Summary:
Some self esteem issues
Chapter Text
Sadie landed a triple axel spin, landing with a graceful bow. "And that is how you skate like a pro."
"Nice moves, didn't take you for being much of a skater." Marco whistled with an impressed look, doing his best to follow her instructions.
"Jackie showed me a few moves when you were on break. I can manage some small stuff." She explained.
"… Small stuff." He looked at her skeptically.
"Okay, maybe it's a bit bigger than that, but I'm not a master at it or anything. Just a few tricks that one or two people would throw coins at, nothing major." She shrugged, "I figured you'd have a little more to show me with all your dimension hopping."
"I could show you the fundamentals of how to ride a dragon and how to do a backflip off a cliff blindfolded, but skating is surprisingly my kryptonite." Marco demonstrated as he did his best to keep balance. "I can tightrope without breaking a sweat, but this somehow gets me dizzy."
"I guess everyone has their eternal flaws." Sadie snorted. "I, for example, will forever have stage fright."
"Really?" Marco asked with a quizzical look on his face. "I've seen you fight a gem monster, you seem to be pretty confident on your own."
"Heh, wish I was as brave as you made me out to be. That was a life or death situation. Performing on stage is something normal, where everyone is free to judge you and how good and/or terrible you are." She shivered. "I've had to hide just how much I love singing just because I know my mom will book me for beachapalooza the moment she notices I have an interest in it."
"Wait, you sing?" Marco smirked. "You know I'm gonna be pestering you now right?"
"Please, don't even get started." She rolled her eyes with a hand wave. "I just, sometimes in the back room when no one else is in the shop, I sing 'Haven't you noticed I'm a star', when it plays on the radio."
Marco smirked at her, getting his baring on the skates before coughing. "I can't help it if I make a scene."
"Don't do this, don't do this to me Diaz." She laughed as she tried to keep herself stable on her board.
"Stepping out on my hot pink Limousine." He kept going as he actually began to make all the motions and poses a celebrity diva would make. " I'm turning heads and I'm stopping traffic…"
" When I pose they scream, when I joke they laugh.." Sadie had no choice but to join in by this point
"I got a pair of eyes that they're getting lost in." They sang at the same time. " I'm hypnotized by the way their walking!"
" I got them dazzled like stage magician..!" Sadie continued, spinning on her board.
"When I point they look, and when I talk they listen well." Marco joined, slipping off and falling onto the ground.
"Everybody needs a friend…." Those words were so true on so many levels. She reached down and grabbed Marcos arm to pick him up. " And I got you, and you, and you!"
"So many I can't even name them, can you blame me , I'm too famous!" The two of them sang at the same time as Marco spun her a little while she stayed atop of her board.
"Haven't you noticed that I'm a star!?" A new voice popped in, and when they turned, they saw the small audience of Star and Steven watching, Star having voiced the last lyrics.
" I'm coming into view as the world is turning!" Steven sang out next, twirling with his sister in their own dance.
"Have you noticed I've made it this far!?" Sadie just decided to roll with it, continuing to sing, regardless if she was gathering a crowd. "Now everyone can see me burning!"
"Now everyone can see me burning!" She and Marco sang.
"Now everyone can see me burning!" The four of them shouted. Once the song ended, all of them just turned to each other and laughed.
"Dang girl, you've been holding out on me." Star commented. "That's a nice set of pipes you got there. Pretty impressive."
"I'm not much for musical numbers." Sadie admitted "A bit too random and spontaneous for my taste. I definitely like my music to be a little more moody."
"That's fair. Grandma Eclipsa plays hardcore heavy metal in her tower despite dressing all fancy." Steven answered. Such a crazy world her friends lived in.
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"I can't believe I missed so much since you ditched." Jana complained. "Now I miss seeing your awesome rebel grandma who probably summoned the dead?"
"Sorry, I would've let the two of you guys meet, but Marco's birthday kind of took up all of our time." Steven explained as they all sat by the beach next to the temple. "You'd definitely like her though. She's been teaching me how to enter people's head's better and turn myself into a ghost."
"Dude, that's awesome!" Jana shouted. "Do you think you can find Bon Bon?" She tried so many times to talk to him after the Ludo fight.
"He was in one of the shared dreams we had while we were sleepwalking, so there might be something there." Star commented.
"Score!" Jana smiled. "So now you guys are looking for Mina again? How about we show her Quana's fluid combat action again and have some fun as we beat her and her partner up?"
"Easier said than done. They're too erratic and spontaneous for Garnet's future vision to keep track of, and Mom's been super uptight about me using Eclipsa's all seeing eye spell, saying constant use will 'corrupt my soul' or whatever." Star scoffed. "I'm not the one with dark purple hands."
"Whatever, you guys do whatever you want with purple berry or whatever her name is." Amethyst's focus the entire time was on summoning her whips, which had some spikey balls attached to them now, on nearby rocks. "Jasper is mine to fight, just so we're clear."
"Nice accessories. Those new?" She asked the short purple gem.
"Yeah … that's another long story about someone war made bad." Star sighed. "All of us got weapon upgrades. Marco has these gadget elemental gloves, Amethyst got spiked whips."
"Which I need, to be … stronger!" She shouted, breaking rock after rock.
"...It's been pretty crazy since we started visiting earth less and less." Steven said with a nervous shrug. "I take it school is still the same normal place it's always been?"
"Unfortunately, yeah. Cept' for Miss Skullnick. She's really been leaning into the Troll thing more and more lately. She actually punches a few holes in the walls to get the kids to shut up now, it's been great." Jana snickered.
"Dang it, how do I miss it when our boring teacher becomes awesome?" Star complained. "Would it be possible for me to rule Mewni while staying on earth, because I just feel way more relaxed being here, looming galactic threat notwithstanding."
"I know what you mean, earth just has that sense of no secret threats." Steven agreed. "Then again everything is getting serious …" He muttered as he watched Amethyst obliterate the rocks, attacking the rubble. "You okay?"
"Sure, why wouldn't I be!?" Amethyst snapped as she began pounding the sand into dust. "I can't stop until I'm strong enough to crush Jasper utterly!"
"And by crush, you mean poof her and place her in a bubble, right?" Marco asked with slight concern.
"... Maybe." Amethyst paused for a second, before going back to pounding the ground.
"Geesh, since when are you all serious about training?" Jana asked as the dust started to get everywhere.
"She's mad because the cheese puff got under her skin." Kelly replied. "You seriously don't need to go this hard, you're strong enough as it is."
"Would you be saying that if we were fighting Toffee?" Amethyst growled, making everyone wince. "Thought so."
"Okay, you all clearly need a breather." Jana stated. "Let's go to the barn, Peridot has been hounding me to bring Marco."
"Why would you be the one to-" Jana snapped her finger, the boy falling unconscious.
"Hypnotized him years ago." Jana snorted. "How else would I have been able to sneak into his house so many times without him remembering.
"Oh, Eclipsa would DEFINITELY like you." Steven laughed.
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Ponyhead watched as P-dot gave an overly wide smile, hands waving. "Behold, our creations, also known as Meep Morps!" She shouted to her besties … and Earth Turd plus Kelly. "They're objects that have no purpose, they just make you feel things."
"That's art." Marco explained.
"Art … well that's a stupid name." Lapis retorted.
"I know, it doesn't have the same jazz as meep morps." These two were hilarious to hang with. "I had this brilliant idea one day, where we made music, but instead of making sounds, we made something tangible for people to physically touch!"
"Wow, you turned the walls into an aquarium." Q-fly looked at it, very impressed with their hard work. "I didn't know you were into this kind of thing, Ponyhead."
"You know me, I just got a lot of brilliant ideas that most people can't even begin to comprehend or whatever, I just needed some space to have my creative freedom." She waved off. "Like this pile of pancakes frozen in ice." She pointed to said objects. "It represents one urge to preserve childhood wonder for as long as possible."
"And I call this one … leaf." Lapis pointed at a leaf on a mud pile. "It reminds me of the time Steven gave me a leaf."
"Aww, it reminds me of that day too!" Q-fly blushed with awe.
"Gotta say, this is the last thing I thought I saw coming here, aside from the three of you getting along." Earth Turd commented while he looked at a vacuum cleaner that was also an aquarium.
"That's all in the past, Diaz, which we represented in this piece right here." Ponyhead pointed to a painting that was a swirl of green, blue, and Ponyhead color.
"What about this?" Jana pointed to another morp.
"Oh, that's our collaborative piece!" Peridot explained, pointing to a collection of toilets covered in sparkles. "We call this 'occupied'.
"It retails the struggle I had to endure when I got locked in a bathroom stall." Ponyhead shivered. "Never again."
"I can also do this for it." Lapis created streams of water flying out of the toilet and showing a beautiful and wonderful sight. The others clapped politely at this.
"I just feel trapped. I just feel trapped. I just feel trapped." Spoke a television hooked up with a bunch of mirrors.
"Is that … about the time you were trapped in a mirror?" Q-fly tentatively asked.
"Oh, Nah, we just really like that show." Lapis shrugged. "Ponyhead's been teaching us the importance shipping has on the world, so we basically know everything about relationships now." She turned to Earth Turd. "And how much Marco sucks at them."
"Yes, it's sad, but I guess all living things are flawed." Peri agreed.
"Why am I always the go-to for this? Kelly was just as terrible!" Earth Turd deflected.
"Hey!" Said bushy girl responded with a sock to the boy's arm.
"True, but she's with Steven now, so she gets some leniency." Lapis shrugged.
"Oh, and I call this one, the man with a rock." Peridot showed a small action figure under a large rock. "It shows no matter how strong you are, there's always something that can break you."
"... I'm going for some air." Amethyst sighed, walking out as everyone glared.
Peridot looked at them before sighing. "Let me guess, I hit this week's emotional trauma button?"
"Correcto." Star sighed. "Ever since she got poof by Jasper, she's been really down in the dumps trying to be stronger."
"Yeah, I thought my fight with her got all the inferiority complex knocked out." Q-fly sighed. "Guess it takes more than a few punches to get sense knocked into you."
"Oh come on, she's obviously superior. She was born in the Prime Kindergarten, Jasper was born in the Beta." The green girl waved off, everyone stopping and turning to her with wide eyes.
"Wait, she was born on earth!?" Lapis shouted.
"Yeah, I thought it was obvious." Peridot shrugged. "We had a massive influx of Quartz's made during the war for the use of battle. Most of which now occupy the zoo under Blue Diamond." She thought it over for a second. "In fact, I can personally show everyone the Beta Kindergarten. Practically every gem that was made there is flawed in some form or fashioned, all much more than Amethyst's overcooked state.
"Wait, if she's flawed, we can learn her weakness." Marco realized. "I'll go get the gas masks, everyone else, get her caught up!"
"Actually, the Beta is considerably less toxic than the Prime." Peridot clarified. "Less rich nutrients to absorb from it means the environment is relatively more stable and habitable."
"Well that's nice." Star smiled. "Alright everyone, road trip!"
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"Organics, gems, and abominations in between. Behold the Beta Kindergarten." Peridot showed them all the yellow landscape.
"Well … it's brighter than the other one." Steven noted, looking around. "In fact, it almost looks like a normal canyon, just with a lot of people shaped holes, even if they all look a little wonky."
"Yes, it's a complete rush job." Peridot snorted. "Cause they were desperate for fast numbers for on land soldiers Homeworld didn't even try to adjust this place. The land isn't compacted, they never messed with the ridges and merely kept it surface, and look at these holes. Can you imagine miss skinny warped here waving a tall limb?" She pointed at a tall thin hole.
"Yeah, look at this funky looking one." Jana pointed to one on the left. "This one came out sideways."
"A sideways Carnelian?! You can't make that stuff up!" Peridot snorted. It was like she was in joke heaven.
"See Amethyst, you're already better than literally all of these people." Kelly tried to raise the gem's spirit.
"Yeah, I guess." The purple gem sort of shrugged. "Wow, so many gems were made here, and I never knew."
"There's many conditions that go into kindergartening. Even spacing, right location, favorable organic matter to use. You just spent a few extra years in the ground, everyone else here came out way too early. It's a miracle any of them manage to function at all."
"It's like a mesh of crazy flawed gems." Star smiled. "You can beat all of them with your hands behind your back."
The purple gem looked around, before narrowing their eyes. "What about that one?" They all looked to see … a really large hole.
"Oh stars, Jasper's hole.." The size of it was enough to emit the Quartz's intimidating aura.
"Dang, this puffball you got your panties twisted about came out of here?" Ponyhead gazed on with a whistle. "She's huge! No wonder why you're all scared."
"Oh come on, we all knew she was huge." Peridot waved off. "Size isn't … the only thing to …" She failed to climb up. "A boost?"
"Here you go." Marco kindly assisted her.
"Thank you." She got her bearings inside. "Now you see, you can tell a lot about a gem's makeup by its hole. Like how jagged the edges …" They were … really smooth. "I mean, there's also the floor marbling …" Like putting her hands on silk. "Oh, the back should tell us everything…" All of it was deep with glass, which meant it was frictionless emerging…the most ideal condition a new gem could pop out of.
"Something wrong?" Steven asked with sweat on his face.
Peridot jumped down, falling to the ground before getting back up. "I'm gonna be honest, I knew she was strong, but seeing this hole has put the fear of diamonds into me about Jasper." She admitted. "It's raw glass all the way to the back, and the depth of it shows how many nutrients she absorbed … Amethyst, you shouldn't feel inferior because you're overcooked, she may as well be to Quartzs what alphas are to organics. Flawless fighting capability far beyond what they should have."
"So that's it?! She's just the perfect gem even when she came from this second rate kindergarten!?" Amethyst yelled as she took her frustration out on a nearby rock. "Now I know the universe just hates the fact I exist!"
"Hey, half the time it's like half the universe is trying to kill me, but I won't let that stop me." Steven tried to comfort her. "So what, it doesn't matter where you came from, or where Jasper came from either! What matters is who you are now."
"Who I am now is someone that loses to Jasper no matter how hard I train!" She shouted. "How am I supposed to fight when I can't even beat one of them!"
"You don't think we didn't feel the exact same way when she came the first time, or when Mina showed up, or with Toffee?!" Star shouted out. "We're all fighting uphill battles here, Amethyst! The fact is that none of us can fight any of them alone! We all have to fight together if we want any chance of beating any of them!"
Amethyst looked like she was about to shout something back, until Marco came in and covered her mouth, creating the motion for 'silence'. He pointed to his sound radars as … Peridot could hear a thudding sound.
"What the heck?" Peridot quietly moved herself to the source. It was coming from a nearby hole…except it looked digged out, metal bars were in the front…and something was occupying it's space. "What would..?" She didn't get the chance to finish as a corrupted gem popped out from the darkness, and attempted to bite her head off, only being restrained by bars.
"A gem monster?!" Star shouted, looking all around them, as did the others. Sure enough, almost every whole of this section of the Kindergarten seemed to house a corrupted beast. "Who'd be crazy enough to store…"
"We know exactly who's crazy enough to do this." Kelly got her sword out as everyone tensed up. "In fact, we know two crazies."
"Crazy!? CRAZY!" The rumbling around them got louder and loud as a shrill yet deep voice echoed throughout the air. "Would a couple of Crazos be smart enough to anticipate an ambush!?" … Peridot jumped into Kelly's hair for protection. Why did she have to be involved in this again?
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"So … you hid out in your old home." Marco noted, looking around them.
"This planet is NOT my home!" Jasper shouted from atop the beast she was riding on. "I may have been created here, but my loyalty solely belongs to Homeworld, even if I can never return!" She growled as Mina floated right beside her. "All of these FREAKS I was forced to recruit because the earth made them weak!"
"The earth-the DIAMONDS did this!" Steven shouted. "They lit up the earth and now they're this."
"Nice try Rose, but your lies won't work here." Jasper growled. "That light was aimed to wipe out all gems, not turn them into this. This is all Earth's doing, it ruins everything!"
"You said it buddy! This ain't a fight you get to talk your way out of!" The crazed loon known as Mina laughed in that awful deeply shrill voice her buff form gave her.
"Seriously, I can't believe there was ever a time that I looked up to this woman." Star groaned. "Do you really think you'll get anything out of this Mina!? My mom's the queen, and she ain't going to like you attacking both her kids!"
"Oh once Rose gets shattered, her corrupting influence will finally stop tainting your brains and you'll be good as new!" Mina laughed. "Plus Queen Moon hates monsters, so she won't mind a slight purge."
"We actually did this whole thing where we changed her mind." Kelly answered.
"… So you corrupted the princess AND the queen!?"
"Girl, you really need to take a chill pill. Q-fly just talks to people, it's nothing that special." Ponyhead scoffed. "I definitely didn't expect her to be this coco banana in person."
"Yeah, absolutely bananas." Marco agreed. "Did you even know that Steven SAVED Mewni? Where were you during that?"
"IN THE VOID!" The woman got buff, covered in fire and filled with rage.
"In our defense, you were trying to kill everyone and take over the planet." Jana shrugged.
"Oh like you haven't tried to kill me before." They argued back.
"Remember, ignore their words." Jasper spoke. "You're surrounded, surrender now, and your allies can walk Rose."
"Don't you even think about it for a second, bro." Star got right in front of Steven. "You haven't been able to win thus far, and I'll be damned to corn if you think you're going to win now."
"We're united till the end, ain't nothing going to scare us off." Marco added, getting his gauntlets ready.
"Enough taking! Jasper's MINE!" Amethyst rolled into her ball and knocked the burly gem off her beast.
" Amethyst !" All of them shouted at the same time as the corrupted gems charged forward. It wasn't like he was expecting this to be easy anyways.