Chapter 7: Gem Dreams
It was a peaceful night for Steven...or at least, it would be, if he hadn't felt something very off; instead of feeling the warm blanket covering his body and the soft pillows lying on his head, he felt something soft and fluffy underneath him, forcing himself to open his eyes and looked down to see...pink clouds? Shocked, Steven looked around at his new surroundings and it didn't took him too long to realize where he ended up.
'How did I get into my mom's room?' he thought in surprise. 'Did I just sleepwalked my way inside the Crystal Temple and warped my way in here?'
"Steven…" Steven snapped back into reality, startled to hear a voice that was quite vague, but familiar at the same time; it had a stoic but calm tone to it.
"...Garnet, is that you?" He called out to the direction of where the voice came from.
"Steven…" Steven heard another familiar voice he hadn't heard for a long time; it was a bit loud, but also quite energetic.
"Amethyst?" was all Steven could muster from his mouth, feeling his fear crawling up in his spine like a snake.
"It's alright, Steven. It's us..." Another voice assured him with a motherly tone. By this point, Steven was starting to freak out, not expecting to hear Pearl's voice out of the blue.
"Oh no! It's deja vu all over again!"
"Relax Steven, there's nothing to be afraid of," Amethyst spoke up.
"It's really us, Steven," Garnet added.
"We're just glad to hear your voice again after three years," Pearl finished.
Steven looked around, trying his best to locate the Crystal Gems as hard as he could. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find them, with nothing but pink clouds floating all around him.
"Um, where are you guys?" he finally asked.
Suddenly, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl materialized themselves in front of Steven, giving the teenager a warm smile, leaving him in a total state of shock by their sudden appearances after three years of their absence. For a moment, he was speechless, unable to say anything back, before approaching the Crystal Gems and breaking down into tears of joy.
"GUYS! You have no idea how much it's good to see you here!" Steven happily cried out.
"Amethyst, Pearl and I also miss you as well, Steven," Garnet spoke back. "You did a wonderful job in your role as Gem Guardian of Earth."
"Wow, Steven, you gotten much bigger since the last time I saw you," Amethyst commented, as she looked at the now tall Steven.
"If Rose was here, she would have been so proud of you right now," Pearl praised Steven. "You did a wonderful job in protecting Beach City in our absence."
"Wait, you know everything?" Steven asked, surprised by Pearl's statement.
"Only a few things, as it took a lot out of us to see what's going on outside, but we're proud of all your work," Pearl explained.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Steven joyfully accepted this, before he noticed that Garnet was giving him a serious look. "What's wrong?"
"You need to stop using our gems," she sternly replied, much to Steven's shock.
"W-What do you mean?" Steven nervously demanded.
"Your constant usage of our gems is preventing us from fully regenerating," Pearl explained the situation to him. "Not to mention that your body is stealing our powers from them as well. It took all of our combined powers to finally communicate with you."
"Why did your gems got onto my body anyway?" Steven questioned the Crystal Gems.
"Beats us," Amethyst admitted with a shrug. "It wasn't intentional on our part and we're just as clueless about it as you are."
"It probably has something to do with the fact that you're human. Your powers are inconsistent and even we aren't aware of everything Rose herself could do," Garnet theorized.
All of these new information was giving Steven a hard time for him to process all of them in one moment, before he turned his attention to Garnet.
"How long will it take for you, Amethyst and Pearl to regenerate?"
"With the current pace... three weeks," she simply replied,
"Three weeks?!" Steven shouted in shock. "How am I supposed to protect Earth for three weeks without using your gems?!"
"Calm down, Stevie..." Amethyst began. "You'll be fine."
"How do you know that?!"
"Because we believe in you," Garnet answered, causing Steven to calm down.
"...I'll try," Steven replied. "I just want to see you guys again after so long."
"We all do, Steven," Garnet said with a smile.
"It'll happen," Amethyst added.
"Just hang on until then," Pearl finished.
Just then, the Crystal Gems noticed that something glowing from a distance is starting to envelop everything on sight. It was right then and there that they realized what was about to happen.
"Looks like our time in here is up," Garnet informed Steven.
"If we're going to disappear, the least we can do is this," Amethyst spoke, before she, Garnet and Pearl gave Steven one big hug and he hug them back in return, just as the white light finally enveloped them whole.
Steven opened his eyes and quickly shot up from his bed, his head covered with sweats and panting very heavily from the experience, before he looked around and notice that it was still night time in Beach City. He was still in shock from his brief encounter with the Crystal Gems in his dream, but at the same time, he also felt very happy, as he saw them again for the first time in years.
"I'm so glad I saw you guys again," Steven quietly said to himself, shedding tears of joy, before quickly wiping them off of his face. "Come on, Steven. Do it for Amethyst. I need to start manning up and protect Earth for the next three weeks until they return."
Once he made his vow, Steven returned to his bed and went back to sleep, though his mind continued to wander, keeping him from getting a peaceful sleep.
Morning finally came to Beach City, but for Steven, he had something else in mind other than breakfast; ever since he spoke with the Crystal Gems last night, he needed to find another way of protecting Earth for the next three weeks.
'How do I protect earth without using their gems?' Steven thought. 'My shield isn't strong enough to take out those Gem monsters in the past and Connie is the only one who uses the sword all the time.'
He continued to think long and hard about this, until finally, it hit him in the end.
"Of course! I can use the Gem Pets! They can get me out of a jam when I needed it the most," Steven proclaimed, before the sudden stroke of this good idea started to fizzle out for him. "Even though I made some progress with the rehabilitation program, they might revert back to their old selves if I'm not careful."
Once more, he pondered on what to do next, pacing back and forth, until he picked up his cell phone and called up the only person who can help him.
"I need someone with a second opinion first before going through with this," he said to himself, just as he heard Connie's voice from the other line.
"Hey Steven," she greeted her boyfriend.
"Hey Connie," he greeted back. "I was wondering if using the reformed Corrupted Gems can substitute for summoning the Crystal Gems' weapons."
"Sorry to ask the obvious, but why?" she curiously asked. "Wouldn't it be better to just use the Gems' weapons?"
"The thing is, my constant usage of their weapons is what preventing them from regenerating," Steven explained to his girlfriend, much to her surprise.
"How do you know about this?" Connie demanded.
"The Crystal Gems talked to me in my dream," Steven's answer surprised his girlfriend even more. "It'll take them three weeks for them to fully regenerate, provided that I don't use their weapons at all."
"When you put it that way, I guess using the reformed Corrupted Gems isn't such a bad idea," Connie suggested.
"That's what worries me," said Steven. "If I'm not careful, they'll be back to their old selves."
"Don't worry, Steven. I'll come by and see what I can do to help."
"Thanks Connie," Steven spoke with gratitude, before he and Connie hung up.
Steven waited for what felt like an eternity, before he heard a knock on the door, much to his relief, as he approached the door and opened it, showing Connie waiting at the other side for him.
"I got here as fast as I could, Steven," Connie said to her boyfriend, before Steven let her into the beach house. "Anyway, where are the reformed Corrupted Gems?"
"I'm glad you asked," Steven replied, before he clapped his hands, allowing Connie to see three small Gem monsters in front of her. "Connie, meet Centy, Puffer and Octo. Centy, Puffer and Octo, meet Connie."
"It's nice to finally meet you three at last," Connie greeted them with affection, with the trio returning the affection back to her, before she looked back at Steven. "I was wondering why it was taking you so long to show them to me."
"Remember that weird burn I had a few months ago?" Connie nodded as Steven continued. "I didn't want that happening to you."
"Aw Steven, that's so sweet, but I'm pretty sure I would have been fine," Connie said, as she gave her boyfriend a quick hug.
"Whatever you do, do not make any squawking, farting or drum noises around them," Steven cautioned his girlfriend, who simply nodded her head, taking his warning very seriously.
"Did you by any chance come up with a name for them?" Connie asked her boyfriend.
"Actually, I do. I call them the Gem Pets."
"Gem Pets? That sounds quite cute."
"Before that, I was thinking about calling them Tiny Gems, Substitution Gems, Gem Pets and even Super Universe Almighty Gems."
"Yeah, I don't think any of those names would have fly by."
"At least I got a name for them," Steven simply said, before he started to worry. "As I mentioned before, I'm concern that if I'm not careful, they'll become feral once more and I'll have to bubble and retrain them again."
"I see," Connie understood what Steven was talking about. "Why not have Lion keep them in line?"
"I can't even keep Lion in line!" Steven countered. "He always destroys every window and places whenever he makes an appearance; he even destroyed a tourist taco's stand recently! Not to mention that my dad has to pay off for all the damages he creates, even counting off the many destruction he leaves."
"I think I see your point," said Connie.
"This "no using Gem Weapons for three weeks" policy is going to be difficult than I thought," Steven lamented. "I just wish they told me about that sooner."
"About that…" Connie began. "Care to give me more details about it?"
Steven took a deep breath and explained to her about his encounter with the Crystal Gems in his dream, how they got into a brief reunion and how they explained what he needed to do in order for them to fully regenerate, before finishing up the story with him waking up last night.
"Did they ever explained why their gems got stuck on your body?" Connie questioned Steven.
"They don't know much about it either," he admitted. "All I do know is that I have to protect Earth without their weapons for the next three weeks if I want to see the Gems again."
"What about your shield? You can use that without worrying of using their weapons," Connie noted.
In response to this, Steven summoned his shield and threw it to a wall nearby, before it bounced off the wall onto the ground and leaving a small dent from the impact.
"All it does is bounce around off of everything so it never felt like I was actually doing any damage with it," he complained, prompting Connie to get closer to Steven for comfort.
"Steven, you always found a way to improvise and took some of the Corrupted Gems down in the past."
"I'm trying to find one now, but I wonder if the risk is worth it."
"You won't know until you try it."
"...You're right, Connie. I'll have to take the chance, regardless of the outcome and right now, I need to get the Gem Pets ready for the future."
Having his mind made up, Steven, along with Connie, took the Gem Pets outside of the beach house, before he started pacing back and forth on the sands, giving the Gem Pets his most serious look on his face.
"Alright, Gem Pets, listen up! You three will be facing the most dangerous threats of your lives and right now, I need all of you to man up and prepare for the training of a lifetime!" Steven spoke like a drill sargeant, only to be met back by three blank stares from them, to his dismay.
"Aw man. I thought for sure that was going to motivate them."
"Why not use commands at them?" Connie suggested, before a thought occur to her. "Now that I mention it, is it alright if I try some as well?"
"Sure thing, Connie," Steven agreed, before making his way to Centy and squawking like a seagull, prompting Centy to spew acid in the sand, before he turned to Connie. "Now you try."
Connie nodded her head and used the same method at Centy. Unfortunately for her, Centy freaked out and spew acid at her instead, with Connie barely dodging the attack, as the acid laid right next to her.
"Centy, NO! You're not suppose to attack Connie at all!" Steven scolded Centy, before he picked Connie back up to her feet. "I'm so sorry about that."
"It's fine, Steven. At least I'm safe," she assured him, before looking at Puffer. "How about Puffer? It seems more safe than Centy."
Steven nodded his head and went up to Puffer, before covering his mouth with his hands and made some farting noises, causing Puffer to blow air upwards to the sky, before allowing Connie to use the same method on Puffer. Unfortunately, when she did used it, Puffer responded by blowing air at her face, causing her hair to poof up as well.
"Nice look back there," Steven remarked with amusement, irking Connie, before she calmed down and put her hair down in its place.
"At least it wasn't acid on my face," Connie commented, before she and Steven approached Octo, with the latter banging on his stomach like a drum, prompting Octo to shot some shards at a nearby rock. Likewise, Connie does the same thing, only for Octo to shoot some shards back at her in annoyance.
"WAH!" she screamed in horror, before Connie hid behind a nearby rock for safety, avoiding the shards in the process, before calling out to Steven behind it. "I don't think these Gem Pets like me at all."
"I don't get it," a dumbfounded Steven said, scratching his head in confusion. "They like you before when you met them and shower them with affection not so long ago." He then shrugged it off before speaking once more. "Regardless, we need to get them to trust you more."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to give up that easily," Connie insisted.
A few hours would passed by at the beach, with Steven and Connie continuing to train the Gem Pets in preparation for a future threat, but their efforts had little to no progress, whether the Gem Pets got distracted or continued to terrorize Connie with their attacks, despite using the correct commands. By now, the sun was starting to set and all Steven can do is sigh in disappointment by the results.
"This isn't working out at all," he muttered under his breath. "I'm starting to think that this isn't worth the effort."
But just as Steven is about to give up on the Gem Pets, he, Connie and the Gem Pets suddenly heard buzzing noises from a distance, causing the couple to turn to the direction of the noise and glare what appeared to be a dark cloud from the horizon. But then. the cloud moved at a much faster pace and headed straight towards the boardwalk, with people screaming in terror, before suddenly becoming eerily silence. Shortly afterwards, the same dark cloud then made its way towards Steven, Connie and the Gem Pets, to their shock, inching its way towards them, allowing the couple to get a better look; upon further inspection, they noticed that the dark cloud was actually a swarm containing dark blue wasps, with gems embedded on the base of their wings.
"I've never seen this many Corrupted Gems in one group before!" a shocked Steven shouted.
"This can't be good," Connie remarked, just as the Gem Wasps finally approached their targets.
"Everyone, gather around me!" Steven yelled, with Connie clinging onto Steven, while the Gem Pets huddle around him in fear, before he quickly summoned his bubble shield, protecting them from the barrage of Gem Wasps and their stingings.
"What do we do now?!" A panicked Connie asked Steven.
"I don't know!" Steven responded, before looking back at the Gem Pets. "I think this would be a good time to use the Gem Pets."
"Are you sure?" Connie asked with uncertainty.
"I don't have any other options," Steven replied. "The best we can do is hope for the best," was the answer he gave to Connie, silently praying that they could make it out of here unscathed.
A/N Eh, I'm sure they can handle it.
So what did you guys think? Let me know in the review section and Stevenbomb: Fanfiction Edition is just beginning. Till next time, Sal out!
