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Chapter 2: The Gift Festival

“Hmmmmm. Interesting …………. Huh …………… strange …………….”

“Yo P. You gonna do something or just stand there making noises?”

Pearl grunted. “Amethyst. This is what science is. You examine the subject and every single expect, write down information you have uncovered, and create theories or hypothesis based upon your finding.”

“Booooooriiiiiiiiiing!”

The two Gems were in the kitchen area of the small house as Pearl had just finished up her finding. “Well this does have some interesting properties, such as the ability to harness sunlight and give it off. I suspect the ancient people used this to light caverns and the night or worshiped it for its property. Other than that, it will be great for Connie.”

“Yaaaaay!” Steven grabbed the crystal and placed it in a box. “Connie is gonna love it! He placed stuffing paper in the box and laid the homemade gift on top, a picture frame of their first photo together. “I bet she’ll like the picture more.”

“Of course she will.” Amethyst said. “After all, you loooooooove each other.”

“Cut it out.” Steven blushed.

“I’m just messing with ya.” Amethyst laughed. “Come on, the festival’s about to begin!”

Steven closed the box and put on his winter gear. “Hooray!”

Steven, the Gems, and Greg exit the house attached to a snow covered statue of a multi-armed woman facing the shivering cold sea. They walked through the shoveled path (and Amethyst ate some snow) and walked to the boardwalk of their beautiful hometown, Beach City.

Oops! Forgot to add this in the first chapter!

World: Beach City and Beyond

Disney won’t sue me for this, right?

At the boardwalk, everything was decorated with corded lights around the buildings to symbolize their traditional Gift Giving Day, something they do once a year and yet not many people do. As if Holidays don’t exist in their world.

Steven, with his large gift in hand, walked up to everyone and greeted them happily like Mr. Fryman, Peedee, Harold, Quentin, Jenny, Kiki, Buck Dewey and Mayor Bill Dewey (who was promoting himself for the election that already happened), Nanefua, Kofi, Barbara, Vidalia, Yellowtail, Sour Cream, and Onion (who was in front of an open fire with a box of chipmunks).

“Welcome everyone to our annual Gift Festival!” Mayor Dewey shouted from this highly decorated already over the top vehicle. “Enjoy and celebrate with music, food, and of course the gifts we will give each other! But you all have brought me my gift already. You! All you voters and your happy moods!”

Buck slowly shook his head as everyone cheered.

Steven and his family eventually split up as they do their own routine. Greg spoke with the citizens about work, the world, and the millions of dollars he has now. The Gems, well they don’t usually hang out with humans, but there are some exceptions.

Garnet was speaking with Jamie about how his acting career is going, Pearl had small conversations with a few people about the festival, and Amethyst was shape-shifting into different forms that entertained the kids, and gotten a few good laughs from Vidalia.

Steven on the other hand, was looking for his best friend …….. sorry, no Undertale reference for you! ….. Wait, this counts. Sigh.

Connie, the girl Steven befriended a year back that have grown from a shy lonely girl into a sword-wielding outgoing child. Steven had little luck finding her and noticed Lars and Sadie in front of the Big Donut handing out free samples for everyone.

“Why are we even working today? Let’s get some presents already.” Lars said, trying to skip work.

“Lars, this is a time to give, not get.” Sadie tried to inform her ‘friend’. “Don’t you just love the look on everyone’s faces when …… eh, why am I even trying with you?”

Steven walked up to them and greeted Lars with a smile.

“Ugh, hello Steven.” Lars said miserably, but noticed the huge present. “Is that for me?”

Steven shook his head, much to Lars disappointment. “This is for Connie.”

“Ooooooh, Steven got his girlfriend a giant gift. Ha!” Lars laughed.

Steven felt annoyed hearing the same teasing, but decided to do one of his own. “What’s the matter, jealous that a girl didn’t give you a gift?”

Sadie nearly burst out laughing as Lars turned red with embarrassment. “You little-”

“I saw Connie over there with two nice ladies giving crops to the homeless.” Sadie pointed down the road.

“Thanks, Sadie. Hope Lars gift to you is great.” He waved goodbye and left the two alone.

Sadie watched the kid walk way and chuckled. “You have to admit, they are cute together.”

“Whatever.” Lars folded his arms.

“So …… you got a gift for me, right?”

Lars was taken back by that question. “Uhh uh, yes! And …. And I’m sure you got one for me too.”

Sadie then twitched and started sweating. “Y-yeah. Right. Heh.”

Steven walked down the path and noticed a long line of people. “Woah, is this the homeless line?” Steven looked at all the hungry looking family. “How come nobody is building houses for them?”

He walked all the way to the stand operated by the Barn Mates, Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.

“And here you go.” Lapis handed a woman a bag of corn. “And sorry, they don’t move or do as you say.”

The woman gave the blue girl an odd look, but was very thankful for the food and waved them goodbye.

“Another mouth fed!” Peridot, wearing a red Santa hat, shouted with joy. “You know, I’m glad we figured out what humans do with these, food, as they call it.”

“Arf Arf!” The little pumpkin dog ran around the stand and jumped on Lapis’s lap.

“Of course they won’t eat you.” Peridot said. “No they won’t, no they won’t.”

Lapis then looked ahead to see Steven coming by. “Steven!”

“Steeeeveeeeen!” Peridot shouted. “We’re over here!”

“Yes, I see that because I am standing here!” Steven happily shouted, a few feet away. “Wow, you’re doing a great job feeding all these people.”

“What can I say; we’ve created more food than we can count. Why not do something useful for once.” Peridot said. “And by next year, we’ll make so much more food and we can ship them all around Earth!”

“But I think there’s already enough food in this part of the Earth.” Lapis added.

“Well of course not. Why would there be world hunger then? And I doubt humans would want their own gems to give them infinite energy, what a shame.” She looked over to the line and shouted. “Get with the present time!”

Steven laughed. “Say, did you two see Connie walking by?”

The two Gems looked at each other. “What’s a Connie?”

Steven’s eyes widened from shock. “You two haven’t met her yet! Well except for you Lapis. You tried drowning her when you took the ocean, and me too.”

“Oh …….. her.” Lapis said softly. “She’sssss actually handing out snacks to the line right now.” Lapis pointed to the line.

“Thanks, gotta give her this gift. Bye.” Steven waved good bye to them, but then ran back saying. “And no she is not my girlfriend!” Steven gave them the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture and walked away.

“Well looks like Connie and Steven are not a pair.” Peridot said. “…….. But now I want them to be!”

Lapis gave a thumb up as the Pumpkin dog barked happily.

Steven walked around the other side of the line and saw Connie handing out treats to everyone. If only she called out to her before, he would have found her on the other side. “Connie!”

Connie looked to see her best friend. “Steven!” She waved hello as he walked up to her.

“Happy Gift Festival!”

“Happy Gift Festival!”

Steven noticed the plate of snacks. “Looks like you met Peridot and Lapis and decide to help.”

“Yeah, they seem really nice, when they changed their mind about destroying the planet.” She then tapped her chin. “You know, I never actually official met them before.”

“We’ll work on that later. But right now, ta-dah!” Steven showed Connie her massive gift. “I got you this!”

“Woah!” Connie felt so flattered. “That’s huge. And I just got you this.” Connie handed him a present that looks like a book. “You should open this first.”

With a twinkle in his eye, Steven took the present and was blown away by what it was. “A copy of The Last Oxygenbender: Up and Down! I forgot part one was already released.”

Connie smiled. “Usually I remind you of their release dates, but since Gift Festival was coming up ….”

“Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!” Steven embraced Connie in a tight hug, making her feeling embarrassed. “Now you open yours!” Steven let her go and pushed the big present forward.

Connie carefully removed the wrapping so she won’t litter and opened the box to see a hand-made frame of their first photo together.

“Steven …..” She had no idea what else was in the box. All she knows, it could have been a brick to trick her. But the well-crafted wood work, and the image showing the start of their beautiful friendship, her heart started warming up as a soft smile grew on her face. “Oh Steven. It’s wonderful.”

“You’re welcome.” He said like a little child.

“I wished I made you something homemade like this.”

Steven shook his head. “No problem-o. It’s the thought that’s count.”

She knew she couldn’t have the same heart he does. While still being overwhelmed, she was quite curious as to what was making the box heavier. “So what, you put rocks in here just to make it look big.” She laughed softly.

“Oh right. That’s your gift number two.”

“Gift two?” Connie asked.

“This was a last minute thing I found last night. No biggie.”

To Connie’s point of view, it was indeed a biggie. She lifted the gift up from the paper and was astonished to find a large glowing pink crystal.

“S-STEVEN!” She was nearly speechless by the large glowing crystal in her hand. “Did … did this come from the Gems?!”

“Nope. Found it in an old Nihon temple. Pearl said it wasn’t anything important, so she let me have it and I thought that you might like it.”

Connie was nearly grinning with excitement. “Steven, I’ve entered a science contest and I wanted to do one about types of crystals. If this isn’t Gem related, than that mean I can use it and get a chance to win that big blue ribbon!”

It was now Connie’s turn to choke Steven in a hug. “I got to get this somewhere safe, and thank you so much!” She let her friend go and happily skipped along with the crystal and photo with her.

Steven was taken back by that hug, but shook it off. “Wow, didn’t expect her to love it that much.”

As Connie got out of eyeshot from Steven, she sat at a bench and looked at the glowing crystal. “Amazing. Why is it giving off light …….. and why didn’t I get Steven a better gift?” Her happy tone lowered as guilt and gloom took over. “I just gotten him a store-bought product and he either makes a gift by hand or go exploring old temples for one. Sometimes I still wonder why he hangs out with a normal kid like me.”

“The boy has a strong heart. Stronger than most humans on this planet.”

“I know that. Bigger than anyone I know. Always thinking of others and making everyone happy.”

“Now if only you had something this valuable to give him and to show how much of a friend he is to you.”

“I wish I could. But no, I may be studying under Pearl and joined Steven on a quest, but comparing us, he’s just so ……. Am I talking to someone?” Connie jumped off the bench and looked for the source of that voice. “Show yourself!” But no one was around, not even underneath the bench.

“I’m probably just hearing things.” Looking at the crystal, Connie just assumed she was just worrying herself too much. She chuckled softly and placed that smile right back on her face. “I can’t give Steven a better gift; but if being a friend and battle partner is all he needs me to be, so then I’ll be his knight.”

Connie walked away to find her parents to keep the crystal safe, however she wasn’t just hearing things. That voice, a dark and sinister one, came from someone, or something hiding in a dark alley.

“Your heart is stronger than you think, girl. Both your heart and mind.” The figure looked at his own hand, which wasn’t a normal hand, but was as flat as a cloth. “You wouldn’t fall for an offer I could give in exchange for that crystal.”

His green eyes looked down to see another pair of eyes looking at him from below. “Master Maskus, why didn’t you take the crystal now? I’ve scouted the surrounding and found no eyes watching.”

“Oh but there are indeed eyes, Scouter #52. None natural of course.” The larger being named Maskus pointed to the street light to where cameras are installed. “Just like ours, this world has changed over time. Those are what are called cameras. They see and remember events they are directed to.”

“Wow!” #52’s eyes sparkled. “So they could have easily alerted the women to us, correct.”

“It can be assumed that.” Maskus said as he lowered himself when a few people passed by. “But simply taking the crystal isn’t enough. You know that, #52.”

“Yes.” #52 nodded. “We’ll stay hidden throughout this city and will strike upon your command, my master.”

“Good. Good …….. now if only this fringed weather wasn’t my main concern.” Maskus shivered.

“I kind of actually enjoy it. Never even seen snow before.”#52 said before Maskus grunted.

“You and the others keep an eye out. I’ll find a suitable ally in this world.” Maskus looked over at a glimpse of the Crystal Gems’ Temple. “And I believe I know the perfect place to look. Heh heh heh, Ahhhh ha ha ha!”

“Sneople!”

Maskus and #52 looked behind them to see Ronaldo Fryman pointed at them violently.

“So you have finally revealed yourselves, oh haters of ice and bringer of destruction and mayhem!” He got into a dramatic action anime pose. “You think that the world is already under your control! But now you must-”

But then a brown fabric-like arm stretched out and held onto Ronaldo’s face, pulling him into the dark alley as a green light flashed, leaving only silence.

End of Chapter

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Chapter 2: The Gift Festival

“Hmmmmm. Interesting …………. Huh …………… strange …………….”

“Yo P. You gonna do something or just stand there making noises?”

Pearl grunted. “Amethyst. This is what science is. You examine the subject and every single expect, write down information you have uncovered, and create theories or hypothesis based upon your finding.”

“Booooooriiiiiiiiiing!”

The two Gems were in the kitchen area of the small house as Pearl had just finished up her finding. “Well this does have some interesting properties, such as the ability to harness sunlight and give it off. I suspect the ancient people used this to light caverns and the night or worshiped it for its property. Other than that, it will be great for Connie.”

“Yaaaaay!” Steven grabbed the crystal and placed it in a box. “Connie is gonna love it! He placed stuffing paper in the box and laid the homemade gift on top, a picture frame of their first photo together. “I bet she’ll like the picture more.”

“Of course she will.” Amethyst said. “After all, you loooooooove each other.”

“Cut it out.” Steven blushed.

“I’m just messing with ya.” Amethyst laughed. “Come on, the festival’s about to begin!”

Steven closed the box and put on his winter gear. “Hooray!”

Steven, the Gems, and Greg exit the house attached to a snow covered statue of a multi-armed woman facing the shivering cold sea. They walked through the shoveled path (and Amethyst ate some snow) and walked to the boardwalk of their beautiful hometown, Beach City.

Oops! Forgot to add this in the first chapter!

World: Beach City and Beyond

Disney won’t sue me for this, right?

At the boardwalk, everything was decorated with corded lights around the buildings to symbolize their traditional Gift Giving Day, something they do once a year and yet not many people do. As if Holidays don’t exist in their world.

Steven, with his large gift in hand, walked up to everyone and greeted them happily like Mr. Fryman, Peedee, Harold, Quentin, Jenny, Kiki, Buck Dewey and Mayor Bill Dewey (who was promoting himself for the election that already happened), Nanefua, Kofi, Barbara, Vidalia, Yellowtail, Sour Cream, and Onion (who was in front of an open fire with a box of chipmunks).

“Welcome everyone to our annual Gift Festival!” Mayor Dewey shouted from this highly decorated already over the top vehicle. “Enjoy and celebrate with music, food, and of course the gifts we will give each other! But you all have brought me my gift already. You! All you voters and your happy moods!”

Buck slowly shook his head as everyone cheered.

Steven and his family eventually split up as they do their own routine. Greg spoke with the citizens about work, the world, and the millions of dollars he has now. The Gems, well they don’t usually hang out with humans, but there are some exceptions.

Garnet was speaking with Jamie about how his acting career is going, Pearl had small conversations with a few people about the festival, and Amethyst was shape-shifting into different forms that entertained the kids, and gotten a few good laughs from Vidalia.

Steven on the other hand, was looking for his best friend …….. sorry, no Undertale reference for you! ….. Wait, this counts. Sigh.

Connie, the girl Steven befriended a year back that have grown from a shy lonely girl into a sword-wielding outgoing child. Steven had little luck finding her and noticed Lars and Sadie in front of the Big Donut handing out free samples for everyone.

“Why are we even working today? Let’s get some presents already.” Lars said, trying to skip work.

“Lars, this is a time to give, not get.” Sadie tried to inform her ‘friend’. “Don’t you just love the look on everyone’s faces when …… eh, why am I even trying with you?”

Steven walked up to them and greeted Lars with a smile.

“Ugh, hello Steven.” Lars said miserably, but noticed the huge present. “Is that for me?”

Steven shook his head, much to Lars disappointment. “This is for Connie.”

“Ooooooh, Steven got his girlfriend a giant gift. Ha!” Lars laughed.

Steven felt annoyed hearing the same teasing, but decided to do one of his own. “What’s the matter, jealous that a girl didn’t give you a gift?”

Sadie nearly burst out laughing as Lars turned red with embarrassment. “You little-”

“I saw Connie over there with two nice ladies giving crops to the homeless.” Sadie pointed down the road.

“Thanks, Sadie. Hope Lars gift to you is great.” He waved goodbye and left the two alone.

Sadie watched the kid walk way and chuckled. “You have to admit, they are cute together.”

“Whatever.” Lars folded his arms.

“So …… you got a gift for me, right?”

Lars was taken back by that question. “Uhh uh, yes! And …. And I’m sure you got one for me too.”

Sadie then twitched and started sweating. “Y-yeah. Right. Heh.”

Steven walked down the path and noticed a long line of people. “Woah, is this the homeless line?” Steven looked at all the hungry looking family. “How come nobody is building houses for them?”

He walked all the way to the stand operated by the Barn Mates, Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.

“And here you go.” Lapis handed a woman a bag of corn. “And sorry, they don’t move or do as you say.”

The woman gave the blue girl an odd look, but was very thankful for the food and waved them goodbye.

“Another mouth fed!” Peridot, wearing a red Santa hat, shouted with joy. “You know, I’m glad we figured out what humans do with these, food, as they call it.”

“Arf Arf!” The little pumpkin dog ran around the stand and jumped on Lapis’s lap.

“Of course they won’t eat you.” Peridot said. “No they won’t, no they won’t.”

Lapis then looked ahead to see Steven coming by. “Steven!”

“Steeeeveeeeen!” Peridot shouted. “We’re over here!”

“Yes, I see that because I am standing here!” Steven happily shouted, a few feet away. “Wow, you’re doing a great job feeding all these people.”

“What can I say; we’ve created more food than we can count. Why not do something useful for once.” Peridot said. “And by next year, we’ll make so much more food and we can ship them all around Earth!”

“But I think there’s already enough food in this part of the Earth.” Lapis added.

“Well of course not. Why would there be world hunger then? And I doubt humans would want their own gems to give them infinite energy, what a shame.” She looked over to the line and shouted. “Get with the present time!”

Steven laughed. “Say, did you two see Connie walking by?”

The two Gems looked at each other. “What’s a Connie?”

Steven’s eyes widened from shock. “You two haven’t met her yet! Well except for you Lapis. You tried drowning her when you took the ocean, and me too.”

“Oh …….. her.” Lapis said softly. “She’sssss actually handing out snacks to the line right now.” Lapis pointed to the line.

“Thanks, gotta give her this gift. Bye.” Steven waved good bye to them, but then ran back saying. “And no she is not my girlfriend!” Steven gave them the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture and walked away.

“Well looks like Connie and Steven are not a pair.” Peridot said. “…….. But now I want them to be!”

Lapis gave a thumb up as the Pumpkin dog barked happily.

Steven walked around the other side of the line and saw Connie handing out treats to everyone. If only she called out to her before, he would have found her on the other side. “Connie!”

Connie looked to see her best friend. “Steven!” She waved hello as he walked up to her.

“Happy Gift Festival!”

“Happy Gift Festival!”

Steven noticed the plate of snacks. “Looks like you met Peridot and Lapis and decide to help.”

“Yeah, they seem really nice, when they changed their mind about destroying the planet.” She then tapped her chin. “You know, I never actually official met them before.”

“We’ll work on that later. But right now, ta-dah!” Steven showed Connie her massive gift. “I got you this!”

“Woah!” Connie felt so flattered. “That’s huge. And I just got you this.” Connie handed him a present that looks like a book. “You should open this first.”

With a twinkle in his eye, Steven took the present and was blown away by what it was. “A copy of The Last Oxygenbender: Up and Down! I forgot part one was already released.”

Connie smiled. “Usually I remind you of their release dates, but since Gift Festival was coming up ….”

“Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!” Steven embraced Connie in a tight hug, making her feeling embarrassed. “Now you open yours!” Steven let her go and pushed the big present forward.

Connie carefully removed the wrapping so she won’t litter and opened the box to see a hand-made frame of their first photo together.

“Steven …..” She had no idea what else was in the box. All she knows, it could have been a brick to trick her. But the well-crafted wood work, and the image showing the start of their beautiful friendship, her heart started warming up as a soft smile grew on her face. “Oh Steven. It’s wonderful.”

“You’re welcome.” He said like a little child.

“I wished I made you something homemade like this.”

Steven shook his head. “No problem-o. It’s the thought that’s count.”

She knew she couldn’t have the same heart he does. While still being overwhelmed, she was quite curious as to what was making the box heavier. “So what, you put rocks in here just to make it look big.” She laughed softly.

“Oh right. That’s your gift number two.”

“Gift two?” Connie asked.

“This was a last minute thing I found last night. No biggie.”

To Connie’s point of view, it was indeed a biggie. She lifted the gift up from the paper and was astonished to find a large glowing pink crystal.

“S-STEVEN!” She was nearly speechless by the large glowing crystal in her hand. “Did … did this come from the Gems?!”

“Nope. Found it in an old Nihon temple. Pearl said it wasn’t anything important, so she let me have it and I thought that you might like it.”

Connie was nearly grinning with excitement. “Steven, I’ve entered a science contest and I wanted to do one about types of crystals. If this isn’t Gem related, than that mean I can use it and get a chance to win that big blue ribbon!”

It was now Connie’s turn to choke Steven in a hug. “I got to get this somewhere safe, and thank you so much!” She let her friend go and happily skipped along with the crystal and photo with her.

Steven was taken back by that hug, but shook it off. “Wow, didn’t expect her to love it that much.”

As Connie got out of eyeshot from Steven, she sat at a bench and looked at the glowing crystal. “Amazing. Why is it giving off light …….. and why didn’t I get Steven a better gift?” Her happy tone lowered as guilt and gloom took over. “I just gotten him a store-bought product and he either makes a gift by hand or go exploring old temples for one. Sometimes I still wonder why he hangs out with a normal kid like me.”

“The boy has a strong heart. Stronger than most humans on this planet.”

“I know that. Bigger than anyone I know. Always thinking of others and making everyone happy.”

“Now if only you had something this valuable to give him and to show how much of a friend he is to you.”

“I wish I could. But no, I may be studying under Pearl and joined Steven on a quest, but comparing us, he’s just so ……. Am I talking to someone?” Connie jumped off the bench and looked for the source of that voice. “Show yourself!” But no one was around, not even underneath the bench.

“I’m probably just hearing things.” Looking at the crystal, Connie just assumed she was just worrying herself too much. She chuckled softly and placed that smile right back on her face. “I can’t give Steven a better gift; but if being a friend and battle partner is all he needs me to be, so then I’ll be his knight.”

Connie walked away to find her parents to keep the crystal safe, however she wasn’t just hearing things. That voice, a dark and sinister one, came from someone, or something hiding in a dark alley.

“Your heart is stronger than you think, girl. Both your heart and mind.” The figure looked at his own hand, which wasn’t a normal hand, but was as flat as a cloth. “You wouldn’t fall for an offer I could give in exchange for that crystal.”

His green eyes looked down to see another pair of eyes looking at him from below. “Master Maskus, why didn’t you take the crystal now? I’ve scouted the surrounding and found no eyes watching.”

“Oh but there are indeed eyes, Scouter #52. None natural of course.” The larger being named Maskus pointed to the street light to where cameras are installed. “Just like ours, this world has changed over time. Those are what are called cameras. They see and remember events they are directed to.”

“Wow!” #52’s eyes sparkled. “So they could have easily alerted the women to us, correct.”

“It can be assumed that.” Maskus said as he lowered himself when a few people passed by. “But simply taking the crystal isn’t enough. You know that, #52.”

“Yes.” #52 nodded. “We’ll stay hidden throughout this city and will strike upon your command, my master.”

“Good. Good …….. now if only this fringed weather wasn’t my main concern.” Maskus shivered.

“I kind of actually enjoy it. Never even seen snow before.”#52 said before Maskus grunted.

“You and the others keep an eye out. I’ll find a suitable ally in this world.” Maskus looked over at a glimpse of the Crystal Gems’ Temple. “And I believe I know the perfect place to look. Heh heh heh, Ahhhh ha ha ha!”

“Sneople!”

Maskus and #52 looked behind them to see Ronaldo Fryman pointed at them violently.

“So you have finally revealed yourselves, oh haters of ice and bringer of destruction and mayhem!” He got into a dramatic action anime pose. “You think that the world is already under your control! But now you must-”

But then a brown fabric-like arm stretched out and held onto Ronaldo’s face, pulling him into the dark alley as a green light flashed, leaving only silence.

End of Chapter

Next

Prev.