Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters; I only own my O.C.! I hope you guys enjoy today's exciting chapter!
Garnet: We...
Pearl and Amethyst: Are the Crystal...
Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Moonstone, Steven: Gems!
Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Moonstone, Steven: We'll always save the day!
Steven: And if you think we can't...
Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Moonstone, Steven: We'll..always find a way!
Garnet: That's why the people (Pearl, Amethyst, Moonstone, Steven: Of this world!) of this world! Believe in...
Moonstone: Moonstone!
Garnet: Garnet!
Amethyst: Amethyst!
Pearl: And Pearl!
Steven: And Steven!
Cat Fingers
In the heart of Beach City, there was a thriving car wash business hard at work, helping to keep the vehicles of Beach City spick and span.
At the moment, Steven, who had come by the car wash, was currently using a cloth to clean the hubcaps of a van's tires. The man was all white with the words "Re-elect Mayor Dewey" in red and blue, the word "Re-elect" at the front of the van, and on top of the van was a giant model head of a man who had tan peach skin, brown hair in a slicked back cowlick-like style, who had a big smile, and a red nose.
On the other side of the vehicle was a middle-aged man who was a bit chubby, and had white skin like Steven, but most of his body was covered in the marks of a sun tan, his shoulders being the only ones not tanned as well as his legs, who was bald on top of his head, with the exception of the long tannish-brown hair he had that went down to the back of his knees and had a matching colored beard. He appeared to be wearing a white tank top with blue jean shorts, and flip-flops. He was currently using a hose to spray water on the side of the van, before saying to Steven, "Almost done. Steven, get the hubcaps."
"Hubbin' it up," Steven replied as he polished the hubcaps faster so they'd be extra shiny.
"Hub it good. This is a high-profile job," the man responded proudly.
"You mean 'cause it's the mayor's election mobile," Steven asked while sanding back up onto his feet,
"If we do this right, we might get political favors," the man happily replied, enticing Stevne of what could come out of doing a good job of cleaning the vehicle.
Steven was a little confused, but happy nonetheless, as he replied, "I'm not sure what that is, but I like it," while turning on another hose, set to clean the side of the vehicle he was working on.
However, when the water started to sprout, it went over the van and wound up drenching the man who was working on the other side of the vehicle. This prompted the pair to start spraying water at one another, turning the job into a fun little water fight.
Unfortunately, the fun came to an abrupt halt when a new man, one who looked like the guy's head that was on top of the van, who was wearing a grey business jacket with a dark blue tie, and dark grey pants along with brown flat shoes, came marching over, declaring, "Hey, hey, hey! I'm not paying for father-son bonding here."
That resulted in Steven accidentally turning around and dousing the guy, thinking that he was a part of the game, which made the man shout, "Universe! Control that kid"!
Mr. Universe, or the proper name, Greg Universe, none other than Steven's dad, came over and quickly prompted Steven to stop before he told the other man with a sheepish chuckle, "I'm sorry, Mayor Dewey. Uh, this one's on the house."
Mayor Dewey looked at his now clean van, saying, "On the house, eh," before adding as he smiled at Greg, mainly because of the free car wash he now had received, "I like the way you do business, Universe."
Mayor Dewey hopped into the van and drove away, the speakers on top of the car declaring, "Mayor Dewey! Mayor Dewey," as it rode away from the car wash.
Greg let out a sigh of relief that things didn't escalate or go wrong, although he also felt a little worried that this incident could possibly alter his future at the car wash. What got him to relax and lughten up was Steven, who popped up by Greg's side, saying in encouragement, "Political favors"!
Greg grinned and picked up Steven, giving him a playful noogie on the head while saying, "Ah, you rascal! Enough with the hose fights."
"Ah, okay," Steven replied playfully before suddenly, both gentlemen got doused by a stray splash of water.
"What the..." Greg commented in confusion when he saw where the splash of water had come from, and who was responsible.
Steven turned his head to look too, with both men noticing a light purple cat that had a familiar gemstone on its chest, that was holding one of the running hoses in its mouth. Both of them shouted, "Whoa," in unison, surprised to see such a cat like it around in Beach City.
Then, the cat proceeded to chase them with the hose, trying to douse them with water, prompting Steven and Greg to run. While Steven was laughing, having fun, Greg was confused by all of this, commenting out loud, "What is with this cat"?
Then, the "cat" started to glow and transform, revealing that the cat wasn't really a cat at all' it was really Amethyst who had shape-shifted into the cat! She spat the hose out of her mouth, holding it in one of her hands, while saying in laughter, "Ha-ha! Got you guys"!
"Amethyst," Steven happily declared, happy to see his teammate.
Greg, however, was still reeling a bit in shock by the sudden transformation, but held it in, and spoke up, saying in response while trying to not sound too uncomfortable, "Uh, pretty cool, Amethyst."
"Really cool," Steven eagerly commented while approaching Amethyst, adding, "I wish I could shapeshift like you."
"You could probably learn," Amethyst suggested while tying up the hose in a knot so it'd stop flowing water.
This got Steven's attention and interest, making him ask, "Really"?
Amethyst walked over to Steven, responding with, "Sure. You got a Gem," and lifted his shirt up a bit, showing off his gem.
Sensing that there was gonna be gem business happening, Greg, a little hesitant about what might happen, commented, trying to hide the hesitancy behind his smile, "Whoa! Magic stuff. Should I get out of here? Is there gonna be an explosion"?
"Ah, it's no big deal, dad," Steven responded reassuringly while he placed his shirt back down
Just then, Amethyst shape-shifted into Steven, saying to Steven's dad, "Yeah, it's fuuuun."
However, the sight of seeing one of the Crystal Gems shapeshifted into his son was enough to leave Greg a little bit startled, and a bit on edge.
Back at the temple, Pearl was looking at some biochemicals she had collected underneath a microscope, and Moonstone was sitting next to Pearl, reading a book about different biochemicals, aiding Pearl in the research. Meanwhile, Amethyst was keeping Steven entertained by demonstrating some of her best shapeshifting personas.
Deciding to nudge Pearl and Moonstone into the fray, she called out to them, "Hey, Moon! Hey, Pearl"!
Right in front of them, Amethyst shapeshifted into a seal, letting out an adorable seal bark.
While Pearl watched, mainly in confusion, Moonstone found it intriguing as she watched, looking away from her book, and Steven was enjoying it a lot, laughing as he requested, "Do more"!
"Check it out," Amethyst commented as she began to shapeshift again, much to Pearl's annoyance.
She first transformed into a fluffy wolf, letting out a majestic howl in response.
Then, she changed into a big bulky wrestler with a black leotard stretched out, a grey mask over her eyes and matching grey wristbands, and puffy chest hair, with her gem peeking through it, as she let out a determined grunt to try and look fierce.
Finally, Amethyst changed into a small blue jay (or purple jay in accordance with her colors), and let out a small caw before flying over and landing on Steven's head.
"Woah," Steven commented in awe as he watched Bird Amethyst land on him.
Moonstone couldn't help but snicker, saying, "Don't start laying an egg on him like last time."
Amethyst let out an embarrassed sigh, saying, "You accidentally swallow an egg and lay it on a gem's head one time, and suddenly, that's all you remember of it."
Pearl suddenly spoke up, clarifying in a scolding manner while approaching Steven and Amethyst, "Amethyst, you are overdoing it."
Amethyst merely rolled her eyes and replied, "Uh, chill it, dude."
"Note: Pearl does raise a good point; you don't want to overdo it because it can tire you out and cause some physical and mental strain on your form," Moonstone mentioned while walking over and standing by Pearl.
"Thank you," Pearl turned her head and smiled, thanking Moonstone for seeing her point.
Moonstone then added with a grin, "On the other hand, it is a lot of fun to do, and it provides great experimentation of testing out a gem's ability to shapeshift into other forms that appease to one's interest."
"See? Moon gets it," Amethyst replied, her beak curled with a smug grin towards Pearl.
That response made Pearl turn her head back to face Amethyst, and let out a small groan before she spoke up, saying while crossing her arms, "Just because you can shapeshift doesn't mean you should."
"Can you shapeshift," Steven curiously asked Pearl.
"Well, of course..." Pearl started to reply before she got interrupted by Amethyst, who had jumped up and shapeshifted into Pearl, speaking up in her impression of Pearl's voice, to which Pearl felt very mocked by, "Well, of course, I can. I'm perfect."
"Whomp! Whomp," Amethyst added while slapping her behind as she looked at Pearl while doing it.
The gesture itself was very humorous, prompting Moonstone to break into a giggle and clutch her sides while she laughed, while Pearl pushed Amethyst, who rolled away while laughing, and explained to Steven, "All Gems have shape-shift powers, Steven."
"We can turn into objects," she explained while showing a hologram of a figure turning into a teapot, adding, "We can change parts of our bodies," while showing a different hologram of a figure's hand growing to large size, and added on as she turned her holograms off, "Or... we could do that," before looking back at Amethyst, shotting a disapproving look towards what she was doing.
Amethyst, who was still shape-shifted into Pearl, continued to do the gesture, slapping her behind while shouting in a cheeky manner, "Whomp! Whomp"!
Moonstone broke into more laughter before noticing the raised/inquisitive eyebrow look Pearl was giving her, prompting the gem to stop laughing and clear her throat, maintaining a poised stance.
Moonstone then added, "and not only that, but the ability to shapeshift lets us be able to capture the forms of many elements, both living and nonliving, which enables stealth when in need of keeping ourselves hidden from enemy eyes."
Steven then asked Moonstone, "Moonstone, have you shape-shifted before too"?
"Oh yes," Moonstone happily replied, facing Steven while answering with, "I have done my fair share of shapeshifting in the past. Why, I remember one of my favorite ones to do was this form of," before saying in a determined voice, "A ferocious beast that would strike fear into the minds of our enemies"!
"I want to see," Steven responded excitedly.
Pearl, however, stepped in, placing her arm out in front of Moonstone, telling her, "Moonstone, don't encourage the situation."
Moonstone rolled her eyes, saying, "Come on, Pearl. Would you want to pry Steven the chance of meeting...the king of the sea"?
Hearing this only made Steven more excited, his eyes lighting up with star-shaped pupils, as he exclaimed, "I want to see the king of the sea," while Pearl groaned in response.
Moonstone grinned, declaring to Steven, "You wish to meet..the king of the sea"?!
"You bet I do," Steven exclaimed back, jumping up and down in anticipation.
Moonstone chuckled, replying, "Well then, check this out," before she shapeshifted into...a dolphin. An adorable dolphin, with her gem and bindi pattern surrounding it resting near where her blowhole from, her dorsal fin the same color as her hair, and the pixilated patterns of her pants now covered her tail. She let out a dolphin squeak while she flailed her fins and tail playfully.
Steven gasped happily, saying, "A dolphin"!
"Boo-yah," Moonstone replied before expelling some water out of her blowhole, dousing Pearl, who did not see that coming, with the water. The action caused Amethyst, who was still shapeshifted as Pearl, to break out into laughter, failing to cover her mouth as she laughed, while Pearl, dripping wet, could only facepalm and try to wipe some of the water away while visibly annoyed.
"Sorry; I drank some water earlier while trying to do a small study on how the consumption of liquids promotes positive hydration to the physical state of one's molecular build-up," Moonstone replied with a sheepish smile.
Steven, however, was so inspired by the shapeshifting that he wanted to try it out himself, declaring, "I want to try it all"!
Pearl turned her head and warned Steven, "Don't bite off more than you can chew, Steven."
Amethyst did the gesture again, slapping her behind and shouting, "Whomp! Whomp," while Pearl groaned tiredly, leaving the house in a huff and closing the door behind her,
After Pearl had left, Amethyst and Moonstone both broke into heavy laughter, with Amethyst saying, "Wow, Moon! you got Pearl so good"!
"Aw, thanks; I try," Moonstone replied before shapeshifting back to normal, with Amethyst following suit and reverting back to her usual persona as well.
Steven exclaimed excitedly while running over to both girls, "All right! Show me how to change into a huge lion"!
Amethyst faced Strven while telling him, "Actually, for once, Pearl is right. If you're gonna do this, you got to start with something easy."
"Note: perhaps you might want to try a small er being to shapeshift into before tackling any big, massive shapes," Moonstone added on.
Steven thought about it for a minute before he asked them, "Like that cat you turned into, Amethyst? Or that dolphin you changed into, Moonstone"?
"Well, a dolphin is a little bigger than a cat, so you might want to start with the cat idea first," Moonstone proposed.
Amethyst was all in for it, saying, "That sounds good. Now, Steven, follow our lead."
Amethyst and Moonstone both stood by the counters, in front of Steven, while Amethyst explained the rundown instructions of how to shapeshift, explaining, "First, think of what you want to be, and then just shake it out."
She shook a little bit before easily changing into the same cat that she was earlier at the car wash.
Moonstone then explained, "Sometimes, if you want to have more specific details to your shapeshifting, just concentrate a minute, take a deep breath, and then.." before she exhaled and glowed, shapeshifting into a different cat; her design was slimmer than Amethyst's and it had white stripes, along with white pads on its paws.
They both walked up to Steven, with Amethyst saying, "See? Now, your turn," while encouraging Steven to try.
"Okay," Steven replied as he attempted to try and shapeshift, exerting some energy, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and tears around his eyes, while he declared, "Ca-a-a-a-a-t."
Amethyst, who was still in cat form, was sitting upright, and opening a bag of potato chips, telling Steven, "Nah, you're too tense. Just relax and feel it. Biorhythms, yo," while eating a chip.
Moonstone shapeshifted back into her regular persona before she told Steven while gently holding his wrists, "Amethyst is correct. Just relax and let the rhythm of morphing course through your body. Think of it like feeling the water splash around your feet; a natural wave of change washing over you."
Steven nodded in response and closed his eyes again, trying to focus deeply on the shapeshifting patern he wanted, while saying, "Fe-e-e-e-el it."
Moonstone was writing some notes on her notepad, saying, "Note: it appears that even with our advice, Steven's attempts of shapeshifting aren't producing many results as we hoped for."
Amethyst walked up to Steven, saying, "Eeeh, if you are not ready, we can try later."
However, Steven wasn;t ready to give up yet, declaring, "No way. I can do it"!
Amethyst changed back into her regular appearance and watched as Steven did some arm motions while saying, "Yeah. Yeah," thinking it'd help trigger the effects of shape-shifting.
However, that didn't seem to work either, with Amethyst telling Steven as she stood up, "Well, it was a good try."
"Yeah, you appeared to be following the steps cor-," Moonstone started to say before suddenly, a strange "Meow" echoed the room, making Steven open his eyes in surprise, and both gems curious, wondering where it came from.
Steven looked down at his hands, raising one of his fingers up, and to his surprise, his finger was white...and it had a cat head! It had turned into a...cat finger! The meows it emitted stunned everyone in disbelief; it was moving, it was meowing, it was...so damn cute!
"Oh my stars! It...worked," Moonstone declared while writing down the observation in her notepad.
Steven's eyes lit up in excitement, making him happily exclaim, "This is so cool"!
"You should go show your dad. He's gonna freak out," Amethyst eagerly suggested.
"Note: it's so adorable," Moonstone squealed in awe as she used one of her fingers to scratch the tiny cat finger's head, making it purr before it let out another content meow.
Back at the car wash later on, Steven was running up to his father, who was sitting on a lawn chair with an open cooler, holding a water bottle, and raising the sunglasses he currently had on, shouting, "Dad, I'm back"!
"Hey, Stu-ball," Greg happily greeted his son.
Steven currently had his hand hidden underneath his other hand, wanting to surprise his dad, before he announced, "Check it out," and showed his hand, the cat finger.
Greg was caught by surprise, throwing his water bottle up as it hit Steven and leaked some of the water out, which splashed the cat finger, making it scrunch a bit before it meowed sadly.
Steven made sure that his cat finger was ok while explaining, "I shapeshifted my finger into a cat."
Greg was absorbing all of this in, still a little shocked, while saying a little nervously, "Woah! Is that a thing you can do now? That's pretty cool."
A little oblivious to his father's hesitancy, Steven happily commented, "I know, right? I'm gonna take this show on the road," and proceeded to happily march away, excited to show off his cat fingers to some of the other Beach city residents.
At the Big Donut, Steven was making a purchase, with Sadie telling Steven, "That'll be $1.05, Steven."
Steven reached into one pocked and pulled out a nickel, saying, "Mmm, okay. Here's a nickel."
He then reached into his other pocket and pulled out a dollar, adding, "And a buck"! however, to Sadie and Lar's surprise, Steven wasn;t the one who exactly gave them the dollar; the cat finger gave it to them, placing it on the counter with its mouth.
"Whaaaat," Sadie and Lars both shouted in shock/unison, with Lars a little more weirded out than Sadie, who fawned over how cute it was and petted it head with her finger while saying, "Oh, Steven, that's adorable"!
The cat finger purred in delight, which made Sadie ask in confusion, "Are you making it purr"?
"It kind of does what it wants," Steven replied while scratching his head in confusion, still trying to understand the behavior of his feline finger friend.
"Really," Lars asked as he poked the cat finger, making it bite his finger in response.
"See what I mean," Steven responded before he scolded the cat finger, saying, "Bad cat finger"!
"Ah, I'm sure it just wants to play," Sadie pointed out as a possible theory.
Steven gasped, realizing that Sadie might be right, declaring, "You are right," before adding sadly as he looked at his cat finger, feeling bad that it looked so lonely, "And he doesn't have any friends."
"Oh, my gosh! It's just like you, Steven," Lars commented, sounding a little sarcastic.
With this in mind, not paying attention to Lar's sarcastic remark, Steven stepped back, took a deep breath in, and moved his arms forward like he had done before, letting himself feel loose. Once he felt in he zone and loose enough, picturing what he wanted in mind, he placed his hand down, the rest of his fingers on the hand his first cat finger was on all becoming cat fingers in colors of orange, black, and another white one.
Sadie and Lars looked very surprised, and albeit, startled, to have witnessed it first-hand, while Steven held his hand up happily, content that his cat fingers now had more friends, with the cat fingers all meowing happily.
Outside later on, Steven was heading over to a nearby food shack known as Beach City Fries, calling out as he approached the place, "Hey, Peedee"!
Peedee, a young boy with tan skin, darkish peach hair styled in dreadlocks while the sides of his head were brown, shaved down to about only an inch of hair on each side, who was wearing a white tank top and red short, along with his own pair of shoes, approached the counter, while Steven, who recognized his friend, kept his hand with the cat fingers hidden behind his back while he commented in surprise, "Whoa! You work the deep fryer now," before he asked excitedly, "Make me some fry bits."
Peedee, however, wasn't as amused about the order as Steven was, addressing dryly, "Steven, I take my job seriously. Please, use the actual menu."
However, that didn't deter Steven, who kept saying with adrenaline in his voice, "Give me the bits. The bits"!
Behind Peedee, an older man, presumably, the boy's father, who had a dark yellow goatee beard, and wore a red T-shirt with a white apron over it, along with a tall fry-themed hat on his head, told Peedee while trying to keep the situation calm, "All right, listen. It'll be over sooner if you just give him what he wants."
Peedee sighed tiredly and went to go make the order, as Steven told the older man in response, wanting to set the record straight, "Whoa. Hey, hey! It's not for me. It's for these guys," before sowing off his hand with the cat fingers, who all meowed on cue.
The older man was very startled to see the cat fingers, and so confused at the same time, questioning, "What the..."?
Peedee came over carrying a small tray full of fry bits, saying, "Uh, here's your... bits," before he saw the cat fingers and became equally startled/confused by the sight of it, especially when the cat fingers started to nibble away at the fry bits, eating them. A sight so intriguing yet so weird, and so fascianting, one couldn't even look away if they tried.
"I can't look away," the older man commented in disbelief while he continued to watch in confusion/shock.
"Steven, that is freakish," Peedee commented bluntly/in disbelief.
"No, it's not. It's natural," Steven responded before demonstrating how "natural" it was for him as he shook his other arm a bit, saying, "Shake... it... out"!
5 more cat fingers developed on Steven's other hand, making Steven add on, "See," while showing the new cat fingers that had formed, much to Peedee and his dad's surprise.
The father then remembered something and ppinted out, "You know who would love this? Your older brother," before calling out loud, "Yo, Ronaldo"!
Ronaldo, who appeared definitely older than Peedee yet quite younger than the father, had a darker skin tone compared to Peedee, his dreadlock-like hair was thicker and wavier, and we wore glasses, along with a magenta polo T-shirt with a white apron over it, brownish-tan khakis, and grey sandals, walked into the kitchen carrying a box, asking the father, "What's up, dad"?
But once the older boy noticed Steven's cat fingers, he was so stunned, letting out pausing shouts as he ran over to the counter and take a closer look before he exclaimed in shock, "I got to take a pic for "Keep Beach City Weird," and pulled out his phone, taking a picture of Steven and his cat fingers.
"What's that," Steven asked, curious to knw what Ronaldo was talking about.
Ronaldo happily explained to Steven, "It's my blog! Keep... Beach... City... weird," and did a series of hilarious poses while he declared his blog's motto.
Peedee let out an uninterested groan while Steven asked eagerly, "Can I see the picture"?
Ronaldo gave the bnoy his phone and Steven tried to grab it to see the pictures, but the cat fingers all squirmed uncomfortably, not liking the feeling of beign used as fingers, the yowling at which gave Steven a small startle and made him drop the phone onto the counter. He saw the discomforted looks on his cat fingers and told the kitty fingers, "Oh, ooh. Sorry, guys. I guess cat fingers don't function well as... fingers."
This started to make Steven think a little more about this shape-shifting business; yes, it was fun to do, and he had cool cat fingers! they were so cute, and it was fun to show them off! but...with cat fingers, it made it hard to actually DO certain functions. Perhaps...maybe it was starting to become a little...out of hand?
These thoughts continued to illuminate Steven's mind back at the back house, where he was walking up to the fridge to grab a sandwich, but he could hardly open the fridge door because his cat fingers were making it hard to grab the handle. He tried to calm the cat fingers down by telling them, almost in a scolding manner, as he used his shoulder to push the door open, "Shh! I'm just getting a snack."
Steven tried to grab the plate with the sandwich, but the squirming cat fingers were making it hard for him to grab the plate.
Amethyst, who was standing out on the front porch and peeking through the open window, called out to Steven, saying, "Steven! Need some help"?
Steven managed to hold the plate up with his elbows while replying, the sounds of struggles barely masked in his tone of voice, "Nah, it's cool."
Thinking that Steven had things under control, amethyst replied, "Oh, good. See you later then."
Steven was confused by why Amethyst was leaving now, as the purple gem explained, "We're taking the Gem sloop out to sea to fight a living island," before she started to walk away.
The idea of getting to watch the gems fight a living island was too good to miss! Yes, his cat fingers were causing him some trouble, but he didn't want his cat fingers to stop him from getting to watch the gems' missions!
"What," Stevene exclaimed in shock as he dropped the plate and the sandwich, albeit a little sad his snack fell, but that went away as he struggled to follow Amethyst outside, shouting, "Uh... Amethyst, wait!I want to go on the Gem sloop! I want to see a living island"!
Amethyst was soon seen sitting on a small crystal sailboat with the rest of the Crystal Gems, the boat started to sail out onto the water, as Steven approached the edge of the shoreline, shouting, "Wait, wait, wait"!
He ran into the water, trying to walk as carefully/speedily as he could, extra cautious not to get his cat fingers wet.
"Steven," Pearl called out in concern.
Moonstone saw Steven, and his cat fingers, and gasped, commenting, "Oh my," in surprise.
Amethyst was laughing, thinking the sight was hilarious, as she called to Steven, "Come on! You can make it"!
As the water got deeper, Steven dove one of his hands into the water to try and swim up to the boat, but the cat fingers getting wet caused him to shout in shock and recoil his hand back, seeing the cat fingers shake themselves dry, while the gems all gasped in shock when they saw what was going on.
"Note: I'm not entirely aware of the situation, but last time I checked, Steven only had ONE cat finger earlier," Moonstone pointed out in concern.
"Steven! What's going on," Pearl asked the boy worryingly.
Steven answered, struggling to try and keep the peace of the situation at a steady, "Uh... i-it's nothing. I just turned all my fingers into cats"!
Amethyst couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter while Moonstone gently flicked Amethyst upside the head in scolding, saying, "This is not funny; this is serious"!
"We have to stay and help Steven," Pearl told Garnet.
However, Garnet mentioned to Pearl, "We can't; this is a tectonic emergency."
"Note: Garnet is correct; while Steven's plight is of equal concern, the tectonic destruction the island is causing is very worrisome and can be a danger to this planet if we leave it unchecked at this time," Moonstone pointed out.
"We'll deal with Steven when we get back," Garnet suggested as she managed the boat's sailing path.
Pearl turned her head and gave Amethyst and Moonstone a stern look, telling them both, "Amethyst, Moonstone, I blame you both for this"!
"How is this my fault? I was only providing some education of shapeshifting to Steven," Moonstone addressed while crossing her arms and giving Pearl a raised inquisitive eyebrow, before adding, "Besides, Amethyst was the one who kept encouraging Steven to shapeshift playfully."
Amethyst took no offense to either statement, saying with a shrug, "Eh, that's fair," which caused Pearl to let out a strained shout.
Just as the boat was floating out into the sea, Pearl told Steven, shouting at him, "Steven! Just try to stay calm"!
This left Steven to try and figure out how to handle this feline-finger fiasco all by himself,
He went back into the house and sat down, looking down at his meowing cat fingers, while saying, "Enough! No more cat fingers; I want Steven fingers! And I don't mean little me-heads on fingers; I mean my regular fingers"!
He tried to reignite his shapeshifting ability so he could shapeshift his fingers back to normal. However, instead of his fingers turning back to normal, one of his hands that was resting on his forehead made a cat's face appear on his head. He fell down in shock, struggling tor reverse the effects of the shapeshifting, but them, his right hand turned into one giant cat's face, all of the cats which were meowing constantly.
This really freaked out Steven, who held his arm and shouted, "Stop," while strugglign to gain a sense of control of the situation. However, when his right foot became a cat face as well, thinjgs started to look very grim.
Steven could feel more cat heads forming, as he called out loudly, hoping someone could hear him, "Amethyst! Pearl! Garnet! Moonstone"!
Suddenly, Steven remembered that there was one person available who might just be able to help him out, saying as the idea struck him, "Dad"!
That night, at the car wash, Steven's dad was listening to music on his headphones while he was using a hose to clean the driveway up to the car wash. however, what broke hs focus on the music was the sound of mysterious banging, which made him take off one side of his headphones and ask out loud, calling out to whoever knocked, "Hello? Who's there"?
In the shadows, Steven, whose body was now shapeshifted with a bunch of cats on it, was walking up to the car wash.
"We're closed. Come back tomorrow..." Greg called out before he noticed the cat "monster" that approached him and, in fright/shock, he pointed the hose at it, making Steven, whom Greg was unaware that the monster was his son in trouble, step back a bit, while the cats yowled in dislike, hating getting wet.
Luckily, despite the water, Steven was able to let out a muffled "Da-a-ad..." and at that moment, Greg recognized the voice and saw some of the cats shapeshift away from its body, revealing a struggling Steven underneath the feline mass, making the father as in concern, "Steven"?
"Dad," Steven called out to his father, telling him while his body continued to shapeshift cats all over, "Help! The cat fingers are taking over my body"!
Greg, worried about his son and determined to help him, replied urgently, "Hold on! I'll get you out of there," and tried to pry some of them away. But one of the cat fingers bit Greg's arm and threw him over onto the ground.
"Dad," Steven called out to his dad in concern before he scolded the cat head, "No! Bad! Bad cat fingers"!
Steven wound up stepping in a piddle, making the cats hiss again and casing him to jump onto the top of the car wash, with Greg asking worryingly, "Can't you make them go away"?
"I tried, but it made it worse," Steven sadly replied as he felt the cats continue to try and take over his body, all while Greg was watching this happen in front of him, and was equally disheartened as Steven was.
Steven was close to accepting his fate, crying out, "My life is over! I can't go on magic adventures! I can't even open the fridge" And I'll never get to have another water fight with you, Dad, 'cause these things hate... water."
Suddenly, Steven came to a realization: every time the cat fingers were greeted with water, they'd hiss and dislike getting wet. One of the cat fingers almost disappeared because it got wet! He shouted, "They hate water," and came up with the idea that was gonna solve this problem with a big splash!
Steven called out to his dad, telling him, "Dad, spray me again"!
Greg wasted no time pointing the hose at Steven, spraying water with him, as the cats all hissed and yowled in dislike when they came into contact with the water. Steven was back down on the ground luckily, but cats still roamed over his body and tried to reach Greg, who was too scared to move. But Steven held onto the edge of the car wash entrance, shouting, "It's not enough water," while attempting to restrain the cats as best he could.
Suddenly, Steven looked up at the car wash and got a crazy plan, telling Greg, "Turn on the superwash"!
But Greg was far too worried about his son's safety to even think of turning the superwash on, calling out towards Steven in concern, "No! I won't do it! It's too dangerous"!
Steven knew that it was a dangerous move, but he also knew that the superwash was the only thing that would hopefully have enough water to retract and get rid of all these cats on him. He exclaimed at his father, prying every ounce of strength he had in him while restraining the cats, "You've got to; I'm a monster! I'm an adorable cat monster"!
"No, you're not! You're my son," Greg tearfully exclaimed back.
Steven could feel even more cats forming on his body as he shouted with the last bit of strength he had as the cats were morphing, "Dad, please"!
Greg was worried for his son, that was not to be mistaken, but he was also worried about what would become of him iof these cats really took over his precious little boy. Deciding to take the risk and trust what his son suggested, he took his headphones off and ran into the car wash, turning on all the switches before slamming his fist on the button to turn the car wash on. Steven used what little control of himself he had left to drag his cat-morphing body into the car wash, all the way into the superwash area, while Greg watched in concern/hope through the windows on the other side.
When the superwash activated, it doused the ctas on Steven with so much water, and the scrubbers all molded the cats off like hot butter. The cycle lasted like an eternity, and Greg followed through each window to see if it would work.
Once he was back outside, he saw the steam emerging through the exit and grabbed his hose, ready to splash Steven again if any cats remained.
When the steam died down, Steven, with his clothes torn and soaked to the skin, was luckily back to his normal self; not an inch of a shapeshifted cat was on him! It had worked; the superwash got rid of the cats!
Greg sighed a huge breath of relief while Steven opened his eyes and struggled back to his feet, saying to Greg, "Dad, we did it."
Unfortunately, the moment didn't last too long as one of Steven's fingers formed a white cta finger, which caused both Universes to freak out. Greg immediately doused it with the hose, which made it disappear, and both Steven and Greg were able to slowly breathe easily, relieved that the whole ordeal was over.
They both remained silent for a bit, enjoying the peace of the night that no longer had the sounds of cats meowing, before Greg picked up Steven and pulled him into a tight hug, saying, "Steven, oh, thank goodness"!
Steven eagerly hugged his father back before he looked up at Greg and said, looking down in sadness, "Dad, I'm really sorry for scaring you like that; when all of those cats started to form, I tried to shapeshift them away, but they just kept coming and coming and coming and-,"
Before Steven could continue to ramble on, Greg, who let out a small chuckle, told Steven reassuringly, "It's ok, Schtu-ball; I'm just happy that you're alright."
Steven looked up at his dad, smiling as he hugged Greg again, who held Steven close to him, thanking his lucky stars everything tuned out ok and that his son was back to his normal self again.
The next morning, after spending the night in the van with Greg, Steven, who had changed into a new set of clothes, was patiently waiting on the docks for the Crystal Gems to return, kicking his feet along the edge of the water.
On cue, the Gem sloop soon floated up to the dock, with Pearl immediately declaring, "Steven," and climbed out of the boat, telling Steven, "Okay, let me see it."
Pearl looked at Steven's hand and saw that the cat fingers had all disappeared, which surprised Pearl, while also making her feel relieved, as she asked the little boy, "Well, you... you... you got them to go away"?
Steven flashed a toothy smile in response, with Moonstone commenting as she, Amethyst, and Garnet got off the boat and joined Pearl on the dock, "Note: I'm impressed, Steven! And it's just as relieving as it is thrilling to see you are well and back to your standard appearance again."
Pearl let out a relieved sigh before she stated, "It just goes to show: always listen to me and never listen to Amethyst."
Amethyst, not taking any offense, shrugged and replied, "That's fair."
"That is not what the lesson here is, Pearl," Moonstone bluntly pointed out.
"It goes to show - you should have a little more faith in Steven,' Garnet pointed out, with Moonstone nodding in agreement.
Pearl blushed a little bit in embarrassment as Steven then commented, "Yeah, that would've been a total cat-tastrophe."
The pun was very cheesy, but it pried a snicker from Pearl, a dry unimpressed laugh from Amethyst, and a giggle from Moonstone, who said, "Nothing's more comedic than a delicious pun."
Steven then added, "But I'm feeling much better meow"!
This pun sat well with Moonstone, whose giggle grew a little louder, but it didn't sit too well with the other gems, who winced from how "cheesy" it sounded.
Steven noticed it and played along, adding in playfully, "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue"?
Moonstone broke into laughter, clutching her sides for a bit before saying while wiping away a stray happy tear, "These puns are pure gold"!
"Okay, that's enough," Garnet declared as she, Pearl, and Amethyst, who both were unimpressed, started to walk back to the house.
Steven tried to call them back, saying to them, "Wait. I've been coming up with cat jokes all morning; you guys, I'm feline fine! Everything's purr-fect"!
Moonstone broke into loud laughter, dropping to her knees while she laughed as she clutched her ribs, shouting, "Steven, you're killing me"!
"Stop encouraging him," Amethyst shouted, sounding a little annoyed.
Moonstone scowled a bit, standing back up while saying quietly to herself, "Some people just don't appreciate good comedy," as she went to join up with the other gems.
That left Steven alone on the dock, as he still tried to call the gems back, saying, "Oh, come on, guys! I'm just kitten around"!
Steven Universe - Zach Callison
Pearl - Deedee Magno
Garnet - Estella
Amethyst - Michaela Dietz
Moonstone - Anita Kalathara
Greg - Tom Scharpling
Peedee - Atticus Shaffer
Mr. Fryman - Billy Merrit
Ronaldo - Zach Steel
Lars - Matthew Moy
Sadie - Kate Micucci