It's Becoming Crystal Clear (Jasper x Reader)

Chapter 3: Mistakes Were Made

You woke up at around ten o’clock the next morning, still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. You had called Mr. Mulligan last night to tell him you might not be able to make it in while your car was being repaired. He was fine with that. You tiptoed to the top of the stairs and peeked down towards the front door. The toolbox was still sitting there, closed and undisturbed.

Taking the time only to neaten your hair a bit and to brush your teeth less thoroughly than you probably should have, you went for a walk down to the beach, carrying Hematite in her improvised prison. It wasn't any more than a ten minute journey before you were strolling down the beach with the magnificent Temple statue coming into view as you rounded the hill.

“Hey (Y/N), what's up?” called Amethyst, who was sitting outside. You waved back, deciding to speak when you were closer rather than yelling now.

“I brought you guys a little present. Did someone order one captive Hegemony supersoldier?” you joked, holding up your burden.

“Aw, woah! Yo Garnet, P, I think (Y/N) bagged Hematite somehow!” The other two gems stepped outside. Garnet stood stony-faced for a moment before speaking.

“Nice work.”

“I… I don't understand. How did you manage..?” Pearl asked.

“I guess luck was on my side,” you replied. “Luck, and a fire extinguisher.”

“Uh huh… and how did you keep her from regenerating?”
    “I stuck her in here. It was all I could think of. So maybe one of you should..?”

“I think Steven can handle this,” Garnet suggested. “Steven!”

“Yeah?” Steven asked, running outside.

“(Y/N) captured Hematite for us. Perhaps you can do the rest.”

“Okay!” Steven said eagerly. “Everybody stand back,” he warned, trying to sound extremely serious. You set the toolbox down and stepped away. He carefully opened the lid, snatched out Hematite’s gem (which was already glowing) in one swift motion, and bubbled it before she could regenerate.

“Well done, Steven!” Pearl said as Amethyst ruffled his hair. “This should be far more secure. It's a wonder she didn't create more problems for you, (Y/N). Gems unable to regenerate have been known to take control of inanimate objects instead.”

“Yeah, you could've had to fend against… THE HAUNTED SCREWDRIVER!” Amethyst said, holding up a screwdriver, before tumbling over laughing.

“I think Amethyst is right, Pearl,” Garnet remarked with a slight chuckle, holding up and analyzing the toolbox. “I don't think this would have been able to do much even if it had come to life.”

“Honestly,” you admitted, “I hadn't even thought about that. I was just worried I might wake up with a rather unwelcome houseguest. Anyway, I guess I should be going.”

“No rush,” Steven replied, “unless you have other plans.”

“Well, I was thinking I’d hang around with Peridot and Lapis and maybe grab a late lunch…” you said. Steven’s face fell. “... but I can always swing by later.” He smiled. Amethyst appeared to remember something.

“Oh wait, the hero needs a reward! Have a cookie!” Amethyst pulled a chocolate chip cookie out of her gem and threw it to you. It struck you in the chest before falling into your hand. It felt about as hard as a rock. “Sorry it’s kinda stale. Want a glass of milk with that?”

“Umm… no thank you.”

You decided to stop at home before going to the barn. You wanted to at least eat an apple or something, change your clothes, and take a shower - you still had that sharp odour of rust. Going straight to your room, you pulled out some clean clothes, then froze, feeling like you were forgetting something. You began pulling things out of your pockets and setting them on the bed, making sure you still had anything. Wallet, check. House keys, check. As you reached your hand back into your pocket, it clutched a small, hard object. It was… the cookie Amethyst gave you! Phone, check. Jasper, check. Jasper? Oops.

You scrambled back and forth, trying to think of something you could do to stop her from regenerating. But it was too late; her gem was beginning to glow brightly where it sat on the bed, and soon began to levitate. The light it radiated began to take form. At first it resembled Jasper’s corrupted form, but this flickered and turned greenish for a moment, then morphed into her familiar humanoid form. You yelped and dove into the closet as she began to solidify.

You peeked around the corner of the closet door as her regeneration completed. She looked exactly the same as before, down to the details of the red stripes on her tangerine skin and the yellow diamond insignia on her chest. She looked like maybe she was a little shorter than before since she looked like she could probably stand comfortably in the room, though you'd never pulled out a tape measure around any of the gems, so you weren't sure. Her head was tilted backwards, strands of her ridiculously long, thick hair falling out of her face as she sighed blissfully, relieved to be back and intact. She sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her eyes, stretching, and gazing around. It was kind of cute to see her all confused. It wasn’t so cute when she leapt up, making the whole house shake, summoned her crash helmet, and started sniffing the air like a keen predator. You weren’t sure how she sniffed when she had a gem in place of a nose, but you weren’t worried about that. You were more worried about the strong metallic smell clinging to you. And rightfully so; she locked on to the source of the scent and was staring in your direction.

She crossed the room in two paces and flung open the closet door. Looking straight ahead and seeing nothing but hanging clothes and the wall behind them, she seemed puzzled. Then she looked down and saw you. You looked up at her. There was murder in her eyes.

“Uh… h-hi,” you whimpered.

There we are, at last everyone's favourite Big Buff Cheeto Puff enters the story. Now we can get this show on the road. I'll try to procrastinate less from now on, but no guarantees.