"Steven, I guess it's time I told you…" Peridot began, feeling, for the first time in her life, nervous to talk to her son.
"What is it, Peri?" Steven asked, apprehensively. Peridot never spoke to him so seriously.
"I'm keeping something from you. Something big. I'm-I can shapeshift and I want to teach you how. I've been selfish. I'm sorry," Peridot said.
"Shapeshifting?! No way! And I can do it too? No way!"
"You asked for it," Peridot said. She closed her eyes and turned into Steven.
"Whoa, no way!" Steven yelled, jumping back.
Peridot shifted into Cora next, giggling. She shifted into a beagle, howling. She shifted into a delicate crane, then a tiger, then Miss Snyder, then back to herself. "See, it's easy. Just concentrate on whatever you want to shift into and just do it. Make sure to concentrate, though."
Steven closed his eyes tightly and thought about shifting into a cat. A cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat.
"Steven!" Peridot shrieked, looking at him with horror in her eyes. "What were you thinking?!"
Steven lifted his hand to reveal a cat in place of his index finger. He screamed. "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO, HELP?!"
Peridot said, "I don't know, I don't think this has ever happened before. Just calm down, okay? This is not as bad as it looks. In fact, it doesn't even look bad. Don't stress, okay? You're okay. Don't worry about it. Please."
"How can I be calm when my finger is a cat?" Steven asked, breathing heavily.
"Okay, there's got to be a simple solution. How about...you think just what you were thinking before, but think finger instead of cat?"
"Okay, Peri, I trust you," Steven said. He began to concentrate again. A finger. Finger. Finger. Finger. Finger. Finger. Finger.
"Ew," Peridot groaned, looking away. "Do you think this happens often?"
Steven looked down at himself. Fingers stuck out of his upper arms, neck, knees, and feet. "AAAAAUGHHHHH!" Steven screamed. "I'm a monster!"
Peridot screeched, "This is madness, okay? We simply need to heal you somehow. Maybe…"
Peridot began poking the fingers, trying to make them disappear. Unfortunately, it just aggravated them more, making them flail about almost angrily. "Maybe this'll work," she murmured to herself.
"Hey, Steven, if you've got all these extra appendages, I guess you can't go and fight a living island with me later," Peridot said, hiding a grin.
"No way, an island?! I can't miss that," Steven said, squishing up his face in concentration. Go away. Go Away. GO Away. GO AWAY.
"AAAAAUGH," Peridot screamed, "why did it get worse?"
Steven looked down to see fingers of all kinds hanging off his calves, toes, and shoulders. By the way Peridot was looking at him, he also had some hanging off his cheeks and forehead. "I'm even more of a monster than before," Steven said, surprisingly calm under the circumstances.
"I have to go, Steven," Peridot said. "The island must be defeated. Figure out a way to get those appendages off of you. Please. It's making me...very uncomfortable."
She stepped onto the warp pad and disappeared. Steven fell onto the ground and curled up, confused and scared. He began to cry, and, as he cried, the fingers melted away and disappeared. He gasped. "No way," he murmured under his breath. He curled up tightly and went to sleep.
After a couple hours, Steven awoke to Peridot returning. She looked shocked and almost scared. "What's wrong, Peri?" Steven asked, worrying.
"What? Oh, nothing. I'm fine. The island is defeated. Nothing to worry about. Why would I be worrying? There's nothing to worry about. Nothing at all," she replied, visibly shaking.
"Hey, your extra appendages are gone! Nice job, Steven," Peridot said. "Now I'm going to work for a bit. Catch you later, cutie."
Steven watched as she disappeared into her room. I wonder what she does in there.
"We defeated the island, Greg," the slim one said.
"The one that was alive," he asked. "Nice job."
"I could have sworn I saw something in the bushes," the tall one said, "but it was probably just an animal."
"Yeah," the short one said, lost in thought, "just an animal."
A/N: But Steven still doesn't know exactly how he healed himself. He just assumed shapeshifting couldn't last forever (which is true). What do you think Peridot is doing in her top-secret room? (I always hated this episode btw so that's why I tried to change the storyline all around)
Should I try to update more often, or am I overwhelming you guys? And is it okay to read? You aren't having trouble figuring out who's speaking? How do you like the story so far? Review review review!
