And after that nightmare fuel, let's tone things down a bit with something lighthearted!
Steven called his father in the middle of the night after the entire place was cleared out. Lapis, after recovering from her panic attack, retold as much as she could without getting too emotional. At first the gem was scared she was legitimately going insane, but Steven and Pearl clarified that it was merely images created by her subconscious that were in no way real. While that soothed her somewhat, Lapis was still shaken to the core by that and the damage she had wreaked on their house. Now they, along with a groggy Greg, were sitting around his van with the music man in the back with his son.
"Well, I had a hunch that the place would get trashed with the magical shenanigans you all get up to in there," he remarked, "But at least everything's still standing. I'll call a crew to inspect it in the morning."
"Thank you, Greg. I'm sorry we had to call you so late, but we figured you should know," said Pearl.
"Well, at least this happened after I got a ton of money to fix it with! And Lapis, try to pinch yourself so you wake up early if this happens again okay?"
The crestfallen gem was sitting on top of the van with her back to everyone. She only replied with a noncommittal grunt. As Steven rode away with his dad to stay with him until the house was deemed safe, the Gems simply sat on the beach (minus Lapis who took to sitting on the roof, still unable to look at them) with nothing in mind to pass the time.
Steven woke up in his caterpillar sleeping bag to find Greg cooking a deluxe breakfast for two: chocolate chip waffles, microwave bacon and orange juice boxes freshly picked from a cooler. Some of Greg's first purchases after he hit his fortune were to upgrade his mobile kitchen could use an upgrade from more than a single waffle iron.
"Morning, schtu-ball!"
"Good morning dad," smiled Steven, "Has anyone gone by the house yet?"
"Not yet, but they'll get there soon. I took a peek inside and it looks alright, but water damage is no joke." He handed Steven his plate as he shared the news. "Worst case scenario, they have to change the flooring and plumbing. Although, we may need to redo the whole bathroom, I didn't check in there… We'll worry about that when that comes. So, what do you want to do today while that happens?"
Steven was simply looking at his plate, despite his stomach openly protesting. "I don't know… With all that's gone on recently I'm not sure what to expect anymore. All I know is Lapis really needed help before and this whole thing's just going to make her feel worse." The two ate their meal in silence until Greg came up with an idea.
"It sounds like you could all use a break from all the alien invasions and new powers… Why not just have a fun day?"
Steven seemed to lighten up at the thought. "Yeah… We haven't really done anything together since Lapis and Peridot moved in with us. We could all hang out and forget all this Homeworld stuff for a while! That sounds great!"
"Alrighty then, so that's settled! Let your old man take care of home repairs while you and Gems have a day without any worries! Any ideas on what you want to do?"
"We haven't done anything at Funland recently. That could be a fun time!"
"So it's a plan! You spend the day relaxing and I'll make some calls to get the house looked at. I think I'll call Connie first…"
"Wha? How come?"
"Well, I'm sure she'd like to have some time off too, right?"
"You're the best Dad I've ever had!" Steven hugged his old man as he was dialing his bookworm buddy to join in on their festivities. "But wait, do you want come along to? You shouldn't have to do all the work yourself."
"Hey now, I'm the adult! It's my job to worry about renovations and bills and your job to eat funnel cakes and win stuffed animals."
"And save the world!"
"Yeah… that too," Greg put down the phone as Dr. Mahesweran picked up on the other line, looking rather dejected at that last comment.
"Dad? Are you alright? Was it something I said?"
"Huh? Oh no, Steven you're fine. Tell you what, if there's nothing major that needs doing today, I'll swing by and join in on the fun okay?"
"Okay. I'll walk back so you can get started. See you later, daddy-o!"
"Later, son-brero!" Greg waved his son goodbye as Connie got on the phone and gladly agreed to spend the day with the gems. All the while, though, Greg was more relieved than anything to know Steven would be taking a day off from his usual routine of recovering gem treasures and fighting hostile invaders. He was proud of him for doing such heroic deeds, but can he just spend one day as a normal kid whose biggest problems was puberty?
It was an almost alien feeling as of late, the Crystal Gems having nothing on their plates while the house was being inspected. While some of them insisted on helping with repairs or cleanup, Steven talked them into having a day to themselves. Considering the last one caused Lapis Lazuli to stick around, they figured all of them could benefit from some destressing time.
After grabbing a nutritious lunch of fry bits from the Fryman's shack for Steven, the eager half-gem, Connie and the five alien women stood at the entrance to Beach City Funland where Mr. Smiley, the owner and apparent sole operator of the park, was there to meet them.
"Hey there, special guests! Come to have a fun-derful day here?" he greeted with is usual ear-to-ear grin, "I've been told that you guys are to be treated as VIPs today!"
"Really? Who said that?" asked Peridot, "And what does 'VIP' mean?"
"First question, Mr. Universe's debit card, that's who! Second of all, it stands for Very Important Person and means you all get these special wristbands and cards to ride and play as much as you want all day!" Having his hands behind his back the whole time, he revealed seven golden cards in his left hand and seven paper bands in his right. They all gladly accepted their gifts, though there was clearly some apprehension in his cheer.
"I just hope he's willing to pay any collateral damages too…" he thought to himself, hoping someone would guess the sweat on his brow was from the heat.
Lapis, still partially morose from her sleepless night, was holding her card and wristband with dread as if her touch would cause them to explode. "So… what exactly do we do here?"
"Don't worry, summertime fun buddy! I know just the thing for you and Peridot now!" He took hold of her hand along with the grumbling Peridot (muttering how the proper term for her would be VIG, but she could post in disgust about that later) and steered them towards the Funland Arcade where the two were instantly taken aback by the multitude of games in front of them.
"Wow! Are these all video games?!" said a slightly overwhelmed Lapis, the sight finally lifting her out of her funk.
"Yep! And thanks to those cards in your hands, you can play as much as you want! Have fun in there!"
The two charged in like children handed the keys to a candy store with Amethyst deciding to join them, ready to cheat her way at skee-ball again. The other four wandered off for their own way to spend the time. Garnet decided to simply settle on a bench and observe the occasional passersby and the scenery, taking in the salty air and sounds of merriment with her usual calm demeanor.
"So Pearl, what do you want to do?" asked Connie.
"Well, I've learned that those games are not my strong suit and although these rides seem like an adequate distraction, I don't know how they would compare to all the excitement I have experienced…"
"Well, you might as well try some, right? That wristband is only good for one day after all."
Hearing this the refined gem began to deliberate to herself, observing all the attractions around her until her eyes settled on the tilt-a-whirl. The three headed over and, with a flash of their wristbands, were let on the ride and enjoyed several minutes of joyous spinning. At least that was the case for the kids as Pearl was quickly overwhelmed, demanding the operator to diminish the velocity and inertia this instant. Naturally, the person Smiley had hired to operate the ride was a typical high-school student so his only response to the fully disoriented Pearl as she stumbled off the ride was "May the force be with you next time!" with a smirk. If it were not for her inability to find a single target in her vision, Pearl would have launched into a lengthy lecture about physics until Steven and Connie dragged her off to a bench to regain her senses.
"I guess thrill rides aren't your thing either Pearl…" remarked Connie, "You'd think after everything you've done this would be nothing."
"Your confidence is appreciated, Connie, but I suppose my mindset is different in combat. I will say it is nice to have some private time with you all, even if that little hooligan can't be bothered to know the most basic concepts of physics…" Before she could launch into several minutes of frustrated rambling, Amethyst walked over.
"Hey dudes! What are you all up to?" asked the purple gem, wearing a pair of tacky blue heart-glasses she got from the arcade's prize cabinet.
"Pearl didn't like the tilt-a-whirl," remarked Steven.
"And most likely wants to reform the public education system," added Connie.
"Hah! That is something she'd do to relax…" she laughed, lowering her new shades to give the disgruntled Pearl a smug look. The recovering gem crossed her arms, although it was obvious she could tell Amethyst was joking and was laughing at her own expense. A few more seconds passed before Pearl assured she was fine and the two could run off by themselves so long as they were all together at the end of the day. Amethyst took the now empty seat next to Pearl and kicked her feet up to get comfortable.
"So what happened in the arcade? Did you win all those tickets that fast?" inquired Pearl.
"Nah, it turns out Smiley got some kids to oversee the arcade and one of them caught me. After she yelled at me for like five minutes, she agreed to let me have anything I wanted as long as I didn't come back. And now I got these sweet things for free!"
"You already had free admittance," Pearl grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Why did you feel the need to cheat?"
"Because it's my way of having fun and it doesn't hurt anyone. I mean, yeah, sucks for the park who buys this stuff, but these can't cost more than a few bucks. I could have asked for something really nice, you know? She did say anything they had, after all."
Pearl looked straight up in alarm. "That's… actually a very reasonable argument. What parallel dimension did that spinning death-machine send me to?"
The rowdy gem laughed at her discomfort, but got unusually quiet after some time. She crossed her arms and tried her hardest to look at anything except Pearl. The more disciplined gem recognized this behavior. Amethyst had something on her mind.
"What's bothering you? I doubt this has something to do with throwing balls into holes."
While her phrasing did cause Amethyst to chuckle, she eventually looked over and asked a hard-hitting question.
"Pearl…what was the first gem war really like?" Her voice was terribly quiet and restrained compared to her normal tone.
"What?! Why the sudden interest in it?" replied Pearl.
"Because I never saw any of it. Sure, Rose would say some things about it, but she never gave me a real look at it. I think she was worried it'd freak me out and scare me off…" Her fists tightened and her eyes looked squarely at the planks below her.
"Amethyst… are you afraid that Homeworld is coming to attack?" Pearl placed a hand on the smaller gem's shoulder, but was shaken off.
"Maybe…" she sulked, "I mean, it's just swarms of angry gems armed with boatloads of weapons better than ours, there's thousands of them and only six of us, and they can make freaky mad science crap that can blow up the planet! What's to be scared of, am I right?!" Her glasses clattered to the ground as she began shaking in fear, but Pearl simply placed an arm around her.
"Of course I would be scared, Amethyst. Frankly, I'm grateful you or Steven didn't have to see any of that. For all the things I miss from the rebellion; all my old friends, the victories we had, Rose… It was terrifying. One minute your comrade was next to you, then they were gone and never heard from again. I feel blessed that it has stayed quiet for so long. I feel like everything Rose fought for was worth it getting to spend so much time here without having to look over my shoulder."
Pearl and Amethyst locked eyes, a mutual sense of gratefulness passing through them and returning to the lighthearted day they were supposed to be enjoying. The two stood up, Amethyst quickly reclaiming her glasses, before strolling off to find something to entertain them.
"Besides," Pearl remarked as they began on their way, "I doubt Homeworld would know how to corner the Purple Puma." She finished with an identical smirk to the one she received earlier, earning a sisterly punch to the arm for her wit.
Without meaning to, the seven very-important-visitors split into pairs with Steven and Connie partaking in as many rides as they could before they needed to catch their breath, Lapis and Peridot were glued to the arcade as they gorged on one game after the next with the two finding a special fondness for air hockey, and Amethyst and Pearl simply talked while observing the people and jabbing at each other for kicks. That left Garnet on the same bench she had been on since they arrived, only now her thoughts had drifted away from the scenery onto more pressing concerns.
"So much has happened that I should have seen…" she thought morosely, reflecting on the past few weeks of abduction, attacks, and other nasty surprises. She was immensely grateful that none of the other gems were around to see her turmoil, fearing that would dampen the fun they were all having.
Inside her head two voices were in the middle of an argument.
"I just don't get it!" yelled Ruby, "These Homeworld creeps keep getting the jump on us! Heck, they may have caught Steven if Lapis wasn't there!"
"I see that is rather unlikely," retorted Sapphire, "Given our collective skills, Steven's unexpected level of improvement and Peridot's usefulness, the odds of them succeeding were slim."
"But that's just it! You said Steven's improvement was 'unexpected', shouldn't we know about it?"
"I am just as displeased as you are! We just can't see everything or else none of this would have happened!"
Garnet felt the displeasure well up and started shaking in her seat, clutching herself to stop her quaking.
"Quiet!" she hissed at herself "Don't fall apart now, that's the last thing they all need to see!"
It seemed to work as she became stable once again, but the inadequacy lingered. She took several deep breaths to calm her doubts. She hummed a soothing melody, the same one she taught Stevonnie months ago, to regain her serenity. She stood up and decided to do something with her time and walked up to the arcade where she found Peridot and Lapis playing a remake of the arcade classic "Univina", only instead of a simple space-shooter, this version bombarded the ten-foot tall screen in front of them with rainbow flashes every time they blew up an enemy fighter. The newest Crystal Gems were happily blasting away, even as the multitude of colors distracted them from their actual objective.
"HA! If only piloting a vessel were this simple," waxed Peridot as she blew through line after line of fighters, "I could have an entire fleet under my control and still read a book at the same time!"
"And yet you can't get the hang of pinball," smirked Lapis, who gladly took the backseat to her showboating partner as she hit whatever ship Peridot overlooked in her grandstanding.
"Well excuse me if it's difficult to play the game properly when you CAN'T SEE THE TABLE!"
"So you thought using your metal powers on a tiny ball in a machine filled with metal objects would work?"
"Relax, I got it unstuck and the damage is mostly cosmetic. It's not like such a primitive machine is difficult or costly to repair right?"
Garnet simply smiled at their banter, but made a mental note to bring something to cheer Greg up when he got his next bank statement.
The Gems had all agreed to reunite at the entrance to the park around sunset to head home with Connie being brought home on a portal to Lion. According to her phone, they still had at least two hours to enjoy themselves and thus she and Steven were feeding seagulls some leftover popcorn they could not finish to unwind after several rounds of carnival rides, processed food, and just having a grand time together.
Steven and she were perfectly content to sit there for the rest of the day until their time was up, maybe head into the arcade themselves for a bit, until Steven got a phone call from his father.
"Hey Dad! Is everything good for you to come over?" he asked, hoping he could challenge his old man to the ring toss, but he quickly learned that was not going to happen.
"Steven, I'm afraid that's not happening. In fact, you and the Crystal Gems need to come home now. I've already called Dr. Mahesweran to pick up Connie. She doesn't need to see this…" His voice was weary and ridden with guilt as if he just made a deal he immediately regretted.
"What? What's wrong, you sound upset?"
"I can't explain, just hurry up and get here before-" was all he got out before the call ended. Steven instantly stood up and ran into the amusement park and found Amethyst and Pearl still strolling without a care in the world.
"Guys!" he yelled, snapping them out of their pleasant bickering, "We need to get back to the temple! I think my dad is in trouble!"
"What?!" They both shouted in shock. The two ran back to find Garnet, Lapis and Peridot. Connie grabbed Steven's wrist before he could join on their search party.
"Steven, what's going on?! Is it Homeworld again?" she asked looking into his eyes, eager to help.
"Connie, Dad just told me your mom is coming to pick you up. He doesn't want you here and it sounds like something has him seriously scared. I can't change his mind now, just trust me, okay?"
She was clearly displeased with this, but decided to bow to Greg's wishes this time. Plus, knowing her mother, she figured if she ran off she would have half of the state police force looking for her missing daughter. Connie stayed on the same bench waiting for her ride while all six of the Crystal Gems ran up towards the entrance. Steven waved goodbye to his friend as he dashed off with his family.
It only took a few minutes for the Crystal Gems to return, Steven actually being at the head of the pack as he sprinted ahead with a combination of anxiety and anger on his face. Garnet was next carrying Peridot on her shoulders so the smaller technician would not fall behind followed by Pearl and Amethyst running alongside each other in unison. Lapis was farther behind them, flying several stories in the air to get a bird's eye view of any potential threat. It also gave her some semblance of peace so she could decide whether she wanted to enter whatever danger was ahead. When they rounded the cliff on the beach near their home, they were stunned by what they saw: a war zone.
It was apparent that Greg delivered on his promise of getting inspectors to look at the house today as several pick-up trucks were scattered about with some basic building supplies in tow for good measure. The disheartening part was that all of them were severely damaged, some being twisted and burned as if doused by a flamethrower while others were half-buried in sand and smashed by rocks. They saw trails of footprints leading up towards the house, implying whatever caused this sent the workers running away in a panic.
"Dad?! Where are you? Are you okay?" shouted Steven, paralyzed at seeing the carnage. The other gems were all stupefied, some readying themselves for a threat while others gawked at the mayhem.
The tension broke as the front door to the beach house opened. Out walked Greg, his head hung low in shame with his hands behind his back.
"Greg, thank goodness!" exclaimed Pearl, "What caused all of this?!"
The answer soon came forward as a new gem walked about behind him. Her face was unreadable as she walked down the stairs to the group while Greg remained on the porch, his hands bound behind his back by a pair of stone handcuffs.
All of the Crystal Gems revealed their weapons as the attacker walked forward. None of them recognized what type of gem this was; chartreuse skin, long hair, burly physique under a jacket and long pants. She stopped ten feet away from them when the sound of a roaring fire caught their attention. They all turned to see a massive fireball racing towards them from up the beach, stopping ten feet from their backs. The flames died down to reveal another unidentifiable gem, this one scarlet with a more revealing black ensemble and a placid grin on her face like she frequented long walks as a small inferno often and this was just a pleasant distraction.
"Who are you two?! What do you want?!" shouted Steven, his emotions boiling over seeing his home wrecked and his father imprisoned.
"My name is Adamite," said the green gem to their front, "The other one is Cinnabar. We want two things from you. First, we want any and all information about a Lapis Lazuli in the area."
"And?"
"Rose Quartz. We plan on forcing her back to Homeworld to face punishment for her crimes."
Hope you enjoyed your break from the action, because a whole lot of it is coming next time when The Crystal Gems fight Adamite and Cinnabar!
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave a review!