Spinel: ...

Uncle Grandpa: ...

Spinel: ...

Uncle Grandpa: good-

Spinel: get out.

"You need me to catch the Slinker?" Spinel asked, staring at Garnet.

Amethyst groaned, "Ugh, you're still calling it that? It's lame."

"Well, it's already stuck," said Garnet, "But Spinel, we may find your powers useful to find this Gem."

"Alright, I'll come," Spinel nodded. Amethyst continued to grip with Garnet.

Steven sighed, "Alright, I'll go find someone else to take the quiz with."

Spinel patted his head, "You can do that with me when I come back." She grinned and pounded her fist into her palm, "That Slinker won't even know I was there..."

Amethyst, Garnet, and Spinel walked through the trashed-up room, keeping an ear and eye out for the corrupted Gem. Wanting to amuse Spinel while they looked into a hole, Amethyst pulled up a gas mask and laughed, "Spinel! Look! I'm a pachyderm!"

But Spinel didn't laugh, even jumping back in horror when Amethyst pulled out a skull, "Ooh, there's a prize inside! Loook!" She shoved the skull near Spinel, giggling at the pink Gem's whimpering and begging her to stop.

Garnet angrily shushed them, "Keep it down. And Amethyst, enough scaring her."

Spinel nodded and Amethyst complied begrudgingly.

Garnet placed a pile of junk down as they kept looking around. Spinel noticed a cat toy and giggled slightly at the way it moved its paw, "You know, Amethyst, Steven says I'm a lot like Sad Apple; Lovable, but overemotional at the same time."

"Ugh," Amethyst rolled her eyes, "Why are you even watching that show with him? You know it's stupid!"

"Steven likes it," Spinel responded, slightly offended, "And I'll watch it with him if he asks me."

Amethyst turned her body around, "Is Steven the only thing on your mind? Cause you and I used to be so tight before you became a wreck!"

"The only wreck is this room of yours!" Spinel shot back, "At least Pearl keeps hers clean!"

Amethyst was about to retort, but a hissing sound was heard.

"There!" Garnet fired her gauntlets towards a pile of junk where the hissing came from and exploded upon impact. The fusion ran up to the junk, smiling, before frowning when she realized the creature wasn't there.

"Whoa Mama!" yelled Amethyst as she and Spinel ran over, "Did ya get it?!"

Garnet held up her handless arms, "No." And her gauntlets appeared again.

Amethyst was disappointed, hopping onto the junk and looking around, "Aw man! I think my favorite round thing was in there!"

Garnet sighed and walked away, "I'll get you a new round thing."

As Amethyst continued to complain about she'll wreck her own stuff, Spinel noticed a black tentacle move under the pile. Gasping, she reached out to grab it, but it swiftly slithered away and she looked up, "Amethyst! Look out!"

"Oh shut it!" Amethyst kicked her junk, "I don't need someone like-" The tentacle burst out, curled around the purple Gem and squeezed her until she poofed. Spinel quickly grabbed the gemstone.

Both Garnet and Spinel looked around, hearing the Slinker hiss and shift around out of their vision.

Spinel sighed, "Man, I hate it when we start fighting. It's like... she hates the fact that I just wanted to grow up."

"I know," said Garnet, "And there's nothing wrong with that. Amethyst will need to learn that on her own."

The pink Gem nodded, "Yeah. But I guess it's just you and me, Amethyst will need to-"

Then the gemstone floated up, much to their confusion. Amethyst reformed and landed on her feet, brushing her hair away to reveal... that her hands had become her feet.

Amethyst stared at herself, then grinned over to Spinel, "Hey Stretch, guess I... grew a few feet!" But Spinel wasn't laughing or smiling.

"That was fast. Even for you," Garnet commented.

"... Eh, it's cool," Amethyst shrugged it off before standing upside down, poking Spinel's chest with her foot. She instantly recoiled and glowered, "You're gross!"

Again, Amethyst brushed off their discomfort, "Okay, okay. We got a Slinker to slink!" She cartwheeled away. Garnet and Spinel shared a glance before the latter face-palmed.

A bit later, after some more searching, Amethyst put her foot to her chin, "Hmm, where would I go if I was a monster..?" She walked over to a large hole in one of the walls, "Hey! Over her!" She gestured to the other Gems and they ventured in.

Spinel walked beside the shorter Gem, "So uh... interesting form, Amethyst."

"Thanks Spinel."

"Never... seen anything like it."

"Thanks. Spinel."

"Wanna... reform into your proper form?"

"NO THANKS SPINEL." Amethyst sped up, walking on all fours.

Spinel stopped in her path, "Gee, how did Amethyst end up with four legs?"

"She rushed her regeneration," replied Garnet, "She should've taken her time."

"Oh yeah, she should. At least Pearl put more time into her reformation. That's what I like about her; her perfect personality."

"Agreed-"

"Oh, will you two shut up about Pearl?!" Amethyst complained, lifting her hair up to reveal a giant ear, "You know I can hear you! I'm sorry if I'm not like Pearl. Seriously, out of all the gems to fall for-" A black shape fell from above and crashed into Amethyst and under the ground, poofing her again.

"Amethyst!" Spinel shouted worriedly, hopping down the new tunnel, joined by Garnet when they found her gemstone. "Want me to uh... take her back to the Temple?" She awkwardly offered.

Garnet shook her head, "No. We've already gone far into her room. Hopefully, she'll take her time to create a proper form."

But her gemstone lifted upwards again, and reformed into Amethyst... except her form looked more like Pearl's.

Amethyst turned her head, revealing her pointed hair, "What'cha think, Spinel?"

Spinel deadpanned. "... No."

The trio of Gems came out through the other side of the hole, Spinel speed-walking away from Amethyst, clenching her fists.

Amethyst bumped her side to get the Gem's attention, "Heeeey~ Can't bare to look upon something you just can't resist?"

"It's not funny," Spinel muttered, "Especially not when you're making fun of her."

"Awh, what's that matter, Spinny?" Amethyst teased, "Don't you love me now that I'm more like Pearl? Come on, I thought you loooooooved her?~"

"I just-!" Spinel retorted, then blushed and looked away, "Love her as a... friend..."

Garnet frowned, "We need to focus on listening for the creature."

"Oh, but I can't focus!" Amethyst mocked Pearl's voice, "All these rocks are different sizes. We'll have to organize them by shape and color. Didn't anyone tell nature how I want it to look?!"

At this point, Spinel was seething with anger, gritting her teeth, her fists tightening, and her pigtails bristling. "Amethyst... Change back to your original form... RIGHT NOW."

Amethyst twirled over to her, "Oh come on Spinel~ Aren't cha into those kind of Gems who are graceful, organized, and snooty?"

Spinel recoiled angrily, "I'm not into making fun of our teammates! You are nothing like Pearl! You're acting stupid!"

"STUPID?!" Amethyst screamed.

Garnet shushed them, "Keep it down-"

Amethyst was visibly shaking, "You wanted me to be like Pearl, and now I am! You should be happy!"

"I never ASKED for you to act like Pearl!" Spinel retorted, "All I want you to do is choose your form the way YOU want it to be! I know I'm not like Pearl, Garnet knows she's not like Pearl, and you should know that too! You're Amethyst! Just be the way you wanna be! Don't listen to me, Pearl, or Garnet! LISTEN TO YOU!"

"You two, shut your-"

"But-!" Amethyst began to protest, but heard Spinel's words. Right until the tentacle grabbed her and pulled her behind a crystalline rock, poofing her again. Spinel grabbed her gemstone and sighed.

"... I'm sorry for the yelling." Spinel spoke quietly.

Garnet stood straight, "Hm... You said the right words. But first, we need to listen for the Slinker."

"Right," nodded Spinel.

They both paused when they heard more hissing. Standing back-to-back, Garnet and Spinel looked around, until Spinel caught a dark being shift around at the corner of her eye. Stretching her arm out, Spinel dug it into the pile of junk, feeling for the creature. However, the tentacle squeezed around her arm, making her back away and the creature burst out of the junk, gargling.

Garnet whipped her head around, "Keep it down! I'll handle this!"

Keeping still, Spinel watched Garnet fire her gauntlets at the Slinker, this time hitting the target. However, the Slinker growled and its larger tentacle wrapped around Garnet, squeezing her so tightly, the fusion poofed and the gemstones feel to the ground.

"GARNET!" Spinel shouted in dismay, breaking free and punching the Slinker away from the gemstones. Knowing how long they might take to regenerate, she bubbled them for the time being.

"It's just you and me, Slinker..." She growled, placing down Amethyst's gemstone on the floor. She readied herself as the Slinker gargled and thrust its tentacles towards her. She caught them just in time and slammed the Slinker against a large crystalline stone. Smaller tentacles curled around her arms, but she didn't care.

"You're a tough one... aren't cha?" Spinel breathed through her struggle with the beast. Behind her, Amethyst's gem floated up, reforming into herself, with her outfit slightly altered.

Amethyst opened her eyes, "Hey what's- WHOA!"

"Amethyst!" shrilled Spinel, "Garnet's down!"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Amethyst as the Slinker tried to crush them under its tentacle, but Spinel held it away, "W-What do we do?!"

Spinel turned her head to her, a smaller tentacle curling around her throat, "We need Charoite!"

Amethyst's eyes went wide as moons, "A-Are you sure?!"

"YES I'm sure! We just need to take the Slinker down!" Spinel replied hurriedly.

Amethyst hesitated for a moment, but quickly ran up to her, her gem glowing. As they made contact, Spinel's gem began to glow as well, light surrounding them. The Slinker gurgled and backed away from the light. The light faded away, revealing the fusion of Amethyst and Spinel.

"Hey there!" The fusion declared upon her formation, "Charoite in the hou-oooouuse! Yo Slinker! COME AT ME!"

The Slinker gargled and growled, charging into her. Smirking, Charoite summoned Amethyst's improved whip and whacked the monster away, Before the Slinker could get up, the whip tied itself around the head.

"Guess you're all tied up, huh?" Charoite laughed, releasing her left hands and coiling her arm like a spring, ready to punch.

The Slinker tried to escape, but it was to no avail as Charoite pulled it towards her and she struck the beast so hard that her hands actually went through the beast's head and pulled the gem out, poofing the Slinker.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Charoite cheered, Spinel's bubble forming around the Slinker's gem, "Charoite one, Slinker zero!" She continued to cheer and holler out her victory, her whip hitting the garbage and rocks around them.

Pearl continued to glare at the two Gems, standing in a destroyed version of Amethyst's room. "You two...are just..." Pearl grumbled, before letting out an exasperated groan.

Spinel laughed timidly, "G-Guess we got carried away..."

"AND," Pearl angrily added, "You're both going to clean all of this up."

Amethyst shrugged, "I dunno. I kinda like it."

"And I'll give them this," Garnet placed her hands on both Amethyst and Spinel's shoulders, "If we ignore their destruction, they do make a fine team without me."

Spinel and Amethyst stared at each-other, the former sharing a smile, and the latter gave one back to her.

"Next time Charoite appears, it won't be in the house," Spinel whispered.

"Hope it'll be soon." Amethyst winked and the two gems laughed.

Charoite is like Sugilite, except shorter, more fun-based, and not voiced by Nicki Minaj.

And OOF, THOSE SPINEARL HINTS. THEY HELP ME BREATHE.