Gem Glow
I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters, I do however own Agate.
Warning: These episodes are being written with the addition of my oc Agate, therefore there may be added dialog or scenes that do not happen in the show. If you have issues about this then please leave now, thank you.
"I can't believe you two! Leaving without paying, not only is it rude but it's also illegal!" Pearl fumed as she and the other gems entered their beach house/temple home.
Each gem was carrying an armful of Steven's favorite cat shaped ice cream sandwiches. They had heard that the company had stopped making the frozen treats, and had decided to save what they could for the younger gem.
This was also the cause of Pearl's most recent frustration, as both Amethyst and Agate had simply grabbed as many packages as they could carry and walked away, not bothering to pay for them.
"Aw, lighten up Pearl. They were going out of business, it's not like they were going to miss these anyway." Amethyst huffed, stuffing her armful of ice cream into the freezer.
Pearl deposited her stash as well before placing her hands on her hips, "That still doesn't give you the right to steal, Amethyst!"
Agate sighed, "Will you two quit arguing please?"
"Oh, that's rich coming from you Agate. You're in just as much trouble as she is, you know." Pearl scoffed.
"No, I get that but seriously, stop talking for a sec! … What's that sound?" The green gem hissed.
At once the room went silent, save for a steady scratching sound coming from the ceiling. The gems followed the sound as it moved across the beach house roof, quickly moving towards the temple. Suddenly a green ooze began to eat through the ceiling, and soon a horde of large green and black bugs came falling through.
"Centipedles!" All four gems gasped before jumping into action.
Garnet activated her gloves and charged the creatures, "They're swarming, they must be trying to get into the temple!"
Agate snarled, reaching behind her to pull her hammer from her gem, "I'd like to see them try!"
Pearl and Amethyst nodded in agreement, pulling out their own weapons before joining the fight. Just as the gems began to clear away the creatures however, the beach house door opened, and Steven walked in with a freezer on his back.
"Guys, you won't believe thi- WAHH!" The youngest of the gems cried out as one of the one-eyed creatures attacked him.
The creature snapped angrily, acidic drool dripping from its jaws. Steven let out another terrified scream just before the creature was pulled back by Amethyst's whip.
"'Sup Steven?" The purple gem greeted casually, flinging the centipedle across the room.
The rose colored gem watched in awe as the older gems battled the giant insects. Pearl graceful took out four of the little pests, hitting one towards Garnet, who proceeded to use it like a pair of nunchucks. Agate swung her hammer in a large circle, knocking another five creatures into the walls where they disappeared in a puff of smoke. Amethyst wildly chased after one poor centipedle, swinging her whip.
Steven unhooked the freezer from his back and stood, "Awesome! What are these things?"
Pearl sighed, picking up one of the squirming little pests, "Sorry Steven, we'll get these centipedles out of your room. 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.
Just then the centipedle in Pearl's arms spat at Steven's feet, burning a large hole into the floor.
"Umm, you guys?" Amethyst called out, these things don't have gems."
Garnet nodded, "That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby."
Pearl frowned, "We should probably find it before anyone gets hurt."
"Yeah, no kidding! … Pearl, either put that thing down or kill it would ya?" Agate grumbled, motioning to the still squirming gem creature in Pearl's arms.
Steven grinned excitedly, "Oh, oh! 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, ok?" Pearl smiled gently, snapping the neck of the centipedle she was holding and earning a muttered 'thank you' from Agate.
"Aw man." The youngest of the gems sighed, but his dejection didn't last long when he spotted one of the centipedles rummaging through the fridge, "Hey! Get out of there! Go on! Shoo! Shoo!"
He chased the annoying little pest away, but the damage had already been done, "Aw, he got into everything! Not cool!"
The offending centipedle was sent flying across the room by one of Garnets all mighty punches. Once the bug had disappeared in a puff of smoke, Steven turned to close the open fridge and freezer doors, but paused once he saw what was in the freezer.
His eyes widened with an excited sparkle, "No way, it can't be! Wh-Where did you get these?! I thought they stopped making them!"
"Well, we heard that too, and since they're your favorite-." Pearl began to explain, but was interrupted by Amethyst.
"We went out and stole a bunch!" Amethyst admitted proudly.
Agate shrugged, "I prefer the term 'borrowed with no intent to return' but, yeah, it's pretty much the same thing."
Pearl growled, "I went back and paid for them,"
"The whole thing was my idea." Garnet stated.
"It was everyone's idea." Amethyst corrected.
Garnet turned to look at the purple gem, "Not really."
Pearl sighed, "All that matters is that Steven is happy."
Suddenly Steven burst into song, singing the cookie cat commercial song. The gems shared amused smiles and knowing looks as the youngest of their group continued to sing. The older gems clapped and cheered when Steven finished his song, happy now that he was happy.
"I can't believe you did this! I'm gonna save these forever! … Right after I eat this one." Steven cheered, opening the ice cream package, "Hello old friend!"
Taking a large bite of the ears the rose gem hummed happily, unaware that his gem had began to glow.
"Mm! So good! I like to eat the ears first." He chattered happily.
Agate chuckled, "Would you look at that!"
Amethyst pointed at the boy's stomach, "Um, Steven?"
"Wha-? My gem!" Steven gasped.
"Quick! Try and summon your weapon!" Amethyst cheered.
"I don't know how! AH! It's fading! How do I make it come back?!" The youngest gem began to panic.
Pearl cooed gently, "Calm down Steven, breathe, don't force it."
Amethyst snickered, "Yeah, and try not to poop yourself either."
This earned the purple gem an elbow to the stomach from Agate
"Please don't." Garnet agreed.
And just as soon as it had started, the glow from Steven's gem disappeared. The group groaned in disappointment and Steven sunk to the floor, placing his partially eaten ice cream sandwich back in its package.
"Aw, I was really close that time! Can one of you just explain how to summon a weapon?" Steven pleaded.
Pearl gasped excitedly before exclaiming in a sing-song voice, "Oh! I'll go first!"
Steven and Pearl stood under one of the many cherry gem trees that grew in the lower parts of the temple. Steven sat a few feet away from the blue wearing gem, waiting for her to explain how to summon his weapon.
"Pay attention to these pedals, Steven." Pearl began, motioning to the hundreds of pink petals falling around them, "The petal's dance seems improvised, but it being calculated in real time based on the physical properties of this planet! With hard work, and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gem, and perform your own dance!"
With that Pearl brought her hands to her forehead, causing her gem to glow and summoned her weapon. The spear flew into the air and into Pearl's hands, who gracefully twirled the weapon a few times before slamming it into the ground.
The pale skinned gem held her hand open, allowing a single petal to fall into her palm, "Like so."
Steven said nothing, instead the curly haired boy scooped up a handful of petals before leaving to find Amethyst.
Steven and Amethyst stood in front of the Beach City doughnut shop, Amethyst munching on a chocolate covered doughnut as Steven threw his armful of petals into the air.
Amethyst groaned, "Did Pearl tell you the petal thing?"
"Yeah. I need to practice really hard so I can dance like a tree … I think." Steven sighed.
"Listen Steven, all that practice stuff is no fun." Amethyst scoffed, taking a large bite from her doughnut, "Whenever I need to summon my weapon, it just happens!"
The gem on Amethyst's chest lit up, allowing the wilder gem to pull out her whip. With a mighty swing the whip struck the doughnut shop dumpster, slicing the contraption in half like it was paper.
Amethyst shrugged, "See? didn't try at all."
Steven scratched his head, only becoming more confused by this new information.
The sound of Lars' startled scream caught the gems' attention, and they turned to see the older boy staring at the destroyed dumpster, "Again?!"
"So I'm supposed to work really hard, and not try at all at the same time?" Steven questioned Garnet as the two stood on top of the temple statue's head.
"Yes." Was the red gems simple reply.
Steven's confusion continued to rise, but before he could say anything, Garnet continued to speak, "Or, you can link your mind with the energy of all existing matter, channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem! Which results in …"
With a few waves of her arms Garnet summoned her fighting gloves.
The tallest gem shrugged, "At least that's my way of doing it."
"Agaaaate!" Steven whined as he approached the green colored gem.
Agate watched as the frustrated gem boy plopped onto the sand beside her hammock. A frustrated pout had fused itself onto his lips while his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"Hey hey, why all the doom and gloom kiddo?" Agate questioned, pulling herself into a sitting position to get a better look at the youngest gem.
Steven heaved a heavy sigh, "I've talked to Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet and I still can't summon my weapon! How do you summon yours Agate?"
Agate grabbed her chin in thought, "Hmm, well, the only way I can think of to explain it is that my gem reacts to my emotions. If I'm feeling a negative emotion, like anger or frustration, I can summon my weapon."
"ARGH! THAT DOESN'T HELP AT ALL!" The rose gem screamed, "Pearl says I have to try really hard and become a dancing tree, but Amethyst says I shouldn't try at all! Garnet told me I have to collect power from stuff, and now you're telling me I have to get emotional?! Why is summoning my weapon so complicated?!"
"Whoa whoa! Slow your roll Steve-o! I'm not saying that you have to do any of those things!" Agate soothed.
Steven sniffed, "I-I don't?"
Agate smiled, "Of course not! The way you summon your weapon is different for every gem, you just have to find yours."
"Find my own way to summon my weapon? That's it! Thanks Agate!" The boy exclaimed happily.
"No problem kiddo." The green haired gem chuckled as the youngest gem jumped up and ran back to the beach house.
Steven crossed his arms, "I think my best bet is to recreate what happened the last time my gem glowed. So … Garnet, Amethyst and Agate were here, Pearl was by the fridge."
The gems moved to their respective spots as requested. Steven inspected the area carefully, determined to make his gem glow again.
"Amethyst, I think your arms were crossed?" Steven instructed.
Amethyst crossed her arms with an amused chuckled, "Ok your majesty."
Steven walked past Agate and over to Pearl, "Agate, you were leaning against the fridge with your arms crossed too, and Pearl, your foot was like this!"
"I don't think it works this way Steven." Pearl stated.
"Eh, let the kid have his fun Pearl." Agate dismissed, lazily complying with Steven's wishes.
Opening the freezer Steven took out his half eaten treat, "And 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, now available at Gherkins! … Aw! It was funnier last time, maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem."
Pearl kneeled next to the young boy, "Don't be silly Steven, of course you are!"
"And you're fun to have around, even if your gem is useless!" Amethyst agreed.
Pearl let out an annoyed growl, and Agate sent another elbow into the purple gem's side.
"I mean, you're one of us Steven, we're not the Crystal Gems without you." She corrected.
Garnet nodded, and Agate ruffled Steven's hair, "And don't you ever forget that kiddo!"
Steven grinned, "Yeah! Even if I don't have powers, I've still got … Cookie Cat!"
The curly haired boy took another large bite from the cat-shaped ice cream, muttering happily. Much to the other gems' surprise however, his gem began to glow again, much brighter than before. There was a bright flash of light, and soon a rose colored shield floated in front of the oblivious boy.
"Steven, it's a shield!" Pearl gasped.
"Oh, WHAT?! I get a shield?! Ooooooh yeah!" Steven jumped excitedly, shooting his shield across the room.
The shield ricochet through the room, bouncing back and forth wildly before embedding itself into Steven's TV. Amethyst burst into a fit of laughter while the other gems sighed, this was not the first TV to end in such a way in this house, and quite frankly it was becoming a bit annoying, not to mention expensive.
Steven gasped, "Cookie Cat! I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!"
Pearl picked up the discarded wrapper, "What's in these things?"
Before anyone could answer the beach house began to rumble, and a large shadow crossed over Steven's room. The shield in Steven's TV disappeared with a flash.
"What was that?" Steven questioned.
Garnet ran outside, followed closely by the other gems. Turning the group found a giant centipedle with white fur on its head climbing the temple statue.
"It's the mother!" Garnet exclaimed, chasing after the gem creature.
"No, really? I never would have guessed!" Agate growled sarcastically, following the red gem.
Pearl turned to the youngest gem, "Stay in the house Steven!"
Steven shook his head, "No way! I'm coming too!"
The curly haired boy ran back into the house, throwing open the freezer and grabbing as many ice cream sandwiches as he could hold. Meanwhile, the others had managed to get the mother centipedle off of the temple statue and onto the beach.
They jumped out of the way of a large blast of acid spit, running to take cover behind one of the statue's fallen hands before the giant centipedle attacked again.
"We could really use Steven's shield right about now!" Amethyst yelled.
"Hey! Leave them alone!" Steven demanded, throwing a rock at the giant creature.
The gems cried out, but Steven didn't falter, "Cookie Cat Crystal Combo Powers, activate!"
Scarfing down one of his ice cream treats, Steven raised his shirt to reveal his gem. But nothing happened, and Steven had to jump to avoid being eaten by the mother centipedle.
Pearl stood only to duck again as the centipedle's tail began to attack, "We need to save Steven!"
Amethyst growled, "Can we save ourselves first?!"
"Goodbye my friends." Steven groaned before scarfing down one Cookie Cat after another. His stomach growled unhappily, but still nothing, "Why isn't it working?!"
The centipedle shot another stream of acid towards Steven, catching the Cookie Cat freezer in its path. The rose gem cried out, reaching out to the now destroyed machine, only to pull back as a spark jumped out at him.
"Cookie Cat, he's a pet for your tummy. Cookie Cat, he's super duper yummy!" The youngest of the gems began to sing, grabbing the freezer's wires and swinging it around, "Cookie Cat! He left his family behind! Cookie Cat-!"
At this last shout Steven let go of the chord, allowing the freezer to go flying towards the mother centipedle. It hit it's target square on, electrocuting the giant bug.
Steven fell to his knees, "Now available, nowhere."
Amethyst pumped her fist into the air, "Yes!"
"Gems, weapons!" Garnet ordered.
Nodding the four older gems summoned their weapons, the collective force easily destroying there nearly melted cover. The four charged the mother, the shock allowing them to get close enough to finish it off. It disappeared with a large poof, its eye-like gem falling to the ground.
Garnet bubbled the round relic, sending it off to some secret room inside the temple before turning to Steven.
"Farewell sweet Cookie Cats, I'll always remember the time we spent together." The curly haired boy sniffed, quieting his upset stomach.
Amethyst crouched beside him, "Are you crying?"
Steven threw his head back, "ONLY A LITTLE!"
"Well I guess your powers don't come from ice cream." Amethyst chuckled.
"Of course they don't come from ice cream." Pearl scoffed, "Don't worry Steven, I'm sure some day you'll learn how to activate your gem."
Garnet nodded, "Yes, in your own Steveny way."
Agate said nothing, instead she gave the youngest gem an encouraging wink and a thumbs up.
Steven smiled, "I'm ok guys I just-." He began, but stopped as his stomach began to turn, "I think I ate too many Cookie Cars."
This caused the group to laugh, knowing that if Steven could joke, everything was going to be fine. Their laughter promptly stopped however when Steven proceed to regurgitate his stomach full of Cookie Cats.
Well? What do you guys think? Sorry it's so long for a single chapter, but I'm writing an entire episode with added scenes and dialogue, so they're all probably going to be a bit long. Please read and review, and let me know if you see any errors or have any questions. Next up, Laser Light Cannon!