opalthehappypanda suggested a Halloween chapter, so naturally, I couldn't resist. LOL.
~O~
Chapter Thirty-Six: Halloween Spirit I
Steven loved Halloween, but even he couldn't get into the spirit of it.
His mind was entirely too focused on Moonstone's prophecy. But he attempted to focus on finding a costume for Halloween at the shop. Pearl and Jasper accompanied him as well as Lapis and Peridot. Peridot was confused for the most part.
"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, "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."
Peridot moved passed her, wearing a false arrow on her neck.
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 made a face. "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.
Ronaldo entered the store and Steven immediately put on the werewolf mask. He attempted to sneak up on Ronaldo.
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 Ronaldo and made a face. "...doing THAT."
"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."
"Steven, let's not waste...eh...Ronaldo's time," Pearl said, as politely as she could muster. "If you want a costume, pick one out."
"Are you guys going to dress up too?" he asked.
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
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
Steven was wearing his Tiger Millionaire outfit.
Jasper hadn't dressed up - she thought it was pointless. Lapis was wearing a fish costume, much to Peridot's urging that she try something that "felt normal".
"Lapis, I'm surprised you went with the fish costume." Steven said, smiling up at her.
Lapis sighed from behind the fish head. "What's my point again?"
"Fun." Peridot whispered to her.
Steven's phone rang and he answered it once he saw that it was Connie. "Hey, Connie!" he said. "Are you going to dress up for Halloween with us?"
Connie sighed over the phone. She was sitting at the kitchen table of her house.
"Sorry, Steven. My mom thinks I'm too old for Halloween," she told him. "Plus, I have homework to finish."
Steven was disappointed. "Aww, that stinks. You're never too old for Halloween."
"Apparently, my parents think so..."
Steven made another sound. "Well, maybe we can come over just to visit."
He looked up at Pearl, who seemed quite fond of her plastic crown. "Can we visit Connie later?"
"Yes, Steven. We can visit later." Pearl told him.
Steven smiled brightly.
Garnet and Amethyst 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.
"I don't know why he wants us to dress up," Amethyst said. She shape-shifted into a ghost. "I can just make myself spooky!"
Garnet set up a plastic skeleton. She was wearing a witch outfit. "It's important to Steven." she reminded her. "Now let's set up the bats. Did you remember to get them?"
Amethyst 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.
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 Jasper seemed curious by the free samples resting on a few platters.
"What are you doing, Mr. Fryman?" Steven asked.
"Well, Steven, 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.
"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.
"Garnet!" he wailed. "Amethyst!"
He could hear the loud, rattling cry from the gem monster behind him and a chorus of groans from his zombified friends.
O
Note - This chapter was inspired by the movie Shaun of the Dead. Parts of the corrupted gem is a creation of some of my nightmares.
The gem is supposed to be Chrysoprase. It acts as an early geoweapon experiment for crowd control, in a sense. As Peridot explained. It is a variety of chalcedony, which is a type of quartz, and is one of the more valuable stones of this group.
When this corruption arrives, I took inspiration from the OST "Scarlet" from SH: Homecoming. Its appearance was inspired by the Magic the Gathering card Benthic Infiltrator. Give it a look to see for yourself.
I am writing this chapter specifically for the reviewer mentioned above. Then I'll get back on board with the plot. LOL.