It had taken at least an hour before things in Beach City returned to normal… Or at least as normal as things get for a place guarded by the Crystal Gems. The kidnapped victims -except for Connie and Greg of course- were brought back to their homes and put in bed. Luckily, Max always carried a spare boxing glove in case someone needs to be knocked out of a hypnotic trance… Or if he needs a chuckle between cases. As far as the victims knew, the last 24 hours was all just a scary dream. But Onion was nowhere to be found. Maybe it was for the best; next time Steven met up with him, he would have a LOT to say to the little weirdo.
The nine of them gathered at the border between Beach City and the Barn with Greg's van and the DeSoto. Greg had volunteered to drive the gems back to the barn and to take Connie home… AFTER Steven told them everything that had happened. Naturally, Connie and Greg's jaws had dropped after they were filled in.
"Wait… He was seriously going to make you turn your shield on yourself!?" Connie asked.
"Yup," Steven admitted. " And this shield once took out a TV! I don't wanna see what it could do to my HEAD!"
Greg pulled Steven into a bear hug. "Well I'm just glad you didn't have to find out, Kiddo. I mean, if ANYONE EVER tried to threaten my little buddy when I'm NOT under some crazy hypno spell… Well I have no idea what I'd do, but it WON'T be pretty!" He put Steven down when he could see Steven's face turning blue.
"Well I wouldn't worry about Mack Salmon any more, Mr. Universe," Sam reassured. "My little buddy and I will send that culprit cod up the river!"
"He'll fry for this," Max grinned. "Get it? Fish? Fry?"
Pearl giggled slightly at Max's joke… But hid her laughter when Amethyst smirked at her.
"AND you got to team up with two comic book characters?!" Connie queried again. "...I should be asking if any of this should be possible… But I'm just glad you're alright and you saved us… Again." She pulled Steven into a more gentler hug, which Steven happily returned.
"Well, I couldn't have done it without the gems… Or my new friends, Sam & Max: Freelance Police!" Steven explained happily.
"Aww shucks," Sam said modestly.
"Yes… Thank you, Sam & Max," Pearl thanked awkwardly. "You two are peculiar-"
"That's putting it mildly," Peridot grumbled.
"-But," Pearl continued. "I must admit, you two do get the job done… Somehow. I'm just surprised you stuck by us after we… Well mostly Peridot and I kept doubting you."
"Well, you wouldn't be the first…" Sam admitted. "Max and I take pride in proving wrong all those who've ever doubted us."
"Egotistical violence is the 7th best kind of violence," Max chimed in.
"But still, I wouldn't brood over the bygone feelings of regret, Pearl. We all make mistakes, and there's a high chance you might fall on your face. But, you gotta get up, because wouldn't you rather stand tall than live on your knees? 'Cause you're all conquerors and won't accept defeat," Sam simply stated. The gems smiled warmly at Sam's speech.
"That was a beautiful speech, Sam." Max sniffled. "...Wasn't that on the back of a Captain Crunch cereal box?"
"Beats me, Chowderhead," Sam shrugged. "I heard it in a song once."
"I like it," Garnet smirked.
Sam suddenly thought of something.
"Ooh! I almost forgot!" He cleared his throat. "Steven, for your bone-headed bravery to go above and beyond the call of an average human/mineral cross-breed-"
"AND for giving us something to watch besides ANOTHER CW super hero show," Max quipped..
"-We'd like to present you with this button we got after successfully stomaching one of Meesta Pizza's Swamp Dish Delight pizzas, and make you an honorary Junior Freelance Police!" Sam announced as he fished the button out of his pocket and pinned it to Steven's shirt.
Steven gasped in delight as stars shined in his eyes; it may have been a simple pin button with a picture of a pizza on it to the others, but it was like a badge of honor to Steven.
"'JUNIOR Freelance Police?!' Does this mean I get to go on dangerous bone-headed missions like you guys do?!"
"Sorry Steven, but you have to be at least 18 before you can be a gun-wielding law enforcer of sorts like us," Sam explained.
"But, it DOES mean you get to special order Meesta Pizza's Icelandic Thanksgiving Special," Max added. "Mint jelly not included."
Although confused, Steven puffed out his chest with pride anyway. "Then I will wear this button with pride! And someday, maybe I'll be a Freelance Police officer too!"
"Uh… How about for now, you just stick to being good old Steven?" Connie suggested, smiling awkwardly.
"Sounds perfect to me," Greg commented, ruffling Steven's hair.
"Us too," Pearl added as she gave Steven a small hug, which the others -Peridot was rather awkward in her hug- joined in.
But this kodak moment was suddenly interrupted by Steven's phone ringing loudly. Everyone broke out of the hug as Steven answered the phone.
"Hello? Huh? Wait, how'd you get this number? Mmm-phmm? Uh-huh? Ooooooh! Ok, I'll tell them." He brought the phone away and turned to Sam & Max, "Guys. It's the Commissioner!"
"I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT IT!"
As soon as Steven said that, Sam & Max were once again wrestling each other to answer Steven's phone. Once again, Sam had Max pinned under his foot as he grabbed the phone from Steven.
"Yeah? Yeah? Uh-huh? Uh-huh? Great schools of bicudas on a feeding frenzy with Alexander Graham Bell and a lint-covered English muffin! We're on our way!" Sam quickly handed the phone back to Steven and pulled Max free from his foot. "The Commissioner says there's bad trouble in Jump City!"
"What kind of trouble?" Max asked.
"Apparently, the city's heroes have become neglectful of their heroic responsibilities and are now pale parodies of their former selves."
"Yeah so?"
"The Commissioner's tired of hearing constant complaints about them, so he wants us to see if we can smack some constructive criticism into them."
"If that doesn't work, can we smack some constructive concrete into them?"
"Can't think of a reason not to. Let's roll!"
With that, Sam & Max dashed for their car and prepared to head off. The gems started waving goodbye.
"Goodbye, Sam & Max! I'll never forget you!" Steven shouted sadly.
"I wish I could forget you!" Peridot grumbled.
Sam waved goodbye to their new friends, while Max set fire to a bunch of match heads stuffed in the muffler. Afterwards, he stood on the trunk of the car giving peace signs with his fingers.
"Until we meet again, Crystal Gems. SAM! DESOTO! WE RIDE!" Max declared. Sam just rolled his eyes.
After a few seconds, a large flame erupted from the muffler, and the car shot into the atmosphere. Sam & Max kept waving at their new friends until they were out of sight.
The gems, Greg, and Connie waved back until the DeSoto had disappeared in the wild blue yonder. As soon as they were gone, the seven of them looked down sadly, already starting to miss their new strange friends.
"Soooo… Today happened." Pearl broke the silence.
"Yeah… Today was awesome!" Amethyst cheered, until she noticed the glares from Connie and Greg. "Well… Okay it was more awesome for us than for others."
"I'm just glad it's all over," Peridot sighed, relieved.. "We've already lost too much time for working on the drill and stopping the Cluster! And if I ever see that demented little… Max creature again, it'll be too soon!"
"Hey Peridot!" Amethyst smirked, as she shapeshifted into a certain lagomorph. "GET IN MAH MOUTH AGAIN!"
"NO!" Peridot shrieked in terror. "NOT AGAIN! STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU… MAX, YOU!" She dashed away in pure fright while Amethyst chased after her, cackling mischievously.
Steven sighed sadly again. "I'm really gonna miss Sam & Max. They were lots of fun to be around! Who knows when they're ever gonna come back again?"
"Well… It's really hard to say, Steven," Pearl admitted. "The fact is they don't really belong in this world so… They may never come back."
"And if that's the case," Garnet added. "You can be sad that someone you care about is gone, but you should also be happy that you got to know them at all." Pearl looked down solemnly as Garnet said that.
"Besides, Shtoo-ball, you still got all those comics and games I gave you! So it'll be like they never left." Greg assured, putting his hand on Steven's shoulder.
Steven's toothy grin returned, "Yeah. You're right. They're too pure for this world, and need to go back to doing what they do best! And so will I… Being the best Steven I can be!"
Greg couldn't help but giggle. "You crack me up, Steven."
"And right now, I think the best Steven ever needs to stop Amethyst from eating Peridot." Connie pointed out.
Steven blushed slightly at Connie's compliment. "Only if the best Connie ever helps me."
Connie blushed back. "Don't mind if I do." With that, the two kids raced off after Amethyst and Peridot, to save the green gem from being eaten by the purple prankster.
"I'm gonna get the van started. Just let me know when we're headin' back." Greg told Garnet and Pearl, as he headed back to the front seat of his van.
Thus, Garnet and Pearl were left alone with their thoughts. They both wanted to tell Steven that they had overheard his confession in the kindergarten, but they didn't want to ruin what was a fun day for their lovable charge. Even they had to admit that, while the majority of their adventure today was strange and bizarre, it had been kind of fun; but it would be better to have things back to normal while they prepared to take on the Cluster… And prepared for Steven's birthday next week.