The Black Gem

26. Bubbled

"... Okay, so maybe that was my fault. I'm sorry. There, are you happy?" Steven asks.

"No. You're lucky you're in that bubble, or I'd pop you right in the face." Eyeball says.

"Well, if you're going to be a grump about it, then we can just float in silence until we both die!" Steven says.

Eyeball crosses her arms. "Sounds great!"

"Fine!"

"I can't wait!"

"Me, neither!"

The two of them continue to float through space in silence. Steven then takes his phone out of his pocket in boredom.

"What? No signal? Come on, I'm right by a satellite!" Steven says.

A satellite beeps as it flies by.

"If I don't die out here, first thing I do back on Earth is change my phone plan." Steven grumbles.

Eyeball sits up and growls. "I shouldn't have ever come back to that dumb planet!"

Eyeball flops back down on the bubble.

"When I heard rumors there might still be Crystal Gems on Earth, I couldn't believe it. A thousand years of fighting were all for nothing! And Rose Quartz might still be alive? She must be!" She rolls on her side. "Why else would someone as important as Jasper be back on Earth? For closure, that's why. I wanted it, too. I wanted to see Rose Quartz with my own eye. At the very least, I thought Jasper might have some answers, but... It wasn't even her; just another trick."

"That's what you really wanted? To see Rose Quartz?" Steven asks.

Eyeball clenches her fists. "More than anything."

"Well, then today's your lucky day." Steven says.

"How's that?"

"I... know where Rose Quartz is."

Eyeball's interest has been sparked and she turns around to face Steven.

"What? Where is she?!" Eyeball asks.

"... She turned into me."

"Right. And I have two eyeballs, which I don't! You expect me to believe anything, don't you? Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me four times, you already fooled me, and you can't fool me again."

"Look, I can prove it!" Steven lifts up his shirt to revealing his gem. "I have her Rose Quartz gem!"

"That's more of a pinkish-red than a real Rose Quartz reddish-pink."

"That's because you're looking at it through my bubble! Hold on... Here, check this out! " Steven summons his shield. "Look, I can summon her shield! It's got a rose on it and everything!"

"Who cares about her shield? Her huge sword is what I remember." Eyeball says.

"Uh, I left that in my Lion." Steven dispels his shield.

Steven takes out his phone, swims up to Eyeball and presses his phone against his bubble.

"Look. Tell me you don't see the resemblance." Steven shows Eyeball a picture of Rose, as he puckers his lips and strikes a pose.

"Are you kidding me? You're despicable. We're gonna die out here, and you're just gonna make fun of me until we do! " Eyeball sighs and turns away from Steven. "You're even crueller than Rose Quartz..."

Steven looks at the picture on his phone, saddened, when a small piece of asteroid collides with the bubble.

"Uh..."