Boogeyman

A Steven Universe Fanfiction by Miscellaneous Thief

A/N: I'm baaaack! This fic was inspired by a comic I saw on the internet that ended in a cliffhanger. It made me so frustrated that it gave me motivation to write this. I have since lost the location of the original comic, so if you're the artist or know who's it is let me know so I can give them credit. Seems like I like focusing on younger Steven, for some reason, as I keep writing stories of him as a little kid. This story takes place before Steven's First Tooth. Steven is about four in this story.

Update 6/14: Just running through and cleaning up some small mistakes here and there.

A young Steven Universe was sleeping soundly in his bed when a low growl startled him awake. He sat up, looked around the room and, thinking he must have imagined it, was about to fall back asleep when the noise sounded again. Realizing that the noise was coming from beneath him, he slowly lifted his blanket off the edge of his bed and peered under, only to be shocked when a pair of glowing eyes bore into his. He let out a terrified squeak, grabbed his trusty teddy bear for protection, quickly jumped off his mattress and made his way down the stairs.

Steven's tiny feet padded across the darkened room as he rushed to the door of the temple where he knew his guardians were resting for the night. His stuffed bear was dragging behind him from where it was clutched in a single, tiny fist. With his free hand, he reached up to knock on the door, hesitated for a moment, and then went through with the action. His fist softly banged on the door three times, each knock echoing throughout the otherwise silent room,

"Pearl? Garnet? Amethyst?" Steven's worried voice called through the door, "Are you guys there?"

The door swung open to reveal a disheveled and groggy Amethyst. She let out a tired yawn as she glanced down to see Steven, bear and all, staring at her expectedly. She sighed in annoyance and ran her hand through her hair, straightening it out a little.

"Whadda you want, Steven?" She asked, letting her annoyance hint in her voice. "You know I don't like having my sleep interrupted."

"Amethyst, I think there's a monster under my bed!" Steven cried, fear evident.

Amethyst groaned. "Ugh, Steven, you're getting too old for this! There's nothing there and you know it."

Steven looked like he was on the verge of tears. "Well, Pearl is usually the one to check for me, but-"

"Pearl and Garnet are on a mission right now," Amethyst interrupted.

"But, Amethyst…" Steven whined.

"Look, if I go check it out for you, will you please stop whining and go back to sleep?"

Steven nodded his head quickly.

Amethyst sighed once more. "Okay, fine. But just this once, got it?"

"Got it!" Steven exclaimed, a smile gracing his lips.

The two walked across the living room and up the stairs to Steven's room. Steven stopped a few feet from his bed, while Amethyst continued to the edge of the bed, where she crouched down onto her knees and grasped the hem of the blanket, hanging over the edge of the bed, in her hand and lifted it up. She peered under the bed, seeing nothing but the black shadow that was being cast by the bed frame.

"See, Steven?" Amethyst pointed out, gesturing to the space underneath the bed, "There's nothing under there."

Steven was about to reply, but a deafening screech beat him to it. Before either could respond, a giant, ant-like gem monster exploded from underneath the bed.

"Whoa!" Amethyst yelped, caught off guard. "How on earth did that thing fit under there, and how come I didn't see it when I looked?" She wondered internally.

Steven screamed, shaking her out of her thoughts and focusing her attention on the matter at hand. Reacting quickly, she grabbed her whip from her gem and rushed to put herself between Steven and the gem monster. Unfortunately, she didn't react quickly enough, and Steven was plucked off the ground by one of the creature's claws.

"Steven!" Amethyst cried.

"Ah! Amethyst, help me!" Steven screamed.

"Hold on, Steven!" Amethyst instructed.

Amethyst moved, swinging her whip back and snapping it forward in a single, fluid motion. The whip wrapped itself around the monster's legs, and Amethyst pulled the cord tightly, causing the creature to trip. The monster began to fall forward, but Amethyst misjudged the consequence of her action. She could only watch in horror as the monster, with a terrified Steven still clutched within its claws, fell over the edge of the overhang and crashed into the living room below.

Amethyst muttered a few choice words that would horrify Pearl, then she rushed down the stairs into the now destroyed living room. The crash caused by the monster resulted in the couch, coffee table, and some parts of the floorboard all being crushed into several pieces, creating a scene that looked like a tornado had just crashed through. Because of its larger size, she found the gem monster first, who appeared very dazed at first, but Amethyst didn't think it would stay that way very long. The creature's claw was devoid of Steven, an observation that worried her.

She scanned the wreckage for Steven and soon found him behind the monster, nestled between what was left of the couch and parts of the coffee table. She ran over to him and picked him up, cradling him between her arms as she checked him for any injuries. He wasn't awake at first, something that made her heart clench in her chest, but after a little poking and prodding on her end, he began to stir, prompting Amethyst to let out a sigh of relief. He was dazed, but aside from a few minor cuts and some tender areas that would likely develop into bruises, he seemed fine. Finally, after a few moments of confused tossing and turning, Steven's eyes fluttered open and focused on her face.

"Steven, are you okay?" Amethyst asked as she lowered him back onto his feet.

"Yeah," Steven replied. "Amethyst, is that a gem monster?"

"Yeah, but don't worry buddy. I got this," She answered as she ruffled Steven's hair, causing him to let loose a small giggle.

The gem monster chose that moment to make its presence known as it slowly rose off the ground, a deep growl rumbling from its chest. Amethyst quickly pushed Steven behind her, determined not to make the same mistake twice, then jumped into a battle stance. Once again, she snapped her whip at the gem monster, causing it to cry out in pain as it lashed across the creature's abdomen.

The creature roared, clearly angry at its attacker, before bringing a claw down in an attempt to hit Amethyst. Amethyst grabbed Steven, who was directly behind her, and pushed them both out of the way. The claw came crashing down onto the spot where they just were, creating even more damage as it tore through the floorboard. Growling in frustration, Amethyst snapped her whip yet another time, this time using it to wrap itself around the monster's body. Grunting, she pulled taunt on the whip, causing it to tighten its hold on the creature as the crystals attached dug harshly into the creature's thick exoskeleton. The gem monster let out a final, deafening screech of pain before disappearing into a puff of smoke. The gem that held the monster clattered to the ground, before being picked up by Amethyst, bubbled, and sent off into the temple.

"That was awesome!" Steven cheered as soon as the smoke cleared enough for him to find Amethyst.

"Yeah, I guess it was," Amethyst agreed, pulling Steven into a hug that he gladly accepted.

She surveyed the room, finally taking in the extent of all the damage there was. All the furniture in the living room could be written off as a lost cause; that was for certain. They would have to replace them later. The floorboards would have to be repaired as well, but that shouldn't be too difficult, considering the fact that they built the house to begin with. Amethyst sighed; she knew the money for this wouldn't just come from anywhere. They were pressed for cash as it was; Greg's car wash only paid so much, after all. She would likely have to give up junk food for a while. While she loved her junk food, she'd rather see that go away then take anything away from Steven's necessities. "The things I do for this doofus," She mused internally.

"Pearl's not going to like this..." Steven observed, looking around the destroyed room.

Amethyst snorted. "Knowing her, she'll probably have a mini heart attack," She gave the room a final once-over, before placing her hand on Steven's shoulder. "Come on buddy. It's way past a certain half-gem's bed time."

Steven giggled, before scampering up the flight of stairs to his room. Amethyst followed behind him. Without much conversation, Steven climbed into his bed after Amethyst set it back right and snuggled under his blanket, hugging the bear that he had recovered from the floor where he dropped. Amethyst smiled softly at the sight.

She was just turning to leave, mentally calculating how much the mess she could clean up before Pearl got home and freaked out, when Steven's small voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Amethyst?"

Amethyst turned back around. "Yeah, dude?"

"What if the monster comes back?"

Amethyst scoffed. "Don't worry, it's not going to be back any time soon. I took care of it, remember?"

"But…" He protested.

Amethyst faced-palmed, cursing her soft heart. "Look, how 'bout I sleep in here tonight. That way, if the monster comes back, I'll be right here to protect you. Okay?"

Steven nodded, an exited smile gracing his lips. He shifted in his bed, scooting closer to the wall so that Amethyst would have room to crawl in. She sighed and climbed onto the bed, twisting herself so that her back was to the room and she was facing Steven.

"G'night, Amethyst," Steven mumbled; his adrenaline from earlier wearing off and causing him to fall into sleep rather quickly.

"Goodnight, Steven," Amethyst replied, stifling a yawn. Her plan was to wait until Steven was truly asleep, and then sneak off to clean the living room. She did not, however, intend to fall asleep herself, but that plan was quickly forgotten as her tired body succumbed to sleep as well.

Hours later, just as the sky was beginning to change into lighter colors, Pearl and Garnet walked quietly through the front door, only to gasp as they were met with the wreckage of the destroyed living room. Instantly, they both had their weapons drawn as worry filled both of them for the safety of their young charge. Pearl crept forward, barely registering Garnet's movement behind her. She had only taken a few steps, however, when Garnet's voice called from Steven's room.

"Pearl, get up here," Garnet called in a hushed tone.

"What-" Pearl began in a regular tone, but was hushed by Garnet.

Silencing herself, Pearl quickly jumped and landed gracefully beside Garnet, barely making a sound. "What-" She began again, but was interrupted by Garnet once more as she placed her hand over Pearl's mouth and silently pointed to Steven's bed.

Pearl followed the direction Garnet was pointing and felt her heart melt at the sight. Steven was sleeping soundly, surrounded by Amethyst, who was curled around him protectively. Both had smiles on their faces.

"We'll ask them what happened in the morning," Garnet whispered. "For now, let's let them get their rest."

Pearl nodded in agreement, and the two silently left the room. Just as Pearl was about to leave, however, she turned around and darted back. Grasping the blanket that had been kicked off by most likely Amethyst, she gently tucked it in under both of them, before darting back to Garnet, who was waiting on the stairs with a knowing smile. Knowing that Steven was in safe arms for the night, they both retreated to the temple for the rest of the evening.

The End.

A/N: Personally, I think my fight scene skills have improved since Pearl vs. the Tooth Fairy, hmmm? I hope you enjoyed this fic, I try really hard to channel the characters in my stories to make it feel 'real'. Stayed tuned, folks, I have a lot more SU fics coming along and if you liked this one, you'll like those.

Also, I officially graduated high school! College, here I come!

Please review, it helps me as an author, and it makes me feel happy every time I get a new alert in my email.