Chapter Two: Resurrection
Steven arrived at the edge of Beach City. He stopped at a gas station to refuel his car, parking next to pump #7. He put his car into park, exited it, and went to the pump. He took out his credit card and swiped it.
Steven took the pump and inserted it into his car. He was almost on empty since his last stop, and always liked to fill up every time he did so. As he pumped, he heard his phone ping. He used his free hand to take his phone out of his pocket, opening it up to see a text from Lars.
'The Twins say we'll be in Beach City at about five,' he said. 'We'll park the ship in front of your house.'
'I just got into town,' Steven replied. 'I'll be at my house by the time you get here.'
Steven pocketed his phone, finished pumping the gas, and drove off. His first stop would be his dad's house. The next song started to play on the radio.
"Next up we have my personal favorite!" the Radio DJ said enthusiastically. "The song that inspired DJ Kleb, that's me for you first time listeners, to quit his crummy job in an office and come here to annoy all of you weary listeners with his irritatingly upbeat attitude! It's about to get lively up in here folks! 'Cause next up, we've got Sadie Killer and the Suspects' number one hit! 'Disobedient'!"
"Sweet!" Steven said to himself. He turned the radio up, tapping the steering wheel as he followed the beat. He hadn't heard Sadie's voice in a while; it was nice to hear it in song form again. The song ended as Steven neared his dad's block.
"A friendly reminder to everyone in Beach City!" DJ Kleb said in a semi-serious tone. "A category two hurricane is coming for Beach City in a few days! Remember to keep all your pets indoors and put away any and all things that can be caught up in the wind! I'm talking about those big umbrellas, folks!"
Steven shut the radio off as he neared his dad's block.
Steven drove up to his dad's house, parking in the driveway. Before he moved in with the Gems, he lived with his dad. Unfortunately, they didn't have a house to live in, so they spent most of their nights in the van.
His dad had him move in with the Gems when he turned four, since he didn't want him growing up essentially homeless, and to also keep in touch with his mother's side of the family, as well as to help control his blossoming powers. Especially his super strength; Steven broke quite a few things when he was a toddler.
His dad chose to stay in the van after he became a millionaire, since he enjoyed the freedom. But after a while, he decided to move into a proper house. He lived with the Gems for a while after Steven left Beach City, but he felt awkward there, so he bought his own house. Now that he had millions of dollars at his disposal, and more coming in from royalties from his songs and his managing of Sadie's band, not to mention several more that hired him in the past year, he decided to have his dream house built. As well as his dream van.
Steven parked his car next to his father's van, which he had repaired and suited up, complete with every kind of music playing device known to man. He still preferred old-fashioned cassettes of course, but unfortunately most modern music didn't come in cassette form. He exited his car, walked to the front door, and knocked on it. No answer. It was already noon, so he should be awake.
Steven entered the house. He looked around it, seeing several musical instruments in the living room. A guitar, a set of drums, a ukulele, even an accordion. The television had a blue screen with the words 'Please Rewind' on it written in large, white letters, a VHS player beneath it. He walked over to it and pressed rewind. He picked up an empty VHS cassette box that lay on top of it. The box read 'How to Get in Shape for Middle-Aged Men'.
"Is Dad trying to get into shape?" Steven asked himself. He looked around, finding some weights lying about, as well as some sweat covered headbands and shirts. He put the empty box back on the VHS player. "Good for you, Dad."
Steven walked upstairs. He passed the bathroom, steam escaping from the open door, still dissipating from a recent hot shower. He headed for his dad's room but stopped when he heard him talking to someone.
"You're getting better," he heard his dad say. "I gotta admit, with my age and how long it's been, I was afraid I was gonna be a bit rusty. But it's like riding a bike!"
"Dad?" Steven shouted. He could hear the bed creaking as someone, presumably his father, hurriedly got off the bed.
"Stay in bed!" Steven's dad said in a hushed voice. "I don't know how my son'll react to this!"
Steven's dad barged out wearing a white robe, which he was quickly tightening around his waist. He noticed it tightened around his waist a little more than it did a year ago; he really was losing weight.
"Steven!" Greg yelled. He ran to Steven and gave him a hug, picking him up off the floor. "I can't believe you're back! Why didn't you call?!"
"I figured I'd surprise you and the others," Steven told him, his voice strained. His father let him go, dropping him to his feet. Steven could tell, from even under the robe, that his father's once pronounced stomach had been reduced to a small gut. Even his arms and legs shrunk down a little, though he hadn't become muscular. "You've lost weight!"
"Huh?" Greg looked down and touched his stomach, then smiled. "Oh, you noticed! With you not being in danger 24/7, I'm not stress-eating as much! Not to mention all the exercise I've been putting in lately!"
"You were stress-eating because of me?" Steven asked with a tinge of guilt.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad! If nothing else, I got to eat a lot of good food!" Greg laughed, patting his stomach. Steven always wondered how his dad had coped with all the dangerous stuff he did; in hindsight, it was pretty obvious.
A creaking sound came from Greg's room, someone apparently moving on the bed. Steven took a step back and looked to the door behind him. He raised a finger to point at it. "Who's in there?"
"Oh!" Greg exclaimed. He seemed nervous, taking a step to Steven's left, blocking his view of the door. "Just someone I've been… seeing… recently."
"Really?" Steven asked. He'd never considered his dad dating. "Like a… girlfriend?"
"I guess? I mean, we're not exactly official; she wants to keep it on the 'DL', as you kids say. She's actually one of the reasons I've been trying to get back into shape-" Greg shook his head. "L-Look, this is kinda awkward, how 'bout I tell you all about this later?"
"Yyyeah, sure." Steven backed up, only now realizing that his dad had just exited his bedroom with a hastily put on robe. His bedroom, which had a mysterious woman in it. "I'll call you later."
"Don't you wanna stay for lunch?"
"No, no!" Steven said in a loud, hasty voice. He started backing up, gesturing behind him. "I actually came back to do something really important, so I better go do that! Please don't tell anyone I'm back! I kinda wanna keep a low profile for now!"
Steven hurried down the stairs and out to his car. He heard his dad yell a goodbye, but he was too weirded out to say it back.
After putting his seat belt on, Steven shivered. His father dating was one thing, but THAT? He didn't even want to think about it.
Steven started the car and drove away, wondering who his father was seeing.
After he left his dad's house, Steven tried to forget what he saw. He looked around, passing by humans and Gems as they walked about. Mayor Nanefua sat at the Pizza's pizza restaurant, eating a slice of pizza as her Ruby guards stood around her, ever vigilant. They still wore their little black suits, which Steven couldn't but think looked adorable. He recalled their constant visits to repair their Gems, all of them once somehow managing to crack their Gems twice in a single day. He could only hope they relaxed a little since then.
He stopped at Lars's pastry shop, Spactries, looking to buy some sweets for Connie; she loved Lars's Ube Rolls. He did too, as a matter of fact. They were their favorite of Lars's culinary creations. Steven grabbed a coat, hat, and sunglasses from his back seat and put them on; he didn't want everyone knowing he was back in Beach City, at least not before he visited everyone else.
He exited his car and walked into the store, passing a Peridot with long, blonde hair, who stood beside a cart full of flowers, as well as some customers eating their pastries outside. The Blue Lace Agate who Lars left in charge manned the front counter. Some customers sat at tables inside as well, enjoying Lars's confections. The Gems who worked under him had taken over the cooking and baking after he left, having become quite good at it.
"I'll take an Ube Roll, please," Steven told her, trying to disguise his voice with a slight gruff. "A big one."
"On it." Blue Lace quickly went to the back, returning in less than a minute with a large, purple Ube Roll, complete with a small model ship on top of it. Steven recognized the ship as the Sun Incinerator, Lars's ship. "Perfect timing," she said, putting the pastry in a box and taping it up. "Just came out of the oven. That'll be $12.50."
Steven took out his wallet and handed her a twenty. "Thank you. Keep the change. Have a nice day."
"You too!" Blue Lace replied. Steven left the store, walking to his car, but stopped at the Peridot manned flower cart to buy some flowers.
"Any recommendations for a surprise visit from a long-distance boyfriend?" Steven asked. The Peridot looked at the flowers on the cart. She seemed deep in thought, as if calculating what flowers would be best. She was taller than his Peridot, about as tall as she was with her limb enhancers. He could barely see three small horns painstakingly hidden under her hair; she clearly used her hair to hide the deformities caused from her Corruption.
"Are you seeking their forgiveness?" the Peridot asked.
"Nnnoo, just... making a surprise visit."
"Is your mate male, female, or other?"
"Uh... female?" Steven said quizzically. "Does that really matter?"
She grabbed twelve flowers, three different kinds, arranged them in a special order, and wrapped them in some plastic, twisting a rubber band around them to keep them in place. She then looked at some perfume bottles, picked one out, and sprayed the flowers with it.
"I have found that this combination of flowers, along with this particular aroma, is more pleasing to human females whose mates are male and have been a vast distance from them for extended periods of time," she told him, handing him the flowers. "Trust me, I did extensive research on the subject, taking several surveys and-"
"It's okay," Steven interrupted, dropping his gruff voice. "I trust you; I trust you! Just... didn't know there was that much math behind flowers."
"Everything, including flowers and their recipients, can be broken down into the simplest mathematic equations. As a Peridot, I excel in science, mathematics, and engineering, and as a FIRST-generation Peridot, I am naturally more intelligent than my second-generation counterparts, due to having a higher Gem quality due to the larger amount of resources that were used to make me. I am also-"
"I'm gonna go!" Steven interrupted. He took his wallet out and handed her a twenty. "I'm in a real hurry, so you can keep the change!"
Steven hurried to his car, placing the Ube Roll and flowers on the passenger seat. He remembered how Peridot acted in the beginning, all technical and rigid; apparently, that Peridot hadn't yet broken out of that habit. The flower selling Peridot clearly had some kind of passion for flowers judging from the way she spoke about them. Just like how his Peridot acted when she first started watching Camp Pining Hearts, a whole one episode, over and over and over again.
Steven took off his sunglasses when he heard a knock at the window. He hurriedly put them back on and looked to see the Peridot. He rolled down his window.
"I'm sorry," the Peridot said. "But I only accept exact change. So, here's your fifteen Earth Papers back." She handed Steven his change.
"Okay," Steven said, making his voice gruff again. "Thank you for the flowers. I'm sure my ... 'mate' will love them."
"It's mathematically impossible for her NOT to love them." The Peridot turned around and walked back to her cart.
Steven started his car and drove off. He couldn't help but at laugh at her calling the money 'Earth Paper'. He wondered if his Peridot called money the same thing.
Steven drove to Connie's house next. He grabbed the flowers and Ube Roll, still fresh and hot, and walked to her door and knocked. She would undoubtedly have a big reaction. He hoped the two of them could spend some at the beach before Lars arrived, maybe see her new swimsuit. The door opened, but instead of Connie, it was her mother; Dr. Maheswaran.
"Steven!" she said with a shocked smile. "Connie didn't tell us you were coming back!"
"She doesn't know," Steven told her. "I figured I'd surprise her."
"Oh. That's very sweet, but Connie's actually at school right now."
"What?" Steven looked at his watch. It was 2:45 p.m. "Doesn't she get out at two?"
"Usually, yes. But she's been taking after-school college prep courses for over a month now."
"Ah, you're right!" he said, slapping himself in the forehead with the flowers. "How did I forget about that? Man, I did NOT think things through. When does she get home again?"
"She gets out of class at six, so maybe six-thirty, seven? You're welcome to stay until she gets back."
"No, I can't," Steven told her. "I'm supposed to meet Lars at the beach house."
"The pink Barriga boy? The one who went to space?"
"That's the one."
"What are you meeting him for?"
"He found a Shattered Gem on Homeworld," Steven told her. "I'm gonna try and heal it back at the beach house. I was hoping to spend some time with Connie before he came back."
"Well, when she gets home, I'll tell her you dropped by. I don't want you calling her during class, understand?" she said, pointing a finger at him.
"Don't worry, I won't," Steven told her. "Not after last time. Could you give these to her for me? The flowers really need to be put in water."
"Of course." She took the Ube Roll and flowers, giving the latter a quick sniff. "Oh, such a beautiful arrangement. Did you get these from that Peridot over by Spactries?"
"Yeah, I did," Steven said, surprised that she recognized them as coming from the Peridot.
"She's quite good. She has the art of selling flowers down to a science." She smelled them again. "You know, I remember Doug doing the same thing for me when I was in medical school; showing up at my dorm room with a blue rose and a box of chocolates. You're such a romantic Steven."
"My Dad always said treat your special someone like royalty," Steven laughed. He turned around and walked to his car. He turned around again and looked back to Connie's mom. "That roll's best when hot, so maybe have some before Connie gets home!"
"Don't worry, I will!" Dr. Maheswaran waved goodbye, then closed the door.
Steven got in his car, put on his seatbelt, and started it. He hit his forehead against the steering wheel and sighed. How could he be so stupid as to forget Connie had after school classes today? Clearly his return wasn't going as smoothly as he would have liked.
Maybe he'd have better luck with the Gems.
—
Steven arrived at the beach house. He looked at his phone. 3:32 p.m.; Lars should be in Beach City in about ninety minutes.
Steven slowly walked up the steps and to the front door. He was about to enter, but he stopped. He looked through the window, trying to see if anyone was doing anything weird. The lights were off, but he could see inside. He scanned what he could see, finding nothing out of the ordinary, except for a big green alien plush toy sitting against the banner in his room upstairs, staring straight at the door. Cat Steven, Garnet's pet cat, lay on a pillow on the couch, sleeping.
Steven opened the door and walked in. He switched the light on, rubbing his sandals on the carpet to clean them of the sand.
"Ow!" a voice said. Steven jumped in surprise. "OW!"
He looked down to see a white carpet with two big eyelids closed shut, a giant Pearl above them.
"Pearl?!" he yelled. He jumped off her and to the side. "Why are you a carpet?!"
Pearl shapeshifted back to her normal form. She was rubbing her face, spitting out grains of sand.
"AGH! Disgusting!" Pearl stuck out her tongue and ran to the kitchen sink, turning it on and taking some water into her mouth. She swished the water in her mouth and spit it out. "I lost a bet with Amethyst! I didn't want to be a carpet, but Garnet insisted I keep my end of the-"
She stopped talking, the water running down her face, and looked at Steven. Her face immediately changed from annoyance and disgust to joy as she finally realized who she was talking to.
"STEVEN!" she screamed. She ran and hugged him tightly, leaving the water running, lifting him off the floor like his father did. "WHEN DID YOU GET BACK?!"
"A couple hours ago," Steven groaned. He was beginning to regret not calling ahead. "Can you please put me down? It's getting hard to breathe."
"Sorry!" she said, putting him down. "It's just it's been so long since I've seen you!"
"We video chatted a week ago," Steven said, rubbing his back.
"I meant in person! I can't feel you or smell you over a computer!"
"Right." Steven rubbed his arms. Pearl hugged him really hard; it actually hurt! "Where are Garnet and Amethyst?"
"Oh, Amethyst is at Vidalia's, doing some art thing, and Garnet is delivering pizzas for Kiki."
"Again?"
"She said her future vision has been acting a little weird lately. It must be if she didn't see you coming back home!"
"What's wrong with her future vision?" Steven asked, a little worried.
"She's having trouble seeing far into the future," Pearl replied. "She can only see a few days in the future at best. You don't have to worry, I'm sure it's fine. We can talk about that later, when Garnet gets back. How long are you gonna be in town for? Have you decided to move back to Beach City?"
"I'm only gonna be here for a few days," he told her. "I only came back because it was an emergency."
"Emergency?!" Pearl repeated loudly. "What's wrong?! Are you hurt?! Are you in trouble?!" She brought a hand to her Gem, summoning a shovel. "DO I HAVE TO BURY ANOTHER BODY!?"
"No!" he told her, trying to calm her down. "Lars texted me! He- Wait, bury a body? ANOTHER!?"
"Oh, I'm just kidding!" Pearl laughed, putting the shovel back in her Gem. "I'm allowed to joke, you know! I've been trying to be more laid back, kid around. You know, more... human. If it were something like that, you obviously wouldn't be so calm. Anyways, you were saying something about Lars?"
"Right," Steven said. He'd never heard Pearl make such a macabre joke, so it caught him a little off-guard. "Lars found a Gem on Homeworld that was Shattered. He's bringing it here so I can heal her."
"A Shattered Gem on Homeworld?" Pearl asked. "Where?"
"In an old cave. He sent me a picture." Steven took out his phone, opening the texts Lars sent, and gave it to Pearl. She enlarged the photo, covering her mouth with her hand when she saw it in full view.
"Oh my," she said under her hand. "How did she end up like that?"
"No idea," Steven replied, taking back his phone and looking at the picture. "We can ask once we heal her."
"When will he get here?"
Steven checked his watch. 3:35 p.m.
"About ninety minutes," he told her. "I stopped by Dad's and Connie's first, but my Dad had some woman over, and Connie's still at school."
"A woman?" Pearl repeated. "As in a romantic partner?"
"Yeah. Any idea who it could be?" Steven asked.
"Not particularly. I know he spends a lot of time with Sadie's mother, Barb. Vidalia, too, though she's married to Yellowtail, and she should be with Amethyst right now. Could be one of them. But then again, I'm not that good at reading human courting rituals. Amethyst might know, though."
"I'll ask when I see her," Steven said.
Steven and Pearl sat down at the couch. Steven told her about the things he seen and done while on the road. She laughed at certain things, like the time Connie fell asleep at a movie theatre they went to, too tired from her schoolwork to stay awake, and instead of waking her up, he threw popcorn into her open mouth. She scolded him for others; like when he and Connie snuck into a bar as Stevonnie and sang karaoke. He stressed to her that they didn't drink any alcohol, though she seemed skeptical.
Cat Steven woke up from her nap, walking over to Steven and rubbing her head against his hand. He scratched her head as she purred. She let out a small yowl and scratched Steven's hand with her claw when he rubbed her over her missing eye.
"OW!" Steven said. He looked at the cut; it was bleeding a little. He licked it, healing the scratch. "Sorry, Cat Steven. Forgot you hated getting pet there."
The front door suddenly slammed open, making Steven and Pearl jump in surprise. Cat Steven jumped and ran away, quickly running under the couch.
"Steven!" someone yelled. He looked at the owner of the voice to see Peridot, with Lapis and Bismuth behind her. She ran to Steven, hugging him tightly. Unlike his dad and Pearl, Peridot's hug didn't hurt him.
"Hey Steven!" Bismuth greeted loudly, waving her hand. "Why didn't you call ahead?"
"Peridot, stop hugging him!" Lapis said, summoning some water from her Gem and pulling the green Gem away as she flailed her arms about. "It's my turn!" Lapis hugged him tightly.
"Hi guys!" Steven groaned. "How'd you know I was here?"
"I saw you through the camera!" Peridot yelled with a big smile.
"Camera?" Steven groaned again. Lapis let him go. He feared Bismuth's hug, but she merely gave him a hard pat on the back. "What camera?"
"Yeah, what camera?!" Pearl repeated, clearly annoyed at being spied on.
"That camera!" Peridot said loudly, pointing to the large, green alien doll sitting upstairs.
"So that's why that's there," Steven said.
"Amethyst had me put it there to make sure you didn't revert back to your normal form while she was gone," Peridot explained.
"GAH! Of course I wouldn't do that! I swear, what kind of Gem does she take me for?!"
"One who wouldn't want to be a carpet for a day," Lapis told her dryly. "I'm surprised you stayed like that for as long as you did. Peridot and I had a bet going ourselves to see if you'd actually last the whole day."
"What were the stakes?" Steven asked.
"The loser would have to watch the Camp Pining Hearts reboot movie non-stop for a week," Lapis said. She looked at Peridot with a sly smile. "By the way; I win."
"That doesn't count!" Peridot yelled. "Steven showed up! Who WOULDN'T change back to their normal form!?"
"She didn't realize it was Steven at first," Bismuth noted. "She changed because he stepped on her. Besides, she wasn't supposed to change back for anything, not even Steven coming back. Sorry Peridot, rules're rules."
"AAGGHH!" Peridot yelled. She then switched to a whimper. "I hate the CPH reboot movie! The acting's horrible! The plot makes no sense! And don't even get me STARTED on the ending! I mean, a GHOST ROBOT?! How do you build a ghost robot?! I mean, I'd get it if the robot got deactivated, then came back as a ghost, that'd at least make some kind of sense! But Pierre actually BUILT IT! And he doesn't even have a background in engineering, let alone robotics!"
"The bet was your idea," Lapis told her. "No one to blame but yourself."
Steven caught up with the four Gems. Bismuth made blueprints for a few companies across the planet, helping to build safer buildings. He recalled seeing some newer looking buildings in his travels that seemed familiar, like the ones in Little Homeworld. Most of them were designed by her.
Lapis and Peridot watched anime and movies, starting a very popular tubetube account, doing reaction videos and critiquing the things they watched. Steven was actually subscribed to them. They also ran a small 'Meep Morp' museum in Little Homeworld, showcasing their art alongside other Gem artwork. The museum was right next to Peridot's plant store. They grew most of their produce at their old farm, ranging from flowers to crops, but did grow some on site.
"So, what brings you back to Beach City?" Bismuth asked. "Didn't think we'd see you again for a while."
"Lars found a broken Gem on Homeworld," Steven told them. He was getting tired of having to constantly say that.
"What kind?" Lapis asked.
"A Pearl," Steven said. "And a big one, too. Just from the picture, I could tell it was bigger than Pearl's... Pearl." Steven took out his phone and showed them the picture.
"That's odd," Peridot said, taking Steven's phone and zooming in to take a closer look. "Pearls weren't usually Shattered; they were brought to the Reef and Rejuvenated. I wonder what happened."
"We can ask once she's restored and situated," Steven said. A loud sound came from outside. Steven and the others ran outside, finding Lars's ship parking itself above the ocean. Steven looked at his watch; 5:00 p.m.; he didn't realize they'd been talking for so long. "Huh. Just on time."
Steven and the others ran down to greet the crew of the Sun Incinerator. Lars exited the ship first, a sword at his waist, a backpack over his shoulders, his crew following close behind him.
"Steven!" Lars said loudly. He approached Steven with a hug. "Long time no see!"
"Yeah," Steven replied, releasing the hug. "How's space been?"
"Not bad. I got a cool sword now." Lars unsheathed the sword and showed it Steven. "I got it on Gem Homeworld."
"Cool," Steven said, taking a closer look. It was clear blue, about the length of his forearm. He rubbed the blunt side of the blade; it was as smooth as glass.
"Whoa!" Bismuth got closer to the sword. She carefully took it out of Lars's hands. "This is a Glass Sword! I always wanted to see one of these!"
"Is it special?" Steven asked.
"SPECIAL?!" Bismuth looked at Steven with wonder. "This sword is made from a liquid psuedo-diamond that rains on a far away planet! It rains only once every 1,500 years or so, about 10 lbs. each time, so they're EXTREMELY rare! It's even been empowered with Diamond Energy! These're some of the most powerful weapons in all of Gem history!"
"Diamond Energy?" Lars asked.
"See the blue tint?" Bismuth asked, pointing to the sword. "That's Diamond Energy. Any weapon made using this material can be imbued, or 'Blessed', depending on who you're talking to, with a Diamond's energy, making it insanely powerful! It also makes them extremely heavy, which is why it needs this Power Gem to regulate the weight." She pointed to the gem that was embedded in the hilt. "The actual material is very lightweight. Judging from the pale color, it looks like it's running low on the stuff. This sword must've seen a lot of battles."
"She said something about it being Blessed," the Left Rutile said.
"That's true, she did," the Right Rutile said. "Though she didn't explain what that meant."
Bismuth inspected the sword further. "Was the Bismuth who give this to you huge and have really short hair?"
"Yeah, she did," Lars told her. "You know her?"
"1AC!" Bismuth yelled. "I thought this was her work!"
"You know her?" Steven asked.
"1AC was the best forger in all of Homeworld! The Bismuth of Bismuths! We used to work together up until the rebellion. I tried to get her to defect, but she refused to even consider it. When I told her I was joining, she let me go without a fight. Good thing too; she would've mopped the floor with me. Literally! She used to make me shapeshift into a mop and use me to clean the floors whenever I messed up a job! I always wondered what happened to her."
"I thought Bismuths were only used to make buildings," Steven said.
"1AC was a special case," Bismuth replied. "She was a Queen Gem, so she had special privileges, getting to work on things she had a personal interest in. She's actually the reason I got into forging weapons."
"Queen Gem?" the Left Rutile repeated.
"What's a Queen Gem?" the Right Rutile asked.
"They're Gems that were made by Diamonds alone," Steven told them. "The Diamonds told me about them. They don't have any of the impurities that come with being made with Injectors. They're super powerful as a result and got special privileges that standard Gems didn't get."
"There's not many of them left, unfortunately," Bismuth sadly. "A majority of them were wiped out during Homeworld's colonization of other planets." Bismuth cleared her throat. "So, what's 1AC up to these days?"
"She's running a weapon shop on Homeworld," the Rutile Twins said.
"She gave that sword to Captain Lars when she realized who he was!" the Left Twin said.
"Said hearing about our adventures was worth it," the Right Twin said.
"Can I have my sword back now?" Lars interrupted.
Bismuth looked at him, at the sword, then back at him.
"Oh! Sorry." She handed it back to the pink teen, who sheathed the sword. "Weapons made from this stuff are extremely rare, so please, for the love of all things holy, don't lose it."
"Don't worry, I won't," Lars told her, sheathing the sword. "At least not until I get to test it out on something."
"I can take you to one of our training rooms in the temple later," Bismuth told him. "I've got some good training dummies you can take with you when you leave, too, ones that regenerate so you don't have to get news one. Not sure you can access the Diamond Energy though, since your human and all."
"Thanks!" Lars said. "Can't wait to try this thing out!"
"Let's head inside," Steven said, feeling they were getting off track. "I want to take a look at the Pearl you brought."
"We'll meet Steven again!" Padparadscha suddenly exclaimed. "And the Bismuth will admire Captain Lars's sword!"
"Rrrright," Steven said with a laugh. "Nice to see you too, Padparascha."
Steven led the Gems and the crew of the Sun Incinerator towards the beach house. He stopped at the stairs when he realized Fluorite, the massive multi-fusion Gem, wouldn't fit through the door, let alone in the house. He looked at her.
"IIII'llllll ssssttaayy wwwiiitthhh tthhee sshhhipppp," she said, realizing the problem.
"Sorry Fluorite," Lars said. "But I guess someone should stay with the ship anyway."
"Would you like some company?" The Rutile Twins asked.
"Nooo tthhaankk yyoouu. Thhaatt Pearrrll neeedds mmorre atteenntttiooonn tthhhaann IIIII doooo. III'llll bee ffiinnnee byyy mmyselfff."
"You heard her," Lars said. He looked at the giant fusion. "We'll let you know how things go."
Steven led Lars and the Off Colors inside the beach house.
"We will learn what a Queen Gem is!" Padparascha exclaimed. "How interesting!"
—
Garnet walked from door to door, delivering pizza to the ones who ordered. She took the money and tips, putting them away to be given to Kiki Pizza later.
She had begun delivering pizzas again when her Future Vision started acting up. Normally she would see multiple timelines, and multiple timelines for THOSE multiple timelines.
But now she saw only one timeline.
It started about five days ago. She was looking into the future to see how much damage there would be from the storm that was going to hit Beach City, when suddenly, everything went blank. After that, she only started seeing one timeline, but she could only see so far into it. It started with a whole day, then devolved into a few hours. Eventually it became only a few minutes. It was as if she were walking around blind.
She'd delivered pizzas to help with the opposite problem, too many visions, several years ago, finding several stray kittens in the process, and hoped doing so again would help. She'd started because Steven kept on making choices that were so improbable, so unlikely, that she didn't even foresee them. But now she saw only one. One clouded in mystery. She couldn't help but feel worried.
Garnet reached the last house of her route, five pizzas in hand. Vidalia's house. Her Future Vision activated, showing Vidalia coming out of the tarp covered garage, wearing blue overalls covered in purple paint. She approached the front door and rung the bell, hoping she was wrong. She heard the tarp moving and looked to the garage, seeing Vidalia in the same clothes she foresaw her in, holding a change purse.
"Hey, Garnet!" Vidalia greeted loudly. She took the pizza out of her hands, handed her the money, and opened the top one up. It was filled with every topping there was. Pepperoni, sausage, anchovies, pineapple, mushrooms, as well as some… less than edible ones. "Thank Kiki for the odd request for me, would ya? Wasn't sure she'd actually do it, even when I told her it was for Amethyst."
"Not a problem," Garnet told her, shifting her visor. "She does this kind of thing for her all the time in person. But she won't do it again; Kiki says it's not good for business if the health inspector finds out."
"Yeah, sure. You wanna come in? I told Amethyst she could take a break once the pizza got here. She's been standing still in this new form for almost six hours, and lord knows that's a challenge for someone like her."
Garnet nodded and followed her inside the garage. There were paintings everywhere, most of them of Amethyst, some of Gems from Little Homeworld, and a new one being made now. Amethyst stood in the center of the garage, in the form of a strange cat/dog/sheep hybrid, holding a stoic Onion in her mouth.
"Oh, hehy Ghahrnret!" she said, her mouth positioned near what looked like a horned ear. Vidalia put the pizzas on a tool table, checking each one and separating them into two different piles.
"Hey," Garnet replied.
Vidalia walked to the door to the house, holding three of the five pizzas. "I'm just gonna give these to Sour Cream and his friends. Be right back. Amethyst, Onion, you two can take a break."
"Shweet!" Amethyst said. She shapeshifted back to her normal form, Onion still in her mouth. wiggling his feet. She grabbed him and pulled him out, Onion looking at her with slight annoyance at being covered in spit. "Sorry, little guy."
The two ran over to the two remaining pizzas, Onion trying to stretch for them, but unable to reach. He still hadn't grown since Steven left Beach City. Amethyst opened one up, handing it to Onion when she saw the toppings. The pizza had a variety of non-standard pizza toppings; mayonnaise, ketchup, peanut butter, and lots of pepper among them. Onion took a slice, taking a big bite out of it.
Amethyst opened her pizza next. The toppings on hers was even more unusual; aside from the plethora of normal toppings one would see on a pizza, hers also had torn up pieces of napkins and cut up straws, inedible objects only a Gem could consume.
"Kiki doesn't want you ordering this kind of stuff over the phone anymore," Garnet told her. Amethyst took the whole pizza out of the box and put the whole thing in her mouth at once. "She doesn't mind doing this in person, but if the health inspector finds out, she could get in real trouble."
"Yeah, sure," Amethyst said through a full mouth of pizza. She chewed thoroughly, savoring the flavors, then swallowed with a big gulp and a satisfying moan. "Sorry, but I was REALLY hungry while holding this little guy in my mouth all day. I thought about actually eating him, but I didn't want Vidalia getting mad at me."
The Gems looked at the strange little kid, who either ignored Amethyst's joke or didn't hear it. He pulled his pizza out of his mouth, taking off the toppings and cheese, leaving the bread intact. He chewed with an absent look on his face, giving no reaction to the strange toppings combined flavor, much less the large amount of pepper it had on it.
"I swear, that kid is not human," Amethyst said with a small laugh. She looked back at Garnet. "So, why are you delivering pizza again? You get bored or something?"
"My Future Vision's been acting up for the past few days, so I asked Kiki if I could deliver some pizzas," Garnet told her. She then looked at the shorter Gem. "I can't seem to see anything passed a couple minutes."
"A couple minutes?" Amethyst repeated. "You said last time you could see a day into the future. Garnet, it's getting worse! Maybe you should take a bath in those Diamond Auras Steven keeps in the bathroom."
"Those are for Corrupted and Cracked Gems. Besides, it's probably nothing," Garnet assured her. "I'm sure it'll be back to normal in few-" Garnet stopped mid-sentence. Her usual stoic face changed to one of shock, then to one of fear and horror, visible even behind her visor.
"Garnet?" Amethyst said. When she noticed the look on her face, she grabbed her by the waist and shook her. "Garnet, what's wrong!?"
Garnet quickly turned around to look at the beach house.
—
Steven opened the fridge, taking out two water bottles. Pearl, fortunately, kept the fridge stocked for Amethyst and their human friends. He walked to the couch, where the crew of the Sun Incinerator sat waiting. Peridot was sitting at the coffee table, digging her camera out of the alien doll, which she had retrieved from the upper floor.
"So what were you doing on Homeworld?" Steven asked, handing a bottle to Lars.
"The crew wanted to visit," Lars replied. He opened the bottle and took a sip. "It was the first time they were there without having to worry about being Shattered."
"And the Gem? How'd you find it?" Steven took a sip as well.
"We found a shuttle that would take us to one of our old hideouts," Rhodonite told him. "It was where we first met the Twins."
"There was a boulder we could never move," the Twins chimed in. "Captain Lars helped us move it."
"You moved a boulder?" Steven asked Lars.
"Yeah." Lars flexed his bicep, trying to show off. "Ever since I turned pink, I've gotten a lot stronger! I don't even exercise, but I can lift hundreds of pounds like it's nothing! But in the end, it was a group effort."
"Well, Lion's the same way, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"Anything else I should be able to do?" Lars asked as he handed the bag containing the Pearl to Steven, excitement in his voice at the prospect of gaining new powers.
"Lion can do sonic roars, teleport, you know, standard magic stuff," Steven told him, taking the bag. He put his water bottle on the table and looked inside, seeing a massive Pearl, bigger than any he'd ever seen. He took it out to take a closer look. "Wow, it's even bigger in person. Wasn't there another piece?"
"Oh! Right!" Lars reached inside his head to grab the other piece. "Ah! There you are!" Lars pulled out the other piece and handed it to Steven.
Steven took the piece of Pearl out of Lars's hand and put it with the larger piece. It wasn't a perfect fit, a large chunk of it still missing. Cracks were visible across Pearl, going all around it. A ring was around it, keeping it from falling apart any further. The larger part was filthy, covered in dirt and grime, while the broken piece's filth was smeared away. He knew how awful it felt to have his Gem be dirty, and Pearls were known for being extra fidgety about it. Especially his Pearl.
"We looked around for more pieces, but we couldn't find any," Lars told him, seeing Steven eye the large missing piece. Steven wiped some of the grime off the Gem, grimacing in slight disgust. "That chunk of it broke off when I wiped it, so I stopped. Didn't wanna risk breaking it any more than it already was."
"Yeah," Steven said, wiping the grime on his pants. "Smart move."
"I've never seen such an old Gem," Pearl commented. She bent over from behind the couch, putting her finger over it. She took a closer look. "It even has a setting! And a platinum one at that!"
"Does that mean something?" Steven asked as Pearl held her right hand over the Gem, careful not to touch it.
"Settings were once used to signify how high up in the Gem hierarchy the Gem was. It was used in the earliest days of Gem history! Bronze was the lowest, then Silver, then Gold, and then Platinum," Pearl told him, touching the ring with fascination. "She must have belonged to a very important Gem!"
"Why'd they stop?" Lars asked.
"Because they were considered gaudy," Pearl replied with a hint of haughtiness. "But apparently, they had a second use; keeping a Gem from falling apart if they were damaged. Maybe they should have been kept around after all."
Pearl took a closer look at the Gem, looking at the small hole in the center. It was already unsettling seeing such damage up close, let alone to another Pearl. She then looked at Steven.
"Steven, you shouldn't get your hopes up about restoring her; this kind of damage, to such an ancient Gem, the odds of it even being restored even a fraction of a fraction is next to nothing."
"You may be right," Steven said as he sat up and walked to the bathroom door. "But there's no harm in trying."
Steven entered the bathroom and closed the door. He turned the cold-water faucet for the tub and plugged it close. As it filled, he turned the sink on to clean the Gem. It would need to be clean to restore properly. He removed the small bits of Pearl, washing them first and putting them to the side; he'd need every bit of Pearl he could get if he wanted any hope of restoring it.
Once he finished with the shards, he started with the large piece. He was careful to make sure he didn't damage it any further; he could feel that the tiniest bit of pressure could make it snap at the cracks. When he finished, he cleaned the piece that had broken off next. He put it with the bigger piece, putting it where it broke off, and added the shards.
He opened the medicine cabinet, taking out the Diamond Auras. He hadn't used them since he'd restored Jasper; thankfully they refilled them just in case they found another Gem, as well as giving him a larger amount, and more potent than before, just in case something like that happened again.
He added a few drops of each essence, including some of his saliva. Nothing happened. He'd need to be careful about how much he used. The Diamonds could only make so much of the Auras at a time, and whenever he visited them, they always insisted on him staying on Homeworld with them, so he liked to keep his visits as rare as possible.
He added more and more, until the water finally began to glow. About half of each bottle was left. They hadn't found a Corrupted or damaged Gem in over two years, so it probably didn't matter in the long run.
Steven could see the Gem's broken parts pulling together as they fused and regenerated, a violent crackling sound accompanying it. It almost sounded painful; he'd never actually thought of it before, but did Gems feel pain in their actual Gems? He didn't, but what about a full Gem?
The Pearl began to glow, and Steven could see the light taking on a form. An arm. A torso. Legs. She stood out of the tub, her sole, right arm leaning against the wall for support. Her Gem was on her forehead, taking up most of the space in an awkward manner.
"Hey," Steven said, placing a hand on the Gems glowing form. It felt strange touching a still forming Gem, like touching a really bright light bulb. "I know you must be confused and scared right now, but you need to keep your Gem in the wa-"
Steven was cut off by the Gem turning and lunging at him, grabbing his throat with its still forming hand, and slamming him against the bathroom wall next to the door. The tiles broke when he collided with them, the broken pieces falling to the floor with audible clanks!
"Stop!" Steven choked, grabbing the Gems arm, trying to pry it off his throat. "We're-!" The Pearl's grip tightened around his throat. "Trying to help!"
"Steven!?" Pearl yelled from the other side of the door, knocking loudly on the door. "Steven, what's wrong?!"
The Pearl gripped Steven's throat harder and began strangling him. He could feel himself starting to lose consciousness. He gagged as he tightened his grip on the Gem's still glowing form. He pulled it to the right for leverage, then threw it into the door, breaking it open and sending the Gem into the living room.
"Whoa!" Lars yelled in surprised, quickly and clumsily unsheathing his sword. "Steven, what's going on?!"
Pearl summoned her trident and took a stance, taking a step towards the still forming Pearl. Lapis summoned her water wings and flew above her, summoning the water from the water bottles to her side, ready to attack with it. Bismuth morphed her hands into hammers. Peridot jumped at the sound, then lifted her camera, ready to throw it at the Pearl. The crew of the Sun Incinerator stood near their captain, unsure of what to do, unfamiliar with actual fighting.
"Stop!" Steven rasped out heavily, coming out of the bathroom and falling to his knees. He clutched his throat as he struggled to breathe, coughing violently. "She's just confused and scared! She-!" He coughed. "She doesn't know what's going-!" He coughed again, letting out a small heave. "Going on!"
Steven slowly approached the Pearl, holding his hands up in a non-threatening manner, raggedly catching his breath. The Pearl's body was still forming as she staggered to a stand, holding a skinny, trembling hand over her Gem, which was still crackling painfully as it slowly healed. She looked at everybody in the room with unseen eyes, finally settling on Steven.
"Please, we just want to-"
"A terrible vision!" Padparadscha suddenly yelled in uncharacteristic fear. "The Gem Captain Lars found will be restored by Steven and attack us all! He will Poof many of us and will become a dangerously powerful foe! He will destroy our world, killing billions! He will become a threat to the universe itself!"
Silence filled the room as everyone present, even the still forming Pearl, stopped to look at her. Steven finally broke the silence with a simple question.
"HE?"
Sneak peek for chapter three.
A loud crash sounded from outside, silence coming soon after. Steven shrank his shield, seeing his house destroyed. He ran to the remains of the porch, only to see Sugilite on her back, her massive flail cut to pieces, several slivers littering the beach, and two large chunks on either side of its fallen wielder. The Male Pearl landed on her chest, unscathed from the battle, his Gem glowing an intense light. Sugilite groaned as he walked up to the Gem on her chest.
Amethyst's Gem.
The Male Pearl flipped Lars's Glass Sword in his hand, raising it above Amethyst's Gem. His Gem glowed even more, as did the sword; Steven could feel immense power coming from both of them.