It was another ordinary lazy afternoon in beach city, the sun still a few more hours before setting, the crystal gem team were casually lounging in the kitchen talking about future missions, while Steven was watching his favorite show crying breakfast friends. Then all of the sudden, the television went static and sounds of people screaming in fear alerted the group

Every gem began to take their battle stances as the earth beneath them began to rumble aggressively, causing some part of the crystal temple ruins to crumble down the sandy beach, the gems already knowing what was about to happen

" I have a really bad feeling about this " Steven mumbled while summoning his shield, quickly going down the stairs to join his fellow teammates

" Don't worry Steven, we got your back " Garnet reassured with a warm smile. Right after the moment Garnet said that, something, or rather, someone crashed into the house's wall, creating a rather large fog of dust and smoke in the area

" This is going to leave a bad taste in my mouth " Amethyst groaned

After a few moments of quietly just standing there, the cloud of dust and ruble finally cleared, revealing a rather disturbing looking corrupted gem, with several holes in it's body, oozing liquid acid melted the wooden floor as drops fell freely from the creature. On it's backside, several tentacles shot out from it's back, four on each side, forming sort of wings on the creature

" Think you could handle this, Steven? " Pearl asked, making Steven nod in enthusiasm and determination

With a hand signal from Garnet, the older trio lunged from their seats and surrounded the creature, cutting off any possible exits the creature could run to

Steven threw his shield as hard as he could to a nearby wall, deflecting the weapon towards the creature and successfully knocking the creature's legs, making it loose it's balance and tumble on the floor

Pearl hurriedly lunged the corrupted gem's head, pushing the back of her spear as hard as she could, effectively pushing monster's head in the floor leaving it completely immobilized. Amethyst then used her whip to wrap the gem's legs to prevent it from struggling any further, and Garnet summoning her large gauntlets to strike the final blow on the corrupted gem's torso, finally poofing it

" Super gross, yet super weak " Amethyst rolled her eyes

" Amethyst! " Pearl yelled

" What? "

" How many times do I constantly have to remind you? We do not make fun of corrupted gems "

" She's right though " Garnet pointed out bluntly " After all, Topazes weren't really trained for fighting " she explained, grabbing the small gemstone and bubbling it

" Wait, really? "

" Yes, Steven. Topazes were once politicians serving the great diamond authority, yet unlike most of homeworld's elite, these gems where more compassionate and rational than most, it's such a pity they turned out this way "

" Can you tell me more about them? "

" Nearly more than five thousand years ago, when homeworld were only beginning to take an interest on this planet, your mother and the Topaz council found out about the abundant life forms thriving on earth, they tried reasoning with the gem matriarchs, but when they refused, Rose and the Topaz council formed the first rebellion to went up against the Diamonds. But it things didn't turn out good for them, in the end, all of them became the victim of corruption "

" At least they're safe now " Steven sighed

" Don't worry Steven, one day, you can find a way to help this guys, you always do " she encouraged " We believe in you dude " she said encouragingly, earning her a hug grin and a hug from the younger gem, to which she responded by fondly ruffling his curly hair

" So…. Should we fix the roof? It's getting dark outside " Pearl reminded

" Yes, we should, Amethyst, go get the tools, Steven, go to bed, you're probably exhausted by now

"no not fair, I'm not even that sleepy..." and Steven dropped his head on the near table so suddenly that he woke up again

" Steven, you need sleep. Don't worry, we can fix this mess without your help " Garner reassured

" Fine " Steven sighed, exhaustedly going back to bed

A FEW HOURS LATER

Steven lay asleep on his bed peacefully, seemingly lost in one of his mixed up dreams again, occasionally mumbling random words from time to time, until Amethyst suddenly jumped out of nowhere and screamed at him, her face shapeshifted into some sort of robotic and weird looking teddy bear with beady red eyes

" AAAAHHHHHHH! " Steven screamed at the top of his lungs, causing Amethyst to roll down on the floor hysterically and burst into a fit of laughter, but eventually calmed herself down while wiping a few tears from her eyes

" Amethyst " Steven groaned

" Chillax dude, I was only having some fun "

" What was that face for? "

" Oh nothing, just little thing I picked up from video game called five nights at Freddie's, not that scary though "

" Yeah, whatever amethyst, I'm going back to bed now " Steven mumbled, before finally sleeping once more, making Amethyst shrug and eventually head back to the kitchen