Chapter Six: Get Down With the Sickness
SheZow woke up groggy, surrounded in darkness. Activating his laser lipstick, SheZow used the device as a glow stick searching the area. Oddly enough, the Crystal Gems were nearby sprawled across the floor, haphazardly. Slowly, SheZow walked towards the closest Gem (Amethyst) and shook her shoulder trying to wake her up…
Amethyst almost immediately shot up with a cry of 'not real' before SheZow grabbed her shoulders using his super strength to hold her down and speak calmly, "Look chill! Whatever it was is over! Come on, we gotta wake the others."
And thus Amethyst and SheZow woke the other Gems, with Pearl's awakening being oddly peacefully while Garnet nearly took off SheZow's head. After hearing the various stories the Gems could relate, SheZow came to a conclusion, "We need to get moving. Bruja does these dream attacks as a distraction. Whatever she's going to do next, it's going to be big…and it's going to be bad."
"Wait…why didn't she put the whammy on you?" asked Amethyst in a snarky tone. Just then the sound of heavy metal music began to play…(1)
"Can you feel that?
Ah, shit
Oh, ah, ah, ah, ah
Oh, ah, ah, ah, ah
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
"Don't know why she didn't do anything to me, but it doesn't matter right now! That music…it means something bad's about to happen!" exclaimed SheZow as she motioned for the Gems to move but it was too late. The shadows around them began to darken…and something seemed to be moving with red eyes in their depths…
Suddenly various shapes shot out from the shadows into the air, black snakes that were no doubt poisonous with their fangs poised to strike! Pearl block with her spinning spear, while Garnet punched the snakes away and Amethyst grabbed a bunch with her whip and threw it back into the bunch. Unfortunately, one always seemed to get through and take a bit of the Gems. SheZow was unmolested because he used his Super Sonic Shriek to knock the whole lot coming at him back, not realizing the trouble about to emerge…
"Drowning deep in my sea of loathing
Broken your servant I kneel
(Will you give in to me?)
It seems what's left of my human side
Is slowly changing in me
(Will you give in to me?)
"You guys okay! …Guys?!" asked SheZow, before turning around to a horrifying sight. The Gems were writhing in pain as the area around the bites darkened. Slowly, the darkening areas grew engulfing the limbs and then the rest of the body. Then the Gems' forms began to reshape themselves into terrible monstrous forms!
For Pearl, feathers sprouted all over his body, while her nose reshaped into a beak. Amethyst's muscles grew into the shape of her Purple Puma form, though claws sprouted on her finger tips. Garnet's form shifted into a more gorilla like posture, the stone from her fist growing to cover her arms. Slowly but surely the Gems were turning into monsters…
"Looking at my own reflection
When suddenly it changes
Violently it changes (oh no)
There is no turning back now
You've woken up the demon in me
SheZow backed away his Laser Lipstick pointed at the shifting Gems as they made their final transformation. Garnet had transformation into a massive rock giant in the shape of a gorilla, her three eyes glaring menacingly at SheZow. Amethyst became a feral Purple Puma, with sharp fangs and claws, thick coarse fur, and her whip forming into a lashing tail behind her. Pearl had become equal parts heron and humanoid, gracefully moving from one martial arts form to the next. Fully formed and facing SheZow, the Monster Gems charged at SheZow as the music pace sped up…
"Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Open up your hate, and let it flow into me
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
You mother get up come on get down with the sickness
You fucker get up come on get down with the sickness
Madness is the gift, that has been given to me
SheZow managed to narrowly dodge the first strikes from the Monster Gems. The Monster Gems were scattered when SheZow used his Super Sonic Shriek to blast the group apart. Thankfully, the corrupted Gem could not use all of their abilities, like shapeshifting or their weapons. SheZow still had to use every trick and gadget in his arsenal to keep theses beasts back though. Whelp, time to try a new approach then…
"I can see inside you, the sickness is rising
Don't try to deny what you feel
(Will you give in to me?)
It seems that all that was good has died
And is decaying in me
(Will you give in to me?)
"Come on Pearl, I know you're in there!" exclaimed SheZow as he used his Laser Lipstick to hold off Pearl's talons, "We need to get back to saving Steven!" If Pearl understood SheZow, she showed no sign of showing it. Before he could continue, SheZow was grabbed from behind by Garnet. Stuck in a crushing bear hug, SheZow tried to think of something, anything that could get him out of this mess…
"It seems you're having some trouble
In dealing with these changes
Living with these changes (oh no)
The world is a scary place
Now that you've woken up the demon in me
Slowly, SheZow reached for a compartment in his Beautility Belt, hoping against all hope it would work like Sheila said it would! Pulling out what looked like a spray can from the compartment, SheZow elbowed Garnet forcing her to let him go. Quickly turning around, SheZow sprayed Garnet with the mysterious spray before leaping out of the way. Garnet slowly made her way towards SheZow slowing down with every step. Finally Garnet stood frozen, a sheen reflecting off her as she settled.
"Guess the new 'SheZow Super Setting Spray' works like a charm!" exclaimed SheZow, before turning to the other two Gems, thus not seeing a piece of the setting material fall off Garnet…
"Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Open up your hate, and let it flow into me
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
You mother get up come on get down with the sickness
You fucker get up come on get down with the sickness
Madness is the gift, that has been given to me
SheZow was quick in in dealing with the other two Gems, since all he needed to do was 'spray and play,' as he so cleverly put it.(2) With all the Gems frozen, SheZow took in the moment before turning down the tunnel…only to be grabbed by a large rocky hand! Turning around, SheZow saw that Garnet had gotten out of her trap and then she hurled SheZow into the wall. Lifting himself, SheZow looked to Amethyst and Pearl to see they were still trapped. Igniting his Laser Lipstick and bringing out the Mega Mascara Whiplash, SheZow decided he'd figure out how Garnet got out after dealing with her…
"No mommy, don't do it again
Don't do it again
I'll be a good boy
I'll be a good boy, I promise
No mommy don't hit me
Why did you have to hit me like that, mommy?
Don't do it, you're hurting me
Why did you have to be such a bitch
SheZow used the Mascara Whiplash to fend off Garnet like a lion tamer. Garnet stayed back, more out of an animalistic desire to avoid the loud crack of the whip than anything else. SheZow looked back to see that the spray was beginning to wear off on the other Gems as well. Note to Sheila: put a label on the Super Setting Spray that says 'Warning: Effects maybe more temporary when dealing with Alien SPACE ROCK PEOPLE! exclaimed SheZow internally…
"Why don't you
Why don't you just fuck off and die
Why can't you just fuck off and die
Why can't you just leave here and die
Never stick your hand in my face again bitch
Fuck you
I don't need this shit
You stupid sadistic abusive fucking whore
How would you like to see how it feels mommy
Here it comes, get ready to die
Deciding he had no other choice, SheZow ran towards Garnet…and bisected her with the Laser Lipstick! Garnet froze for a moment, before falling into two halves and disappearing into a ruby and a sapphire. SheZow stood confused for a moment before the other two Gems charged him after breaking the Setting Spray. Quickly, SheZow wrapped the Mascara Whiplash around Amethyst and hurled her into Pearl. The two slammed into the wall, which SheZow followed up with the brand new Napalm Hair Dryer, an exchange for the grappling hook Sheila created after SheZow gained the ability to fly!
Shooting out a massive stream of heat at the downed Gems, Pearl and Amethyst retreated into their gems. Slowly moving forward, SheZow picked up the gems, surprisingly not at all hot from the flames used previously, and put them into a pocket in the Beautility Belt. Walking over to the ruby and sapphire, SheZow was surprised by the fact that the Gems were glowing! Seeing them rise into the air, SheZow crouched into a battle stance ready for the fight to continue…
"Oh, ah, ah, ah, ah
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Open up your hate, and let it flow into me
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
You mother get up come on get down with the sickness
You fucker get up come on get down with the sickness
Madness has now come over me"
The Gems flashed to reveal…Ruby and Sapphire had reformed and perfectly normal to boot! SheZow stared in shock at the two new Gems that had appeared before him. While Sheila admitted that the past SheZows had not been able to gather much information on the Crystal Gems, the full roster seemed kind of important! The newly formed Gems blinked their eyes with Ruby being the first to react to the situation, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?! This is just…arrrgh! I knew bringing him along was a bad idea!"
"Yet if it were not for SheZow, we would have trapped in that monstrous shape, perhaps even permanently. Calm down my love this is an easily fixed issues." stated Sapphire with her usual calm tone.
"Fiiinnnneee… Let's get the others and get out of here!" said Ruby exasperated that her love was right.
It was at this moment that SheZow made herself know, "Excuse me! Could I get an explanation here?! How long have you two been a fusion?!"
"How do you even know about fusions in the first place?!" exclaimed Ruby, suspicious of SheZow's knowledge.
"Look, I'm gonna level with you on something…I'm not the first SheZow! I'm sure you remember some of my…predecessors. Well, after that, every SheZow monitored you and any other possible alien sighting. Most of them were hoaxes, but still I got a lot of intel on you. Though obviously not enough to know that Garnet was a Fusion!" explained SheZow, just as the other Gems reformed.
"You've been spying on us!" exclaimed Pearl, having heard the tail end of the conversation, "Has it every occurred to you that Bruja could have used you methods to spy on us as well? This whole situation is because you-"
"ENOUGH!" exclaimed Sapphire, "This is not the actions of the present SheZow. You forget…humans barely live to be one hundred years old. Besides, he did not know that about Garnet being a Fusion while Bruja did. She must be using some other means of spying on us."
"Oh, it's a little of column A, but mostly column B!" announced a voice over a hidden speaker, that voice being…
"BRUJA! Finally ready to come out and fight!" shouted Amethyst ready to take her frustration out on the psychotic supervillainess.
"Oh I simply need to a get a good…feel for my opponents. Hours of surveillance and historical accounts only tells you so much. Let me give you my results: Pearl is a basket-case over a Gem who used her like a tool, Garnet is impressive, but pathetic when separated, and Amethyst…well the less said about a lost, empty, killing machine trying to fill the void in her life, the better! Also my toxin seems to work quite well: just enough of a mix of monster and Gem to be useful. Oh I can't wait to see the final version!" explained Bruja over the intercom.
Ruby and Sapphire quickly fused back into Garnet before loudly declaring, "You have only seen a glimpse of our abilities! Why don't you stop hiding and face if you're so confident of your success!" Inspired by Garnet's words, the Gems and SheZow brought their weapons to bear, waiting for the fight ahead.
Rather than being intimidated, however, Bruja simply laughed and said, "HAHAHAHA! Oh, so inspirational! Well, as they say, if you want something done right…"
Just then a section of the wall in front of the group opened up revealing…a nightmarish twist on both a fun house and a casino!(3) It was a tacky glow-in-the-dark blacklight set dominate by a massive roulette wheel that a person could walk on. The Gems and SheZow walked forward to see that the missing children (including Steven and Connie were hanging over a bubbling vat in the center of the roulettes wheel. Rushing forward, the group stop to the sound of the wall closing behind them. Confuse, the group looked up to see a lowering platform.
On the platform was La Bruja, clad in the cut out black dress of earlier, though the blacklights added knew details. They revealing intricate pagan designs on the dress, made the bone scepter more noticeable as well as the painted bones on Bruja's body, but more importantly, her eyes held a mad gleam reflect in their amber depths. As the platform stopped just before reaching the floor, Bruja finished her early thought in a deeper, more menacing voice, "DO IT YOURSELF! BWAHAHAHAHA!"
Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or SheZow nor any characters or elements that are contained in the series. I only own this story and the original characters (i.e. villains and monsters) and concepts that go with it. Well this has been an exhausting couple of days. Unfortunately, it looks like I might be trapped in my house for at least until Tuesday. The guy who is supposed to dig out the driveway doesn't look like he'll come today. Just gotta keep it cool. Anyway, as always, please Read and Review!
1 "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed
2 I sometimes hate the overuse of puns in 'SheZow!'
3 Think of Oogie Boogie's Lair in the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
