Crazy trouble with love part 10
All Gems and Steven
Series: Steven Universe
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Steven yawned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he shook off the last dredges of sleep. He let out a yawn and moved to stand up from his bed and stretched out his arms. To his surprise he bumped into something as he stretched, making him open his eyes to see Garnet right next to his bed.
"Morning Steven." she greeted plainly; not flinching or reacting as Steven let out a surprised yelp and jumped backwards onto the bed with wide eyes.
"Gah! Garnet! Don't scare me like that!" He gasped, staring at her in confusion. 'Reminds me of when Pearl used to watch me sleep!'
"Understood." She nodded as he took a moment to pat his chest, giving his heart a moment to calm down before getting back up. "I wanted to wish you a good morning as soon as you got up."
"Well, that was one hell of a wake up." He sighed as he began to move to get dressed. "Is today special or something? You don't usually wake me up like this."
"You could say today is extra special." she smiled while crossing her arms while watching him as he got some clean clothes on.
"Really? Is it a gem holiday or something? I didn't know today was special." Steven remarked, putting on his pink jacket before turning to her with a smile. "So what's going on today?"
"Well, why tell you when I could show you? I think you and I should spend the day together. It's been a while since it was just the two of us." She smiled as Steven began to slowly nod. "We could go to the arcade, hang out on the boardwalk, you've been so busy with homeworld and little homeworld, I think it'll be good to take things easy today."
"Sounds good to me, but let's pass on Meat Beat Mania." he chuckled. "Otherwise I might have to drag you back home, no telling what you'd do to get the all time high score."
"Well, I think it would be fun if you dragged me around." Garnet said, a small smirk on her face.
"Huh?"
"Forget it, ready to go?"
"You bet."
"Good, then lets g-"
"Hey, Steven!" Called a familiar voice before a purple blur slammed into him.
"Wah!" he let out, falling down the stairs and rolling, a pink bubble surrounding him as he bounced from the wall and landed on the floor with Amethyst on his stomach. He let out a groan while the gem just smiled. "Ooh, Amethyst? Might wanna give me a heads up next time you wanna wrestle."
"Nah, that takes half the fun out of it! Hey, you wanna hang out? I got some new junk in my room. I wanna show you!" she quickly asked without moving from her position, the sight of which made Garnet lose her smile.
"He can't, me and Steven are going to the boardwalk together. Alone." She said, her voice growing cold.
"What?" she looked at Steven who gave a brief nod, making her pout. "No fair dude. I wanted us to do stuff today."
"Well suck it up, you were too late." Garnet remarked, not seeing how Steven looked at her in confusion.
"Um, well she could come with us Garne-"
"No." the fusion replied in a clear and blunt tone. "She'd just slow us down."
"Well why spend the day with her when you could spend the day with me in my room? You don't gotta go far and the kitchen is right here, so no spending cash on food. It's perfect." Amethyst argued, glaring at Garnet as she did so. 'This tall fusion bitch trying to steal him from me?!'
"Me and Steven already settled on it, so deal with it." Garnet remarked, grabbing Steven by the arm. "Let's go Steven, we want to make the most of our day."
"Hey, wait!" Amethyst cried out, grabbing his other arm. "We're spending the day hanging out in my room!"
"H-hey, can't we find a compromise?" Steven remarked, shocked to suddenly find himself in the middle of a tug of war between the two gems.
"No/No way!" they both said at once before glaring at the other with their heads butting against each other.
'What is going on?!' Steven thought before hearing the magic door open. He turned to see Pearl entering the room, only to freeze as she saw the sight in front of her.
"Steven!" she smiled, walking over as Garnet and Amethyst didn't notice as the taller gem pulled Steven into a sudden hug.
"Pearl! A little help, Garnet and Amethyst are acting weird!" he said, looking at the two gems in confusion who were glaring at Pearl. 'Why are they so hostile all of a sudden?'
"Oh I'm sure it's nothing. What's more important is how good it is to see you again!" beamed the gem who rubbed his head without breaking the hug. "It's been ages."
"Uh…but, you just saw me a few hours ago." Steven remarked, looking up at her in confusion, and noting how tight her hug seemed. "Um… Pearl, are you feeling alright?"
"Well it felt like forever." she replied before pulling back slightly to look him in the eye. "Why don't I make a big breakfast for you to get your day started? Afterwards we can go out for a little walk along the beach."
"He can't, he's going to the boardwalk with me." Garnet sharply replied before Steven could say anything. "He can get breakfast there."
"We both can have our own breakfast by ourselves." interjected Amethyst while pointing at Pearl. "And YOU can let him go."
Steven couldn't help but stare as the three gems he'd known since birth started to squabble amongst each other over him, as if he was something to be won. 'What is going on?'
"We're spending the day together, and that's that." spoke Garnet who was starting to get angry while Amethyst scoffed.
"You're already spending time together with yourself. Besides, me and Steven can have way more fun together when it's just the two of us."
"Liar! Steven clearly would rather spend time with me! I'm clearly his favorite!" Pearl protested.
"You? Ha! You're the one who watches him like a hawk!" Amethyst threw back.
"Well then what does that make Garnet with her future vision?" Pearl retorted before they turned to the fusion.
"I don't have to answer any of this. I'm team leader so I get to decide what we do, and I decide that Steven will spend the day with me." she growled with Amethyst and Pearl narrowing their eyes.
"Oh yeah?"
"Sounds like an abuse of your position. Perhaps you should consider your next words carefully."
"I have. Steven, we're going, now." Garnet snapped, forming her gauntlets on her hands as she glared at the other two gms, just daring them to try something.
"Oh it's ON!" Amethyst pulled out her whip while Pearl got out her spear. "Last one standing gets to spend time with Steven!"
"Steven? This won't take-what are you doing?" Pearl turned to where Steven was, registering him at the front door with his hand on the handle.
"Clearly something is wrong here, and I need to go and get help before I get affected too!" Steven said, feeling nervous as he suddenly had all three gem's attention on him.
"Wrong? Come on dude, I'm fine." smiled Amethyst before pointing to the other two. "Them? Oh yeah, majorly weird. Which is why we better just go out, grab some donuts, and just hang. Just the two of us I mean."
"No, we should spend time together, if you are worried about becoming sick or something I'd be happy to watch you!" Pearl quickly offered.
Steven started sweating as he looked at their smiles before glancing at the door and raised a hand. "Uh…seeyoulaterbye!" and promptly bolted out the front door in a sprint.
"STEVEN!" he heard the three gems roar before the front door exploded open, the three gems desperately racing after him.
He didn't dare turn around and ran as fast as he could manage, thankful for his recent diet change for the lack of extra weight. He sprinted down the sand while the gems tried tripping each other up. He racked his brain as he tried to think of where to go. He couldn't go to town, the last thing he wanted to do was endanger normal people, so that only left little homeworld, the warp pads and…. The barn!
"Steven get back here!" called Garnet.
"Ignore her! She's nuts!" called Amethyst. "We can hide out in my room!"
"Don't listen to them, they're both crazy Steven! Come with me, we can find a cure together in private!"
Steven tried to run even faster with his eyes closed, not noting his gem glowing pink as everything seemed to slow down. He made it to the road and kept on running; but to the Crystal Gems it looked like Steven suddenly ten times faster and disappeared in no time.
"Damn it! Steven!"
"Where is he?!"
"This is all your fault!"
(Meanwhile)
Steven panted as he spotted the barn, leaning on his knees and amazed at how fast he reached it. He didn't think he had gotten THAT faster, but he wouldn't question it. Besides, he had much bigger problems than a new power. He panted, feeling exhausted as he stumbled into the barn. He plopped down on the floor and looked up at the roof. 'What…What was that? Why did all of them act like that? They couldn't be that desperate just to hang out, could they?'
As he pondered this he sat down near one of the pillars that held up the hay loft, unaware of the figure watching him from above. Said figure's eyes widened before getting a smile on their face. Without a word or noise, they silently climbed over to the pillar and slid down till they were right behind them. They reached out and suddenly hugged him. "Steven!"
"AHH!" he let out, falling forward and landing on his face while registering something on his back. He turned to see a familiar green gem grinning at him. "Oh, Peridot, I'm so glad it's just you!"
"Yeah! Wait, what do you mean by just me?! Am I not good enough or something?" she quickly frowned in indignation as Steven pushed himself back up with Peridot holding on.
"It's not that, I just had a weird start to my day." He quickly said, trying to placate the small green alien. "I'm really glad to see you though, honest!"
That made the gem smile with her cheeks looking darker before she let go and stepped back with her arms crossed and a smug look coming to her face. "Well it is ME after all, who wouldn't?"
"No one, you truly are an amazing gem." Steven chuckled, not noticing how her face seemed to heat up at the compliment.
"W-Well obviously!" she let out with a chuckle, looking away while her face turned darker as Steven stood back up.
"Hey, Peridot? Is there such a thing as gem diseases or virus, or something that would cause a gem to become really clingy?" he asked curiously, making Peridot look at him confused.
"Diseases? Steven, we're gems. The idea of something as miniscule as a teeny tiny organism effecting us is as ridiculous as trying to get a group of Bismuths to NOT try and build a palace."
"But Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, all of them were acting clingy as soon as I got up. That's never happened before." He protested, not connecting the dots that Peridot was almost right up against him. "Could a gem weapon or creation do something like that then? They were really hostile to each other too."
"Nope, can't say anything clicks." Peridot shrugged. "Say, Steven, out of curiosity do you want to see my new invention? It's at the back of the barn!"
"Huh? Oh, uh, sure, what is it?" He asked before a shadow fell over the two gems.
"Steven?"
He and Peridot looked up and saw Lapis float down in front of them with a smile on her face.
"I didn't know you were coming by."
"Yeah, it was kind of last second." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head as Peridot narrowed her eyes. "How are you doing?"
"A lot better now that you're here." She smiled as she landed in front of him.
"Steven? The invention, remember?" Peridot piped up while stepping in between Lapis and the hybrid.
"So Steven, I don't think I ever really told you how grateful I am that you helped me all those years ago, you know?" Lapis smiled, carrying on as if Peridot wasn't there.
"Really? I kinda thought you did." he replied with a smile. "I was just doing what I felt was right."
"No, what you did was amazing, you helped me out when no one else was able to for millenia, you gave me my life back, you gave me a new home, an annoying roommate, you completely changed my life."
"Hey!" Peridot let out while finding herself nudged aside as Lapis walked closer to Steven. "I'm standing right here!"
"That being said, I feel like I truly haven't shown you how grateful I am, for everything you've done, and I was hoping you'd let me do just that."
"Aw shucks, you don't gotta do anything. I mean, as long as you're happy, then I'm happy." blushed Steven while rubbing the back of his head.
"No, really, I insist." Lapis smiled, starting to lean towards him before Peridot jumped up, waving her arms around angrily.
"STOP IGNORING ME!" she snapped, making Steven look bashful and Lapis annoyed.
"Oh, sorry about that, Peridot. Didn't mean to ignore you." Steven chuckled sheepishly as he turned his attention to the smaller gem, much to Lapis' annoyance and frustration.
"Peridot, don't you have to go watch earth animal videos or something?"
"No." she crossed her arms. "I was going to show Steven my newest invention until SOMEBODY interrupted."
"New invention?" Lapis parroted, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Yeah, the one she's keeping at the back of the barn." Steven added, trying to be helpful.
"Funny, I don't remember seeing any new invention." She said icily. "Peridot, what did you invent again? Mind telling me?"
Peridot frowned before looking away. "I actually do. I want only Steven to see it. It's top secret."
"Oh? What's this mysterious invention's name, huh?" Lapis snapped, glaring at the green gem. 'I'm onto you annoying green midget, you are not going to take Steven somewhere isolated and have fun, I WILL!'
"I just said it was top secret!" snapped Peridot.
"So secret that you're storing it in our home and you're about to show Steven? Doesn't seem secretive at all."
"Well it won't be when Steven sees it! Why don't you go take Pumpkin out for a walk? Or water the crops? Or something!" growled Peridot in annoyance.
"No, how about you tell me what it is, or are you lying, huh ya midget?" Lapis snapped, neither gem seeing how Steven's face pale.
'This…. Is way too similar to what happened with the other gems!' he thought, slowly backing up as Peridot glared up at Lapis who loomed over her.
"Admit it, you just want to get him alone with yourself."
"No, I want to show him my latest invention! Why are you so opposed to this, huh? You got something you wanna say?!"
"I do, it's called buzz off so me and Steven can get some privacy!"
"I could say the same to you, ya blue clod!" Peridot snapped in annoyance, neither gem noticing that Steven had already left.
He jogged down the hill, scratching his head. "This is crazy. Lapis and Peridot are acting the same way now? What's going on with everyone?!" He thought, racking his brain. 'I need help, I need someone who knows the gems well… and there's only one other person I know who's spent an extended period of time with them!'
The camera panned all the way and focused on a van beside the town's car wash where Greg was in the middle of cleaning the tires bright and early with a smile.
"Ah, nothing like good old honest hard work." He smiled.
"Hey, daaaad! You here?"
Turning his head, he waved his hand when he saw Steven running over. "Morning Steven, what brings you by so early?"
"Hey dad, quick question, while you were with mom did you ever notice the gems suddenly become clingy and hostile to each other?" Steven quickly asked, looking around nervously. For all he knew the gems were out hunting him down, and he wanted to get to the bottom of this problem before they found him.
"Clingy? Hostile?" Greg looked confused. "That doesn't sound like them. Maybe a bit clingy if they're a bit overprotective, but the only time I've seen them hostile was when they met me."
"Well they're acting weird. First it was Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl who were trying hard to spend the day with me, but then I got back from the barn and apparently Lapis and Peridot are acting the same way."
"Huh….oh. Well, uh…. Good and bad news son." Greg chuckled nervously as he processed the words. "Good news is I think I know what's going on. Bad news is, you may not like the answer."
"Dad please, if there's something wrong messing with them I need to know." replied his son with worry over his friends.
"Well sport, the truth is, you've finally awakened a new power." Greg started dramatically. "One that has been passed down my side of the family, one that is almost a curse…. The old universe charm!"
"...Dad, this is serious!"
"I am serious!" he let out with his son giving him a blank look. "Look, it sounds crazy, but it's true! When I thought I was gonna have to use it on Blue Diamond, I was serious!"
"Which didn't work, remember?" Steven deadpanned.
"Well I didn't get a chance to really use it, but that's not the point. The point is that it's real. When I was younger and just starting out, it happened before I met your mom. I'd get girls after girls flock to me, and it didn't even have to involve the music. It could have been my hair, my sense of humor, my clothes, you name it. It's part of the reason why I stuck with the Universe van."
"Because it wards them off?" Steven asked in disbelief.
"No, because when a gig was over I could use it to drive out of there before I stayed too long. You have no idea how many times I almost had groupies offer themselves up to come along, I even had a few fans who tried to sneak along for the drive!" He sighed, shaking his head dramatically. "Your dad was quite the heartbreaker in his youth."
"...ok dad, this is a serious issue, I need real answers!" Steven groaned.
"Hey I am being serious! Might I remind you I'm the only human in existence who was able to make a gem fall in love with him, hell you even saw it in effect before! Remember the zoo? I literally made an entire tribe of people fall for me at once!"
"Uh…." Steven held a finger up before lowering it as he mulled that over. "I…ok I can't argue on that one…"
"See? It's real! Look, I never told you before because I just kinda hoped your gem heritage would cancel it out, but it seems we got unlucky." He sighed, shaking his head. "I get they aren't bothered by a lot of things like humans, but with how many powers you keep discovering, I wouldn't be surprised if your gem is making it work on them."
"Whoa whoa whoa, ok, you're telling me that my gem is making the gems fall in love with me?" Steven asked, looking at Greg in disbelief. "That's insane!"
"I mean, is it? The gems are kinda weird to begin with, in a good way!" Greg added quickly. "I mean, Garnet has been hypnotized by an arcade machine before, I've seen Amethyst literally eat a rock before, and Pearl once tried to clean garbage, and they are literally magic. Logic doesn't exactly apply to them."
Steven wanted so badly to deny each of those, but his dad was spot on. He grabbed his head and let out a cry and dropped to his knees. "This is crazy! Insane! Why couldn't it have just been a joke?!"
"Well, look on the bright side son. Five girls is pretty tamed compared to me. I'd have at least a dozen girls at once after me, and believe me, they got REAL nuts."
"Yeah, but they weren't gems who could make weapons and fuse into giant women." Steven groaned. At the back of his mind,a treacherous thought arose, what if… what if it was more than just five gems? He'd met literally hundreds over the years, what if they… no, before the thought could form Steven stamped it down, not wanting to imagine that chaotic possibility. "This… this is crazy! Isn't there a way we can test this or something?!"
Greg rubbed his chin and looked up in thought. Giving it a minute, he snapped his fingers and smiled. "I know, let's go pay a visit to Little Homeworld."
"Huh?"
(Later)
"Ok, so it's simple, you just have to go up to her, start a conversation, and if she falls for you, then the old Universe Charm is working." Greg said as he and Steven stared at a certain gem as they hid behind a few crates and barrels.
Steven was hesitant on this, but his rational mind was still firm in thinking this was crazy, but the rest of his mind had to be sure. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he stood up and took a deep breath before walking out and over towards Bismuth who was in the middle of pounding a large construction nail into the side of a new building. 'O-Ok, you can do this. While you know Bismuth, you haven't really talked to her that much, so the odds of her caring that much about me are really, really low, right? Right?'
The large gem kept on hammering the nail as Steven got closer before clearing his throat.
"Uh…h-hey Bismuth."
"Huh?" The large gem turned, smiling as she saw the hybrid approaching her. "Oh, hey Steven, what's up?"
"Oh, nothing really important. Just thought I'd drop by, see how Little Homeworld is, that's all." Steven smiled, trying his best to act natural. 'C'mon, you like Bismuth, and things are finally normal between us, there's now way she would suddenly care THAT much, this while 'Universe Charm' thing is just dad being crazy!'
"Well, if you're not busy, mind giving me a hand?"
"Sure thing. Watcha need help with?"
"Well, I was hoping that you could help me with a bit of a side project I've been working on."
"Sounds pretty fun. What is it? Some kind of new home defense system?"
"Not quite, it's a special item, a piece of armor. Follow me." she turn and walked away with Steven following, Greg praying for his son's safety.
"Oh, armor? Who's it for?" He asked, smiling inside. 'Ok, this is normal, it's Bismuth, she loves making armor, and she's not clinging to me!'
"Well since we've gotten Little Homeworld up, it gave me time to do my own side works." she replied as they entered into her personal forging shop, "One of them involving some pretty strong armor. Took me a bit of time to work on the stuff I'd need for it, but I need you to really get it going. Since you've come a long way, and managed to get The Diamonds of all people to change, I'd say you're not some kid anymore, but a genuine gem warrior. Sure you got plenty of shields, but a nice fresh set of armor is something any tough as rocks gem is gonna need to show they're ready for anything."
"Oh, um…. Thanks, I guess." Steven said, rubbing the back of his head. "I appreciate it, but I don't really know when I'd wear any armor again, we're kind of at peace now."
"Ain't no reason we can't make it to make sure it fits." she answered as they entered the back part before turning to him with a smile. "I can take care of molding the stuff, but I need you for a major part. I'm gonna need your measurements down."
"Oh, well, I'm a size 2xl and-"
"Nope, not quite Sterven, I'm gonna need exact measurements." she gave a wide grin. "These need to be precise and down to the exact mark."
"Meaning?"
"You're gonna need to get naked so I can get started." She grinned, picking up a measuring tape as Steven's face turned bright red.
"W-What?! No!" He said, shaking his head quickly. "T-That's not necessary!"
"Of course it is. Those clothes are just gonna get in the way." Bismuth shrugged. "You need to strip so I can get precise measurements, you don't wear anything under armor after all."
"B-But what about you?!"
"Well I mostly just shift them around so they don't get in the way when I'm working, but that's mostly it." She shrugged. "Just trust me, this is the best way, now strip! Do you need me to strip the clothes off myself?"
"I-I think we should talk about this later!" he started backing up. "I, uh, gotta take care of something big."
"No, we should do this no- hey! Why are you running? Why are you running?!" She shouted as Steven turned and began to run away. "Steven!"
He didn't bother turning or stopping, just ran out of the forge with wide eyes "He was right! He was right! There really IS a charm!"
"Get back here, damn it!"
"No!" Steven cried out, looking around wildly. 'Need to hide, somewhere the gems can't find me!'
Greg spotted his son rush past him with Bismuth stepping out of her forge looking annoyed. "Go Steven! Don't stop!"
"No, do stop, stop right now, strip and get back into this forge damn it!" Bismuth cried out as Steven made it out of Little Homeworld, looking around wildly until his eyes landed on the nearby forest.
"Yes!" he perked up and booked it inside, dodging bramble and bushes while making sure to take a few random twists and turns. 'Ok, I just need to find somewhere I can hide at and lay low until the gems aren't acting crazy about me anymore!'
He kept on running deeper and deeper into the forest, panting and working up a sweat, but not daring to slow down. 'Ok, so I'm in the woods… with no supplies…or shelter… with gems who will hound me the second I leave the forest… maybe this wasn't my best plan.'
He started to slow down, leaning against a tree to try and catch his breath. As he looked around, he noticed that the forest around him was oddly quiet. There were no birds, no rustling of creatures in the trees, just the sound of the wind. Heck, there actually seemed to be fewer trees around with some holes in the ground. It was then he noticed that the grass seemed to be dying, or rather missing, as if someone was in the process of destroying it piece by piece.
'Ok, this is kind of weird.' he walked closer to the areas, looking around while noting the area ahead was more bare of any grass with what looked like numerous shattered rocks laying around. As he kept walking it got worse and worse, until he found himself in a massive circle of bare, dead earth. "What could have caused all this?"
"YOU!" A sudden voice shouted from behind him, making him quickly turn to see Jasper glaring at him. "What do you think you're doing here?!"
"Gah! Oh, it's just you…. Wait, have you been living out here?" Steven asked, looking around the barren earth in confusion.
"No, I'm not living here, I am reclaiming this planet piece by piece for the great diamond authority!" she huffed with a frown at him, hands clenched at her sides.
Steven looked confused with his hands held up in front of him. "Uh, but why? Didn't you hear? Things on Homeworld have changed, the Diamonds aren't-"
"I don't care!" she spat back, "Just because you said some fancy words to everyone to try and make them think things have changed, doesn't mean they have to me."
"Ok…. but that won't change what hap-" Steven started before pausing. 'Wait… Jasper hates me…. No one knows she's here….. Maybe I could hide here with her?'
Said gem narrowed her eyes at him, making him feel uneasy before huffing and walked past him.
"Soooo, uh, nice place you've got here." Steven said, following her as she made her way towards a small cave. "Very cozy."
"I can manage something like this, unlike the rest of those Gems living in that joke of a colony." she remarked, not turning to face him.
"Colony? Do you mean Little Homeworld?" Steven asked curiously before she suddenly stopped, not turning to face him.
"What do you want?" she glanced at him over her shoulder, "What are you doing out here in the first place?"
"I was just…out for a walk." he tried to smile, "Figured today was a good day to stretch my legs out and get some fresh air."
"Well, you got it, now go." She growled, making Steven wince, and yet he felt a bit of joy. She wanted him to leave! She didn't want him to stay, she wasn't clinging to him, for once a gem was actually acting normal!
"C-Can't I just stay for a bit?" he requested, "I mean, with how things are, I'd love to learn more about what you've been up to." He said quickly, making her narrow her eyes. "You uh…. You could tell me how wrong I am about everything I've done while I'm here too?"
Jasper kept her look on him before letting out an annoyed huff before crossing her arms and turned to him. "If you must know, I've been keeping myself in shape, unlike all those other gems who decided to be lazy and get soft. I didn't want anything to do with that 'Little Homeworld', so I decided to find the most secluded spot I could find and got to work."
"So you were the one who got rid of all the grass?" Steven asked curiously, looking around.
"Yes! I have to prove my superiority, and thus the diamond's superiority to the feeble inhabitants of this planet!" she stamped her foot, causing cracks to form. "Getting rid of all that 'grass' stuff was the first part, the next is making sure my skills don't fall apart, that's why every day I train and train and train until I run out of rocks to crush."
"I see…." Steven said, trying his best not to sound like he was judging her. 'Ok, I guess she hasn't changed at all since I last saw her.'
"I don't care if it takes me a millenia, but I WILL make sure my goal is completed."
"Uh-huh…. Well, I hope you uh…. Succeed one day." Steven said, feeling awkward.
Jasper stared at him, not looking like she was gonna go any further. Giving him a once over, a thought came to mind, "How often do you train?"
"Uh…. not that often anymore. I mean I try to train at least once a week, but these last few months things got really busy with homeworld bureaucracy, getting little homeworld up and running, it just took most of my time before I knew it."
"Well then, why don't we see if you still have it in you?" She asked, reaching out and grabbing the back of his shirt and began to pull him towards the middle of the empty field.
"Wait, now?!"
"There's no reason to wait." She remarked before lightly tossing him in front of her. "Now you better be up to snuff or I'll send you crying all the way back to those traitors!"
Steven stumbled before regaining his footing before seeing Jasper crack her knuckles. He gulped as he looked at her and quickly thought it over. On one hand, he really didn't want to fight her, but on the other hand, he didn't want to be kicked out of the one safe place he'd found all day.
"So what's it gonna be? Fight like a gem warrior, or run away like a coward?" Jasper demanded.
"I…. guess I have to fight." He groaned. 'Could be worse, at least I'm not running away from her.'
"Don't expect me to go easy on you like those Crystal Gems." She smirked. 'Finally, a chance to show this wimp what a real gem is!'
Steven took a ready stance as Jasper bent her legs and lunged; the hybrid covered his fists in pink bubbles before bringing them close as she swung. The impact sent him flying backwards through the air before he landed on the ground at the last second. Steven grunted as he glared up at her before rushing forward, his fists held close to him like a boxer before taking a swing at her once he got close.
Jasper smirked and leaned back to avoid the swing, dodging the next one without missing a beat before her foot came out and went towards his gut.
His eyes widened before closing as he was enveloped in a pink bubble that took the impact and went flying straight up into the air. "Take this!" he curled up in it and started to spin, the bubble doing the same as it came flying down to the ground thanks to gravity where Jasper stood.
Jasper's eyes widened as she held out her arms to block the bubble, and for a moment it worked, but soon she found herself thrown back through the spinning force, making her smash through a tree.
Steven landed as his shield dispersed and smirked at the dust cloud….until he saw a glowing orange shape come rolling out at him, crashing against his body and making him fly back, leading to him crashing into a rock.
"Haha, yes! Oh diamond this feels good! I haven't gotten into a good fight since you tricked the other diamonds into being peaceful!" laughed Jasper who looked pumped up as she saw Steven rub his head and get back on his feet. "Guess you're not as soft as I thought, good!"
"No, I'm not, and you're still as strong as ever." He groaned, getting back into a stance, only to widen his eyes as she began to roll forward again, only for the orange sphere to jump over him, and suddenly he felt it impact into his back. He fell on his face with a grunt and felt a foot pinning him down.
"Come on! Is that all?" she mocked with a smirk. "If you're gonna be done this fast, then maybe I expected too much."
Steven groaned and clenched his fists before forming his bubble, pushing her foot off before dispersing it. In a quick flash he jumped up to meet her face and brought out his shield before slamming it against her cheek and followed up with a swing from his leg meeting under her cheek. To her credit the orange gem only stumbled back a few feet before leaning back, a massive grin on her face before she lunged towards him, catching him off guard by her speedy recovery from the attack.
Steven wound up bouncing across the ground before narrowingly using his bubble to soften the landing. Seeing Jasper coming at him he bent his legs and went up into the air right as she brought her crash shield out, smashing the spot he was just at. "Ah c'mon, stop running away from every little attack!" She laughed as she looked at him, a wild glint in her eyes.
"No thanks, I wanna keep my bones together!" he called before seeing her run and grab a tree, uprooting it before looking up. "Oh no."
"Oh yes!" She laughed before slamming the tree down on him, and doing so again and again until the tree was splintering in her grasp. She then threw it away and ran forward, seeing a round indent in the earth and the shimmering of a pink shield barely poking out. She leaped into the hole, laughing as she collided with Steven who had been attempting to pull himself out of the hole.
Said hybrid groaned from the impact as his shield kept getting pounded on by the soldier who was wailing on it again and again without giving him a sec to retaliate.
"I-I give up!" He called as she kept wailing. "You win!"
Jasper's strikes began to slow down before she stood up and smirked as she gave Steven a chance to sit up with his shield vanishing. "What'd I tell you?"
"I… suppose that was kind of fun." He admitted before Jasper grinned and began to lean over him, resting her arms on the hole wall above him.
"I haven't had a rush that good since the war…" She panted, an almost hungry look in her eye as she stared down at him.
"Um, glad to hear…" he tried to look away while getting a sinking feeling in his gut. "So, uh, it was nice to see you, but I better get going."
"Huh? Now why would you do something stupid like that? Didn't you say you wanted to stay here?"
"Well I meant just for a bit, that's all." He remarked, getting a bad feeling. 'No…. no no no no no, this isn't happening!'
"Well I'd say you can stick around a 'bit' longer." She chuckled, leaning closer to him. "In fact, how about a lot longer as well? Clearly you like it here better than with those wimp gems, am I right?"
Steven's eyes darted left and right before going wide eyed. "Oh my gosh! The Diamonds!"
"Huh? The diamonds?" Jasper asked, tilting her head in confusion. She turned her head around, giving Steven the chance to climb up from the hole and take off in the opposite direction. "Where are they?"
"Behind that big tree!"
"Huh? That's too sma- HEY!" she turned and saw him already heading through the trees. "GET BACK HERE!"
"No! You've gone crazy like everyone else!" He called, continuing to run. "What do I do, what do I do?!'
Jasper threw her head back and let out a loud roar of anger that reverberated through the forest before she took off running after him. Meanwhile Steven was panicking, he was out of options, where could he go? He couldn't go home, couldn't go to Little Homeworld, couldn't….wait, that might just be it! If he couldn't go anywhere on earth, he could just leave! All he had to do was get to a warp pad, and he could leave earth and just hide on homeworld until the 'Universe charm' wore off!
"Maybe I can find one…somewhere…out here!" he panted, urging his body to keep moving and NOT look behind him. There were plenty of Warp pads on earth, and plenty more had been built since little homeworld had been built!
"STEVEN!"
'PLEASE LET THERE BE ONE NEARBY!' he looked around frantically while hearing Jasper tear down trees behind him.
"STEVEN!" He heard her roar once more before an unnatural glint behind a pair of shrubs caught his eye and filled him with hope, as he raced towards it, hoping it wasn't just a piece of garbage. "YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER!"
"I can try!" He shot back, bursting through the bushes and practically yelled with glee as he felt the smooth, hard surface of a warp pad beneath his feet. He threw his hands up with a happy cheer right as Jasper broke through the bushes.
"Steve-NO! Don't you dare!" She cried out, recognizing what the hybrid was standing upon, and could only groan as he turned into light and shot away. "Damn it!"
Going all the way from Earth, the camera zoomed through space before landing on Homeworld itself, where several warp pads were stationed at. Steven stumbled off it after he materialized, panting as he glanced behind, waiting for the worst case scenario of another flash of light that would signal Jasper's arrival, but to his relief nothing happened.
"Phew, made it." he patted his chest and smiled. "I thought she almost had me there."
"Who had you where?" A voice from the left of him asked, making him flinch and turn to see a familiar ruby staring at him curiously.
"Uh…nobody?" He remarked carefully. "Uh, Hi Eyeball, what are you doing here?"
"We're monitoring the warp pads." She remarked as he blinked.
"We?" he tilted his head before suddenly finding himself surrounded by several other rubies. "Oh, those 'we'."
"Hold it right there!" cried Doc with a raised finger aimed at him. "State your name and purpose!"
"Oh hey Doc." he greeted casually.
"Doc?" she narrowed her eyes. "There's been only one person to call me that, but you're not them."
"It's me, Steven."
The ruby crossed her arms. "Nice try, but the 'Steven' we met was shorter than you."
"Nope, I'm the same person, I'm half human, unlike gems I grow and change over time."
"You can grow?" Leggy tilted her head in thought. "How does that work?"
"It's…complicated." he rubbed the back of his head as Doc looked at him closer, walking around him with scrunched eyes. "Uh…oh! When you were on Earth, I tricked you into playing baseball, remember?"
"Wait, how do you know that top secret information?!"
"My word! He is Steven!" Navy spoke in a surprised gasp with Eyeball looking away with her lone eye.
"Wonderful." she huffed as Doc's eyes widened.
"I can't believe it!" she let out. "You ARE the same!"
"Yep, just normal, plain, boring old Steven." He sighed, shaking his head. 'Finally, some peace! No one really knows me here, they aren't familiar with the idea of 'romance', the Universe charm should have no effect over them!'
"We're so sorry!" Doc cried out, suddenly bowing her head down to the ground with the others following, albeit with Leggy slower due to briefly forgetting why.
"Huh? What, no, no, it's fine, what are you apologizing for?" He asked, looking at them in confusion.
"For causing you grief! It was nothing personal we swear! We were just following orders!"
"Wha- of course! You were just following orders, it's fine! You didn't even do anything that serious!" He said quickly, shaking his head. He saw them keep bowing and looked around the area. "So…what are you guys doing here?"
"We were given the important task of keeping watch over the warp pads. It's our job to make sure no one invades or tries to trespass on Homeworld!" Doc let out in a professional tone without lifting her head.
"Ok, but you do know no one is making you do that anymore, right? The gem empire-"
"We know sir, but once the empire dissolved we volunteered to keep working!"
"It's our goal!" spoke Army.
Steven scratched his cheek. "Uh, well you don't have to keep bowing your heads. Kinda makes talking a bit awkward."
"Oh, right, yes sir, sorry sir! Er, sorry my diamond! I didn't know you were THAT Steven!" Army added as she looked up and recognized the face.
Steven saw them standing at attention, albeit with Leggy's eyes drifting elsewhere in wonder. "You don't have to call me that. I'm just Steven, I'm not a diamond."
"But you have a diamond in you? Doesn't that make you one?" Eyeball asked in confusion.
"Well… technically, yes, but I'm not A diamond, like one of the former rulers! Besides, the ZIrcons are setting up elections, remember?"
"Oh absolutely your clarity." smiled Navy with a smile. "They've been hard at work for a long time."
"See? You don't need to call me a diamond or treat me like one."
"I don't get it." remarked Army bluntly.
"Me neither." replied Leggy with a finger to her chin.
"Just… don't follow any orders I give, alright?" Steven sighed, shaking his head.
"Aye aye my diamond!" Army nodded.
Steven just sighed as he shook his head. "Close enough I guess. Well, it was nice seeing all of you." He remarked as he began to walk away. 'Should I hide at the palace? No, the gems might find me there…'
The rubies watched him go before Doc walked after, the others following behind her.
As Steven considered his options he began to realize he could hear more than just his own footsteps as he was walking. He paused and looked behind, seeing the Rubies bumping into each other as they tried to stop themselves from bumping into him. "Is something wrong?"
"Nope, nothing at all Steven." Doc responded with the others nodding along. "I just thought you could use an escort is all."
"An escort?"
"Yes sir." she saluted, "We'd be more than happy to provide protection as long as need be!"
"Um, thanks for the offer, but I should be fine." He remarked as Doc nodded, frowning.
"I suppose… Steven, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Not at all, ask away." He smiled as she nodded.
"Thank you. What's it like to fuse with gems that are a different breed than you? For example, what is it like to fuse with someone who isn't a Ruby?"
Steven was caught off guard, but held his chin as he looked up in thought. "Well…honestly it's a bit odd if you don't know what to expect, but you get use to it pretty quick. It's like trying to work together with someone, in a way both of us can do what we choose, without trying to force things. It's hard to put into words, but it's an experience I can say has been an eye opener."
"So it's a nice feeling? A good one? One you'd want to experience?" She asked, the other rubies leaning forward, clearly the same question on their mind as well.
"Well it's something I'd suggest other gems give it a try, but only if they feel comfortable with."
"So you've fused with others, but what about a Ruby?"
"Well, technically I did fuse with Garnet who is composed of Ruby and Sapphire, but just Ruby? Nope."
"Would you like to?" She asked, making Steven freeze.
"Yeah, wanna fuse with me too?" Army spoke up, causing the others to pipe up as well.
"I'd love to fuse!" smiled Navy.
"W-wait wait wait!" Steven cried out, holding up his hands. "F-Fusing is complicated a-and very personal to do!" He protested with a blush.
All of the rubies deflated hearing that.
"So… you won't fuse with one of us? Are we not good enough?" Doc asked, disappointment clear in her voice. "If that's the case how about all of us at once? Five for the price of one!"
"Yeah!" all of them cheered out together.
"I-I uh…." Steven started, paling as a thought came to him. Coming to Homeworld hadn't stopped the universe charm. At all. And now he was on a planet populated purely by gems. "Gottagobye!" before turning and bolted in a random direction.
"After him! He said not to listen to him, so I say we fuse with him! Whose with me?!" Doc declared as the other rubies cheered. All of them ran after Steven in single file line.