AN: Before we get started, I just want to say thank you to everyone still Favoriting and Following this story, even after I was away from it for a very long time. With 158 Favorites and 177 Followers, I looked up OC x Pearl stories, and we're NUMBER ONE!
Thank you all for the support, liking this story, and sticking with it.
Chapter 13: Strong in the Real Way
After Lion took them to that mysterious cave and then the movies, nothing else really interesting happened afterward. About three days later, a battle with a giant pufferfish monster ended up with Garnet damaging Fish Stew Pizza, leading to the owner Kofi banning the Crystal Gems from the pizzeria. Steven then threw a cookout at the Temple to mend the relationship between the Pizza family and the Crystal Gems. Things didn't go according to plan, and the pufferfish returned. But with the help of the Pizzas, they beat the monster. Isaac then called out the Gems for their dismissiveness toward humans and had them apologize for the damages down.
Then when Steven was getting fed up with things not going his way and desired for some alone-time, he ended up unlocking a new room in the Temple; Rose's room. Isaac wasn't there, but from what Steven told him, the room was able to answer his every wish, but it was artificial and not real. Steven was quick to get out, a hasn't been in the room ever since.
And that brings us to the events of today, as Isaac, Steven, and the Crystal Gems warped to their mission's location. When he opened his eyes, Isaac looked around and saw that they were in the middle of an expansive desert. In front of them stood a giant tower-like structure that contained many huge pillars adorned with triangular patterns.
Steven looked up at the tower in amazement. "Woah! What magical place of mystery is this?"
"Well—" Amethyst was about to try and explain but got interrupted by Pearl, who was particularly excited.
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! This was once a communication hub for Gem-kind," she told the two hybrids as she walked over to one of its pillars. "But lately, it's begun transmitting bursts of electromagnetic interference!"
Isaac walked next to her and looked up at the top of the town. "So it's sending out EMPs," he asked.
"Whazzat mean?" Steven asked.
"Electromagnetic pulse," Isaac clarified before explaining. "It's a short burst of electromagnetic energy that is capable of disrupting or damaging electronic equipment."
Steven stared at him.
"You didn't understand a thing I just said, did you?" Steven shook his head at Isaac.
Garnet then said bluntly, "It's hurting television."
"Noooooooo!" Steven cried out before turning to a pillar. "I'll save you, television! Ha-yah!" The young boy tried to damage one of the pillars. But failed to any damage to it.
Amethyst stopped him by lifting Steven up and placing him away from the pillar. "Sorry, but we need a Steven at least..." She then shapeshifted into a stronger looking Steven with much more muscles than Isaac thought the boy would ever get. "THIS strong for this job!"
Steven gasped at the sight. "It's all the me I could be!"
Amethyst started attempting to destroy the pillar. Punching it to break it. She was able to crack it but wasn't enough. Pearl caught a small piece of the pillar punched off by Amethyst. "Amethyst, we could be here all day taking out these pillars individually," she scolded the purple Gem.
"Ugh, I hate it when you're right. You get this look on your face..." Amethyst looked at Pearl's face and became annoyed at this rather cute face she was making. "Yeah, that's the one."
"Why don't I give it a try," Isaac said, walking up to the pillar. Pearl and Amethyst stepped back to let the son of Onyx give his try. Looking at the pillar for a moment, Isaac took in a deep breath and exhaled. Concentrating his powers, before clenching his fist and then bringing back. Letting out a battle cry, Isaac swung forward.
A loud crash echoed as Isaac's fist punched into the pillar, creating a crater in the stone before cracks started to spiderweb all over. Seeing that it was coming apart, Isaac and the others ran back to escape the crumbling pieces of debris falling down. Creating a small cloud of dust as it all crashed down.
The other looked at the small level of destruction with impressed expressions. Steven had stars in his eyes before yelling out, "YEAH! THAT WAS AWESOME!"
Isaac blushed a little and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah? Well, it was nothing," he said modestly, before looking at the hand he used to punch the pillar. His gemstone and tattooed one. There was no damage done to it at all. No bleeding, no broken bones, no nothing. "Actually, I didn't think that it would do that much damage."
"Well then, with Isaac here, then this will be easy!" Pearl said in an upbeat tone, walking over to him. She then started to project a hologram from her glowing gemstone. "With your strength Isaac, all we need is a well thought out plan—"
"No." Garnet suddenly interrupted Pearl, much to her and Isaac's surprise, and of everyone else. "What we need is Sugilite," she said, before turning to Amethyst. "Amethyst, fuse with me."
"WHAAAT?!" both Gems exclaimed loudly, and both with different moods. Being the one filled with positive emotions, Amethyst began to scream in excitement and Pearl looked with a mixture of both confusion and anger.
"Yeah! Let's mash it up! Bigger, badder, better! Ohohohohoho!" Amethyst laughed as she enthusiastically twirls around.
Steven looked confused for a while with Isaac sharing the same feeling. But then he figured it out and said excitedly, "Hold your horses! Are... you guys going to become a Gem Fusion?"
Amethyst replied by screaming excitedly. Then both she and Steven scream together in excitement.
"WAIT!" Pearl yelled at them, stopping the excitement. Isaac looked at her a little surprised as there was a moment of pause. Sure he could understand why she didn't want to form Opal, but her reaction was rather unexpected and a little off-putting. "Garnet, think about this. You and Amethyst can be a little...eheh...unstable when your personalities combine."
"How unstable are we talking about?" Isaac asked anxiously.
"Very," she said before looking back up at Garnet. "We need to be careful! Fuse with me, instead."
Garnet placed her hand on Pearl's shoulder. "We don't need to be careful. We just need to be huge." That didn't reassure the pale Gem nor the blonde hybrid.
"Oh, yeah! Let's wreck this joint!" Amethyst shouted and followed Garnet. The two moved a few meters away from the two half-humans and Pearl and got into position to fuse. While he was anxious about how Sugilite was going to turn out to be, but was interested in seeing how Gems fused.
Last time, he was eaten and didn't see the process.
With their gemstones glowing, Garnet said, "Synchronize." Then she and Amethyst started to dance.
Isaac watched with his arms crossed as he watched. He was a little surprised by the types of dances moves the two were using. Beside him, Pearl blushed and covered Steven's eyes. "Wha-? Whu-? Pearrrl... Come on! I wanna see!" He complained and tried to look through her fingers. But Isaac helped her with covering the boy's eyes too.
"When you're older, kid," he said. There was no denying that the dancing was rather sexual, and he wanted Steven to stay innocent until the appropriate age. "So is this how Gems fuse?"
"That's right," she explained. "Fusion is a connection between two Gems that goes far deeper into each other core. Feelings and emotions are intertwined, along with powers that are harnessed in unison."
Garnet and Amethyst's fusion dance continues, before colliding into each other. Just like back with Pearl and the purple Gem tried to fuse at the Sky Spire, their forms glowed and mixed together into one. But unlike how the two broke apart, the fusion was complete, and the glowing form grew bigger and larger until the glowing went away, and the new Gem being was towering in front of them.
Sugilite was a colossal and menacing-looking fusion with a stocky, bulky build and four arms-each pair seeming to share a shoulder joint. She featured four, medium-lilac eyes located under a strong brow and a fifth one above it. Her mouth was twisted into a grin and filled with sharp, pointed teeth. She had a giant plume of spiky, dark purple-black hair kept in an untamed style similar to Amethyst's, but messier. Her skin color was lavender, like Amethyst's. She appeared to have purple fingernails painted to appear as gemstones themselves, which were located on her chest, and on the palms of the hands of her upper arms.
She had fuchsia skin, wears a ripped, dark purple, black and burgundy bodysuit similar to Garnet's, and a lilac visor covering her lower eyes. She had four arms which are connected at her sleeves. Her bodysuit has tears in it that are similar to Amethyst's.
"Hahahahaha!" Sugilite laughed out loud. Her very form and voice radiated power and strength. Giving off the vibe that she was a juggernaut fusion. "I forgot how GREAT it feels to be me!" She said, cracking her four knuckles.
"Holy shit..." Isaac said, a little intimidated, but something was forcing him to stand his group.
"That's Sugilite?" Steven asked in awe.
"You got it, baby. Hey, Steven. Wanna see something cool?" She asked, bending down to him as she appealed to his wonder.
"Yeah!" Steven yelled.
Sugilite obliged and summoned two of Garnet's gauntlets from her hands. The two gauntlets grabbed each other and fused together with a loop at the bottom. Sugilite then summoned Amethyst's whip and tied the end of it around the loop, forming a giant flail that came crashing down to the ground.
Steven gasped loudly in amazement.
"You like that, little man?"
"Are you gonna smash stuff with your wrecking-ball-thingy," asked the young boy.
"That's the plan! Where should I start?" Sugilite got ready by turning to the pillar.
Isaac quickly waved his hands out to get her to stop. "Wait! Hold on!"
"Do that one!" Steven interrupted his friend and pointed to a pillar. Sugilite proceeded to swing her flail and smashed it and other pillars next to it.
As debris fell near them, Pearl started to pull Steven. "Steven, I think we should go," she said, going for the warp pad.
"No way! This is awesome!" Steven protested, wanting to stay as Sugilite smashed more pillars, causing debris to fall everywhere.
"Do as you're told!" Isaac yelled at him following Pearl. "Sugilite's out of control-"
Pearl then saw a chunk of rock flying towards him and screamed. "Watch it!"
Isaac turned around and saw the rock. Unable to summon his sword, the blonde could only cross his arms in an X and braced himself. He grunted in pain as the rock broke apart and nearly knocked him down, but he was able to get his footing and remained standing. He wasn't harmed, thanks to his powers, receiving however some bruises and cuts on his arms that would heal.
But one of the small, broken off rocks few at Steven and hit him the face. "OW!"
"Steven!" Pearl and Isaac exclaimed in worry.
"AH!" Isaac yelled in pain as he was hit in the back by a much larger boulder that shattered to pieces on impact.
"Isaac!" Pearl screamed worriedly as he fell on the ground. But thankfully he wasn't too hurt and got back up. She then glared at Sugilite. "Ugh, you're just too much!"
"Maybe you're just too LITTLE!" Sugilite replied with a grin.
Pearl and Steven ran over to Isaac and helped him up. "Isaac, are you okay?" The pale Gem asked worriedly. While the rock that hit Steven's face only left a small cut, Pearl didn't know if Isaac's back was broken.
"I'm fine, what about you," Isaac said with a groan of pain as he stood up. But he was more worried for Steven than himself.
"Yeah, I fine."
"Come on, you two! We're going!" Pearl told the young boy and picked Steven up with her left arm. She then stood beside Isaac and supported him. They began walking back to the Warp Pad.
"What? I'm fine! What about Sugilite?" Steven asked, as they stepped on the pad.
"She can find her own way home!" Pearl said angrily, already upset with how the two humans were hurt by Sugilite's reckless actions.
"Awww..." Steven moaned dejectedly at not being able to see the destruction play out.
As he was still hanging onto Pearl's shoulder, Isaac noticed a shadow growing over him and the others. He looked up and the blonde's eyes widened when he saw a giant boulder heading right from them. "Holy shit!"
He tackled Pearl and Steven onto the pad, planning to use his body to shield them. But Isaac accidentally activated it and teleported them out of there. Right be the boulder crushed the pad.
When the house's warp pad activated, Steven yelled as he was sent flying out of the portal when they made it back to the temple. He got up and looked to Isaac and Pearl. "That was so awesome! Isaac! Pearl! Was that..." The young boy stopped when he saw the way they were.
Isaac groaned in pain after landing back-first on the hard crystal surface, shooting pain up his spine. Pearl shook her head to clear it up and come to her senses from the sudden teleportation. When she looked down, Pearl saw what she landed on and her eyes widened.
Isaac's pain lessened when he looked up and he too was shocked.
Pearl was laying on top of Isaac and he was holding her tightly in his arms.
"Uh...sorry?" Isaac said awkwardly. He released her and Pearl quickly stood, getting off him. Isaac tried standing, only to yell out in pain.
"Isaac? Are you okay?!" Pearl worriedly, kneeling down next to him. Looking fearful for her friend. "Let me see your back." Isaac nodded and rolled on his stomach. Pearl lifted up his shirt and gasped in horror. This made Steven rush over to see. However, that look of horror turned to wonder.
"How bad is it?" Isaac asked from his position. At first, his back didn't look good with an ugly purple spot on his back. But amazing it, that very same spot receded. Going smaller until it was completely gone from his back.
"It-It's gone," Pearl said in total amazement, placing her hands on Isaac's back and pressed against it while rubbing him. This brought out an unintentional groan from Isaac's mouth, making the Gem quickly take her hands away. "Oh goodness! Did I hurt you?"
Realize what he did, Isaac blushed red on his cheek and looked away. "N-No, its just...your hands..."
"My hands?" Pearl asked, looking at her hands. Were her hands filthy? Was she causing some kind of discomfort?
Isaac shook his head and sat up. "No, it's..." He looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. "It felt good."
Pearl looked at him with a confused expression. Touching a human's back felt good to them. But then she realized that she had basic massaged his back and it added to the blush that had built up when he held her in his arms. She quickly stood up, while Isaac looked down at the warp pad and placed his hand on it.
He tried to activate it, but it didn't turn on. "Well, it looks like we're not going back there," he said.
"Hey Pearl, where are you going?" asked Steven, making Isaac look back up. Pearl was walking quickly to the door, before opening it and closing it after stepping out. Steven looked at Isaac. The blonde rubbed the back of his head, hoping that things wouldn't be awkward after this.
And, hopefully, Sugilite can get home on her own.
3 days later, and Isaac was walking over to the Big Donut for a cup of coffee and some donuts to take back for Steven. It's been a while since he's gone to get a cup of coffee from the place and just talked with Sadie and Lars. The latter of which he could do without. When he entered the shop, Isaac approached the counter where Sadie was. Passing by Lars who was on one of his random lunch breaks.
"Hey Sadie," Isaac said.
Sadie turned around after stocking some items. "Oh! Hey, Isaac-!" She stopped and screamed, startling Isaac and Lars, who was leaning back in his chair and fell over.
"What?!" Isaac exclaimed, thinking that something was wrong.
"Isaac, what happened to your eye?!" Sadie shouted, pointing at his face. "Did you get hurt or something?"
Lars walked over and looked at his face. Only to laugh at him. "Whoa, nice tattoo, Isaac," he said mockingly. Earning him some berating from Sadie for making fun of him while he could be hurt.
Wondering what they were talking about, Isaac realized that it was his crack scar mark on the right side of his face. "Oh, this," he asked, touching the mark. "This just showed up one day after I used my power. Apparently it's my mother's scar."
"You're mom's scar? What is this, like you and her being the same person now," Lar asked with his usual mocking voice.
Isaac was about to retort when he heard the shop door open. Wondering who it was, he turned back to see who it was. He instantly knew it was Steven. "Hey, Steven...oh, for the love of..." He groaned. Upon seeing him, Isaac saw Steven wearing a pair of sunglasses and a big roll of gauze wrapped around his head.
"'Sup?" Steven said, trying to act tough.
While Isaac looked deadpan at the young boy, and Lars wasn't too interested, Sadie looked genuinely worried for the young boy and ran up to him. "Whoa! Steven, what happened to you?"
"Oh, just a little battle damage from our last mission," Steven replied nonchalantly as he leaned on a table, taking off his sunglasses and putting them on his tank top.
"You got on the head by a rock," Isaac deadpanned.
"Yeah, but check out this awesome scar I got!" Steven lifted up the gauze that was applied on by Pearl, revealing a tiny cut on his forehead.
Seeing it, Isaac sighed, face palmed, and shook his head. Why didn't Pearl listen to him when he told her it wasn't anything to worry about? Meanwhile, both Sadie and Lars burst out laughing at how amusingly underwhelming Steven's "battle damage" really was. Steven frown in confusion, not getting why they all through it was so funny.
"It must not have been a very big rock," Sadie said, still chuckling good-naturedly.
Steven covered up the cut in embarrassment. "Well... there's... internal... bleeding," "Steve said, defensively. "My hurt is on the inside!"
"Oh please! You got hit on the head with a rock the size of a fist and I hit in the back by a boulder the size of a car!" Isaac said, taking a sip of his coffee. "But then again I can heal quickly. If you're complaining about a little cut, then it's time for you to toughen up, Steven."
"You're right," Steven said with a disheartening sigh as he took off the gauze and sat at the table. "I'm soft."
"If I weren't so modest, I'd whip out my sweet six-pack and..." Lars said smugly, but when he tried to open a can of sardines, he struggled to get it unscrewed. "And show you what... a real man... looks like!..." He grunted as he tried to turn to top off, but failed miserably. Sadie offered to do it was a knowing expression. Annoyed, Lars passed the can to her, and the blonde coworker was able to open it with ease before returning it to the skinny teenager. "Nah... I'm not gonna say thanks," he grumbled, getting a punch in the leg by her.
"That's it! We all need a workout! Let's do it! Let's workout together!" Steven exclaimed, with stars in his eyes. Isaac really had to ask how a person was able to do that. He watched the enthusiastic boy pointed to Sadie. "You can beat up Lars!" He turned to Lars. "And you don't have to starve to death if Sadie divorces you!"
"We're not married!" Lars snapped.
"Could've fooled me," Isaac said, smirking. "The two of you argue like a married couple."
"And Isaac, you can buff up and be strong like Sugilite!" Steven exclaimed excitedly. Isaac raised an eyebrow and looked down at his body. He was already athletically built. Not built like a bodybuilder, but was more like a swimmer that still made his t-shirt stretch a little. But it was also clear to anyone that knew what was going on that the impressionable boy was inspired to be like Sugilite. "And I know just the guy to help us out."
About an hour later, both hybrids and humans walked to the Beach House. Steven, Lars, and Sadie were in comfortable workout clothes. When they arrived at the beach in front of the house, they found Greg fast asleep on a workbench. All around them was makeshift gym made out of everything that he could find and use that was already his or in the dumpster. And it still wasn't a lot.
"Wow! This looks great!" Steven said, however, still optimistic. Greg was awakened by the sound of his son's voice and got up. A piece of 2x4 stuck to the side of his face before falling off. "Hey, dad!"
"Hey, Steven. You like it?" He asked as his son and Isaac approached him.
Isaac looked around with a raised eyebrow. "I'm surprised that you actually pulled it off," he said looking at the track that was made. "Barely."
"Yeah, well it's the best I can do on such short notice," Greg said.
When Lars and Sadie walked over to join them, Lars picked up a dumbbell made of cans tied by strings to a wooden handle. The thing quickly fell apart within a second being off the ground. "No kidding," he said.
"Well, I might join you kids show you how it's done! I've been slacking off on my workout routine for a few weeks...months...years..." The other looked at him with raised eyebrows, making Greg cough in his hand. "Decades."
"Well, while you join your son and try and fix your body, I've already got in my workout a little bit ago," Isaac said, walking back to the house. Intending to do some laundry that he's been neglecting to do for some time. But he wasn't looking at where he was going and accidentally bumped into Pearl. "Oh, sorry, Pearl! Didn't see you there."
"No, it's okay. No harm done," she said with a slight smile. Blushing a bit.
"We'll need sweatbands!" Steven yelled, running past the older hybrid and white Gem, going up to the Beach House. Isaac sighed as Steven was still wanting to be strong only in the body.
Greg picked up a real dumbbell and looked to Pearl. "Hey Pearl. Come to check out some buff studs?" He asked and Isaac couldn't help but look back at him.
Pearl raised an eyebrow as she looked Greg over. "... No," she said simply. Isaac held in his laughter as he followed her, walking up to Steven's house where the young boy was grabbing several sweatbands. "Steven, what on earth are you up to?"
"They're starting a gym in order to get in shape and stronger," Isaac said, leaning on the railing of the porch.
"Yeah!" Steven said, flexing. "Imma get supa strong! Like Sugilite!"
The moment she heard that name, Pearl's happy expression and smiled was gone, flinching a bit upon hearing the reckless fusion's name. Disheartened at the mention of Sugilite. Something that Isaac couldn't help but notice. "You know, maybe this isn't a good idea," she told him.
"What? I wanna be strong so I can be useful to the team!" Steven tried to reason.
Isaac could admire his reason for getting stronger, he knew that the boy was going about it all wrong and might not work as much. "Pearl's right, Steven. There are different ways of being strong," he said, trying to reason with him. "Strength isn't always in the muscles."
"But you have super strength! I want to take strong too. want to be strong in the real way. Come on, guys." Steven stubbornly stuck to his way of things and puts on a sweatband. "Let's get beefy!"
Pearl pouted as she blushed angrily. "I'd rather not," she said, entering the house. Pearl sighed as she closes the door behind and leaned against it. She then noticed that Steven's clothes were all over the floor. "Steven..." She grumbled, but relaxed and started singing to herself.
"Why do you have to look up to her
Aside from in a literal sense?
Don't you know that a power that big
Comes with a bigger expense?"
Isaac and Steven looked inside as she sang and picked up the boy's clothes. Folding neatly. But when picked up a pair of sunglasses, she was reminded of Sugilite and dropped them.
And can't you see that she's out of control
And overzealous?
She sees everyone working out through the windows. Steven ducked to the ground, but Isaac didn't. He looked over his shoulder at the others as they were exercising. Pearl stared at the humans before her eyes trailed over to Onyx's son.
I'm telling you for your own good,
And not because I'm-
She quickly cut herself before saying "jealous," but knew it was true. Pearl walked over to the window and pulled down the blinds in disapproval.
I can show you how to be strong...
In the real way.
And I know that we can be strong
In the real way.
And I want to inspire you
I want to be your rock
And when I talk
It lights a fire in you
Isaac looked back inside to see Pearl give small respite walked to the door. He looked at were Steven was, but didn't see him there. Back on the beach, determined, Steven turned up the volume of his stereo and yelled into his megaphone at the gym.
"Who's ready to get buff?" Isaac looked back at the beach to see him with the others. "I don't wanna see your gut, I wanna see your guts!" Steven turned back to Pearl as she looking at them from the porch. The two shared eye contact, but she quickly looked away and was about to walk back into the house when Isaac stopped her.
"You want me to talk to him?" he asked, but Pearl glanced at him with a slight like of contempt.
"No," she said coldly and walked back into the house. Steven then continued singing his own version of the while instructing and inspiring everyone with the workout.
"I can show you how to be strong...
In the real way
And I know that we can be strong"
Now the two were singing the same song, but Isaac paid attention to Pearl's voice.
And I want to inspire you
I want to be your rock
And when I talk
It lights a fire in you
I want to inspire you
I want to be your rock
And when I talk
It lights a fire in you
In the real way
Isaac stared at Pearl in amazement. He's heard all the gems sing once or twice since living with them, but Pearl was by far sang the most beautifully. Her voice was wonderful, her delivery of the lyrics was flawless.
"Hey, Steven." Isaac turned back to the beach when he heard Sadie. Everyone had collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Sweating profusely. "Maybe um... you can work out a bit, too?
"Uh-huh? I have been," Steven said, confused
"We've been working out," Lars said, collapsing on the ground after doing push-ups. "You've just been singing some dumb song."
"But you're doing a great job pumping us up!" Greg said after taking a moment to catch his breath.
"And what about him?!" Lars pointed and gestured to Isaac, who was watching them. "All he's doing watching us sweat our motherfucking balls off!"
"You're right," Steven said, before turning to Isaac and held up his megaphone at him. "Hey! Come on, Isaac! C'mon and join us! I already have something for you to pump!" He pointed to a bench press set with the bar already having a few weights attached to it.
Isaac didn't like the idea of feeding the boy's obsession, especially when it was after witnessing Sugilite wreck the communication hub reckless. However, he knew Steven wasn't going to let go until Isaac did it. He looked to the other humans and they stared at him with anticipation.
Shrugging with a head shake, he walked down to the beach. Behind him, Isaac heard the door open and he looked back to see Pearl looking at him with wide eyes. Watching the blonde hybrid. Steven was about to yell into the microphone again, before Isaac snatched it from his hands and threw it over his shoulder. Not wanting to have Rose's son yell in his ears when he does this.
Laying down on the backrest, Isaac looked up at the bar as Greg rushed over to spot him. He didn't even know how strong he was. All he knew was that he was strong enough to break one of those pillars. Everyone watched with bated breaths as Isaac grabbed onto the handlebar and lifted it off the rack.
Immediately, Isaac felt the weight of the barbell and it almost came down hard on him. The sound of the iron bending rang in his ears told him that it was going to break his arms. But it didn't. Isaac pushed up, and it suddenly started to become manageable. Even easier for him to lift the bar onto the rack.
He quickly sat up as Greg handed him some water. "Are you okay?" he asked the blonde as he gulped down the water.
Isaac stopped drinking and looked at Steven. "Steven, how much did you put on?"
"250 pounds!" The boy said with a big grin.
"What!?" Sadie exclaimed.
"Steven, that's too much!" Greg scolded Steven, who looked confused as to why they were all upset. "You could've seriously hurt him!"
"But I wanted to see how much he could lift," Steven said to reason with them. "But I didn't know how much he could."
Isaac wanted to be mad at him, but he couldn't help but look at the barbell in amazement. "Well, I can say that's the most I've ever tried to lift," he said, before giving Steven a stern look. "But that seriously could've been dangerous."
"But this was what you wanted, right?" Steven asked.
"I do want to be stronger, Steven."
"Supa strong, like-"
"Like Sugilite?" Isaac interrupted, looking at the boy disapprovingly. The boy looked at little startled and meekly nodded. This made Isaac sigh.
Greg was silent for a moment. "I can take some off," he said, about to pull off some of the weights on the bar.
That's when an idea entered Isaac's head. "Actually," he started, turning to look at some of the other weights lying on the ground. "Let's keep going."
Greg, Lars, and Sadie looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you crazy, man? You looked like you were going to crushed," said the skinny young man.
"I've got super strength, but I want to know my limits," Isaac said, looking at the bar. I want to knew how strong I really am."
A moment later, Greg added 20 lbs. Making the bar weigh 270 in total. Isaac laid back and grabbed the handlebar. He pushed it off the rack, letting the weight come down before stopping it when his arms were at a 90-degree angle. Just like before, he felt like it the peak of his strength and was going to crush him, but when he started to push up, that weight seemed to decrease. Isaac was surpassing what he would consider being his human limitations. It was as if he was no longer able to break his bones or tear his muscles the more he believed that he could do it. And so he continued having Greg add more, making everyone increasingly nervous by how much Isaac was going to push himself. But again and again, Isaac pushed the bar up and was able to keep pushing it up. After ten presses, he added more, until there were no more weights to add on. Steven then excitedly took the paint cans used as dumbbells and hooked them onto the end of the bar. Isaac again pushed against what he considered to be his limits and pressed ten times before resting the bar on the rack.
He looked back at the bar with eyes filled with amazement. That was easily 350 lbs! Far past what he believed to have been possible for him to do in the past. Just like when he was hit with a rock, Isaac's back didn't break like his arm and was able to heal quicker too. It was as if his powers were increasing. Ever since he awakened Hellfire.
That made him think for a moment. His powers started slightly changing ever since he summoned his flames and his mother's scar appeared on his face. Could there be a connection?
"That...was...awesome!" shouted Steven. Isaac looked back to see the three humans staring at him with wide eyes. Even from the house, Pearl stared at him with a look of amazement.
Isaac nodded his head. It was kind of awesome. He then stood up from the bench press and looked at the boy. "Don't ever do anything like what I just did, Steven," he said standing up and walked over to Steven.
"Thanks, but I need to get strong, too," Steven said, still determined. He then picked up 2 car tires and covered his lower torso with them. And then picked up 2 more and held them over his head. "I'm switching to four-wheel drive!" He dropped the tires down on him, completely covering his body. Steven then began running laps, breathing hard.
Seeing that the boy wasn't going to stop with his obsession, Isaac turned and made his way back up the hill to the beach house. Passing by Pearl, who he gave a nod and walked into the house. Walking over to the refrigerator to grab a bit to eat, he was interrupted when the door slammed shut.
"What was that?!" Pearl shouted. Isaac turned back and saw her marching towards him with a furious look on her face.
"What? It was only way to get Steven my back," Isaac said, sitting on one of the stools of the kitchen counters.
"By doing what you did? You could've killed yourself, or at the very least hurt yourself!" She shouted angrily.
"I wanted to test my own abilities. Ever since I used Hellfire, my powers have been changing and I need to know what I'm capable of," he explained.
"So what? You decided to show off how much more powerful you are?" Pearl asked with bitterness and jealously spilling from her voice. This surprised Isaac, as she's never been this hostile before. Not even with Amethyst when they were fighting. "You say that strength isn't just in the muscles but then you go and prove how strong you really are to Steven! How do you think that's going affect him? You know how impressionable he is! You and Sugilite-"
"Sugilite?"
There was a pause in the room. Both now glaring at one another. "You know what I mean."
"No, I don't! What does that have to do with me doing bench presses and Steven wanting to be stronger? Seriously? what the hell's up with you lately? Without Garnet and Amethyst, we're down half a team, and ever since they formed Sugilite-"
"Don't you dare speak her name!" Pearl angrily cut him off.
"Why?!"
"UGH! YOU'RE JUST TOO MUCH! JUST LIKE HER!" Pearl gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth in shock and horror by what she said. There was silence in the room again as Isaac looked surprised at her. His expression switching from anger to emotional hurt when he heard her. Isaac stared at her for a moment, before his expression turned to a mix of sadness and disappointment. Slowly, he took a deep breath to control his emotions and calm himself before he said something he'd regret.
"Fine."
"Isaac..." Pearl tried to speak.
"I'm sorry if I was a bother to you," Isaac said bitterly, before walking over to the door.
"Isaac, wait a minute." Pearl grabbed his arm to stop him, but Isaac yanked away from her. Turning back to glare at her as she stared at him with eyes widened, filled with shame and guilt, and looking like they were going to tear up.
"I don't know what's gotten into, Pearl, but let's get something straight; I don't give a damn about Sugilite. I do, however, have and always will care about you," Isaac said, surprising her a little. "But you better figure out the difference between your enemies, and your friends."
With that, Isaac walked away and slammed the door closed behind him. Leaving Pearl all alone in the house. Overwhelmed with guilt and shame, she sat down on the couch when her legs felt weak, holding her mouth. Why did she have to say that? Why did she have to drive him away because of her own insecurity? It was true that she was concerned for his safety when he was bench pressing, but the more he lifted, the more she started to see just how much stronger he was. So much so that all her frustration built up from Sugilite and Steven wanting to get stronger led to her need to take it out on something. But shouldn't have been Isaac, who's been nothing but a good man.
She looked up at the painting of when the Crystal Gems and Onyx sailed the seas. He really was just like her, his mother, in so many ways.
The next day, the sun raised in the morning, and Isaac sat up on his air mattress. His eyes had dark spots under her eyes from his lack of sleep. He had walked around Beach City to clear his head, but it didn't help. Still upset with what happened yesterday. When he returned back to the house around midnight, Steven was laying on his bed and Pearl was nowhere in the house. Having retired to the temple.
He broke down the bed and stored it away. "Steven, come on! We're ready to get started! We can't work out without your mad coaching skills!" Sadie's loud voice called out from the beach. Isaac walked to the window and saw her, Lars, and Greg waiting for the young boy.
Isaac walked up to the second floor and said, "Steven, you're workout friends are here."
Steven groaned in pain. "Be there in a sec!" He said to the people outside." He struggled to get off of the bed. Knowing that the boy had overworked himself, Isaac rolled his eyes and helped the boy get up. Together, they walked down the stairs. "So sore from getting ripped..."
"That's what it takes to get stronger," Isaac told him, reaching for the door.
"I don't understand." Pearl's voice said from the entrance of the temple. Isaac and Steven looked to see her standing in front of the warp pad before turning around to the boys. "Amethyst and Garnet still aren't back yet. I tried to warp back and check on them, but the warp pad's down!"
Suddenly the ground started to shake, and Greg, Lars, and Sadie's voices could be heard panicking outside. Exclaiming about something they were seeing. The house started to rumble and crumbles fell from the ceiling. Confused, the trio quickly exited the house, with Steven stumbling out. On the balcony, they watched in fear as they saw Sugilite in the distance, marching towards them in the ocean.
"What the fuck is that?!" Greg yelled as Lars fell off from the makeshift monkey bars.
"GUYS, RUN!" Isaac yelled at the humans on the beach.
Sugilite arrived at the beach and everyone did as Isaac told. Running away in fear as the fusion let out an infuriated roar that rattled the surrounding area. "I'M BORED!" She roared bitterly.
"It's Sugilite!" Steven cheered. Isaac saw Pearl running past him down to the beach. He looked at his gemstone and saw it glowing, so he rushed out towards the two.
"Y-you're back!" Pearl said nervously, approaching the giant fusion.
"YOU LEFT ME BEHIND!" Sugilite accused, pointing at Pearl.
"We just thought you didn't need any help. Now, why don't you separate, and we can all sit down and relax?" Pearl suggested, trying to have the fusion settle down.
"NO! Sugilite suddenly kicked Pearl away.
"Pearl!" Isaac yelled, catching her in his arms. Knocking them both to the ground.
"Listen to me!" Pearl exclaimed, glaring up at Sugilite as Isaac helped her up. "You've been fused for too long! You're losing yourselves!"
"I AM MYSELF! AND I'M SICK OF BEING SPLIT UP!" Sugilite proclaimed. "SO YOU BETTER GET USED TO IT, BABY. AND GET THIS JUNK OFF MY BEACH! She then started stepping on the makeshift gym. Destroying the handmade equipment.
Steven struggled over to Pearl and Isaac. "Why is she wrecking Dad's gym?" He exclaimed, sharing the two's panic. "Why is she attacking you?!"
With no time to explain or argue, Pearl lifted Steven up and tosses him away. "Steven, get out of here!" She yelled a he fell down a nearby ditch. She then summoned her spear and got into a fighting stance. "Isaac, go with Steven!"
"Are you nuts!? I'm not going to just leave you to fight her alone!" Isaac exclaimed incredulously.
"I'm not asking!" Pearl gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her spear. "I'm ordering you to..."
"And I'm not going anywhere!" Isaac replied, summoning two of his swords.
"WHAT? YOU WANNA FIGHT?!" Sugilite glared down at the two.
"You'll thank me... LATER!" Pearl yelled and leaped towards Sugilite, but she was quickly swatted away by one of the fusion's large hands. Isaac gasped as she was sent crashing to the ground, before his blood started to boil.
With a battle cry, he rushed at Sugilite. The fusion looked to the young man and grinned, swinging her flail at him. But Isaac jumped forward, dodging the weapon. He then rushed to her right leg, and put his swords together. Shapeshifting them into a single, large cleaver that he swung around, before swinging into Sugilite's leg. Cutting halfway into it.
Sugilite screamed in pain as the weapon disappeared. Making her kneel down to grab her wounded leg. Giving Isaac the chance to jump up and punch her square in her visor, shattering it into a dozen pieces and knocking it off her face. He was swatted away by her fist as Sugilite grabbed her face. The fusion glared at Isaac as he landed next to Pearl, revealing her fierce and angry five eyes.
"Isaac, stay out of this!" Pearl snapped, standing back up again.
"Pearl, we've got to work together! It's the only way to beat her!" Isaac exclaimed, trying to reason with her.
"NO! I can do this!" Not thinking straight, Pearl rushed a Sugilite and jumped at her.
"Pearl! Stop!"
"YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMETHING?" Sugilite roared fiercely, catching Pearl by surprise and her attack fell apart. "YOU!" The fusion headbutted Pearl to the ground. Pearl landed on her feet, but Sugilite threw her fist up, slamming into the white Gem and sending her flying up into the air. "AIN'T!" Pearl couldn't do anything when the purple fusion jumped up and smacked her into the ground from the sky. "NOTHING!"
Pearl nearly fell unconscious when she hit the ground, though thankfully her gemstone was undamaged. But she was however heavily injured, adding to her despair as she glanced up to see Sugilite land and send her flail at her.
Time slowed down as Pearl was suddenly pushed aside by Isaac. Her body turned in midair to see it was him that did and her eyes widened in shock and horror.
Simultaneously, Pearl landed on the sandy beach as the young man took the full force of Sugilite's weapon. The head of the weapon crashed into the side of the moutain, damaging Steven's house.
Pearl could only stare in horror at the weapon, which was stuck deep in the rocky structure. "ISAAC!" She screamed out, believing him to be dead.
She attempted to stand up, to head over to him, but in her weakened state, she kneels in pain. Steven, Greg, Sadie, and Lars stared at the hopeless situation with fearful worry. Shame overfilled her as bowed her head, tears falling as she started to cry, knowing that she'd lost.
"I...I can't do this." The white Gem muttered mournfully as Sugilite approached her. "I'm sorry... Steven, Garnet, Amethyst..." Pearl looked over at Sugilite's flail that still has Isaac's likely mangled corpse behind it. More tears streamed down her face as she tightly grabbed the ground. "Isaac..." she choked out, realizing that she was never going to see his handsome face again. To tell him how sorry she was. "I so sorry...I wasn't strong enough, to protect you. I was never strong enough to do anything..."
Sugilite stood over Pearl and raised her foot over her to crush the white Gem. "BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME-"
WAHBAM!
Sugilite was suddenly slammed in the face by her own flail, Pearl looked up and was shocked to see it was Isaac that was hanging onto the ring of the fist part of the weapon. Having been fueled by adrenaline and with his body letting off some steam, he launched himself and the flail out of the mountainside like a rocket.
His clothing was ripped in several places, his body was littered with bruises, and there was a trail of blood leaking out of his mouth and face. But despite his injuries, he wore a grin on his face as he yelled, "Three points, ya dirty whore!"
Isaac then planted his feet on the bottom of the flail and pushed it further against Sugilite's face, sending her stumbling back until she fell back into the water.
He landed on the ground in front of Pearl and turned to her. She looked up at him in amazement as Isaac walked over to her and crouched down in front of the Gem. "Come on, Pearl. Don't give up. I know we can take her down together.
"I can't..." Pearl replied dejectedly, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
"You may think that you're weak, Pearl, but you're far from it," Isaac argued, looking at her with a fierce passion in his eyes. He then did something he never through he'd ever do: sing. "I can show you how to be strong...In the real way." Pearl stared at him in shock as he stood up, smiling down at her as the wind blew in his hair. The blonde then offered her a hand. "And I know that we can be strong...In the real way."
"You can do it, Pearl!" Steven yelled. They both turned to see the boy lying on the ground using the megaphone. "Come on! You always know what to do! You gotta show her what you showed me! That you're strong, Pearl! Strong in the REAL WAY!"
This along with Isaac's singing stir Pearl's heart with determination. She turned back to Isaac, and smiled with her newfound confidence. "And I want to inspire you..." Pearl sang, grabbing Isaac's hand. "I want to be your rock..." On shaking legs, Pearl slowly pulled herself back on her feet with Isaac's help. The two of them looked at one another. "And when I talk" The two stared at one another with smiled and blushed. "It lights a fire in you..."
Together, they turned and faced Sugilite as she matched onto the beach again. She glared at the two and appalled that Isaac was still alive. "WHAT? YOU WANT SOME MORE?!"
"Anytime!" Pearl proclaimed, standing beside Isaac.
"You're no match for us! Not even close!" Isaac proclaimed with a cocky grin. With a battle cry, the blonde threw his sword up at Sugilite, stabbing into one of her five eyes. Sugilite screamed in agony, covering her face with one hand and punched towards the two. However, Isaac and Pearl were read and dodged the attack by leaping out of the way. "Head for the cliff!"
The two landed on the ground and ran away towards the cliff as Sugilite chased after them, ignoring the katana deep in her top eye. Isaac and Pearl ran up the cliff the temple resided against, all the while Steven cheered them on.
"GET BACK HERE!" Sugilite shouted, gaining on them as her fury burned red hot. When Isaac and Pearl reached the edge of the cliff, they turned around to face Sugilite as she smirked down on the duo. Laughing triumphantly. "NICE TRY. IS THAT ALL YOU GOT? YOU THINK THAT RUNNING AWAY IS ENOUGH TO BEAT ME?!" Sugilite startED swinging her flail.
"You talk too much," Isaac said. He jumped at Sugilite's face before she had a chance to react and delivered a powerful punch to her face. Knocking some of her teeth out. He then grabbed onto her hair and pulled himself on top of her head, all while the fusion was trying to maintain her balance. Isaac ruined this by punch the side of her head, knocking her off balance and down on one knee. He then reached down and grabbed the handle of his mother's katana and forcefully pull it and Sugilite's head up. Making her stand up and stumble around as she was about to crush him with her hands. "NOW PEARL!"
Knowing what Isaac had planned, Pearl then jumped off the cliff, soaring high into the air. In midair, she turned her body around and hurled her spear at the ground underneath Sugilite, which just so happened to be the edge of the cliff. Causing her to lose her footing, and sending her fall off the cliff to the ground.
In midair, as she screamed in panic, Isaac yanked his katana out of Sugilite's eye and jumped onto the fusion's weapon. He stabbed into the weapon and when Sugilite landed first on her back, the hybrid let out a primal battle cry as he brought the flail down with him.
Sugilite's face filled with shock and horror, before Isaac landed on the ground with a yell, bringing the fusion's own flail down on her face. The brutal attack caused massive damage in a single strike that she fell apart instantly, separating her back into Garnet and Amethyst in a poof of purple cloud.
Isaac stayed still in a kneeling position, with his sword in hand, near Garnet and Ameythst's semi-paralyzed and incapacitated bodies lying in the sand. Then the katana disappeared and the Onyx gemstone returned to normal. Isaac stood up and looked at the two, before sighing in relief seeing the aggressive fusion gone.
"Amethyst! Garnet!" Pearl exclaimed with concern as she raced over to her fallen comrades. Joining the bloodied and battered Isaac with his wounds all healed, who was now panting out of exhaustion. "Are you OK!?"
"Yeah..." Garnet moaned weakly, exhausted. "Sugilite just overworked our bodies. It's... a little painful."
"I've got a monster headache," Amethyst muttered, as her body was too weak to even move.
Disregarding their pain, Pearl pulled Garnet and Amethyst for a tearful hug. Garnet and Amethyst groan in pain, with the sound of their bones cracking could be heard. This quickly caused Pearl to release them. "Oh, whoops," the white Gem said with a sheepish laugh.
Isaac chuckled for a moment, before falling on his back with a sigh. Making him grunt in pain as his body was still very sore from taking the hit for Pearl. This attracted the attention of Pearl and she moved over to him. "Isaac, are you okay?" she asked worriedly as Greg ran over, carrying Steven under his arm. Lars and Sadie joined.
"I'm fine. I'm just going to rest for a moment," he said to try and ease her mind.
However, Pearl's worried expression turned to a look of shame as she gently laid a hand on his chest. Left of his shirt's logo. "Isaac...I'm sorry...for everything. I was just so..." she trailed when Isaac placed a hand on her's.
"Pearl, it's okay. Really. I'm happy to see you show just how strong you really are," Isaac said with a smile.
"Yeah, Pearl!" Steven exclaimed, catching Pearl's attention. "You were amazing
Pearl looked at the boy in confusion. "But I don't understand," she said, turning back to Isaac. "You were the one that defeated Sugilite," she said.
"But you showed just how stronger you really are, in here." Isaac lifted up his hand and pointed to her heart.
Pearl stared into his eyes as the blonde gave her a smile, showing he really wasn't disappointed in her in any way. Pearl smiled with a blush and grabbed his hand pointing to her heart with both hands and tightly held them. "Thank you, Isaac," she said. "And thank you, Steven. You make a good coach."
"Pearl," Garnet said, catching the white Gem, the two hybrids, and Greg's attention. "We want you to know that we're sorry." The leader turned to Isaac. "You too, Isaac. We should've listened to Pearl...she were right."
"Yeah," Pearl said, standing up over the teammates laying on the ground. Feeling emboldened by her leader's words. "I was right."
Feeling proud for her, Steven pulled out the megaphone and cheered, "Go, Pearl!"
"Come on! I feel GREAT!" Pearl declared spiritedly to her injured teammates. "Who's up for a MISSION? OR..."
As Pearl continued shouting her cheerful filibustering rant, Amethyst tiredly sighed. "How long is she going to keep this up?" she asked, having no energy to do anything to stop her.
"We deserve it. Take it like a Gem," Garnet said, knowing that neither she nor Ameythst had the right to stop her and it was fair payback. Especially after Sugilite showed no mercy on Pearl and nearly killed Isaac.
"Uh... What the heck just happened?!" Lars exclaimed, still standing with Sadie in the background.
"Another day in our lives, Lars," Isaac said. Then he turned serious for a moment and looked at Garnet and Amethyst. "Seriously, though, we're never calling on Sugilite again."
"Noted," Garnet grunted.
"DROP AND GIVE ME 20!" Steven shouted through the megaphone.
AN: After a VERY long absence from this story, I'm finally back to working on it. First, I'd just like to say that I'm really sorry for not updating this story sooner, I got caught up in other stories and my personal life. A part of it was also procrastination, as like I said, the first part of season 1 wasn't the most exciting and didn't pick up until the second half. However, we're coming back strong with this retelling of "Coach Steven!"
One of the big things about this chapter is that Isaac's powers are growing stronger than before. You know how when you reach a certain age, your body is supposed to stop growing? When, it's kind of the opposite with Isaac ever since Hellfire was first used. Now his abilities are growing. His body is starting to display signs of invulnerability with his back not breaking and a faster healing factor that now heals him faster than it did before. And then there's his super strength. For all you movie-buffs reading the story, then you've likely seen how similar the bench pressing scene is similar to the one in Unbreakable, and there's a good reason. Like the main character's David Dunn's super strength, Isaac's strength is now more of an act of conscious will than actual physical strength; the more he believes in his strength, the stronger he becomes. As long as he can ignore the pain of dealing with increased weight, functionally he has no upper weight limit. Meaning that he'll become as strong as his mother.
And just to give you an idea of the Gem of War's true strength, she's much stronger than Garnet is.
We also get to see Pearl and Isaac have a moment to argue with each other. While it may seem as though it's kind of forced, it works for the two. Pearl was jealous of Sugilite because of how much stronger she was compared to her. She was upset that Steven was inspired to be just like Sugilite. Isaac is powerful too and Steven's inspired by him too. All that frustration would've led to Pearl showing bitterness to him until she lets out her frustration on him. However, being kindhearted, she'd feel terrible about it. But in the end, these two found forgiveness in each other by showing how much they wanted to support each other in being stronger.
During the battle with Sugilite, I decided to have Isaac's finishing move/execution or Sugilite be inspired by God of War (2018). If you've played the game, then you've likely seen how Kratos finishes off Trolls. What's basically how it was.
I haven't actually started Steven Universe: Future. Mostly because it didn't really seem all that interesting and also because some people have said that this season/spinoff has problems with the writing, but what do you guys think? Is it something worth getting into? Let me know.
Once again, I'm skipping over a few episodes and finally getting to the end of Act 1 with "An Indirect Kiss", "Mirror Gem", and "Ocean Gem". Who do you think should get the cracked gem? Isaac or Amethyst?
I was actually thinking of flashback chapters of Onyx that will be inserted throughout the story. These chapters wouldn't be in chronological order, only telling different moments in Onyx's life that helps the reader understand why she was such a big deal. Would that be a good idea to do?
Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.
Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.