Hey guys! We're back with the Crystal Gems after the snowy mission. What's going to happen now? Let's check in and see how everybody is doing! :D
-Luna's POV-
"Pearl, wait-" I said as Pearl and Garnet stepped onto the warp pad. The two of them were going to head back to the north to see if they can spot Jasper anywhere. But Steven and I were trying to stop them from leaving. Pearl looked at me and said, "Luna we can't. We have to go now because it'll probably be a while."
"But-" Steven started. Garnet looked up and said, "Amethyst and Circo."
Circo looked up from the couch that he and Amethyst were sitting on. Amethyst was reading a magazine and Circo was looking at a notepad. Amethyst didn't look up but said, "What? I'm busy."
"Amethyst, Circo, hold down the fort," Garnet said. Amethyst put down the magazine and saluted Garnet. "Aye, aye, Captain. No surprises while I'm on duty," She said.
Suddenly, Amos, Connie and Lion burst through the door. Circo and Amethyst jumped as Connie shouted, "Surprise! We're early!"
"We we're trying to tell you Amos and Connie have training today," I said to Pearl. She gasped and covered her mouth in shock. "Oh! I completely forgot... I'm so sorry, Connie...." Pearl said, looking upset.
Amethyst clicked her tongue, "So irresponsible Pearl." Pearl groaned in annoyance at Amethyst. Connie, Amos and Lion walked into the house. Amos furrowed his brow, asking, "Is this because of Jasper? Are you headed back North?"
"She's on the move," Garnet said, nodding. Pearl turned to all of us, saying, "We can't have her just out there attacking random monsters for whatever reason."
Amos and Connie nodded, the latter saying, "Of course, be safe!"
Pearl smiled, "That's my line." She looked up at Amethyst and Circo, saying, "Amethyst? Circo?"
"We got it," Circo said, giving Pearl a thumbs up. She nodded and looked at Amos and Connie, "We'll train next week without Jasper hanging over our heads."
"Best case scenario," Garnet said. They beamed up and away, vanishing from the Warp pad. Amethyst walked over to the four of us, saying, "Lucky break for you guys, you get the training day off."
She wrapped her arms around Amos' and Connie's shoulders. "So what do you wanna do?" She asked. Connie looked at her sword and said, "I actually wanted to practice if that's alright with you, Steven."
"That's fine with me," Steven said. I looked at Amos and asked, "Did you want to practice too or no?"
"Sure," He said. "I need to practice my hand to hand combat anyway."
I looked over at Circo and asked, "Circo, you want to join?" He looked up from his notepad and said, "Sure. I can take a break from looking at these notes anyway."
"What are the notes for?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders, "Just about stuff I asked Eilat on." I raised an eyebrow but it looked like Circo wasn't going to go into detail about it. We all headed outside and Amethyst sat down on a stone hand sticking out from the ground. Circo sat underneath, his back leaning against the hand. Amethyst was lying back on the hand and Circo was looking at his notepad. Connie and Steven faced each other and started sparring.
I turned to Amos and moved my hands. Water from the ocean floated up and onto my hands, forming into boxing gloves. I curled my fists and said, "Don't hold back just because I'm your girlfriend."
Amos smirked, "Wouldn't dream of it."
I charged at Amos, ready to throw a punch. He crossed his arms and took the punch. I jumped back as he tried to swing his fist low for a punch in the gut. I looked up just as I saw his other fist coming towards my head. I squeaked and my wings appeared, blocking his punch. "Hey, no fair!" He said, smirking.
"That was on accident," I said, smiling nervously. I looked over at Amethyst and Circo, seeing Steven talking to Amethyst. I looked at Circo and asked, "Hey Circo, you watching?"
He looked up from his notepad and asked, "What?"
"Dude, were you watching the fight or no?" Amos asked. Circo smiled nervously and said, "Ah not really...but I will now." I nodded and faced Amos. I moved the water around my hands and changed them into small punching pads. "Okay, practice throwing your punches."
Amos charged and slammed his fists into the water pads. I kept my feet planted as he threw punches. I moved my hands around to have Amos not be so open when punching. But as he swung his fist, he was left completely open. I flicked my wrist and a splash of sea water hit his face. He coughed and sputtered the water out, saying, "What was that for?!"
"You were open," I said, letting the water fall from my hands. "Really open. You need to be focused on not leaving opportunities for attacks while also focusing on your enemy."
Amos nodded and I looked over at Amethyst and Circo. Neither of them were watching us. The four of us turned to them and Steven asked, "Did you see that?"
Circo looked up from his notepad, looking slightly nervous about answering. But Amethyst shape shifted into a purple version of Pearl. She clapped her hands, saying, "Excellent! Amazing! Pearl-fect."
I giggled and Steven blushed. "Oh I don't know," Steven said modestly.
"Not really," Connie said, looking at her sword. "My stance is all wrong, and my grip is a little soft."
"I was constantly open on my attacks," Amos said, looking down at his hands. "Luna was able to easily get me if her water." Circo looked up at Amethyst who was looking at the four in worry. She shifted back to her normal self and said, "Why are you worried about that little stuff for? It's not gonna matter in a real fight."
"It does, though," Connie said. She lowered her sword and said, "I blew it on my first, real magical mission! I was face-to-face with a monster and I froze. Maybe if I trained a little harder... I- Could've handled it."
"And I charged in, not seeing any openings when there was one," Amos said, looking at his hands. "Maybe if I focus on training more, it'll help in a fight."
Circo stood up and shook his head, "Sounds to me like you're too in your head. In a fight, you never know what's gonna happen, You just gotta go with it. How can you get ready when you don't even know what you're getting ready for?"
Amethyst nodded and grinned, "Yeah, you can't be ready. What you gotta be is loose." Amethyst shape shifted her arms to be more noodle like and loose. Steven beamed, saying, "I want to be loose!"
"Then you gotta go with the flow! Fighting's all about that feeling deep in your guts. What do your guts feel like?!" Amethyst shouted. At that moment, Steven's stomach and my stomach growled. My face grew red and I laughed nervously, "Maybe I'm a bit hungry."
Amos chuckled and said, "I wouldn't mind some food."
"Snack break, snack break," Amethyst chanted. We all looked at Connie and Circo. Circo rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. We can go get a snack."
"A break sounds nice right about now," Connie admitted. Amethyst, Steven, and even Amos started chanting, "Snack break! Snack break!"
I giggled and glanced at Circo, who smirked at our antics. He stood up and put his notepad in his back pocket. "Let's head into town and see what snacks we can get," He suggested.
Amethyst grinned and shouted, "Last one to the Big Donut is a rotten egg!" Amethyst started running down the beach and the five of us started chasing after her. Amos and Circo were ahead of me and Steven and Connie quickly catching up behind me. An idea came to mind and I smirked. It took a moment, but the burst of energy from my wings appearing helped me to jump up and race past Amethyst. Amethyst grinned and jumped, rolling into a speeding white fur ball.
"This isn't fair, guys!" Amos shouted as Amethyst and I raced up to the Big Donut. I slammed my hand on the glass just as Amethyst came to a sudden halt. I landed on my feet and said, "Ha! I win!"
"You cheated," Circo panted, running up behind Amethyst and I. Amos, Connie and Steven came up behind us and I laughed. "Amethyst didn't say we could use our powers," I said, looking at her. Amethyst shrugged her shoulders, "Fair point."
We all looked into the Big Donut, not seeing Sadie or Lars inside. Amethyst smiled at us and asked, "Who wants a donut?" Steven and I immediately raised a hand, chorusing, "I do!"
"Maybe just one!" Connie said, raising a hand. Amos shrugged his shoulders, "Why not?" Everybody looked at Circo, who looked at everybody. "I want one too," He said. "Just because I didn't say anything, didn't mean I didn't want one."
Everybody chuckled and Amethyst smirked. She shape shifted into a purple version of Lars. She looked into the store and said, "Great. It's on me."
I looked at Amethyst and glanced nervously at Circo and Steven. They both gave me a worried look as Amethyst walked into the store. We all followed after her as Sadie looked up and froze at the sight of us. She raised an eyebrow in confusion as Amethyst leaned against the counter, "Heeeey, donut girl. It's me, donut boy. You mind if I grab a couple of krullers?"
Before Sadie could say anything, Amethyst leaned around counter and started shoving donuts into her pocket. She moved Sadie aside and said, "Don't worry; I work here."
"Wha-?!" Sadie said, sounding very confused. Steven leaned to her and said, "Sorry, Sadie. That's just Amethyst being Amethyst... by not being Amethyst..."
"It's alright," Sadie said. "It's only a few donuts."
Just then, Amethyst stood up straight and started walking out of the store. In her arms, were bags upon bags of donuts. Sadie's face fell and said, "Okay it's a slight problem."
"We'll pay for it," Circo said, pulling some cash from his pockets. Everybody pulled out whatever cash they had in their pockets and gave it to Sadie. Once it had been counted up, Sadie let us leave. We followed after Amethyst into town and sat down by one of the stoned bricked plants. Amethyst dropped all of the donuts and each of us grabbed one. As we all ate our donuts, Amethyst pulled out cans of soda for everybody.
Connie and I tapped the top of the cans, making sure to prevent the can from spraying soda in our faces. Steven and Amos didn't pay attention and opened their cans. Soda sprayed all over their faces and I stifled a laugh. Connie flinched and Amethyst and Circo busted out laughing. Amethyst shook her can and sprayed herself in the face with the soda. We all sat in silence for a moment before bursting into laughter.
After we finished our donuts, we all started running along on the board walk. Circo pulled out his notepad but I quickly grabbed his hands and Amos' too. I pulled the two of them as we ran along the boardwalk after Steven and the others. Even Lion joined in at one point. Circo put his notebook away and our group went to the boardwalk carnival. Once we got inside, we all went up onto the Ferris Wheel. Steven and Connie were in one cart, Amethyst day on top of the next cart, Lion sat in the one before our group, and Circo, Amos and I had the last cart. I glanced at Circo and saw that he was reaching for the notepad in his pocket. But I tapped his shoulder and pointed out the view. That distracted him long enough for us to get off the ride.
The sun was starting to set as our entire group went out onto the beach. Connie pulled out some glow stick bracelets and passed them around. Steven got a red one, Connie a blue, Circo an orange one, Amos a green, and I got a purple one. Amethyst found a surf board and ran into the water. Steven and I looked at each other and grinned. I summoned my wings and picked Steven up. We flew up and I said, "Ready?"
"Yeah!" He shouted, excited. I hugged Steven and we both shouted, "CANNON BALL!"
I dismissed my wings and we both fell into the water. Steven used his bubble shield to ease the impact into the water. The bubble popped and we were soaked through instantly. I let go of Steven and we both swam to the surface. I gasped for air and looked at the shore. Connie was jumping from foot to foot in excitement. Amos had already taken his shoes and socks off, and was rolling up his pants to come join. Circo was sitting on the sand next to Sourcream, who was lying on a beach seat. I noticed he had his notepad out again and was reading it.
"What's with him and that notepad?" I muttered. Steven looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Huh?"
"Circo's been looking at that notepad all day today," I said, sighing in annoyance. "What's so important that he's constantly looking at that?"
"Why don't you ask him?" Steven asked. I blinked and looked at Steven. He shrugged his shoulders, "You never know unless you ask."
"Good point," I said. I started swimming to shore, trying to get out of the water. Amos started wading his way in but stopped when I started getting out. "Where are you going?" He asked.
"I need to talk to Circo for a moment," I said. I walked past Connie and over to Circo. I stood in front of him, waiting for him to look up. He noticed my shadow and looked up at me. "Hey Luna," He said. "Sorry, I know you want me to come swimming but-"
"Actually, I wanted to know what your lookin' at all day," I said. Circo blinked and pulled the notepad close to him. "I-It's nothing," He muttered.
"It can't be nothing if you've been distracted all day," I said. He hesitated but handed me the notepad. I turned the notepad over and saw a rough pencil sketch of a woman with short, curly dark hair. She was wearing a shirt with an opening on the hip to show off her gem. She wore a a knee length skirt and spartan style sandals, the straps wrapping all the way up to her knees. Three stars were seen on the shirt and her eyes were dark. Her skin was too and her stance was one that looked to be on guard. I looked at Circo and asked, "Is this your mom?"
Circo nodded, "I've been visiting Eilat more to ask about my mom during the war. I've been writing everything down in that notepad and they even drew what they could remember of her."
I looked back down at the notepad and stared at the picture. Suddenly, a dark shadow looked over me and small droplets of water fell on the note pad. I turned around and, to my shock, saw the spotted, brown, corrupted gem from the snow mission. I felt a hand grab my wrist and pull me away. "Move, move, move!" Circo shouted, moving me away from the gem.
I tumbled in the sand and looked up in time to see Circo pull out his sword from his gem. Amethyst had already wrapped her whip around the gem and was strangling it. Circo jumped up and dealt the final blow. The gem poofed and its gem fell to the ground. I pocketed the notepad and rushed over as Connie, Amos, and Steven rushed over. "Are you okay?!" I asked, as Circo dismissed his sword.
"Yeah. Are you?" He asked, giving me a worried look. I nodded and Steven said, "You guys we're amazing!"
"Are you guys okay?" Connie asked, looking at Amethyst and Circo in worry. Amethyst sighed, "Not a pretty win, but I'll take it."
"That was the monster we fought in the snow. At least, it looked like it was," Amos said. I picked up the gem as Circo said, "I think you'd remember a face like that."
"Well, there were two of them," I said, bubbling the gem. As I pressed down on it to send to the temple, both Amethyst's face and Circo's face dropped. "Two of them?" Amethyst asked, concerned. Suddenly, the ground shook and we all turned around.
The blue and pink spotted corrupted gem crawled out of the ocean, with Jasper on it's back. Jasper smiled, saying, "Rose! Oh, and it looks like Lucine and Circa are here too. My lucky day."
"Jasper!" I squeaked, shocked. Circo pushes me behind him and pulled out his sword. Jasper sneered at our group, saying, "Glad I found you. I've decided to build my own army, where's the rest of yours?"
"There not here right now!" Steven shouted. Amethyst turned to Steven, trying to shush him. But Jasper heard him, saying, "So it's just you lot?"
"Doesn't matter, I'm gonna whip your butt all by myself!" Amethyst shouted. Using her whip, she wrapped it around the corrupted gem. She lifted it off the ground, causing Jasper to fall off and land in the sand in front of her. The corrupted gem fell next to her but quickly got up. The gem charged at our group and we all jumped out of the way. Amethyst slid next to Steven, saying, "Circo and I have Jasper. You guys take care of that dope!"
Amethyst charged at Jasper and Circo ran after her. Steven summoned his shield and Connie pulled out her sword. Amos raised his fists, standing in defense. Even Lion stood ready next to Steven. I raised my hands and and sea water coated over my hands and arms, forming long tentacles on them. "We get another chance guys!" I shouted.
"Just stay together!" Steven shouted. The corrupted gem slammed its paw down and we all jumped out of the way. Amos was the closest and he slammed his fist into the gem's leg. The gem roared and went to bite him. But he ducked under the gem, moving out of the way. Connie lunges forward to swing her sword. But the gem reared it's legs high up. Steven rushed forward and made his shield bigger. The gem's paws slammed down onto the shield. I rushed forward and jumped onto Steven's shield, using it as a springboard. I spun in a circle, using my arms to whip the gem. The gem roared and stumbled back as I landed on the ground.
I heard a scream and looked over my shoulder. Amethyst and Circo were on the ground, struggling to stand up. "Amethyst?! Circo?!" I shouted.
"Luna! Watch out!" Amos shouted. He tackled me just as the corrupted gem's jaws barely missed me. He quickly got up and helped me up, saying, "I get you want to help them, but we have to focus."
I nodded but looked at them in worry. Amethyst and Circo were standing, but they were struggling to stay up. I turned back and charged at the gem with Amos, both of us landing hits on the gem. I heard Circo scream and froze. I turned around and saw Circo lying on the sand. "Circo!" I shouted just as Amethyst was head butted by Jasper. Her form was destroyed and I screamed, "Amethyst!"
"No!" Circo shouted, raising his sword. But Jasper grabbed Circo's arm and squeezed it tight. There was a loud crack and Circo screamed in pain. He fell to the ground, and Jasper kicked his head, knocking him out. I looked at Steven and Connie, saying, "Change of plans. We're fighting Jasper!"
I grabbed Amos' hand and said, "Come on!"
Amos gripped my hand tightly as we charged. Without realizing, a bright light enveloped both of us and we fused.
-Lumos' POV-
We jumped up as another person landed below us, kicking Amethyst's gem out of Jasper's hands. We slammed our fist into Jasper's face, causing her to stumble back. We landed on our feet and jumped back, standing next to the person. Jasper looked at us and said, "You four fused?!"
We blinked and looked at Steven and Connie's fusion. "Hey Stevonnie," We said, smiling. Stevonnie blinked and looked down, "Huh, I guess we all did fuse."
"We did?" We said, looking down. To our surprise, we had fused. Amos and Luna must've fused without realizing like Steven and Connie. I giggled and said, "Guess we did."
"You crystal gems would even fuse with a human!?" Jasper shouted. Stevonnie glared at Jasper, holding up Amethyst's gem, "I don't wanna hear anything you say, unless it's "sorry"."
Jasper summoned her helmet and charged. Stevonnie looked at me and said, "Get Circo. We'll take care of Jasper."
I nodded and rushed past Jasper. I knelt down and looked at Circo. A nasty bruise was forming just above his left eye and his right arm was bent in an odd way. I picked him up and moved out of the way just as Jasper and the corrupted gem fell down by us. I rushed over and placed Circo down next to Amethyst's gem. Lion ran over and lowered himself. Stevonnie climbed on and we jumped on behind them. Jasper climbed onto the corrupted gem's back, sneering at us.
"Head to head, just like I like it!" Jasper said. I glared at her and said, "Ready when you are."
I raised my hands and ocean water coated my knuckles. The water froze and formed into ice knuckle busters. I smirked just as Lion charged forward. Stevonnie jumped up and threw their shield. Jasper caught it and I lunges forward, slamming my fist into her face just as Stevonnie brought their sword down on her head. The impact from both our hits caused Jasper's helmet to break and for the corrupted gem to lose form. Jasper landed in the sand and Stevonnie and I stood a distance from her, waiting for her next move.
She stood up in rage, shouting, "Fusion! Fusion! It's always fusion!"
"Are you ready to apologize?" I asked, raising a fist. Jasper chuckled and picked up the corrupted gem. She started backing up into the ocean, saying, "This was just a warm-up. Get ready for next time, Rose and Lucine! Jaspers don't give up! Jaspers keep going... until we get what we want."
Jasper vanished into the ocean and both Stevonnie and I blinked in surprise. "Hm, I guess she lives in the ocean now," Stevonnie said. I nodded and we heard, "You guys...won?"
We spun around and saw not only Amethyst standing behind us, but Circo too. "Amethyst! Circo!" I shouted. But there was a bright light and everything split in two.
-Luna's POV-
I fell against the sand but jumped up quickly. I rushed towards Circo and grabbed his shoulders. "Where does it hurt? Are you okay? How bad is your arm?" I asked, looking him up and down to figure out what needed healing. Circo stepped back and said, "Luna, I-I'm-"
"Don't you dare say your fine!" I snapped. "Your arm is broken! And you were kicked in the head! You need to rest. Amos, can you help me get him back to the Beach House?"
"Way ahead of you," He said.
"Wait, don't you dare-" But Amos picked Circo up, shifting him onto his back. I turned to the others and said, "We're heading back to the house. We can discuss our victory there."
Steven and Connie nodded. Steven and Connie rushed ahead, shouting and whooping in cheers of victory. Lion ran along side them and we started to follow. I stopped and realized Amethyst wasn't with us. I turned and said, "Amethyst, you coming?"
She looked up in surprise and said, "Y-Yeah! I'm coming!"
She caught up with me and we both walked back with Circo and Amos. I glanced between Amethyst and Circo. Both had looks of disappointment and dismay. I glanced at Amos who shared with me the same look. It might've been a victory for us.
But was it really one for them?
..................................
Oh dear. Amethyst and Circo aren't looking too good. What's going to happen next? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to update ASAP :)