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Chapter 2 - The Test
Somewhere on Earth…
Jasper knocked a few rocks free as she slid down the steep cliffside. She clutched the wall until she was at safe(ish) distance, and then pushed off, free-falling until, with a loud, crashing noise, she hit the ground in a three point landing. She stood, her tattered cape pulled up like a cloak, and surveyed the area. It was a strange, pockmarked canyon, littered with alien technology. Huge, jutting machines that ended in deadly needle points clung to the walls of the canyon.
The Kindergarten.
The orange gem shuddered at the hundreds of empty caverns shaped exactly like her. She was much larger and bulker than most of the exit-holes. Shoving through some littered scrap metal, Jasper approached the nearest of these shallow caverns, and pressed her hand against the inside. Smooth. She was flooded with memories, suddenly, as she felt the familiar grooves. She knew, then, exactly who had been born here. She remembered her. She did not miss her.
She had suffered a rebels fate.
Then, there came a low, bellowing noise. It was behemoth-like, distant, and echoing from further into the canyon. It was the very noise that had drawn Jasper to the once important gem site. She had intended to keep her distance. As the roar frayed to nothing, Jasper's senses heightened, and she began to trudge forward, deeper into the canyon. She had yet to see the beasts of this planet. Many had given her great birth, though she had spotted tracks. She wondered if, here, she could find something that would test her mettle.
Before she could continue her trek, however, the air was suddenly split with a chorus of cries, seemingly in return. They were smaller, but just as horrible. This made Jasper's hair stand on end, and she grunted in surprise. With a sound of distorting air, she summoned her weapon: the hammer-shaped helmet. She glanced from left to right, trying to catch sight of her quarry. After the initial response they had fallen quiet, and that did not sit well with the orange gem. Unfortunately for her, she made a rookie mistake.
She forgot to look up.
So, she was suddenly taken by surprise as she felt the weight of a creature landing on her back. She went stumbling forward, instantly clawing back to try and dislodge whatever it was. However, as she did, a pile of junk she had thought inanimate suddenly sprung to life, lurching forward and letting out a horrible bellow. There were various, multi-colored limbs sticking out of the misshapen armor the creature had built up around itself, and they all worked in tandem to send it catapulting with full force towards the already off-balance Jasper.
"Oof!" She grunted, suddenly taken down by the weight of the two assailants.
Then, she snarled. Grabbing the armored monster by the front of its torso(?) she used all of her might in one hand to crush the metal around it, limiting the movement of its multitude of limbs. She felt the other creature scrabbling around in her hair, and, with a thought, hardened that part of her form into deadly spikes. There was a sudden blast of white smoke as the bulk of the creature vanished. That caused Jasper to grimace.
"Wait, what-?"
Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the creature she held at bay flailing its limbs as best it could, trying to lash out at her. Jasper snarled, and, rolling forward and enveloping her person in her wild cloud of hair, rolled straight over the inhibited monster like a massive tire over a soda can. Spinning to a stop a few meters away, Jasper wiped scrap metal off of her shoulder, and glanced up. Pouring from the various holes she had thought abandoned were more of the multi-limbed monstrosities. As she looked at them, Jasper couldn't help but snarl in displeasure.
"What… happened to them?"
There were too many, even for her, in the state she was in. Weakened, out of shape, vulnerable. Had she been the gem she had been many rotations of this planet earlier… She shook those thoughts out of her mind, as the great, bellowing roar came again, this time joined in tandem with a partner. That was the last straw. Even Jasper's pride had limits. She turned, and fled.
This was, perhaps, more challenge than she had been hoping for.
"Alright, Steven, are you sure you understand the rules?" Pearl asked, again.
"Yes, Pearl," Steven said, again.
He, Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst were gathered around the secondary entrance to the temple. While the first door was nothing special (a ram-shod old cabin door), the secondary entrance was a thing of ancient, alien beauty. It was an ornate door, taller and wider even than Garnet, with 5 circular seals positioned into a star near the top of the door. The seals were color coordinated to a member of the Crystal Gems. A purple seal corresponded with Amethyst, a pearlescent white seal for Pearl. Garnet had two seals, one red and blue, for Ruby and Sapphire respectively, and Steven's seal was pink.
All seals, save for Steven's, now glowed with their corresponding color. The door itself seemed to hum with energy, and a faint mist was slipping out from the cracks and into the main room. The gems stood, like a triad of judges, in front of the door, facing Steven. They boy had a determined look on his face.
"Steven," Garnet said. "I know you've been feeling some doubt after your performance in the fight with Jasper, and at the Sky Spire. However, this test will go beyond that. Your last month of training has brought you to a point you never thought possible."
It was true. After his defeats to first Peridot, and then Jasper, Steven had needed to be saved by the other gems. During that encounter, he had been more of a burden than a help. Despite them reassuring him that he did the best he could, and even freed them from captivity, Steven's shadow of doubt had remained.
"This customized dungeon will test all of the qualities necessary for you to officially become a Crystal Gem," Pearl added, smiling down as a teacher does on her protégé. "There is one room designed by each of us. Clear them all, and you will have completed the assessment!"
Steven clutched his fists with eagerness.
"If you can clear this, then you're ready to Get. Extreme!" Amethyst said, showing a bit too much enthusiasm. She suddenly shapeshifted into a hulking, muscular person, with tufts of white chest hair growing. She flexed and hollered, and the mist pouring out of the door became purple for a few seconds.
Garnet cleared her throat. Amethyst, reading the room, quickly shapeshifted back and regained her serious composure. Steven, who had used a lot of his personal willpower to resist laughing at Amethyst's absurd transformation, snapped back into focus as well.
"Are you ready?" Garnet asked.
Steven nodded.
"I'm ready."
Garnet held her hands, palms forward, towards the door. Her gems began to cast a faint light that reflected off of her seals. Pearl leaned her head, gently, towards the door, and a similar strand of light formed between her and the door. Finally, Amethyst pulled down a bit of her baggy sweater to reveal her own gemstone. It, too, sent a beam of light towards the door. Now complete, the door slowly crept open, revealing an inky black beyond. Steven gulped. He took one deep breath, steeled himself, and went forward, flip-flops flapping, into the dungeon.
"Good luck," Amethyst called after him, as the door began to slide shut, "you're gonna need it!"
Then, the door closed, nd the room fell into darkness. Steven suddenly felt a sense of spatial displacement as he lost the use of his sight. Then, suddenly, he could see again? He blinked as his pupils dilated. The room, he realized, ,was now illuminated by a number of free floating torches, lit with a dull, magenta flame. The room itself was vast and cavernous, and Steven was standing on one end of a bridge that seemed to be the only sort of floor to speak of.
The boy glanced over the side, and into a chasm of spiky stone. He gulped, and looked out to the floating torches. If he fell, he would have no chance of reaching for one. They floated too far from the bridges edge. Shaking off the edge that came with standing at such a height, Steven began to look at the bridge itself. It was simple, stone, and seemed to lead to a basic looking door. The door had no handle.
"I wonder if this is… Amethyst's room?" Steven muttered, turning to see what he could find behind him. He was actually startled by what he found, and took a heart-stopping-ly quick step backwards, almost losing his balance.
The bridge seemed to slope up, steeply, it's edges curving to form some kind of slide. At the base of the slide was a massive stone statue, with a wide, gaping mouth of sharp, carved teeth. She had wild hair, menacing eyes, and a familiar look to her. The slide seemed to protrude from her head where a tongue might go.
"Yep," Steven muttered, "this is definitely Amethyst… Creepy. Classic."
As he continued to stare at the statue's mouth, there came a rumbling sound from inside, and the torches that floated in the chamber began to burn twice as bright. Steven looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. Then, to his dismay, something began to inch out of the fanged mouth of the Amethyst statue. As it came further into view, Steven realized that it was, in fact, a massive, stone sphere. As it emerged from the statue's mouth, the ball seemed to pause for a moment before, with a painfully slow tilt, it began to roll down the slope. It gained speed rapidly, and soon it was hurtling towards Steven!
"Wah!" He shouted in surprise, turning and running as fast as he could go. His floppy pink shoes threw him off, however, and he knew that he would never outrun the quickly approaching ball of doom. It was right on top of him! He only had one option.
p-TONG!
There was the sound of two orbs colliding, as, in a burst of pink, Steven summoned his bubble of pink energy. On collision, the bubble cracked slightly. The rolling stone ball hit him like a cue ball, and sent him flying back, off of the bridge, before bouncing off of the far wall, and down towards the pit of spikey hazards. Steven squeezed his eyes shut and hoped that his bubble would hold a final, crucial impact.
It did. He barely felt the gentle collision with the floor as his bubble peeked one eye open and realized, luckily, he had landed in one of the wide patches between the enormous spikes. Standing and dismissing the cracked bubble, Steven squinted up at the bridge he had fallen from. It was a high fall, more than 5 times his height at least, and there was no support beam of any kind for him to scale. The walls of the room, too, were mostly smooth, gemtech exoskeletons.
He was stuck down there.
Steven put his hands on his hips. What a problem he had before him. Glancing around, there was nothing of use to him on the floor. It was entirely level dirt, disrupted only by the jutting, stony spires every 2 meters or so. For a moment, fear fluttered in Steven's heart. Had he done something wrong? Was he not supposed to end up down here? There were, after all, deadly spikes to signify it was somewhere he didn't want to go. Had he broken the dungeon?
Then, he paused. There was no way. The gems themselves had built this dungeon, and while Amethyst might have been a bit of a wild card, Pearl and Garnet would have made sure that things were completely in order. He knew it. This was just another part of the test.
"So that must mean…" Steven muttered, looking down at his hands, "There must be a way… I just, uh, haven't thought of it yet."
With a sound like distorting air, Steven summoned his shield. He made it wide enough to stand on, and then made it float horizontally in front of him. Sticking his tongue out in concentration, Steven rubbed his hands together, before taking a couple of running steps and jumping up. He attempted, to push off of the shield, but the moment that he made contact with it, it connected to his feet like it would his arm. Where he expected to find solid resistance to push off of he instead found air, and he went toppling facefirst into the dirt.
"Oof," he grunted.
After laying there for a few humiliated seconds, Steven dismissed the shield and pulled himself to his feet.
"That didn't work…" He said.
It was time to try something else. However, nothing came to mind. Steven stood, hands on his hips, thinking about what to do next. Then, an inkling ran through his mind. Something like a memory, or a trace of one. His hand went absently to his stomach, though he didn't even notice. He was focused on the bridge above, and his only exit.
With a grunt, Steven jumped. He didn't get very high, and his feet landed with a minute flap-clap on the dirt below. He stuck his tongue out slightly, and focused on the bridge above. Focused on clearing the space between him and it. Again, he jumped. Again, he didn't get very far. Again, there was a flap as he landed. Determined now, he jumped again. This time, he still got the same distance into the air, but as he descended, he felt something. When he landed, he paused. Something felt different. Then, with a jolt, he realized what it was.
His flip-flops hadn't made a sound.
He had lightened his landing somehow.
His heart beating with excitement, Steven renewed his efforts. He jumped again, and this time, on the way down, he felt a noticeable change in how fast he fell. It was as if gravity had been lowered on him. When he hit the ground, he sprung off of it like a trampoline, shooting up into the air. He made it nearly twice his original jump height, and then, slowly, began to descend. In the handful of seconds it took to fall, Steven glanced down at his dangling feet in disbelief. Then, he started laughing.
"Hahaha, awesome!" He cheered, as his feet connected with the ground. He then pushed off, rocketing high into the air, above the bridge, near the ceiling of the dungeon. "I've got floaty, super… jumpy powers!"
As he began his calm descent from the roof of the room, Steven angled himself so that he would float towards the bridge. As he did, he realized that the large, stone orb that had collided with his shield was exactly in the same position it had been when it had hit him. He wondered if it was magically connected to the bridge. Wouldn't it have fallen off?
With a gentle tap of his flip-flops against his heels, Steven landed safely on the bridge, on the opposite side of the boulder. He glanced up at it warily, and cautiously turned to walk towards the other end of the bridge, where some kind of closed door awaited him. As he walked, he almost heard some kind of rumbling sound. He quickly turned over his shoulder to see if there was more to the room, but only saw the rock. Shaking away his paranoia, Steven continued on, still running on the adrenaline of his newfound power.
"I've got floaty powers, I've got floaty powah," Steven said in a mock version of his father's rock and roll voice, doing a little air guitar as he approached the door. As he grew closer, the air shimmered, and a holographic, golden star flickered into view in front of him. It seemed to beckon to him, and he reached out a hand to touch it.
As he reached into the hologram, the star seemed to pop like a piñata, and digital confetti came streaming out of it. There was fanfare from somewhere, and the stone door slid open. Then, the hologram vanished, and Steven was left staring at the open door. Confident now, he strode forward, walking through a brief, stone hallway lit by the same glowing torches. When he emerged on the other side, he had to blink as his eyes adjusted to the brightness.
This room had an entirely different aesthetic from the last. It was pristine and futuristic looking, made entirely of cool greys, blues, and whites. There was a large, alien looking terminal in the center of the room, with a large screen and an enormous keyboard full of buttons. Some, Steven recognized, like the on button of a washing machine. Others, he was clueless about. As he looked over the keyboard, the screen blinked on, and a solid white line stretched across the center of the otherwise black screen.
"Hello, Steven," Pearl's voice said, through the speakers of the terminal. As she spoke, the line on the screen seemed to jump like it was registering her audio. "This is a pre-recorded message. For my part of the test, I wll be having you perform a questionnaire on Gem facts and trivia!"
Steven, after the thrilling excitement of Amethyst's dungeon, was a little underwhelmed, but knew that it stood to reason. Pearl would be the one to test his mind over matter skills. The slight air of haughtiness in her voice told him that she had foreseen him coming to this conclusion already by the time of recording.
"Answer three questions correct, and you will increase the difficulty level. Complete three questions on Hard difficulty to pass through," came Pearl's recorded voice. "Ready?"
"Um-"
"Then let's begin! Question number 1: what is a gem's physical form made out of?"
"Light," Steven said, "that one's easy."
"Well done! Question number 2: what is the name of Homeworld's system of government?"
"The… Great Diamond Authority," Steven said.
"Excellent! Question number 3: what kind of gem is capable of changing its form as they please?"
"Oh, it's Am-" Steven caught himself. He realized, just in time, that it was a trick question. While Amethyst often used her shapeshifting powers, all gems possessed the capability. Well, except for Steven. He still hadn't gotten the hang of that power. "All gems. All gems can shapeshift."
"... Correct! Great job! Now, we can move on to the medium difficulty. Remember. You need 3 correct answers to progress. Question number 4: name every type of Quartz."
Steven stopped. Every type? There were probably at least 5 or 6 different kinds. He stuck his tongue out in focus, and racked his brain.
"OK, um. Rose Quartz, Amethyst… Jasper, AND… white… quartz?"
"Incorrect. The correct answer is: Amethysts, Agates, Jaspers, Chert, Flints, Carnelians, and true Quartzes, which includes gems like Rose Quartz and Cherry Quartz."
Steven's head spun.
"Woah," he said, "that's a lot of gems."
"Next question!"
So it went for the next several minutes, with Steven sort of knowing the answers, but getting slipped up on technicalities. Eventually, though, he got three questions correct, and it was time to move on to the final difficulty. This time, the questions were very specific, minute, and hard to remember. However, luckily for him, three of the questions stood out. He wasn't sure where he knew the answers, but he did.
"Question number 43: what is the proper name of an Era 2 Diamond's ship?"
"... Oh. Right. A war vessel."
"Question number 50: what kind of gem does the fusion of a Pearl and an Amethyst create?"
"Opal."
"Question number 53: who led the first assault on Earth during the gem war?"
"Um.. I want to say… Pink, no, Yellow, no, Blue Diamond?"
"... Correct! Congratulations Steven! You've passed my test! Good luck with your final trial."
The screen displayed the same exploding star that had appeared in Amethyst's room, and Steven breathed out a sigh of relief. He had heard about tests from Connie, and he had seen the dangerous glint in Pearl's eye whenever his newfound friend mentioned "homework." If this was what normal school was like, Steven was not sure he ever wanted to go.
Behind the terminal, another stone door opened, and Steven began the walk towards the final chamber. He gulped as he walked through another stone tunnel. Just one test left. More than likely, the hardest.
As Steven emerged on the other side, he was surprised by the atmosphere of the room. He expected it to be shrouded in mysterious. Cool, edgy, and more than a little intimidating. Instead, it was some kind of tranquil ruin. The structure was built like half of a colosseum, made from smooth grey stone. It oversaw a bright blue sky, and the placid, teal ocean below. The hallway deposited Steven in the bottom of the structure, at the base of the stone bleachers.
As he emerged, clusters of reddish-violet light began to gather themselves seemingly from nowhere, forming a cloud and blocking his path. He watched as they rapidly stitched themselves together, forming first feet, and then legs, and then an entire, hard-light projection of a familiar, towering gem. She had a blocky afro, powerful legs, and as she held her arms lazily at her sides, two heavy gauntlets appeared on her fists.
Garnet's trial. Holo-Garnet.
"Do you wish to engage in combat?" She said, in a smooth tone.
Steven, now sweating, looked around. What could he use to his advantage? Surely there was some kind of strategy he was supposed to employ. Maybe his newfound super jump? He scanned the stone bleachers, and saw nothing that would aid him. The Holo-Garnet spoke again.
"Do you wish to engage in combat?" She said again, this time taking several purposeful steps towards Steven, causing him to jump back in fear and summon his shield instinctively. He had practiced against holo-gems before. The last time had been when Pearl had tried to teach him to swordfight. It… had not ended well. Needless to say, Steven was not a fan of the training entities the gems seemed keen on employing.
As his shield deployed, the Garnet seemed to focus in on it, behind her holographic sunglasses. Steven glanced nervously from the shield to her, waiting for her to charge in on him and start the fight. However, to his surprise, she did no such thing. She simply waited, staring. Then, suddenly, she took an aggressive lunge forward, raising a fist as if to strike. Steven flinched, throwing up the shield again.
"Do you wish to engage in combat?" Holo-Garnet repealed. This time, she prompted a response.
"Hng- No! I don't!" Steven shouted.
After a moment of silence, Steven winked from behind the shield. Holo-Garnet was towering before him, looking down at him, hands calmly at her sides once more.
"No?" She said. Steven shook his head furiously. "I don't understand."
"We don't have to fight," Steven said. "If you just… let me through. You can stay here. Hang out. Do your own thing?"
To his surprise, Holo-Garnet seemed to actually consider it.
Then, to his further surprise, she stepped to the side, allowing him to walk past.
"OK, Steven," the holo-gem said. "I accept. Let's not fight."
Steven's mouth formed a wide 'O'. It was that easy? Garnet's trial, which he had assumed would be the hardest of the three, had been overcome with… Being nice? Steven, in pondering the never-ending wisdom of Garnet, began to wonder what the metaphor here was. What was the lesson?
Whatever the lesson was, it would have to wait. Despite being unsatisfied with the ending of the trial, and not entirely sure what he had learned other than his own skill level, the final stone door slid open, and Holo-Garnet made heart-hands, inside of which the holographic star exploded into confetti one last time.
"You did it, Steven. Great job. Go on through," Holo-Garnet said.
Mind still racing, Steven walked through the last stone hall, and when he emerged on the other side, he was met with a cascade of shouts.
"Surprise!" Several people shouted in unison.
So surprised, was Steven, that he jumped. However, having forgotten about his new super power, he jumped so high he hit his head on the ceiling of the temple.
