A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates, my college work has been piling up quite a bit -.-' Also, if you have any ideas or requests for chapters then I would be more than happy to do them! I might already have some planned so stay tuned, hope you enjoy this Halloween Special (PS. I know Halloween isn't celebrated in SU according to Matt Burnett, but I thought it would be cute to write anyway ^^)

Chapter XV

Spooky Shenanigans

A crisp October breeze swept through the Temple. Without doors, the elements were free to come as they pleased, oblivious to the gems that were housed there.

With a red puffy coat coming into the main space, it aided in keeping the five year old warm on such a brisk day. Behind him, Greg sported a dark green sweater with a jack o' lantern pattern running through the middle.

The gems were already hanging about, with Amethyst lounging on the sofa as usual, Garnet leaning against the wall, and Pearl who was chatting a little to them.

"Hey guys, Happy Halloween!" Greg said, with an enthusiastic "Yeah!" from Steven.

"Hello Steven, and Greg. Yes, Happy Halloween." Pearl said the last word as if it was foreign, which it probably was.

"Remind me what human ritual we have to do again?" She asked.

"I wouldn't really call it a ritual, it's just knocking on peoples doors to get some candy." Said Greg, Steven held up his pumpkin-shaped bucket as emphasis.

"That sounds a lot like begging to me." Pearl crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "Humans can be so bizarre."

"Ah lighten up P, it's just some free candy. We agreed to take the little guy anyway, look how excited he is." Amethyst gestured to Steven, who if on cue, mustered the most imploring look in his eyes possible.

After a resounding sigh, "Yes, I suppose we did agree to do this for Steven. We'll take him off your hands now Greg."

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate this." Greg kneeled down to Steven, "Don't eat too much candy okay, save some for your old man."

Steven nodded and watched is Father go.

"So Steven, do you have a costume?" Garnet asked walking over to him. After receiving a puzzled look from the other three, she added "Isn't that what humans do on these occasions?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Coming to life, the boy quickly made work of taking off his coat. "I'm a pirate!" He took out an eyepatch from his pocket as well as the small hat and plastic sword from his bucket.

"Very cute." Said Garnet with a chuckle.

"It's not meant to be cute, I'm an evil pirate!" Steven blushed, attempting a menacing "Arr!"

Garnet bopped him on the nose lightly, "Very scary as well, I'm sure all of Beach City will give you free ice creams after this."

Steven grinned mischievously, and then turned to Pearl. "What do you think?"

Resisting the urge to comment on how historically inaccurate and unrealistic his costume looked; she instead clapped her hands together and gave him a hug. "It looks fantastic."

Amethyst laughed at the look of Pearl's previous face, and piped up "I love it Ste-man, perhaps you should be a real pirate!"

"Yeah!"

"You guys need costumes before we go." Said Steven importantly, "What were you going to go as?"

"How about a…troll!" Amethyst transformed into a bearded man with a large bumpy nose, and very lumpy skin.

"Eww, you look gross!" Steven laughed.

"Your right, I can do way better!" She shapeshifted into a series of different creatures, from vampire, to goblin, even a centaur.

"Maybe you should just keep it simple, Amethyst. We don't want to scare the humans too much." Said Garnet.

"Aww man, fine." She took to her original form, but this time wearing a similar pirate outfit to Steven.
"Hey Ste-man, look at this!" She turned her head, revealing a third eye. "I'm a three-eyed pirate!"

"Woah cool!"

"Amethyst." Warned Pearl.

"What? Humans can have third nipples."

Steven's eyes bulged, and he started to lift up his shirt to look. "They can?"

"Amethyst!" Pearl and Garnet hissed.

X

Garnet was up next, and it had taken a full minute to consider what she could be.

"How about Frankenstein?" Suggested Steven, "Y'know with the screws coming out of his head and stuff?"

Garnet didn't know what "and stuff" was, so she clicked her fingers, creating two bolts to come out of either side of her hair.

"Will this do?"

Garnet was already very tall and stoic, that mixed with pieces of metal coming out of her head deemed her to be scary enough to Steven.

"Now for Pearl!"

"I already have a costume idea, thank you very much." She said.

"Show! Show! Show!" Amethyst pounded her fist on the wall.

"Alright, alright." Pearl clicked her fingers, her gem producing a luminous glow. A few disappointed groans could be heard as she had only made a few adjustments to her outfit.

"What are you? I suppose a Pearl can be quite scary, especially if she nags at you." Said Amethyst, Steven snickered.

"Hmph! I have you know I'm a ballerina, graceful, elegant, and beautiful compared to your grotesque face."

"Hey, at least I bothered to look a little bit scary. You're gonna stick out like a sore thumb tonight!" Retaliated Amethyst.

"What, so you want me to be a three-eyed mess like you? I think I have more sense than that!"

"Guys we're gonna be late for trick-or-treating! C'mon!" Steven was already at the door, holding Garnets hand who was tutting at the other two. "Hurry up gems."

Pearl and Amethyst stomped to catch up, pushing and shoving eachother.

"Trick-or-treat!" Said Steven to the first door opener, putting on a big smile and holding up his bucket a little.

"Gimme candy!" Said Amethyst, shoving her bucket into the person.

"Amethyst" Hissed Pearl from behind.

The person gave a handful of candy to Steven, but tutted at Amethyst's lack of manners, resulting in her getting a satsuma.

"What is this?" On the way out of the porch, holding up the orange fruit. She took a bite, spitting it out immediately. "It tastes healthy!"

"What an abomination." Pearl said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"You have to be real polite at the door, and then they give you good candy." Explained Steven, "Proper Halloween etiquette is essential to getting a larger candy haul."

"Sounds like Greg." Thought the gems.

The next door proved to be more of a success, as well as the rest. Soon, Amethyst and Steven's buckets were full, and Pearl had managed to fit in a lecture or two about healthy eating.

Completely dismissing her advice, Amethyst poured it all into her mouth, finishing her night of hard work in one gulp.

Steven looked at her in awe, feeling quite over powered as he unwrapped a small chocolate to eat.

He looked up at Pearl and Garnet, offering them each a sweet.

Garnet took hers with a nod of thanks, and had no trouble tossing it into her mouth.

Pearl on the other hand tried to decline.

"Oh, thank you Steven, b-but I'm not that hungry at the moment."

"Aww please? I really wanted to say thank you for taking me trick-or-treating, and you didn't get any candy because you were looking after us." Said Steven, his brown eyes bored into Pearl's, who immediately felt guilty and took the treat tentatively.

"T-thank you Steven." She slowly unwrapped it, then took the tiniest bite she could out of the corner.

Steven smiled and watched her, unintentionally putting Pearl under pressure.

She fought the urge to gag, and deliberately chewed it more than necessary to buy time and spit it out. However, Steven carried on watching.

She swallowed, but started to choke due to the unfamiliar act of eating.

"Arrgh!" She started gagging, flailing her arms about and almost knocking into a group of children who were passing by. They backed away, quite frightened of this seemingly crazy woman.

Amethyst almost fell over with laughter when the group ran away screaming due to Pearl's flailing getting more violent. "I guess she can pull off the scary ballerina!"

Eventually, Amethyst clapped her on the back, and the gem in turn let out a shuddering "Thank you."

Steven was in Garnets lap, watching the entire fiasco with a raised eyebrow. "Does Pearl not like candy?" He asked.

"Only Amethyst really eats out of all of us, gems don't usually like food." She replied.

"Ohhh, you could have told me that Pearl." He said as she sat down next to him.

She mustered a smile, "I will next time."