Steven Universe x Gem! Reader insert

Chapter 18: We've gotta go back, to the BARN!

What even are these titles anymore?
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How did your life come to this? Darkness surrounded you as a voice spoke from outside. Yep. You're in a box. Posing as the Earth. So Peridot can explain her Cluster things to the gems. "As it seems I have no other options, I have conceded to reveal some important information to you Crystal Gems. THIS..." She smacked the box you were standing in, it didn't hurt that much. "...Is the Earth. At its very center of the planet's core lies... THE CLUSTER. Rotate. You turned to your right. "This is the cluster. An artificial gem fusion comprised of over MILLIONS of gem shards. Wow, you were learning too. Your first guess was thousands. But millions? How big is this thing? "It has layed dormant for thousands of years in the planet's crust. When this gem activates and takes it's form, the result will be catastrophic. NOW!" She said. Time for your favorite part. You were told to make an obnoxious noise and destroy the box by Peridot earlier. You quickly made your hand look like a weird monster, and you shoved it out of the front of the box, shredding the cardboard. You heard the gems gasp. You then started making funny roaring sounds. And opened and closed your hand. You think you heard Lapis chuckle. "What is that?!" Peridot asked. "The cluster?" Was your simple response. She whapped your hand and said "It does not look like that. But is is real, and it can activate at any moment!" You heard Lapis laugh.  "Wow!" Steven said. "What a cluster." Amethyst said. "That abomination must be stopped." You heard Garnet say. "Agreed." Said Lapis. "But how? We would need to build some sort of machine to take us to the center of the Earth. It'll have to--" Pearl tried to say, before she was interrupted by Peridot. "What we need is to build some sort of machine to take us to the center of the Earth. It'll need to withstand up to 360 gigapascals of pressure, and temperatures up to 9,800 degrees." What a nerd. "Well, we mustn't waste time. We need to start finding parts for this machine immediately." Pearl said. "Yes, obviously." Peridot stated, as if everybody else knew but Pearl. "We'll start by dismantling all devices inside this dwelling. "Wha?" You heard Steven say. "Can I come out now?" You asked, getting no response. "This primitive radiation concentrator could come in handy!" You heard Peridot say before a loud clang! "This primitive vibration concentrator could serve a function!" You heard her say before another loud "clang!" 'Is she breaking things?' You asked yourself. Still in the box, you couldn't see anything. You heard Peridot panting and soon heard her say "There's a remote chance something useful could be inside this primitive image cube!" Followed by a loud 'SMASH.' "Wait!" You heard Steven say. At this point you now had your Head shoved out of the hole you made in the box. You refused to take it off. It is yours now. "I have a better idea that doesn't involve destroying everything in the house!" Steven said. "Classic Steven." You heard Amethyst say behind you. Soon you all headed out of the house and to a 'barn' or so Steven told you. Lapis volunteered to stay at the house. You still have the box on your head. "You can take that off now, you know." Amethyst said. "No. It is mine and it shall be mine for as long as I want it to." You responded sternly. You have grown... Sentimentally attached to the box. (Box x reader? Lol jk I wouldn't do that to you) "Fine by me." Amethyst responded. "Alright what we have here in the barn should be adequate enough for us to get started." You heard Pearl say. You just kind of stood back and messed around with Amethyst and let the geniuses do their work." "Pearl is such a nerd, don't you think?" Amethyst asked you. "A little bit. I think Peridot is more of a nerd though." You responded. "For sure." You saw them arguing next to Steven, about something. You didn't really care. Okay, maybe you did. But Amethyst has rubbed off on you, you're too lazy to want to find out what they said. Well, until you heard Pearl yelling "Listen here you tiny twerp, you are on our turf now. And I didn't fight a thousand year war for this planets independence to take orders from the likes of you!" Wow. You did not think Pearl could be so... Assertive. You mentally applauded her for taking charge. Amethyst had heard her too, because she just started laughing like crazy. "Excuse me?" Said Peridot. "I am a natural technician and certified Kindergartner. I was made for this, you were made to take orders, not give them!" They leaned in closer, a rivalry forming. You think it's time to break this up before another gem war starts. You quickly sped over there, parting the two with your arms. "Woah guys, surely there is another way to work past your differences without conflict." You said, trying to neutralize the hostility between the two Ps. "You're both good at building, we can all agree on that. As someone once told me, 'great minds think alike.' So, could you at least try to listen to each other?" "NO!" They both said, more directed at each other than you. "I'm as good at building things as you, better even!" Pearl said saltily. "Ha," Peridot scoffed. "Name one thing you could engineer better." She stated matter-of-factly. "Go on!" "Rohbohs" Steven whispered from the side. "What?" All three of you said, he was too quiet for anyone to hear. "You should build robots. Giant robots!" Steven said enthusiastically. You hesitated, but then you remembered your training back on Homeworld before you joined the Crystal Gems. You built machines, helping build ships every now and then, but your main job was to seek out and destroy other creatures. "I see a race, a giant, Robo, race. With prizes. Giant Robo Prizes!" He had you at normal prizes. The others may not be interested in this, but you were. You are going to build a 'robot' with which the likes of this Earth has never seen! "You mean like a competition?" Pearl questioned. "Yeah, to see who's better a building stuff." "What are these 'robots' you speak of?" Peridot asked. "They're like those funky marble guys you sent us, but bigger! And you can ride them!" Steven then went on to make some odd whirring noises, imitating a machine.  "Building one of there robots will be easy!" Peridot said confidently. "Well I can build one faster!" Pearl said, running inside the barn. "That's what you think!" Peridot yelled playfully. "Game on!" You yelled. You then ran to the back of the barn and started thinking if ideas for a robot. Well, robots are made of metal. Metal parts... You saw some... Cylindrical liquid tubes (pipes) and some bendable fluctuators (springs) And quickly set to work. You soon decided you would make something similar to Peridot's limb enhancers, except without the floaty finger things. And then your idea just evolved when you found them. You eventually came across more... Boxes. Boxes like the one on your head. You quickly incorporated boxes into your robot, and made it taller, stronger, faster... But not as fast as you. I fact, when you finished, it severely limited your mobility. Metal parts jabbing at you from the inside, but you were well protected, to say the very least. Your final result had a mechanical backpack, storing flammable substances making it capable to sustain flight. Spikes shot out of the feet to keep you firmly rooted into the ground in the event of an explosion. Big claw hands and flexible tubing as the arms. And if course, the boxes. You wrapped everything in those beautiful things, protecting the internals. You fixed the edges around the cuts you made on the original box from earlier that day, putting a glass disc where the hole was. (Think of your robot kind of like the final boss from sonic the hedgehog 3. The final piece being the box you love so dear as a helmet.) You looked over at the other's robots. While yours wasn't the tallest of the three, you main design wasn't made for raw power, as it's exterior falsely appeared. It was built for strategy. Your robot was big, as Steven requested. The massive spiked rams on the arms could dislodge and fire out connected by springs, hitting whatever is in front of them. Hitting the right spot could mean deactivation for the others. Quite unlike you, it was rather slow, but you'll keep it and maybe modify it later. Yeah, and maybe you could use it against Homeworld! This'll be great! You climbed in your robot, pulling the box over your head just as Pearl left with her robot. Observation time. She spun elegantly out onto the field. Her robot's arms seemed... Flimsy. You were also questioning how it could stand stable with wheels for feet. Soon, Peridot blocked your vision with her robot. Her robot was definitely built for power. She had giant green claw hands and she resided in its center, a green diamond shape. You couldn't really hear what she said after she walked out over the sound of how AWESOME your robot is. You turned it on, and walked it forward. You pulled two levers back and forth in alternating directions to move it. You marched it out and looked down to see Steven with starry eyes. You refused to open the robot and say hi. "Ladies and gentlegems, welcome to the first annual robolympics!" Steven said happily. Garnet and Amethyst cheered. "This competition will test our Robo engineer's skills at Robo construction and Robo piloting. The winner will be in charge of building the cluster drill thing!" You looked over at your competition. Your robot was definitely the shortest, only a couple times taller than you. You were kind of nervous, but this was all in good fun. Hopefully your robot didn't explode, as the fuel on your back might. "Let the Robo gems begin!" Steven finished. (Start montage) Challenge one: balance. This'll be easy. You activated the spikes on the left foot, deeply rooting you into the ground. You then raised the right foot. Pearl balance hers perfectly. Peridot got a little cocky and tried to balance on one HAND, and she fell, as expected.
Challenge 2: crushing.
Peridot picked up two boulders from a cave nearby, as did you and Pearl. Peridot crushed them with ease. Pearl ended up dropping it in herself. You smashed it almost as easily as Peridot. Your left arm sparked, but it was probably nothing. This was a breeze! If the challenges kept being this easy, YOU might end up being I charge. Challenge 3: ballet. You spoke too soon. Peridot tried doing... Something. Her robot flailed its arms around. Pearl executed a perfect spin and twirl. Your robot was incapable of dancing, as it wasn't built for something as silly as this. It was actually meant to kind of help with the original objective, which was to drill to the cluster. That's why the arms were spiked and could form drills from these spikes. Anyways, this didn't stop you from trying to make it do ballet. You pushed one spike out if it's foot, as spun around in it using the fire propulsion from the rocket pack. It spun for a few seconds, but it wasn't good enough for the point.