Note: I have returned from my time in the mountains, with a brand new chapter of JoJo and the Crystal Gems! Please enjoy.
Wake Me Up, Act 3
"Feeling my way through the darkness
Guided by a beating heart
I can't tell where this journey will end
But I know where to start"
"Hello, this is Steven Universe?"
A wave of relief washed over Pearl when she heard Steven's voice. She wasn't sure why, but a foreboding feeling had crept over her when she picked up the phone. It had felt like something was wrong. Like Steven was in danger. But no, that was ridiculous, her mind was just playing tricks on her after a long and stressful day. Steven was safe and sound, at the barn with Connie, Peridot, and Lapis. There were no dangers out there.
"Hi Steven, it's me, Pearl," she said.
"Oh," Steven said. In the background, Pearl could hear what sounded like Peridot and Connie whispering loudly. "The caller ID said 'unknown number,' so I didn't know it was you… whose phone are you calling from?"
"That's, ah… not important right now," Pearl said quickly. She made a mental note to give everyone who might need it her phone number later. And also to figure out a good excuse for why she hadn't bothered to tell anyone before. "The thing is that we… need your help."
"You need my help?" The young half-gem asked, worry in his voice. "What is it? Another attack? Was someone hurt? Where are you right now? How…?"
"Please, slow down Steven," Pearl interrupted him. "Yes, there was another attack… though the circumstances are a bit… confusing. The reason I called is that, there's someone who needs healing."
"Who…?"
"Don't worry, they're not in any danger," Pearl quickly interjected. "It's actually the one who attacked us who is hurt… Um… yeah, I think it's best if you just got over here… We're at the hospital…" Pearl glanced at the sign next to the door. "… Room two-hundred and sixteen. That's the second floor. First corridor after the elevator. The room is to the right…"
"The hospital, room two-hundred-sixteen," Steven said. "Got it, I'll be there in a minute. Love you, bye."
"I love you too," Pearl said, but the boy had already hung up. She sighed and put the phone back in her gemstone. She did so hesitantly; with her luck today, it would probably get lost in there if she wasn't careful. She turned to face the rest of the group in the hospital room.
"Steven's on his way," she announced.
"I think we could gather that much ourselves," Doctor Maheswaran said dryly. "We could hear the phone call, you know." She was not exactly… in the best of moods. Which was understandable. Pearl was not an expert on human laws, but she figured that the doctor was breaking a fair few number of rules and regulations in order to help the gems.
…
The fact that they had barged into the hospital carrying an unconscious and bleeding human girl might've also had something to do with it.
"Good," Garnet said, competing in dryness with the doctor. The two of them had already butted head a few times. As soon as the girl had woken up, Garnet had wanted to start questioning her, but Doctor Maheswaran had insisted she get to run a few tests on the girl to make sure she was in stable condition. She had also refused to leave the room, demanding she get an explanation of just what the hell was going on. Which Pearl assumed was fair enough, considering all the trouble they had caused her. Garnet on the other hand… was in a bit of a huff herself. Forced defusion tended to have that effect on her.
"Now…" the fusion said and turned to the girl in the bed. Pearl could have sworn she actually saw the girl shrink a little in the bedsheets. Her eyes darted from Garnet to Pearl, Amethyst, Doctor Maheswaran, and back to Garnet again. "…speak." It should be obvious it was an order, not a request.
Now was the moment of truth. So many questions would finally be answered. Wha was this girl? What was the strange power she wielded? How was she connected to the muggers? And most important, why did she attack them in the first place? The frustration and confusion ended here.
The girl opened her mouth to speak.
"I… I'm…" Without warning, the girl's face scrunched up in an ugly grimace. Her eyes started leaking, huge tears rolling down her cheeks, landing on her hospital gown. "I'm so sorry!" she bawled. "I'm so, so, so sorry! I-I didn't… I didn't want to, b-but he-he-he…" the rest of the sentence was cut short by a violent hiccup.
Pearl wasn't sure what she had expected really. But still… She knew better than to sympathize too much with the enemy… but still, she couldn't help but feel a sting of guilt when she looked at the crying mess in front of her. Tears flowing like small waterfalls, nose running and her speech incoherent, chopped up by sniffles and hiccups.
"Plea-please, I did-didn't mean-want… I-I-I… Sorry!" the girl managed to stutter forth in between her sobbing.
Garnet was less impressed. "If you're 'sorry,' then show it," she said, leaning in towards the girl so close their faces nearly touched. Even with her eyes being hidden behind the reflective visor, you could tell she was fixing the girl with her stare. "Less crying, more talking. Explain yourself."
The girl actually did make a visible attempt to calm down, which worked… so-so.
"I-I… I'm not sure where to…?"
"Maybe start with who you are?" Pearl said, with a softer tone than Garnet. What's your name?"
"K-Katey," the girl said. She took a deep, quivering breath. "Katey. My name is Katey. I, uh… I'm not sure what exactly I'm supposed to say?"
"Your power," Garnet said. "What exactly did you do to us… to me?"
"Oh, that is… I'm actually not sure what it is…" Katey said meekly. "I don't really have any idea what it actually is…"
"What the heck do you mean by that?" Amethyst asked. "How can you not know what your own power is? Wasn't it like connected to your hand or something?"
"Well, I mean, it is…" Katey said. "But, I've only had it since… after lunchtime, I think? So I don't know all the details Just that it's a bunch of rags come flying out hand in stings, and then attaches itself to a person and draws out an evil twin."
"Wait, what?" Doctor Maheswaran said.
"Yeah, I got it after getting stabbed with an arrow by a man in the woods…"
"Wait, what!?"
Garnet sighed. "Maybe it would be better to simply start from the beginning… Tell us how you got this power, and what made you attack us," she told the human named Katey.
"Okay," Katey said, a bit hesitantly." She contemplated what to say for a minute, took another deep breath, and started talking. "So, me and my family are on vacation, and just arrived in Beach City yesterday. I was hanging out in town today, just wasting time, you know? Visited this arcade, which, I didn't even know there were any arcades anymore, other than as nostalgia places. I was actually really excited to tell my dad, he's really into video games, he would love that place…"
Pearl sent Amethyst a quick look. Amethyst understood and nodded subtly.
"He always goes on and on about how us kids have no idea what real gaming is all about, but actually met a few other teens there, so that would make him really happy I think…"
Amethyst suddenly contracted a very powerful cough. "Cough, cough, gettothepoint, cough."
"Oh," Katey said sheepishly. "Uh… anyways, I met this guy, who was really cute. Kevin, I think he said his name was. We started talking, and he asked me to come with him on a walk, and I like a good walk sometimes, so I did, and… hey, this is actually important!" she suddenly snapped, having noticed Pearl and Amethyst shooting each other another look.
"Sorry," Amethyst muttered.
Katey humphed, but accepted the apology. "So yeah, I was walking with this guy in the woods around the city. There are actually some really weird things out there, these weird crystal things and old ruin-looking things… some of them actually looked like something read in a magazine, about some old structures supposedly older than human civilization…"
Amethyst glared at the girl once more.
"… anyhow, while we were walking, he suddenly started acting really weird. I thought he was nervous cause… you know…" Katey suddenly looked very embarrassed. Even with all the blood she had lost her cheeks still turned one shade darker.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean…" Pearl began to say, but Amethyst quickly elbowed her in the side. "Uh… in what way was he acting weird?" she changed the question.
"Oh, ah… well, you know, he…" the blushing girl said nervously. "He started getting twitchy and sweaty, looking around him like he thought we were being followed… he started stuttering… that kinda stuff? We were really far into the woods at that point, and the leaves were blocking out the sun, so I was beginning to get scared, and…" the color drained from Katey's face again, and she choked on her words a little. "That's when… he appeared." The girl shivered and looked smaller and more fragile than ever.
"It-it happened so fast," she said. "Suddenly, someone lunged from the shadows and something stabbed me in the hand…" she nodded towards her bandaged right hand. "He-he… the figure, he told me… that there were some people in Beach City that he needed me to get rid off…" A tear rolled down Katey's face. "And he said that if I refused… he would kill my family…" The girl started crying again, a bit softer this time. "P-please… please, you have too… I don't want my family to.."
"Of course we will…" Pearl began to say, but Garnet interrupted her.
"The man who attacked you," she said. Her hands were closed into fists. "What did he look like?"
"I-I… He was in the shadows, so I didn't get a good look…" Katey stuttered.
"He was completely covered in the shadows? No sunlight at all?"
"Yeah… no, no sunlight at all. I could only see his silhouette… but he was huge… like two meters tall, and made of muscle… I think his hair was blonde? It didn't look like he was wearing any clothes either…"
Garnet turned to the two other Crystal Gems. Pearl looked sick, and Amethyst had turned shades lighter.
"No," Pearl whispered. "You can't be serious. You don't think it's really one of them, do you?"
"I'm-I'm not sure," Garnet said, her fists shaking, if ever so slightly. "Maybe. I just… have a hunch."
"But that's impossible," Amethyst winced. "They're all dead."
"Excuse me, but what are you talking about?" Doctor Maheswaran asked. "What is it that is impossible? Who is dead?"
Pearl and Amethyst looked at Garnet, desperate for someone to tell them what to say. Garnet herself seemingly stared off into empty space for a few seconds.
Suddenly, her head snapped towards the door.
"Steven and Connie are coming," she said. "Mom Maheswaran, I understand you're confused, but I'm afraid it will have to wait. Let's just say 'they' are an old enemy of ours. One we would prefer the children didn't learn of, at least for now"
"But I…" Doctor Maheswaran began saying, but her protests were cut off by a roar coming from the corridor, a pink light shining through the blinds and a huge pink lion carrying one and a half humans, one and a half gems, a small cat and a pumpkin crashing in through the door.
"Gyah!" Doctor Maheswaran yelped in surprise and shock at the sudden chaos and destruction!
"S-sorry," Steven said, dismounting from his mighty steed. "Lion isn't very good at teleporting inside houses… too cramped." The pink feline shot him a look, before lying down, letting the other passengers off.
"No, it's good that you came here so fast, Steven," Garnet told him. "We have someone who needs healing here."
"Yeah, that would be… you, right?" Steven said, and nodded towards Katey.
"Yeah, sure…" Katey said absentmindedly. "Say, is it just the painkillers messing with my head, or is that a pink lion?"
Steven laughed. "No, that is a pink magical lion alright," he chuckled.
"O-of course," Katy muttered. "Makes as much sense as anything else today. So, uh… were you the one that's going to fix my hand?"
"I guess," Steven shrugged. The young boy suddenly frowned. "Pearl said that the person who needed healing was the someone who attacked them," he said and stared into the teen girl's eyes.
"S-sorry," she said. Steven starring into her eyes made her feel like he could see right into her soul. "I didn't really want to…"
Garnet put her hand on Steven's shoulder. "It's okay, Steven. She has already explained herself to us. She was forced to attack us."
"What? What do you mea…?"
"Just heal her, and we'll explain," Garnet said.
"O-okay," Steven hesitated. "So, ah… this might be a little weird…" he warned the teen girl.
"Oh really? Something being weird toda-uahg!" The boy slapped his hand, wet with saliva, on her arm. "Ew, was that spit? Gro-ohss!"
Gross but effective; the spit gave off its characteristic pink glow and yellow electrical sparks. Katey sat upright, her energy magically refilled. She groaned and grabbed her bandaged right hand. Crackling sounds emanated from the package. Inside it, bones arranged and melded themselves together, nerves and tendons reconnected and the wound sealed itself.
Katey tore the bandage packet off from her hand, to find it completely healed.
"Whoa…" she whispered. "You actually did it."
"You're welcome," Steven said and smiled.
"Well done, Steven," Garnet said and patted him on the shoulder. "Now, I think that…"
"Connie!" Doctor Maheswaran's voice cut through the air like a scalpel. "Just what on Earth happened to your shirt!?"
Everyone's attention was suddenly on the young girl, with a cat in her arms, and a shirt covered in blood.
"Uh… there was an… incident?" she said and hugged the cat a little tighter.
"I… think we all have a lot to tell each other," Garnet sighed.
Notes:
Lampman's back, alright!
And with this chapter I can finally cross "Ugly Crying" and "Inelegant Blubbering" off the list of "Everything Steven Universe Related Needs."
One thing that I often do, whether consciously or not, is that I often put bits of myself in characters I'm writing. Which makes sense. The old saying is "write what you know," and myself is the person I know best. In this chapter, in particular, I (unconsciously) gave Katey some of my tendency to ramble and go on tangents. I'm sure you noticed that trait, especially in some of the older chapters.
Gonna be honest, I think this chapter could have been better, especially the last bit, but after so many months of a half-finished draft looming over me, I just wanted to get done with it so I could move on.
I did consider writing a short "Two explanations later…" to milk some more information and reactions to said information… but it felt like I ruined the "rhythm" of the chapter.
That's why I will do something a bit… different next chapter. Be on the lookout, it should be out sometime in the coming six months or so. Ciao!
Buuuuut until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!
