Amazing Woman
While they waited for Garnet, Steven suggested that Pearl and Amethyst play checkers while he made himself lunch. He heard the two having their match with some taunting and teasing as he served himself some food.
"Ha! Take that!" Amethyst exclaims as she moved a single checker piece.
"Wow, Amethyst, I'm impressed." Pearl says rather sarcastically.
"Already with the Sarcasm? Man, it sounds like someone's being a sore loser~" She replied sassily, to which Pearl groaned.
"I'm not a sore loser... Because I just Won the Game~" She then sassed back as in one move, she ate the rest of Amethyst's pieces.
"Whaaaa?" Amethyst blinked in confusion, before sighing as she leaned back on the sofa's cushions. "Ahh, it feels good to lose."
Pearl, however, clears her throat and crosses her arms. "I certainly hope that's not the attitude you have during battle."
"Ugh, you're no fun anymore." Amethyst replies in annoyance. "This is why we never form Opal."
"We don't form Opal because you're difficult and a mess." Pearl clarifies with a glare.
Amethyst clenches her fist, getting in Pearl's face. "We don't form Opal because you're uptight and-"
"Guys! Guys! Stop it." Steven interjects, running over to them. "There's no need to fight over checkers. Besides... What's Opal?"
"Oh it's the two of us, mashed together." Amethyst replies casually, as if though she wasn't getting heated a moment ago.
"Wh-" Pearl fumbles, before seeming offended. "Is water just hydrogen and oxygen 'Mashed together'?"
Amethyst's lack of chemistry knowledge, and Steven's lack of school education, leads to them both going "Uh..." in unison.
Pearl rolls her eyes, not even letting out a sigh. "Analogy wasted."
"Look here, Steven." She said as she moved the checker board to the side before conjuring a hologram of Amethyst and Herself.
"When we synchronize our forms, we can combine into a powerful fusion Gem named Opal." She explains, showing the two holograms dance and fuse.
"Except I don't dance like that." Amethyst quickly interrupts, waving her hand on the holograms to force them to disappear.
"Amethyst." Pearl says, annoyed, before Steven let out a: "Wow! That's so cool!"
"Can you tell me more?" He asks, taking a seat on the sofa.
"Well, Steven, she's an ultra-powerful, stone-cold betty. That's part of me." Amethyst explains with a grin, before frowning. "And she's like, kinda tall. That part's Pearl."
"What Amethyst is attempting to say is..." Pearl interrupts this time. "Opal is an amalgam of our combined magical and physical attributes fused into a single entity."
"That sounds awesome! How come I've never seen you fuse?" Steven 'naively' asks.
Amethyst puffs some air while Pearl clears her throat: "We only form Opal when it's absolutely necessary."
And just as she finished explaining, the warp pad lit up to reveal that Garnet had returned.
"Garnet, you're back!" He smiled, going over to hug the Gem, who in turned gave a little smile and pet his puffy hair, before handing him a small rock as a gift.
"So, was your mission a success?" Pearl asks, approaching her as well.
"I've located the geode beetles of Heaven and Earth." She confirms. "We should split up to retrieve them."
"Well, I'm going with not Pearl." Amethyst snarkily replies.
"That's perfect because I don't want to go with grammatically incorrect people anyway." Pearl replies in kind.
"You three go together. I go alone." Garnet firmly replies.
"What? Why?" Pearl and Amethyst ask in union.
"The Earth beetle is at the bottom of the boiling lava lake, and only I can swim in lava." Garnet responds before her palms glow, and she summons lava-proof diving goggles. "You'll find the Heaven beetle at the top of the Sky Spire. It's safer."
"You mean boring-er." Amethyst rolls her eyes.
"You mean 'more boring'." Pearl corrects.
"So you agree with me~?" Amethyst smugly crosses her arms.
Pearl scoffs, before sighing. "Come on you two. Let's go."
And as they head to the pad, Garnet calls out to him: "Steven, be sure to keep the harmony."
"Don't worry, I got this handled." Steven replies with a thumbs up as they warp into the Spire.
They arrive at a place Steven hadn't seen since... well... Since this moment in his past! A mysterious Spire at the top of a cloud piercing mountain range. It made sense why so few humans ever came up here.
"Apparently this is where the beetle lives." Pearl comments to Steven.
"All the way at the top..." Amethyst adds, looking at the path ahead.
And as they began to walk, Steven thought of potential things to ask. Though last time he did that, he just annoyed the two for half an hour.
Climbing up the first set of stairs, they paused at the top, the two pulling out their weapons as a bush began to threateningly shake, before... Steven Jr appeared!
Or... Rather, just a random goat. One that... reminded Steven of an old song.
"Could you imagine if that was an actual monster? Then you'd have to fuse." Steven jokes, much to their annoyance.
"Steven, we only fuse for deadly situations. Does this look like a deadly situation to you?" Pearl asks, pointing to the goat, that then proceeds to bite her finger.
"Ow! Hey! Bad mountain goat!" She retorts in frustration as Amethyst just starts laughing.
Memories of this time began to slowly return to Steven... of the first time he got to see the act of fusion, sorta. And that thought of a Giant Woman... he began to sing.
"All I wanna do, is see you turn into, a giant woman." He started off as he remembered the tune.
"All I wanna be, is someone who gets to see, a giant woman..." He kept singing as they continued their long trek upwards.
"All I wanna do, is help you turn into, a giant woman, giant woman~!"
"All I wanna be, is someone who gets to see, a giant woman."
"Oh, I know it'll be great and I just can't wait, to see the person you are together, if you give it a chance, you could do a huge dance, because you are, a giant woman."
"You might even like, being together, and if you don't it wont last forever."
"But if it were me, I'd really wanna be, a giant woman, a giant woman~"
"All I wanna do, is see you turn into, a Giant Woman~"
After singing through what was essentially a long road, with many slip ups, arguments and other bits of tension between Pearl and Amethyst, they finally arrive at the floating islands leading to the actual Sky Spire itself.
The goat, who decided to follow them up until now, ran ahead of them, jumping from island to island and up to the Spire.
"Wait." Pearl put a hand on him. "Steven, I'm not sure you can make those jumps."
"Aww come on, it's super easy, watch this Steven!" Amethyst says as she began to jump from island to island, rather recklessly might I add.
Pearl gasped, before groaning and shaking her head. "Don't listen to her and her... Terrible ideas."
Amethyst stopped at the last island, crossing her arms. "You mean my Great ideas? Seeing as I'm full of 'em?"
She started to bounce on the last one, being all defiant, much to Pearl's annoyance. She held Steven's hand, looking at him. "Just follow me, and jump when I jump."
Steven nods, and together they jump from island to island, with each one bobbing and swerving as if though they were held up in the air by magnets of all things.
It was the last island that was an issue, as Amethyst was still messing around with it.
"Amethyst, step off the island, we need to move." Pearl warns Amethyst, to which she rolls her eyes.
"Why, you scared you'll fall off?" Amethyst taunts. "Steven isn't scared, right?"
Steven...
...Steven had been, in all honesty, ignoring his memories of today. He didn't have his floating powers yet, so... when he fell, he really could've perished.
...though his hands trembled at the thought of... reliving that experience... he knew he needed to get the Gems to work together, and... he would be fine, right? N-Nothing to fear...
"Y-Yeah, I'm not scared, see?" Steven says as he lets go of Pearl and jumps with Amethyst, who smirks and jumps as well, which ends up throwing Steven off balance as he begins to fall, yelling.
"Steven!" They yell in unison, looking at each other, before springing to action.
As his heart raced and he saw the clouds beneath him, he soon felt Pearl hug him as Amethyst held and pulled Pearl up with her whip, causing them to land back at the entrance to the Spire.
Steven's hands trembled, adrenaline coursing through his body as he began to sweat. But even so, he did his best to breathe, push down the fear and smile at them.
"T... That was great you guys!" He praised, breathing deeply. "Why don't you guys a-always work together?"
And just like last time, the comment upset the two Gems enough to enable their joint silent treatments, saving Steven and the two Gems from an awkward conversation over who's fault was who's.
Sure, he was Much more fit and healthy than the last time he was 12, but no amount of exercise and squats can prepare you for the long way to the top of the Sky Spire.
His legs were killing him, but he pushed forwards as they finally reached the top, taking a break to breathe some air before he then spotted it.
"Oh hey... We finally made it!" He calls out as he slowly approached the odd structure in the middle of a shallow pool of water. "It's a tiny temple...?"
"It's just where Garnet said it would be." Pearl comments as she approaches it, the goat standing next to it as she peers through one of its windows. "The Heaven beetle should be inside."
"Woah, it's really weird in there, they have... like a modern room?" Steven comments as he suddenly realizes how... bizarre the room looks.
It looks like an ancient stone room... that had been updated with 90's technology? Between small human furniture such as a bed, drawers and an end table with a book and glasses, there was also a clock, a backpack, some bongos and a sweater. What really got his attention was the Dot-Matrix on the end table, the fan attached to the roof, and the Saga Moon plugged into a CRT TV?
That room defied logic, and his only conclusion was that... Some time shenanigans had to be involved.
"But where's the beetle?" Pearl asks, concerned as she looked inside again. "It's supposed to be here."
"The Heaven beetle wouldn't leave, would it?" Pearl got increasingly anxious. "Oh, it could be anywhere!"
Amethyst, who had stayed back at the entrance, arms crossed with an annoyed look, suddenly found humor in her desperation.
"Uh, maybe you should freak out more." Amethyst lays it with sass. "That's really gonna help us find it."
"I can't believe your attitude, Amethyst." Pearl snaps back, approaching her. "And now you're just slouching over here doing nothing!"
"Hey! It's not My fault the beetle isn't there! Why do you have to make things worse by Squawking at me?" Amethyst replies in kind.
But just as she said that, an Actual squawk was heard, though it was more of a shriek, which caused the goat to start bleating in panic.
"I don't squawk!" Pearl replies angrily as Steven gets tense.
"Yeah, you're squawking and commenting on my posture!" Amethyst retorts as their argument turns more sour and the goat keeps bleating, causing Steven to tense up as he starts to remember what happens here.
"Guys! Cut it out! You're freaking us out!" He suddenly shouts, running over to them as he gets more tense before they suddenly see a large figure fly up before them, revealing itself to be a Giant Bird!
It swallows the goat whole, letting out a shriek as Pearl summons and throws a spear at it, only for it to eat the spear as the three of them are forced to retreat back to the stairs.
"In here guys!" Amethyst shouts as they go inside, with the Bird lunging and pushing its beak inside, snapping and trying to bite them.
"It swallowed my spear!" Pearl says in shock before Steven remembers the most vital part of today.
"Guys! Now's the perfect time for you two to form Opal!" He finally suggests.
They look at each other hesitantly, then back outside with the killer Bird, before agreeing they had no other choice.
They step aside as Steven sits down, with their Gems beginning to glow.
Pearl was elegant and formal, regal and swift. Amethyst was heavy and rhythmic, erroneous and bombastic. And just like last time, their styles didn't mesh at all, nor did they make the effort to compliment each other.
And as they stumble into each other mid dance, they begin to glow and fuse together, only for the fusion to fall apart as they land roughly on their backs.
Amethyst sits up, letting out a groan before sneering at Pearl. "Ugh. You wanna try that again, with less hitting me in the face this time?"
"Well it would have worked if your movements weren't so erratic and formless." Pearl retorts.
"So it was all my fault?" Amethyst asks, now upset as she approached Pearl, scoffing. "You totally weren't even trying to sync with my dancing."
"You should Know how I dance by now!" She shouts in Pearl's face, who in return just shoves Amethyst back.
"Will you two stop it?" Steven shouts to the two of them, glancing up at the roof nervously.
"I don't know why you two fight All the time, what even started this feud you two have?" And as he talks, he carefully positions himself in the middle of the room. "I'm scared, you two are fighting each other, and I might even get eaten by a bird!"
And just like clockwork, the Giant beak crashed through the roof, swallowing Steven whole as the two shout "STEVEN!" in absolute horror.
As Steven landed inside, he... suddenly realized just how Horrible it was in here. Between the garbage that looked like it came form some local landfill, there were also ancient skeletons of the Bird's past victims, alongside their weapons, which failed to cut open the Bird. Not to mention the... fleshy interior with Gems inside of it?
Thankfully, his attention was brought elsewhere as he spotted the goat, munching on the Heaven beetle.
"Hey! That's not yours!" He quickly ran over, pulling on the odd beetle gem from the goat's teeth. "Give. It. To. Me!"
But just as he got close, the insides suddenly rumbled as something crashed into them, causing the goat to let go of the beetle, of which Steven quickly pocketed.
As the goat got close, bleating as it wanted its lunch back, 4 arms suddenly pierced the Bird, one grabbing the goat and the other grabbing Steven.
Falling from the sky, she lands on the pool with a splash as she lets the goat go, leaving Steven to look up at...
"...Opal?" He whispered, the fusion silently staring at the Bird, who disintegrated into small, arrow like birds.
Steven closed his eyes, holding onto her arm tightly as she began to do back flips, sliding down the stairs before jumping across the islands in one jump, leaving Steven a bit sick in his stomach as he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes until she finally put him down.
"Stay low." She warns as she pulls out a spear and a whip, fusing them into her bow before drawing its string, aiming for the birds.
As they flew closer, she charged her shot, focusing more and more of her power, until she finally took the shot. Her arrow, forged of light, exploded amidst the crowd, impaling the birds in a storm of light pricks.
As they faded into nothing but a cloud of Gem smoke, Steven watched in awe, before she turned to silently smile at him.
"...You're no giant woman..." He says, causing her to seem confused for a moment. "...you're an Amazing Woman!"
And, of course, she chuckled, singing to him: "All you wanna do, is see me turn into, an Amazing Woman~?"
As night time came and darkness shrouded Beach City, Garnet would find herself cleaning her steaming afro with a towel before the warp pad glowed as the Gems returned, though this time as Opal and Steven.
"We're back!" Steven exclaims as Garnet approaches.
"The Heaven beetle." Garnet asks, much to Opal's surprise.
"I don't have it!" She gasped before her form began to collapse, with the two Gems finally splitting apart.
"Amethyst! You got distracted!" Pearl shouts in panic!
"Hey! You were the one getting carried away with all those fancy back flips!" Amethyst retorts!
"Guys, guys. It's alright. I got the beetle!" Steven clears up, pulling out the beetle in question.
Garnet gently grabs it. "Good job Steven." She then puts it inside a small terrarium alongside the Earth beetle, before bubbling it away.
"I also see you helped your teammates fuse." Garnet comments, to which Pearl and Amethyst get flustered.
"Yep, and all I had to do was get eaten by a Giant Bird!" He comments, meaning it quite literally this time around.
"Nice work. You'll be great at fusing one day." Garnet comments, to which Steven merely smirks. Her comment... suddenly gave him an Incredible idea for the future~