Space Race
The Crystal Gems arrived at the Galaxy Warp.
"Woah."
"That's the Galaxy Warp?" Connie said.
"Yup."
"I assume I'll end up explaining it to Steven so I'll spare you all the details for now," Pearl stated.
"No one even asked," Amethyst told her.
Garnet stepped on a warp pad, "Inactive."
Steven put a sticker of a crying apple on the Warp Pad.
Oh, crying breakfast friends, of course he likes that show. Lars thought.
Amethyst jumped onto another Warp Pad. "Inactive!"
Steven ran over and put another sticker on the Warp Pad, this time of a crying croissant.
Pearl stood on another Warp Pad. "Inactive."
"They don't work?" Sadie wondered.
Peridot shook her head next to her.
"How'd they all brake anyway?" Steven asked.
"Well, we didn't want the Homeworld gems coming back, some of them broke on their own." Pearl said.
"Why'd you break some of them?"
"We had to to secure the planet's safety," Garnet told Connie.
"You know they have ships, right?" Peridot asked.
"There's nothing we can do if gems want to fly here." Pearl responded.
"That can happen?" Lars asked, worried.
"It's already happened," Steven said. "You remember the green hand ship?"
"Oh. That was-"
"Do you think it will happen again?" Sadie asked.
"We have to assume it will," Garnet answered.
"But maybe not, they think the cluster will emerge soon so I doubt they'll send any gems."
Peridot felt betrayed, they sent the Rubies for Jasper but no one for her... or Lapis. I guess I had it coming, I insulted her to her face.
"I don't know, Pearl. They sent the Rubies but who knows, maybe you're right," Amethyst said.
Steven put a sticker of a crying pear on the Warp Pad.
"Do we have to check all of them? They're all still inactive, like always."
"We need to make sure."
"I've never seen so many Warp Pads before!" He pulled out two stickers." I hope I have enough of these Crying Breakfast Friends stickers. Where do all these Warp Pads go, anyway?"
Pearl sat on the Warp Pad she was standing on. "Well, Steven, these Warp Pads were used to travel off-planet. They were our connection to the Gem Homeworld and to Gem-controlled planets all over the universe."
"Actually, the Earth has a relatively small Galaxy Warp." Peridot mentioned.
"Figures," Amethyst responded.
Steven gasped. "You mean we could go anywhere we want in outer space?"
"Yeah. We could do that if they weren't all busted." Amethyst said.
"It's true. The Galaxy Warp have all been inactive for thousands of years," Pearl mentioned.
"Can't we fix them?"
"No." Garnet answered.
"It's fine." Pearl chuckled. "I'll always have my memories of other worlds. But now I'm here. On Earth. Forever."
"With me!"
"Right, with you." She walked up to a broken Warp Pad. "It really is incredible out there, though. I wish you could see it, Steven."
"Maybe someday."
Steven, saw that the Warp Pad was broken, he put a sticker of a crying waffle on it.
Greg and Steven were watching 'Crying Breakfast Friends!' outside the car wash. On-screen, the breakfast-themed characters were crying.
"Stay tuned for another episode of Crying Breakfast Friends!" The TV narrator said.
"What was that?" Lapis asked, a little judge worthy.
"Yeesh. I must be getting old. I used to like cartoons." Greg scratched his head.
"Hey, Dad, did you know the Gems used to travel all over outer space?"
Greg chuckled. "Yeah. They're pretty far out, son."
"I think Pearl really misses going out there." He saw a comet print on Greg's Van. "Dad, can you help me build a spaceship?"
"Oh, this."
"You know, that might be a little outside my skill set. How 'bout a bunk bed with wings? I could probably do that."
"No way! We could totally build a spaceship!" He stood up on the chair. "People have done it before, and we're people!"
Sadie giggled.
"We are people."
"And Pearl would love it so much to see space again."
He did it for me?
"Sure. Why not? How hurt could we get?"
"You weren't actually serious, were you?" Lars asked.
"I mean, Pearl was," Steven said.
Greg brought Steven to the barn.
"My aunt and uncle had a great love for aviation and each other."
"I forgot how messy the barn used to be," Peridot commented.
"Yeah, it's a good thing we took over." Lapis added.
Greg chuckled. "You two surely brought out a new side of it."
"They cherished the years they spent together, and they held on to every belonging they ever owned, kind of like me and my storage shed. I'm starting to think our family has a problem."
"This is great! I hereby declare this barn to be Universe & Universe's Universal Space Travel HQ!"
Steven and Greg began to draw on a chalkboard and began to build a spaceship using wood and duct tape.
"What is that supposed to be?" Peridot questioned.
"The rough draft." Steven answered.
Steven then brought Pearl, covering her eyes, to the barn as a surprise.
"Okay, now." He lifted his hands off her eyes.
"UUU Space Travel?" Pearl read. "What is this?"
"We built a spaceship!"
"A spaceship?"
"A spaceship!" He gestured to a wooden box on wheels, with wings taped on the side.
"Looks more like a cart with wings if you ask me," Amethyst commented.
"Well, what did you expect it to look like?" Greg asked.
Pearl raised an eyebrow. "A spaceship."
Steven was now in the spaceship.
"Now, remember, Steven, if you run into any trouble out there, you can always bail. There's never any shame in bailing."
"Fatherly advice understood! Thank you, Dad. Light the engines."
"Roger that!" He lit a sparkler and placed it at the back of the spaceship.
"Next stop: Outer space!"
"Blast-off!" Greg pushed the spaceship with his legs and Steven rode down the hill.
"That looks fun," Connie said in amusement.
"It was!"
He began riding towards a ramp at the bottom of the hill, when the spaceship started falling apart.
"Aah!" Pearl panicked.
"No shame!" He jumped out of the spaceship.
The spaceship rammed into the ramp and broke into pieces.
"I think your calculations may have been off." Pearl observed.
"Well, they can't be off if you don't do any."
A few giggled.
They were sitting outside the barn.
Pearl pointed at Steven's drawing on the chalkboard. "Did you really think this was gonna work?"
Steven and Greg shrugged. "Mnh-mnh-mnh."
"Here, look." She flipped to the other side of the chalkboard and started drawing. "You need smooth, curving surfaces. Otherwise, you're never gonna get enough speed to break Earth's gravitational pull. Probably swept-back wings for supersonic flight, airtight cockpit with ejector seat, and we'll need some serious engines, or maybe rockets would be better."
"Of course Pearl would be serious about it."
"I vote rockets!"
"Whoa, whoa. Hold on a sec. We're not actually talking about building something like this, right?" Greg asked.
"What? This?! Of course not. That would be ridiculous. I mean, yes, theoretically, it's not a stretch. You've got plenty of spare parts here, albeit for incredibly primitive propulsion-based space travel. The idea is ludicrous. It would never work, although... Several humans, a monkey, and a dog did make it into space. I don't know why I've never even thought of it before. This could actually work!"
"Uh..."
"I hear what you're saying, and I agree— it would be incredibly dangerous; a fool's errand." Pearl pulled a lob of stuffing out of Greg's seat. "This chair is disgusting. But aren't the true fools the ones who don't seize an opportunity, despite all the inherent risks?" She handed Greg the lob of stuffing.
"I'm not even listening anymore," Amethyst said.
Pearl rolled her eyes.
"And I'd be able to show Steven the wonders of the cosmos! And maybe just for a second, from a distance, I could see what's been going on without me."
"It's mostly just a lot of advancements and trying to get by without a fourth diamond." Peridot answered.
"A lot has changed since Era 1," Lapis added.
That made Pearl a little disappointed, she'll never see Homeworld like the way it was again. But, there's always a chance that she'll never see Homeworld again anyway.
Steven gazed excitedly at Pearl.
"All right! Let's do it!"
"UUU Space Travel, GOOOOO!"
"Did you guys actually build a spaceship?" Sadie asked.
"Yes but, it didn't go as planned." Pearl answered.
Steven and Greg began helping Pearl to construct the spaceship with various spare parts from the barn. They built an engine that exploded in mid-air.
"You got those parts from the barn?" Connie questioned.
"There was a lot of scrap plane parts that we were able to use," Greg mentioned.
They even constructed a small seated glider for Steven to ride in.
Steven was piloting the glider. "Waaa-hooooo!"
"Man, I wish it didn't fall apart," Steven mentioned.
Sadie and Lars were surprised that they were able to build something like that with just parts they had in the barn.
Greg used a walkie-talkie. "Ground Control to Mach 2. Come in, Mach 2. How you doing, buddy?"
"Aah! Aah-aah-aah-aah! Woow!" He muttering in the wind.
Garnet giggled.
"You think we're taking this a little far?" Greg asked.
"We're not even close to being done." She answered.
"We're not?"
"Okay, Steven. Go ahead and bring her down."
Steven landed smoothly on the ground, and it collapsed immediately, ejecting Steven out of the seat.
"Ugh! Wooo!"
"Was it supposed to fall apart like that?"
"Don't worry. This was just to test my engine concept. I'll work out the kinks in the next one."
"Is it even legal to build a spaceship?" Sadie wondered.
"I don't think anyone else has tried," Greg half laughed.
"Hang on. Hang on. Next one?!"
"Is there a shop in town that carries F-1 single-nozzle liquid-fueled rockets?"
"Pearl, you can't go anywhere to get that sort of rocket," Connie said.
"You really are serious!"
"Of course! We're also going to need a space suit for Steven so he doesn't freeze or explode."
Steven imitated an explosion.
"Whoa. You are not taking him to space."
"Yes, I am."
"No! I'm not allowing it!"
"But why? This is why we founded Universe & Universe."
"Steven, you're grounded." Greg said.
"What?!"
"No, no. I mean you're grounded. You don't get to leave Earth."
"Oh. What?!"
Amethyst sneered.
"As C.E.O. and Supreme Space Commander, I hereby ground this astronaut and cancel this mission." Greg told them.
"Aw, man! Stupid company by-laws," Steven moped.
"Hey! Who made you C.E.O.!?" Pearl asked.
"He did."
Steven smiled awkwardly.
Peridot and Lapis were a little confused, they didn't know what they were talking about.
"Fine. If neither of you will help, I'll just do it by myself— Not like it'll be much different." She stomped into the barn and shut the door.
She remembered being so ecstatic that she was going to go back into space and could possibly visit other planets. She was looking forward to showing Steven the amazing places and telling him stories about them.
"Pearl!"
"I'm sorry, bud. Sometimes you just gotta know when to bail."
It was night, Greg was asleep in his van, parked next to the barn. Steven slept on top of the van in his caterpillar sleeping bag, when Pearl came in and poked him in the face.
"M-mm... Wha?" Steven woke up.
"Shh!" Pearl whispered. "Want to see something really cool?"
Greg was snoring and sleep-talking. "No. Don't give him the banana. That's what he wants."
Amethyst laughed, "what were you dreaming about?"
"I have no idea."
Pearl and Steven snuck past Greg. Pearl opened the barn door to reveal a completed spaceship.
"Presenting the brand-new ballistic-flight-capable Universe Mach 3!"
"You built that yourself?" Peridot questioned. "It takes a handful of gems and machinery to build a decent ship."
"On Homeworld."
Sadie and Lars gaped at the finished product.
Steven gasped. "Spaceship!" He ran to the spaceship, laughing happily.
"Wait, Steven. Keep your voice down."
Steven fell and laughed. "Whoa! It's even got the logo from the van!"
"I can't believe you just stripped my van."
"And if your dad asks, we'll say we borrowed it."
Steven climbed into the cockpit. "Whoa. Look at all the buttons! I must press them all."
"If you want, Steven, we could take her out for an engine check." She changed her outfit into a space suit. "It'll be quick."
A pink diamond? Peridot noticed. She looked to Lapis to see if she noticed but it didn't look like it. Was she pink diamonds Pearl? I figured she was some random gems Pearl. I'd ask her but it might be a sensitive topic for her. Many gems don't treat their Pearl with respect.
The place began to rumble, waking Greg up.
"Wha?! What the...?" He noticed his van missing the sides. "Pearl!"
"You just fixed it, though."
"That's what I said."
He ran out and saw Steven and Pearl piloting the Mach 3 away. "Steven, what are you doing?!" Greg chased it, when the rockets fired up, it created a blast that knocked Greg back. Greg quickly got up and ran towards the barn.
"You guys are crazy," Lars said.
Pearl began to glide the Mach 3 over the ocean.
"Too bad we still don't have the roaming eye, then we could've went to space."
"We could've when we still had it, I was just afraid those places had gems around," Pearl mentioned.
Steven laughed. "Wow! Look! You can see the temple!"
Pearl was adjusting things. "Mm-hmm."
Greg spoke over the radio transmission. "Hey, can you hear me!? Where do you two think you're going!?"
"Hey, Dad, guess where I am."
"I know where you are! It's where you're going that concerns me!"
"Don't worry, Dad. This is just a quick test flight."
"This will be perfectly fine, just a pop over to the nearest star system. I'll give him back in 50 years." Pearl said.
"50 years?" Steven questioned.
"50 years?" Sadie also questioned.
Pearl remembered how insensitive she could be.
"So you were just gonna leave us?" Amethyst asked.
"Well, I mean..."
"Hmm."
"What?! I'll be dead in 50 years! Pearl, you bring him back right now, or I'll-"
Pearl turned off her end of the transmission.
"Hello? Hello?!"
"Pearl, I'm not supposed to go. Pearl!"
"Oh, this is so exciting! Steven, you're gonna love it."
"Sure, if he wasn't getting kidnapped."
"You shouldn't even be talking, Peridot," Pearl responded.
She played a keyboard panel, activating the boosters. "Hang on tight!"
The Mach 3 darted across the ocean and then upwards into the sky. Pearl and Steven pilot all the way to the atmosphere of the Earth, when Steven saw a piece of scrap metal fly by.
"What was that?"
Pearl is good but not that good, Lapis thought. Still, it's impressive that a singular gem could build a ship that durable, even with Earth technology. I didn't expect it to run perfectly anyway.
The warning lights in the cockpit began to flash. More scrap metal pieces were seen falling off the Mach 3 as it penetrated the atmosphere.
"Pearl!?"
"We can make it. We're almost there."
Amethyst never realized how desperate Pearl was to get back into space, and that she really just wanted to show it to Steven. It makes her wonder about space as well.
The Mach 3 began to fall apart with visible tears in its shell.
"Pearl!"
"I'm gonna show it to you."
Steven looked around in panic and saw a release mechanism. He pulled on it and it released the glass hatch covering the cockpit, exposing him and Pearl to the atmosphere.
"Steven! What are you doing?!"
"We need to go, Pearl! We're not gonna make it!"
"But we're almost there!" She dazed at the stars.
Sadie and Connie felt bad for Pearl, they noticed the pain in her voice.
"Pearl! I know you miss space, and I know you worked hard, but sometimes... You just got to know when to bail."
Pearl shed a tear as she gazed up to space. She then pulled a lever on the side of the chair on and hugged Steven tightly. The chair ejected both of them out of the spaceship just as it exploded.
"Nooooo!" He scanned the sky with his binoculars. "Please please please please please!" He saw the ejected Pearl and Steven, floating back to Earth with a parachute. "Ahhhh..." he knelt on the ground. "Ohhhhh..." he held his chest. "Ohh, this kid's killing me..." He laid down and cowered. "Ughhhh..."
"Sorry dad," he half laughed. He knew that wasn't the only time he scared his father half to death.
"It's okay, schtu-ball."
"I'm so sorry. I almost got us killed," Pearl said holding Steven.
"I'm used to it."
"If you were used to it then it must be second nature to you by now."
"Unfortunately."
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you go to space. We'll get there someday— I promise."
"You know, I think I'd rather be here on Earth."
"With me!"
"Yeah. With you."
They floated down as the episode ended.
"I don't know what we would have done if you two actually went to space," Garnet spoke.
Pearl giggled awkwardly, "yeah, I was not thinking right."
"I can't believe you left without us, ditchers!" Amethyst said.
"Yeah, that would've been bad," Greg agreed.
Secret Team
Steven and Amethyst were hanging out inside her room. Steven climbed a junk pile beside a puddle and steps on a Bass Fish Toy, causing it to sing "Fishing for Compliments."
Steven giggled. "Cannonball!" He plunged into the puddle. "Amethyst, did you see? I think that was my best one!"
"Eh. You need to put more "ball" in your "cannon."
"Is that gonna hurt?"
"Not if you do it like this!" She shapeshifted into a ball and jumped into the puddle, causing a huge splash.
"Why do you have random puddles in your room?" Lars wondered. "Makes everything wet."
Amethyst rolled her eyes.
Steven climbed back to dry ground, laughing. "That was awesome! I want to jump in some more puddles."
Amethyst emerged from the water. "Okay." She points to different puddles. "You can try this one... or that one."
Amethyst missed all the fun times her and Steven had in her room. She was getting loads of nostalgia from these episodes and she couldn't say if she liked it or not.
Steven saw a small puddle next to him. "What about this one?"
"Whoa, Steven! Wait!"
Steven dunked his head into the puddle and found himself in The Burning Room. He then saw Garnet pass by as she placed a bubbled gem in the room.
Amethyst then dunks her hand in and pulls Steven's head out of the puddle. "Only Garnet is allowed in there! Let's do something less dangerous."
"Weren't you guys just down there?" Lars questioned.
"I meant we can't just go down there for fun," Amy said.
"We don't want to risk a corrupted gem from escaping," Garnet added.
"Why don't you jump off that?" She pointed to a towering junk pile.
"Whoa. How do you even stack your stuff that high?"
"It's a talent."
Steven proceeded to climb towards the top of the junk pile. He then looked down from atop, seeing Amethyst standing next to a puddle, both looking really small from the height.
"Do it!" She called.
"Amethyst, I hope you're ready! 'Cause here I... Goooo." He jumped off the pile, and hit a tire along the way. "Unh! Aaaaah!"
"Did you guys normally do this?" Pearl asked.
"Pearl, nothing bad was gonna happen," Amethyst was sometimes annoyed with how overprotective Pearl could be. She understood why during most times but others were a little unnecessary.
Steven plunged into the puddle and emerged on the other side, on what seemed to be one of the various waterfalls in Pearl's room.
Steven gasped. "Huh? Am I in Pearl's room?"
"I didn't know the temple could be connected like that," Connie mentioned.
"Oh yes, the rooms of the temple are connected through all sorts of ways," Pearl informed.
Amethyst popped up next to Steven in the water. "Ha! that was crazy! Huh?"
They saw Pearl dancing with a pink bubble full of gem shards.
"What is she doing with a Rose Quartz bubble?" Amethyst wondered.
"My mom bubbled that?"
"Garnet's gonna be so maaa-" Amethyst sunk her mouth underwater and moved towards Pearl.
Peridot and Lapis glanced at Garnet.
"I already know about this."
Steven chuckled and followed her.
Pearl inspected the Rose Quartz bubble. "Ah. Hmm. hmm? Mm-hmm. Mm..."
Amethyst snuck up behind Pearl. "Busted!"
Pearl was startled. "What are you doing in here?!"
"What are you doing in here?!"
"I... just wanted to see how the shards are reacting to Rose's bubble. And it's none of your business."
"I think it's Garnet's business."
"Oooooohhhh!" Steven called.
Pearl grabbed Amethyst's by her shirt nervously. "Don't tell her!"
"How are you gonna stop me?" She pulled Pearl's hand away.
Pearl kicked Amethyst in the face, and she bit Pearl's foot in retaliation.
"Aggh! Ame-thyst!"
Amethyst and Pearl frowned upon their childish arguing.
"Even Steven didn't act like that," Greg said to himself.
Steven ran in between them. "Guys, stop fighting."
"Heathen!" Pearl called Amethyst.
Amethyst hissed.
Steven took the Rose Quartz bubble from Pearl. "Here. Let's just put it back..."
"Steven, be careful with that!"
"Yeah, give it to me!"
Pearl and Amethyst reach for the bubble at the same time and accidentally pop it together. Everyone gasped as they stare at the now-unbubbled shards on Steven's hands. The shards then glow and reform into several disembodied limbs. Steven screams as the limbs crawl away, scattering throughout the temple via the waterfalls in Pearl's room.
"What... are those things?" Sadie questioned, solemnly.
"Eugh," Lars was grossed out. "It's just a bunch of arms."
"Gem shards, they're different from corrupted gems if that's what you're thinking," Garnet answered. She tried to give that response as calmly as she could.
But what is a gem shard? Sadie wanted to know.
Steven now knew what those shards were supposed to be. Knowing what they were now made everything harder to deal with. At this time, he thought they were just mindless creatures but now he knew that they were pieces of broken gems and victims of the war, and all they wanted was to find the missing pieces of themselves. It makes it harder to know the truth. He wondered if he will feel the same way when he eventually finds the answers he wants. Will the answers I'm looking for make things harder for me? Will I wish I didn't know the truth instead?
"Are those from the war?" Lapis asked.
"Yes, they're probably Crystal Gems, since we didn't shatter," Pearl told her.
"At least those one's weren't forced to fuse," Peridot added.
"We gotta get Garnet." Steven whispered.
"No! No way! We just freed a bunch of mindless Gem chunks, okay?! They're going to crawl who knows where, all over the temple. And when Garnet finds out, we're dead!" Amethyst said, frantically.
Pearl hyperventilates for a moment, before calming down slightly. "She's not going to find out... We're going to catch them. All of them."
Pearl and Amethyst forgot how scared they used to be of Garnet. They never liked seeing her angry or upset. They're thankful she's a bit more loose now.
"You're right. Every single one, back in a bubble and back in the basement!" Amethyst agreed.
"Like nothing ever happened."
"And then we tell Garnet?"
"No!" Pearl and Amethyst yelled.
Pearl placed her hand on Steven's shoulder. "This has to stay a secret, okay?"
Steven will probably end up ratting them out, Lars guessed.
"Our secret... together?" He gasped. "If we've got a secret, we've got to do this right, which means we got to come up with a name for our secret-keeping team. Something cool, like... the "Secret Team!"
"How creative," Peridot said, sarcastically.
Connie held in her giggle.
"Uh..." Pearl exchanged glances with Amethyst.
"And a Secret Team needs membership cards that we can show off to other people!" He pulled two coupons out of his pocket.
"Well, that would defeat the purpose of it being a secret."
"Here!" He handed them to Pearl and Amethyst.
Pearl read her coupon. "Fish Stew Pizza?"
"Eh, what's a "VIP(IZZA)?"
"Well, if you collect enough of them, you can get a free pizza. But now, they're the official card of... the Secret Team!"
"Greeaat, Steven. Come on. We're doing this." Pearl said, determined.
Amethyst nodded. "Hm!"
"Secret Team, move out!" Steven exclaimed.
Steven, Pearl and Amethyst began rounding up the gem shards all through the temple.
Connie noticed how less scary they looked when they weren't stuck together. Though, they are still not easy to look at.
They make their way through Amethyst's room, the room with floating platform and the Crystal Heart, poofing and collecting gem shards as they go. During the hunt, Pearl and Amethyst seem to be getting along positively, which pleases Steven.
"It seemed like it was a successful mission," Garnet observed.
"Yes," Pearl agreed. "It went smoothly."
Steven wondered if they got along better since Garnet wasn't there and they had nothing to prove to someone. Since they used to be so careful around her, now there's no tension between them.
The Secret Team returned back atop a waterfall in Pearl's room, totaling the gem shards they have on each hand.
"Okay."
"That looks like all of them." Amethyst said.
"Yeah! Secret Team!"
"Hmm. Are you sure we didn't miss any?" Pearl wondered.
"No way! We totally nailed this."
"Yeah!"
"If you're sure this is all of them, then we just need to seal it in a Rose Quartz bubble," Pearl stated.
I didn't know that mattered, Lars thought.
"Steven, this is all you! Think you can handle it?" She handed her shards to Steven.
"Yeah. I can do it."
"Of course you can! You're part of the Secret Club!" Pearl said.
"Secret Team."
"Ah, yes. Secret Team." She handed Steven her shards too.
"Yeah, that thing."
Steven bubbled all the shards together.
Steven dunked his head in the puddle in Amethyst's room again, preparing to put the bubbled shards back in the Burning Room, when he sees Garnet in the room. He gasps as Garnet turns her head slightly towards him.
"She definitely saw you," Peridot said.
"I did."
Amethyst and Pearl are holding Steven by his legs, when he starts flailing around, they pull him out of the puddle.
Steven gasped. "G-Garnet!"
"Did she see you?"
"I don't think so."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Pearl and Amethyst dunked Steven back in the puddle. With Garnet still in the room, Steven quietly placed the bubbled shards in the room and exited the puddle.
"Mission accomplished. Congratulations, us," Pearl announced.
"No one ever gets away with covering something up behind the leader," Peridot mentioned. "I've seen it too many times. Doesn't end well either."
"Aww, yes. We're off the hook," Amethyst said happily.
"All right! So, what's next?" Steven asked.
"Nothings "next". The mission is over."
"Now everything goes back to normal and we never speak of this again." Pearl said.
"But what about... Secret Team?"
Steven walked along the boardwalk wearing a fedora, which casted a shadow over his face, and walked up to Beach Citywalk Fries.
"Hey, Steven! What'll it be?" Mr. Fryman asked.
"Give me... the bits." He flipped up his hat.
A few questioned what Steven was doing.
Mr. Fryman left to get some fry bits, as Steven pulled a dollar bill and the VIP(IZZA) coupon from his pocket. He looks at the coupon in dismay.
"We were the best, Fryman."
Mr. Fryman placed a bag of bits on the counter. "Who was the best?"
Steven slammed his fist on the counter dramatically. "I can't tell you!" He sighed. "How come the best things in life are things you can't tell other people because you'd get in big trouble?"
"Steven, are you in a gang?"
"Not these days. But maybe I can be again. He chugged down all the bits in one go and slammed the bag on the counter and walked off.
"That kid keeps getting weirder."
Lars didn't even try to make sense of whatever that was.
Ronaldo appeared behind the counter, wearing a similar fedora, and waved at Steven. "I like your hat!"
Steven gathered Pearl and Amethyst back atop the waterfall in Pearl's room.
"I know you must be wondering why I brought you all here. It's 'cause I'm gettin' the team back together! So, here's the gig." He pulled a photo out of his pocket and handed it to Pearl. "I left my special hat at the Big Donut."
"I've never seen you wear this," Pearl commented.
"But now it's closed for the day. So the mission is, we break in and get it back. And, bam! The Secret Team is back on top!"
"You planned to break into the big donut?" Sadie questioned.
"Dude, you could've gotten arrested." Lars added. "Don't you think about these things?" He said sourly.
"I just-"
"No need to be so hard on him," Lapis said.
"Hard?"
"Steven, Secret Team is over." Amethyst said.
"Secret Team? What's that?!" Pearl laughed, nervously.
"Aw, come on! We had so much fun together! Getting along, sneaking around-"
Pearl grabbed Steven by the shoulders. "Steven! That was not about fun. That was about fixing our terrible mistake."
"Eh, your terrible mistake. You shouldn't have had that bubble in the first place," Amethyst remarked.
"It never would have popped if you hadn't invaded my personal space!" Pearl responded.
Maybe the thing about wanting to prove to Garnet was wrong.
"Aw, come on. Team, team!"
"Fine, you can have all the personal space you want, 'cause I never want to be on a team with you again!" Amethyst pulled out her VIP(IZZA) coupon and ripped it in half.
Steven gasped in horror as she dropped it on the ground.
"Good! I don't want to be on a team with you, either!" She tears her VIP(IZZA) coupon too.
Without being blinded by their anger, Pearl and Amethyst noticed how repetitive their arguments were. It was nice when they got along with each other, which happens more often now.
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Guys, come on!"
Pearl and Amethyst leave in separate directions, leaving a dismayed Steven behind.
Steven sat alone in the pizza restaurant, Garnet entered.
Garnet sat across Steven. "I'm here."
"I have something I want to tell you." He pulled out a VIP(IZZA) coupon and slid it to Garnet.
"Pizza."
"No! I... need to come clean. Pearl and Amethyst popped a bubble. We made a Secret Team to cover it up 'cause they didn't want you to know."
I knew it.
"And now you're trying to do the right thing."
"Not really... I just want Secret Team again."
"I see, I know how to handle things with them. We'll have to form our own Secret Team to do it."
Steven gasped. "You mean like... a Super Secret Team?"
"Pizza Daughter! I'll take one pizza posse card."
Should've expected Steven to tell Garnet eventually, he always wants to do the right thing, Amethyst thought. In this case: having me and Pearl get along.
Pearl was training with her spear in her room atop a waterfall, when Garnet leapt in, carrying Steven and Amethyst.
Pearl gasped, "Garnet!"
Garnet dropped Steven and Amethyst in front of Pearl.
"What's the deal?" Amethyst asked.
Pearl ran to Steven's side. "Steven!"
"What's this all about, Garnet?"
"I know all about the Gem shards!"
"Uh..." Pearl exchanged glances with Amethyst.
Steven got up. "I—It was me! I'm the one who popped the bubble! All by myself."
"Steven..." Pearl stood up. "I can't believe you!"
"Wow."
"Really Pearl? Just like that?" Connie questioned.
Pearl had mostly forgotten about this incident so she was a little surprised to see herself not defend Steven because she was afraid that Garnet would be upset.
"Tsk tsk, Pearl, you sure didn't hesitate to throw Steven under the bus," Amethyst said.
"You didn't do anything!"
"Exactly."
Garnet sighed and crossed her arms behind her back.
The three that were present didn't notice the small gesture at the time but definitely noticed it now.
"If no one has anything else to say, and everyone else is innocent..."
"Sorry dude."
"Steven, I'm going to have to punish you."
"No! Not punishment!" He sighed dramatically.
"Come with me, Steven-" A giant black hand suddenly emerged out of the water and shoved Garnet underwater. Steven, Pearl and Amethyst watch in shock, and the hand reappeared at another waterfall, holding Garnet in its fist.
"Now you've messed up," Lars commented.
"Garnet!" Amethyst and Pearl summon their weapons and charge at the black hand, which quickly retreats underwater.
"Oh, no! We must have missed a shard!" Steven called.
Pearl and Amethyst could tell that this was not apart of their act from Steven's tone. This was all Garnet.
The black hand keeps popping in and out from various waterfalls. Amethyst, caught off-guard, gets punched by the black hand, flinging her onto another waterfall. The black hand then engages Pearl in combat.
"I didn't think a gem shard could stretch out like an actual gem could," Peridot mentioned.
"This one looks oddly large, too," Lapis added.
Amethyst tries to rush back towards the hand, but another one emerges out of the water and stops her in her tracks.
Steven gasped. "Amethyst!"
Amethyst gets disarmed and tries to dodge the attacks from the second black hand. She quickly resummons her whip and wraps it around the middle finger of the hand. The hand then reels Amethyst towards it and grips her tightly, lifting her high above Steven.
Steven was thankful he wasn't as useless as he was here. He definitely would've helped them if something like this happened again, and if it wasn't actually Garnet.
"Aahhhh!" Pearl screams.
"Pearl!" Steven runs towards her.
The first black hand grabs Pearl too, lifting her beside Amethyst.
Wait, where did Garnet go? Connie wondered.
Amethyst and Pearl struggle and grunt in pain as the hands squeeze them tightly.
"Amethyst, shapeshift! Get small or... something!" Pearl yelled, frantic.
"I can't! I'm freaking out! you do it!"
Garnet is gonna end up saving them. Greg thought. I don't like seeing them so easily bested like this. Especially when Steven is there.
"I can't concentra- Aah!" She gets flailed by the hand and clamped down again. "Unh! This is all my fault! I never should have had that bubble!"
"It wouldn't have popped if it wasn't for me!"
"We should've told Garnet! We should've told her right away! I knew Secret Team was wrong! I just— I wanted to see you guys acting like friends!" Steven started crying.
Garnet then emerges out of the water in front of Steven.
"Oh." Peridot and Lapis understood now.
Steven gasped. "Garnet?"
The black hands release Amethyst and Pearl. Garnet begins to shape shift her arms back to normal, revealing that the black hands are hers all along.
"I see what you were doing," Peridot mentioned.
"Smart move."
Honestly I should've expected something like this from Garnet, Greg thought.
"What?"
"Huh?"
"So, you two can't get along unless you think I'm going to kill you."
Pearl and Amethyst are dumbfounded, and Garnet crouches down before Steven.
"Steven, I know you wanted to help them. You wanted to protect them, even from me. They made you feel like you had to take their side."
Maybe us being afraid of Garnet getting upset was only how we perceived her, she has always been understanding, Pearl thought.
"But there are no sides, because we're all on the same team — The Crystal Gems!" She rips her VIP(IZZA) coupon in half and drops it.
Steven pulls out his VIP(IZZA) coupon and rips it too. Amethyst and Pearl reveal their torn coupons from earlier in their hands and drop them alongside the other torn coupons.
"You know what? Between the four of us... We could've had a free pizza."
"I thought you were gonna say something moving," Peridot said.
"Same," Lapis agreed.
Steven smirked.
"I see something," Garnet spoke.
"Oh, What is it?"
"I see Mask Island."
"Mask Island? The only time I remember that place being important was with Malachite," Amethyst said.
"Yeah, I don't know what it could be," Pearl agreed.
"Well, the episodes have been following Steven, maybe you weren't there," Lapis suggested.
"Hmmm," Steven thought out loud.
"Why don't we just watch it and stop trying to guess," Lars stated.
"No wait I can remember," Steven tried thinking harder.
Garnet continued to the next episode before Steven could remember.
"Aww, I swear it was coming to me."
I finally made up the two months I fell behind during the summer, new schedule will (hopefully) be two chapters a month instead of one. I will be skipping Keep Beach City Weird because I feel like there's no point in showing it and it covers mostly things we've seen already. I kinda wish I skipped Onion Trade but at least it had something to do with gems that wasn't what we've seen before.
~Have a Happy New Year!~
See you in 2020!