Steven and The Gems Play Video Games
Chapter 1: Dark Souls
Steven grunted and huffed as he pulled a very large box into the house. It had been quite a walk from that lady's house, but soon it would all be worth it.
While on his way to the car wash to talk to his dad, Steven came across a yard sale at one of the few houses that he had not been near, nor properly acquainted with the people who lived there. Feeling curious, Steven decided to have a look through what was being sold. At first, it didn't result in anything more than old clothes and shabby looking furniture. That is, until he got to the back table.
There, he found an assortment of different toys and odd little knick-knacks. As he was browsing through some of the old stuffed animals, a cardboard box labeled "games" caught his eye. Walking up to the box, he wasn't expecting much. After everything else he saw there, he wasn't expecting more than a few board games. But he was very wrong.
Upon taking a peak into the box, Steven was immediately starry eyed at what he saw. An assortment of video games and video game consoles. Everything from old to new, it was there.
The expression must have attracted attention, because an old lady came up to him and asked him if he found something he liked. Steven quickly regained his composure and greeted the old lady who introduced herself as Elaine. After a brief period of getting to know each other, Steven asked her why she was giving the games away. She went on to tell him that they belong to her son, and she didn't know what to do with them after he moved out.
Steven immediately became elated and asked how much the games were. The old woman thought about it for a moment, and decided that she would sell him the entire box of games for only $50.
Needless to say, Steven could hardly believe what he was hearing. A nearly endless supply of games, all for only $50?! He knew he had to have it. Only problem: He didn't have $50. He didn't even have $5.
Quickly excusing himself from the elderly woman, Steven made a mad dash to his fathers car wash. Upon arriving, Greg was quite happy to see that his son decided to visit out of the blue. After a very quick exchange of greetings, Steven gave his dad the details of what happened on his way there. At first Greg was a little unsure about this deal his son told him but, after a little arm twisting, Greg eventually gave in and gave his son the money.
Steven barley heard his dad say something about working it off at the car wash he was so excited. With the money in hand, Steven bolted back to the woman's house, hoping that she hadn't given it to someone else. To his relief, the box was still there. After finding Elaine, Steven happily gave her the money. She smiled and told him it was all his.
Now, with his big find finally home, Steven wasted no time getting ready for what would surely be the best several days of his young life. After throwing a bag popcorn into the microwave and getting getting several cans of soda, Steven set to work hauling his TV downstairs into the living room. After setting the TV in the right place and laying out all the snacks he would need, he began looking through the box, trying to decide on which system to play first.
He eventually just decided to go with the first one he saw. After hooking the system up to the TV, he opened the console up to see if anything was in it. Sure enough, there was. Upon seeing the game, however, he had feeling of both excitement and apprehension. The game in question... was "Dark Souls".
"Steven, what is all of this?" he heard.
Steven looked up, only to see Peridot looking at everything and making a motion with her hand towards all of snacks and the TV that was now in the living room.
"Oh, hey Peridot. I was just getting ready to try out some of these new games that picked up today. An old lady sold me all this stuff for really cheap." he said, pointing out the large box next to the couch.
Peridot gave a look of confusion before moving to take a peek inside the cardboard box. Inside were many wires, cartridges, discs, controllers and hardware. To her, a lot of this tech looked beyond outdated.
"What's all this stuff used for?" she asked him.
"It's just for having fun, maybe getting a challenge, or even getting caught up in a story." Steven explained, reaching for a handful of popcorn.
"How does that work?" she asked, looking at one of the game cases that she picked up.
"Come here and I'll show you." Steven said, patting the seat next to him.
At first, Peridot thought about refusing, but after a few moments of thinking, she was genuinely curious about what these thing could be. Without a word, she took a seat on the couch, intent on only observing.
"So, how do these things 'give you a challenge'." she asked, looking at the controller in Stevens hands.
"Well... how about you see for yourself?" Steven said, handing the controller to her.
Peridot just sort of looked at the device he was handing her, wondering if she should or not. She slowly reached her hand out, figuring there wasn't anything to loose. Steven smiled at her, happy that she was willing to at least try.
"Oh, wait!" Steven said in realization, "I better get a different game. This ones known to be really hard."
"Oh, please." Peridot said, slightly offended by his words, "I have expertise in both technology and star ship piloting. You really think that this is going to difficult for me?"
"Well... OK, if you're sure." Steven said reluctantly, "Just don't get freaked out when the controller starts to vibrate. 'Cause it's gonna happen a lot."
Steven took his seat, grabbing the bowl of popcorn and soda while he and Peridot waited for the game to load. After a quick tutorial on how things work (like buttons and so forth), Peridot made it to the main menu and started making her character.
"Wait, why can't I change the skin color to my own" Peridot asked.
"It's only human characters." Steven replied, waiting for her to start.
"Well that's not far." Peridot whined, "Alright, fine. Let's just get this started so I can show you that no technology is out of my range of mastering."
Steven looked nervously between the TV and Peridot, hoping she was right. He had heard stories about people become infuriated with this game. But he kept quiet, not wanting to deter her. As soon as she was done making her character, Peridot started the game.
"In the Age of Ancients, the world was unformed, shrouded by fog." a breathy woman's voice said.
*1 hour later
The big letters YOU DIED appeared once again on the screen. A loud shout was heard well through out the house and Steven couldn't help but cringe after hearing it so many times.
"How is that fair!" Peridot shouted, "It didn't even hit me!"
"Maybe the shock wave hit you?" Steven guessed, having scooted away from Peridot not too long ago.
"Well I'm about to hit this game with a shock wave!" Peridot yelled.
"What it is going on?" said another voice. Both of them looked up to Jasper walking into the house.
"Hey Jasper." Steven greeted her, "Me and Peridot are just playing some new games I got."
"Games?" Jasper asked, looking at all the stuff the two had around them. Like Peridot, she was at first confused.
"Yeah, come and watch! Peridot's trying beat this one right now." Steven said happily, all the while Peridot simply stared at the TV screen, seething with anger.
Jasper wasn't quite sure what was going on, but if it was enough to make Peridot freak out like what she was hearing, she had to stay and watch. She quickly found a seat and grabbed one of the sodas on table.
Five minutes later, and the all too familiar words appeared on screen again. Rather than screaming again, Peridot opted to bite the controller instead. Steven went slightly wide eyed when he saw, while all Jasper could do was snicker.
"SHUT UP!" Peridot shouted at Jasper.
"Don't be getting short with me now Peridot." Jasper said, chuckling at her own joke. This caused peridot to get so angry that her face started to change color.
"I'd like to see you do any better." Peridot said scornfully.
"Fine, give it here." Jasper said nonchalantly as Peridot handed her the controller. "Your problem is that you've never actually had to fight before. If you knew what you were doing, it'd a walk in the park."
Just as soon as Jasper started to fight, she was hit from behind and immediately lost all her health.
'YOU DIED'
Jasper was at first dumb struck, but once she regained herself she looked over to Perisot and Steven. Steven just shrugged his shoulders, but Peridot was giving her the smuggest of smiles.
"I'm not used to fighting like this. Just give me a bit to get it down, and I'll have this fast than you know it."
"Uh-huh, sure Jasper." Peridot said mockingly.
*2 hours later
'YOU DIED'
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Jasper roared, "He pushed me off the edge!"
"Well that happens in real life Jasper." Peridot said, grinning to herself.
"I don't wanna hear another word out of you," Jasper threatened, "I've gotten way farther than you have!"
"Yeah, but you also died a lot more than me." Peridot mocked.
Jasper ignored the last comment and went back to the game. After managing to avoid being pushed off again and killing the enemy, she was promptly hit in the head with an arrow which drained what little life she had left.
Jaspers eyes widened in anger, she flexed her arms, and then proceeded to completely crush the controller in her hands like it was a pinata.
"Hey!" Steven said, upset over losing the controller.
"Forget this! I'm done!" Jasper shouted, and folded her arms as she leaned back onto the couch with and angry grimace on her face.
Peridot peeked over to get a look, only to be met with eyes that were issuing her a warning. But it was only met with another smile.
"I swear Peridot," Jasper growled, "one word out of you and-"
"So how many times did that happen in real combat?" Peridot asked in a calm voice.
Jasper visibly clenched her teeth, and then made an attempt to jump at Peridot. Only to be stopped by Steven blocking her path. While that was happening, Peridot tried scurry to the farthest corner of the couch.
"Hey, that is enough you two." a calm voice said as it pulled Jasper off of three of them were so engrossed with everything going on that they didn't notice Garnet enter the house mere minutes ago.
After breaking up the fight, Japser and Peridot both sat down and folded their arms, giving each other angered glares.
"Look, I saw what happened." Garnet began, "It's clear that you two are letting this game get the better of you. If you can't learn to control yourselves, I'm taking it away."
"Oh, come on." Steven whined.
"Psh, easy for you to say." Jasper said, "This thing hits you harder than a truck going full speed."
"Maybe," Garnet said, "But that's no excuse for acting that way. You two just need to learn how to take a breath and calm down. It's only a game."
"We need to calm down? It's only a game?" Jasper said, utter floored by Garnets words, "Well, hot shot, why don't you prove it?"
Garnet remained stoic, simply staring at Jasper, who was giving her conceited look. They stood there for a short while until Garnet extended her hand towards Steven. He didn't need to be told anything, he simply reached into the box and pulled out another controller.
"Alright then, sit back." Garnet said, taking a seat. "The entire point of games is to have fun. And that's exactly what I intend to do."
*90 minutes later
'YOU DIED'
"...wwwwwWWWWHHHAAAATTTT?!" Ruby shouted, "What was that!? That doesn't even make sense!"
"Ruby, calm down." Sapphire said, keeping her voice leveled.
"Don't you tell me to calm down!" Ruby shot back, "You saw that! I was no where near it, but I got hit some how!"
"That's no excuse to be acting like this." Sapphire said, trying to keep Ruby from going up in flames.
Ruby simply sat and grumbled to herself as she tried to pick up where she had to start from again. She didn't last long before she died again. Rather than yelling, she clenched her teeth hard and squeezed the control tight.
"Ruby, your burning it." Sapphire said to her.
Ruby looked down, noticing that that smoke was coming off the controller.
"Fine," Ruby said angrily, dropping the thing on the table "You try it, then we'll see who's acting ridiculous."
The entire time this was happening, Steven, Jasper and Paridot were all looking at the entire scene absolutely horrified. Steven thought it was bad when the other two played, but Garnet got so mad that she separated. And it took a lot for that to happen.
"Very well." Sapphire said, picking up the controller, "Maybe I won't get as far, but I won't let this get to me."
*Another 90 minutes later
'YOU DIED'
Sapphire simply stared at the screen, not moving a muscle. The controller in her hands was starting to coat with ice, as well as her spot on the couch. The other four dared not say a word, lest they invoke something demonic.
"It's... fine. I'll just try again." Sapphire said, very desperately trying to keep herself composed.
She tried again, lasting even less time then she did before. When those words appeared on screen again, the control became nothing but a block of ice, which instantly shattered as she clenched her hands into fists.
"I'll make sure to get you a new controller Steven." she said, anger now starting to leak into her voice as she began to tremble.
"Easy, Easy Sapphire," Ruby said, rushing to her side to get her away from the TV. "Come on, let's have a seat over. How about a drink? A shoulder rub? Anything you need, anything at all."
"They both sound... lovely right now." Sapphire said, trying to keep her tone subdued.
"I'm on it! Don't move a muscle, I'll be right back." Ruby said in hurried tone as she darted off.
"I apologize. It would seem you were right about this... thing." Sapphire said turning to the other three.
"D-D-Don't worry about it." Peridot stuttered, peaking from behind a blanket.
"Yeah... it's... not your fault." Steven said slowly, clutching his toy bear close.
"I-I-I-It happens to... the best of us." Jasper replied, barley poking her head out from behind the couch.
"So this is were all of you have been." Pearl said as she came into the living room.
Just as she said that, Ruby rushed by her with a cup in her hand, which she quickly gave to Sapphire. Pearl continued to look onward as Ruby went around behind Sapphire and started massaging her shoulders.
"What has been going on in here?" Pearl asked.
"We were playing a game." Steven said.
"And it's really, really hard." said Peridot.
"It got under our skin worse then bed bugs... that's a saying, right?" Jasper added.
"It's been... a little stressful." Sapphire said, the cup starting to ice over in her hand as Ruby tried desperately to de-stress her.
"It's hasn't exactly been fun." Ruby said, continuing her work on Sapphire's shoulders.
"So that's what all that yelling was about?" Pearl questioned as she looked at all of them nod. "You can't be serious? It can not possibly be that hard."
Everyones eyes went wide simultaneously, and they all turned there heads to pearl... And then promptly burst into laughter.
"Ow, ow, my sides!" Peridot said, her hands over her stomach as she laughed hysterically.
"OH, if only you knew!" jasper wailed as she slammed her fist on the couch.
"AHAHAHAHA, she has nooooo idea!" laughed Ruby.
"I must say, I'm feeling a little better after that." Sapphire said, trying to contain her giggles.
"What?" Pearl asked, starting to get annoyed, "What on earth is so funny?"
"Lets just put it this way pearl," Steven said, managing to calm down a bit, "This is not for the faint of heart."
"Oh, is that the case?" Pearl questioned, a hint of anger in voice, "Well, we'll see who's faint of heart. Let me try it."
"Uh, Pearl" Steven started, "I don't think that-"
"No, Steven, let her." Jasper interrupted, then started whispering in his ear, "This is exactly what all of us need right now. This will be hilarious."
After thinking for a second, Steven knew Jasper was right. This would definitely be the laugh break that all of them so desperately needed after a day like this.
"OK pearl. Here you go." Steven said with a grin as he handed pearl the controller, "We'll get you started."
Pearl took the device from his hands and sat down in front of the TV. After getting a quick tutorial on everything by Steven, pearl got to making her character.
"Steven, will this one always look like this during the game?" Pearl asked as she looked at on of the classes.
"Uh, no pearl. You pick up other Armour and weapons later on." Steven answered, trying to contain his laughter as he looked at which class she chose.
"Well, that's good." Pearl sighed in relief, "This is the most well rounded fight out of all of them. Let's begin then." Pearl then selected her class: Deprived.
"In the Age of Ancients, the world was unformed, shrouded by fog."
*2 hours later
'VICTORY ACHIEVED'
"Well, that one was quite a handful." Pearl said as she watched the Capra Demon fall to ground and disappear. "Hopefully none of the others were like that."
*1 hour later
'VICTORY ACHIEVED'
Pearl smiled to herself as she watched The Chaos Witch fall before her.
"Phew, that one took me a few times. Definitely starting to see what you guys mean now." she said to all of them.
*another hour later
'VICTORY ACHIEVED'
"That was easily the hardest fight yet." Pearl said, taking a breath, "I thought it would be easier after one of them was dead, but then they fuse? I must say, I have true respect for them as enemies."
*2 more hours later
Pearl watched as her character set fire to her own soul, reigniting the flame. As the fire began to burn again, the kiln erupted back into an inferno once more. After seeing this, Pearl let out a heavy sigh.
'DARK SOULS'
"Well, hopefully, that did." Pearl said, placing the controller down. "Hopefully it will stay burning long enough until the next one who is worthy enough arrives. Well, I must say I rather enjoyed that Steven. I honestly didn't expect to get that much fun out of it. Thank you for letting me in on this."
Pearl waited for a response, but got none.
"Steven?" Pearl called, looking over at him. She met with Stevens wide eyes and gaping mouth as he just sat there staring at the screen. She waved her hand in front of his face , snapped her fingers but not nothing was getting him out of the trance.
"Oh no. Everyone, I think somethings wrong with Steven." she said. But, again, didn't receive a response.
Pearl turned around, only to see everyone having the same expression as Steven. A fly even landed on Jaspers eye, but she didn't even flinch.
"Oh boy," Pearl said, putting her hand over her face, "What am I going to do about this?"
Just then she felt a tug at her arm, and when she turned around, she saw Steven Standing there with a shirt.
"Pearl, this belongs to you." Steven said in a shocked, deadpan tone.
"Where did this come from?" Pearl asked as she took the shirt from him.
"I don't know, but you have the right to wear it." He answered in the same tone.
"Well, thank you Steven." she said as she slipped the shirt on. "HM, perfect fit." She said looking down at what the shirt said.
"Git Gud"
"Oh, well that's charming." Pearl said sarcastically, laughing to herself, "Well, I appreciate this Steven, but it is about bed time. Go get ready."
Steven moved without saying a word, still holding the shocked look. As he walked off to the bathroom, pearl came with him. As she walked with him, she didn't realize that there were words on her back as well.
"What are you, Casual?"
After pearl and Steven left, the other four continued to stare onward. Until Jasper fell over, hitting the ground with enough force to wake the dead.