I know that I said that I would be taking a very long break while i tried to find a new job. Well guess what? Found one. I will continue to be writing new chapters as time goes on. That's it i guess. *STEVEN UNIVERSE AND POKEMON ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*
Ash honestly had no idea where he was, all he could see was darkness. He stumbled forward trying to find his way back to Steven's home, that's when he saw it, a light a good distance away. He slowly approached the light and saw her standing in it. Lapis Lazuli. He began to pick up his pace, calling her name as he struggled to catch up to her. Once he had finally reached her, he saw she was still the same age and height she was when he first officially met her, but she was different now, her eyes had pupils, the gem on her back was perfectly fine, and she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She gently smiled at him as he stretched his arm out to her, before he could reach her, the light behind her had vanished. He watched in horror, as her figure grew into a ginormous abomination. She grew a second set of eyes and arms, and her legs became arms as well. The monster that was once his friend looked down at him, grinning evilly with a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, and roared at him.
Ash sat up quickly in a cold sweat breathing heavily. "It was just a dream" he whispered to himself as he began to look around the living room of Steven's studio home. He saw that Pikachu was snuggled up at the foot of the couch, still asleep. He caught a quick glimpse at the kitchen wall clock, which read 3:34 AM. he then looked out the window to the porch to admire the ocean at night. The moon was full, so looking around in the dark wasn't much of a problem as the light snuck into the room through the open blinds. That's when he saw it, a dark, feminine shaped body was looking through the window directly at him, and he knew exactly who it was.
As soon as he noticed her, Lapis turned and ran. Ash quickly got out of bed, practically throwing the screen door open and ran outside after her. But he was too late, as she had already vanished beneath the waves.
Returning to the house, he was surprised he hadn't woken Steven or Pikachu. He got back into bed as quietly as possible and rested his head.
Despite thinking he wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night, he must have because he was woken around 7 in the morning by Pearl angrily shouting at him
"And as for you!" she screamed causing him to fall off the couch in surprise, "you were supposed to be keeping an eye on him, and yet you allowed him to get into a situation like this! And to think we were beginning to trust you around him!"
"And i apologize for that Pearl, but neither of us had any idea that the mirror YOU gave us had a water bender, with a pretty face and a bad temper living in it!"
"Did i just say "pretty face"?" he thought hoping nobody else heard him, he couldn't tell if Garnet had noticed as she made no facial expression, and Pearl was probably too mad to even care, besides, the attitude he gave her was probably what she was thinking of more
"That's it, Ash you have been nothing but a terrible influence on Steven since the day you arrived! And we will not allow you to live in this home with him any longer!"
"Pearl no!" Steven argued, "please, I was the one who defied Garnet and slapped her, Ash had nothing to do with it!"
"There's no changing our minds Steven" Garnet added "you've been acting up more since Ash moved in with us."
"Garnet!"
"No they're probably right bud" Ash finally added to the conversation, "and i respect the Gems too much to defy them. You want me gone i'm gone. Come on Pikachu let's go" he said as he picked up his backpack. He was pretty sad to have to leave Steven as he began to see him as the little brother he never had. He began to head for the door but a balding, pudgy, ma with a bad sunburn beat him to it. He recognized him as Steven's father Greg. He had met Greg a few times during the week, and thought he was a very kind man. He was slouched over and out of breath.
"Dad?" Steven asked
"Uh you guys all better come and see this" Greg said pointing toward the beach. The group all followed him outside to see, nothing. The ocean was completely gone and in its place was a huge desert. A large crowd of townspeople had gathered outside in confusion. And the mayor, who was trying his best to calm everyone down, was having a complete panic attack shouting things into a megaphone. "Alright everybody, listen up!" Mayor Dewey screamed with a panicked tone into the megaphone, "i know you're all upset, but we CAN'T FREAK OUT!" he finally noticed the Gem's presence on the beach "look it's those magical ladies and the kid with the superpowered animals!" still screaming into the horn. He ran across the beach and got down on his knees in front of Garnet. "I DEMAND ANSWERS!"
"The ocean is gone. Obviously" she calmly told him
"THAT'S RIGHT NOW IT'S JUST A DESERT! NOBODY WANTS TO VACATION AT DESERT CITY! OH WE'RE GOING TO LOSE ALL OUR SPRING BREAK BUSINESS! AS MAYOR I DEMAND YOU EXPLAIN THIS IMMEDIAT-" was the last thing Dewey shouted before Garnet smacked the megaphone out of his hands
"It was Lapis Lazuli" she said before she turned around and walked back inside the house. The rest of the group followed her, with Connie now joining them.
"It. It couldn't be Lapis" Steven said, "there's got to be another explanation."
Although Ash didn't want to admit it either, he knew it to be true. "Bud, Lapis is really the only other explanation" to prove it to Steven, he walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet. The water began flowing out as normal, but instead of going down the drain, it flew out of the sink and through the air, narrowly missing Greg as it danced out the still open door, far off into the newly formed desert.
"I thought we already told you, you are not welcome here anymore" Pearl snarked towards him
"Pearl there are bigger problems at hand" Amethyst defended Ash
"She's right" Garnet added, "we need to"
"Where are you going Steven?" Connie interrupted. They all turned to see Steven had already packed his cheeseburger shaped backpack and was almost out the door.
"I'm leaving to fix what Ash and I have done. We were the ones who set Lapis free from the mirror. Now the ocean's gone and i feel like it's all my fault. I'm gonna bring the ocean back, or get really thirsty trying"
He began to turn to leave when Greg placed his hand on his son's shoulder "hold up kiddo, i'm coming to"
Connie placed her hand on Steven's other shoulder "i wanna help to, plus i feel weird being at your house if you're not here"
Lion, as usual, appeared from nowhere and placed his paw on Steven's head and growled in agreeance, terrifying both Greg and Ash and once.
"Clearly we're coming to" Pearl said, speaking for all the Gems
"You're ungrounded by the way" Garnet added.
"Let me and Pikachu come to. I understand you want me gone, but Steven will need all the help he can get. Plus, Lapis is my friend to. I promise, once we get back i'll be gone. You'll never see me again.
"Please let Ash come Garnet" Steven pleaded one last time
Garnet and Pearl looked at each other "I can't say no to that face. Come on Ash you can join us"
"But you will not be traveling with Steven, understood?"
"Crystal clear. Besides, i've got my own ride"
"Whoo hooo!" Amethyst cheered "road trip!"
"Team Gem", as Steven called them, spent a few minutes preparing their modes of transportation. The Gems and Greg loaded up into his van, which apparently was also his home, while Steven and Connie would ride Lion. Ash and Pikachu on the other hand, would be riding in the sky on Charizard. Before they took to the sky, Amethyst marched over to him giggling.
"So Ash" she said with a smile, "when we get there, are you gonna beat Lapis with the power of love?"
"no Amethyst, me and Steven are probably gonna just try to talk it over with her, and hopefully she'll listen to reason"
"Whatevs, I know someone who likes you, I know someone who likes you" she teased
"Amethyst get over here!" they heard Pearl shout from the van.
"Are you ready Charizard?" he asked his old friend. The fire type grunted as if to say "yes". And like that, they were airborne. As the group began their journey, Ash looked down to see the mayor outside the temple on his knees crying, he could also see that he was desperately trying to refill the ocean with a garden hose. "This town elected that guy as its mayor" he told himself.
The journey took much longer than he anticipated. After going for nearly eleven hours there was no sign of the ocean or Lapis and the sun was beginning to set. "She's out here somewhere" he continued to think as he saw something in the distance. "I see something up ahead!" He shouted to the others on the ground, "I'm going ahead to get a better look! Charizard faster!"
The airborne Pokemon obeyed and picked up speed to the object he saw in the distance. Eventually Ash could see it was a giant column of water stretching as far as the eye could see. After landing he removed Charizard's pokeball.
"Charizard this is where you sit out". The fire type stubbornly growled at him. "I know you want to fight, but she controls water. And you and I both know if your tail flame goes out you're out for good. I don't want to see you hurt. Now please return to your pokeball" Charizard eventually accepted his trainer's request and retreated into the ball. The rest of the group, by that time arrived.
"Lapis Lazuli is here" Garnet said
"Go away!" A familiar voice boomed from the tower of water.
"She's sensed us"
"Lapis Lazuli!" Steven shouted with a determined look on his face, "it's us, Steven and Ash!"
The tower parted quickly and a copy of Lapis's face was made from the water "go away"
"But we're your beach summer fun buddies!"
"Leave!"
Ash then decided now was as good of time as any "I know you still care about us Lapis! Or was there another reason why you were watching us last night!?" he shouted at the face. Amethyst gave him a cheeky "i was right" look.
"You're part of THEM. Part of the Crystal Gems."
"No i'm not" he shouted "just let us help you"
"You don't understand. Just leave me alone" The voice said as it retreated into the water
"We're not leaving without our ocean!" Steven shouted as he began to bash his fist into the water tower. Suddenly an arm of water grabbed him and a perfect copy of him walked out of the tower.
"I said leave me alone" it spoke in Lapis's voice. It threw Steven back to the group as the copy was joined by water copies of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Ash.
"Greg, kids get behind us" Pearl commanded. Ash assumed she wasn't talking to him though and got into battle stance with the other gems and Lion. Greg hid behind a large rock and hid Steven and Connie behind him.
"But Pearl i can help" he shouted from behind his father
"Bud listen to Pearl" Ash stated before they could begin to fight, he turned to her "I'm sorry" was all he could say to her before the brawl began
Each of them began to take on their own copies, Pikachu got in front of Ash and began to spark from his cheeks. "Pikachu thunderbolt!" he shouted as a bolt of lightning extended from his cheeks. The bolt struck the Water Ash and glowed and disintegrated. But to Ash's surprise, the puddle reformed into his doppelganger and charged him directly. Before pikachu could throw another thunderbolt, a stream of water collided with him from a water pikachu. Ash threw punch after punch at his aquatic clone, but it dodged each one, before it parted and reformed its head around his fist, grabbing his arm and throwing him across the plain. Before Water Ash could finish him off, he heard a loud echo emitting from Steven. He had somehow generated a shield from his arm protecting Greg, who was laying on the ground under the crushed van, from Water Steven. The noise reached the other clones, causing them to disintegrate. The shield disappeared as Steven approached Ash and helped him up, he then lead him to the tower's base.
"Lapis, we're coming up to see you, so please don't drown us." he said as the duo leaped inside. A hand made of water grabbed them and pulled them up at an incredible speed. Once they broke the top, the water above them parted allowing them to breath. Ash could see they in the upper atmosphere, the air was extremely thin making it difficult to breathe, but Ash was more focused on Lapis. She looked nothing like she did in his dream, her eyes were still completely blank, and she looked menacing and angry.
"What are you two doing here?" she demanded to know
"No what are you doing here? Why have you taken the ocean?" he asked her
"Can't we work this out? We Gems should be friends" Steven joined in.
At that moment Lapis dropped them. Ash expected to fall through the water, but to his surprise, she had made the water stable to walk on. "Don't you get it? They don't care about other gems. All they care about is the earth. But i never believed in this place." She walked to the edge of the tower and sat down, the two boys joined her with Steven on her left side and Ash on her right. "I just want to go home" she sadly said looking down. "I'm just using the ocean to get home. I thought if I could just reach far enough, but it's hopeless, my gem is cracked, if it weren't i'd be able to get home"
"Believe it or not i understand Lapis" Ash said resting his hand on her shoulder "i'm not from this place either."
"Really?" Lapis asked him raising her head up to look him in the eye.
"Yea, we're both pretty similar, except you have the ability to go home. Me? I have no idea if i'll ever get home"
"I had no idea."
"Wait a second! Lapis we actually can help you!" Steven suddenly remembered "I have healing powers!"
"You do?" she asked him
"When were you planning on telling me?" Ash angrily asked
"Never asked Ash. Anyway, Lapis I can fix your gem!"
"Uh ok. What do you have to do?" she asked turning her gem to Steven
"Sorry, this might be a little weird" Ash saw that Steven had licked his hand and smacked her gem. Lapis cringed and shuddered causing him to chuckle "that's the cutest thing i've seen in awhile" he thought to himself, there he was again thinking things like that about her what was wrong with him? Her gem began to glow and after a few seconds, a pair of magnificent wings made of water sprouted from it. Once the glow was gone, the crack had vanished. She looked up into Ash's eyes and he could see now she looked exactly as he had in his dream, absolutely beautiful.
Lapis grabbed him and pulled him into a quick hug "i hope you find your way home to someday Ash" she let go of him and turned to Steven "thank you Steven"
"No prob bob" he joked to her, an astonished look still on his face
She looked down at him confused saying "it's Lapis" not understanding the joke, "well, goodbye" and like that, she gracefully leaped into space. The two boys waved goodbye as they watched her fly off into the cosmos of space until she was gone. He was sad to see his friend leave, but he had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time he would see Lapis Lazuli.
A sudden feeling overtook Ash as he turned to Steven, "hey if Lapis is gone how is this tower still standing?" as soon as he asked, the water tower began to shake, globs of water began to fall as the ocean began to return to earth. They both fell over the edge in a freefall, and Ash barely had enough time to grab Staraptor's pokeball and summon the magnificent bird. Once he gained control and got on him, he steered Staraptor to catch the falling Steven "grab my hand!" he shouted as he extended his arm to grab him, but Steven was too far away. "Damn" he said to himself as he jumped off Staraptor and flew down to his pal grabbing onto him and holding him tightly as Staraptor caught them.
They flew out of the tower and landed on the shrinking land space that their friends were standing on, Ash could see Greg's leg was broken. Before the water could rush them all, Steven generated a large pink bubble around everyone. Pearl and Ash helped Greg into the van as they all awkwardly began heading back home.
After the extended trip back ended with them driving back onto the beach, it was essentially a large party from the citizens. Ash took one look at Steven before he grabbed his backpack, Pikachu on his shoulder, and began to march the opposite way of the beach. "Ash wait!" he heard a female voice from behind him. Pearl was calling back to him and signaling for him to return to the beach.
"Steven told us about you risking your life to save him"
"And you guys already told me you don't want me living at the house anymore"
"He's right", they suddenly heard Greg say from the ruined van, "he can't live in the house anymore, especially since i'm gonna because of my bad leg. But i'm not going to throw you onto the streets, my family owns a barn on the outskirts of town. I will allow you to live there, there's a bathroom, running water, an actual couch bed, electricity, a TV, and plenty of space for your pokemon."
"Mr. Universe, I don't know how what to say"
"Call me Greg, and in case you're thinking of saying no, i'll sweeten the deal. I've been looking for extra help at the carwash, i can't pay you much, but considering i'm giving you a place to stay and a job, i'd think you'd be alright with less than minimum wage"
"In addition to that" Garnet included "we will allow you to be Steven's friend and continue to assist us on missions"
"Please stay Ash" Steven begged
Looking down at him he quoted his inner Garnet "i can't say no to that face. Greg, when can i start?"
Greg , with Garnet, Ash, and Steven guiding him, lead Ash to the farmhouse. It was around a ten minute walk from town and, as advertised, was rather roomy and open.
"Be at work bt 9." Greg instructed his new employee before being assisted home. Ash wished the group a goodnight before investigating his new home. After opening the couch bed on the upper level, he dug through a few boxes. He eventually found a few VHS tapes for an older canadian soap opera titled "Camp Pinning Hearts", and watched a few episodes before letting all his pokemon out to explore as well. After a few hours, he returned them to their pokeballs and retreated to bed. As he looked around his new, permanent surroundings, he thought to himself "this would be an artist's paradise" once again, he found himself questioning why he said something like this.