The cave would have been completely dark if not for the glowing crystals illuminating it. Steven found himself transfixed by their soft turquoise lights, too focused on them to notice the obnoxious noise his heavy coat was making every time he took a step forward.
"Hm..." Imperial Garnet murmured as she surveyed the path ahead of them, "Was it this way...? Yes, yes it was."
Zircon kept trying to focus as she followed her teammate, but Steven's coat noises were driving her crazy. "Steven!" she whispered harshly. "This is supposed to be a stealth mission! Take off the jacket immediately!"
"But I don't wanna catch a cold!" the boy protested.
"Logically, if you really cared about catching a cold," Zircon muttered, "then you wouldn't be wearing sandals."
"I can be quiet!" Steven insisted, sticking his arms out in a "T" pose. "See? Stealth!"
"I think we might be getting closer!" Imperial informed them, oblivious to their argument. Zircon seemed relieved and motioned for Steven and Bismuth to keep going.
"Come on, then. No dilly-dallying."
For a while, the two followed in silence, Steven's raised arms preventing his jacket from making any more noise. Smirking, Bismuth began to imitate the sounds herself, causing Steven to turn toward her, annoyed.
"Bismuth!" he said softly yet sharply. Zircon turned around, frowning at the newly-resumed racket.
"Steven, I told you to keep it down!" she warned. Bismuth snickered and waved her hands in an attempt to placate the blue Gem.
"Relax, Zirc, it's only me. No hard feelings."
Zircon rolled her eyes and began to scold her, Steven tuning them out in the process. He resumed his sightseeing, admiring the radiant glow of the crystals. He was just wondering where Imperial Garnet went when his foot slipped, causing him to let out a yelp as he slipped against the edge of the cliff he was just walking on.
"AAAHH!" Steven screamed, flailing his arms wildly. Bismuth and Zircon gasped and darted to the cliff's edge to catch him. Unfortunately, they were too late, and he fell with a final whisper-cry of "Stealth!"
"Steven!" Zircon called out worriedly. Bismuth immediately used her shapeshifting powers to elongate her arm, thrusting it down for Steven to grab on to. Before he could, however, he bounced off of a piece of rock jutting out of the wall and landed in a familiar pair of hands, holding him just above the ground.
"Oh, hi, Steven!" Imperial chirped happily upon catching him. "Where are the others?"
Steven's head was still spinning from the suddenness of his rescue, preventing him from answering her question. Just as he opened his mouth to reply, a low growl sounded from deep within the cave. Both of them looked around for the source, their eyes resting fearfully on a hole in the ceiling above them.
Then, without warning, a creature seemingly too large to fit through the gap crawled out and landed on five tentacle-like appendages. It was a bright blue-green, not unlike the crystals scattered throughout the cave, and it was covered in spikes. It resembled a giant rock more than any type of living creature, but that didn't make it any less ferocious.
It shot its spines at them at full force, but Imperial only seemed mildly surprised. She dodged just as they were about to collide with her, letting out an, "Oh, my!"
Bismuth and Zircon leaped down from the cliff to assist her, helping Steven get to cover safely.
"I'm going to need you to stay put, Steven! Sorry!" Imperial said, summoning her cleats and running toward the monster.
Steven got up and tried to run after her, but Bismuth grabbed him and lifted him up. "Not so fast, poofy! We don't want you to get hurt!" she warned.
"But what about Imperial?" Steven asked, reaching toward her anxiously.
The monster roared and shot its tentacles toward the magenta Gem, who just barely dodged them. She seemed to only recognize their presence seconds before they were about to collide with her, but that didn't stop her from avoiding them.
"Go, Imperial, go!" Steven cheered from Bismuth's arms.
Imperial jumped onto one of the creature's tendrils and practically skipped across it, leaping toward its stomach. Several tinier tendrils slithered from a mouth-like opening within its belly, darting toward her in an effort to shoo her away. Imperial looked shocked momentarily, but she batted the tendrils away with seemingly little effort.
Finally, the gap in the center of the mass of tentacles widened. Summoning her cleats once more, Imperial reeled her foot back and stuck her tongue out, as if trying to decide where to kick. Then, with a small gasp of triumph, she delivered a sharp kick to the opening, causing the monster to disappear in a flash of light.
"Wow..." Steven said breathlessly, watching as Imperial bubbled the creature's spiky gem with a smile. "That was amazing! How did you do that?!"
Imperial opened her mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by Zircon. "Look!" she exclaimed, pointing to the ground. "The little ones are getting away!"
Indeed, the spines that the monster had shot at them earlier had grown tiny legs and were burrowing into the ground in an attempt to escape.
"Don't worry, I got it!" Bismuth said confidently, dropping Steven. She rushed over to one of the holes and dove, trying to shove her arm inside. She tried to shapeshift to be able to fit, but it was no use; the parasites had gotten away.
"I don't think they'll be much trouble!" Imperial mused, sending the bubble away. "They're too tiny to hurt anyone! I say we let them go."
Steven picked himself off the ground and ran over to give Imperial a hug. "You were so cool!"
"Uh, guys?" Bismuth said sheepishly. "I think I'm stuck." She was trying to pull her arm free from the hole, but even her immense strength seemed to be no match for the tiniest of gaps.
Zircon groaned. "Stay still. I'll help."
"Well," Steven proclaimed the next day, "we all worked hard, so I think we deserve a reward!"
"And just what exactly did you have in mind?" Zircon asked. The three Gems were trailing behind Steven as he led them across the boardwalk. His excitement made him walk faster, making it a bit difficult for them to keep up at a reasonable pace.
"I'm taking you guys to the best place in Beach City!" Steven continued, halting in front of a building the Gems barely recognized. "Behold, Funland Arcade!"
Zircon furrowed her brow, examining the flashy place with disdain. "Can't we do something else instead?"
Imperial tilted her head. "But there are no monsters attacking anything today. There isn't anything else to do."
"Hey, don't you need money for that place?" Bismuth asked. Steven smiled confidently.
"Don't worry! This one's on..." He opened his jacket, revealing pockets overflowing with golden tokens, "...me!"
The bright glow of the coins reflected in the sunlight caused each Gem to flinch and cover their eyes, but Steven didn't notice. Instead, he turned around and stepped into the arcade, the Gems following suit.
The room would have been dark if not for the large amount of flashing machines that illuminated everything. A few children were playing some of the games here and there, but for the most part, the room was empty.
"Welcome to a wonderland of futuristic gameventions!" Steven proclaimed, allowing the Gems to soak it all in.
"Hm...fascinating. Humans keep finding new and interesting ways to waste their time." Zircon mused, inspecting a nearby arcade machine. Before she could get a closer look, however, Steven grabbed her arm and lead her toward another nearby game.
"Zircon, check this one out! You'll love it!"
"Uh...if you say so...?" Zircon responded, setting down in the seat in front of the machine. A steering wheel protruded from the controls in front of her, and a small gas pedal rested beneath one of her feet.
"'Road Killer?'" she said inquisitively as she read the title of the game.
"Yeah! You just pick the car you like and go nuts!" Steven explained.
"B-but I don't have a license!" Zircon panicked. "Is this illegal? Can I get in trouble? Which one of these buttons is my turn signal?"
"None of them!" said Steven. "Have fun!" Turning around, he took his leave to help the rest of the Gems find games that suited them.
"Oh yeah! Kill the road!" a voice from the game said, causing Zircon to jump.
"I will do no such thing!" she retaliated.
"Bismuth!" Steven said, waving at the tall Gem when he saw her. "Come on, I'll show you how to play skee ball!"
"Oh, uh...alright!" Bismuth had absolutely no clue what Steven was talking about, but she followed along anyway.
Steven lead her to what looked like a miniature bowling alley. However, instead of pins, there were hoops with holes in the middle at the end of each lane. There was a slot next to each one, with tiny plastic balls lining the inside.
"Here!" Steven handed her a ball. "You just roll the ball into the hole, and if you get a lot of points, you can win tickets for prizes!" He pointed to a booth in the back of the arcade, where Onion was handing a mountain of tickets over the counter to Mr. Smiley.
"Whoa...Onion's a ticket master!" Steven said in awe.
"Hmm...prizes, huh? Okay! That sounds cool!" Bismuth tossed the ball up and down in her hand, and Steven smiled eagerly up at her.
"I knew you would like it!" he exclaimed. "Alright, have fun! I gotta go find a game for Imperial Garnet to play!"
"You have fun, sweetie!" Bismuth waved as he left, smirking at the skee ball lane. "Humans call this fun? This will be easy."
"Ah, Imperial! There you are!"
He waved over at the tall magenta Gem, catching her attention. "Come with me! I know the perfect game for you!"
"Okay!" Imperial chirped, skipping behind Steven as he lead her to an arcade machine.
"Here we are! Teens of Rage!" He inserted a coin into the game's slot and moved the joystick around to select a character.
"Hmm...you seem like a Joe Rock kinda gal!" he said, picking a spiky-haired blond boy who was flexing biceps that looked much heavier than the rest of his body.
"Let me think...his special move is...forward, forward, back, tap towards half-circle, medium-kick...wait, maybe that's an aerial move..." He paused in deep thought, noticing the look of utter confusion on Imperial's face.
"Uh, just punch and you'll be fine!" he clarified, watching her eye light up in understanding.
"No problem!" she said eagerly as the game started up.
The screen changed to a view of her character facing off against an anthropomorphic wolf.
"Come on, punk!" the wolf taunted, waving his fists. Imperial gasped at the insult and hurriedly rammed her fist directly through the screen of the arcade machine.
"That wasn't very nice!" she said, shaking her head in disapproval. Then, as if forgetting the previous events, she smiled enthusiastically at Steven. "Did I win?"
"Uhh..." Steven swallowed hard at the cracked-beyond-repair screen. "Let's just try something else!"
His eyes scanned the arcade in search of something new to play. Eventually, they rested on a nearby dummy with cartoonish blue skin and red boxing gloves. An idea formed in his head.
"Imperial, look over here!" He pointed to the new game. "This is Punch Buddy! You can actually punch this one!"
Steven inserted another coin into the coin slot, causing the dummy to speak.
"Come on, give it your best shot, kid!" it sneered, only to be sent flying by Imperial's fist.
"Tell my wife I'm sorry!" the dummy cried as it flew away, completely severed from the machine it once rested on.
"I did it! I won again!" Imperial cheered, practically jumping in place. "What's next? This is fun!"
"Uh...um...!" Steven felt sweat starting to form on his brow as he frantically searched for a game that Imperial most likely wouldn't destroy. "Let's try that one!"
He pointed at a game with a large screen and two ham-shaped controllers resting on an artificial "grill." They approached it together, Steven handing the ham to Imperial.
"This one is called Meat Beat Mania! There's no violence in this game. All you have to do is shake the meat to the beat!"
"Are you ready?" the game said as soon as it started up. "Let's meat it!"
A cute cartoon pig popped up onscreen, pointing in random directions. Steven watched with bated breath as Imperial started off slowly, gradually coming to a faster pace the more she played and shook the controllers in time with the pig's movements.
"That's it! Well done! Keep it up!" the game encouraged her. Imperial smiled at the praise.
"I like this one a lot!" she said happily, not missing a beat. Steven sighed in relief.
"Good! You play that one for a while, okay? I'm gonna go see how the others are doing!"
Imperial didn't respond. She merely continued to play the game, smiling widely at each compliment the announcer gave her. Steven shrugged and wandered off.
"You're horrible!" the game blared.
"Stop saying that!" Zircon snapped irritably, turning her in-game car.
"Hey, Zircon!" Steven called as he approached her. "Having fun?"
The blue Gem turned to him, her face flushed with anger. "Why am I doing so badly? I haven't crashed into anything!"
"What?" Steven looked at the screen. Sure enough, she was obediently following every rule of driving. "But you're supposed to crash into stuff!"
"Are you serious? That's horrible!" Zircon glared at the game with disgust.
"You're horrible!" the announcer repeated, eliciting a scream of frustration from Zircon. Nervously, Steven looked over at the skee ball lanes, only to gasp in shock.
"Bismuth!" he cried, "What are you doing?!"
Bismuth was sitting on top of the lane and dropping each ball directly into the center hole, beaming proudly at the stream of tickets that came from the machine at the other end.
"I'm about to win an airplane!" she responded proudly, dunking another ball in.
"You can't do that! That's cheating!" Steven protested. His eyes darted around the arcade in search of Mr. Smiley, praying that he wasn't nearby. "Oh, you're gonna get us in so much trou-"
"Hey," said a sudden voice from behind, "do you guys know what happened to Teens of Rage?"
Steven yelped when he turned around and saw Mr. Smiley himself looking down at him with a mixture of anger and concern.
"Run!" he yelled without answering, grabbing Bismuth's hand and practically dragging her away.
"What? But this place is fun!" the taller Gem said, reaching out vainly for her tickets.
"Zircon, we're leaving!" said Steven as he ran toward the exit.
"Uggh, it's about time!" Zircon replied, abandoning her game almost immediately. On-screen, her car crashed into a wall, prompting a cry of "you're fantastic!" from the announcer.
"Imperial?" Steven said, scanning the building for the aforementioned Gem. "Where are you? We're leaving!"
Suddenly, a scream erupted from nearby as Mr. Smiley raced to the destroyed Punch Buddy dummy.
"Punch Buddy! What happened?! Who did this to you?!" he cried. Steven swallowed hard and shoved his companions out the doorway without looking back.
"Uh, I guess we'll see you at home!" he cried. Nobody responded.
The next morning was a relatively peaceful one. Steven was sitting at the table shoveling cereal in his mouth, while Bismuth stretched on the couch and lifted the coffee table up and down as if it were a weight. Zircon was absorbed in a book she was reading, barely paying attention to what was going on around her. Imperial Garnet, however, was mysteriously absent.
"So, what's today's mission?" Steven asked with his mouth full of cereal. "I hope it's...fighting a giant foot!"
"Huh?" Zircon murmured, briefly looking up from her book. "We're not fighting a giant foot, Steven. Even if we were, I'm sure Imperial would let us know."
"Yeah, she's the boss." Bismuth added. Zircon rolled her eyes.
"She's not the 'boss.' We're all a team. Despite how forgetful and confused Imperial may seem at times, she's actually quite observant, which comes in extremely handy."
"In other words," said Bismuth, dropping the table and stretching, "she's the boss."
Zircon glared at her, but returned back to her book with a huff. Steven swallowed some more of his cereal and asked, "So, where is she now? Fighting the foot?"
"She's not fighting the 'foot,' Steven. Imperial goes on missions without us all the time. Surely, whatever she's doing must be important." Zircon muttered, clearly annoyed about being interrupted while reading.
"Yeah, she can handle herself. Sometimes it seems like she's two people at once, y'know?" Bismuth smirked, turning her attention toward Steven. "Oh, that reminds me! Steven, Imperial told me she has a special mission for you."
Steven gasped and hastily wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Really?! What do I have to do?!"
Bismuth held back giggles. "She says you have to dunk your face into that bowl of cereal."
Steven gasped and nodded firmly, promptly shoving his head into the bowl and re-emerging with a soggy, milk-covered face and head. Bits of cereal clung to his hair, but he looked proud of himself. Bismuth erupted into laughter and clapped her hands together.
"Great job, Steven! You saved everyone from the foot!"
"For the love of Mercury, there is no foot!" Zircon snapped, slamming her book shut.
"Not anymore!" said Steven proudly. Zircon groaned and went toward the temple door, retreating into her room to read.
Steven wiped his face off with his shirt. "Welp, now that that's done," he said, "it's time to scan the beach for quarters with my..." From seemingly nowhere, he produced a metal detector with a dog's face on the base.
"Metal Mutt!" he proclaimed with a flourish. Bismuth chuckled and stretched again.
"Yeah, you have fun with that, kiddo!" she called after him as he ran onto the beach. "If you see any monsters, just scream and we'll hear you, okay?"
Steven scanned the beach diligently, holding the Metal Mutt over the sand. It had been a good fifteen minutes or so, but he was determined not to give up. Finally, the metal detector let out a series of beeps that sounding not unlike the yipping of a dog, causing Steven to gasp in excitement. Eagerly, he dug into the sand where the Mutt had started to go off and produced, much to his dismay, a silver coin.
"Aww, man!" he lamented, "A silver dollar? Useless!" Frustrated, he tossed it over his shoulder and resumed his scanning.
When the Mutt began to beep again, he sighed. "This better not be another cap..."
Once again from out of nowhere, he pulled out another metal detector. "Double Dogs!" he exclaimed, pressing them both firmly above the ground.
Eventually, the two Mutts' noses began flashing, signalling that they had discovered something. Quarters! he thought, reaching down to pick them up.
Then, all of a sudden...
"WAAAUGH!" Steven cried out in horror as a green, plant-like creature wrapped around his hand. He waved his arm around frantically, trying desperately to shake it off, until it soared into the air. He blinked, realizing it was gone, and looked up.
The creature was now in the shape of a star, but it immediately turned into a much more familiar form: that of a drill. Steven gasped and dodged as it came plummeting down toward him, dodging as several more sprung out of the ground.
He swung one of his Metal Mutts like a baseball bat in a split-second effort to defend himself. However, the little monsters easily sliced it in half and went flying past him, away from the beach.
"STEVEN!" two voices called in unison. Bismuth and Zircon ran onto the beach, fending off more and more of the drill creatures as they emerged from the sand.
"It's those little parasite guys!" Bismuth said, sidestepping and just narrowly avoiding one.
Zircon summoned her weapon from the gem on her jugular and swung rapidly at the parasites. However, even her calculated motions were no match for their sheer combined speed, as she soon toppled to the ground, dizzy.
"They're everywhere!" the blue Gem yelled. "Why didn't we see this coming?"
"We need Imperial!" Steven said, remembering her actions in the cave. "She's the only one who can stop them!"
"No way!" Bismuth replied, swatting away more parasites. "She can be fast, but not this fast! Besides, we don't even know where she is!"
Steven's heart sank. Of course. Imperial was probably on a mission, fending off other monsters, just like Joe Rock from Teens of Rage...
Joe Rock...Teens of Rage...a video game...
"The arcade! Meat Beat Mania!" Steven screamed suddenly, taking off in a frenzy toward the boardwalk.
"Steven! Where are you going?!" Zircon demanded, but he ignored her. He had a feeling he knew exactly where Imperial was and what she was doing...
Imperial Garnet was hooked.
The game was absolutely mesmerizing. She didn't know how long she had been playing, but she didn't care; she was doing wonderfully. The announcer was heaping new, constant praise upon her now. She liked the announcer. She liked the game.
Steven was right. This was a fun pastime. She had to thank him for bringing her here later on, but for now, she had to keep playing. Left. Right. Up. Down.
"Imperial!" Steven panted, ducking into the arcade. "Imperial, come quick! Those little parasite things are attacking the city, and they're becoming a huge problem!"
But Imperial didn't notice him. She just kept moving, waving her arms furiously. Left. Right. Up. Down.
"Whoa..." Steven murmured as he watched her movements. "I've never seen anyone get this far!"
She thought she could hear something then, but she blocked it out. She was having fun. Left. Right. Up. Down.
"B-but," the boy continued, "you gotta get back and help the others!"
She had been moving at this pace for a good while now. It was coming easily to her, not that she minded. Left. Right. Up. Down.
"Imperial? Come on! Zircon and Bismuth are in trouble!" Steven climbed on top of her shoulders, waving his hand in front of her face. "Gah...why...are you...so hard to...climb?!" Then, with a slip of his hand, he accidentally smacked her glasses off of her face.
Steven gasped. Imperial had three eyes. He always figured that she had two other ones beneath her glasses, but actually seeing them was a great shock. They were all moving around in what looked like different directions, flashing with the light of the screen.
"Oh my gosh!" He fell off of her shoulders and landed on the ground with a thud.
Imperial felt as if her vision had suddenly gotten clearer. This was good. This was perfect. Left right up down.
"D-don't worry! I'll save you, Imperial!" Steven crawled behind the machine, and with one determined tug, he unplugged Meat Beat Mania.
For a moment, everything was quiet. Steven sighed in relief. Had she finally snapped out of it...?
No. Something was wrong. Imperial could no longer see the flashing of the screen, hear the gentle encouragement of the announcer. That wasn't right. She had to keep moving left right up down left right up down left right up down-
She let loose a zap of plasma from her hands. The electricity caused the machine to spark to life, and Imperial resumed her movements, going left right up down left right up down left right up down.
Steven groaned in exasperation. "The rhythm has her..." Glancing over at the game, he suddenly shook his head resolutely. "The only way to defeat the beat...is with the meat!"
He inserted another quarter into the game's coin slot, lifting up two controllers that resembled chicken drumsticks. Immediately, a chicken popped up onscreen next to the pig. "Let's meat it!" the announcer said cheerfully. "Prepare your meats! Shake it! Tenderize!"
Steven got into a battle stance, holding the drumsticks out with a firm grasp. As soon as the chicken began pointing, he diligently moved the controllers in the indicated dire-
"Player one wins! You're toast, player two!"
Wait, what? Steven's head whirled over to Imperial, amazed. There was no way he could keep up with the speed of her movements. He had no idea she could even go so fast in the first place...
...But he had to do this. For her, for the Gems, for Beach City. He slid another coin inside and kept playing.
"Eat it up! A player two barbecue!"
Steven waved his arms frantically, feeling his pockets get lighter with each restart. He was beginning to run out of quarters, but he was determined to break his caretaker out of this strange trance.
Imperial, meanwhile, barely noticed the second player. She barely noticed anything now. All she could think about was left right up down left right up down left right up down left right up down left right up down-
"This...is...IT!" Steven tried one last time to defeat Imperial, but was almost instantly beaten. Frustrated, he threw the controllers to the ground. "I can't do it...Imperial, what's wrong with you?"
The magenta Gem said nothing, eyes flashing and darting around like mad. It was no use. She was long gone.
"No! You've got to stop!" Angrily, Steven grabbed the grill in front of the screen and began tugging as hard as he could. "Stop...playing...this horrible...GAME!"
BRZZT! Steven nearly fell back when the grill was ripped off of the machine, finally causing the screen to flicker into blackness once and for all. Just for good measure, he began repeatedly bashing it into the screen, making sure there was no possible way it could be reactivated again.
Imperial blinked, her eyes slowly regaining focus. She surveyed her surroundings curiously, almost as if she had forgotten where she was. Her memory was hazy, but she forgot all about it when she saw Steven destroying the Meat Beat Mania machine.
"Steven?" she asked hesitantly, catching his attention.
"Imperial!" he shouted, leaping away from the wreckage and wrapping one of her legs in a hug. Imperial laughed slightly, completely unsure why she was being embraced in the first place, and looked over at the damaged game.
"Did you win?" she said. Steven opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden angry voice cut him off.
"HEY!" Mr. Smiley marched up to him, full of rage. "It was you! You're the one who's been breaking my games!"
Steven gasped in fear, but before he could defend himself, Imperial raced out of the building and rejoined her comrades. "Hey, guys! What's up?" she greeted them, accidentally stepping on a parasite and causing it to disappear in a cloud of green smoke.
"Hey, wait! I can help too!" Steven tried to run after her, but Mr. Smiley grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back.
"Oh, no, no, no! Don't you go flippity-flopping out of here!" the man warned, turning him toward the broken machine. Steven swallowed hard. Uh oh...
Steven sighed as he swept the debris from the floor for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He snuck a glance through the doorway and smiled when he saw Imperial skipping around, dodging parasites without even noticing that they were there. With her, the Crystal Gems seemed to be getting their act back together.
"Yeah! Go, Imperial!" he cheered, waving his broom in the air. From nearby, Mr. Smiley gave him a stern glare, and he quickly began sweeping again.
"I'm working, I'm working! See?" Steven said nervously, eyebrows raising as he looked at the ground. "Hey, a quarter!"
As he bent down to pick it up, admiring the battle going on outside, he could have sworn he heard the voice of the announcer saying, "Now you're cooking!"
Hello, Gemswap fans! I just want to remind anyone who hasn't been made aware that I will mostly be posting on Archive of Our Own now, so I strongly suggest checking out my account over there first! I will reupload any fics I write there over here, but expect to see updates there first, including this fic!
It's been fun here on FF, but AO3 has a much better system for writing and tagging stories. I'm NOT abandoning this site completely, but I will be posting here less frequently.
Anyway, next chapter is Giant Woman! Hooray, first fusion! Stay tuned!