I guess this is the part I say something to you guys. So, hey everybody you guys have any weekend plans? I honestly have nothing else to address you guys so I'll just get the new chapter going. Also, about the whole "Concrete controversy", if you are attacking Rebecca and the Crewinverse even after stating a profound apology and are trying to fix the problem, shame on you. I'm not saying that what happened wasn't terrible, however i do believe the statement from Lamar that it was a horrible misunderstanding and i fully support Rebecca and everyone involved with the show. If you have no idea what i'm talking about, i envy you. *POKEMON AND STEVEN UNIVERSE AND ITS CHARACTERS ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*
Ash opened the barn door with his feet aching after a long day of working the car wash with Greg, ready to dig into the pizza he brought back for him and his human barnmates.
"Hey everyone I'm ba-AHHH!" He exclaimed as he tripped over something and fell to the floor, just barely able to save the pizza.
Looking behind him to see what he tripped on, he saw Lapis's newest meepmorp laying on the floor in front of the front door. The item in question was a replica of Pikachu she made, out of the condoms Kevin had given him as Ash gave them to her and told her to do whatever she wanted with them, seeing as they had no intent of using the condoms for their intended purpose.
He carefully kicked the condom Pikachu into the corner of the barn and began to eat dinner with James as Misty and Brock hadn't returned home yet.
After dinner, he decided he was going to attempt to get some training done with Greninja and began to walk towards the back exit, only to once again trip over the box containing all of the VHS tapes Peridot and James watched, causing them all to spill over the floor.
"Damn it Peri" he cursed his original barnmate under his breath for carelessly leaving them out in the open for anyone to trip on. He began picking up the black tapes and tried his best to carefully reorganize them in the box as they were, knowing Peridot got annoyed at anyone who messed up her order. After getting all 10 seasons of Camp Pinning Hearts and the recorded tape of the 1988 summer olympics back in the box, he was left with the last tape, the tape he never watched as it had no label and didn't want to watch.
Mr. Gus and Uncle Grandpa had told him Rose Quartz had left a videotape for him, and Rose herself confirmed it existed the last time she saw him.
"Could this be it?" He thought as he inspected the blank VHS. Rose had knew of the future events that would lead Ash to where he was now, could she have purposefully left it at the barn she knew he would be living at? The uncertainty was eating him from the inside, he just had to know. He had to see what was on this tape.
After climbing up onto the truck, he saw Peridot was already in the truck and rewatching season 6 of Camp Pinning Hearts.
"Hey i was watching that!" she angrily said as he pushed her aside and removed the tape.
"Give me a minute Peri!" he said as he held the angry, little gem back and put his tape into the VCR. "this is important"
Peridot looked him in the eye and after seeing the seriousness in them, she calmed down and allowed him to steal the TV from her.
He took a deep breath as he prepared to view the contents of the tape he had spent so long to get. Finally he was going to get answers as to his purpose in the Gem's universe.
There was a poor quality to the video as he saw the date in the corner of the screen was September 14, 1982. As the focus came into view, they saw the barn in the background and two children, both boys around the ages of 7 or 10, were wrestling in the dirt. He paid extra attention to the younger looking boy, as he looked strikingly similar to Steven except his hair was straight.
"Mom make him stop!" The boy in the video shouted as the older boy pinned him to the ground
"Alright Andy, that's quite enough leave your cousin alone" he heard a voice order from behind the camera
"Ash, what on Earth is this?" Peridot asked extremely confused as the boys continued to play together in the video.
Ash on the other hand knew exactly what was happening, and removed the tape from the VCR. "it's just a damn DeMayo family home movie" he said out loud in a defeated and humiliated tone.
"Ash, are you alright?" Peridot asked with concern
"it's just a damn DeMayo family home movie!" he repeated himself with fury and threw the tape as far as he possibly could into the cornfield.
"WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET SOME ARCEUS BE DAMNED ANSWERS AROUND HERE!?" he screamed as he leapt down to the ground, by this time Lapis, James and Pikachu heard his tantrum and ran outside
"Ash, are you ok?" Lapis asked softly and placed her hand on his shoulder with worry
"NO I'M NOT OK!" he screamed as he pulled away. However he finally came to his senses when he saw the worry and hurt on Lapis's face, and it was a face he couldn't bare to look at knowing he was responsible for it. He knew he had to get away from everyone and cool down, so without a word, he turned around and walked away.
As he walked down the beach, he saw his favorite mailman sitting on a log, looking just as miserable as he did
"Evening Ash" Jamie addressed his friend with a shy smile "you look worse for wear"
"You have room to talk" he said sitting down with him "what are you doing here?"
"I come here whenever i feel like i need to think."
"Well scoot over, i need a place to think to" he said sitting down with him "i got pissed at something personal, then i screamed at Lapis. And I couldn't stand myself so i figured "why would she?" she's probably really mad at me now"
"Dang, hope things work out" he told him sympathetically
"Yeah. Me to" he agreed "what's bothering you?"
"I think you know already" Jamie answered him
"You're seriously are still mopping over Serena? You know she has to reject you first so you can mope right?"
"I know. I've just, you know, given up. I mean, she lives with me. And i can't just tell her i like her, it would destroy our friendship, you remember how bad i got after Garnet, i don't know if i can handle that kind of rejection again"
"Jamie, as someone who had been in your shoes, let me tell you something Pearl once told me. "You can either tell her how you feel and risk being rejected, or you can keep your secret and live your life never knowing what could've been" i made my choice with Lapis and look at us. You should tell her, or i might tell her for you"
Jamie looked down at the sand lost in thought "thanks Ash, and speaking of confession, if you want to get married, i'd recommend you apologize as soon as possible"
"WHAT!? How did you!?"
"Misty told me. Don't worry I'm not gonna tell anyone else. It's getting pretty late, I think I'll return to my house guests, i'll think about what you told me Ash. You're a good friend, and I wish you luck on your proposal" he said as he stood up and walked away
After Jamie was out of sight, he felt much more controlled and calm as a result of their talk. He also found himself with the overwhelming sensation of having to go to the bathroom. Ash knew the Temple was just a few feet away, and he knew Steven wouldn't mind if he used his bathroom. The last time he urinated in the ocean, Lapis claimed to have felt it and claimed to be disgusted, not wanting to anger her any further, Ash decided it'd be best if he used Steven's.
"Hey Steven! Sorry to barge in but can I use your bathroom? Thanks!" He exclaimed as he entered the house and immediately ran into the open bathroom. After relieving himself, he noticed Steven was holding an enormous, pink colored key, Lion sitting on the bed next to him.
"New toy?" He asked
"Nope, Lion just puked it out when I asked him for help in understanding what my mom wants me to do with myself, with you" he said inspecting the key "This key. Mom must have wanted Lion to give this to me now. What does it open though?" An idea suddenly appeared in his head as he leapt into Lion's pocket dimension inside his mane, leaving Ash alone with the big, pink cat. After a few seconds, Steven returned having no success.
"Guess we both got sent on wild goose chases by Rose today" Ash remarked as he explained the tape situation. "But you know, Steven i know exactly what it's like to get vague information and having to use it to discover your destiny."
"What do you mean?"
"I told you about how i'm really only here because i'm the chosen one in my world, the chosen one who was destined to save the world according to the great prophecy "Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning lest these three Titans wreck destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's Great Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting alone its song will fail. Thus the Earth shall turn to ash. O, Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea". I was obviously the Ash that the world turned to. The titans were the three legendary pokemon, Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno, who control the elements. And the water's great garden was another extraordinary pokemon Lugia."
"So what happened that caused the prophecy?"
"What else? Some idiot disturbed the harmony of the elements and nearly destroyed the world. I was able to stop it, but my point is, i was able to do it without any knowledge about what i had to do. And it looks like i'm gonna have to do it again, but you know what bud?"
"What?"
"I'm glad i'm figuring this out with you Steven, with Lapis, with the Gems and my other friends. I know we're going to fulfill the prophecy together, as brothers. And i'll bet that key has something to do with it. We should-"
But Steven cut Ash off by grabbing him and pulling his near brother into a tight hug, wiping tears away from Ash's kind words he let go of him and approached Lion
"Lion, where did you get this? Can you please take me there? Pleeeeease" he begged before Ash squatted down to Steven's height and gave Lion matching puppy dog eyes. Eventually Lion did give in and crouched down for the two to ride him.
As Ash assess his new surroundings, he realized Lion had wrapped them to the middle of a vast desert.
"Hey. This is where we found you. Something of Mom's is hidden here, right? Take us there" Steven demanded.
Lion obeyed and began to charge towards an unknown destination. After nearly three hours of the two being exposed to the blistering heat, Ash heard Steven begin to faintly talk to himself out loud
"Mom... who were you? Who am I? What are me and Ash supposed to do? Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, They won't say it, but, I know they expect something big from me, from us. But how can I fulfill my destiny if I don't even know what it is? Who am I supposed to be?"
Lion finally reached their destination, a large pink structure mostly buried in the sand with the exception of two large, pink mountain like structures sticking out of the sand. Between them, there was a large door with a keyhole in it's center
"Whatever's behind this door, I know it's something important" Steven said as he and Ash both placed their hands on the key and placed it in the hole. "Please tell us our destiny."
With the door open, they saw that behind the door was a mountain of objects, Steven picked up an old sword and tried to pull it out of it's sheath, but the handle broke off from years of exposure.
"There's gotta be something here" Ash stated, trying his best to make something out of their present situation. "You check for anything on that side, i'll check this side" but his hopes were dashed as he saw only a bunch of deteriorated weapons and armor piled up and left to rust.
"No. Please! There was supposed to be something here to tell me my purpose! This is just a bunch of garbage Mom left behind!" he heard Steven beginning to shout and kick random objects out of a rage that equaled Ash's earlier in the evening.
"Steven calm down!" he said as he ran to his friend "Steven, we need to both calm down and figure out what we're doing here, there has to be something here!"
Steven looked down to the ground where he just kicked and saw something, proving Ash right. Ash noticed it as well and picked it up, it was another VHS tape with the words "For Nora" written on it's label.
"Another tape from mom? But, who's Nora? Ash do i have a sister!?"
"I don't know bud, but we'll figure this out together, Lion, we've asked a lot from you today, but we need to know what this "Nora" thing is, please Lion, take us to where we can find answers."
"I promise i won't get mad the next time you throw up on my bed" Steven added
Lion looked disinterested as he usually does, but Steven's promise seemed to seal the deal for him, and began to get ready to warp them away, but Ash felt an overwhelming urge to take one last look at Rose's junkpile.
As he turned around, an item that he never noticed until now just caught his eye and he approached it. While everything else in the pile it was set on had began to deteriorate over time and had a fine layer of sand on it, this thing looked brand new meaning it hadn't been there for long. The item was a yellow shoulder bag, one that Ash could've sworn he recognized. He opened the bag to see only one item was inside it, a pink and white ribbon with a metal pendant in the center styled in the shape of the sun cut in half. As soon as he saw the ribbon inside, Ash instantly knew who's bag this was.
"MAY!" he began to scream as he dropped the bag and ran to the edge of the landfill, looking around frantically searching for his lost friend "MAY WHERE ARE YOU!? IT'S ME ASH! YELL IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!" after he received no answer, he was about to outright run into the desert to find her before Steven grabbed him
"NO! NO! LET ME GO! SHE'S GONNA DIE OUT HERE!" he screamed in hysterics as Steven struggled to hold him back
"Ash, calm down! Lion's ready to go, and as soon as we get back, the Gems can search for her all night! Come on Ash you'll die out there to if you go out there alone"
Ash knew Steven had a valid point, after he collected himself, he joined Steven and Lion on the return to Beach City for answers on Nora "hold on May, we're coming back for you" he said to himself
"Lion, why did you took us to?" Steven began to ask after Lion brought then to the outskirts to Beach City, but he was cut off by the sound of a guitar playing in the distance. Lion wandered off while Steven and Ash followed the music to the source, and saw Greg and his van parked on the top of the hill playing his guitar.
"Oh hey Stu-ball, Ash, what's going on? Nice bag Ash" he said referring to May's bag that Ash was still holding.
"Dad?! You're Nora?"
"What?"
"We found this" Ash explained showing Greg the tape
"Oh, my gosh I never thought I'd see this again!" he said taking the tape
"You've seen this tape before?"
"Of course. Come here. You should to Ash" he said as he lead the boys to the back of his van and popped the tape into the VCR
The tape displayed showed a much younger Greg standing on the beach being followed by a seagull. "He's following me now." he told the person holding the camera
"Maybe he'll help you with your intro this time." a familiar female voice said from behind the camera, Ash recognized her voice as Rose Quartz.
The film shifted to Greg posing with his guitar "They call me…" he began to say as he jammed on his guitar "Mr. Universe! Get ready, baby, 'cause you're gonna have the coolest dad this side of the cosmos!"
"I press it now, right?" Rose asked him
"Do it. Woah!" he said as he lost his balance "think we can edit this part out?"
"No, no. It's perfect." she said laughing she then turned the camera towards herself "Isn't it wonderful, Nora? This world is full of so many possibilities. Each living thing has an entirely unique experience. The sights they see, the lives they live are so complicated and...so simple. Nora, we can't both exist. But I won't be gone. I'm going to become half of you. And every moment you enjoy being yourself, that will be me, loving being you." she told them
While Ash was still confused, Steven looked more upset "I don't understand. Why is this the same as the video you guys made me? Who's Nora?"
Greg chuckled and wiped away tears "N-Nora is you"
"I'm my mom and my sister?! What kind of destiny is this?! What is Ash my grandfather now?!"
"No, no. We just had it down to two names - Steven if you were a boy, and Nora if you were a girl."
"So, then, would Nora have the magical destiny if I wasn't here?"
"Magical destiny? I don't know about that."
"But Mom did. She was trying to tell me something with my tape. She keeps leaving me... puzzle pieces. Sooner or later, I'm going to understand what I'm for!"
"Woah! Steven, it's okay" Ash tried to calm him
"Am I supposed to be - D-did she want me to be Nora?"
"Steven, she just wanted you to be you. When you have a kid, you have no idea who they're gonna be. Even Garnet couldn't predict it. That's what was so exciting to your mom, that life is full of so many possibilities, and you would get to explore them for yourself. I mean, you could be Steven or Nora or anyone else. And you can always change your name. Hey, I did." Greg told his son
Steven looked at the paused image of his mother and resumed it "Because you're going to become something extraordinary. You're going to be a human being. That's my favorite part. A human being. A human is an action. I wonder who, how you'll be, what you'll think, what you'll want. Oh, I'm so happy for everyone who's going to know you. I'm rambling. If they look to you, trust yourself. Take care of them, Nora." she said before the tape ended
"So that's it. I'm just... supposed to be her kid. Only Ash has destiny here, i'm just supposed to go along for the ride"
"Woah, woah wait bud. That's not that at all" Ash explained, this is your world, i still need you. You're my brother, and like i told you earlier, i'm glad i'm doing this with you. And i know that we're going to figure out the prophecy together. Come on, you've had a rough day, i'll walk you home so we can get the Gems to start their search for May"
After wishing Greg goodnight and made their way home, they were greeted to the sight of the screen door to the Temple had been removed from it's hinges and was now on the ground, almost as if it had been kicked down.
"STEVEN! ASH!" Pearl screamed as she embraced her boys in a tight hug "thank the stars you're alright!"
"Pearl what happened?" Ash asked
"When we returned from our mission, we saw someone had broken into the house, and when we realized you were gone we thought someone took you" she explained, tightening her hug around the boys
"Nothing appears to have been stolen" Amethyst stated
"Check again" Garnet informed the group from the bubble room.
Everyone followed her to the bubble room, at first all the bubbled gems seemed to have been in place, but by instinct, Ash looked for the bubble containing his least favorite gem, and saw Jasper was gone.
"This makes no sense" Pearl began to rant "first of all, only gems can access this room. Second, why would the intruder only take Jasper's gem? Like they specifically broke in just for Jasper"
"There's more" Ash added "we need to go to the desert immediately, another pokemon trainer, a girl named May is trapped there. If we don't find her soon she's going to die out there"
"Jasper can clearly wait," Garnet ordered "our priorities are saving Ash's friend. Steven, stay here in case the intruder returns, Ash i'd recommend you go home and apologize to Lapis" he continued having used her future vision to see the problem happening between him and Lapis "let's go Gems!" she finished as the three got on the warp pad and went to begin their search for May.
"You got into a fight with Lapis?" Steven asked
"Well, yes, it was more like i screwed up and need to apologize" he explained as he picked up May's bag and headed for the door "you need my help with fixing the door before i go?"
"Nope, i'll just call my dad for that. I'll keep you updated on the search party. Night Ash"
"Night Steven, stay safe"
After he returned to the barn, he witnessed everyone except Lapis was sitting on the truck. Expecting the worst, he opened the barn door, once again tripping over the condom Pikachu.
"You alright?" Lapis asked him from their bed
"Yeah, i'm fine. And i came here to apologize for screaming at you, you didn't deserve to be treated that way just because i was angry. I'm so sorry Lapis, please forgive me"
She gently patted her hand down on the bed next to her, Ash sat down on the bare mattress next to her and she embraced him in a trusting hug "i'm not angry at you Ash. And i fully understand your anger, you deserve to know the truth about why you're here, and i understand why you lost it" she finished by giving him a quick peck on the lips "i love you so much Ash"
"And i love you to" he said resting his head down, then he remembered Jasper being stolen by another gem "hey, can i ask you something?'
"Anything"
"Did you or Peridot go to the Temple today?"
"No, why?"
He was hesitant to answer her, he didn't know how she'd respond if she knew her tormentor was free, but he knew she deserved the truth "someone broke into the Temple today, and stole Jasper's bubbled gem"
Lapis's eyes widened as the painful memories of being Malachite returned to her at the mention of her name. However instead of screaming and crying like how she used to, she did tremble a little bit in Ash's arms, but she took several deep breaths and was able to keep herself relatively collected.
"I promise you Lapis, i won't let her get to you" he said as he continued to gently massage her gem in a calming manner "i will never let go of you Lapis"
"Thank you Ash" she said as she began to fall asleep in his arms, but Ash was obviously getting no sleep that night, thinking about how Rose technically screwed both him and Steven over, how some mystery gem was now running around Beach City, how they had stolen Jasper and what they planning on doing with a corrupted gem, and the most important thing that was worrying him was May's fate, if she was alive or not, or even worse, if Max was with her and met the same fate as his big sister.
When Brock, James, Peridot and Misty finally thought it was safe for them to enter the barn to sleep, Ash quietly got up so he wouldn't disturb Lapis, and showed them May's bag. At first Brock doubted it was hers, but after Ash presented the half of her Terracotta Town Pokemon Contest ribbon, and showed his half of the token of their friendship he kept in his bag, they all believed it was hers.
"So the Gems are looking for her?" Misty asked "I couldn't imagine what she must be going through, lost, scared, alone"
"Misty stop it" Ash demanded as he sat back down, still trying to process everything that had happened. Then another thought came to him "could May's arrival and Jasper's disappearance possibly be related?" He thought as he tried to get some sleep