GEM GLOW
This first story arc would've served as a prologue to the series, and to introduce and establish the main characters: Yamcha and the Crystal Gems.
It begins in Age 733, taking place when Yamcha's only a few months old. Ocha desperately misses his wife and learns that being a parent isn't easy, but he loves his son nonetheless. The two of them live in a small house in the Diablo Desert, with Ocha using a greenhouse to grow and sell produce at a farmer's market. While taking care of Yamcha, Ocha gets a visit from Jasper, Peridot, Lapis Lazuli, Rose Quartz and Apache Tears; despite them feeling bitter over Holly giving up her form, they still want to meet Yamcha and give him some presents (even though he can't use them yet).
During the Gems' visit, Yamcha's gemstone glows for the first time while crying. This shocks Ocha and the Gems; Peridot theorizes that it's Holly trying to shapeshift back to her original form. Unsure of what to do, the Crystal Gems decide to steal Yamcha in the middle of night while Ocha's asleep, and end up taking his truck as well.
While Peridot drives the truck and Rose stays in the passenger seat, Jasper, Lapis and Apache sit in the back as the former holds Yamcha in her arms. Lapis tries to encourage Yamcha to shapeshift back to Holly, displaying her own ability by shapeshifting into a baby to encourage him, but all it does is make him laugh. Apache thinks she's being nonsensical and tries to talk Yamcha into shifting back, but he just babbles and grabs her nose, to which she silently seethes at.
Jasper tries to "intimidate" Yamcha into turning back into Holly, saying that Holly was the strongest Gem she knew and respected, but her frustration gets the best of her and scares Yamcha, causing him to start crying again. Rose becomes angry and snaps at Jasper, then reaches over to grab Yamcha from her. Once he's in her arms, Rose comforts and soothes him, and eventually gets him to stop crying. He even smiles at her, much to Rose's delight. Then, she tries to gently coax him into shapeshifting back into Holly, but all he does is babble and coo at her.
Peridot eventually pulls over and steps out of the truck with the others. She tries to grab Yamcha's gem and pull it out to bring Holly back, but stops when Yamcha giggles at the tickling sensation. In her horror, Peridot realizes that she can't do it. Holly wanted this so much, and even though growth and change aren't natural for Gems, she begrudgingly acknowledges that it'll be natural for Yamcha. The Gems unanimously agree that this is no longer about Holly; from now on, everything has to be about Yamcha. Afterwards, they get back in the truck and drive back to the house, putting Yamcha back in his crib before Ocha can wake up, deciding to help Ocha raise him like Holly would've wanted.
Flashforward 13 years later. Yamcha has grown into a fun-loving teenager. Unfortunately, Ocha had contracted a terminal illness and spends his final days bedridden. Yamcha and the Gems spend all their time with him, making sure his last moments are full of love.
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Right after his father passes away, Yamcha moves out of the house and into Kung Pao Rock (Yamcha's Hideout in the original DBZ), which the Gems have modified into their own Crystal Temple.
Six months after Ocha's death, Yamcha has started getting used to living at Kung Pao Rock, but he deeply misses his father and longs to have that bond with the Gems. The teen decides to create a 'together breakfast' in an attempt to spend time with them, but all five of them are too busy to do so. Frustrated, Yamcha sneaks into the Crystal Temple rooms, and while curiously stumbling through them, he discovers an old journal and a jacket (dark blue with a lighter six-point star, the Crystal Gems' insignia, on the back and a hood) both stored in Peridot's room, amidst all her Meep Morps.
Upon opening the journal, Yamcha realizes that it's full of stories written by his father. Stories detailing how Ocha first met Holly and the Crystal Gems, how Ocha and Holly's relationship started out as infatuation and they grew into a mature, loving couple, and how Ocha and Holly decided to get married and have a baby together.
As Yamcha finishes reading the journal, he feels closer to both of his parents than he had in a long time. After looking at an old photo of his parents, he realizes that the jacket used to be his mother's, and when he tries it on, he finds that it fits him perfectly.
The Gems find him, and after seeing the journal and the jacket, decide to remake the 'together breakfast' and just sit down and talk. The Gems tell Yamcha more about Holly, and by the end of it, Yamcha decides that he wants to be a part of the Crystal Gems' missions and asks them to train him.
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Several more months pass. Yamcha is now 14 and gets individualized training from all five of the Crystal Gems. He's grown stronger and has started to gain a tactical mindset, and has even begun to tap into his Gem powers, including forming a blue bubble shield around himself and using his tears to heal physical injuries. Training with the Gems isn't easy, but Yamcha's determined to push through. And of course, he's almost never seen without his mother's jacket.
While on a training trip with Jasper and Rose, Yamcha encounters a fascinating creature: a giant blue wolf (easily the size of a horse) whom he names Okami.
Yamcha decides to go out on his own with Okami, and ends up encountering a giant worm-like monster (later revealed to be a corrupted Orange Spodumene). Despite panicking at first, Yamcha regains himself and finds a way to outsmart the monster while fighting it. Even so, the monster proves to be too tough for him—he's only in the first year of his training, after all—but just when things look hopeless, Yamcha ends up accidentally pulling a blue sword out of Okami's fur and uses it to destroy the monster's form.
Yamcha puts the sword back in Okami's fur, unsure of what else to do with it, and Rose and Jasper catch up with him immediately afterwards. They're impressed that he managed to defeat the monster on his own, and Rose bubbles its gem. They head back to Kung Pao Rock, now with Okami in tow. Peridot is hesitant to let the wolf live with them, but eventually gives in to Yamcha's pleas; Lapis, for her part, is more than happy to have another friend, while Apache just stares at the animal with a confused yet curious expression.
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A few months later, the Gems decide to take Yamcha on a mission for the first time. They warp to the Strawberry Battlefield and gather the discarded weapons, all while Peridot tells Yamcha that they were from a great Gem battle fought against Homeworld thousands of years ago, fought by a rebellion led by Holly Blue Agate. Okami ends up coming with them to help clean up, and soon returns with something in his teeth. Peridot is shocked to see that it's the scabbard that held Holly's sword.
Back at Kung Pao Rock, Peridot joyfully offers to take Yamcha to a special place that only she and Holly knew about, where she is certain the sword must be. The two of them warp to a cave that functioned as Holly's secret armory, where she stored the majority of her weapons and equipment, and Peridot proudly explains that she was the only one Holly shared her secrets with. Unfortunately, Peridot can't find the sword, but when she explains what it looks like, Yamcha realizes that he knows where it is, much to Peridot's shock.
They warp back to Kung Pao Rock, and Yamcha pulls Holly's sword out of Okami's fur. The Gems are astonished by this, but Peridot refuses to accept Okami's possible connection to Holly, believing that she would have known about him. When Lapis reminds her that Holly kept many secrets from them, Peridot vehemently retorts that Holly did not keep secrets with her, stating their relationship was different. Yamcha tries to defuse the situation, suggesting that maybe Holly was only keeping a secret from Peridot to protect her, but Peridot yells that he would not know since he has never met Holly.
Distraught, Peridot takes the sword and warps away to the Strawberry Battlefield. Jasper, Lapis, Rose and Apache all feel annoyed and upset with her possessiveness over and grief for Holly. Yamcha follows Peridot and finds her sitting at a cliffside, ashamed and depressed. He sits with her, and she ends up telling him about the conversation she had with Holly years ago: Peridot decided to fight by Holly's side despite the consequences (being shattered if they lose, and never returning home if they win), and that Peridot had said that she did not want to go back home if Holly was not there with her, giving Yamcha an insight to what kind of bond they had and why she felt so hurt and betrayed by Holly's secrets.
Peridot quietly wonders what Holly would think of her now. Yamcha embraces her and tells her that he thinks she's amazing, causing her to tear up. They spend the next couple of hours talking, with Peridot attempting to re-enact the battle for Yamcha, and he manages to cheer her up a bit and make her laugh. She ends up giving him the sword back and they warp back home.
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A few months later, Yamcha is now 15. He's growing stronger every day and has started getting used to going on missions with the Gems, as well as developing his own unique fighting style and techniques (Wolf Fang Fist). And to top it all off, he's starting to realize his desire to fall in love and get married one day, though he'll have to get over his fear of girls first (the Gems don't count, they're all mother/aunt/sister figures to him).
Peridot and Lapis decide to take the day off and play a few board games together, while Yamcha and Apache watch them. They inevitably get into an argument over one of the games, and Lapis snaps that this is why they don't form Turquoise anymore. This piques Yamcha's interest and he asks who that is. Peridot explains that Turquoise is the result of her and Lapis performing a dance-like ritual to combine into a single, powerful Gem. Yamcha excitedly asks if they can do it now, but they decline, saying that they only form Turquoise when it's an emergency.
Jasper and Rose return after successfully bubbling another corrupted Gem. Jasper tells Peridot and Lapis that she and Rose found the location of the Shooting Star, an ancient Gem artifact that can be used as a deadly weapon. Rose asks Lapis and Peridot if they can retrieve it while she and Jasper hunt down another corrupted Gem that's wreaking havoc. Peridot and Lapis, still ticked off at each other, try to protest, but Jasper reminds them that, despite their immense strengths, neither of the two Quartzes will be able to touch the Shooting Star, but Peridot and Lapis might be able to with their skills and abilities. They reluctantly agree, and Yamcha and Apache tag along with them.
The four of them warp to a snowy mountain and navigate their way through the Ice Cavern. Yamcha attempts to lighten the mood by asking trivial questions about Turquoise and Gem fusion in general, which Peridot is more than happy to answer, though Lapis rolls her eyes at her more than once and Apache chooses not to comment. They eventually come across the Shooting Star in a shallow well, with Peridot explaining that bare skin cannot endure its heat and its volatile nature.
But before they can pull it out, they're attacked by a corrupted Larimar monster. The four of them fight it off, but it proves to be relentless and causes the ice ceiling to start caving in. In a moment of desperation, Peridot and Lapis fuse into Turquoise to protect Yamcha, and help Apache successfully defeat and bubble Larimar with their combined abilities, much to Yamcha's amazement.
Turquoise manages to carefully bubble the Shooting Star and they return to Kung Pao Rock. Jasper and Rose, who returned earlier looking a little worse for wear but with a few more bubbled Gems in tow, are pleased to see that Yamcha got Lapis and Peridot to fuse. Rose tells him that he'll be great at fusion one day, much to his excitement at the prospect.
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A few weeks later, after much consideration, Yamcha decides that he wants to learn how to wield his mother's sword. Apache Tears, who is the most familiar with weaponry, offers to teach Yamcha the basics.
The Crystal Gems take Yamcha to the old Cloud Arena, where they used to train and spar together years ago. Yamcha, Jasper, Lapis and Rose all sit down to watch Peridot and Apache. Peridot takes out one of her Flask Robonoids, and the others watch in awe as it transforms itself into a Robo version of Apache Tears, which she has created to be the perfect sparring partner with a simple voice command.
Using their own blades, Apache and Robo-Apache have a quick swordfight, leaving Yamcha in awe at her skills. Eventually, Apache wins the fight by stabbing the Robo, causing it to revert back to its Flask form and heal itself. Peridot then reactivates the Robo, but this time so Apache can show Yamcha the basics of sword-fighting.
As she battles against her Robo self again, Apache keeps looking over her shoulder and giving Yamcha step-by-step instructions, including how to wait for the perfect moment to strike. Unfortunately, she becomes distracted and is ultimately stabbed by Robo-Apache, much to the shock of the others as she poofs and her gemstone fall to the ground.
Peridot is horrified. Rose, Jasper and Lapis try to reassure Yamcha that Apache will be fine, that she'll reform once she's healed herself. Feeling a little more optimistic, they take Apache's gem back to Kung Pao Rock. However, time passes, and two weeks later, Apache still hasn't reformed.
Overwhelmed with guilt, Peridot heads off on a 'long-term mission' and disappears almost immediately after the incident. Yamcha begins blaming himself for what happened. Jasper, Rose and Lapis try to cheer him up by letting him come on more missions and spending extra time with him, but it doesn't seem to work. Though they're worried about Peridot as well, they decide to give her some space to work through her emotions.
During his free time, Yamcha warps to the Cloud Arena with Holly's sword and takes out his frustrations on the Robo-Apache, which they kept at the arena and keeps regenerating itself after each fight. Even though he blames himself for getting Apache into that situation, he also blames the Robo for destroying her physical form. And besides, it's a great way to practice the combat skills the Gems have taught him thus far.
Unbeknownst to him, after each fight, Robo-Apache has been automatically upgrading itself to more advanced modes.
And now, at the two-week mark, Yamcha heads to the Arena to fight Robo-Apache again. Before he leaves, Lapis asks him why he keeps going back to the Robo, saying that it's creepy. He responds that, as much as he hates the Robo, he really misses spending time with Apache and Peridot. Jasper reminds him that Peridot and Apache will both be back soon and to just be patient, though she also tells him to stop hanging out with the creepy Robo, before warping away with Lapis.
Choosing to ignore her advice, Yamcha warps to the Cloud Arena. Rose expresses concern for him, but knows he isn't going to change his mind, and asks him to just be careful. Once there, he reactivates Robo-Apache. He fights it and has a tough time, getting cut more than once, but in the end, he stabs the Robo and wins the fight. He heads back to the Warp Pad, but is unaware that he's unlocked Robo-Apache's most advanced setting. The Robo immediately repairs and reactivates itself, and follows Yamcha after he warps away.
Yamcha returns to Kung Pao Rock, spent from the fight and wanting to just patch up his wounds. Rose starts helping him out, but that's when Robo-Apache warps in and attacks Yamcha before either of them have time to think, actually trying to kill him this time. Rose jumps in to help out, summoning her shield to protect him from the Robo's attacks. But Peridot's programmed this thing to go all-out and be brutal in its final stage, and that's exactly what it does.
They go back and forth for a while, and even with Rose's assistance, Yamcha receiving more injuries as he struggles to move fast enough or strike hard enough. As a result of their fight, a good portion of the inside of Kung Pao Rock gets destroyed.
After what feels like forever, Yamcha remembers what Apache said about waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Rose helps him distract the Robo, and instead of just stabbing it again, he slices it in half at the right moment. The Robo reverts back to its Flask form, but Yamcha doesn't let it get any further than that, repeatedly stabbing it, stomping on it, and ripping it apart by hand, all to make sure the Robo-Apache never comes back.
Yamcha collapses in exhaustion, his clothing ripped up and covered in his blood. Rose doesn't hesitate to help him bandage his wounds. After a few minutes, Jasper and Lapis warp in, with the former holding a bubbled gem and the latter looking more than a little banged-up from their mission. They're shocked at the state of both their teammates and Kung Pao Rock.
Lapis and Jasper help Rose finish up the bandaging process, while she and Yamcha explain everything that happened. Then, once they're done and Rose heads into the kitchen to make dinner, they scold him for doing something so reckless, but at the same time, they're proud of how far he's come in his training. As they talk, Yamcha admits that, even though he still misses Apache, he's willing to wait for her now.
As soon as he's done talking, Apache's gem glows and she reforms. Yamcha's overjoyed to see Apache and hugs her; she's surprised at first but, even though she's not good with interaction and emotions, returns his hug after a minute. Apache is shocked to see Yamcha in a bandaged state and asked him what happened, and Rose answered that he's mastered her and Peridot's training.
Though surprised and confused, Apache admits that she's proud of Yamcha, but then looks around asks where Peridot is. Yamcha quietly admits that he doesn't know and that she went off on a 'long-term mission'. Rose thinks she knows where Peridot is and offers to go find her, and warps away.
Sure enough, Rose returns a few minutes later with a nervous-looking Peridot in low. As soon as she sees Apache, Peridot hesitantly walks over to her and apologizes for what she did. Apache, however, doesn't blame Peridot for what happened, and even smirks and says she'll make sure to amp up her game in the future, to which Peridot chuckles at.
Yamcha, happy that everyone's back together, goes to help Rose out with dinner. Peridot then notices the state of Kung Pao Rock for the first time and asks what happened. She looks over at Lapis, still injured, and dryly says she doesn't even want to know what happened to her. Lapis chuckles out that she got hit by an airplane while chasing down a flying monster…then promptly passes out on the floor. Peridot sighs that she can't leave any of them alone for five minutes.
Things will be pretty similar to the canon (for both Dragon Ball and Steven Universe), but things will take a hard turn once we get to Z!
I'll be posting drawings of them on my deviantArt account later on (ScissorSoulOtaku235 if you want to check it out), but in case anyone's wondering, I decided to give the Crystal Gems new outfits for this AU. Here's a quick description of them:
Peridot – black tank top; off-shoulder, long-sleeved, cropped medium-green sweater; bright green bandana with a golden six-point star; high-waisted dark green pants; her green Limb Enhancers, albeit scratched up and covered in duct tape in a few places, and her visor
Jasper – maroon tank top; sleeveless red vest with ripped, pale orange trimming; dark mahogany pants; red boots with dark red toe caps; fingerless dark maroon elbow-high gloves with red trimming
Lapis Lazuli – off-shoulder cobalt-blue crop top with short navy-blue butterfly sleeves, golden trimming on top, and a golden six-point star with a white outline; knee-length flowing cobalt-blue skirt, white middle, golden trimming on the bottom, and a navy-blue sash around her waist; navy-blue stockings that are ripped and don't cover her toes or heels; golden six-point star barrette in her hair
Rose Quartz – strapless, floor-length dress with multiple layers resembling rose petals and a sweetheart neckline; top is icy-pink and has a diagonal, layered look to it and white trimming on the neckline; skirt is high-waisted and is a gradient of pastel pink to dark carnation pink; white ribbon tied around her waist; six-point star cutout over her navel, revealing her gemstone
Apache Tears – short-sleeved, knee-length doll-like dress; dark gray top; black skirt; white collar; white lace trimming on the sleeves; white trimming at the bottom of the skirt; gray sash around her waist; knee-high white socks; black dolly shoes; white six-point star on her chest; white bow on the back of her head
(Note: I didn't change Apache's outfit from Moonstone210's design. You can go check out her deviantArt page if you want to see it)