A/N: Hello! I should make this a thing, where I type up a 10000-word oneshot on New Years. I just might do it. But SuperHero AU and Human Au. I will fix it later, so please forgive me if it jumped around too much, didn't make sense, or went too fast.
Enjoy.
"Yo, Rube, can you heat this bowl for me?" Her friend asks.
"Sure."
They were sitting in a small home, enough for two people to live in. The one heating up the bowl owned it and the own about to scarf down the bowl was sleeping over. Or... Has been sleeping over for the past few weeks.
Rube, or Ruby Harris if you will, recently turned 18 and was stuck in her own home, which is not great, but it was rough. Her friend, Amethyst Wheeler, was 17 and has been living on her own since pretty much birth. So she stuck herself with Ruby the moment she offered to stay.
At the moment, Amethyst told her friend to heat up a bowl of popcorn kernels.
In her hand.
The contents inside the bowl started to pop up and become popcorn before their very eyes, all the while Ruby was watching American Ninja Warrior on the sad excuse she called a TV. The bowl was rather large and took nearly half the show to finish.
"Thanks, my dude," Amethyst grabs the large blue bowl and sit next to her on the beaten up brown couch.
"Shit, the remote is over there," Ruby was about to stand up, but then sees something brown suddenly stretch over to the TV to get the remote on top of it.
"Thanks, man," Ruby grabs the remote from Amethyst's hand.
Yup, their superheroes. Or, superheroes in training, as it should be. They recently discovered their powers a year ago, which 16-to-17 years old is the average and normal age to discover them. It was rare for someone to get powers, as only a handful of the world's population actually developed them. They learned them easily over time, but how they got them was rather ridiculous.
If you were to ask Ruby, she would say, um, I just waved my hand. However, the true story is on the last day of high school of her Junior Year, and frankly, her normal life, a big group of popular assholes pulled a prank on her during lunch. She won't tell you how bad it was, but the hint will be a bucket of chocolate, pillow feathers, marbles, going across a room, and then falling into boxes and some textbooks. She was known in school to have the worst temper, so this drove her off ten edges. She simply waved her hand, wanting to slap them, and then the groups clothes burst into flames, disintegrating them into oblivion. The tables turned as their were all completely naked in the middle of a cafeteria room.
As for Amethyst, she would say, I was just lazy. Which is true, in school, she was told to get papers for everyone else in the room. She was placed at the front, since she was the troublemaker and was kept under surveillance by the teacher. She simply just stretched her arm forward and BOOM! Arm was now long. She took that to her advantage for a moment, messing with the teacher in various ways like tapping their shoulder and knocking on the door so they'll go to it. Luckily, her arm snapped back to normal in a flash so she got away with it, but she was still just sitting down.
The school year ended and students either graduated or dropped before then, Amethyst being the latter, and the two rested for a few months and finally settle.
Which is something they shouldn't have done.
On one summer morning, the weather was tolerable but blazing hot nonetheless, the birds chirped, Ruby was making two cups of instant coffee in her hands, and Amethyst was still sleeping on the couch while half of her was hanging off over the edge.
She lets out a yawn as the coffee bubbled. Her hair was still in a big poofy mess, she was still in a t-shirt and shorts, and barefoot on her wooden flooring.
Suddenly, there was mail being shoved into their mail slot; it all fell to the floor.
"Shit," Ruby grumbled, but she places the coffee down on the kitchen counter and grabs the mail. Luckily, she controlled her power just fine.
It was the usual: papers with sales at various supermarkets, a few bills for water and gas, a bunch of coupons for places like Wing Stop and Yogurtland... But, there were two letters that were different.
It freaked Ruby out slightly. One refers to Amethyst, who technically doesn't live there, so she shouldn't get mail, period.
"Hey," Ruby slightly slaps Amethyst's cheek with the white envelopes.
Amethyst snorts loudly, "W-wha?"
"You got mail," Ruby revealed.
"I don't live here." Amethyst sits up, groggy and half-asleep.
"Yes, but we have to read it, they're identical." Ruby rips the side of the envelope. The letter says HomeWorld in the corner with an address and their names were placed in the middle with their address. This place was apparently in Colorado.
"'Dear Ruby Harris,'" she starts her letter.
Inside, the top of the letter had "HomeWorld" written in bold with a multi-colored diamond between Home and World. It was almost like a letter you get when you applied to college.
"'We are happy to inform you that you have been chosen to join HomeWorld this year in the only school for Super Human and Powered Beings. We saw in your track records and ancestry that you are in a bloodline of superheroes.'"
"Holy shit." Amethyst was now fully awake and stood up, "There's an actual school to learn to use them for good and better uses?"
"We'd have to move to Colorado."
"Keep reading!" Amethyst started to jump up and down.
"'Please consider coming to this school,'" Ruby skipped to the end, "'Contact the number for more information...'"
"Let's go!"
"Wait, shouldn't we think about it?"
No.
The duo left with two bags and took a bus to Colorado. Ruby kept the two warm, occasionally catching on fire, but the day long drive let on til the next night. They weren't going to stay outside to sleep, per say, but a check into the school wouldn't hurt. The two walked from the station to the school, a few miles away, as it should be for students.
The school was still lit up and there was security at the gate. The woman was bundled in her little checkpoint, wearing the black bomber jacket with all her badges. At the moment, she was reading a book in her lap, it seems. She notices them.
"Good evening, ladies," the security woman greeted them, "What brings you two to this beautiful campus?"
Ruby brought the letter with them, "Hello, we're here a little early... Too early."
"Oh, you're students for the new year?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Let me call someone in the building to take you in."
Ruby turns to Amethyst, "I'm never listening to you or following your impulses ever again."
"We need to be here, bruh! We can finally actually learn to use our powers more and actually use them to save people!"
"Now we're here in front of the school at 8 PM a few days beforehand!"
"Hey, it's called exploring! This school big as fuck, we can go around it for like hours!"
Amethyst had a point. The school was HUGE, and there's so much stuff to see within the six story building as big as a few hundred acres, that was surreal to even be in front of.
"Hello you two," Suddenly, a woman came out of the sky, floating gracefully down, wearing a yellow pantsuit, "Welcome to HomeWorld. I am one of the principals here, but you will refer to all four of us as Ms. Yellow Diamond."
"Hello Ms. Yellow Diamond. We're brand new students here and because of my friend, we're here very early." Ruby had a stern tone towards the end of her sentence.
"That's no problem you two, follow me, you're better off being early if you two wanted to be roomed together."
"We're going to be living here?!" Amethyst gasped.
"Of course!" Ms. Yellow Diamond clasped her hands together, "Learning your powers is done best around people who have them too."
It turns out, half of the building consisted of dorms for students. They were in the fifth floor at the very end of the hall. Because Ms. Yellow Diamond said they can be together if they wanted to, they decided to stay together, as long as Amethyst actually contributed to taking care of the room.
"There are thousands of students in this facility, so please be mind of everyone around you." Ms. Diamond already had the key and hands it to Ruby, but then again, her key ring was FILLED and took a while to get the key out.
"Welcome home, ladies. I hope you enjoy being super here."
"Thank you so much." Ruby opens the door. "We can't wait to start school here."
"Take the time out to explore while you still can."
"Let's do that right now, Rube!" Amethyst repeatedly slapped Ruby's arm.
"Okay, okay!" Ruby grabbed her wrist.
"Alright, ladies, see you on the first day." Then, Ms. Diamond left to the elevator again.
Amethyst throws her luggage into the room, without looking into the room for a second, "Give me your shit! We need to explore!"
"Didn't she tell us to be mindful?!"
From what they saw in the building, the other half was all classrooms. The classes were large enough to fit 100 students per class and were similar to college classrooms with rows and acted much like a theater with the teacher in the center.
"Holy fuck, they have a basketball court!" Amethyst ran towards the light at the end of the hallway, leading into a split road of different courts and arenas for various sports.
Ruby followed, even though the girl was bad at playing it, she strangely enjoyed it. She played along and was better at it, but faked being bad also for the sake of it being more exciting.
In her wake, she saw the signs on the wall, which pointed to left, right, and forward. From the hall they came from, it simply said classrooms, towards the left. To the right, it was basketball, tennis, baseball, the like; Ruby was amazed at how they managed to fit all sports into the hall. Ahead, it was interesting, it was only hockey and skating.
This ought to be interesting.
She walks into the hall, immediately feeling the chill air around her. Her breath was foggy and she shivered at the feeling, but she warmed herself up quickly with a simple power.
It was one large ice rink, the hall lead to some stairs leading to both the sidelines and the rink, with a window to peer down at the ice.
There was only one person on it, wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt, and she was getting ready to start using her skates.
Ruby was intrigued and stayed around; all she saw was long blue hair and her clothes.
She watched as the mysterious girl started to glide on the ice, jumping here and there. Ruby was starting to be entranced by her, watching her do 360 spins and actual backflips. She did complicated fast spins and skated backwards; And Ruby just ached to see more.
"HEY RUBY!"
She gets startled and saw the girl also get scared and skates. Amethyst walks in with a plate that had a big burrito sitting on it.
"Amethyst, what the hell!" Ruby smacked her hand on Amethyst's forehead.
"What?! There's no one in here!"
"Yes there was! There was..." Ruby placed her hand on the glass window as she looked down again, with no one there, "You scared her away!"
"AWWWW, IS SOMEONE IN LOVE?" Amethyst cooed.
"No! I don't even know what she looks like! It shouldn't be hard to find her. She has blue hair."
"Maybe later, but! There's a food court. And! There's a battle arena! We should use it!"
Ruby gave in to her antics, after going on a mini food binge, and going to the UFC-esque arena. The room was the biggest Ruby has seen so far, next to the ice rink, so this area was used for people to watch in the seats that circled around the middle. It was all black and only lit by the bright light on the ceiling on the arena. The arena was surrounded by a metal fence.
"Stretchy versus fireball, let's go." Amethyst jumps onto the available flooring and unlatched the fence gate. She runs right in, jumping on the hollow floor.
"You're going down." Ruby follows suit.
"Bring it on." Amethyst provoked.
Ruby took in a deep breath and shot it out, a burst of flame throwing out in a fiery release. Amethyst stretched far to grab the fence behind Ruby, jumping above her, and sticking to the fence.
"Cannon ball!" Amethyst fell onto Ruby, who was burning hot to the touch. Instinctively, she jumps over of her and lets out "ow's" and "oh god's." She rolled around to get the burning sensation off, thinking in her head how much she regretted everything she just did. Ruby's arms burst into flames, walking towards Amethyst in powerful strides.
"Oh my god, chill!" Amethyst waved her hands at her and, eventually, shielding herself.
Ruby lets out a hardy laugh, extinguishing her arms and cooling her body down to perfect temperature.
"That's what you get for challenging me." Ruby walks to her and offers a hand.
Amethyst grabs it firmly. She then pulls Ruby down, yelling "YAGA!", and pinning her down whilst wrapping her arms around the other's body.
Ruby heats her body up again, even her eye color changing into a ruby red as she was burning Amethyst into golden brown.
Amethyst lets out painful yelps and grunts, "Okay, you win! You win! Dear god!"
She rolls to the other side of the arena, hitting the fence in the end.
"Don't turn me into fried chicken, please..." Amethyst pleaded.
Ruby stands up, sighing and dusting off her hands and shoulders.
"Hey you two are new!" They heard a voice from the hallway entrance.
It was a tall woman, with curly pink hair and voluptuous figure, wearing a white dress, presumably her nightwear.
"We just got here!" Amethyst hops to her feet in a flash.
"Welcome then! You two seem to be having fun in the arena."
"Yeah, we just wanted to try it out." Ruby replied with a confident smile.
"It's used to determine who you'll be partnering with until you graduate." She tells, "Not hero and sidekicks, but more like... just whoever fits better."
"So you've been here a while?"
"I'm Rose. I'll be graduating soon. I've been partnered up with a girl named Pearl since First Year. To be honest, I don't think you two'll be partnered up."
"Actually," Amethyst interrupts, "Do we have to? I think I do fine on my own."
"You have to have the performance of a lifetime to do that."
Ruby and Amethyst looked at each other, wide eyed and suddenly nervous.
"So," Ruby continued, "How do these "battles," I guess, work?"
"You're put against someone who is directly opposite of you. So, from what I saw, you would be challenging someone who has ice and you would go against someone who..."
"I can stretch. Watch this!" Amethyst reaches her arm up, flinging it to the bars on the ceiling, and grabbing on to send her up there like a grappling hook.
"Someone who is actually a rock," Rose finishes her sentence.
"Well, I'm Ruby and she's Amethyst."
"Charmed. See you around you two, good luck at the battle." She walks away with a somewhat, very mysterious air left in her wake.
Amethyst falls down with a loud thud, but gets up only slightly dizzy.
"Oh shit, I love this place..." Amethyst mumbled.
Ruby thought about the unknown girl in the ice rink occasionally. She was graceful, she was dainty, she was someone Ruby wanted to meet. Ruby and Amethyst rarely ever left the room after that. They only left for food or fresh air.
In the course of those days, it was time. School was now in session. Ruby can see new students roll in from her window.
"Today's the day. We go into the arena, hope to not die, and may or may not get a new partner." Ruby states this as she puts on her favorite red tank top that showed the sides of her torso.
"I'm ready, my dude." Amethyst said through a mouthful of colorful cereal.
"You're totally getting a partner." Ruby scoffs, "As for me, I'll be working alone. As it should be!"
"We'll see about that." Amethyst places her bowl in the sink, which is somehow already overflowed.
"Welcome to HomeWorld!" Ms. Yellow Diamond greeted people as they walked in. "Welcome to the school of super heroes!"
"Holy crap, Ruby, we're minutes away from whooping someone's ASS- hey, welcome." Amethyst was talking out-loud in front of the big crowd around them.
"Do you see blue hair anywhere?" Ruby was tip-toeing, barely not seeing anything over the people.
"What? No."
Ruby clicked her tongue, slightly irritated by all the people. She left to the arena.
"Hello everybody and welcome to the First Day Battle!" A tall woman who a British accent and then, she suddenly grew another pair of arms under hers.
The woman was interesting. Big orange hair, a tuxedo, show girl outfit mix of sorts.
"I am the announcer, Sardonyx Davis, and will be commentating the battles!"
The crowd was loud and cheering to finally beat each other up. The room had to be filled with at least 500 students in it.
"We have read all your transcripts and paired every single one of you with your power-opposite! Up on our screen, we'll randomize pairs who will fight to determine your partner. Let's begin, shall we?!"
The screen above the crowd started to shuffle the set pairs. It was quick and beeped at every pair. The beeps started to slow down.
Everyone was at the edge of their seats. Who was going to be first? Who will get to start the intensity of this? Is someone going to die?!
It was slowing down and, miraculously, it was Ruby and... the mysterious blue-haired girl. Under their student pictures, it was Ruby Harris v. Sapphire Johnson.
"Come on down! Fire and ice, the classic opposites!"
Ruby stands and everyone around her cheered for her and encouraged her to win. She saw Sapphire walking down on the other side of the crowd.
They walked into the arena, the security closing it behind them, and they stood in front of each other.
She looked at Sapphire, who was wearing a gray sweater and jeans, her blue hair cascaded down to her waist. What was interesting about her was the white bandage around her eyes. Can't she see? She had long bangs and went over her bandage, which hid it well in her picture above them.
"So, don't kill each other you two!" Sardonyx left the arena with only that warning. She sat next to the four principals of the school, who were White, Yellow, Blue, and Pink coordinated, possibly planning out partners for everyone.
3...
2...
1...
Sapphire started first, waving her arm hard, making the floor spike icicles in Ruby's direction.
Ruby backed up right away. She was in shock for a moment, but she followed her movements and melted the ice down into water.
She can't see what she's thinking; her face is solid in one neutral expression. Sapphire waved her arm up, sending Ruby upwards near the screens. Ruby had one hand on the ice below her feet, melting it down back to the floor, and the other hand pointed towards her opponent, sending her a flame her way.
Sapphire stopped her ice pillar and then went into an ice sphere.
Ruby went back to the floor, staring at the sphere strangely.
"What's this?! It seems that Sapphire has went into a shield!"
Ruby grabbed onto it, her hands heating and melting the ice right away. But, it didn't take long for it to take a surprising turn.
The ice ball explodes, sending her into the fence and falling hard to the floor.
Sapphire stood with icicles taller than her pointing up from the floor, and floating icicles around her pointing dead at Ruby.
Sapphire's hand was balled up, keeping the floating icicles at bay.
Ruby shot fireballs, one by one at Sapphire's legs. One step ahead, Sapphire's free hand went upwards and made a thick ice wall, stopping them.
Sapphire then opens her hand, sending the icicles zooming at Ruby.
A buzzer suddenly went off, making Sapphire close her palm, stopping the cold talons before Ruby's bare skin.
The crowd actually groaned at the fact that the fight stopped.
"Sorry ladies and gentlemen, we saw that the fight was escalating fast!" Sardonyx announced.
Sapphire sent her ice away and then walked towards Ruby to help her up.
"Did I scare you?" Sapphire asked with a smirk. She offers her hand.
Ruby grabs her hand, feeling the cold palm send goosebumps through her whole body.
"A little bit," Ruby chuckles, but she was also pissed off that she somehow lost, "You're good at this."
"I've trained long and hard. Good battle, Ruby."
Ruby listened to the smooth, soft, and calming voice she had.
"Y-yeah... good battle."
They walked away for a few seconds, before, "Hey Ruby."
"Yeah?"
"I know you were the one who was watching me at the ice rink."
Shit.
"Sorry. You're pretty good at that. I can see why."
The battles lasted hours. It was so amazing to see opposing powers battling out and showing what they can really do. The most interesting one by far, to Ruby, was the one that was battling Balance v. Yin-Yang Manipulation. The air in the room just felt so weird!
Amethyst was left battling someone who did become a rock. It was strange, but seeing a giant rock roll around and her having to jump from fence to fence was hella interesting. It ended after what felt like hours with Amethyst swinging from the ceiling.
"Alright, everybody! Now it is time for the evaluation of your team partner here in HomeWorld!"
"Oh shit!" Amethyst clapped and cheered, "This is it!"
Every person in the room was silenced the moment the screen above them started to shuffle everyone around. The principals themselves sorted all of them into their given partner.
There were some that were surprising, such as someone who can fly and someone who uses telekinesis, and someone who can shapeshift and someone who can control electricity.
After the whole list, it seemed the ending shocked everyone.
Ruby and Sapphire.
"Whoa Ruby, I would have never thought that you two would be paired!"
"Me too..." Ruby saw the unforgettable yellow pantsuit in the corner of her eye, "Excuse me, Ms. Diamond! Can you tell me why that Sapphire and I were paired together?"
"You two looked like a good match. We all felt like you two will somehow create something great together." She answered simply after turning away from other students.
They were shocked by the answer, causing their principal to walk away with a smile.
"Hey, you go find your partner." Amethyst taps her shoulder, "I need to find mine. She, like, bends metal or something."
"Sure, I'll look." Ruby sighed. She thought this whole pairing thing was going to be someone totally different. She knew that being paired with someone who is your direct opposite was rare, but she didn't want to be the one who did it.
"So we're partners, huh?" She heard behind her.
"Wha- Oh! I was about to go look for you!" Ruby turned to see Sapphire, still slightly freaked out that she can see through her bandage.
"I feel like you're scared of this wrapped around my head."
"... Only a little! I feel like you can't see under there."
"I can, but in a different way."
Ruby tried to process that in her head.
"But, we're partners. So, we should get to know each other and train together, right?"
"Of course! We can totally get something to eat right now."
Ruby felt awkward in her presence. In the large cafeteria filled with students who are either newly partnered up or have been attending this school for a while, she can still only feel awkward. The cafeteria was no different from a high school on, just... bigger.
"So what are you into?" Ruby cracked her knuckles, "In terms of food, I mean."
"I am into healthy foods, I guess. That goes with the whole ice skating thing." Sapphire heads to the long line.
"Right... How long have you been doing that?"
"Since I was still really little. I lived where it snowed a lot and there was always an ice rink somewhere. So I trained professionally. I dabbled in hockey, too, but skating is just a passion of mine."
"I'm from a place that was hot all the time, so I have no idea how to do anything I saw you did."
"Do you always watch people skating then?"
"What? No, that was the first time I saw that in person."
Sapphire only chuckled under her breath.
"Do you think it's strange that we're paired together?"
"Kinda," Ruby shrugged, "I mean, we're two completely different people."
"True, but we can learn to make our powers work together, no?"
"I can try. But, like, I'm super hot."
"Don't flatter yourself." Sapphire joked around.
"Wow, okay." Ruby scoffed.
Ruby was left with a burger of sorts and Sapphire got the healthy salad she wanted.
They didn't speak much when they ate together. The fact that Sapphire was eating it silently left Ruby to sit silently. Her burger was tasty, chicken and very spicy, she was slightly sweating at it.
"You want to learn how to skate later?" Sapphire asks once she finished her food.
She raised her voice over the loud cafeteria; nearly every seat was taken.
"I'm afraid I might melt that whole thing." Ruby balls up the tin foil cover the burger had.
"I don't think you will. Control you power more."
Ruby sighs, too afraid to take on that challenge. Sapphire can fix it again after all...
"I'll take that on. As long as you catch me."
It was nearing 6 PM. Ruby was sitting alone in the room she was given. It was similar to her home, which she left in the hands of a different friend. There was two rooms, a living room, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. Everything was enough for the two of them, almost. Amethyst needs more space for her garbage she kept everywhere. Ruby finally washed all the dishes, leaving her too tired to even think about the ice skating lesson.
Just then, there was a knocking at the door. Ruby groaned, knowing it was Sapphire, but she stands up to answer it.
She opens it, expecting to see ebony skin and blue hair, but instead got a purple-haired Latina shoving Cheetos into her face.
"Amethyst, I thought you were hanging out with your partner?" Ruby was taken aback.
"Yeah, but she's kind of a spaz, so I told her we can hang tomorrow."
"Who is she?"
Amethyst walks in, landing on the black couch, "Peridot. She's cool sometimes, but she's spazzy and doesn't understand a lot of normal things."
"I mean, at least you didn't push her away."
Ruby closes the door and then goes to the refrigerator to get something to drink.
"I'm not an asshole, sometimes. What about you?"
"Um, hanging out later at the ice rink."
"To what? Melt the floor?"
"I can control my body temperature!"
"Whatever you say."
There was another knock at the door, this time, more gentle. That one had to be Sapphire.
"I'm scared, to be honest." Ruby admitted. She was still in her tank and shorts, so the cold air hitting against her skin was taking a toll.
Can she heat up just a little bit? Well, Sapphire shouldn't mind and the ice can handle it, probably.
They were already in the skates, getting them from the man who ran the shoe rent, and Ruby did not really understand how balance works anymore. The rink had more people this time, some pulling some pro moves like Sapphire did and others were struggling, like how Ruby will be in a second.
"I won't let go of you." Sapphire promised. She gets on the ice first, standing with ease, and offers her hand.
Ruby shakily grabs on, as soon as she did, their hands released steam at the temperatures, but it was perfect. It was equilibrium.
Ruby takes one step on the ice, then another, knees shaking and breath ragged. She was trying to follow Sapphire's movements, but that was a mistake. She started to slip and lose control, eventually falling on her ass and cause steam to happen under her.
"Help me." Ruby said. Sapphire never let her go, but she was obviously holding back a laugh.
She stands her up again, grabbing Ruby's shoulder with her free hand.
"Are you okay?" Sapphire asks, as she seems to be looking into Ruby's eyes.
"I'm fine." Ruby replied confidently.
"So I can let you go?"
"No!"
After that, Ruby held onto Sapphire's hand, occasionally heating up because of fear. They went around the large rink about three times, taking hours to do so and the rink was empty by the time they made three third time around.
"Shit, how do you do this?" Ruby was still stumbling.
"I don't know, I just... do it."
Sapphire couldn't explain it herself; she's been doing it for so long that she has no idea how to even teach someone such a skill.
"How about I just watch you at the sidelines?" Ruby would prefer to be off the ice by now.
"Sure," Sapphire concurred.
Luckily, they stopped at the small gate leading to the normal floor, to which Ruby jumped onto it and landing face first.
Sapphire kept her composure and kept herself from laughing so hard.
She waited for Ruby, who was fumbling with the white skate shoes on her feet, and then put on her converse shoes. She stands up again, hands on hips, acting like everything that just happened never happened.
"Okay, I'm going to start my routine now." Sapphire cleared her throat, "I hate that there's no music."
Ruby sits down on the chairs lined up against the wall behind her, watching Sapphire glide on the ice. She speeds up as she skates around and around. She performed spins, jumps, and even flips, putting Ruby into a state of awe.
She does one flip, which was a perfect backflip and then she lands on her right foot, almost falling over, but skating backwards.
She skates by Ruby, "Don't do that that's an illegal move!"
"Then why did you do it?!" Ruby held her arms out in confusion.
Sapphire goes back to skating forward, then grabbing her left foot and then bends up all the way behind her, curving to her head, and held it in that position. She then starts to spin very quickly, making Ruby jump in her seat.
Ruby wished she knew names of various tricks. She did these tricks like she bent backwards and was parallel to the ice, doing spins like she was sitting down, and then jumping and doing the splits in the air. She already felt kind of dumb not even being able to skate.
Sapphire then goes into a finishing pose, arms up in the air, and then bows to Ruby.
Ruby stands and claps, echoing in the room and whooping for her.
The two left after putting the shoes back to the person in the shoe rent. Their arms were pressed against each other. They walked back to Sapphire's room first on the sixth floor, whom she said she was rooming with no one. She said that person just left the school.
"That was fun, right?" Sapphire asks with a smile.
"Yes, actually," Ruby replied, "More than I thought."
"Good, we should do it often then."
"But," Ruby digress, "Now we have to do something I want to do."
"Yes?" Sapphire was curious.
"I like to fight. So, consider it us practicing."
"Rematch after I nearly killed you, huh?"
"Well! I'm a boxer, so that's what I mean."
Sapphire just nods, "After class tomorrow?"
"Fight night then."
Ruby was in a science class of sorts. The room was in a different area of the school, a white lab with many metal tables scattered throughout it. Her table basically turned her into a busen burner to keep the blue contents within the Erlenmeyer flasks bubbling.
Her three other class partners, a shapeshifter, a telepathy talker, and a healer (by the way, her battle was FUCKED), were doing the rest of the work. They stated that Ruby is, in fact, the most important member of their group. The teacher was a woman in her late-30's to early-40's, who was just tired.
"So Ruby," she heard in her head. It was coming from the goth girl with telepathy. "I saw you hanging out that blue girl. Is she cool?"
"Um, yeah?" Ruby thought in her head, "She's pretty cool. Pun intended."
"That's good. I only asked because she almost killed you and it must be weird to be partnered up with her."
"Only a little!"
The flasks suddenly bubbled more.
"Sorry." Ruby apologized out loud.
The class lasts for three hours. The first one-and-a-half learning and the second half was doing the actual experiments themselves.
She wasn't as tired as everyone else, since she had the easiest job, so she went to the cafeteria.
She didn't see Sapphire there, so she went to grab some grub, this time being a pizza slice with a Coke. Even though she shouldn't be eating so badly. She stated that she boxes, so she too should be on a healthier diet like Sapphire still is.
Especially today, when they are doing something Ruby wants to do.
But she continued to eat, feeling confident that she can beat Sapphire at something she knows that Sapphire has no practice in.
"Is it a cheat week or something?" Sapphire cracks a joke before sitting down with her plate of brown rice with chicken breast and a bottle of water.
"I don't know. I feel compelled to just eat."
"You need to eat healthy still. You won't be able to perform better as a super hero with you can't even run that far. You can't fly."
Ruby looks up from her plate, ready to say a snarky remark, but she gets distracted.
Sapphire was wearing a red-and-black flannel, but it was buttoned low, revealing her chest and a sliver of her white bra.
She was stuck in that position for a moment, before Sapphire snapped her fingers.
"Thank you for noticing," Sapphire said sarcastically.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Your pizza's on fire."
"Shit!" Ruby then drops it and blows it out. What's up with her?
Sapphire giggles, making Ruby become slightly embarrassed.
Fuck.
Later on, Ruby was already in the battle arena. She was clad in her black sports bra and matching-colored basketball shorts. It revealed that her physique was still in top shape, arms, abdomen, back, and legs chiseled to perfect form. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, difficult for her to do with the big and curly hair she had. With her red boxing gloves, she practiced her jabs and hooks to hopefully just knock Sapphire to the floor. She had her teeth guard in and was already sweating at the extensive practice.
Beforehand, she was doing sit-ups and using a jump rope from her bag.
She then hears a wolf whistle from the hall.
"Looking good, Ruby." Sapphire joins her in the ring, also holding a duffel bag. Her hair was also in a long and high ponytail; her bandage still around her eyes.
"Why, thank you. See? I don't need to worry about getting fat just yet."
"Well, good luck then. I'll be getting ready." Sapphire starts to unbutton her flannel, showing the white sports bra Ruby saw earlier.
Ruby's jaw dropped, seeing Sapphire was also in great shape, her arms and abs had some definition to them. She was in white octagon shorts, showing off that she had a great figure and curve to her waist.
"I haven't used this guard in a while." Sapphire said before she placed it in her mouth.
She grabs her blue gloves and walks to the middle, ready to fight.
Ruby shakes her head and gets into position, fully focusing on her.
Sapphire had to have some other power to be able to walk around school with a bandage over her eyes twenty-four seven. This thought vanished when Ruby swung a hard right.
Sapphire ducked around and then uppercut Ruby dead in her jaw.
Ruby lost her footing, but she did a left hook as soon as she got it back.
Sapphire step back, making her fist fly right by her face, and then step back in to punch straight into Ruby's cheek.
She can't beat me at this too, FUCK.
Ruby went in with her arms covering her head. Sapphire was doing the same thing.
Ruby went for a swing at her stomach. Her opponent steps back, avoiding it completely.
She was getting irritated, making her start to throw random punches at random areas of her body, wasting her energy.
She avoided every single punch. She can see the anger in Ruby's eyes, but she took the brave step forward and punching her right cheek, sending her to the floor.
Ruby took off one glove and her mouth guard, "How are you doing that?!"
"Doing what?" Sapphire asks after copying what Ruby did.
"How can you see me?!" She stands up, exasperated, "And how are you beating me at something you told me that you've never done?!"
Sapphire chuckled, but she took off both gloves and passes them in her bag along with her guard.
She stands in front of her angry partner and started to take off her bandage.
Ruby watched as it happened. It felt like time stopped for hours. Her heart raced as she anticipated the reveal.
Sapphire takes it off completely and held her bangs out of her eyes, showing both eyes are just blue. A deep and dark blue, with purple mixed in, along with white specks and sparkles. It felt like looking into the galaxy in her eyes.
"You can say I can see the future. And that's how I live."
"You can see what happens exactly?"
"Yes. Down to the very second. I just covered them, because... People thought they were weird and then when I covered them with bangs, people would move them, so... Hello bandage."
"'That's so cool.'" Ruby said, but Sapphire said it in unison with her.
"'No way.'"
"'Stop doing that.'"
Sapphire chuckled, "I hope I don't freak you out more."
"No! Everything makes sense now. God, you must win at everything."
"I did, but not like I told anyone how I did." Sapphire started to wrap it around her head again.
"I had a good time." Sapphire said with a coy giggle. They were walking together to Ruby's room this time.
"Well, you did. You handed my ass to me."
"I do that to everyone."
They were in front of the room, but neither of them wanted to separate just yet.
She fumbled with her flannel, she kept looking around at the white walls and green carpet, the ambiance of it all was unpleasant.
"See you tomorrow then!" Ruby then took her key, shoved it into the knob, and then loudly fall into her room and kick the door closed.
"Oh my god" was all Amethyst had to say to that.
"Not. One. Word." Ruby pointed a finger at her roommate.
For the full semester, it was that cycle. Days they would ice skate, days they would box, and other days they just hang out. It was mostly in Sapphire's room, since Amethyst is always room and even had Peridot over.
It was the end of the semester and Ruby and Sapphire hung out in her room, the TV playing a show called Prison Break from Netflix, as suggested by Ruby. They were both in comfy sweaters and sweatpants, as it was winter now.
"That guy is creepy..." Sapphire said.
"You already know the plot?!" Ruby acted fake-surprised.
"No, actually. I just saw the guy named T-Bag in my head and I was disgusted."
"Oh... You're right, though."
The atmosphere was a little different. Ruby couldn't admit it to anyone, but feelings for Sapphire got stronger and she was stuck thinking romantically about her during most nights. The only person who did know was the goth in her class, but she can't help that.
"Hey, do you-
Sapphire was quiet and looked at her.
Ruby cleared her throat, "Do you ever think that someone liked you?"
Sapphire hummed, "No. I don't think anyone ever did. I don't think even now."
That was a lie.
"Would you think it was weird that maybe someone did?"
"Yes. I don't have a lot to offer to someone if someone did happen to like me. You're talking to me like you're in middle school."
"Because I have a feeling you already know!"
"I'm avoiding it."
Ruby gave her a confused look and her head tilted to the side.
"It's obviously important. So I'm only a few seconds ahead."
"I-I..." Ruby lets out a deep breath, "I really like you."
Sapphire has never been surprised by anything. She was always been minutes-to-hours ahead of everyone and then goes back to the present.
Sapphire gets closer to Ruby, who followed. It was slow, passionate, and a little amorous. Finally feeling Sapphire's lips, those plump lips she couldn't stop looking at, and she wanted more.
"Is this what Netflix and chill is?" Sapphire kinda ruined the moment when she pulled away to ask that.
"I have never done that."
"Me neither! I've never done any of this stuff!" Sapphire blurted out.
Ruby gulped, nervous about it this situation. She had her hand on Sapphire's thigh at this point.
"I really like it..." Sapphire purred, grabbing Ruby by her shoulders and pulling her into another kiss. It was vigorous and they were acting way before they thought about anything.
Next thing, Ruby carried her to the room, where clothes flew, and moans were going up in volume. The familiar feeling of Ruby's heating skin and Sapphire's was reaching freezing temperature, making more steam emanate from their contact.
"'Oh my god...'" They said in unison.
"Did you do that because you knew I was going to say that?" Ruby asked as she looked at her. They were lying down side-by-side, bodies limp under the covers. It was around 3 PM.
"No..." Sapphire said truthfully.
Ruby smirked. She then feels Sapphire's cold fingers lightly touching her arm. Her brown skin felt burning hot and it had a small tinge of red to it.
"So we're girlfriends now, huh?" Ruby asked.
"Yes." She agreed with a smile from ear-to-ear.
But that was the last good moment.
One night, halfway through second semester, a loud alarm went off when it was 1 AM.
"What the fuck?!" Ruby jumped out of bed. She can only hear the loud ringing as she left her room and saw Amethyst on her way out.
"What the hell is this?!" Amethyst's messy purple hair really showed her irritation.
The two left, the hallway full of other students who were also irritated and sleepy, and the ringing still went on.
"Students, please leave the building immediately!" It sounded like Ms. Yellow Diamond's scared but also angry voice, "There has been a murder on campus! I repeat, a murder on campus!"
This caused everyone to run out to the emergency stairs between the room hall and the hall towards the classrooms. Everyone from every floor was running down the steps as fast as possible, some shapeshifted into birds and some who did fly were out first.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" Ruby said as she quickly went down the steps, "Sapphire!"
"Ruby!" She heard in the distance.
People around her kept pushing her forward, making her unable to see where she could be.
She was outside, along with Amethyst and everyone else in the other floors. Ruby watched as the sixth floor came pouring in, but no Sapphire.
"I'm going back in!" Ruby started to run, but stopped with an arm wrapping around her, "Are you nuts?!"
"Sapphire is in there!" Ruby got out of Amethyst's arm and ran back inside, shocking everyone behind her.
Ruby ran to the sixth floor, adrenaline rushing so fast that she didn't feel tired until she slowed down.
"Sapphire!" She called out. She saw her room's door was open, but she was no where.
"Ruby! I'm in the ba-
She heard at the other side. She can tell that she was yelling at the top of her lungs, so Ruby ran as fast as she could.
Battle arena battle arena battle arena!
She went to the arena, seeing someone holding Sapphire, whose body was struggling and trying to fight then slowly going limp.
"Let her go!" Ruby burst into flames, running at the tall figure, who dropped Sapphire and then disappeared into thin air in the snap of their fingers.
"Sapphire!" Ruby extinguishes as she slides on her knees to get to her, who was unresponsive. She looks at the white bandage to her right and lifts the blue bangs. The figure was inhumane and didn't care much for how others felt, Ruby thought as she looked at Sapphire.
Sapphire's right eye was gone. Blood dripping out of the socket, a hollow space was there as it was clear that it was forcefully taken out with their bare hand.
"R-Ruby..." She weakly mumbled.
"Sapphire, I'm right here." Ruby kept her composure. "Who did this to you?"
"Old roommate..." Sapphire then gripped onto her shirt.
Ruby carries her bridal style as she left the building, running down the stairs as she needed to get to a healer right away.
She had tears going down her cheeks as she left right away. She can feel Sapphire's grip on her now-blood stained shirt loosen. She ran out to the huge crowd who watched her run to them.
"HELP ME!" She cried out.
The group of people went up to her, seeing what the problem was. Every healer ran up, knowing the problem just seeing the tears in her eyes.
Ruby wipes the tears off her cheeks as she gently places Sapphire on the floor.
"Rube, I don't think you should go back in." Amethyst grabbed her friend's shoulder.
"I have to. The one who did this is in there." Ruby disagreed immediately.
Amethyst sucked in a breath, but says, "Then let me go too!"
Ruby and Amethyst walked into the dark building, both with weapons such as bats and whips in their grips.
"I swear to god, once I get my hands on that person..." Ruby huffed.
"You can't kill anybody, Ruby! We're heroes, not monsters..."
Ruby clenched her teeth together, holding her tongue from making any comments.
They ran into the cafeteria, now pitch black and had something covering the walls, floors, and ceilings. It seemed to be moving and much like a projector putting things on a wall.
They walk into the room, slow and processing the whole situation. The room was covered in the motion picture.
It showed Ruby and Amethyst fighting and it was getting pretty bloody. They couldn't tell if they were winning or losing.
"I'm glad you can make it to the show!" They heard a booming voice behind them. They jump and kept their guard up as they saw the towering figure. They had a sinister smile on their face.
"Allow me to shed some light on this ordeal." They lift their hand up and then balled it into a fist, locking Ruby and Amethyst right where they are.
"HEY!"
"What the fuck!"
"Quiet, you fuckers! I'm Jasper. I went to school here too. I was finishing my fourth and final year and I realized something. Being a hero just wasn't... me. I find joy in seeing punks like you squirm and try to fight. That little girl... She saw the future and I needed to see it. And it just so happens... I WIN!"
She then throws the two into the furthest wall, leaving a dent of their bodies behind as they fell back down again.
"We used to be roommates and all. She was great, but she had something I needed. What no better way to get it than by force..."
"YOU FUCKER!" Ruby ran to them, becoming a running flame in the process, but gets stopped by an unseen force.
Telekinesis...
"Aw, was that your little girlfriend? Well, if I knew that, I should have taken both her eyes."
Ruby was immobile and can only control her facial expression, only showing her furrowed eyebrows and showing her teeth in rage.
"Were you the one that killed someone on this campus?!"
"Me?" She chuckles evilly, "No! It seems that someone at this school had a different agenda..."
"Let them go, Jasper!"
That was a different voice. Turning around, Jasper saw the woman with large curly pink hair and her shorter, but powerful partner, wielding a sword. Rose was in a white dress, torn and blood splattered on it. In her hand, there was a larger and thicker pink sword, nearly covered in all blood. Pearl was a pale and lanky individual, wearing a tank and skirt, face and outfit covered in smaller amounts of blood.
"Rose?!" Ruby couldn't believe her eyes.
"So you finally show your face? You have a lot of nerve to after killing one of the principals."
It was all too much to take in. Rose was so nice to them when they first met. How was she capable of committing such a crime?
"Quite the anti-hero you are. And against your power's moral. You're a healer. Who knew you had it in you?" Jasper was provoking her.
"The Rebellion of the True Plans our principals had! Take over the world into a third world war?! Using our gifts as their own personal gain?!" Rose walked closer to Jasper, who threw Ruby back into the furthest wall, creating a new hole in it.
"Not everyone in the world is super! What did everyone else do to you?! What will you gain from it?!"
"Power! Status! And destroying is the first on my list!" Jasper telekinetic power grabbed Pearl and threw her out of the way.
Rose swung at her opponent, cutting into her thigh, and slowing her down. Jasper, not wasting any time, balled her fist at Rose, who suddenly started to cough and hack. Her face started to grow pale and fell to her knees.
"Tell me! Who did you kill, huh?" Jasper shook her for an answer.
Through coughs, "P... P-pink..."
Jasper felt anger build up inside her. She was huffing and grunting as she took her other hand and choke her with both hands, "How could you do this?! She was the perfect diamond! MY DIAMOND!"
Pearl regain her strength and ran to the enemy, stabbing her sword into her back, near the shoulder, revealed and not covered by her long platinum blonde hair.
She lets out a grunt, but didn't let Rose go.
Ruby gets up and ran to the fight. She was still filled with rage, her footsteps leaving fire steps behind and her whole body starting to flame up again in red-and-orange. She saw the sword being pulled out, taking the chance to latch onto her back.
She does so, igniting Jasper and causing her to let Rose go.
Amethyst was finally able to stand, watching the fire spread on the wooden flooring.
"Shit!" Amethyst stretches her arm to the ceiling. She watches as Ruby gets thrown off and Jasper was still engulfed. But, Jasper didn't go into a stop-drop-roll, but instead ran towards Rose and Pearl, who had their swords ready. She was on the ceiling, where the black eyeball, bloody and still had the nerve, was left to project onto the room.
She grabbed at their necks again, but Ruby wasn't giving up. Still the flamethrower she was, she aimed her softball sized fireballs at Jasper, who reacted every single time a fireball was thrown.
"You little brat!" Jasper couldn't focus. She turned to Ruby, who was still throwing at her.
Jasper balled her fist, grabbing Ruby and lifting her in the air, ready to crush her neck. Her fire was blown out once her feet were off the ground.
She was laughing maniacally, looking even crazier while covered in fire, eye twitching and ready to commit murder herself, but she stop, taking in a gasp of air.
Ruby looks down and saw Jasper was stabbed through the back, into every vital artery in her body.
Not by a big pink sword.
Or a smaller one.
Instead, multiple icicles that emerged from the floor and into Jasper, the spikes of them covered in red.
Rose and Pearl turn, seeing Sapphire with her hand out and her good eye wide in shock. Her other eye was hiding in the long bangs she possessed. She was paralyzed at what she had just done. Jasper lets go of Ruby, finally burning alive.
She ran to Sapphire and grabbing her into a tight hug. Sapphire hugs back, putting her face in the crook of her neck.
"Are you okay?" Ruby kissed Sapphire on her forehead, cheeks, and lips over and over.
"I should be asking you that..." Sapphire whimpered.
Morning came, and the police surrounded the school. Clad in the classic blue outfits, they took Rose, Pearl, Sapphire, Ruby, and Amethyst into questioning. As for Jasper, she was placed in a bodybag and escorted that way.
Ruby hasn't let go of Sapphire since they reunited. She couldn't do that, especially after what Sapphire did in order to save her.
"Sapphire," Ruby tried to comfort. "Nothing is going to happen to you..."
"I killed someone..."
Ruby wished she could say more to help.
The two blink and suddenly, Rose and Pearl disappeared right in front of them. They were standing in front of Ruby and Sapphire since the police was more suspicious of those two, having more blood than anyone else at of the four. Police saw it and put up their defenses, guns pointing at every different direction possible.
Ruby and Sapphire held onto each other, both their eyes closed shut, and scared for the barrage of bullets that might pop off. Ruby was ready to protect her with her life, she was ready to put her life on the line.
Alas, nothing happened.
They heard some of the police officers tell everyone to move or suspected criminals were on the loose. Sapphire looks first, who was pleasantly surprised that nearly all of the officers were gone, left with a few who realized that Ruby and Sapphire were innocent.
"Come with me, young lady, you still need medical attention." An ambulance nurse came to her.
"Yes, um, stay with Amethyst, Sapphire."
She does so, leaving to Amethyst, who just finished talking to another officer.
"How are you?" She asks.
"Shitty. I didn't do anything to help at the time. I just hid like a dumb ostrich." Amethyst avoided eye contact.
"Don't be yourself up about it-
"I need to be stronger!" Amethyst exclaimed. She hyperventilated and balled up her fists so tightly her hands became white.
Sapphire just puts her hand on her back, gently rubbing as she had every right to be angry.
Months past, the school closed down and was abandoned to dust and dirt. Every student went back home, living to be only normal. Sure, there were times that someone used their powers outside and it was fine, but it was rare. The school was a ghost story, really. Told at campfires or before bed, the many different variations came with the base idea of a ghost, or ghosts, haunting the abandoned building.
The most famous one was the ghost of Jasper "cursed" the whole building and killed anyone who decided to set foot even past the gate. The infamous telekinesis power was used as the scare factor every story.
Ruby was at her city's local gym, practicing at a punching bag, hitting it aggressively as she listened to her music.
She hasn't seen or spoken to Sapphire since the school closed. She never admitted to Amethyst, who was still her roommate back in her old house, that she felt like she was missing something in her life. As for Amethyst, she took her time to become stronger like she wants to, but as of now, she was settling and finally getting her shit together; she seemed happier too. She gave the punching bag one good swing before going to the side and sit on the bench. She lets out a deep breath as she sat down, drenched in sweat and feeling anger mixed with miserable and dejected.
She feels her phone vibrate in her shorts pocket. It was a phone call from Amethyst.
"What's up?" She answered it.
"Hey dude, are you busy right now?"
"A little bit," Ruby takes her glove off to grab her water bottle, "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just someone is here to see you."
Ruby had a glimmer of hope, grabbing all her stuff and leaving right away.
She drove home right away, fumbling with the front door, and rushing in.
In the kitchen, Amethyst was sitting at the table with a familiar girl with the long bangs and now-faded blue hair.
"Hey Rube. She came here to see you! Can you believe that her future vision powers helped her over here? That's insane, huh?" Amethyst had a wide grin on her face. Between them was two white mugs, probably filled with hot chocolate, as Amethyst preferred that beverage now.
Ruby had to take in the whole situation. Sapphire was sitting in her home, after months of no connection, with a weak smile and no words. She looked just as dispirited as Ruby felt the whole time.
Ruby sniffled and was ready to cry. Sapphire stood up and rushed up to her in open arms, holding her tightly. Ruby follows right away, holding onto her as closely and as tightly as humanly possible. Amethyst left with her mug, taking the hint that the two needed time alone.
Time felt like it slowed down, nearly stopping it seemed. They couldn't let go, tears streaming down their cheeks.
Eventually, the steam that happens between them started.