This is "Serious Steven" but wrote differently. Expect a few more chapters like this before we move on to the story.
3rd Person P.O.V.
Steven and the gems were traveling to a location via Warp Pad. They reached the location and proceed. There was huge strawberries around the place.
(Steven) Smells like strawberries.
Their mission was to recover a gemstone.
(Pearl) Unbelievable. This was once a gem battlefield. Now, it's wild strawberries as far as the eye can see. Oh, thats what I love about the Earth! Maybe this will be a light mission after all.
Garnet stopped. The structure was an upside down pyramid.
(Garnet) Maybe not.
She materialized an item which she used to insert it into a hole which fits the item. Then a door opened for them to walk inside. It was a huge room which showed stuff on the walls.
It showed a pink figure and other individuals behind it, fighting a white figure. This must be a sign. Steven noticed that the pink figure looked like Rose Quartz but decided to keep it to himself.
The gems were observing the walls as well. Steven noticed a floating upside down pyramid. He moved it right side up and the place started shaking. Gravity worked the opposite direction and everyone fell through a hole in the ceilings.
Everyome stuck the landing. The ceiling closed and torches lit up the room they were trapped in. There were triangle shaped holes that lead into different rooms.
(Amethyst) Looks like we're gonna have to split up.
(Garnet) Me and Steven will stick together.
(Pearl) Are you sure? Why don't you be sensible and pair him with Amethyst?
(Garnet) If you want this trip to go smoothly, you stick with Amethyst.
Pearl remembered that Garnet is the one who can see the future, meaning she knows which route is best for everyone. She didn't like being with Amethyst but she'd rather be stuck with her than Steven.
(Pearl) Lets go Amethyst.
They walked to a room.
(Garnet) Come on, Steven.
Garnet gestured for him to follow her. He complied and went with her. They remained silent.
When they reached a room, the door behind them closed and the tiles on the floor lit up.
(Garnet) We need to stay on the glowing pannels.
Steven understood this room, stay on the glowing tiles and nobody gets hurt. Easy enough. They made it across the room without any problems.
Once again, they haven't said a word to each other, except Garnet from earlier. Steven isn't one for small talk. They proceed forward only for the door to close behind them and at the end of the room.
The place started to rumble for a moment before halting. Steven felt an odd sensation, it must be the atmosphere of this place. It felt like he was being spun around.
(Garnet) We can take a break if you're not feeling well, Steven.
(Steven) I'm fine.
He quickly responded.
(Steven) Lets focus on getting out of here.
Garnet noticed his quick reaction and took note of it. He observed the wall to see if it had any clues for getting out of the hallway. So far, norhing but shapes on the wall, mostly triangles.
Steven put his hand on the wall and dragged it to see if theres any secret buttons to press. He ended up pressing a button and spikes showed up on the ceiling.
(Garnet) Run!
They ran for the end of the hallway, since the door opened up after the spikes appeared on the ceiling. Spikes nearly dropped onto Steven if he did not reacted fast and immediately stopped before he got too close. Garnet quickly ran past him when the spikes when back up in front of Steven.
Steven saw that the spikes were about to drop onto Garnet when she was close to the end. He quickly ran up to her but he couldn't reach her so he leaped at her and tackled her. This helped get them away from the spiked and at the end of the room.
Garnet knew he was going to do thst which is why she didn't say anything else than,
(Garnet) Thanks.
Close calls like that didn't faze Steven. They reached into another room which seemed almost impossible to get across for any mortal being. There were floating upside down pyramids for them to hop on but lava occasionally poured down on them, followed with spikes.
In between the platforms were axes that swung left and right. If they weren't careful, those axes could be their end.
(Garnet) What do you think we should do?
Steven was observing the room. He watched how the spikes, lava, and axes worked. They worked in a pattern.
Steven calculated which would be the right time to run and jump on the platforms. Within one run with perfect freeflow, he ran and jumped on the platforms until he reached the other side.
(Garnet) Nice job, Steven.
She praised him. That was a risky move but he performed like he's a professional in this stuff. Garnet did exactly what he did to get across the room.
(Garnet) That was really smart of you.
He didn't respond but only gestured her to follow him to the next room. The next room was, the main room where they started?
(Garnet) We're back where we started.
Steven was confused. They went straight forward, no left or right turns during their journey.
(Pearl) Garnet, there you are! The doors and rooms here make no sense. They all bring you back here.
Amethyst came out of a door.
(Amethyst) (Yells in frustration) Get me out of here!
She ran into another room.
(Pearl) There are 16 doors, and we entered from the northeast and went through three consecutive rooms in a straight line...
(Amethyst) Ow!
Amethyst came back with a bear trap latched onto her head. She ripped it off and went back where she came from.
(Pearl) ...But arrived back here out of the southernmost door, which can only mean-- w-well, I don't know what it means. I--
Amethyst came back but in an ice block.
(Pearl) This is a death trap!
She started trying to chip Amethyst free with her spear.
(Garnet) I guess we have to go back through these rooms again and again until we figure out this puzzle.
Steven tried being calm in this situation and trying to find a logical solution to this conflict. He felt the odd sensation of spinning once again, what could it mean? Steven tried connecting the odd spinning feeling with the rooms taking them straight back to the start.
Steven solved the puzzle.
(Steven) I know whats going on.
(Garnet) What is it?
(Steven) I could be wrong but I have a feeling that the rooms we select are being spun around by an ancient mechanism. They continue spinning us until we reaches back here. That explains why we have different room patterns.
(Garnet) Where do you think the mechanisms would be?
Steven looked around. He look down at the floor. He got on his knees and placed his ear on the ground to listen.
He knocked on the ground to hear and feel that it was hallow.
(Steven) Smash the floor. Destory it.
Garnet listened as she materialized her gauntlets and started punching the ground until it gave in and broke. They all fell through and landed on pyramid platforms that were spinning around a pillar in the middle which had the gemstone they were looking for. Amethyst was broken free from the ice block when she landed on a platform.
(Pearl) This is unbelievable. This gem-powered mechanism. It's manipulating the rooms above. Every room we entered spun us until we came back to the central chamber.
She made a projection with her gem to show what it was doing.
(Garnet) Steven already figured that out.
(Pearl) Oh, right... Steven figured that out...
She blushed blue as she hid the projection and looked down in embarrassment. Steven was waiting for a moment to jump to the pillar so he can remove the gemstone and shut down this place. However, he couldn't because it was too fast.
(Steven) Garnet, I need you to toss me to the pillar.
(Garnet) Right.
She grabbed him and threw him at the pillar like a football. He grabbed onto the pullar to avoid falling on the ground and grasped the gemstone. He pulled with all his strength and managed to pull it out.
The place then blew up. Debris started faling from the sky. Everyone was okay.
The gems rised from the ground.
(Pearl) The gemstone. Where is it?
(Amethyst) Yo, Steven got it.
Steven was still holding the gemstone and he gave it to Pearl. Pearl bubbled it and sent it back to the temple.
(Amethyst) Nice job, Steven.
(Garnet) Yes. You handled this mission very well. I'm glad we let you tagged along. Otherwise, we would've stayed longer or would never got out of there.
Garnet and Amethyst praises Steven for his quick thinking and bravery. Pearl didn't say much other than,
(Pearl) You did well...
That was all she had to say.
(Steven) Lets go home.
They all went to the Warp Pad to leave.
End of Chapter 4