This 2nd chapter was meant to show that this is a dead-on Tremors/Steven Universe crossover. Of course, I'd love to hear some constructive criticism. It'll really help out with future chapters.
"E-9?" Asked a stocky boy with curly black-brown hair.
"You...sunk my battleship!" Exclaimed a dark skinned girl in glasses and suspenders.
"Yes!" The boy cheered with the girl laughing along with him.
This young, spirited child happened to be Steven Universe. Sporting a pink T-shirt with a star in the middle and pink sandals, he's a Crystal Gem who saves the ones he loves with the powers he acquired from his mother and alongside his closest friends. With him at the moment was his good friend, Connie Maheswaran. Despite looking like an average girl, she was practically a master of swordsmanship!
Currently playing Battleship on a bench at the beach, they had a whole day free to do anything.
"This game's better than I thought it would be," said Steven, "I just think it would be simpler if the battleships just worked it out and made peace."
"It wouldn't be so simple." Connie replied, "An act of war can't reach a peaceful solution without at least a few deaths."
"Oh." Steven said, a little downcast by this information.
"C-3?" Connie asked.
"Miss."
Connie picked up a white missile piece and inserted it into the C-3 coordinates. Not much has changed since Steven and his friends saved the world from the Cluster. The whole ordeal was kept secret, even to Connie. The citizens of Beach City went on without knowing a cluster of thousands of gems nearly formed and destroyed their world. Garnet told Steven that if anyone were to know, People would panic and not be able to process this info.
"So how's Peridot?" Connie asked, "Heard you guys were building a drill."
"Yeah, we did. But it was for...construction." Steven replied.
"Steven, drills are for excavation." Connie corrected.
"Right! It was ex...exc...exavation!"
"But what would you and the gems need to excavate for?" Connie asked.
"A-7?" Steven asked.
"Miss."
"We just needed to fight this...underground monster gem!" Steven stated.
"You mean like that light-eating worm monster you defeated when we first met?"
"Something like that." Steven replied, breathing a sigh of relief; his secret was safe.
"B-8?" Connie asked.
"Hit!" Steven enthusiastically replied.
"Steven!" Came the voice of a male teenager.
Steven and Connie turned around to see a large, male teen wearing glasses, a buttoned shirt with flaming outlines, short beige pants, green sandals, and hair similar in shape and color to French fries. He was running towards them waving his phone in the air. He looked as excited as a kid in a candy store!
Once he made it, he paused to catch his breath. The run from the fry shop to their bench really had it on him.
"Ronaldo!" Steven exclaimed.
"I have to show you something!" Ronaldo said excitingly.
He scrolled on his phone until he found what he was looking for. He gave it to Steven, a large smile on his face.
"Dirt Dragons and Green Aliens." Steven read aloud.
"Oh, that's the title of the newest article on the boardwalk's newsstand!" Connie remembered.
Steven looked at the article's picture. There was an old, mustached man with a cap, a camouflage shirt under a bullet-proof vest, and khakis and another man wearing all black and frazzled, spiky hair. Behind them was a 30-foot long monster with what looked like a beak!
"Woah!" Steven exclaimed, "What is that?!"
"It's a Graboid!" Ronaldo enthusiastically explained.
"A what?" Connie asked.
"Wait, are you telling me that neither of you know what a Graboid is?!" Ronaldo asked, surprised by their lack of this knowledge.
The two kids shook their heads.
"These are Precambrian life forms that move through the ground like underground sharks! They prey on everything! Bulls, sheep, cows, wolves, coyotes, and humans!"
Connors and Steven stared at Ronaldo fearfully after that last part of the list. Ronaldo noticed this and emphasized Steven to scroll down.
"You won't have to worry about 'em though." Ronaldo reassured, "There just so happens to be two expert hunters wiping them out!"
"Perfection Valley resident, Burt Gummer, and his Florida son, Travis Welker, save the National Guard a lot of time by exterminating majority of Delmarva's newest pests: Graboids." Steven read the article aloud.
"These guys kill Graboids?" Connie asked, looking at the article.
"It says here that it's their specialty," said Steven, "But how do you know so much about Graboids, Ronaldo?"
"I follow their blog!" Ronaldo replied, "They post all their kills, from Shriekers to Graboids!"
Steven continued to read the article until he found a section that really peeked his interest. This section specifically mentions the green alien mentioned.
"Look at this! New heroes have also claimed to have encountered an extra terrestrial being with a tet...tetrahedronal head! Lime green in color, it attacked the hunters right after their second Graboid kill. First, an attack from its currently damaged sphere, then a close-up threat and attack by the alien itself! Burt Gummer states that he had tricked it into getting the attention of a Graboid in the...How do you say this word?"
Steven gave the phone to Connie and pointed at the word. She looked closely at it.
"Vicinity." She confirmed.
"A Graboid in the vicinity." Steven continued, "The alien was then attacked by a Graboid and consumed. The only remains left were it's 'limbs' and a gem that supposedly belonged to the alien...gem?"
Steven scrolled back to the picture. He zoomed in to get a good look at what was in between the two men. Like the article said, there were limbs, but they looked exactly like Peridot's! As if things were weird enough, the gem mentioned was held by Burt Gummer, and it was the same gem as Peridot's!
"Oh my gosh!" Steven exclaimed.
"What is it?" Ronaldo asked.
"That gem..." Connie said, looking at it and remembering the one on Peridot's forehead.
"I know right! Graboids and aliens! That's two paranormal discoveries!" Ronaldo exclaimed.
"Should we tell the gems?" Connie asked Steven.
He nodded and gave Ronaldo his phone back. As the two of them ran to the temple, Ronaldo continued to scroll on his phone. Right when he was about to read more about the Graboid kill, his phone rang with his father's name on the screen. Ronaldo groaned and answered it.
"Yes, dad?" He asked, "No, I was just-Dad, I-Peedee did what?!"
Further down the beach, Steven and Connie made it to a large statue morphed to a cliff. It had four arms and two faces; one looked toward the sea while the other was set atop of the former, looking toward the sky. They walked up wooden steps and came to the front of a wooden home built into the temple. Steven opened the screen door and ran for his phone he left on the counter.
"Garner! Amethyst! Pearl!" Steven called out.
Connie joined him on the counter, "The article was 'Dirt Dragons and Green Aliens.'"
As Steven searched up the name, turned his head once in a while to call the gems' names. He heard the bathroom door open and turned to find none of the three gems, but his lime green friend, Peridot. She was only a little bit taller than him, had tetrahedronal hair, wore a V-neck outlined dark green and a base of regular green, and her feet looked as if she was wearing green socks.
"It's just me today, Steven." She replied.
"Peridot?" Steven asked confusingly.
"Correct," said Peridot, "Lapis wished for some privacy, and seeing how this place is the only other dwelling I'm aware of, I chose to remain here until it is necessary."
"What were you doing in the bathroom?" Connie asked.
"Unclogging Steven's porcelain seat." Peridot replied dully with a cringe.
"But the toilet wasn't clogged when we left." Steven said.
"Precisely. I simply wanted to see what other purposes it had besides your...business." Peridot stated with another cringe, "Apparently, it can't dispose of multiple items without overflowing."
She walked over to the counter and looked at Steven's phone.
"Whatcha doin'?" Peridot asked nonchalantly.
"Oh, Peridot!" Steven exclaimed, remembering what they were here for, "You have to look at this!"
He gave Peridot his phone once the article was done loading. She stared at the picture for several minutes with a confused look and gave Steven his phone.
"I see humans everyday, Steven. Simply adding a large beast behind them won't make them any more interesting to me."
"No, this!" Steven zoomed in on the limb enhancers and peridot gem.
Peridot took another look, this time with eyes widened, "These look like my limb enhancers! And my gem!"
"The article says a Graboid attacked an alien matching your description." Connie told her.
"It says they destroyed its escape pod, too," said Steven, "Do you think Homeworld sent down another Peridot?"
"Judging from the picture and description," said Peridot gravely, "Yes. But that optical reflector on the escape pod is much different than mine."
Peridot frowned, "And knowing she was consumed by this creature must mean she wasn't given the proper tools."
"But aren't all limb enhancers the same?" Steven asked.
"Negative," replied Peridot, "They come in different variations. I happened to come equipped with enough fire power to penetrate even the most durable of Earth's landforms. This Peridot must have been given Homeworld's obsolete models made mainly for stunning enemies."
"You got all that from the article?" Connie asked.
"It's simple analysis."
"Wait," Connie took the phone and scrolled to the bottom of the page, "it says here that for more information, we can call the guys who killed the Graboid."
"What does the number say?" Steven asked.
"255-5BMG."
"...What?" Steven and Peridot asked with puzzled expressions.
"The letters represent numbers on a key pad. Just type in the first 4 numbers, then finish with 264." Connie informed.
"2...5...5...5...264." Steven said as he entered the number.
"Who are those humans?" Peridot asked, picturing the two men in the article again.
"Burt Gummer and Travis Welker." Connie replied, "Apparently, they hunt these underground worm monsters called Graboids."
"These... 'Graboids' don't look like gems." Peridot said.
"I don't think they're gems," said Steven, still waiting for the other line to pick up, "when I read about their first kill here, the Graboid didn't poof. It died for good."
"It's sad." Connie said.
"How?" Peridot asked.
"Well, wouldn't you be sad if you saw me or any of the gems destroyed?" Steven asked.
Peridot pondered this question for a while. Eventually, Steven knew he had to give her some time on that question. The phone rang for a few seconds, but the call was finally answered. Steven didn't know how to respond, so he gave Connie the phone.
"Why me?" She asked.
Steven shrugged as Peridot gestured for Connie to continue the call.
"Hello? Is this the number of Burt Gummer and Travis Welker?"
"Travis speaking." Steven heard the man say.
"I was hoping I could get more info on the alien you two encountered." Connie gave Peridot and Steven a thumbs up once she sealed the deal.
Steven and Peridot couldn't hear much of the call after that, but Connie was able to make out at least segments of the story.
"Uh huh...Cloaking? And blasters?" Connie asked, amazed by the description of the attack, "Was she green with hair that's sort of shaped like a triangle?"
"Yeah, and she had kind of a somewhat scratchy voice." Travis replied, "How do you know?"
"Just a wild guess." Connie responded, rubbing the back of her head.
Connie and Travis exchanged more dialogue, switching topics from the Graboids to the alien. Connie was so fascinated by the Frankie information, however, that she actually started taking notes. Only after Connie wrote two pages worth of Graboid notes did they return to the Peridot information.
"How did the Graboid attack her, though?" She asked.
"Burt said it came out of nowhere! It just... popped up and grabbed her leg." Travis explained, loud enough for Steven and Peridot to hear, "It dragged her around with little effort. From what Burt told me, it got pissed off when she kept shooting it with that blaster of hers. It finally threw her in the air and devoured her, spitting out her...limbs, or whatever these things are, out."
"Ask him about the gem." Steven said.
"What about the gem you and Burt found afterward?" Connie asked.
"We are currently unaware of that information," came an old voice on the phone, "However, we have Intel of a town near the coastline that can provide us with the information we need."
"Coastline?" Steven asked, "Does he mean Beach City?"
"Do you mean Beach City?" Connie asked.
"Affirmative."
"Great! Because my friend happens to have the information you need." Connie said with a smile, "Mhm...Hm...Yes sir. Here you go Steven."
Connie gave Steven his phone and leaned close to hear the call. Peridot leaned in so close that the side of her head touched the phone itself. Steven noticed their anticipation and put it on speaker phone.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Connie asked with her hand over her forehead.
"Hello? Burt?"
"Are you the friend with the gem information?" Burt asked, "Heh, say that five times fast."
"Well, I know that the gem you found belonged to the alien you saw." Steven confirmed.
"That has already been established."
"You said the monster spat out her limbs and gem, right? Nothing else?" Steven said.
"Yes, indeed," said Burt, "Strange, too. Graboids consume anything that moves and breathes."
"Burt, that wasn't just any alien." Steven said, "She's an advanced gem from the Gem Homeworld."
Steven received no response after that. He coughed a few times to show he was still there, but Burt still didn't respond.
"Son, you are not making one damn bit of sense." Burt finally replied.
"Her name was Peridot!" Steven said in a tone as serious as he could, "And she wasn't killed, she's just trapped in that gem you found!"
"Impossible," said Burt, "Even if she's from another world, there's no plausibility of any living life form to disappear into an object this small."
"Except Houdini." Travis said in the background.
"Shut it, Travis." Burt scowled.
"Burt, I wish I can tell you more, but it's too complicated to explain." Steven said, "But my friends can explain this a lot better. You can come down to Beach City and meet them! They'd be happy to tell you all about it...Well maybe except Amethyst."
"And why would I have drive all the way down to Beach City when I have the source on my son's phone?" Burt asked.
"The Gems have all the information you need. They're the only ones who can help you at this point."
There was a long pause on the phone. Steven, Connie, and Peridot looked at the phone, waiting for a response. Peridot tapped the counter with her finger repeatedly, Connie doing the same.
"Very well," said Burt," We'll be there at 1500 hours tomorrow."
"What?!" Steven exclaimed, "1500 hours?! That is way too long to be tomorrow!"
"Steven, that's army talk for 3 o' clock." Burt said.
"Oh..."
"Later." Travis said as the call came to an end.
"That went well." Connie told Steven.
"I guess." Steven replied.
"Friend with gem information. Friend with gem information," said Peridot, "Frieverformation! GAH!"
Connie got off the chair and walked to the door, "I'd better get going. My mom hates it when I miss lunch."
"You want me to call her?" Steven asked.
"No, there's a payphone at the edge of town."
She waved good bye and left. Steven checked the article again and read through it. Peridot continued to twist her tongue saying "friend with gem information," but he didn't mind that now. They may not be gems, but Steven had a feeling that these Graboids had a connection with gems.
"Peridot," said Steven, "were there giant worms in any part of Gem history?"
"Well, we did have encounters with corrupted light-consuming gems." Peridot explained, "But they were far longer and thinner than these Graboids."
"But were there like, any records of a Graboid in gem history?" Steven asked.
"No...Well, there was this one file in the Kindergarten mentioning a sighting of a creature with these features." Peridot informed.
"We should probably check it out," said Steven, "the article says only majority of the Graboids near the area are gone, so there's probably a few of them lurking around."
"We can't be sure if the information relates to these 'Dirt Dragons,' however." Peridot said, feeling uncertain, "It might just be a coincidence."
"It's worth a shot."
Steven packed his Cheeseburger back pack while Peridot repeated Burt's tongue twister. He went over to his pink lion and caressed his mane.
"I'll be back, Lion." Steven assured, "There are lion lickers in the fridge."
Lion looked Steven in the eyes and went back to sleep. With a smile, Steven hugged Lion and went over to the warp pad.
"You ready, Peridot?"
"Ready." Peridot replied, "As long as we don't hold hands."
The Kindergarten sure hasn't changed since their last visit. The walls of the valley were still littered with holes and the whole area was filled with virus-like drills. Peridot led the way toward square hole made by one of her plug robonoids a long time ago. They slid down the hole until they found themselves back in the underground chamber. The green, hexagonal room was still in tact and just one bridge away.
"Friend with gem information. Friend with gem information. Friend with gemformation-RRGH!" Peridot grunted.
"What if a Graboid is some sort of gem mutant?" Steven asked.
"Not likely," said Peridot, "If Homeworld wished to create cluster prototypes, they wouldn't settle for a limbless worm."
Once they reached the room, Peridot activated the control panel. The screens around them showed hybrid gemstones fused together. Peridot searched through all the files as Steven gazed at the cluster gems.
"As you can see, the only information left in this old system is on the Cluster. There's nothing about these Graboids you keep talking about." Peridot confirmed.
Steven joined Peridot at the control panel. He looked through the files as well, but couldn't understand the gem language.
"What if we just look through these gem stones?" Steven suggested, "We might find something that looks like a Graboid!"
"Steven, it's not that simple!" Peridot said, clearly irritated, "It's not like anyone can just find a specific item they're looking for! This isn't a search engine. It's not like searching through every single cluster gem file is gonna help find the Grab-Oh, would you look at that."
After a few seconds searching through the cluster gem files, Peridot found an image of a gem mutant resembling the Graboid in the article. Steven looked at it with awe. The gem was similar to a Graboid, only its skin color was a darker shade of brown and had a spike protruding out of the upper part of its beak.
"I can't believe it!" Steven exclaimed.
"Neither can I," said Peridot in agreement, "It says that they were a mix of Basalt and Sandstone. Together, they created a sort of drone-like prototype."
Peridot accessed more of the information and read aloud to Steven.
"These cluster gems were used primarily to take out ground gems and destroy their bases from underground." Peridot zoomed in on the gem's sides, showing its spines.
"They were able to propel through the ground with these spiky touch stumps."
She opened another photo of the gem, but with its jaws open, "Like an Earth vegetation life form, it pops out of the ground and opens its jaws to devour and destroy other gems."
"So, a Graboid is actually part gem?" Steven asked.
"No, no," Peridot answered, "They were the original life forms of which war time gems were inspired to create these prototypes. These prototypes weren't as efficient as their predecessors, however. They were obsolete and proved inefficient during the war."
Peridot deactivated the control panel and stretched her arm. The images around the in the control room disappeared and the whole place returned to its dark and desolate state.
"Alright, I think we've found what we needed." She said, walking back to the entrance.
"Wait, but why haven't we seen any gem mutants like that?" Steven asked, following behind.
"Negative," replied Peridot, "We couldn't dispose of them properly, so we sedated each prototype. To this day, they lay dormant."
Reaching the edge of the hole, Peridot felt something strange as she grabbed the edge. Whatever it was, it felt leathery. She frowned and felt around some more; what she felt next was something similar to the first. Her face slowly turned anxious as she grasped the object. Peridot felt three segments going down that object and as her hand went up, it felt as of the object was taller than expected.
"You alright, Peridot?" Steven asked.
"I'm trying to get a good grip," replied Peridot, "but's there's something in the way."
She continued to get a better grip, but eventually it led to punching and slapping a beak-like material.
"What is this?" Peridot asked with a small hint of fear, "An Avian species I'm unaware of?"
"Let me help you up." Steven offered as he lifted her with his shoulders.
At a higher height, Peridot could finally climb out the hole easier. However, now Peridot could see what she was touching earlier. The stout biped opened its quadruple-hooked beak and shrieked!
Peridot screamed and nearly fell back, but the creature lunged forward and clamped its jaws over her arm and lifted her onto the ground! Peridot struggled to get her arm free but to no avail.
"STEVEN! HELP!" She screamed.
"I'm coming!" Steven called back.
He lifted himself over the edge to find a horrible sight. A short-tailed creature made of a color palette of gray and orange blotches. Its head lacked eyes and grew narrower going down and every time it opened its jaws to bite Peridot, the top beak separated from the thinner bottom half and hooked mandibles. It was three-toed and only about as tall as Steven. The most distinguishable feature was a hybrid gemstone jutting out of its snout.
"A gem mutant!" Steven exclaimed in fear.
"Use your bubble or shield or anything!" Peridot panicked, trying to pry open and push the creature's head off her arm.
Steven summoned his shield and threw it at the creature's head. Unfortunately, all the shield did was bounce off its head.
"Aw," said Steven in disappointment,"I thought I had it!"
The creature slowly turned its head to Steven. Peridot rolled out of harm's way, but looked at the gem mutant with fright. A frill lifted from where its eyes should've been, revealing luminescent tissue. It "stared" at Steven for several minutes before closing its frill. It walked up to him and extended a long, glowing prehensile tongue toward Steven's face.
"Feel my wrath!" Peridot yelled as she ran towards it with a rock.
She slammed the rock over its head and pushed it on its side. Seeing that its tongue was still out, Peridot dropped the rock on its tongue closest to the mouth. It shrieked from pain and twisted left and right to break free. Steven looked at it confusingly.
"Let's get out of here," said Peridot, "There might be more of these mutants in the vicinity!"
"Wait, Peridot," replied Steven, "Look at it."
Peridot went next to Steven and stared at the creature with discomfort. Its shrieks of pain turned into whimpers and moans. Steven felt sorry for the little creature, and could see its pain was more overbearing than it looked.
"We can't leave it like this." Steven confirmed.
"Are you serious?!" Peridot screamed in disbelief.
"The longer I watch it like this," said Steven, "the more I can feel it staring right through me."
"Steven, it lacks optical spheres, so I doubt it can 'see' through you." Peridot said.
"It didn't look like it was gonna hurt me," replied Steven, "but it hurts me more to see it in this much pain."
With long, deep breath, Steven walked over to it slowly and pushed the rock aside. Its tongue lost its glow and appeared mutilated at the middle, close to tearing off after all the creature's twisting and turning. Steven licked his hand, raised it high in the air, and set it down on the creature's tongue. He heard a small yelp from the creature, but it soon began to calm itself. Peridot stared over Steven's shoulder and watched as the healing took place.
The tongue slowly returned to its natural glow and soft tissue replaced the ripped parts of the tongue. In a matter of minutes, the creature was able to move its tongue freely and efficiently.
"Don't worry," said Steven as he caressed its head, "It's all better, now."
"Good, can we get out of here, now?" Peridot said out of annoyance.
"You were just a little cranky, huh?" Steven asked, petting the rising creature's head, "Not used to coming out of the ground, are you?"
It was then that Steven realized the similarities of the creature's head to the Graboid gem mutant; similar beak structure!
"Peridot! I think this is the prototype!" Steven exclaimed.
"What?!" Peridot ran behind Steven and observed it from there.
It may have at least 7 times smaller than the original prototypes, but its head was a dead ringer. She frowned and kicked a rock to its side.
"After all calculations to make the perfect killing machine, thousands of years later we get this pint-sized mistake!" She groaned.
The creature growled at her, knowing we'll aware of her spite for it. Peridot walked back down the path they took to the warp pad complaining about the Graboid prototype's regression.
"Huh, look at ya," said Steven cheerfully, "I thought you were gonna be this giant monster, but now you're small enough for me to pet!"
The creature extended its tongue and began licking Steven's face. He chuckled in approval and got up to go.
"I wish I didn't have to leave, but I've got responsibilities at home." Steven waved good bye, "Stay safe, little buddy!"
He walked for at least a few feet before hearing foot steps behind him. He saw the creature standing in front of him the same distance they were a few seconds ago. He took a few more steps, but the creature's steps continued in unison with his. He turned his head to it and lifted his foot; it lifted its own foot in response. He slowly took another step, then another step back; it did the same.
"Oh," said Steven, "you wanna come with me?"
The creature dug its foot into the ground with glee. As happy as Steven was to have another gem friend, he thought about what the Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl would say, especially Garnet and Pearl.
"I wish I could, but I don't know how the gems would react to me bringing home another gem creature." Steven said with a downcast expression.
The creature put its head over Steven's shoulder and whimpered. Steven hugged it, his expression even sadder than before.
"I don't know what to do!" Steven said through small amounts of tears, sadly thinking of how lonely it'll be when he's gone.
"I want to go with you, Steven!" Steven said through a scratchy voice on behalf of the creature.
"Really?" He said, looking the creature in the face.
"I love you, Steven!" He said with the scratchy voice, "I want to follow you and your friend!"
Steven's smile grew wide as he hugged the creature again. It licked his back in return.
"Steven!" Peridot shouted from the warp pad, "Quit embracing that mistake and get to the warp pad!"
The creature growled again, but Steven calmed it by caressing its back.
"Don't you worry, Li'l Bud," said Steven reassuringly, "You can stay with us as long as you want."
It licked his face again and walked by his side to the warp pad. Once they got there, Peridot backed up in fear of being attacked.
"Are you actually bringing that...thing with us?" She asked with concern.
"It's not a thing, it's Li'l Bud." Steven replied.
"You're not actually implying that just because you healed it means it feels affection for you, are you?"
"It licks me like a dog would," said Steven, "so that's a start!"
Peridot sighed before the warp pad activated. As soon as they left, however, the ground unsettled. One by one, gem stones similar to that of the Graboid prototype and Li'l Bud's started emerging around the Kindergarten.
If you like the story so far, follow or favorite it if you want because there's a lot more to come.