[Sorry if this chapter is going all over the place.]

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Chapter 20
Fanning the Flames (Pt.1)
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Amethyst raised a brow at the upset Spinel who was face down on the couch and having a small fit. "Uh, dude? Your vibes are really killing me here, especially when I'm like the only one here to listen to your sad noises." She puts the final ingredients to the sandwich which has many layers.

Spinel glares at her and stomps outside to lean on the porch rails.

"Ugh." Amethyst rolls her eyes and steps out to lean next to her. "I know it's none of my business and it's clearly obvious this is about (Y/n) and the rave, right?"

'Wow. Am I an open book?' Spinel grips her hair, "I guess. This party or whateva has got me thinking about what to wear."

The purple gem snorts back a laugh, "Seriously? Well, this Amethyst has got you covered. Come on!" She jumps onto the sandy ground below, "I've got a friend who would love to help with this problem."

Spinel hums with confusion and nervously follows Amethyst toward town. 'I wonder who we're gonna meet?' Her shy posture returns once they get closer to a slight familiar house.

This had been the place where her and Steven found Amethyst, the place with many paintings of Amethyst. A studio of sorts?

"Hey, V!" Amethyst shouts and enters the front door.

Spinel stops at the doorway and hesitantly steps inside while closing the door. She panics when she doesn't see where Amethyst went. 'Where did she-' "AH!" Spinel jumps up like a scared cat and clings to the ceiling light. Her gaze lingers on the small odd human.

Amethyst laughs while the human with the onion shaped hair does the same. They stop and end up snickering while looking up at Spinel.

"Would you look at that?" Vidalia laughs and picks up her youngest son. "He is quite sneaky, isn't he?" Her attention is on Spinel as the gem falls flat onto the floor with a groan. "So. Amethyst here says you've got a MAJOR makeover crisis."

Spinel nods with embarrassment.

Vidalia places Onion down and hums in thought as she circles Spinel. "You're quite the character, but it's not impossible to dress you up for a rave. I've met a lot of weird people during my younger days and they all look fantastic in what they wear."

"Exactly. Believe me, Vidalia says that because she wasn't a looker back then." Amethyst jokes and laughs when the woman throws a pillow at her.

"Might want to take a look in the mirror yourself." Vidalia retorts with a snicker and holds out a hand to Spinel, "Alright, Frizzy. Let's see what we can do with your hair as well as an outfit."

Spinel reaches out in an irritated tug to her hair before she shouts in surprise when she dragged up the stairs.

~°☆°~

"Kandi Bracelets! Get your Kandi Bracelets and glow sticks!" Steven helps Jenny pass out bracelets and glow sticks to everyone who showed up to the beach rave.

At a concession stand, Connie helps Greg and Kiki with the beverages and food. Slowly, the sandy spots are being filled with gems and humans as they all talk amongst each other. It wasn't too long before the sun would go down and the tavern would start.

"Gosh. I didn't think this karaoke machine would be THIS complicated." Sadie sighs stressfully and attempts at trying to turn it on. "So much for this rave being a light show."

"I know how to work it." You say from behind her and accidentally give her a scare at your sudden appearance. "Sorry." You grin sheepishly and kneel down to inspect the machinery. "These remind me of something from Japan. Mmmm...let's see."

Sadie watches as the lights on the machine finally turn on and let out an array of colors. "Oh thank goodness. I thought it might've been a cheap machine after receiving it for free, since the other karaoke machine I ordered was somehow destroyed in the mail. Literally."

You tap the mic and the sound checks out. "Wow. At least you got a new one for free.....and it seems very expensive." You giggle with her while dusting your hands. "Do you know where Steven might be?"

The young woman hums and points toward the concession stand. "The last time I saw him was over by the food stand. Might wanna ask Connie. Oh! And thanks for the help."

"It's no problem. What's a rave without lights?"

Luckily, Steven had been resting from passing out the bracelets and glowsticks. He spots you while you're easily avoiding everyone. "Hey, (Y/n)!" Connie looks up and grins, "We're glad you can make it! I'm guessing you're searching for Spinel?"

You wave at Steven and pick up a purple cup with soda in it, shyly sipping it. "Is it that obvious? I mean....I'm not used to big crowds and I just need someone familiar to feel comfortable with."

Steven glances around, "You know. I'm a little surprised that Spinel isn't here yet." He takes out his phone to text Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst.

Connie tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth while holding out the rest to you, "You can hang out with us until Spinel gets here. She would definitely not pass up the moment to be with you."

"Thanks." You take a few pieces to chew on from the anxiety rising inside you. Maybe you should've declined on coming here or at least leave....? No. Then you would seem like a complete jerk to Spinel if she showed up. 'What's taking her so long? Hopefully she's okay.'

Steven kept taking glances at you and finally received a reply from Amethyst. "I'll be right back."

~°♡°~

"Come on, Dude! You seriously don't look bad!" Amethyst groans with annoyance as Steven makes his way up to her.

"What's going on?" Steven asked.

The purple gem points at the corner of the building which blocks the view of the rave. "I don't know. She just started freaking out. Spinel, (Y/n) is going to like you even more. Trust me. If not, at least trust Steven on this."

Steven chuckles, "Of course. Spinel, just come out and we'll lead you to (Y/n)."

Spinel wriggles her hands anxiously, still against the wall and out of view. "I-I think I'll just head back." Her hands cup her face in defeat. 'What is wrong with me?'

"Wait! Spinel-- Whoa..." Steven was at a loss for words at the heart shaped gem's appearance. This made Spinel's anxiety rise more and took his reaction as a bad sign, until Steven clarified. "You look fantastic! Okay, just listen to me for a moment."

With a huff, Spinel sits on the ground with a pout, "Make it quick, Universe."

Maybe it would help her and maybe it wouldn't, but Steven hoped it'll work. "You know that (Y/n) isn't going to stay for long. Show her a good time and possibly she will stay longer. Only you can do that Spinel. She likes you more than the rest of us."

Amethyst throws her hands up and wants to get to the rave as Sadie begins to sing songs. "Dude! Quit waiting for things to happen!! You've gotta go and make it happen! Enjoy everything that's, like, being served on a silver platter right now!!" She sighs and walks off, "Whatever. If you change your mind, we'll all be there."

Spinel curls up as her words hit hard, although Amethyst was right.

"Spinel?" Steven grew worried at Spinel's silence. "I'm sure Amethyst didn't mean to shout-"

"-She's right, Steven." Her fists clench as she tensed more. "I'm always waiting for things to happen these days and it just gets so exhausting." Spinel stands up and pushes her hair back, a playful grin upon her face. "Let's join the party, Steven! We don't want to miss this opportunity!" She skips her way over to the crowd.

Steven shakes his head and chuckles while following her.

~°◇°~

By now, you were still next to Connie as you two made your way toward the front to get a better view of Sadie and Sour Cream's performance. The music was amazing and you loved it, unfortunately it would be more fun if Spinel had shown up.

'Maybe I should've stopped by Steven's first to escort her? Or Spinel escort me here....that would've been nice too.' A faint blush appears for a brief moment.

The lights flashes with colors along with a laser show that followed the music as Sour Cream played DJ. Everyone jumped and cheered happily while a few waved their glow sticks wildly. On the stage, Sadie and her friends tossed rings of glow sticks out to the crowd and a few neon balloons balls so the crowd can hit it around the sea of gems and humans.

Connie linked her arm around yours while moving side to side with the music and you couldn't help to follow her lead.

A tap to your shoulder made you glance back, but only the dancing crowd was in view. Another tap from the other side, then another tap.

'Spinel.' You thought immediately and went to turn toward the last tap— "Whoa!" You and Spinel nearly fall to the ground, but with your quick reflex, you caught the pink gem in a dipping position.

She blinks and laughs sheepishly, "Probably shouldn't have pulled a prank on ya with this many beings around!" Spinel shouts over the loud music.

You swiftly pulled her upright and— every thought left your head.

"Yeah! I think I just lost all confidence there!" Spinel laughs again and pushes her hair back before holding the side of her face with slight embarrassment.

Behind her, the lights shine in a way that brings out a dazzling glow of her form. You were once again awestruck by Spinel and your face grew extremely warm from a deep blush. You hoped she could not see your dazed expression so easily.

"(Y/n)?" Spinel waves her hand in front of your face. "Ya still there?"

That question made you snicker and you hold her hand. "Of course I am. Although, for a moment, I think I've been caught in the presence of the most mesmerizing gem! You never fail to amaze me, Sunshine!" You squish her face in your hands and laugh when Spinel pouted.

"Now, I don't wanna be near ya!" Spinel crosses her arms and turns away, not catching sight of your playful smirk.

Her eyes widen when she feels your arms hug around her from behind. 'Oh stars..'

"You sure?!" You nuzzle her soft hair. "If there's no reason for you to stay away, then I can come up with something."

Suddenly, Spinel jumps away with a squeal that holds back laughter from your attempt to tickle her sides. "H-HEY! Now you betta' stay away from me! Gah!!" She giggles and avoids your lunges at her. Luckily the party made it easier for her to hide, but hard to maneuver through even with her elasticity.

"GOTCHA!!!!!"

Spinel shouts with more laughter while she's lifted up and twirled around by you. Her hands are placed on your shoulders before draping her arms around your neck.

You lean your forward to give an Eskimo kiss to her nose.

*•☆•*

From the stage, Sadie took immediate notice to the both of you and this made Steven and Connie awe at the cute scene. It seemed you two forgot about being in a loud and crowded party, seemingly in your own world.

"Why aren't they, like, ya know, together-together, yet?! It's SOO obvious they like each other!" Amethyst yells and chugs her drink.

Garnet appears and ruffles the purple gem's hair, "I may not have my future vision, but I can tell....In good time."

Steven takes a photo on his phone of you two and shows Connie which she grins at. "They really are cute together!" Connie says.

"Alright, everyone! Who's ready for the karaoke singer of the night?!" Sadie calls out and holds up the mic from the karaoke machine, it's lights glimmering brighter. "Random pick of the night by the way!"

Everyone cheers back.

You and Spinel stay close to each other until you stretch, "I'm going to get something to drink! Did you want anything?"

Spinel smiles and taps her foot in thought, "Uh, I think I'll get us something! I don't like standing in one place for long by myself!"

With an approval thumbs up from you, you point toward Steven and the Gems, "I'll be by them, so it'll be easier to find me!"

"Okay!" The gem goes to step away, but quickly moves back to leave a kiss to your cheek and waves.

Connie meets your gaze and she gives you a thumbs up while you walk over shyly. "That was adorable!" She says loudly over the crowd, which you shrug with a confident smile. Steven holds up his phone which shows the picture taken of you and Spinel, "VERY adorable."

You blush more and gaze lovingly at the picture....until something past Steven's head moves to the stage. Quite a few figures moved from all sides of the stage and they seemed to be hooking up more props to the stage.

"Huh? I thought we had everything set up for the stage." Steven said, confused.

Sadie digs into a round glass bowl which holds names written on them in glow in the dark ink. These names were written down by the entry fee booth. She unfolds a single paper and grins while waving it, "Connie Maheswaran!"

Connie grew surprised and blushed with embarrassment. "What? Steven! I said I didn't want my name in there." She accused the said boy next to her who smiles sheepishly.

"I didn't think your name would be drawn in that mix of papers." He apologized.

You glance around and realize Spinel wasn't back yet. "I can go up there with you."

Connie sighs in relief, "Thank you, (Y/n)."

Sadie said it was fine that you helped Connie get started with a karaoke song, so you two picked a song on the machine. Rock'n' Royals song called: Find Yourself in the Song. It seems like a team effort on this, luckily Sour Cream, Jenny, and Buck wanted to help bring out the music more.

In your hands, you held the second microphone while Connie had the second one. By now, you noticed Spinel in the crowd next to Steven.

'Oh boy, I hope I don't mess up too bad.'

"Don't worry. We got you, girl." Jenny winks and holds her bass guitar ready. She nods her head to Sour Cream who gives a thumbs up to join in. Connie is still hesitant at the waiting crowd.

With a deep breath and a slow exhale, you decide on a confident approach, "I wanna turn it up, so don't you turn me down, 'cause when we get together. We got a rockin' sound!"

The crowd cheers at the light show happening around the stage.

"Don't need to follow in, somebody else's steps. We make our own rules. I think you know the rest." You smirk and wink.

"Just look around now." Jenny plays the bass harder while you gesturing your hand across the crowd. "Look what you got now. Find yourself in the song! Bring up the beat and the melody, melody. Find yourself in the song!"

Connie steps up with her mic and things go very smoothly. At some point, Amethyst joined in with her drums to give the music more kick and Connie had grown more confident with her voice.

Steven and Spinel began to feel a strong emotion crashing in. They weren't the only ones feeling the same emotions as it grew more once the song came toward its end.

The karaoke machine lights were going crazy by your singing and Connie's. "You better find yourself in the song (Find yourself in the song~)! When we're together it's meant to be! Yeah!"

"Oh~" The lights keep growing with each vocal you sing. "Whoa~, whoa~, whoa~oh.."

"Just look around now." A colorful wave bursts out and seems to go unnoticed by everyone. "Look what you got now!!!"

"Find yourself in the song (Hey, yeah~!)" The crowd sings along, though the gems were more enthusiastic and wild. "Bring up the beat and the melody, melody (Whoa, whoa)!" Unbeknownst to them, their gems glow. "Find yourself in the song (Find yourself in the song~!) When we're together it's meant to be (Whoa, whoa)!"

Connie takes the stage for the last few bits, "All (All that it takes~) it takes (whoa~) is one big dream (is one big dream~!) You better find yourself in the song (Find yourself in the song~!) When we're together it's meant to be."

You jump and throw your fist up, "Yeah!!!~"

In the crowd, a human accidentally bumped into a gem and the annoyance spikes within the gem at a very dangerous peak. "HEY! Watch it!" They shoved the teen to the ground as another gem helped him up.

"What's your problem?! It was an accident!" The gem yelled to the other gem.

Very slowly, the banter started to spread while you and Connie were waving a thanks. Immediately, you notice a gem body being slammed onto the stage. "MOVE!" You shout, grabbing Connie as you two dive away along with Sadie and the others.

Spinel gritted her teeth and hopped onto the stage to pick up the gem, "WHAT THE STARS DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIN', BUCKO?!" She didn't know why, but her temper flared up abnormally and she really wanted to shatter that gem-

"SPINEL!" Steven's yell snapped her out of it.

You take a look at the crowd to see nothing but fighting and arguments between everyone, though you notice the Crystal Gems doing their best to calm them down.

Until it got violent.

"We've got to get the humans to safety!" Garnet shouts to Steven.

"On it!" He picks up the karaoke microphone, "Everyone! Get to safety right now while we get this situa-TION!!!" He falls back when a fist nearly misses his head. "Whoa! Hey!"

A few gems towered over him, showing strong emotion of sadness and anger. "This is your fault! You've changed EVERYTHING!"

"Yeep!" Steven summons his shield when they attack. "Connie! Get all humans to safety!"

~°♡°~

Spinel sat on the broken stage and stared at her hands. 'I almost....what's happening?' She began to tear up and all the bad thoughts began flooding her mind. 'Pink....Pink, why did you leave me....alone. Why? WHY?!'

You had snuck away from Connie's group while she led humans to safety and spotted Spinel yanking on her hair. The sight of her tearful face made you run toward her while avoiding the fighting gems around you.

Until, something stopped you.

A familiar blue gem.

Whatever was happening must be affecting any gem nearby.

Including Lapis.

"YOU." She seethed.

You gulp, "Oh no." She didn't like you from the start and it seemed her negative emotion toward you was greater than anything. A group of gem fighting blocked her sights on you, so you took off to keep hidden.

Back to the pink gem, she tried to hold the tears in, but they still fell when a hand is placed on her shoulder.

"Spinel, what's wrong?" Steven asked then turned to knock away an incoming gem with his shield.

Spinel sniffed and she let out a choked reply, "I-I don't know. I just started getting these feelings....flooding back to me..."

"I know. I can feel something too—" Steven's concerned tone turned to a grunt as he blocked another gem's attack with a big shield. "—but right now. Everyone needs us. You've got to snap out of it, you know we're always here for you, Spinel. You're not alone anymore. You have friends now and you have (Y/n) and Nelly."

She sniffles and smiles softly. 'He's right. I can't keep letting those bad feelings get the best of me.' Her magenta eyes shift to the sky, only for it to shrink with fear. "(Y/N)!!"

~°◇°~

Lapis tightens her fist as water slowly moves up to your neck then your chin. It didn't help that she held you above the ground. "Ever since you came here, all these things started happening!"

You feel the water cover your head after you take a deep breath. Your hand moved to your side, until you saw a glowing weapon slice through Lapis and you could breathe again.

A blue teardrop shaped gem is falling with you, only to be caught in Steven's hands and Spinel grabs you.

"Sorry, Lapis. You should cool down for a moment." Steven bubbles her away with guilt.

"Well, I'm not sorry." Spinel scoffs.

Suddenly, a dozen gem mutants surround you, Steven, and Spinel. Unfortunately, the Crystal Gems were preoccupied with the regular gem fights to notice your guys situation.

Spinel glares while keeping you between her and Steven. "Keep between us, (Y/n). Don't want you getting hurt even more."

You step out and hold up your fists, "I'm not going to let you two fight alone again. I can take care of myself. Besides, I don't want you guys to get distracted by trying to watch my safety."

Spinel sighs in defeat and hands her Scythe to you, "Your fists ain't gonna so much damage. Let me do the fist fighting."

The weight of the weapon was a little heavy, to an ordinary human it might've made them lose balance.

"Try not to mess with the buttons. I have it set to a regular blade to cause more damage." Spinel then jokes. "So try not to lose your head or Steven's."

Steven swings with his fists bubbled when the mutant gems jump at him.

Something wasn't right.

Well, nothing right now wasn't going so swell, but the very important thing to you was Spinel.

"Spinel?" You say with worry when you noticed her feral like posture. Even the gem mutants seem to grow confused.

Spinel's eyes were crazed rings and they shifted toward Steven. It almost seemed like you and her surroundings weren't there. Her hand shoots out to grab the weapon from your hands and it rises above Steven.

"STEVEN!" You warn.

The half gem boy spins toward your voice and his eyes are wide with disbelief and shock. The glowing tip of the scythe pointed and inch away from his head. 'How did-?' Steven, in a quick moment, had realized you abruptly stopped Spinel's strong swing.

The handle of the weapon shook slightly at the equal force from either side. Possibly about to break into pieces if anymore applied.

Your eyes narrowed and spoke at the pink gem with an assertive tone. "Stop."

Her eyes finally focus on you and she blinks away for a second. '(Y/n)? Oh no. Please, don't tell me I almost..' Spinel retracts her hands away from the weapon and opens her mouth to speak. "I—"

"RAUGH!!!!!!!"

A monstrous roar echoed across the beach. This made everyone, even the mutant gems turn to the source of the bigger commotion.

This gem monster was....very different. Of course the glowing gems embedded on two of its hands were clear it was a fusion, but....like a deformed human. The other pair of arms, there was a figure struggling in its grasp.

Sadie.

Steven and the Crystal Gems now have their full attention and weapons raised toward the monster. The mutant gems start to fuse together so that they equal the size of the monster as they charge at it.

You clench your teeth behind your scowl expression as you take a quick glance to the ruined stage before shifting your gaze to the rejuvenator in your hands.

Lars desperately points at the monstrous fusion when running up to the scene.

"Guys!!! The monster is Connie and Mr. Universe!!!"