Spinel and Pearl reappeared from the temple, holding the nephrite gemstone in a nearly-formed silver bubble.
"Alright Steven!" Pearl hummed, "This is one of the simpler ones you can practice on!"
She passed the bubble to Steven, and Steven looked past the milky-white barrier to the green gemstone inside. He could hear the faint calls of no, no, please no! echoing over and over inside. He looked up at Pearl.
"Do I have to?"
Pearl put her hand on her hip. "Yes Steven. It is vital you learn to poof and bubble, and, rather than track a dangerous one out in the field, we have this one in a controlled area. I feel much more comfortable that way."
"But I don't wanna hurt it." Steven frowned, and looked up at Garnet when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"It won't hurt it, Steven." Garnet promised.
"Do you feel it when you poof?"
"Oh yeah!" Amethyst gave a loud laugh, "It feels like you're set on fire, but sometimes it's like you've just been stabbed through the stomach cause, like, you've just been stabbed through the stomach!"
Pearl shot Amethyst a dangerous look. Steven grabbed at his own stomach, imagining a sword or a spear piercing through his gemstone, and how it would feel to not exist.
"I don't wanna! Pearl!"
"Steven." Pearl cooed, "These creatures don't feel pain. If anything, all they'll feel is a little pressure. Rose... had a weapon once, but she was more defense than offense, so when you're out there in the field, you won't have a weapon readily summonable."
"Then what do I use?"
"Your foot should work just fine!"
Steven flinched at the thought. No, no, please no! "I don't..."
"Now Steven, listen close!" Pearl talked over him, "I want you to place your hands firmly on either side of the bubble."
Steven looked to Spinel, and the pink gem gave him a pitiful look. Steven did as Pearl said. "Alright now, just give it a little push and the bubble should give just fine."
Steven nodded, and looked down at the bubble in his shaking hands. The poor creature trapped inside, at his mercy, about to be given a taste of freedom only for him to, literally, stomp it out.
Steven popped the bubble, and the gemstone popped out. He caught it before it could hit the ground, and immediately the creature inside it began to reform. Very much line an insect, stretching into three segments curled up in Steven's hands. The gemstone disappeared inside the creatures mouth, and when she started to move it was to open her mandible and have a look around. Her eyes passed over the gems and she gave a cry, then she looked to Steven and she cried some more. The centipeetle curled up around herself, crying and shaking and squeaking. Steven could almost cry at the site.
"Okay Steven. Put it on the ground." Pearl instructed.
Steven didn't move. The poor thing was shaking, tiny black legs curled over her jaws to try and hide from the undoubtedly terrifying creatures surrounding her.
"Steven." Pearl said, this time with more force, "Put it on the ground."
"I can't!" Steven looked up at her, "Pearl, she's so tiny!"
The centipeetle uncurled and opened her mouth to look at Steven with her gem. Steven felt his heart flutter.
"Pearl! Her gem's her eye, Pearl! And it's in her mouth!"
"Steven-"
"She feels so scared." Steven held her close, "Pearl, I can't."
Pearl groaned her frustration and put a hand to her forehead. "Maybe I overestimated your ability. Give it to me, I'll dispose of it."
Pearl held out her hand for the creature, but Steven turned his back to her.
"No! Don't hurt her!"
"It, Steven." Pearl corrected, "Don't hurt it."
"But you said gems were she's, and she has a gem!" Steven held out the animal to prove his point. "Garnet, please. Maybe I can help her!"
"Garnet, don't even consider that!" Pearl cried, "It's a monster! We need to bubble it immediately!"
"It's only a little one." Steven whimpered.
"It gets bigger."
"But she's little now! I can hold her in one hand."
"She won't be little for long." Pearl sighed and shook her head, "This is nonsense, just give it here!"
"You can keep it."
"What?!"
Pearl looked over at Garnet, and Garnet looked back at her with an unfaltering expression.
"I can't say no to that face. It's my one weakness."
"I hold the power!" Steven cheered, and then pet the little mutant in his hands, "And I hold a centipeetle."
Pearl groaned. "If you're going to keep that thing, at least call it by it's proper name: Nephrite."
"Come on!" Spinel interupted, "It's Steven's pet, Steven gets to name it!"
"And I name her Centi!"
Amethyst leaned down to get a better look at it. "Hi Centi!"
The centipeetle snapped and hissed, leaking a green slime from her jaws.
"Oo!" Amethyst leaned back, "That thing's gnarly!"
Steven laughed. "She's slobbery! Pearl, can I have a tissue?"
"Why does everyone assume I always have tissues?"
Steven stared. "Do you?"
Pearl sighed, reached into her gem, and produced a wipe.
"It's a Kleenex. Very different from a tissue."
Steven took the Kleenex and used it to wipe the spit off of Centi's chin; she hissed and pulled away, but Steven held her firm so he could clean it all.
"You're very slobbery."
"Ugh..." Pearl covered her mouth and turned away, "That's disgusting!"
"She's just scared." Steven hummed. "I think she'll be less gross when she's calmed down."
Everyone in the room gave a simultaneous flinch at a sudden crush, and then groaned when they realized where it had come from. Amethyst was sat on the counter, eating chips and watching. She shoved another handful into her mouth.
"What?" She spat crumbs as she talked, "I got bored!"
The precious creature in Steven's hand started to squeak, and when he looked down at her, still gently wiping the green ooze from her mouth, he saw her jaws parted and her one eye staring. Staring at Amethyst. Her long mane of white laid flat, and she began to vibrate, almost purr.
"Amethyst, give me those chips!"
Amethyst swallowed her mouthful, looked down at the bag, and then tossed it over to Steven. Steven caught it barely in one hand, and the Nephrite's eye never left the bag. Once Steven had grabbed it, she spun around to keep her sight, and lowered her head.
"Here! Have some!" Steven opened the bag at an awkward angle and held it out for the centipede.
The creature lunged for the bag, but then stopped and whined, her eye searching.
"It's okay." Steven shook the bag and clicked his tongue, "Go on."
The centipeetles movements were like a wild animal, scared and lost and confused, yet so drawn to the food before her that she couldn't help herself. She crawled over Steven's hand and ducked her head into the bag, sniffing and smelling at the salty contents before she took a bite. And then another. And another.
Pearl gagged. "That thing's messier than Amethyst!"
"Go little dude!" Amethyst cheered. "Eat to your heart's content!"
Pearl looked closer, and then her eyes widened as she gasped. "Woah. I didn't know corruptions could still shapeshift. That's interesting..."
The corruption was too busy chowing down to care, leaving crumbs and green ooze every time she bit down.
"She must have made an esophagus that bypassed her gem, it's the only way I can see her being able to swallow. I wonder if she made an entire digestive track, or just a straight line... hmm... I suppose we'll find out in a few hours."
"That's gross." Steven laughed, "Guess she really likes chips."
"Yeah," Amethyst tucked her arms behind her head, "And I guess I ain't getting any more."
A tongue popped out of Nephrite's jaws and lapped up the spit-soaked crumbs.
"And a tongue!" Pearl's disgust had turned to sheer fascination, "They might be more intelligent than we initially thought!"
"Don't need to be smart to know how to eat." Spinel said. "Amethyst eats all the time."
"Yeah." Amethyst hesitated, "Wait! Hey!"
Spinel fell into laughter.
Steven reached into the near-empty bag and pulled the creature out by her tail.
"You were really hungry, huh?"
She licked her mouth with a green tongue and gave a low, rumbling sound.
"You're still hungry aren't you...?" Steven risked a gentle pat on her head, "Don't worry, Amethyst is always eating too!"
The nephrite whined, and bit at the bag.
"There is no more." Steven showed his friend the bag, and she huffed and kicked it away one she realized it was absent of anything besides her own green spit. "Aw, don't be like that."
"I can't believe it..." Pearl's voice was soft, "Garnet, are you...?"
She went silent. Steven looked up and saw Garnet staring at him, more stoic than usual even for her. The celtipeetle crawled up Steven's arm and wrapped around his neck like a snake.
"Interesting." Garnet said softly, "Pearl, Spinel, a word."
Garnet walked away, and the two named gems followed after her. Amethyst waved her arms.
"What am I? Dead weight?"
Garnet paused and turned around. "No. You watch Steven."
"Can do." Amethyst turned around to face Steven, "Wazzup my man?"
"The ceiling."
Steven and Amethyst both laughed.
"Wow." Amethyst whistled, "That thing's just kinda dangling there, huh?"
"She's not a thing!" Steven objected, "She's friendly."
"Right. I'm gonna go get a sandwich." As Amethyst worked on her sandwich, she continued to talk. "What do you think they're talking about?"
Steven shrugged, and reached up to pet his friend. "Dunno. Probably something to do with Centi."
"Can't believe she's so tame!" Amethyst closed the door with her hips and totted over to the counter, "I mean, I've never seen any corrupted that wasn't... you know." Amethyst snapped her teeth a few times.
"She's small, and we're really big." Steven ran his fingers through her mane of white, "She's just a baby."
"No man, you're just a baby. That thing is thousands of years old! Even older than me!" Amethyst grabbed her plate and marched over to Steven, "Hey, check it out! I think she's smiling at me."
Steven looked at the creature, but he didn't see a smile; he saw a snarl. The corruption pulling her lips back in a vicious snarl, the saliva dripping from her maw and to the floor, burning holes wherever they touched. Her hair spiked up, and she stood up, her claws digging deep into Steven's shoulder.
"OW! CENTI!"
Centi gave a grunting grow, then there was a rumbling inside her throat before she spat a mouthful of her venom at Amethyst, and missed. It instead hit Amethyst's plate and knocked her sandwich to the ground.
"NO!" Amethyst fell to her knees, "MI TORTA!"
Amethyst's wail quickly ended, and she scooped the sandwich off the ground, proceeding to eat it as if nothing had happened. Steven was quick to grab the centipeetle before she could spit again.
"She didn't mean it! I think you upset her!"
Garnet, Pearl, and Spinel ran back into the room. Pearl's eyes immediately fell on Amethyst and her fallen lunch.
"Steven!"
Pearl's voice only upset the centipeetle further, and Steven held her closer to save Pearl from the same fate as Amethyst's sandwhich.
"This is completely unacceptable."
"You're upsetting her!"
Pearl summoned her spear and walked toward Steven and his pet with dangerous intent. "I knew this was a bad idea!"
"Stop!"
Pearl didn't stop. She struck at the creature, but Centi was faster and pulled out of Steven's desperate grasp. She fell all the way to the floor and landed with a harsh thud, rolling almost to a stop before she got her feet under her in just enough time to dodge another one of Pearl's attacks.
"Pearl." Garnet warned, but Pearl didn't seem to hear her.
Centipeetle jumped on the couch, and then off again and running until Spinel cut her off and stretched out her hands to try and catch the poor creature. She missed, and the centipeetle jumped on her arms and ran all the way to her shoulder to jump off of the elevted position and dig her claws into the wall. She started to climb, but Amethyst summoned her whip and cracked it, cutting off the corrupted escape path and making her loose all of her progress and fall back to the ground. From there, Pearl forced her into a corner.
Centi curled up her body into a tight ball, agitated grunts and growls sounding all around her as she shook. She readied another attack as Pearl approached slowly, and as Amethyst and Spinel joined her in the assault.
"No!" Steven was able to duck under Pearl's legs and get into a position to protect centipeetle, holding out his arms and crouching beside her. "She didn't mean it!"
"Steven!" Pearl pointed her weapon only inches from Steven's eyes and threatened to get even closer, "Out of the way!"
Steven opened his mouth to shout his disapproval, but all that came out was a pained scream as powerful jaws latched around his forearm from behind. Steven leaped up from where he crouched and continued to scream, and the first time he flailed his arms was the only time he needed to. The corruption let go on the first swung and was tossed across the room, slamming hard into the kitchen counter. She hit her head.
"Centi!"
The creature exploded in a cloud of dust, and her gemstone clinked to the ground.
"No..." Steven held his injury close to his chest.
"Steven!" Steven was yanked up by Pearl, and his arm was pulled away from him, "Let me see!"
Pearl frowned. She pulled up Steven's sleeve, not that there was much to pull up, and narrowed her eyes. She rubbed her hand all across St3even's arm, growing more and more frantic as she found nothing. Spinel peeked over Pearl and her eyes searched all the same.
"Steven... did the monster bite you?"
"Yeah... it really hurt." That was the last thing on his mind. He craned his neck to see Amethyst picking up the gemstone. "Careful!"
"There's no mark here!" Pearl pulled him even closer, as if that would make the difference, "Nothing at all."
"Then let me go!" Steven pulled away from her, ran around her, and snatched the gemstone from Amethyst.
Amethyst tossed her hand up in surrender. "Just picking it up, dude."
"Centi..."
Steven turned the green and black gemstone in his hands, staring at the poor creature, his poor creature, trapped inside. "No..." Warmth trickled down his face and he didn't try to stop it.
"Steven."
A large, gentle hand was placed on Steven's shoulder.
"Garnet... Centi poofed." Steven held up the gemstone as proof.
"I know." Garnet lowered her head, "You did a good job trying to tame her. Your mother would be so proud."
Steven sniffled. "She would?"
Garnet sighed softly, and she picked Steven up, letting him sit on one of her forearms so they could talk face-to-face.
"Steven, Rose once tried to heal these creatures. Not in the same manner as you, but with her tears. She grieved over them, but she was never able to heal them."
"Never...?" Steven held Centipeetle's gemstone to his chest, "But... if she couldn't do it..."
Garnet gently wiped the tears from Steven's face.
"Up until today, no one has tried to tame them as you have," Pearl said, "Maybe when you have better control of your powers, you might be able to help them in ways Rose never even thought possible!"
"Even this one..." Garnet gently tapped the nephrite gemstone.
"Here, Steven..." Spinel reached for the gemstone, "I promise I'll be carful with her."
"No!" Steven turned his back on Spinel and used his body to protect the precious gem. "I'll keep her safe..."
He looked down at her in his hands, and he wanted to protect her. He needed to! She needed to be safe and protected and warm and content. She needed protection, even in her gem. Even when she wasn't ready to be out yet. She just needed time, and he needed time.
A pink bubble entrapped her safely, protecting her within. Four gasps surrounded him, but Steven ignored them, and he ignored the words they said.
"Wait for me, Centi. I'll heal you one day... I promise."
