Uptown Funk
Yo (Excuse me miss)- Chris Brown
"So little man I heard you been having some problems?" Shadow was washing yesterday nights dishes. A horrible task that was proving more taxing than he thought. Last night was Indian night and almost all the dishes had rice stuck to them or curry that clogged the sink.
Steven looked up from his phone at Shadow. "What?"
Shadow grinned at him. "I heard you and Connie have been having some problems. Want to talk about it?"
Steven groaned at him. "Can a fourteen-year-old just suffer in silence around here."
Shadow shook his head.
"Well, she hasn't spoken to me in weeks. She was pretty upset that I let myself get kidnapped. Even Lion is mad at me and lion is a lion." Steven lowered his head on the countertop. "I just wish I could-" Steven stopped abruptly and popped his head back up. "There's a party!"
His eyebrow arched. "A party?"
"Yeah, a party! I was invited by this jerk named Kevin. He told me Connie would be there. The party is tonight." Steven looked so excited Shadow thought he would pop.
Jasper was finally awake. Her hair was a mess and drool stained her face. In her orange pajamas decorated with funny looking gem sheep, she was a goofy sight.
Shadow pulled a bagel smothered in cream cheese on a plate and placed it down in front of Jasper. On the side a glass of OJ.
"Thank you." Jasper let her face fall on the bagel getting cream cheese on Stevens' face. "That hits the spot." The gem groaned in pleasure.
Steven laughed and wiped his face.
"Steven if you need some back up I can go," he looked at his partner still smothering herself with the bagel. "Bagel butt over here will come too."
"WHAT!?" Jasper shot up at the mention of her actually having to do something. "We just got back why do you want to go do things. Come on let's just chill and watch the sunrise, punch a rock-"
Shadow put a hand up to stop her. "First things first. Drink your OJ."
"Shadow come on I don't-"
"That juice is apart of a healthy balanced breakfast. Drink it." You could see electricity bounce off his body.
Jasper didn't say anything until she drunk all of the juice.
Steve laughed at their goofiness. "Honestly I'm really nervous. What if she leaves the party when she sees me?"
Shadow placed another plate on the dry rack before answering. "Steven you can ask as many questions as you want, I hate to tell you bud but I don't have the answer. All you can do is shoot your shot and see how far you can go."
Jasper took a big bite of her bagel and burst into a fit of laughter so hard she shot bagel on Shadows face. "I've seen you shoot your shot," she said with air quotations. "You broke that old ladies window when I was right in front of you!" Now Jasper was pointing and still spewing bagel all over Shadow and the clean dishes.
He just stared at her blankly, you know, that I'm done with your shit look. He even shot Steven a dirty look when he joined in.
"In all seriousness will join you to make sure everything is alright." Shadow finished up the dishes and settled himself to some Chai tea he had left here. Honestly, he wasn't expecting the tea to still be in the cabinets when he returned. They were holding on to the hope that he might still be alive.
The sun's light twinkled off the water creating diamonds across its surface. A boat in the distance looked like a toy and the sun floated in the sky like one big ornament that was out of place with all that blue.
Jaspers hands wrapped around his waist. Her huge arms pulled him in a hold that he wouldn't dare escape from. Shadow laughed when he had to stretch the cup out of reach of her hair that smothered his face.
"What you thinking about?" She asked him in her usual husky voice.
Shadow took one sip of his drink. "Stuff and things. Keep on touching me and I'll tell you more."
Jasper told him. "Well, I want to know now."
The gem could have the moon in her hand and somehow she could ruin that moment.
"Well it's been two days and things seem to be going well. I mean, at least I think so. No one has tried to kill us. We're not sleeping in a car and food that doesn't have to be microwaved is in our bellies. Well, my belly at least. Things are good right now, it's only a matter of how long it will last."
Jasper let go of him to stand next to him. "Things are going well for you."
Shadow gave her a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"
"Everyone is treating me weird. Garnet only crosses her arms and nods at me, Amethyst only talks to me when I stare at her and oh, don't get me started with Pearl." Jasper started fuming out her ears just thinking about all of them.
"Girl you just don't know them that well or just need to get to know them. Garnet is almost always like that, get her out of her comfort zone. Try to relate and I bet you two can find a lot of things in common. You only address Amethyst as runt so that's not surprising that she would react that way. Pearl on the other hand." Shadow didn't know what kind of advice to give for that gem. He was having a hard time trying to talk to her alone, every time he tried she would walk away. It honestly hurt him to have her act this way towards him. Couldn't really blame her though, she felt betrayed.
"I'll talk to Pearl whenever I get the chance." Was all he could tell her.
Jasper eyes him up and down suspiciously. She was about to say something when Steven came bursting out of the cabin. He went straight to Jasper and grabbed her hand. "Come on Jasper I need a shirt to buy for the party."
The gem tried to pull away from Steven. "Oh wait I don't know about this. Why don't you get Shadow to help you out?" She looked to him for help but he was already waving her off.
"Have fun you two. Jasper don't go and rip someone's arm off." Shadow laughed to himself.
Jasper was cursing his name all the way down the stairs until she was out of earshot.
Finally some peace and quiet.
The door flew open and out stepped Garnet and Amethyst.
Fuck.
"Hey look at the nerd sip his tea," Amethyst made fun of him. "Do you need a top off on the ole kettle?" Her attempt at a British accent was perfect, on a scale of one to ten she got a solid two.
Garnet chuckled. "The great Gem of Britain."
Shadow turned around and rested his elbows on the rail. "You two sound like your looking for a fight. Up for a little exercise?"
Amethyst suddenly grew purple and suddenly she was five inches taller than him in a leotard and straight muscle. The usual form she had when participating in those wrestling tournaments she loved so much.
"Sounds like your trying to ride the pain train," Amethyst said with a macho like accent. Solid four.
He put the cup down and vaulted over the rail. He tucked into a roll and came up on his feet in one fluid motion. "The only one riding the pain train is you, first class!" Yeah, that was a good come back.
Amethyst leaped into the air and rolled into a ball of energy. Like a comet, she launched herself at him. Shadow just barely rolled out of the way when she struck the sand sending a cloud of sand everywhere. Amethyst threw a meaty punch at his face which he ducked but the front kick to his stomach made his knees buckle. She brought down a double fist to take him down but he came up in with a block and struck her in the gut with an elbow. She reeled back just enough for him to spin around and get her with a back kick. Even though her head snapped back she had just enough reach grab his leg.
"Take this!" With amazing strength, she slammed on the ground back and forth two times before tossing him into the air.
Shadow spun around the air before he started to slowly straighten out. When he looked down and didn't see Amethyst he panicked. Garnet, on the patio, gave him an amused grin and pointed behind him. When he turned his head to look at what caused a shadow to cast over him he gulped. Amethyst ducked into a ball and launched herself straight at him.
Stars filled his eyes and sand his lungs. Body aching and defeat on his tongue he was going to hear about this fight for a while.
Amethyst returned to her regular smaller form and laughed as she ran up to him. "Amethyst one, Shadow none."
Shadow couldn't help but laugh himself. He pushed himself up off the ground and patted himself down. "Don't worry I'll win the next fight. I'm just a little rusty."
Garnet approached them. "I'm surprised you didn't use those fancy powers of yours Shackster."
Shadow stuck his tongue out at her, she knew that nickname was given to him from Amethyst to tease him. "I haven't been able to properly use my powers since before I left. I've just been under so much stress." Another lie he made up. He knew the reason why, so did Pearl.
Back in the cabin Shadow was getting dressed. After a few hours, Jasper and Steven returned with a couple shirts. Steven decided on the pink one at the last minute. Outside Jasper was in the car honking for them to hurry up.
Shadow was in the bathroom finishing up. He had to take another shower cause he didn't get all the sand out the first time. For attire, he decided on a casual red button up under a black bomber jacket he had. Shadow dabbed some cologne on his neck and he was ready to go. With a turn of the knob, he opened the door.
He walked around the corner and Steven was already making his way down the steps. Standing in the doorway was Pearl watching him leave. From here he could see her faint smile turn into a frown. From the sounds of his footsteps or Jasper in the car ready to take her godson to the party he wouldn't bother guessing.
He spoke softly. "Pearl." Her name rolled off his tongue like a dime off a table.
The gem turned her eyes to him. Her frown was replaced with a scowl that he wasn't use to. "No, don't you start with me Shadow." Pearl began to walk past him and Shadow followed.
"Come on Pearl talk to me. Please help me fix this." Shadow wanted to grab her but she was in no mood for that.
Pearl spun around, face a complete shade of blue and eyes filled with that storm he didn't want to face. "I worried about you every single day that you were gone. Steven told me what happened and I wished to the stars that you would come back to us. I even kept your tea in the cabinet just in case you would come back," tears started to well up in her eyes. "When I saw you for the first time in what felt like forever I thought I was the happiest gem alive. My hero who protected me from an evil human was back."
Shadow started to take a step back. The memories of what he did filled his mouth with disgust.
"Don't talk about that night." His right hand started to shake.
"And why not?" Pearl snapped. "When I woke up do you know what I saw?"
He didn't answer.
"I saw what you had done to him. Tore his limbs from his body and snapped his neck. At first, I didn't believe it was you then I saw the scorch marks surrounding the area. It took me a few days to remember what had happened and when I did I was happy. You saved me from a monster."
"No Pearl." Shadow grabbed her by the shoulders. Hearing her talk like this hurt him more than she knew.
The gem flinched but she didn't dare to move.
"Look. What I did scares you, I know it did, don't pretend it doesn't." Shadow fought back the urge to just collapsed on the floor all at once. Killing Chad, those people at the farm. It was all in defense of someone else, yet, he still felt like the bad guy. Pearl didn't understand that. "Pearl I've killed people. Not just Chad but worse. Killed them like they were just ants under my shoe. If you think for one second that I'm not a monster like those people then your wrong." Shadow let her go and headed for the door.
"Shadow!" Pearl called for him. Shadow stopped just between the doorway. "Will talk when you get back. I promise." Pearl sounded hopeful, that was about the only thing she could give him.
Shadow looked back, gave her a forced smile then left. It was party time and he was already in a foul mood.
Night came quicker than they thought. Shadow, Steven, and Jasper arrived at the address Kevin had provided Steven. It was a hilltop house little ways out from Beach City. The neighborhood itself screamed rich people and all the sports cars parked alongside the road put theirs to shame.
"Enter here." Read a sign above a closed gate on the side of the house.
Jasper went to find a parking spot while Shadow and Steven went ahead.
Shadow opened up the gate to the back of the house. A pool sat at the center of the yard. A DJ played some horrible beats, teens and adults of all shapes and sizes partied around or played in the pool.
A teen with slick black hair blue shirt and scarf approached them. He had a scowl on his face that irritated Shadow already. His last conversation with Pearl left him a little irritable so he was gonna just stay silent and cool.
"What took you so long?" He looked at Shadow up and down. "And who is this? You trying to bring unpopular people to my party?"
Shadow could almost shed a tear. He was probably the coolest guy here.
"This is Shadow he's a good friend of mine, and sorry, Jasper wouldn't stop for directions." Steven lifted up the bag. "Snacks?"
Kevin took the bag from his hand and tossed it over a nearby tree.
Shadow opened his mouth to say something when all of a sudden a crash came from inside the house. Steven and he looked at each other cause there was only one person who could cause that much noise.
"Ummm, Steven." Shadow grew nervous.
Steven waved a hand at Shadow. "Yeah go ahead I'll be here. You kids are safe now." Steven laughed when he tousled his hair as he ran off.
The screen door opened up and Shadow was instantly hit with the smell of alcohol and pretzels. He didn't want to know why a pretzel had such a strong smell but it did.
A crowd of people was huddled in the living room surrounding someone or something.
"Look she can barely do it!"
Another spectator laughed. "He's gonna beat her I know it!"
Shadow grew worried and shoved his way through the crowd. The living room was pretty big, a second floor gave more spectators a perfect view of what was going on down below. Another shove and Shadow was able to peek his head over the shoulders of someone else.
"What the fuck." Shadows jaw dropped at what he was seeing.
In the middle of the living room, Jasper was dancing in front of a ridiculously large flat screen. She was mirroring a dancer on some video game that danced way better than she was. Jasper tried her best to keep up but the gem had only danced once before, it was nothing like this.
"It's like watching a piece of meatloaf dance!" A man on the sidelines shouted a crew of three others joined in on the laughter.
From where he was shadow could see her blushing.
Shadow gritted his teeth and shouted. "Hey, why don't shut your face!"
Jasper spun around at the sound of his voice in shock. So did everyone else.
Everyone parted as if he was Moses or something. He was starting to wish he didn't say anything.
The man and the three other people walked towards in perfect sync. All of them were dressed up in mc-hammer pants, sports jerseys or hoodies, and stupid lid hats. The perfect image of a twenty-first-century douche. Beautiful.
"So you think you can just stroll in here and insult us?" His voice was an awful high pitched tone that made his ears ring.
Shadow coughed and straightened up. "Yes I do," he looked at Jasper who started to stomp her way towards them. "Oh, you guys are about to get it now-"
Jasper was right on top of him. She reached a hand underneath his legs and grabbed him in a fireman carry. She hoisted him up over her head and tossed him onto the couch.
Shadow took a second to compose himself. He was more shocked than anything. When he was able to sit up he could see Jasper arguing with the douche.
"That doesn't count he distracted me!" Jasper was about to seconds from grabbing him by the throat until the man raised up his hand. He dangled his prize in front of her face. It was the car keys.
When Shadow got closer he heart dropped. "Nooooo, you didn't!"
Jasper looked down shamefully. "I'm sorry Shadow I lost."
"Before I lose it tell me what happened." Shadow crossed his arms over his chest.
Jasper made a swipe for the keys but the man pulled back.
"Damn it!"
Shadow gave her a stern look. "Jasper!"
The gem turned to him in defeat. "Okay! Well…" she looked around at the crowd that grew bigger. "I accidentally bumped into one of these geeks and they took it as an insult. They thought I was disrespecting them and wouldn't let me through so they challenged me to this dance game. One thing led to the next and now the keys are gone."
Shadow put his face in his hands. How this gem managed to be a general of an army was beyond him. Sometimes Shadow felt like he wore the big boy pants in this relationship.
He turned to the man. "Hey mannnn," he tried to sound as friendly as he could but was failing. "As you can see this is all just some big misunderstanding. Do you think maybe I could get my keys back and will let bygones be bygones?"
Everyone around them started to boo and shout. A red cup hit Shadow in the back of the head.
"You hear the people man, they want a battle, a dance battle. Either you battle us and win or your gonna have to get used to your lamberfeeties." All his tool buddies laughed at that one. If he was in their shoes he would laugh, that was a clever joke that could only be used at the right time.
Shadow sighed deeply. "So I have to dance to get my keys back?"
"Yes."
He looked to Jasper then back at the man. "Then you better get you dancing shoes cause it's time to boogie."
Everyone went nuts. It was time to dance and a dance they shall get.
Shadow started to take off his bomber jacket.
Jasper had a smirk on her face. She wasn't expecting this from him, she would have to step her impulsive game up. His sleeves were already rolled up so he was ready to make some magic happen.
"Zero go out there and show this noob how it's done."
One of the tools came forth from the douche crew box. The shades he wore only added on to his doucheness.
Jasper had won the game of rock paper scissors so she was allowed to pick the song.
"Here this one looks easy!"
Shadow squinted his eyes to make sure he read the title of the song correctly. "Someone please give me the strength." Shadow groaned.
It was too late to turn back now. A virtual character representing themselves appeared on the screen. It was kind of sad seeing his character wearing an eye patch but it didn't matter at this point. The intro began to kick in and silhouette of a man signaled them to start dancing.
"Everybody get up!"
It didn't even matter what he did all Shadow had to do was a dance to blurred lines. So he started shaking his hips and get it sync with the beat. It had been a minute since he heard this song so when he started singing his tone was off. "I hate these blurred lines!" He sang out loud. Okay… okay, he was starting to get. The other guy was doing good too but was almost a little bit too robotic with his moves. No fluidity over fun in his body. As embarrassed as Shadow was he was enjoying himself.
Shadow did the wave into two chest pumps, a little jump into hip shakes then whirled around on his heels to the end of the song. Zero next to him tried the same thing and spun himself into the wall knocking the shades, and himself out.
Everyone around him cheered in excitement. Jasper grinned a toothy grin and gave him a thumbs up. The fight wasn't over just yet though.
Another dancer rose up to this new challenger. Shadow wiped his shoulder off and turned to the screen. The next song on the screen was Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato. When he did a double take on the new dancer he realized that it was a girl underneath the hoodie. Her beautiful furious Hispanic features struck a chord in his heart. Till he could feel Jasper drilling a hole in the back of his head.
The song began to start and Shadow could feel himself shake.
He started shaking his hips and snap his fingers to the beat. Lucky for him he knew the lyrics to this song to so he sang along and danced. He really started getting flamboyant with it when Demi started to sing like a savage. He shook his hips better than Shakira and snapped his fingers better than Lupita Nyong'o. The other dancer moved her ass like a damn snake but just like the other dancer, she wasn't having fun with this. To be honest, Shadow was improvising the hell out of this. When he was young he uses to play the shit out of some Dance Dance Revolution with his cousins but that was a long time ago.
By the sounds of the crowded, they had decided Shadow was the winner again. As tired as he was Shadow was enjoying himself. Shadow almost forgot what he was here for until the leader stepped up.
"Let's end this now! Just because you beat two of my dancers doesn't make you the dance king." The same women he just beat stepped up next to him. "Or the queen hombre. You ready for a duo battle?" She asked with a tinge of a spicy Hispanic accent.
Jasper stepped in between them. Taller than all of them she was a wonder to the observers. "I accept your challenge!"
Shadow pulled Jasper by her arm. "Baby you sure about this. We could just knock em out and bail."
The gem was confused at the offer. "No, I wouldn't, not because I can't do it. We both know I could tear up this whole party a new one. I wouldn't just because the amount of fun you're having. I haven't seen you smile like that since we first got here. This is the most fun I've had in a long time, I barely even know what that is. Thanks to you I've gotten to experience something new."
He didn't have to say anything. He pulled his lady by the hand and took her to the dance floor where they could shine together. The four of them lined up together in front of the screen. Ready to do battle, not with fists, but with hips of fury.
Now, this next song was on a different tempo compared to the single dance songs that were playing before. He recognized it as plain as day. Locked out of Heaven by Bruno Mars.
He pulled his lady by the hips and pulled her close. "Follow me, baby."
"Never had much faith in love or miracles!" Jasper rang out instead. His eyes opened in shock out that. He didn't think she knew the lyrics to the song.
Shadow grabbed her by the waist sung with her. "You bring me to my knees, you make me testify!" Now they were both getting into it. The two shook their bodies together face to face, smiling and singing as if they were the only two in this entire room. "You make me feel like. I've been locked out of heaven!" They sang in unison.
Jasper picked up Shadow again. Tossed him into the air as the beat was dying out. She caught him and rolled him across the floor into a ball where he used his momentum to slid on his knees to finish the song. Chest rising and falling heavily, sweat rolling down his face, all was silent. No one expected that ending so shocking. So when the dance king tossed the keys at Shadow everyone started to hoop and holler in excitement.
"You know you two aren't bad. Next time you come through be sure to dance with us again." He shook Shadows hand before leaving with his lady tucked under his arm.
Jasper tossed Shadow a bottle of water. "You are just full of surprises aren't you?"
Shadow took the water, thanked her, and downed it. He wiped a hand to his mouth before speaking. "Same goes for you crazy, wasn't expecting that toss at all. I think if we really wanted to we could create our own dance team.
Jasper humphed at him. "Don't push your luck smooth operator. We still have to help Steven before-"
"Damn it we forgot him!" Shadow cursed.
He and Jasper made their way to the back of the yard again. They had just cleared the screen door when they saw Connie and Steven riding on the back of lion. The odd animal roared creating a portal then leaped through it with the kids.
The parties host was in the pool shouting something foul.
Back in the car Shadow still held a grin on his face from their recent victory. Jasper wouldn't admit it but she loved seeing him so happy. Too many times she had seen him in pain, staying up at night crying. The majority of those times probably caused of her. Now that she was back, Jasper was going to make things better.
"Hey, Jasper."
The car turned over and she turned her head to him. "Yes?"
Shadow could feel his cheeks heat up. "I love you."
Her cheeks turned a certain color before she turned away from him. Those words were so random and sudden it caught her off guard. When she felt him kiss her cheek she shoved him away, now she felt like she was on fire.
The gem could barely put the car in drive. "Stop teasing me Shadow." Her words said one thing her body another.
Shadow chuckled at her. "Let's go home baby I've had enough excitement for one night." He arched an eyebrow at her. "Unless you're trying to go back to the party…"
"NO!"
Now he was laughing. He turned on the radio and Demi Lovato was singing again, correction, he was singing.
All the way back home Jasper screamed at him to shut up.
Author Notes:
My daughter Batista bombed my laptop I swear. Get a call at work from work from my wife saying she broke my shit and I cried. My daughter lives to break my shit or eat all my food I swear. Hopefully, soon I'll get it fixed, the only reason I even managed to get yesterday's chapter and this one out is that I'm on duty. The best time to bust out some chapters in my opinion. A third one will come soon as an apology for my hiatus so please stay tuned. If you enjoy my story please don't be afraid to follow or review. Deuces!
Shadow...