He Did It For Me: Steven's Legacy

Chapter 05: New Best Friend

The Crystal Gems entered the temple's Burning Room, where all the Corrupted Gems used to be held. Now, there was only the bubbled Spinel, which floated near lava the pit in the center. Pearl carefully grabbed the bubble and told the others, "You might want to stand back."

Greg, Ruby, Sapphire, and Amethyst took two steps back. But Connie, Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth just took one and entered a defensive stance. Pearl popped the bubble, and Spinel's gemstone began to regenerate. It floated into the air as its pink glow engulfed the entire room. The gem rotated upright into a proper heart shape as Spinel started to take shape and laughed. But it wasn't a sinister laugh like Connie expected it to be, but more playful... almost childish.

"Yippee!" The luminescent mass cheered as she roped her rubber-like arms around Connie and launched herself toward the young woman for a hug that knocked her to the ground. "I'm so excited to meet you!" Spinel exuberantly exclaimed as her reformation finished and looked at Connie with an innocent smile and entirely different form from before. Her new overall look was more rounded in contrast to her previously edgy, psychopathic persona. She had black cartoonish looking eyes, and her hair was styled into a pair of heart-shaped buns. Her top was white with more rounded pink sleeves, and her boots become a pair of big magenta shoes.

"What the..."

"Aren't you a lucky one," Sapphire told Connie as she cut-off Bismuth's baffled curse. "Her cut is perfect. And she's pink, too. I foresee endless entertainment from this spinel. Your new best friend."

Spinel bowed dramatically and spoke in a faux-posh accent, "A pleasure to meet you all."

"A pleasure to meet you all." The amnesiac Amethyst mimicked.

"Ooo! let's play a game!" Spinel continued to laugh as she booped Connie on her nose and wrapped her arms around the young woman and playfully shook her in midair.

"Woooould youuuu cut that outttt?!" Connie demanded. Spinel did as she asked and dropped her. "Thank you."

"I warned you that she was a handful." Pearl reminded.

"A handful? She's practically a little kid."

"How did she go from that to a homicidal maniac?" Lapis asked.

"Pink must've dropped the ball really hard with her." Peridot joked.

"A ball?!" Spinel giggled as she popped up from behind the green Gem, which startled her. "Where?!"

"So, um... what comes next?" Greg asked from the back.

To which Pearl explained, "Well, as much as we'd like to keep her nice and harmless..."

"And fun!" Spinel exclaimed as she played with Amethyst.

"... we need to get her memory back to stop that injector."

"There has to be something that'll trigger her memories," Connie stated. "So, let's take her on a trip down memory lane."

"What about Ruby, Sapphire, and Amethyst?" Peridot asked.

"We'll help them along the way. But if we don't "fix" Spinel within forty-eight hours, we may be unable to help them at all." The group exited the Burning Room, and then the house onto the beach. They were all eclipsed by the monolithic injector that resided on the hill.

"Wooow-wee! That thing sure is big!" Spinel exclaimed, and hopped up and down as she asked Connie, "You wanna climb it or somethin'?" Amethyst jumped alongside the rubbery Gem.

Connie grabbed the Gem's shoulders to hold her still and said, "Spinel, focus. I need you to tell me if you remember riding in on that."

Spinel stroked her chin and hummed for a moment before she answered, "Nope."

"Do you remember fighting us?"

"Nope."

"Do you remember telling me that something's going to happen forty-eight hours from now?"

"I said what now?" The oblivious Spinel contorted her stretchy arm into a loop as she scratched her head with her finger.

Connie sighed. "Maybe we should try a different approach?"

Suddenly, the group jumped as they heard a car horn go off from behind and saw Greg's van approach them. Amethyst hid behind Pearl, while Ruby raised her fists to protect Sapphire. The vehicle turned off, and Lars stepped out from the driver's seat and explained, "Sorry, Mr. Universe. But they were insistent on seeing you."

The pearls all emerged from the back of the van, led by Yellow Pearl who grumbled to Greg, "There you are, we need your help."

"Can it wait, now's not a really good time," Greg explained.

"Then make time, we've been working on a few opening presentations for the show. But we can't agree on which one to..."

Pink Pearl peaked out from behind the others, and her eye widened as soon as she saw, "Spinel?"

"Huh?" Spinel looked at the pearl.

"Spinel!" Pink Pearl ran past her fellow pearls and hugged the rubbery Gem. "I never thought I'd see you again. Where have you been?"

"I just got here, silly." Spinel joked as she booped the pearl on the nose, and they both laughed. Pink Pearl was so overjoyed to see Gem that she didn't care that her question wasn't answered.

Lars walked over to Connie and asked her, "Um, would you mind telling me what's going on here?" He pointed up at the injector. "Everyone in town saw that thing crash into the hill and are all freaking out."

"It's a long story... which involves my "new best friend," Spinel..." The young woman explained with a groan. "We're working to stop it, but Lars, get back into town and tell Mayor Nanefua to open up the shelters. Worst case scenario, we evacuate Beach City."

"But what about the concert?" Yellow Pearl whined.

"We could move the concert to the shelters." Blue Pearl suggested.

"Let's go then," Lars said as he hopped back into the van with Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl behind him.

"I'll go help them out," Greg added. "I don't think there's much I can do here anyway."

Lars scooted over into the passenger's seat as the van's owner to the driver's seat. He noticed that Pink Pearl didn't follow and asked her, "You comin'?"

Connie looked back at the two Gems and saw how they played with each other, and told Lars and Greg, "Actually. I think she might be able to help us."

"All right. Good luck to you, then." Greg wished them all as the van backed up, turned and drove back into town.

"Unless anyone has any objections, I suggest we discuss our next move at Little Homeworld," Peridot suggested. "We should get my equipment to study the injector. And whatever it is it's injecting."

As if he knew he was about to be called, Lion walked over to Connie and allowed her to mount him. "Don't forget about me!" Spinel shouted as she hopped on the pink beast, too. Followed by both pearls. Amethyst just shapeshifted into Lion.

"We'll meet you there," Lapis said as she manifested her wings, picked up Bismuth, and took flight. Meanwhile, Peridot summoned a trashcan lid from somewhere and levitated on it.

Before she joined the other airborne Gems, Peridot turned to Ruby and Sapphire and asked, "Are you two coming?"

"She's not goin' anywhere with you!" Ruby said.

"I do see us following her to the countryside," Sapphire stated.

"Never mind! We're goin'!" Ruby and Sapphire took their leave in the direction of Little Homeworld. With Peridot not too far behind them.

"Let's go, Lion," Connie told the giant feline. The lion did not open a portal this time, and instead made a break for the community. This allowed Lion-Amethyst to keep up with them.

Spinel waved her arms and shouted with glee as if she were on a fast rollercoaster. Pink Pearl even joined in on the excitement, as well. Connie looked back at the childish Gem. She was so full of innocence and wonder and just pure happiness. So much so, that it reminded her... reminded her of... him.