Wulfenite: A Steven Universe Story

Chapter 38

"We're nearing our destination, get ready!" Peridot yelled as she steered the ship towards the ruins. Steven was napping in his seat. Peridot looked next to her and tapped Steven on his shoulder: "Wake up!" Steven woke up with sweat all over his face. "Wha- what's happening?! Are we crashing?!" "Calm down, Steven. We've arrived at the ruins." "Phew..." Steven wiped the sweat from his forehead. Peridot circled around the ruins looking for the gems. She'd warned Steven about radiation, because even though he's part gem, they can't be sure if he's immune. "You need to stay inside." Peridot said: "The submarine is coated with thick layers of titanium; the radiation won't hurt you in here. Don't worry, I'll be right back." Steven expressed a sad look as Peridot left the submarine. "She'll be back soon enough. She just needs to grab the gems." Steven sat down on the chair. "I still find it weird that the gems were so mean to Peridot. I mean, I get it from Pearl, they've never been too close, but I thought they sorted their arguments out and even became friends. This couldn't have come from one side. Peridot is hiding something. I'll ask the gems for more info." The hatch opened and Peridot entered the submarine: "I'm back! The clods are here, too. Pearl was poofed down there. I don't know how, but still. I bubbled her too and I'm keeping them bubbled. I'm not risking them yelling at me while we're still deep underwater. Let's return to the surface. Take a seat." Steven nodded and quickly sat down on his seat and strapped his seatbelt. "I'm ready!" Steven yelled. "I'll be right there, I have to put the clods in a suitable space. They need to remain in one piece during the ride home." Some noises came from the back. Things were falling on the floor. "Everything okay?" Steven yelled. "Don't worry about it, I bumped into the rack holding my tools!" Peridot yelled back. A while later, Peridot came back. "They're on a safe location. They'll make it. Let's go home." Peridot buckled up and started the engine. The engine rumbled a bit and then they went back home.

Back at the temple, Steven hopped out the submarine. "Okay, hand them over. They're coming with me. I'll talk to them about what happened at the underwater base." "Alright, I'll be going back to the barn. Goodbye!" Peridot exclaimed. "Bye, Peridot!" Steven yelled. Steven unbubbled the gems and carried them back inside: "I hope they don't take too long to reform, I miss them already and I don't want to be lonely." Steven put the gems on a pillow and sat next to them. "I could video chat with Wulfenite while I wait and explain what happened, so he's up to date." Steven high-fived himself and said: "Good idea, Steven! Thanks, Steven." Steven flipped his borrowed laptop open. "I really need to return this to Connie soon." Steven called Peridot. It took a while, but she picked up. "Hello, Steven. What can I do for you?" "Hey Peridot!" Steven said; "Can I speak to Wulfenite? Is he there?" "Of course, I'll go get him." Steven heard Peridot yell Wulfenite's name loudly as she walked from her tablet. Wulfenite neared and sat down: "Hey there, Steven! Long time no see!" "Hey Wulfenite! Listen, You know about the project Peridot was working on, right?" "That thing she went to the temple for?" "Yes, that one. Do you know what it is?" "Nope." "Well, it was a giant rocket meant to destroy Homeworld." "That's silly, even the biggest cannon in the world can't scratch Homeworld. I made sure of that. Look, Homeworld has a giant shield around it, which blocks any kind of projectile. It doesn't affect ships and signals, though." Steven scratched his head: "So, if you made sure of it, does that mean you developed it?" "Sure does." "So you also know how to deactivate it?" "I do. It requires a password, but I assume Homeworld has already changed it. They know the password, too." "Aw man, I thought we were onto something here." "Too bad, Ste-man." "Anyway, Peridot knew the same thing as you." "Then why did she built it?" "She said she wanted to cancel production and she didn't know what she was building for the longest time." "Odd." "So she wanted to stop production, but the crystal gems wanted to give it a shot because they thought the shield was deactivated since you were gone." "Invalid reason." "True, But I can see why they'd think that. So they went and built it and Peridot then destroyed it; she didn't want any useless attention." "So that was what I heard. Smart move." "Yeah, but the gems got poofed in the explosion and now they're lying here on the couch." "Should I come over?" "Yes please, I left out some details I need to discuss with you privately."