~O~
Chapter Thirty-Six: Halloween Spirit
Pearl was looking at a scroll at the table that morning. Spinel sat across from her. Coco-Puffs was eating bits of offered bread from Spinel's hand.
"So? What does it say?" Spinel asked.
Pearl frowned curiously. "Mm, the scroll suggests that if we visit the Island of Bells, there may be something there that can help with your memories." she explained. "Spirit Quartz's were known to assist gems with things like this. Now I know there won't be any, but there COULD be something we can use."
Spinel looked down at Coco-Puffs. "Do you think it could help her?"
Pearl sighed, staring at the corrupted gem sadly. "I don't know. Maybe."
Spinel glanced down at the gem in her arms. She furrowed her brow and tilted her head. "Hey, does she look a little bigger to you?" she asked, holding the gem up to Pearl. "I feel like she's a little bigger."
Pearl didn't look up. She was studying the scroll. "I don't know, Spinel." She rolled the scroll back up. "Alright, Steven wants to go out shopping for his Halloween costume. He wants us to go with him."
"Ooh! Halloween!" Spinel exclaimed. "I'm excited! Maybe I'll find one for Coco-Puffs."
She looked down and set the corrupted gem down onto the floor. "Now, you stay here with Garnet and I'll bring you back something good!"
Coco-Puffs gurgled in response.
O
Spinel was staring at the plastic skull in the window, fascinated by its glowing eyes and chattering. The gems had accompanied Steven and Connie to buy costumes. Garnet had stayed at the house with Coco-Puffs to help finish decorating for trick-r-treaters.
"So…what's the big deal about Halloween for you humans? What do you do on this holiday? Dress up scary?" she asked.
Connie smiled and shrugged. "Well, it's a little more than just dressing up. But if you do, you can dress up however you want." she said. "Some people don't always want to look scary."
She looked at Amethyst now. "Are you dressing up too?"
Amethyst grinned. "Dude, a night of free candy and scaring people? Hah! I wouldn't miss it!"
They entered a costume shop and Spinel's eyes widened in amazement. She looked at the various costumes and decorations that littered the shelves and racks, chatting with excitement the entire time.
"Whoa! Guys! This is so cool!" she exclaimed, darting off to look around. "It's like Christmas! But very orange. And there's more funny faces than Greg had when he ate all that pie."
Her voice disappeared around a shelf and the others looked around as well. Amethyst put a fake arrow over her head and looked bored with it.
"Dude, I could just get a REAL arrow." she said.
Connie looked concerned. "That would hurt, right?"
"Not if you do it right."
"I don't know what I could wear this year," Steven said, scratching his head, "I mean, I can't do the same thing I was last year."
"What did you dress up last year as, again?" Connie asked. "I remember I couldn't come because mom made me stay home."
"Tiger Millionaire."
Spinel grinned, walking up to them with several glowing bands of various colors wrapped around her arms. "Guys! Look at me!" she said, beaming with pride. "Watch what it looks like when I run!"
She sped around the store at top speeds, narrowly avoiding customers and racks of costumes in her path. The inky pink smear she usually trailed around in her sprint was now a rainbow color.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" someone shouted in the store.
Amethyst giggled and Steven made a face, ushering Spinel to the back and out of view of the annoyed customers.
"Hey, it looked nice!" Spinel said, staring down at her arms. "Hey, Amethyst? What's your favorite color? You can get some and put them on your arm! It's like glowing jewelry!"
"Pink."
Spinel looked confused and stared down at the bands on her arms. "I don't know if they have that color."
Amethyst leaned up and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, to which earned a heated blush from Spinel. She shuffled away, embarrassed and Amethyst laughed.
O
A construction crew worked far outside of Beach City while the Halloween events were underway. One of them operated an excavator, scooping out enormous piles of dirt. Among the dirt, the scoop had crushed a metallic container, exposing a green gemstone.
"Hey!" a construction worker called to his friend on the heavy machinery. "Hey, turn that off for a second!"
The man on the machine stared down at him. "WHAT?" he yelled.
"Turn. It. OFF!" the other man made a gesture with his hand to better emphasize his point.
The man shrugged and shut off the machine. He stepped down and sighed impatiently, taking a clipboard that was offered.
They were talking together, failing to notice the green gemstone starting to glow.
"...Look, I want to get home soon. My kid wants to go trick-or-treating tonight."
"I'm sorry. Listen, if you finish up this pipe, you can leave early."
"Thanks."
Glowing, whip-like tentacles began to form from the gem. Long, skeletal arms followed. A massive set of jaws and glowing green eyes. A haunting moan escaped its jaws.
The sound reached the man who had been working on the excavator. He frowned and looked down the hole, but received a blast of green ooze directly in his face.
He gave a howl of pain and rubbed at his eyes. His sounds alerted the others, who turned to him in confusion.
"Mark!" they yelled. "Mark, what are you - "
Mark panted frantically, struggling to clean his eyes. After a few moments, he stopped and slouched his shoulders forward. When he turned, his eyes were distant and his mouth hung open in a zombie-like moan. The spaces around his eyes were red and flushed from the ooze.
"Mark!" the workers cried.
The gem monstrosity crawled from the hole and gave a rattling snarl, causing the men to scream in terror.
It's jaw swelled and it produced another stream of green ooze, spraying them and silencing their sounds.
O
Peridot had been confused by the holiday. "Why do humans make themselves look so terrifying and go to each other's houses to beg for food that's bad for them?" she asked.
"I remember this ritual," Pearl remarked, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "Long ago, humans had a belief that in doing so, it kept away evil spirits from their home." She made a face. "Though I can't see how dressing up in ridiculous outfits is enough to ward off evil."
Jasper was bored with the discussion, so she wandered into an aisle filled with rows of masks. She stopped at one that looked particularly disturbing.
A flash of memory replaced the real world.
Jasper shut her eyes tightly, hearing the echoes of screams in the back of her mind. Replacing the image of the mask was a gem screaming in pain.
Steven walked up to her, wearing a werewolf mask. "Jasper! What do you think of this?"
Jasper snapped out of her reverie. "Huh? Oh, it's..." She looked confused. "What is it?"
"I'm a werewolf!"
Jasper frowned. "A what?"
Peridot huffed and wandered over to them. "A werewolf, by human legend, is a shape-shifting human that transforms into a large beast capable of greater strength and dexterity." she explained. Then, she added sarcastically. "There are different interpretations of them. Some of which are human males who can't keep their shirts on."
Steven giggled.
Buck Dewey entered the store and Steven immediately put on the werewolf mask. He attempted to sneak up on him.
Lapis held up a tiara to her head, but murmured with disappointment. "I don't know about this." she said. "Seems a bit...pointless."
Peridot shook her head. "Lapis, the point is to have fun and be someone you're not."
Lapis frowned. "Why would I want to be someone I'm not?"
"No, that's not what I meant. It's just fun. Dressing up..." Peridot caught sight of Steven jumping at another customer and made a face. "...doing THAT."
Pearl chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh, Steven. There's no reason for us to..." She raised an eyebrow when Steven set a plastic crown on her head.
"You can be a queen!" Steven announced.
Pearl smiled, flattered by the thought. "Oh! Well, I AM a gem of royalty!"
Jasper rolled her eyes, but chuckled at the idea.
"What about you, Jasper?" Steven asked her, "You don't have to be anything scary. You can be..." He looked over at a shelf and retrieved a set of dog ears. "You can be an adorable dog!"
Jasper tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.
Steven looked down at the dog ears, grinned sheepishly and set them aside. "Sorry. Too soon?"
"A little." Jasper quipped.
O
While Connie tried on a few costumes, Spinel was attempting to understand the holiday while she fitted a circular space helmet over her head.
"Okay, so…humans make themselves look scary - not all, though - then…go to each other's houses to beg for sweets?"
Steven chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, that's kind of the idea."
"Spinel! Check me out!"
Spinel looked over at the sound of Amethyt's voice; she had shape-shifted into an enormous figure wearing a hockey mask, tattered clothes and holding a plastic chainsaw.
"Whoa, that's amazing, Amethyst!" Steven exclaimed.
Spinel grinned, nodding. "You're pretty scary. Ooh! Let me try!"
She rushed into the dressing room and eagerly began to root through boxes of masks. The others stared at the dressing room curiously while the gem was working behind the door.
When she stepped out after a few moments, she was wearing a werewolf mask and had the glow bands still wrapped around her arms. She also wore a pair of shiny pants.
"Wow, that's…uh…" Connie began, smiling with amusement.
Spinel walked up to them, thrusting her arms out. "Hey! What do you think of this?"
They stared at her, making an attempt to understand her costume choice. Connie laughed weakly and Amethyst tilted her head. Then, her face lit up and she grinned.
"Dude! You're the Werewolf Queen from Saturn!" she said.
Steven and Connie stared at her in disbelief and Spinel laughed, pointing at her. "Yep!"
"How did you know that?" Connie asked, staring at Amethyst with wide eyes.
Amethyst continued to grin and walked up to give Spinel a quick hug. "I saw it when she drew it."
Spinel slouched a bit. "Aww, it was gonna be a surprise!"
"Don't sweat it, Spinel." Amethyst assured her, "We can still go out tonight and get lots of candy."
"Yeah! I am ready!" Spinel thrust her hands in the air.
Ronaldo entered the store and Steven immediately put on a hockey mask. He attempted to sneak up on Ronaldo. He jumped out from racks of glow sticks and Ronaldo yelped, narrowly falling on his back.
"Steven! I don't have time for this!" Ronaldo told the younger boy. "I need to get glow sticks and be on the street before seven, or all the good houses will be fully looted!"
Steven looked confused and pulled the mask from his head. "Wait, you're going trick-or-treating?"
"YES." Ronaldo said, impatiently. "It's the only excuse I could give my dad to get out of working."
He quickly began to search the aisles while Steven followed.
"Ronaldo, do you believe in werewolves, ghosts and stuff?" Steven asked.
Ronaldo laughed, as if the question was absurd. "Of COURSE I do, Steven." he told him. "I am an expert on all things supernatural, non-supernatural, alien. You KNOW this by now!"
"So, on Halloween, do ghosts really appear?"
"Possibly. Though the spirit world is not a place you want to tamper with, Steven." Ronaldo studied a package of glow sticks. "If you do, you have to make sure you're protected, or you risk possession by an evil spirit!"
He reached beneath his shirt and pulled out a necklace of multiple good-luck charms and trinkets.
Steven stared at them with surprise. "Whoa."
Spinel stepped between them. "Hey, so are we ready to go?" she asked. She noticed Ronaldo's charms and made a surprised sound. "Ooh, protection charms! Nice!"
Ronaldo beamed with pride. "See? She gets it!"
"I remember a human from a village who had that many!" Spinel said, from behind the mask. "He was pretty nice, actually."
"Was he the Town Hero?" Ronaldo asked, smiling with pride.
"No. I think they called him the Village Maniac." Spinel said, scratching the werewolf chin as if it were her own.
Ronaldo deflated a little at that. "Oh! Well, whatever." he snapped. "I gotta get a costume!"
Amethyst shape-shifted into the Purple Puma. "I know what I'm going as!"
Spinel made an impressed sound. "Ooh! Can I?"
She gestured to Amethyst's shoulders and the other gem grinned. "Sure! Hop on!"
Spinel eagerly climbed onto Amethyt's shoulders and they marched out of the shop.
"Beware spirits! You are no match for the Spinelthyst!" Spinel yelled, gleefully.
"Well, the rest of us will return home," Pearl told Steven. "We really need to have the house and dinner prepared. If the humans are going to be knocking, it has to be ready."
Steven looked disappointed. "Aww, you don't want to come with us?"
"No, Steven." Pearl told him. "You all go out and enjoy yourselves."
Amethyst walked by with Spinel still on her shoulders. "They just want some alone time." she teased, giving Jasper and Pearl a knowing look.
The two gems blushed now and huffed.
O
The streets were flocked with parents and their children dressed up for Halloween. Spinel was eagerly consuming it all and enjoying every bit of the costumes. She stopped once to see a baby dressed up as a tiny alien.
"Ooh, he's an alien, that's cool!" Spinel said. "But that's now how aliens really look."
Connie was dressed as Lisa from her favorite book series, The Unfamiliar Familiar and Steven as Archimicarus. They walked up to a house and knocked. As a woman distributed candy, she noticed Spinel's costume and smiled.
"Well look at you!" she said, "What are you supposed to be?"
"The Werewolf Queen of Saturn. Duh." Amethyst said, jokingly elbowing Spinel in the process.
"Ah. I…see." the woman murmured, depositing an enormous candy bar in Spinel's bag.
Spinel beamed with delight.
They made their way down the street and Spinel happily threw her hands in the air.
"You guys, I love Halloween!" she cried. "If I knew there was a day for getting free candy, I would have dressed up sooner!"
"You never had a Halloween before?" Connie asked.
Spinel rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Well, not like today. Most of the human holidays were a lot different."
"I can imagine." Connie agreed.
Spinel rooted through her bag and pulled out a chocolate covered carrot. "Whoa, choco veggies! Humans will put chocolate on anything."
Steven grimaced. "Gross."
"I'm eating it." Spinel said, unwrapping the treat and tossing it into her mouth.
Amethyst searched her bag and pulled out some candy. "Hey, I'll trade you ten gumballs for a marshmallow ghost."
"Deal!" Spinel exclaimed, delighted.
While they ate, Connie and Steven paused at the sight of something moving through an abandoned house down the street. A collection of hisses alerted them to the possibility of a corrupted gem.
"Hey, guys?" Connie warned, drawing her sword. "We got trouble."
Spinel and Amethyst were immediately alert now. The group made their way toward the abandoned house mere seconds as a corrupted gem emerged, letting out a bellowing roar.
It had a single eyeball for a head and a long, snake-like body. It was enormous, about the size of a bus. It had black stripes along its body and a gem against the back of its bulbous head.
"Eyeball!" Spinel cried, pointing at it.
The corrupted gem snarled, lunging toward them. A small set of teeth opened up beneath the wide eye and the group scattered before it made contact. It crashed to the ground, cracking the concrete upon impact.
"Oh man, how did it get so close to town?" Steven cried.
The corrupted gem made its way toward them, but paused at the sight of a discarded candy bag on the ground. It slithered its way toward it, body rippling with each movement.
"The candy?" Connie said, surprised.
The corrupted gem began to chew at the sweets and ignore the others. Connie and Steven tossed their bags of candy at it and looked back at the two gems.
"Guys! Throw your candy!" Connie cried.
The two gems looked less than enthused to do that. When the corrupted gem made its way toward them, they threw their candy to distracted it.
Amethyst produced her whip, cracked it and wrapped the gem in several places. It reared back with a screech and Steven jumped onto its back to grab its gem and give it a twist.
The gem was dispelled in a poof of white smoke; Amethyst quickly jumped beneath him to catch Steven as he fell.
"Wow!" Spinel exclaimed. "Does that happen every Halloween?"
Connie laughed sheepishly, scratching her head. "No."
Steven bubbled the gem and gave it a little tap to send it on its way. "It was probably drawn by the smell of the candy."
"Yeah. OUR candy!" Amethyst griped.
Spinel looked at her sympathetically before she lit up and reached into her pants pockets, taking out a chocolate bar. She offered it to Amethyst and the other gem laughed.
"Thanks, Spinel." she said.
"It's melted." Spinel replied.
Amethyst had already been eating the chocolate and gave her a thumbs up. "Candy's candy, dude."
O
Later, Garnet had chosen to decorate the house appropriately for Halloween. Amethyst was running around dressed as a ghost - a simple sheet over her body with two holes cut out for eyes.
Peridot was walking around dressed as a ghost - a simple sheet over her body with two holes cut out for eyes. "I don't know why he wants us to dress up," she said. "This is ridiculous."
Garnet set up a plastic skeleton. She was wearing a witch outfit. "It's important to Steven and this is Spinel's first Halloween." she reminded her. "Now let's set up the bats." She called over to Spinel. "Spinel! Did you remember to get the bats?"
Spinel smiled, raising a thumbs up. "Yeah. I didn't forget."
Outside, a few children had wandered toward the house where two boxes were set up. They looked confused and opened one, where many lives bats flew out in a collection of screeches. The children ran away, screaming in fright.
Pearl looked shocked and gave Spinel a frown. "Spinel! You got REAL bats?"
"What other kind did you want?" Spinel asked, genuinely confused.
While Pearl made an effort to catch them, Jasper eventually joined in. Spinel looked down at Coco-Puffs and fitted her with a little pair of bat wings for her back. She smiled and Coco-Puffs chewed at the wings a little before looking up at her with a grunt.
Spinel murmured thoughtfully, studying the corrupted gem. "I swear, you ARE getting bigger." she said.
Pearl gathered the bats and put them into the box. Jasper helped her and she stared at Pearl in irritation. "This is ridiculous." she snapped. "Why are we even doing this?"
Pearl managed a smile and a shrug. "Well, Spinel hasn't experienced this holiday with us. It'll be good for her and for us to have some reprieve."
Jasper looked toward Spinel. "Shouldn't we spend time looking for the Island of Bells?"
"Yes," Pearl replied, looking back with her. "But after everything that's happened, we - All of us need some time to forget for a little bit." She made a face. "Even if it involves bats."
As Garnet was working on pinning up a paper ghost, she paused and looked toward the city, frowning.
Pearl looked down at her cellphone when it made a small vibrating sound. "Well, Steven's at the Fryman's. He wants us to meet up with him." she said. She looked up at Jasper. "Coming?"
Jasper nodded. "Fine."
O
Mr. Fryman was passing out tater-tot samples to everyone. He had two false screws on his neck and a few fake stitches drawn on his arms.
"Happy Halloween, kids!" he said.
Steven and the others approached him and eventually, Jasper and Pearl joined. Steven turned to them, beamed and waved. "Hey, guys!" he greeted.
Jasper seemed curious by the free samples resting on a few platters.
"Steven, you wanted us to meet up with you?" Pearl questioned.
Steven nodded. "Yeah! There's going to be this party later on by the beach. Everyone's going to be there! I thought you guys would like to come!"
"What about Connie?"
"Oh, she had to head home early. She has a project due for school."
"Well, that's very thoughtful, but - " Pearl cut herself off when she noticed the tater-tots. "Oh."
Mr. Fryman grinned when he caught her look. "Oh! My latest creation! I'm handing out these Halloween-themed tater-tots." he explained, holding up one that had been made to look like a skull. "Cute, right? The kids love 'em!"
Steven took one. "That's really cool!"
"Yeah, I wanted to really get into the Halloween spirit this year. Connect with the younger generation." Mr. Fryman looked over, noticing Jasper eating down every sample on the platters. Pearl looked surprised for a moment, then she tittered and shook her head.
"Ah, Jasper!" Steven cried.
He chuckled. "Nah, that's okay. Peedee ordered too many frozen tots this shipment. There's plenty for - "
The sound of garbage being rustled through caught his attention. He sighed impatiently and turned to wander to the back of the shop.
"If that raccoon is in my garbage again..."
One of the construction workers had his head buried in the dumpster and was rooting through it. Mr. Fryman scowled and approached.
"Hey! Get out of there right now!" he ordered. "I'm going to..."
The construction worker climbed out, his mouth buried into rotten burger meat. His eyes startled Mr. Fryman, who backed away in confusion.
"L-Look at your eyes..." he gasped, continuing to back away.
Around the corner, the gem corruption's many tendrils swayed and wrapped tightly around his head, yanking him screaming into the shadows.
The sound got the attention of the gems, who quickly followed it around the back of the store. They froze at the sight of Mr. Fryman and the construction worker in a similar, zombified condition. Moaning, they made their way toward them with arms outstretched.
"What's going on?" Pearl cried, "What's wrong with them?"
The gem creature stepped out with a loud, rattling cry. Behind it, the other zombified construction workers lifted their heads, standing at attention and slowly approaching.
Peridot panicked. "It's a gem weapon!" she exclaimed. "One of White Diamond's early experiments!"
"What?" Pearl looked at her in confusion, drawing her weapon. "We've bubbled every gem weapon!"
"Well, apparently you missed one." Lapis said, uneasy.
The creature raised its head and let out a collection of calls. Immediately, the zombified humans made their way toward them. Jasper tensed and her helmet appeared on her head, but Steven stopped her.
"Wait! You can't hurt them!" he cried, "They don't know what they're doing!"
Jasper scowled. "Then we shatter that thing!"
She charged full force for the gem corruption, ducking and avoiding whips from its tendrils. Jaws snapped, teeth gnashed and it sprayed a stream of saliva directly in Jasper's face. The gem recoiled with a shout, quickly moving to wipe her eyes.
"Jasper!" Pearl shouted.
A groan, a ragged cry of fury before Jasper blinked slowly, falling under the same spell as the rest. She joined the zombified humans and they continued their advance.
Pearl frantically charged for the gem corruption. "Jasper!"
"Pearl, wait!" Steven cried.
The gem's throat swelled and it unleashed a spray of green ooze. Lapis and Peridot jumped to avoid it. Steven raised his shield and attempted to protect the others.
"Quick! Get around me!" he shouted. "Peridot? Lapis?"
Much to his horror, the two gems had been drenched in the green fluid and in a similar condition to Jasper and the humans. Pearl had been rendered all the same. They turned toward Steven and began to shamble toward him.
Steven panicked, turned and ran. He could hear the loud, rattling cry from the gem monster behind him and a chorus of groans from his zombified friends.
Steven looked over when Ronaldo called frantically for him from behind a car.
"Steven!" he whispered, "Over here!"
Steven immediately rushed up to meet him and Ronaldo peered over the car once before he looked at them fearfully.
"Did you see them? The zombies?" he asked.
"They're not zombies, Ronaldo." Steven told him. "They're being controlled by a gem monster!"
Ronaldo thought about this with a murmur. "How is it controlling everyone?"
"Through spit it shoots out of its mouth!"
Ronaldo considered this. "Then it's up to us, Steven!" he told him. "We need to save the town and free everyone from the gem monster! Are you with me?"
Steven was doubtful. He needed to get to Garnet and Amethyst. "We should ask Garnet and Amethyst for help."
Ronaldo shook his head. "There's no time!" he insisted. "The more we wait, the more innocent people will get infected! We need to hurry!"
"But, Ronaldo - "
It was too late. Ronaldo was already making a run for the lighthouse, where he typically kept much of his conspiracy documents, maps and various other trinkets. Steven sighed, following behind him. Once they made their way inside, Ronaldo made sure to shut the door behind him.
"First, we need protection against its mind-control spit!" he said.
He reached up to a shelf in the corner, retrieving a motorcycle helmet and setting it onto his head. He began to dress himself in a bizarre combination of body armor consisting of hockey pads, and a baseball-catcher's protective chest armor.
"Okay! We need to get to the car first to lure them out of Beach City." he told him.
"Shouldn't we just get Garnet and Amethyst?" Steven insisted. "They can help us."
Ronaldo sighed. "Steven, they'll just end up as collateral!" He retrieved a cricket bat from the shelf to use as a weapon. "We can't afford to have anyone else fall prey to this mind-controlling life form! It's just you and me now! We have to work together to save the city!"
Steven nodded. If it saved everyone, perhaps working together with Ronaldo wasn't a horrible idea.
O
The two stepped outside with Ronaldo leading. Steven had his shield at the ready.
"I can use my dad's car and we can lead them out of Beach City." Ronaldo told him. "It's not far. Let's be careful. Zombies can smell fear!"
Steven made a face. "Are you sure about that?"
Ronaldo found the family car and he quickly hurried to grab the keys from inside the shop. With a smile, he pressed the unlocking button on the key fob. The sound of the car beeping to announce the unlocking alerted several zombified people to turn toward them.
Ronaldo groaned. "Oh no..."
He quickly picked Steven up and they rushed for the car. The gem corruption crawled its way toward them, letting out an enraged, rattling snarl. It seemed to notice the shield in Steven's hand and its frightening eyes narrowed.
Steven looked down, noticing the way it was looking at his shield. He didn't have long to think about this odd act. Ronaldo quickly tried to start the car and Steven pushed a zombified Dewey from climbing through the window.
"Sorry, Dewey!" he cried.
He looked at Ronaldo frantically. "Start the car!"
Ronaldo managed to get the car started and the vehicle ranced down the street with the gem corruption roaring behind them. The roar literally vibrated the air, calling the zombified beings at its feet to pursue the car.
Ronaldo looked in the rearview mirror and noticed the "zombies" no longer lumbering, but breaking out in full-on sprints. The gem monster was also in a frantic chase.
"Oh no!" he cried, "They're the 'running' zombies!"
"Is that bad?" Steven looked at him desperately.
"NO ZOMBIE THAT RUNS IS A GOOD THING!"
A zombified Jenny jumped onto the back of the car, punching her fist through the glass of the window. Steven gave a cry and struggled to push her back. Jenny blankly stared at him as she swiped in an effort to reach him. She didn't seem interested in Ronaldo.
Only Steven.
"Jenny, no, listen to me!" Steven cried, struggling against her hands. "You're being controlled! You can break free! You're too strong to let a corruption do this!"
Jenny didn't blink. She didn't acknowledge him. Steven shoved her from the window with his shield, grunting with effort the entire time.
Jenny was eventually urged from the shattered window and rolled onto the street. Steven called out an apology, but it was cut short when the corrupted gem howled out in rage.
"Hold on!" Ronaldo cried, turning the wheel sharply.
Steven was roughly jerked to the other side of the car. He looked up and noticed the corrupted gem scaling the lengths of building rooftops in an effort to keep up with them. Ronaldo saw it too and gave a shriek of fright.
It jumped ahead, landed in front of the car before swiping out with its claws, sending the vehicle flipping onto its side.
O
Steven groaned in pain, struggling to pull an unconscious Ronaldo from the overturned vehicle.
Steven looked up in horror at the sight of his zombified friends and family approaching. The gem corruption loomed over them.
"Wait!" he begged. "Please!"
Just then, the group under the control of the gem corruption began to speak in perfect time together, almost with a hive-mind mentality.
"We've been expecting you, Rose Quartz." they all spoke.
Steven's eyes widened in horror.
Ronaldo's eyes opened and he caught the sight. "The creature is using them to speak!" he exclaimed. "Like a unified mind!"
Steven met the creature's stare. "I'm not Rose Quartz!"
"You bear the gem of the one who has forsaken us." the collection of voices continued, without hesitation. "One who has sworn to protect us. But it was we who suffered for her sins. My gem...broken for you."
Steven shook his head, tears filling his eyes. "You can't control my family! Or my friends."
Like Jasper, it seemed that this gem would not see him as anything more than his mother.
"We were made to be ruled, Rose. And so were they."
"That's wrong!" Steven cried. His voice softened and he pleaded desperately. "Please, just let them go. They didn't do anything wrong."
"You think you can be forgiven? You think saving them will atone for your sins? No. You deserve to suffer. We all deserve to suffer."
Suddenly, an enormous shadow loomed over the corrupted gem. Its body twisted to look back, only to receive massive arms around its throat.
Sugilite.
Steven watched in amazement as Sugilite cackled, grabbing the gem corruption beneath the arms and swinging it back over her head. The screaming creature sailed through the air before landing on the beach, sending waves of sand shooting up into the air.
"Hey!" Sugilite bellowed, stomping her foot. "There's only room for one big gem on this beach! And it ain't you!"
The gem corruption righted itself and screamed at her. Sugilite grinned, cracking her fingers before she produced her weapon, giving it a spin in her hands.
"Come here!" she taunted. "I got something for ya'!"
While the two fought on the beach, Steven made an effort to wake the zombified group. He patted Jasper's cheeks gently.
"Jasper, come on!" he cried. "Snap out of it."
The gem corruption tried to crawl away from Sugilite, but she just laughed and grabbed one of its many tentacles, dragging it right back.
"Aww, where are you going?" she sneered. "I thought we were having fun?"
A tentacle slapped her across the face, knocking her glasses off. Sugilite grinned wickedly, grunting with effort.
"Okay, NOW I'm mad!"
She punched it in the face and stomped on its tentacles. It screeched and wailed under her attacks. Steven looked up at her.
"Sugilite!" he yelled. "We need to poof her so everyone can go back to normal!"
Sugilite laughed, far too delighted by the game she was playing. "Yeah, yeah, give me a minute!" she called down to him. "I need to teach this thing a lesson in PAIN!"
Steven watched with a mixture of relief and pity; he was relieved that Sugilite came to save them, but seeing the creature getting stomped by Sugilite's foot was not something he wanted to witness. Not for much longer anyway.
"Sugilite, that's ENOUGH!" he shouted.
Sugilite looked down at him with a grin. For a moment, it seemed like she wasn't going to listen; like it was going to be another incident as it had been on the beach with Pearl. But then, she scoffed and raised her fist for the finishing blow.
"Fine." she hissed.
Finally, she brought her fist down, silencing the gem corruption's shrieks.
O
Howlite arrived on Earth as scheduled.
She hummed a playful tune to herself, skipping through the ruins of White Diamond's frozen facility. She was wearing a collar on her neck with a small camera lens fitted to it. Her Diamond was watching her progress. She would be sure to please her however she could.
"Hello!" she called, "Diopside! Diopside, are you here?" She chuckled, shaking her head. "Of course you are, how silly of me."
Diopside lifted her head when Howlite made her way into the chamber. The fused gem's head rotated, revealing the snarling face.
"A PITIFUL CLOWN!" she snarled, "BEGONE FROM THOSE WHO SUFFER!"
Howlite laughed now. "Well, you're as fun as she said you'd be." She sighed dramatically and leaned against Diopside's massive arm. "My Diamond sent me here to get information. You know, about Rose and her friends. You know anything about that?"
"A HOWLITE THINKS TO INTERROGATE. HOW PRECIOUS." the angry face hissed.
It rotated now to the calm, serene face. "What do you want with them?" she asked, troubled.
"I think you know, don't tease me," Howlite laughed, waving a finger up at her. "White Diamond wants Rose Quartz back on Homeworld. I'm here to just...deliver her."
Diopside didn't answer.
"You know I have a way to get you to talk, right?" Howlite continued, grinning toothily.
A chuckle from the fusion. "We've been suffering for thousands of years. White Diamond tortured us for thirty before we finally gave her what she wanted. I don't think you have that sort of time to waste. What makes you think a little performer can pry words from us?"
Howlite sighed and shook her head. "Wow, you are REALLY no fun." she said, with a small laugh. "Oh well, I can find them another way. That old Warp Pad still works, right?"
The enraged face spoke now. "YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT THEM! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A COMMON CLOWN!"
Howlite gave a bark of laughter. "Hah! As common as they come. But nothing compared to those Rebels you're siding with. I mean, they shattered Pink Diamond and dance around about it." She paced around the room, chuckling before shaking her head with dismay. "And I thought my jokes were bad."
She started toward the door with a grin on her face. Howlite was determined now to prove to her Diamond what she was capable of.
"Don't worry! I'm here to put on the show of a lifetime."
Diopside watched her go and shut her eyes, pained by the thought.
It will never end.