Quartet Of Misery {A Steven Universe reader insert}

As you returned from your mission, you climbed down from the statue's hand towards the door and peeked inside, only to see that the gems still hadn't returned from whatever mission they were on, so you decided to head home for the day, before Azurite stopped your body from doing so.

We seem to have time to spare until the gems return? How about we try to train a bit?

Great idea! A sound mind....or minds in our case, lives in a sound body after all.

Not having the mental power to tell them off because you were still tired from fighting the corrupted hybrid, (though you for once agreed with Tourmaline when she asked where the heck they got the energy from) you  complied. The physical training wasn't very hard, and summoning your weapon was going pretty easy.

Though after that, Azurite said she wanted to test something new on you, making you give off a small gulp as her tone didnt make you foresee anything good coming out of it.

How about we attempt to reshape ourselves? I reckon it would make things a lot easier, like going out into public.

Again, not having the power to say no, you did exactly as the gems ordered you to do, focusing on retaining a human form, and trying to 'feel it's essence', as Jade put it. And after about fifteen minutes of concentrating, you felt the same hot, warm sensation that fusion had been....wich put you on extreme edge. And you were right to do so.

With a snapping sound, your world of warmth was replaced into a world of pain as your body snapped, you felt bones breaking and healing, organs being shoved and ripped apart along with your skin pulling everywhere. You fell onto your knees halfway, and puked as you felt your gut being smashed from the inside before it moved. The pain numbed down your senses, until you nearly blacked out and then....it was over.

Highly interesting, it seems your human anatomy has somehow been semi-retained and-

W-well, i guess it's true when humans say pain is beauty, especially-

Jade and Azurite just kept talking making you feel even more sick then you currently were, due to all the internal noise, and your weak attempts to stop them went unnoticed.

SHUT IT!

With one command, Tourmaline actually made them go quiet, though if it was for your sake or hers, you weren't quite sure although you made a mental note to buy some mustard the next time you sent Steven to go to the store. After making sure you were feeling relatively okay, you stumlbled over to the sea to look at your reflection, only to fall on your knees again after trying to walk on your now non-existant third and fourth leg.

So after a long time of trial, practice and error, you finally managed to crawl over the sea, and look at yourself. You looked....about as good as you could look with four aliens taking over most of your body. Your skin looked like a failed modern art stunt in terms of colour, though you managed to relatively retain your body from before becoming a gem though you were quite a lot bigger, and obtained a lot of muscle everywhere. A tetris-themed hoody covered your body, as it was the only thing that could hide your features completely and the only pattern that would make sense with so many colours.

And so you stood there marveling at your new body, pretty interested, before you heard something you REALLY didn't want to hear.

Ah. Great, it works, though sadly not to the extent i had hoped. Time to change back now.

As you went trough unimaginable pain to get this body, you were not really keen on transforming back right away, wich you explained in pretty clear language to Azurite, before pulling your hood up and starting to walk around a bit, finally getting used to walking normally again and not towering over anything. After about an hour of that, you were feeling a bit hungry and were about to walk into the pizza restaurant, before you hear something that made your blood boil.

'ALLRIGHT MAGGOTS, LEARN FROM A COACH WHO HAS REACHED PERFECTION!'

A voice, aggravating, commanding and cruel crept trough the street as you saw a horde of kids approaching, their faces red and all wheezing from running and in front, a man who looked VERY familiar. The sergeant.

Hey, isn't that the guy who left you in the forest where that    Peri-nutjob was roaming? Maybe some revenge would be in order....

E-excuse me?! Revenge simply leads to violence! Revenge is not acceptable in this environment!

You were about to agree with Jade, until that moronic teacher opened his mouth again.

'IF IT WASNT FOR THAT LITTLE DEAD RUNT, I'D STILL BE TEACHING AT MY OLD SCHOOL! IF ANY OF YOU ATTEMPT TO LEAVE DUTY LIKE THAT AS WELL, I WILL CHASE YOU ALL THE WAY BACK FROM HELL!'

Of course, other adults were alarmed by his outburst, yet the Sergeant just silenced them and made them back off with a single growl. Yet after hearing that, you weren't gonna back off. You told Jade not to worry, since you'd resolve it without fighting, after wich you stood up and stood in front of the Sergeant as he passed by, effectively making him stop and the children running behind him as well.

'WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, STOPPING YOURSUPERIOR LIKE THAT?! YOUR AS WEAK-WILLED AS THE RUNTS FROM KEYSTONE HERE!'

"Excuse me? Keystone? These kids RAN here from KEYSTONE?! ...."

And with that, you shoved him off the pier, into the sand, before turning to the kids.

"...mind my asking, but why are you doing what he wants? He's clearly asking to much of you guys!"

The group of kids, (they couldn't have been older then 10), nervously shuffled on their feet. The ones that hadn't fainted on the spot after stopping, that is. Ultimately, a timid girl, probably the tiniest of the bunch slowly salked forward, looking up at your concealed face.

"We-we're to scared of him. No one can do anything..."

After muttering that, tears stained her little face, and you crouched down to her level.

"No. You CAN do something. All of you together. He's just a loud man, a big guy, yet you guys are so much more! You are a little group that managed to run all the way from Keystone to here, with pure determination! That is impressive, no matter what anyone says! And no matter how unfit or hard it was, you guys still didn't despair. You guys are little heroes, all of you, and you should all be proud of your achievements today, allright. You managed to survive and persevere trough a nearly impossible task, and yet none of you have given up hope! You guys shouldn't be scared. Your all ten times the person he'll ever dream to be!"

You gave the kids a thumbs up after your inspirational speech. (If it's not to your liking, please feel free to implement your own speech!)

And with that, the girls tears began to flow and she smiled a beaming smile, your kindness seemingly having touched her. The next half hour you spent basically asking the beach-city residents for money to rent a bunch of cabs to send the kids back to their school, along with a paper you made on their teachers awful behaviour. The last one to leave was the little girl, who after beaming you one last smile, gave you a hug before stepping into a cab, wich left for Keystone.

You walked to the beach, where you found an unconcious Sergeant. You slapped him to wake him up, and litteraly threw him back onto the pier, after wich he crawled back, a tinge of fear seeping into his proud eyes, before you sent him home to Keystone on foot, silently hoping he'll twist his ankle. And with that, you left for your own house with a grin, and fell onto the bed, still in human form, and could only conclude one thing. Today was a good day to be a hero.