Steven had just convinced Peedee Fryman to get two orders of fry bits. One for him and one for Cornelian. Fry bits were Steven's usual whenever he went to Beach Citywalk Fries. Even so, Peedee had to elaborate many times in the past fry bits weren't on the menu. Despite his words, Steven would continue to order them anyway. The Fryman boy gave up at some point. He didn't bother trying to convince him anymore and complied with his usual orders. It made things go a lot quicker.
Peedee handed them the food in exchange for payment. After taking the bits, the two customers were about to walk away when the boy stopped them. He asked, "Who's this big guy?"
Steven turned around, looking at Peedee, before answering like he did to Sadie. He made his best attempt to give Cornelian as big an entrance as he did before. It seemed to work as the boy behind the counter nodded his head with a slight smile. Peedee didn't understand gem stuff, much like Sadie, but he didn't question it either.
After staring at Peedee, Cornelian looked at Steven who held bags of bits in his hands. He smiled and handed her a bag which she reluctantly took. She wasn't sure if all human foods tasted splendid or if it was just the donuts.
Cornelian reached her hand into the bag, taking hold of a small fry bit. She looked at Steven who gave an eager nod in return. Turning her attention back to the bit in her grasp, she opened her mouth and dropped it in. Though it was quite small, it gave off a similar sensation like before. A satisfied smile crept onto her face.
She looked at the bag before dumping the rest of the bits into her mouth, throwing it away. This surprised Steven a little bit for not even Amethyst could eat fry bits that fast! Steven started to smile again. He waved goodbye to Peedee before leading Cornelian to their next destination. He ate some of his fry bits as they walked.
He was planning on leading her over to his dad's workplace: It's a Wash! Cornelian didn't pay any mind to their next destination until she noticed something. She put her hand in front of Steven, pushing him back with her as she strode backwards. A now confused Steven looked up at the large gem and asked, "What's wrong?"
Cornelian looked at Steven, panic in her eyes. Her only response to his question was her pointing at a van parked by the car wash. Standing by the van were three people talking. They were Greg—Steven's dad—talking to Amethyst and Pearl. While Steven didn't understand why the large gem was so worried, he complied. They ended up running off to the Funland Arcade.
As the two started to run off, Pearl and Amethyst were just about to leave. Greg offered to help their search but the slim gem insisted he stay and work. The balding man went with it, giving off a sigh, unaware of her not wanting him to hang with them.
As Pearl turned to leave, she caught a glimpse of Steven and a large, orange stranger. With a gasp, the gem told Amethyst to follow her, running in Steven's direction. The shorter gem didn't say anything in return. Pearl just dragged her everywhere against her will, anyway. She figured she'd just let Pearl do what she wanted until this was over. At least she wasn't having to endure the long lectures the taller gem gave her. Being in this position was even relaxing for Amethyst. While Pearl dragged her everywhere, the stout gem managed to get a few minutes of rest.
The two gems ended up finding themselves at the Funland Arcade entrance. This was where Garnet got mesmerized by the—now destroyed—Meat Beat Mania game. The arcade was unusually busy today. Tourists from all over had come to play games and exchange tickets. All these tourists made the gems' search for Steven harder.
Looking around, Pearl couldn't see Steven anywhere. Even with how crowded the place was, she figured she'd at least see part of his hair. If only Garnet had come along and used her Future Vision... Both her and Amethyst stepped inside the arcade, walking around. As they paced through the arcade, Pearl watched the tourists play odd arcade games. She still found it odd how humans could find such ways to waste time. She shrugged at the thought, focusing on the task at hand.
Cornelian knew Pearl was searching there, so she hid, Steven in her grasp. She made sure the boy kept his mouth shut. The half-gem looked at her, confused. "What are we hiding from?" He asked. Cornelian could understand him, despite his muffled voice from her hand covering his mouth.
The orange gem didn't want to explain every little detail, so she just cut to the chase. "It's Pearl and Amethyst. Let's just say, if they find us, we're dead." She whispered so she wouldn't attract unwanted attention despite no one else in the room.
They were hiding in a large cabinet inside the Employee's Only room. The particular cabinet was empty and never used, so it was ideal. They had snuck in when the only employee, Mr. Smiley, wasn't paying attention. Cornelian could only hope Pearl and Amethyst wouldn't come in to investigate.
It seemed like her nightmares became a reality when she heard the door creak open. She had a bad feeling it was Amethyst and Pearl. Cornelian winced as she heard Pearl's voice fill the air. "Steven? Are you there?"
Steven felt bad, knowing he was hiding from his loved ones. He made a few attempts to break out of the cabinet and reveal himself. His attempts were futile as the large gem held him close in a tight grip.
She held Steven closer and closer as cabinets creaked open and slammed shut. Pearl thought Steven was alone, figuring something so huge couldn't fit in the cabinets. She was right. Cornelian had a hard time hiding due to her size. She also had to make sure Steven could fit without squishing him. Due to this, though they were completely hidden, the space was quite cramped.
A sudden hush filled the room. The tension grew with the silence. Cornelian was becoming anxious. She feared Pearl would open the 0nly cabinet left and find them crammed inside.
Steven couldn't do much of anything to help either of them. If he tried to climb out of the cabinet, he would get squished the large gem keeping him there.
Pearl finally started to walk their direction. Footsteps grew louder and louder as the other two grew tense. The orange gem finally frowned a bit, a sudden anger rushing into her. She didn't know why she so furious, but she couldn't help but want to punch something.
Just as Pearl reached down to open the cabinet, Cornelian summoned her mallet. It took a bit of shuffling to get her hand up to her chest, but she managed. After summoning her weapon, she burst out of the cabinet, breaking it. A surprised Pearl and Amethyst now looked upon a towering carnelian grasping a mallet.
Pushing some wooden chunks away, Steven crawled from underneath the cabinet's rubble. This scene was exactly what he feared.
Seeing this particular gem made Pearl shocked. While she had seen many carnelians before, this one was unique. This was her first encounter with another gem from Rose Quartz' army. Before she got a chance to think, she was flung into a wall by an orange mallet. The weapon's collision caused her to drop Amethyst. The impact Pearl made with the wall caused large cracks, weakening the foundation.
The smaller got off the ground and put her fist against her gem like Cornelian. Amethyst's gem began to glow. As she moved her hand away, an Energy Whip followed in her grasp. Yanking her weapon out, she swung it at the large gem in an attempt to make them drop their weapon. The whip wrapped itself around the mallet's handle. Cornelian saw this as an opportunity rather than a nuisance. Swinging her mallet, the large gem flung Amethyst the same direction as Pearl.
All Steven could do was watch on in horror as his friends were attacking each other. Pearl and Amethyst quickly recovered, summoning their weapons. The two gems immediately attacked Cornelian. Pearl thrust her spear towards the larger gem. It didn't do much damage but it did end up causing them to stumble backwards a little bit. She regained her balance without haste. She slammed her mallet against the floor, causing the room to tremble.
While managing the customers, Mr. Smiley took notice of the employee door rumbling. Finding this peculiar, he stepped from behind the desk and went over to investigate. He grasped the doorknob and, upon opening it, he saw the three gems fight each other. He also saw Steven sitting on the sidelines, wondering what to do. The gems didn't seem to notice him which made him relieved. Despite the sensation of relief flushing over him, he was also worried. He feared these three aliens would destroy the entire edifice.
The room shook once more, causing pieces of the ceiling to crumble and fall. Mr. Smiley fled, going back to work with more customers. He didn't want to get involved in this madness.
Pearl had lost her balance, falling over on a growing crack. Amethyst was able to avoid the advancing fissure. She summoned a second Energy Whip and swung both weapons at Cornelian. She managed to coil a whip around one of their wrists. They grabbed the other whip with their free hand. The orange foe yanked on the whip in hand, causing Amethyst to fly forward. Cornelian broke her other hand free before grabbing Amethyst and spiking her down. The impact of the purple gem against the floor caused another fissure to develop.
Steven had enough. He didn't want to see them fight each other anymore. He got up and ran in the middle of the battle in an attempt to intervene. By doing this, he nearly got hit by one of Pearl's spear beams. Neither Amethyst or Pearl noticed Steven, both too distracted by their foe.
Pearl shot rounds of beams from the end of her glaive. Some of them hit the large gem, but it didn't seem to affect them much. Cornelian became dazed for a moment, though. The slim gem used this as a chance to run in and weaken her, Amethyst on board. They both dashed towards the large gem, sending a fury of attacks her way.
Steven made another attempt to intervene their battle. Once again, he failed, the two angered Crystal Gems being oblivious to his presence. He nearly got stabbed by Pearl's spear and wrapped up in Amethyst's sharp whip. Even worse, Cornelian recovered and swung her mallet at them, also unaware of Steven. He managed to duck out of the way along with the other two.
The large gem made another swing at them, hitting the floor once again. Many cracks appeared where the mallet collided with the floor. The various cracks steadily crept across the floor and up the walls. The room shook once more before a few more pieces of the roof fell. If Cornelian hit the foundation again, the whole room would crack like an egg. Ignorant to the damage she caused, Cornelian continued to swing at the gems.
Pearl stabbed at the mallet with her weapon, cracking it. The weapon's damage caused it to disappear in a shimmer. The larger gem grew frustrated at their defenses. In response to Pearl's attack, she summoned dual mallets. She clashed them together above her head. As they collided, a vibrating sound wave emitted from them. Steven covered his ears while Pearl and Amethyst shielded themselves with rubble.
Cornelian grew heated at her attack not hitting the two Crystal Gems. Within a rush of anger, she slammed her mallets onto the ground. Steven flinched at the loud noise that came from the weapons hitting the ground. This attack of anger caused the room to shake, more and more cracks appearing. The more the room shook, the more chunks of roof would fall.
The battle was soon ended by the entire employee room collapsing. Dust and dirt flew up into the air as debris piled up on the ground. There were now large piles of rubble lying on the grass where the employee room used to be. The wall in the arcade on that side was also gone. It was now a large hole where people could spectate the ongoing scene.
Pearl, Amethyst, and Cornelian shoved piles of debris of themselves. getting up and recovering from the collapsed room. They were okay despite them covered in bruises and dirt. The three were about to engage in combat once more when they remembered something. Steven was with them in that room!
Panicked, the smaller gems went over to a large pile of rubble and started to dig. Cornelian stayed put, watching them dig like maniacs. After minutes of digging, they finally managed to find a pink bubble. Inside the bubble was Steven, curled up into a little ball. He had forgotten that he could summon a bubble shield instinctively. Steven uncurled himself when he saw the two gems looking at him with concern.
Relief rushed through the two as he looked at them. He was okay! Without saying anything, Steven dismissed his bubble and stood up. He walked past the two gems and stood in front of Cornelian. The half-gem wanted to get answers and he wanted to get them now. He turned to look at Pearl and Amethyst and asked, "Why are you guys fighting each other!? Aren't you guys on the same team!?"
Pearl calmly approached Steven and kneeled down, putting a hand on his shoulder. She was hoping she wouldn't have to go through the effort of having to explain this to him. She feared Steven would try to get involved and end up hurting himself. She wanted to make sure he stayed out of these affairs. Despite her efforts, Steven ended up walking right into the situation anyway.
Clearing her throat, she began to explain. "You see, Steven," she began. "Many gems died, unable to ever regenerate, during the war against Home World. Rose started to worry about the safety of the rest of her army. She cared too much about them. She didn't want any more innocent gems to die. So, she had a plan. As the war reached its climax, Rose forced the rest of the army into theirs gems. She sent them off to various places across Earth. She left Garnet and I to fight alongside her. Though we won the war, many gems never got to live to see our triumph. This made Rose upset, but she was happy too. She knew Earth was safe and she knew the survivors could find their ways back home..." She paused for a moment, glancing up at Cornelian before looking back at Steven. "Though it appears to me these gems thought we betrayed them."
Pearl stood up and backed away a bit, her attention going from Steven to Cornelian. She shot a glare at her. The orange gem stayed calm in return, not wanting to build any more tension. She didn't originally intend to attack the two, yet something inside her grew. Despite her intentions, she had grown so angry she had to get revenge. She was unable to forget the events that took place that day. Even knowing the truth, something in her head always told her they did betray her.
That's when a thought popped into her head. Pearl's story had reminded her of something. A look of urgency soon formed on Cornelian's face as she looked at the three smaller gems. She warned them. "The other gems thatsurvive the war, they don't know what I know! They're coming after Rose Quartz; you, Steven!" Hearing the news caused Pearl and Amethyst to mirror Cornelian's worry. She was right! They didn't know Rose gave her life to give birth to Steven. They would think Steven was Rose! "They still think Rose betrayed 'em!" Cornelian added.
"So, what exactly do we do then?" Amethyst asked with urgency.
Before the orange gem was able to respond, Pearl answered her question. "We need to split up. Some of us need to stay here and prepare for any on-coming attacks. The rest of us will need to go out and search for the other gems." Everyone nodded in agreement but Steven. He seemed a bit alarmed, but also interested.
"Does this mean we get to go on another adventure?" He asked, causing everyone to look at him.
"If by 'we' you mean Garnet, Cornelian, and I, then yes." She turned to face his direction. "But if by 'we' you mean everyone, then no." She then continued by explaining how dangerous it would be for Steven to go with them. These gems wanted to kill him and he barely had control over his gem powers. She didn't want to risk it.
"You're going to stay here with Amethyst and make sure the Temple is secure." Pearl said. She then turned to the mentioned gem. "You, Amethyst, will help put defenses around the beach." Amethyst gave a nod in return. Pearl finally looked over to Cornelian. "You will come with Garnet and I to look for the other gems. We don't want you alone with Steven and Amethyst causing any trouble." The large gem understood Pearl's concern. She nodded, willing to go with them.
The four then walked off, unaware of the many people staring on in horror.
###
Lion slept near the kitchen while Steven sat by Amethyst on the couch. Cornelian waited for Garnet and Pearl on the Warp Pad. The two Crystal Gems were discussing their plan. They tried whispering so no one would hear, but Cornelian overheard them anyway.
Pearl mentioned bubbling Cornelian at the end of their hunt. She also mentioned bubbling any other gems they came across. Garnet didn't like the idea of bubbling everyone they encountered but she didn't protest.
After a few more moments of discussion, the two gems finally walked over to the Warp Pad. Before warping away, Pearl spoke aloud to the other two. "Our next stop is the forest. We'll be looking for Dragon's Eye." With that, the three warped away back to the forest.
Amethyst and Steven proceeded to stand up. They went to work, doing what they could to reinforce the beach and Temple.