The Gems and Connie stood around in Steven's house this afternoon, just like they had been for the past 9 days. It was getting very boring at this point, especially since they now had to go through each day with a boy screaming about shattering them all.
They had never known for sure if Steven's death threats were just bluffs or not, but they now knew that he wasn't afraid to poof anyone. It was scary, and the Gems decided that the best thing for him was to lock him up.
They had chained him up at Rose's Fountain, where all the cured Gems had still been having fun. They assumed that once he woke up from his unconsciousness, the Gems there would keep an eye on him.
"Can you imagine what Greg will think when we tell him we chained up his son like some sort of... prisoner?!" Pearl exclaimed.
"It's the only thing we can do," Sapphire begun. "He's obviously stronger than all of us."
"He's going to be really mad when he wakes up, though." Peridot added.
Bismuth sighed. "I don't believe this is actually happening."
"Wait!" Jasper gasped. "What did you do?! Capturing our great leader, Steven Diamond?!"
The Gems gave Jasper annoyed looks.
"You don't need to keep up the act, Jasper." Lapis crossed her arms.
"What act? Nobody said that I decided to become a rebel like you! As soon as Steven allows us to leave, I'm going back to Homeworld where I can be assigned to do some real work." Jasper stated.
Everyone sighed.
"So why are we here anyway? This should be our break while Steven's out." Amethyst said.
"Well I still have these prizes for everyone~" Connie announced, showing off the bin full of prizes again. Everyone smiled and eyed the thing they would win. "And nobody's getting them if you don't participate."
"Uh, fine." Pearl rolled her eyes, smiling at the fact that she was dumb enough to still be participating.
"I just want that hat sooooo bad!" Bismuth exclaimed and Connie laughed.
"So what are we doing today?" Ruby asked. Connie thought for a moment.
"Maybe we could-" Connie was interrupted by Greg's van honking outside.
"Steven! Connie! Gems! Come on!" Greg yelled.
"Oh! Maybe Greg knew what Steven was planning today." Lapis suggested.
Connie and the others went outside to where Greg had his van parked once again.
"Where's Steven?" Greg asked, worried.
The Gems looked at each other nervously.
"He got knocked out and then they chained him up with a bunch of other Gems everybody barely knows." Jasper explained, leaving Greg's mouth hanging wide open.
"Don't worry, Greg." Sapphire assured the panicking man. "Steven will be fine..."
"Y-you told me that last time and look what happened." Greg closed his eyes, attempting to calm down.
"We just need time away from him...while he's not here." Pearl looked away nervously.
"Wait," Greg thought. "Ruby and Sapphire...I'm glad to see that you're okay." He smiled.
"Your kid is nuts." Ruby simply stated.
Greg frowned. "I know. So are you guys still doing something today?"
"Yeah we are! We were thinking you knew what Steven wanted the Gems to do today." Connie said, taking a look at Greg's van.
"Oh yeah! He said that you guys were-" Greg continued to speak but Connie wasn't paying attention. She was too focused on Greg's van. It was... really dirty.
She suddenly got an idea. "What if we help out at the car wash today?!" She exclaimed.
"Connie, uh, you don't need to. The car wash is running perfectly fine. I do need to clean this thing though." Greg said, examining the dirt with Connie.
"Okay! We'll just work together to clean your van! That's a bonding experience, right?" Connie asked the Gems. Everyone shrugged.
"It's settled! Greg, get out of the van! We're cleaning this thing inside and out!" Connie smiled.
"Are you sure about this?" Peridot asked.
"Yeah," Lapis crossed her arms. "Last time we washed cars..." She made an uncomfortable expression.
"It won't be like that this time!" Connie assured.
"Wow," Greg exited his van. "I've never seen a kid who wants to clean something so bad."
"I'll get the soap!" Pearl exclaimed excitedly, running back into the house. Amethyst burst out laughing.
●♡○
The Gems and Connie begun cleaning the van. Peridot and Lapis had been spraying one spot off for 20 minutes straight, Bismuth and Jasper were vacuuming the inside of the van, Ruby and Sapphire were doing something suspicious to the engine, and Amethyst was pointing to random specks of dirt for Pearl to violently scrub off.
"Hey Peridot, watch this!" Lapis called. Peridot watched as Lapis blasted a ton of water from the ocean at Jasper and Bismuth, also putting a ton of water inside the van.
"Hey!" Jasper yelled. "Who did that?!"
Lapis and Peridot started chuckling insanely.
Greg realized what they just did. "Why... why did I let them clean the van? Why..." He mumbled, concerned about his belongings in his vehicle.
"Okay okay, clean it riiiight there." Amethyst pointed at a spot on the van.
"Where? I don't see anything?" Pearl looked around at the van.
"No it's there," Amethyst chuckled. "You just gotta get your face really close to the van."
"What..." Pearl leaned closer to the van. "Is this some sort of trick?"
Amethyst laughed so hard she begun to cry.
"How was that a prank?!" Pearl turned around to Amethyst, who was lying on the ground laughing.
"Because," Amethyst snorted. "I JUST DON'T KNOW!" She exclaimed, continuing to snicker. Pearl sighed.
Connie smiled seeing Pearl, Amethyst, Lapis and Peridot getting along. She also noticed Ruby and Sapphire giggling about something near the front of the van.
"Okay, now turn that thingy that way." Ruby quietly chuckled.
"So...like this?" Sapphire asked. The two looked at each other and begun laughing as well.
"Hey, what are you guys up to?" Connie curiously asked after walking over to them.
"N-nothing!" Sapphire exclaimed, holding in a laugh.
Connie smiled nervously. "Just don't ruin the van. You probably shouldn't be messing with anything up there actually..."
Ruby and Sapphire stopped laughing and gave each other serious looks.
Connie backed away, hoping no one noticed she went over there. "Whatever they just did, I wasn't a part of!" She mumbled to herself.
"Y'know, it can actually be nice to be apart." Ruby smirked.
"It is...we should do this more often~" Sapphire flirted. The two laughed.
●♡●
"I'm glad to see everyone happy again." Connie smiled, admiring the pairs while they stood happily in the house.
"To be honest, everything's better without Steven now." Peridot frowned.
"And since Steven isn't here, you should give us our points!" Pearl smiled. Connie nodded.
"First I'd like to add that everyone got along really well today! So for that, Pearlmethyst got 40 points, and everyone else got 50!" Connie exclaimed.
Everyone smiled. For once no one was upset with their scores.
"Also I now have a name for each pair...that's where Pearlmethyst came from." Connie explained. "But now we can finally end this day peacefully." She relaxed on the couch as the Gems begun to talk.
Suddenly the warp pad activated, and a large group of Gems entered the house.
"What the-" Amethyst gasped. The unwelcome guests grabbed each Gem and Connie.
"What is happening?!" Bismuth yelled, struggling to break free of the Gem's hold. The Gems rushed back to the warp pad, shoving the Gems we know and Connie with them.
"I don't know!" Connie exclaimed fearfully.
The warp pad warped everyone away.