Hey everyone, hope you all are doing alright during this time. I know it hasn't been easy but I pray you all are staying safe and healthy. I've had to put this chapter on hold during the rest of my semester and since then experienced a major writers block and lack of motivation but was finally able to come around to it.
Chapter 22: Three Gems and a Steven
On the outskirts of a Beach County, a bright light appears on the side of a hill and a teenage girl appears out of the bright light.
She had pale white skin and long hair reaching down her back. Her hair was black with a tint of purple and violet eyes. She wore a purple thigh-length dress with some black trim and lining on the skirt, loose violet shawl on her shoulders, a magenta one sleeve on the right and a black armband covering her elbow on the left, black stockings, and purple shoes.
"Looks like I've made it." She said in relief. "Now let's just hope I'm not too late."
Arriving into town was David, the Ed's, Pines twins, and Twilight.
Twilight is slumped as David notices. "Still exhausted from the teleportation?"
"I'm fine." Twilight said. "...Just a little worn out is all."
David leans down on one knee facing his back to Twilight. "Hop on."
"What?" Twilight looks at him confused.
"I'll carry you from here." David insists.
"...Okay." She accepts and hops onto the young man's back. He lifts her up off the ground.
Twilight looks surprise, "I never knew how high up it is above your shoulders. I wonder if this is how Spike feels. Then again you are standing on two legs."
"Enjoying your ponyback ride, Twilight?" Mabel teases.
Twilight proudly responds, "As a matter in fact I am. Who knew riding on humans would be so much fun."
"Ed want ponyback ride." He leaps onto Eddy's back.
"Get off me, Ed." He throws Ed off. Double D snickers from the side. "I'm surprise David can lift you up." Eddy remarks to Twilight.
"Are you saying I'm fat?" Twilight complained.
"To be honest, you're a lot lighter than I anticipated." David mentions.
"Thanks for the quote of confidence." Twilight said sounding annoyed.
"Don't feel too bad about it. This is actually kind of fun." He assures her.
"You must be very strong, David." Mabel comments.
"Hmm ~ I guess you're right, Mabel. I do feel a little stronger."
"If you feel that strong maybe I should let you carry me more often." Twilight teases.
While not paying any attention, Dipper is pounced on by a pink lion and lets out a cry alerting everyone.
"Guy's help! I'm being eaten by a lion!"
Eddy panics and hides behind Ed, "Don't let em' eat me!"
"Guys relax. Look." David reassures. The lion licks Dipper's face very cat-like.
"Huh?"
Dipper looks up and it appears as any regular lion but with pink fur and a soft light pink star-shaped mane.
Mabel gushes and goes up to the Lion. "Aww~ aren't you just the cutest lion ever."
The lion turns its attention to Mabel allowing her to pet its soft mane.
"You're just like Waddles. But much fluffier." She then nuzzles her face to the lion's.
Dipper gets back up on his feet and pets it, "Hey- you're not so bad after all. Wonder where you came from?"
"Lion! Lion! Where are you?" A boy calls out.
He was relatively short with a thick, stocky build, has curly dark brown hair with dark brown eyebrows and full black irises. He wore a salmon-pink T-shirt with a gold star in the center of it, cuffed blue jeans and salmon-pink flip-flop sandals.
To his relief, he spots lion with Dipper and Mabel and approaches them. "Hey, you found Lion?"
"Is this lion yours?" Dipper asks.
The boy replies, "He is. Hope he didn't cause you any trouble."
"Nah, he's alright." Mabel assures him. "He just gave my brother a big lion of a hug is all."
Dipper chuckles sheepishly, "Yeah... well it's not every day you see lions on the streets."
The boy laughs and notices everyone, "Hey~ never seen you around before. You must be new?"
"You could say that." David replies. "You wouldn't know where we are?"
"You're in Beach City. I'm Steven. And this is Lion." The boy introduces himself.
"I'm Mabel. This is my brother Dipper. We're twins. And these guys are Ed, Double D, Eddy, David, and Twilight."
"Nice to meet you." Steven said. He looks at David and Twilight oddly, "Why are you carrying a pony on your back?"
Twilight answers for him, "He's giving me what you call a 'Ponyback ride'-"
"You can talk!" Steven exclaims startled by Twilight speaking.
Seeing Steven's reaction, Twilight chuckles nervously, "Oh~ uh, yes! I do talk. Heh heh..."
Steven's expression soon changes, "I never knew there were talking ponies." He says with excitement.
"There's a whole village of talking ponies." Mabel informs.
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm~ and a whole lot more amazing sites."
"Tell me, tell me..." Steven said eagerly.
"What's with this kid?" Eddy grunts.
David intervenes, "As much as we'd like to talk we should be going."
"Aw~ how come?"
"We need to find somewhere all of us can take things easy for a while."
Steven gets an idea, "Hey~! Why don't you come to my place? You can tell me everything."
"Oh, we wouldn't want to intrude." Double D politely declines.
"It's okay. It's just me and the Gems."
"Gems...?" Dipper let out confused.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt." David gives in. "Just to lay low for now."
"Great! Follow me." Steven leads the way.
The gang follows Steven to a statue lying from behind a hill with four pairs of arms spread out, only the top-right arm has an intact hand, and the other four converge on the statue's navel holding what looked like a beach house. In front of the statue were broken-off remains of the other hands sticking out of the beach sands.
"Cool…!" Ed let out amaze, "It's a hundred-foot-tall giant woman with octopus arms. Just like in our bedtime stories."
"This is the Crystal Temple." Steven presents, "It's also my home."
"Do you mean your home is inside its stomach?" Ed asks shocked.
"Of course not. My home is in there." Steven reassures pointing to the beach house in front. "That's the entrance to the Crystal Temple. C'mon. I'll give you guys the detour."
They reach Steven's house and go inside. It features a one large interior room.
"Cool digs." Eddy comments.
"Make yourselves at home." Steven insisted.
As everyone sits down in the lounge, Twilight takes notice of a picture hanging above the door of a woman. She was heavy build and had long curly pink hair styled in thick tubed ringlets.
"Who's this?" She asks.
"That's my mom." Steven answers.
"She's beautiful."
Suddenly, a crystalline platform beams in, startling the gang. From the warp stream three female humanoid beings appear.
The first was a tall woman with cerise-colored skin, and dark-indigo hair styled into a cube-shaped afro. She wore a bodysuit, with dark orchid/eggplant oval-like shoulder pads. Her right half was covered in a vivid blue-violet stocking and her left was covered in a deep orchid/eggplant stocking, an amaranth-colored star with a soft-pink outline on her chest, long, elbow-length black gloves that cover her middle fingers, and soft-pink and pale-blue triangular futuristic, translucent shades.
The second was somewhat stout build and shorter. Her skin was bright lilac, her eyes dark indigo, and her thick, messy pale lavender hair goes down to her ankles, with a large bang that obscures her left eye. She had a gemstone located on her chest with the bottom half covered by her shirt. She wore an off-white tank top with a jagged hem, black leggings with dark mauve stars on the knees and dark mauve hue ankle boots.
And the third was tall, had a slender, thin build, ivory skin, a pointed nose, peach color hair resembling a pixie-cut in the front, while in the back leads to a point, and pastel turquoise eyes. She had a gemstone located in the middle of her forehead. She wore an aqua blue tunic with a small yellow star on the center of her chest and a lighter satin sash ribbon around her upper waist, amber-colored leggings, and pink socks with pale blue slip-on ballet flats.
The three women see the gang as the thin one speaks up. "Oh, I wasn't expecting Steven to bring company over."
"These are my new friends. I met them in town with Lion." Steven says.
"Hi... I'm David." The young man introduces himself. "It's nice to meet you, uh..."
"Where are our manners...?" The tall one responds in a mellow manner. "We are the Crystal Gems. Garnet." She reveals two gemstones embedded in the palm of her hands.
The short one follows, "Amethyst." She pulls the top of her shirt to reveal the rest of her gemstone.
And then the thin one, "Pearl." She gestures her hands to her forehead gemstone.
"...And Steven!" Steven finishes pulling up his shirt to reveal a pink diamond gemstone where his navel should be.
"So magnificent..." Mabel whispers in a daze.
Dipper and Mabel go up to Steven and examine his gemstone. "So what do these gemstones do?" Dipper asks as Mabel pokes at it.
Steven lets out a giggle, "They let us do all kinds of stuff. Like this." Steven summons an incredibly durable pink bubble that encases him.
Mabel marvels, "Whoooaaa?! It's a giant hamster ball."
"Cool…" Ed presses his face against the bubble. "Ed wants to ride in the giant hamster ball!"
Mabel joins him doing the same and makes silly faces on it. Steven laughs at them.
"How were you able to do that?" Dipper exclaims.
"We're magic, well... half magic for me, on my mom's side."
"You have magic too? That's incredible." Twilight said impressed.
"Check it out! A talking pony." Amethyst remarked.
"Very impressive." Said Garnet.
"She comes from a village of talking ponies." Steven mentions.
"What's the horn on top of your head for?" Amethyst pointed.
"I'm a unicorn." Twilight informs. "Just like you, I also have magic." She creates a bubble around her to demonstrate. "See."
"Whoa!" Steven said in awe. "Now we can be bubble buddies." He rolls his bubble up and bumps it into Twilight's. Eventually both bubbles pop.
"So, Crystal Gems. Are you guys like some kind of superheroes?" David asks.
Pearl lightly laughs and answers, "I wouldn't say we're like those characters you see in comics, but we have kept your home planet safe from countless threats."
"From monsters and stuff." Amethyst adds.
"Cool…!" David, Ed, and Mabel all said at the same time.
"Can Ed be a Crystal Gem too?"
"No..." Garnet halfheartedly responds.
"You have to have a gem to be a Crystal Gem." Steven politely tells him.
"So Steven," Amethyst grabs him, "Are you going to tell us more about your new friends?"
"Oh yeah, you guys were gonna tell me more about yourselves."
"We were?" David replied confused.
"Back in town, before we followed Steven here." Mabel reminded. "Don't cha remember?"
"...That's why we came here." The young man said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Anyone wanna go?"
"Well, let's see now. Our story begins-"
Before Double D begins to tell the Crystal Gems what happened, Ed suddenly shoves him as he crashes out of view.
Ed starts telling his story with a more dramatic feeling.
'It all started when Ed Edd and Eddy met David on a quest for the Cartoon Network Resistance. His mission to reunite the other rebel forces to stop the true evil in this world. Traveling from cities to strange lands and accompany by new friends.
Little did we know that the evil forces of HOLY were planning to foil the brave heroes' attempts by destroying their base and capturing our comrades. We made it out just in time by magic...'
Ed then finishes with, "...And then popped up here. The end."
Double D, in a daze, manages to push himself up with some clutter on top of his head and shoulders, "Well Ed, if you really wanted to tell the story you could've just said so."
"That's so amazing!" Steven says with star shaped pupils. "You guys are just like us."
"You don't look like the rebel types." Pearl stated.
"We're still only rookies." David admits.
"That would explain it. You guys do look like runts." Amethyst remarked.
"Amethyst...!" Pearl snaps at her.
"Could we join the resistance too?" Steven asks. "We'll be the strongest team ever."
He then goes off expressing his idea in a bold manner. "Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems alongside David and the Resistance. The most unstoppable team the world has ever seen!"
David chuckles and responds, "I admire your optimism, Steven. But I don't think we could ask for anymore recruits."
"Aw~ why not?" Steven asks visibly disappointed.
Twilight steps in to answer, "It's very dangerous, Steven. We've already lost a lot of good friends. And it's uncertain what obstacles we'll face on our next journey."
"Nothing me and the Crystal Gems can't handle."
Garnet goes on ahead to explain, "This is not something we should be involved in, Steven. Their mission is theirs alone. Ours remain here. Who should protect the people if we're not around?"
"You do have a point." Steven said looking a bit down.
"Besides, after everything we've been through we need to re-think our strategy." David said crossing his arms. "Not to mention Twilight here needs to recover first."
"I'm fine David. Really." Twilight reassures him. "I don't want you to put everything on hold just for me."
"It's not just you I'm worried about, Twilight. It's everyone. I know we have a big task at hand but taking some down time should be the first priority."
"You sound like a true leader, David." Steven comments in awe.
The young man responds, "Think so?" He chuckles rubbing the back of his head, "I try to act the leader type."
"So, you guys done talkin'?" Amethyst chimes in. "Things are getting' pretty boring."
"You said it." Eddy remarks. "Here's an idea. This place is full of out-of-town folks like us, right? How bout' we hit the town and look for some ladies. If you know what I mean." He jitters his eyebrows.
Ed looks cluelessly and responds, "...Nope."
"Yeah, nope." Steven acknowledges with him.
"You guys watch out for one another." Garnet informs.
"We'll be here if you need anything." Pearl delightfully tells them.
"Who's ready to explore…!?" Steven raises his arms up in joy.
"Let's do this!" Amethyst does the same speaking in a serious voice.
Steven and Amethyst excitedly run outside with David and company in tow.
Outside, Eddy asks, "Hey kid, you have any candy stores around here?"
Steven thinks for a moment before answering, "There's the Big Donut. Me and Amethyst like to come there everyday!"
"Yeah, that place has the best doughnuts!" Amethyst remarked.
"Do they have jawbreakers?" Ed asks drooling.
"Jawbreakers?"
"They're a sweet delectable hardcandy sold at the candy store in our Cul-de-Sac." Double D explains. "It has so many layers. Each containing a different flavor as it dissolves in your mouth."
"Man... I wanna try a jawbreaker now." Amethyst says very tempted.
Soon after, Lion appears. "Hey Lion! Did you want to come with us?"
Lion nudges Steven trying to get his attention.
"What's he doing?" Mabel asks.
"I think Lion wants to show me something." Lion then goes up to Mabel nuzzling her face. "I think he wants to show us all something." Lion goes back to Steven and lies down on the sand. "You want us to ride you."
"Whoa! Shut. Up!" Mabel gasps in surprise.
"Your lion actually lets you ride him." Dipper responds the same way.
"Yeah. He's my mode of transportation. But, I don't think he can carry us all at once."
"No worries. I gotcha covered." Amethyst assures everyone by altering her appearance to shapeshift into Lion. "What do you think?"
Eddy and Double D were shocked. Ed stares at the shapeshift lion of Amethyst. And David, Twilight, Dipper and Mabel were surprise in awe.
"You can shapeshift?" Double D exclaimed.
Amethyst snickers in delight, "Pretty cool huh? So, who wants a ride on me?"
"I do. I do!" Ed calls out, "I call shotgun."
"Hey, no fair! I don't want to be in the back." Eddy went after.
Steven, David, Dipper, and Mabel get onto Lion's back, with Steven in the front and David and the twins behind. Ed, Eddy, Double D, and Twilight jump onto lion Amethyst's back ready to go.
"And we're off!" Steven calls out. But Lion just stands there and stares blankly into space.
"Uhh... is this supposed to happen?" David asks confused.
Steven turns to David and chuckles nervously. "He does this sometimes."
"Why aren't you movin'?" Eddy mutters.
Amethyst answers, "Hey, Lion ain't movin'. I'm just doin' what he's doin'." She smirks.
After a few moments, Lion rears up on his hindlegs and begins charging forward.
"Whoa!" David, Dipper, and Mabel let out before Mabel laughs.
"Giddy-up, purple lion!" Ed calls out.
"Hold on tight…!" Amethyst soon follows.
Running, Lion's eyes glow white and emits a magical roar. This roar shoots across the beach and creates a white portal with a pink edge as Lion runs right through it.
The Ed's watch from behind on Amethyst, "Is that thing taking us in there?" Eddy pointed.
"To the pink bubble world!" Ed cheers.
Double D tries to stop Amethyst, "Wait! I don't think I can handle this kind of transport-" Amethyst charges in anyway before the portal closes up behind.
Inside the portal was a dimension with a blue and white starry background. Steven, Amethyst, Mabel, Ed and Eddy cheer excitedly. Twilight gazes in awe. Double D was looking nauseous. Dipper had his arms wrapped around David, who was clinging onto Steven, both were screaming.
The portal soon opens up and the group emerges. Lion skids across the water but Amethyst lands right into the shallow water with a big splash before reverting back to her normal self.
Dipper and Mabel fall off Lion and into the shallow water. David and Steven manage to get off just when the young man turns to the twins and asks, "Are you guys okay?"
Dipper groans in awe as Mabel raises her arms up in the air and shouts, "Let's do that again!"
Double D is panting from the ordeal, "I think, I'm gonna be ill."
Twilight shakes water off, "That was something incredible new."
"Where the heck is this place?" Eddy questions looking around.
There location was inside a flooded cave where a huge platform is in the center.
"Hey… I remember this place." Steven said. He looks to Lion, "Did you bring us so I can show everyone all the cool stuff hidden here?" Lion responds by staring at Steven blankly. "I take that as a yes."
"Are we in some secret cave only you and the gems know about?" Dipper asks.
"Must be some magical cave then." Mabel comments.
"Doesn't look all that exciting." Eddy remarks. "Looks like any other boring old cave."
"I've never been here before." Amethyst looks around in confusion.
"This must be your first time then, Amethyst. You gotta come see this." Steven beckons everyone.
They walk up to the platform and reach the center. Ed, looking around distractedly in wonder, bumps into Eddy.
"Watch where you're going, Ed!" Eddy exclaims.
Suddenly, the ground lights up in light pink beneath everyone's feet startling them.
"It wasn't me!" Ed proclaims.
The light soon zooms in towards the center of the platform and becomes a short beam before fading away. Rising out from the platform was a hand-shaped pedestal.
Steven excitedly runs up to the pedestal with the gang joining him.
"So what's supposed to happen next?" David asks.
"Check this out. Wham!" He presses the hand pedestal and the whole platform glows again. This time a white case emerges out of the platform and opens up, revealing several swords in a line-up.
"Whoa... This is so cool." Dipper says excitedly. "It's like some secret armory to a fantasy board game."
"Ooh ooh oh! Ed wants a sword." He runs towards the swords.
"Me too..." Mabel joins him, "I need something that'll go well with my grapping hook."
Before they could go any further, Twilight immediately stops them with her magic. "Hold on guys. We can't just help ourselves to their armory."
"But Ed wants the flaming sword." Ed groans.
"Do you even know how to use a sword, Ed?" Eddy remarks.
"I can't believe Pearl's been holding out on us this entire time." Amethyst said. "I wanna see what else this thing has." She goes up to Steven shaking him in excitement. "Show us more!"
Steven gets a little dizzy, "W-whoa...! Okay, okay." He giggles, "Here comes the next one." He pokes himself in the side. "Ow!" Steven lets out.
The swords retract back into the white case and back into the platform before a series of armor suits rise out of the platform all around the group. Some were European knight armor and Japanese samurai armor.
"WHOAOOO! Check out all this armor!" Eddy comments.
"It's a collection from various eras of human history." Double D says entranced.
Steven pokes himself in the check and a bunch of axes rise out.
"Cool... axes." Ed grins.
Steven presses his nose, "Boop!" and a statue of a woman with her arms outstretched and three spikey chain balls hanging on each arm then rises out.
"Spikey chain balls!" Everyone let out.
A giant coin follows out after. Everyone but Steven look confuse at it.
"...A giant coin?" Twilight says tilting her head.
"Hey! Does this thing have a giant quarter?" Eddy asks.
"Okay. You guys are having waaay too much fun without me." Amethyst chimes in. She pulls Steven's ear who only yelps.
"Ow! Amethyst! What was that for?"
"Duh! What does it look like?" Amethyst remarks, "I'm trying to get you to activate more cool stuff." She grabs Steven's cheek and pulls on it as he yelps again.
"Amethyst, cut it out! You're making me look bad in front of my new friends."
Amethyst sighs and gives up, "Fine..." She soon gets an idea. "Hey, wanna show everyone the bubble room?"
"The bubble room?" David responds curiously. "What's that?"
"If it's more gem related stuff I'm down for it." Mabel said tempted.
Amethyst smirks, "Then you guys are in luck."
Steven puts a hand on Amethyst's shoulder in concern, "Are you sure we should be showing them the bubble room, Amethyst? I don't think Garnet would allow it."
Amethyst shrugs it off, "It'll be fine Steven. We'll just be in and out before she even notices."
"If it's anything supernatural I'd like to check it out." Dipper accepts.
"Me too..." Mabel chimes in.
"More secret gem stuff." Ed says eagerly.
"Well... I guess a small peek wouldn't hurt." Steven gives in nervously.
Lion and Amethyst leap out of the portal and skid across the floor to another room.
Double D was still nauseous. "...Could we ...not do that again?"
Everyone but Steven and Amethyst look in awe. The room had floating bubbles around the ceiling with gemstones inside of them.
"Is this the bubble room?" David asks.
Steven nods, "Yep."
Twilight takes a closer look, "Why do these bubbles have gemstones? Is there some kind of powerful magic inside them?"
Amethyst creepily stares at Twilight, "That's where all the gem monsters are contained."
Twilight gasps backing up to David.
"MONSTERS!" Ed yells excitedly. "I want to see a monster!" He runs up to the bubbles trying to grab one.
Amethyst reacts and pulls out a whip from her gemstone which she uses to entangle Ed before trying to hush him. "Ssshhh... Keep it down. We don't want Garnet and Pearl to find out we're here."
"But Ed just wanna see a monster!"
"You don't wanna see these monsters. Trust me." Amethyst assures him.
"I can't believe something so pretty can contain something scary." Mabel says in wonder staring up at the bubbles.
Dipper joins his sister and remarks, "As dangerous as it maybe I am kind of curios to what these gem monsters look like."
"It's great that you brought us here, Steven." Twilight said before looking a little concern, "But... are you sure we're supposed to be here?"
Steven responds, "I don't mind you guys being here. I guess Amethyst doesn't mind. But I want to show you guys something awesome."
A beam of bright light emits into the room and Steven and Amethyst gasp in shock.
"Hide!" Amethyst warns everyone.
Everyone quickly finds a place for cover as the same girl from before phases into the room. She looks around bewildered; unaware the others watching.
David whispers, "Who's that?"
"Is she a Gem too?" Twilight also whispers.
Steven whispers back, "I've never seen here before."
The mysterious girl lets out a sigh of disappointment. "No... this isn't it either."
Dipper stares at her very closely. "Huh. She's actually kinda cute."
Mabel lightly giggles, "You have a crush on her, Dipper?"
"Cut it out, Mabel. It was just a complement." Dipper mutters.
"What is she doing here?" Amethyst murmurs.
"For a small town, this place has a lot of strange ruins around." The girl says to herself.
A small bright light shines from above causing her to look up. She sees inside one of the bubbles was a spherical object glowing white.
"No way! How did this get here?" She lifts up her hand towards the bubble to form a purple aura around it and pulls it in towards her.
Amethyst gasps and charges after her. The mysterious girl spots Amethyst and jumps almost dropping the bubble. Amethyst pulls out her whip and lashes it near the girl's feet to intimidate her. She soon vanishes away with the bubble.
Steven, David, and the gang come out of hiding to join Amethyst.
Steven anxiously starts asking questions. "Where did she go? Why did she take that bubble?"
"I don't know. But we have to go after her." Amethyst looks back to the rest of the group. "You guys go with Steven. I'll get Garnet and Pearl."
"Must we ride the lion, again?" Double D groans.
Ed grabs a hold of Double D, "There's no time, Double D. We must stop the evil dimensional witch from spreading doom."
The gang gets on Lion's back, with Steven, Dipper, and Mabel in his mane. Lion's eyes glow white again as he roars creating another portal and runs through it.
Outside on a cliff from the opposite side of town and the temple, the mysterious girl reappears holding the bubble inside her magic aura. She sighs with relief. "Good thing we got out. How did it get in there?" She looks at the orb.
Lion soon emerges from the portal. Everyone jumps off to confront the girl but Double D who falls over before catching up.
"There's nowhere to go. Hand over the bubble peacefully and we don't have to fight." Steven tells her.
"Are you guys seriously trying to take me on?" The girl scoffs. "You probably don't even know what's inside this bubble?"
"It defiantly doesn't belong to you." Twilight said sternly.
"Neither does it belong inside a cave."
"What exactly do you want from it?" David steps forward to question.
Before the girl could respond, she gasps upon seeing the young man, "It's you..."
David tilts his head in confusion.
"I've been looking all over for you." She slowly comes forward, "My name's Alanabeth. I was sent here to search for the orb. ...And to retrieve you."
Twilight gets defensive and steps in front of David "Were you sent by HOLY to attack us and capture David?"
"I assure you. I am not with HOLY."
"What about the Nexus?" Dipper says next.
Alanabeth shakes her head, "No..."
"Or the planet of banana people?" Ed blurts out after.
A moment of silence went through everyone as wind blows by.
Alanabeth looks at him oddly, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Twilight asks suspiciously.
"I know I have a lot to explain. But for now we need to keep this somewhere safe."
"But it's safe inside the temple." Steven tells her.
"It won't be for long. I can't let it fall into the wrong hands."
The ground starts to shake.
"Ed... is your stomach growling again." Eddy remarks.
The shaking stops and something jumps out of the water onto the cliff, directly behind Alanabeth. Everyone gasps in horror. Alanabeth turns around to her surprise to see a giant wolf-like creature with two horns and a mixture of turquoise-blue colors, with pink spots across its body.
"It's a Gem monster!" Steven cried.
Alanabeth tries to defend herself but is swiped off the cliff and into the water dropping the bubble behind.
"Alanabeth...!" David yells in shock.
The Gem monster then notices Steven and the others and turns its attention towards them.
"What do we do, what do we do?" Mabel panics.
"Stay behind me." Steven quickly summons his bubble shield and encases himself and everyone.
Lion engages using Steven's bubble as a ramp to jump onto the Gem Monster. He bites down tightly. Everyone inside the bubble was cheering on.
"Go Lion go!" Mabel chanted.
"You got this furball! Show em who's boss!" Eddy encouraged.
"I believe in you, Lion." Steven cheers.
Eventually, Lion is shaken off and lands perfectly on his feet. He then emits several magical roars at it. This upsets the gem monster to slam its body at Lion knocking him back into Steven's bubble. It then leaps towards them and stomps the bubble.
Steven struggles to keep the bubble intact.
"This isn't going to hold for long." Twilight warms him.
The gem monster keeps stomping, eventually popping it, and everyone burst out of it separated from each other.
David and Steven were the closest. "Was this one of the gem monsters you were telling us about?" David mutters.
"Yeah. Real awesome huh?" He says sarcastically.
They find themselves up against the gem monster, when magic blasts hits its face.
"Over here!" Twilight shoots magic to draw its attention. It comes after her, while Twilight keeps blasting away.
Mabel's grappling hook shoots overhead wrapping around the monster tightly. Dipper and Mabel try to stop it but the strength and size tugs on the grappling hook, pulling them instead.
Ed, Double D, and Eddy jump in to help the twins to slow it down.
"Ed...! Pull harder..." Eddy commanded.
Ed does as told and yanks the monster in midair hurling it back. A shadow envelops the Ed's and Pines and everyone runs away but Eddy. The monster comes crashing down on him.
On its back, David prepares to draw his shield sword and Steven summons a pink shield over his arm. Both charge towards the gem monster as it rolls back up on its feet.
David counters it with a slash, causing the gem monster to let out a loud roar leaning up to smash down. David swaps places with Steven, blocking its attack with his shield. The monster slams its feet at the pair again, only for them to quickly dodge to the side. Having the monster right where they want it the pair inches in on it with a pincer attack.
However, the monster spins around slamming its head into David and kicking Steven with its hind legs, knocking them off their feet.
Just at the right time, a whip wraps around it, revealing to be Amethyst's. "Steven..." She calls out tugging the monster tightly.
Soon after, Garnet and Pearl show up to aid her. Garnet summons a pair of gauntlets and delivers a swift blow and Pearl summons a spear and pierces it. All three attacks poofs the gem monster and a gem falls from it.
Steven and David's team runs up to where Eddy was crushed.
"Eddy? Can you hear me, Eddy?" Double D asks in concern.
Eddy lied flat on the ground in a daze. "Okay. I'm hurt now."
Steven turns to David worried, "Is your friend going to be okay?"
David rubs the back of his head sheepishly, "Y-yeah... I think Eddy will pull through."
"Steven..." Pearl cries rushing up to him. Garnet and Amethyst join her side. "Are you guys alright? I can't believe you had an encounter with a corrupted Gem."
"It was incredible!" Mabel gushes. "You should've seen it. That monster came out of nowhere. Steven uses his bubble on all of us. And then Lion fought off the monster and we helped."
"That was amazing!" Dipper commented. "I can't believe you and the Crystal Gems fight monsters like that all time."
"It's no biggie." Amethyst shrugs and responds back, "So, what happened to the girl?"
They look at Amethyst concerned.
Twilight responds, "She was attacked by the monster and fell into the ocean. We don't know what happened afterwards."
"Man. What was she thinking trying to steal something from the temple?" Amethyst remarked. "Kinda serves her right for taking one of our own."
Garnet picks up both the fallen gem and the bubble left behind. "She must've been after this." She says holding up the bubble with the orb inside, bubbling away the gem from the monster.
"What do you mean?" Pearl questioned.
"I found this in the ocean during a mission. It isn't like anything I've seen before." Garnet looks to David, "Did she tell you anything?"
"She said her name was Alanabeth. And she was trying to keep whatever was inside the bubble somewhere safe."
"There's no doubt she'll return for this. But in the mean time its better off in the temple." Garnet soon bubbles it away.
"I just hope she's alright." Steven said worried.
"Me too." David agreed.
Twilight walks up to both David and Steven, "David. Steven. I think it's time to say our goodbyes."
"What! Why?" Steven express in surprise.
The purple unicorn explains, "As exciting as today was we need to move forward. If someone like Alanabeth is still out there searching for us who knows if our enemies will do the same."
David then chimes in, "In other words. We wouldn't want any of our new friends to get caught up in our troubles."
"I guess you're right." Steven acknowledges.
"Are you sure we can't ask Steven and Lion to join us?" Mabel asks. "It'll be so much fun."
"Yeah! After seeing what he can do. We can build a new team again." Dipper expressed.
"We'll be the second Crystal Gems!" Ed says.
"Except we don't have Gems, Ed." Double D reminded.
Steven blushes and waves. "You guys..."
David goes up to Steven, kneeling down to put his hand on Steven's shoulder, "You would've made an excellent addition to our team, Steven. We would defiantly go on more adventures together." The young man smiled.
"Aww. ~" The Gems reacted movingly.
"Steven's made quite the new friends today." Garnet comments positively.
Steven smiles back, "Thanks. But like Garnet said. We have to be here to protect Beach City, just like you have to protect everyone around you."
David nods, "Now all what's left for us is to figure out where to go to from here." The young man says to himself.
Twilight and the others pause to realize the same situation, "Guess we didn't think too far on that, huh?" She admits.
Lion moves up to David and Steven and sits down. He growls softly.
"Hey! You guys can take Lion?" Steven offers.
"But won't you need Lion?" Dipper asks.
"Nothing to worry about. Lion comes and goes all the time. And he knows where to find places." Steven assures.
Lion snarls at David and his team.
"I think he says you should hurry up."
Everyone but Double D appear excited. "I really don't want to go into that portal again." The sock-head Ed-boy sighs.
"Lighten up Double D, will ya?" Eddy tells him.
Lion allows the gang on his back, with the Pines and Twilight in his man.
"Take care of them for me, Lion." Steven says nuzzling his face to Lion's chest.
The gems stand aside and wave goodbye.
"Go luck on your journey." Said Pearl.
"Don't forget to stop by again real soon." Amethyst calls out.
Steven looks up to David and the others, "Stay safe you guys."
"We will." David nods.
"And away we go…!" Mabel signals.
Lion's eyes glow white again and roars creating a portal running through it. He and the others begin warping through. Double D starts feeling sick again. Lion then creates another portal when unexpectedly, someone or something warping with them starts attacking the group.
"Hey! Where was that coming from?" David exclaims.
They are attacked again, attempted to get shove out of the portal. Lion tries to force his way through, but is attacked once more causing everyone to fall off him. David, the Ed's, Pines, and Twilight all scream falling into the warp stream before disappearing.
Please forgive me for taking this long to finish the chapter. I've been excited to feature Steven Universe for a while now but was stuck on a major writers block after the semester and with so many revelations that happened in the later seasons I wasn't sure which season to focus on most. I know the series is over now but wanted to focus on the character in the mid season which is probably season 3. There was a lot I wish I could've write about for this chapter but didn't want to have another rehash of a previous chapter or just being complete filler. I do hope to introduce more characters and possible explore more of Steven Universe in future chapters. Hope you all enjoyed and feel free to let me know which characters of Steven Universe you'd like me to feature next time.