Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe.
Steven instantly regretted opening the temple door. When he heard knocking, he had assumed that it would be Ruby, telling him that it was safe to go outside or maybe even visit someone. But he had not thought that Peridot was crazy enough to march up to the temple door, knock on it, and somehow expect him to answer. He was about to close it on the gem when she leaped inside. Steven reflexively jumped away from her.
So, for the second time that week, he found himself trapped in one of his bubbles. He had no way to get rid of it, not that he wanted to with Peridot in the temple with him. But now he had no way to get her out. Even if he did ask for a door, it would take a bit of work to force Peridot out of the temple. The best he could do for now was hold his ground, and hope that she did not try to take him anywhere.
"Go away!"
"Yes! I Peridot have re-" Peridot stopped when she realized what Steven had said. "What? That's not what you're supposed to say! You're supposed to yell my name and then-"
"I don't care what I'm supposed to do! You don't know what you're talking about!"
"Well every time we've met, our conversation has been started by you yelling my name."
"It has not!"
"It has too!"
"Has not!"
"Has too!"
The argument went back and forth with them repeating the same phrases over again. Soon, saying "has not" stopped sounding like real words to him. But he was distracting Peridot. Ruby would have to stop by sooner or later, then they could get her out of the room! Steven didn't want to try asking for the room to get rid of her, because he was afraid of what it might try to do.
But, the more times he had to repeat "has not" the more he debated doing it. The room had helped him before, once or twice. He just needed to be very specific. If he could get Peridot to appear in the room and repeat thing she had said, maybe he could do the same with the Crystal Gems.
"Has not! Room, I want the Crystal Gems to be here! Please!"
The ground began to rumble. Peridot lost her footing, and she fell with an indignant squawk. He started to roll around in the bubble, as the ground seemed to toss him through the air. From behind him, the clouds, once soft and pink, began to turn a steely grey. An invisible wind stirred them around, twisting into a furious tornado. He and Peridot were tossed backwards by the force of the vortex. It turned darker and darker, until the clouds appeared almost black.
The tornado spat out small puffs of smoky clouds. They varied in size and shape, and for a moment, hovered in front of them. Then, the first, hexagonal-shaped cloud spread out. It grew and grew, until a gem, made of clouds, had reformed. It was her again. Why couldn't she just leave him alone? The gems behind her did the same. He didn't recognize any of them. Bits and pieces of each gem were coloured and visible. They faded in and out, like gems that had been cracked. The faceless army of Crystal Gems stood there, silently.
But as quickly as they had come, they all started to fall apart. She was first, and the rest of them collapsed. The darkness spread around the room. All of the clouds vanished. Everything vanished, expect for him and Peridot. There was no visible sky and floor. There were only small dots of light around them, as if they were floating in space.
"What did you do?!" Peridot asked. "W-where are we?! What have you done?!"
"I-I don't know! I j-just asked for the Crystal Gems to be back!"
"So you brought an entire army of dead soldiers back to life?!"
"I-I didn't mean to! The room's only supposed to make things I know about come to life!"
"Well of course you know what the rebellion looks like! You have the Rose Quartz gem!"
His bubble was long gone, the shock had started him out of holding it in place. Now Peridot walked towards him, clearly ready to drag him all the way back to Homeworld if she had to. Steven stepped away from her. He couldn't tell where the ground was, but he knew that it still existed in the broken world.
"How do we get out of here?" She asked.
"I'm not telling!" He stuck his tongue out at the gem. "Nyah!"
"Rrr! Get back here!"
This time, he had the advantage. Peridot couldn't run very fast with one of her feet missing. Steven started to run, and try to think of a different plan to get rid of her. Maybe he could ask for a prison cell! But at the same time, he was unsure of how specific he needed to be so the room could do things right for once.
"R-room, I want Peridot to be trapped in a prison cell!"
To the left, one of the war-ship's cells appeared. Behind the destabilization field was Peridot.
"Isn't it obvious? You were made for the specific purpose of-"
"No! Get rid of that!"
Shaking his head, he continued to run.
"Room! I want Amethyst to be here!"
The hall of the warship started to form alongside him as he ran. He passed by mostly empty cells, but one of them had Amethyst inside. There was murder in her eyes, and he realize that this was the Amethyst who thought she had betrayed them. She lunged towards him, but was pushed back by the field. He looked away and tried to ignore her as she yelled threats at him. It wasn't real, she didn't hate him. That was all in the past now and they were both fine.
"Stop... Trying to... R-run!"
Peridot sounded out of breath. His own chest was starting to hurt as well, and Steven knew that he was beginning to slow down. Steven tried to concentrate on good memories of the gems, ones that wouldn't cause the room to make things he did not want to see. He thought back to Pearl, and how they had both started taking care of her garden together, and how they were starting to warm up to each other...
"Room, I want to see Pearl! Please!"
This time, he got the result that he wanted. Pearl appeared, and she was holding her weapon. She ran towards Peridot and threw it straight at her. It missed, because she had aimed for Peridot's missing foot. However, she seemed prepared to throw more at her. One of her arms was pierced by the next throw. It was Peridot's gradually malfunctioning limb enhancers that saved her from losing another leg. Her fingers were lagging behind, and they got caught in Pearl's hair and eyes. With all of her limb but one suffering from some sort of problem, Peridot abandoned them. They just so happened to land on Pearl as she tossed them behind her, and the gem became clouds in the room again.
"Nyah ha ha! I'm..." Peridot still sounded short of breath. "U-unstoppable!"
Peridot was his height now, but so was Ruby. And she could really pack a punch. Sapphire could too, and she wasn't even built for fighting! Steven was not going to stop running from her, no matter what she looked like. He needed a new way to stop her. More than every his lungs felt like they were on fire, and his legs were burning. There was a stitch in his side, and Steven knew that he would not be able to keep up the running for much longer.
"What would it take to make you leave?"
"Do your worst Steven! But I'm not leaving this planet until you're back with Yellow Diamond!"
... It was his only choice, wasn't it? He knew the personality of her better than any other living person he had met. And the room was not capable of making her any more terrible than she already was, as awful as that sounded. And she wasn't actually going to be here. It would be fake. She was made of clouds and wouldn't actually have power over him. It was the only way.
"R-room. I want to see Yellow Diamond."
The room shook again, and Steven wondered if it was possible for it to wind up in a worse state than it already was. There was a soft pop, and Yellow Diamond appeared from the clouds. She was as terrifying as ever, and was clearly in a bad mood. Peridot gasped, and she instantly bowed as low as she possibly could, even though the gem knew that it was only a cloudy illusion.
The gem's piercing yellow eyes focused upon him. He had to fight to urge to shiver, and averted his gaze instead. Out of habit, he straightened his posture and put on as stoic a face as he could imagine. When she opened her mouth to speak, her voice was fuzzy, and distant, as if she were speaking from light-years away. This was because she had been, at least, at the time. It was the message from when he had been taken aboard the warship. Only this time, there was a face to go with the voice.
"She's more focused on the kindergarten than what she's supposed to be doing. She seems rather unwell, and will be dealt with once we return."
Peridot turned a paler shade of green when she heard this. The gem dared to look up at them, just barely.
"W-what?!" She squeaked.
Yellow Diamond's eyes flashed dangerously. But her pressing stare was no longer focused on him. He shrunk behind the gem's leg, knowing better than to react in any other way. It was not difficult to hide behind her legs, as he was not even as tall as them. Steven peeked out from behind her boots, watching Peridot as she remained bowed in front of the gem. He waited for her to speak. Steven just hoped that this would work, and it would persuade Peridot to leave him with the Crystal Gems.
"You, have gone too far out of line."
This time, her voice was much louder, and it boomed around the room. It seemed to echo endlessly, and he could feel the floor vibrating with each thunderous syllable.
"P-please m-my-"
The gem raised a hefty hand to point it at her. Peridot quickly bowed her head again, and she shrunk down to the point where she was practically laying on the floor. She was panting, out of breath, and looked ready to pass out.
"You should know better than to question my student."
"B-but, you tasked me with returning him to y-you!"
"You have cause him nothing but harm!"
She dared to look up at them again. Steven could see that Peridot was trembling all over. He could have sworn that there were tears in her eyes.
"H-he refused to return to Homeworld! I-I was only doing as y-you instructed!"
"Preposterous! Now not only are you lying to me, you have completely lost sight of your mission!"
"B-but, m-my-"
"No buts about it! You should have known better!"
"B-but the Steven-"
"What did I just say?"
"N-no buts! B-but you know that the Steven-"
"I know what I am talking about. You on the other hand-"
"NO! That's not right!"
"Excuse me?!"
Much to his amazement, Peridot rose to her feet, and she pointed a finger right back at Yellow Diamond's. Her other hand was clenched in a tiny fist. The gem stood on shaking feet, and she looked ready to fall back down to her knees again. But she held her ground, and yelled back at her;
"Y-you're not real! The real Yellow Diamond listens to the facts! She knows what is the objective, best decision! Y-you can't do anything to me!"
Steven knew what was coming next, but he was too late to do anything. Yellow Diamond swept Peridot to the side with the back of her hand. The speed and force of the blow sent Peridot flying through the air. A sharp cracking sound followed afterwards. Steven flinched. Even he had never been hit by her before. The breeze it created brushed through his hair. That was strong enough to push him back a few steps. Peridot landed on her back, but she did not try to get up.
The gem was frozen, shocked that she had actually been touched by Yellow Diamond. Peridot's eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and she went limp. Not a moment later, she poofed. Steven got over his surprise, and dismissed the fake Yellow Diamond before she could do anything worse to the gem. Steven ran over to where Peridot had landed. He cautiously picked up the gem.
Well, it had worked...
He didn't know how to bubble gems. He needed Ruby to do this for him. But before he did that, he needed to leave the room. It still looked like it was glitching. He had at least been able to make things in the place. There were some patches of pink sky visible in places, resting in angles that did not quite make sense. Those had not been there before. The room had actually done something right for once, even though he hadn't wanted Peridot to get hurt. Steven knew that he could trust the room to give him a door to where he needed to go.
"Room, I'd like a door to Ruby's room. Please."
Asking nicely seemed to have some affect on how it would act, and it gave him exactly what he needed. Ruby was pacing around her room. Wading really, in a pool of lava. She didn't seem very angry though, more like she was lost in thought. it was incredibly hot in the gem's room. Steven pulled at the collar of his shirt, and beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead. He didn't want to be in here for very long. In addition to that, being around pools of molten rock made him feel a little... Wary. He was a rock. Half a rock. Did that mean lava could be liquid gems? Steven wasn't sure if he really wanted an answer to that question.
"-perfectly normal she says. It's just perfectly normal for it to repair out of its own-"
"Uh, Ruby?"
"Not now Steven I'm-" Ruby turned around to face him, her face turning an even brighter red. "What?! How did you get in here?! How much did you hear of that?!"
"I- I didn't hear anything." Steven said.
"You shouldn't be wandering around the temple!"
"I know. But, there was uh, this."
He held out Peridot, showing her to the gem. Ruby's eyes widened, and she got out of the lava. Drips of the molten rock still clung to her body, glowing brilliant shades of orange and yellow. Steven stepped back, not wanting to get burned by the gem. She realized this, and tried to shake herself dry. Her hands were still very hot though, so Steven continued to hold on to Peridot. He didn't want her to be the newest addition to Ruby's room.
"How did she get in?"
"I thought it was you." He replied. "And she got in."
"So you beat her up?!" Ruby excitedly asked.
"Uh, kind of. But you have to bubble her before she tries to reform."
"Man! I was wish I could've seen!"
"Er, yeah, it was pretty bad."
"And you hardly have a scratch on you! That's impressive!"
"Oh, uh, thanks?" He weakly replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
Ruby punched her palm. The one without her gem.
"I was hoping I could do it after she called us nerds and clods, but at least she's dealt with. Who's the nerd now? Huh?"
"You need to bubble her." Steven reminded, not wanting Ruby to get too carried away.
"Right, give her to me."
Steven was still a little hesitant, but Ruby seemed to think that she had cooled down enough to handle Peridot. Ruby formed a small, crimson bubble around the gem, and tapped the top of it. The gem was sent to away with all the others. Steven sighed in relief, glad to know that Peridot had been dealt with, and they no longer had to worry about her.
"So, what were you doing before?"
"I'm... Uh, it's well... I'm worried about Sapphire." She admitted.
"What about Amethyst and Pearl?"
"It's hard not to be worried for them all the time." Ruby started to get worked up again. "Sapphire's different though. They've been gone for days now! Days!"
"They've only been gone for three days."
"I know!"
Steven remembered that it was probably a lot more time for someone like Ruby. She was used to being fused most of the time, and she at been cursed with a rather short temper as well. It would make sense that she would be impatient, only after two days away from Sapphire. The last time they had been separated was when they were on the warship.
"Maybe you just need to do something to take your mind off it!" Steven suggested.
"I can't! Not when I know she's out there somewhere!"
"They could be sailing back right now!" He replied, trying to keep her from punching a hole through the floor again.
"Then why are they taking so long?!"
"They have to find the problem, solve the problem, and then get back."
"I hate this! Two more seconds and I'm going after them!"
"Don't you mean two days?"
That did nothing to help.
"NO! ONE, TWO, I'M GOING TO RESCUE THEM!"
Ruby stormed out of the room, heading straight through the pool of lava. Steven ran along the side, not wanting to get locked in the steaming hot room. Ruby was still storming down to the beach, and he could feel the heat radiating from her getting even stronger. It was a warm summer's night outside, but it felt cool in comparison to Ruby and her room. Ruby was visibly glowing red in the dark. With each step she took on the sand, there was a loud crunch. She had heated up so much that she was turning the sand into glass wherever she walked. Steven followed behind the glassy foot prints, keeping his distance. Ruby finally stopped near the edge of the water.
"How will you know where they've gone?"
"I"LL FIND A WAY!"
Ruby punched the ground, the sand that leaped upwards turned into liquid glass, and bubbled. It froze as it fell back, dropping down on his head like little flecks of rain. Steven shielded his face as she punched the ground for a second time. Another shower of smooth glass pieces fell.
"Ruby! You need to calm down!"
"I CAN'T!"
There was no reasoning with her. Steven scooped up a handful of water and tossed it at the gem, hoping to catch her attention. He knew how much she disliked getting wet. There was a loud hissing noise. The water evaporated before it could get within a three feet of her, curling up into steam.
"What about me? You're supposed to be watching me!"
Ruby huffed, and clenched her fists. She seemed to calm down more when he reminded her of this. Steven could feel the temperature beginning to lower once again. Ruby no longer seemed to be glowing hot as much as she had once been.
"We've already got Peri-snot." She growled. "You can stay in the temple or with the humans or whatever."
"But your mission was to watch Beach City and me while the others were on a mission! I, I know that you're worried about Sapphire and the others, but they haven't been gone that long. Beach City needs you in case something happens!"
"Easy for you to say." She spat, crossing her arms.
"How would you feel if Sapphire thought you were in trouble every second you were apart?"
"I dunno'. Angry? Like I wanna' punch something?"
"She can handle herself, just like you! The others are there as well, and if she's in trouble, they'll know what to do."
"I want to think that, but it's just so hard when I'm angry!"
"Maybe you should do something to keep your mind off of them!"
"Like what?"
"Why don't we... Punch something?"
Ruby punched the ground again.
"I've already punched so- OW! WHAT IS IN THIS SAND?!"
Ruby pulled her hand out of the crater she had formed. In her fingers, was a short, rusty knife. Some of the tiny serrations were missing. Ruby had grazed her knuckles with the knife. As Steven got a closer look at the thing, he realized that the knife was not rusty. Jasper had shown him the proper way to polish it after all. Not an hour later, he had stabbed her, and she returned the favour. The knife was bloody. That was his blood still caked on in places. He could still hear Jasper's words echoing inside of his mind.
"That tiny thing is perfect. It's a back-stabber. Just like you."
"Huh." Ruby said, tossing the knife from hand to hand. "Not my kind of weapon. Better for Sapphy really. You know, pretty, but still capable of violence."
Steven was unsure of how one could consider such an old knife pretty (Let alone compare their spouse to it) but he was not going to try arguing. Ruby was distracted now, and that was good. She didn't seem as intent on leaving him alone with Peridot in Beach City. The thought of being the only one able to watch over Peridot made him shiver. What if she somehow escaped from her bubble, like he had managed to do?
"Y-yeah. Maybe you should give it to h-her." Steven suggested.
"Nah, something like this isn't meant for the cold. It'd get too brittle, and break. Here."
The knife was tossed towards him. Maybe Pearl's worries were a bit justified when it came to leaving him alone with Ruby. At least she didn't throw knives at him. Steven held his hands flat and caught it. He shivered as his skin made contact with the cold metal. He thought that he could forget about the evil thing, but apparently he wasn't that lucky.
"You should try sparring with it!" Ruby eagerly suggested. "C'mon! Hit me!"
"With a knife?" He squeaked. "I-I don't know if I should-"
"Which arm's your shield arm?" She asked.
"Shield arm?"
"You know, when you summon your weapon?"
"I-I've only done that a few times."
"Well Rose favoured her right. So keep your knife in your left."
Nodding, he did as she was told, and switched hands. He took on one of the few fighting stances that he had been taught. Ruby placed a hand to her chin, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face. She slowly started to walk circles around him, taking in his posture. She had cooled down now, and it was no longer unbearable to stand close to her.
"Fix your grip!" She commanded. "Tighten your hold and make your wrist more flexible!"
The smooth surface of the weapon was difficult to grasp properly. His hands were slick with sweat, and he wasn't so sure he really wanted to learn how to use the knife. He had wanted to be a warrior for most of his life. But when it had actually come down to him trying to fight, he got nervous, and he didn't want anyone to get hurt. Not even his enemies, whether they were from Homeworld or any other planet.
"Try raising your shield arm. Make it look like you're fending something off."
"Like what?"
"Uh, my fist!"
Ruby faked a throw, moving slowly and stopping inches away from his face. Steven raised the face of his arm, as if it was shielding him from the not-so realistic punch. She aimed another attack, this time near his side. He pretended to shield that too. She moved again, targeting with her other fist. He shielded as well this time. Then Ruby repeated the punches, but she sped up a little this time. The third time through, Steven noticed that she was stopping herself later.
Eventually, she was making him dodge out of the way. He side-stepped and twisted away from each mock-punch. He quickly fell into the rhythm of things, until it was almost a dance. Ruby would move way, and he would move the other direction, to avoid being hit by her. Ruby's movements were much more controlled and fluid than his were. She knew what she was doing, while he was only learning. His steps were jerky, and not as coordinated as her own. But he was still doing well.
Steven grinned slightly. Ruby smiled back. Then, she dropped the predictable pattern, and swung at his head for a second time. Steven yelped, and his eyes grew wide. He only had moments to react, but he managed to bend over far enough to avoid it. Steven wound up falling back on his arms.
"Whoa! I had no idea you were that flexible! Where'd you pick that up?"
"I-I-" He was panting, that had been hard work. "I guess when Apatite made me do stretches with her, it paid off!"
"Oh yeah. Her."
There was a slightly uncomfortable silence. Then, Ruby offered him a hand. He took it. The gem was surprisingly gentle for someone so strong. He dusted the sand off his clothing. Ruby handed him back his knife, and adjusted his stance with a few quick taps to his arms and legs.
"Alright. This time, you try hitting me!"
"With the knife?" He squeaked.
"Just do what I did! Miss on purpose!"
"I'll try."
Adjusting his grip, he weakly poked the knife in Ruby's direction. The gem did not so much as flinch. She swiped the knife from his hands, and tossed it around. Ruby did not hesitate to play with the blade as if it were a toy, rather than a dangerous weapon that could hurt someone. Steven nervously watched it as she passed it back and forth between her hands.
"Come on! You gotta' use more power than that!"
"But what if I hurt you?"
Ruby stopped throwing the knife, and instead clenched it in her fist. The blade however, was still sticking out. Using the same hand, Ruby pointed at her chest.
"Steven please! I'm a warrior gem! It's not like I'm gonna'-"
Suddenly, Ruby's body flickered. The gem's eyes widened in horror, and she looked down at front. She had accidentally stabbed herself with the knife, having used a little too much force when pointing at herself. She had not even realized it as she bragged. Ruby's cheeks turned a darker red. She smacked her forehead, and groaned aloud;
"Ugh! This is so embarrassing!"
Those were the last words Ruby could get out before she was poofed.
"Ruby!"
The knife and Ruby fell to the ground. Steven caught her gem before she could be damaged, but he glared at the knife.
"Why do you keep doing this to people?!" He asked. "I get that it's your job, but you're supposed to hurt the bad guys! Two of of three times you failed!"
Of course the knife did not reply. It was a knife. It couldn't talk, even if it had been through a war. Steven briefly wondered what kind of gem had owned the weapon before, and if they had tried to curse it before they were shattered. Because it was certainly starting to seem like someone had.
"Stupid knife, always hurting people." He grumbled.
Bending down, Steven carefully picked up the knife. He didn't want to somehow wind up stabbing himself like Ruby did. This time, he threw it out towards the ocean. There. Lapis and Jasper could have it for all he cared. Finders keepers after all, and Jasper had been the one to uncover it. Steven sure knew that he didn't want it.
The boy looked at Ruby's gem, and sighed.
That was two in one day.
He just hoped that she was not going to take a long time to reform.
