Chapter II

STEVEN UNIVERSE

"WHAT THE…?" Pearl said, panic crawling in her voice. "I thought we were only dealing with four Garnet!"

Garnet stared in disbelief at the crabs, her jaw wide open.

"I-I thought…" She stammered, then she steeled herself, looking focused again, an angry frown tugged at her lips "No, i made a mistake. I assumed"

"EXCUSE ME!" Amethyst exclaimed, pointing at the crabs, "KILLER SEAFOOD HEADED OUR WAY!"

Pearl stepped forward, and looked at us confidently. "We can beat them, trust me. We each take a gem, excluding Steven and Connie"

Both me and Connie immediately protested "But-!"

Pearl shushed us. "You two take a gem together, let me finish next time"

We exchanged confident looks. "Got it." I said "LETS GO KICK SOME FISH STICK BUTT!"

We all yelled and charged the crabs together.

Connie and I charged side by side. I felt more confident when I fought next to Connie, more calm. She played the offense and I played the defense. We knew each other's skill and moves, and we both fought accordingly. It was like having a 6th sense.

The roar of the crab jarred me back to reality. Wait, do crabs roar? How do I describe that? It sounded kind of like a dinosaur roar.

"Steven!" Connie said, still running by my side, her eyes not leaving the monster "Give me a lift!"

I sprinted ahead and slid on my knees, putting my shield above my head.

I faced Connie "Get ready…"

"For the THUNDER!" Connie exclaimed as she jumped on top of my shield I stood up and catapulted her on top of the crab. She started rodeo-ing the thing while it thrashed her around, I charged the crab and rammed it with my shield, dazing it long enough for Connie to stick her sword in it. The tip sprouted out the belly of the crab. I winced, remorse filling my gut. Even though this is a corrupt gem, i really don't want anything getting hurt. Ever since the Centipeedle, i feel like i could help out all these. I steeled myself and took a deep breath.

The crab glowed and the entire thing retreated into its gem. Quickly, I ran over, picked up the gem, bubbled it, and warped it away. Connie ran to my side and we ran to the rest of the crabs.

It was not going well. Pearl was fighting one of the bigger crabs, it swiped at her and she dodged it with a twirl, but the other snapper nailed her and she went flying.

"Pearl!" I yelled.

"AAAAHAHAHA!" Amethyst laughed, before getting hit by a crab herself.

Garnet was trying to push herself back up from being crushed by two crabs' snappers. Amethyst on the other hand was still getting up from being smacked down on the ground. Amethyst for some reason was getting picked on by the crabs. She was facing three crabs, when Garnet struggled with just two. Amethyst by now had gotten up and was hopping around like a kangaroo on a sugar rush. She was obviously just trying to attack, but moving fast enough that the crabs couldn't catch her. She dodged swipe after swipe and snap after snap. You could tell that she was getting tired.

Meanwhile Connie and I were helping her out the best we could, but it was hard to when their legs were always scampering around.

The one of the crabs noticed me and Connie and he turned his full attention on us. Unfortunately, it attacked Connie first. I ran to help her as she held her own. I rolled under the crab and shielded both me and Connie from the crab's claws. Then i lowered it and whirled as Connie slashed at the monster, keeping away. The crab swiped at us with lightning speed and knocked both me and Connie a good distance from the crab. Then it turned and attacked Amethyst again, like we weren't worth the trouble.

I struggled to my feet and then helped Connie up. I thought for a bit. We were seriously outnumbered. I thought about we could even the odds. Maybe…

I looked at Connie, and put my hand on her shoulder "Connie?"

She looked at me, those mesmerizing hazel eyes staring into mine with anxiety. Ooookay, back it up, Steven, buddy. Just y'know tell her.

"What is it Steven?" She said "Hurry!"

I shook my head, remembering "I think we need to…"

Connie's eyes widened, a huge grin spread across her face "We need her?"

"Yes I think so."

"Let's do it"

Before she even finished, I grabbed ahold of her hands and started.

Right foot

Left foot

Right foot

Left foot

Connie twirled away and danced a bit and so did I. She fell backward and I caught her mid drop. I felt my gut gaining warmth. My gem glowing and then...She stepped forward.

Stevonnie charged to help Amethyst

Wow, that never gets unweirder Steven said telepathically

Less weird, Connie corrected

I charged summoning Rose's shield and drawing her sword from the scabbard on my back. It was like I had done it a million times. Charging into battle with both weapons. But i knew better. This was the first time I had ever held Steven and Connie's weapons, much less fight with them

Woah! Steven exclaimed, his surprise echoing in our head. How did you know that would work?

I didn't, I replied Lucky guess

Com'on now everyone, Connie scolded Chitchat later, priorities!

Right. Save Amethyst. I leaped and saddled one of the crabs, I stabbed it in the back but It yanked the sword from my hands before I could do anything. I slammed my shield down on it's face and poofed it. Amethyst looked up in gratitude. I offered her my hand and she took it. We stood back to back against the two remaining crabs.

"Appreciate the help you two, but to be honest, ya got luck with the weaker ones"

I chuckled, did she not see what i just did? "Don't worry, these guys should be a prob-"

Before I could finish a crab claw slapped me away from Amethyst and onto the pier. I shook my head and focused, I felt Connie and Steven in pain

Oooowww! Steven groaned

That really, REALLY...hurt Connie followed

I sat up two hooded people were watching me. one of them was a guy and they had a blue short sleeve hoodie on with a yellow star on it, cargo jeans and sneakers. Next to him was a girl with the same hoodie but it was bright orange. like the colors of the leaves on an autumn tree. the similarities ended there. She wore tight jeans and these weird gloves.

"You two should get outta here." I said

The blue one looked at his friend then back at me "You look like you need help"

The orange one nudged him "She was just thrown by a crab, what do you think, Aqua?"

Aqua? That's an odd name I thought.

Hurry up! Steven said urging me to get a move on. Amethyst needs our help!

I looked back at Amethyst, she was fighting with two whips now. she looked like she was getting tired. Each swing of her whips seemed to hurt her as much as the crabs.

I turned to Blue and Orange "Well, gotta go, you two should really jet"

Blue shrugged "Your loss."

I leaped toward Amethyst and landed next to her. "You mind?"

Amethyst smiled "I'd thought you'd never ask"

We started to fend of the crabs with ease. I fought close quarters while Amethyst kept them from advancing with her whip. I was going good for a bit, until they showed us that they were, in fact, the stronger ones. They started getting quicker until they were too fast for even me and Amethyst to keep up. They kept advancing until they forced me and Amethyst to fight back to back. It took me a second to realize that the other three crabs had forced Pearl and Garnet in our direction so we had ended up in a big defensive circle. Everyone looked tired and ready to pass out.

Not like this, Steven said telepathically

Fight to the end! Connie cried

I gritted my teeth and gripped the hilt of Rose's sword. I was about to charge when the crab I was charging suddenly lurched forward, slamming its body on the floor, but not by choice, something forced it on the floor, and when i looked up, I saw what it was, and boy was it good looking.

A gem with a blue-short sleeve hoodi-

Wait a minute

That's the gem was saw earlier! Connie said

Your right! That's why he's here! Steven exclaimed.

This time the guy had his hood off. His hair was combed to the side, and it curled up at the end. He was very good looking. Not to mention young. But gems are ageless, so he could be millennia old. He looked around 20 or so for a human. Y'know what? He looked like a skateboarder. The dude was holding a sword against the crab's shell. He stood upright and saw me.

He smiled mischievously, a cute troublemaker smile that made me nervous, like a kid who had a firecracker and was ready to set it off. "You still need help?" The guy said.

"I...umm...y-yes" I stammered.

He chuckled "Well, this guy-" he patted his foot on the crab gem's shell. "-Should be out for a while"

Stevonnie? Connie asked in my mind Are you alright?

He jumped down from the shell and ran in my direction. He joined the defensive circle. Oh damn! That's right! We were about to die! I snapped back into reality and continued fighting. The new guy fought like a demon, slashing viciously with his sword and playing offense rather than helping out to defend, with was throwing us off. I heard someone scream in pain. I turned around and saw Pearl on the floor, struggling to rise and using her spear to support herself. One of the crab gems closed in for the kill, none of us fast enough to save her. The new guy slid under a crab's shell and held his sword up.

"Amber! Now!" He yelled.

Suddenly another gem, the orange one from before, leaped up and slammed the crab down, straight on the blue gem's sword. The crab retreated into its gem. The Blue Gem caught it before it hit the ground. He stood up and high-fived the orange gem. She had long orange hair and it was very messy, but not Amethyst-messy. It was like tidy helmet-hair. She had a shy but very outgoing vibe to her features. I realized her gloves were not gloves, but gauntlets. They were very lightly armored and had her gem on the underside of both arms. Odd. She had two gems on both arms. She looked around 20 or so for a human as well.

Regardless, they both charged in our direction. The girl pulled out two wickedly long hunting knives from her gem. Each one as long as her forearm.

The blue gem chuckled a bit, "Four down..."

The girl smiled "...Three to go"

They didn't say anything else as they fought. Nor did we. Actually, we didn't even fight. The two new gems did everything, working as a team. They worked so harmoniously, it was like they made music and they made the beat. One of the three crabs threw its claw and the Blue Gem. As fast as light, he summoned a shield and held it up as the claw slammed into him. His shield protected him, but he still slid a good distance on the ground, his legs leaving an imprint on the sand as he was shoved back. He steadied himself and charged again. He lunged forward and the girl jumped up above the crab simultaneously. He rammed his full weight plus the force he built up on the crab, flipping it over and the girl landed on its belly sticking both knives down in it.

POOF!

The girl landed and caught the gem, shoving in her pocket.

They charged the last two crabs separately. As they fought the crabs I noticed that they fought with insane skill. Moving cleverly and very skillfully. Y'know how you watch someone playing a videogame and they speedrun it with crazy skill and rhythm? That's how it was like.

Wow! They had SERIOUS training. Steven said telepathically.

No duh. Connie replied

The two lined each other up and rammed the crabs simultaneously. The two crabs fell backward into each other and slammed their shell's together with such force, they poofed. The Blue and Orange gem both walked over to the gems that lied in the sand picked them up and high-fived each other. Then they started walking over to us. It was extremely silent. The only noise was their footsteps in the sand. The Blue gem looked at me, then my weapons. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Those are Rose's weapons…" He muttered

The orange gem stopped and looked at him "What?"

He pointed at my shield at sword. "But only Steven...and... Connie…" His jaw dropped "You two can FUSE?"

"Wait WHAT?" the orange one exclaimed. She examined me up and down, her face slowly gaining a look of shock "How the heck…?"

I blushed, "It's Stevonnie"

"Oh that's so cute." the Blue one said

the orange one looked back at him "What?"

"Beck even made a ship name for them" he said smiling

"Who?" The orange gem looked confused. He waved aside the question. He walked up to Pearl. She panicked and held his spear up to him.

"W-What do you want?" she asked him, anxiously "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

He backed up, his hands raised innocently. "Nice to finally meet you too, Pearl."

She stepped forward, still holding the spear up to him. Garnet put her hand on Pearl.

"Calm down, Pearl."

Amethyst scoffed "Yeah, P. I mean they did just save our lives."

Pearl whirled on Amethyst "We don't need saving! Were-"

"Pearl!" Garnet warned.

Pearl closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay, I'm calm"

Garnet turned toward the gem's "Who are you, and why are you here.

The Blue gem, still having his hands raised, replied. "My name is Aquamarine."

The orange one spoke up "And my name's Amber"

"We want to help. You're gonna need all of the help you can get to stop Homeworld"