Hello and welcome readers to my Steven Universe fanfiction. Anyway, I don't own anything except for the OC.
The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. Steven Universe is owned by Cartoon Network and Rebecca Sugar. Please support the Official Release.
Cheeseburger Backpack
The day begins on the beach near Crystal Temple, with Steven sitting on a rock next to his mailbox and singing.
"Hey, Mr. Postman, bring me a post, bring me the post that I love the most~" He sang.
Soon, Steven stops singing as Jamie, the mailman, approaches. He gasped and got excited. Stars even appeared in his eyes.
"My song came true!" Steven said excitedly as he jumped off the rock, and Jamie stopped in front of the mailbox. "Do you have a package for me today?!"
"Hold on." Jamie said as he opened his mailbag. "Let me see what I've got here." He first takes out a peculiar package that's shaped like a loaf of bread. "Did you order a loaf of bread with a stamp on it?"
"No." Steven denied.
Jamie pulls out an envelope. "Did you order a jury summon for R.J. Finkle?"
"That's not me, I'm Steven." Steven corrected him.
"Oh, right, right, right, Steven!" Jamie pulls out a parcel, this time the correct one. "Here it is, Steven Universe."
"Ha!" Steven ecstatically about the parcel. "This thing is gonna help me save the world."
"Really?" Jamie asked, looking at the parcel. "It says it's from Wacky Sacks Supply Company."
"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl think I shouldn't go on magic adventures, but Vergil can go on some of them because he has more training, and I don't know how to use my Gem powers." Steven said in a matter-of-fact way.
Jamie paused before saying." .…That seems reasonable."
"But there are other ways I can help." Steven insisted.
"With a Wacky Sack?" Jamie asked, confused and not getting it.
"Exactly!" Steven confirmed.
"Do you know how you can save my world?" Jamie takes out a signature pad. "Sign here, please."
"Aah!" Steven complies and writes his name down while drawing stars around it.
"Barb yells at me if I don't get signatures." Jamie explained.
"That's awful." Steven said, putting the pen back.
"Hey, Steven!" A voice called out from atop the stairs to the house. Looking upwards, Vergil was seen outside the door, looking down at him. "The Gems will be back soon—" He was interrupted when suddenly a sparkling sound and a bright light started glowing from inside the house, so bright it shined through the windows. It only lasted for three minutes, and the sound stopped, and the light faded. "—Scratch that, they're back now."
"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are back!" Steven exclaims excitedly as he grabs the parcel and runs up the stairs toward his house.
"Wait, Steven!" Jamie shouted out. "What is a Wacky Sack?!"
Though his question was ignored.
Steven and Vergil enter the house, with Steven looking eager. Steven spoke when they walked in and saw the Crystal Gems. "Huh?"
There were feathers littered all over the floor, with Garnet's hair covered in some of them. Pearl was holding an object of some kind while arguing with Amethyst, who was opening the fridge and holding a giant egg the size of her body.
"Hello, boys." Garnet greeted them with no expression, as usual. Not even bothered that there were feathers in her hair.
"Amethyst, we do not need that!" Pearl argued at Amethyst. "It's not going to fit in the fridge!"
"What? I got this." Amethyst told her. With one arm holding the egg, the purple Gem used the other one to slide a tray out of the fridge slowly. Then, instead of gently putting it down, she drops it on the floor, spilling a carton of milk and dropping a bag of bagels. Satisfied, she puts the giant egg inside. "Look, it fits! Ha!" She slams the fridge door as a crack is heard from the inside. "Oh man, We can make a big omelet, or a quiche, or big sunny side ups!—"
"—Could someone explain what in the name of feathers happened?" Vergil interrupted her rambling.
He cut her off as he and Steven stood in front of Pearl, who was unamused by Amethyst's actions.
Pearl turns to them and answers. "We fought a giant bird. We're only here for a second. We've got to go back out."
"What? Why?" Steven asked, interested.
Pearl shows Steven a statue she's holding. The statue appears to depict a woman with long Venice-blue hair. The body has a light slate-gray color and ends in a sharp white point similar to a polished diamond's culet on the base. Its hands are grasping a diamond-shaped object. The statue's face has thick lips like Garnet's, a nose, and closed eyes.
Pearl smiled and showed them the statue. "We have to place this Moon Goddess Statue on the top of the Lunar Sea Spire before midnight. Without it, the whole place will fall apart!" She said before talking dreamily with passion. "Oh, Steven, Vergil, you should have seen the spire in its heyday." She then makes her Gem glow and projects a hologram of the Sea Spire while showing different beings inside who they assumed were other Gems. "It was an oasis for Gems on Earth."
Pearl then stopped her explanation and turned off her Gem's projection, now looking more serious.
"It's abandoned now, but we can still save it with this statue!" Pearl held up the statue.
"Wha?" Upon hearing that, Steven got excited again, and his eyes lit up, shaped like stars. "That's perfect!"
"What?" Pearl asked, confused.
"Why?" Vergil asked, also confused.
"Because I can help carry it for you in this!" Steven puts the parcel down and opens it while making dramatic sound effects as he pulls out a burger-shaped backpack.
…
For a moment, they all just stare until Pearl says.
"A hamburger?" She said as though it was a question.
"It's a novelty backpack shaped like a cheeseburger!" Steven showed them. "Aww, I blew it."
Vergil raised a brow. "Don't tell me that's what you've been excited about since yesterday."
"Okay, I won't tell you." Steven puts it on and starts explaining. "I was just going to wear it one day, and you guys would be like, "Dang, Steven, that's so cool." But this is obviously important Gem business."
"Yes, so you should let us take care of it." Pearl instructed the boy.
"What? I'm a Gem!" Steven lifts up his shirt and points at his navel gemstone. Then he points to Vergil. "Besides, Vergil gets to go."
"Steven, that's different. You've still got a lot to learn." Pearl tried to reason with him.
"So, let him come!" Amethyst said while waving her hands around. "It'll be educational."
"And there won't be any fighting this time." Vergil chipped in, too, hoping to convince her. "It'll be fine if Steven joins this mission, right?"
"Hmm." Pearl thought for a moment before giving them a defeated smile. "Alright. You can carry it in your hamburger." She hands the statue over to Steven.
"Hmm!" Steven opens the backpack and looks inside. "Check this out! Everything's a pocket! Even the cheese is a pocket!" He noted, amazed. "I could fit a lot more stuff in here. Give me a minute. I'll pack extra supplies." Steven got up and ran up the stairs. "Vergil, come help me."
Vergil ran after him.
Steven begins rummaging his house for supplies, such as a bag of bagels, two sweaters, a kite, an inflatable raft, and more clothes. In his room, he puts the last of the supplies in his backpack while Vergil is sitting on the bed.
"Yeah, sure, you need that much?" Vergil questioned. "I mean, we're only going in and out for this mission."
"Yeah, but you never know." Steven argued.
Then he closed the backpack and got up. As Steven steps forward, he accidentally steps on a stuffed toy, which makes it squeak.
It is light green with a stomach-like painting over its chest and, as its name suggests, a nauseated facial expression. It has a bib with a crab-like animal printed over it. Steven picks it up and starts laughing and shaking it.
"Ooh, kid, don't shake me!" The toy's voice box activated.
"Mr. Queasy!" Steven exclaimed as he continued laughing and shaking it.
"Ooh, I got a medical condition!" The voice box activated again.
"I never got the appeal of that toy." Vergil commented.
"Are you kidding? He's hilarious." Steven insisted before turning back to the toy. "You're definitely gonna come in handy!" He opens the backpack and removes a first aid kit, replacing it for Mr. Queasy in.
"You know Pearl can carry stuff inside her Gem, right?" Vergil reminded him. "Wouldn't be safer to have her carry the statue inside of a novelty backpack?"
"Maybe, but it's better this way." Steven argued excitedly. "This'll be my first mission, so I have to do something big."
"True, but I still can't help but worry." Vergil scratched the back of his neck. "Usually, whenever we go on missions, things somehow seem to find a way of going horribly wrong."
"No, it'll be fine." Steven brushed it off. "Besides, like you said, we're just going in and out. Nothing bad's gonna happen."
"Steeeveeen, let's gooo!" Pearl called out whilst the Gems were already on the warp pad.
"Coming!" Steven walked down the steps, and Vergil jumped over the edge.
They both onto the warp pad beside the Gems.
"Woah, Steven, did you bring your whole room?" Pearl asked, looking at the backpack.
"Back that "thang" up." Amethyst added.
"Let's warp." Garnet decided.
Right after she said that, a blue light flashes and a light beam emits from the warp pad extending all the way up to the ceiling, but Steven's stomach blocks part of it, stopping them from wrapping.
"Suck it in, Steven!" Amethyst yelled.
Steven inhales, pulling his stomach in, allowing the beam to conceal the five of them completely, and the Crystal Gems begin to ascend into the stream.
While they were warping through the stream of light, Steven started laughing and somersaulting in the beam, sticking his head out of the warp stream. And Pearl pulls Steven's head back in. While they were messing around, Vergil was thinking.
"Maybe I am worrying too much. I mean, what's the worst that could happen when the only thing Steven actually has to do is keep the statue in his backpack?" Vergil thought, now calmer. "And how badly could anyone mess that up anyway?"
After a few seconds, the light faded, and the Crystal Gems arrived on another warp pad. Steven, still floating, falls on his back. They all turn to look at Sea Spire.
The Lunar Sea Spire was a freestanding tower structure. All around them was a waterfall that surrounded the tower.
Steven looked with wonder and astonishment as his eyes lit up like stars again. "Whoa, the Sea Spire!"
"Yeah, but it looks kinda different from the hologram." Vergil noticed, finding it odd.
The Gems sighed sadly, looking at the current state the Sea Spire was in as a piece of the Spire broke off from the structure and fell to the ground in a crashing heap. Another area of the landmass was separated from the tower. There wasn't much of anything. If there was anything like a building or a type of structure, it was long gone.
"It wasn't like this a hundred years ago." Pearl said, scanning the tower in its ruined state.
"I'm sensing structural instability." Garnet stated the obvious.
"Oh, yeah." Steven said; near the edge of the landmass, the ground beneath started to crack around his feet. "That's never good."
"Steven, look out!" Vergil urgently dashed towards Steven.
"What?" Steven, still unaware of the danger he was in, was grabbed by Vergil's arm and shoved away from the edge, making him land on his back. The ground he was standing on breaks off and collapses into the water.
But then something from above cracked. Though Vergil didn't realize it at the time, another chunk of the tower fell off and came crashing down on the spot where he was standing.
"Gah, Vergil!" Pearl panicked.
And she rushed towards Vergil, quickly saving him by grabbing him and moving out of the way. The rumble collapsed onto the ground and crumbled.
Pearl hugged Vergil tightly and close to her face. "Alright, hold on. We're taking these two back!" She declared before giving the boy a squeeze.
"Wait, what?" Vergil asked, not happy with that idea.
"Come on Pearl." Steven said, jumping up off the ground.
This action triggered the plush toy Mr. Queasy in his backpack. "Ooh, my aching stomach!"
Steven takes the toy out of his backpack. "Oh, Mr. Queasy!" He shakes it while laughing, causing it to make more sounds.
"Kid, you're killing me!"
Vergil leaps off Pearl after freeing himself from her embrace and lands beside Steven.
"You really know how to defuse the tension, Steven." Vergil commented, playful.
"Steven!" Pearl shouted, getting his attention. "This place is your heritage. I want you to stay and help, but you really have to take this seriously! Can you do that, Steven?"
"You got it, dude!" Steven winked, gave her a thumbs-up, and stuck his tongue out.
Pearl looks unconvinced. "Yesss…"
"Enough, we have to move." Garnet ordered the group.
But before doing so, Pearl then knelt in front of Vergil and inspected his face while looking concerned.
"Were you hurt anywhere? Did any of the rumble hit you? Where you grazed?" Pearl kept asking while looking for signs of an injury.
"Pearl, it's okay, I'm fine." Vergil gently pushed her hands away, hoping to placate her worry. "I'm perfectly okay, see. Nothing's going to happen; let's just return the statue and finish the mission."
Pearl took a deep breath and stood up, looking more content. "You're right, okay, let's move."
Steven turned to Garnet and Amethyst. "Is Pearl always like that?" He asked, referring to what just happened.
"Yeah, every time we go on a mission with him, Pearl's always obsessing over Vergil." Amethyst explained like it was a drag. "It's like she thinks he's made of glass or something."
"She can be a bit much." Garnet agreed.
The Crystal Gems ran up a cliff that was the closest to reaching an opening into the tower. Before they came to a halt, Garnet signaled them to stop as they were at the edge of the cliff.
"What's the hold-up?" Amethyst asked, pointing to the tower. "We can clear this easily."
"No. The magic that sustains the whirlpool creates a vortex that will pull us below." To demonstrate, Garnet picks up a boulder nearby and hurls it over. Halfway from reaching the tower it quickly gets halted in its trajectory and pulled straight down by the vortex and fell into the whirlpool the Sea Spire was resting on.
"So we can't jump?" Pearl asked
"Oh, wait!" Steven opens his backpack and pulls out two pink sweaters.
"Sweaters?" Vergil asked.
"What are those for?" Amethyst asked.
Steven ties the sweaters together by the sleeves. "They were for keeping warm, but check it out!"
The sweaters were tied together to form a rope, and Steven whips one end through a hole in the Spire on the other side of the cliff and catches it. He takes a deep breath.
Now realizing what he was planning to do, Vergil and the Crystal Gems panicked.
"Steven!/Wait!/Don't!" Amethyst, Pearl, and Vergil shouted, worried and fearful, while Garnet gasped.
The three magical ladies ran to try and stop Steven, but it was too late. Steven runs and jumps off the cliff.
Steven yelled as he swung over to the tower. The power of the vortex takes hold and starts to pull him down. When he almost collided with the wall, the young half-Gem quickly stretched out his feet and landed on them when he made contact. Steven tightened his hold on his sweater rope as the vortex kept pushing.
"He's getting sucked down!" Amethyst exclaimed.
[Steven!] The Gem shouted out.
Clinging onto the sweaters, which prevent him from being sucked in, Steven finds his footing on the side of the Spire and begins to pull himself upwards step by step.
"Cheesssse-burrrr-gerrrr!" Steven yelled as he started to run and managed to reach the top of the edge, landing into the Spire unscathed while panting.
Pearl exhaled loudly in a sigh of relief while Garnet's jaw hung wide open.
"Steven! Way to go!" Amethyst exclaimed with encouragement.
"Thanks, Amethyst!" Steven waved back before looking at them and noticing he couldn't see Vergil. "Hey, where's—"
"Haaaaaa!" Vergil roared, standing a few feet away from the cliff.
Then, at that moment, he shot forward with a breakneck speed that kicked up a small cloud of dirt from where he had kicked off. Almost like a speeding bullet, he shot through the cliff and sprang over the edge. With his fast pace, he was able to reach the other side before the effect of the vortex hit and made it to the other side by crashing into Steven.
Now Steven was flat on his back while Vergil was face down in the dirt, though they both quickly sat up.
"Uuuhh." Steven groaned before his eyes lit up. "Woah, Vergil, that was amazing!" He exclaimed, astonished by his actions. "How'd you do that?"
"Speed is the core of all my attacks and my training." Vergil explained, getting up. "I can only move that fast when going in a straight line, though."
"Wait then, how come you couldn't dodge that falling boulder?" Steven asked, now confused.
"I don't have eyes in the back of my head, Steven!" Vergil defended like it was obvious. "You try dodging something you can't see."
"Still, though, I can't believe you can do cool stuff like that." Steven admired, standing up. "You made it over the cliff faster than I did."
"Which reminds me; What the heck were you thinking?!" Vergil shouted, grabbing Steven by the shirt. "How could you possibly think that was a good idea?"
"Well, it did end up working." Steven reasoned, shrugging.
"That was pure luck, and you know it." Vergil argued.
"That was great, you guys!" Amethyst called out. "C'mon, guys!" She summons her whip from her gem, whips it around the same hole of the sweaters, and hoists Garnet and Pearl over her shoulder, showing an impressive amount of strength. "Steven style!"
Amethyst swung over the vortex and landed her feet on the wall. Then, with a single burst of speed, she ascends up the wall. Steven and Vergil step back as Amethyst reaches the top and climbs in. At last, the Crystal Gems were in the Sea Spire.
Pearl then glares at the two of them. "Don't ever do that again!"
"Sorry." Steven said.
"Couldn't help it." Vergil said.
They both get patted on the head by Garnet as the Gems walk past.
Pearl walked past and placed a hand on both their shoulders. "But that was pretty great." She told them with a smile.
Which made them smile before they all walked ahead.
The Crystal Gems walk inside and look around the Sea Spire. All throughout, Pearl kept commenting and analyzing the structural damages. In contrast, the others didn't seem bothered by it.
"Oh, no, no, no, this is even worse than the outside." Pearl grimaced, looking around while walking. "Ugh… That's… Oh! Oh, this didn't use to be so— Oh, and the water damage." They started walking upstairs. "This pillar…" Pearl then stopped at a headless statue. "Oh, and this had a head…"
"Pearl, this place has been abandoned for a thousand years." Vergil reasoned with her. "It's natural it would be all run down."
Oh, It'll be fine." Pearl told him. "Once the statue's in place, it'll restore all of this to its former glory—" Suddenly, she sees two crustacean-like invertebrate creatures with white crystal shards fashioned into spikes that crawl around a statue's shoulders. "Aa-Aaah!" Her screams summon her spear and slice the statue in half.
"What was that goober?" Steven asked, watching the statue fall.
"Crystal Shrimp." Pearl replied.
"Crystal, what now?" Vergil tilted his head, confused.
"You guys." Amethyst called from the next room. "We got a problem!"
Steven, Vergil, and Pearl run up the stairs to rejoin Garnet and Amethyst to inspect the problem. When they did, Pearl gasped in shock when it turned out the level they were on was crawling with tons of Crystal shrimp. They were almost everywhere on the floor, including some on a few pillars.
"It's an infestation." Pearl stated. "And we have to pass through there to get to the top."
Steven walks over and leans towards one of the Crystal Shrimps. "Can't you just squish 'em?" He asked and was about to touch it.
Pearl grabs Steven and pulls him away. "Don't touch that. Their shards are deadly!" She shouted. "We need to clear a path." She placed the boy down and projected a hologram of Amethyst. "Amethyst, if you go around to the side and disturb them with a spin attack…" Pearl moved the hologram to one area of the floor and had it do the spin attack with a whip.
Pearl then made the hologram of Amethyst disappear and projected a Garnet. "And Garnet, if you move to the ceiling and strike this exact spot…" She made the hologram move to the ceiling and projected an X on the spot she wanted Garnet to hit. Pearl then projects herself. "Then I can advance with my—"
"Aaah!" Vergil interrupted her by activating his Gem.
Vergil's Gem began to glow, and he brought out his Sword and went into a thrusting stance while facing directly in front of a straight path between him and the stairway on the other side of the room. The blade of his Sword started glowing black, and he bent his legs down a bit like he was preparing to leap.
"PIERCING DRIVE!"
After letting out a battle cry, Vergil, like a bullet train, blitzed forward with the same speed he demonstrated before with his Sword in front of his body, slicing past anything in his way and no time at all, reached the other side of the room. Once there, he came to a complete stop, put his weapon back in his Gem, and turned to face the others.
After seeing that, Pearl gasped in fear; Amethyst looked shocked and amazed, and Garnet's jaw dropped. Steven looked in awe as his eyes lit up and turned to stars.
"I made it over!" Vergil called out.
"Vergil, don't move!" Pearl called out, worried. "We'll come to you after—"
This time, Steven interrupts Pearl as he screams. "Bagel sandwich!"
Steven tosses two bagel sandwiches onto either side of the room. The Crystal Shrimps proceed to swarm towards the bagel sandwiches, one group going to one side and another going to the other side, clearing a path for the Crystal Gems.
"Brilliant." Garnet praised.
"Oh hey, what do you know." Amethyst said, liking how easy Steven's plan was.
Pearl, on the other hand, was shocked, and her hologram copied her expression. "Uh, uhh." Unable to form words, she dispels her hologram. "How did you know that would work?" She questioned him, wanting answers.
"Well, if I were a shrimp, that's what I would do." Steven reasoned.
"You are a shrimp." Amethyst told him, jokingly with a chuckle.
She, Garnet, and Steven proceeded to walk to the other side of the room to reach the stairs.
"I just want everyone to know: my plan would have also worked." Pearl said to clarify, with her hands up.
Once they reached the stairs, they stopped in front of Vergil, who patted Steven's shoulder.
"Alright, I'll say it; that was a pretty good idea." Vergil praised him. "Sandwiches, ha! I never even considered that."
"Thanks, but your way was way cooler." Steven argued, still impressed. "What was that?"
"That was my thrusting attack. Since I can only move at top speed when going in a straight line right now, I made an attack that takes advantage of that." Vergil explained. "I move at high-speed blitz while holding my Sword in front of me to pierce through what's in front of me with a slicing force while knocking away anything around me."
"That's so cool!" Steven exclaimed, raising his hands.
"No, not cool, that was dangerous!" Pearl argued in a scolding manner. "What were you thinking, charging in like that? You could have gotten hurt or worse."
"I don't know; I just figured this was the right time to try it." Vergil defended with a shrug. "Besides, the attack worked perfectly in training?"
Pearl sighed and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Listen, it's fine to want to put your training to use, but there's a time and a place for these things, and unlike training, this is real danger, so you can't treat them like they're the same." Pearl advised him in an understanding and caring manner. "Remember what I've told you; prioritize safety over success." She recited.
"Yeah, I know." Vergil replied.
Pearl then stepped back and turned to Steven. "That applies to you as well, Steven."
"Okay." Steven nodded before asking. "Hey, do you guys have names for your attacks too?"
"Nah, just Vergil." Amethyst answered with a chuckle.
"I have no idea why he does that." Garnet added as they started walking again.
"I say you guys don't know what you're missing." Vergil responded, following him.
The Crystal Gems proceed to climb the stairs. They reached the top of the staircase to the next room. The next set of stairs was broken into a few standing pieces, but they would be able to make it up them when—
"Watch out!" Garnet halts the group abruptly and not a minute too soon. The wall to their left cracks and bursts open, allowing the formation of a gushing stream of water that breaks the stairs. Now blocking their way was a small, rushing river that dropped below, off the tower, and into the vortex.
"What are we gonna do?" Amethyst asked.
The Gems look at Steven.
"What? Me?" Steven asked.
"What have you got?" Garnet asked.
"Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!" Amethyst chanted, which made Steven nervous as he searched inside his backpack for something that could help them. "Pearl, c'mon."
"Oh, alright." Pearl caved in with a smile.
Now Pearl and Amethyst were chanting together.
[Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!]
This made Steven's search even harder. When he found what would help, the boy smiled and pulled it out.
"A rafffft!" Steven shouts, holding up a yellow inflatable raft. He pulls the red handle to which the raft instantly inflates.
Garnet and Amethyst gasped as Pearl praised him. "Steven, that's so sensible!"
Vergil was about to say something when he saw Steven about to throw the raft onto the water. "No, don't—"
But his warning came too late as Steven threw the raft onto the water. It quickly floats away and gets washed out off the side of the Spire.
Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst groan.
Vergil facepalmed. "You were supposed to tie it down first."
"Can't you do something to get across?" Steven asked.
"Steven, speed may be useful and versatile, but it can't do everything." Vergil informed him, meaning no. "There are some problems that all the speed in the world can't solve."
Garnet ran up to a nearby pillar, proceeded to kick it over, and used her elbow to knock it down. The tall structure falls over and lands on the other side of the river, forming a bridge over the water. "Good idea anyway, Steven." Garnet hoops on the bridge and walks over it.
"Yeah, they can't all be winners." Amethyst consoled him, following Garnet.
"Now strength, strength can solve those problems." Vergil pointed out.
"Couldn't you have done that with your Sword?" Steven questioned him.
"Me? I can just barely slice through a tree with my Sword, much less a stone pillar." Vergil admitted, brushing off the idea. "I don't have the strength Garnet does."
"But you cut apart that giant Centipeetle." Steven pointed out.
"That was all the Sword." Vergil corrected him. "All our weapons are super effective against those things. For everything else, they're just normal weapons. But the Gems are already super strong, so it makes no difference to them."
After explaining that, they hooped on the bright, too, and the Crystal Gems crossed the bridge to the other side and began to walk up another staircase.
The Crystal Gems slowly climb up the winding stairs around the Spire. They finally reach the top, and Steven stares in awe. The stone surface of it seemed to reflect the light of the moon, and there was a giant pedestal. The Gems approach a pedestal.
"This is it." Pearl said in wonder as the team of five stopped in front of the pedestal. "The Moon Goddess pedestal." She looks up at the full moon high in the cloudless night sky. "And the moon is almost overhead! It's not too late to save this piece of history!"
"Steven, the statue." Garnet instructed him.
Steven takes off his Cheeseburger backpack and sticks his hand into it, trying to feel the statue, but feels something missing. "Uhh, I, uh, ah, uhh…" With a terrified look on his face, he starts to rummage through the other compartments of the backpack.
"What's the hold-up?" Amethyst asked.
Steven stops rummaging and looks up with a cold sweat and a horrified expression. "I don't have it…"
The others all gasp in shock at this new information.
"What?!" Pearl screamed, worried.
"I must have left it on the bed!" Steven guessed.
"Are you kidding me?!" Vergil shouted incredulously.
The Gems turned to look at the moon as they saw it slowly drift overhead, and time was almost up.
"There's... There's no time..." Pearl uttered, horrified.
"What do we do?" Vergil asked, out of options. "Do we run?"
"Wait!" Steven shouted and reached into his backpack. "I have an idea!" He pulls out Mr. Queasy
"Aah.." Pearl had no words.
"Could that work?" Amethyst asked.
Pearl and Amethyst turn to Garnet, who shrugs in response, meaning she has no idea.
"There's no way it'll work." Vergil stated, deadpanning.
Steven walked to the pedestal, which was a small, bowl-shaped panel, and placed Mr. Queasy upright on the pedestal. Then, it falls over to the side.
After taking his hands away from the pedestal, the group watched in amazement as the pedestal glowed and a ray of light began to beam from the pedestal towards the moon. Mr. Queasy is levitated off the pedestal by the beam. Only a few feet up, the toy begins to shake violently, causing the Crystal Gems to scream.
And then it explodes.
Things only got worse when the ground then started shaking violently, and cracks began to form on the roof of the Sea Spire. Not just that, the waterfall around the Sea Spire also starts to close in towards the structure. The Sea Spire was collapsing.
"Everyone, keep steady!" Garnet exclaimed, but the floor beneath her and Amethyst violently tilted up, causing Amethyst to collapse into Garnet.
Steven starts to freak out while watching the destruction unravel. "No, no, no, no, no!" The force and the pressure of the ocean were crushing the Sea Spire. Then he was separated from the others as a crack formed between him and the others, and he was thrown back.
"It's coming down!" Vergil exclaimed, panicking. The part of the floor he was on started to break away, too, making him fall over.
The Sea Spire begins to crumble and fall apart, separating the Crystal Gems in the process. The whole structure collapses, and the sea tears it apart. Each piece is consumed by the ocean till there is nothing left, but the ray of light, and it went out the second everything sunk.
The Lunar Sea Spire was gone, never to return.
All was silent on the ocean's surface.
After a few moments, Steven came up from the surface and gasped for air.
Next, Vergil also came up well.
The rest of the Crystal Gems then emerge one by one on the water's surface.
"Well, that was a wash." Vergil commented, disappointed by the mission's failure.
"This is all my fault. I broke it." Steven stated, upset and regretful.
"No, Steven, the Spire was falling apart when we got here." Pearl consoled him. "You handled everything well under pressure. You did great!"
"Yeah, two out of four of your ideas worked." Amethyst reminded him, cheerful. "That's fifty percent."
"Yeah. I guess you're right. They can't all be winners." Steven consented before looking at Vergil. "You were right, though. It would have been safer to have let Pearl carry the statue."
"Don't worry. I don't blame you, Steven." Vergil assured him, not upset. "I blame Wacky Sacks Supply Company."
"…Fair enough." Steven shrugged.
Then bubbles started forming beneath them, and the raft from before popped up to the water's surface and to the Gems' amazement.
The Gems stare in awe as Steven cheers and raises his fist. "Wooo!"
"That's lucky." Vergil noted, relieved.
The Crystal Gems all get onto the raft. Pearl and Amethyst started chanting again.
[Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!]
Garnet, glaring out into the distance, told the others. "It's a three-hour paddle home."
That made everyone go quiet, and Vergil sighed. "That's unlucky."
Steven reaches into his backpack and retrieves a bagel from it. "Anyone want a wet bagel?" Steven sticks his tongue out playfully.
"Get that out of my face." Vergil irritably knocks the bagel out of Steven's hand into the ocean as the star iris zooms in on him.
And that's the chapter. First off, I used this chapter to show off Vergil's strengths and weaknesses. His main gift is speed. All his moves revolve around him being super-fast. However, the problem he has is a lack of power. Because his Sword is a Gem weapon, he can defeat enemies or monsters, but he lacks pure physical strength like the Gems, so he can't cut through solid objects or walls yet. That's something he'll have to work on later as he grows.
On another note, unlike the others, Vergil names his attacks. Why? Because he likes doing it….… Yeah, that's all.
I enjoyed doing this chapter to show the stark contrast between Steven and Vergil, how Steven kept getting through the Sea Spire using his gag ideas that somehow managed to work, while Vergil used his own ability to demonstrate how well-trained he is.
Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. If you want more, then be sure to leave a review. If you like the story, click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.