Coming back from the Sky Spire, they had been fused. Fused, because of a threat to Steven from a corrupted fusion of three. Big Bird, they had called her. Yet even after the danger passed they had remained fused for hours.

They formed Opal.

Pearl had tried again during their retrieval of the Desert Glass, and she was successfully days later. She pulled Amethyst from sleep into the fusion, and they had scared off the creature they were meant to investigate and study.

They formed Opal.

They had fused when Spinel reunited with her beloved Drake, that time for no reason at all. They had done nothing, and only used their form to stand there on the beach, staring out into the ocean. For no reason, they had fused.

They formed Opal.

Before then, they hadn't formed Opal for hundreds of years; not since what happened with Rainbow Quartz. Pearl hadn't fused with anyone since Rainbow Quartz. Then they were forced into it, and now it was happening all over again. The fusion, the obsession. Looking for any reason to fuse and to be powerful. She was using Amethyst just as she had used Rose, and Spinel couldn't stand it.

On their week-long venture to all of Rose's sacred lands, they had formed Opal half a dozen times. Times when Opal wasn't needed, and Garnet agreed with Spinel on that front, but she made no attempt to stop it. And she wouldn't stop it, Spinel knew, until it got out of hand. Until someone got hurt.

It was Halloween: Amethyst's favorite holiday. A day she blended in with the humans, her color and appearance taken as nothing more than an elaborate costume. She'd go into the city, leaving everyone else behind, to go to parties and eat to her heart's content, and eventually go home with a complete stranger and do something far too human for Spinel's liking. Just the thought of it nearly made her dissipate her form.

It had been hours since she left when the time came for the celebration and the costumes; this year would be the first year that Spinel wouldn't join Steven on his adventure. He had come to her personally, asked if he could be alone with Connie on that special night. They had matching costumes: a jar of peanut butter for Steven, and a jar of jelly for Connie. Nothing went together quite like peanut butter and jelly.

Spinel had given him his bag, helped him to get dressed, and made the costume herself (even though Pearl insisted on helping). Steven loved it! But not enough to offer for Spinel to come with him; he said a quick goodbye to her, gave her a hug, and took off in the van with Greg toward the rich town of Gold Crest.

Spinel had never been sadder as she shapeshifted into her costume which was, in her opinion, a very realistic rendition of Harley Quinn. All she needed to do was put on some makeup to fix her color; that was the only thing shapeshifting couldn't change.

When Spinel walked out of the bathroom, she was met with an armor-clad Pearl dressed as a knight.

"Oh, come on." Pearl said, lifting the metal mouthpiece, "It's not that bad."

"I know." Spinel pouted, "But he's never been trick-or-treating alone before, nonetheless in a big town like Gold Crest."

"But he isn't alone." Garnet pointed out; she was wrapped in a mummy costume, covering everything except her eyes and her mouth; she still wore her visors, despite the costume's rustic theme, "He is with Connie."

"I know." Spinel pouted, "That doesn't make it any easier."

She perked up quickly at a knock at the door. Her arms shot immediately toward the bowl of candy (which she had stored previously in her gem to keep it out of Amethyst's clutches). She put on her best crazy face and threw open the door.

"Hi puddin'!"

Spinel's smile immediately faded at the sight of Vidalia, with her small Onion child at her side; the white mask, dark hair, and dark gray uniform was an unmistakable design.

"I love the costume!" Vidalia said.

"Yeah." Spinel replied.

Vidalia gave her son a nudge. "Go on, Onion. Show her what I showed you."

Onion dropped his bag and signed: Trick or treat.

That made Spinel smile. She kneeled down beside him, trying to ignore the burning in her gem at the sight of Vidalia, and focused all her energy on Onion.

"Well, well, well. Broke out of the asylum again I see! Here to wreak some havoc this Halloween?"

Onion held out his arms in a threatening manner.

"Oh, I'm terrified!" Spinel reached into the bowl, "Please take this offering and spare my life this Hallows Eve!"

Onion considered it, nodded, and held out his bag. Spinel deposited the treats inside.

"What do you sign, Onion?"

Onion shifted his bag in his hands and then signed: I love you.

Vidalia gave a scoff. "Close, but no." She turned back to Spinel, "Anyway, I wanted to ask, is Amethyst-"

"Bye!"

Spinel slammed the door shut.

"Welp. One trick-or-treater down!"

Pearl crossed arms. "That was rude."

"I'm sorry I don't want to make friendly with Amethyst's fuck buddy."

Pearl gasped. "Language!"

"I can say whatever I want when Steven isn't here!"

There was another knock.

"This one's mine." Said Garnet.

She took the candy, and opened the door.

"Trick or treat!"

Jenny and Kiki had matching costumes of blue, red, and yellow, the only difference being the numbers on their stomach: Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Garnet reached into the bowl, grabbed a handful (which was quite a lot, since she had big hands) and dropped half in each pillow case before closing the door without a word. She turned to Spinel and gave a thumbs up, which Spinel reluctantly returned.

It took awhile for the third knock to arrive, and when it finally did, Pearl was the first one up.

"Let a real gem show you how it's done."

She strolled over with an elegant posture, considering the heavy armor weighing on her and the pointed mask obscuring her view. She answered the door.

Peedee gave a relieved sigh and held out his bag; he was wearing an Eeyore onesie, complete with ears, a clearly detachable tail, and blue face paint. "Trick or treat!"

"Why, you're an uh. Hm." Pearl looked at Peedee long and hard, "I'm sorry, I don't know what you are."

Peedee's smile faded. "I'm Eeyore. Thanks for noticing me…"

Pearl obviously didn't get the quote, and quickly removed her metal mask, "Oh, I'd always notice you. I notice all humans, and I'm sure a bunch notice you too."

Peedee stared at her. "Okay, crazy lady. Can I just get my candy."

"What do you say?"

Peedee was baffled. "Uh. Trick or treat?"

"No." Pearl said slowly.

"Um. Please?"

"There you go!" Pearl gave him a single piece of candy. "Now, don't eat all your candy at once." She advised.

"Gee. Thanks."

Peedee looked over his shoulder as his brother finally made his way up the stairs, his nose stuck so close to his phone one couldn't help but wonder if he needed new glasses. He wore a Winnie the Pooh onesie to match his younger brother, fingers working a mile a minute. He took a momentary break to hold out his bag for Pearl, without so much as a word.

"Ronaldo." Peedee said, giving his brother a nudge. "You gotta say trick or treat!"

"Give me a minute! Gosh!"

Ronaldo just kept on typing and typing. After about two minutes, and constant pestering from Peedee, he finally put down his phone long enough to give an exasperated "Trick or Treat."

"What do we say?" Pearl prompted.

"Give me candy."

"No."

"Give. Me. Candy. Rock woman."

Pearl put her hand to her chest, and leaned back. "Excuse me?"

"I said," Ronaldo reached forward and grabbed a whole handful of the bowl. "Give me candy, rock woman."

He then turned and walked away. Peedee hurried after him, leaving Pearl standing there dumbfounded

"Hey, you're gonna give me some of that, right?" Peedee's hopeful voice faded away into the dimming twilight.

Pearl closed the door. "Well, that wasn't very nice!"

Spinel couldn't hide it anymore. She came undone, her body loosening in its unnatural way and her laughter taking over, so powerful the sound materialized right above her.

"It's not funny!" Pearl cried out, and that only made Spinel laugh harder.

"That's what you get for only giving them one piece!"

"Well, I'm sorry I don't want them to have cavities!"

"Come on, Pearl!" Spinel sat up and struggled to reign in her noodle arms, "It's Halloween! It's a cheat day!"

"For you, maybe! But humans only live so long, and I refuse to make that lifespan any shorter than it already is!"

"But would it make more sense to have as much fun in that short time as possible?" Spinel offered, "I mean, if I only had seventy years to live, you bet your gemstone I'd spend it shoveling candy into my mouth and living life to the fullest."

"Well, I say quantity over quality! I'd rather have a lot of boring years than a few fun ones."

"What?!" Spinel couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Living a boring life would suck! And living a long, boring life would be even worse!"

"Agree to disagree."

"Well, I disagree with your face."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"You don't make any sense."

"Why you little!"

Pearl's gem ignited, and Spinel felt her own do the same before Garnet stood between them. "Calm down, both of you. Just because Steven isn't here doesn't mean you get to act like wild animals."

"Well, she shouldn't treat me like a wild animal!"

Pearl made an attempt to charge Spinel, spear in hand, but Garnet was easily able to stop her.

"At least I like wild animals!" Spinel shot back, "I wouldn't like you even if you were tame!"

"ENOUGH!"

Garnet blasted them apart. Both gems went sliding against opposite walls, and Spinel was able to catch herself on the warp pad, though it didn't do much in stopping her momentum. Her body simply stretched to accommodate the distance, and the parts of her that didn't collide with the wall tangled around the floor.

"We are going to have a nice, calm Halloween." Garnet said softly, taking the candy from Pearl, "No more arguments."

"Okay Garnet." The other two echoed in turn.

Steven was excited.

Not only was it his first time spending Halloween with a friend other than Spinel, it was also his first time spending it in such a big town. They had only gone to half a dozen houses and already his pillow case was filling up and he was starting to realize why Gold Crest was called 'the rich town'.

At first, Steven had felt guilty about going without Spinel, but the moment he saw Connie, all that guilt faded away into a joy to match her own. She was just as excited as him, for it was her first time she was allowed to go trick or treating (mostly) by herself. She explained to Steven that it had taken several days of begging, and several more of extra chores, to even get her mother to consider it. That didn't stop her from doting over Connie until Connie promised to call her every ten minutes to check in. Only then (and with some persuasion from Doug) did she let the two friends go off together.

"Trick or treat!"

The lady that opened the door awed at their matching costumes. "So cute!"

She gave each of them two full-sized chocolate bars.

"Thank you ma'am!" They both said in sync before trotting away back down the pathway.

"This is awesome!" Steven cheered.

"I know!" Connie agreed, "People love peanut butter and jelly! Spinel did a great job on your costume! Are you sure she doesn't mind not coming with you?"

"I'm sure she's fine." Steven didn't know if he believed his own words, "She loves giving out candy! Even when she'd take me, she'd always have an extra bag of candy for the other kids we ran into."

"It would have been fine if you invited her; I wouldn't of minded."

Their conversation paused momentarily as they approached the next house and repeated the ritual.

"I like spending time with Spinel," Steven continued once they were back on the sidewalk, "But it's good to spend time with other people too. It's nice to finally have someone my own age to talk to."

"I know what you mean." Connie said, "I mean, I have my school friends… or, at least, I used to. I haven't really made any new friends in Beach City except for you and the teachers. And I've definitely never met anyone else who trapped me in a bubble and got me stuck at the bottom of the ocean!"

They both paused to laugh.

"Develop any new powers since we last talked?" Connie inquired.

Steven considered. "Eh, can you keep a secret?"

Connie dragged her fingers across her lip to show a zipper being zipped.

"I did, yeah, while the gems were away. But they don't know, so don't tell them!"

"My lips are zipped as long as you tell me what your new power is!"

Steven glanced around and leaned in close.

"I brought watermelons to life."

"WOW!"

"Shh! Don't say anything. They uh, weren't exactly friendly."

"Oh." Connie laughed, then her smile faded, "Ugh. Not these guys."

Steven turned around and his blood ran cold.

"Well, look who it is!" Mason exclaimed, "What are you doing here, Steven?"

Steven was grateful when Connie answered for him. "It's none of your business, Mason."

Mason crossed his arms. "Well, I think it is my business when a poor little fat kid infect Goldcrest with his presence!"

"He's my friend." Connie growled.

"Your friend? Ha! That make's so much sense!"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you two deserve each other! A poor fat boy and an illegal alien!"

There was a sudden, sharp sound as Connie raised a hand and brought it down hard on Mason's cheek. The older boy stumbled backward, and his two lakies stepped forward to catch him.

"I'm am American, asshole!"

"You struck me!" Mason gasped out.

"And I'll do it again!"

"Connie!" Steven grabbed his friends arm, "Let's just go."

Connie didn't fight him as he lead her away.

"Yeah, run away home crybabies!"

Connie didn't indulge him. She took the control away from Steven and began to lead him instead.

"Come on, Steven. Ms. Mince has king sized snickers."

Steven let Connie lead the way.

It had been nearly thirty minutes since the last knock. Spinel still sat there, holding the bowl of candy, waiting for the inevitable child that always showed up later than all the others.

"Spinel." Pearl sighed, "That was the last one, I'm sure of it!" She was busy doing dishes while she spoke.

Spinel shook her head. "No there's gotta be at least one more…" Spinel looked down at the bowl, "There's still so much candy."

"I told you not to overstock." Pearl said.

Spinel shook her head. "You're not still pouting over Steven, are you?"

"No, Steven's fine. He's with Connie." Spinel gave a slow whine and felt her pigtails droop like a dogs ears.

"Then why are you so droopy? Are you missing Amethyst?"

"No…" Spinel melted deeper into her chair, "Amethyst leaves every Halloween…"

"And you're always with Steven every Halloween. Except for this one."

Spinel whined again.

"Oh, for the love of stars!"

"Huh?" Spinel turned around to face Pearl.

"I mean, I know that you're desperate, but the least you can do is take a hint! She is not interested."

Spinel laughed, and Pearl scoffed at her again.

"Well, I would like to know what is so funny!"

"You're think I'm desperate? That's a lot coming from someone like you who basically stalked Rose for the better part of seven thousand years!"

Color flushed into Pearl's cheeks. "Well, I did nothing of the sort!"

"Yeah, you did! You even went as far as to trick Rose into fusing with you!"

"I did not!" Pearl's gem ignited into a pink glow.

"You did. And Rose was hurt that you would lie to her." Spinel got off the chair, and with every sentence she said, she got closer to Pearl, "That you would feel the need to trick her into forming Rainbow."

"You." Pearl was more blue than white in that moment, "You don't know what it's like to…"

"To what? To fuse? I've fused plenty. But I assume you mean fuse with someone I love, in which case, no I haven't. Because unlike you, I have more respect than that."

"DON'T YOU EVER QUESTION MY RESPECT FOR ROSE!" Pearl's spear was in her hands in an instant, "Don't you ever question the relationship I had with her!"

"What relationship? The one in your head?"

"THE ONE WE HAD! YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT WE HAD!"

"Just admit it!" Spinel continued to advance, "You used her then like you're using Amethyst now! To feel powerful! The fusion, the obsession! This is the same reason you stopped fusing in the first place! Why you haven't formed Opal in so long, and why you haven't formed Sardonyx in long, and why we won't ever form Sodalite again!"

Pearl charged, and her spear slammed hard into Spinel's chest. Spinel flew back against the hall and, in a flash of pink, her weapon was summoned from her gem. She sprung forward, her stretching to give her the extra momentum she needed to launch herself into the air and bring the mallet down hard on Pearl's head. The magic energy momentarily passed onto Pearl, and in an instant she was flattened. In the next, she bounced back up with the rebound of a spring, shook her, and then her body returned to normal.

Pearl readied her weapon again and charged. Spinel stepped out of the way at the last second, but Pearl kept on running, right until she slammed into the wall. She shook off the shockwave immediately and spun back on her heels, ready to charge again. She launched herself into the air, but before she could attempt to make another attack against Spinel, she was caught midair by Garnet and pulled back down.

"Enough already." Garnet turned to Spinel, "Amethyst is about to call; she needs a ride home."

Sure enough, Spinel felt the vibration of her phone in her gem, and summoned it forth to answer it.

"Hi Amethyst."

Amethyst didn't immediately respond; Spinel could hear her breathing.

"Amethyst? You there?"

"Yeah…" The word was long and slow, "I uh… need… a ride. Yeah, a ride. And some food."

"Amethyst, are you drunk?"

"Mmm… a little… just a little. Yeah."

Spinel sighed. "Where are you? I'll come get you."

"Mm. "Fifth. It's uh. Fifth street."

"Just stay where you are." Spinel hung up and immediately dialed Greg.

"Uh, hey, Spinel." Greg said slowly, "Everything okay?"

"Have you left to get Steven yet?"

"I'm about to, why?"

"Can I get a ride to go get Amethyst? She's drunk and lost in the city."

"Oh, uh, yeah, for sure. I'll be there in a minute."

"Thanks."

Spinel hung up.

"Greg's gonna be over in a minute." She reported.

"Great!" Pearl clapped her hands together, "I can't wait!"

Spinel scoffed. "You're not going!"

"I most certainly am!" Pearl looked up at Garnet, "May I get down now?"

Garnet gently put Pearl on the floor.

"Thank you."

"Now," Garnet said softly, "Since you two can't play nice, all of us will be going to get Amethyst, and when we get back you are going to clean up this mess."

"Yes Garnet."

The rest of the night had passed without incident. Steven made it home to Connie's place without incident, and the two of them were warming up inside as they sorted through their candy and traded among themselves. After that Priyanka had taken it upon herself to inspect every solitary piece of candy from both of their bags, tossing anything she deemed suspicious For the rest of the time as they waited for Greg to come pick him up, Steven and Connie conversed as the latter studied her textbook for school the next morning. After nearly an hour since arriving at Connie's place, Doug poked his head through the open door of Connie's bedroom.

"Steven, your dads here to pick you up. Here, I got your bag." Doug picked up the pillow case so Steven didn't have to.

"Thanks!"

The three walked outside to where the van was parked. Steven and Connie hugged each other goodbye as Doug handed the candy bag through the driver's window to Greg.

"Bye, jam bud!" Steven said.

"Bye, jam bud." Connie echoed.

Steven wasn't used to seeing Amethyst like she was; swaying back and forth slowly to the music, her eyes closed, every so often giving a happy giggle or talking absently to herself while Spinel struggled to keep her upright. He knew she'd go out every Halloween for a night of partying and irresponsible fun, but she'd usually come home later, long after he'd gone to sleep. Sometimes he'd wake up as Spinel escorted the sleepy drunk to the temple, but he wouldn't see any more of her until the next day, where she'd stumble out still wrapped in her blanket in search of food.

A thought suddenly occurred to Steven. "Spinel? How do gems get drunk?"

Despite the question being aimed at Spinel, it was Pearl who answered. "A gem can choose whether or not they want to get drunk. They just have to shapeshift the proper systems, or I suppose she could make an attempt to filter it through her gem, though I would imagine that is quite an uncomfortable ordeal."

Amethyst gave an absent laugh and muttered someone that, while it definitely sounded like words, Steven couldn't quite figure out what she was trying to say. She leaned precariously forward, but Spinel was quick to push her back, and Amethyst gave no resistance.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, apart from the blaring of Greg's homemade CD, until Garnet suddenly ejected the disk.

"Greg, speed up."

"Huh?"

Garnet repeated herself.

"Okay, you're the boss." The car lurched forward.

Pearl leaned up into the front of the van. "What's wrong, Garnet?" She gasped suddenly, "Did anything happen?"

"We should never have left home."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Spinel demanded.

"Mm." Garnet answered neither of their question, "Greg, go faster."

"I'm going the speed limit." Greg argued.

"Faster."

Greg didn't argue further. Pearl fell dramatically against the back of the van, searching around for any seat belt or restraint as if her life depended on it. There were none, obviously, and so Spinel became their seatbelts. She stretched both arms out, wrapping securely around Steven and Pearl, and stretching back to hold Amethyst in place as well.

They got to the beach quicker than Steven could have ever participated, Greg started to slow to a stop, but before he could even start to make a dent in the speed, Garnet threw the door open and tumbled out, disappearing behind the van. Spinel followed suit, leaping from the back of the van while making sure to keep the three in her arms safe from hitting the ground. Greg finally stopped a few hundred feet ahead of them and peered out of the window with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Spinel unraveled her arms from Pearl and Steven, but kept Amethyst firmly in place. A mallet was summoned, and so was a spear, but both weapons were quickly disbanded when their owners saw the state of the house.

Countless rolls of toilet paper were tossed over the porch and house, and a few even managed to litter the arms of the temple. Windows busted in, and streaks of red, blue, and green spray paint vandalized the structure in various places.

"What in the universe!" Pearl exclaimed.

"We've been vandalized!" Spinel added.

"Come on." Garnet led the way inside.

Steven went to follow Garnet, only to stop when she remembered his lack of candy. He hurried quickly over to the van, and his dad handed him the bag through the open window. They hugged, said a quick farewell, and then Steven hurried inside after the gems.

The inside was even worse than the outside; items slashed or shattered or broken, with bits and pieces of them scattered throughout the floor. Couch cushions were tossed carelessly about, the kitchen counter was marked with spray paint and sharpie, and many of the dishes were in pieces big and small. Even his own bed was vandalized! His blanket laid in two halves, severed down the middle, and his pillows were without their fluff and without their cases. His mattress sank low in the middle, making is clear that the frame under it was broken in some way. Everything was broken in some way.

Steven felt a pit grow in his stomach and in his heart. A dark pit that threatened to swallow every other emotion and leave him nothing but a shallow shell of emptiness. His gaze had shifted around the room, taking in every aspect of every destroyed item, until it eventually came full circle and he was met with a cracked, crooked, torn frame, and inside of that crack, crooked, and torn frame was the ripped, severed image of his mother.