Whew. Glad to have this done. Sorry for the long wait, but due a mixture work and slight case of depression, I couldn't find the time to complete this. But luckily, it's done now. Also, I just noticed that it's been at least one year since I began this story. How time flies
So this chapter will be an completely original story rather a episode, which was part of the reason it took so long. Tried to capture the main themes and style of the show as best I could with this. Hopefully it feels like a real episode would.
Hope you enjoy the chapter and please feel free to leave a review. Thanks.
If there was ever a time to lose hope, to give into despair, to accept the crushing weight of the inevitable, it was now. That was the fate of anyone who dared to stand against the unbeatable putting goliath that was, Mr G; a mutant of golf experimentation, created by the diabolical PARSOL corporation. He was a hulking figure, at least feet tall, lined with muscle and completely bald, his skin had been transformed into the skin a golf ball, making him virtually invincible. His weapon of choice was two club-like 9-irons in each hand, attached to chains wrapped around his arms. Only a fool would dare face him.
But luckily, champion golf quester Ace Sunkin was one such fool. He had never given up a battle, no matter how many strokes under par he was. Down to his final ball and the last ounce of energy in his power bar, he prepared to gamble all his hopes into one more swing. Charging up his ultimate attack, his stance ready, he timed his shot for the right moment and swung hard, launching a voltaic golf ball of energy right at Mr G.
The ball exploded on impact. Letting out a mighty bellow, Mr G. dropped to his knees, his tough shell cracking open and with one final death rattle, he crumbled to pieces.
"Yay" Steven said, with half-hearted enthusiasm. He let out tiny sigh as the TV screen now change to applaud him for his victory at defeating the extra super-secret final boss of Golf Quest Mini II for what might have been the third time in a row. Who would have thought playing video games all day would get so dull after a while?
The screen changed again as the mastermind of the PARASOL corporation, Agent D. Ivot appeared. He was mysterious man with a shrouded past of mystery, dressed in a black trench coat, dark sunglasses, an emotionless scowl across his face; no other man had ever looked so evil and intimidating in golf pants.
"This isn't over, Ace" Steven read out, adopting a more sinister voice as Agent D. Ivot taunted the heroes on their victory. "You may have won today, but you will never stop my plans to transform this world into the ultimate golf ball!"
"I will stop you" Ace shot back at his arch enemy. "I'll show you that golf isn't meant to be used for evil! I'll alter your perspective!"
Steven sighed again, leaning up against his bed frame, as the credits began to roll. "Part of me kinda wishes that Agent D. Ivot will see the error of his ways someday. But then again, maybe that's being too optimistic?"
Sitting alone in his loft bedroom, Steven began to wonder how the others were doing. Jasper and Lapis were currently out on patrol, searching for the strange black cubes that had come to the Earth a few days ago. There had been no sign of the two Gems, Pearl and Amethyst, since they had disappeared, but the atmosphere around the house was no less tense. The Crystal Gems appeared to be on edge, more so than usual. It was just like what happened after Garnet, only now they seemed to be ten times as worried as they were previously. And as usual, Steven couldn't help but feel like he was being kept out of the loop. He wanted to ask them what was wrong, but he felt like he might be pushing it. Now wasn't the right time for questions.
While Jasper and Lapis were gone, Peridot, meanwhile, had been cooped inside her room in the Temple for days, working none stop to analyse the cubes, trying to figure out just exactly how they worked and maybe find a way to stop them. Steven couldn't tell if she naturally curious or competitively challenged. Probably both
Steven cast a sad glance to the second controller next to his bed, a sense of loneliness beginning to creep over him. He used to play all kinds of video games with Peridot. But she had so busy lately that Steven barely saw her anymore.
There was heavy boom that came from inside the Temple, which was strong enough to rattle the interior of house a little. Steven paused, waiting to see if the house would remain stable before returning to Golf Quest Mini, getting ready to re-play the whole thing yet again. But before he had the chance to continue, the Warp Pad chimed loudly and a second later, Jasper and Lapis were standing in the middle of it. Lapis was holding up a tall stack of black cubes in her hands, while Jasper had three more tucked under her arm.
Steven instantly sprang to his feet and quickly descended down from his loft to greet the two of them, feeling like he had not seen them in a lifetime.
"Hey guys, you're back!" he said ecstatically, rushing to hug Lapis, who quickly lifted one of her already occupied hands, motioning for him to stop.
"Hi, Steven" Lapis said, struggling to keep a hold of the stack of cubes as it began to wobble. "Is, ah, Peridot around?"
"I think she's still in the Temple" he answered. "You found some more of the cube robot things?"
"Has Peridot made any updates on her analysis of the others we brought?" Jasper asked, blunt and to the point as always.
"Um…" Steven began. As if on cue, there was another explosion, which rattled the interior of the house once again. Jasper and Lapis briefly cast a curious glance to the Temple door.
"There's only been about three explosions today" Steven continued with a straight face. "I think that's a good sign"
"Do think it's a good idea to let Peridot work on these things" Lapis asked Jasper, gesturing to the cubes in her arms with some trepidation. "It's getting a little dangerous"
Jasper let out a sarcastic, almost incredulously scoff of laugher. "You try telling her to stop".
At that moment, the Temple door opened. Peridot, looking extremely disgruntled and bleak, her face partially covered in black soot, walked out from the Temple, a cluster of robonoids scurrying behind after her.
"Hey, Peridot!" Steven greeted, happy to see her again, in what he was going to assume was a state of relatively good health
Peridot just barely seemed to acknowledge Steven. Her then eyes fell upon the black cubes that Lapis and Jasper had retrieved, before she glanced up to Jasper with an irritated scowl.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" she said. "You need to bring them back to me undamaged. It difficult to study them when they aren't intact"
"Well it's a hard for us to catch them" Lapis replied, a little defensive setting the stack of cubes down on the floor before it could tumble. "Every time we find one, it tries to warp away. We have to break them to make sure they don't get away"
"And we're not taking these things back to the Temple if they're still working" Jasper added forcefully. "We don't know what they are or what they can do. Too much of a security risk." Jasper leaned back and gave Peridot a somewhat smug grin. "Besides, you sure you can even handle a live one?"
Peridot scowled angrily at Jasper, but then her face dropped into an expression of pure weariness, as if losing the will to argue back, a gesture that surprised even Jasper herself.
"Fine, fine" she said, closing her eyes and rubbing her left temple. "Just give them to me and I'll see what I can do". At her command the robonoids began to load the damaged cubes onto their backs and carry them into the Temple.
"Have you figured out new stuff about them?" Steven asked hopefully, handing Peridot the broken cube in his hands.
"Yes, I've learned the safest minimal distance to stand back when they explode" Peridot said. "Fifty-four and a half yards"
"Well, that's progress, I guess" Steven said with an optimistic smile. He then remembered something else that he wanted to ask. "Oh, hey, Peridot, I unlocked the secret bonus level in Golf Quest Mini II the other day. Do you want to play for a little…?"
But Peridot was already through the Temple door and out of sight, leaving Steven to wonder if she had even heard him. He stood in front of the now closed Temple door with a look of disappointment
"Alright, time for another patrol" Jasper said, stretching her arms up over her head, preparing herself for yet another excursion.
"You're leaving again so soon?" Steven said, looking even more despondent than before. Lapis appeared to share Steven's surprise, though she looked to be far more angered than saddened by Jasper's suggestion.
"We only just got back" she said, testily.
"Until we catch or destroy all those cubes, we need to stay on high alert" Jasper said, crossing her arms unapologetic, refusing to budge. However, her tough exterior began to falter slightly when she noticed the very angry glare Lapis was giving her.
"We'll go one more patrol and then we take a break for a few days." Jasper added quickly, compromising as best she could, which seemed to be enough to appease Lapis, who, after a moment, nodded in agreement.
"Can I come this time?" Steven asked hopefully, looking at Jasper with a wide eye expression.
"No" Jasper replied, painfully curt, without so much as taking the moment to acknowledge Steven's face of disappointment.
"But maybe I could-" he began.
"No" Jasper repeated. She then let out a small grunt as she felt Lapis sharply elbow in her the side, while throwing her another disapproving glare. Looking slightly embarrassed, Jasper cleared her throat and addressed Steven properly.
"What I mean," she said, in a more respectful and considerate tone as she could manage. "Is that it's better if you stay here with Peridot, in case she needs any help"
"How am I supposed to help Peridot?" Steven asked, at loss as to what he could be doing. "She spends all day the Temple. I barely even get to see her anymore. And when I try talking to her, she just seems like she's too busy". Steven hung his head down low, looking depressed.
"Peridot's just been working really hard trying to analysis the cubes, Steven" Lapis said gently, placing her hand on Steven's shoulder to console him. "You know how dedicated she gets to something once she starts. Remember that time she tried counting all the grains of the sand on the beach?"
"That was one long weekend" Steven said with absent reminiscence. "But all this evil robot cube stuff is important isn't it? Maybe I could try and help her figure out how they work?"
There was another explosion which promptly answered Steven's question.
"Then again, maybe not". Steven frowned and slumped his shoulders down, back to square one again. "I don't want to just sit out here all day. I feel like I should be doing something to contribute. I wish there something I could do to help Peridot"
"Steven," Lapis began, kneeling down in to his level to look him in the eye. "Sometimes the best way you can help someone is by just letting them know that you're there. That's how it was with your mother."
Lapis smiled softly, giving a brief glanced over her shoulder to the portrait of Rose that was hanging up above the door frame.
"I always felt safe when Rose was nearby, because I knew she was there if I needed her. Her presence was always a source of comfort for me."
From behind Lapis, Jasper rolled her eyes and turned head away, crossing her arms grumpily, looking more surly than usual as she muttered something undistinguishable under her breath, but Steven paid her no real notice, as he continued listening to Lapis.
"Knowing that your mother was for me to talk to whenever things were getting too much for…um." Lapis abruptly paused, before quickly recovering with a nervous smile. "I mean, whenever I was feeling a little down. She always made me feel better. She didn't really have to do anything. She just…smiled". Lapis closed her eyes for a moment as though she was recalling yet another fond memory, before opening them again to look at Steven.
"You don't have to do anything Steven. Trust me. When Peridot really needs your help, you'll know. And you'll know what to do"
"So, I have to help Peridot by….not doing anything?" Steven said. He thought saying it aloud would make more sense. It didn't.
Jasper groaned heavily, rubbing her eyes, looking as though she much rather be out on patrol or perhaps at least having something nearby that she could punch. Instead she walked off the Warp Pad and stood over Steven, who craned his neck to look up at her.
"Look, I know this might not seem important, but you need to be here, in case anything happens" she said, resolute and firm. "Right now, you are only one Peridot can rely on. When she really needs help, you'll be there, and you'll know what to do. Understand?"
Steven was about to answer when another explosion rocked the house. On the other side of the room, small section of the roof suddenly collapsed and fell to the floor. Jasper stared blankly at the pile of wood and then back to Steven.
"Or, at least make sure she doesn't bring the Temple down while we're gone" Jasper said, sounding as though that was the best they could hope for.
"So then, Lapis said that by just being here I could make Peridot feel better" Steven said into his cell phone, as he paced up and down his living room. "I wonder if she feels better now? I can't really be sure. Do you think I need to be the same room as her? Maybe it's like a magnet kind effect dealy"
Concentrating hard, Steven slowly raised his right leg in the air, pointing it toward the Temple, as though that might have actually done something.
Connie, who was on the other end of the phone, sitting crossed legged on her bed in her own home, could already imagine Steven trying to test out his theory and decided it was best to stop him before he did something to hurt himself.
"I think maybe what Lapis meant was that Peridot is happier just knowing that she has you to keep her company if she needs it" Connie said, choosing her own words carefully as she could to help Steven better understand. "You know, like if she wanted to talk to you or hang out"
"But I'm not doing anything" Steven complained. "I'm just standing here. It feels like I should be doing something, but I don't know what it is"
Steven sighed. He then looked up to the portrait of his mother. He never noticed before, but it almost gave the impression she was looking down at him.
"Lapis said my mom could make her feel better by just being around" he continued, now beginning to feel like a disappointment. "So, what I am supposed to do?"
"How about doing something for Peridot" Connie suggested. "Why don't you try doing something to cheer her up after all the hard work she's been doing? Sometimes, my when Dad comes in from a late shift, I have his favourite blend of coffee already for him when he walks through the door. He says he wouldn't know how to get through his day without knowing I'd be home waiting for him."
"Hmm, don't think Peridot is a coffee fan" Steven said pensively, walking up to the kitchen counter, looking for inspiration. "Maybe I could make her a cake instead? But then again, she doesn't really like sweets either. Or any food really"
"Okay, so food is out" Connie said, a little exasperated but no less patient. "What does Peridot like to do?
Steven craned his neck to look at the ceiling, counting off with his fingers. "Let's see. Watching Camp Pining Hearts, building stuff, getting into fights with Jasper, saying the word clod"
"Anything a little more convenient? Maybe something she can use?"
Racking his brain trying to think, Steven glanced around the house until finally his eyes settled up onto his loft, remembering the many hours he had been spending up there playing his gaming console. A wide grin soon broke across Steven's face
"I got it!" he said, triumphantly. "Video games! She likes to play video games. She and I play together all the time! I'll go out and get her a new game!"
"That's a great idea, Steven" Connie said, sounding both happy and proud at his progress. "Excellent detective work!"
"Elementary, my dear Connie" Steven said, adopting a posh, fancy accent. "Now, what game could I get her?"
"Does she have a particular genre?"
Steven paused again to consider this. "Well, she really loves the Golf Quest Mini series, even more than I do. She has all the combinations memorised and she beat the whole game in record time"
Steven smiled fondly, as he remembered the many hours they had spent together on the console, but soon frowned once again. "But I don't think she's interested right now. We played that game so many times by now, she probably would be bored with it by now"
"You know what I bet she would love?" Connie said, now sounding excited. "The newest game. Golf Quest Mini Kingdom!"
"There's a new one!" Steven said, with a stunned gasp.
"Yeah, it's just come out a few weeks ago. It's got new characters, new gameplay, better graphics and memory. And it's exclusive on the latest gaming console, the Wuu!
"The Wuu….who?" Steven said, confused.
"Didn't you hear about?" Connie said, sounding a bit surprised. "It came out last month. It's a brand-new gaming console where the player controls the game using motion-controlled joy sticks. You just moved your arms in the air, and the Wuu tracks your movements on the screen. It's almost like being outside and playing a real-life game of golf in your very own home."
"Peridot would love that!" Steven cried, practically bounding up and down with immense joy. "Thanks so much for your help Connie". Steven put a confident smirk, punching his fist in the air. "Now if you'll excuse me, I got to go and borrow money from my Dad!"
After tracking down and carefully bartering (well, actually just polite asking) his millionaire/car wash entrepreneur father Greg Universe for a small loan, Steven soon purchased a brand new Wuu console, as well as the latest Golf Quest Mini Kingdom game that Connie had mentioned. Both items in hand, Steven hurriedly climbed up the front steps of the Beach House and approached the door with a giddy smile.
He couldn't wait to see the look on Peridot's face when he showed her the new game. He could already picture how happy it would make her. And while he wasn't one to brag, he felt immensely proud of himself for figuring such an ingenious way of helping Peridot. Now he just had to wait until she came out of the Temple.
As he opened the front door, Steven saw, to both his surprise and relief, that Peridot was now in the living room, sitting on the edge of the couch, hunched over in front of the coffee table, several flask robonoids gathered around her. One of the black cubes was sitting in the table, its exterior layer pried open to reveal a series of complex circuity on the inside. And for some reason, the Wailing Stone was there as well, standing up next to the table.
"Hey Peridot" Steven greeted, being sure to keep the Wuu hidden behind his back as he approached. "Guess what?"
"Shh!" Peridot said, without looking up, beckoning for him to be silent. "Steven, I need to concentrate. This is delicate work".
Peridot carefully inserted the green cable into the robonoid which fit perfectly. She then placed the other end of the cable into the cube, but soon found that it wouldn't fit. After prodding it gently a few times, she managed to insert it with a good, hard smack.
"Okay, Test #176 is now under way" Peridot whispered to herself, pulling away from the table. "Preparing to interface flask robonoid with unknown portable warp cube technology. Despite my previous setbacks, I'm quite confident this test will yield results" she said, not giving away a shred of doubt.
"What are you doing with the Wailing Stone?" Steven asked, eyeing the Gem artefact they had recovered on a previous mission.
Peridot heaved a loud grunt as she pulled the stone totem closer to the table. "Based on my analysis, I have reason to believe that these cubes must operate using some kind of data transferring system" she explained, while double checking the cable connecting the cube to the robonoid. "I'm attempting to see if I can somehow interface into system this with my robonoids and then decipher the encrypted data using the Wailing Stone. It should work despite it being rather…antiquated Gem technology." She added, throwing the artefact a rather judgemental glance.
Steven nodded his head patiently, probably only understanding about half of what she was saying. A more concerning thought then crossed his mind. "Um, that's not going to blow up is it?" he asked, pointing at the cube.
"There's an acceptable level of minimal risk of that happening" Peridot said, unconcerned. She paused briefly and glanced at Steven. "But you might want to move back a little"
With all the preparations made, Peridot activated her finger-screen on one hand and inputted some data. The robonoid on the table sprang to life as it began to whirl loudly, a stream of green energy passing along from the cable, into the black cube.
Peridot's finger-screen changed to display a distorted wall of pure static. Clearly expecting this, Peridot then pressed down the button on top of the Wailing Stone, which began to hum loudly. As the tones of the Wailing Stone began to harmonise, the static image on the finger-screen slowly began to dissipate, as a garbled sequence of symbols began to come into picture. Peridot smiled in excitement, seconds away from finally unlocking the secrets of the mysterious warp cube that had continuously eluded her.
However, a sudden beeping noise started coming out of the cube and without warning it released a burst of red energy that travelled down the cable and into robonoid. The robonoid absorbed the red energy and went stock still. A second later, it blew up in spontaneous explosion. The Wailing Stone ceased it humming, ending with flat sounded trumpet noise.
Growling in angry, Peridot slammed her fists into the table in a fit of frustration and glared venomously at the dismantled cube. It was mocking her. She didn't know exactly how it was, but it was definitely mocking her.
Looking exhausted, Peridot slumped back on the couch, rubbing the side of her head as she contemplated her latest failure. She would never admit it, but she was beginning to run dry on ideas.
From the other side of the couch, Steven watched Peridot in her moment of defeat, thinking that this was all too perfect. All he had to do was give her the Wuu and it would instantly cheer her up. She would forget all about this mishap and smile again in no time. The thought of it was making Steven practically giddy.
Peridot was brought out of her pensive trance, when she noticed Steven looking directly at her with a wide, unnerving smile.
"Steven, why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, sounding somewhere between curious and cautious.
"I've got a surprise for you!" he replied, struggling to contain himself, his hands still behind his back.
"This isn't really a good time Steven" Peridot said, wearily. "I'm in the middle of work. Perhaps you can show me later?"
"That's what my surprise is for. I got something to take your mind of your work!"
"That sounds very counterproductive to my work" Peridot said, straight faced.
Steven cleared his throat, straightening himself up as he began to speak with a more dramatic flair. "I hope that your eyes are hungry, because they are about to feast on the most amazing sight you will see, in this or any other lifetime. I present to you, the great and lovable Peridot, your very own, brand new…..Wuu!"
Chanting a triumphantly tune, Steven raised the box containing the Wuu above his head, as a strange ray of light seemed to radiate from out around it.
Peridot stared at the box in Steven's hands, running her eyes over the title curiously. "Wuu?" she repeated. "What kind of word functions as both a noun and an exclamation?"
"It's a new gaming console" Steven explained, lowering his arms. He gave her a bashful smile, averting his eyes down to the floor as he felt the colour in his cheeks rise. "I thought since you've been working so hard lately, maybe you could take a break and play some Golf Quest Mini. I got this console for us to play on"
Grinning broadly, Steven offered Peridot the new console. Saying nothing, she took the box from him, taking a moment to scrutinise. Peridot then glanced at Steven, who was still smiling and looking at her expectantly, thinking that any moment now she would burst into tears of joy at the wonderous gesture that he had done for her.
But instead of bursting into tears, Peridot merely she set the box down on the table with a weary sigh, shaking her head, almost looking embarrassed.
"Steven, please try to understand" she said, slightly patronizing. "My work is important. I apologise if I have been too preoccupated to attend to your needs, but I promise, once I have some spare time, I'll repair your gaming console for you". Pushing the Wuu box to the side, Peridot returned back to work on the dismantled cube, prodding away at it once more.
"Huh?" Confused, Steven glanced over his shoulder up to his bedroom loft, his TV and older console model still exactly where he had left them. "That one's not broken" he said, looking back at Peridot.
Peridot lifted her head up from the table, looking equally confused. "Then… why did you purchase a replacement unit?"
"It's not a replacement" Steven said, slowly, still not fully getting what Peridot was referring to. "This is just a newer version of it"
"Well, there obviously must have been something wrong with the old then, wasn't there?" Peridot asked, crossing her arms, sounding highly dubious.
Steven shifted his legs slightly, starting to feel uncomfortable. "Um, well, nothing was wrong with it. This is just an even better one". He gestured to the Wuu box again. "It's got better graphics, improved sound, updated gameplay and all kinds of other new stuff"
Steven thought that this should definitely be the part where Peridot would start looking impressed, but instead she simply appeared very indignant.
"The graphic on the previous model were perfectly adequate, the sound system was performed at an optimal level and the game play system was in equal parts challenge and intellectual stimulating" she said. "Any possible improvements that could have been added would be just ostentations and gratuitous"
"But I'm sure it would still be a lot of fun" Steven said, with a confident smile. "Come on and let's give it a try".
Steven took Peridot by the hand and managed to pull her up from the couch. She followed him with some reluctance, but soon closed her eyes a dismissive sneer. "Ok, fine. If nothing more than to see first-hand how vastly overrated this new Wuu system will undoubtedly be"
Climbing the stairs to the loft, Steven removed the Wuu from the box and connected it to the TV screen. Peridot remained sitting on the bed, and did nothing to help, not even when Steven had some difficulty untangling himself from the extensive wiring.
Once the Wuu was complete set up, Steven turned on the TV as the game began to load and the opening credits started running across the screen, showcasing a majestic looking Golf Course the size of a literal kingdom. The main character Ace Sunkin appeared on screen, standing underneath an extravagant title card that was displayed a sleek 3-D computerized rendition as opposed to the older 2-D animation of the previous system.
Steven's eyes began to sparkle with astonishment as he began to gush over the newer graphics. "Whoa! Peridot, look! Everything looks so sleek and shiny. And it all has depth now!"
Peridot glanced back and forth between the slacked jawed Steven and the TV screen with a look of stunned surprise, before she let out very a loud, and almost nervous sounding, scoff of laughter.
"Surely, you can't be serious? They completely ruined the aesthetic quality of the previous system. And the addition of a third dimension does not align with the previous 2-dimenisonal iconography that the game is famous for"
Steven was not really listening to Peridot; instead he had already entered the character menu and was shuffling through all the old and new characters he had the option of choosing from.
"Look at all these new characters we can pick" he said excitedly. "They've all got so many new abilities, new items and new stats!"
"Preposterous!" Peridot snapped, looking even more outraged. "This is clearly nothing but a superfluous over-saturation of an already well-balanced and efficient combat system."
"Ah, come on Peridot" Steven said with earnest enthusiasm. "Here, let's pick a character"
Steven moved the joystick in front of the screen as the cursor hovered over Ace Sunkin'. With a smart flick of his wrist, the Wuu captured Steven's motion and selected his chosen character which loaded the main game.
"You mean you actually have to point and move objects across the screen using these ridiculous controllers?" Peridot said, contemptuously. "Who would be impressed by such a tedious interface system?"
"But, don't you use your fingers to move stuff on your screen?" Steven asked innocently.
Peridot face froze, glancing down at her metal finger, flushing with embarrassment. "Yes!" she said after a long pause. "But Gem technology is a very delicate operating system. The use of this motion duplication staff creates far too much of a margin for error. How can you make important strategic gameplay decisions by waving this thing around?"
"Well, maybe if we just practice a little. Here, let me show you". Within the game, Ace was squaring off in a battle against the mighty Windmill.
Holding the joystick tightly between both hands, Steven took up a proper golfing stance in front of the TV, with a serious expression on his face. Shaking his rear end back and forth a few times, he swung his arms hard with an impressive follow through. Inside the game, Ace mimicked Steven's actions and hit the golf ball dead on during the game's quick time event, hitting Windmill with a fiery explosion.
Steven laughed in amazement, throwing his arms up on the air, loving the new freedom of movement that the Wuu offered him. "See, isn't great?" he said to Peridot. "It's like I'm right in the open field there battling a giant sentient Windmill. What could be more realistic?"
But Peridot looked any but convinced. "Great? What kind of game forces you actually to stand up and exert physical effort? It was a far more convenient conservation of energy when we could sit comfortably on the floor"
"But this also let's do you all kinds of fun mini-game that we couldn't before" Steven said. He let out a tiny gasp as he entered into another options menu. "Look at this, I can actually wash and clean golf balls. Isn't that cool!"
Steven laughed again as he motioned with the joystick, scrubbing away at the virtual golf ball on the screen thinking that this must be the most miraculous experience of his life. Behind him, Peridot crossed her arms as she remained on the bed, watching Steven as he continued to play. She glared at the Wuu with an unhappy scowl, not unlike the one she had given the black cube earlier.
After a few more minutes of exploring more of the Wuu's new feature, Steven looked over his shoulder and only then did he notice Peridot's sullen expression. He quickly remembered why had bought the Wuu in the first place, realising that he was now hogging it for himself. At once, he offered Peridot the joystick.
"Here, it's your turn" he said happily.
Peridot stared at the joystick as though she thought it might bite her or something. Hesitantly, she took the joystick from Steven and then took up a standing position in front of the TV. She pointed the joystick at the TV and pressed one of the buttons on the end as if it was some kind of remote, but nothing seemed to be happening. Confused, she held the controller upside down, looking for some kind of hidden switch to it. Peridot glanced back to Steven, who gave a brief swing of his arms to try and encourage her.
"Okay, simple math" Peridot said, not giving away any kind of doubt. "I just need to angle my swings to achieve the proper velocity"
Peridot focused herself and prepared to swing but she put too much force into her strike, nearly losing her balance as she spun around in a complete circle. Correcting herself, Peridot tried again, but she seemed to be finding it difficult to accomplish much of anything in the game, aside from repeatedly missing the timing events for her attacks and watching in frustration as her character's health bar dropping with each failed attempt.
Seeing the difficulty that she was having, Steven instinctively moved closer and reached his hand out to hers. "Here, let me help-"
"No, I don't need help!" Peridot snapped, pulling away from Steven, now waving and shaking the joystick like crazy, trying to will the device to her commands. "I can figure this out on my own. I mastered the old gaming system; I can easily master this one. It doesn't much they change it; I can still beat it!"
Peridot waved the joystick in a wild frenzy, as if it was somehow trying to wrestle itself away from her grasp, with Ace mimicking her every action in the game before Windmill finally blasted Ace off his feet with a concentrated gust of wind, dropping his life bar down to zero. The screen turned to black, the two most infamous words in all of video gaming crawling into view: GAME OVER
Peridot's left eye began to switch violently. In her hand, she squeezed the joystick tightly, enough that Steven thought she might break it in half, before she released her grip, dropping the joystick down to the floor.
With a sour expression, Peridot turned back to Steven's bed and sat back down on it, looking as tired and frustrated as ever.
For a long while, Steven said nothing at all and just stared at Peridot in silence. A part of him hoped than perhaps he had just gotten the wrong impression, but the longer he waited, the more awkward and tense the atmosphere became until he finally had to say something.
"You… don't like the Wuu, do you?" he said sadly, eyes cast downwards.
Peridot did not answer. She then took a brief inhale and then exhaled again, her face perfectly completely straight. "No" she said, without even a hint of a smile or emotion. "I very much do like the Wuu"
"Is… that true?" Steven asked, looking up at her with some surprise. He didn't want to believe that she was lying, but her overall demeanour didn't seem to match her words.
"There's clearly no logical reason to dislike it" Peridot said, shrugging indifferently. "It's obviously an impressive advancement in entertainment technology. You were very wise to procure this updated gaming device, Steven"
"Okay," Steven said slowly, still not totally convinced. "So why do you still look kinda… upset?
Peridot stood up from her the bed, folding her hands neatly behind her back and walked forward a few paces, stopping in front of the TV. "Because I realised, since we now have a superior gaming system at our disposal, we have no further use for this outdated eyesore".
Confused, Steven glanced to the floor and saw what Peridot was referring to; Steven's previous game console, which he had put aside when he was setting up the Wuu to the TV. He was about to ask Peridot what she had meant by 'eyesore', but when she suddenly gave the older console a small, yet hard kick of her foot, knocking it over to its side
"Hey!" Steven cried, rushing over to the console, setting it upright again, hoping that it was undamaged. "Careful, you might break it"
"It's not broken Steven, it's obsolete" Peridot said flatly. "Therefore, it's unwanted".
Before Steven could protest further, Peridot picked the old console off the floor and turned to walk down the stairs of Steven's loft. Steven rushed after her, having no idea what she was thinking, but was concerned for his precious console nonetheless.
"Peridot! What are you doing?!" Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, Steven gaped in shock as Peridot held his game console directly above the open trash can next to the kitchen counter.
"The only logical solution is to dump this obsolete piece of technology into the garbage where it belongs". Peridot opened her fingers and let the console drop down into the trash can, without any hint of satisfaction on her face.
"W-wait a second" Steven said quickly, running over to the edge of the trash can. "You don't have to get rid of the old console just because we have the Wuu. We can still play on it sometimes."
"Except that it'll never be as good as the Wuu, will it?" Peridot said, coldly. "It's old and outdated and all it's doing is taking up space. That's how technology works. It constantly improves and replaces itself with more efficient iterations. Sooner or later, they'll just make something better. Something so incredible, it boggles your mind, throwing you totally out of your element, showing you just how you really are.
Becoming visibly angry, Peridot marched over to the coffee table, the dismantled black cube still resting there, some of her robonoids still scuttling about
"In fact, while we're at it, let's put everything that's inferior into the trash, where it belongs! Like my robonoids". Before it could scurry away, Peridot grabbed one of the robonoids off the table and held it up in the air as it kicked cylindrical legs in fear. "Oh, sure, these were once the most advanced scouting and warp pad maintenance drones in the universe, but apparently not anymore!"
Moving back to the trash can, Peridot stuffed her robonoid inside with vengeful thrust. Steven flinched slightly, now starting to become fearful of what Peridot might throw away next. And unfortunately, his fears were soon realised when he saw Peridot picking up the Wailing Stone.
"And let's not forget this…archaic Gem transmission device" Peridot puffed loudly as she heaved the Wailing Stone up to her chest, slowly trudging her way to the trash can with considerable effort. "What's the difference between this thing and my robonoids? It's all nothing clutter. If it can't match up to the latest modern technology, then it's useless. Complete and utterly useless!"
Despite the obvious difficulty she was having, Peridot raised the Wailing Stone overhead, preparing to chunk into trash as well, before she suddenly lost her footing due to the weight and fell backwards with a terrified yelp. The Wailing Stone did a brief flip in the air, before it landed right down Peridot's face with a loud clunk. Steven winched painfully. He quickly pulled the Wailing Stone off Peridot's face, her cheeks puffing out slightly and her face turning a darker shade of green.
With a disgruntled moan, she slowly got back to her feet, doing her best to remain dignified, but it seemed as though her outburst had done nothing to help alleviate her anger.
As Steven stared at Peridot, who looked even more sullen and frustrated than before, he felt his own heart as it began to ache. He was so disappointed. Not with Peridot, but with himself. He wanted so badly to make her feel better, but he felt like all he did was make things even worse. He felt like he had let her down, he felt like he had Jasper and Lapis down after telling them he would help Peridot.
Steven glanced over at the photo of his mother, looming over the doorframe. She must never have felt like this much of a failure, he thought to himself.
Suddenly the Warp Pad activated as both Jasper and Lapis returned from their patrol, landing into the house. Lapis looked quite pleased as she was holding another one of the black cubes in her arms, but unlike the others they had retrieved, this one looked to be perfectly intact, its red eye glowing very faintly.
"Hey, Peridot, we caught one of the cubes and this one isn't broken" Lapis said happily, as she stepped off the Warp Pad. "We just found it sitting down in some big field. I think the power must have run out it or something. Do you want to have a look at it?"
Lapis offered the cube to Peridot, whose back was turned, fully expecting her to take it without question. Forget the straw. The camel's back was officially broken
Her shoulders trembling in rage, Peridot let out a furious yell as she rounded on Lapis and roughly snatched the cube out of her hands, much to her surprise, before hurling the cube straight across the room, where until it smashed against the wall with a loud clattered.
Stunned by Peridot's abrupt outburst, Lapis shared a concerned look with Jasper who merely shrugged in response. Steven was about to say offer something in the way of an explanation, but his voice was suddenly cut off when a strange beeping noise began to emanate from the black cube.
Everyone in the room turned their heads in surprise as the cube beeped loudly, before the noise turned into full blown klaxon. On the other side of the room, from inside the trash disposable, the Wailing Stone activated without warning and released a loud bellowing noise that echoed the sound of the cube, shaking the entire house, forcing Steven and the Crystal Gems to cover their ears due to overwhelming volume.
Gritting her teeth, Peridot managed to recover long enough to fire a bolt of energy from her finger-cannon, blasting the black cube to pieces and silencing it. With the cube destroyed, the Wailing Stone then fell silent once again.
"What. Just. Happened?" Jasper asked in a low, sinister growl, staring at pieces of the destroyed cube, looking none too happy.
No one else in the room answered, but after a moment they didn't need to. From outside they heard a chorus of loud boom claps, as if a storm cloud had just rolled in. Wasting no time, the Crystal Gems rushed out onto the balcony and spotted the source of this disturbance.
A dozen streaks of red lights flashed in sky above the beach as an entire swarm of black cubes were wrapping in from out of nowhere. Each of the cubes were blinking and beeping loudly, looking to be in some kind of mad frenzy, zooming back and forth, banging into each other in a total randomized formation as appeared. Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems ran down to the beach and watched in anticipation as they black cubes hovered about in the air above them.
"What's going on?" Steven yelled over the incessant beeping, keeping his hands over his ears. "Why are they coming here?"
Peridot surveyed the cubes as they continued to move about erratically, almost as though they were under some kind of unseen attack. She looked back to the house, connecting all the dots in her head.
"The cube you brought here wasn't out of power" she said to Jasper and Lapis in a low voice. "It must have temporarily powered down as part of a routine maintenance cycle. And when I distributed it, it sent out some kind of distress signal that was amplified by the Wailing Stone, drawing the remaining cubes here"
"Is that good or bad?" Steven asked, hesitantly, his eyes on the floating black cubes as they continued to bump into each other. Suddenly, the cubes ceased their blaring, all of them stopping in mid-air at the same time. They all then turned in unions toward the Crystal Gems, the red eye on the front side each of the cubes lighting up with a red glow.
"Bad" Jasper answered, forming her crash helmet.
The black cubes fired and released a rain of red laser beams down upon the Crystal Gems.
With a startled cry, Peridot grabbed Steven by his waist and performed a barrel roll to the right. Lapis expanded out her wings and flew up into the air, while Jasper did backwards flip as she dodged the laser blasts.
Now airborne, Lapis hovered in front of the cubes, raising her hands up to summon a stream of water from the ocean. The water broke apart into several blotches and encircled a number of the cubes, trapping them all in a series of bubbles.
"I got them!" Lapis declared with a triumphant grin.
The captured cubes started to blink again, before they all suddenly vanished in a brief streak of red energy, warping right out of the bubbles and up into the sky.
Lapis grin quickly disappeared. "Uh oh".
Less than a second later, the cubes warped in directly behind Lapis and fired another barrage of lasers before she could turn around, blasting her down to the beach. The cubes moved on the now downed Lapis as she struggled to get back up, but before they could reach her, Jasper rushed in and swatted at least three of the cubes with a single swipe of her arm.
"Get down!" Jasper yelled, punching out another cube as they moved back to into the air away from her. Jasper leapt up and grabbed a hold of one of the cubes, pulling down to the ground as she landed. The cube beeped once again before warping away, taking Jasper along with it this time. Jasper reappeared a few yards away still holding the cube as if nothing had happened, before she ripped the advanced piece of Gem-tech clean in half with her bare hands like it was a sheet of paper.
Lapis soon managed to recover and flew back into the air, firing blasts of water at the cubes yet she was unable to hit them as they continued to dodge her attacks by use of their warping capabilities.
Steven and Peridot watched the battle unfold from the other side of the beach, neither of them making an attempt to join in just yet.
"This is all my fault" Peridot whispered under her breath.
"It's ok, Peridot" Steven said consolingly, patting her on the arm. "Don't be blame yourself"
"That wasn't self-pity Steven, I was simply stating an objective fact" Peridot replied with a perfectly straight face. "Now, I have to fix this somehow. The only way to stop these cubes is to take them all out at once"
"But they keep warping around" Steven said, desperately. "Maybe if there was some way we could catch while they're warping?"
"It's impossible, Steven" Peridot said. "Those cubes are completely automatous and can warp anywhere they want. They're like portable Warp Pads!"
Steven frowned as he thought about this before blurting out the first idea that came to his mind. "But if they're just like Warp Pads, can't we warp to where they are?"
Peridot's blinked once before her eyes widened as she was struck by a sudden epiphany. She soon realised what she had to do next.
"I have a plan!" she shouted, loud enough to get Jasper and Lapis' attention. "Keep them distracted long enough for me to get what I need ready!"
"Steven, go with Peridot!" Jasper ordered, as she dodged another laser beam.
"But, I wanna help, I can-!"
"Help, Peridot!" Jasper yelled, as she punched away another cube. Understanding at once, Steven gave a brief nod of his head before he ran up the hill after Peridot.
Steven reached the house and to his surprise, found Peridot with her head halfway down into the trash can, pulling out the robonoid she had tossed in there earlier. Before Steven could ask her what she was doing, Peridot was already sprinting past him and out the door again. Determined to remain by her side, Steven immediately followed after her once again, running back down to the beach, until they both stopped at the edge of where the battle was taking place.
"What are you doing?" Steven asked in between his panting.
"Steven, I think you may be right" Peridot said, placing her robonoid underneath her arm. "If these things can act as Warp Pads, then maybe it is possible for us to warp to wherever they are. All I need is an anchor"
Peridot raised her right arm in the air, separating her hovering digits, her upper forearm reconfiguring itself small cannon. She placed the robonoid inside the round shaped slot of the cannon and held her arm up the air, taking aim at one of the nearest cubes. She just about to fire when another group of black cubes wrapped behind them, firing their beams at Peridot's turned back.
"Peridot, watch out!"
Without thinking, Steven jumped in front of Peridot's turned back and raised his right arm; before he even realised what had happened, he formed his mother's shield, big enough that it covered them both, as the red beams deflected off its surface. Peridot turned around to Steven, who appeared just as surprised by this turn events as she was. Despite his sudden sense of fatigue, Steven smiled back at Peridot with confidence. Grinning back at him with a mixture of amusement and pride, Peridot took aim at the cubes once again with her arm cannon as Steven kept his shield up to cover them.
Setting her sights on one of the cubes, Peridot launched the robonoid into the air just before it could warp away; the robonoid collided with the cube, latching on tightly with his cylindrical legs. Concluding that it was in some kind of danger, the black cube warped several yards distance in the air but the robonoid remained firmly attached it.
Seeing that the robonoid was securely fastened on to the cube, Peridot brought up her finger-screen and tapped a sequence of icons in quick procession. Steven watched the cube and robonoid in anticipation, expecting something to happen, until he heard a familiar chiming noise nearby. He turned to look back at the Temple and could see the Warp Pad being activated several times in a row as the teal-coloured beams of light shot into the sky.
Suddenly, those same teal-coloured warp beams started raining down from above, bouncing off each of the black cubes as a more and more of Peridot's robonoids came landing in on top of them.
Jasper and Lapis both ceased their individual attacks when they realised what was the happening. The black cubes themselves were no longer firing any beams as they were too preoccupied
wrapped back and forth, unable to shake away any of the robonoids that remained fixed onto them, with some cubes even carrying five or six robonoids.
Eventually, when it looked like there was at least one robonoid attached to every cube, Peridot tab her screen once again, the display changing to show a series of small round objects lined up together. Taking a quick breath, Peridot pressed a single icon; the screen turned red and each of the orbs on the display were crossed out by a large X.
Having received their final command, the robonoids all began flash the same red colour, their outer shells beginning to crack, until, one by one, each of the robonoids blew themselves apart in a powerful explosion, setting off a chain reaction that was augmented by the energy released from the black cubes as they too were destroyed in the process. The combined explosion created a shockwave powerful enough to knock the Crystal Gems and Steven off their off their feet.
When the smoked cleared, the sky above the beach was empty again, but the ground was now littered in the destroyed remains of Peridot's robonoids and the black cubes, not a single of one of either piece of Gem technology appearing to be working condition any longer.
"W-what happened?" Steven said, with a slight cough, standing back up alongside the Crystal Gems, as they surveyed the widespread destruction for themselves.
"I…initiated the emergency failsafe in my robonoids" Peridot said heavily, allowing no emotion to show on her face. "Their…self-destruct sequence. It was the only way to ensure that all the cubes were destroyed.
"Peridot…" Lapis began, looking heartbroken, raising a sympathetic hand to her, but Jasper quickly caught and lowered it again.
"It had to be done" Jasper said, with a rather cold dismissal. She made no attempt to comfort Peridot in anyway. Instead all she did was give her a brief, yet respect nod of her in head as an acknowledgement. "Good job, Peridot"
Peridot said nothing in response to Jasper and just continued to stare over the destroyed pile of green shards and black metal.
"But what about the robonoids?!" Steven asked desperately, dropping to knees, picking up some of the shattered pieces, as though hoping he could stick them back together somehow. "Can't we fix them? Maybe my healing spit will work. Or-"
"They're not broken, Steven" Peridot said. She kneeled down in the sand beside and picked up one of the broken shards, observing her own reflection in the clear surface for a moment before looking away. "They're just…. obsolete. If Gems like Pearl and Amethyst have developed newer technology like those black cubes, then we can't rely the resources that we have. They'll only be liabilities."
Peridot stood back up, surveying the beach filled with destroyed Gem technology, both new and old. They had won this battle, but the only Peridot could feel was defeat
"Come on" Jasper finally said, walking past her. "We need to clear all this up before some humans find it"
With a weary sigh, Peridot soon joined both Jasper and Lapis as they began to sweep up the wreckage. Steven was the only one who was not helping, staring down at the broken robonoid shell in his hands. He understood that the robonoids were just machines, but he also knew how much they meant to Peridot and could only imagine much she must be hurting right now. All he wanted to do was to help her in some way, in any way. He had tried so hard and yet nothing seemed to work. He didn't know what to do anymore.
Yet somehow, as he realised this, Steven felt an urge deep inside, that even if he didn't know what he could do be doing to help, he still had to be there for Peridot, as well as Jasper and Lapis. No matter what, he would be there for them.
It was now late at night; the sun having set some hours ago. Peridot entered into the Beach House from her room inside the Temple, looking very exhausted, having just finished storing the remaining the debris from the battle into a secure vault in her room. This had been without doubt, one of the most relentless days in her entire existence, going from one disaster to the next with absolutely no of achievement or pleasure to be had at almost any moment. She felt worn out and depressed, the weight of today's events having practically drained the life out of her. The only consolation was that the day was finally over.
"Hey, Peridot" Steven called out from up in his loft. "Can you come here for a second?"
Peridot winced slightly when she heard Steven's voice; a part of her really wished she didn't have to go up there, but she knew she couldn't refuse Steven. She just hoped that, whatever he needed, it would be quick and simple. Climbing the stairs, she found Steven in his banana pyjamas, sitting at the foot of his bed; in his hands he was holding his game controller.
"What is it, Steven?" she asked, sounding very tired.
"I was just wondering" he said with a small smile. "If you're not too busy, if you'd want to play some Golf Quest Mini with me?"
Surprised, Peridot turned to the TV screen, Steven's previous gaming console connected to it, the main menu of Golf Mini Quest II shining brightly as the only light source in the loft.
"What happened to the Wuu?" Peridot asked.
"I traded it to Lars for a free donut" Steven answered, quite happily and without any hint of regret.
"But I thought you liked your new console?" Peridot flash a brief look of embarrassment. "I didn't break it, did I?"
Steven chuckled. "No. It's just, well I did really like the Wuu because it was new, but when I really thought about, I realised what's so special about my old game console. This is the one and only gaming console in the whole world that you and I played together on"
Steven picked up a secondary controller and set it down on the bed next to him. He didn't offer it to Peridot. He simply left it there for her to take if she wanted it.
"It's got all our memories on" Steven said, now looking innocuously embarrassed as he explained himself further. "Even if it's not brand new, it's still got nostalgia. It's got all the old value that we put into it". Steven looked up to Peridot with a kind smile, the latter not even realising just how much he truly admired her. "You can't top the classic"
Stunned, Peridot slowly picked up the secondary controller off the bed and turned it over in her hands. She looked back down at Steven, who was still smiling at her.
Peridot's face soon broke into a wide, enthusiastic grin as she out a mad chortle of excitement as she hurriedly jumped onto the bed alongside Steven who laughed as well as he briefly thrown up into the air by the force of Peridot's landing. Huddling their shoulders together, they began to play their games, the earlier experiences of day soon forgotten as they continued to play well into the rest of the night.
This is what Peridot needed. Nothing could have made her feel any better than doing this, than being right here and now with Steven by her side.