Steven stared at the gem that stood in front of him, wielding the rejuvenator. The pink pearl twirled the weapon in her hand before forcing it out toward him.
The abrupt end of aquamarine left the crystal gems confused, the pearl glared at them, her eye flickering from one gem to the next, finally resting on Spinel, she gritted her teeth and took a swing at the gem, forcing her to bounce away from her.
"Pink Pearl, wait!" Steven yelled, the gem halted her next attack, turning toward the boy.
"What are you doing?! What's going on?!" He cried, suddenly feeling the weight of the circumstances on his shoulders.
"I'm doing as I was told." The pearl answered blandly, taking another swing at her foe.
The two diamonds stood now, watching the chaos unfold, they shared a nod and parted ways before the crystal gems could notice they had even gotten up.
Steven and his friends ran to face the Pearl as she calmly swiped at her enemy.
Spinel bounded around as she ran from the attacks, still trying to comprehend what was going on.
"You don't have to do this! You don't have to listen to them!" Steven called, the pearl seethed with loathing, rearing her scythe to attack his friend.
"Yes, I do!" She shrieked, bringing the blade down on top of Spinel. The pink gem quickly drew her weapon, blocking the attack as it landed.
"Why are you so mad at me?!" She questioned, forcing the pearl back and swinging her scythe around so she couldn't come near. The pearl leapt into the air preparing to strike again.
"You're better than me!" Rage filled her voice as it echoed in the room. Amethyst's whip wrapped itself around the shaft of the pearl's rejuvenator, yanking her from the air and smacking her into the ground.
"You always, always got more attention!" The broken gem screeched, grabbing the scythe and spinning in a quick pirouette. She pulled Amethyst toward her, and sliced the whip in half, causing the gem to fall backwards and quickly pull out another.
The pearl turned towards Spinel, who seemed entirely confused by what she was saying. The pink gem stared at her in shock and disbelief.
"What?!" She gasped, narrowly avoiding another attack. The pearl spun her rejuvenator again, taking another step toward the gem before lunging at her.
"You never get it, do you? You were always so stupid!" She swung again. Spinel ducked the attack bringing her blade up to counter, the pearl caught it, and using her own weapon wrenched the scythe from the gem's grip, tossing it to the side. Spinel squeaked, quickly slinking underneath her and grabbing the Pearl's ankles, ripping them out from under her.
The pearl clambered to her feet, heaving as she began to charge the gem.
"You were her friend! I was just her pearl! They felt bad for you, but you are SO ANNOYING!!" She sliced at the gem, but was pushed back by Pearl's spear, the hit knocked her off guard, and Garnet came in with a gut punch, heaving the Pearl into the air.
"That's enough!" The pearl screamed, she spun in the air, corkscrewing down and slicing both Pearl and Garnet in half. The gem and fusion poofed, their gems falling to the ground.
"Pearl! Garnet!" Steven gasped, running to pick up the three gems. he had just grabbed them when Amethyst's whip wrapped itself around his waist, tossing him away before the rampaging Pearl's attack could hit.
"You just wouldn't stop, I don't think you could! But I do what I'm told, I'm good!" The Pearl turned her attention back at Spinel, who was nearly backed into a corner, she stretched over the Pearl, attempting to grab the rejuvenator and wrench it from her grasp, but the pearl swung it around, throwing her off.
"You got everything! Even when they punished you they did it more than me!!" The pearl caught Spinel with the shaft of the scythe, forcing the springy gem onto the ground.
"I did everything- everything they asked!" The pearl began to choke on her words as rage over came her, "and you did whatever you wanted." She began to cry, stepping toward Spinel, lowering her weapon.
Spinel edged backward, but fear wouldn't allow her to move far.
"I'm done with your stupid games." The pearl flipped a switch on her weapon, causing the blade to grow in size, a terrible screeching noise escaping from it. "I'm tired of being second best!"
She swung the weapon down, but the blade was stopped by Steven's shield, he stood in front of his friend, pushing against the force of the Pearl's blow.
The blade of the scythe flickered, unable to maintain its form, and exploded, the short circuit causing the weapon to smoke as it shattered into pieces on the ground.
Spinel sat up, staring at the pearl as tears began to roll down her face.
Steven lowered his shield, now sure that the fight was over, he felt in his pocket for Sapphire, Ruby and Pearl.
The pearl dropped to her knees, sniffling helplessly as she wallowed in her despair.
"I just want to be loved..I just want to be good, but they don't care!" She cried, raising her hands to rub the tears from her eye. Spinel paused, hesitantly approaching the gem. She stretched out her arms and wrapped them around her, pulling the sobbing gem close and petting her head gently.
"I'm sorry.." she searched for words to say, "what they did...that isn't love."
The pearl looked up, catching Spinel's eyes as they began to fill with tears. She buried her face into Spinel's shoulder and let out an agonized wail, causing the gem to tighten her embrace.
"I'm sorry." The Pearl finally whispered, pulling away from her hug, "you should go..they will come back."
She stood, glancing at the broken rejuvenator and then at Steven, who stood dumbfounded.
"You should take it, they are going to make more."
"You're not coming with us?" Spinel asked, averting her eyes from the gem. The pearl shook her head slowly.
"They will believe me if I told them I stopped you. And that the rejuvenator was destroyed. I have to stay." She answered offering a small smile. Spinel nodded, standing up with the pearl.
"I can stay too-"
"No, they will shatter you, or worse." The pearl cut Spinel off before she could finish. The pink gem nodded, moving to Steven's side, not taking her eyes off the gem as she disappeared into the warp.
YOU ARE READING
Steven Universe fic
FanfictionSYNOPSIS: Steven Wakes up from a cryptic dream about Spinel who has been with the diamonds for at least a year now, only to find out that she has warped to his house unnanounced and in considerable distress. Now faced with a gem in desperate need of...
