Well here it is, Ash gets his big chance to be his own man in this chapter. This chapter is going to be set during the events of Super Watermelon Island, and Gem Drill. *I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR STEVEN UNIVERSE*
Ash watched the sun rise through the enormous, gaping hole in the barn wall Peridot had left from her robot. He and the Gems worked through the night before giving him and Steven a break. Peridot was still trying to process her actions from the previous night and was sitting outside watching the Gems put the finishing touches on the drill. Steven was sleeping on a mattress the Gems brought for him to sleep on outside, he was turning as if he was having a nightmare. As he stepped outside, he felt the ground slightly shake and Steven quickly woke up.
"Did you feel that?" Peridot asked the group "the ground shook! This could be the start of the emergence of the Cluster!" she turned to the chalkboard with a diagram of the earth on it "stage one: slight tremors every quarter hour. Stage two: full scale earthquakes. Stage three: THE EARTH IS DESTROYED!" she screamed as she flipped the board to a drawing of the earth being destroyed with "bye bye Earth" written on it. "We're running out of time, we need to drill RIGHT NOW!"
"No it was Malachite!" Steven interrupted
"MALACHITE!?" Ash and the Gems screamed in union
"What?" Peridot asked annoyed to be left out
"I was on Mask Island. I was in a Watermelon Steven, they have a lovely community, but Malachite, she was there!"
"Wait, "watermelon Stevens? Mask Island?" i thought you guys agreed you would tell me everything" Ash questioned the Gems
"You never asked" Amethyst joked
"Lapis Lazuli is losing control, soon Jasper will overpower her and Malachite will be loose" Garnet stated
"Who knows what destruction an unstable fusion like Malachite could cause?" Pearl asked her
"ALRIGHT GEMS!" Garnet barked to the group "Pearl, Amethyst and I will warp to Mask Island."
"Me and Ash are coming to"
"No. Steven, it's too dangerous for you. And Ash, your personal feelings for Lapis will cloud your judgement"
"Oh my sweet Arceus even Garnet knows" Ash said smacking his palm across his face
"Oh we all do" Pearl joined in causing Amethyst to laugh.
There was another small tremor ending whatever fun Amethyst was having.
"Stay here and watch the drill with Peridot boys. Gems, to the nearest warp pad!" Garnet ordered her teammates
"TO THE NEAREST WARP PAD" the other two Gems shouted as they ran towards the barn's warp pad, and beamed off.
"Hang tight Lapis" Ash said "they're coming for you".
"Can either of you clods explain to me what this "Malachite" is?". Ash and Steven sat Peridot down on the mattress and explained the situation. "So Lazuli has Jasper trapped in a fusion? You're joking me"
"Lapis must be getting tired from fighting Jasper all this time"
"Just being on a ship with Jasper made me tired" Peridot joked. Now Ash, what did the Garnet mean by "your personal feeling toward Lazuli?"
Ash sighed at Peridot's question. Before he could come up with an answer, Steven exclaimed "Ash loves Lapis"
"What do mean by love?" she asked
"She's the Percy to my Pierre" Ash said to her, knowing about her ship between the two characters.
"Oh"
There was another tremor as the three braced themselves for a long few hours. After waiting thirty minutes, Steven had enough of waiting. "We've been waiting to long! I've got to help them somehow!"
"Why don't you just disobey them?" Peridot asked "you're a rebel, rebel. Isn't that like, you guy's thing?
Ash normally wouldn't have permitted such behavior, knowing the Gems would kill him if he actually let Steven do this, but not being able to keep track on Lapis was driving him crazy "P's right bud, we should at least try"
"I know! I'll use my dream powers and become a watermelon Steven again! This way, i can help them and be safe at the same time" he chuckled at the discovery of his loophole and lay down onto his back
"Wow, you are a real anarchist" Peridot said sarcastically
"No one can tell me what to do" he drowsily said as he drifted to sleep
"Good luck Steven" Ash said
"Wait! What are we supposed to do now!?" Peridot began to panic at the prospect of being left alone with just Ash.
He reached into his backpack he brought from the barn and handed a deck of cards to her "here, i'll teach you how to play Go Magikarps".
The two played the card game for nearly thirty minutes, Ash won every time. "So Peridot, after we end the Cluster, what is your plan? Just live in Steven's bathroom for the rest of your life?" he joked
She looked at her cards "give me your threes"
"P that's not how you play". He said "and you didn't answer me. Are you happy about your living conditions? Because you seem much happier here at the barn. You know what? I know i'm gonna regret this, but consider this, why not stay with me? You can live with me here if you want"
"Pika" Pikachu agreed
Peridot looked at him, "well, that's very nice of you Ash. to tell you the truth, i don't really like it there. Very well, i will accept your offer. Now answer me this: you say you love Lazuli, why?"
He signed, "i've been asking myself that same exact question. P. i don't understand why, i mean you probably know her better than me. But i understand my feelings, and i know this attraction is real. I love her Peridot. Anyway, looks like we're living together." Before he could make his next move in their game, the earth began to shake more than before. Steven shot awake.
"STEVEN!" Ash screamed
"If you're done just laying there, LET'S GET TO STOPPING THE WORLD FROM ENDING!"
Steven ran over to the duo while Peridot prepared the drill.
"What happened? Where are the others?" Ash asked
"They're stuck on Mask Island, Lapis is safe though, we're gonna have to drill without them!" he said as he climbed into the cockpit with Peridot. Ash climbed up with them, but he was shocked by the small space of the pod. In fact there was barely enough space for Steven and Peridot together.
"I won't fit!" he shouted over the noise of the tremor "you to are gonna have to do this without me!"
"No we're not leaving you!" Steven declared
"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS YOU CLODS! ASH IS GOING TO HAVE TO STAY BEHIND!" she screamed pushing Steven into the pod
"ASH LISTEN! BEACH CITY NEEDS YOU WITHOUT THE GEMS! GO SAVE OUR HOME!" he screamed as Peridot closed the door. Ash watched the drill dig into the ground and vanish from sight.
"You heard him Pikachu. Let's go save Beach City." he summoned Charizard and directed him to the city. He landed in the middle of town and returned Charizard. He saw that multiple citizens were panicking in the streets, a streetlamp fell over from across the street.
"ASH!" he heard a familiar voice scream from behind him, turning around he saw Jamie the mailman approaching him. "What's going on!?"
"You need to get out of here Jamie, there's some major stuff happening, like everybody dies happening! Steven and the Gems are handling the "end of the world" part, but i've been sent to help with the city."
Jamie took a minute to process the information "ok. What can i do to help?"
The mailman's determination was much to be admired, Ash was finding he had much more respect for Jaime "alright, we need to find a stable place to direct anybody who is still out in the open to take refuge."
Jamie thought for a minute before coming to a conclusion "Funland has an empty warehouse next to it!"
"That'll do, alright, round up anybody you see and send them there, i've got to go find the Mayor!" Jamie ran off toward the crowd of people, but Ash could see that only a few of them were listening. He ran through town to City Hall, where he found Mayor Dewey desperately trying to shield himself and Buck under his desk
"Ash!" Buck shouted to his friend "why's the ground shaking?"
"No time to explain! Get to the warehouse by Funland where it's safe. Mayor Dewey, i need you to tell this to all the townspeople asap."
Buck ran out with Ash while the mayor grabbed a megaphone and followed the boys announcing the safety of Funland as they ran. More and more people began following them as Jamie reunited with Ash bringing even more people with him. They entered the gates of Funland and he, Jamie and the Mayor directed everyone to the safe zone trying their best to keep the temporary peace.
"Ash! Help us out over here!" he heard Greg suddenly shout from the arcade. He and Jamie approached Greg and a large, well built, black man with a goatee. The front entrance to the arcade was blocked by some fallen rubble.
"There's some kids trapped in there, we've got to hurry!" the man Greg was with said with great concern. The four men each grabbed a piece of the fallen structure and began to pull. Even with their combined strength, it wasn't enough to move the large object. Eventually Ash released Sceptile to join them in lifting, and the group was able to lift it, allowing the three children inside to escape. They all ran to the warehouse and covered themselves waiting for the massive earthquake to end.
"So this could be it huh?" Greg asked him
"Yea. but i have complete faith in Steven. Hey Greg?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. Thanks for everything, letting me live in you barn, giving a job, and for well, being the dad i never had"
"Aw it's no problem kid. If anything, i should be thanking you, Steven's never had someone who can be like a brother to him, and they may not tell you, but the Gems love having you around to"
"Even Pearl?"
"Yep"
"Wow, now i've heard everything"
"Yo Ash!" he heard from behind him. He turned to see Buck, Sour Cream, Jenny and Jamie approach him.
"So we're gonna die uh?" Jenny asked him
"No we aren't." Ash said "Not if Steven and the Gems have something to say about it"
"So why are you here and not with them?" Sour Cream nonchalantly asked
"Well" he stuttered in embarrassment "i couldn't fit in the machine taking them to the center of the earth" causing his teenage friends to laugh.
"Since we are all sharing" Jamie said, "Ash, i would like to apologize for the oddness of our first meeting and the "Garnet situation"
"Believe it or not Jamie, i'm used to having a friend awkwardly profess his love to a girl he met just a few minutes ago. Yea i think you're a little odd, but seeing you today, you're a good person. I'm glad to call you my friend" he said. "I'm glad to have ALL of you as my friends". As soon as he had opened up to his friends, the shaking stopped.
"Is it over?" Mayor Dewey asked
"Hold up" Ash said, he then turned to address everyone in the warehouse "everyone listen up please! I know the source of the earthquake, and i know the Gems are stopping it, just because it stopped doesn't mean it's over completely. I need everyone to stay here where it's safe, if i'm not back and the shaking has been over for twenty minutes, then it's safe to go home." he then exited to warehouse with Pikachu, mounting Charizard and began to make his way back to the barn. He flew quickly, desperate to see if Steven and Peridot succeeded, and if the Gems had brought back his beloved Lapis. Landing on the property, he saw a large beam of light emit from the warp pad. There he saw Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet carrying an unconscious blue girl.
"LAPIS!" he screamed as he ran to his friends, Pearl and Amethyst had to hold him back
"She needs rest Ash, give her some time" Garnet told him "why aren't you with Steven and Peridot?" she asked walking into the barn and laying Lapis down on Ash's bed.
"Peridot made the pod too small, they had to handle the Cluster without me, so i figured i'd help control the citizens of Beach City"
"You did crowd control all by yourself?" Pearl asked.
Before he could give her an answer, they heard a mechanical hiss emerging from the hole the drill was. Peridot and Steven had returned.
"WE DID IT!" Peridot screamed in happiness
"YOU GUYS DID IT!" Ash exclaimed as he grabbed both of his short friends into a hug while laughing. They then heard a car honk as Greg's van approached them.
"Well since the world hasn't blown up yet i can assume you guys did it!" he said, i know you gems don't eat, but i got you a cake anyway" sure enough he took out a small cake from a plastic bag. "Sorry it doesn't say "thank you for saving us but it was literally last minute"
Ash took a look at the vanilla cake Greg had bought them. Decorated in red frosting, it read "sorry for you divorce". But Ash didn't care, They had just saved the entire planet, and most importantly, Lapis was back in his life. Amongst the celebration, he walked back to the barn and checked in on her. Sure enough Lapis was still there in his bed. She looked so tired, so vulnerable, he badly wanted to wake her up with a hug and tell her "everything was going to be ok".
"Give her some time Ash" he heard Garnet from behind him, causing his to jump.
"What happened to Jasper?" he asked
"She got away, but you are my biggest concern at the moment Ash. i know you're happy she's back, but i want you to remember what i told you about the effects being Malachite will probably have on her." with that, Garnet left him and the ocean gem alone
"Ash?" he heard a faint voice coming from his bed. He turned to see Lapis had barely opened her eyes
"Yes Lapis, it's me. It's ok now, you're safe. You're going to be ok" he gently took her hand as she went back into unconsciousness. He saw a single tear fall from her eye. After he waited for nearly ten minutes, he left her to rest and rejoined the others.