The thing I do when I need a break from reality, otherwise known as the reason this story exists. Anyways here's chapter 10! We are now on double digit chapters people! I'm glad you were willing to wait for it! And yes that was a Hamilton reference. Also I'm skipping the Arcade Mania episode because I honestly didn't have much inspiration for it and because I can.
Episode: Giant Woman
"So do you guys normally play checkers like this?" I questioned as I sat cross legged next to Steven's chair.
"No, but this way the players are more careful of their moves and it helps make every move really matter," Steven informed me as he hit Pearl in the face with a water balloon after Amethyst jumped her piece.
"But it's checkers! Every move matters," Pearl insisted as she studied the game board.
"Sounds like someone's being a sore loser," Amethyst stated as she twirled her hair while Pearl huffed.
"I'm not a sore loser," Peal said before she moved one of her pieces to take out all of Amethyst's in one move, "because I just won the game."
"Pearl that was amazing!" I cheered as Amethyst was pelted with the remaining water balloons.
"Why thank you Danny, I'm glad you think so," Pearl said before she heard Amethyst's comment.
"It feels good to loose," Amethyst said as she lay back on the sand, water dripping from her hair.
"I certainly hope that's not the attitude you have during battle," Pearl spoke haughtily as she glared at Amethyst with her arms crossed.
"Uh you're no fun anymore, this is why we never formed Opal," Amethyst complained as I grew confused.
"We don't form Opal because you're difficult and a mess," Pearl countered as she poked Amethyst while advancing on her.
"We don't form Opal because you're uptight and," Amethyst spoke again before Steven jumped down and got between them.
"Guys, what is Opal?" Steven questioned, curiosity apparent in his voice.
"Oh it's the two of us, mashed together," Amethyst answered easily as the tension was lifted.
"Uh is water just oxygen and hydrogen mashed together?" Pearl protested, me being the only one to understand her claim as Amethyst and Steven just looked confused.
"Analogy wasted," Pearl sighed.
"Hey I understood it!" I proclaimed, earning me a patient smile from Pearl.
"Well only slightly wasted then," Pearl spoke before crouching down on the sand as she formed shapes, "look here Steven. When we synchronize our forms we can combine into a fusion gem named Opal."
"Except I don't dance like that," Amethyst protested as she stomped on the sand figure of Opal.
"Amethyst," Pearl warned.
"That's so cool!" Steven exclaimed.
"Yeah, I bet it's helpful in fights when you're up against stronger enemies than usual," I added, wondering if I'd be able to do it despite only being a partial gem.
"Can you tell us more about her?" Steven questioned again, Amethyst quick to respond.
"Well she's an ultra powerful stone cold warrior, that parts me. And then she's like kinda tall, that parts Pearl," Amethyst answered easily.
"What Amethyst is attempting to say is, Opal is an amalgam of our magical and physical attributes fused into a single entity," Pearl explained in batter wording.
"Wow! Can you do it right now? Come on form Opal!" Steven urged with his star-eyes.
"Steven maybe Opal is better used for battle? There's no need to form her now, I'm sure you'll see her eventually," I spoke calmly as I doubted Pearl and Amethyst would move past their differences with such short notice.
"Danny's right Steven, we only form Opal when it's absolutely necessary," Pearl stated firmly before our attention was diverted as we all heard the warp-pad go off.
"Garnet's back!" Steven exclaimed as he took off running towards his house, Amethyst, Pearl and I following behind him at a more reasonable pace, "did you bring me anything? Cool a rock! Thanks Garnet!"
"So was your mission a success?" Pearl questioned as Steven showed me his new rock before he started biting it.
"I located the geode beetles of heaven and earth, we should split up to retrieve them," Garnet suggested as I carefully took the rock away from Steven's mouth.
"Well I'm going with, not Pearl," Amethyst spoke offhandedly.
"That's perfect because I don't want to go with grammatically incorrect people anyway," Pearl stated simply.
"Is she talking about me," Steven questioned as I put his rock away in his room for him.
"You four go together, I go alone," Garnet stated, leaving no room for argument.
"What, why?" Both Amethyst and Pearl questioned anyway.
"The Earth beetle is at the bottom of the boiling lava lake and only I can swim in lava," Garnet answered as she summoned swimming goggles over her regular visor.
"Okay but are you sure we should bring Danny along again?" Pearl questioned, "it's bad enough worrying about Steven's safety, let alone another regular human."
"Lighten up P, he did fine on the last mission besides what's the worst that could happen?" Amethyst stated with a shrug while Pearl bristled.
"You'll find the heaven beetle at the top of the sky spire, it's safer," Garnet spoke before Pearl and Amethyst could start arguing again.
"You mean boringer," Amethyst groaned.
"You mean more boring," Pearl corrected.
"So you agree with me," Amethyst stated smugly while Pearl groaned.
"Come on you three, let's go"Pearl stated as she moved to the warp pad.
"Steven, Danny, make sure to keep an eye on them and maintain the harmony," Garnet instructed us before we too went to the warp pad.
"You go it Garnet," I answered with a nod.
"Today's going to be all about harmony!" Steven cheered, continuing to drag out the word harmony until we arrived at the spire through the warp stream.
"Careful," I chided as the stream carried Steven up higher than intended and I caught him before he hit the warp pad.
"Sorry Danny," Steven apologized before we turned to see the landscape, both in awe of the beauty of it.
"This place is beautiful," I spoke quietly, afraid speaking too loudly would upset the serenity of it.
"Welcome to the sky spire, now we better hurry the heaven beetle lives all the way at the top," Pearl spoke as she ushered us forward.
"So when you fuse do you turn into a giant giant woman? Just a regular giant woman?" Steven questioned as we walked, eliciting a groan from Amethyst.
"Come on Steven," Pearl urged as he fell behind.
"But these are extremely important questions," Steven countered."
"Steven, I think it might be better if you just let them form Opal when they're ready to or need to," I advised him in a calm tone, "it might only make things worse if you try and push it."
"Okay," Steven sighed as we started walking up the stairs.
"Cheer up, I'm sure you'll see Opal eventually," I appeased as Steven brightened up considerably.
The rest of the walk up the stairs spent in a calm silence. That is, before a bush rustled and Amethyst and Pearl summoned their weapons in case of an enemy. Though it surprised us when a goat jumped out.
"Look out! It's a magical goat guardian! Quick you have to form Opal! It's the only way to defeat it, hurry before it kills us all!" Steven yelled as he covered his head with his arms.
"Steven we only fuse for deadly situations," Pearl admonished as she approached the goat, "does this look like a deadly situation."
"Careful Pearl it might," I warned before the goat bit her and Amethyst laughed, "bite you. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Danny, it's just a goat," Pearl waved me off as Steven sighed.
"Aww, I'm never gonna to see Opal," Steven spoke sadly before he began to sing, "All I wanna do, is see you turn into, a giant woman, a giant woman. All I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman. All I wanna do is help you turn into a giant woman, a giant woman. All I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman. Oh I know it'll be great and I just can't wait to see the person you are together. If you give it a chance you can do a huge dance, because you are a giant woman. You might even like, being together and if you don't it won't be forever. But if it were me, I'd really want to be a giant woman, a giant woman. All I wanna do is see you turn into, a giant woman."
"Wow, that was a nice song Steven," I complimented as he finished, helping him up as the Goat ran off."
"Thanks Danny," Steven beamed at the praise as I looked at the floating pieces of land that were between us and the spire.
"Steven, I'm not sure you can make those jumps," Pearl warned before he could try and jump across.
"Aww don't sweat it," Amethyst spoke as she picked Steven up and chucked him onto one of the land pieces before jumping over to join him.
"Wow Amethyst, that was a really good idea," Steven spoke as he regained his balance.
"I know," Amethyst replied happily, "I'm full of them."
"Come on Pearl, throw Danny, it's safe!" Steven called as he and Amethyst began bouncing on the land piece, that is before Steven mistepped.
"Steven," I cried as he fell, about to go after him despite my secret before Pearl jumped in front of me. Amethyst swinging her down using her whip as she caught Steven and Amethyst pulled them back up to safety.
"That was so great how you worked together," Steven spoke once he was safe, "why don't you do that all the time?"
Rather than have the tension increase again I quickly jumped between them before continuing until I reached the stairs. "Come on!" I spoke once I had made it, " we still have a mission!"
The others joining me in no time as we continued our ascent to the top, glad they didn't think my jumping from land piece to land piece was too odd. Or at least that they were too preoccupied to ask about it.
"I can't feel my legs anymore," Steven spoke as we reached the top before something caught his eye and he rushed over, "hey look at that! It's a tiny temple."
"Just where Garnet said it would be, the heaven beetle should be inside," Pearl spoke while I stood by the goat.
"Check it out, it's even got a little beetle bedroom, and little beetle bongos, and a little beetle baby book!" Steven observed.
"But where's the beetle?" Pearl questioned as she stood up, "it's supposed to be here. The heaven beetle wouldn't leave would it? Oh it could be anywhere!"
"Maybe you should freak out some more, that's really gonna help us find it," Amethyst remarked sarcastically from her spot by the temple door.
"I can't believe your attitude Amethyst," Pearl exclaimed as she marched over to her, "and now you're just slouching over here doing nothing!"
"Hey, it's not my fault the beetle isn't there!" Amethyst proclaimed, "and you don't have to make things worse by squawking at me."
"I don't squawk!" Pearl argued.
"Yeah you're squawking!" Amethyst stated again as the too began to bicker back and forth while Steven tried to calm the goat before getting between them.
"Hey cut it out, you're scaring Steven Jr!" Steven spoke before a rumbling noise could be heard, causing me to turn around.
"Well that can't be good," I remarked as a giant bird came out from under the water, diving out of the way as it's jaws ensnared the goat, barely getting out of the way before it would've grabbed me as well.
"Danny!" I heard the others yell as Pearl threw her spear only for the bird to swallow it.
"Quick inside the temple!" Amethyst called as we all ran inside, the bird sticking its mouth as far as it could threw the opening.
"It swallowed my spear," Pearl stated.
"Yeah and it almost swallowed Danny too," Amethyst spoke up.
"Guys this is perfect!" Steven called as he gained our attention, "now's the perfect time for you two to form Opal."
"Let's hope this works," I said quietly as Steven and I stayed a distance away as Pearl and Amethyst began to dance, although their styles were completely different.
The fusion appearing to be working before the light form fizzled and gave out, Pearl and Amethyst ending up sprawled on the floor.
"So you want to try that again? With less hitting me in the face this time?" Amethyst questioned as she sat up.
"Well it would have worked if your movements weren't so erratic and formless," Pearl chided as she too stood up.
"So it's all my fault? You totally weren't even trying to sync with my dancing, you should know how I dance by now!" Amethyst argued before Pearl pushed her away.
"Stop! Come on guys please stop fighting, if you can't get along with each other I might never get to see your awesome fusion power," Steven interrupted before we both looked towards the roof as the bird got louder, "and I might get eaten, by a giant bird!"
"Look out!" I called as the bird's mouth came down from the ceiling, pushing Steven out of the way only to end up getting swallowed instead.
"Danny!" I heard someone call out faintly as I feel into the bird's stomach.
"Ugh," I groaned as I was tossed into the stomach lining before I managed to stand up, looking around as I noticed the goat sitting on a tire as I approached it, "of course you're in here too. You know I never once thought I'd end up in a giant bird's digestive track, though in hindsight I never anticipated a lot of things that have happened to me in my past years. Talking to a goat being one of them, whether in a giant bird's stomach or otherwise." Suddenly both of us were thrown into the air as the bird must have hit something, the reaction being the goat letting go of what he had been chewing on as it hit me in the face. "Ow," I groaned as I picked it up, "what are you? Are you the heaven beetle or just a weird sculpture of a beetle?"
Before I could question it further I was shocked as giant arms started punching their way into the bird's stomach, shoving the beetle in my pocket as I began dodging the hands before they could grab me as they began looking for something. That is before one of them did grab me and the goat as I was pulled from the stomach as the person whose grip I was in jumped down to the temple. My gaze on the bird before it turned into a bunch of smaller birds.
"Don't worry Danny," Steven called as I turned my head and realized he was in this woman's grip as well.
"I take it this is Opal?" I questioned as Opal began dodging the incoming birds, weaving her way back to where we were when Steven fell.
"Stay low," Opal warned us as she set both of us down before summoning both Amethyst and Pearl's weapons. Fusing them together to create a bow as she took aim, an arrow appearing that appeared to be made out of light as she waited for the energy to gather before she released it. The arrow flying into the middle of the flock before exploding into a bunch of smaller arrows, taking out the entire flock in one hit.
"That was amazing," I whispered in awe as Opal helped Steven stand up and I climbed to my feet.
"Do you uh, still know who I am?" Steven questioned hesitantly as Opal smiled at him.
"All you wanna do is see me turn into a giant woman," Opal sand softly for confirmation before she picked both of us up again and carried us to the warp pad.
"We're back!" Steven called as Garnet was already in the room.
"The heaven beetle?" Garnet questioned.
"I don't have it!" Opal spoke as Amethyst and Pearl defused.
"Amethyst you got distracted!" Pearl called immediately as they were separated.
"Hey you were the one getting carried away with all those fancy back flips," Amethyst countered.
"Um is this it?" I spoke as they argued, pulling the beetle out of my pocket as I showed it to Garnet.
"Good job Danny," Garnet spoke as she placed the beetle in a container with the earth beetle before bubbling it, gaining the attention of Amethyst and Pearl, "and Steven, I'm glad to see you helped your teammates fuse."
"And all we had to do was let Danny get eaten by a bird," Steven stated matter-of-factly."
"Nice work," Garnet complemented, "you'll be great at fusing one day."
"Yeah," Steven spoke as I simply shrugged, "wait I can do that too?"
And that wraps up this chapter, sorry if you guys wanted to see Steven get eaten but I like the idea of Danny getting the beetle and Steven focusing more on helping Amethyst and Pearl fuse into Opal. You know with the author's notes this chapter is actually over 3000 words. Oh and I'm working on a little surprise for you guys since you're all so awesome but you'll have to wait a bit to find out what it is. Anyways onto the reviews.
Kimera20: Thank you so much, you're even more amazing!
Drift219: You read my mind
Gamelover41592: No problem, I just felt like he fit in that chapter
OfLifeAndDeathAndAllBetween: And more stuff to come!
Remzal Von Enili: Gotcha, based on that I still think I'm sticking with the normal fusions so it's more canon, even though crossovers and fanfiction in general are already noncanon. As for the gem ghost personally I don't think they're possible because ghosts are manifestations of human souls who have something to latch onto and keep them from moving on, an obsession if you will and as covering in the show. While gems are being made entirely of light that stem from their gems, the only way for them to 'die' being if their gem is cracked and even then it's not so much dying as it is ceasing to exist. Therefore, at least in my universe, gem ghost cannot exist, hope this helps. Thanks for the question by the way! I really like it when you guys question the universe and what's possible in it because it helps me hammer out details as well.
Mystic Myra 8: You're welcome!
DragShot: Thanks for the follow! And yeah Danny's in for some rough times ahead, just wait until he meets *censored for spoilers* then things will really get bad for him and his *censored for spoilers* with *censored for spoilers*
Violet3745: I Shall! Updates may be slow sometimes but I will always continue eventually!