"Alright, we tried the movies, the fry place, the Big Donut's dumpster, and the bottom of the ocean." At this point, Steven was thinking she went back to the Kindergarten, except he was certain she didn't even know what that was in her current state. "She couldn't have gotten that far on her own, could she?"
"Well, if what you said about her reset's correct, then she's basically a lost child, and we both know kids can do crazy stuff on their own." Kelly mentioned as she walked right beside him, only for Spinel to constantly get in the way every time she got closer to him. "Speaking of…"
"Sorry, she's just…really attached." Maybe if he met this gem two years ago, he wouldn't have minded so much, but he needed complete concentration on fixing the gems. "Spinel, it's okay, Kelly's not going to do anything weird."
"But she keeps reaching for your hand, and only best friends can hold those!" Spinel countetered, holding his own to prove her point. "And your best friend is me!"
"Right.." Forget that she tried to kill you, right now she's a completely innocent and different gem from who she was hours ago. "But it is possible for people to have more than one best friend, you know."
They tilted their heads in confusion. "But 'best' means one, right? Closest, strongest, stuff like that." The gem smiled. "And I'm the funnest gem alive, Spinel!"
"True." Kelly nodded, doing her best to placate the stretchy pink gem. "You're the funnest gem, and that makes you his best gem friend." Kelly patter Spinel on the head, making her foot stomp a little like a puppy. "I'm a Woolet, and I'm tougher than any other woolet, so that makes me his best Woolet friend."
Seeing where his girlfriend was going with this, he continued. "Exactly. Best friends care about making sure their best friends are all happy and having fun." He pointed to the two of them. "You guys want me to be happy, and I want you two to be happy, so really, we all want the same thing."
"But that still puts me as the best of all best friends overall, right?" Spinel pointed to herself, pressing a finger against her squishy face with a look in her eyes that Steven found oddly adorable in spite of the hardship the gem had given him today.
"Well we just met, and I barely know anything about you, but I'm sure with time we'll be the best of best friends." He ruffled the gem's head, before a thought occurred. "We're even playing a game right now. Find Amethyst. Whoever does it first wins."
"Yay, new game!" Spinel stretched her eyeballs out and formed her legs into springs. "On your mark, get set, go!" Spinel sprung, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
"As clingy as she is, you can't deny the usefulness." Kelly mentioned once she was out of ear range.
"True … although now I just feel bad." Steven sighed.
"Look, it's natural to-"
"No no, not that." He waved off. "I'm opening up Ms Wong about that one comment White made about me acting just like my mom, and now I'm emotionally manipulating Spinel into doing what I need, when in all actuality that's probably the reason she's trying to kill us to begin with."
"Hey, for one, you're not manipulating her. As someone who was manipulated, let me tell you you're far from being a Vlad." Kelly reassured him. "You couldn't have known what that rejuvenator would've done to her, and it's not like you're just going to keep her like this forever, right?"
"No, we still need her to get rid of the injector." Steven sighed. "But after that….what's going to happen? Do I just accept another would-be killer into my life again? I've been through this situation constantly…and I'm sick of it."
"And what?" Kelly asked. "You, the guy always on about peace, do the alternative and just end it?"
"No …" He already had minor guilt about Omnitraxus. Not that the guy wasn't an asshole that clearly didn't deserve it, but it was very obvious he was losing it due to the Koala being an even worse asshole. "I'd never do that. I…I just thought we were finally at that happy ending."
"We're close, but not quite there." Kelly gave him a small peck on the cheek. "After all, you haven't put a ring on my finger yet, mr universe."
Steven's brain halted for a few moments, his face flustered beyond belief. "I …"
"Hey, I found footprints!" Spinel shouted. "I'm in the lead!"
"Great job, Spinel! Follow them and we'll be right behind yah!" Kelly called out to her. "See, everything's working out for us. Just because we hit a few snags in the road doesn't mean happiness isn't just around the corner. You're the one that taught me that, after all."
"Right…" Steven shook his head, a smile forming on his face once more. "Thanks Kelly. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Probably going crazy while you fight a sentient cactus clone of yourself or something." Steven laughed awkwardly, mentally preparing himself to never let that return … ever.
========================================================================
"Now repeat after me little gal." She held up her favorite weapon. "Crowbar. Crow … bar …"
"Waaaggg." Melon Steven followed suit, gesturing to the object.
"Crow … bar?" The tiny Amethyst asked, shifting her hand to follow suit. She had no idea what the smaller form was all about, the only thing she did know was that she found Amethyst crawling around her trash, something she hadn't done in about a year if she remembered correctly, and that she didn't seem to remember a thing. Thus, it fell to her to corrupt her mind with bad decisions like the purple gem corrupted her all those years ago. The circle of life worked in mysterious ways.
"Correct!" Jana smiled with a clap of her hands. "You're doing amazing Amethyst."
"You're doing amazing Amethyst." The girl repeated back.
"Waaagg." Melon Steven was right, it was like him all over again.
"Waaagg." Amethyst copied him as well.
"Still copying whatever everyone else is doing." She frowned a little. Jana wouldn't mind normally, but Amethyst usually found new and creative ways to be mischievous all on her own. "Hmm, maybe I need to take this further." She took out a piece of glass. "Use this for smashing practice. We're going to rob the grocery store later."
A pink lady that seemed a lot like Quana crashed into the window. "I win!"
"... Like that." She used the girl as an example.
"Like that." Amethyst repeated, shapeshifting into the pink lady's shape and ramming herself through the glass she laid out. Guess fifty percent was good enough.
"Spinel…don't just….just…smash through houses.." The family voice of Steven barged into her room, huffing in exhaustion as Kelly followed right behind him. "Ah…Have I really been that inactive the past two years? Feel like I could've kept up with her normally."
"Well you are depowered.You've been coasting on super stamina since you were a child." Kelly shrugged as she turned to her. "Hey Jana, I see you've met the amnesiac Amethyst."
"Ah, so you know the deal then." She nodded.
"All of the Crystal Gems were reset." Steven explained, taking a long breath. "Everyone went back to how they were before they met Rose, and the one who did it got hit herself." Steven turned to the pink lady. "Meet Spinel.."
"Steven's BEST Friend!" Said gem shouted as she stood on her arms.
"Aww, and here I thought that was my role." She teased, and that got the pink gem to give her a strained and dark look. "Ah.."
"No, I'm Steven's best friend! NO ONE ELSE!" Spinel stretched her arms and shook her wildly.
"No, I'm Steven's best friend! NO ONE ELSE!" Amethyst shouted out, stretching her arms and shaking Jana as well, putting the girl in a perpetual state of violent shaking.
"Hey stop it, that's enough!" Steven got her out of the way and put himself between them. "Spinel, she's my best human friend. You're my best gem friend, remember?"
"Oh yeah … well what about her!" They accused, pointing at Amethyst.
"Well what about her!" Said gem accused right back.
"Amethyst is…" Steven started, looking at the purple gem, sadness growing on his face seeing her still shapeshifted in Spinel's form. "Amethyst is family. She's basically an older sister to me."
"Older what-now?" Spinel scratched her head after turning, making her arms go in a loopty loop.
"Sister, you know, a sibling." Kelly explained. "It's like a friend, but different."
"And we're going to help her." Steven stared down. "... Did you teach her music?" He asked.
"Just a little." Jana gave a so-so motion. "Tried playing some hard rock, all that did was make her shapeshift into an actual rock."
"Figures." Steven sighed. "Well, if she imitates everything everyone does around her, then we have to do everything she used to do until it starts ringing in her head, and the best way to do that is through song."
"So essentially I got a front row seat to today's musical number?" Jana smirked.
"This is actually like…the fourth or fifth one we've done by today." Kelly snickered.
"Oooh, it must be a really special occasion." Jana laughed.
"It's a fast day." Steven turned to Amethyst, who had changed back to her smaller form, but hid herself behind a pillow. "Come on, Amethyst. You don't have to be afraid of me. We've been through so much together, getting in trouble together and learning horrible truths together. You're the first gem on the team I could relate to."
Amethyst slowly uncovered herself from the pillow, just looking at the boy with curious eyes, but not engaging.
"In the light of the day." He gestured to the light filled window. "In the dark of the night." Then the dark corner of the room. "When you're raring to go." The boy made a fighting pose. "When you're tired from the fight." Then shifted to an exhausted one.
Amethyst looked away, staring at Melon Steven, until the guy moved behind the real one. "When you're losing your mind." Then he began tap dancing tap dancing. "Let me give you a thought." He held out a hand. "I'm gonna be right by your side, no matter what."
She stared up in confusion, slowly reaching out and grasping it. "In the dark of the night."
"In the dark of the night." Amethyst repeated like she usually did throughout the day.
"In the light of the day." He smiled as he pulled her gently.
"In the light of the day." She repeated once more, looking invested.
"When you're rising to shine." Steven began tapping.
"When you're rising to shine." Amethyst copied his movements
"When you're hitting the hay."
"When you're hitting the hay."
"I'll be hanging around." The human did a twirl.
"I'll be hanging around." The amnesiac gem copied, before stumbling.
"If you like it or not." Steven grabbed her, holding her up with a soft smile.
"If you like it or not." The small purple gem smiled back up at him.
"I'm gonna be right by your side, no matter what."
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It was different. The first few things just kept her still. Then the thing with a green thing tried to show her sounds. They were weird and made her want to hide behind something, or become something else. Then the thing with the green thing showed her really strange objects and broke them for some reason. Did those things make her angry? Did they not work how they used to work? These tall walking things could be so confusing.
But now, it felt different. The pink thing, not the long stretchy pink thing but the first pink thing, the first thing she remembered first was showing her … everything. They went to a place full of colorful things that made so many weird noises when they walked by them. It made her want to hide.
But the first Pink thing was right behind her, and that made her feel slightly more comfortable. Soon they ended up in a place where you threw things that moved along the ground. They kept missing the hole they were supposed to land in when she tossed them, but the first pink thing had a brilliant idea of walking up closer and just tossing them in.
"No matter what." He started tossing them in by sitting on top of it, letting the balls drop to the center of it, making a lot of white paper things come out out of the machine while the second pink thing just poked at them with aw.
"No matter what." She repeated, slowly but willing to copy his movements, repeating his movements as something about it felt…familiar.
"No matter what." It was fun.
"No matter what." It was thrilling.
"No matter what." A man began shouting as the stretchy pink thing was bashing some sort of machine where things popped out of it with some hammer hands, making it go sparky.
"No matter what." They ran with the small rectangles in hand.
"No matter what." The pink thing showed her to put things in her mouth.
"No matter what." She copied, then put it back into the box.
"I'm gonna be." It gently shook its head, showing to put it deep inside the body.
"I'm gonna be." She copied the way his mouth seemed to move, pressing down on it…and this EXPLOSION of something…of flavor went off in her mouth. Something savory….salty….greasy….it all tasted so amazing! So amazing that she shoved her entire face into it and chewed as many as she could. Letting all the food disappear in her mouth felt amazing, like she was somehow…filled whenever she had more.
"Right by your side."
"Right by your side."
"I'm gonna be right by your side, no matter what."
They moved to a large thing….a thing she thinks the pink thing…the boy…called a train. It traveled far, and they watched the world move around them. It was sparkly and … pretty. The stretchy pink thing continued to jump around and laugh. The busy haired one just leaned next to the boy as they continued to look out into the horizon. The boy gestured for her to continue with their vocal mimicking, to try and continue it on her own.
She thought long and hard, trying to remember everything that they had done throughout the day. The beat of the feet tapping, the fun they had at the loud place….at the arcade, and the melody he kept repeating through the day. "In the dark of the night…..In the light of the day." It was a struggle to remember, since she hadn't HAD to remember anything before…but if she didn't remember, all she had was this black screen in her head. She preferred to have the pretty pictures…the memories in her head. "When you're rising to shine … When you're hitting the hay." She jumped into a pile of fluffy and itchy stuff she thought was hay.
"Just remember this song." He smiled.
"How's it go? I forgot." She joked, as they both laughed.
"I'm gonna be right by your side, no matter what." She, the boy, the bushy girl, and the pink stretchy one all sang as they jumped into the pile of hay.
"Through whoever you've been." They arrived at a really dark and dreary place, as the boy showed off a small hole in the wall.
"Through whoever you've been." She walked inside … feeling familiar … this was her hole.
"Through whoever you'll be." This was where she came from…this was her home.
"Through whoever you'll be." She sat down inside of it for a while. A sense of both dread but also of comfort came to her. She didn't feel exactly ashamed of coming from…from…from the kindergarten, but it didn't feel like a completely good thing either.
"Through whatever you lose." She glanced back at the boy, extending a hand to her … just like last time …
"Through whatever you lose." She hesitantly reached back … was it alright? She would hurt him … just like she hurt others.
"You will always have me." He pulled her into a hug. It felt warm.
"You will always have me." She hugged the boy…hugged Steven right back. This sense of protectiveness he was giving her…she felt like she should be giving it to him."
"At the end of your rope." The bushy haired girl….Kelly….walked up to her and joined in on the hug.
"I'll be holding you tight." That weird stretchy thing that had followed them the entire day wrapped her arms around them as well. That was weird, but she wouldn't say no to the comfort.
"I'm gonna be right by your side, no matter what." This was more than just a bunch of weird people…there were her friends…and Steven…he was more…
"Be right by your side." They watched the sun set, the end of another weird and wild day. "Be right by your side." Another amazing day. Steven was more than just her friend.
"Be right by your side, no matter whaaaaat." Steven…Steven was her family.
Amethyst aimed her finger at Steven. "Pew."
He stared back. "Pew Pew?"
She blinked, wondering why those words in particular were in her mind as her hands moved on their own, forming a fist that slowly reached towards Steven. "One…?"
"Two." Steven smiled more confidently as he placed his fist one top of hers.
"Three!" They gripped each other's arms and held each other tightly.
The hug felt so amazing-Restoration. Form. Mind. Capability. Restoration.-Amethyst groaned. "Why does it feel like I've been run over by an oil tanker again?"
"Amethyst!" He jumped at her in a tight hug. "You're back!"
"What, was I on a trip to Canada or something?" She joked.
"Let's just say you were far from yourself." Kelly laughed as she cheered. "Good to have you back, Amethyst."
"Yay, we fixed her brain!" Shouted …
"Steven, behind me!" She shouted, pulling out her whip.
"Wait no, it's …" The boy sighed. "Another long story."
"... You really broke your record for fastest redemption, didn't you?"
"Again, long story, short version is that Spinel's now.." Steven looked to the gem that from her perspective JUST attacked them five seconds ago. "Spinel's a friend." He gave a tired but genuine smile.
"Your BEST friend!" The gem cheered as she hugged him.
"I'd be more concerned if I haven't seen you befriend weirder." Amethyst snickered. "So, what's the status?"
The ground rumbled. "Amnesiac Crystal Gems plus the destruction of Beach Creek, maybe." Ah, of course.
========================================================================
Spinel was happy, because her best friend was happy. Steven was so moody, so it was hard to make him smile, but that was what she was here for. They ran up to their other friends. "Hey, what's going on?!" Amethyst shouted.
"No, take her away." The green gem, Peridot if she remembered, said dramatically. "I can't bear to see you like this, so basic, bland, and devoid of personality."
"Yo, I'm back, you dip." Amethyst rolled her eyes with a groan.
"Amethyst, you're back!" Peridot shouted with glee. "Just in time for the end of the world!"
"The end of what now?" Steven asked with some sweat.
"Yeah …" The blonde….she wanted to say Mewman for some reason, said. "Remember how the injector is pink … turns out it's actually filled with super poison." She pointed to the large pink injector, leaking out a bunch of goop that made the grass and ground all black and gray. A super not fun color.
"Bio-poison to be precise." The Peridot corrected, bubbling up a sample of the ground and placing it in a weird device. "This is a very early Era one injector technology. Homeworld used to just poison the planet to rid it of all organic life. Only reason why they stopped using it was because it killed off too much of the planet to be viable for proper colonization and gem production."
"Great, just great." Steven was frowning again, uoh. "Any other 'great news' we should know about?"
"Well …" That red hooded human looked away. "There is the giant white pillar of light leading to multiple other planets through the multiverse that the bio poison will eventually reach …"
"So not only is the whole planet in danger, but every world the nexus is connected to." Steven groaned in frustration. "Can't we stop it?"
"Don't you think we've been trying!?" The tall blue gem, Lapis, shouted. "Any time we touch this thing it just speeds up the process."
"And it's Diamond coded tech, so by the time I manage to hack into it Marco will have died of old age." Peridot continued. "By my estimate, we only have about roughly…..fourteen hours left until all the poison seeps into the center of the earth and eradicates every living being on the planet."
"I'm so glad I don't have access to pink state now or else I would destroy a whole mountain banging my head against it." Steven grumbled.
"That's bad, right?" A cotton candy looking woman asked.
"... Garnet?" Amethyst asked with confusion.
"It's my name, right?" She asked the group.
"Yes it is." The Mewman sighed, before turning to Steven. "Turns out fusion was only step one of restoring Garnet's missing pieces."
"And we spent the last six hours fixing Amethyst …" Steven groaned. "Of course it couldn't have been that easy, because nothing in my life comes that easily!" Steven shouted, and Spinel was prepared to hug his problems away, but the Mewman beat her to it.
"Hey bro, don't start getting discouraged again." The Mewman calmly patted the boy's back. "You got Amethyst's memories back. You got more done than the rest of us here, so that means you can fix this…we CAN fix this mess."
Almost faster than the blink of an eye, the frustration and worry melted away from Steven's face. "Right. Now's not the time to be moody." The Mewman … calmed him down … Steven … felt calmer around the Mewman…
"With your best friend Spinel to help, we'll get it solved in no time!" She hugged the two of them tightly. "As long as we're together, everything is worth it."
"Why…does….love….always…..take…away…breathing…" Aw, she left him breathless!
"Well we need to restore Spinel's memory, since she was the only one who could operate this." The human said. "But the only one who knew her was Pearl, so we need to fix Pearl first …"
"My Um-Greg Universe! I've dusted the entire porch, organized every grain of sand from smallest to biggest, and waxed your mechanical terrain vehicle!"
"Well at least she won't be too hard to find." Steven said as he walked forward. "Come on, let's see if there's anything we can do before she organizes our family to death."
"Right behind yo-." The Mewman began walking, but Spinel grabbed her arm. "Ah, is there something you need Spinel?"
"You and Steven…what exactly are you?" Spinel asked. "He says people can have more than one best friend…are you his best Mewman friend?"
"I'm his sister." The girl smiled. "No one is closer to Steven than me." Spinel was just a friend…she wasn't a sister….so she couldn't be closer… there was no one … closer … "Spinel, your grip's getting a bit tight." No one … closer … "Spinel! SPINEL!" She would be left behind. "SPINEL!" The girl shook her. "Snap out of it!"
"I won't be left behind." She growled, before letting go and following HER best friend…her ONLY best friend. "I won't be left behind ever again." She wouldn't let anyone drift away ever again.