Hello and welcome readers to my Steven Universe fanfiction. The Black Crystal Gem. The truth is I'm a fan of Steven Universe, and I read a few fanfics of it from time to time. I was always planning on making my own at some point, but I just couldn't decide when, and I was writing other stuff, too, so I was distracted. But after watching the end of season 5, I finally decided now was a good time. As for the premise, it's one I had in mind for a while. There's going to be an OC in this story, so if you don't like that, you've been warned. This is one of those stories that start off small but will climb up the further it goes on, kind of like the actual series in a way.
Anyway, I don't own anything except for the OC.
The OC will be a Gem-Human hybrid, and if it wasn't obvious, his Gem will be Black.
Why, 'cause Black's my favorite color… And it's going to be important later.
The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. Steven Universe is owned by Cartoon Network and Rebecca Sugar. Please support the Official Release.
Gem Glow
Our story begins at Beach City in the Big Donut. The Big Donut roof is topped with a large donut sign covered in chocolate icing with pink, green, and blue sprinkles. The roof is colored in a blue and pink pattern, the walls are muted violet-brown, and the window canopies are a deep pink and brown striped pattern printed with a "Big Donut" sign on the awning. There is a table with a pink umbrella and two chairs near the entrance.
On the inside of the Big Donut, goods can be bought at a counter at the back of the store's front room; baked goods are stored under the counter. Flyers and advertisements can be seen on a board near the counter. Vending machines, coolers, and product posters that line the walls are also found. Small tables are scattered about the shop.
Inside were two young-looking boys, a teenage boy, and a teenage girl.
The first young boy was Steven Universe. He is relatively short with a thick, stocky build. He has curly dark brown hair that bushes around his head and full black irises. He wears a salmon-pink T-shirt with a gold star in the center of it. He also wears cuffed blue jeans and salmon-pink flip-flop sandals.
The second young boy is Vergil Dimension. He is also short, standing only two inches two taller than Steven. He has straight black hair that goes down to his shoulders and, like Steven, full black irises. He wears a long-sleeved white buttoned-up shirt which, like Steven, has a gold star in the center of it; over his T-shirt is a Black sleeveless waistcoat that reaches down to his waist. He also wears Black skinny jeans and dark red strap shoes. He also wore black gloves over his hands that reached up to his wrists.
The teenage boy was Lars Barriga. Lars is lanky and somewhat tall. He wears tunnels in his stretched earlobes. His curly, orange-brown hair is styled into a sort of mohawk. At the Big Donut, his work uniform is a violet T-shirt with a half-eaten donut design on it worn over a pale cream long-sleeved shirt, along with a pair of ripped, dark blue jeans. In regards to his shoes, Lars is often seen wearing mint and dark green high-top sneakers.
And finally, the teenage girl was Said Miller Sadie, who is short and heavyset, with curly shoulder-length blonde hair. She is wearing the store's uniform. Her uniform consisted of a periwinkle polo underneath a purple shirt, which displays the Big Donut logo (an image of a half-eaten donut that resembles the letters "B' and 'D'). She wears black leggings and pink-red shoes.
Things start off when Steven is in front of the counter and says.
"Noooooooooooo!" Steven screamed and looked distraught. "This can't be happening! This has to be a dream!"
Vergil stood a few behind Steven and looked at him with half-lidded eyes. "Must you do this every time?"
"Yes!" Steven answered before running up to Lars, who was also in front of the counter, holding a box and grabbing him by the waist. "Lars! Lars! Please tell me I'm dreaming!"
"Get off me, man. I'm stocking here." Lars said while he shook him off.
Steven then falls to the floor. Vergil then walks up to him, and Sadie, who is behind the counter, looks down at him.
"You okay?" Vergil asked Steven.
"Yeah." Steven said; his words were muffled because his face was on the floor.
"I'm sorry, Steven. I guess they stopped making them." Sadie said apologetically.
Steven stood up, still distraught. "Stopped making them?! Why in the world would they stop making Cookie Cats?!" Steven asked, looking at a freezer on the counter with a picture of Cookie Cat on the top. "They're only the most scrumptious and delicious ice cream sandwich ever made!" Steven then gets on his knees and shouts. "Don't they have laws for this!?"
Lars then kneels in front of a cabinet and sighs while stocking the shelves. "Tough bits, man. Nobody buys them anymore. I guess they couldn't compete with Lion Lickers."
Lars looks behind himself and refers to a display case filled with an ice cream called Lion Lickers while Steven groans and walks over to the display case.
"Uhh…Not Lion Lickers. Nobody likes them. They don't even look like Lions." Steven then puts his hands on his hips and shakes his head. "Kids these days, I'll tell ya what."
"You do realize you're a kid yourself." Vergil pointed out. "Besides, Cookie Cat doesn't look like a cat either."
"What? Of course, he does." Steven argued.
"Well, if miss your wimpy Ice-cream so much, why don't you make some with your "magic belly button"?" Lars mocked before walking away laughing.
"That's not how it works, Lars!" Steven said before turning to Vergil. "…Right?"
"Of course not; whoever heard of a Gem who can summon ice cream?" Vergil answered.
Steven then goes up to the Cookie Cat freezer, looking upset and distraught.
"Oh, sweet Cookie Cats." Steven then draws a Cookie Cat on the front of the glass of the freezer with his finger. "With your crunchy cookie outside and icy, creamy insides…You were too good for this world." He then kisses the freezer.
Sadie and Vergil just stare at Steven.
"Ugh…Steven." Sadie said.
Steven doesn't reply as he hugs the freezer. Lars then turns from the counter and also stares at Steven.
Vergil knocks on the freezer, which gets Stevens's attention. "Dude, seriously, this is getting sad." He told him.
"Do you wanna take the freezer with you?" Sadie asked.
Steven nods.
"Don't just let him take it!" Vergil said before reaching into his pocket and taking out some money. "Here's some money for the freezer." He then takes out a dollar. "And here's some for donuts; I'm hungry."
Later, we see Steven and Vergil walking along the beach. Steven has the freezer tied to his back like a backpack, while Vergil is holding a bag of donuts and is holding one that's half-eaten.
"I can't believe you got so emotional back there." Vergil said.
"Ah, come on, you can't tell me you're not upset that they stopped making Cookie Cats." Steven said.
Vergil took another bite of his donut. "Look, all things considered, it was bound to happen at some point. Those things had too much sugar for most kids to keep eating. Having too much of them is seriously bad for you." Vergil then throws his empty bag into the wind. "Besides, even then, it's just a snack; no one but you would get so worked up that they'd want the freezer."
"Actually, that reminds me, why did you pay for it when Sadie said I could have it?" Steven asked.
"Because, even if Sadie said you could, it technically belongs to the store, not Sadie." Vergil pointed out. "That and Pearl told me to always pay for stuff. It's important."
The two of them soon made it to the Beach House. The house was a moderately sized two-story house made of wood. The front door is a screen door, and next to the front door is a large window. On the right side of the house, there is a smaller window. On the roof is a small chimney. Outside the house is a wood-floored porch with a plastic table and chairs. Attached to the porch is a wooden staircase that leads to a small hill that leads to the beach.
Behind the house was a large cliff carved and sculpted into the face of the cliff, which was a giant statue of a strange yet beautiful woman. This was the face of the Crystal Temple. The giant woman had four pairs of arms with four arms spread out, and the other four converged around the house's sides, which rested on the figure's navel. Of the four arms spread out, only the top-right arm had an intact hand, and the broken-off remains of the other hands can be seen sticking out of the beach sands in front of the Temple.
Steven and Vergil were walking up the stairs and stopped at the front door.
"Well, I'm still gonna tell the Gems about it." Steven said with his hand on the doorknob.
Steven opens the front door. "Hey, guys! You won't believe this!"
"WOAH!/AHH!" Vergil and Steven screamed out when the moment the door opened, they were faced with two gnarly mandibles that had an eye located in the base of them, looking right at the two and roaring as it lunged at Steven.
After lunging at him, the mandibles started chomping at Steven, trying to chump on his face. Steven tried to push it back when Vergil moved in and grabbed the jaws, the upper mandible with his left arm, and the lower mandible with his right arm, trying to pry it off of him. However, at that moment, a purple wipe wraps around the creature. And throws it across the room.
A few feet away, the one holding the whip is revealed to be Amethyst. Amethyst was around the same height as Steven. Amethyst has a somewhat stout build. Her skin is bright lilac, her eyes are dark indigo eyes, and her thick hair is messy pale lavender hair that goes down to her ankles with a large bang that obscures her left eye. She also has plump lips and a small, upturned nose. She also has a Gemstone that is the same Gem as her name located on her chest, and the bottom half of it is covered by her shirt. Amethyst wore a mauve, oversized, off-shoulder tank top with a black bra underneath. She also wore black leggings with star-shaped cutouts on the knees, with a tear above the left star, and small, pointed, white boots.
The whip she was using was a multi-tailed dark violet whip with a cross-guard in the form of a lavender star. There were multiple shards of purple gemstones embedded on the main lash, with a large gemstone as the pommel.
"Hey, guys." Amethyst greeted before pulling her whip and throwing the creature across the room.
The inside of Beach House was a modest-sized house with one large interior room. The upper level had a bed and a small TV, along with a glass balcony door, while the main interior contained a lounge with a fireplace and a kitchen bar. However, deep in the far side of the house's interior, it opens into a stone and rocky area with an ancient-looking gateway and a circular platform in front of it.
However, right now, the house was swarming with large, centipede-like Arthropods. Each of them had upper portions that were covered with chitinous, bumpy, dark green exoskeletons throughout the body, with a single pair of legs of the same color. The lower side of each segment was light green, slightly translucent, with a yellow-green diamond shape in the middle of each of it.
At a different part of the room, Pearl was standing on the circular platform, fighting off more of these insect-like creatures with her Spear. Pearl has a slender, thin build, ivory skin, sky-blue eyes, a pointed nose, and thin lips. She is quite tall, towering over Amethyst, Vergil, and Steven alike. Her hair has a peach color and resembles a pixie cut in the front, while in the back, her hair leads to a point. Pearl's Gemstone is a pearl located in the middle of her forehead and has no facets. Pearl wore a sleeveless, sky-blue top that had a translucent chest and transferred into a transparent silk ballet skirt around her waist. She also wore short salmon pink-colored leggings, light-green socks, and slip-on ballet flats to match.
Her Spear consisted of a glowing blade with a white grip and a cyan, white, gold-colored pommel shaped like a star. The head of the blade spiraled down the upper shaft, becoming less sharp on the lower shaft. Pearl was fighting more elegantly, like she was dancing. She knocked away one of the creatures, and it was sent flying.
The creature lands in the arms of Garnet, who brings it down to her knee and snaps it in half before throwing it away. Garnet has medium, maroon-colored skin and black hair styled into a cube-shaped afro. Garnet is taller than everyone else in the room, with Pearl reaching only her chin. She almost always wore triangular futuristic, translucent orange-tinted shades. She wore a black and crimson bodysuit with cubic shoulder pads, the right one being magenta, the left one being crimson, and a pink star with a magenta outline on her chest. She also wore long, elbow-length black gloves that covered her middle fingers.
Garnet fought off the creatures around her, punching them away with her weapon. A pair of oversized gauntlets covered half of her lower arm. Each one had a red and light red spiral design around the entire shaft, red and dark red fingers, and fingertips, and contained the same star motif on the tops and bases of the gauntlets.
One of them landed on Garnet's head, and she just grabbed it with both hands before she ripped it in half, and it poofed into thin air.
The Gems were fighting them all over the house.
"Awesome!" Steven placed the freezer he was carrying onto a seat near the window. "What are these things?" He asked.
"How is this awesome?" Vergil asked before turning to the Gems. "And how did they even get here? We've only been gone for ten minutes."
"Ugh! Sorry, you two." Pearl groaned, picking up one of the creatures. "We'll get these Centipeetles out of here. We think they're trying to get into the Temple."
"Aw. You don't have to get rid of them," Steven said as he and Vergil walked up to her. "They're really cool." Then, without warning, the Centipeetle that Pearl was holding spat out a green substance onto the floor. It turned out to be acid, as it melted away the floorboard. The three of them looked down into the new hole, and then Vergil looked at Steven.
"Uh, I'm with Pearl. We should get rid of them." Vergil commented.
Amethyst used her whip to throw a Centipeetle into the wall of the cave in the back. When it poofed, Amethyst looked back at the others. "Um, you guys, these things don't have Gems?"
"That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby." Garnet said, walking up to Steven, Vergil, and Pearl.
"Or a Queen." Vergil noted.
A Centipeetle snuck up from behind her, but Garnet quickly punched it without turning around, causing it to poof. "Or a Queen."
"We should probably find it before anyone gets hurt." Pearl said, still holding the Centipeetle she had as it struggled to break free.
This instantly got Steven. "Oh! Oh! Can I come?! Can I! Can?!" He asked eagerly.
"Steven, until you learn to control the powers in your Gem." Pearl said as she snapped the Centipeetle's neck. "We'll take care of protecting humanity, okay?"
"Ah, man." Steven said, feeling down. He then noticed one of them going for the fridge. "Hey! Get out of there!"
The Centipeetle is in front of the open fridge door, holding a bottle of milk in its jaws, and Steven runs up to it. "Go on! Shoo! Shoo!" The Centipeetle runs off, and Steven inspects the fridge while Vergil walks up to him.
"Aw, they got into everything." Steven laments while Garnet stands in front of the Centipeetle and punches it, causing it to poof. "Not cool!" Steven yelled at the Centipeetle before it poofed. Vergil looks up at the mini-freezer on top of the fridge and looks surprised.
Vergil pats Steven's shoulder to get his attention. "Um, Steven, don't look now, but…" He then points to what he saw.
Steven looked and gasped. His eyes widened with stars. The inside of the freezer was filled with Cookie Cat ice cream sandwiches. They were these delicious ice cream sandwiches that had half vanilla ice cream on the left and half strawberry ice cream on the right. All in-between cookies that were shaped like a cat's head.
"No way. I-it can't be! Wha-where did you get these!? I thought they stopped making them!"
"He's right." Vergil looked at Pearl. "Sadie told us they stopped making them. How'd you get some?"
"Well, we heard that, too." Pearl said with a smile as she closed the fridge door. "And since they're Steven's favorite…"
"We went out and stole a bunch!" Amethyst proclaimed as she hopped onto the bar.
Pearl grunted angrily at Amethyst. "I went back and paid for them." she corrected.
"The whole thing was my idea." Garnet then claimed.
"It was everyone's idea." Amethyst corrected.
"Not really." Garnet replied.
"Garnet." Vergil spoke, looking at her. "I can never tell if you're serious or not."
"I get that a lot." Garnet said.
"All that matters is that Steven is happy." Pearl said, looking happily at Steven before turning to Vergil. "Vergil, would you like one?"
Vergil shook his head. "I'll pass. I already had donuts."
However, Steven was busy staring at the pink wrapper-covered ice cream. Suddenly, he got ready to sing.
"Oh, not the song again." Vergil muttered, annoyed.
"Oohhhhh!"
"He's a frozen treat with all new taste!"
"'Cause he came to this planet from outer space!"
"A refuge of an interstellar war!"
"But now he's at your local grocery store!"
"Cookie Cat!"
"He's a pet for your tummy!"
"Cookie Cat!"
"He's super-duper yummy!"
"Cookie Cat!"
"He left his family behind!"
"Cookie Caaaaat!"
"Now available at Ghurven's off route 109!"
The Gems burst out laughing and applauded while Vergil just sighed. "I wish you wouldn't sing that song every time you eat Cookie Cats. It's getting old."
"I can't believe you did this! I'm gonna save these forever!" Steven proclaimed. "Right after I eat this one." He then ripped open the wrapper and pulled out the ice cream sandwich. "Hello, old friend." He then bites into it. Suddenly, something started to glow. "Oh, so good." Steven doesn't notice the glow coming from under his shirt. "I like to eat the ears first."
The others are all shocked by the glowing. "Uh, Steven…" Amethyst spoke.
"Wha?" Steven quickly lifted his shirt and saw his gem glowing. "My Gem!"
Steven's Gem was a Quartz gem similar to Amethyst's gem, except the color was a rose-shade of pink. It was located in his stomach.
"Quick turn and summon your weapon!" Amethyst encouraged him.
"I don't know how!" The Gem was starting to lose its glow, causing Steven to panic. He grabbed his head and started jumping in place. "Ah! It's fading! How do I make it come back?!"
"Calm down, Steven." Pearl said in a soothing voice, but Steven was anything but calm. "Breath, don't force it."
"Yeah, and try not to poop yourself, either." Amethyst joked.
"Please don't." Garnet said.
Soon, the Gems glowing faded away. They all sighed in dismay as Steven slid down on the floor.
"Ah, I was really close that time!" Steven puts the Cookie Cat he was eating in its wrapper and looks up at the Gems. "Can one of you just explain how to summon a weapon?"
"Oh, I'll go first~!" Pearl said in a singing tone. She then headed for the front door. "Follow me!" Steven excitedly ran after her.
"I better go, too." Vergil said as he ran after them.
Later, Pearl took the two boys out to a hill that had a full-grown cherry blossom tree that was in bloom, with bright pink blossoms filling its branches and dark-colored bark.
Steven and Vergil sat down on top of the hill by the tree while Pearl was standing in front of them.
"I always love coming here." Vergil said with a smile.
"You've been here before?" Steven asked.
"Yeah, Pearl brought me here once during training."
Pearl began her lesson.
"Pay attention to these petals, Steven." Pearl told him. The two of them watched one of the petals fall. "The petals' dance seems improvised, but it is being calculated in real-time based on the physical properties of this planet. With hard work and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gem and perform your own dance!"
She then placed her hands near her Gem, and it glowed before she summoned her spear. With the handle and blue blade shorter than its original form, Pearl grabbed the weapon, and the spearhead extended before she treadled it around, and the handle extended. Afterward, she placed the end of the spear on the ground and did a pose.
Confident, Pearl opened her hand and let a petal fall off into it. "Like so."
Steven simply picked up some petals, and Vergil noticed the confusion on his face. "…Maybe we should try something else."
After leaving, Steven and Vergil head to Amethyst, who is behind the Big Donut, eating a donut. Steven threw the petals in the air again while Vergil looked at Amethyst.
"Amethyst, any advice you've got for Steven?" Vergil asked.
"Let me guess. Pearl told you him 'petal thing'." Amethyst guessed correctly.
"Yeah, I need to practice really hard so I can dance like a tree…I think." Steven said, still confused.
Vergil sighed. "That is not what she meant—This is why I brought him here." He turned back to Amethyst. "He doesn't get Pearl's thing, so I was hoping you could explain it and that it would be simpler."
"Sure." Amethyst agreed to it and turned to Steven. "Listen, Steven, all that practice stuff is no fun." Amethyst then stuffed her face with a donut and talked with her mouth full. "Whenever I need to summon my weapon, it just happens."
She demonstrated by putting her fist to her Gem, causing it to glow, before pulling out her whip. Amethyst then swung it and sliced a nearby dumpster in half.
"See, didn't try at all."
Steven just scratched his head while Vergil blinked. "Okay…That's simpler, but not really what I had in mind."
"HUH?!" They were interrupted when Lars came out from the back door and freaked out when he saw the dumpster destroyed. It made him drop the trash bag he was holding. "Again?!"
"Run." Vergil said, and they all ran.
With Pearl being too complicated and Amethyst being too simplistic, they decided to ask Garnet. This brought them to the top of the cliff above the Temple, which had grassy ground.
When they got there, the two boys stood in front of Garnet. To their left was a lighthouse, and to their right was the edge of the cliff. "So I'm supposed to work really hard and not try at all at the same time?" Steven asked the tall gem.
"Yes." Garnet simply replied.
"Garnet, Pearl's way was too confusing for Steven to get, and Amethyst was no help at all." Vergil explained. "Could you tell Steven how you summon your weapon?"
"Well." Garnet raised her hands, showing Steven and Vergil the gems that were in the palms of her hands before making them shine. "You could link your mind with the energy of all existing matter. Channeling the collective power of the universe through your Gem, which results in—" She swung her hands and arms around in a kind of dance before summoning her gauntlets. "At least that's my way of doin' it."
"…" Steven just stood there, looking more confused than ever.
Vergil rolled his eyes, annoyed. "I don't even know what I was expecting."
Later on, Steven and Vergil were sitting on the beach by the shores.
"We asked all the Gems, but we didn't learn anything." Steven said in dismay.
"Well, to be fair, we learned that everyone has a different way to summon their weapon." Vergil noted. "So even if you understood, it still probably wouldn't have helped."
Steven sighed. "Yeah, but I can't think of anything else." Steven sat there feeling down for a little while until he thought of something. "That's it!"
"What? You think of something?" Vergil asked.
Steven then placed his hands on Vergil's shoulders and had stars in his eyes. "Vergil! You can summon your weapon, so it might work if you show me since we're the same!"
Vergil looked at him. "It took you that long to come up with that?" He asked while removing Steven's hands from his shoulders. "Besides, I just said everyone's way is different. Odds are probably the same here."
"Well, we've tried everything else, so why not this too?" Steven asked. "Come on, with if it works?"
Vergil thought for a second before getting up. "I guess it's worth a shot."
Steven stood up, too. Vergil unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt, showing the gem that was embedded in the center of his pectoral. It had a similar shape and form compared to Steven's Gem, except for the fact that it was a deep shade of Black. It was also clear and shiny, like the sky on a starless night.
"When I summon my weapon, I first calm myself. Then I focus, visualize my weapon in my mind and see clearly exactly how it looks." Vergil closes his eyes and visualizes his weapon. "Once I see clearly in my mind, I hold out my hand." He outstretches his right arm and opens the palm of his hand. "And I picture my weapon in my hand." Finally, his Gem starts glowing. Steven watches in excitement as a light gathers around Vergil's hand, and his weapon appears.
Vergil's weapon is a European Board Sword with a jet-black blade and black hilt that has a yellow star at the bottom. The Sword's cross-guard was Silvery-white, facing outwards on both the right and the left sides, with a black diamond in the center as the symbol. The weapon itself was as long as Vergil's torso.
"And it appears." Vergil finished his demonstration.
"Woah, that was a whole lot easier to understand." Steven said.
"I agree. Pearl was too over-detailed, Amethyst was too unexplanatory, and Garnet, I refuse to believe she does that every time she summons her weapon." Vergil listed. "Anyways, now you try."
"Okay." Steven takes a deep breath, holds out his arm, and waits.
.
.
.
And nothing happens.
"Um, Vergil." Steven doesn't move from the position he's standing in.
"What?"
"What should I visualize as my weapon?" Steven asked.
Vergil just looked confused. "Wha-How am I supposed to know it's your weapon?" He asked.
"But how can I imagine something if I don't know what to imagine?" Steven asked before putting his arm down.
Vergil just groaned and put away his Sword. "You can't make this easy, can you?"
They both sat back down, and Steven looked distraught again. "We tried everything, and I still haven't figured it out."
"I don't know, Steven. Maybe that first time was just a fluke." Vergil guessed.
Steven then looked up. "That's it! The first time!" Steven stands back up, feeling motivated. "I have a new idea!"
Vergil looked surprised at first, then he got up and shrugged. "Well, might as well here. We're desperate anyway."
They were back in the house next to the fridge. The gems were with them, too. Steven crossed his arms and placed a hand on his chin, thinking for a moment. I think my best bet is to recreate what happened the last time my gem glowed. So…" He pointed and had Garnet and Amethyst go back to where they were when his gem glowed. "Garnet and Amethyst were here." He then pointed to Pearl. "Pearl was next to the fridge." He moved Vergil behind him. "Vergil was standing right behind me." "Hmm. Amethyst, I think your arms were crossed."
"Steven, I seriously doubt this will actually work." Vergil pointed out.
"No, trust me, it has to." Steven assured before facing Pearl. "And Pearl, your foot was like this." He changed the direction Pearl's right foot was facing.
"I don't think it works this way, Steven." Pearl said, unsure.
"And Garnet, uh…" Steven moves Garnet's face upwards. "Yeah." He then opened the freezer and pulled out the Cookie Cat he had been eating before. Discarding the wrapper, he said. "Then I took a bite of this Cookie Cat. Oh, wait! I sang the song first. Uh, he's a frozen treat, all-new taste, interstellar war, now available at Ghurven's."
Silence as if nothing happened.
"Aww, it was funnier last time." He pulled up his shirt to see his Gem. It wasn't glowing. After failing to understand what to do, Steven sighed. "Maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem."
Pearl bent down next to him. "Don't be silly, Steven." She said to make him feel better. "Of course you are."
"And you're fun to have around, even if your Gem is useless." Amethyst joked. Pearl glared angrily at her. "I…mean, you're one of us, Steven. We're not the Crystal Gems without you!"
Garnet nodded.
Vergil pitched in and placed a hand on Steven's shoulder. "Being a Crystal Gem is more than just summoning a weapon. You've always been one, and you've got the Gem to prove it." He pointed at Steven's Gem. "And if you ever forget that, we came and remind you again."
This was enough to ease Steven's doubts, and he smiled. "Yeah, even if I don't have power, I've still got…Cookie Cats." He took another bite of the ice cream. "Mmm, so good." But then, to everyone's amazement, his Gem suddenly started glowing brighter than before.
After a moment, it glowed to the point where it was a bright flash of light. Steven's weapon was finally revealed: A spiraled pink shield. The spiral on the shield was decorated with light pink rose thrones, and its center symbol is shaped like a rose.
Vergil's eyes widened, and the Gems gasped in shock as they all stared at the spiraled shield. "Steven, it's a shield." Pearl whispered in amazement.
Steven opened his eyes, and he, too, was left in amazement. "Whoa, what!? I get a shield!? Ooohh…Yeah!" But as he cheered, he accidentally lost control and launched his shield. The weapon bounced and ricocheted around the room before it stopped when smashed into the TV.
"Gaah! The TV!" Vergil put his hands on his head in dismay while Amethyst burst out laughing, and Pearl face-palmed with a groan. "What am I supposed to watch now?!"
"Huh?" Steven looked at the Cookie Cat he was eating. "Cookie Cat!" He then held it up and exclaimed happily. "I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!"
Pearl picked up the wrapper and looked at its ingredients. "What's in these things?" She asked.
"Steven, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the ice cream that summoned the shield." Vergil guessed, doubting Steven's prediction. "Odds are, it was a speer of the moment."
The ground suddenly started to rumble, causing the house to shake as well. Outside the window, by the TV, the silhouettes of Centipeetles were seen crawling up the house. However, they paled in comparison to the much larger one that crawled from outside the house. The pink shield disappeared.
"What was that?" Steven asked.
Garnet reacted by running out the door and onto the balcony. She turned around, looking upwards. She saw that above was a giant Centipeetle monster crawling atop the statue-carved cliff. It is composed of roughly thirteen visible dark-green segments that each bear one pair of similarly colored legs. The final segment bears no legs but what appears to be a pair of mandibles. Each of these segments is covered on the top side with a solid crystal covering. The head is composed primarily of a large pair of mandibles with a gem in the back of the mouth. This gem is circular in shape and colored light green with dark green contour lines surrounding the circumference of the gem, connecting to a circular shape. It also features a green crystal protuberance on the base of the head that forms a broken horn-like structure, along with a flowing, light-cream-colored mane immediately behind her head.
"It's the mother!" Garnet exclaimed as she leaped up the statue towards the monster.
"Steven!" Pearl said as she, Amethyst, Vergil, and Steven were outside the house. "Stay in the house!"
"No way, I'm coming too!" Steven exclaimed as he ran back inside to get something.
Garnet suddenly jumped down onto the roof of the house and then jumped off. The mother-Centipeetle followed after her, running on the roof and then crawling off. When it passed over, Amethyst and Pearl jumped over it and joined Garnet.
Vergil stayed on the balcony and looked down from the deck to see the Crystal Gems fighting the monster on the beach. The Centipeetle roared and shot acid at them. The gems dodged and then ran over to hide behind one of the statue's broken-off hands.
"Oh no!" Vergil, seeing them corned, quickly removed his right glove and brought out his weapon, with his Sword in his hand, and jumped to the beach to assist the Gems. However, he failed to notice Steven appear from the house holding his Cookie Cat freezer that was filled with ice-cream sandwiches and attached to many extension cords.
Vergil leaped, falling onto the ground, where he tucked and rolled upon landing. He quickly stood up and rushed towards the monster. As the Centipeetle was busy spitting acid at the hand the gems were hiding behind, the Sword-wielding boy leaped forward from his rush and slashed forward, cutting off a pair of its legs.
The creature shrieked in anguish before turning around to look at Vergil. The Cetipeetle roared and turned its body around to face him. Vergil gripped his Sword with both hands, ready for battle.
With the jaws drooling with acid, the Centipeetle lunged its head at Vergil. Vergil reacted quickly and dodged to the side, landed on his feet, and used this chance to attack again. He swiftly slashed its head with his Sword, then pulled back and continued with a slash at one of the upper segments. The mother cried out in agony.
It then brought its head up and sprayed acid at him. Vergil, running faster than you would expect from a boy his age, dodged the acid; running to the right, he looked up and saw the monster's head coming at him to bite him again.
He stopped and held up his Sword in a defensive stance. When the monster's head struck, Vergil was holding back the jaws with his blade to keep them from reaching him. The impact of this strike pushed him back. He skidded backward along the sand before stopping. He then got back into a position to fight.
"Retain your balance, Vergil!" Pearl called out from behind the rock hand. "Remember your training!"
"Understood!" Vergil responded without looking away.
Before things could continue. However, a large pebble was chucked at the Centipeetle. Then, the rock hit the mother's head. It turned its head to see who the throwing was.
It was Steven who planted his freezer into the sand and stood tall against the monster. "Leave them alone!"
"Steven, No!" The Gems called out, fearing for his safety.
"Are you nuts!" Vergil called out, equally as worried.
"Cookie Cat Crystal combo powers, activate!" Steven shouted before taking a bite of one of the Cookie Cats.
The Centipeetle moved away from Vergil and went over to Steven. Vergil, seeing this, chased after it. "Wait, Steven!"
Steven didn't move and chewed the ice cream faster before pulling up his shirt. He was expecting the shield to appear again.
But nothing happened.
"Uh-oh." Steven didn't have time to dwell on this as the Centipeetle lunged at him. "Aaaah!" He picked up his freezer and tried to retreat.
Steven was saved, however, as Vergil leaped forward and grabbed him, pushing the both of them out of the monster's path at the last minute. After which, they both lay on the ground for a moment before sitting up.
"Vergil." Steven said.
"That was way too close." Vergil said before looking at the mother, who still had the Gems cornered behind the rock hand. "This thing is way tougher than the normal ones we fight."
Steven got up and lifted his shirt again to look at his Gem. "Why didn't it work?" He wondered.
"Just stay back for now." Vergil instructed him.
"But then, how do we stop that thing?"
Vergil just looked at the creature, then the gems, then his Sword. He was trying to think of a plan when he stopped and breathed out. "I hope this works." He whispered. He then held up his hand again, letting his gem glow, and summoned a red sheath that was the same length as the blade of his Sword.
"What's that?" Steven asked him, confused.
Vergil didn't answer as he sheathed his Sword. He then held his weapon in one hand, holding it at the side of his body, and placed his right hand on the Sword's hilt. His eyes were completely focused, staring directly at the Centipeetle. "Just like training." He whispered. He then leaped forward, and the sand beneath where he was standing burst out. Vergil cut through the air at a fast speed, heading straight for the mother. The moment he closed the distance, quick as a flash, he drew his Sword from its sheath and lashed out at the creature.
"TENFOLD SLASH!"
And just like that, faster than anything he had done before, Vergil had cut the creature with slash marks appearing over its body in ten different spots. Suddenly, the whole monster exploded into a giant green poof cloud. Leaving behind only the gem, which was the eye that was between the jaws.
Vergil landed back on the sand and put away his Sword. The Centipeetle gem landed shortly after, and he picked it up. "Thank goodness that worked." He said. He then bubbled it into a black transparent bubble and tapped the bubble, making it vanish.
"Vergil!" Steven and the gems ran up to him. Steven then jumped at him and hugged him tightly. "That was amazing!" He said with stars in his eyes. "That cool move you did at the end. What was that?!"
Vergil squeezed out of the hug. "That was something I picked up while sword-training with Pearl." He answered.
"What were you thinking?!" Pearl exclaimed in a worried tone before hugging Vergil herself. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? What if you had gotten hurt?!" Pearl then moved back and faced him with her hands on his shoulders and smiled. "But, that was an excellent form and stance. You're training really paid off."
Vergil smiled back. "You're welcome, Pearl."
Garnet then walked up to him and patted him on the head. "You were great out there." She smiled.
"Yeah, dude, awesome save!" Amethyst chimed in.
Vergil simply nodded.
Steven then walked off, picking up his freezer. He looked at it upset and sighed. Amethyst went over to him. "I guess your powers don't come from ice cream." She said, amused.
"Of course, they don't come from ice cream." Pearl added, placing a hand on Steven's shoulder to try and cheer him up. She then bent down next to him. "Don't worry, Steven. I'm sure someday you'll figure out how to activate your gem."
Steven looked at Vergil standing at his side. "I guess you were right. It was just a speer of the moment." He said, holding a half-eaten Cook Cat.
"Actually, I was thinking about that." Vergil looked at the gems. "Everyone has different ways of activating their Gems, and I think I figured them out." He points to Pearl. "Calculation," He points to Amethyst. "Instinct," He points to Garnet. "Impulse," And then finally himself. "And mine is concentration. Steven, I think yours is emotion."
"Emotion?" Steven repeated, not getting it. "How's that?"
"Your Gem first glowed when you were happy about the ice cream, and then your shield came when your happiness was at its highest." Vergil listed. "You thought it was the ice cream itself, but it was how you felt at the time that caused the glow."
"Hey, that could be it." Amethyst said.
"It does sound likely enough to be true." Pearl agreed.
"So, I just need to be really happy to summon my weapon?" Steven asked, his excitement returning.
"I don't think it's that simple." Vergil pointed out, deflating his excitement. "It'll probably only happen on accident in those times." Vergil then put his glove back in his hand. "You'll need to keep trying to use it when you want to."
Steven stood up and picked up his freezer. "Well, I'll figure it out soon, and until then, I can still enjoy Cookie Cats!" He then held out the half-eaten Cookie Cat he was holding toward Vergil. Vergil looked confused. "Here, you can finish this one."
Vergil just chuckled. "Okay, just one." He took it and took a bite of the ice cream.
"How's it taste?" Steven asked.
The camera zooms out into a star-shaped hole before Vergil answers.
"Too sweet." he said, and things faded to black.
And that's the end of the first chapter.
You might have noticed, but Vergil is already pretty capable compared to Steven; that's because Vergil has been training with Pearl for a while, and as such, some of her personality traits have rubbed off on him. I decided to make Vergil and Steven have different outlooks on things around them, so while they're both Gem-Human Hybrids, Steven thinks more like a human while Vergil thinks more like a Gem. They're kind of like Gon and Killua from HunterXHunter.
They are already close because they grew up together. I plan on going into details about who he and his Gem parent are, but to keep the story at the right pace, I'll do it at the same pace that we learn about Steven and his Gem parent while showing bits and pieces of his powers. Just so you know, his type of Gem is special. Since there were no Black Gems in the series besides some fusions, I wanted them to be really unique and special in this story. For example, one of his powers is the ability to store things in his Gem, like Pearl, as you saw with his sheath.
As things go from here, I plan on doing a chapter of episodes I feel are worth seeing for the story's sake, and episodes that feel like filler will just be skipped. If there's an episode you want me to skip, let me know.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. If you want more, then be sure to leave a review. If you like the story, click follow or favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.