"NOOOOOOO!"
Inside a small building labeled 'The big doughnut' by a large sign on the front, a small child in a star shirt had his head resting against a freezer with a stylized cat face on top.
"This can't be happening! This has to be a dream!" The child turned around, clutching his head either out of desperation or the cold. "Lars, Lars! Please tell me I'm dreaming!"
He ran up to a tall teenager holding a box of supplies, clutching the top of his lanky legs. "Get off me, man, I'm stocking here!" Lars said, shaking the child off his legs and onto the floor.
"I'm sorry, Steven," a woman in a doughnut shirt behind the counter said. "I guess they stopped making them."
"Stopped making them!?" Steven said, aghast. "Why in the world would they stop making Cookie Cats?"
"They're only the most scrumptious and delicious ice cream sandwich ever made!" Steven got on his knees. "DON'T THEY HAVE LAWS FOR THIS!?" He yelled dramatically.
Lars sighed and bent down to replace some Styrofoam cuts. "Tough bits, man. I guess they couldn't compete with Lion Lickers." He turned toward a bigger freezer on the other side of the shop, which bared the name 'Lion Lickers' below the titular lion.
Steven groaned and walked towards the freezers. "Not Lion Lickers. Nobody likes them. They don't even look like lions!"
He put his arms on his hips, exasperated. "Kids these days, I'll tell you what."
Lars rose up from where the cups were held, looking smug. "Well, if you like your wimpy ice cream so much, why don't you make some with your maaagic belly button!" He said mockingly, walking back towards the counter. "That's not how it works, Lars!" Steven said. "Right?"
Steven lifted up his shirt slightly, revealing a pink gem where his belly button would be. He squished it slightly and sighed, walking back towards the original freezer. "Oh, sweet cookie cats. With your crunchy cookie outside." He started drawing a recreation of the cat face on the top with the frost resting on the freezer screen. "Your ic-y cream-y inside. You were too good for this world."
He rested his head on the freezer again forlornly. The woman behind the counter raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Steven..." Steven continued resting his head against the freezer, as Lars slid near the other employee, just as weirded out as her. "...Do you wanna take the freezer with you?"
Steven nodded.
Steven happily jogged toward a large statue, Cookie Cat freezer in tow with the plug tied around his shoulder. He hummed some sort of commercial jingle as he approached some stairs into a small house built into the base of the statue.
"Hey, guys, you won't believe th-" His thought was cut short by a large centipede creature with an eye in his mouth lunging toward him. This creature was quickly knocked away and pinned against the wall by a large woman with long white hair covered by a helmet made of some orange gemstone, and what appeared to be tiger stripes dotted across her orange skin. "You're back." She said, crunching the head of the monster against the wall, causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke.
Across the room, a green woman with triangular hair and what appeared to be robotic limbs was shooting balls of energy from her floating fingers at what appeared to be copies of the monster that attacked Steven. Two of the monsters disappeared upon hit, while another was launched back into a bubble of water, which crushed the monster and finished the job that the energy balls started. A blue woman in what appeared to be a dress walked up and inspected the bubble of floating water, as if trying to find something.
The three oddly colored women continued fighting the monsters, dwindling their numbers one by one.
"Awesome!" Steven yelled. "What are these things?"
The green one picked one of the monsters up by the tail. "Ugh, sorry Steven. We'll get these centipeedles out of your room." Her face scrunched up as she shocked the one she was holding, causing it to disappear like the rest. "We think they were trying to get into the temple.
Well, I think anyway. I don't think Jasper would have thought anything other than 'punch it'."
As if on cue, the orange one leaped near Steven, beating on another one of the numerous centipeedles. "Aw, you don't have to get rid of them. They're really cool!" Steven knelt down near the one Jasper was pummeling. The monster launched a glob of acid from it's mouth, which Steven sidestepped, and watched as it burnt a hole in the floor.
Jasper finally got rid of the centipeedle and scoffed. "Why don't any of these stupid things have gems!?" She growled. The blue one kept one of the monsters in another water bubble, holding it by the midsection. She walked toward the green one. "Maybe there's a mother one somewhere nearby, or something? You know, a template?" She moved the bubble closer to the green one, who shot it, causing it to dissipate like the rest.
"We should probably find it before it breaks everything." The green one said, annoyed. "Ooh, can I come!?" Steven said excitedly. "Can I!? Can I!?"
The blue one chuckled and knelt down near Steven. "Steven, until you can learn to control your gem, we'll take care of fighting the spooky stuff. Alright?" She winked and flashed a thumbs up at that last word. The last of the monsters lunged at her, before getting crushed by water in the shape of a mallet. It escaped, however, and peeked inside an open refrigerator.
"Hey!" Steven yelled running towards it, as it ransacked the inside. "Get out of there! Shoo, shoo!" He waved his arms, causing the centipeedle to escape. "Aw, man!" He said, inspecting the inside. "They got into everything."
The centipeedle ran towards the door, before being crushed by the foot of Jasper. "Not cool!" Steven complained, watching as Jasper finally poofed the last threat in the room. He looked back in the refrigerator, wanting to make sure that a light up bracelet he kept in there was okay, before noticing a plethora of pink packages with the same cat face as the freezer he was carrying. "No way. I-It can't be!"
He reached inside and took out one of the packages. "Where did you get these!?" Jasper approached Steven, arms crossed, looking quite happy with herself. "Peridot told us that they were going to stop making them. So, Lapis-" Jasper pointed towards the blue skinned one, who used her water bubble to hop on top of a counter before it rushed back out into the ocean outside. "-Suggested we go get the rest first. So, I went out and took a bunch."
Lapis and Peridot turned towards Jasper. "You WHAT!?" They said in unison.
Peridot walked up to Jasper angrily, floating one of her fingers near what would be her nose were it not occupied by an orange, triangular gem. "Jasper, we want to make the humans trust us. We're supposed to be protecting them, not stealing from them!"
"What are you talking about?" Jasper asked, confused. "I've been doing this for months and you haven't complained once." "Wait a second," Steven said, turning towards Jasper. "You've been stealing them? Are you the reason they're going out of business!?"
Lapis raised her hand, trying to defuse the situation. "Now, Steven, It's not nice to point fingers. Even in the quantity we were...*ahem*, obtaining them in, one person stealing them wouldn't be the sole reason they were going out of business. As for you," She said, turning towards Jasper. "Next time we ask you to go buy something, use the money we give you instead of stealing them. Please."
"There won't be a next time." Peridot said, returning her finger back with the others and folding her arms. "I'm sure by now every store in miles knows what her coming in means. Lapis, you're our errand gem now." Lapis shrugged, seeming content with the decision. "Anyway, point is," Lapis began. "That Steven is happy."
"OhhhhhHHHHHHHH-!" Jasper turned toward Lapis, who shrugged, just as confused as she was.
"He's a frozen treat with an all new taste!
'cause he came to this planet from outer space!
A refugee of an interstellar war!
But now he's at your local grocery store!
COOKIE CAT!
He's a pet for your tummy!
COOKIE CAT!
He's super duper yummy!
COOKIE CAT!
He left his family behind!
Cookie Caaaaaat!
Now available at-" "What in the world was that!?" Peridot asked. "It's the cookie cat theme song." Steven said, seeming a bit disappointed. "Oh. Uh...it was, uh, great, Steven! Gooood job..." Peridot said awkwardly.
The gems stayed in silence for a bit, before Steven, without turning his head, placed the freezer on the counter next to him and ripped the top of the wrapper off. He took out the cat shaped ice cream sandwich from the inside. Steven turned towards the sandwich. "Hello, old friend," He said, almost nostalgically. He bit off one of the top two nubs, and tilted his head back contentedly. "I like to eat the ears fir-" "STEVEN, YOUR GEM!" Lapis yelled, startling Steven.
Steven looked down toward his gem, seeing the last of a fading pink light. "Aw, man." Steven said, disappointedly, letting his arms sag to his sides. "I was so close." He felt a large hand clap his shoulder, forcing the remaining food down his throat. He turned up to see Jasper standing over him. "It's okay, Meat child. Why, I remember when I was first created, I couldn't even figure out how to punch things right." Jasper closed her eyes, looking proud of herself. "And just look at me now!"
Peridot scoffed. "First, Jasper, he has a name that isn't 'meat child' or 'Rose'. Second of all, I was there when you were first created. Your very first act after coming o-" Peridot paused and glanced at Steven. "Coming to be was to try to punch me through the wall on the other side of-" She made the noise of clearing her throat. "Anyway, despite that, Jasper's right. Learning to summon things takes time, time you haven't had yet."
"Well-can't one of you guys just explain how to summon a weapon?" Lapis and Peridot both looked toward Jasper, who still had her hand on Steven's shoulder. "What?" She asked. "You're the only one of us here-besides Steven, of course-who actually has to summon her weapon." Lapis said. She reached behind her back, trying to touch a blue gem in the shape of a teardrop. "Not to mention that it would be pretty awkward for either of us to do it, even if we could, what with my gem's location and Peri's visor."
Jasper sighed and moved her hand down to Steven's arm. "Very well then. Come with me, Rose." She dragged Steven with her towards the door. "Woooah!" Steven said, as he was yanked, dropping his relatively uneaten cookie cat to the floor. "Nooooooooooooo..." He said meekly, powerless against Jasper's practically ridiculous strength. "HIS NAME IS-" Peridot said, exasperated, before Jasper left the room. She sighed. "She has to be doing this on purpose..."
Steven sat cross-leged in front of Jasper, who towered above him with her arms crossed. "Now, uh, I'll admit this isn't something I'd usually talk about when the others are around." Jasper said, seeming embarassed. "But I...don't really know how I summon my weapon."
She widened her stance a bit and unfolded her arms. "I just tend to take a deep breath..." She mimicked her words with her actions, and closed her eyes. "...Think about the thing I want to punch..." She opened her eyes and looked off towards the distance. Steven turned around to see what she was looking at, but there didn't seem to be anything. "...Think about how I'm going to punch it SO HARD!" Her expression got more serious, and her hands formed fists. "Aaannnnd...weapon!" As she said this, her helmet materialized on her head.
Steven sat there, looking dissatisfied. "Of course, in a real fight that would take a second or two, rather than 10. Now!" Jasper said, "You try."
Steven attempted to mimic Jasper's stance, as she stood off to the side. "Take a deep breath..." He said, closing his eyes. "Think about the thing I want to punch..." As he said this, his gem glowed slightly. "Yes!" Jasper said, quietly. "Perfect!" "Aaaandddd...WEAPON!" Steven said, thrusting his arm forward. The glow of his gem weakened. "WEAPON!" He once again thrusted his arm forward. He opened his eyes and looked down towards his gem, which went fully dark. He sighed and slumped. "Aw, man, I'll never get this to work." Jasper knelt in front of him. "Hey, Steven, It's okay. I didn't expect you to get it on your first try. Honestly, that went significantly better than I thought it would." She looked towards the setting sun and stood up. "But, for now, it's getting late. We need to get back to the temple."
"We're home." Steven said sadly as he opened the door to his house. Lapis was spread across the couch, watching some generic sitcom on a TV in front of her. She turned it off and sat upright, looking towards Steven. "So, how did it go?" She scooted to the right slightly, as Steven flopped down next to her. "It didn't work. No weapon." He said. Jasper walked behind them. "If you need me, just come find me in my room."
"Will do." Lapis said, tilting her head back to look at Jasper as best she could. She turned back towards Steven. "It's okay, we'll always have tomorrow." She leaned her head against Steven's shoulder. "And you'll always have us to support you." "Lapis, stop." Steven laughed, trying to push her away. "Oh, don't pretend you don't like it." She said, one eye open, teasing him. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." Steven said, leaning back on the arm of the couch.
Before long, Lapis was disturbed by some sort of light. She opened her eyes, and gasped. A bright pink light was shining from Steven's gem, and at the end of it, a big pink shield with a rose design on it. "Steven..." She whispered. Steven opened his eyes halfway. "What is it?" He asked, yawning. "Look!" Lapis said ecstatically. Steven opened his eyes all the way, and saw his weapon floating in front of his face. "I have a shield..." He whispered, stars in his eyes. "JASPER! PERIDOT!" Lapis yelled towards the temple door. Before long, the two other gems emerged. "What, what's wro-" Peridot began, before stopping upon seeing the shield. "Rose's shield!" She yelled, excited. Jasper walked towards Steven, laughing. "I knew you could do it, Meat ch-" She clapped him on the shoulder, the shock of which started the shield bouncing from the room.
A bunch of water rushed in from the ocean outside, and covered the TV in front of the couch in a barrier. Eventually, the shield embedded itself in a smaller, older TV upstairs, breaking it and making the shield poof away. The water rushed back to it's origin, as Peridot climbed the ladder to inspect the TV. "Hm. Broken beyond reasonable repair. We're gonna have to get a new one." "And if we don't do something, we're going to need a new temple!" Jasper yelled, looking out the back window. "Looks like the centipeedle mother finally came looking for her kids."
The gems ran out the door, Lapis trailing behind the others. "Wait, can't I come too!?" Steven said, tugging on her dress. "Not right now, Steven. This is too dangerous." She gently swatted his hand off. "See you in a few minutes!" She said cheerfully before running after the others.
Lapis arrived, seeing Jasper continually headbutting the mother with her helmet, while hanging from the mother's hair. Meanwhile, Peridot took cover behind a missing hand from the temple's statue. Lapis grabbed a good amount of water from the ocean, and slammed it into the front of the Centipeedle mother. She screeched and reared back, nearly knocking Jasper off her perch. "Be careful, Lapis!" She yelled back, annoyed. The mother turned her attention towards Lapis, and started spitting acid at her. Lapis managed to dodge it, but the mother tried to use it to lead her towards the hand Peridot was hiding behind. "No, don't come behind here you cl-" She attempted to say, but before she could finish Lapis was already curled up behind the hand, watching it get buffeted by the acid. She turned to the annoyed Peridot and smiled sheepishly. Not long after that, she saw Jasper land slightly to her right, still behind the hand. "How did-" Lapis began. "Bucked me off." Jasper said, in a tone that made it clear there would be no further conversation on the subject. "Now, why don't you grab some more of that water, and make us a barrier that won't get melted by the acid?
"There's a reason I held the little ones form the middle and not the head. If they spurted in there, all we'd have is a barrier of acid protecting us from the acid. I'd hope you can see the issue there." Jasper sighed. "Fine." The gems stood there, all looking annoyed at each other, before the acid stopped and they heard something hit the sand.
"HEY!" Steven yelled at the mother Centipeedle. It turned it's attention from the increasingly melted hand to the new presence. It hissed, and launched a glob of acid at him. "Ha! Missed me!" He said mockingly. He turned towards the impact, only to see a broken and sparking cookie cat freezer. "You didn't miss the freezer, though..." He said dissapointedly. That didn't last long, however, as the Centipeedle mother wasn't particularly interested in giving him time to mourn. Steven ran around the Centipeedle, trying not to get blasted. "THE FREEZER, STEVEN!" Peridot yelled, getting up from behind the rock. "USE IT AS A WEAPON!" The centipeedle mother noticed one of her enemies poking her head out, and once again launched acid at the hand. Deciding that the small child running around was less of a threat than the gems, she focused back on breaking down their cover. Steven angrily grabbed the plug of the freezer. "Cookie cat..." He picked it up and ran towards the centipeedle. "HE'S THE PET FOR YOUR TUMMY!" He started swinging the freezer around like a flail, as the centipeedle mother turned to see what the loud noise was. "COOKIE CAT! HE'S SUPER DUPER YUMMY!"
"THAT IS THE WORST BATTLE CRY!" Jasper yelled from behind the rock. Lapis raised an eyebrow at her. "What? It is."
"COOKIE CAT! HE LEFT HIS FAMILY BEHIND!" Steven released the freezer and it sailed towards the centipeedle mother. "COOOOKIEEEE CAAAAAAAAT!" The freezer exploded, taking the mother with it. "Now available...nowhere."
The other gems slowly came out form behind the hand. Lapis picked up a small green sphere, and encased it in a pink bubble. She tapped the top, and the bubble disappeared from her hand. She knelt down near Steven, who was holding the few bits of casing that survived. "Good job Steven. We couldn't have done it without you." Steven looked up at her and smiled, before standing up and forlornly carrying the freezer parts back towards the house. Jasper walked near Lapis, looking confused. "He, uh...he does realize he didn't actually keep the ice cream in there, right?"