Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary:

Into death!

Lapis carefully placed the final component of her latest masterpiece in its place. "There, it's done." She nodded in satisfaction. Since Garnet was hogging most of the time with Vee since they got over their pettiness, Lapis figured she'd join the shapeshifter in what she did when she wasn't hanging out with the fusion or the whole group.

"That's just a leaf." Lucci pointed out.

"A leaf on a bowl of water, representing the aimless drifting without end as we never collide with our one true destination." She added. "It's Meep Morp."

"It reminds me of the time I gave you a leaf." Vee smiled.

"A memory I will cherish forever." Lapis nodded.

"Well if we can embellish it, we can make people pay for it." Lucci nodded. "Okay then, places people, let's get the pizzazz rolling for whatever sucker we can draw in."

"Aw, do we have to get rid of all our toys?" Spinel complained. "I just finally stacked it how I wanted." Her latest morp was a giant smiley face head.

"That's how the art of coning a person works Spinel." Lucci explained. "You make bad stuff look good so people will use stuff to pay for it, that way we can get really good stuff."

"I have so many concerns about your morality." Vee muttered.

"I grew up under an oppressive empire being raised by a master con woman who's massive list of crimes against said empire make her more of a folk hero than criminal in hindsight." The boy rolled his eyes. "When you live like that, mortality is pretty much non-existent. There's just what you do and what you don't."

"See, some people get it." Lapis grinned, patting the boy on the head. "Just let us take care of your enemies while you have fun."

"Lapis, stop offering to kill people, it's wrong." She said.

"What if we made that a game?" Spinel offered. "We find as many enemies as possible, and whoever kills the most wins! If we're having fun, then there can't be anything wrong with it, because fun is never bad."

"Why do I have to be the good girl of the group? Why?" Vee pounded her head on the table.

"Because good girls finish last." Lucci said bluntly. "Ah, our first customer." He gave a wide smile. "Welcome good sir, how … can … I …" He locked eyes with a small child with pale skin, who simply stared back at the kid. "… Why can this child stare into my soul?" Lucci questioned with a bit of sweat.

"This is Onion, one of my best buds. Isn't that right Onion?" Vee asked. The boy smiled, holding up one of their meep morps, before running off. "… You should talk with him sometimes. He's not much of a conversationalist, but something tells me you'd get along just fine."

"Yeah; I'll talk to him right after I get that meep morp back and whack him upside the head!"

"It's alright, I've got this." Lapis pulled out a spear of water. "Just gotta aim it right."

"No, you can't kill him! Nobody is going to kill anybody, especially not any children!"

"I'm not." She said. "I'm going to hit his leg and stop him from running away. All in favor?"

"I." Lucci raised his hand.

"Oooh, sounds fun!" Spinel stretch her's higher. "Let's hurl water at everyone!"

"No hurling spears!" Vee demanded.

"Fine…boulder it is." Lapis changed the shape of it and hurled if over the town.

"I'll toss a razor disk while I'm at it." Lucci said, making a pink weapon and tossed it forward.

"YEAH! THROWING GAME!" Spinel used her arms as a sling shot and began shooting random objects into the street.

Each weapon was directed at the boy. The child with a creepy expression looked on with that empty stare and ran into the streets, hopping on top of the cars as the weapons hit those instead, smashing the vehicles and roads to pieces while the boy got away without a single scratch.

"Would you all stop this!?" Vee shouted.

"Oh come on, he's asking for-" Lucci was cut off as Vee grabbed his collar, looking him in the eye.

"If you cause serious harm to anyone in this city I will make everyone here BEG for death."She spoke with a growling voice as her eyes changed to red.

"...Fine, I won't hurt the little goblin." Lucci rolled his eyes after sweating a little. "But I am getting that morph back. Spinel, we're going hunting."

"Woho, let's do it!" She turned into a hunter's uniform, shifting her arms into a makeshift gun.. "Be very very quiet, we're hunting Onions."

"You guys watch a lot of old tv, don't you?" Lapis asked.

"One of the few things I find entertaining about the human world, yes." Lucci nodded. "Now onwards Spinel! That brat chose to steal from us. This….means….WAR!"

The two left in a rush, leaving Lapis and Vee alone at the table. "You know if you used that scary voice and eyes more often, people might be more receptive to playing nice." Lapis pointed out.

"That defeats the purpose of being a peacekeeper. You're not SUPPOSED to demand peace." Vee sighed. "Please Lapis, it's hard enough getting these guys to not be violent lawbreakers, I can't focus on them and you at the same time."

"Vee…your whole family are violent Lawbreakers." Lapis brought up.

"Yeah, but there's a difference between good intentions and doing it for personal and petty reasons." She said.

"You sure? Because that's more perspective than anything. Doesn't Lucci and his friends need that money they could've made from that morp?"

"Yeah, but they don't have to instantly resort to killing and mutilating a child for it."

"Vee…I saw the look in that 'child's' eyes….those are the eyes of a killer and a monster."

"Why does everyone say that? Onion's really nice when you get to know him."

"You sweet, summer child….he's already fooled you." Lapis would have to watch Vee in her sleep from here on out, just to keep her extra safe.

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Amity groaned as she pulled out a horribly smelling and silver object. "What is this …"

"Oh, the burrito from nineteen fifty. I was wondering where I kept that." Amethyst responded, grabbing the object and eating it whole. "... Minty. The mold really brings out the flavors."

"Maybe you really are Lucci's sister. You somehow have a bigger gross tolerance than him." Just get through it. If sorting through the junk meant helping out with the portal, then Amity would consider this pain worth it.

"Sure you don't want to wait until the other's get back. I don't mean to brag, but it is a pretty decent pile of junk I have." Amethyst smiled proudly.

"I'm sure. Luz is in school and everyone else is at their jobs. I have a day off today, so I might as well pull my weight somehow." She nodded. "Besides, I have a decent track record of sorting through garbage. Between Eda's house and dad's workshop, I might as well have it as a second job."

"Fair enough." She shrugged, sitting down on the ground. "You know, I used to have the same job as you kid."

"Really?" Amity asked, picking apart some more trash.

"Yeah, I went as the Purple Puma, was a full time champion." The gem smirked. "I learned how to go easy enough to not seriously hurt them. Humans are kind of fragile."

"Yeah. I know that a little too well." Although nowadays with Luz, it was more emotional and mental than physical. "So why'd you stop."

"Didn't fully stop, I go back every now and again." Amethyst nodded. "It was mainly a way to vent out frustration at the gang and to gain a sense of accomplishment for all the screw ups that amount to my life as a whole." 

"What makes you say that?"

"Garnet and Pearl don't say anything, but I can tell by their actions, they hate the kindergarten, they want to do everything they can to get rid of it, and they rather forget it exists." The gem layed down on a pile. "Except they can't, because I'm still around. I'm a byproduct of something terrible."

"That's like saying we hate Lucci just because we all hate Rose Quartz, that's stupid." Amity said. "Or me because my womb donner is an annoying woman better off dead. Origins don't mean anything to us …" Except King Probably. The night Luz told them he was a titan was a shock…nobody got sleep that night, remembering all the times they were mean to him or ignored him. Pissing off a god….not a smart idea.

"Sounds like you have great friends." Amethyst smirked. "Maybe I should've gone to the Boiling Isles with Evelyn back then. Sounds like I would've had a blast and a half."

"Evelyn…right.." Eda's ancestor knew Rose, it wasn't a stretch that they would've known the other gems as well. "Say…when Rose disappeared for those one hundred years, do you know HOW exactly she went to the boiling isles?"

"Not really. Back then I was still trying to comprehend what it meant to have a crush on someone." Amethyst explained. "The closest I ever got to the feeling was Valdalia and Greg." Gross. "The only thing I remember is that it took a while for Rose to make the journey there, saying the ingredients were 'super rank' or something. Or was it rare? I get the two confused."

Well, wasn't that helpful? "Ghost, do you mind searching one of these piles for me?"

"Mew." Her palisman nodded and jumped on top of one of the piles…only for it to shake and for Ghost to begin hissing, her fur standing up on edge.

"I think you have a rat problem." Amity noted at the shaking.

"Could have sworn I only brought one of those guys in here." She muttered. "Was it pregnant? Thought I checked for that.

"HISSSSSSSS!" Ghost jumped on top of her head and kept snarling at the pile.

"I thought cats ate rats." Amethyst noted.

"Yeah…but I think this is too big to be a rat." Amity got out her abomination goo as the pile shook more….and a black CRYSTAL DEVIL POPPED OUT!

" GREEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AAAAAGGGGGGH!" Amity wasted no time using her gauntlets to punch it, sending it several piles away. 

"GREEEEE!!!" It screamed, digging a hole into the ground and vanishing.

"Dang, nice shot girl."

"THERE'S A CORRUPTED GEM IN YOUR ROOM!"

"Yeah, the slinker. They've been a problem for a while." Amethyst snapped her fingers. "Damn it, I thought I got rid of that gal."

"Mew." Ghost shivered, jumping into her shirt.

"They must have sniffed out my palisman … they're pretty much corrupted gem nip."

"Mew." Hey, It was a good joke considering the cat nature!

"Okay, you wait outside. I'm gonna try and hunt the girl down." Amethyst pulled out a whip.

"Wait. I can help. I've been fighting corrupted gems in the boiling isles for months. I know how to deal with these guys." Amity insisted. "And with Ghost, we can lure them out faster."

"HISSSSSSSSSSSS!" Her palisman refuted instantly.

"I'm not going to sacrifice you, you know that, girl." She reassured her.

"Alright, but stay close. The slinker's pretty slippery, never been able to poof it for long." Hopefully the others weren't having a crazy day of their own.

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A lot of people said Onion was creepy, or evil, or destructive … and they'd be right on one of those accounts. Honestly this whole town was pretty boring and mundane. The only reason Onion hadn't blown it up was that Steven was their friend … or going by the eye expressions and body mannerisms, that girl was now his friend and the new Steven was someone else.

But on the plus side, they were much more fun to lead around than the police. And since they were somebody new, they haven't learned anything about his habits or his planning, which meant they were the perfect sucker. No amount of super powers or magic would be able to compete with him, as demonstrated by that pink rock girl trying to 'shoot' him with a bullet that was actually her hand. "Dang it, this one's a slippery little bugger!" The looney tune girl complained.

"Yeah, he's fast." The new Steven grinned. "But not fast enough." They jumped on a wooden snake, flying in his direction. "Come on, wise guy." Onion grinned, jumping through a window, and closing it behind him. 

KAPOW

And the new Steven proceeded to crash through it like it wasn't there. Guess the new guy wasn't concerned with property damage like the old Steven was. Although on the plus side, that ment he could use the more … durable methods to induce a concussion. He moved into the vents, crawling around as he waited for the boy to try and follow through the narrow space.

"Don't think just because you're small you can get away!" The new guy sent forth a bubble that expanded rapidly, smashing away the vents to allow him to get closer.

And when properly close enough … he opened the pipe leading to the kitchen … the gas for the kitchen burner to be precise. Onion smiled as the bubble approached, gently waving to the boy enclosed with the flammable gas. "Oh you little bas-"

KABOOOOMMM

Onion hopped out of the way, squeezing his way out through the back alley exit vent as the fire spread all over. Wow, this guy was a blast. It's been forever since he's been able to set off some fireworks, and Steven always stopped him from lighting up a match.

"Hey kiddie!" Oooh, now the pink one was back. Stretchy fun to be had there. "I'ma catch you now." He held up a hand to stop her, pointing to a sign that said fun. "Fun? There's fun in there!?" The living loony tune gleed. "Oooh, there's probably more games for me to play! Sorry Lucci, I'll be back in a minute, I'll bring back some for you later!" … He was going to just tie her up like a pretzel, but locking her up inside of the funland equipment room worked too. Guess they couldn't all be winners.

"HEY, VEGETABLE HEAD!" The new Steven shouted, his body still on fire but otherwise unharmed. "That all you got?! That's not even the tenth hottest explosion I've been in the center of!"

Onion began skipping into an alleyway as he made his way to one of the more fun traps he set up. The fish should be smelly enough by now. After enough close calls he finally ran past the big red x, grabbing the rope.

"Cornered!" The new Steven shouted. "Give it up kid, there's nothing left to do!"

"Meow." … The boy glanced at the army of cats, which focused on the tuna bag being held above the boy's head, only steady by Onion's rope, which had a pair of scissors ready to snip.

"You wouldn't dare…" the kid glared.

Onion smiled with a genuine interest in fun as he cut the cord.

"…You're despicable." The new guy glared as he was covered in tuna, the cats instantly covering him all over. "WHEN I GET OUT OF HER-OW-I'M GOING TO DICE YOUR HEAD INTO SOUP!"

Onion merely nodded in response, eagerly awaiting for the day his new best friend would manage to best him in this battle of wit and wills.

Now lets see, the pink ditzy one was in a closet, and he was recovering … that just left the blue watery one, Lapis. Was she being talked to by old Steven, or was she around the corner waiting for Onion?

KAPOOOOONK

"Wow, that was fun!" That lanky pink gem crashed out of the wall, holding a giant hammer. Guess the limb plan could be done now. "Now I can smash that vegetable kid!" Onion gently held up a finger when she spotted him, pulling out a balloon with his free hand and blowing it up, folding it into a poodle. "Ooooh, what else can you do!?"

Onion then pulled out a second one, blowing it up and turning it into a sword. "So cool! One more, pretty please?" Onion gently nodded, reaching for her arms, folding and tying them with her legs into a boat like his dad had. "Oooh, my turn, my turn!" The lanky girl bit on her thumb, and blew into it, inflating themselves into being more balloon-like, even managing to float a little. "Weeeeeeeee." Onion stared at that … well, work with what you've got. He kicked the balloon in front of a car, getting it hit and sending the thing flying into the sky. "Yay, more flying!"

"..." Onion would carefully listen to someone when they called him annoying from now on, he finally understood the concept with this girl.

========================================================================

"Hissssssss!" Ghost made her clear disdain of this course of action very clear. If Sugar was around, or Clover, or even Emeline, maybe she'd feel more comfortable fighting off a crystal devil, but no, it was just her, the one Palisman in a junky room where a slippery crystal devil that's alway managing to slip away and hide everywhere was stalking them!! "HISSSSSSSS!"

"Come on Ghost, be reasonable." Her master said. "We need to draw them into the open somehow, and Palisman are just the perfect bait."

"MREEEEW!" She did not want to be bait to a crazy thing in a room they shouldn't even be in!

"It's not the worst plan we have."

"HISSS!" Agree to disagree! They didn't have the other powerhouses with them. All they had was her, an impressive abomination master that's low on abomination, and the laziest of those crystal maniac people that Sugar's master hated so much.

"Oh come on, we can be a bit reckless. We've been around Corrupted Gems enough to beat up a runner."

"Mew." This right here was one of the reasons they disapproved of Luz!

"Hey, we established this before, Luz is non-negotiable, I was very clear on that." Amity reaffirmed.

"So now we wait." They turned back to the purple gem as their master moved away from Ghost, leaving her vulnerable. "So … how come the Boiling Isles sound so fun, but Vee hates them?"

"Lucci would know more about the personal details, but in general, Basilisk didn't have the best life there." Amity sighed, looking to the side. "Their kind feeds on magic, which is a problem for many witches. It ends in their eventual extinction, but Belos … did things to bring her and a few others back. None of it was pretty."

"Ah … probably best we try to break the reanimated gem mutant thing gently so she doesn't freak like Garnet did." The purple gem said. "After that it's just focusing on how to take down Moldy's robot that none of us could do anything against."

"She's a fusion, so just find a fusion combo strong enough to match her raw power and we should be good." Amity shrugged

"The closest we've got is Sugilite and Alexandrite … but they're difficult." The gem winced. "The former's kinda hyper energetic and wild, which is fun, but at some point you guys would have to figure out if us or Moldy's the bigger threat."

"What about the latter?"

"You guys manage a four way fusion?" Amethyst asked.

"Three way on two separate occasions, and it wasn't that hard to maintain. They just burn out Lucci faster then two way; so they don't last longer than ten minutes."

"Wow, whenever we go Alexandrite it's super hard to focus. You guys must be pretty tight." The gem grinned.

"You could say that; hasn't always been perfect though." Amity sighed. "It wasn't until four to five months ago that we all became friends again. Before that we spent ten years bitter and angry at each other."

"Hey, sometimes it takes something hard to get something great, like opening a jar of pickles with a tight lid."

Aww, she was making a new friend. It seemed closer to a Clawthorne than Luz, so hopefully this one wasn't someone to-the ground began rumbling, signaling the approach of the beast. "Mew."

"Just stay perfectly still, Ghost. The moment they pop their head out, we're jumping them. You're perfectly safe."

"Mew." This was far from safe. The moment they entered the room, safe went out the window. They wanted five pounds of catnip to compensate for this.

"Five pounds? Isn't that a bit much?"

"Mew-" Before Ghost could justify it, giant jaws popped from the ground, closing around her like a land shark. So this was how she died. Her life was flashing before her eyes … oddly it just involved a lot of napping. Her previous owner was pretty chill; mainly needing her to help him relax during the weekend after the hard work week. Ghost was proven right when they died from an ulcer … not the most majestic way to go.

"Nope!" Two purple whips came to her rescue, pulling her out of the way before a purple and white blur ran past them.

"Not today devil!" Amity shouted as she pulled out her gauntlets at the same time, creating some sharp looking spikes on the knuckles as the black devil was sent into another pile, getting pinned by the purple muck.

"Grerrrraaaaaaaaaaaaggh!" The monster howled in pain as the abomination muck kept it stuck in place.

"And swing!" Amethtyst shouted as she ran into the beast.

Poof

A single crystal fell to the ground. "Finally, no more lost trash!" The purple gem laughed. "Not too bad, right kitty?"

"Hiss!" That was the third most traumatizing moment of her life. She wouldn't be sleeping for the next few weeks.

"Aww, she likes me." … Forget the bond, life today clearly lost its sanity.

========================================================================

Valdalia hummed to herself as she looked over her latest piece. "A world without water." A desert dryscape held together with nothing but the bond of family … meh, still would be better with a model.

Sure, it was nice to expand her muse a little, but Amethyst's personality just created a nearly endless canvass of inspiration. She'd invite the girl over, except Vadalia was pretty sure the girl didn't own a phone..or if she did, already ate it after deep frying it and sprinkling motor oil on it.

Finished with her latest work, she placed it to the side and got an empty canvas, wondering what to paint next. The house was definitely quiet enough, Sour cream out with his friends, Yellow Tail on his boat, and Onion..was doing whatever Onion did by himself. She trusted her youngest to at least look after himself, but that therapist constantly leaving her card at the door was starting to concern her.

The garage opened as the little rascal himself walked in with a content smile. "Oh, looks like someone had fun today."

"…" More of a man of action rather than words, her son just gave a small, almost unnoticeable nod

"Good. Make a new friend today?" She asked as she noticed a smoke and soot covered boy crawling to the garage..

"Come … back … you … little …" The somewhat familiar boy cried out as he hit the ground.

"Let me guess, first encounter with Onion?" She asked.

"What goes on … in that boy's head … might genuinely disturb me … yes." The boy admitted. "Who … are … you …"

"His mom.." Valida held out a hand and helped him up."Hey, aren't you Greg's kid?" She asked.

"Not by choice." He grumbled. "Let's say … I'm not exactly eager to be Steven Universe."

"Harsh, but understandable." Validia nodded. "You're old man's never been the same since he moved out of here."

"He lived here?" The boy looked around, seeing all the paintings. "It looks too nice for someone like him."

"Everyone says he's the devil, but he just expresses things his own way. All artists are like that." She watched as Onion took a leaf from his bag, placing it on a paper mache little kitten like it was some kind of crown, before walking back over and extending it out to the kid.

"So…the explosions…the fire…all the cats…it was all for that?" The kid asked, and got a silent stare in return. "Huh…not bad, kid." Greg's boy snickered. "All that trouble for this…you're quite the little schemer."

Onion sent a smile back in return. "Aww, he likes you." It was nice to see the kid make friends. "Then again all the times you babysat him always came back positive too. Do you mind doing it this weekend?"

The boy stared at her, their eyes bloodshot as they began walking backwards. "HehhehehehHAHAhHaHababahHaHa Hahahahahahahahahahahahabwa...!" He continued to laugh like a mad man as he kept walking, right into the street, ignoring the cars that were swerving past him.

Onion waved goodbye before heading back to his own room. "... I'll have to ask Yellowtail if I was that weird when we were dating."

========================================================================

Luz groaned as she walked through the forest. "Alright … finally finished up on schoolwork, back to D average instead of straight failing." Her future looked bleak, but that was fitting for a horrible failure like herself. Amber and the rest of the teachers still weren't giving her any breaks, but by this point, she could hardly give a damn. "So what did you do today?" She turned to Lucci and Amity.

"Losing the little sanity I had left as I chased around a child with the soul of the devil." Lucci muttered with a haunted look.

"... You met Onion, didn't you?" She asked.

"Luz, I say this from the bottom of my heart…if you care about preserving any form of goodness this world has, you will help me burn the child to ash and shoot them up into space!" Lucci shook her. "I don't feel safe knowing that little bastard is running about, doing horrible things upon this world!"

"Lucci, he's about as young as King. We both know how morally wrong that is." She deadpanned. "What about you Amity?"

"Spent the day sorting through Amethyst junk to get supplies for the door, and poofing a gem she had trouble with." Her girlfriend nodded with a smile. "Have to say, she really is the only gem I've met that I actually like..no offense to Spinel Lucci."

"None taken…Damn it, I just remembered Spinel floated away earlier." Lucci grumbled. "How am I'm going to find her…"

Kersplat

The lanky gem crashed into the ground, right on top of Lucci. "Weeeeeeeee! Falling is fun!"

"Hello Spinel." Luz weakly greeted, already preparing for the one person in the multiverse that made her miss Hooty. At least he understood the concept of peace!

"Hello human! I spent the day as a balloon!" She cheered. "Do you want to try? I know humans aren't as bendy, but I'm sure I can tie your limbs up right."

"No, we have to work on the portal door Spinel." She said as she walked into the clearing. "We're almost done with another attempt and-" Luz froze at the sight before her.

The cabin door…was smashed to bits. Not just that, most of the front facade, the walls and even the ceiling, it was full of holes, looking even worse than it did before they renovated it.

"What the hell!?" Amity shouted in rage.

Lucci looked downright baffled. "What … what could have-"

"HHHSSS!" They turned to Sugar, who pointed her tail to a familiar green slime next to where the door was supposed to be, bubbling and melting through the floorboards.

"No…..the Centipeetles….no.." Luz got on the ground. "It's…it's my fault…I set us back again.."

"No, Luz, please don't blame yourself for this." Amity begged. "I'm the one that brought them here." Brought them because she felt like Luz needed cheering up.

"We … we can rebuild this." Lucci said. "It'll take time but …"

"Meow." "Hhss." Luz didn't need to translate to know what they were saying. What if the Centipeetles tore it up again?

"Then we're just going to build it again. It won't be any different than when I smashed the door." Lucci continued. "In fact, it probably gives us more time to figure out what we're missing."

"Exactly!" Amity shouted. "Amethyst said Rose collected rare ingredients, so we can start figuring out what it is we need.."

Her best friend and her girlfriend..doing everything they could to not blame her for this…Luz didn't deserve these people…she wasn't the hero…she just ruined their lives by existing.