Jaguar Billionaire
The Warp pad lit up as the Crystal Gems phased into the house, soon coming to an end as all that could be heard was Pearl lecturing Amethyst.
"How could you possibly think punching a Blood Polyp was a good idea?" She exclaims, berating the purple Gem.
"Look at all the gunk you got on me!" She says, flicking off a comically tiny bit of said gunk off of her forearm. "And look at Steven."
Steven's bubble would pop, leaving a large puddle of the gunk on the pad as he quickly stepped off.
"What are You complaining for? He didn't even get hit." Amethyst sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes.
"First, it's gonna dry up on the pad. Second, he shouldn't have been so close in the first place." Pearl starts listing off.
"How was I supposed to know they'd Pop?" Amethyst objected as Steven just... began to unpack his backpack, disliking it when they fight.
"You're always putting us in danger with your little Outbursts!" Pearl adds as Amethyst starts to cover her ears, close her eyes and stick her tongue out.
"Oh you are Just... So... Childish!" Pearl shouts, shaking with anger and annoyance as Amethyst just mockingly mimics Pearl with her hand.
"Yeah yeah. Don't forget Reckless, Vulgar, Loudmouth." Amethyst lists off with her fingers before raising her voice.
"AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES ME SO AWESOME, RIGHT, GARNET!?" She tried pulling Garnet into this, who just rubbed her forehead in a slight display of annoyance.
"Amethyst. You are a Crystal Gem. You need to act like it." Garnet finally says with a stern voice as Pearl frowns and crosses her arms.
Amethyst was a bit shocked, but soon got the memo. "Fine." She replies, before running off to her room.
And as they were left alone, Pearl smiled optimistically. "I really think we got through to her!"
Garnet was not amused at Pearl's poorly timed deafness as she walked away.
"Right Garnet...?" She asks, following Garnet outside.
And Steven just sighed as he made himself a sandwich, before heading over to the sofa.
He pulled out a notebook he kept hidden under his mattress titled "Log Date", as a funny little reference to Peridot's Log.
Here he made a list of events he vaguely remembered happening, estimating the best order he could remember for what was to come. He didn't have a perfect memory, and there were a lot of things he'd forgotten about, like this last adventure. He forgot about the blood polyps, which by the way, they have nothing to do with your intestines.
So the notebook was a handy way of listing events, keeping tabs on things he has to do and other important things like if he needs to buy special stuff for certain occasions. Sucks that Greg won't become a millionaire for at least 2 more years. So...
...wait... Millionaire...?
TIGER MILLIONAIRE!
Oh no, how could he forget! Amethyst hasn't gotten over her inadequacy yet, so she still goes to the boxing matches. Heck, he does exercise with some of the guys at the boxing matches, how could he be so forgetful?
Shoot... Now he has to go buy the stuff he needs. He was lucky last time because he used to like collecting random things at the fair and at the local novelty shop, but now he actually Has to go buy the stuff for his costume. Maybe the novelty shop will still have the stuff he needs. For now, he had to wait till night time.
He had fallen asleep, still dressed for running outside, but partially covered by his blanket. He soon woke up from his dream as he heard the temple door open and saw Amethyst running outside with a cloak on her.
Realizing it was time, he yawned before quickly getting ready to chase after her, putting on a sweater and some shoes before running outside after her.
Arriving at Dock 15, he had to slow down to catch his breath. He crept up to an old, worn down warehouse where through the window, he saw Harold Smiley introducing the Purple Puma, Beach City's single most Hated wrestler in the underground history!
He saw as she fought Ronaldo, and got kinda nostalgic, and embarrassed thinking back to this point in time. He had so much fun just... messing around with Amethyst and playing into the rich boy persona. But... how could he use this to his advantage?
As he heard the "Blogster" get thrown into the crowd as they booed the Puma, he suddenly got an idea. Maybe... He could try to be sly about this, build some rapport with Amethyst for the future events. He's got a lot of time do so now.
It wasn't too long before Amethyst burst out of the back exit, Roaring in triumph as she shifted back into her regular form with a sigh, before opening her eyes and flinching as she spotted Steven, giving her a sly look.
"Steven? What are You doing here?" She asked, alarmed as she looked around quickly.
"I didn't know you liked to wrestle~" He replied, keeping a sly, somewhat excited tone as she quickly thought of what to say.
"...Yyyeah." Was all she could come up with, short on excuses.
"You know... That is pretty awesome. How did you start?" He asks innocently enough.
Amethyst sighs, signalling to him with a grin. "Come here. Let me explain something to you."
She wrapped an arm around him, and began to explain: "In the ring, nobody can tell me what to do! And if they try? I hit 'em in the face with a chair!"
"And people... Like that?" He once more feigned being curious.
"Like it? They Love It." Though then she paused. "Well, they hate it, but it's all part of the fun, you know? Everyone here... Gets that."
She groaned, shaking her fists. "You don't know what it's like having Pearl and Garnet on your back all the time!"
"You kidding? I know All about that!" He quickly replies, to which Amethyst rolls her eyes.
"Yeah right. Lately, all you've done is be Mister Perfect Pants Universe." She retorts, letting out a scoff.
"Hey, I've just been really lucky. Pearl is still all Oh my perfect boy Steven, how can I let you make breakfast without doing Everything for you." She said, mimicking her tone.
"Or Garnet's I will stay absolutely quiet and expect you to know how to solve all of our issues." He adds, which helped break the ice as Amethyst finally laughs.
"Hey, Uh... Well, since you are a wrestler, what if I helped you out by joining you?" He innocently asked, putting on his puppy eyes.
Amethyst was about to say no, but then: "Well, I haven't won the tag-team belt yet, but you can't tell Pearl and Garnet."
"Mmmm... I'll accept, but you owe me a favor, okay?" He adds, which gets a groan out of Amethyst, before she says "Fine", thinking the favor would probably be something like getting him some donuts.
Well, this could've been worse.
The next day, he got to work, going to the novelty shop and also the clothing store to look for his classic clothing, only to realize that uh... There was no money tie, and they ran out of tiger masks. So instead, he had to make due with what he could find, and so... he made a New character, one to surpass his last one!
"Yeah! It's like... an Underground boxing ring, with people fighting in costumes." He explained over the phone, with Connie sounding impressed.
"Woah, so like... Is this super important to your time thingy?" She asked of course.
"Oh uh... Well, yeah, kinda. I gotta get on Amethyst's good side for the reveal. The next thing on the list is gonna be after this, I'll even show you next time you come to Beach City!" He hyped her up for the reveal of a certain other feline.
"Oh man, I can't wait. Oh, shoot, gotta go. Talk to you later Steven!" She bid farewell before hanging up.
Right, back to work. After a couple setbacks in the costume department, he was able to improvise: He put a golden dollar sign sticker on a tie, got some hair gel for his puffy hair, aaaand... the lips. Well, unlike the tiger lips that had their orange color, these were jaguar lips, the main difference being that it had a black nose with some white on the lips.
Amethyst was napping on the couch downstairs, waiting for Steven, before she woke up as she heard him say: "Are you ready!?"
She grinned, sitting up properly as Steven hopped down the stairs in his outfit, with his collared shirt and suspenders, a "mask" and tie with a suitcase and pulled back hair (no sandals this time).
"Introducing: Jaguar Billionaire! Rich Feline Industrialist from Jungle Island." He began to narrate his life story. "Once the single child from the wealthy jaguar family, he clawed out his own destiny, making money by extracting coconut oil in droves!"
"Wow, you just came up with all of that?" She said with an amused grin.
"Well, I made it up yesterday." He explains. "What about you?"
"Pumas are Cool." She said with a cool grin and a finger gun.
"...mmm, fair enough. I guess tonight's the night?" He then asked.
"You betcha. Just, keep your excitement to yourself for now, alright?" She advises.
And so, the stage was set for their first fight.
As you'd expect, they were a match made for each other, with the memories of their past brawls making it all too easy. Some trickery here, a couple dirty tricks there, and a handful of useful call outs, just like before.
Except for one crucial difference.
"Record-breaking heat tonight, folks." Harold Smiley called out, before noticing something strange.
"Could it be? Jaguar Billionaire has bought out our soda stand!" Smiley announces in surprise. "Maybe he'll share with his thirsty fans!"
And, to the surprise of everyone, he... did?
He went over to all the fans, giving them some free drinks to help with the heat, and saving one last one for Mister Smiley personally.
"I cannot believe it, has the Billionaire had a change of heart?" He says, before discreetly thanking him for the drink.
Sadie and Lars were present, with Lars specifically becoming a Huge fan of the Jaguar and his performance as a Heel. Though, he seemed a bit upset, despite the free drink.
"Uh... Lars? You okay?" Sadie asked the seemingly grumpy guy.
"Jaguar's supposed to be all mean 'n' stuff. Why the sudden free drink?" Lars complained for... seemingly confusing reasons.
"Aren't you, like, his biggest fan though? I thought you even wanted his autograph." She comments in confusion.
"He's a bad guy though, why would he just start handing over dr-" But then, it suddenly clicked in Lars' head.
"Oh! Oh! That's Right!" He then immediately stood up as he realized that Tiger was here with the fans.
"Tiger! Hey Tiger! W-Would you sign this? It would be so Rad!" He said, showing Steven a cup and a marker pen.
Steven... froze for a bit, recalling... what he did last time. That look of shame on Lars' face, the guilt that was crushing on him, it was 4 years ago sure... but it still felt awful.
...he quickly snapped back to reality however, shaking his head before grabbing the pen. "Sure thing! Anything for an adoring fan!"
He reminded himself that this wasn't the same timeline. This was different. He could Make a difference.
After signing it with the words "Jaguar Billionaire" with a little star at the end, he handed it back as Lars, content and even fanboying a bit as he began to run back to his seat, going: "T-Thank you! Oh, thank you!"
He smiled to himself as Smiley began to make a new announcement:
"Jaguar, I thought of you as the cruelest creature on the planet." He confessed to the Billionaire. "But now I see, you're a complicated feline with a heart of gold, or should I say diamond!"
The crowd gave a somewhat confused, yet enthusiastic cheer. Jaguar was still the antagonist here to the other wrestlers, but now... they were starting to kinda like him?
And as their last match ended for the night, it was clear that something about it affected Amethyst, as she had a weird look to her all night and day, even getting a little sloppy during their last match.
As Steven works on some casual exercise, doing some squats by his bed, he notices Amethyst enter the kitchen, in which she just starts to... throw eggs into the sink, one by one, letting them drop into the drain as they're wasted for nothing.
Steven pauses what he's doing, looks around, and then slowly approaches her. "You alright Amethyst...?"
"I'm fine. I'm Better than fine." She grumbles, still throwing eggs at her leisure.
"You don't sound fine. I thought you'd be excited to win our final match?" He carefully asks.
"What's the point. The people like you now, they cheer for you. And last I checked, I punch the people they cheer for." She said in a vaguely threatening tone as she refuses to face him.
"...Amethyst, I... Enjoy these fights." He began to confess. "I like being all snarky, I like tricking the others and letting you beat on them, I like winning too."
He carefully approached, putting a hand on the counter. "But most of all... I like fighting, and spending time, with You."
She paused, hand raised with the last egg, silent now.
"Pearl is... always nagging and forcing things on us. And Garnet is always... leading everyone and doing things without us." He explains. "So, when there's no one else to do stuff with... getting to spend a few nights a week doing these matches with you? It's been nothing short of awesome. Because I think you're awesome."
...the egg in her hand began to slowly crack, crackling and crunching as it nearly collapsed, before, she dropped it into the sink.
"...you really think that?" She quietly asked.
"I know that, Amethyst." He reaffirmed her.
...after a moment of quiet breathing, she slowly slid off the counter, taking a few steps backwards, before quickly turning around and just... hugging Steven.
Though he couldn't see it, her small sniffles were enough to let him know it all.
"...even if we're not perfect, we'll always have each other..." He quietly whispered.
And Amethyst, she gave a small chuckle as she teared up. "W-When did you become the mature one?"
"You have No idea." He said back, before eventually pulling away. "Now... let's win this match, alright?"
It was all coming together, for the final confrontation.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, fans of wrestling, welcome to the Tag-Team Championship!" Mister Smiley announces as the crowd cheers in excitement!
"In the ring tonight... they've stomped their way through the tournament and into our hearts." He exposits, building up to the final fighters. "Give it up for Dashing Dave Doober and Handsome Hank Hackleschmidt!"
The two buff, blonde, blue eyed fighters greet the crowd, with Steven giving them an enthusiastic wave as they wave back. Nice to see he'll finally go up against the last of his gym partners.
"Only one thing would make these men look better, folks... It's the Tag-Team Belts!" He points towards the two shiny belts dangling from a rope on an old steel beam.
"But! Standing in their way, the Ruthless Kings of the Jungle. An anger prone feline smasher! And the hyper rich bribing billionaire! Oooh!" He hyped them up.
"Yes, it could only be... the Purple Puma... and Jaguar Billionaire!" He finally calls out, with Amethyst flexing her gun show, and Steven crossing his arms, glaring daringly at the other duo.
The crowd was mixed between booing and cheering, supporters for both fighters drowning each other out.
Lars and Sadie were watching with last time, with Lars clearly favoring the Jaguar as he held up a cardboard sign that read: "Jaguar is the Best."
And just as Amethyst jumped into the ring, ready for her final smash, the rest of the lights suddenly flickered on as two beings jumped down into the ring...
It was Garnet and Pearl!?
Amethyst was shocked, caught totally by surprise! "What are you doing!?"
"What are We doing? What is This?" Pearl asks in return, showing Steven's calendar, with the date marked with "BIG FIGHT DOCK 15"
Amethyst looked at him, annoyed. He did that on purpose to bring them here, now he had to try and defuse the situation.
"Looks like we have some new opponents!" Smiley declares excitedly, much to Pearl's annoyance.
"No you don't!" Pearl cuts him off. "This match is cancelled."
The crowd was displeased, getting confused, asking questions, leading to Steven getting into the ring as he asks: "What? But why?"
"Why?! I can't believe you've been sneaking off to this... this... Circus of Violence!" She says with disgust as she gets all righteous.
"And You! Using your Gem powers on humans?" She lowered her tone at the last bit as she spoke to Amethyst.
"It's not enough that you're on my Case all the time?" Amethyst snaps back, approaching her. "You have to ruin this for me too?!"
"WAIT!" Steven suddenly interjected, physically putting himself between Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet. "Just... I-I wanna tell you the backstory of Purple Puma."
Signalling to Mister Smiley to hand over the microphone, to which he handily throws to Steven, he clears his throat and begins to re-tell the story from memory:
"He was the Wildest cat in the jungle, so wild... the other cats couldn't deal with him." He starts to recite. "So She... I mean, He... went to look for some place where he fit in... somewhere, where people liked him, despite his wild side..."
"That really sounds like Steven?" Sadie said, confused, before Lars shushed her.
"That's why we're here, to have an escape from other's judgement, to be free to fight and make up names and wear funny costumes." He started to get a bit emotional as he continued his metaphor.
"It's not just... us punching each other for fun. It's us, doing something together, something special to us. Why can't we do something we both enjoy if everyone else is okay with it?" He explains, trying to get through to Pearl and Garnet. "Sure we get hurt, but in the end, that's what makes it so special, our mutual understanding and bonding over this whole thing, is that so wrong?"
It was then that Garnet grabbed the microphone from his hand, lifted it up to her lips, and said NO.
Just as everyone was shocked, and gasped, she quickly clarified: "Because... we are... the notorious o-order of... wrestling haters."
She signaled to Pearl, who quickly got the memo as she got excited for this? "That's right! um... we want to stop All Wrestling Everywhere! Are you going to let us Destroy All Wrestling?"
As the lights were turned off again, save for the ones on the ring, Lars suddenly shouts: "You Gotta Save All Wrestling! Come On!"
"Jaguar! Puma! Jaguar! Puma!" He started chanting, rallying the others in the crowd to do the same, much to the astonishment of Amethyst!
"We'll stop you!" Steven shouts after snatching back the microphone, before tossing it back to Smiley.
"What a Stunning turn around! The Jungle Duo are fighting back!" Smiley announces excitedly as they pretend to knock down the two Gems. "And they've taken down Captain Square!"
"But wait. Wait." He suddenly interjects. "It's the... It's the good-looking gang with a ladder! A-Are they planning on stealing the belt?"
"No! Ooh, they're actually helping Jaguar up!" Smiley calls out as the duo give Steven a thumbs up, with him in turn giving them high fives before starting to climb. Who knew befriending two wrestlers was such a good idea?
As he climbed up to grab the belt, Amethyst began to whisper to Garnet. "Sorry for uhm... sorry."
To which Garnet simply replied: "Same here."
"Jaguar Billionaire has claimed the Tag-Team belts! Jaguar and Puma have won the championship and saved wrestling!" Mister Smiley exclaims proudly as the crowd cheers.
"Lars... I'm really confused?" Sadie admits as she slow claps.
But Lars was just lost in the moment, letting out a lone tear as he meekly says: "I love you, Jaguar Billionaire."