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Chapter 11
Ambivalent Excursion
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'Okay. I think that'll do it.' 

Spinel wraps the last hair tie around her hair which held bright pink hearts beads on them. The gem swishes her hair side to side, watching it stay it's frizzy yet neat style. Of course she could change her form if wanted to like the Crystal Gems, but she didn't want to take any longer to poof and wait. 

'I'm glad Connie helped with these clothes.' 

Spinel dusts off the pink skirt and adjusts the maroon shirt. "Hmmm." She sighs, "This feeling is weird." She felt worried and nervous about her appearance, well she always had especially the tear stains still visible. "Stupid...ugh." Spinel tries to wipe it off, but still. No avail. 

"You know, you look a lot like Mary." 

Spinel jumps away at the sudden voice of Nelly and calms down. "Would you quit doing that?! And who the stars is Mary?" 

"A little witch with red frizzy hair!" Nelly bounces in place. 

They walked down the stairs and Spinel remembers she going to be meeting you. Her feet skips a few steps to get to the door faster when Steven calls out to her. 

"You do remember which bus stop to get off at, right?" Steven looks back from the dining chair. 

"Yep." 

Connie smiles too after writing down an answer in her school book. "You look really amazing by the way, Spinel. Oh and tell (Y/n) I said hi." 

Spinel blushes and rubs the back of her head shyly, "Thank you, Connie. I should get going and I'll be sure to tell her." She waves and once she heads out on the porch, she springs up high into the sky. Spinel laughs and spins around then moves to aim for the lighthouse. Her arms stretch and her whole body zip around to land on top of the tall building. 

Her eyes shut and she takes a deep breath as the wind blows against her. "Today right here, right now-"

"Pfft! Hahaha! You've got to be kidding me! Oh-oh-ho!" 

Spinel's gasps at the sound of….her voice? "What?" There she was, the one she wanted to forget. Her past self standing there with her hands to her stomach and laughing in a mocking manner.

"Did you actually THINK those losers would actually forgive for what YOU had DONE! Come on, Sweetie." With each step, SHE stalked closer to Spinel and Spinel would take steps back. "We both know you're to blame! You're never going to be truly happy unless you just give in." She cackles. "Just admit it! You still want to hurt Pink for what she's done to us, so hurt what she cared for most." 

Spinel ties to block out her voice, "Shut up." 

"THE CRYSTAL GEMS!!"

"AGH!!" Spinel throws a punch and hits thin air. Her breaths are heavy. 'Keep it together, Spinel. It wasn't real.' Spinel sniffles and the tear stains grow slightly. 'Don't cry. You've got somewhere to be.' 

~°♡°~

A yellow dandelion is plucked from the ground near the weeds growing from under the water tower. It's yellow colored standing out brightly against your fingers. You take a deep breath and exhale with a frown upon your lips. 'I miss you.' Your eyes trail over every detail of the petals and try to keep yourself occupied while waiting for Spinel. 

'Why do flowers bloom when they are intended to wither?' You shut your eyes and hold back the sting of oncoming tears. 'Their time is always short lived, especially when something suddenly happens.' 

The flower is tossed forward to disappear into a head of tall grass. 

"(Y/n)!" 

You turn around and a grin grew on your face after spotting Spinel waving from a few yards away.

Spinel giggles and runs over, "Are you ready? I'm sorry I'm late. I...kinda got caught up in something along the way." 

The two of you began to walk towards the bus stop. "It's fine. I wasn't waiting too long, though I thought we would miss the--" The bus drives past both of you. "--bus." 

"WAIT!" You and Spinel wave your arms while running after the long vehicle. Luckily, it stopped and it's brakes screeching loudly even though it wasn't going too fast. The doors open and the driver smiles down at you, but when he sees Spinel, he frowns deeply. 

"Aren't you that Gem who tried to destroy the planet?" 

Spinel gulps, "U-um…" Her eyes cast down and she felt a panic attack rising. To make it worse, a few of the people on the bus were staring. Mainly to see drama. Spinel had no idea what to say. 

Your arm wraps around her to pull her close to your side while you step up with a deathly stare and strain a calm voice, "What is it that you do, Sir?" 

He blinks and slightly loses his posture at your stare, "I'm a Bus Driver." 

"Then you should stick to what you're REAL job is, instead of patronizing an individual. If you don't mind, ALL of us would like to get a move on to our stops." You nod toward the other passengers then hold up two $100 bills, placing it into the fare box, "Keep whatever change comes out. You might need it." With that said, you guide Spinel to the seats close to the back. 

The driver didn't say anything and seemed quite embarrassed while continuing to drive. 

Spinel stares out the window though you pull her into a hug, causing your cheeks to mush together. 

"I never mentioned it before, but you look really cute, Bunches. Not that you weren't before." 

Her face blushes in a shy manner and Spinel grins shyly, "Gee. Uh, thanks, (Y/n). You look amazing yourself, as always." Spinel boops your nose.

You giggle and playful tug her pigtail then pull something from your pocket, "Here. Try this, it really entertaining." 

Spinel take the small rectangular toy from you and inspects it. It looked like a tiny tank and inside the water were colorful rings. Her thumbs go over the two buttons? She hums and pressed one, causing the rings to float around in the water. "Whoooa….." Spinel was fascinated.

"You have to try to get as many rings on those hooks." You explained and chuckle at Spinel's expression. 

The pink gem sticks her tongue out in concentration and begins to play with the toy. Each time she missed or got all the rings on all the hooks, she would start over. Mainly just pushing the buttons to make the rings float. She giggles at that. 

It wasn't long before you're both off the bus and hands you the Water-Toss Game, since she couldn't put it down. Unfortunately, Spinel notices the train tracks still far off and she could hear the train's whistle getting close.

You yelp when your swept off your feet and your arms wrap around Spinel's neck at the sudden action. "Spinel?"

"Sorry." She laughs, "But we've gotta catch the train before we miss it like the bus. Hang on." Her arm coils around you in a secure hold and her legs stretches to make very long strides. 

To you, it was ridiculous and you laughed to yourself. If you had to be honest, you did crave the feeling of being held again. By someone special. Maybe…..you can bring Spinel along because you never intended to get this close to the gem. Sure the only friend you actually had was Nelly. 

Spinel manages to slip into one of the boxcars safely and that had the doors open to enjoy the view. 

"Wow." You're place down on your feet and take in the view of the green hills and groups of trees here and there. The sun giving off many more vibrant colors of greens. "It's so….alive." 

Spinel sits down and her legs hang off the edge of the cart, "Yeah. Earth is an amazing place…" Maybe she should tell you, but she was scared that you might want to leave. 'Either way. Someone like that driver might tell her.' 

"Spinel." You take a seat beside her with a soft gaze, "I know something is bothering you. You don't have to tell me right away, but I'm guessing it's what that driver had said." 

She sighs and stares out at the landscape, "Yeah. You can say that." 

"Well, he doesn't know you like I do. Like Steven does or any of your other friends." You take her hand, "If that was true of what he said, well…." Comforting someone wasn't your best ability, even you couldn't comfort yourself sometimes. "...Spinel, I'm not so good with words and I know whatever I try to say isn't going to help much, but--" You squeeze her hand, "--Just know, I'll be right by your side no matter what." 

Spinel looks at you and smiles slightly, snickering all the while. Sure, she felt a little better at your words, but there was still a lot to learn so she could believe it. She was happy that you tried to help her feel better. 

"What?" You raise a brow at the snickering. 

"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you….its just that last thing you said, Steven had a song about it." Spinel shrugs without a care. 

"I have a feeling that it might have been a catchy tune." 

Spinel snickers, "Everything Steven sings is catchy. When is he ever not singing? Besides, I think it's more of a release for everyone." She swings her legs and leans back. 

You hum in agreement and lay back to stare up at the ceiling. "Overall, I always will be, Spinel. That's what friends are for, right?" 

Spinel smiles more, "Yeah." 

You knew your words weren't enough, but there were other ways to keep her happy and away from bad thoughts. From the hay inside the cart, you found a long strand of the dry grass and grin mischievously toward Spinel who had gone back to looking at the scenery. 

Something tickles Spinel's neck and she nearly let's out a laugh. She turns to you and raises a brow at your innocent smile. "Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"Like what?" You move your arm behind her and tickle her neck again with the long straw. 

Spinel snorts and moves away, "Cut that out." 

You stand up and catch her arm, running the piece of straw across to her hand. 

"Stop it!" Spinel laughs and dodging easily every time you lunge at her. "Ha! You can't touch me now." She says smugly with her arms crossed. 

You huff, then dramatically gasp and look behind her, "What's that?" 

Spinel turns to look and doesn't see anything, "WAH!" She tackled into the pile of hay by you and you both roll around to try and pin each other. Maybe Spinel had the upper hand. 

That was until you tickled her sides and giving enough time to hide in the pile of hay. It grew quiet until you hear Spinel talking loudly and you cover your mouth to keep from letting out any noise.

"Oh! Where did my friend (Y/n) go? I'm positive she didn't jump off this train." Spinel smirks and glances around at the stacks of hay. "Is she here?" Spinel peak behind the stack and hums, "Nope. Maybe…..Here?!" She dives into the pile of hay which you feel move too close to you. 

You hide your face in your hands once something coils around you, yanking out of the hay. 

"Found ya!!!" Spinel laughs, then chuckles evilly in  more playful manner. "Now, it's your turn." 

Your eyes widen when her hand reaches for your side, "Not gonna happen, Baby Doll." A certain place you press near Spinel's gem caused her arms to drop to noodles.

"Wha- Hey!" Spinel pouts while watching you swiftly flip onto top of the cart and out of sight with a laugh. It didn't take long, but her arms went back to normal and Spinel grew curious, trying to figure out what you just did. "Hm?" Nothing happened. 

During this moment, Spinel noticed that the stop was close and she swings up to the top of the cart. Aaaaaand meets face to face with Nelly. 

"Hi, Spinella! Nella….Nutella." Nelly laughs to herself. 

"AHH!" She nearly loses her stature until you help her up. "How did you even get here?" Spinel crosses her arms and tap her foot in annoyance. 

Nelly rocks on her feet and her hands are behind her back, "I followed you. Right after you left out the door AND before Steven grabbed me." She giggles when recalling herself cartwheeling out the door and Steven running into the screen door. 

Spinel stares at the smaller gem, her expression wavering. "You…..followed me all the way to the bus stop?" 'Please don't tell me she saw my little incident.' Spinel anxiously rubs her hands and subconsciously, her hand starts to reach for her hair. 

You immediately take her hands and smile softly in reassurance. 

Nelly watches the interaction and decides not to bother on the subject. She knew what Spinel was freaking out about and she didn't want to make her new friend anymore upset. So Nelly did what she does best. Ease the tense situation into a nicer view. The small spinel knew what certain boundaries were, unlike how Spinel use to be. "I can't wait to see what food Steven is going to bring! Oh! And I get to see this Kindergarten!" 

Spinel sees Nelly pull out a can of Silly String and sprays it at you.

"Hey!" You grimace at the string sticking to you then swipe the can, spraying it back at Nelly. Unfortunately Nelly pulled out two more cans from seemingly nowhere and you two chase each other around the top of the cart.

Spinel grew worried at the close calls of one of you getting close to the edge. "Okay! Off the train we go. We're here anyway." She pulls you and Nelly close, hopping off the train with ease. 

While, you followed Spinel, Nelly kept kicking your shoe every time you took a step. "Why you little-" The both of you ended up kicking at each other's shoes.

The gem's magenta eyes glared at the two of you playing. A feeling of jealousy rising in her chest and Spinel walks faster to avoid the small laughs you let out. 'Stupid Nelly.' Spinel felt her fists tighten at the thought of the smaller gem, her anger starting to target her. 'They're better friends, anyone can easily see that.' Spinel clenched her fist in front of her, 'Why does everyone like the innocent, loving, STUPID ones?' 

By now, Spinel was deep in the dark place of Prime Kindergarten. The vast, foggy canyon with countless of dark holes and broken injectors scattered in numerous places. It was eerily quiet, since the place had been dead for many years. 

'Wait.'

Spinel stopped in her tracks. 'Quiet?' She looks behind her to see no one. "Oh, way to go, Spinel." Spinel scolds herself and gulps, "(Y/n)? Nelly?" She calls out and her voice echoes. 

Honestly, the gem didn't even know which direction she walked off to. With the fog making it more difficult to see very far. 

"Oh my stars." Spinel puts her hands to her heads in panic and concern, "I lost them." She began to pace quickly and pull her hair to the sides of her face. "What if they fall from somewhere high? Or-or something collapses on them?! It'll be my faul-" A hand is placed on her shoulder, making Spinel jump in fright. 

"Spinel? Hey." Steven says softly then raises a brow, "Everything alright?" 

Spinel is immediately in relief and hugs him tightly. Glad to see someone familiar, someone that's Steven who can help. "I lost (Y/n) and Nelly and I gave no idea where they are and-- and--- Ugh, it's all my fault." She starts to tear up. 

Steven places the picnic basket down and hugs Spinel, pulling away a bit to wipe her tears. "Hey, it's okay. We'll find them. They can't be too far. I'm sure (Y/n) has more common sense in these types of matters. Come on." The young teen takes the basket and Spinel's hand. 

"There's nothing dangerous here, right?" Spinel listens around. 

"No. Me and the Crystal Gems took care of all the dangerous stuff and all the corrupted gems around all healed." Steven states.

Spinel gives him an 'are you kidding' look, "What about the two gems we fought off this week?"

Steven laughs nervously, "Excluding those two. Besides, these Kindergartens are nothing, but dead lands. The cluster is back to being bubbled. The only thing is the control room underground and if they do end up there, they can't activate anything. Only Peridot and I can access anything down there." 

The two Crystal Gems continue the search for a few minutes when they see figures in the distant fog. Spinel perks up only for her pigtails to drop in disappointment. 

"Peridot? Bismuth?" Steven questioned. 

"Steven! Thank goodness it's you!" Peridot laughs in relief, "I got the alert on my tablet that said the control room was active. I guess you were showing Spinel. Ha! False alarm." 

Steven and Spinel share a glance then grin sheepishly, "Uh. Well, not exactly." 

"What?" Peridot raises a brow.

Bismuth grins and hits her fists together, "Intruders! Time for some butt whipping time. Let's go!" She throws Peridot onto her shoulders and runs toward the control room. "Finally, some action!" 

Spinel and Steven take off after them, "Wait! They're not intruders, Bismuth!" 

°~☆~°

The four Crystal Gems now slide down the hole in the ground which lead straight for the Prime Kindergarten Control Room. It's neon glow tinted the rocky walls green and yellow, though it didn't stay lit for long as Steven caught sight of you placing your hand on the green pedestal. Nelly standing next to you.

The screens and lights all shut off and you and Nelly turn around. You sigh in relief, "Oh my gosh! You scared me." 

Steven and the gems just stare at you. 

"What?"

"How did you activate the control room?" Peridot points at you with suspicion. 

You blink, "I didn't. I lost Nelly and I found her down here, messing with this stuff." You wave a hand at the whole room, "I told her to leave it alone, so I just turned ignored off. No big deal." You shrug. 

"No big DEAL?! IT IS A BIG DEAL! Only, I, Peridot and Steven can turn it on!" Peridot waves her arms and stomps up to you and Nelly. "It can only react to gem's. Sure, your little friend here can possibly turn it on, but you? How did you turn it off?!" 

You stare down at the Peridot, almost acting like a riled up Chihuahua. "Um…" You look over at Steven with a sheepish grin. "I honestly just, ya know. Touched it and it shut off?" You didn't know a better way to explain it. 

Peridot frowns and huffs, "She just touched it and it shut off. UnBELIEVABLE! I don't know what happened and I don't have time to figure it out. The Gems in Little Homeworld and Beach City need check ups in a few hours." Peridot's finger glides across the tablet screen. 

Nelly places her hand on the pedestal and the room lights up. 

"No." You turn it off.

Nelly giggles and turns it on again.

You turn it off. 

"Okay!" Spinel grabs you two by the back of your shirt/her sweater and places you away from the pedestal. "I don't want you two breaking anything that's dangerous or cause something very bad to rise up." 

"Like the Cluster?" 

Spinel and Steven look at Nelly.

"What? I read about it on that thing." Nelly points to the computer and complements the green gem. "Peridot is very organized."

"Thank you." Peridot grins in triumph. "I don't try. It's just who I am." 

Steven hums and looks at the pedestal, before he could comment, his phone rings. "Ronaldo?" To be honest with himself, he didn't want to answer, but he did anyway. "Heyyyy….Ronaldo." Steven says cautiously. 

"STEVEN! Guess what?! Something awesome happened last night and I'm totally going to be an official Crystal Gem!!!" Ronaldo fanboys. 

"Oh…..cool." The young teen runs a hand down his face and hoped it wasn't something too crazy with Ronaldo's Gemsona. "So what happened?" 

Ronaldo laughs, "You're just going to have to find out, Steven Universe! Because I challenge you AND the Crystal Gems in a battle to the Deeeeeath!!!" 

You, Spinel, and Bismuth watch as Steven has a slightly bored, yet peeved. "A little too dramatic, but alright. See you later, Ronaldo." 

"Wait! Where are going to-" 

Steven hangs up and sighs, then looks at the text that was received. "Little Homeworld? Why would Ronaldo be there?" He gets a text from Ronaldo's little brother, Peedee. "Peedee?" 

'Ronaldo's acting more weird than his normal weird. Just to warn you.' The text reads.

Steven mentally groans. 'I wonder what antics Ronaldo came up with now.' "I thought I was going to have lunch with you guys, but I've got "business" to attend to." He smiled softly and gives the basket to Spinel. "Take the warp this time, okay?" 

Spinel salutes, "Okay, Sir Universe!"

Steven laughs and waves to you and Nelly, "Toodles." 

"Where do you want to go?" Spinel asked you.

You shrug, "Anywhere is fine as long as I'm with you." 

A faint blush appears across the gem's cheeks and she chuckles shyly while scratching her cheek. "Ah, well...I know a place."

°~♡~°~☆~°~♡~°~☆~°~♡~°~☆~°

[Possibly the Digital Art for the next chapter. Can you guess who it is?]