❝YO, MR. FRYMAN──!" said man sighed, running a hand down his face tiredly as he turned around, only to come face to face with a familiar mask.

"[y/n]," the man began, "we're closed. can't you just wait until tomorrow? even for just this once?" he asked, already exhausted with the hybrid child's shenanigans before they had even started.

"what? no!" [y/n] laughed as if mr. fryman had made the most insane proposition in the world and then proceeded to repeatedly bang her hands─which were curled tightly into fists─against the counter.

"the bits, please!" bang. "the bits!" bang. "the bits!" amethyst popped up from below out of nowhere and quickly began to join the girl next to her. "the bits! the bits! the bits!" bang, bang, ban─

"okay, okay!" mr. fryman threw his hands into the air in exasperation, wondering how in the world his youngest son had managed to befriend these two of all people. "just . . . take it easy on the counter, will ya?"

amethyst and [y/n] grinned widely, their racket instantly ceasing. "of course, mr. fryman!" said amethyst with a laugh. "anything for you, mr. fryman!" [y/n] added, laughing along with the purple gem.

the man sighed once again and turned around, already preparing to make one of his humble shack's smaller treats, yet he still couldn't help the smallest hint of a fond smile tug at the corners of his lips as he heard the familiar noise of [y/n] and amethyst cheering together in the background behind him.

( they were nice company to keep around, he had to admit, but it's not like he'd ever tell either of them that face to face. )

•

•

•

"ahh, sunset . . ." [y/n] smiled from under her mask, feeling the wind brush through her [hair color] locks. "it's one of my favorite times of the day, you know? it's the time when the first sun goes down, and the second one grows bigger and bigger as it rises high up into the sky."

amethyst laughed, chewed up pieces of fry bits escaping her lips. "what are you, a poet all of a sudden? 'oh yeah, no one loves that big, hot, second sun more than me'─oh, no." amethyst gasped.

[y/n] quirked a brow, coming to a stop and sending a curious look amethyst's way. "amethyst? something the matter─"

[y/n]'s words came to a halt, her eyes having finally caught sight of what had made the purple gem come to an abrupt stop in the first place.

needless to say, she was rather surprised.

"huh."

[y/n] threw another fry bit into her mouth before pulling her mask down to cover it once more.

"i don't remember that big, hot, second sun looking like that, to be honest."

•

•

•

"this is bad."

"look at the size of it!" pearl cried, gazing into a telescope. "i had no idea these things were so big!" she said, referring to the giant, spherical object in the sky and not the other thing those of you who have dirty minds were thinking about.

( yeah, i see you, and i know what you were just about to comment, you sinful children. )

"garnet! pearl!"

the two gems perked up, turning around to see a familiar purple gem racing towards them, carrying [y/n] in her arms.

pearl rolled her eyes. "we saw," the pale gem stated, placing a hand on her hip as she added, "some of us are trying to protect humanity. where were you?"

amethyst placed [y/n] back down onto the ground. "eating fry bits," she answered simply.

pearl facepalmed. "ugh."

"um, hold up," [y/n] chuckled awkwardly and took a step forward, grabbing the gems' attention. "would someone mind explaining to me what's going on? all i know is that there's some giant thing up in the sky right now, and it definitely is not a second sun." the girl placed her hands on her hips, looking to the gems expectantly for an explanation.

"oh. that," pearl winced, "is a red eye, [y/n]."

[y/n]'s eyes widened from beneath her mask. "a red eye?!" she exclaimed. "is it gonna infect us?!" she cried, her voice laced with dread.

"that's pinkeye, [y/n]," garnet deadpanned, making amethyst burst out into a fit of laughter as the gem-hybrid flushed slightly, clearly embarrassed.

"o-oh . . ." [y/n] chuckled bashfully, "right. sorry." the girl cleared her throat. "so, if it isn't gonna . . . infect us, or anything . . ." she looked to pearl, "then what will it do?"

the pale gem looked panicked. "it's going to crash into beach city and crush us, along with a bunch of oblivious, innocent people." pearl's eyes narrowed into a determined glare, which was directed up towards the sphere-shaped object above.

"we have to stop it."

[y/n] nodded firmly, feeling just as determined as pearl was. "okay. what do you suggest we do?"

garnet readjusted her visors. "the only thing powerful enough to destroy it is a light cannon that belonged to emerald," the gem explained.

[y/n] visibly perked up. "my mom?" she asked.

"ugh!" amethyst threw her head back. "if emerald were here, this would be so easy," she groaned.

[y/n] stayed silent.

pearl sighed, placing a hand against where her heart would be as she looked off with longing in her eyes. "i know," a pause, "but she's not, and the cannon is missing. we'll have to find another solution."

"w-what?" [y/n] snapped her gaze over to pearl. "my mom's cannon is missing?! how? are you sure you checked everywhere?" the hybrid asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously behind her mask.

pearl scoffed. "of course we did! we've looked around the temple and every other place it would be! besides, if we didn't check everywhere, then the only other place it could be is . . ." pearl's eyes widened, ". . . is . . ."

[y/n] rose a brow. "is?" she urged.

pearl shook her head, quickly snapping herself out of her thoughts and returning to reality. "a-anyways, that's not the point. we've checked everywhere, and that is final," she huffed, crossing her arms and looking away in a stubborn manner.

[y/n] frowned, narrowing her eyes behind her mask again.

"we can handle this, [y/n]." garnet walked to amethyst's side and crouched down to the purple gem's height. "ready?"

amethyst grinned and nodded.

slipping her hands under her arms, garnet hoisted amethyst up into her own arms before jumping high up into the air. the two gems twirled around until they reached a certain momentum, and then garnet stopped, threw the hand she was using to hold amethyst back, before finally releasing the gem with a powerful throw─aimed directly towards their threat in the sky.

[y/n] could only cringe as she watched the short, purple gem crash into the spherical object ahead.

she cringed even more when a splash was heard soon after.

"um, you know what?" the fourteen year old began to back away from the scene slowly. "i . . . think i'm gonna . . . go . . ." an awkward chuckle. "uh, yeah," she grinned, "bye!" and then quickly ran off.

•

•

•

"there's gotta be something in here!" [y/n] grunted, pushing yet another box out of the way after rummaging through it and moving onto the next one.

"come on, mom! you have to have left me something . . ." [y/n] paused, "right?"

the girl wasn't given a response. she sighed to herself, then, and at long last finally gave up her supposedly pointless search; falling back to rest against a box behind her, a huff escaping her lips.

for a split second, her fingers twitched, prompting to remove the porcelain mask from her face to properly rub her tired eyes.

[y/n] almost gave into that urge. to take her mask off for a while and just sit it to the side; taking in the silence of peace as she sat by herself in the room, wondering that maybe─just maybe─if she closed her eyes long enough, she would see her mother's memories flash before her; playing in her vision like a movie.

but then the hybrid child opened her eyes once again, and she still found herself looking through the see-through peepholes of her mask as always. the room was quiet, but it wasn't comforting or peaceful─it was lonely. and when [y/n] felt lonely, she could feel something similar to that of a snake wrap itself around her gem and give it a desperate tug. a tug so painful sometimes that she would gasp outloud and clutch the fabrics of her green hoodie, the thing separating her hand from grabbing ahold of her gem completely. during those times, she could feel something in her stomach: warmth; a pulse.

but then, that feeling is gone as soon as it had come, and [y/n] is always left feeling even lonelier than before afterwards.

"i think i'm gonna pay peeds a visit," the child said after a moment, going to stand up.

however, as soon as the girl stood up to her full height, she suddenly felt her head collide with a shelf sitting just a bit above her, and the fourteen year old cried out at the sudden contact; not yet noticing that a small book with a leather cover had fallen off of the shelf and landed at her feet in front of her.

"ow . . ." [y/n] huffed, rubbing her somewhat aching head as she glared up at the shelf through her mask. a sigh left her lips soon after, though, and she only shook her head and turned around to begin walking off, when─

she looked down. she saw what looked to be a journal. a moment of debate made her pause, and then before she knew it, she was picking the journal up and flipping through its pages curiously.

she doesn't end up regretting the choice for a second.

"holy shit─!" [y/n] let out a breathless, disbelieving laugh. "this is mom's!"

[y/n] laughed again and slammed the journal shut, running a hand through her hair and just grinning to herself because holy shit how fucking convenient─

"i've gotta show this to peedee!" [y/n]'s grin seemed to widen, and she was already running out of the beach house and heading over to beach citywalk fries in the blink of an eye.

maybe that short search wasn't as pointless as she thought it was.

•

•

•

"so . . ." peedee blinks, staring down at the journal in his best friend's grasp as she stands before him, practically bouncing in her place.

the boy doesn't bother hiding his surprised expression. "that was your mom's?" he asks eventually, pointing to the leather bound book in his friend's arms.

though peedee may not be able to see her face, he can tell very clearly that [y/n] is practically beaming with excitement behind her mask.

"yeah! i couldn't believe it either, but it has her signature and everything!" [y/n] gives a breathless chuckle and opens the journal again, her gaze softening. "i never knew that her handwriting would be so . . . pretty," she says, her voice laced with a fondness that peedee had only ever heard her use when addressing her favored cookie cats.

the boy smiles, happy for his friend. "that's great, [y/n]. it's nice seeing you get to learn more stuff about your mom," he says, and [y/n] smiles.

"thanks, peeds." [y/n] nods her friend's way and then pauses, taking a moment to look peedee over before slowly saying, "maybe . . ." she hesitates, "if you want to, we can look around in your family's storage, too?" [y/n] closes the journal and chuckles.

"who knows. maybe we can see if your mom left anything for you to find before she left, too?"

peedee inhales sharply, but he makes sure not to let the smile on his face falter as he nods. "yeah," he gives a small tug on the end of the unbuttoned, beige plaid shirt he wears over his white tank top, "i'd like that."

the two don't have anything else to say after that, and they sit themselves down on the closest bench when [y/n] is finally ready to properly read through her mother's journal for the first time.

"there's so much in here, peeds," [y/n] laughs. "like, you see this? notes on corruption, sketches of the other crystal gems, and─"

[y/n] stops suddenly, and both her and peedee squint slightly in confusion at a particular drawing that had been sketched out on the next page.

"huh." [y/n] quirks a brow, "who's rainbow hair right here?" she asks, carefully tracing her fingers along the parchment.

peedee shrugs. "maybe they were someone they fought on the battlefield a while ago?" he suggests, not being able to see the look of contemplation on [y/n]'s features.

"but . . ." the hybrid takes another look at the sketch─her eyes specifically focusing on the star tattoo on the stranger's arm.

[y/n] shakes her head dismissively. "you know what? nevermind." i can look into it more later, tonight. "what we really need to know right now is if this thing has any information on where my mom's cannon could be," the girl says with finality, earning a surprised look from her friend.

"w-what?" peedee sputters. "what do you mean your mom's cannon? she actually had one of those?!" the boy questions, obviously shocked.

[y/n]'s grin returns. "she was a war criminal, peeds." the girl chuckles, "of course she'd have a weapon of mass destruction like that."

peedee gives his friend a strange look that [y/n] ignores, before simply nodding and returning his gaze down to the pages of the journal.

a beat of silence. then, "how the heck did the crystal gems lose a cannon?"

[y/n] wheezes, and the noise sounds like a high pitched tea kettle.

"how the hell am i supposed to know?! they're rocks from space, peedee!"

the two children end up bursting out into a fit of laughter, clutching their stomachs tightly and tears quickly forming in the corners of their eyes.

"rocks. from space," peedee snorts, "gosh."

"it's true, though!" [y/n] wheezes again, the noise making peedee laugh harder.

"okay, okay," peedee wipes a tear from his eye, clearing his throat to compose himself. "on a more serious note, what do you need the cannon for, anyway?" peedee's eyes narrow with suspicion. "you don't plan on conquering a state or something, do you?"

"peedee, if i wanted to conquer anything, it'd be the world." [y/n] grins mischievously from behind her mask and peedee chuckles, rolling his eyes.

"of course, my mistake. i'm sorry."

[y/n] nods, "as you should be."

finally composing herself as well, [y/n] begins to flip through the journal once again, though quicker than last time, until─

she makes it halfway through, and suddenly the rest of the pages are all blank.

[y/n] deadpans. "what?" the girl brings all of the pages together and begins to flip through them all breezingly, her eyes narrowed. "where's the rest?" she inhales deeply. "don't tell me that this is all she wrote down!"

peedee frowns, hearing just how panicked his friend sounded. "hey, hey, calm down." the boy places a hand on his her shoulder. "i'm sure that she maybe just skipped a few pages or something, yeah? have you checked to see if there was anything on the last couple of pages, or . . .?"

"yes, i literally just did!" [y/n] huffs and quickly flips to the last set of pages, which were all just as empty as the rest. "see? nothing!" the hybrid sighs, the fire in her eyes dying out quickly as she props her elbows on her knees and then rests her masked face in her hands defeatedly.

"nothing . . ."

peedee's frown deepens, and before he can even take a moment to think, he snatches the journal of his friend's mother out of her lap and begins to flip through it himself, his eyes narrowed in a focused manner.

there's gotta be something! peedee kisses his teeth. come on, mrs. [l/n]! you can't let [y/n] down now!

soon enough, peedee finds himself at the last page of the journal, and he huffs.  if this cannon [y/n] mentioned really belonged to her mother, then why didn't mrs. [l/n] have anything on it? surely it must have been important if it was used in whatever war [y/n]'s mom and the crystal gems fought in, so how could they have possibly lost it─

peedee gasps suddenly, his eyes taking notice of two certain pages that seemed to be stuck together at last. the boy grins in victory at the sight, and just when [y/n] finally lifts her eyes up to look over to her best friend, she witnesses peedee pulling two pages apart, revealing a detailed drawing of a certain cannon located inside of them.

[y/n] gapes. holy shit. what the fuck cartoon convenient shit is this?!

"haha! see?" peedee smirks to his gaping friend. "maybe you should try searching more thoroughly next time, [n/n]."

[y/n] doesn't say anything for a while; staring at peedee with an unreadable expression on her face, though that should be expected because he can't actually see her face. but then, a chuckle is heard, followed by a snicker, and then [y/n] is laughing loudly as she suddenly tackles peedee to the floor in a hug.

"peeds, oh my god!" [y/n] laughs, running a hand through her hair in disbelief as she takes her mother's journal back to look at the recently revealed pages.

"you're amazing. my god, i will literally sell my soul to you!"

peedee laughs at that, shaking his head as [y/n] finally falls off of him to lay down next to him, staring up at her mother's journal with a grin sprawled out across her face.

"she entrusted it to a family called the universes, huh?"

peedee hums. "it would appear so," he confirms with a nod.

a smirk tugs at the corner of [y/n]'s lips, and she slams her mom's journal shut before standing back to her feet.

"let's go pay them a little visit, then."

•

•

•

"[y/n], i'm pretty sure what you're doing is illegal."

[y/n] only laughs at peedee's concern, slipping one leg through the window and into what appears to be the house's kitchen.

"the law calls it 'breaking and entering', but me?" [y/n]'s voice suddenly loses all emotion, "the window was open. they should've kept their window shut and locked," she deadpans.

peedee blanks. "[y/n], that is terrible logic. why can't we just wait until they get home and then ask them where your mom's cannon is?" the boy asks, crossing his arms over his chest and raising a brow at his hybrid friend.

[y/n] scoffs. "because that's what normal people would do. and i, for one─" the girl swings her other leg through the window before hopping onto the floor "─am the opposite of normal. and as my friend, you should be too."

grinning widely, [y/n] turns around and leans out of the window, holding a hand out for peedee to take. "now are you going to come in here and be impulsive with me, or are you going to be a boring, plain, normal person instead?"

peedee's deadpanned expression remains, his arms still crossed. he stares down at [y/n]'s hand, and then he lifts his gaze up to the porcelain mask that hides his friend's face. however, he notices the way that [y/n]'s shoulders are tense, raised up slightly from their normal position to indicate just how excited yet nervous she is, and he sighs.

"fine." peedee takes [y/n]'s hand and allows the girl to help him into the house that apparently belonged to the universe family. "but if this backfires and we end up in jail, then i'm blaming you for all of this," he huffs, glancing from side to side in a nervous manner.

[y/n] chuckles. "whatever you say, peeds. whatever you say."

•

•

•

when greg universe opened the front door to his beloved home, one of the many things he did not expect to see were the two teenagers standing in his living room, both of them carrying one end of a familiar cannon given to him by an old friend oh so long ago.

the man blinked at them. they blinked back. ( or maybe just the blond one blinked back. he wasn't sure, since the other one's face was covered by a mask, which was quite strange because─

. . . because . . .

OH WAIT THE OTHER ONE WAS A CHILD WEARING A GREEN HOODIE AND A MASK. THAT MUST HAVE MEANT─ )

"[Y/N]?!" greg dropped his keys and both of his hands fould themselves gripping the sides of his head as his eyes widened with mixtures of shock, relief, and confusion swimming in them.

he wasn't expecting to see her again like this.

"o-oh my gosh!" greg released a breathless laugh and ran a hand over the bald spot atop his head.

"kid, you've . . . you've gotten so . . . so big!" he laughed again, and before anyone could do anything, he suddenly had the confused child gathered up into his arms and was swinging her around happily, laughter still leaving his lips.

from the sidelines, the other kid with blond hair could only watch the interaction with confusion and astonishment.

"wait," the kid blinked. "you know this guy, [y/n]?" he asked, disbelieving.

"uh . . ." the girl blinked back from under her mask, clearly just as confused as her friend was. "i . . . think so . . .?" she sounded more unsure than anything.

"oh! right . . ." greg released an awkward chuckle and sat [y/n] back down at last, rubbing the back of his neck with a strained grin. "you were too young to remember me now . . ."

noticing his disheartened tone, [y/n] and her friend both shared a look that appeared to be a mixture of both confusion and concern with eachother, when the adult began to speak up again.

"well, no matter." greg clasped his hands and rubbed them together, heading towards the kitchen with a wide, optimistic grin stretched out upon his face. "that's a story for another time, anyway. tell me, you kids hungry? i think there are still some hotdogs leftover from last night's dinner . . ."

"um . . ." [y/n] and her friend shared another look and began to quickly follow after the man.

"actually, mr. universe─?"

"oh, please," the man laughed once more and waved the children off. "just call me greg!"

"oh. uh . . ." [y/n] hesitated, before shrugging her shoulders and continuing on.

"okay, then. mister greg, since you're here now, i was wondering if you could─"

"you know, since you know where i live now, you should totally come by and visit more often!" greg started, completely ignoring [y/n]'s words as he brought out a container of hotdogs. "you're around my son's age, and he's always looking forward to making new friends. and hey, i'm sure his sisters would love you since they're always talking about wanting another girl around the house . . . even despite their mother being a girl as well . . ." greg chuckled. "speaking of their mother, i'm sure persephone would love you too, though she spends a lot of time at work, so─"

"MISTER UNIVERSE!"

jumping and nearly dropping the plate he had set all of the hotdogs on to heat up in the microwave, greg turned around to see that the masked girl's shoulders were rising and falling, showing that she was breathing heavily.

"oh." greg blinked, chuckling nervously and offering the child an apologetic smile. "sorry. i tend to ramble a lot sometimes," he said.

"it's . . . okay," [y/n] sighed. "but, since i have your attention now, do you think you could do us a favor?"

"huh?" greg rose a brow. "a favor?"

•

•

•

"uh, guys?"

"yeah?"

peedee cringed at the sound of the cannon scraping against the concrete of the road behind them. "are you . . . sure that it's gonna be okay back there? couldn't we, i don't know, find a truck or something . . .?"

from upfront, in the driver's seat, greg shrugged. "well, if every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs," he stated.

both peedee and [y/n] snapped their attention over to the man in sync in an instant. "what?" they asked.

"hah!" greg let out a short laugh. "oh, it's just a saying me and my first wife came up with after our son was born," he explained.

"first wife?" [y/n] repeated, brows raising curiously. "does that mean . . .?"

"she . . . died a couple years back. about a year after she gave birth to steven," said the man, smiling sadly. "a shame, too. she was so kind to everyone, even if they were a stranger to her. she often volunteered for charities and everything," he added.

there was silence in the car after that; peedee sending the man a sympathetic look, when─

"do you mind telling us her name?"

"[y/n]!" peedee hissed, slapping his friend's arm. "you can't just ask someone something like that out of nowhere!" the boy scolded.

greg chuckled. "no, no, it's okay." a pause. "rose," he said at last, "her name was rose. rose universe."

from beneath her mask, [y/n] smiled. "she sounds like she was a pretty amazing person," she honestly replied. "i'm sure she'd be very happy for you and your son if she saw you both now."

greg laughed again. man, he just had to find almost everything humorous today, didn't he?

"thanks, kiddo." he placed a hand atop [y/n]'s head and ruffled her hair up. "i'm glad the gems have been raising you well." and hopefully, they'll continue to do so.

with a noise of protest escaping her lips, [y/n] quickly swatted greg's hand away and went to glare at her friend in the backseat, who was currently laughing his head off at her dismay.

yeah. greg chuckled as he watched the sight of the the two friends' bickering unfold, a fond smile tugging at his lips as he returned his attention upfront to turn the car onto the beach.

she really is emerald's daughter.

•

•

•

"throw me again!" amethyst grinned despite the obvious panic and fear glimmering through her eyes. "i think i'm cracking it!"

"oh, really?" the familiar voice of a certain gem hybrid spoke up. "well, let us finish the job for you, then!"

the gems all whirled around, brows raised in confusion until their eyes finally landed on the familiar sight of a van they hadn't seen in a long time.

"greg?" pearl gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth in shock once she saw the cannon of the crystal gems' previous leader dragged onto the sandy floor of the beach.

"he had it . . ." the pale gem whispered, a smile slowly beginning to spread across her features out of both relief and disbelief. "he . . . he really had it!" she exclaimed, laughing breathlessly.

"we're saved!" amethyst yelled, throwing her hands up into the air joyously.

then, as if on cue, the effects of the red eye started to play out.

crying out in surprise, everyone lifted their arms up to block their faces from any damage as the red eye's gravitational pull began to pull everything up from beach city; cars, railings, bicycles, etc.

( from afar, at the top of a school, two bestfriends could only stare on at the catastrophe with what would be stated as fear and amazement in their eyes, all whilst the other kids behind them ran inside and screamed.

maybe those stories that mr. universe told of 'gems from space' weren't as fictional as they thought they were, after all. )

"we have to use it now," garnet ordered, her voice firm.

"well, i don't know how it works! it was emerald's!" pearl exclaimed, panic lacing her words.

"shit! uh─oh! wait!" [y/n] pulled her mother's journal out and quickly flipped to the page that held intel on her mother's cannon on it, shocking the gems.

"[y/n] . . ." pearl began, eyes wide. "where did you get that?"

"does it matter right now?!" the girl snapped, eyes scanning over the page hurriedly until they landed on one, specific thing at last.

"we have to say something to activate it!" the girl told, looking up to the gems frantically. "quick, think of something that my mom said that she would've used as a codeword for this thing!" she said, gesturing towards the cannon.

"uh─" amethyst turned towards the cannon and placed her hands against it. "activate! fire! fly high!"

"oh, that's not going to work!" pearl yelled, to which amethyst responded with, "you got any better ideas?!"

"no, wait!" greg spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "i've got this."

running over to the cannon, greg quickly untied the cord that had been holding it to his van, only to instantly regret doing so once he saw his beloved vehicle begin to get pulled away by the red eye's force.

"wait, nope, maybe i don't!" the man added frantically, running back over to his car.

[y/n] released a frustrated groan and began to bang her fists against the cannon's surface, her breathing beginning to grow heavy.

"come on! please just─just work, okay?! unlock! go! blast off! anything, just please, i─everyone's counting on you, so you can't be useless, understand?! i know you can help, so please─"

"it's okay, [y/n]." greg's voice quickly brought the girl back to reality, and she turned to see the man offering her a comforting smile.

"we can figure something else out. something better, yeah?"

[y/n] paused, thinking over his words for a moment before shakily smiling. "y-yeah," she chuckled, "after all, if every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."

a glow overtook the backdrop behind the child, then, and everyone gasped.

the cannon had activated!

"it's working!" pearl cried, relief in her tone.

[y/n] gaped, watching with wide eyes filled with astonishment as the hinges to her mother's cannon unlocked, leaving the barrel of the weapon to fall to the ground. [y/n] gasped at this, noticing that the cannon's mouth was not aimed at the eye, and she quickly wrapped her arms around it in a poor attempt to aim it at the gems' current target. she grunted, obviously struggling.

that is, until more arms came around to help her out, at least.

"hang on, [y/n]!" peedee called out from behind her as him and the crystal gems helped the girl haul the cannon up to point it at the red eye above. "we've got your back!"

under her mask, [y/n] grinned.

"everyone!" garnet called out. "BRACE YOURSELVES!"

as soon as the taller gem had said that, a burst of light shot out from the cannon's mouth and began to head straight for the red eye ahead. as it did so, [y/n], peedee, and greg could all only watch in amazement as the beam─emitting a green aura─shifted into the shape of what looked to be emerald, the first leader of the crystal gems, and [y/n]'s mother.

then, at last, the beam hit the red eye dead center, and suddenly a large gust of wind sent [y/n], the gems, peedee, greg, and almost everyone and everything else flying back.

[y/n] fell back to the floor first; luckily landing in the sand and rolling against it until she finally stopped, leaving the others to join her not too long after, groaning in pain.

( somewhere, at the bottom of [y/n]'s mask, a barely noticable crack took form. )

"whoa." amethyst blinked, pushing herself up off the ground before grinning and turning to the [eye color]-eyed child next to her.

"[y/n], you just saved beach city!" the purple gem exclaimed happily.

[y/n] could only let out a breathless laugh.

"how did you get it to work?" pearl asked, standing up to her feet and dusting herself off.

[y/n] shrugged, moving to sit down properly and lifting one of her knees up to rest an arm across it. "i just . . . said an old phrase that i heard mister greg say on the way here . . ." she answered, sending the man a small smile despite the fact that he couldn't actually see it.

pearl quirked a brow, confused. "the thing about pork rinds?" she questioned.

garnet smiled, patting the pale gem on the shoulder. "hotdogs," she corrected.

the tides of the beach came back in, then, and everyone laughed.

* * * * *

NEXT EPISODE :
" HOTDOG DUFFLE BAG "