet got the easy mission." Amethyst agreed. 

"I had to swim through lava."

"That's easy for you." Amethyst said. 

"Not when you can't see through it."

"Garnet, you have future vision, your mission was easier," Amethyst retorted.

Garnet chuckled. 

"I think climbing up stairs would be easier than swimming through lava," Lars announced. 

"We also had to deal with a corrupted gem." Pearl added. 

"Hey, look at that!" Steven ran to where the heaven beetle was supposed to be. "It's a tiny temple!"

"It's just where Garnet said it would be. The heaven beetle should be inside." Pearl walked over.

Amethyst leaned on a wall.

"Check it out!" Steven peeked inside the temple. "It's even got a little beetle bedroom and little beetle bongos and a little beetle baby book."

"What would the beetle be needing a TV for?" Connie pointed out. 

"Is that a gaming console?" Sadie noticed. 

"Well I don't know about all that but the heaven beetle had a temple built atop the sky spire once the rebellion broke out. She and the earth beetle must've not been able to get off the planet once the Diamonds attacked." Pearl explained. 

"What do gems do in the spires anyway?" Steven asked. 

"It's where the most intelligent gems come together and... think, basically." 

"So they just go there to brainstorm?" Connie asked. 

"Pretty much."

"But where's the beetle? It's supposed to be here. The heaven beetle wouldn't leave, would it? Oh, it could be anywhere!" Pearl's tone became frantic.

"Maybe it decided to go for a swim."

Lars' statement made Sadie smirk. 

"Uh, maybe you should freak out some more. That's really gonna help us find it."

"I can't believe your attitude, Amethyst. And now you're just slouching over here doing nothing!" Pearl chided her.

"Hey! It's not my fault the beetle isn't there! Why do you have to make things worse by squawking at me?"

At least Pearl doesn't argue with her over the simplest things anymore. How much we've changed. It's surprising. Amethyst didn't realize how much.  

An actual squawk alerted the goat. 

"I don't squawk!"

"What's that?" Greg wondered. 

"The corrupted bird gem." Steven answered. 

So these corrupted gems can swim, fly, be invisible, and take over buildings. What can't they do? Lars thought. 

Steven Jr. started to continuously bleat. 

"Yeah, you're squawking and commenting on my posture!" Amethyst yelled.

"Hey! Cut it out! You're scaring Steven Jr!" Steven got in the middle of them. 

A giant bird monster flew above them and screeched. 

"It's huge!" Sadie said, in awe.

"It has no eyes!" Lars pointed out. 

It swallowed the goat.

"My son." Steven teared up. 

The bird screeched louder. Pearl threw her spear at the bird but it ate it. Steven screamed.

"In here, guys!" Amethyst took Steven and pulled him under the roof. 

Pearl followed them and they ran until the bird's beak couldn't reach them. 

"It swallowed my spear!"

"I don't know why that gem had a knack for eating things." Pearl said. "They don't usually do that."

"Guys, this is great! Now's the perfect time for you two to form Opal!" Steven suggested. 

But do they? Lars wondered. 

How do they do it? Sadie was interested. 

The bird got on top of the roof and tried to reach them. 

"It is a dangerous situation." Peridot said.

Greg remembered seeing Opal back when Amethyst had short hair and wondered how different she would look now. 

Steven sat while Pearl and Amethyst bowed and their gems activated. 

Pearl twirled and saw Amethyst dancing assertively. 

"Oh, brother." She twirled again and the two danced their way to each other. Pearl offered her hand out and Amethyst grabbed it, pulling her down. Pearl elbowed Amy in the face and hit her head on the ground. 

"So messy." Peridot said. 

"How'd you manage to hit each other in the head?" Greg didn't remember their fusion dance being so out of sync. 

"You guys needed some work." Garnet said. 

"We got better." Amethyst told her. 

So they dance? I still don't understand, Lars and Sadie were thinking. 

"Ugh!"

Steven watched them glow. Their glowing form built up but became unstable and they fell apart. 

"Really? Even- even Lapis and Jasper were able to fuse." Peridot pointed out, a bit hesitant.

"Me and Jasper... danced the same way," Lapis explained, softly. "Their dancing was completely different from each other."

"So, you wanna try that again with less hitting me in the face this time?"

"Well, it would have worked if your movements weren't so erratic and formless." Pearl argued. 

"So, it was all my fault?" Amethyst walked over to her. "You totally weren't even trying to sync with my dancing. You should know how I dance by now!"

Pearl felt bad at always criticizing Amethyst when she, too, needed to improve.

"You two needed to pick a style of dance, either one or the other or make something new." Garnet advised. 

Pearl pushed her away and Amethyst grabbed her wrist and got in her face. 

"Stop! Come on, guys! Please stop fighting! If you can't get along with each other, I might never get to see your awesome fusion power!" Steven heard the bird squeal. "And I might get eaten by a giant bird!"

The bird crashed through the ceiling and snapped it's jaws, taking Steven with it. It swallowed him. 

"Ugh." Lars shuddered. 

"I can't imagine being eaten by a corrupted gem. Gross," Peridot stated. 

"Oh my." Greg said, shocked.

"Steven!" Amy and Pearl screamed. 

Steven landed in the bird's stomach and gasped when he saw a skeleton goat head. 

"Are those bubbled gems in there?" Connie saw. 

"Yes, it is. For whatever reason, the bird is made up of many corrupted gems." Pearl explained. 

"Is it a fusion?" Steven wondered. 

"No, if she was a fusion the gems wouldn't be bubbled, they'd be a part of her," Pearl answered. 

Steven Jr. bleated and was chewing on something. 

"Ugh. I see skeletons in there, too." Greg noticed.

"And swords. Maybe people died trying to get out of the bird, probably medieval people." Connie analyzed.

"Oh... that's disturbing." Steven said. 

"But why does the bird eat things..?" Pearl still was wondering. 

"Steven Jr!" He ran over to the goat who was on a pile of garbage. "How can you eat at a time like this?" Steven noticed he was chewing on the beetle. "Hey, is that the heaven beetle? Let me see it!" Steven struggled to get the bug out of its mouth. 

"So the bird ate the beetle." Amethyst said. 

"Hey! Be a good goat and give me the magic bug!" The bird shook and caused the two to fall over. "I got it!" 

Steven was excited to see Opal again, it's been awhile. 

The goat tried to get it back. 

"No! B-bad goat! You're no son of mine!"

An arm pierced through the bird. Steven and the goat ran and were stopped with three more arms. 

"Opal!" Steven yelled. 

Connie and even Lapis wanted to see what she looked like. 

Sadie and Lars didn't know what to expect. 

"What's going on?!" Opal took the goat. "Steven Jr. Oooh!" Opal grabbed him.

So they fused because of Steven. Of course, he's the only one they can agree on. Garnet was thinking. 

She pulled him out and the bird deteriorated into tiny shards. 

"What the-"

"It's a very abnormal corrupted gem." Garnet observed. 

Opal landed in the water and stood up straight, letting the goat go. 

"Wow, she's beautiful." Connie was in awe. 

Lapis thought about how the more compatible two gems are, the more humanoid the fusion will look. Of course that wasn't the only factor of what a fusion would look like. Garnet looks like her own gem and only has one extra eye. Opal has four arms, but it's all better than Malachite. Malachite didn't even have legs. 

"Four arms? Wait, so if you mash you two together you get that?" Lars asked, starting to understand. 

"Yup," Amethyst said, proudly. 

"'Mashed' isn't the word to use but, yes. We 'combine' into one being. Opal has Amethyst and I's combined power, appearance and... body parts." Pearl explained. 

"Huh. She does have Pearl's nose." Greg saw. 

A few giggled while Pearl scoffed. 

"Opal?" Steven looked up at the fusion. 

How can two people control one person? Sadie wondered. 

The shards turned into smaller bird monsters and flew above them. 

"It looks like the gems in the bird have turned into the smaller ones." Garnet said.

They dived aiming for Opal but she did a few back handsprings and slid down the spire on the top of the stairs. 

"That was all Pearl." Amethyst mentioned. 

"Your fusion is very athletic." Peridot pointed out. 

"Well you gave me the extra strength to do it so it wasn't just me," Pearl had to give Amethyst credit where it was due.  

The birds followed them all the way down. Opal jumped off the spire and onto the grass, Steven held on. 

"Stay low." She put him down. Opal took Pearl's spear and Amethyst's whip and combined them into a bow. 

"Pearl's spear combined with Amethyst's whip make a bow." Peridot explained. 

"So fusion has a fused weapon as well?" Sadie asked. 

"Yeah!" Steven exclaimed. "Isn't it cool?"

"It's so cool!" Connie immediately tried putting together the different weapons, she hadn't seen any other fusions but she could guess what their weapons were. 

The birds were coming for them when Opal drew the string back with two of her arms. An arrow formed as she charged up. 

The humans watched in curiosity at the strange arrow. 

Steven remembered Opal doing the same thing when the hand ship came to Earth.

She launched the arrow and it bursted in the middle of the flock wiping them all out. They all were bubbled and sent to the temple automatically. 

"Did they bubble themselves or was it Opal?" Steven asked. 

"Opal." Pearl and Amethyst said at the same time. They smiled. 

Steven watched, amazed and Opal helped him stand. 

Connie giggled. "That's me."

"Wow, she's really tall." Lars noticed. 

"Not as tall as the Diamonds." Peridot told him. 

And they all can do that? I wonder what they all are like... Sadie imagined. 

"Uhh, do you know who I am?" Steven asked nervously. 

Opal giggled. "All you wanna do is see me turn into..." 

"A giant woman." Steven whispered happily. 

Garnet was cooling her hair when the two came back through the warp pad. 

"We're back!" Steven exclaimed. 

"The heaven beetle." Garnet needed. 

"I don't have it. Unh!" Opal came undone and Pearl and Amethyst fell onto the floor. 

"Usually un-fusing is a bit more graceful." Pearl mentioned. 

"Not all the time." Garnet said next to her.

"Amethyst, you got distracted!" Pearl quickly accused. 

"Hey! You were the one getting carried away with all those fancy backflips!" She yelled. 

"Wait a sec. I've got the beetle!" He pulled it out of his pocket. 

Garnet took the beetle. "Good job, Steven." She put it in a container with the earth beetle and bubbled it. "I also see you helped your teammates fuse."

Amethyst and Pearl looked at each other. 

"And all I had to do was get eaten by a bird." He said proudly. 

Sadie smirked. 

"Nice work. You'll be great at fusing one day."

"Yeah. Wait. I can do that, too?!" He yelled.

"Can you?" Lars asked. 

"Yeah. I've fused with Amethyst and with Connie."

"How can you fuse with Connie?" Sadie asked. 

"Because I'm half-human and half-gem so I can fuse with anyone." 

Lapis was surprised too, she didn't know Steven fused with anyone at all. If she were to fuse with anyone again she'd want it to be with Steven, someone she trusts deeply and someone she doesn't want to hurt. But she still doesn't trust herself enough yet. Maybe someday...

"Garnet, you should predict what the next episode will be." Amethyst suggested. 

"Yeah!" Connie and Steven agreed. 

"Hm." Garnet sat for a second. "I see... dead man's mouth."

Steven and Lars recognized that name. 

"What?" Pearl wondered. 

"We're going to see that?" Lars thought back on the only day it could be referring to. 

"It's about the magic moss mom planted."

"Oh."

I guess she really can predict the future. Sadie saw it differently now that she knew she actually did it. 

"Wait, don't press play, I have to go to the bathroom." Lars got up and scurried to the bathroom. 

"We're pressing play!" Amethyst called. 

"No! I'll be quick." He quickly shut the door. 

"I guess I'll go after Lars." Connie said. 

"You guys and your bathrooms, just go in a bush. That's what I do." Amethyst said. 

"No one needed to know that, Amethyst." Pearl scolded her. 

"Do you see any bushes around here?" Peridot asked loudly, throwing her hands out.

Once everyone was done they continued to the next episode expecting to see the episode about the moss. 

So Many Birthdays

"How can you live like this?!" Pearl asked. 

Steven walked through Amethyst's room with a stick, covering his nose. 

The gems were following him, Pearl was holding her nose. 

"It was fine till you guys started whining." Amethyst complained. 

"Whining?! The whole temple reeks!" Pearl shouted. 

"I don't think this is about the moss, Garnet." Steven said.

"I see it much clearer now, next episode then."

Steven prodded things with his stick until he found what was smelling so bad. He threw the stick to the side. "I found it!" He picked up the burrito. 

"What manner of magical alloy is this?"

Steven opened the foil and a green cloud came out. 

"Ew."

"It's a burrito." Garnet said. 

Amethyst held it up. "It's the tuna burrito from Aqua-Mexican!" The burrito looked very moldy. 

Lars wrinkled his nose. "That's disgusting."

"At least I don't keep moldy food in my horde." Greg said. 

"And this is why I don't eat food." Pearl announced. 

"Food is perfectly fine, you just have to eat it before it gets old." Connie said. 

"Usually you'd throw it out before it gets that bad." Lars added. 

Peridot and Lapis didn't know a lot about food but it definitely looked unappealing. 

"That place closed like 5 years ago." Steven told her. 

Greg shuddered. 

Amethyst took a bite out of it. 

Lars looked repulsed, Sadie cringing next to him.

"What did it taste like?" Steven asked. 

"It tasted fine, my taste buds are made of steel." Amethyst said proudly. 

Steven shuddered. "Huh? What's this? It kind of looks like you guys and my mom." He looked at a framed picture of the gems in a boat with some humans. 

"Please tell me we took that out of Amethyst's room." Pearl said to Garnet.  

"We should hang it up in the house." Steven suggested. 

"What is it?" Connie wondered. 

"This is from the time when the 13 colonies existed." Pearl explained.

"It does look like it." Sadie saw. 

"Did you guys take part in any revolutions?" Connie asked. 

"We might've, we were always on the people's side anyway." Pearl answered, playfully. 

"That's..." Peridot was confused. 

"Earth history." Steven said. 

"Oh. I don't know anything about that."

"Oh, Steven, that is us!" Pearl exclaimed. 

"Really?" 

"The hard part was getting the shark to pose." Garnet told them. 

Pearl held up the picture. 

"Why's everyone dressed like old-timey people?" Steven wondered. 

"They are old-timey people."

"W-wait. But that would mean... How old are you guys?"

Lars and Sadie found out how old Pearl was earlier but didn't know exactly how old the others were. They both knew all the gems had been around for a while. 

"Much older than any human." Pearl said excitingly. 

"Does that mean you'll live forever?"

"No, no. We don't age, but we can still get hurt and die."

Steven's smile turned into a frown. 

Amethyst groaned and held her stomach as she fell to the ground. 

"But not from food poisoning." Pearl added. 

"So you guys can't get sick?" Sadie wondered. 

"Not unless we digest something." Garnet answered. 

Amethyst giggled. 

"I just can't believe you guys are like a bazillion years old!" He exclaimed. "How do you find a cake big enough for all those candles?"

Pearl looked to Garnet. "We don't really celebrate birthdays."

Steven gasped. "Why not?!"

"It's not our way." Garnet shrugged. 

"Oh, heh, this is when I threw you guys those parties."

"And then you turned into an old man." Amethyst added.

"Well, I can't just ignore this travesty of injustice! I pledge that you will have your birthdays! With all the candy, cake, and ice cream you've been denied!" Steven announced.

Amethyst threw up. 

"I had it coming." Amethyst shrugged.

The camera panned up to Amethyst's party. Pearl and Garnet were sitting in a chair in front of her. There were balloons and they were wearing party hats. 

"And the birthday queen is Amethyst!" Steven exclaimed, putting a crown on her head. Amethyst looked at her cape. "I hope you like it. Dad made me this outfit and it brings me special birthday luck every year!" 

Greg smiled. Though, Steven didn't even wear it during his previous birthday.

Steven rubbed his head. He’s changed a lot.

He turned on his microphone and it started playing music. "It might as well be your birthday so why don't we have a party?" He danced. "Even if your age isn't real and your body's an illusion." He sang. 

"What exactly is this ritual? Steven had one recently with the cluster." Peridot said.

Lapis was interested to know too.

"It's just a party you have every year to celebrate the day you came to be." Connie explained. 

"So you're celebrating your existence?" Lapis asked. 

"Basically."

"Homeworld should have something like that," Peridot felt. "I never felt like my existence was extremely important."

"I hear you," Lapis breathed a sigh, agreeing with her friend. 

Lion was playing with the party hat. 

"Hey! It goes like this." Steven put the hat on his head. 

Lion messed with it. 

"Lion, you're killin' me."

"Um, Steven I know you put a lot of effort into putting faces on things," Pearl was holding a balloon with a face on it. "But could it be that we're just a tad mature for this ritual?"

Amethyst had a hat on her face like a nose and touched Pearl's nose with it. "Boop!"

"Oh! You will remove that this instant!" She chased Amethyst after she ran. 

Amethyst and a few others giggled.

"Wait! Here!" Steven gave a baseball bat to Amethyst who was fighting with Pearl. 

"Aww! I'll use it all the time!" She raised the bar to hit Pearl. 

Connie was amused, she’s never seen the Gems act like this. They were always so calm around her. They probably only acted like this when it was just the four of them.

"No! It's for the piñata!" Steven held the piñata on a stick while Amethyst took swings at it blindfolded. "The piñata is an artifact from ancient aqua Mexico." Amethyst was close to hitting Steven. He screamed and ran it over to Garnet. 

"I'm quite confused." Lapis admitted.

"Am I getting close?" She hit Garnet with every swing.

"Higher."

"Y'all are crazy." Lars commented.

Amy pulled up her blindfold and hit the piñata into the ocean. "What next, Steven?"

Steven was hugging Garnet's leg. "Well, you were supposed to get delicious candy when you broke it open."

Amethyst gasped. "Wait. You had candy and you didn't just give it to us?"

"There will be more sweet treats at Pearl's party. I promise."

The gems were sitting at a picnic on the hill. 

"Happy birthday! Honk!" Steven was in a clown costume. 

From how these episodes have been going, I know this isn't just going to be about Steven throwing parties for the Gems, Greg thought.

"Steven, that is a brave look." Amethyst had two hats on. 

"No, it's funny!"

"How?" Pearl wondered. 

"Uh... Oh, geez, I'm breaking character."

Peridot giggled. "It's funny to me."

"Wait, wait, wait! I wrote some jokes!" He pulled out a piece of paper. "Why did Pearl throw butter out the window?"

"You did what?" Amy asked. 

"To see a butterfly!"

"I never did that. Steven, are you telling lies?"

Sadie was surprised at first but it made sense how they don't understand some jokes. 

"Huh?" Lapis didn't understand.

"That literally makes no sense." Peridot said.

"Wow." Lars didn't know why he was surprised.

Greg smiled, it did take a lot of explaining to get Rose to understand jokes. And she wouldn't stop telling them once she understood. He smiled at the memory.

"N-no! Oh! I know. Pearl, do you like pie?"

"I do like pie."

"I thought you didn't like food?" Connie asked.

"I like how it smells."

"Well, you're in luck!" He pulled out a pie from a basket. "I baked you a pie! I sure hope nothing happens to it!" 

"Yes, me too."

Steven made himself trip. "Wh-whoops!"

Pearl caught him. "Whoa, Steven! I've got you! Be careful. You almost fell right on that-" 

He slammed the pie in his face. "See, Pearl? It's funny!" He giggled with the pie coming off his face. 

Connie smirked.

"What's with you and slamming your face into food?" Peridot wondered. 

Pearl whispered something to Garnet. 

"Pearl says she's all partied out and she's ready to go home." Garnet said. 

"This isn't going at all like it should." He took off the clown hair. "I've got to pull out the ultimate birthday."

Garnet was wearing the king costume now. 

"Okay, there's no way you're not gonna love this!" He showed them the small cars.

Wow, even Amethyst is uninterested. Connie noticed.

"It's kazoo racers! You get in a car, you play a kazoo." He blew on it. "What more could you want?! Dad used to do this for me every year."

"Oh I remember that." Greg mentioned.

They're all like a thousand years old. I don't think they want to do little kid stuff, Lars thought.

"I think this is why aging makes humans die." Pearl whispered to Garnet. 

Greg couldn't help but laugh.

Garnet walked over to him. "Steven, thank you for the birthday parties, but I don't think we'll need any more."

"Why not?"

"Our age is only an illusion." She took off the crown. "And Pearl's pretty sure this ritual is more for human children."

"Nothing against children!" Pearl said. 

"Well everyone celebrates their birthday, but it's not usually this childish..." Connie mentioned.

"Children? Everyone gets to have birthdays! Seriously. Give it a try!" He pulled one of the cars over to them. "You're never too old!"

"We're just too big." Garnet said. 

"You're not too big." Steven sat in the small car. "Y-y-you just get in and then, uh."

"I can fit!" Amethyst shapeshifted as a baby and sat in the jeep. "Which way to the baby war? Eat tread, dirtbags!" She drove away. 

Connie giggled. "So many gems in this episode."

All the gems looked at her.

"I mean like... funny moments."

"What if birthdays are just for little kids? What if even I'm too old?"

"Yeah, you're too old for this." Wait, how old is Steven again? Lars forgot.

"You can have any kind of birthday you want, kiddo." Greg told him.

"I know, it was just..." 

"Your last birthday was fun." Amethyst said.

"Yes. I thoroughly enjoyed it." Pearl mentioned. 

"At least until the point you turned into a baby, I was kind of worried." Garnet said.

"I can't believe you guys had a party while the world was on the brink of coming to an end!" Peridot remembered how she was the only one working on the drill the whole day.

Amethyst giggled.

Sadie and Lars exchanged looks. They both had no clue what anyone was talking about.

Amethyst drove over. "No way. You totally fit!" She picked him up and slammed him back in the car. "Oh, my bad. You are too old." She drove away laughing. 

"Are you okay?" Pearl asked. 

"I just need to think." He got up with the car still stuck to him. "Kazoo racers suddenly seems undignified."

Steven knew what was coming next.

A fog drifted in from the ocean. 

Steven walked along the boardwalk. 

The Gems paid attention, they wanted to see what Steven was thinking when he grew older. 

"I never realized birthdays meant leaving things behind. All these parties Ugh! So embarrassing." 

Connie was a little confused. What is he going on about? It's not like him.

His gem glowed and suddenly he started to grow. His shirt became too tight and he grew hair above his lip and pimples. 

The room was confused.

"What's happening?" Greg asked.

Of course, just as we thought, Steven got older once he started feeling older. Will this be the case for the rest of his life? He hasn't grown drastically for a few years, and of course he still acts like a little kid rather than a teen so... Once Steven starts to feel like his literal age he'll start to look like it, Pearl contemplated.    

He walked out of the fog as an older teen. 

Greg gaped.

It's just like what happened at his party, but he got older this time, Connie thought.

Lapis and Peridot looked at each other, they were both confused.

"What the-" Sadie didn't know what to make of it.

Lars made an incredibly weirded out and bewildered face.

So I started to change here. Steven didn't know he was growing older until he looked at his reflection at the Big Donut.

Onion was in front of the skee-ball machine.

"Oh, Onion so young, so innocent." Steven walked away. 

"Wait what happened to you?" Lars asked.

"I, uh... started to get older."

"B-but why?" Sadie wondered.

"Do humans normally do this?" Peridot asked.

"No way." Lars was quick to answer. "This is all Steven."

"Peridot, haven't you realized by now that Steven is different?" Lapis told her.

"I started to feel older because of what happened earlier. And my gem reacted to the way I was thinking."

"Is that what happened at your party? But instead you started to feel... younger?" Connie asked.

"N-no that was because I was stretching myself out too much." 

"You kinda look like me when I was in my early 20s," Greg observed.

"Oh, hey, you do!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"I don't see it." Pearl admitted.

"It's pretty obvious." Garnet said.

Lars and Sadie were still a little lost but continued to watch.

Onion pulled out a screwdriver and pried the machine open, getting tickets. 

Steven walked inside the arcade. "Whackerman Jr. Aww I can't be seen playing childish games like Whackerman Jr. I better stick to sophisticated games like regular Whackerman." He put in a few quarters. 

"Your voice didn't even change." Lars noticed.

"It's whackin' time! You're gonna get whacked!"

Steven hit the guy with the baton. He laughed.

He walked on the sidewalk in front of a clothing store. "That was fun, but a boy on the cusp of manhood can't spend the whole day whackering. I need to take control of my life." 

I wonder how this is going to play out? It looks like the gems already knew this happened. How did he get back to normal? Connie was thinking. 

He grew to an adult before walking into the store. "It's time to get a proper job!" His voice deepened. 

The sudden voice change and transition startled some of the viewers.

How did I not know I was older? My shirt looks so tight on me. 

Is Steven going to look like this eventually? Peridot knows how humans grow and change but doesn't know at what pace. 

"But which one?" He looked at the shirts. "Surf master? No. Love doctor? I'm too squeamish. Ah! Now this is the job for me." He walked out of the store with a shirt saying: 'professional beach hunk.' 

"I don't care what's next. This is the weirdest thing to happen." Lars said.

"You just wait and see." Amethyst told him.

"Ha. This day went so fast. I need a pick-me-up!" He walked towards the big donut and glowed again. 

He walked in. "Two of the usual, please! I've had quite a day." Steven was becoming elderly. 

"Ohhhh. This makes a lot more sense now. I knew you looked familiar." Sadie said.

Lars scoffed. "That guy was you? Should've known." 

"You must be confused, pal. I work here every day and I've never seen your mug before." Lars said, leaning on the counter. 

"Oh, hardy-har, Lars!"

"Huh?" Sadie turned around and Lars was surprised. 

"I used to make jokes! But you know what? I've had a lot of time to think today, and sometimes you got to smarten up, act like an adult."

"You really gave me this talk?" 

"'Cause one day, if you don't, everyone you know is gonna grow up without you!"

Lars grew intimidated. 

"And you won't have little Steven to pick on anymore because I'll be a grown-up, too!"

What Steven is saying to the donut boy, it really shows how he's thinking and how old his mindset is. Since an elderly person would most likely be saying those things. Steven would never say this to anyone regularly. Garnet thought.

Lars and Sadie stood there for a second.

"Steven who?" Sadie asked. 

If Steven was wearing his star shirt, Lars and Sadie thought they would've recognized him. 

"Steven Quartz Universe!" He screamed. "And I want that doughnut, right there!" He tapped the glass and saw his reflection. "Oh!" He freaked out and backed up. 

"Sir! A-are you okay?" Sadie asked. 

"I'm old!" 

"You didn't know?" Connie was a bit surprised.

"No."

"Yeah, and nuts."

Steven started to tear up. "I'm gonna have to eat fiber cereal. All my teeth are gonna fall out." He grew a little older. "And then I'll have to eat oatmeal, and it'll be sugar-free! Sugar fre-e-e-e!" He sat down in a chair. 

"I was kinda worried for that man, but now I'm kinda glad it was you." Sadie said.

"I thought you were insane." Lars said bluntly. 

Sadie stood next to him and comforted him. "I need to reverse this! I need a reverse birthday! The king costume. Will you help me into my birthday suit?" 

Sadie and Lars' expressions fell. 

"Oh yeah, the costume you meant." Sadie said.

Steven ran out of the building while Sadie was behind holding a chair. "Yeah, you better run!" 

Amethyst laughed.

"Uh, sorry." She said shyly.

Lapis and Peridot didn't understand the reaction from the girl. 

He ran towards the beach and got a cramp which slowed him down to a limp. "Ohh! I'm too old for this." He grew older, grew a beard which led to his hair turning white. He fell over. 

Is there a possibility he could die from this? The humans were all thinking similarly.

Lion stood above him. 

"Lion!"

Lion picked him up and brought him to the Gems. 

How will the gems fix him? Connie wanted to know.

Amethyst was picking up balloons and Pearl was folding up the table. "You know Steven was right. This is fun."

Garnet walked over holding a box of balloons still wearing the costume. 

"You don't have to keep wearing that stuff." Amethyst told her.

"It makes me feel important."

The Gems remembered how sporadic they all acted here.

Lion dropped Steven onto the ground. 

"Steven!" Pearl yelled. 

Garnet and Amy dropped everything and ran to him. 

"What's wrong with him?" Pearl asked. 

"He's okay! He's just really, really, really, really old." Amethyst was holding him. 

"Gems can't die from aging. But he's half human." Pearl teared up. 

Oh, he can actually die from this. Connie thought.  

"Can't we fix him?" Amethyst asked. 

"My birthday suit might help." Steven's voice was raspy. 

Garnet took off the cape and Steven laid on the ground with it on.

"Good as new! Right?" Amethyst exclaimed. 

"Thanks, guys. But I guess this suit's all out of birthday magic. We had a good run, huh?" He got even older. 

I knew this would have a dark turn, Greg thought, his chest suddenly hurting.

Sadie brought her hand up to her mouth. 

How did he manage to make himself feel that old? Connie wondered.

Lapis and Peridot didn't like seeing him like this, even though he looked completely different.

The Gems looked at him, devastated. 

"More birthdays now." Garnet pulled them to the side. 

"Check it out, b-day boy!" Steven looked up at Garnet riding a small car that was Amethyst. "Heh, I'm a tiny car!"

"Beep beep."

Amy changed back and they looked at him hoping he'd revert. 

"Kids stuff." Steven said, helplessly. 

"You guys got that stuff to make him feel like a kid again?" Peridot asked.

"Yes, though it didn't really work." Pearl said softly.

"It didn't work at all." Amethyst said.

Amethyst turned into a purple piñata. "Ooh, piñata time!"

Steven groaned as he grew older. 

"Oh jeez, you have to be close to 100 by now." Greg said.

Steven watched the scene quietly. 

"It's not working!" Garnet shouted. 

"Pearl, get over here!" Amethyst ran for her. 

"I can't!"

"For Steven!" She brought Pearl in front of Steven. 

She was wearing the clown costume while holding a pie. She slowly walked over to him while crying. "Oh, look I have what, uh what appears to be a delicious pie!" Steven was breathing loudly. "I sincerely hope that nothing happens to..." She was shaking.

Connie was surprised. The only other time she saw Pearl upset was when they were sword fighting, and she wasn't acting this distressed. 

"Oh, Steven!" She slammed the pie into her face.

"Wow." Peridot said.

She's completely lost it. Lars thought.

I really needed to pull myself together.  

"Are you trying to kill him faster?!" Amethyst yelled. 

Pearl looked at her helplessly. She hugged Amethyst and wailed. 

"Pearl!"

Garnet split them apart and stood in front of Steven. She picked him up and started shaking him violently. 

"Garnet." Greg said strictly.

Wow, they're really desperate. Lars thought.

Garnet frowned, remembering how she thought she made the situation worse at the time.

"Garnet!" Amethyst and Pearl ran over to her and tried to get her to stop. 

"Garnet, stop!"

"I thought violence would be the answer." Garnet set him down. 

Steven aged more and weakly opened his eyes. His head was ringing and his vision was blurry but he saw Pearl and Amethyst fighting with Garnet. 

They're completely lost without Steven. Peridot's never seen them act like this before.  

I need to be more careful, I've had tons of close calls. And not just for me, if something happened to me it would tear everyone apart.

How out of control we were. Amethyst thought. 

He opened his eyes wider. 

Garnet turned around and held her face while Amy and Pearl were frustrated with her. 

To Amethyst and Pearl's surprise, Garnet was crying.

They turned around when they heard Steven's voice. 

"Would you guys just please control yourselves?!" He got up and reverted back into an adult.

The gems looked at him, surprised. 

"Uh Oh, no. Oh, I'm sorry." He went back to being an older teen. "I shouldn't have yelled. But I can't stand to see you freaking out like this!" Back to an adult. 

Mostly everyone didn't know what made him change this time.

"Wha?" Pearl didn't know what to make of it. 

"Steven, you're changing!" Garnet said. 

"Your age is fluctuating! I think your gem is reacting to your state of mind!"

"Steven, stop feeling old!" Amethyst yelled. 

He went back to a teen. "But I wasted your time." He aged to an elderly. "We all have such little time"

"I think this is making a little bit more sense." Sadie said.

"I'm still lost." Lars knew why Steven was aging but he didn't know how his gem was able to do that.

"Steven!" The Gems yelled. 

"You have to feel like yourself sweet and considerate and only occasionally obnoxious." Pearl told him. 

"Steven, you were being yourself, we only said the parties were childish because we are incredibly old and parties are a human thing." Pearl told him.

"Yeah, I know." He smiled.

He changed to an older teen. "Do you really think I'm all those things?"

"Yes!" Garnet yelled. 

"Why else would you throw us all those parties?" Amethyst shouted. 

"Oh, my gosh. You're right. I am pretty great." His voice and appearance went back to normal. 

"That was..." Greg started.

So getting Steven to feel like himself is what made him go back to normal. Connie concluded.

"Oh, Steven! Steven!" Pearl and Amethyst hugged Steven. 

The gems smiled.

"We'll work on the rest later." Garnet said. 

Steven pulled up his shirt and saw his abnormally long legs. He giggled and danced up and down.

Amethyst snorted.

"You okay, dad?" 

"Yeah, that was just a bit freaky." 

"Steven, because of this I strongly believe that you will start to age once you feel older. But waiting for your mindset to grow naturally, you should grow a lot smoother." Pearl explained.

"Huh. I think that makes sense." Greg stated.

"So you will grow up?" Connie asked.

"Yeah, it might just be awhile before I actually grow." He told her. "Plus I had that hair growing on my face."

"Right." Connie was glad Steven would be able to grow up with her, even if it takes a little longer than usual. 

"Sadie, y'know there's oyster crackers here right?" Lars said. 

"Oh really? I didn't even see them." She grabbed them, smiling. They were her favorite. 

"I have a feeling that wasn't a coincidence." Steven assumed. 

"Next is definitely Rose's moss." Garnet said as she pressed the remote.

Chapter Text

Lars and the Cool Kids

The Gems were standing on a ridge above a small pond. 

"This doesn't look good at all." Pearl stated. 

"Yeah... this is the moss." Steven said. 

Lars remembered what he said to Steven later that day and started to dread it. 

Steven jumped on a rock in the pond and reached for the moss. "Whoa! Cool!" 

"No, Steven! Don't get near that stuff!" Pearl yelled. 

Garnet picked up a boulder and threw it on the rock Steven was standing on. It threw him into the air and Pearl caught him. 

"Whoa! Steven's here!"

Connie chuckled. 

"You have to be careful, Steven!" She warned. 

"Why?"

A duck landed on a log but flew away when the moss pulled the log under. 

"Man eating moss." Greg stated. 

"What is that stuff?" He asked.

"It's the moss that Rose Quartz raised on the hill." Garnet said. 

"My mom planted this stuff?"

I should expect now that every unusual thing I see is because of them. Sadie thought. Though it's not a bad thing, some of it's really interesting. 

"Rose Quartz used to climb that hill every spring," Pearl pointed to the hill behind the temple. "and tend to the moss at the top." She showed Rose in one of her projections. "But now that Rose is gone, the moss is on the move."

Lapis couldn't reciprocate Rose's feelings towards the Earth. She was adjusting and learning more about it, the planet was indeed one-of-a-kind but she didn't see the Earth the same way Rose did. Maybe it's because of her past. 

"It's lost." Steven frowned. 

"It's not lost. It's gross." Amethyst said. 

"Yes, but Rose loved it anyway. She saw the beauty in everything, no matter how gross."

Lars recognized hearing that statement from Steven. 

"Fortunately, I know just what to do in this situation." Pearl said happily. 

Garnet, Steven and Amethyst sat on the ground behind Pearl. 

Pearl opened her eyes and turned around, she took the police tape out of her gem in her signature way. "Ha-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-h! Ha-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-h!"

"This is why I get up in the morning." Steven whispered to Amethyst. 

Steven giggled. "I love it when you do that Pearl."

She smiled. 

Steven caught the tape from Pearl's gem. "Is this police tape?"

"Wait, you just pulled that from your head?" Lars wondered. 

"Yes. I keep some things in my gem, well a lot of things actually."

"Can you guys put stuff in your gems?" Steven wondered. 

"Amethyst and I only use it for our weapons." Garnet told him. "But Pearl is a different case."

"Yup." Amethyst nodded. "I got unlimited whips." She pulled two whips out of her gem. 

"Get rid of those before you hurt someone." Pearl told her. 

"I'm not doing anything."

"What is different with Pearl?" Sadie thought she'd ask. 

"Well Pearls are made to... actually you can explain Pearl." Peridot said. 

"Having the ability to store things in our gems makes our role on homewold easier." 

Because they're servants, Steven thought. Mom must've freed Pearl from her original owner somehow. 

"Isn't this great?! This way we don't even have to use magic. Humans will just see this and walk away." Pearl exclaimed. 

"That's not entirely true, you need more than police tape to stop some teenagers." Lars said from experience. 

"Why is that? The police tape means danger, why would you put yourself in danger?" Pearl asked genuinely. 

"I don't know? Because it's fun," Lars answered. 

"How is it fun?"

"I don't know!"

"Don't hold back." Garnet was ready to catch the tape from Amethyst. 

"I never do!" She threw it to her. 

Garnet caught it and spun it around a tree and jumped down. Steven ran around a rock and tied the police tape 

tight. 

"You might've put too much police tape." Greg said. 

"Fa la-la la-la perfect!" Pearl tied a neat bow. Now we can come up with a plan to move the moss back to its hill."

"Who wants to get some lunch?" Steven asked. "Just me then? Nice."

Steven walked on the boardwalk to Fish Stew Pizza. "Gettin' me a P, gettin' me a ZA gettin' me a p-p-p-p-pizza gettin' me a P, gettin' me a ZA. Hey, is that Lars? Lars!"

Lars was leaning against the wall to the pizza place, holding his jacket. 

"Hm." Lars was prepared to see his past self embarrass him. 

He groaned. "Why now?"

He ran towards him with his arm up. "Got a high five for you from wa-a-a-y - downto-o-o-o-wn! Ohhhhhh!"

"No, Steven! No high fives!"

"Mmm, okay." He put his hand on his chest. 

Lars pushed his hand off. "Steven!"

Sadie was interested to see what those two do while she's not with them, considering no one's there to scold Lars if he goes too far. 

Steven giggled. "So how come you're not at the big donut?"

"I don't spend my whole life at work. I do other things."

Doesn't look like it, Lapis thought.

"Like standing against this wall?"

"What does it look like?!" He shouted. 

"Looks like you're doing a lot of nothing."

"That's the plan, Ste-van. Just playing it cool today, you know?"

Why is he acting like that? Sadie wondered. 

"We are so much alike."

"Excuse me?"

"You want to get a fresh pizza right out of the oven, but you don't want to seem too desperate, right? Well, there's no need to be ashamed. Just walk right in and ask. That's what I always do." He walked to the window. 

"I don't think that's what he..." Sadie started to say.

"Steven, don't go in there right now!"

"Oh, hey!" Steven was looking through the window. 

Jenny was sitting on the counter with Buck, Sour Cream and Kiki around her. "He opened the door, and there was doggy doo everywhere."

Oh, it was because of those guys. Lars' attitude made sense to Sadie now. She was happy that Lars is, to some extent, friends with them today. 

"That's nasty. I don't like nasty stuff." Buck said. 

"Isn't that Kiki's sister and her friends?" Steven wondered. 

"Jenny, Sour Cream, and Buck Dewey." Lars told him. 

"Oh. Those are the humans we protected when we found Peridot's escape pod." Pearl remembered. 

"Yeah! And we took pictures with them, I still have them." Steven mentioned. 

"I almost punched one in the face."

Amethyst giggled remembering that. 

They hung out with them too? How come it's so hard for me then? Lars grew a tad frustrated with himself. 

"Oh. You know those guys?"

"Not quite, but I'm sure we'll hang at some point."

"You should go in and talk to them." He suggested. 

"T-that's not how these things work, Steven!" He shouted. "The plan is to keep it cool and let them come to me." He went back to leaning on the wall. 

"Going over and talking to them is more effective than standing against a wall." Peridot assumed. 

"This is a human thing... you don't understand." Lars told her. 

The trio walked out of the building. 

"Here they come." Steven pointed. 

"Aah! Steven, turn around! Act natural!" Lars got worried. 

"Tell dad I'll be back later." Jenny called. 

"I don't think they saw you."

"See?" Peridot insisted. 

"Steven, you were blocking me with your big hair! Aaah!" He groaned. 

"Sorry! I'll go tell them to look over here!" He walked towards them. 

"Steven, no! Don't go over there! I hate you!"

Lars got worried, he didn't mean it like that but the gems can take things too literally. 

Lapis frowned, annoyed. How does Steven like him? All he does is disrespect him. 

This human clod. 

"Muffins that are like this big." Buck explained. 

"Those things are too sweet for me." Jenny said. 

"Hi! My name's Steven." He held out his hand. 

"Buck Dewey."

"They call me "Sour Cream."

"I'm Jenny."

They gave him high-fives.

Why is it so easy for everyone else to be friends with them?

"Aah, he's gonna wreck everything! What are they saying? I can't hear them!"

Steven gestured to Lars and started jumping up and down. 

"Ugh! Why is he dancing?! No! My life is horrible!" He cried. 

Connie rolled her eyes. 

And I thought Pearl was over dramatic, Amethyst smirked. 

"Hey, Lars!" Steven called. 

"Yo." He quickly turned around. 

"They invited us along for a ride."

"Huh? W-wait a minute. They? You? Steven, you got lucky. So, don't ruin this with any of your lame shtick."

He finger gunned. "Pyoo, pyoo! You got it!"

Lars face-palmed. 

Well, this will be interesting, Sadie thought. 

"Hop on in, guys." Jenny said as they got in the pizza car. 

"Oh, yeah! Middle seat!" Steven exclaimed. 

"Where'd you get that rad shirt, Steven?" Buck asked, sitting to the right of him. 

"I have no idea where any of my clothes come from."

"Yeah, man. Livin' free. I like it."

"Hey, check out my shirt." Lars said on the left side. 

"Oh. That snake is nasty." Buck said bluntly. 

Amethyst giggled loudly. 

"Heh, I can already tell you're trying too hard." Sadie said. 

Lars ignored her. 

"Oh." Lars laughed. "Yeah. I hate snakes."

"Oh, what? That's too bad. Some snakes are pretty cool."

"Sounds like it's time to buckle up!" Steven said. 

"Quit being lame, Steven." Lars told him. 

"Hey, man, there's nothing lame about seat-belt safety." Sour Cream said from the passenger seat. 

"Yes. I can agree with that." Pearl stated. 

"Of course you can." Amethyst said agreeingly. 

He's trying too hard so he'll continue to get shot down. Sadie thought, she's seen it happen before. 

"Car does not move till we're all buckled up." Jenny insisted. 

"Yeah. Now let's get some spaced-out beats up in here." SC turned up the radio and music started playing. "Yeah. I can rave to this." 

"Hey, this car's really cool, Jenny." Lars complimented. 

"It's just a delivery car for my dad's lame shop. Makes me smell like pizza. Where to, y'all?" She pulled onto the road. 

"I don't even know." Buck said. 

"Oh, can we stop by the big donut?" Steven suggested. 

"That old place?" Jenny pulled up beside it. 

"Man, that place is a drag." Buck said, looking at it. 

"Actually the big donut is one of the newest things on the boardwalk. When I first came into town it wasn't there." Greg mentioned. 

"Wow, I didn't know that." Steven said. 

"But that's where Lars works." 

Lars faked a cough. "Quiet, Steven."

"You need some water?"

They drove behind the boardwalk. 

"Funland arcade is the best! Let's do that!" Steven exclaimed. 

"Man, I beat all the "G's" in there like 3 million times." Sour Cream bragged. 

Steven gasped. "No way!"

"Yeah. Me too." Lars said. 

"No way!"

"Honestly, though, I'm just exaggerating to sound cool." Sour Cream admitted. 

Greg snorted. Teenagers. 

"I appreciate your honesty." Steven said as Lars frowned. 

Jenny drove up to one of Mayor Dewey's speeches. "Hey, Buck, isn't that your dad?"

Dewey stood at the podium. "Another reason you should re-elect me: I love babies! Will you look at that? A baby!" One of his security guards was holding a baby. "Gonna kiss it." The crowd clapped after he kissed it. 

"Hmm. I like his policies on babies." Steven said. 

"Man. He never kisses me like that." Buck mentioned. 

"That's rough, bro." Lars said. 

"It's not rough. The lack of daddy kisses in my life made me who I am."

Lars was frowning at his incapability. 

Lars sighed. At least they were friends now. He considered asking Steven for some help. 

"Oh, my gosh, guys." Jenny pressed the gas. "We should check out dead man's mouth."

"What's dead man's mouth?" Steven asked. 

"Oh, it's this lake where some dude died or it looks like a mouth. I forget the specifics." Buck answered. 

"Dead man's mouth, here we come." Jenny shifted gears. 

"Sounds good to me!" Steven exclaimed as they drove farther. 

Jenny pulled into the place where Steven and the Gems were before. "We're here." 

Everyone hopped out. Steven spotted the police tape and knew that's where the moss was. 

I should've listened to Steven, at this point, I barely knew anything about Steven's family, all I knew was that they were different and weird stuff happened around town. 

"Y-you know what? I know this place may seem cool, but it's actually a lot less cool than you think. Why don't we just go have some more fun at the boardwalk?" He tried to get them to leave. 

"Steven, stop being lame. Let's check this place out." Lars said and the cool kids agreed. 

"You should've just explained to them about the moss and they might've believed it." Connie suggested. 

"Yeah, But it worked out well anyway." Steven said. 

"Barely," Lars commented.

"Oh! Pff! The police tape!" Steven ran over to where the others stood in front of it. 

"Huh. Police tape?" Sour Cream saw. 

Steven was smiling, expecting them to turn around. Sour Cream pulled it down and Steven gasped. 

"Awesome." He led the way to the pond.

"I still don't understand why they would pull it down, there could've been a crime scene back there." Pearl announced. 

"I don't think police would leave a crime scene unattended." Connie told her. 

"I'm above the law." Buck ripped down the last strand of tape. 

"Who wants to go for a swim?" Jenny asked. 

The moss moved and Steven got worried. 

The Gems wondered how Steven dealt with this, he didn't really explain it to them in full detail. 

"Pants become shorts." Sour Cream said as Jenny and Buck took off their jackets. 

Lars took off his shirt and sucked in, he started to walk but Steven stopped him. 

"Lars, don't go in there! It's dangerous!"

"Steven, you trying to scare us?" Jenny wondered. 

"Build an atmosphere. I appreciate that." Buck stated. 

"Ooooh." Sour Cream and the others ran to the water. 

"Wait!" Steven shouted. 

"I'm not that slow." The three of them jumped off a rock into the water. 

"The moss will eat them." Pearl stated. 

"Would've it actually?" Lars asked. 

"Well it definitely would've suffocated them."

Steven held onto Lars, preventing him from walking anymore. 

"Hey, what are you doing, man?!"

"Don't!" Steven was teary. 

Lars struggled to walk and pushed Steven along. "Steven, what is your deal?!" Steven's feet got into the water. 

Why isn't he listening, he should know something is clearly wrong. Lapis was thinking. 

Lars tried to get Steven to stop holding onto him but saw the moss surround the trio and pull them under. 

"Ugh. Gross. I guess not every plant on earth is beautiful." Peridot stated. 

"No, the moss is beautiful, just wait and see at the end." Steven told her. 

Lars screamed and fell onto the ground. The moss went for Steven's leg and he fell back onto land. 

"What's going on?!" Lars yelled. 

"It's some kind of magic moss my mom planted!"

"Wait. Your mom?"

Lars realized he's learned nothing more about Steven's mom from then to before this, he still knows next to nothing and has only seen a picture of her. 

The trio emerged from the water and got themselves back on land. The moss covered them. 

"They're like zombies." Greg observed. 

"Guys, hang on!" Lars and Steven pulled moss off of their face so they could breathe but it kept growing back. 

Steven looked to the hill Pearl mentioned earlier. "Lars, I know what we have to do!"

Lars stood up. "This is all your fault! I knew if something went wrong today, it would be because of you!" Lars teared up and pointed to Steven. "Now I'm never going to be friends with these guys, all because of your weird mom!" He yelled. 

Lars looked down to avoid eye contact. Almost everyone in this room was close to her and I just disrespected her like that. He felt the worst for Greg. 

Oh Lars. Sadie was discouraged. 

Greg frowned, there's no denying that she and the Gems are different but it's just the way he said it and that she's gone that made it offensive. 

Pearl got irritated, Garnet and Amethyst didn't think it was necessary to blame Rose for this. But the feelings didn't linger, they knew he was just a kid. 

Just wait until he finds out she saved this planet. Amethyst thought. 

Steven took notice of Lars' embarrassed expression. He hoped there would be more episodes showing Lars' good side since he seemed to be getting the short end of the stick when it came to moments he wasn't proud of. 

Connie wondered how Steven would react. 

Lars was surprised by Steven's face. 

"What do you know about my mom?! I didn't even get to know my mom!" He shouted. "But I do know she saw beauty in everything, even in stuff like this and even in jerks like you!"

Lars frowned. 

Sadie was shocked, she'd never seen Steven genuinely angry before. Greg was surprised too. 

Finally he calls him out for something, Lapis thought. 

"Now help me get them to the car."

They dragged the mossed bodies to the car and put them in the back seat, putting on their seatbelts. "Lars, hurry!"

"How did they not die if they couldn't breathe?" Peridot wondered.

"They are unconscious, but I don't think all oxygen is cut off from getting to them." Garnet answered. 

Lars got in the driver's seat and Steven in the passenger. "This moss belongs on the top of that hill. Come on, Lars! What are you waiting for?!"

"Uh, Steven, I don't know how to drive a stick shift!"

"I'll work the stick. You just keep us on the road."

"Okay. All right. Let's do this. Ignition!" He turned the key. 

"Stick power!" He shifted the stick. The car headed for the water. 

"Steven, no! Put it in reverse!"

"Is that the one with "R" on it?"

"I'm a better driver now." Steven smiled. 

"Yeah, the dondai is a stick shift and we did pretty well," Connie agreed.

"When did you guys drive?" Pearl asked. 

"You guys can't even press the pedals, unless one of you worked the other." Amethyst added. 

"N-no, as Stevonnie." Steven told them. 

"Ohhh."

"Wait, when did you take the dondai as Stevonnie?" Greg asked. 

The two of them giggled. "It's not important." Steven said. 

"Hmm." Greg squinted. 

They backed up onto the road and headed for the hill. "Jenny's gonna kill me!" Lars yelled.

"What's gonna happen when we get to the top of that hill?" Lars asked. 

"I don't know!" Steven yelled. 

"You don't know?"

"That's just where the moss wants to be!" The moss was spreading onto them. 

"Aah!"

"Huh? Aaaaaah!" Lars saw the moss on his arms and swerved the car. "It's getting everywhere!"

Garnet noticed how the moss seemed to spread like a disease, infecting everyone it spread to. 

They screamed as they were heading towards a truck. The car hit the corner of it, placing a dent. 

The boys laughed. "We made it!"

"Thankfully, that didn't do anything to Jenny's car." Lars said, quietly. 

We're almost there!" Lars smiled. 

Lars stopped halfway up the hill and got out. "What do we do now?"

"We gotta get up there!" They started to drag them to the top. "Hurry!"

"This might've been better than our plan." Pearl stated. 

"What was your plan?" Steven asked. 

"I don't think we even had a plan." Garnet said. 

"We did," Pearl remembered briefly discussing one. 

"Barely. Plant food doesn't mean what you think it means." Amethyst said. 

"Well... okay fine, we didn't have a plan."

"I'm getting stuck." Lars fell down. 

"No! Don't give up!" Steven couldn't move either. The moss grew over them more. 

"Steven?"

"What?"

"This sucks. Ohhhhh!" The moss covered Lars' face. 

"Lars!" It muffled Steven. 

"What did that feel like?" Connie asked. 

"Um. We weren't in there long enough to be unconscious. Right, Lars?"

"Yeah, I wasn't."

"That must've been scary." Greg said. 

The five of them laid on the hill, motionless until the sun came out from the clouds. Pink flowers bloomed rapidly from the moss and Steven and Lars were able to breathe again. 

"See? The moss is beautiful." Steven insisted. 

"Yeah, it is pretty." Lapis admitted. 

"I didn't know plants could grow that quick." Peridot said. 

"They don't, but Rose used her healing tears on the moss and made it so every time it blooms it blooms rather quickly." Pearl explained. 

"But why that hill?" Lars asked. 

"She just liked to see the flowers drift over the town," Pearl said solemnly. 

The flowers floated in the wind and surrounded the area.

"The moss was just trying to bloom."

Lars grabbed one and looked at it. 

Steven noticed the crystal in the center of the flower. "That must've been why Ronaldo was so excited about the flowers."

"Oh, the gem in the center." Connie assumed. 

"Yeah." 

"Ugh. What happened?" Jenny wondered as the trio came to. 

"I think I died." 

"Guys, look!" Jenny and the two boys ran to the edge where Steven and Lars were. 

"Whoa!" Flowers drifted from Funland all the way to the boardwalk. 

"Woah," Greg said in awe. 

"You can see all of Beach City from up here." Sour Cream said. 

"It's beautiful." Buck mentioned. 

"Yeah. How did we even get up here?"

"Well, Steven thought that-"

"Lars drove us here." 

"Yeah, Lars."

"Omg Lars, our town looks so beautiful."

"Supercool."

"You're cool, Lars."

"I can totally rave to this."

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Sour cream! Sour cream!" Buck and Jenny egged him on. 

Lapis and Peridot didn't quite understand the behavior of some humans but they probably think the same to them. 

Steven held up his hand for a high five but Lars shook his head and put his hand on his chest. 

Steven giggled and did the same. "Yeah!"

"Okay, that's enough." Lars took his hand back.

"Aww." Sadie giggled.

"You dealt with the situation well, both of you." Garnet told the boys. 

Lars was glad he got praise from her, the leader especially. 

Onion Trade

"Amethyst!"

"Outside, dude." 

Steven opened the door to Amy leaning back on a chair. 

"Have you seen ranger guy?"

"Excuse me?"

"I know what this is already." Greg stated. 

"Oh yeah. Onion being Onion." Steven remembered. 

"Ranger guy. One of my guys. You know Guys?" He was holding little action figures. "G. U. Y. S.! "Guys Under Your Supervision." There's ninja guy, construction guy, cop guy, Eye guy, invisible guy, jagged guy, cat guy, apple guy, and my main man ranger guy, the best of all the guys. He's gone missing.

Have you seen him?" 

"What?" Lapis didn't know what that was about. 

"That was cool." Steven said about the way the guys were displayed. 

"Those are the kinds of toys you get at the grocery store." Lars stated. 

"But they're collectibles. I used to watch unboxing videos on TubeTube. You can get them in packages." 

"You can find anything on TubeTube." Connie smiled. 

"What's that I hear?" Pearl came onto the porch. "You can't find your little men in that super junky room of yours?"

"It's not that bad."

Pearl opened a window and a seagull holding a pizza with a banana peel on it's head flew out the window. 

"How'd that get in there?" Steven said nervously. 

"You let a bird in the house?" Said Greg. 

"I was feeding it then it came back the next day so I kept feeding it."

"You left your window wide open for things to just fly in and out."

"Aww, give him a break, P. My room's messy, but I always find what I'm looking for."

"Then why haven't you found my magic ax?" Pearl asked. 

"I haven't looked for it yet."

"Amethyst, go and find it right this second."

"It was such a hassle to get you to go find it." Pearl remembered. 

"Well you shouldn't leave your things in the water, they'll just fall down the waterfall and then you'll blame me, like always."

"That didn't happen. You took it," Pearl said with no edge in her voice.  

"Shhh." Garnet calmed them both down. 

Steven looked at his toys as they were arguing. 

"Hey, feel free to go look for it yourself."

"There's no way I'm going into that dump."

Steven walked to the stairs of the porch. 

"Pearl, all your nagging's made Steven depressed."

"Is everything okay, Steven?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just have to break the bad news to my dad."

Steven walked into the car wash. "Dad! Dad!" Water sprayed up in his face. "I'm so sorry!"

"Yeah, you're sorry." Greg walked towards him carrying a hose. "Sorry you walked through that door without a hose in your hand, ready for battle!"

"Really Greg, you know you can't fire at an unarmed person." Amethyst said sarcastically. 

"There's no rules to hose fights." Greg smiled. 

"Wait!" Steven stopped the water. 

"Man, you look sad and wet. What happened to your life, little guy?" Greg asked. 

"I lost something. Something precious."

"Your innocence?" Greg gasped. 

"I lost ranger guy. One of my guys from our special day at the beach last summer. You bought him for me at the end of the day. He was one of a kind. He had a miscolored hat. How could you not remember?"

"Oh. Was this the same day we ate that awesome funnel cake?"

"Uh, huh?"

"Yeah, man. That funnel cake. I even kept the plate. Come on!"

"Of course that's what you remember," Amethyst laughed.  

"Cool balloons." Steven watched balloons float out of the van. 

Greg looked through the stuff in his van. "Uh, let's see here. Got cans, napkins, oh, a yo-yo, a book about yo-yo tricks, a sandwich I've been meaning to catch up on." 

"Why don't you keep some of that stuff in the car wash?" Pearl wondered. 

"Because what if I need it? I don't want to go all the way in the building if I can keep it right next to me." 

Lapis thought anyone would rather sleep in a building than that cramped vehicle. 

Steven threw a marble at Greg. 

"Ow, my butt! Wait. What's your story again?"

"I lost my special ranger guy, and I'm quite upset over it."

"Huh. Well here's a bag full of quarters.

Now you can get all the guys you want." 

"Thank you." Steven whispered, holding the bag. 

"What did you say?"

"Thank you!" He yelled. 

Pearl giggled. 

Steven was in the arcade in front of the G.U.Y.S. machine. "We'll be reunited soon, ranger guy. Here we go." He put a quarter in the game. "And..."

"Is that game still there?" Sadie asked. 

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Steven answered her. 

"Dave guy!"

"What?!"

"Lucky!"

"Not lucky!" The figure came out of the machine. "He's, like, the worst guy.

Maybe he comes with something cool." He opened the container. "Taxes? Come on, Dave guy! Is this all you have to offer a bunch of paperwork?"

Greg found it funny that a toy came with taxes.

"Answer me! Thank goodness I have all these quarters." He put another one in. 

"Dave guy!"

"No!"

"Dave guy!"

"Stop it!" He threw Dave guy at the machine. 

"Dave guy!"

"Ranger guy!" He pleaded next to his pile of Dave guys. 

"Imagine Mr. Smiley saw you throwing things at the machine." Sadie giggled.

"I don't think he'd like that." Steven smiled.

"I don't think he'd be happy seeing you bought out the game." Connie added. 

"This machine is out of guys. Please try again another time."

"It's over."

"I didn't expect you to empty the thing." Greg said. 

"I was very desperate."

"Clearly." Amethyst said since he traded a gem tool for a toy.

The vending machine next to him started shaking. 

"Huh? Oh. Onion. What are you doing?"

Onion got out of the machine and walked away with his chips. 

"You can do that? I want to try." Peridot said.

"I think you'd be too big." Lapis told her.

"If only I could shape shift..."

Steven gasped when he saw a ranger guy in his back pocket. "He's got a ranger guy?! Onion!" Steven grabbed his bag of guys. "Wait up! Let's trade! Which way did he go?" 

Steven wondered when Onion could've taken his ranger guy.

Onion walked into Suitcase Sam's and Steven looked in the window. 

"Oh! I guess he needs a suitcase. Is he haggling with that guy? He's a tough customer. Looks like they worked something out."

Onion walked out with a bag. 

"Huh? Did he get that guy's lunch?"

"I don't get this kid." Lars stated.

"I wonder how this is gonna play out."

Steven followed Onion to the docks. Onion sat down and took out the burger. 

"Oh, man. Hey, good looking."

Connie couldn't help but smile.

Onion threw the burger into the water piece by piece. 

"What the heck is he doing?! He's not even hungry?! Not the tomatoes!"

"Why would he get the food if he wasn't even going to eat it?!" Amethyst shouted. 

"I think he was bored." Steven said. 

"Huh? Hey." A boat pulled up to the dock. "Is that Onion's dad?"

Yellowtail jumped onto the dock and picked up Onion. They mumbled to each other. 

"Huh? Is that another human language?" Peridot asked. 

"I've never heard it before." Lars said.

"I'm guessing Onion talks like that because of Yellowtail." Greg mentioned.

Steven thought for a moment. "I know Vidalia understands what they're saying."

"Sour Cream doesn't speak like that," Lars brought up.

"Well Sour Cream's dad isn't Yellowtail," Greg told the teen.

"Oh right."

"I guess they don't need words. Huh? He's leaving so soon?" Yellowtail got in his boat and left. "Does Onion just sit around and wait for his dad all day? Ranger guy! Okay. Let's do this." Steven walked onto the dock. "Hey, Onion. How are you?"

Onion shrugged. 

"That's good. That's good. I couldn't help but notice that you're a guys fan."

Onion stared blankly. 

"You know, guys? The little man in your back pocket?"

Lars snorted.

Onion pulled out ranger guy. 

"Yeah, ranger guy. How would you like to trade that boring old ranger guy for a brand-spanking-new, mint-in-box Dave guy!" He pulled out the toy. "Pretty nice, right?"

Onion shook his head. 

"Oh. I see where this is going. You're getting quite the deal here with two Dave guys! Yeah! What? You want more?"

"If he managed to get someone's lunch I think you'd need more." Greg said.

"Like a replicator wand more," Steven stated.

"Like two more? Five more. 10 more? This whole bag? All 30 of these Dave guys for just one ranger guy!"

Onion still demanded more. 

"But there aren't any more. The machine's empty. I bought them all."

Onion walked away. 

"Where are you going? Hey! Let's work something out. Ranger guuuuy!"

Steven climbed the steps to the house. "Ugh, stupid Dave guy. Got no future, your haircut's gross, you smell bad."

Amethyst giggled. "You talking about Pearl?" She was in the same place as before. 

"No. I'm talking about dumb, old Dave guy. I mean, just look at him. Does it look like his life is going anywhere?"

"Ugh. What did Dave guy do to you?" Connie smiled.

"Ah, cut him a break. Maybe this is the year he gets his life together. Maybe he'll get a cool internship."

Steven scoffed. "I doubt it. I can't even trade 30 Dave guys with Onion to get one ranger guy!"

"So, you need more of that little man to get some other little man."

"Yeah. And the machine is sold out of them."

Amethyst pulled out the replicator wand. 

"What is that?"

"Pearl's replicator wand." She handed it to Steven. "You can use it to make copies of stuff. You're magic. I'm sure you can figure out how to use it."

"I wonder if you guys were there." Steven said to Lars and Sadie. 

"Probably not 'cause I don't know what you're talking about," Lars answered while Sadie shook her head. 

"You had a replicator wand?" Peridot said. 

"Is it special? What was it used for?" Steven asked. 

"It's nothing special on homeworld, just another tool." Pearl described. 

Homeworld seems to have a lot of strange tools. Connie noticed. 

"Have you been sitting here all day with this in your hair?"

"Nah. I got up to look for Pearl's dumb ax but found that instead. Then I replicated a bunch of garbage and stuffed it all in Pearl's room." Amethyst giggled mischievously. 

Pearl sighed at Amethyst's antics.

Onion threw ketchup packets onto the boardwalk, he then ran them over with his moped. 

"What is he doing?" Lapis wondered out loud. 

He jumped off causing the moped to crash and explode. 

"See? He destroyed it and fire trucks came. Silly Onion." 

"At least he's wearing a helmet." Connie noticed. 

"Wait. I remember this one. Amethyst, Steven, he was the one trying to light things on fire when we went to the rides." Peridot mentioned. 

"Yup that was him." Steven clarified. 

"I wonder if Vidalia knows what her kid does." Greg thought. 

"Onion isn't like this anymore." Steven added remembering his time with Onion's friends. 

"Hey, Onion!" Steven used the wand and replicated a Dave guy. "That makes 31!"

Onion shook his head and walked towards Steven. 

"You want more? How about 32? 33? 34? 35. 36. 37. 38. 39." 

Onion ignored the toys rolling towards him and continued to walk to Steven. 

"40!"

Onion blocked the toy from hitting his face. 

"I think he wants the replicator wand." Connie said. 

"Yeah," Steven confirmed.

"Enough! What is it that you want?!"

Onion pointed to the replicator wand while sirens were in the background. 

"You mean you want this? For ranger guy?" He held up the wand. 

"You didn't just replicate the toy?" Lapis asked. 

"That's what I said." Pearl mentioned. 

"I didn't think of that at the time."

Onion nodded and the sirens got louder as Steven was deciding. Onion smiled creepily. 

"Why is this kid so creepy?" Lars stated. 

"Why did you want it so bad?" Lapis asked. 

"It was special."

Steven was now on the beach with ranger guy. "We are on the scene with ranger guy on beach patrol."

"Oh boy. What stunt is he going to pull with it?" Lars wondered.

"Things are looking just great out here, Steven." He voiced the toy. "Yep. Everything is great. Great." He fell back onto the sand. "Were you always this boring, ranger guy? I used to be a doctor. Maybe you're just more fun around other-" one of the toys fell on him. "Guys? Dave guy? I thought I saw the last of- uh." One fell on his head. "Hey! What's the big... idea?" The toys were coming down and a wave of them formed. 

"Yeah, I didn't see this." Sadie said.

"Onion!" Steven yelled.

"How'd he even know how to use it?" Connie wondered. 

Steven shrugged. "I guess humans can use it too. But it is Onion."

Onion was atop the mountain holding the wand and making more guys fly. 

"This is ridiculous. How did he get my replicator?" Pearl wondered as the three gems stood at the base. 

"That child should not be in possession of such an item." Garnet stated. 

"How'd you get rid of them all?" Peridot wanted to know. 

"Well, we destroyed it. Have you seen a replicator wand before?" Pearl asked her. 

"Uhhh..." Peridot didn't think so.

"I thought there was an easier way to get rid of everything." Lapis said. 

"There is. It just takes a while." Garnet answered. 

"I would've been willing to clean everything up myself without breaking an ancient piece of gem technology." 

"That way you'd see all the trash that I put in your room."

"Aren't these Steven's little men? Oh!" One hit Amethyst in the face. 

"They're called "Guys!" Steven popped out of the toys. 

"Can you please explain this mess?" Pearl demanded. 

"I traded that replicator for ranger guy."

"Steven, why didn't you just replicate ranger guy?"Pearl told him. 

"Dang it!"

"That would be more sensible." Peridot said. 

"Let's go before this gets any worse." Garnet and Pearl jumped off. Amethyst fell into the toys. 

"Whoa! Uh. How do you move in this stuff?"

"Try and act like a rich duck." Steven dropped back in. 

"What does that mean?"

Greg came out of the toys. "Oh, my gosh! I just wanted some ice cream."

"Hi, Greg."

"What the heck is going on out here?"

"Uh, you know, just doing our thing."

Pearl and Garnet climbed the giant hill. 

"Hand it over. It doesn't belong to you."

Onion pointed the wand at Garnet and shot the toys at her. Garnet blocked them with her gauntlet. "This is not a game."

"Did he have a reason for doing this or...?" Connie wondered. 

"No. He's just like that." Steven answered, he remembered how strange his visit at his house was. 

Onion shot the beam at a nearby car. 

"What did he shoot?"

A car appeared above them. 

"Go under!" Garnet pushed Pearl in the toys and caught the car. Another one pushed her back, she got it off of her but three more piled on top. 

"Onion wasn't our proudest foe." Amethyst said. 

"He wasn't our easiest either." Garnet admitted. 

"At least it stopped raining toys." 

"Ah! Rich duck!" Amethyst pulled her and Greg under the toys when a car fell on where they were. 

Steven climbed through the toys and came out next to him. "Ooooonion!" He pushed him down the hill. They both had their hands on the wand. "Onion, please stop. Let's trade back. You take ranger guy. He's the best. He even has a miscolored h-'' Steven turned the toy over and saw his initials on the soles. 

"I'm honestly not surprised." Lars said. 

"Me neither." Sadie agreed. 

"This is my ranger guy! You traded me my own guy! Our trade didn't count." He threw the wand on the ground. "That didn't work."

Pearl popped up. "I'm never letting Amethyst borrow anything again."

Garnet stopped on the wand. 

"Garnet!"

"I'm not cleaning up this mess."

The cars and toys started disappearing. 

"And all of the trash in Pearl's room is gone." Peridot said. 

"And everything I've ever replicated." Pearl mentioned, defeated.  

Steven was talking to Onion on the boardwalk. "I think I understand why you took my ranger guy, Onion. I bet you get pretty lonely waiting for your dad all day." Onion nodded. "You were probably really bored, too. And 'cause you missed your dad, you took my ranger guy, which is a symbol of the relationship I have with my dad."

Onion shook his head. 

"No? Just the first thing? Well, here.

You need him more than I do."

Onion took the toy and ran off. 

"That was nice of you Steven." Pearl said happily. 

"So all that for nothing?" Peridot said. 

"Let's go." Garnet led the way. 

"So, all the stuff that got copied turned into nothing?"

"Yep."

"Rats."

"That was really cool what you did back there." Greg told Steven. 

"Thanks, Dad."

"But you went through all that trouble for a toy?"

"It was more about the memories than the toy. Now we have new memories, horrible, horrible memories."

"Aww."

"Garnet, what's next?" Amethyst asked. 

"Don't you want it to be a surprise?"

"I do. We can do future vision another time." Peridot wanted. 

"Fine."

Chapter Text

Steven the Sword Fighter

It was raining, Lion was sleeping under the porch and Steven and the Gems were watching a movie. They were watching Lonely Blade , it was in Japanese with subtitles. 

"Oh, Lonely Blade, you so lonely. What?! The janitor is the evil samurai president?! That's bananas." He was laying on Garnet's head. 

"Oh, come on. It was so obvious. He's been mopping in the background of every fight scene. Look. Here he is on the cover of the box." Pearl showed him. 

"Oh, yeah!"

The two characters prepared to fight. 

"Why isn't it in a language you can understand?" Peridot wondered. 

"It wasn't made around here. And there's dubs." Steven told her. 

"Go, Lonely, go! Do the boomerang blade again!"

"Oh, come on. This is ridiculous. Just look at their form. This is nothing like real sword-fighting." Pearl complained. 

"I notice now that it really isn't." Connie said now having learned and trained with swords.

"Shh!" Garnet and Amethyst shushed her. 

Steven giggled. "It's just a movie, Pearl." He ate some popcorn. 

"Well, if you ever want to see a demonstration of proper sword techniques, I'd be happy to show you." 

Steven put his hand on her head. 

"Now?"

The group was at the ruins and Pearl was standing holding two swords. 

Steven knew what was coming. That moment traumatized him for some time. He didn't want to watch it again so he considered closing his eyes when the moment came. 

"Alright. In order to give a proper demonstration, I'm going to need a sparring partner." She announced. 

Steven tried to raise his hand but Garnet put it down. 

Connie giggled at that. 

"I have no chance against Pearl in a sword fight," Steven smiled. "But you do Connie."

"That's an overstatement, Steven." Connie said. 

"You continue to exceed my expectations in training, Connie." Pearl explained, proudly.

She smiled. 

Connie is training in sword fighting? Sadie had no idea. 

"Luckily, I have the perfect candidate right here." Her gem glowed, she twirled and a hologram of herself appeared. 

So this is where Steven's friends learn about gems retreating to their gemstones.  Pearl thought. 

"Cool! Hologram Pearl!" Steven smiled. 

"Ah, geez." Amethyst was next to him laying on a cloud. 

Pearl cut off the beam making it come to life. "Do you wish to engage in combat?" It spoke. 

"Woah,” Sadie was amazed.

"Pearls' get all the fancy tricks." Peridot said. 

"Let this be the perfect battle." Pearl tossed the hologram a sword. 

"You've already made a mistake by challenging me." It prepared to fight. 

"Ugh, you programmed it to act like you." Amethyst said. 

Pearl laughed. "We shall let our swords decide." She widened her stance. 

"Nerd!" Amy called. 

"Shh!" 

Connie was excited to see Pearl fight. Her posture is so graceful, she could never be that smooth. 

"Commencing duel." Holo Pearl's eyes turned red and went for Pearl. Pearl blocked, causing the wind to knock back Steven. They ran beside each other and clashed their swords. Holo Pearl dodged one of Pearl's attacks. Pearl dodged by flipping in the air. She landed and blocked the attacks. 

That's amazing. Sadie thought. Especially since sword fighting is old fashioned. She’d never seen a demonstration like this before.

"Defense rank "S." Zero openings detected."

"Go, Pearl, go!" Steven cheered. 

"Go, Holo-Pearl!" Amy teased. 

Pearl was distracted by Amethyst's comment so the hologram hit the sword out of her hands. It landed behind them. 

"Opening detected." 

Pearl dodged the sword by sliding under it and grabbed her sword. 

Peridot couldn't help but be impressed. She never thought a Pearl would be capable of this much skill. Homeworld would definitely turn a blind eye or completely repulsed if they saw any Pearl had as much skill as her. 

Holo Pearl jumped in the air, their swords clashed and Pearl took the final hit. "Hah!"

Greg was amazed too, he’d never seen Pearl in action. 

The hologram rolled on the ground and glitched a little. "Match. Set. Challenger wins!"

Garnet was always stunned by Pearl's ability to wield a sword, during the war and now. 

"Whoo-hoo! Yay, Pearl!" Steven ran to her. 

"Yeah! That was so cool!" Connie said happily. 

“Yeah! Pearl!” Steven exclaimed.

Sadie wanted to show her amazement, too. “That was impressive.”

Pearl became flustered, “oh, thank you. It was nothing really.” And it was true. It was just a simple demonstration; she showed more of her prowess during the war.

It was pretty impressive for a Pearl, Lapis thought. 

The hologram sat up. "Do you wish to battle again?"

"Pearl! That was amazing! You were so cool!" He ran around her. 

"Oh, well. One does try their best." She blushed. 

"Will you teach me to sword-fight like you?"

"All right, but we should start with the basics. Initiate training mode."

It stood up. "Training mode initiated." It got into a stance. "Level 1. Begin!"

"It's kinda like a robot but better." Greg mentioned. Though he wasn’t sure that he liked it.

"I want you to stand back, Steven, and watch me carefully, okay?"

"Parry! Parry! Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust!" Pearl blocked the hologram's light attacks. 

Steven remembered how it always said that and it got annoying. Always reminding him that Pearl was gone.

"Do you see what I'm doing with my feet, Steven?"

He got less interested. 

"Notice where I keep my center of gravity."

"Aww. Can you show me something cool, like the boomerang blade?" 

"That won't even be effective." Connie said. 

"But it's hard to dodge." Steven replied, jokingly defending his movie. 

"Steven, you know that's not a real sword technique."

"Boomerang blade! Boomerang blade! Boomerang blade!"

"Steven, these are real sword techniques, not those silly things from your movies." 

Steven was ready to cover his eyes. 

She wasn't paying attention to the hologram. "It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to-" The hologram came behind her and Pearl winced in pain. 

The humans flinched and Steven had his hands over his eyes though he tried to watch it. 

Steven gasped. 

"Whoa."

"Oh, no."

Steven was frightened and the shadow of Pearl with a sword through her dropped the weapon. 

"Wait..." Sadie was confused. 

"Pearl?" Steven teared up. 

She looked at the sword through her. "Whoopsy-daisy. Steven, it's okay. I'm gonna be just-" Pearl's form was ruptured and she retreated to her gem. 

Steven opened his eyes. 

"What was that?" Lars asked her. 

"Were you okay?" Sadie wondered. 

Pearl was a bit surprised by the worry of the two humans. "I was perfectly fine, this thing just happens to gems when we're badly hurt. You two have seen it happen before, with the corrupted gems." She explained. 

"Oh! You poof into nothing. I think I get it." Sadie realized. 

"Are you okay, Steven?" Greg asked, noticing him cover his eyes. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." 

Pearl looked at Steven. She remembered the night she came back, Steven had wanted her close when he went to sleep. How did he take all of this?

Connie remembered Steven putting both of them in a bubble when Pearl used the hologram for her training. Oh. She remembered him saying at one point that one of them hurt her. 

Steven saw the gem fall on the ground. "No! Pearl? Pearl!" He held it and cried while shaking. 

"Oh Steven." Pearl said sadly, seeing just how upset he was right after her retreat. 

"Challenger defeated! Level 1 failed."

"Steven!" Garnet and Amethyst ran over. 

"I-I was just and and she was trying to..."

"Steven, it's okay. Pearl's gonna be just fine." Amethyst comforted him. 

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes if our bodies are badly damaged, we release our physical forms and retreat to our gems to regenerate." Garnet explained. 

"So how do you die then?" Lars asked. 

"If our gem shatters." Garnet held up her hand. 

"Our bodies are made of physical light, we're like an illusion. Our gems are the only part of our body that can be rightfully damaged." Pearl explained. 

"So your gems are where your organs would be if you had organs." Connie said. 

"Yes. If that's how you want to think of it," Garnet answered.

That's so weird, Lars thought.

"So, she's gonna be okay?"

Garnet nodded. 

"Don't worry, bud. This kind of thing just happens sometimes, usually to me."

"Always to you." Garnet smiled. 

"Hey, I'm scrappy. What do you want?"

"So, how long will it take her to regenerate? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?"

[Two Weeks Later]

"Two weeks?!" Connie shrieked.

"Don't you think that's a little much?" Peridot asked. 

"There's a lot to do when regenerating," Pearl defended herself.

"How long does it normally take?" Sadie wondered. 

"It's different for every gem." Garnet said. 

"The longest Amethyst took was 4 hours." Steven added. 

"I usually take a few days," Lapis said. 

"Me too." Peridot agreed with that time frame. 

Pearl's gem was in a basket on a blanket. Steven turned on a lamp to keep her warm. "What's taking so long?" He complained. 

Pearl smiled, He cares so much. 

Garnet and Amethyst came through the warp pad. Amethyst was floating on the cloud. "What up?"

"He-e-ey."

"She's still not done? Man, she's really taking her time with this one. Got to tell you, though, love what you've done with the place."

The house was extremely messy. 

"Pearl usually helps me tidy up."

"Ah, I say leave it."

"Hey, if real Pearl can't be here, there's always the next best thing!" 

Steven pulled off the blanket that covered hologram Pearl. 

"Do you wish to engage in combat?"

"I'm gone for two weeks and you have already replaced me," Pearl joked. 

Steven laughed.

"I wouldn't trust that thing, it might try and fight you." Greg said. 

"Oh. Heh." 

"Steven, cover that thing back up."

"But it's like Pearl! Look at it!"

"It looks lifeless," Lars observed.

"Ye-e-e-ah. That ain't Pearl."

"Well, maybe I can get it to act like her."

"Here we have a mess." Steven and holo Pearl were in his loft. "Organizing messes is one of Pearl's favorite hobbies."

"Steven, I programmed it to have a fighters' mind, not a cleaning one. But I'm glad I reprogrammed it." 

"Yeah. The holo Pearl's are pretty cool now," Connie mentioned. 

"Here. Pearl likes to organize them by type, animal, humanoid, miscellaneous." He put the figures on the window sill. "Now you try." He held up one. 

"I don't think thats gonna work..." Lars said. 

It's eyes turned red and drew it's sword. "You've drawn your sword in vain!" 

"What?! Aah!"

It put it's sword through the toy. "Challenger defeated!" It's eyes went back to normal. 

"Told ya."

"Maybe we need to try something else."

Amy and Garnet were on the beach.

"I'm gonna do it." Amethyst was holding the cloud. 

"Go on, then." Garnet said. 

Amethyst shoved the cloud in her mouth and swallowed it. She inflated and started floating upward. Garnet held onto her leg. 

"You guys confuse me," Lars stated. But he had to admit it was entertaining. 

"What is that?" Connie asked. 

"Just the cloud I was sitting on earlier." Amethyst answered. 

"Pearl always likes to tease Amethyst when she does funny stuff like this." Steven said. 

"I won't go easy on you this time!" Holo Pearl was holding an umbrella instead of a sword. 

"That's the spirit! What are you rascals doing over here?" They walked over to them. 

"Draw your weapon, challenger!" Holo Pearl drew the umbrella and it opened. 

"Ugh. Steven, why are you still hanging out with that thing? It's gross." Amethyst burped and a cloud came out. 

"I just really miss spending time with Pearl."

Pearl had a small smile on her face. 

"Pearl will come back to us in time, Steven. Have patience. And stop hanging out with that thing. It's creepy." Garnet let go of Amy. 

"Wh-o-o-o-o-oa!" Amethyst flew into the sky. 

A few laughed. 

"Garnet caught me in the stratosphere. Right after I hit a plane." 

"I don't understand how that's fun to you but okay." Pearl said. 

Garnet was looking up. "Hmm." 

Steven and hologram Pearl were at the cherry blossom tree. "You had fun at the boardwalk, right?"

"Parry!" It had a balloon sword and a hat.

"I like the things you give her." Connie giggled. 

"Aw, come on. You got to work with me here. This is Pearl's favorite tree. Don't you recognize it? What's on your mind? Come on. Don't hold back." Steven was holding a stuffed walrus. 

"Sorry Steven, But we only share an appearance and a voice."

"I was trying to get it to act like you but it wasn't working," Steven remembered his frustration with the Holo Pearl not working with him and the length of time it had been since Pearl had left.  

"Challenge accepted!" Her eyes turned red and swung her balloon sword. 

"What?!"

The tree fell over. 

"Oh, no! The tree!"

"Oh, no," Connie held a small frown. 

"Don't worry, in 40 years it will be fully grown again," Pearl said like it was no big deal. 

"But that's a really long time." Steven complained.

"Eh." Peridot didn't agree. 

"Challenger defeated!"

"Real Pearl would never do that! You're hopeless! Get away from me!" He ran away. 

Thunder crashed and it was raining again. Steven was sitting on the couch near the window with Pearl's gem. "It's too bad you're still not back, Pearl, because I just found a copy of the fifth Lonely Blade movie!" He sighed. "How long are you gonna make me wait, Pearl?"

"Aw, Steven, you act like I left the planet." Pearl said though she appreciated Steven's worry for her. 

"I don't think I fully understood what was going on." Steven explained. 

"Oh, the popcorn's done. Stay right there." He got it out of the microwave. Steven turned around and holo Pearl was there. 

"Do you wish to test your skills against me in a duel?!"

"No! No sword-fighting!" He walked up the stairs with popcorn, the movie and Pearl. 

"Draw your sword and fulfill your destiny!"

"Why didn't it disappear when your form was dissipated, Pearl?" Peridot asked. 

"It's because I programmed it to disappear only when I said so. I made sure to fix that when I made version 2.000001."

"How many versions are you gonna make?" Lars questioned the excessive amount of zeros. 

"Hopefully just that one," Pearl answered. "Though I've been thinking of changing the way it's voice tone..." Pearl's voice trailed of and she got lost in thought for a moment. 

"Huh? No! Leave real Pearl and me alone!"

"I don't know, that thing really wants to fight." Greg was often worried about how much danger his son was in. 

He shouted. "Go back under your sheet." He threw it on it. 

"Brother, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, your... brother." The characters from the TV spoke. 

"Whoa! This dub is really good. What do you think, Pearl?"

"I think it sounds the same." Pearl answered TV Steven.