How's everybody's weekend (or weekday, depending on when you're reading this) going, and welcome back to Don't Even Bother.
The past week or so, I've repeatedly received a question from a guest reviewer asking about whether the Cluster will be in this story. I think this a good time to answer, so let me explain.
The way I write stories is simple: I come up with a set idea for the plot, and I add all of the smaller things along the way, provided they fit with the original idea. I'm not a complete control freak that meticulously plans everything ahead of time (although that's not a bad way to write either, obviously). Since I began writing this story before episodes 70 and 71 aired, I clearly couldn't take the Cluster into account when I came up with the plot line for Don't Even Bother.
So, to answer your question, will the Cluster appear in the story later? If I can fit it in with what I currently have in mind, sure, but we'll just have to wait and see. I've kinda relaxed my policy about not including canon events beyond Ep. 63 "Cry for Help", but I still won't do it if it doesn't make sense.
Okay, hopefully that cleared up any confusion. On with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe. Steven Universe is owned by Rebecca Sugar.
Present
"Thoughts"
Author's Note
"Peridot?"
"Yes?"
"Are you sure you don't want to try one?"
As soon as the question left his mouth, Peridot inwardly shook her head at yet another attempt from Steven to force her to perform the act he liked to call "eating". He had explained it in great detail and even provided a few examples for her, but she had no desire to try it herself, as something about it was simply... unsettling. Besides, considering gems had no need for that kind of energy consumption (aside from him), it was a complete waste of time.
"No, Steven, I don't wish to try... what do you call it again?" she asked.
"It's called a donut. Do-nut. How could you forget, you bought them for me!" smiled Steven.
Once again, the stranded gem shook her head at his enthusiasm. Under normal circumstances, his happiness and endless energy would've be one of the many reasons she had such a special connection with him, but there would occasionally be times where the young gem would pour it on just a bit too much. Such was the case with him wanting her to try to eat one of those donuts, as constantly repeating herself was beginning to wear her patience thin.
"Excuse me for forgetting the name. There's been a lot on my mind recently," she nonchalantly replied. She wasn't kidding, either: between the ages long trip to Beach City (excluding the trip to the Big Donut, now that she was able to remember the name), the terrifying episode of Steven's nightmare, AND both of them professing their worries of the other leaving, there was certainly quite a bit to think about that's happened in the past twenty four hours or so. She was surprised how he was able to put everything behind him so fast.
It seemed he was very good at it.
"Aw, come on, that was a while ago! You sure you don't want to try it?"
Peridot placed her arm and fingers to her forehead. "Yes, Steven, I'm absolutely sure."
"Okaaaaaaay..." he said in the saddest voice he could pretend to manage as he walked a fair distance away from her. "Don't say I didn't offer it to you."
And with that, the donut was gone. It was almost in a flash, only requiring one or two bites for the human delicacy to disappear to wherever food went to after you finished it. Peridot had to confess it was rather impressive how quickly he completed his task.
"Mmm, that was DELICIOUS, Peri—aaaaahhhh..."
Peridot's amazement was suddenly interrupted by the strange noise the boy made as he slowly sank to his back from where he had been sitting, clutching his stomach in a manner remarkably similar to the time he ate those "candy bars". She felt her pupils dilate as her heart rate increased.
"Steven?!"
With concern immediately overtaking her, she quickly stood up and went to his side, frantically checking him over on the way for any physical signs of distress. Much to her relief, he had already sat up again by the time she got there. "I'm okay, just—too fast. Went down the wrong pipe."
Although she didn't understand the human expression, Peridot laughed lightly at his explanation. "Maybe you should slow down next time."
Steven also gave a small grin at her antics. "Hey, I can't help it! The Big Donut's donuts are just so... wondrous. Even if they aren't freshly baked. Besides, I was hungry."
"Well, it seems like every time you eat, something bad happens to you. Maybe you should cut down on it?"
Steven shook his head at this impossible request. "I can't just 'cut down', Peridot. I have to eat! All of us humans have to!" he yelled in a harsher tone than he intended.
Peridot visibly winced at his angry exclamation. "I'm just trying to help," she sighed as she lowered her head to look at the floor, a frown slowly emerging and her eyebrows sagging. Steven immediately felt a twinge of regret; he didn't mean to make his friend feel bad.
"Peridot... I know you're just being careful. I'm sorry for yelling at you like that."
Just as quickly as it appeared, Peridot's gloomy expression gave way to a small smile as she once again turned her attention to the quartz gem. "Steven, I just want to make sure you're safe. You know that, right?"
Steven smiled as well as he nodded his head. "Yeah, I know. But, um... just so you can see there's not much to be afraid of, you really should try one of these donuts. They're great."
Amethyst didn't move.
For the past ten minutes, she had remained on the beach, gazing up with nervous eyes at the house she dreaded returning to. It almost felt like she was walking to her demise.
When she began the journey back to the house, she could still remember how confident she had been. Now that she was actually face-to-face with her destination, though, no matter how many times she tried to convince herself that everything was all right, that nothing bad happened between them, that Pearl and Garnet made up - it didn't matter. For all she knew, their attempt at working out a compromise may have instead dissolved into an irreparable hatred during the time she was gone.
The purple gem shook her head, the wind blowing through her hair as she blinked. "It's now or never."
Without a word or a sound, Amethyst slowly ascended up the hill to the foot of the staircase leading to the front porch. Even though she was the only one outside, the tension was easily as thick as any time she could remember in the past month.
It took nearly a minute for her to make the trip up to the front porch. Although she didn't mean to, she focused to hear for any angry shouting from the inside of the house, an argument. Nothing.
She wasn't reassured.
Even though the blinds weren't down in the windows on the front of the house, she couldn't bring herself to walk over there and peek inside. Instead, she slowly made her way to the front entrance, her footsteps echoing louder to her than in reality. She felt her hand tremble as she reached for the handle.
With a sharp intake of breath, she opened the door.
"We haven't checked over there yet, Pearl."
"But even if he is in that area, how could he—"
Whatever thought Pearl was about to say was cut off by the front door opening, rather loudly at that. Both she and Garnet turned to look in response, although they already knew who it was.
"Hello, Amethyst," greeted the leader of the Crystal Gems.
For nearly a full minute, all three gems stood in the house, with nobody breaking the silence. Pearl and Garnet patiently waited for Amethyst to reply with something, anything, while the Earth born gem herself continued to be frozen by... apprehension? Panic?
Fear?
It took, relatively speaking, a significant amount of time to put her rush of emotions behind her. Finally, though, after what felt like an eternity, Amethyst slightly opened her mouth to speak for the first time since arriving. "G-Garnet... Pearl?"
The latter gem already knew what she was going to say. Without hesitation, Pearl stepped forward, a small smile appearing on her face as she walked to her friend and teammate.
"Amethyst, it's okay. We're okay."
"Amethyst, it's okay. We're okay."
For the second time in the past few minutes, said gem found herself unable to speak. Unlike the previous time, however, the reason for this extended silence was very different.
For the past month, every happy emotion that she had felt (even though they were very few and far between) meant nothing. It wasn't just because they were forgotten, it was because it impossible to truly feel anything but negative sentiment and sadness throughout the entire duration of this feud. It was a black cloud hanging over everything, and anything else was bottled up, to be stowed away and abandoned.
But in one fatal swoop, Pearl brought an end to all of it. And the bottle exploded.
Before she could even begin to institute any measure of control, Amethyst grabbed Pearl in a tight embrace, the floodgates opening. She felt herself smile as she desperately gasped to breathe through her intense crying.
With a very small sigh of contentment, Pearl returned the gesture as she wrapped her arms around the smaller gem, silently whispering "it's okay, it's okay" in her ear, over and over again. She wasn't even sure if she could hear her, but it wasn't that important. All that mattered was that they were all together again.
Together. They were all a group again. No more hatred. No more deception. They were all one.
As hard as she tried to put on a strong front, seeing Pearl and Amethyst react the way they did was the last straw. As she took off her shades and placed them on the coffee table, Garnet slowly walked to the two of them, a smile on her face as well.
After taking a minute to ponder what to do next, she slowly kneeled down and hugged the purple gem as well. As soon as she felt the additional contact, Amethyst responded by tightening her hug around the Crystal Gems.
And they were the Crystal Gems again. Minus one important member.
Hopefully not for much longer.
"DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"
Without even a hint of hesitation or remorse, Peridot targeted the enemy aircraft with her lock-on photon beam, firing as soon as the green light on the dashboard indicated it was fully charged. Not even a second later, the opposing craft's shield gave way, completely obliterating the vessel. She laughed maniacally as the flaming wreckage plummeted out of the view of her own starship.
Steven, on the other hand, lightly shook his head at her furious display of emotion, although this one was thankfully more subdued than the previous few. Despite that, her unbridled rage had still only grown progressively worse in the past hour or so.
"Peridot, you do remember it's a video game, right?"
"Steven, don't talk to me right now! I must make sure ALL of these fools receive the same punishment as the last!" she yelled, her evil grin still glued to her face. It immediately morphed into a scowl, though, as another ship appeared on the horizon and apparently scored a direct hit.
"YOU DARE TO OPPOSE ME? FEEL MY WRATH!" screamed the gem as she mashed the buttons as fast and hard as she could. Steven looked to the ceiling.
"Why did I show her that app..." he mumbled to himself. He wanted to do something with her since she absolutely refused to try eating, but showing her the capabilities of his phone was quickly becoming a mistake he regretted more and more by the minute.
Thankfully, for a few merciful seconds after Peridot yelled her newest angry threat, the room fell completely silent aside from the sounds emitting from the game Peridot was so absorbed in. The stillness was punctured, however, by a strange noise coming from Steven's device. A notification.
The slouching gem suddenly felt himself frozen, completely paralyzed. Just like the time when the gem injector almost fell on them, time seemed to slow down.
"Steven? This annoying message is interfering with my conquest. How do I—"
"STOP!" yelled the boy as he immediately sprang to life, Peridot's question breaking him out of his trance. Without giving a second thought to what he was doing, he sprinted over and grabbed the phone from her surprised fingers, his eyes frantically scanning the screen to see what the message contained, and, more importantly, who it was from.
Battery Levels Low
He gasped a sigh of relief. He didn't even know he had been holding his breath in up until that point.
Peridot, on the other hand, was rather upset at the thought of being torn away from that admittedly enjoyable human space combat simulator. It was ironic, considering they knew nothing about warfare in the stars, but it didn't change fact: it was a good "video game", as Steven called it, and now Steven was taking it away. Unacceptable.
"Hey! What's the big idea?"
Steven looked up from the screen over to the angry gem, only to realize he had taken the phone from her without her permission. Now that he was able to properly think without a big adrenaline rush interfering, it didn't seem like it was wasn't the smartest idea to grab it so forcefully. It probably caught her off guard, and she really did seem like she was enjoying that game, albeit loudly.
"Whoops, heh heh. Sorry, Peridot," he said as he handed the device back to the eager fingers of the stranded gem. Once she regained possession of the device, it only took her a few seconds to fire the ship back up again. No sooner did she do so than she looked up at the quartz gem and signaled with a few of her fingers for him to come near.
"Steven, you must assist me with annihilating our foes! If they are granted free passage through our star system, they will instead annihilate the planet I now consider home!" she yelled excitedly as she once again continued to mash the buttons on the screen. Steven sheepishly smiled as he took a seat next to her in response to her request, but he didn't say anything. The game wasn't what was on his mind.
Peridot thankfully didn't notice it, but Steven knew exactly why he was so on edge when his phone received a notification (he had kept the device off the entire time he had been with her up until he decided to introduce the concept of video games to her. Big mistake). He didn't want to make her worry, but he knew for certain which emotion just coursed through him. Fear.
Fear that it was someone saying they knew where he was. Fear that they would find him.
It could've been anyone, really. Connie. Dad. It couldn't have been the gems, since they obviously didn't have phones, but the possibilities were limitless. And even though he trusted Peridot a great deal, it wasn't yet the time to be diving deep into his past and explaining his relationship with everyone in great detail or something like that. Not until he was certain everyone was off his trail.
Thankfully, there was a solution.
"Um, Peridot? Could you stop the game for a minute?"
Peridot's face took on a look of sorrow as her finger reluctantly moved to the pause button. "Yes, Steven?" she impatiently sighed.
"May I see the phone again? I promise I'll give it right back." he asked.
After considering his question, she tightly shut her eyes as she thrusted the device in his hands. The desire to cause more virtual destruction as soon as possible was painfully evident in her response.
With a smile, Steven took the phone and opened the Settings tab after he had backed out of the space game. Once he was there, he did what he should've done from the very beginning.
He shut off notifications. Very simple, very effective. Even though he had been paranoid, the rational part of him doubted anyone would message him anyways. Huh. And now that the job was done, he pressed the home button to return to phone's main menu.
Before he could swipe to the next page of apps, the screen went black, with a small spinning disk appeared in the center a few seconds later. The sign of impending doom.
"Um, sorry Peridot, but the battery died."
"What do you mean? The battery of the atomic phaser?" she asked, her voice rushed and more enlivened than usual as she eagerly awaited the return of her bucket of fun.
"No, I mean the phone's battery died, and I can't charge it here in the Kindergarten, unless you have an electrical outlet around. Uh... sorry," he replied, his voice slowly softening as Peridot's eyes grew progressively larger. She burst.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
"Are you all right, Amethyst?"
"I'll be fine, Garnet."
After reaffirming the fused gem, Amethyst stifled a few sniffles as she sat slouched against the front door on the inside of the house, Pearl and Garnet both sitting directly opposite to her. The past few minutes had been absolutely exhausting, but she wasn't lying when she replied to the leader of the Crystal Gems; she would be fine. In fact, she would be better than she'd been in quite a while.
Under ordinary circumstances, Amethyst didn't like to show off her true emotions. For the most part, any negative or sad feelings she felt were largely buried under her fun-loving personality, as she hated appearing insecure around the others, especially Pearl. For this, however, she made an exception. All of her pent-up feelings were too overwhelming to not do so.
It was an exception she needed.
Garnet smiled and slowly stood up from the ground, offering the purple gem her hand to help her up as well. "Very good. But we still have work to do. Let's get to it." Not even a moment later, Pearl stood up and also offered also held out her hand, a small smile gracing her face as well.
Amethyst felt one of her signature goofy grins emerge as she accepted both offers. And once she was standing up once more, it didn't come without one more big simultaneous hug for the two of them.
"You guys are the best."
Pearl and Garnet's smiles didn't fade as they returned the gesture.
Finally, after nearly a full minute, all three gems broke off the group hug and quickly glanced at each other, each waiting for another to break the quiet. Garnet was the first to speak up.
"Amethyst, I'm glad you showed up when you did. Let me run you through what Pearl and I have been discussing."
Amethyst silently gasped as something clicked in her mind, reminding her of the reason why she had returned to the house in the first place. It had been lost amongst the chaos of a few minutes ago, but it thankfully didn't disappear from her memory for good. "Wait, guys, hold on. This is important."
Garnet cut off what she was about to say and crossed her arms. "We're listening."
"Okay, okay. Thank you. Anyways, I was just in town, and I noticed Connie sitting near the Big Donut, waiting for someone."
Pearl raised her eyebrows at this revelation. "Connie? Why would she be—" she put a hand to her mouth, the fingers on her other hand clutching the hem of her shirt. "Did she ask you about Steven?!"
Amethyst slowly shook her head. "Yeah... she did. I told her he wasn't around right now, that he'd be back soon. And he will be back soon."
Although it wasn't reassuring in the slightest to hear Amethyst confirming her fears, Pearl couldn't stop herself from slowly nodding her head as well as her hands dropped back to her sides. She was right. Steven would be back soon.
They would make sure of it.
Amethyst took a deep breath and moved her head side to side, cracking her neck. "As I was saying, she told me something... interesting. You know the two kids that work in the store?"
"The two teenagers Steven sometimes spends his time around?" asked Garnet.
"Yes, what are their names again... Lard and Shady?" added Pearl.
"You got it. Well... actually, I don't think that's quite what their names are. But in any event, Connie said she overheard them yesterday talking about someone that came in the store that day. Someone that looked ridiculous," replied Amethyst.
Pearl's lips slowly fell into a frown the further along Amethyst went in her explanation. "Amethyst, this isn't the time for..."
"Let me finish, P, I said it was important and I meant it. Apparently, they were making fun of this 'someone' because she looked green. And she had a head shaped like a triangle. Sound familiar?"
Pearl's frown remained frozen in place, while Garnet's face also fell into an angry expression. "Peridot."
"My exact reaction. In any event, I don't think Connie would tell a lie like that for no reason, so it's pretty likely Peridot really was at the Big Donut sometime yesterday."
Pearl put a hand to her chin. "But why? Gems don't need to eat, unless she learned to like it somehow. And why the Big Donut?"
Amethyst shook her head at Pearl's questions. "I think you're looking at it wrong. My question is, how did she get to the Big Donut at all? She could've used the warp pad here in the temple since it's close," she said as she pointed to said teleportation device behind them, "but Peridot's too smart to take a risk like that. She only would've be able to visit the store if she was nearby. AND if she's gone there more than once, she has to be staying somewhere nearby."
Pearl blinked. Everything the other gem just said was absolutely correct, and she completely missed it. The feeling of being one-upped in what was supposed to be her specialty, thinking logically, wasn't a fun one.
Yep, the team was back.
"If she's somewhere around here, she can't possibly be in Beach City. We searched everywhere here for Steven, meaning we probably would've found her," piped in Garnet.
Amethyst nodded her head. "But if that's the case, then where is she?"
Pearl and Garnet looked at each other. As they made eye contact (or, in Pearl's case, eye contact with Garnet's silver sunglasses), they both stole the words right out of each other's mouths.
"The Kindergarten."
Amethyst furrowed her eyebrows. "But why would she be hiding there?" she asked. Try as she might, she couldn't understand how they both reached the same conclusion so quickly.
Garnet swiftly turned her head to face her again. "Think about it. It's a former gem site, so it's probably more familiar to her than anywhere else here on Earth. And it's also close enough to get to the Big Donut like you said, although it would still a rather lengthy walk. It makes sense."
Pearl picked up where Garnet left off. "In that case, we need to go look for her there, right now. As much as I would rather look for Steven, we can't just let Peridot run free if we have a clue on where she is."
Amethyst suddenly felt yet another smile form; a golden opportunity just emerged from what Pearl said. "Great idea! Pearl, Garnet, how about you two go look for her? I'll go back to the Big Donut and wait with Connie in case she comes back," she suggested, her voice faster and slightly more excited than normal. She couldn't help but feel proud of her idea; if the two gems had any more differences to work out, having them go alone would be a great time to do so.
Pearl thought about it for a moment before nodding her head. "An intriguing idea, Amethyst. Garnet, what do you say?"
Garnet didn't even need to think about it. "I agree. Pearl, are you ready to go?"
Pearl didn't need to think about it, either.
"Absolutely. Let's go."
"Steven, we need to find somewhere that recharge that device! Now!"
For the billionth (or trillionth) time in the past ten minutes since the phone died, Steven shook his head in denial of Peridot's never ending string of demands to go find somewhere to charge the battery. "Peridot, the only place we can go to charge my phone is probably somewhere in Beach City! I thought you didn't like me going there often?"
Peridot hesitated for a moment. He did have a point; since there wasn't one of those "electrical outlets" he said he required nearby, they would have to probably go somewhere where they could potentially be seen by others. In this case, in Beach City.
It would be worth it.
"We won't be caught, I promise! And if we are, we can always protect each other!"
"But we always are protecting each other! That's why you're letting me stay here!"
Peridot once again stopped for a moment to think. He was right. They always were protecting each other, but what Peridot wanted to do violated that agreement. For a moment there, she had voluntarily allowed herself to put him in danger by almost forcing him to return to the place he wanted to avoid unless absolutely necessary, and what she wanted was not absolutely necessary. They didn't need to go and put themselves in harm's way, she wanted them to. A crushing sense of guilt washed over her as she sighed and looked to the floor.
Steven noticed this reaction and spoke in a softer tone than he had used previously. "Peridot, we can leave later, I promise. Just not right this very second."
As the bright blue and white beam of light faded away, Pearl and Garnet stepped off the Kindergarten's warp pad, with the former blinking and looking at the ground to keep the dust out of her eyes. Wearing shades had their advantages for the other.
"Okay, so where do we begin?" asked Pearl.
Garnet briefly scanned the area for any telltale signs that Peridot had recently been nearby, such as footprints or perhaps abaondoned supplies; there was nothing. "Well, I guess we start on the ground. But be as quiet as possible. We don't want her to know we're here."
Pearl nodded and proceeded to jump to the ground from the top of the canyon, landing perfectly on her feet without a sound. Garnet did the same.
"Should we split up?" whispered Pearl to the fused gem. She shook her head in response.
"She'll be no match for us together, but she might pose a threat if we're separated. We'll stick by each other."
Pearl once again nodded.
"Let's try over there."
"Peridot, are you okay?"
Peridot looked up and turned her gaze to Steven, her expression downcast behind her visor.
"I'm sorry, Steven. I got a little carried away back there, and I apologize."
Steven smiled. "It's alright."
Even though it was just two simple words, the boy's compassion once again did wonders towards improving her mood, as she felt a great sense of relief replace the culpability that had dominated her emotional state in the past few minutes. As soon as he affirmed everything was okay, however, Peridot's voice once again returned to the same excited tone she used previously, almost subconsciously. "But really, that game was GREAT! How did humans even learn to create something like that?"
Steven had no idea what to say.
"Garnet, look."
If she wasn't actively straining to hear every detail going on around her, said gem might have missed Pearl's hushed whisper as she pointed to an object of interest on the ground. It was a bright green platform on the floor of the Kindergarten.
"Isn't that the elevator Peridot used?"
Garnet nodded her head. "Yes. Is it still operational? I'm fairly certain Peridot is the only one who can operate it, so it would be a good hiding place."
Pearl shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. But even if it isn't, do you really think she's hiding down there?"
Garnet shrugged her shoulders as well. "Can't hurt to check."
Peridot once again rolled on her back and loudly sighed. Steven felt pangs of both sympathy and impatience strike him at the same time.
"Peridot, I'm once again sorry we can't leave the Kindergarten to go right now, but I promise we can go later tonight, when the gems are probably in their rooms or something. Why does it bother you so much?"
"I only needed to destroy fifty seven more of those ships to level up! I was making great progress, and I don't like being interrupted!" she replied without moving her gaze from the ceiling.
Steven nodded his head slowly, his drooping eyebrows giving his whole face a saddened appearance. "I don't like it either, but it's always better to be safe than—what's that sound?"
With one mighty lift, Garnet removed the strange green platform from its normal position and held it in the air, allowing Pearl to access the entrance to the underground chamber they visited once before. "Go!"
Pearl immediately complied with the demand, jumping down the hole and sliding along the slightly tilted slope of the wall the platform descended down. The fused gem did the same, while simultaneously placing the platform back in its original position.
Peridot stood up. Steven was right, what was that sound?
The questions only continued to flow in her mind when an even louder sound immediately followed the first, as if something was happening up at the surface. Something with... the platform?
No sooner did this thought cross her mind when something fell from above. Her attention immediately honed in on it to see what it was: a few small rocks and clumps of dirt, with more subsequently following. Why? Was something wrong with the elevator shaft? Perhaps a failure in design? Was it about to cave in?
Not even a few seconds later, her theories were finally answered when two uninvited guests slid down the sloped wall and dropped in on them, rocks and dirt being kicked up in the process. It wasn't a cave-in.
It was much worse.
She could hear Steven breathe in loudly directly behind her. It didn't sound natural at all.
The first thing Pearl noticed aside from Garnet landing next to her was Peridot, standing alone in the center of the room. It was difficult to guess her emotions, but surprised was probably the best word to describe them. It seemed like she was frozen in place.
She smiled. They had finally cornered her. "You can't escape this time, Peridot. We've..."
Before she continued, the blue and white gem blinked as her eyes noticed something red being largely obstructed behind Peridot's legs. To the left of her, she could tell Garnet noticed it too. It almost looked like a shirt. A trembling shirt. And it was in a sitting up position... by itself?
"Wait. Is that—"
Pearl's smile evaporated in an instant. Her voice died in her throat as her mouth proceeded to hang open wide, her eyes bulging. For a brief second, her mind went completely blank.
The other Crystal Gem managed to contain her emotions slightly better, but it still didn't stop her from removing her shades, her hand furiously shaking. It took a moment before Garnet found herself able to speak.
"... Steven?"
We all knew this was coming eventually.
Have a nice day.