Chapter 4: Say 'Cheese'!
[Summary: Lapis is missing. Connie learns how to summon a "Gem" weapon.]
...
"Not fair! You don't need to chew!" the boy complained to the purple, gloating Crystal Gem.
"You said I get to choose the contest." Amethyst smiled, licking her fingers from the oil that was in the boxed pizza she had just devoured. "I win, and Connie's my student for today."
Steven, defeated, dropped the slice of pizza he was having back to his own box.
"Yes, but both of us need to have a fair chance. I can't eat like you! This one doesn't count!" Steven insisted. "We need another match!"
"Okay, okay. What do you want to try?"
The boy tried to think.
"Hmm... maybe we can –" he started –
But without warning, a strong "thud" was heard from the door, and then a yell – drawing his and Amethyst's attention.
Peridot was on the other side – grabbing on her foot and muttering a chain of curses; it seemed like she had failed to kick the door open, and only her foot suffered the impact as a result.
"– from Clod-u-topia- hey! Let me in!" Peridot demanded then, forcefully knocking on the door with both of her fists. Steven got up and opened the door for the small Gem – and she charged inside.
"Is Lapis here?!" she asked immediately. "Have any of you seen her?!"
"Why hello to you too, Peri." Amethyst said, amused. "What's up?"
"I asked you first so you must answer!" the green Gem demanded, almost pulling her own hair out.
"No, she's not here." Steven said, worried. "Is everything okay?"
"What does it look like?!" Peridot covered her own eyes and started to quickly walk in small circles. "I – ugh! I just – I suspect Lapis is angry with me again. And I have yet to locate her anywhere and introduce a formal apology! I've been waiting for her the whole night – she's never been gone for this long!"
"Hey. Don't worry. We can help." Steven came closer to his distressed friend. He stopped her. "Can you tell us what happened? Why would she be mad at you?"
"We were – debating. About whether Percy and Pierre's compatibility would work in some... theoretical scenarios. We didn't see much eye to eye, and things escalated. I... may have expressed some... harsh statements." she cringed, painfully. "Like how she would never know love even if it was right under her nose because she's too busy wallowing in self pity about the time she was stuck in a mirror and that she might as well had stayed in there and oh my Stars I'm a terrible roommate!" she yelped.
"Man... that is harsh, Peri... even for you..." Amethyst remarked, surprised.
"Well, she refused to acknowledge the most superior pairing in the show and their ability to adapt in trying circumstances and I lost it!" she cried, and fell on her knees. She caught Steven's shirt and looked up at him and Amethyst. "Please! You have to help me find her! She took it so hard – I must apologize to her as soon as possible!"
Steven and Amethyst looked at each other, and Steven smiled.
"The first to find Lapis gets to train Connie?"
"Let's go."
The trio then, without any further delay, spread out to scout Beach City.
...
It was four hours later when they had all officially given up for the day; they accompanied Peridot back to the barn, comforting her as best they could – assuring her Lapis would probably show up once she'd calm down.
Amethyst and Steven returned to the temple, exhausted.
When Connie arrived, their lack of enthusiasm showed. Steven opened the door for her.
"Hi, Connie."
"Hey, Moon-Girl."
Connie looked at them both, "Hey guys... did something happen?"
"Yeah," Steven sighed. "Lapis is gone, and Peridot's really worried. We've been looking for her but with no luck."
"Oh." Connie said, "Um... do you need help?"
"Nah, she'll turn up sooner or later."
"Or at least we hope so." Steven mumbled.
"But enough about that! You have Gem lessons to go through! And guess who is going to train you today!?" Amethyst asked – suddenly getting excited.
"Uh... you?" Connie asked back.
"Yeah... go on." Steven sighed. "I'd rather just watch for today anyway."
...
They were at the beach – Amethyst was standing before Connie, holding on her whip. Her eyes were fixed on the Avatar, and then they narrowed.
Steven sat at a relatively short, but safe distance – watching the scene.
"Amethyst?.. so... what are we going to do?" Connie finally asked, nervous, since Amethyst did not do or say anything.
"I am going to be the one to show you your true potential as an Avatar. Draw out your weapon." the purple Gem tightened her palm on the whip, almost looking hostile.
Connie's eyes lit up – it was something that she had already learned, so she was a little more confidant.
"Okay!" she drew her sword out.
Amethyst remained seemingly serious only for a couple of seconds – but then she smirked.
"Not your sword, silly, your Gem weapon!"
"Oh..." the disappointment in Connie's voice was clear. She bowed her head – but then she raised it, confused. "Wait. How am I supposed to do that? I am not even a Gem!"
"Hello, Earth to Moon-Girl?" Amethyst asked. "You're omni-powerful! Pearl told me you created like, what, ten million galaxies yesterday? What's a little Gem weapon in comparison?"
"Okay – first of all, it was three galaxies, tops." Connie emphasized. "And secondly, I could only do it because of the statue."
"Actually, Garnet said it was all you!" Steven raised his palms to the sides of his mouth, so they would hear him better. "You don't really need it to do stuff! It should just happen somehow if you want it to!"
"Yeah! So no excuses! No mercy! Go ahead and pull it out!" Amethyst ordered.
Connie seemed lost. "But... well... where from? I don't even have a gem! I am supposed to pull it out of somewhere, right?"
"Oh... right." Amethyst acknowledged then.
"Oh, right!" Steven called immediately after Amethyst, grinning. "I forgot! I have just the thing! Wait here!"
Steven sprinted inside his house and then back to Connie, handing her a small, round bag.
"Here you go!"
"Another bag from Wacky Sacs?" Connie asked.
"And what's written on its back?.."
Connie turned the pouch, and smiled.
"Connie's Magic Cookie Pouch?... aw, thank you, Steven! That's so sweet!" she hugged him, and he blushed.
"My pleasure! And now you can pretend the Cookie Pouch is your gem!"
"Oh... okay. Nice thinking!"
"Then do that al-rea-dy!" Amethyst groaned, dragging the last word impatiently – clearly starting to get bored.
"Okay... I'll try... uh..." Connie put the pouch on and put her hand inside. Trying to concentrate and wish very hard in order to make it work, she closed her eyes and pretended to be pulling out a sword. She imagined it to be as light as the air and also fitting exactly in her palm, so she would not doubt herself – hoping it would increase the odds for it to work.
She opened her eyes slowly, praying- and then she sighed. Her hand was empty.
Amethyst laughed. Steven gave Connie a sympathetic, apologetic smile.
"It's only your first try." he comforted her. "Try again. Take your time."
Connie could not tell how much time had passed while she was trying to summon her Gem weapon; maybe an hour, maybe more. Amethyst was shape-shifting into various things in an attempt to liven up the wait.
But eventually Connie called in frustration.
"It's not working! Maybe I am not the Avatar after all?"
"I think it's because you think about it too hard." Amethyst replied. "You didn't actually think when you made the galaxies, right?"
"I guess... but it just happened. It'd have already shown up on its own if it worked like that."
"Well..." the Gem scratched the back of her own neck. "Maybe we should just..."
"Aah!"
Connie cried out and flinched – Amethyst cracked her whip at her. Confused, she raised her head to see what happened – Amethyst used the whip to grab on Rose's sword and take it.
"...not give you any time to think!" she made a devilish smile, and pulled another whip from her gem – Connie turned pale as the next thing the Gem did was to charge at her, roaring.
"Amethyst –?!"
"Draw your weapon or it's your doom!"
...
A short while later, the three were sitting around the table in Steven's house – all covered in sand that splashed on them from Amethyst's wild lashing on the beach – lost deep in thought.
"Maybe it's the Cookie Pouch's fault?" Steven suggested then.
Amethyst sighed and banged her head on the table.
"That's probably not it..." Connie sighed as well. "See? If I were omnipotent, and if it was anything like Pearl's lessons, I would have made something by now."
"Ugh, great." Amethyst groaned. "Now Pearl has another reason to gloat and act all smug, and for Garnet to think that I'm lame. What does it say about me, if I can't even train an omni-powerful Moon-Avatar?"
"Well... and what if I am actually not the Avatar?"
"But you must be!" Steven exclaimed, "You have power over that statue – you make it glow and create galaxies and all!"
"I still think it was only a projection or something." Connie muttered.
There was a depressing silence in the house.
"Wait a second." Amethyst said – raising her head, her eyes widened. "Are we dumb?! What about the statue?!"
"Garnet said we shouldn't use it." Steven replied, his voice lacking spirit. "She also took it away."
"Oh-ho ho!" the Gem grinned. "I think I know where it is! She took it to the temple, right?"
"Yeah..." Connie said –
And she and Steven exchanged confused looks – in a matter of seconds, Amethyst used one of her unique attacks; she rolled so fast and assumed the shape of a spiky wheel – it dashed to the temple.
Five seconds later, Amethyst was already back – holding on the Moon Goddess statue.
"Here." she handed Connie the statue. "Summon your Gem weapon now!"
"I don't know..." Connie took the statue, hesitant. "Two days ago it was about to explode, and yesterday it made something that I wouldn't want it to make again..."
"But you can stop it!" Steven shrugged. "If you see something you don't like, you can always switch it off!"
"Yeah! Also, I gotta see you in action." Amethyst added, her smile was huge from anticipation. "Come on, Moon-Girl! Do avatar-stuff!"
Connie, unsure, looked at the statue as if she wished to re-assess it; she examined the tranquil feminine figure and the gem she was holding.
"Pretty please? Do it for your awesome teacher and your favorite Gem?" Amethyst asked, fluttering her eyelashes in a flirtatious manner – Steven tried to look the part as well.
Connie chuckled.
"Okay, okay. Here I go... moon!" she said – and like before, the statue reacted and glowed, turning pleasantly tickling to the touch.
"Good... GOOD!" Connie was startled by Amethyst's sudden change in voice: deep, nearly crazy-like, raspy. "Now summon your weapon!"
Like with her previous attempt with the Cookie-Pouch, Connie shut her eyes and tried to imagine a sword – or at least any other weapon that would behave and look like a Gem's.
Hardly a second had passed, when she heard a reaction from the two people in front of her.
"Whoa..."
"What is that?"
Connie looked at it – it seemed like some kind of a small, yellow-ish ball – no bigger than a golf ball. It was floating in the air, above the statue.
She was glad that the statue was stuck to her palms, because she would have probably dropped it from surprise otherwise: the three stared at the ball... it seemed to dis-morph and grow, ever so slightly.
"Uh...you think it's safe?" Connie asked, nervous. The ticklish sensation on her palms was also extended to her wrists, from some unclear reason.
"Why? Are you making a bomb or something?" Amethyst asked.
"I – I don't know! Maybe? I wanted a sword. It's just... doing its own thing!" her own words made Connie even more nervous. The fact her left wrist also started to itch a little really wasn't helping. The ball became as big as the gem in the Moon Goddess' hands – and it glowed.
Then Amethyst, Steven and Connie jumped back; the ball made a 'pop!' sound – and suddenly the ball assumed the size of a basketball.
It seemed like some kind of sponge – and it stopped changing.
Still floating in the air, the baffled trio stared at it.
"I... think that's it?"
"But what is it?" Amethyst asked – then she closed her eyes for a second and sniffed the air. "It smells good..."
"No way." Steven's eyes suddenly lit. Amethyst's eyes turned teary, and Connie let her own jaw drop – as it finally dawned on the three. "Is that cheese?"
"...and it's shaped like-!" Amethyst sounded chocked.
"A... moon?" Connie finished.
The statue stopped glowing immediately. The ball fell on the floor – in a splat, it lost its round shape.
Steven looked at Connie with pure adoration in his eyes; Amethyst burst into laughter – trying to desperately gasp for air to make words.
"Loved – your – Gem – weapon!"
Connie blushed, scratching her left wrist on the statue.
"I told you it does its own thing!"
"But it's working... the cheese's still here!" Steven whispered. He teared a small part of it off – it seemed like it was still warm and sticky, from the trail of cheese he had to cut down. He put it in his mouth. "An actual cheese! The Avatar has given us cheese! That's... so... awesome!"
The human girl smiled, embarrassed. The purple Gem managed to breathe normally eventually.
"Let me try some." Amethyst said then – taking a slice off it, she was ready to laugh again – but then turned surprisingly serious when she tasted it. "Mm. Actually, that's pretty good." she took another one.
Steven took another slice as well, and offered it to Connie. "Here, Connie, you should try it!"
"Uh – no thanks... maybe later." Connie looked at the statue again, confused. "I... can't believe it works. And I also can't believe how random that is."
"But it works!"
"Maybe you'll be able to summon an actual weapon now!" Amethyst said, looking at Connie eagerly.
"Maybe..." the girl hesitated. Something felt off. She put the statue down, because her left wrist itched and tingled too much; she inspected it for any mosquito bites, but her skin was clear.
"Come on! Encore! Encore! Encore!" Steven and Amethyst chanted together.
The human Avatar sighed, and picked the statue up again with her right hand – rubbing her other wrist on her new pouch before she'd use it to hold the statue –
And then her eyes widened.
She felt a strong tingling sensation on her left palm. She turned her hand to look at it;
under it, her new Cookie-Pouch glowed, in an amazing sync with her hand motion...
And completely shocked, the human Avatar pulled a floating moon-shaped cheese out of it – staring at it in awe, along with Steven and Amethyst.
...
And nobody was laughing. Nobody knew what to do.
...
A/N: Would love to read your reviews and thoughts about all this!
70% of the fanfiction is probably already written, so I only need to write the other 30%, and to rewrite parts from the next chapters so everything would be consistent... hope it won't take long.
I might also edit previous chapters just to correct grammar mistakes.
Anyway, thank you for reading :3