OVAL TOWN

JAKE HUMMED to himself as he flipped over a pancake on the stove in the RV's small kitchen, moving over and dishing it on a plate nearby. Groaning, Pearl walked past the dog and moved through the vehicle, bypassing Steven and Connie who watched a movie on a laptop and Amethyst who sat looking out the window opposite them, past Sapphire who read a book beside Ruby who was listening to music, and went up to Finn who was at the wheel while Wendy Corduroy dozed off in the passenger seat.

"Man, it's really getting cramped in here." Pearl said as she looked out the window. "Any idea how far we are from the island, Mertens?"

"I don't think we're that far away." Finn said, looking at the rear view mirror showing the ice trail that they were driving on. "I gotta say, you Crystal Gem dudes are pretty cool," He turned to Sapphire. "I've never seen or heard of anybody with this kind of ice power before."

"What about the Ice King?" Jake asked, sitting down and eating his seven staked pile of pancakes.

"We've never met him, so who knows." Finn shrugged.

"Well, I don't think my feats are that impressive." Sapphire said.

"I hope the warp pad here actually works." Steven crossed his arms.

"Yeah, all the ones we've found so far either didn't go to Home World or duds." Connie stated.

"Don't worry, I betcha this'll be the one you guys are after." Jake swallowed all the pancakes. "Hey, why won't ya tell us where you're going? Is it somewhere dangerous or something?"

"Yes, we don't want you to get hurt in the process." Sapphire shut her book.

"But we've been through a lotta tough battles before; I bet we could handle it." Jake flexed up, inflating his muscles.

"We already told you this before Jake; we're not taking you along." Pearl frowned.

"Fine." Jake sunk back in his seat.

"Hey, I see the island up ahead!" Finn called.

"Wait, we've arrived already?" Wendy opened her eyes lazily and looked out the window, a grin spreading on her face. "Sweet! Can finally get outta this damn RV." She got up and left her seat.

Moving past the auburn-haired girl, Pearl came up to the cockpit and looked out the window, seeing a large mountainous island coming into view. "Alright, let's prepare to dock and get this search started!"

"You got it, boss!" Finn saluted and stepped on it.

FINN DROVE the car wash RV off the large sheet of ice and came to a hard stop on the shore of the island - the frost behind them dissipating and melting into the ocean. Disembarking the vehicle, Pearl, Sapphire, Steven, Connie, Amethyst, Ruby, Wendy, Finn and Jake stepped onto the white sand and looked into the forest up ahead, seeing nothing through the thick wood. Finn drew out a Lacrima from his pocket and looked at a holo-projected map of Ooo, moving past Pearl who summoned a magical barrier around the van.

"Okay, the map says there should be a small town here, so maybe the locals might have a clue of what you're looking for." Finn told Pearl and Sapphire.

"Alright, we'll be on our way then." Sapphire said, looking at the map and taking a mental image of it.

"Guess this's where we part ways then." Jake creaked his neck. "Four days sleeping in a van sure does give a dog cramps."

"Thanks for helping us get this far; we'd be lost without you two." Sapphire said.

"Well, we won't be gone for too long." Finn put on his bag and walked on. "We'll be waiting back at the Candy Kingdom after you finish your business in space."

"And maybe I'll kick that purple bitch's ass in a beer drinking contest next time!" Wendy playfully sneered at Amethyst.

"Ha! You wish, Corduroy!" Amethyst cackled.

"Don't die on us, alright!" Jake waved.

"You too!" Pearl chuckled.

"Bye, Wendy, Finn and Jake!" Connie waved back happily.

"Yeah, see ya." Steven said, a little unenthusiastically, worrying Connie.

Seeing, Finn and Wendy hop onto Jake who turned into a wolf and disappeared into the forest, Sapphire, Pearl and the others went off on their own path. "Man, I wonder why I haven't been turning into any weird stuff lately." Amethyst crossed her arms. "Can't believe a dog of all things is better at shape-shifting than me."

"Well, shape-shifting is only useful for certain situations in combat; it's not a toy for you to play with." Pearl lectured.

"Well, I should use it more." Amethyst tried to think, growing a long tail out of her lower back. "Hmm, that should do for now." She looked at the appendage and wriggled it a little. "Bet a guy in town's into a little freaky shit - maybe he'll spank me like the last guy." She purred with a deep blush.

"Amethyst, there are children present!" Pearl glared at her.

"Yeah, and they already know I fuck guys a lot." Amethyst shrugged. "Your point?"

" And we are teenagers not children, thank you!" Connie interjected.

Pearl growled and walked up to Sapphire and Ruby who were a few paces ahead. "That woman's infuriating!"

"You understand the reason I stand out of earshot now, don't you." Sapphire said plainly.

"It's weird you haven't gotten used to Amethyst's behavior yet." Ruby pocketed her hands.

"Well, I'm not a sexual deviant, alright?" Pearl huffed and turned to Sapphire. "How far are we now?"

"Just a few more meters." Sapphire said.

Behind the three, Connie walked beside Steven and took in the beautiful plants and trees around them, turning to the boy beside her and seeing him set his eyes to the ground. "You okay, Steven?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? You've been a little quiet lately; didn't even come fishing with me, Jake and Amethyst on the roof yesterday." Connie pried on.

"I'm fine, just a little tired is all." Steven insisted, not convincing her.

Pushing large leaves aside, Sapphire looked out into an opening before her and turned the others. "We're here!"

Rushing up to the Crystal Gems, Connie looked out into the valley and smiled. "Whoa!"

Resting at the foot of a mountain was a small town which stood around a massive yellow oval made of pure energy and was encircled by a large river which went around the mountain range and into the forest that continued behind it. Excited, the girl slid down the small slope and rushed toward the town, followed by Steven who moved at a much slower pace.

"Hey, don't just rush in like that; we don't know if this place is haunted or something." Pearl called out, getting ignored by the two. "For Christ's sake."

"Heh, thought you didn't believe in God." Amethyst hopped and went down the slope on her back.

"He is intriguing, but that's not what I was referring to." Pearl answered, realizing Sapphire and Ruby had also left "Hey, wait for me!"

Connie ran into the town and took in the environment, enthralled by the wood and stone houses that lined the cobblestone street. The town felt small and homey despite how large it actually was, the buildings set close together with several small stands and shops at nearly every corner. She enjoyed the sight of the area, getting a somewhat Irish vibe from the red and brown-haired townspeople - who all seemed to have non-human skin tones like blue and paper white - and the green that seeped through every part of the town's design.

"Hello, young lady." An old man waved at her from a small store. "Are you're traveller?"

"Yeah." Connie turned to him. "It's a nice place you have here."

"Well, it's nice to have you here." The man smoked his pipe. "It's a rarity to see a regular looking person around here."

"Huh?"

"Connie, wait up!" Steven caught up with her. "Pearl's looking for ya."

"Oh, forget her, let's explore this place!" Connie grabbed his hand.

"But, what about the -," Steven yelped as she dragged him along.

A few feet behind them came Pearl, Sapphire, Ruby and Amethyst who'd just missed the two as they took a corner. "Where'd they run off to?" Pearl looked around.

"You could just call them telepathically." Sapphire suggested.

"I could, but I don't want to make a habit of using it and seeing what people are thinking." Pearl glowered at Amethyst who cackled evilly.

"Ha, try sharing a mind with this pervert!" Ruby nudged Sapphire. "Amethyst's a saint compared to her."

"Sapphire? No!" Amethyst gasped mockingly.

"Uh," Sapphire blushed, clearing her throat. "Let's go find the children." She walked off.

"Share with me your wisdom, O' great Sapphire!" Amethyst quickly followed her. "Bestow upon me thine degeneracy, Pervy Sage!"

"I told you not to tell anybody about that!" Sapphire berated Ruby.

"What? I didn't specify what you were thinking." Ruby held back a laugh, annoying her.

Pearl stayed a few feet behind, watching the three ahead of her. "It's always the quiet ones."

"Well, what have we here? A group of travelers?" A tall man with pure white skin walked up to them. "I'm Gen, the Town Leader, and this is Oval Town."

"Uh, thank you for having us." Pearl searched for words. "We're not staying long, we're just need some directions; we're trying to -,"

"Hey, what's that thing over there?" Amethyst pointed at the large energy oval in the distance.

"Oh, that is the Oval." Gen looked to the object. "It's been the lifeline of our town since its founding generations ago." He turned to the Gems. "It's a gift from the earth itself!"

"What do you mean?" Sapphire inquired.

"Let me show you." Gen walked on, the three women following him. "Before this town was created, our founding father discovered the Oval which he grew enamored by and decided to settle here with his family, soon joined by other families and clans over the generations." He gestured to the different shops lining the street. "The Oval provides us with the essence of earth itself, Gaia Energy, which has revolutionized the way we live! It's given us a connection to the earth that no one else has!"

Pearl looked around and witnessed what Gen was talking about: seeing a woman planting a seed in a pot and raising her hand above it, causing it to give a yellow glow and sprout into a seedling in seconds! At an art shop opposite her, a man stood before a large boulder and ran his hand along it, causing the rock to mold into the shape of a woman's face! "Interesting ..." Pearl said blankly.

"Isn't that just magic though?" Amethyst's brow arched.

"It's easy to confuse the two, but they're different." Gen explained. "While magic harnesses the energy of cosmos which can then turn on the user, Gaia Energy is naturally given to those who become one with the Earth. It is a gift to her children, something only we humans can use to its full potential."

"Wait, you're human?"

"Amethyst!" Pearl scolded.

"The explosion that started the Great Mushroom war altered a lot about the people of Ooo, but we are human all the same." Gen smiled.

"Uh-huh …" Amethyst nodded. "Well, I'm bored." She shrank and turned into a bird, flying off. "Lemme see if there's anything fun for me to do around here."

"Amethyst, we're supposed to stick together!" Pearl yelled.

"We aren't on a fucking field trip, Pearl, get off my back!" Amethyst retorted.

"Maybe we should keep her on a leash, but then she'd probably like it too much." Sapphire said, gaining an exasperated groan from Pearl.

CONNIE WATCHED with wide-eyed glee as a woman standing before a small building rubbed her hands together and summoned a yellow ball of energy between her palms, molding it out into a tubular shape and twirling it before her. Weaving the tube in an intricate pattern, she let go of the energy and let it latch onto the doorway, hardening and and turning into an intertwined wooden branch! Leaves slowly grew out of the wood and soon after, birds descended and perched upon the stem!

"Wow!" Connie gleamed, turning to the woman. "How did you do that?"

"I've merely harnessed the energy of the Oval." Mira, the woman in question, said. "It's taken me a while, but I've learned how use Gaia Energy in many ways."

"And how do you do that?" Connie asked.

"Let me show you." Mira pushed aside a cloth that stood in place of a door to the building.

Connie nodded with a smile and headed inside when she noticed Steven was just standing alone on the sidewalk. "Steven? You're not coming?"

"Uh, no, I'm just gonna be out here a while." Steven replied.

Connie grew worried, but let things be, stepping into the building and seeing a group of people seated inside a living room turned into a makeshift lobby. Charts and diagrams showing the human body and different herbs were hung across the walls and she realized with a second look that the people in the room were either injured or visibly ill.

"I've been working as a local healer for some time now and I've found out how beneficial the energy is." Mira led Connie into the backroom. "I've found that most illness is due to an imbalance in the bodies' energy flow or the presence of a foreign substance and I've learned how to use Gaia Energy to return the body back to natural health."

"It can work that way?" Connie asked.

"It can; it works better than most herbs actually." Mira answered, sitting on a chair in the backroom and looking through her notes. "Although, it's becoming difficult for me to heal our people lately."

"What happened?" Connie sat behind her.

"There's a strange illness that first appeared in a hunter a few years back." Mira turned to her. "Ever since he returned, it's started to spread and I'm now seeing some animals displaying the same symptoms, and my methods aren't as effective anymore."

Connie looked into the lobby on her left and sifted her mind.

"UGH, I can't believe you and Ruby actually put up with this when you were Garnet, Sapphire." Pearl sighed in aggravation as she, Ruby, Sapphire and Gen walked down a street. "How did you not excommunicate Amethyst or something?"

"She's family, Pearl; we have to tolerate her." Sapphire shrugged.

"I know, but it's still incredibly annoying." Pearl growled. "How can she constantly think of herself and always detour from the mission!?"

Gen stood on the sidelines as the three women argued, his eyes set on Pearl as he went alongside them. He was entranced by her as he watched the beautiful woman walk beside him, gazing upon her sharp blue eyes that contrasted with her warm orange hair. Smiling slightly, he offered a suggestion. "Let me have somebody find your friends for you; it'd be much quicker."

"No, no, I wouldn't want to bother you with our problems." Pearl said nervously.

"It wouldn't be a bother at all actually." Gen shrugged. "We'd just tell them how they look and they'd do the work for us, and you and I could grab a drink."

"That sounds nice, but I don't want to trouble you." Pearl rejected again. "Uh, might I ask, how're you the town leader exactly? You seem a little young for the job."

"My dad died from a disease a few months ago and that's how yours truly got the job." Gen explained.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Pearl's expression fell.

"Nah, life happens." Gen pocketed his hands. "As leader, I've been changing things around here. The people have been a little too old school and have focused too much on the spiritual side of the Oval's power and I've opened their eyes to newer possibilities. My sister Mira's started using it for medicine and I'm looking into how we can use it for technology." He tapped a small rifle holstered on his belt. "I'm gonna do what my dad failed to."

"Well, I hope you succeed at least." Pearl shrugged.

"Oh, don't worry; I will." Gen smirked when a man called him nearby. "Gimmie a sec."

Sapphire watched the man walk off and turned to Pearl. "That man seems to like you."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I noticed how he looked at you a little earlier." Sapphire continued. "I think he has a romantic interest in you."

"Aw, that's so cute!" Ruby cooed. "I say go for it."

"Pfft, that's absurd." Pearl brushed her off, looking at Gen and considering what she said.

"Hey, Pearl." Steven hollered from across the street.

"Steven!" Pearl rushed up to him. "Thank God, you had me worried!"

"Where's Connie?" Sapphire followed after Pearl.

"She's talking to some lady at a hospital - I don't know what about though." Steven explained.

"Well, go get her; we've have to keep moving." Pearl told the boy who went on.

"Now, where could Amethyst be?" Ruby pondered when she heard the woman laugh loudly from a bar nearby. "Shoulda guessed."

Stumbling out the front door of a bar across the street, Amethyst clumsily walked onto the sidewalk with a beer in hand, being helped up by a man who had trouble keeping her up straight. "You really can't hold your liquor, can you?" He pulled her up by her side.

"Yup, and I don't give a fuck!" She slurred and took a huge sip when the bottle suddenly floated out her hand. "Hey …"

"You've had enough, Amethyst." Pearl drew the Scotch toward her and tossed it into a bin. "C'mon, it's time to go."

"Oh, fine, fine." Amethyst groaned, turning to the man holding her. "Thanks, Jeff; maybe I'll sim ya later or somn'."

Dragging herself across the street, the purple woman stood before Pearl, Ruby and Sapphire, before falling over and barely catching herself by a street light. "You really need to pull yourself together, Amethyst; this's unbecoming." Sapphire pointed out.

"Ah, whadda you know, huh?" Amethyst looked at her lazily. "You've never tasted booze this good before, so don't tell me shit." She laughed before throwing up into a bin, making Sapphire roll her eye.

"Hey, hope ya didn't miss me..." Gen returned, trailing off as he saw Amethyst vomiting. "She okay?"

"I'm sorry, but we need to keep moving." Pearl walked up to him. "Have you by any chance seen a warp pad around here? It's a large platform set on the ground that's used for space travel."

Gen tried to think. "I might've seen something like that before."

"Could you show it to us?"

GEN LOOKED back to Oval town as he came to a rise in the forest, moving past some plants and leading Pearl, Sapphire, Steven, Connie, Ruby and Amethyst further into the wood. Climbing over a downed tree, Gen came up to a silver warp pad that sat at the foot of a massive tree, bringing a smile upon Pearl's face as she and the others saw it.

"There it is!" Pearl went up to the platform.

"That'd be the third one in Ooo!" Amethyst said excitedly.

"And hopefully the one we're looking for." Pearl stepped onto the pad and shined her gem crystal upon it, causing symbols and patterns on the machine to come alight! Raising her hand, she activated the transporter's holographic control panel, scrolling through its coordinates. Alas, a frown came upon her face. "Home World's not listed here."

"Aw, what!?" Amethyst complained.

"I guess we have to find another one." Pearl shut down the device and got off it.

"Why would Home World build warp pads that only go one way?" Connie asked.

"Home World has armies posted on several planets, so some led to them and not to our Home World in the Milky Way Galaxy." Pearl explained.

"Can't you just put in these coordinates in that machine?" Gen suggested.

"We don't know them ourselves; very few gems outside of Commander rank have the exact coordinates." Pearl sighed in defeat. "Thank you for your help, but, we'll have to get going."

"Happy to help at least." Gen shrugged and walked on when a monstrous roar echoed in the distance.

"What's that?" Steven asked.

"It came from the town!" Gen realized in horror .

PANIC RAN rampant in the streets, the people fleeing and buildings burning and collapsing, the peace and quiet turned on its head! Gen and the Crystal Gems rushed into the town outskirts and found the source of the disturbance, horrified as deformed feral monsters lay waste to everything! Large, misshapen and spiky, some with scaly skin and others covered in fur, the creatures attacked anything that moved - taking the forms of bears, boars and jaguars and running amok!

"I have to stop this!" Gen drew out his rifle and rushed in without a second thought.

"Alright, we need to handle this carefully," Pearl began, "I want Amethyst and Ruby to -,"

Screaming with rage, Steven leapt high into the air toward a deformed bear that attacked a store, flying past Gen and landing with a powerful blow that sent tremors through the earth, causing the others to nearly fall off their feet! He fought like a mad man, bashing the creature's face in punch after punch and bloodying his fists, and he grabbed it by the jaw, lifting the nearly two ton behemoth and casting it into the air with one arm, sending hurtling into the forest!

Pearl stood frozen with her mouth ajar, shocked as the others were at Steven who rushed at the other monsters in blind rage. Before she could speak, a boar came at her from her left, biting into her side and ripping her in half, throwing her mangled body on the ground and spraying her blood about!

"Pearl!" Amethyst cried.

The boar looked on at its handiwork and turned to the other Gems, ready to attack when it felt something on its back. "Good thing I'm not naive enough to drop my guard like that." Pearl said as she strolled along the monster's back with a katana in hand, jumping off it. "Now sleep." The beast turned to her, confused, when a massive gash spread across its side and spilled its entrails out, killing it instantly and dropping it to the ground!

"Shit, you almost had me there for a second!" Amethyst laughed. "Thought I was gonna have to be leader next; that'd be horrifying."

"Well, good thing my clones are more convincing this time." Pearl smirked.

"Alright, Gems, let's move out!" Sapphire ordered, flying into the town.

Gen rushed into a street where three jaguars chased people down, aiming his rifle and shooting down one that pounced on a woman. The animal, though wounded, turned its attention to him like it was nothing and dashed at him, forcing him to roll out of the way at the last second. Taking the chance, Gen shot the monster in the back of the head, killing it instantly, unaware of another beast that leapt at him from behind!

Rushing into the scene, Connie blocked the jaguar's attack, locking Rose's sword with its sharp teeth and she slit its jaw, jumping back and making distance between her and it. The beast retaliated and charged at her wildly, the girl sheathing the blade and drawing out a bow and arrow, firing an explosive projectile into its eye and blowing its head to bits! She put her weapon away when Gen shot a monster behind her over her shoulder, downing the creature.

"Good shot." She chuckled.

In another part of the town, Sapphire flew over beasts that destroyed buildings, shooting them down with blasts of ice and coming down with a frosted blade, stabbing a giant bear in the head and slashing its brains open. Ruby came in alongside her and blasted fire at a large bear nearby, stunned as the monster shrugged off the attack and lunged at her suddenly! Failing to react in time, she blocked the carnivore with her arm, getting her skin clawed into by the beast!

Bleeding out, Ruby pushed against the monster and it tugged at her flesh, drawing out an agonized scream as it mutilated her arm. Hearing this, Sapphire reacted quickly and fired a ball of ice at the monster, freezing over its entire body! Shaken, Ruby fell to her knees and looked at the massive wounds on her arms, regenerating them as fast as she could.

"Ruby, are you okay?" Sapphire came to her side.

"Y-yeah," Ruby clenched her fists as she healed. "I - my fire didn't work on that thing."

"If you don't pour enough magical energy into it, then it's just regular fire, Ruby." Sapphire flew off. "You should be more careful next time." Ruby watched her leave and gritted her teeth in anger, rising up and looking for another creature.

Running across a rooftop on another street, Amethyst jumped down toward a boar, lassoing its neck with her whip and slamming it to the ground. Smashing her foot against its skull, she wrung the noose around it and snapped the beasts' neck, unwinding the rope as it stopped moving. Connie entered the street behind her and saw two more downed monsters, relaxing as it seemed the battle was over when the earth shook again, drawing her attention to her left where Steven drove a monster into the ground!

Digging into the cobblestone, Steven pummeled the bear relentlessly, smashing its bone and not realizing that it was nothing more than a carcass. Connie saw this and ran up to him. "Steven, stop!" She called out, horrified as he turned to her with a murderous glare in his eyes, his arms and chest covered in blood. "What happened to you…?"

Steven calmed down from his rage and looked at his hands, huffing and rising to his feet, steam bursting from his body as he vaporized the blood off of him. Connie frowned in worry as Steven merely looked away from her, seeing Pearl enter the street behind her. "Is that all of them?" The pale woman asked.

"Yeah, it should be." Amethyst twirled her whip and let go of it, causing it to disappear.

"Okay, then let's find Sapphire and Ruby and -," Pearl tried to say when a shrill scream interrupted her. "What in the….?"

She turned to the source of the cries and out of the forest came Peridot who was crying frantically, soon being chased after by a massive bear monster that snapped the trees like nothing. The green girl ran from the creature helplessly, prompting Pearl to draw out her sword when something suddenly crashed into the beast, halting it instantly. Looking through the resultant cloud of dust, Pearl realized that was in fact someone who had stopped the creature, enraged as she recognized her.

"You really need to learn how to fight, Peridot." Jasper chuckled as she stepped off the bear's crushed head. "It's a cute thing, I'll admit."

"Peridot, are you okay?" Lapis Lazuli called out as she entered the town.

"Lapis!" Tears flowed freely down Peridot's face and she ran up to her, embracing her tightly. "It almost killed me!"

"I know, I know." Lapis patted her head. "You should stick to the group next time."

Pearl watched the three cautiously; looking for an opportunity to strike when she saw Lion arrive alongside Helio Quartz! "Lion?"

"What're you doing here?" Sapphire descended from the skies, shooting a glare at Jasper who finally noticed them.

"Well, well." Jasper sneered.

A/N

And we're back! It took us a while, but we finally have the second part of this story figured and planned out! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and will keep following as we continue the Crystal Gems' journey!

If you're new here and wanna see more, then check out our other books! I'd recommend the previous Steven Universe book or Gravity Falls which ties into it. If you're interested in something else entirely, then I'd suggest a Big Hero 6 book we just started called The Star and The Skull or an Adventure Time book we did called World Chaos.

Be sure to leave us a comment, it really helps us know what you like or dislike about the story, and check out our Deviantart or Tumblr for character designs of our previous books. Thanks for reading.