The Black Gem

67. Growing Pains

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So were moving ahead a little as the next few episodes were really just Steven's mental health taken further knocks, The biggest being Connie's recent rejection to his proposal.

Steven is sitting on his bed watching TV.

"Dogcopter 6: Til Death Do We Bark, I Now Pronounce You Man and Woof".

"I know you're eager to chase the mail truck, Dogcopter. But the mail truck is a decoy. Good boys chase the blue car. Be a good boy, Dogcopter."

Dogcopter flies to the blue car, opens the trunk, and removes a bomb and a small box.

"Nice work, DC! Now get the bomb off the bridge! We're almost out of time!"

The timer runs out on the bomb and Dogcopter throws it off the bridge. He is thrown to the ground by the explosion.

"Dogcopter! No!"

A guy runs up to him.

"Dogcopter, I-I can't lose you."

DogCopter wakes up and opens the small box revealing a ring shaped like a dog bone.

"Is this... what I think it is?"

"DogCopter 6: Till Death Do We Bark: I Now Pronounce You Man And Woof!"

"Everyone's getting married but me!" Steven complains as he turns pink then sighs. "Ughhh! I feel like poop." He falls back on his bed and grabs his phone trying to call the Gems.

"I wish the Gems weren't doing a field-trip this week. I wonder if they have any reception." He asks himself as he receives no answer on the phone. "I guess not." Steven looks upset as he looks at Connie's name in his contact list, then he calls his Dad. Greg picks up and Steven gets happy as he returns to his normal color.

"Hey, Steven!" Greg says.

"Hey, Dad! How's it going?" Steven asks.

"The tour's been going great, what's been going on with you? Throwing any big parties while you got the house to yourself?" Greg asks.

Steven laughs a little sarcastically. "Yeah, you know me. But, I'm really glad you're getting home tonight. I really need to talk to someone about what happened between me and Connie."

Greg can be heard laughing on the phone. "Sorry, Steven. What was that? Sadie and Shep have been working on a new routine, you'll never believe what they throw into the audience! Hey, guess what? The tour's been extended!"

Steven looks glum now but tries to remain cheerful. "Wow. That's- that's great!"

"Yeah. You know, you were so right about this whole manager thing, Steven. I love it! I can't believe I'm touring again. Oh. We're about to head into another tunnel, do you wanna call me back with whatever you wanted to talk about?" Greg asks.

"I-It wasn't important." Steven says.

"You sure? We can stop by on our way through Delmarva." Greg asks.

"No. It's okay, just uh- have fun!" Steven says and Greg hangs up. Steven sighs and walks to the fridge, Steven opens the freezer and glows pink when he sees Connie's glow bracelet. Steven's body suddenly swells up a huge amount and rips his clothes, then goes back to normal as he throws a box from the freezer onto the floor. Steven is shocked and pants. He goes to sit down on the couch with his phone and breathes in heavily, then glows pink again as he looks at Connie's name.