The Cracks Appear
The last couple of months gave some startling revelations, of the Peridot's competence, of the Crystal gems rigidity and of Steven's own naivety. How could he have been such an oblivious fool?
His brooding was interrupted by Peridot shouting at Amethyst. As the pair bickered Steven walked up to them.
"Ladies what is going on?" he asked.
"That greedy clod was trying to eat our dinner! I haven't even cooked it yet either," accused Peridot.
"Hey I don't need future vision to tell pancake batter and hotdogs would be horrible," shouted back Amethyst. "What were you trying to make anyways?"
"Toad in the Hole. Amethyst stop laughing, it was the only thing I could make with pancake batter and hotdogs."
"Oh Peri you're a riot but seriously we all know how you take care of Steven."
"What did you say?"
"Now, now ladies calm down," said Steven sweating. If he wasn't careful it could turn ugly.
Amethyst was about to open her mouth to say something stupid when the Beach house was enveloped in darkness.
"Crap the power's off," said Peridot. "I'm going to check the fuses."
"Don't bother Dot I can see the power's off in town as well," said Steven.
"And we don't have an independent power source? Unbelievable, now dinner's ruined." said Peridot.
"Not for me," said Amethyst as she swallowed whole Peridot's meal dish and all.
"I'll go turn on the barbecue," said Steven.
The screen door pounded.
"Assistant Mayor open up," called out the form from behind the screen.
When Steven opened the door when he saw the familiar face of Buck Dewey the mayor's son. The smile faded on his face when he saw Buck's frown. The angry young man stepped right into Steven's home without being invited. He then took off his glasses and glared at the gems.
"Right I know you're behind this blackout. I want you to stop whatever you are doing and fix your mess this time," announced Buck.
"Buck, Mr. Assistant Mayor I assure you that we did not do this in fact as you can see we've been affected as well," said Peridot in her most diplomatic voice.
"I'll take it from here, Peridot," announced Pearl smugly.
The pale gem had just emerged from the temple with Garnet in tow. Pearl walked up to Buck. Steven inwardly cringed she was so patronizing.
"You'll have to forgive Peridot. She's new to this planet and not the most socially skilled gem," Peridot rolled her eyes at that remark. "I assure that whatever Peridot has done we'll make her fix it."
Peridot understandably was outraged "Unbelievable, thanks for throwing me under the bus Pearl. Now I assure you the gems are not responsible for this."
"Oh I believe you Peridot," said Buck. "I just don't know about the others. So for the record tell me exactly what you all were doing in the last hour?"
"I was – meditating in my room," said Garnet.
"I was trying to prepare dinner with a stove," said Peridot.
"I was doing calisthenics in my room," answered Pearl. Garnet looked at Pearl. "Okay I was crying over Rose you happy now?"
"That still leaves you two," said Buck stonily.
"Buck, Amethyst and I have neither the skill nor the inclination to start a blackout. Perhaps your little problem was caused by something else?" said Steven
Buck was having none of it, "Oh it is not a little problem I assure you. The last time we had a blackout Beach City lost millions in revenue which you Gems caused by the way. Just like anything weird that happens around here. Now tell me where is Bismuth?"
"Bismuth is at the barn, installing some windmills. You can go check if you like," said Garnet.
"Oh I will be checking and I'll be," Buck's phone rang. "What's that? You found Onion with an axe by some telephone poles? He chopped down 5 poles and totaled a fuse box. That's just great how long will it take to repair it this time? Wonderful."
Steven picked up his wallet checking to see if he had any money. Then he put an arm around Peridot's shoulder. "Right Peridot put on a nice dress. We're going to Paris. We'll dine at the finest restaurant, walk along the banks of the Seine, visit the art galleries and make love in a charming bed and breakfast."
Peridot giggled, "We're a little underdressed for Paris."
"We'll try on the latest fashions," said Steven.
"Steven, I highly doubt that a gem like Peridot would appreciate a place as sophisticated as Paris," said Pearl the contempt oozing from her voice.
"Are you saying that I can't appreciate nice things," shouted Peridot. "That's it Steven and I are going. We're going to all the sites, eating the fanciest food and we're going to have the fanciest good time ever. So there!"
With that the little gem in her cut off shorts and crop top dragged her large lover to the warp pad. While the warp pad whisked them away Peridot gave the Crystal Gems the finger. Buck and the gems stood in stunned silence.
"Well that's just great, you guys just alienated the one gem who could fix all this. What I am going to tell my Dad?" snarled Buck.
"Now Buck, it's not that bad," soothed Pearl.
"Yes, it is! Without Peridot's repair drones it will take three days to fix this. Three days of rotted food and cancelled hotel bills not to mention our ruined reputation," Buck grasped his hair in frustration.
"Peridot's not that great a technician," said Pearl.
"Fine if you think that you're such a great technician you fix this, Pearl," With that Buck slammed the door.
Meanwhile in Paris, the young couple found themselves in a roundabout on the outskirts of Paris. Oblivious to the staring onlookers Peridot pulled Steven into a full bodied hug.
"Well what are we going to do now?" giggled Peridot.
Steven blushed he knew exactly what Peridot wanted to do. He was saved when a cab drove up beside them. The driver looked them both up and down before letting them in.
"Madame et Monsieur I can see you just got off the plane from America," said the driver an elderly man. "Paris is a more sophisticated than you're used to. Perhaps you should change into something a little more appropriate? Non?"
"That's exactly what we're thinking. Can you take us to a bank and then to reasonably priced clothing store?" asked Steven.
"And then can you suggest any decent galleries we can go to?" added Peridot.
"Alas I am not the person to ask for I am afflicted with the color blindness," sighed the cabbie.
After they had found a decent boutique the couple were ready for Paris. Steven wore a sports jacket and a pair of dress pants with a T shirt, a playful look with his flip flops. Peridot was looking great in a white summer dress.
"Steven these last few weeks have been great," said Peridot.
"Oh yeah," agreed Steven.
"But I feel as if I'm not welcome in the Beach house," said Peridot. "I want us to move out."
"We can't move out!" exclaimed Steven taken aback. "The gems need me."
"And it isn't fair. They're asking you to hold an impossibly large burden, for a situation that's not even you fault, caused by a person you never even met."
"I'm trying to protect the Earth Peri. Garnet says war is inevitable."
"Garnet says a lot of things Steven. You know in Homeworld oracles are never given command positions. The Authority fears that it would make them have far too much power as it is. If you really want to save the Earth, you need to tell them no."
"And what will I do now? Peridot, I have been preparing for this my whole life."
"No Steven you have been learning to fight."
"And what do you suggest I do? Because I don't have a lot of skill sets."
"Steven you do have a lot of talents. You're kind and thoughtful. What I want is for you is to get your high school equivalency, then maybe go to community college and train to be a social worker."
"But what about the Gems? I want to help them."
"Steven the best way to help them is to do what you do best. Bismuth and I have so many corrupted gems at the farm. It would be so great if you could help them in any way. Even a partial recovery would be great. And if you do want to fight the Diamond Authority, study the transmissions from the communications hub. Just promise me you'll think about what's best for you."
Steven nodded his head. For a while he seemed thoughtful and then his face brightened. "Hey Peri how about we try that famous French cuisine."
An hour later Steven burst out of a fancy restaurant clearly traumatized. Peridot tried her best to comfort him by stroking his back.
Steven gripped his hair "Snails, they served snails and then the pancakes were set on fire. Who does that?"
"The French obviously, I didn't like our waiter."
Steven laughed, "Yeah he was so rude. Madame I recommend you do not eat the salad you are green enough as it is. Then he asked us how drunk were we. C'mon let's try le McDonald's."
A couple of days later Garnet was pacing in front of the warp pad. Pearl followed Garnet's movements with her eyes as she held Onion with a leash. Amethyst sat slumped on the sofa. The tension in the air was palatable. The gems all perked up when they saw the flash of the warp pad. Garnet crossed her arms.
There stood Steven and Peridot much better dressed and laughing. In their arms were a bunch of souvenirs. The Gems glared at the pair. Steven tried to lighten the mood.
"Hey there we had a wonderful time in Paris. We say the Beautiful Lady. Pearl here's a painting we picked at the Louvre for you. Amethyst we got you these-"
Garnet stared stonily at them, "Are you done now? Because while you have been gallivanting with your girlfriend we have been waiting for you to return. Or did you forget that you have duties here you know?"
"Hey stop, Steven has been doing plenty around here. He deserves a break," shot back Peridot.
"Hey Peridot why don't you go and train a lamprey to read," said Garnet.
Steven frowned at that remark. Peridot marched into the bathroom muttering about how she had enough.
Garnet spoke softly, "Steven I don't think you realize how much we depend on you, how much the Earth depends on you. You need to be ready which is why I want you to resume training with Pearl right away."
"Steven not one word, after Peridot has finished sulking I want you to get dressed for sword practice. No ifs ands or buts young man," said Pearl shaking her finger.
After Steven had dressed, Pearl did something different. Instead of stepping on the warp pad she drove the gem's car out of town. She said nothing as she drove to an isolated forest and stopped the car. As Steven stepped out he saw another car parked nearby. When he asked what was going on Pearl smiled and said you'll see.
From the shadows stepped out a familiar form. It was his old friend Connie. Dressed in her fighting clothes and carrying Rose's sword she bowed to Steven.
"Welcome my lord and liege," she said in a sultry voice.
"Pearl what is the meaning of this?" Steven was getting angry.
"I thought it was time you got reacquainted with your old partner," said Pearl smugly.
"Connie is your boyfriend okay with this?" asked Steven.
"Mark and I decided to call it off," said Connie.
"Fine let's go fight Pearl's holograms yet again," growled Steven.
"Not this time," Pearl said cryptically. "This time we have a very special training exercise."
A hologram flashed beside Steven. Like all of Pearl's holograms it was a pale blue, unlike Pearl's usual holograms it did not look like Pearl at all. This hologram was short and had triangular hair. It clung to Steven with a strong grip. It was the image of Peridot before she had blossomed.
"This is the end they're going to wipe my precious grin off the face of the planet, Steven," said the hologram as it burrowed its face into Steven's back.
Out of the forest came Peridot's drones or at least they were until Pearl got their hands on them. They were now huge, heavily armed and painted various colors. Pearl smiled smugly. Steven did not like her look at all.
"I decided to create the worst case scenario. You and Peridot are surrounded by gem warriors far away from any metal, fortunately Connie is here. Your mission today is not only to defeat the warriors but to protect Peridot," announced Pearl.
"Is this really what you think Peridot is like?" said Steven sadly.
The hologram screamed as one of the drones stepped forward, she ran away screaming as the drone followed her on its many legs. As Steven stepped forward the other drones blocked his path.
"Don't worry Steven, I'll save you," called out Connie proudly.
Using his mother's sword Connie sliced and diced the drones in front of Steven. Ignored, the Peridot hologram tripped like some bad horror movie character allowing the drone to catch up. Steven sighed as he formed his shield. He smashed the drones blocking his way. As he was getting closer he could see the drones surrounding holo Peridot. As they advanced with their claws and blades the hologram screamed. He finally broke through the crush, only to be blocked by the drones surrounding the unfortunate hologram.
He tried smashing his shield and punching his way through but the drones were too heavily armored. The holo Peridot screamed as the blades descended. Just then Connie appeared.
"It's no use we have to form Stevonnie," called out Connie.
Somehow the holo Peridot crawled out. Even though it was just a bad simulation of his lover Steven felt awful as he looked at the simulated cuts and bruises on its little body. Gritting his teeth, he nodded towards Connie. As he ran to meet her Steven could see a look of triumph on Connie's face. Only to have them crash into a tangle of limbs. Connie sat up with a dark look on her face.
"What was that? That didn't do anything!" shouted Connie.
"Fusion is an expression of how we feel," said Steven.
Tears welled up in Connie's eyes, "Are you saying you feel nothing towards me? After all these years together?"
"Connie I don't have time to hold your hand. We have a mission to perform," shouted Steven. He tried smashing the drones again, knocking them aside while Connie looked on helplessly. He barked an order to his old friend. Connie finally snapped out of it. It was slow going but with Connie's help he managed to smash all the drones. When they were done holo Peridot was nowhere to be seen.
Then he saw a trail of simulated blood. Steven followed it into a clearing where he saw the mockery of Peridot lying on the ground. He walked up slowly and gently held the hologram. As he looked into Peridot's face he could see her gem was cracked.
"Don't blame yourself Steven," said the hologram in a robotic voice. "Even though this is all your fault."
In a flash of light, the hologram disappeared. Steven felt the beginnings of his migraine coming.
"This is what life would be like with Peridot at your side. Steven I'm sorry to say this but she would be a burden to you," Steven hated the self-righteous look on Pearl's face right now.
"You don't even know us at all do you?" shouted Steven.
"Steven calm down," said Connie.
"I'm sorry I don't understand what you're talking about," said Pearl.
"All this time you've been ignoring what's been going on hoping it, she would just go away. Well it isn't, she isn't. All this growth the surge in my powers it was all Peridot. She believed in me, she treated me like a man before anyone else did. And then there's the fact that she changed from a helpless stripped down gem to a strong powerful gem in her own right. You may not see her worth but I do!" Steven was now shouting. Stars swam in his vision.
"Steven you have a magical destiny. A war to fight. Peridot's not going to be much use for you there," said Connie as she put her hand on his shoulder.
Steven whirled around "Well what about what I want Connie. You guys keep pushing and pushing for me to be like Rose. Well after all I've learned, I don't even know I want to be like her anymore. Pearl you and the gems want to fight an old fashioned war with swords and duels but it's not going to happen. Home world has changed you should have known that as soon as Peridot stepped off the warp pad."
"Steven this isn't like you," said Pearl softly.
"You mean I'm not the way you want me to be. It's like I'm not allowed to be angry or scared or even sad, just put on a happy face and everything's fine," his head was starting to pound now.
He could see the concerned faces of Pearl and Connie. As his vision blurred he saw Peridot's green form emerge from the trees.
"Sweet Diamonds, what have you done to my drones?!" shouted Peridot.
Then Steven blacked out. He flickered in and out of consciousness. The first thing he remembered was lying in bed at the Beach house. Another flash and a concerned Peridot looking down at his gem.
"It's gotten smaller," she said as he went under again.
Time passed to saw the Gems, his father even Snowflake see him by his bedside. He saw Peridot feeding him some sort of pink sand. He felt a little better. Garnet came in with a vial of Rose's tears making him drink it. He fell asleep.
He woke up to the sound of Amethyst shouting at Peridot blaming her for what happened. Ignoring his head ache, he sat up.
"Guys, now is not the time to be pointing fingers," he said as he sat up. Then he blacked out again.
Later during the day Steven found himself sitting on the couch. Amethyst sat in the other chair facing him.
"All right Steven, time to drop that sad sack act," smiled Amethyst as she poked him.
"It's not an act, I have a pounding headache," Steven said.
"We got a doctor you know. He said your symptoms were psychosomatic. So stop faking it," accused Amethyst.
"You don't really understand do you? Forget about it. I'm going to watch TV."
When he turned on the TV instead of his familiar programs he saw the brightly colored forms of other gems. He flicked the channel more brightly colored gems this time in a children's show though the subject was way more advanced than a typical Kid's show.
"Yeah Peridot and Bismuth did some stuff to the communications hub and the TV. It now shows only Gem shows," said Amethyst.
Steven shrugged and found what looked like a news program. Just as it started to look interesting the screen flicked off.
"Right Steven, it's time stop feeling sorry for yourself," said Garnet from behind.
"Guys, I really don't want to talk to you now," said Steven.
"You have to. Look, it hurts us to see you like this you need to stop brooding," said Garnet.
"I have every right to be after everything's that happened. Finding out you guys essentially lost the war, that my mother made the Cluster and how you gave up on your friends, it's just too much," Steven was shouting now.
"Steven calm down," said Pearl.
"Don't tell me to calm down. Every time I try to think things through you guys are breathing down my neck. I need to take a break." His headache was back in full force.
"I think a break from Peridot would be an excellent idea," said Pearl.
"No I need to take a break from you guys, from gem stuff," replied Steven softly.
"And how are you going to do that? Dude we live here," said Amethyst.
"Just give me time to myself. Let me think things through or so help me I'll move back in with my Dad."
With that Steven stalked out of the Beach house. As Pearl was about to chase after him Garnet held her back. Steven was serious about moving back in with his father.
Steven walked by the shore his head lost in thoughts. He fed the seagulls some bread. When the sun went down he headed back home. When he entered the house he found it empty except for one figure.
"Headache gone?" asked Peridot.
"Yes," Steven replied truthfully.
"Hungry?"
"No."
"I'll make you something special for breakfast, then."
