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andrewmoocow · 3 years

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Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 15: The Warning (originally posted on April 26, 2021)

AN: Dread it, run from it, the end is near. Part 1 of the two-part Part 2 finale has arrived. And with this two-parter, we will officially be halfway through Alternate Future. What could Parts 3 and 4 possibly hold for us? Well, that's for later. Right now, we return to Homeworld which means we once again won't be fully focusing on Steven, and we will also see a certain Gem in action.

Synopsis: Lars and the Off-Colors return to Earth with an urgent message.

Cast:

Matthew Moy as Lars, Dante

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Shelby Rabara as Squaridot, Demantoid's Peridots

Olivia Olson as Citrine

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Amy Sedaris as Yellow Zircon, Blue Zircon

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite

Jennifer Paz as Mean Lapis

Charlyne Yi as Navy, Eyeball

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid

Uzo Aduba as Demantoid's Bismuths

Miriam Hyman as Demantoid's Bismuths

Deedee Magno-Hall as Black Pearl

Dee Bradley Baker as George the Light Prism

Zach Callison as Steven

Kate Micucci as Sadie

Indya Moore as Shep

Nancy Linari as Martha

Featuring Hugh Laurie as Doctor Laurie

Hushed whispers filled the grand hall as many former Gem aristocrats filed in. Behind a holographic podium were posters of the prosecuting Zircon's smug face with the word "HOPE" underneath the picture in very big letters. When the last of the ex-nobles arrived and the doors shut behind them, out came Yellow Zircon with a prideful spring in her step as she took her place at the podium.

"Good day to you all." Yellow Zircon announced as she presented the speech prepared for her today. "As you all know, the Gem race has now entered a new golden age thanks to Steven Universe, the son of Pink Diamond, and the Crystal Gems." As she spoke, an image of Steven and the Gems appeared behind her. "But don't think they have good intentions."

Suddenly, the hall turned a bright red as a big red X was crossed over the Crystal Gems. "With the loss of our caste system, our weapons, armies, colonies, and the Diamonds' control over us, our kind has become weak. Perhaps weak enough to be conquered."

The former nobles began muttering to each other with concern while Yellow Zircon stared at the speech in confusion. "Wait, this is my speech?" she quietly asked herself before returning to the subject at hand. "Anyways, their pacifistic ways could soon be the end of us all. That is why as a potential democratic leader of the Gems, I promise to restore our old ways so that we may be better prepared for a possible invasion. Thank you everyone for your time."

The other Gems began clapping and cheering while Yellow Zircon walked backstage, continuing to examine her speech when she ran into her campaign manager, a seemingly docile Ruby with her gem on her stomach. "Oh, Navy was it?" she asked the Ruby. "I'm pretty sure my speech is all wrong. I could've sworn I had something different planned earlier!"

"Oh don't be such a worrywart Zircon!" Navy laughed, slapping the taller Gem on the leg. "I just made a few changes, that's all! Which reminds me, you got some special guests arranged for your next speech, so do make a good impression on them!"

"Okay, if you say so." Yellow Zircon reluctantly obliged and kept walking, leaving Navy alone to snicker maliciously as she pulled a black egg-shaped communicator from her gem. "This is Agent Navy, come in Black Rutile." She said to the egg as it produced a holographic image of her superior.

"Ah, Ruby, so glad of you to call." Black Rutile said delightedly. "How has your infiltration of the Zircon's campaign going?"

"All according to plan my Rutile." Navy saluted the hologram. "She doesn't suspect a thing."

"Excellent." Black Rutile grinned. "Once she's in power, we'll come in, reveal our goal to the galaxy and initiate our coup. I knew I chose the right Gem for the job."

"Oh, you're too kind my Rutile." Navy giggled. "My magnanimous, visionary, absolutely gorgeous Rutile!"

"Okay, now you're just brown-nosing." Black Rutile scowled. "Morganite should be meeting with you shortly, so keep an eye out for her while I go gather forces." She commanded. "Over and out."

Meanwhile, on a different part of the Gem Homeworld, the Sun Incinerator began to make its landing at a spaceport where many Gems were either departing from Homeworld by spaceship or returning home. But this crew in particular was only here for a quick pitstop.

"Well, here we are back on Homeworld Off-Colors." Lars declared as he and his motley crew of Off-Color Gems disembarked from their pilfered vessel to look around the spaceport. "Man, it's wonderful how much Steven has changed everything."

"Yeah, once these ships were out conquering worlds." The left Rutile replied.

"But now they're out spreading peace and fixing what they broke." The right Rutile remarked.

"We can sing Steven's praises later." Rhodonite said, getting her fellow Gems back on track. "We came back here to refuel."

"Yes, we know Rhodonite." Fluorite said slowly. "I'm just going to take a breather over there." She then pointed over to a little hangout spot where different Gems were striking up conversations. "How about you?"

"I'm just going to explore a bit." Lars answered. "Anyone coming with?"

"I'm gonna go over there to where those other fusions are." Rhodonite replied as she pointed to another hangout spot populated with cross-Gem fusions just like her.

"Guess that leaves me and Paddy to watch over the ship." The left Rutile said.

"Our crew shall go their separate ways for the time being." Padparadscha declared sweetly.

However, as the Off-Colors briefly split up to relax, a sinister plot was brewing without their knowledge. Emerald and a squad of Black Pearls were hiding inside one of the unoccupied ships, having been spying on the Gem team this whole time. "My Rutile, I have visual on the Sun Incinerator." Emerald said into a communicator. "At long last, it'll finally be mine!"

"Yes Emerald, the sole reason you joined my alliance." Black Rutile said sarcastically. "But remember that once you finally reacquire the Incinerator, you are to rendezvous with your teammates and provide our transport to Earth."

"But what about your dropship, my Rutile?" one of the Black Pearls inquired. "Can't you use that to come to Earth instead?"

"I'm currently using it to reach Blue 4." Black Rutile explained. "Lars will no doubt use another ship to reach Earth, but by then it'll be too late for him"

"Understood." Emerald nodded as the communicator shut off, and then she turned to the Pearls. "You heard her, move out!"

"Yes, your Emerald." The Black Pearls monotonously replied and marched towards the Sun Incinerator.

The Rutile twins noticed the squad of Pearls marching to them and decided to ask what was up. "Uh, hello there." The left Rutile nervously greeted. "Don't think we've ever seen you Pearls around before."

"Forgive our intrusion, we were only created not too long ago." The leading Black Pearl apologized with a bow. "My fellow Pearls and I are working for a higher power who believes she can bring peace to Homeworld."

"Ooh, look at those Pearls over there!" Padparadscha exclaimed. "I don't like the looks of them Rutiles, they look suspicious!"

"Yeah, that reminds me." The right Rutile said. "Who is this higher power you're working for?"

"She refuses to disclose her identity at the moment," another of the Pearls said. "but she doesn't like a certain friend of yours very much."

Before the Rutiles and Padparadscha could comprehend what the Pearl said, a pair of crystalline thigh-high boots clinked loudly as their owner snuck aboard the Sun Incinerator, and they turned around to discover that it was Emerald.

"We've been discovered!" Emerald yelled before she raced further into the ship. "Pearls, seize them!"

"Emerald?!" the Rutile twins exclaimed in shock.

"Emerald has stolen the ship!" Padparadscha added as Lars, Rhodonite, and Fluorite raced to discover what had happened.

"So we meet again Emerald!" Lars said angrily as Emerald began to take off in her reclaimed ship. "What do you have planned this time?!"

"I think the better question is, what do WE have planned!" Emerald corrected just as furiously. "You're so distracted by the destruction that Steven has caused, you're just as blind to his impending fall! Now Pearls!"

The Pearls summoned their spears and threateningly pointed them at Lars and the Off-Colors. But just then, three silhouettes that have been watching things play out made themselves known by emerging from the shadows to strike.

The first Gem had orange skin, a red-orange gemstone at the center of her chest, a red and white jumpsuit with black shoulder pads, a blue-purple cape, and a pale yellow afro that came together at a widow's peak. She was the first of the trio to attack, plunging her sword into a Black Pearl's chest and causing her to poof.

The second Gem was a Peridot with rectangular chartreuse-yellow hair, her triangular gem replacing her left eye, a medium green jumpsuit with dark green shoulder pads and a four-pointed star symbol on the torso, a light green cape, dark green leggings, and medium green boots with yellow triangles on her knees. She lifted a metal crate into the air with ferrokinesis and tossed it at another group of Black Pearls, poofing them as well.

Finally, there was a Gem Lars easily recognized. Citrine was also a member of this trio, whaling on Black Pearls as they tried to dogpile her, and she was wearing a cape as well. It was black, matching the mask she wore over her eyes.

"Citrine!" Lars cried excitedly as the three Gems fought off the seemingly growing mob of Pearls. "Hey, who are those other two Gems?"

"Lars, long time no see!" Citrine replied while backhanding a Black Pearl in the face. "I can introduce you to my new partners later, now help us out!"

"Finally time to put my new musti-yuddha skills to use." Lars declared while taking off his cape and gloves to fight the Black Pearls. "Come at me bros!" he challenged the Gems as he put up his fists, using his newfound Indian boxing skills to punch, kick, grab, knee, and elbow his way through the Pearls.

"Nice moves there my friend!" the yellow afroed Gem complimented Lars before they, along with Citrine and the Peridot, stood back to back against the Pearls while the Off-Colors watched. "What do you call that kind of fighting?"

"It's an Earth type of combat called musti-yuddha." Lars explained as yet another Black Pearl charged at him. "SHORYUKEN!" he yelled, uppercutting the Pearl into the air before it poofed, and her gem clattered on the ground.

"I've got to get me some of those lessons." Rhodonite said to herself.

"The human is stronger than we were led to believe!" one of the remaining Black Pearls gasped in shock. "Everybody retreat!"

With that, the Black Pearl squadron officially withdrew from combat, leaving Lars and his Gem allies to collect themselves.

"So, like I was gonna say, meet some new friends I made since you were last here." Citrine introduced her new partners.

"You may call me Hessonite." Hessonite greeted Lars with a handshake. "Former commander of Yellow Diamond's army turned ally of the Crystal Gems and Gem vigilante. Pleased to meet you."

"I'm her sidekick, Peridot Facet-4E3M Cut-7ZY." The Peridot introduced herself. "Though most call me Squaridot due to my hair. Much like my former commander turned partner, I have once antagonized the Crystal Gems before Steven showed me the light. Well, after quite a few setbacks, of course."

"I'm Lars." Lars replied as he pointed to himself, and then to the Off-Colors. "Meet my teammates, the-"

"We know full well about you and your exploits Lars." Hessonite cut Lars off. "Citrine told us about you when we first crossed paths, and she has proven useful to my cause."

"Excuse me, but what cause?" Fluorite asked Hessonite.

"The detainment of a Gem revolutionary known as Black Rutile!" Squaridot dramatically announced as she presented an image of the Gem in question. "For the past couple years ever since Steven began the process of reforming the Gem empire, this felon has been gathering up an army to rebel against him and the Crystal Gems, and now that the Spinel incident has come and gone, Black Rutile has finally decided now to initiate her plans to destroy him and conquer the Gem race!"

"Wait, why does Black Rutile have it out for Steven?" Lars asked when he came to a realization. "Wait, I remember her! She came to Earth once and interviewed me about my experiences with Steven! Is that all a part of her plan?"

"Indubitably," Citrine answered. "She's been gathering as much info as she can on Steven, the Crystal Gems, and almost everyone they've ever met in preparation for her forthcoming invasion. She knows everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and will use them against us with extreme prejudice."

"Black Rutile may seem like a genial reporter," Hessonite continued her sidekicks' explanation. "But it's all an act to disguise the cunning, devious, opportunistic, sociopathic monster she is underneath. Black Rutile was a former member of White Diamond's court and a fearsome warrior during the Rebellion with a burning vendetta against Pink Diamond because she believed Pink always got what she wanted by whining & crying all the time instead of doing any actual hard work to deserve things."

"So she hates Pink, big whoop." Rhodonite snarked.

"It's not just Pink, my dear fusion." Hessonite stated, putting a gloved hand on Rhodonite's shoulder. "By proxy, she has a hatred for Steven and the Crystal Gems because they continued her work by reforming our society, and some aren't very kind towards Steven's decisions."

"We were surrounded by those Black Pearls, but a trio of caped crusaders have come to save us!" Padparadscha cheered.

"Yes, thank you for adding to the conversation Sapphire." Hessonite muttered, glaring at Padparadscha before she turned back to Lars. "Recent intel we have gathered tells us that Black Rutile has inserted a Ruby spy into Yellow Zircon's democratic campaign, feeding her nothing but lies to inspire Gems to rebel against Era 3. I'm planning on infiltrating a speech she is giving, but I need help." She grabbed Lars by the hand and gazed at him with determined eyes. "Tell me Lars of the Stars, are you with us?"

"Well, with intel like that, I don't see why not." Lars declared, taking Hessonite's hand and giving it a firm shake. "I'm in!"

With that, the Off-Colors had some new allies by their side, and a new adventure to go on. One that might be their most dangerous yet.

Meanwhile, the remaining Black Pearls continued fleeing from Hessonite's squad and found somewhere safe to hide, where their leader turned on a communicator on her wrist.

"Black Pearl-6G9, report!" Black Rutile barked to her subordinates.

"It is the Hessonite, she has struck once again." The Pearl stated. "And it seems she has allied with the so-called "Lars of the Stars" to undermine your hard work."

"That traitor has been a thorn in my side for too long." Black Rutile snarled irritatedly. "A real shame too. She and I got along quite swimmingly before she went to retrieve that Prism." She then remarked nostalgically. "But enough about my backstory. The Zircon is preparing to make her speech soon. I need what's left of your force to protect her at the auditorium in Igneous Square no matter what. Affirmative?"

"Affirmative, my Rutile." Black Pearl-6G9 nodded and shut off her communicator before she turned to her fellow Pearls, nodding to them as well.

Later that day, Lars & Hessonite stood atop a building and gazed down upon the Gems gathered at Igneous Square where Yellow Zircon was set to make another speech. Also on stage with her were a group of Black Pearls, her mysterious campaign manager Navy and their special guest Morganite.

"Good day my fellow Gems." Yellow Zircon announced while Lars followed Hessonite down the building and blending in with the crowd. "As you can see, I brought a very special guest with me. I'd like you all to please give a warm welcome to the legendary designer, Morganite!"

"Wait, she's with them?" Lars whispered to Hessonite as Morganite stepped up to the podium. "But she seemed so chill when we first met her!"

"Looks can be very deceiving Lars." Hessonite advised her human ally. "Black Rutile has supporters all across Homeworld and their former colonies, but Morganite here is a part of her inner circle."

"Wait, inner circle?" Lars asked. "You mean she's got, like, a whole legion of doom by her side?"

"I wouldn't put it that way, but yes." Hessonite answered. "Now shush."

"Thank you Zircon for the marvelous introduction." Morganite said gratefully to the Zircon before she turned to the audience with a speech prepared. "Today shall be the end of Era 3. The end of the Crystal Gems, who have acquiesced to gaslighting and manipulation for thousands of years. At this very moment, hundreds of lightyears away, Steven Universe continues lying to the Gem race and brainwashing the mindless masses to his so-called "peace and love", while hypocritically abandoning all in actual need of his alleged assistance!" As Morganite went on, her speaking became more and more dictatorial until she began outright shrieking every word that came out of her mouth. "Once WE are in power, we shall return to our ways of conquering and terraforming, starting WITH PLANET EARTH! AND SOON STEVEN SHALL REALIZE THAT IF HE AND HIS MOTHER WEREN'T SUCH IRRITATING BRATS, HE WOULDN'T BE HIS OWN UNDOING!"

The Gems in the audience all began cheering and pumping their fists, chanting Morganite's name as she took a bow and began to leave the unnerved Yellow Zircon to take back her podium, until someone else took the microphone.

"Steven gaslighting and manipulating?" Lars hijacked the podium to make his own speech. "Frankly my friends, you're all dead wrong! Sure, he and I got off on the wrong foot more times than I can count, but I know that he is an actual good person. A fact that you are all just blind to for the sake of being mouthpieces for a complete maniac! You're no revolutionaries; you're just a bunch of proud clods! And another thing-"

"Hey pinky, get off the stage!" one Agate jeered while the Black Pearls began to surround Lars onstage.

"You shall come quietly human for questioning." The lead Pearl ordered, spear pointed directing across Lars's neck.

"Uh Hess, little help here!" Lars cried out nervously. Suddenly, a golden blur emerged from the crowd and easily dispatched the Pearls, along with any other Gems trying to get on the stage to attack Lars.

"Come on, let's head to my lair!" Hessonite stated before the screen behind the podium began to short-circuit before finally, Black Rutile appeared on it. "You."

"Ah Hessonite, so glad you could make it to the eve of my grand takeover." Black Rutile purred in greeting. "And look, you even brought a plus-one! Lars of the Stars, am I right?"

"Master, I sincerely apologize for my failure!" Morganite dropped on her knees and begged for Black Rutile's mercy. "It was the human who tried to expose me!"

"Save the apologies Morganite, I'll send in reinforcements later." Black Rutile replied before turning back to her pair of foes. "And as for you, go ahead and run around this planet all you like, 'cause you won't find me anywhere on it!"

"Well, where are you?!" Lars yelled.

"That is highly classified." Black Rutile responded with a sneer. "Not that you would care, you rose-colored hippie. Toodles!" With that, she disappeared from the screen, leaving the pair aghast at her sudden appearance before one of the Gems spoke up.

"Can't you see, Steven is forcing us to waste ourselves away being all caring and helping, when we should be returning to enslaving!" a particularly vigorous Pyrope yelled. "Who's with me?! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE!"

"YEAH, OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE!" a Jasper agreed, inspiring the other Gems to chant those same words.

"OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE!"

"It's worse than I thought." Hessonite muttered nervously while she and Lars made their escape. "She's manipulated them all."

"Do the Diamonds know about this?" Lars asked his new ally.

"I'm not sure, but that will definitely get their attention." Hessonite replied as they got further away from Igneous Square, where the chanting kept on going and Yellow Zircon stared in shock at what just happened.

"Was I just a tool for a fascist cause?" Yellow Zircon muttered in utter despondence while Navy stood behind her with an evil grin.

"Fascist cause? No." Navy grinned as she retreated into the shadows. "Tool? Oh so very much."

Not too far away from Homeworld was the former colony of Blue 4, a once pristine colony that has fallen on hard times due to its ruler's neglect of her subjects. And far from Blue 4 on its own little asteroid was the Palace of Light, formerly the capital of Blue 4 that was the current residence, or rather a prison, of the ex-elite Gems Pyrope and Demantoid.

"Day….I've lost count, of our imprisonment in the Palace of Light." Demantoid muttered robotically to herself as she sat across from Pyrope in their shared cell. "I have been making countless plans to break out of this cell and exact our revenge, but a certain someone just keeps debunking them all."

"Well, it's not my fault that most of your plans will fail!" Pyrope said haughtily. "Kind of like how it was your fault that we lost to Steven!"

"My fault?!" Demantoid yelled back as she hopped up and marched over to meet Pyrope's gaze. "If it weren't for your arrogance, we wouldn't be stuck in here with no status, no weapons, and no hope of escaping!"

Suddenly, the destabilizing forcefield that prevented the pair of Garnets from escaping shut off, allowing them to leave their cell with no trouble.

"Who could've possibly done this?" Pyrope wondered, looking around at how only their cell was deactivated while the others were still operational.

"I believe I can answer that for you." A voice answered pridefully as she marched towards the Garnets and revealed her identity. "Black Rutile, at your service. Long time no see you two."

"My stars, THE Black Rutile?!" Demantoid gasped in recognition of the Rutile. "Where have you been all this time?! Why are you only now helping us when you could've been useful during our clashes with the Crystal Gems?!"

"I've been plotting their downfall for quite some time Demantoid." Black Rutile answered. "I suppose you have been disenfranchised by Steven, much like my compatriots here, no?" she then asked as White Topaz, Aquamarine, Eyeball, Lapis 1J9G and Holly Blue emerged from behind her.

"So, you've been plotting your own rebellion, just like Rose Quartz?" Pyrope asked as she gazed at the Gems Black Rutile has gathered for her alliance.

"Indeed, and I believe you both deserve seats in it." Black Rutile replied as she took the pair's hands. "Now then, are you with me?"

"I am with you." Demantoid accepted the offer. "But only if she gets left here."

"No no no, she should be left to rot while I join you!" Pyrope demanded.

"Uh, something wrong you two?" White Topaz asked.

"It's all her fault we lost!" the Garnets blamed each other with fingers pointed, but they were quickly proven wrong.

"No, it's neither of your faults." Black Rutile stated as she brought up a projection of the pair's final battle with the Crystal Gems using the Light Prisms. "It's all because of Steven that you lost. That cunning, devious, opportunistic, sociopathic monster wanted you out of the way because you had no place in his dystopia, but there is room for you in the utopia I will soon build. Now let me repeat myself," She deactivated the hologram and looked back at Pyrope & Demantoid. "are you with me?"

"Okay, we're in!" Pyrope exclaimed, shaking the fearsome Rutile's hand. "Now tell us, what do you need us for?"

"I am planning on going down to Earth to strike at the Gems when they least expect it." Black Rutile explained, leading the group out into the main area of the Palace while pulling out another hologram from her visor detailing her plans. "Once we detain them once and for all, we shall indoctrinate the Gems they have brainwashed into their so-called Little Homeschool to our cause and overwhelm the Diamonds with our superior armies. After that, we'll have to discuss lat-"

Suddenly, the signaling of an urgent message cut off Black Rutile's plans. "One second everyone." She muttered before taking the message. "Ruby, report!"

"My Rutile, we need you!" Navy exclaimed fearfully. "The Zircon has already been seized since the speech, and now Morganite & I are on the run!"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that." Black Rutile said while pinching the gem on her face. "That Morganite, always such a self-important coward. I shall send in backup posthaste!"

"Oh thank you my glamorous Rutile!" Navy cheered. "I am so honored to be in your presence like always!"

"What did I say about the brownnosing?" Black Rutile shut Navy up before the message ended, then she turned to her minions. "Holly Blue, 1J9G, keep Lars of the Stars away from Earth no matter the cost."

"Understood my Rutile." Holly Blue obliged with her master's salute. "Come along terraformer."

"Really, we're going all this way just to get revenge on Steven?" Lapis 1J9G snarked. "You know, we don't have to make all these super complicated plans, we can just go down and kill everyone."

"Bite your tongue Lapis!" Holly barked at the Lapis Lazuli. "Is that the way you want to speak about someone who promised you your friend back?"

"No your clarity!" 1J9G squeaked in fear of the Agate's terror.

"Very good." Holly Blue replied pleasantly. "Now, let's return to Homeworld."

As the pair of blue Gems departed, 1J9G looked back at Black Rutile with a sneer while the alliance was being unknowingly watched.

The Light Prism George let out a gasp at what he just witnessed and began speaking in Gem Glyph to his fellow Prisms, who had now taken forms similar to his own. The three of them nodded, knowing just who to call.

Meanwhile, back on Homeworld, Lars and Hessonite had finally escaped the mob of furious Gems and found themselves standing before a pair of large doors at a tower.

"Welcome to my lair, Lars." Hessonite declared as she placed her palm on a scanner that allowed her entrance into the room. At the top of the steps was a large & elaborate computer system, along with the Off-Colors, Squaridot, and Citrine all waiting for the pair's return. "This was once Yellow Diamond's bubbling chamber before Era 3, and I've heavily repurposed it to suit my vigilante needs."

"Lars, you're back!" Rhodonite cried, and the Off-Colors all gave Lars a big hug as soon as he reached the top of the steps.

"Lars is coming back!" Padparadscha cheered.

"So, what's the situation like out there?" the right Rutile asked Lars as he took a seat at a workbench covered with gadgets either being built or fixed.

"It's worse than what Hessonite led us to believe." Lars muttered. "Black Rutile has brainwashed so many Gems into thinking Steven is the bad guy by using that Zircon's presidential campaign as a mouthpiece for her beliefs. And remember Morganite? She's one of her supporters."

"Are you serious?!" Rhodonite exclaimed in shock, since the last time she met her former superior, Morganite seemed so ambivalent towards Era 3. "I could never forgive her for how she treated us, but this is just going too far!"

"My thoughts exactly." Lars agreed. "Morganite gave a big speech about how the Crystal Gems are even more oppressive than the Diamonds were, but I took to the stage to argue against her claims. And then came a message from Black Rutile."

"What was she like?" Fluorite asked the undead human.

"She seemed so condescending, yet utterly monstrous at the same time." Lars answered. "When Black Rutile ended her message, all the Gems at the auditorium started chanting about their support for her. It's almost like those fascist regimes I read about."

"Holy revolution Lars!" Squaridot cried out. "We must warn someone, pronto!"

As Lars continued discussing the events at Igneous Square, Hessonite sat down at her massive computer and began putting down her findings on the screen before calling up Blue Zircon. "Zircon, this is Hessonite."

"Hessonite, glad to hear from you." Blue Zircon greeted the Garnet. "How's your investigation of my opponent going?"

"I had a little help exposing her." Hessonite stated, turning her screen to focus on Lars a bit. "This human and his Off-Color friends were at Spaceport Epsilon when their vessel, the Sun Incinerator, was hijacked by its former owner Emerald. Now I've enlisted them in helping me stop Black Rutile, and even had Lars accompany me to Igneous Square where Morganite made a speech at Yellow Zircon's conference."

"What were you two able to gather?" Blue Zircon asked.

"She turned out to be merely a puppet for Black Rutile's syndicate through the installation of a navel-Gem Ruby as her campaign manager." Hessonite continued with her findings before another message came through. "One second, have to take this." She tapped on the new message, which came out as a series of symbols that seemed unrecognizable to Lars when he took his place by Hessonite's side.

"What is that?" Lars asked, gazing at what he believed to be gibberish.

"It's Gem Glyph, the language of our people. Allow me to translate." Hessonite answered. "FROM GEORGE. SOS, PYROPE, AND DEMANTOID ESCAPED. BLACK RUTILE AND OTHER GEMS BROKE THEM OUT OF PALACE OF LIGHT. PLEASE SEND-, and then it just stops. Like the writer was captured before they could finish."

"Uh, one question." Lars said. "Who's George, and who are those Gems he's talking about?"

"George is what your friend Steven calls one of the Light Prisms that formerly belonged to yours truly." Hessonite answered as she stood up from her chair. "And Pyrope and Demantoid are a pair of high-ranking Garnets much like I who owned two other Light Prisms, before Steven confiscated them and we defeated the pair. It seems Black Rutile has recruited them into her alliance." Then she turned to Blue Zircon. "Zircon, send a warning to Steven!"

"I'm sorry Hessonite, but it seems my communication line to Earth has been compromised!" Blue Zircon exclaimed nervously. "How can we possibly warn the Crystal Gems now?!"

"Simple," Lars answered courageously. "we go back to Earth."

"You all can go ahead, I'll hunt down Ruby and Morganite." Citrine announced.

"Right, good luck out there big guy." Lars agreed before Citrine hugged him. "And thanks for the hug, but can you let me go?"

Later, Lars and the team returned to the spaceport where the Sun Incinerator was once in to search for another ship. "Where do we find a ship now?" Squaridot asked hurriedly.

"Simple, we take mine." Hessonite answered as she pointed to her warship, a large, orange inverted pyramid that stood tall and proud over all the others. At least, until it was destroyed by a saw blade made of water that instantly cut the ship in half.

"Oops, sorry about your ship!" Lapis 1J9G called from above with a laugh. "But seriously, I'm being forced to do this because my boss loves to make everything super-complex."

"Now what do we do?" Rhodonite asked nervously while the terraformer flew off.

"Easy, we take another ship." Hessonite instantly formed another plan and dashed to a different vessel parked nearby.

It was a green spaceship that was in the shape of a massive octahedron and had four long, claw-like prongs extending from all four sides. Lars instantly recognized this other ship as the Destiny Destroyer, the one that Emerald used to chase him and the Off-Colors after they stole the Sun Incinerator.

"So, taking another one of Emerald's ships, huh?" Lars wondered. "Ah, just like the old days when Emerald was after our heads, eh gang?"

"We are going to steal the Destiny Destroyer!" Padparadscha answered while everyone boarded Emerald's warship, all except Citrine, who had already volunteered to remain on Homeworld.

"Stay safe there Citrine." Lars promised Citrine before he went inside to pilot the ship out of Homeworld.

"Godspeed Lars of the Stars." Citrine replied as the Destiny Destroyer finally took off and left the planet. "There goes one of the bravest creatures I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

"Where is he?!" Citrine heard Holly Blue scream as she, Morganite, Navy, and a squad of Gem guards stormed Spaceport Epsilon in search of Lars. "You, Citrine, where is Lars?!"

"Lars isn't here right now." Citrine answered sardonically as she summoned her weapon from the gem on her stomach, a massive war hammer. "But if you'd like, I'll tell them you said hi and you give up."

"Well, it seems you finally caught us." Morganite announced as she put up her hands. "Go ahead, cuff us all."

"Quit acting so defeatist, our old ways are on the line here!" Holly Blue yelled before summoning her whip. "Now, any last words before I execute you for defying our master?!"

With an uncomfortable twitch in her eye, Citrine dropped her hammer and spread out her arms. "Go ahead." She snarled. "Bring it on."

"You really believed you can try to stop us little Prism?" Pyrope cooed mockingly to the three captive Light Prisms on Black Rutile's dropship. "Once we get rid of Steven once and for all, we'll use you three to raze everything he loves to the ground, and you'll be utterly powerless to stop us."

While the other two Light Prisms hugged each other in fear, George bravely took a stand against the Garnet, and yelled some form of retort in Gem Glyph.

"Oh keep quiet you." Pyrope shut George down immediately before turning away from the Prisms to meet Demantoid, who had now received perfect replicas of her former limb enhancers. "And how are you doing Demantoid?"

"Splendidly!" Demantoid exclaimed. "I feel like we've never met Steven to begin with!"

"Yes, you can compliment me for recreating your limb enhancers later." Black Rutile said to Demantoid. "Right now, I've set a course for one of your old colonies because I require your Peridots and Bismuths for a special task."

"What kind of task?" Demantoid asked while the dropship settled down on a planet covered with green hi-tech structures.

"You shall see." Black Rutile said as she, Demantoid, Pyrope, White Topaz, Eyeball, and Aquamarine disembarked to greet some Peridots and Bismuths nearby. "Salutations worker Gems!" she energetically greeted them. "Have I got an offer you certainly can't refuse."

"Demantoid?" one of the Peridots gasped at the sight of her former superior. "But we were told the Crystal Gems stopped you!"

"Well, you were wrong." Demantoid stated. "Black Rutile here has broken me and Pyrope out, and now we've joined her for revenge!"

"We have come to this little planet because we want you." Aquamarine announced. "We need more soldiers for our army, and you have the perfect amount of brains & brawn for the job."

"Fat chance you uppercrusts!" One of the Bismuths yelled as she stepped forward. "Steven would never allow you to control anyone in this era!"

"That's because this era will soon be over!" Black Rutile argued with the Bismuth. "Once I am in power, I will be the sole ruler of all Gemkind! You really think this is any way to talk back to your future empress?!"

"Oh, they will find out about this." The Bismuth said, quietly angering Black Rutile. "And they will stop you no matter what."

Black Rutile was utterly enraged at this kind of rebellion, but she kept a cool head even as she pulled a bowie knife from her gem and held it at the Bismuth's gem. Then suddenly, as if a completely different Gem replaced her, Black Rutile abruptly stabbed that Bismuth in the gem on her chest, and slowly scraped it down her gem while the Bismuth screeched in pain. When Black Rutile removed her knife, the Bismuth's form split in half just like her gem before she was finally shattered.

"Get rid of her remains." Black Rutile ruthlessly commanded to the frightened masses. As another Bismuth picked up her coworker's remains, Black Rutile turned to the other worker Gems. "Now let me repeat myself. I have an offer you most certainly can't refuse!" she said to the Peridots and Bismuth with cheer like she didn't just sadistically shatter another Gem. "Are you with me?"

"We're with you." Demantoid's terrified subordinates muttered.

"I can't hear you." Black Rutile insisted.

"We're with you!" the scared Gems repeated much louder than before.

"Peridots?" Black Rutile then asked the Peridots.

"We're with you!"

"Bismuths?" Black Rutile asked the surviving Bismuths.

"We're with you."

"And what about you?" Black Rutile said to the Bismuth she just shattered with her knife. "Oh right, shattered!" Then she started giving out orders. "Topaz, I need you with me to find more recruits. Aquamarine, Ruby, keep watch over our new recruits." She once again turned back to the Peridots. "And I got a few questions for you."

"What do you mean Rutile?" one of the Peridots with her gem on her chest asked.

"First off, can you call me "my Rutile" from here on out?" Black Rutile commanded. "Second, what's a Gem gotta do to find some corrupted Gems in this era? And three," She reached for her gem and pulled out a massive bubble containing various chunks of Cactus Steven. "what can you do with these?"

At long last, Lars, the Off-Colors, Hessonite, and Squaridot had left Homeworld via the Destiny Destroyer, ready to jump to hyperspeed, return to Earth and warn Steven of Black Rutile's plans.

"Ugh, I'm pooped!" Lars groaned as he slumped back in the captain's chair. "Think when we get to Earth, I'll go back to my old house and take a nice long nap before we save the planet and then head back into space."

"It would be nice to see Earth again, without threatening its existence though." Hessonite smirked, gazing out at the infinite sea of stars, planets, comets, and all sorts of cosmic scenery. "How about any of you?"

"Uh captains, we have a problem!" Rhodonite yelped as she stared at the radar screen. "It's the Sun Incinerator, and it's shooting right at us!"

"Emerald!" Lars grumbled as he pounded his fist on the armrest. "Come out and fight like the so-called commander you call yourself!"

A viewing screen turned on, allowing the team to see Emerald, sadistically excited to finally get her revenge. "How are you Off-Colors, now that you're on your way to destruction?"

"You won't take us down Emerald!" Lars bravely declared.

"Famous last words human filth." Emerald responded hatefully. "I've been begging, no, pleading to get my vengeance only for Steven to heartlessly take it away from me with his dumb little Era 3! Well, once Black Rutile is in power, she will render all of this era's laws null and void in favor of returning the Gems to the terrifying conquerors they were born to be!"

"Fat chance One-Eyed Jerk!" Squaridot cried out before she suddenly realized the hypocrisy of her retort.

"Engines to hyperspeed, quick!" Lars commanded his crew.

"Already on it Lars." Fluorite announced as she retreated to the engine room.

"We are under attack by Emerald, but we shall win!" Padparadscha declared eagerly.

The Destiny Destroyer's thrusters burned brightly as the ship prepared to leave the space above Homeworld and make a break for Earth, leaving the Sun Incinerator in the dust.

"Oh no, you don't!" Emerald yelled, forcing her ship to go into hyperspeed as well in hot pursuit.

The chase soon began in hyperspace, with Emerald continuing to pursue her purloined Destiny Destroyer while Lars and his crew were set on their path to Earth.

"Keep firing!" Emerald yelled, commanding her subordinates to fire her ship's blasters.

"Do a barrel roll!" Lars yelled in response.

"I'm sorry, a what now?" the Rutiles wondered in unison.

"You know, like in the video games!" Lars added. The Rutiles quickly caught onto this and began spinning the ship in a perfect circle.

"Actually, I don't believe that qualified as a barrel roll." Hessonite snidely corrected. "It seemed to me more like a-"

"Can't let you do that Hessonite!" Lars interrupted the orange Gem in a thick accent.

"Do what?" Hessonite replied.

"Ruin the joke." Lars answered. "Turn this around and start firing!"

With that, the Destiny Destroyer was flipped around to face the Sun Incinerator and began firing from its prongs.

The Sun Incinerator began to sustain heavy damage, much to Emerald's fury, and she gave another command to her subordinates. "RAIN FIRE!"

"But my Emerald, your Destroyer!" one of the Citrines serving as a part of Emerald's crew replied fearfully.

"JUST DO IT!" Emerald roared. The Citrines did as they were told and fired the Incinerator's blasters at the Destroyer, now causing the enemy ship to start falling apart as well.

"She's falling apart!" Lars cried as alarms sounded, signaling that the Destiny Destroyer didn't have much time left. "How much longer till we leave hyperspace?!"

"We've just arrived at our destination!" Squaridot yelled when the Destiny Destroyer finally left hyperspace and now hovered close to the planet Earth. "And good timing too, this ship is gonna fall apart!"

With not much time left till the Destiny Destroyer's destiny is to be destroyed, Lars thought up a plan right on the spot. "Everyone in my hair!"

"Come again?" Hessonite asked, one half of her monobrow raised.

"My hair's like a portal, and on the other end there's a lion Steven owns who's been brought back to life with powers like mine!" Lars explained. "But I think we're all gonna have to get in one at a time, so fusions are out of the picture!"

"You got it." Fluorite replied as she de-fused into Titanite, Lavender Jade, Iolite, Rubellite, Indicolite, and Verdelite, who all dove into Lars's hair.

"Don't forget us!" Rhodonite said as she de-fused into her Ruby and Pearl, who got into Lars's hair next.

"I wonder how this even works." Squaridot wondered just as Hessonite grabbed her and shoved her into the hairy portal. "Hey, quit it!"

"Lars has made an unorthodox plan to escape Emerald!" Padparadscha yelled while Hessonite grabbed her under her arm and dove in after Squaridot.

"What about you Lars?" the left Rutile asked, sticking her hand in Lars's hair.

"I'll cover things from here, just find Steven on the other end if he's nearby!" Lars ordered.

"Okay, be safe." The right Rutile said before both twins fully dove into the portal, leaving Lars as the only one onboard the Destiny Destroyer as he slowly stepped forward. Just then, Emerald showed up on the viewscreen.

"Any last words before I finally destroy you, Lars?" Emerald grinned maliciously.

"Yes, yes I do." Lars declared, glancing at a big red button that really stuck out from the rest of the green ship, and then looking back at Emerald with a smirk. "Hope you don't mind losing another ship!"

And so, Lars punched the button, causing the alarms to sound. "WARNING, SELF DESTRUCT SYSTEM ACTIVATED!" an automated voice declared. "PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND PROCEED TO THE ESCAPE PODS!"

"No, what are you doing?!" Emerald shrieked in terror at what was in store for her beloved ship.

"Saving the universe, that's what!" Lars declared before he shut his eyes and dropped to his knees. "Sadie, Shep, Mom and Dad, Steven, everyone." He whispered to himself. "I'm sorry."

With that, the Destiny Destroyer finally detonated, and its remains began careening towards Earth's surface. As Emerald watched from her prized Incinerator, she went ballistic. "NOOOOOO! YOU MAY HAVE OUTSMARTED ME AGAIN LARS, BUT I STILL HAVE THE SUN INCINERATOR!" she screamed angrily while her Citrines stared awkwardly at her. "Mourn with me!"

"Emerald!" Black Rutile yelled as her hologram appeared behind her green subordinate, giving her a scare. "I've been watching the entire battle. You almost had Lars right there, but then he had to press the self-destruct button!"

"I apologize my Rutile, please forgive me!" Emerald bowed for her black-colored master.

"Eh, you win some, you lose some." Black Rutile rolled her eyes. "Head to my current location at once. It's finally time."

"Yes, master." Emerald nodded in compliance as the hologram disappeared. "At long last, vengeance will be mine."

After the Destiny Destroyer began falling to Earth, everything else was but a blur to Lars. All he could remember were all his friends from Beach City gathering around the wreckage before being taken away somewhere.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he could barely make out four people standing by him in a hospital bed.

"Astounding, his heart rate has slowed dramatically, but he is still alive!" the muffled voice of a doctor exclaimed in astonishment. "Also, is the pink skin something he had all his life?"

"No doctor, it's been a thing for almost three years now." Lars's mother Martha answered. "I think it all started when he was abducted by aliens."

"S-Steven. Steven." Lars groaned lethargically as he fruitlessly reached out his hands for Steven. "Steven!"

"Doc, I think he's coming to!" Sadie yelled.

"Lars!" Dante Barriga exclaimed as he and his wife raced to their son's side. "Please, give us a sign that you're all right!"

"Steven, need Steven!" Lars cried out as he tried to get up out of bed.

"Mr. Barriga, please remain in your bed!" the doctor advised Lars. "You thankfully suffered no serious injuries, but you've just woken up from a coma sustained from that crash!"

"No, I think he's trying to tell us something!" Shep stated as they kept Lars stuck in his hospital bed. "You want to see Steven, right?"

"I need Steven, he in big trouble!" Lars replied, slowly beginning to regain some grasp of his words just as a nurse came in.

"Doctor Laurie, our patient has one more visitor." The nurse told the doctor. "He said a bunch of "Off-Colors" told him everything."

"I'm here Lars!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed into the hospital room to be by Lars's side. "Hessonite and the Off-Colors told me what happened when they came flying out of Lion's mane!"

"Steven, finally!" Lars cried happily as he grabbed Steven's shoulders. "Listen, I need to warn you! You and the entire planet are doomed!"

Meanwhile, as men in black suits began cleaning up the Destiny Destroyer's remains and taking them away for further inspection, the Sun Incinerator zoomed past Beach City, now with Black Rutile, White Topaz, Aquamarine, Eyeball, Lapis 1J9G, Demantoid & Pyrope, some Peridots and an army of cybernetically-enhanced Cactus Stevens on board.

"My Rutile, I've got bad news!" Eyeball exclaimed as she got reports back from Homeworld. "It's about our forces back on Homeworld. Holly Blue and Morganite have successfully been detained by a Citrine in league with Hessonite."

"Is that so?" Black Rutile wondered while she sat in a meditative pose, examining all the data she had collected on Steven and the Crystal Gems. "Well, they weren't going to be useful to me until further notice anyway." She got back to looking at all her data and began deleting what she found to be useless. Most of them involved Ronaldo. "Seriously, why do they keep hanging out with this human if he's such an irritating rat?!"

"My Rutile, we are en route to the Alpha Kindergarten and Facet Five." One of the Peridots announced. "There, you will find the Cluster Gems you seek."

"Excellent." Black Rutile replied, steepling her fingers together before she stood up. "My friends, our finest hour will soon be upon us. Once we have enough fodder to terminate the Crystal Gems, our next stop will be returning to Homeworld, where we shall overthrow the Diamonds and take their empire for ourselves."

"Yeah!" Aquamarine, Eyeball, Emerald, Demantoid, and Pyrope cheered. White Topaz was very unsure of herself while 1J9G just rolled her eyes irritatedly.

"We're here." Black Rutile added as the Incinerator finally touched down in the Alpha Kindergarten, and she disembarked from the ship. "Ah, reminds me of the Zeta Kindergarten where I first emerged. So many memories of far happier times. Now tell me, where is the control room?"

"It should be nearby." A Peridot announced as she used a GPS on her screens to guide the rebellious Gems through the Kindergarten until they discovered a green elevator pad that led them straight down to a large, green hexagonal room. "We have arrived."

"Finally." Black Rutile muttered as she looked around at the tube-like structures littered about the control room. Poking one of them with her bowie knife, the tube began to shake a bit before it began growing into a strange Gem monster with multiple limbs that had a gemstone made from the shattered remains of other Gems. "It's alive! Alive!" she gasped excitedly. "Everyone, wake them all up!"

"Uh, are you sure boss?" White Topaz stuttered, insanely unnerved at the creepy atmosphere of the control room. "I think I'll just wait back at the ship with those cactus things."

"You are not leaving us, you coward." Aquamarine barked, holding White Topaz back with her newly reclaimed wand. "You will assist us in awakening these experiments so we can use them against Steven! Are we clear?!"

"Yes ma'am." White Topaz replied meekly and got to work on awakening the other Cluster Gems.

"Hey, I'm just as scared as you are Topaz." 1J9G said to White Topaz. "I'm only here so I can get back at Steven for taking my friends away, so I'm not that interested in the boss's psycho vendetta either."

Soon, more and more Cluster Gems began to awaken from their slumber, feebly grasping at their captors while their gems projected other Gems in pain. And Black Rutile was utterly excited to see them all.

"Yes, yes!" Black Rutile cheered, her cries of joy echoing throughout the control room. "THEY'RE ALL ALIVE!"

And so it begins. This was quite probably the longest chapter of Alternate Future I've written yet, and I'm definitely quite proud of it. Was Black Rutile to your liking folks? Was she evil enough yet still had some form of a point? Well, I hope you're excited to see more of her as she takes center stage in the final chapter of Part 2, Enemy of my Enemy! After that, I'll be going on another hiatus. But when we meet again for Part 3, I've got tons more where that came from!

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yamithediaperdork · 3 years

Text

Baby Universe (Steven Universe)

Peedee wasn't sure what made him go over to Steven's house. It wasn't like he normally went up there, when Steven wanted to hang out he came into town. Still with the restaurant closed while they were fixing the freezer he had nothing better to do. and as it would turn out, the walk would be MORE then worth it.

Steven was enjoying a rare bit of time alone for a change, and was taking advantage of it. It wasn't that he didn't like the gem,s they were like three mom's to him, but just sometimes he needed time alone. double so since his little fetish had kicked itself into overdrive as puberty was hitting him and while the Gem's didn't seem to care, Steven still had a hard time bringing himself to wear his shameful fetish gear while they were home. Said fetish gear wasn't as bad as it could of been, it wasn't like he was wearing 30 pounds of leather or dressing up like a fox to go and yiff, Nope, all Steven wanted to do was wear thick crinkly diapers, and usually up to half a pack at a time so he could barely waddle. This of course HAD led to him being busted by the gem's in the past, but once they were convinced he was ok and didn't NEED the diapers, they left it alone and passed it off as one of those 'human things.' Today with the place to himself Steven already had 4 tena's on and was wiggling his butt in the mirror and trying to decide if he should keep it safe and just add anther 2 or go for broke and add 6 more. it would be all of his remaining diapies and he wouldn't be able to get more for awhile which was the only reason he was hesitating. Still, Nothing ventured, nothing gained and he decided to go with as thick as possible and went to work. He was JUST getting the last diaper on, sitting on the floor and touage hanging out in effort when there was a knock on the front door and without thinking about it, Steven called out. "It's open!" and then slapped his hands on his mouth, having JUST got the last tape on.

Peedee smiled and walked in, he had assumed as much but had been taught manners so naturally had knocked. "Hey Steven, i was wondering if you wanted to..hang..out..Why's it smell like half a bottle of baby powder in here?" the slimmer boys asked, heading for the stairs and sniffing. "N-No reason! you should just go home! I'm sick!" Steven's panicked voice range out and then as Peedee got to the top of the stairs he was treated to the side of Steven's pamper clad butt sticking out, the top half of Steven was trying to hide under his bed. Without even pausing to think about it Peedee took out his cellphone and started to snap pictures. "Nice pampers Steven~ Did your mommies diapie you up nice and safe and sound before going out for more?" Peedee asked in a mocking tone. "J-Just get out of here or I-I'll-" Steven stammered, trying to think of a threat. "You'll what? make a stinky boom boom? doesn't look like baby Steven has any more diapies though so you'll hafa sit in your boom boom till they get back." Peedee laughed. the taunt had the desired result of Steven coming out from under the bed and glaring at Peedee, but all that did was let the slimmer boy get a snap shot of Steven's face to go with his butt and then clicked on his phone. "Andddd saved to my cloud. So if you get any ideas about trying to snatch my phone away tubby, it's doomed to fail." Peedee said, chuckling. Here he was, in shorts and a muscle shirt, slender and lanky but at least looking his age while Steven was a tubby little butter ball who was older then him but between his baby face and well.. BABY PANTS he looked so much younger. "ngggh..what do you want." Steven huffed, hands balled up into fists but staying his ground. "I wanna go and have LOTS of fun with the big baby, In town. if your a good boy, I won't tell anyone about your diapies. if your bad, I'll pants you in the middle of the amusement park. but if your a super good boy, I'll get you a new pack of diapies." Peedee said. Steven huffed and whined, but it wasn't really like he had a choice in the matter and after sulking, nodded.

the tricky part for heading out and keeping baby Steven in his bulky diapers was finding something to go over them, which between the boys chub and the massive thickness of the diapers was proving to be next to impossible. "well geez, if we can't cover them I'll just have to stay home. shucks, that sucks sooo much." Steven said, shrugging his shoulder and smirking while Peedee dug though a box of old clothes. "Don't count me out yet, I'll find so- AHA!" Peedee said, and held up a old hula skirt of Greg's (what it was doing there was anyone's guess) "This should cover your thick crinkly butt, at least as long as you don't bend over or there isn't too much of a breeze." Peedee said and smirked. "...ah poop." Steven whined.

the skirt actually did a fairly decent job of hiding the diapers for the most part, if anything was giving Steven away as they made their way into town the was the waddling and the crinkling Steven was doing plus his face being beat red. Thankfully most people just assumed it was from wearing the hula skirt and chuckled and told Steven and Peedee how cute they looked as they headed for fun land. "I swear to god, everyone know!" Steven mewed holding onto Peedee's arm for comfort even though the slimmer boy was the cause of all of his suffering. "now now, enough of that! Unless you want me to go and take you dress shopping thats the best your gonna get." Peedee said, though a evil look came over his face as he said it. "Uhh nope! I'm good! Let's go get some cotton candy!" Steven mewed. "Oh like you need MORE candy tubby~" Peedee teased and poked a finger into Steven's flab. "Come on, we'll go play a few games then go and get the baby a dress..and of course lots of new diapies." Peedee said, not bothering to keep his voice down but with the noise from the crowd no one heard him. that didn't stop Steven though from wetting himself a little as he looked around, almost crying. "Don't say stuff like that out loud!" he whined, sounding like a pouty toddler. "Sheesh your grumpy..Did I snag you before your afternoon nap or something? or does somebody need a diapie change?" Peedee asked and then even as Steven tried to say no, and with people around Peedee lifted up the back of the skirt and looked quick. it was quick enough anyone watching wouldn't be quite sure of what they saw and no one was close to being able to get a picture but it had Steven in mute silence, jaw hanging open. "Hmm, just a little soggy your good." Peedee said and then noticed Steven was frozen in humiliation. "Awww is the widdle baby scared somebody saw his diapies?" Ok, the plan HAD been to drag this out, but the look on Steven's face was waking something twisted up in side of Peedee and with a crowd around and some people looking worried about Steven frozen state, Peedee smiled. "I know a solution to get rid of all that doubt!" he said cheerfully. he grabbed either side of the hula skirt and far too late Steven realized what was about to happen and hand hands moved to grab Peedee's but were FAR too late. with a yank downwards the chubby babies thick massive diapers were on full display for the crowd to see and a silence went over the park, before a eruption of laughter broke out. "oh my god, Stevens a big baby!" cried Lar's holding his belly and laughing while Sadie covered her mouth and elbowed Lar's to be polite. "Man, I knew he had baby fat, didn't think he was a baby.." Snickered sour cream. "what are you talking about, that's not baby fat, he's just a little oinker!" Jenny giggled, taking out her phone for pictures. "Man, This explains so much about how naive he is." Buck commented. "S0Steven what are you.." Came Connie's voice, and shaking and tears welling up in his eyes he turned to see her with her parents, hands on her mouth and her father trying not to laugh, while her mother was shaking her head. "I think it goes without saying you won't be hanging out with him anymore, Unless it's a babysitting job." Connie's mom said and then with a bitchy sneer added. "And Steven, I can hook you up with a dietitian if you want." it was all too much for the little piggy and Steven plopped on his butt and started to bawl, kicking his legs and rubbing his eyes just like the big baby he was dressed like. any hope that this was the worse that could happen today was soon dashed however as Peedee intended to keep the rest of his promises to the big baby, which included a new outfit and LOTS of diapers.

Any and all fight was out of Steven as he held onto Peedee's hand, walking on the board walk toward the new little miss plus that had opened up in town. it had all the same styles of outfits most other girls wore but was meant for the chunky girls, or sissies in Stevens case. It was picked because well, where else was Peedee gonna get a dress that was going to fit his little butter ball and because it was the furthest away from the only shop in town that sold diapers in any size, so Steven would be showing off his new outfit when they went to get him his diapies. walking in the young girl minding the counter burst into the later and then excused herself, her name tag said her name was sally and she was tall, about 20-25ish and had her long blond hair in a pony tail. "H-Hi, I'm Sally, H-How can i help you?" she said, the back of her hand up to her mouth and trying not to laugh as Steven's blush traveled from his chubby cheeks down his neck, he was heading for full body blush territory. "Hi, I'm Peedee and this is sissy piggy Steven. Oink for the nice lady Steven." Peedee said and swatted Steven's padded behind, making him jump and let out a loud oink. "I was wondering if you had any cute short dresses that would help hide my little piggy princess fat rolls while also letting him feel all sweet and dainty. and before you answer, this is what your working with." at that Peedee grabbed Stevens shirt and yanked up up and over his head, leaving the poor half gem in just his Bulky diapers and shoes. "pffft..I dunno.. Maybe. I-I might have to set up a video conference with my fri- other consultants so we can figure out what'll look best on the piggy, is that ok?" Sally asked Peedee, since it was clear who was in charge. Steven mewed and looked at Peedee, willing him to say no, it was clear it was just gonna be a lot of women looking at him and laughing! "oh yeah, that makes sense. go for it." Peedee chuckled and then laughed as Steven started to whimper and suck his thumb.

Half a hour later and the full body blush was going on big time, all of the women on the call where on speaker and he could heard all of their cutting comment and mocking questions. for the most part he didn't answer them though, Peedee insisted he speak for Steven who was currently sucking on a large pink costume pacifier that Sally had found in the back that had been sent there by mistake instead of a costume shop. The nipple was too big really for his mouth and so Steven had a constant line of drool going down his chin but there had been a bib too to go with the paci and it'd been tied around his neck and adjusted to go over every outfit they had Steven try on, and the bib of COURSE had to read 'Daddies baby girl' "Have you thought about trying to put him on a diet?" One lady asked. "Yeah, but the little piggy will go though the trash looking for left overs. at least when I let him eat 2 whole pizza's to himself it's not trash pizza." Peedee lied. "Does he use his diapers for like..everything?" anther asked. "Of course. he doesn't get a diaper change till he's totally filled the front and back of his diapers or he's leaking. I'm not made of money for him to just waste them." "aww, what a lucky little piggy! I bet you love your daddy VERY much huh Steven?" A third giggled, directing her question right to Steven who locked eyes with Peedee. there was no doubt what the right answer was and if all of this had happened with him trying to be a good boy and play along, he didn't wanna think about what would happen if he was a bad boy. Steven nodded his head slowly as Sally squealed and then held out what she claimed would be the PERFECT dress for widdle piggy Steven. The top part of it had no sleeve, just little puffy bubbles in a white cream color, little indents with hot pink, then the main part of the top half of the dress was also hot pink and had a piggy face on the front, in a little shade of pink. the skirt part of the dress clearly wasn't going to be long enough to get close to covering up his massive diapers and was white with a little piggy head print going all around it. "I totally forgot we're getting in a line of fat shaming clothes for mothers and fathers who are sick of their girls being little piggy's! what do you think Peedee? prefect?" Peedee nodded and getting the dress on Steven it pinched at his flab rolls and much as Steven had predicted, did next to nothing to cover up his diapers, at least Half of them were still on display. with his bib on the top of it but not covering up the piggy on the front of the dress Peedee also got Steven a pair of pink flat heels and then of all things, promised that Steven would pay for the clothes by modeling them off in the store window for a few hours a week! "Well, as long as I don't have to change him I'm sure that can be worked out." Sally laughed. Steven just sniffled and sucked on his paci, knowing as bad as today had been so far, it was only going to get worse.

The end, for now.

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captainillogical · 4 years

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Home Ch.4

The domesticity of living with an alien who hasn’t quite had the chance at a normal life.

Distant Lands sequel.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

Today is another hot, bright day outside, and you have not had enough coffee to deal with it. Or any at all, actually.

Currently it's about an hour before your first lesson, and you're at Kiki's place - sitting on the toilet inside her bathroom in particular - trying to not panic.

"-and then! I told her if she wants to keep borrowing my jacket, the least she can do is NOT get mustard all over it! Can you believe her?!" Kiki huffs out next to your ear, dabbing more pigmented cover-up against your collarbone.

"Why the hell do you buy clothes that you know she'll keep stealing? You know she's not going to stop since you basically wear the same size." You reply, leaning into her brush. It tickles your skin, and you feel yourself almost sneezing.

"Because they're cuuuuuute, okay?" She whines, twisting her face in concentration as she smears makeup on a particular spot on your neck. "Wow she really did a number on you here.. are these teeth marks?"

"Pretend you didn't see them, just cover them up as best as you can," You plead, giving her The Face you know she can't resist. She rolls her eyes. "I just wanna look professional, you know?"

"They're gems, Y/N." She makes a point to jab you particularly hard on the side of your neck with her brush. "You seriously think they're going to care? Or notice?"

"Well, apparently a few humans signed up too, and I really would prefer to not get any more looks, er - more than the usual, anyway." You feel your phone vibrate in hand, and look down to see Steven giving you several thumbs up to your earlier text.

"Why are humans signing up?" She asks, pausing momentarily.

"Not sure? But I'm blaming Steven on that." You reply, remembering to shoot Garnet a message as well about having her attend just in case you make a fool out of yourself in front of a crowd.

"Maybe they saw you with Spinel, and thought, hey, maybe the rest of us could-"

A door slams against a wall, and you hear a resounding 'HEYYYYYYYY' from the hallway in a very familiar voice. Several pairs of footsteps are walking towards the bathroom the two of you are in.

Oh god, you need to go. You attempt to stand up from sitting on the toilet, and Kiki forces a hand on your shoulder with an "I'm not done!"

"Kiki!" Jenny pops her face into the bathroom doorway with an infectious smile. "What are you dooooooooo- whoa, Y/N?!"

If you could clap your hands and disappear, you would.

"Heyyyyy Jenny," You greet her as flatly as you can, and then Lars also pops his head into the doorway. Oh. Great. "Lars. What are you guys doing here?"

Lars gasps dramatically, pointing to your neck. "YOOOOOOOUUUUUU-"

Kiki silences him with her palm over his mouth. "Dude I already told you, why are you being so dramatic right now,"

"You TOLD him?!" You screech, feeling completely betrayed.

"Well, YEAH, clearly you were going to just internalize it and dance around the subject!" She places her hands on her hips, makeup brush still in her fist. "I'm just expediting the process!"

"Tell him what!?" Jenny pipes in, completely engrossed.

"That Y/N's dating Spinel!" Kiki huffs out, like this is obvious information, and Jenny gasps.

“I wasn’t going to dance around the subject!! I just haven’t had the chance to shoot him a text yet..” You mumble, trailing off sheepishly. Okay, so, you know you should’ve told Lars already! It’s just.. Ugh. Talking about your feelings is hard. The face Jenny’s making is making you wish you could flush yourself down the toilet.

“You dumbass, were you seeing how long you could hide this from me?! After all I did for you.” Lars crosses his arms over his chest, miffed. “It’s whatever, I knew that was going to happen sooner rather than later, anyway. I was expecting like, two days, tops - with how you had talked about her.”

“Am I that obvious?” You ask flatly.

“Uh, yeah.” Jenny gives you a look. “Girl, you avoided me for an entire year after I asked you out, and then acted like nothing ever happened. I probably would have recovered my ego a lot faster if I knew your type was Gems.”

“My type isn’t GEMS,” You sputter, utterly amazed at the audacity of the three of them.

“Yeah but your neck says otherwise,” Lars teases, and you groan, covering your face as the other two howl in laughter.

“Remind me why I’m friends with any of you?” You say, muffled behind your hands.

“Um, because you have no other options?” Kiki grins, and you put your hands down just to lightly kick her on the shins, and she chokes out a snort.

“So, what’s the occasion? Why are you dolling up Y/N?” Jenny peers over at you, taking in the new.. upgrades to your appearance.

“She’s got some lessons today, and wanted to look more professional,” Kiki rolls her eyes, like somehow you wanting to not talk to a class looking like you got half-mauled by a sea lion is ridiculous. “Speaking of, did you want me to cover the scar on your face?”

“Ehhh, leave it. I don’t really care about that.” You look at the time on your phone, knowing you need to leave soon. Spinel has texted you a few words of encouragement coupled with quite a pile of heart emojis, and you have to school your face into not smiling at it like some sort of cheese ball.

"I think you look cooler with it anyway," Jenny tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, her gold earrings shining in the light of the bathroom. "Makes you look like you won't take shit from anyone."

"What about my scar?" Lars asks. "Is my face scar not cool??"

"Yours looks more like you fought a raccoon in a dumpster." Jenny grins, and you can't help the laugh that comes out of your mouth as Lars sputters at her response.

The four of you chat for a little while longer while you finish up with Kiki, Jenny asking way too many questions about your personal life - but this time, you don't feel uneasy at all about sharing some of the details with her.

You're standing in the middle of Little Homeworld near the town center, coffee in hand - surveying the area as people and gems hustle around you. You probably should've also grabbed something to eat, but it's kind of too late now. Steven's bringing you lunch after this anyway.

It's twenty minutes until your first lesson, and you're starting to see a few gems show up early. They had to relocate where you'd be having the class - originally they had given you a decent spot under some coverage, but because the attendance got so high they moved you to the literal town center for the space. There's a lot of gems (and some humans) around, and most of them are either working on small construction or going about doing their other jobs. You watch three Amethysts a few yards away struggle to lift a large sheet of glass for what looks like a new cafe. Huh. The gems are really trying for inclusivity here.

You turn around to look at your chalkboard that Garnet placed here for you, and write out a giant welcome sign on it, along with the class title and your name. You could've probably written it a little more eloquently.. eh. The gems aren't going to care. There's some sudden yelling coming from around you, so you turn to look - one of the Amethysts nearly dropped her side of the glass because someone bumped her — aaaand it's Spinel, with Bismuth next to her, who are reading over some blueprints.

You stand there, hoping Spinel hasn't seen you. She doesn't know your class got moved, but you're positive she was supposed to be working with not Bismuth today. Great. You don't need a reason to be any more anxious about this than you are, even if seeing her pink hair kind of sets you also at ease.

More people and gems walk by loudly, and you start to wonder if you're going to need a megaphone. You grab your stack of papers, and go over your notes on your bench while you bide your time until it's noon.

About five minutes pass, and someone sits next to you on your bench.

"Heyyyy." A familiar voice speaks, and you look up - you're greeted with the smiling face of that rose quartz you've bumped into twice. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Oh, it's you," You reply, a bit off-guard. You weren't expecting anyone to sit and chat with you, nonetheless the very specific gem you keep randomly meeting.

"Saw you sitting here, and wanted to say hello before I went to this class I signed up for," She holds out her hand, her bright smile not making you feel as uneasy as it did the previous day. "I realized I never introduced myself. You can call me Rosie, if you want. The other quartzes have taken a liking to it."

"Rosie, huh.. that's actually a nice name. Mine's Y/N." You return her smile, and shake her hand.. which is strangely soft.

"Are you here for the lesson too? I'm pretty excited about this one, this has to be the most interesting class they've got on the current schedule right now." She leans in, putting an arm up on the bench back for support. More gems have started to gather in the centre now.

"I am, but I'm actually the one teaching it.." You reply almost sheepishly, and her eyes widen in response.

"You're teaching it?!" She lights up immediately. "I thought it was just gonna be one of the other gems! No wonder so many came here from Homeworld for this!"

"... you're pulling my leg, right? How would any of them have heard of this? We only posted this class within the last week, and just on the singular board." You feel the bubbles of dread in your stomach. Or maybe that's just the excessive caffeine.

"I heard a couple talking about fliers over there, I'm not sure, but they were so excited." She takes a second to look around, and lowers her voice briefly. "I heard that one of the Diamonds wanted to attend, even."

WHAT. Your brain cannot deal with this information.

"B-but they're not, right?" You hear your voice waver, and you push your creeping anxiety down. "I don't think I can deal with a Diamond here, today."

She laughs, and it's not mockingly. It's almost sweet, actually.

"That would be something, wouldn't it?" She winks at you, a light smile on her face. "But no. I don't see their gaudy ships, so I think you can rest easy."

“Phewwwww,” You dramatically wipe your hands down your face, and let out a groan. “I was so worried there for a sec. What would the Diamonds care about interacting with humans, anyway? So absurd.”

“I have no idea,” She giggles at your antics. “Your guess would be about as good as mine.”

You see Spinel staring in your general direction, and your heart rate speeds up when you see her eyes connect with yours. Her face lights up like you’re the best thing she’s ever seen in her life, and you can’t stop the goofy smile that breaks out on your face. You wave at her, and she nearly drops the box she’s holding to enthusiastically wave back.

“Who’s that?” Rosie asks, face turned to peer at Spinel way over there.

“My girlfriend.” Is what comes out of your mouth automatically, and she whips her head back to stare at you with a strange face.

“You’re dating a gem?!” She hisses out, clearly shocked as her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline.

“Yes - jeez, why does everyone always react this way - and it’s not THAT weird, before you ask,” You say, feeling your face heat up in embarrassment.

“And a Spinel, of all gems? No offense.” She looks back over to stare at said pink-haired gem, before turning back to you.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You give her a look, taking immediate offense to her statement. She brings her hands up in defense.

“I didn’t mean it like - It’s just, Spinels seemed to always be designed for friendship; not romance. I’ve physically witnessed three dating catastrophes between them and other gems, in my time.”

“Well, my Spinel is perfectly fine.” You say, and it comes out a little more aggressively than you had wanted, and she recoils a bit. “But thanks for your concern.”

“I'm sorry, it wasn’t my intention to offend you.” She at least has the decency to look apologetic. “How long have you two been dating?”

“We just started this week..” You answer.

“New relationship, huh.” She looks like she’s studying your face, and you’re not sure how you feel about it. “I do wish you two the best,”- There’s a sudden low murmur in the group of gems nearby you, and you look over to see what they’re mumbling about.

Fucking hell.

Jasper, yeah THAT Jasper, is standing over in the now pretty fucking large crowd of gems that’s gathered to attend your class, and you don’t know whether to laugh or scream.

“Whoa, she’s huge.” Rosie does a double-take at said gem, eyes widening hilariously.

“Yeah, a huge bitch. Jasper fucking hates humans, why the hell is she even here?” You groan, hoping that maybe she’ll just sit quietly and not make any remarks or heckle the other students.

"You know her?" She asks, amused by your response.

"Unfortunately, thanks to Steven."

"That kid is some kind of magnet for problems of all shapes and sizes." She laughs, shaking her head.

"You don't even know the half of it.." You give her a tired look, and she laughs even more. She asks you a few more questions about Steven and your life, and you answer them truthfully while attempting to distract your anxiety.

A hundred gems is your turnout. A bit over, actually, and a handful of humans too.

You maybe feel just a little in over your head with this, but, well.. it's too late now. You spot quite a few gems you've seen before in the crowd, as well as Onion of course, and your neighbor George. You even spot Buck sitting in the middle of a group of Lapis who look like they're discussing heavy gossip with him, and he's actually engaged. Interesting.

There are.. so many eyes peering at you. You've never talked to a crowd this big in your entire life, and public speaking has never been your strong suit. But these gems came here for a specific reason, and goddammit, the thought of Pearl or Sour Cream teaching this instead in your place just doesn't sit right with you at this point.

You greet the class once the volume dies down enough, and a wave of enthusiastic greetings come back at you. You see Garnet in the corner and she gives you a thumbs up, and honestly it makes you feel a lot better that she's here.

You start off with your orientation notes, and talk generally about the basics, mainly about the similarities between gems and humans as common ground. Literally only about three minutes into this class, and a quartz that is most likely from Homeworld raises her hand. You call on her.

"Is it true that humans eat their younglings?" She shouts out from the middle of the crowd, her vibrant purple hair half covering one of her eyes.

"Er," You stumble on your words, a little perturbed that that's the first question you get. "No, humans don't eat their young at all, you're probably confusing us with some other species."

She nods, like that sounds like the right answer, and then about twenty more hands shoot up.

"Let's save the questions until I at least get through this pile of papers, guys," You insist, and a noise of disapproval comes from near the front left side of the group. You turn your head, and.. it's fucking Jasper. Does she know that you'd throw hands with her if it were not for the fact that you're trying to be professional?

You completely ignore her, and continue on with what you were previously talking about.

A good 20-25 minutes pass, and you're now in a good place to stop so people can ask their questions. A few humans you don't recognize ask you about how you know so much, and you answer truthfully. You briefly talk about living with Steven and the Crystal Gems, and how easy it was to co-exist.

A LOT more hands pop up after that.

"This might sound strange, but how do you ask a human to be friends?" The Lapis you call on asks.

"You can just ask. Humans do it too. Sometimes people prefer to form them naturally though, but if you guys are already talking then it's a good sign."

"But what about if they scream at you?" Another gem blurts out, and you curb the bark of laughter that wants to escape from your mouth.

"Generally speaking, what do you do if a gem screams at you? Same principle. Guys, humans and gems are way more similar than you think, and communication is key in this." At least your voice is steady, and you don't really feel as anxious as you were before, since the class seems to actually be going smoother than you had thought.

The giant hand of the Morganite in the middle of the crowd waves frantically, and you call on her with amusement. It's kind of cute how excited and interested a lot of the gems are. "You seem to have a ton of gem friends, and I have no human friends! Could you be my first?" She yells at you.

"Oh, I don't see why not," You answer truthfully, feeling a bit sheepish and taken aback by her request. Once those words leave your lips though, half the crowd starts shouting - ME! ME TOO! COULD YOU BE MY FRIEND?? - and you can't help feeling a little flustered as you try to calm the class down, taking a few more regular questions to keep it going.

You don't even realize through the noise of the center of little Homeworld when you spot a camera crew at the edge of your crowd, setting something up. It's the fucking local news station, what the FUUUUUUUUCK. You try not to outwardly display your internal panic and it's proving to be one of the hardest things you've ever done.

"When did you get that scar?" Jasper stares at you from her seat, pointing to your face.

You freeze momentarily at the lack of tact in that question, and that's when you spot Spinel off to the side of the class, at the edge of the crowd of students. Your brain stutters.

"U-um. It was during an accident with my girlfriend." You blurt out quickly, and instantly regret those words. You should've fucking lied or something because you can see Rosie narrowing her eyes at you in the front.

"Is that why you look like that now?" Jasper grunts out, crossing her arms. If you could throttle her you would in a heartbeat.

"Yes." You state firmly, meeting her gaze. She looks a little surprised at your answers. "Anyway, moving on." You hear a few murmurs in the crowd after that, opting to ignore how anxious it makes you.

You answer a few more questions, and try to not look at Spinel who keeps raising her hand with the rest of the gems. Shouldn't she be working?! Oh god, of course the camera crew is actually filming something - you can barely offhandedly hear the reporter spouting off something about little Homeworld into the camera as it pans around him.

Your heartbeats are hammering in your chest, but you move onto more questions and try to keep your cool. Eventually you can't ignore how obnoxiously your girlfriend is raising and waving her hand trying to get your attention - several gems around her keep pointing at her so you'll give her a chance.

Oh, little do they know.

You sigh, resigning to letting her ask a question.

"Spinel." You call on her with a pointer finger as neutrally as possible, which is way harder than you had thought.

"Finally!" She cries with a fist pump, and a few people around her chuckle. "I just wanted ‘ta ask, is it possible for a gem and a human to fuse?”

You feel yourself freeze on the spot, taken completely by surprise. There’s a couple murmurs among the crowd.

Why the fuck is she asking that.

“U-um, no, unfortunately there’s no way to do that because of the differences in our biological make-up,” You say, feeling your face heat up in embarrassment - there are so many eyes staring at you.

“Well that sucks!” A random gem in the crowd shouts, and quite a few gems erupt in laughter.

You try your best to wind them down and finish with their many, many questions.

It isn’t long until the class is over - you had only taken up hour sessions, and you’re so thankful for it. The class went over well, and many gems walk up to you to chat and shake your hand, and the local news station seems to be interviewing a couple gems on what went on - you guess there’s some sort or segment they’re doing on Little Homeworld, and today just happens to be the day they chose to do that.

You avoid the camera crew as much as possible as you tidy up your belongings, and Spinel walks up to you as you gather your papers in your arms.

“That went pretty good!” She beams at you, looking proud. You squash your feelings of affection that overwhelm you - you wish you could kiss her if you were not in public.

“Yeah, and if you ever ask me a question like that in my classes again, I’m actually going to ban you. I’ll even put up a photo of your face so the other’s know to barr you from the class.” You scoff at her, and she completely disregards it, getting a little closer to you to give you a look that you recognise as her challenging you.

“That wouldn’t work on me anyway,” She grins, hand raising up to tuck the stray hair that just flew into your face - she looks to the side of you briefly as you hear footsteps and speaking -

FUCKKK, THE REPORTER IS WALKING RIGHT OVER HERE.

Your eyes dart back to Spinel, body posed to leave. “U-Um, I gotta-”

“Ma’am! Maaaaa’am!” You hear the reporter shout at you.

Cool cool, keep it cool. Just breathe. You want to vomit.

"You two look pretty close." He remarks as he jogs up to you, slightly out of breath. The cameraman follows him, and if you could run you would. But you'd rather not be turned into a local meme, so your feet are firmly planted in the spot. "I wanted to catch you before you left, Miss Teacher!" He smiles brightly at you - that you know is just for the camera.

"I was just finishing up." You smile politely.

"I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding the class you just held if that's alright with you?" He asks, adjusting the small mic on his collar. He also holds up the microphone that the logo of the local news station is emblazoned on.

"Sure." You feel your nerves go haywire. This is way, waaaay too much pressure for you, you feel like you're going to faint, the fucking cameraman just winked at you.

"What's your name, firstly."

"Y/N." You answer him with just your first name, and he gives you a look.

"Last name? You gotta have a last name." He insists.

You tell him your last name, and his eyebrows furrow before they shoot up into his hairline.

"Last name, last name?" He implores, holding the microphone closer to your face. "Like, -last name- the lawyer working on that Gem case in Empire city, -last name-!?"

Oh. You forgot about your father.

"Y-yes," You stutter out in a panic, and instantly regret waking up this morning.

God fucking dammit.

#spinel #spinel x reader #spinel steven universe #steven universe #su #home #my fic

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fanfoolishness · 4 years

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SUtM and what being a Diamond means for Steven

I’ve been trying to figure out how to contextualize the Steven Universe movie, now that we’re well into Steven Universe Future. What is its narrative importance? What does it mean for SUF? Because it’s a lovely story on its own, and many shows could have ended right there and called it good -- the good guys win again, balance is restored, villain redeemed, it’s all going to be all right. I was very curious to see where the Crewniverse would go from here and have a few thoughts rattling around my head.

Initially, I thought of the movie as a coda. It summarized the Gems’ character arcs beautifully, as well as calling back to Steven being unable to use his powers and then showing us what it looks like when he is able to fully control them (well, so we thought! Hi there Pink!Steven). It also served to say that happily ever after isn’t a fairy tale, it’s something that has to be worked on every day, which is a good and healthy message on the face of it.

Unfortunately, I think the healthy version -- life will always have challenges, but we can face them together -- is not exactly the message Steven came away with. I think what he came away with is this: He has to work on his future every day. He can’t sit around and dream of a gauzy happily ever after because that would be resting, that would be wrong. He understands that he can get through things with his friends, but more concerning, he came away with the idea that he, specifically he, Steven, can never stop.

In the movie, he learned that he could never rest. He had thought he was finally done, finally us, finally we -- finally free. I get the feeling that Steven had been running on fumes by the time he leaves the Diamonds to really return home, and had thought, If I can just see this through, then I can finally rest. Spinel’s attack shattered that thought.

He learned that he can make an effort, a change -- that he has to. He learned that while he can delegate to Connie and Alexandrite to save the town, that he can reach out for assistance from Bismuth and Lapis and Peridot, that ultimately, it all falls on his shoulders. He’s the one who has to climb the injector, he’s the one who has to talk to Spinel, who has to battle her, who has to show her another path. It’s up to him. And it always will be.

And part of that mindset, I think, is that he’s a Diamond.

All along we’ve seen signs of Steven’s incredible charisma, his abilities to lead and unify, as early as Coach Steven. Keep in mind this is before he developed any Diamond powers, so part of his charisma likely comes from his dad and his human side - he was always going to have the ability to be a charmer, gem or no. But it starts leveling up massively the better handle he gets on his powers.

We’ve seen his decisions more and more affect the lives of the Crystal Gems, his father (Mr. Greg, Steven’s Dream), and the residents of Beach City (no one more than Lars). We’ve seen the Gems start to defer to him, a pattern that was invisible to Steven until Bismuth called him out on it. By Change Your Mind, it’s clear that Steven’s force of will, even despite his lingering self-doubt, is a powerful thing, able to bring Gems out of a poofed state through fusion, able to convince Blue and Yellow and White of a better way.

We’ve also started to realize that this is characteristic of all Diamonds. We’d seen gems like Peridot, Holly Blue Agate, Jasper and the Zircons idolize their Diamonds, but remember too that Rose Quartz commanded an army of Gems she convinced to join her fight. Remember that she mesmerized humans. Remember that Volleyball refused to speak ill of Pink and that Spinel waited patiently in a garden for 6000 years for her. Diamonds hold sway over other Gems and beings, even unintentionally.

I’m not sure if Steven realizes it consciously, or if it’s still operating at a subconscious level, but he possesses that power. He’s used it to redirect White and Blue and Yellow. He says that Gems usually come to Little Homeschool when he talks to them in person. He says he doesn’t know why he wanted to take over Amethyst’s project for her. He’s doing the thing, he’s choosing to exert his will and his effort like a Diamond, and it’s working.

And this is where we see Steven in SUF painstakingly creating the entire curriculum and schedule for Little Homeschool, even though as former Homeworld Gems, people like Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Pearl and Garnet should really be running it. He’s never been to a school. He doesn’t know the first thing about it. But it’s his idea, and he can’t rest unless he exerts control over it. Excessive control. He’s still running around the galaxy individually recruiting Gems to join up. How many of these missions does he go on? Unleash the Light saw him visiting multiple colony worlds, talking to dozens of Gems. Multiply that over the past 2-3 years and there is so much work, so much effort, so much, so much, so much.

Happily ever after isn’t fixed, it’s something he’s going to chase, and he’s going to force it into existence for everyone.

But he’s stopped thinking about it for himself.

I keep thinking of what Yellow Diamond said so haltingly to White. We... W- We... We need to talk!... About us. I've conquered so many worlds for the sake of the empire. I do everything you ask, and I do it all perfectly. But your very high standards put us all under a lot of pressure. A Gem could crack under so much... pressure. We Diamonds may be hard, but we're also... brittle.

In Steven’s blind pursuit of happily ever after for others, he’s continuing to exert enormous amounts of will on others, and enormous pressure on himself. We see he’s shed previous joys and possibly friendships (where are the Beach City teens and Connie???) without gaining new ones. We see his existence revolve around rehabilitating Gems and running the school. We see a possible future where Steven literally collapses from self-pressure -- over something as simple as a safety seminar and a babysitting date! We see his relationships with the Gems grow distant. We see his own relationship with his feelings and his sleep suffer (Pink!Steven, biting his blanket, hiding his mother’s portrait, three mugs of peppermint tea on his bedside, having trouble getting up in the morning without a pep talk). We see him trying, so hard, to make a change.

He’s a Diamond. He’s going to make it happen. There’s no question there.

The question is, will he crack along the way?

#steven universe #steven universe future #steven universe meta #suf #suf meta #fanfoolishness su meta #kinda ran out of steam here haha but any thoughts would be appreciated!

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starscheme · 4 years

Text

Change My World

Chapter Twenty-Five: Separated

Rushing through the portal to follow after Lars and the others, Steven was holding tight to Spinel as they traveled on Lions back. Since the light from the portal nearly burned their eyes, Steven and Spinel simply held fast and waited for the exit to come. However Steven started to feel dizzy and even though he held tight to Spinel, he couldn’t feel her in his arms. Something was wrong.

He heard her voice shouting back at him, but it sounded different. More cheerful somehow. “Steven! Let’s play a game!”

His vision was already blinded by the portals light, but when he tried to open his eyes, the light was no longer coming from the portal. Instead, Steven seemed to be floating in a storm of white butterflies. Their fluttering was almost deafening as they swirled aggressively around him.

“Spinel?!” Steven cried out, his voice barely audible over the butterflies flapping wings that seemed to echo off of nothing.

He didn’t understand what was happening. A moment ago, he was on Lions back trying to escape with Spinel. Now, he was alone amongst these strange insects. “What is happening?!” He demanded, holding his hands to his ears in an attempt to drown out the horrible sound that surrounded him.

“You did this!” A voice rang out in the distance. The same voice that he heard before. The woman that told him to use his power better this time around. However, her voice was no longer gentle. It was angry. “You’re a monster!”

“No!” Steven shouted back, barely able to hear the woman through the butterflies. “I’m not! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

The sound of the butterflies ceased at once and suddenly Steven was standing alone in a room full of pink, Dawn colored clouds.

“You really think you did nothing wrong?”

Steven gasped and turned on his heel quickly to see Connie standing behind him. Her face was covered by a large white butterfly that had landed there, but he knew it was her. Why was she here?

“Connie? ...what are you-“

“—you’re selfish. You turned everything upside down and yet you still can’t protect her.”

Steven could feel his heart pounding hard beneath his chest. Something was building up inside of him, something he didn’t want to remember. “St-stop...” he pleaded, placing his hands over his ears once more as tears gripped the corners of his eyes. “Just stop! I don’t like this! I don’t want to see this anymore! Just take me back to Spinel!”

As Steven tried not to listen, the floor beneath him began to ripple and a mermaid surfaced to grab his leg with her hands. Her face was also covered by a butterfly, but the rainbow colored hair reminded him of the mermaid they’d seen on stage. “Because that’s what this has all been about, hasn’t it Steven?” Asked the mermaid bitterly. “But once she’s gone, we’ll be free.”

“Gone?! What are you gonna-“

Another mermaid emerged to wrap her hands around his other ankle, holding Steven there so he couldn’t escape. This time, the mermaids face was uncovered. It was Volley. Her left eye had been hallowed out, but she had a wild smile on her face as she looked up at the horrified young man.

“You’ll be back to normal once she’s gone,” volley insisted in a cheerful, desperate voice. “Just let her go, Steven.”

“Get off of me!” He shouted angrily now, frantic to get away from their grip and that empty eye that he couldn’t look away from.

“Once she knows what you did...she’ll hate you,” Connie began again, walking towards Steven slowly. “Once she remembers what you really are and what you’ve done...”

Steven wasn’t entirely sure what Connie meant, but the image of his hand penetrating Spinels stomach was quickly brought to mind and he began to panic further. He didn’t really kill Spinel, did he? Wasn’t that just some horrible nightmare?

“She’ll remember soon enough. You’ll remember everything...and then you’ll lose her again. Because you can’t control it anymore. You’ll break everything just like before.”

“C-Connie...I-stop this! Please! I just want to see Spinel! Let me go back!”

“You can’t hide behind her anymore!” The three shouted together. As Steven looked to each one in a panic, a terrible sound began to echo from Volleys hallow eye socket and suddenly a swarm of white butterflies sprang from it, forcing Steven to close his eyes and shield his face from the oncoming swarm.

“This game of pretend is coming to an end soon Steven. ...let’s see if you can hang on until that happens...” said Connie, her voice somehow clear over the butterflies flapping wings, which soon consumed everything around him, leaving Steven feeling helpless as he fell in the tunneled storm of insects.

As Steven was lost in the illusion, he was shouting for everything to stop and Spinel had been trying to bring him back to reality. She’d turned around, holding onto Steven by his collar in an attempt to keep him steady on Lions back.

“Steven-STEVEN! Snap out of it!!” She pleaded aloud, unsure how to bring him out of this. It wasn’t until Steven started struggling did Spinel lose her balance and began to feel herself and Steven slipping off of Lions back. With a gasp, Spinel hugged Steven around the waist as they fell into the portals light.

This light vanished quickly and Spinel only panicked further when she realized they were falling through the clouds. “Oh my gosh!! Oh my gosh!!” She shouted in a frenzy, her mind racing over what she was supposed to do.

Steven opened his eyes with a start, expecting to see the butterflies, but instead, he saw the open sky above him and felt the sharp wind at his back as he and Spinel fell towards the ground.

“Wha—Spinel!” Steven shouted in a panic.

“We’re falling stupid!!” Spinel replied, trying to shout over the wind, but refusing to open her eyes. Spinel was not good with heights. At all.

“How?!”

“Does it matter?! What are we gonna do?!”

Steven wasn’t sure how to get out of this, but the ground was fast approaching and he was sure they wouldn’t go unscathed once the fall was over. If there was ever a time to remember something about these powers of his, it would be now. He grit his teeth and wrapped his arms around Spinel tight, pleading with any force out there that he might be able to protect Spinel somehow.

Suddenly, the wind around them ceased and everything became a tinted pink color. They were still falling, but their descent had slowed and miraculously, Steven had managed to put some sort of bubble around them. “Spinel, Spinel open your eyes!” He insisted in relief, shaking her shoulders a bit.

Spinel cracked open one eye, but was still frightened when she saw how high up they still were. Even if she was relieved they weren’t falling anymore, she was frozen from fear. “G-good! Now-now get us down!”

Steven glanced down, holding Spinel close as they slowly floated in the sky, now trapped in a bubble he made without knowing how to control it. It slowed them down, but he wasn’t sure how to speed up the process or how long the bubble would even last. “Thaaaat...might be problematic...” he replied with a sigh, “...but at least we won’t be turned into pancakes.”

“How did we even end up like this? What the hell happened to you?!” Spinel demanded, her heart beating so fast that she was sure to pass out at any moment.

Recalling the unfortunate images he saw, Steven was forced to remember Connies words. How Spinel would hate him once she remembered. The thought terrified him. What if he really did hurt Spinel in some past life? Was that what he kept seeing? “I...I don’t...remember,” he lied.

Such an obvious lie as well. Spinel could tell right away that it wasn’t the truth, but she was not in the mood to drag it out of him. She just wanted to put her feet back on the ground. “...well I-I don’t really do heights. We should have just taken the train like we planned.”

Luckily, Steven still had their duffle bag strapped around his shoulder and across his chest. Being separated from Lion would mean they’d need travel expenses again. That is, once they figured out where they were going to land. He looked down once again and his heart skipped a beat. They had already caught the attention of some soldiers that were traveling along the road. It seems a pink bubble descending from the sky wouldn’t exactly go unnoticed.

“Goddammit,” Steven muttered before pushing Spinel off of him.

“Hey-! What’s—“

Without much time to explain, Steven removed the duffle bag from his shoulders and quickly wrapped its strap around Spinel.

“I’m sorry,” he said before he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips.

Spinels heart skipped a beat, but before she was able to question anything, she saw Stevens skin start to turn pink. Gasping lightly against his lips, Spinel placed her hands at his chest to push him back. “Steven! You-“

“-just stay hidden and stay safe,” Steven interrupted, looking rather troubled. “I promise we won’t be apart for long.”

“Apart? What—?!”

Spinel was panicked now. What was Steven talking about? Without a moment to connect the dots, Steven placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away, a separate bubble forming around her. Suddenly, she realized what was going on. He was sending her away. Though she initially wanted to avoid looking down, she glanced at the ground below and saw the patrol of soldiers waiting there, getting ever closer as they lowered slowly.

“N-no! Steven! No!” Spinel demanded, banging at the edge of her bubble as it slowly parted from Stevens original bubble. “Don’t do this! Let me out!”

“Sorry,” Steven said again, a little weaker this time. He wasn’t even sure he’d be able to make two of these things, but he was glad it worked. Those soldiers couldn’t have been down there by coincidence. It’s like they knew somehow that he and Spinel would be falling towards this place. He couldn’t let them capture her. Who knows what kinds of torture she would have to endure at the Capital. If he had the power to get her away safely, he would try anything.

Though Spinel was shouting and banging at the edge of her bubble, Steven could barely hear her. He was starting to feel weak, but he still had something left to try. Concentrating hard, Steven raised his hand and smashed it against Spinels bubble, finally fully separating the two and sending Spinels bubble away like a shot.

Watching silently as Spinel was sent away, Steven smiled and tried to catch his breath. It worked. He knew she’d be angry and maybe even a little scared, but hopefully she would land somewhere safe. At least it would be safer than here. If he had the strength, he would try to avoid the soldiers himself, but sending Spinel away took so much out of him that he was having trouble keeping conscious.

As Stevens bubble finally neared the ground, a soldier stepped forward to approach it, raising a brow when he saw an unconscious Steven inside. It was Caden, who recognized Steven from the festival that ended not long ago.

“You said there would be two,” stated Caden, tapping the bubble curiously.

“...does it matter? After all...he’s the only one you need,” answered Garnet as she stepped out from behind the soldiers that followed Caden.

“If he really is who you say he is...than I guess the girl is of no consequence. Still, I’ll need to send some men to look in the direction she went,” sighed Caden, eyeing Garnet suspiciously, “men, come and break this bubble. Once we do, we’ll need to take the prisoner to the Palace.”

A few soldiers took their horses and took off in Spinels direction, while the rest did as instructed and went to work on an attempt to break down Stevens forcefield while their Captain stood back, keeping his eye on Garnet as she watched things play out silently.

#steven universe #su #change my world #stevinel #steven universe fanfic #stevinel fanfic #spineven #chapter 25 #mermaid spinel #mermaid au #Garnet #spinel

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tiny-smallest · 4 years

Text

in little ways

Rating: G Characters: Steven, Greg Warnings: none Description: The world changing is inevitable, but there’s one thing that will never change in Steven’s life.

Also on AO3!

—

Holy mother of god did I finish something? Slap a hammer in my hand and call me jesus because I’m making miracles.

—

Steven Universe is five years old. He wakes up in the little guest room of Miss Vidalia's house that he lives in every winter when Daddy says she goes to visit her family and crawls out of bed, gulping back tears as he pads his way down the hall to the living room where he shakes his father's sleeping form on the couch.

"Da-daddy?" His tremulous little voice sounds way too loud in the quiet house.

His father is awake in less than a few seconds, sitting upright with a soft gasp and rubbing at his eyes and Steven bites his lip, reaching up for his father's arms. Daddy reaches down and scoops him up and Steven nestles right under his chin with a sniffle, rubbing his nose on his pajama sleeve. "What's wrong, Schtu-ball?" he soothes, fingers stroking through his curls, eyes worried in the light from the street outside.

"Ba-bad dream!" he sobs in a wail, tilting his head back as it comes bursting out of him. "The-there was- there was a bi-big- a big robot! A-an' and it gobbled you all u-up and then it cha-chased me an'-"

"Shhhhhh sh sh shhhh." Daddy's hand is big and warm on his back, rubbing circles into it. "Deep breaths. A bad guy came and ate me?"

"Mmhmm." Big, wet eyes peek pitifully up at him from his chest. "A-an'- an' I was all 'lone."

His father presses a kiss to his forehead, his voice warmer than any blanket. "I'm sorry. That must have been so scary. But I'm right here, kiddo. It didn't happen and it won't ever, okay?"

"Mmmnnn."

"... How about this; why don't we make a plan in case it ever does? That way, you'll know just what to do."

He sniffs. "O-okay..."

"Okay." He smiles, and it is soft and gentle and nothing will ever hurt them ever, so long as Daddy is here. Steven lays his head against his chest. "So here's what we do..."

The rest of the world melts quietly away.

—

Steven Universe is seven and sitting in the van, plucking quietly at his ukulele. His tongue sticks out of his mouth, tiny fingers carefully working to coax the right notes from the strings.

Despite his hard work, the intense concentration, a string snaps. It avoids catching his fingers and the sound isn't even especially loud, but the suddenness of it pulls a sound that is part squeak, part yelp from him.

"How's it going, Schtu-ball?"

He looks up to find Daddy putting a knee onto the edge of the van floor, leaning over to pull a water bottle from the package they'd stopped to buy on their way here. His eyes stray from aiding him in freeing the bottle from the plastic to looking over at Steven with a smile.

The smile fades, a frown of concern taking its place. "Steven?"

Steven looks down at the broken ukulele string with a sniffle.

"Oh," comes the response, further softened. "Here, let Daddy fix that for you?"

He holds his hands out. Steven lifts the ukulele up and over his head, Daddy accepting the instrument and pulling out a repair kit from where it sat behind the box of water bottles.

Steven watches in silence as Daddy pulls out a string and sets about restringing the instrument. He watches as he slides the string through the hole in the back of the piece of wood--the bridge, Daddy had called it--and tied it in place, then pulls it a few inches past the tuning peg he was going to tie it to. He snips off the excess and feeds it through the tuning peg.

"You know," his father says as he worked, "you've been snapping strings more often than usual. Is something wrong? Are you stuck on something?"

Steven shakes his head without really thinking about it. "Jus' not payin' attention as much as I should."

"Oh, well- that happens sometimes." He looks up at him and smiles kindly at him, eyes crinkling at the edges. "It can be hard to focus if you're thinking about something else. Maybe that's a sign you need a break?" He lowers his head to resume his work, but keeps talking. "Remember that talk we had about burnout?"

Steven nods without really thinking about it. There is something really nice about watching him work. He watches Daddy's hands, rough with callouses, carefully work with the tiny pieces of the instrument to restring the ukulele, turning the tuning peg afterwards to tune it.

He wants to be able to do that someday. Maybe he should ask.

What would be the point if you can't play and your song's awful?

"What if they don't like it?" he mumbles.

Steven doesn't realize he'd said that out loud until his father's head jerks up with a look of surprise. "Huh?"

"Nothing," he says quickly, kneading his too-large shirt in embarrassed fistfuls.

Daddy reaches over to draw his fingers through his hair. "Kiddo, is this about the song you wrote for them?"

Steven hunches his shoulders with a wince, but the gentle touch coaxes his head up. His father is still smiling, eyes kind with understanding.

"It's scary," he soothes, "putting your work out there. I know."

He returns to the ukulele for a moment and finishes tuning it, handing it back to Steven before sweeping the small boy onto his lap. He cuddles him close, Steven laying his head back against Daddy's stomach.

"Sometimes you realize how what you made has your heart and soul in it, and it's really scary, exposing that heart to other people. But the gems love you, kiddo. And they'll be so proud that you wrote something for them- much less that you can play it for them!" Steven closes his eyes, listening to the smile in Daddy's voice. "They'll love it because it's your heart and soul. And honestly, also because it's really good."

Steven makes a little noise and his father gives him a light poke.

"I mean it, mister. You've got real talent!"

Steven blinks and looked up at him. "Really?"

"Mmhm." Another poke, to his side. That tickles! He giggles. "With your cute lyrics-"

Another poke. Steven squirms, giggling louder.

"And your nice harmonies-"

"Daddyyyyyyyy!" He tries to shove at the hands both poking him now half-heartedly, overcome with squirming laughter.

"And can't forget that nice angelic voice-"

"Eeeee noooooooo stoooooop!" Steven begins poking his father's belly, making his daddy laugh too. His father lifts the ukulele over his head and begins to tickle under his arms, making Steven shriek with laughter, but he stops after a second and Steven mimics him, prompting his father's own snorts and shouts.

It ends with his father lying on the floor on his back and Steven on his chest, smiling into his face.

His daddy smiles back, laying a hand on his head.

"You do your old man proud already." His eyes shine. "I can't wait to watch you grow up, kiddo. I love you."

Steven wraps his little arms around his father as best he can. "I love you too."

—

Steven Universe is ten, and the autumn breeze is cool on his back as he sits on the bench and swings his legs, ukulele on his lap, fidgeting with the strings. He is bored, frightfully bored, the feeling nails scraping along the inside of his brain, but he just has to try to be patient just a bit longer.

The wind blows a ballroom of fall leaves past him, dancing and twirling on the updraft. He could write a song to that, right? Yeah, he could!

little leaves fall from the trees come twirl up a dance for me! play on the breeze on your way towards the sea come twirl up a dance for me!

He's getting better at the ukulele, he thinks. Dad ran out of stuff to teach him ages ago; said he'd covered all the bases and now there was nothing to do but play. Hone his craft, Dad said. But don't overdo it. Burnout was an awful monster.

So he's careful to follow that advice. But it's hard to, sometimes. He loves to play and write music. He loves snatching new songs from thin air and breathing life into them. He doesn't think he could live if he couldn't create it, play it, learn it, listen to it.

It's like breathing. If he can't do it, he'll suffocate.

He assumed for awhile that everyone was like that. It was jarring when he learned the other children in town didn't experience the same thing.

It's still confusing, even now. Maybe he could understand if there was something they needed the way he and his dad need music, but one of them just... doesn't seem to have that.

It was when he realized that that he also realized this same boy was usually alone. And he always seemed so sad.

Steven swings his legs again, plucking a few idle notes. That song needs work, but he's not feeling it right now. Doesn't mean he can't try coaxing other music from his instrument, though.

How long does it take a bus to get from Ocean Town to Beach City, anyway? Drive faster bus man! I'm dying!

A honk startles him and his mouth falls open as the bright yellow bus pulls up. "I SUMMONED IT!" he crows as the children file off the bus. They all look at him, but he's only looking back for one boy-

And there he is!

"LARS!" He leaps up and waves, and the other boy flinches back, staring at him first in confusion and then... frowns?

The other kids are staring too. Weird.

"St-steven- what- what are you doing here!" He recovers fast, hands on his hips. Steven smiles despite the scowl.

"I waited for you! I thought we could go to the arcade-"

"No." He glares around. Steven isn't sure who he's glaring at. The other kids are gone.

Lars's face relaxes a bit when he realizes this, and without another word, he turns to walk away.

"W-wait!" Steven jumps up off the bench. "I- I thought-"

Lars doesn't stop.

"O-okay! M-maybe tomorrow then!" Still nothing. "Uh- Saturday! Saturday's fine!"

Lars turns the corner. Steven droops.

"They've got a Saturday special?" he pleads to no one.

The leaves whirl again. Steven watches them before sighing and grabbing his ukulele.

It's a quiet walk to the car wash. He finds his dad just inside the building with the big brushes, hosing it down, and can't find the will to wave when Dad waves first. The bright smile droops, and Dad turns the hose off as he draws near.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, setting it aside.

"Lars didn't wanna go to the arcade," Steven mumbles, folding his arms across his chest. His father pats his shoulder.

"Maybe he's just busy?"

"Maybe..." He looks away. Dad crouches onto one knee.

"Maybe he's just grumpy. Maybe he had a bad day and he needs space." He hesitates. "Maybe he's just- not a very nice kid."

Steven balks. "Oh no! He's not a bad kid! He's just sad."

"Those things aren't exclusive, buddy."

His dad's voice is gentle, but Steven isn't having it. "But he just looks sad! Maybe he's scared of anyone knowing."

He fidgets.

"Or maybe I'm just not doing it right," he adds in a sad little whisper.

"Oh- Steven, no..." Dad cups his face with both hands. "... One of the hardest lessons you'll ever learn is... sometimes you can be the nicest you you can be, and it still won't be enough."

He tucks a particularly unruly curl behind his ear, something in his eyes heavy. "Sometimes people just aren't compatible. And sometimes they're just mean. That's not your fault, son."

"... But he seems so... lonely. Won't he feel better if he just has a friend? Doesn't he just need a friend...?"

His father's smile was sad. "... He probably would feel better if he had a friend. But you don't need to be that friend."

"But I wanna be."

Dad kisses the top of his head.

"You're a sweet kid," he murmurs. "But you don't need to be everybody's friend."

"I wanna be his. He's nice. I like him."

His father let out a soft sigh, cupping his face. "Maybe he really is just grumpy today, or sad, and needs space. But there's no shame in leaving something be."

Steven's insides squirms. "I... I wanna keep trying. But... he doesn't wanna today. And I don't wanna go alone."

Dad straightens up and looked around the car wash, a hand still on his head. "... You know what? It's been a really slow day here, stchu-ball. Let me finish up here and I'll close up early, and we can go."

He brightens, feeling the stars return to his step as he starts bouncing. "Really!?"

Dad never closes up early, though!

He smiles at him. "As long as you don't mind hanging out with your old man."

"Never! Never ever! Oh my god c'mon dad let's go let's hurry up what do you need help with-"

His father's laughter echoes around the building as Steven grabs the hose and charges deeper inside.

—

Steven Universe is fourteen, turned fourteen three days ago, actually, and is standing side-by-side with his father at his bathroom sink, razor held in nervous, twitchy fingers. "Like this, right?"

"Yup, just like that. Now you want to put it against your face like this-" Dad demonstrated with a razor of his own, the protective plastic casing over the blade to avoid actually maiming his beard. "And then slowly, carefully draw it down. No need to rush."

Steven draws the razor down his face in a slow but shaky motion, letting out a soft gasp of pain. "Ah!"

Dad winces in sympathy. "Well- close, yeah. You okay? How good did it get you-" He leans over his son to check without waiting for an answer. Steven let him look at the cut on his chin for a moment before reaching for the box of bandaids, his hand touching his father's hand instead of the box. They look at one another and laugh.

"Sorry," Dad apologizes as he withdrew his hand to let Steven take the box, smile sheepish. "Guess you can uh- patch up your own cuts, huh?"

"Well I mean..." He looks at the weeping cut and winces. "... Yeah, but still. Thanks."

He blinks as Steven opens the box and fishes out a bandaid. "For what?"

"For taking time out to help me," he answers as he peeled off the paper and aligned the cotton part with the cut. "I guess I was a little eager and a little too nervous at the same time?" He laughs, a little shakily. Like his hands. "I always mess up worse when I'm like that. Too excited to do the thing and too nervous to really stop and think and steady myself so I can do it right."

His father's warm hand comes to rest on his back, and when Steven looks up and over at him, it was to kind eyes gazing down at him with a fondness beyond measure. "Everyone's a little nervous about new things. Even good things. Especially big, new things, like milestones."

Steven thinks about the way Connie smiled at him, and cuddled into his chest, and how the wind had tugged at her curls in the summer sunset. Like growing up and falling in love? he wants to ask.

"Like shaving?" he asks instead.

"Like shaving," Dad ruffles his hair. "And sometimes you make mistakes, but that's learning any skill. Your old man will always be here to help you master them, however long it takes."

Steven looks back into the mirror, at the only facial hair he'd grown and yet still somehow managed to miss.

Connie declaring she liked him even if he didn't grow at the same pace as her, would always care about him, something that felt so, so obvious in hindsight by how she panicked when she thought he'd melted into a microscopic thing.

"Even if it takes awhile?"

"Always."

He stares at their reflections, side-by-side, the hand on his back, and picks up the razor again with a smile.

"Thanks."

—

Steven Universe is sixteen and sitting across from his father at breakfast, resisting the urge to swing his feet like a child because the buzz in his brain and the core of his being won't go away.

He meant it when he told Dad he thought he could pull off the new look, he really did. Dad is Dad and will always be Dad, no matter what his hair looked like.

And it is because of that fact that his gut still aches. As his father makes small talk about the weather and Little Homeschool and some of the new Beach City gem residents, Steven finds himself staring at the short hair, especially when Dad turns to address their waitress, removing the threat of him noticing Steven staring for about a minute.

He sees the look she gives them, too. Not many people know the Universes that well, but everyone knows of them. Dad is less invisible to the fellow humans of Beach City than he is to the gems that inhabited the town to work and learn and play. While they remain oblivious to the fact that something awful must have happened, the human townies sure aren't. Their waitress's look is one of nosy worry.

Steven prays she won't act on that worry.

He likes to think that all these years together means he can read Dad like a book. Every gesture, every crease and line in his face, every widening of the eyes. Steven prides himself on reading people in general, and he knows his Dad better than he knows just about anyone else. Better than just about anyone else knows Dad, actually.

And what he reads right now are glaring signs of upset. It shows in the slight shake of his hands when he goes to cut his waffles, the lines around his eyes, the slightly-too-wide look he throws the way of the door when it suddenly opens with too much force because quartzes never know their own strength ever.

It reminds him of when they escaped the Zoo. The tremors, the fake smiles, the frightened eyes that sometimes glazed over. The realization he'd failed in his promise to make sure gem stuff never touched his dad again was something that had hit him earlier, but it doesn't make the resurfacing of that realization suck any less. His gut feels like lead, filled with so much guilt he could be sick with it.

His dad trembles a little all over as the quartzes step inside, crowing about... something he has no context for.

He desperately doesn't want anyone to call attention to it. Dad's already not having a good time. Please don't make it worse.

Thankfully their waitress does not. She sticks around for a second as Dad cuts into his breakfast, left frozen for a moment by the sudden loud entrance of the quartzes, before smiling at them and going to see what the gems might want.

His father laughs, a little too forcefully, and shakes his head. "You'd think they'd learn how light wooden doors are sometime!"

"You'd think," Steven manages to chuckle, shoveling a bite of pancakes into his mouth. It tastes like sawdust. Maybe the cook's new.

Something must have shown on his face, because Dad pauses before lowering his fork and reaching across the table. "Hey," he says softly. "Are you okay?"

He asked that question not even an hour ago and somehow it's harder to answer this time.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He forces a smile. It must not have worked, because Dad's frown only deepens and the knot in his forehead only gets more pronounced. "Really," Steven adds.

"... I know what happened this morning was- scary." Dad's grip tightens on his shoulder before letting go. He doesn't return to his food so much as push it around on his plate a little. "I know you said you were okay earlier but- really- if you need to talk-"

"No, I'm fine," Steven promises. The words fall out so easily and naturally he barely hears himself say them, doesn't have to think about it. "Really."

Dad puts his fork down and looks at him with a gaze so strongly empathetic that Steven for a moment fears his father is actually staring into his soul. "... I believe you," he said after a moment. "But if it ever suddenly becomes... not fine, come tell me, okay? I won't be bothered by it."

Steven nods, still smiling. Dad said the same thing when he kept asking after the Zoo, kept getting the same answer, but really, how wouldn't it be a bother? Dad had his own worries then, and he does now.

Dad believed him after the umpteenth time of being promised he was fine, his gentle offer always present each time but especially stressed the last time before he dropped the questioning entirely, and this time is no different.

If only he had believed Dad's promise in return.

—

Steven Universe is seventeen and curled around his phone, under his comforter, trying to ignore the sunlight against his bed.

He should get up. He should go take a shower and brush his teeth. He should get something to eat. He should go sit outside. If absolutely nothing else, he should do just that really short list.

But he can't move. He should get up. He should get up. Why can't he move? He notices a pink glow against his phone and lets out a noise somewhere between a whine and a growl.

"Schtu-ball?"

He jolts, brain taking a minute to catch up to reality. Steven pushes his comforter aside a little to peek out, his father's worried face looking back.

At the sight of him, Dad's concern melts into a smile. "Hey," he says in hushed tones. "How're you feeling?"

Like I can't even talk. He gives his father a grimace. A knot of concerned sympathy set itself in Dad's forehead.

"Want food?"

Does he? He thinks he does. He should eat something anyway. So he nods. Dad smiled at him and straightened, leaving the room.

Steven isn't sure how much time passed in a foggy haze, but it's disturbed when Dad returns. The smell of pancakes make him blink, pushing his comforter aside to sit up.

"You didn't have to-" he starts, voice cracking as his father passes him the plate. His creaky protests are immediately smothered with a very careful hug.

"I did," Dad soothes. "And I wanted to."

"But-"

"Shhh. No buts." He draws back, smoothing back Steven's hair as he sits on the edge of the bed. "Is it a talking day? Or a quiet sharing space day?"

Steven hesitates before holding up two fingers.

"You got it." The large hand begins to rub his back in circles as Steven rubs tears from his eyes. Stupid! Why is he crying!?

He's nibbling at the meal when his father adds, very quietly, "It's a lot. Sometimes things overflow. It's okay to cry. It's okay to talk. It's okay to not talk. Whatever you need, I'm here."

He turns to look at his father's face, at his dark brown eyes filled with so much love, before he rubs his eyes and begins to eat, really eat- slowly, but surely.

He leans into Dad's side.

Dad pats his back.

—

Steven Universe is eighteen. The world snaps into focus with jarring, sickening suddenness, like he just fell from one plane of existence to another. In a way, he did.

He lays there, gasping in the silence that thunders in his ears, in the thick heat settling over the room. He shudders, feeling tears track down the sides of his face, head full of cotton and fog. Where is he? What day is it? What time is it? It's dark.

He doesn't like that it's dark.

He tries to get out bed. Falls. The thud shakes the house and Steven whimpers as he tries to kick away the sheets twined around his leg, the feeling of being pinned making his stomach turn. He succeeds, flailing to his feet, opening the door to the balcony.

He hesitates, slams it shut, runs downstairs, and flees out the front door instead, taking the stairs two at a time and nearly falling his way down them.

The sea spray is a nearly welcome bite against his skin at first, but despite doing better to draw him into reality, it doesn't make the sick pit in his stomach go away. He is now wide awake, painfully wide awake, and yet every fiber of his body still shrieks sirens. His pulse is near painful.

He slows to a stop along the beachfront, doubling over, hands on his knees, breath coming in gulps and gasps.

What now?

He could go find the gems. He has full access to the temple, welcome whenever he wants.

He doesn't want to find the gems. They can't help him here.

Steven takes a moment to contemplate the trembling of his body before he admits what it is he actually needs to do, and he straightens, turning to jog back around to the boardwalk. Reaching where the wood meets the sand of the beach and the grass of the hill, he runs up the block towards the car wash, feeling his gut churn. He doesn't realize until he stops running that he'd even started, chest heaving.

He hesitates at the sight of the van before he pushes back the faint this is dumb this is dumb this is duuuuumb you're too old for this sort of shit echoing in scolding bursts from the back of his head and stands on his tiptoes to peer through the diamond window in the back of the van.

There's Dad, asleep, bundled comfortably in what was probably a more orderly setup at some point and during the night devolved into more of a nest than anything else.

Overpowering relief sweeps in like the tide he had just been running adjacent to a few minutes ago. His knees turn to jelly and a powerful burn creeps into his eyes, Steven covering his mouth and putting his back to the van, sliding to the ground and stifling as a sob. The van is icy against his back even through the random yellow shirt he'd decided to designate a pajama shirt. His hand finds his hair, grasping fingers twisting themselves into his curls, his other hand still over his mouth.

It's unusually chilly for a summer night. In two weeks he leaves for his road trip. These are random facts that have nothing especially to do with the situation and yet they're dredged to the forefront of his mind. Why?

Steven takes a moment to sit with the thought. The former is probably just because it's miserable. He's miserable. He doesn't want to be here, in this moment, right now, and the chilly night air is compounding his inner turmoil. The second...

Can he really say he's ready for this venture when just a single nightmare is enough to rip him apart like this?

It's a thought so upsetting he yanks himself away from it like touching a hot stove. His therapist would be disappointed in him for not engaging with the thought. He really doesn't have the energy to do much but hate his cowardice for a brief moment and then try to move on.

Dad. Dad is fine. Dad is safe. You can go home now.

... But he doesn't want to.

The thought makes his stomach squirm. What is he supposed to do? Wake Dad up? Bother him with the figment of his imagination? Hey Dad, I know it's like three in the morning, but funny thing- I had a dream about Eyeball and Aquamarine using that knife to do exactly what they were planning! So, how about the weather, huh?

No, he really doesn't think he had to bring that up again.

... He could wake him up without telling him details, though. Should he wake him up? Would that be selfish?

He could hear his therapist. "Steven, people love you. Let them love you. It's not a crime to accept the different ways they love you even when it inconveniences them; relationships are give and take."

Well, guess Dad's getting his money's worth, he thinks, slowly, shakily rising to his feet.

It still feels wrong. It's the reminder that Greg would be even sadder if he didn't wake him--even if Steven knows that's not the proper motivation--that makes him swallow and knock on the window, finally.

Greg jerks, sitting upright so quickly Steven can hear his back crack. This was a mistake.

But it's too late now. Greg's head turns towards where the sound came from, blearily blinking sleep from his eyes, and freezes as awareness hits. He scrambles up to his knees and Steven can hear him fumbling to crawl over to the doors, throwing them open as Steven makes his way around to the back. "Steven? Steven what-?"

"Hi Dad," he whispers around the thick lump in his throat, feeling supremely stupid, standing there shivering the way he is.

Dad makes a soft hushing noise, ushering him inside with sweeping gestures of his arms, and Steven is too weak to resist, especially since he did just wake the man up. He crawls inside, Greg immediately bundling him in one of the blankets he'd been using for sleeping before hugging him tight. Steven watches as he unsuccessfully tries to close the door without letting go of him by hooking his foot on the inside handles, but he manages it before Steven can apologize and move to do it himself.

"You're freezing!" he laments, letting go of him just enough so as to lean back and get a look at him. "What happened!?"

Feeling his father's warmth retreat even just a little leaves a yawning yearning somewhere in his center. Without giving himself time to think much more on it Steven moves forward to follow his father's movement and buries his face into the crook of his neck. "Nightmare," he croaked, willing his voice to hold and disappointed it doesn't do anything of the sort. "I just- I just had to make sure you were okay."

The tenseness in his father's form melted a little with the promise of no imminent threat, Dad reaching up with one hand to softly stroke his fingers carefully through his hair. "Oh Steven..." He felt his father's face press against his head for a moment and only half swallowed the whine that slipped out. "I'm here. Everything's okay. You need to talk about it?"

"No no nO NO DON'T PLEASE STEVEN HELP-"

He couldn't shake his head, buried against him like this, but he untangled his hands from the blanket enough to fist them in his father's shirt. You can feel his pulse like this. This is him. He's okay. He's alive. They didn't hurt him. You didn't let them. He found a way out, and you made sure they didn't go into the house after him, and then the gems squashed them outside.

"... I can't," he pleads. His father's arms squeeze him tighter.

"Writing?" comes the soft suggestion.

"Not this time. Not-"

Would he be ready to share this anytime soon?

... No, he can't promise that. He can't say 'later' when he didn't know when that would be. It would be too much like lying.

"Not yet. Dunno if soon."

"Okay," Dad soothes. He begins rubbing circles into his back. "Do you want to stay the night?"

"... Do you mind?" His voice sounds pathetic even to him.

"Never," he promises.

Steven swallows back a sob with a gulp and nuzzles his face into Dad's shoulder. His father's chest begins to vibrate as Greg starts to hum; a low, soft, gentle white noise he's heard a million times.

And will a million more, Steven realizes.

And will a million more.

Steven lets the heavy tension begin to leave, feels the coiled bands in his muscles loosen.

He lets his heavy lids finally close.

The rest of the world melts quietly away.

#steven universe #steven quartz universe #su steven #greg universe #su greg #greg su #steven universe su #my writing #man i have no idea what the popular tags are for these character sljfdf

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fireopal-tash · 4 years

Text

Chapter 1

In a garden, located somewhere in space, there was a figure observing something in the distance. With one hand on their chest, the figure began to move and run with difficulty toward the source of light.

(changing the scene; on Earth)

After giving his message to the entire universe, Steven Universe said goodbye with great difficulty to the Diamonds and headed home. To his home.

Steven arrived back on Earth, warping into a glass dome at the back of the beach house. Connie, his best friend, was seen sitting on the floor reading a magazine, as Steven arrives on the warp pad inside.

"Steven! What took you so long?"

Steven leaped over to Connie and the two embraced, before starting to explain with a sigh.

"The Diamonds. They really want me to move in"

"Why?"

"Because they want to smother me with attention 24/7" he complained.

Connie could only giggle at the sight of her best friend's grimace.

"Sounds fun~"

"No, it doesn't" he complained even more. He found it hard to believe how anyone could think that spending all their time with the Diamonds could be fun.

"Well, I'm glad I got to see you before heading out" said the brunette, relieved. If she was honest, their relationship was something that worried her greatly. But even more so the health of her best friend.

"You're really going through with it?" Steven tried his best not to sound sad. Too sad.

They both left the conservatory, and begin descending the stairs to the balcony outside Steven's Room

"Of course" she replied with resolution "I've always wanted to go to space camp"

"But you've literally been to space multiple times" he pointed out, confused "And you've done way cooler stuff than just camp there"

Connie understood Steven's doubts, but she was ready. And her parents supported her, something she would never forget. And that's exactly what she said to the boy.

"My parents are doing what they can to support my interests. It's sweet" she enters the room and picks up her duffel bag" Plus, I get all the freeze-dried ice cream I can eat"

Steven soon found another reason for her to stay, apparently.

"But Sadie Killer and the Suspects are playing tonight. Isn't a rock show a little better than space camp?" he almost begged.

Connie looked at him, with a small smile.

"It's maybe equal to space camp"

Steven couldn't help but chuckle as Connie pulled out her vibrating phone from her pocket.

"That's my mom. I should get going"

Connie and Steven embraced each other again. Connie briefly turned away, blushing with her arms crossed, and seeing her opportunity, she gave Steven a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to blush as well.

"Okay! Bye!" Connie proceeded to run down the stairs and out of the house.

Steven put his hand to his cheek grinning widely. However, the hybrid felt a strange and alien sensation, which disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. Thinking it was just his imagination, he ignored it, and then ran out onto the balcony to bid Connie farewell.

"Tell everyone at space camp that space used to be super scary and dangerous, but it's great now!" he exclaimed from where he was standing.

"I will!" The girl replied, waving goodbye.

As Connie left, Steven sighed contently and thought about expressing it with a song. But then something stopped him. A feeling foreign to him. Again. If Steven was happy, then why was he suddenly feeling so miserable?

The boy stopped for a few seconds, contemplating what he felt and what it could mean. Something was definitely wrong, if it was the second time he felt it. And the worst part is that now he was sure it was not his imagination. He looked worriedly at the bright sky and ran to his room. He looked at a photo frame of the crystal gems and floated on his bed, lying on it. Then he sat down and thought about telling the gems about this new development. Maybe they would know what to do about it.

The young boy petted CatSteven on the porch, and ran out onto the beach, where Pearl, Greg, and Lion were by Greg's van.

"Hey, Pearl! Hey, Dad!" he greeted them.

"'Ey, schtu-ball"

"Steven! I'm learning to play the "bass""

"I keep tellin' her it's "base""

"Excuse me, b-a-s-s spells "bass""

"You're the boss!" Greg finally gave up.

"Heck yes, I am"

But before Perla could start singing about her story, Steven had an urgent need to stop her. He had questions that needed answers.

"Pearl, wait"

"Steven?" At first, Pearl was confused, as Steven never missed an opportunity to sing or enjoy letting others sing. But seeing his worried face, she gave up and became more serious "Tell me what's wrong.

Noticing the ex-servant difference in tone and demeanor, Greg paid more attention to his son.

"I-I don't know how to explain it. It's... a very unpleasant feeling that appears out of nowhere. It has only happened twice, but it has been during the times that I have been happy. The strangest thing is that it showed... as if it were not part of me?"

Pearl tried to make sense of Steven's words, but without much success.

"So, what you're saying is that you felt something that could belong to someone else?" she asked at the end.

"Something like this? I'm not sure"

Steven was frustrated at not knowing how to explain himself better. Sure, it was not the first time that he had experienced a similar event. However, last time... it was different. Had he discovered a new power, as a manifestation of his subconscious? Whatever it was, it was not the same as what happened to him that last time. After all, he was awake.

"Steven, maybe you should ask Garnet to see what she sees in your future. Maybe you will get an answer" the pale gem tried. Greg could only listen, not knowing how to help.

He hummed before nodding.

"Good idea, Pearl. But if you remember something related to this, do not hesitate to come find me. Any answer is better than nothing"

"Of course. Be careful, Steven" said the tall gem, worried about Steven.

Steven, who did not want to worry his family, smiled at them gratefully, before entering Leon's mane, who approached Steven at some point during the chat.

Once on the other side, Steven emerged from Lars's head, Garnet catching him in time.

"I've saved you a seat" was the first thing she said, seating the teenager next to the Off Colors, while Lars served the sweet known as Ube Roll, his specialty.

"Thanks Garnet" the boy thanked her with a smile, before remembering why he was here. Noticing the change in Steven, Garnet sat next to him, waiting for his explanation. "Something has happened ... I explained it to Pearl, but she seems to have no idea what it is about. That's why I came here" then he looked at Garnet "to see if you saw something bad or strange happening in my future.

The fusion seemed to be thinking for a while, before frowning. Not that it was visible through her visor.

"I'm not... sure" she admitted reluctantly. That worried her. There were many probable futures, and some of them didn't make sense. Maybe she hadn't seen far enough?

Steven dropped his shoulders, disappointed.

"I don't know if it will help you, but I have already twice felt the feeling of being unhappy when I feel the opposite of that. And like it's not part of me"

That left a contemplative expression on her part, but without getting the answers her adoptive son was looking for. Except one, there was a good chance it would happen.

"Someone is going to visit us. What I don't know is if it will be with good or bad intentions" she decided to say for the moment.

"A visit? You mean a gem? A new one?" That worried him even more, recalling his bad experiences with visits from other gems. A hand on his shoulder stopped him in his negative spiral of thoughts.

"Steven, whoever they are, they will need your help. Everyone's help. They are hurting. I still cannot find out who they are, what they look like, and why they feel that way. But I do not doubt that something horrible has happened to them" she paused, her gaze somewhat lost, before returning her attention to the hybrid "Prepare yourself for anything that may happen"

Steven could only nod his head knowing it was the only advice she would give him. Before leaving, however, an idea occurred to him. Which didn't surprise Garnet.

"I'm going to look for Amethyst, so we can get together and make a plan"

The Off Colors and Lars stood aside, noticing the seriousness of the situation. However, if something happens, they were going to be there immediately. And that was exactly what they communicated to their young friend.

"Thank you guys" smiled the young Universe, gratefully.

To be continued...

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ufonaut · 4 years

Note

Sportsmaster/Icicle + ISA - OBLIVIOUS -"What does Crusher have to do to make Jordan understand what he wants? After dropping numerous hints, Crusher decides that subtlety is not his style." [BONUS POINTS: The other ISA members thoughts during Crusher's prowl. Amused Paula, Haughty Henry (He's been dropping hints for YEARS and all this blonde lunk has to do is flex, dafuq!?!?!?!! and a reluctant Ito who unwittingly gets caught up in it all]

i (unfortunately) present sportcicle: origins. takes place somewhere early on

---

“I’m just saying, babe, if I died I’d want you to be gettin’ it on, y’know?” Larry says, momentarily muffled underneath the resounding crack of the nose he’s just broken. Councilman Spencer’s face, meet bat.

Guaranteeing William Zarick’s reelection is the work of minutes, playing with the would-be candidates-- well, Larry can go all night. Steven’s even agreed to watch the kid, on the one condition that Artemis refrains from pulling on Juniper’s tail. Repeating last time’s unpleasantness, and both cat and girl had been firmly at odds with each other then, would supposedly result in a lifetime ban from the Sharpe household. It’s hard to tell whether Larry minds.

“Yeah but you’re... you,” Paula helpfully offers, hypnotising in full Tigress regalia, as she delivers a roundhouse kick to the councilman’s gut. It’s their third in two nights and particularly pathetic, if the whimpering’s anything to go by. “It’s been, what, three years? Jordan’s probably still moping around. He’s one of those.”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about! Someone’s gotta step up and--” Their target’s started sniffling through the usual promises of please, I’ll do anything and other sob stories. Larry’s heard it all before. “Do you mind? I’m trying to have a conversation here, pal!” He nods to Paula and finds that the crossbow does a more than sufficient job of shutting up the councilman.

Playtime’s over sooner than intended.

“God, that always gets me going,” Larry laughs and wraps an arm around Paula while he’s at it, relishing in her answering smile.

---

For the most part, he lets it simmer. There’s missed opportunities every now and again, vague frustration when lingering hands and obvious glances lead nowhere but, ultimately, fact of the matter is that Larry always gets what he’s gunning for. It’s that simple.

Couple weeks after Paula encourages him to keep at it, not that he’s in dire need of the reassurance, Larry finds his footing.

He’s been patient enough, he thinks, well accustomed to stalking his prey.

“Larry, you’re-- very early,” Jordan remarks, shuffling whatever paperwork he’d been working on a couple more times than would be deemed strictly necessary. He’s looking right at home in the here and now, all immaculate in his suit and tie, sat at the table that takes up the vast majority of the ISA meeting room. Very little of the damp and drafty tunnels reaches them.

“You know me, love them meetings.” Larry’s grinning wide, shark-like and nearly giddy with a manic sense of victory. “And hey, call me Crusher.”

“Right.” Jordan nods. “Crusher.”

Dissatisfied with the art of subtlety, Larry helps himself to a seat right next to Jordan, dragging the chair along until there’s barely any space left between them. That’s more like it. “Listen, Icy, I think you know we gotta talk,” he says, amicably sing-song.

Perplexingly, Jordan stiffens, rigid like he’s bracing himself for a blow. Something to look into, then. Larry keeps on smiling. “If this is about Cameron drawing Artemis with horns, I don’t know what that’s about and I had a talk with him but, Lar-- Crusher, they’re in the second grade and it’s hard to explain these--”

“What? No!” Larry chuckles, shaking his head as he places a firm hand on Jordan’s knee. “Slow down there, bud,” he adds, bizarrely fascinated by the sting of ice underneath his palm.

“Oh.”

The cold, against reason, faintly recedes. If it’s emotion that gets Jordan freezing up, he’s willing to see what else he can inspire in him. “You know ol’ Crusher’s here for ya, right?” He rubs at Jordan’s knee as he meets his eyes -- blue on blue, though Larry’s bright with glee. “Say, if you’ve been feeling lonely lately, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”

Jordan, carrying all the allure of a cornered animal, looks down at Larry’s hand like he’s seeing it for the first time. He tries for a smile, though the act’s always looked painful on him. “I guess--”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh, listen, buddy, I just gotta tell you,” Larry starts, exceedingly indulgent in the way he’s managed to scoot even closer, “you don’t look good. I’m thinkin’ a trip to Ripped City would really work wonders on you. Get those muscles moving, right? I know a good workout always cheers me up.”

And maybe Larry’s got a different kind of workout in mind but he doesn’t let the thought deter him. The gym’s win is his, too. Then again, he’s sure he’s got Jordan all the same.

“I’ll, um, think about it,” Jordan allows and as he makes to stand up, Larry grabs his wrist. It’s a loose hold, functionally mild in the grand scheme of things. The glint in Larry’s eyes is anything but. There’s more Sportsmaster than Larry Crock in the way he’s holding himself, the predatory quirk of his smile -- rarely glimpsed beneath the mask.

“Or, and here’s an idea, I could make your mind up for you.” Out in the field, it might very well be a threat. Here, Larry merely tilts his head, perfectly genuine.

---

Jordan’s sitting on the table right in the middle of the ISA headquarters, legs spread wide to accommodate Larry standing between them. His hair’s a mess. “The meeting’s gonna start soon,” Jordan whispers, visibly breathless as he grips at Larry’s shoulder, fingers digging in when he’s rewarded with a kiss high up on his neck.

“C’mon, bud, we’re all friends here,” says Larry, grinning wide, as he steps back just enough to get a good look at Jordan and whistles. “Whoa, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

There’s patches of ice here and there, skin curiously gone crystalline where -- Larry assumes -- Jordan might ordinarily be flushed. If he’s finding it difficult to maintain eye contact, Larry’s got no such problems. He pulls him by his undone tie into a rough kiss, breathes some life into the frozen landscape of Jordan. It’s not too long until they part, Jordan’s lips gone all red. A moan escapes him when Larry offers a hand to grind into where he’s straining against the fabric of his pants. “Just what you needed, huh?” Larry asks, though he’s got an inkling of the answer already.

It’s then Jordan flinches at the not-so-distant conversation drifting through the tunnels. “Crusher, we need to-- stop. We need to stop,” he gasps out and he certainly reaches for Larry’s hand, a valiant effort when he’s sounding like it’s taken everything he’s got to give, but merely holds it in place, unwilling to let go.

Larry laughs, gleefully manic, and lets Jordan rock against him for a moment longer, considers unzipping him just as Dr. Ito steps through the door.

“Spoilsport,” he remarks, thoroughly amused.

Feeling especially generous, Larry even helps Jordan off the table, stealing one last kiss in the process. “You should come over! My turn to cook tonight and Paula says I do a mean grilled salmon,” Larry adds, perfectly casual.

There’s little Jordan can do but nod, eyes fixed on their arriving teammates.

#jordan mahkent #larry crock #paula brooks #stargirl #icicle #sportsmaster #tigress #sportcicle #fic #I DESPERATELY HOPE THIS DOESNT SUCK IM SORRY IF IT DOES #anon #ask

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lotusthekat · 2 years

Text

Still the haunted ruins of night call your name - Chapter 2

Fandoms: Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall

Rating: G

Relationships: Wirt & Greg, Wirt & Steven, Minor Wirt/Sara

Characters: Wirt, Greg Universe, Steven Quartz Universe; MINOR - Marty, Sara, Lars Barriga; more characters to be added

Summary: Years after his little brother left, Wirt finally has the chance to make things right. Problem is, he has no idea if Greg wants him in his life again.

An OTGW x SU crossover AU. Partially compliant with Steven Universe Future.

Word count: 6.785

Quotev / Fanfiction

Previous chapter

Chapter 2: Into the unknown

Wirt might be too nostalgic and materialistic for other people’s taste, but that’s how he keeps close the memories and experiences he cherishes.

He’s going over his stuff in the attic, a place quite full of dust and barely any sunlight.

Surprisingly, he still has that old Santa hat cone-like.

And the teapot.

The little elephant.

Wirt sighs and hugs it close.

…

“I’m going to bed soon,” he whispers when he notices he’s being watched.

“Wirt, you need to find Greg.”

“I can’t.”

“Look,” Sara approaches and puts her hands on his shoulders, “I know you said bad things to him, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try to make them right.”

“I keep thinking like I only screw things up, no matter how hard I try.”

“That’s not true, Wirt.”

He shakes his head and stares at the teapot in his lap.

“I’m just… scared,” Wirt admits. “I’m scared of what I’m going to find. Maybe Greg has become a completely different person. Maybe he still hates me for what I said to him – not that I would blame him, honestly. But I don’t know how he’s doing. I don’t know anything about him or- or my nephew. I have a nephew, Sara. Does that mean he has a romantic partner, too-?”

“You’ve got to find all that out.”

“But what if—”

“I know it’s scary, but you’ve got this,” Sara smiles. “You’ve always gone to the unknown and never gave up, right?”

She probably doesn’t mean it the way he hears it, but…

Wirt stops making those what-ifs and should, and he holds the teapot with certainty.

“You’re right. I have to try.”

Maybe he’s making a mistake.

But he can’t go back now.

No, he won’t go back.

He couldn’t bring Sara with him, but Wirt also wanted to do this alone. He didn’t want to involve her in this whole thing.

Wirt actually remembers hearing about Beach City in his distant childhood memories. His aunt and uncle used to own a barn nearby. Maybe he and his family have actually been to the beach, but he was too young to recall. It’s much farther than where he lives now, and he didn’t sleep a wink last night, already planning the travel and getting everything he needed, and everything he could show Greg and his still unnamed nephew.

Beach City is small, as expected from the name and location. Wirt parks the car in a calm street. There’s not a lot of folks here. He’s aware it must be full of visitors on Summer, but he’s come in mid-Autumn, so he’d likely be the only outsider.

Or… that’s what he initially thinks.

He finds some very… unusual people on the way.

People, but not humans? Their skins have entirely different colors. He sees one that is yellow, orange, purple, white and a whole lot of other pigments together, and they don’t even seem to have eyeballs. They’re skating around with rollerblades.

Then he sees a tiny blue person and a huge gray one making… snow cones out of pure ice?

Ooookay.

He’s been in the Unknown (admittedly years ago and once), but it was… different. This is an actual town in his time and country and planet. There are a lot more unique living beings around. And some humans.

Wirt is likely in the main street according to his map, but it’s been changed drastically. He doesn’t usually like using the GPS because he likes feeling the map in his hands. But this one is probably from the 1990s since he found it in the library, so he’s, well. Lost.

He doesn’t know where to go or ask. He remembers the fact Greg owns a car wash, but he’s not seeing it anywhere.

His stomach and exhaustion interrupt his confused train of thought, and that’s how his eyes find food.

“Spacetries?” He mumbles.

It seems… cute.

Space, though.

Are all of these people aliens? He never doubted their existence, to be fair.

In any case, he’s already got inside. It’s small but nice. It has plenty of treats wrapped up in space elements, like stars, the moon, spaceships and comets. It looks like something Sara would love. He’d have to buy one of them for her.

“Hey, can I help you?”

Wirt would have answered, but.

The cashier is pink.

He looks like a teenager? A teenage boy? But pink?

Some weird little town, Marty’s unwanted words come back to his thoughts.

“… yeah, it’s my natural skin color. Well, not really,” the cashier says, shrugging, “but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, so let’s work with that.”

Wirt blinks after being in a trance, and he gasps.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude…”

“Eh, don’t worry. But I’m assuming you’re not from around here, am I wrong?”

“Yeah. I mean, no. I’m not.”

“Believe me, it only gets weirder,” the teen chuckles. Wirt then reads the name in his uniform – ‘Lars’. “You look like you need coffee.”

“Yes. Yes, definitely. Sure. Thank you.” He’s normally already a mess, so when he’s sleep-deprived, you can guarantee it gets worse.

“Uh-huh. What brings you to Beach City? If that’s alright to ask.”

“That’s okay. I, um…” Wirt clears his throat. “You wouldn’t happen to know, uh, Greg DeMayo, would you?”

Lars frowns. “DeMayo? Oh, you mean Greg Universe? Mr. Universe?”

Wirt’s exhaustion seems to go away immediately. “Yes! That’s him!”

“You know him?”

“Yeah, I’m,” Wirt laughs, “I’m actually his brother.”

Lars blinks. “Oh.”

“I-I haven’t seen him in years… not since he left to get here.” Wirt lowers his head. “I have no idea how he’s been doing all this time.”

“Huh… he’s doing great, sir. He got a haircut, though. Poor guy,” Lars sighs. “Well, I don’t know where he is now, but you could find Steven.”

“Steven?”

Before the boy explains it to him, his pink hair starts glowing.

And something- someone comes out of it.

“Laaaars!!”

“Ah, speak of the devil.” Lars doesn’t seem fazed by it.

Wirt might feel like the insomnia is making him see things, but nope. He’s pinched his own wrist five times today. It’s really happening.

“Oh, hello,” a dark curly-haired teenager – apparently younger than Lars? – says, only his head sticking out of Lars’… head. “Sorry, sir, this is my shortcut.”

“You could try not to scare my customers, Steven,” Lars rolls his eyes. “But hey, good timing. He’s looking for your dad.”

Dad? Wait…

“Oh, really? Just a minute,” Steven takes a breath and gets inside the hair. Lars makes a gesture for Wirt to step back.

Suddenly, Steven jumps out of Lars’ head and lands right in front of Wirt, like it’s a common occurrence to him.

“Hi! I’m Steven,” the boy raises a hand for him to take.

Wirt might stare at him like he’s a ghost.

It’s his nephew. Steven. A truly wonderful name. It sounds like Greg’s creativity indeed. But Wirt thought he’d be… smaller. Younger. He’s a teenager almost his height. Wirt is admittedly not very tall, but still…

He almost wants to hug the boy – he does want to, but no. Priorities.

“I’m- I’m Wirt,” the man shakes his hand, finally.

“So, you know my dad? I don’t think I know you, though.”

“You… probably don’t.” Wirt looks away with sadness.

“Are you his friend?”

“No, I’m…” Wirt gulps. Should he drop the bomb? What would Steven think?

Well, curse it.

“I’m your uncle.”

Steven’s eyes are comically big. “Huh?”

“I mean- I’m your dad’s brother! Which means- yeah, I’m your uncle! That never saw you growing up!” Wirt is forty-five yet he sounds far from it.

Hoo boy.

“… Oh my gosh!” Steven gasps like a fanboy, “I have an uncle!”

Wirt relaxes like he was about to be attacked.

“That’s so cool! I mean, I have Uncle Andy, but I never knew Dad had a brother!” Steven says excitedly.

Wirt frowns. “Yeah, but… Andy? I’m pretty sure he’s my cousin. You know him? And he’s living here?

“Sort of – but I’m so glad to meet you!” Steven pulls him into a hug.

“Oof-!”

Oh god, he’s strong.

“Ah, sorry! Sorry.” The kid lets go and pats his shoulder awkwardly. “I got excited.”

Despite his anxiety, Wirt laughs. “Don’t worry, Steven. I’m really happy to know my nephew, too.”

Steven gasps, “Oh, right! My dad has just gotten back from his last tour! He’ll be so surprised!”

Hold on, tour? A music tour?

“He won’t believe it when I tell him I just met my uncle,” Steven giggles.

“Haha yeah,” Wirt swallows. “Let me just get my coffee.”

While knowing that would be rude, the man slams his hands on the balcony.

“Make me three cups of coffee. Espresso.”

Lars snorts. “Sure, Uncle Universe. Would you like a little souvenir?”

“Yes, for my wife. She loves space.”

“I have an aunt, too?!” Steven exclaims.

“Cool,” Lars comments. “Who knows, I might take her to see it.”

Wirt doesn’t question it and drinks the espresso in five minutes.

He feels like he might puke.

Next chapter

#over the garden wall #steven universe #wirt #otgw wirt #greg universe #steven quartz universe #lars barriga #otgw sara #crossovers #alternate universe #fanfiction

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su-homebroken-au · 4 years

Text

Homebroken Chapter 2

The halls of the gem society are hauntingly quiet as they made their way down the never ending corridors. The lack of background noise besides the sound of their own footsteps was extremely unnerving. It was unnatural, he had grown up his whole life with sound but now? It was empty.

He'd give anything to hear the sound of Amethyst and Pearl arguing about anything. Even if the bickering made his anxiety swell, and when it got particularly bad often caused him to hide. Steven desperately needed that little bit of comfort, some kind of comfort even if it was only the size of a speck of dust.

He glanced at the Jaspers on either side of him, their presence also adding to the unnerving atmosphere. They walked in such a way that he was essentially caged between them, and if they were anything like the Jasper at home he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against them all. He was stuck.

Rubbing at his arm, he sighed nervously as his mind drifted to Lars. What would become of him? Would they actually bring him to Earth or would they abandon him somewhere? Would they bring him to the Zoo?

The thought of the machines trying to fit the earrings into Lars' earlobes was a little funny, but it did nothing to cure the pit in his stomach.

Instead he just shivered as they continued, on and on. Deeper and deeper into Homeworld. Each step taking him to a destination that he didn't think that he would survive, taking him somewhere he didn't want to be.

He let his mind drift back to the Trial, finding his memory fuzzy and his head was still spinning a little. The ache was nowhere near as bad, and he could only guess that his healing powers had started to eat away at the pain.

What had caused the destruction of the trial site? The courtroom was cracked with light peeking through the damage and instead of being annoyed, the Diamonds were ecstatic.

Well, in their own ways he guessed.

Briefly, he can recall a deep feeling of fear followed by an immense surge of a single feeling.

Protect.

It exploded out of him, tearing at the world around him as he unknowingly commanded it. His own mindset being the one that brought it forth. He registered only one thing, that he needed to stop Lars from getting hurt.

It was a deep, primal feeling. A single motive driven from pure instinct. It came from his very core, his being. An instruction written into his DNA that suddenly came out in that exact precise moment.

Steven wondered why that power hadn't shown itself before. Perhaps it was only then he had felt the emotions necessary to bring it forth. He was angry and upset, all at once. It was a dangerous cocktail shaken by his confusion and desire for answers, even though he was the one that was supposed to deliver it.

It is peculiar how such a dangerous power could come from him, it seemed a lot of his powers were based upon the idea of defence. He reasoned that in some cases, going on the offence was the best way to combat a dangerous and frankly scary situation.

Still, now that he is no longer focused on the Diamonds he felt jittery. It made no sense, but maybe it was due to not being in the clear just yet? It didn't seem like they wanted to hurt him, but he also didn't understand their reasoning for it. Pink Diamond? Steven wasn't Pink, his mom shattered Pink and because he had her gem that meant he shattered Pink inadvertently.

Right?

Steven squeezed his shirt, he isn't so sure about anything right now. He wished Connie was here, if she was here they could theorise and plan. She was the brains and the brawn, he was.. The jokester, but with a 'b'.

'Bokester'?

No, that didn't sound right.

Steven paused as they reached a large pink wall. There was engravings suggesting that there was far more to the wall than what met the eye initially. He watched as one of the Jasper's pressed her hand against a panel on the wall, and suddenly the door opened to reveal a large empty pink room.

"My Diamond." One greeted, saluting him like they did with the others. "Please head into your room and stay until you are contacted again."

Feeling no energy to argue, Steven headed in.

The room was massive, the only other escape besides the now shut door was a balcony. The ceilings were huge, expanding so high that Steven was sure it would take practice to be able to reach the top. Even with his powers.

"I wish I had something to sit down, at least." He sighed quietly, the room was massive and empty. It made him feel smaller than he really was, an intentional design perhaps?

Something clicked, and Steven watched in awe as a small platform raised from the floor. He saw small grey humanoid creatures tapping away, suggesting that they were responsible for the arrival.

"Hi." Steven greeted, crouching to get a better look at them. That seemed to spook them however, and with hushed surprise they headed back into the floor as quickly as they arrived. The chair however, remained.

The plea from them to remain is stuck on the tip of his tongue, but there was no use in asking them to. Right?

He glanced around, the gears of his mind whirring to come up with an idea on how to meet the mysterious chair bringers. Did they build other stuff?

"I would like a bed."

A long rectangular platform rose from the floor.

Tapping his chin in thought, an idea sprung to mind.

"I would like a place to rest my chin on."

A panel from the wall shifted, coming out. Steven moved quickly, shoving his head into the gap that had been created in the wall. He's able to observe many of the curious beings with little stair cases and other mechanical things in the walls.

Noticing their alarm as they backed away from him, Steven quickly felt a little panic driving his system. He felt a lot more jittery. "No, no! Please don't go!" He would plead softly. "I wanted to thank you, for your creations."

"Pink?" One inquired in a little voice, taking a few steps towards him.

Suddenly, they all rejoiced and pounced on him. He didn't fall over, their combined power was not enough to knock him over but certainly enough to bring joy. Steven couldn't help the giggles that came as they settled on him. Two are in his hair, one on his shoulder and another in his pocket.

"Oh, oh no. No, no." He interjected, looking around as a dozen more began to dance around the room. They started crafting something, taking fabric from different storage areas hidden behind the pink walls. They moved so expertly that for a moment Steven was completely entranced. Quickly he shook his head.

"I'm, I'm not Pink Diamond. I'm Steven!"

"Heh, silly Pink. Thinking she can trick us Pebbles!" Another giggled, continuing the craft with little issue.

"I'm Steven!" He insisted, lifting his shirt to reveal his gem. That didn’t seem to faze the Pebbles. They laughed instead, patting his gem with a little giggle.

“No, that is Pink’s gem right there!” They’d insist in unison, smiling at him.

“Pink has been shattered, she isn’t here anymore.” Steven insisted, dropping his shirt and smoothing them carefully. “She’s.. She’s gone, y’know?”

"You’re most certainly Pink!" A Pebble hummed, reaching to twirl a lock of Steven's hair. "That gem is like hers, that bright pink is so much like hers. Other Rose Quartz gems aren’t typically quite as pink.”

“They’re not?” He thought back to the Rose Quartz gems bubbled in the Zoo and strung in the air like constellations. “They.. They looked quite pink to me.”

“We’ve been around Pink so long, we know her gem so well. The differences are very subtle.” The Pebble hummed while rubbing his cheek.

"I bet Pearl would've known." He groaned, sitting down before falling onto the floor. He stared at the ceiling, disliking how small he felt in this space. He couldn't imagine how the pebbles felt. "I wish she was here.."

"Where did you go Pink? Did you have fun?" They're all climbing on him now, he feels like a jungle gym but not in a negative way. They're curious, not spiteful. He is happy they're here.

"I'm not Pink, I'm Steven." He reminded softly, looking up as one decided to sit on his cheek and stare into his eyes. A little unnerving, but they were so tiny that it was mostly cute. "My name is Steven Universe. I'm the son of Rose Quartz. The gem who shattered Pink, but apparently didn't?"

"That is very confusing! No wonder you did not know that you are Pink!"

"What's a 'son'?"

Oh geez, he was in for a long one.

It had taken time, more than he would have liked truthfully. He cannot tell how long it took to fully explain everything, but by the end he believed they were informed. Maybe he was too, answering questions he had too through speculation and from the knowledge he had already.

It seemed Pink was never shattered, and his mom was her all along. It was a mess to wade through, and he wished more than anything that Pearl was here. She'd know, he was sure of it. She was the closest to mom.

Although, Pearl didn't know about Lion.

"Oh Pi - Steven!" They knew his name now, that's what they called him. Steven wasn't sure that the Pebbles understood that their Pink was no longer here, but at least they called him by his actual name. "We have finished your clothes!"

"My clothes?" He inquired, approaching the garments that were currently on the floor. They even made shoes too, how did they manage to do that?

"Yes! You will need to dress appropriately to meet White!" Another explained, smiling at him kindly. "She will be quite surprised to see you like this! Maybe it would help her more if you looked a little like Pink, but we made the clothes more fitting to you!"

He examined the new clothes, lifting them carefully. It was frilly, but that wasn't a bad thing and extremely pink. He smiled a little, he did like the colour pink.

"Thank you. I'm going to have to explain this to White now too, aren't I?" Steven smiled at them, already tired. He was in for an exhausting day, he wondered if he could get a few winks of sleep in before he was summoned.

Unfortunately by the time he had dressed and adjusted himself, someone had arrived. A Pearl, monochrome in colour and damaged. The sight of her face was enough to make Steven wince, and he slowly approached her. Could he heal her?

He didn't have time to ask.

"Pink Diamond!" Oh boy. "Your presence has been requested!"

#steven universe #su #steven universe homebroken #su homebroken #story

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andrewmoocow · 3 years

Text

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 16: Enemy of my Enemy (originally published on May 3, 2021)

AN: At long last, Black Rutile strikes! I have been anticipating writing this inevitable confrontation between her and the Crystal Gems for ages, and now finally everything I've building up to these past two parts will come together in a neat little package! We got a big battle, a villain song, fusions, who could ask for more?! But I'm getting ahead of myself, let us finally begin.

Synopsis: Jasper is unofficially sworn into the Crystal Gems when some old foes come together.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Grace Rolek as Connie

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Zuli, Mean Lapis

Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Matthew Moy as Lars, Dante

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Biggs Jasper

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Ian Jones-Quartey as Snowflake Obsidian

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Martha Higerada as Topaz

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion, George, Elaine, Cosma

AJ Michalka as Stevonnie

Nancy Linari as Martha

Featuring Catherine Tate as Lepidolite

Alan Oppenheimer as Professor Poindexter

And Burt Ward as Mangolin

It has been a hectic past few hours for Steven. He was having another nice day when suddenly, Hessonite, Squaridot, and the Off-Colors all came flying out of Lion's mane, telling him that Lars needs to see him just as the Destiny Destroyer crash-landed on the beach.

Not too long after, Lars was rushed to the hospital and Steven decided to follow him in the ambulance. Steven had never been to a hospital before, so it was a little frightening for him to be somewhere on Earth that he had never been before, especially since many humans go there regularly.

"Hello, did you admit any patients into this place recently?" Steven hurriedly asked the receptionist.

"Name please." the college-aged receptionist answered, barely glancing up from her phone to meet Steven's panicking eyes.

"Steven Universe!" Steven gave his name.

"You're going to have to be more specific Mr. Universe." the receptionist stated.

"He's got pink skin, a scar over one eye and his hair is a portal to a pocket dimension where there's like a couple of trees inside." Steven explained. The woman just stared at Steven in confusion for a bit before going back to her phone. "Anything the matter, miss?"

"I'm happy you said all of that with a straight face." the receptionist said, putting down her phone to go on the computer. "One sec Universe." She looked up the most recent patients on the monitor and turned it to show Steven his desired patient. "Are you looking for Mr. Laramie Barriga?"

"Yes, that's him!" Steven exclaimed. "I was there when he got taken away in that ambulance! Where is he now?"

"Room 723." the receptionist answered. "Take the elevator, make a left and then a right. Got that?"

Before the woman could turn back, Steven had already vanished to find Lars. "Kids." she grumbled.

As Steven raced through the hospital in search of his undead friend, numerous unfamiliar sights greeted him. A doctor's office contained a child receiving a flu shot, a man in a wheelchair let Steven pass him by, a woman was on her way to an operating room, and a doctor solemnly fixed an empty hospital bed while a family was mourning.

Finally, Steven reached Room 723 just as a nurse was passing by the room. "Hello, I'm a friend of the patient occupying this room, and the Off-Colors told me what happened. Can I please come in and visit him?"

"You may." The nurse replied and opened the door for Steven. "Doctor Laurie, our patient has one more visitor." She said to the doctor standing by a bedridden Lars along with his parents, Sadie and Shep. "He said a bunch of "Off-Colors" told him everything."

"I'm here Lars!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed into the hospital room to be by Lars's side. "Hessonite and the Off-Colors told me what happened after they came flying out of Lion's mane!"

"Steven, finally!" Lars cried happily as he grabbed Steven's shoulders. "Listen, I need to warn you! You and the entire planet are doomed!"

A little while later, Lars was given a clean bill of health and was allowed to go home by ambulance. He sat on one side of the ambulance with his parents while Steven sat on the other end, and Lars continued to reveal what happened on Homeworld.

"What I'm trying to say Steven is that there's this Gem who's been inspiring others to rebel against you and Era 3!" Lars explained. "She's gathered up tons of your old enemies so they can get revenge too, and they're coming for Earth!"

"Lars, I understand your concern," Steven calmly stated. "but you're getting a little wound up over nothing. Almost everyone loves what I've done to the Gem race. There's nothing bigger going on, outside of Aquamarine being annoying."

"Seriously, you don't believe me?" Lars flatly asked in disbelief. "Well, do you at least believe what Hessonite said?"

"I believe that you teamed up for a fun space adventure!" Steven answered before his phone started ringing. "Whoops, got a call from Garnet." he said before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Steven, you need to come to Little Homeworld quick!" Garnet urged Steven from the other end. "Rogue Gems are on the attack, and they want us dead! Me, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth have already helped evacuate everyone, but we still need you to save the day again!"

"I'll be right there!" Steven bravely declared before hanging up and turning to the driver. "Sir, I need you to take us to Little Homeworld!"

"It's an emergency!" Lars added while showing him a picture of the Gem village.

"I don't see why not." the driver replied as he made a detour to Little Homeworld.

"You sure about this Lars?" Dante asked his son. "I mean, you just survived falling from space, I don't think we can handle you risking your life again so soon!"

"I promise you guys, I'll be back home when this is all over and I'm back in space." Lars assured his parents and hugged them.

"Be safe Laramie." Nancy said. "But then again, you got Steven to help out."

"Yeah, he's got me alright." Steven assured Mr. and Mrs. Barriga.

"Okay kid, we're here." the ambulance driver declared as the vehicle came close to Little Homeworld. "This is probably the first time I've escorted someone to stop an alien invasion."

"Here's good, thanks, sir." Steven said before the two boys bust the ambulance doors open and raced off to Little Homeworld.

What the pair discovered when they finally reached Little Homeworld was utter chaos. Almost everything was in ruins, smoke billowed everywhere, Light Warriors, Cluster Gems & Cactus Stevens were pillaging & demolishing, and at the center of it all was Aquamarine and Eyeball.

"Steven Universe, what a most pleasant surprise." Aquamarine purred as she turned to face Steven and Lars, batting her wand in her hand. "And look you've even brought Lars as well."

"Aquamarine, Eyeball." Steven laughed nervously while looking at the chaos behind the pair. "Did you, uh, maybe come to reconsider?"

"Reconsider, my facet!" Eyeball yelled before her fusion partner stopped her.

"But we did come with a few new friends." Aquamarine answered smugly.

"Well, that's certainly a start." Steven grinned before a massive hand made of water grabbed him and its creator brought him up to face her. "Hey, you're one of those Lapises! What brings you to Earth?"

"Sorry kid, I'm one of those new friends." Lapis 1J9G announced before dropping Steven to the ground and folding her arms as she landed right next to Aquamarine. "And we're afraid not even half-listening to you will work this time."

"See Steven, this is what I was trying to talk to you about!" Lars exclaimed, gesturing wildly to the three Gems. "A bunch of Gems want to get back at you! Though I thought there'd be more."

"I believe he's referring to me." Emerald bragged as she stepped forward with a panicking George in her hand.

"George!" Steven shouted. "And you, I know you! You're uh," He began getting off track as he only ever saw Emerald through a video screen. "Sorry, I've only met you that one time and now I've kinda forgotten-"

"IT'S EMERALD!" Emerald shrieked furiously. "How could you forget about me after Era 3 made the Diamonds let Lars off with a slap on the wrist for stealing my Sun Incinerator?!"

"Oh, calm yourself Emerald." Pyrope calmed the elite Gem down as she held aloft one of George's sisters, who was in full panic mode and pulling on her pigtails.

"Indeed," Demantoid added, also holding one of George's sisters in her enhanced arm. "You wouldn't want to make yourself less presentable for our victims."

Just then, the six Gems moved aside and kneeled to their leader, whose very appearance completely rocked Steven's world. Black Rutile walked towards Steven with a bowie knife to a rose while White Topaz followed her. When she cut the rose's head, Black Rutile finally faced Steven with an evil smile.

"I know you, you're that reporter!" Steven exclaimed. "Why are you hanging with these guys?!"

"I'm hanging with them?" Black Rutile scoffed at Steven. "I believe you're mistaken; THEY'RE hanging with ME!" She then threw away the rose's stem and steepled her fingers together. "Anyways, do you have any last words?"

"This is not good at all certainly fits." Steven declared nervously before the eight Gems slowly began marching towards the boy, eager to finally get their revenge.

However, their plans were quickly cut off before they could be put into action as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl swooped into saved Steven and Lars from the rogue Gems.

"We trusted you, you psycho!" Pearl roared while her spear clashed with Black Rutile's knife.

"And everyone was dumb enough to trust you." Black Rutile replied snarkily. "So as you humans say, hello pot, meet kettle."

"Seriously, what makes you think we're worse than you are?" Amethyst asked.

"Something about how your ways will make the Gem race a bunch of puny hippies or whatever." White Topaz answered. "No hard feelings when we destroy you and everything you worked so hard for?"

"What did I tell you about getting friendly with the enemy?" Black Rutile hissed at her Topaz bodyguard before turning back to the Crystal Gems. "Now, let me repeat myself. Any last words?"

"My future vision tells me you will fail." Garnet declared defiantly. "And we will find a way to make that future happen."

"Such noble sentiments from a couple of Gems who are gonna die!" Black Rutile replied as her knife turned into a sword that she prepared to slash the Gems with until a loud rumbling sound was heard. "What was that?"

"Need a hand?" Peridot asked as she, Lapis, and Bismuth appeared on a makeshift flying machine made out of scrap metal that she controlled with her ferrokinesis.

"So that's where you ran off to!" Pearl exclaimed while Bismuth picked her up by the hand to toss onto the metal pad.

"No time to talk, we have to move!" Lapis exclaimed, picking everyone else up with her water powers. When everyone was on board, the pad zoomed off.

"Uh, why aren't we stopping them?!" Lapis 1J9G exclaimed before preparing to fly off when Black Rutile stopped her.

"Let them run." Black Rutile smiled deviously. "I want to see how they can lie their ways out of this situation. But in the meantime, I have another idea."

Before the Crystal Gems knew it, they finally returned to the beach house where Hessonite, Squaridot, and the Off-Colors awaited their return.

"I still can't believe it!" Steven gasped in denial of their current situation. "I get that not everyone would like what I've done with Homeworld, but I don't think I'd make them angry enough to want to kill me!"

"I tried to warn you, Steven." Lars declared sassily. "But you just didn't listen! Probably because you're so in denial of wanting to accept that not everything will go your way."

"Lars, this is no time for backtalk, Earth could be in danger!" Pearl scolded the pink-skinned human as the group walked into the house to think of a plan. "That Rutile seems to have thought of everything! I mean, she's a Rutile for crying out loud, they barely held any power in Homeworld!" However, Pearl then turned to the Rutile twins standing right next to her. "Uh, no offense you two."

"None taken." The twins replied.

"Still, she's got quite an army at her side." Lapis said. "She's got one of those Lapises I fought on Aozul 2, she's got Aquamarine, Eyeball, Pyrope & Demantoid, an Emerald, and that's not even accounting for the minions they got!"

"But what does Black Rutile want with us?" Peridot and Squaridot asked in unknowing unison.

"According to her Topaz, it must be something to do with that Steven did to the Gem race." Bismuth analyzed. "But who knows what she'll do next?"

"I know." Garnet declared. "I've looked through dozens of possible timelines trying to uncover Black Rutile's true plans. This is what I feel could be the worst possible one."

"What does it look like?" Steven asked before Garnet kissed him on the head, temporarily bestowing Steven with her future vision and a glimpse at what could be to come.

It took centuries of careful planning but at long last, Black Rutile had finally won. Once the Crystal Gems were finally destroyed and she indoctrinated the Gems they had enslaved to her noble cause, she then reawakened the Cluster that was slumbering within the Earth's crust, ultimately finishing what the Diamonds were too cowardly to do and destroying that annoying little planet once and for all.

Within mere weeks, the Diamonds met their demise, and Black Rutile installed herself as the new ruler of all Gemkind. And with the beginnings of her dictatorship came the Gems reverting to their old ways during Era 4. The caste system was reinstated but also reinvented at the same time. Now, it was Black Rutile above everyone else.

As countless Gems were tormented into building a grand statue to their magnanimous leader, a lone Pearl solemnly marched through the throngs of enslaved Gems under the orders of Emerald, until she was brought before Black Rutile, who was sitting on a throne as black as her body & her heart while the shattered remains of all who opposed her hanged above her in one big bubble.

"My Rutile, I come with the most glorious of tidings." Emerald decreed as she shoved Volleyball forward. "We have succeeded in terminating the resistance, but I feel you'd find particular interest in shattering their leader yourself."

"Ah yes, Pink Diamond's little Pearl." Black Rutile snickered as she descended from her throne to meet Volleyball. "Who would've guessed a submissive little slave would try to start a revolution? Well, anything to say?"

Volleyball, however, was too terrified to speak, having just witnessed her fellow rebels being shattered before her eye and now faced with the thought of being destroyed herself.

"What's that? No grand speech about how hope will live on or that there will be others like you that will rise against me?" Black Rutile asked rhetorically. "Oh please, I've destroyed every last threat to my power on both this planet and the Asteroid Field Formerly Known as Earth." She declared, gesturing towards the shard-filled bubble floating over her throne. "What's another pile of shards to add to the collection?"

With that, Black Rutile extracted her bowie knife from her gem and used it to jab Volleyball in hers, ending her life within mere seconds.

"So ends the legacy of Pink Diamond." Black Rutile purred as she collected the Pearl's shards in a bubble. "A real shame. She had so much potential and wasted it on being a total brat and threatening her own kind."

She then returned to her throne, where she lifted the bubble towards the bigger bubble, and the two merged. Now Volleyball's remains joined the tons of Gems that Black Rutile had heartlessly shattered. Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Hessonite, Citrine, Spinel, the Diamonds, all nothing more than shards. But her proudest achievement was the small gathering of pink dust that was once Steven Universe.

Returning to the present day, Steven was left utterly aghast at this possible future, but it made his resolve to stop Black Rutile even stronger. "We have to keep this future from happening!" he declared. "All we need to do is gather up an army of our own!"

"I'll call Connie and see if she's free to save the world again today." Pearl stated as she picked up her phone and started dialing.

"Which Gems do you want me to recruit out of everyone we evacuated?" Garnet asked.

"I don't know, just pick anyone!" Steven exclaimed.

"That's the Steven we know and love!" Amethyst replied, cheerfully giving Steven a noogie when she came to a realization. "Hey wait, if Black Rutile is gathering up Gems that have a beef with us, then what would you think if she tried recruiting Jasper?"

"Y'know, Jasper did say she was eager to fight again." Steven agreed with the little Quartz. "Maybe we should try and get to her first."

"I'm not sure Steven." Pearl said as she got off the phone with Connie. "Besides, I don't think Jasper would ever want to side with us."

"Black Rutile has gathered as much information as possible on all of us, and Jasper has likely been given the same treatment." Squaridot stated. "So it's just as likely that she'll try and ensnare Jasper to her side."

"We have to get to Jasper before Black Rutile does!" Steven hurriedly declared before turning to the Warp Pad behind him. "Gotta go, I'll be back soon!"

As Steven left for the forest via Warp Pad, the other Gems just gazed at the pad where he once stood.

"Good luck Steven." Pearl muttered before turning to Lion. "Go fetch Connie, okay?"

Lion nodded obediently and let out a roar, creating a portal that he leaped through to get to Connie.

Meanwhile, deep within the woods of Beach City, Jasper had been watching all that was going on in Little Homeworld from on top of her cave. As she watched smoke billow from afar, she couldn't help but feel that Steven brought this upon himself for enforcing peace for all Gems.

"He could've just ended colonization and leave it at that, but no!" Jasper muttered to herself while leaping down to the entrance of her cave. "He had to make them all into peace-loving weaklings!"

"Couldn't agree more." Jasper heard a familiar voice concur with her opinion. When the orange Gem turned around, she discovered Black Rutile leaning on a nearby tree with Aquamarine standing on a branch above her. "Jasper, correct? I don't think we got properly introduced to each other."

"If you're here for another interview, then forget it!" Jasper bellowed at Black Rutile before bringing her attention to Aquamarine. "And I see you got that little brat with you too."

"You are indeed correct Jasper." Aquamarine declared. "In fact, I'm not the only one who she recruited because of how dissatisfied I am with Era 3. Many Gems have been rallied by my master here to rebel against Steven's oppression and create a utopia."

"Are you sure about that?" Jasper asked with an eyebrow raised. "Sounds to me like you're starting some kind of cult?"

"A cult?! Stuff and nonsense!" Black Rutile assured the quartz. "We are simply fighting for our rights! Would you like to join us?"

"Jasper, don't!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed to the cave, where he saw Jasper standing with Black Rutile. "Please, you have to listen, Black Rutile is not to be trusted!"

"Don't you dare listen to him!" Black Rutile insisted. "He's the son of Pink Diamond, and it's both their faults you went from mighty Gem warrior to a lonely shell of your former self! Don't you see, you could finally get your revenge on Pink!"

"Revenge on my Diamond?" Jasper growled. "Fat chance! Why would I ally with some low-ranking Rutile just because she hates Pink like almost every Gem on this planet?! I'd rather be a peace-loving weakling than one of your lackeys!"

"Low-ranking?!" Black Rutile argued. "I'll have you know Jasper, I was one of a kind among Gems of my type because I worked my hardest to receive White Diamond's highest honors and join the upper-class of her court! You're just a mere Jasper who probably didn't even know Pink in person for the selfish, bratty sociopath she w-"

Before the Rutile could finish, Jasper summoned her crash helmet and sent her flying out of the forest with a single headbutt. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, YOU ROTTEN QUARTZ!" Black Rutile cursed Jasper. "YOU JANKING CLOD!"

As Aquamarine chased after the flying Rutile, Jasper turned to Steven with a grumpy look in her eyes. In contrast, the starry-eyed Steven squealed excitedly while staring at Jasper. "Quit looking at me like that." Jasper snarled. "Let me guess, you want to recruit me too?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Steven declared eagerly.

"Yes indeed, my Ministry of Maliciousness shall soon destroy the United Defenders of the World and conquer the world at last!" a weirdly animated mad scientist with three circles arranged in a triangle decorating his bald head declared as he gestured to his fellow supervillains. Amethyst was watching this happen on television with some of the other Gems in Steven's room.

"Apex Predator!" A muscular man decorated in animal skins fired his highly advanced hunting rifle at nothing in particular.

"Electric Ellen!" A young woman in a black suit with lightning bolt patterns demonstrated her powers for the other villains.

"Automato!" A bronze robot with green optics simply stood by his seat at the table of criminals, his soulless eyes unblinking.

"Scare Master!" A large man in a monster costume that continuously leaked hallucinogenic gas and wearing a yellow ring let out a ghoulish laugh.

"The Unidentified Felonious Extraterrestial!" A cybernetic insectoid alien made a shrieking noise, exposing the smaller head in its mouth.

"And of course, your illustrious leader!" the scientist introduced himself. "The world's greatest criminal mind, Professor Poindexter, Ph.D.!"

"Uh, why are we watching this show?" Zuli asked Amethyst while she sat next to Lapis.

"This is what our current sitch reminds me of!" Amethyst explained. "Mangolin's archenemy Professor Poindexter gathers up each of the United Defenders of the Globe's enemies to form, like, a team of supervillains!"

"Why is the animation so lazy?" Peridot wondered as she leaned on Biggs Jasper.

"It was the 70s, limited budget." Amethyst said. "Ooh wait, here comes Mangolin!"

The cartoon then changed scenes from the Ministry of Maliciousness to the United Defenders of the World, which included Mangolin, Uber-Chap, Battle Goddess, Pyro-Nado, Shamrock Cavalier, Gizmo-Chick, and Vincent the Visitor.

"Termite terrors, Defenders!" the pangolin-themed hero Mangolin exclaimed. "Our foe Professor Poindexter has assembled our enemies to destroy us once and for all! We must do something!"

"They just explained that to us!" Nephrite said. "What, do they think the viewers are stupid or something?"

Just then, the group of Gems heard the Warp Pad go off, signaling that Steven has finally returned.

"Hey, Steven's back!" Teal Zircon exclaimed before racing down the stairs to see her half-human friend again, and this time she was in for a surprise. "Hey Jasper, remember me? Your new best friend?"

"I regret this decision already." Jasper cringed at having to ally with Teal as the other Gems came back downstairs. "Oh look, a whole menagerie of useless clods! Why even bring them all together when I can just take Black Rutile's forces on myself?"

"Jasper, no need to brag about your strength." Lapis said to the more muscular Gem. "This is serious, the whole planet is at stake here!"

"And I should care because?" Jasper snarled in disagreement.

"Um, this is your Diamond's planet?" an exasperated Pearl replied. "Surely you wouldn't want anyone to touch what Pink owned, right?"

"I suggest you don't talk that way to a Gem like her." Rhodonite said to Pearl. "She looks like she could go wild on us at any moment."

"Just calm down everyone." Fluorite advised calmly. "I know we're all stressed because of our current situation, but let's not start arguing."

"And who are all of these?" Jasper asked as she gestured to the Off-Colors, Hessonite & Squaridot, Zuli, Snowflake Obsidian, Little Larimar, Nephrite, Topaz, and Biggs Jasper. "I suppose they're all from that stupid school of yours?"

"Well, most of them are." Steven pointed out. "And maybe when this is all over, you could finally give Little Homeschool a chan-"

"Pass." Jasper coldly declared. "Shouldn't we be getting ready to fight right now?"

"Jasper's right." Bismuth agreed. "We're all in this together, for Earth."

And right on cue, Lion finally returned with Connie on his back, her sword at the ready. "How convenient that I finished most of my work in time for another chance at saving the world!" Connie stated as she dismounted from Lion and hugged Steven. "So, who are we fighting?"

"Come with us to Little Homeworld, I'll show you." Steven answered before he began to walk towards the Warp Pad. "Gems, let's get a move on."

And so, the Crystal Gems and all their assorted allies marched towards the Warp Pad, ready to take back Little Homeworld from Black Rutile's rebels and defend the planet once more. When Steven spread out his arms, off they all went in a beam of light.

"Ugh, I'm so bored!" Eyeball complained, pacing around while the rest of the alliance mindlessly caused more damage to Little Homeworld out of complete boredom. "I suppose they finally realized they were stupid to stop us and skipped Earth without telling?"

"Patience Ruby." Aquamarine advised her fusion partner. "They should be coming soon."

"What makes you so sure?" White Topaz asked Aquamarine as she revealed her weapon, a pair of brass knuckles.

"Steven came running for Jasper thinking she can join his side." The little blue Gem answered. "What an idiot, am I right?!"

Suddenly, Aquamarine was in for a scare as Little Homeworld's Warp Pad activated from right behind her, and on it were the Crystal Gems.

"Okay Black Rutile, we're here." Steven declared with Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, Lion, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Jasper, Hessonite, Squaridot, Lars, the Off-Colors, TZ, Zuli, Topaz, Snowflake, Larimar, Biggs, and Nephrite behind him. "All of us!"

"Oh, you finally showed up! Good timing." Black Rutile sarcastically applauded her foes. "And I see you got a little rag-tag bunch of over-eager losers by your side too."

"Hey 2F8D, so this is what you've been up to." 1J9G cattily greeted her ex-partner. "Being a pacifist baby and letting yourself be Steven's slave."

"I'm not a slave, neither to him or you!" Zuli yelled at 1J9G. "I came to Little Homeworld not just to learn how to appreciate Earth, but to learn how to make actual friends! Not be submissive to overly-controlling jerks!"

"I thought I could trust you Aquamarine!" Topaz went next. "I thought you changed by meeting that Ruby and fusing with her, but now I see you'll always be the same little monster you always are!"

"Oh stop Topaz, you're too kind!" Aquamarine said to her former Topaz.

"Crystal Gems, assemble!" Garnet bravely pointed forward to prepare for one last attack, but Steven stopped her.

"Wait!" Steven exclaimed. "Before we all get into one big fight, I want to know. Why do you hate me in particular? Outside of Era 3, I mean."

"You really want to know?" Black Rutile replied. "Well, allow me to put this in the only way you'll probably understand." She turned to White Topaz while fetching some kind of device from her gem. "Music please."

White Topaz turned the device on and music began to play, cuing Black Rutile to start a song. "When one era ends, another begins. It's such a big change for all us Gems." She sang. "But some aren't new fans of the old ways, and prefer to look back on the old days. But I on the other hand got a chance, to make this the Crystal Gems' last dance. And now I pray through endless days, to finally get rid of you."

"Is she singing?" Lars gasped at the musical number that just began as drum music kicked in. "Did she have a machine made for that purpose?"

"When I first emerged for my Diamond, White the master tactician!" Black Rutile began telling her origins through holograms on her visor, showing a just-emerged Rutile in a Kindergarten standing before White Diamond. "She revealed to me in secret signs, the markings of a great Gem! And she was indeed no clod, could reduce entire armies to sod! And all the fools that dared cross her, she'd just shrug and then shatter!"

"I studied well, got my tools of the trade, always got nothing but an A-grade!" After Black Rutile did away with the hologram showing her emergence, she started revealing the hard work she did to gain her high status among White Diamond's subjects. "But then he walked in and called himself Pinky, soon everyone got down to one knee." A stylized version of Steven's first arrival on Homeworld came next, and the stylized Black Rutile wasn't very pleased. "What never died was my ambition, and my keen intuition. Both of them gave me a complex, and made me want to rule the universe."

As the song went on, Steven began learning more about the consequences of his actions and how much Black Rutile truly despised him. "Every glimmer from your smile makes me want to puke!" his new foe complained. "Who to slay, who's the one, who's to doom? You know the only one would be my new archenemy, Steven U!"

With that, the chorus soon began with Black Rutile's minions joining in, sans White Topaz. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos!" the seven Gems sang in harmony. "Wither the rose! Only highs, no lows! In a world of chaos!"

"Is this the time for a song?" Connie asked. "Why don't we just attack them while they're singing?"

"Black Rutile is going to put on an admittedly wonderful song!" Padparadscha exclaimed.

"Ha!" Black Rutile laughed as the musical break reaches its end before turning to her Cluster Gems, cyborg Cactus Stevens and Light Warriors. "Come on minions, hurry along, this little school will soon be gone!" she commanded them before hugging herself in excitement. "I could squeeze myself with glee! Next the Diamonds and then this galaxy! I would really stop at nothing, shattering, treachery and lies! Whatever it takes to reign supreme, you really can't blame me for trying."

The tune soon began to reach its climax. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos! Wither the rose! Don't you doze!"

"We shall restore Homeworld's true order!" Aquamarine soon joined in.

"Vengeance will soon finally be ours!" Eyeball added sadistically.

"Saying sorry just won't cut it!" Emerald chorused.

"Dismantling the new superpowers!" Lapis 1J9G stated.

"Armies rampaging across the stars!" Demantoid declared.

"Covered in so many scars!" Pyrope boomed.

"Nothing but eternal war," Black Rutile concluded. "Join us as we make our own colony!"

"Genocide, slaughtering, jingoism, in enemy blood we shall wade!” The seven Gems announced. "Homeworld Gems come celebrate, as we make this bratty starlight fade!"

The song finally ended and the alliance of hatred took a bow before Black Rutile changed her knife into a broadsword with a massive blade and a tiny handle. "Now that we explained everything," she stated before pointing her sword forward. "CHARGE!"

The two sides finally clashed at Little Homeworld for the fate of Earth. Lapis & Zuli took to the skies against 1J9G, Pyrope & Demantoid led an unwilling Light Army, Emerald sped forth to personally confront Lars, and Black Rutile, White Topaz, Aquamarine & Eyeball personally confronted Steven, Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl.

"Fire!" Demantoid commanded some Light Warriors bearing laser cannons to shoot at Teal Zircon & Nephrite, but Jasper and Topaz were there to shield her from the blasts. "You!"

"You saved me!" TZ exclaimed. "Guess you really do think of me as your best friend, dontcha Jasp?"

"No, I still find you one of the most annoying beings I've ever met." Jasper replied. "But still, better to side with someone as irritating as you."

"I thought we were all friends!" 1J9G exclaimed as she clashed her water with Lapis and Zuli's. "I only joined these guys just so I could get you back!"

"Why would we ever take you back?!" Lapis stated.

"When we ran into 3E8C after years, she showed me that she and Steven were the best of friends!" Zuli added. "Not an overly controlling jerk who refuses to let me have fun!"

"See what she means?!" 1J9G said. "He's brainwashed all of you!" The only response she got was a punch to the face from Zuli.

Down below, Lars and Connie sparred against Emerald. "Don't think Steven will be there to save you today!" Emerald taunted, snapping her fingers and revealing electric powers to fight with. "He'll just throw you away, just like how Pink always threw everything away!"

"Sheesh, sins of the mother much?" Lars dryly commented.

"Steven is nothing like that!" Connie argued. "If you knew him, you'd know he's the sweetest, most caring guy you could ever meet!"

"Oh blah blah blah, I get it, he's too pure for this universe and he must be protected at all costs!" Emerald said. "Black Rutile has shown me what he truly is like."

Finally, the Crystal Gems battled with Black Rutile and her three most loyal followers. Garnet went up against White Topaz, Amethyst vs Eyeball, Pearl vs Aquamarine, and finally Steven vs Black Rutile.

"Why are you doing this?!" Steven asked Black Rutile while in utter denial. "I brought peace to the galaxy, I ended the Diamonds' oppression!"

"And stripped all Gems of their livelihoods in the process." Black Rutile coldly replied as her sword clashed with Steven's shield. "Look around you kid, these Gems came to my side because they have no status, no allies, no power over others! And now, they come to Earth for retribution against you!"

"But this still isn't right!" Steven claimed. "I understand that some may not be comfortable with what I've done, but that doesn't excuse you for all this."

"Kinda like how you excused the Diamonds for all they did just because they were sad, or something stupid like that." Black Rutile insulted.

"That's because they were!" Steven exclaimed. "They were in mourning!"

"Mourning the so-called death of an annoying brat I had the displeasure of sharing a planet with!" Black Rutile yelled as she began fighting in a way that resembled capoeira and gymnastics. "This all could've been avoided if you just put your enemies out of their misery, or at least punished them, rather than just excusing them with a stupid song and acting like everything was just water under the bridge!"

"You're thinking of retributive justice, where the offender did something wrong and the punishment is just as severe in exchange." Steven replied. "We Crystal Gems practice restorative justice, where we actually talk to the offenders and try to see how we can help them without using lethal force."

"Well, whatever you're talking about, you can call me a proud supporter of retributive justice." Black Rutile declared herself. "As in, me and my pals are seeking retribution against you and your posse for what you did to our society, and will do so by any means necessary. Because you think everything can just bend to your will if you just make everyone around you cry?! You really are no better than Pink!"

"Well, I'm trying to be better than my mom, both Pink Diamond, and Rose Quartz." Steven responded, blocking another attack from Black Rutile. "But I'm pretty sure they'd both find a sociopath like you beyond saving."

"Me, a sociopath?! You barely even know me!" Black Rutile yelled before bunting Steven's shield away when he tried to throw it. "Well, you're certainly right on me being a bit selfish, but look at you. I mean, you've made excuses for murderers, bigots, and toxic friends, yet anyone who's just doing what they're made to do is instantly made a pariah just because they don't like you and your dumb little sidekicks!"

Behind Black Rutile's back, however, her alliance was slowly beginning to fall apart, yet she didn't seem to care. Hessonite, Peridot, Biggs, and Squaridot hid behind a wall to avoid the Light Warriors' attacks.

"Got a plan, you guys?" Biggs asked the other three Gems.

"I have." Hessonite replied. "The Peridots shall distract them by taking control of Demantoid's limb enhancers while I swoop in and steal back the Light Prisms! Then perhaps we can turn the Light Army on them."

"I'll see what I can do." Peridot stated, but then Squaridot put a green hand on her shoulder.

"No, allow me." Squaridot stated before using her ferrokinetic powers to meddle with Demantoid's limb enhancers.

"No no, not again!" Demantoid yelled as she was dumped out of her mech, and the Light Prism she was holding hostage fell out with her only to be caught by Hessonite at rapid speed. "My Prism!"

"Demantoid you child, you could've just fought back instead of letting yourself get defeated!" Pyrope said, unaware that her Prism was stolen as well. "Wait, what?"

As Hessonite returned to Peridot and Squaridot with the Light Prisms in hand, the Light Warriors dropped their current activities and began to surround the three Gems peacefully. "Now that you know who's really in charge here," Hessonite bragged before she pointed at her fellow Garnets. "FIRE!"

"No, it can't be!" Pyrope squealed in utter defeat as the Light Warriors pointed their weapons at her and Demantoid.

"Hold me close Pyrope!" Demantoid added while hugging Pyrope in fear before the Light Warriors charged, attacking the pair and poofing them once and for all.

As for Emerald, she was now getting ganged up on by Lars, Connie, and the Off-Colors, who all took turns using Connie's sword against her. "You're all just humans and Off-Color Gems!" Emerald screamed as she desperately tried to fight back. "What makes you think you all can stop me?!"

"'Cause we're all more walk than talk!" Lars declared, once again using his musti-yuddha skills to knock Emerald to the ground. "Connie, care to do the honors?"

"With pleasure!" Connie replied, hopping up on Fluorite's head and jumping high into the air before zooming down with her sword pointed directly at Emerald.

"I hate you all." Emerald snarled bitterly before Connie poofed her, ending the threat she possessed to Lars and the Off-Colors.

High up in the air, the battle of the Lapides raged on with 1J9G using vapor from the clouds as makeshift weapons against her former friends.

"We could've stayed together if 3E8C hadn't been dropped on Earth like an idiot!" 1J9G yelled. "I just wanted us to stay friends!"

"Well, if you want to keep your friends," 3E8C stated, forming a massive water hand from a nearby cloud. "then you should act like a friend." The hand grabbed 1J9G and tossed her to the ground, creating a massive crater that caused a building to start falling over, and one piece of sharp rubble was aimed straight at 1J9G's gem.

"So this is it, huh?" 1J9G monologued to herself as death was mere moments away. "I feel like this is karma for being a horrible friend like they keep calling me. In that case, I'm sorry. Maybe somewhere else, we could've stayed together."

As 1J9G accepted her demise, the rubble was punched out of the way by a massive silhouette in the dust, and it settled to reveal Jasper as her savior.

"Get up you!" Jasper roared at the Lapis.

"But, we're on different sides!" 1J9G exclaimed. "Why did you save me?"

"It's what a certain someone would've done, but he's too busy at the moment." Jasper replied. "Plus, I know what it's like to be alone too."

"Oh look, that Jasper is becoming just like you!" Black Rutile yelled as she watched her alliance break up. "But then again, they set themselves up for this the moment I recruited them all, so what are you gonna do?"

"But still, we're fighting a losing battle!" White Topaz advised her Rutile. "What do we do now?"

"I think I know." Black Rutile smirked before snapping her fingers at one of her surviving allies. "Aquamarine, grab the boy and take him to the nearest mountain!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Aquamarine purred before she grabbed Steven with her wand and began flying off, with Eyeball also in tow, and Black Rutile & White Topaz on a mini-hovercraft. "Oh, where will you be without your precious little abomination?!"

"Steven!" the Crystal Gems all yelled.

"Topaz, subdue the Lapises!" Black Rutile then commanded White Topaz, who gave a shaky nod before leaping up and grabbing Lapis & Zuli, followed by pinning them to the ground.

"Don't worry guys, I got this!" Connie said before mounting on Lion and riding off after Aquamarine.

"The only one who should defeat him is me." Jasper said as Connie fled, right before following the human. "Wait up girl!"

At the mountain, Steven was dropped by Aquamarine at the highest cliff, where Black Rutile stood by with a boulder next to her and White Topaz.

"What do you want now Black Rutile?" Steven asked as he got up to face the evil Rutile.

"Simple, toss you over the edge and throw a boulder to crush you to death, since you can fly apparently." Black Rutile declared. "I've been waiting for ages to destroy Pink Diamond, and you, my little friend, are just the thing to satisfy my vendetta."

"But why do you hate Pink so much?" Steven exclaimed. "Let me guess, she treated you like trash just like almost every other Gem I've faced?"

"No, she didn't treat me like trash!" Black Rutile answered. "She treated everyone around her like trash, yet the Diamonds almost always let her get away with everything! And here you are forcing Gems against their will to change their very way of living! Hey, at least you didn't fake your death to recklessly endanger the lives of others, because I'm going to endanger yours!"

Black Rutile then picked up Steven by his shirt collar and walked to the edge of the cliff, where she dangled him over such dangerously high heights. "You know what's ironic?" she smiled cheerfully before it turned to a hateful scowl. "You're able to get humans and Gems to get along, yet you're neither of them yourself."

With that, Black Rutile released her grip on Steven's shirt and he began falling from the cliff, followed shortly by White Topaz tossing a boulder that fell right above him. "NO HARD FEELINGS!" she yelled.

"So this is how I'll die, falling to my death off a cliff while a boulder is going to crush me." Steven realized as he fell to his doom. "Maybe Black Rutile's right. Maybe this is punishment for only thinking of myself all the time, and never taking others' feelings into account. Punishment for letting all these enemies run free instead of punishing them. Punishment for being an awful person in general."

However, just as Steven shut his eyes, accepted his demise, and did not even use any of his powers to escape, a voice cried out to him. "STEVEN!"

"Connie?" Steven exclaimed as she warped in via Lion's portal and reach out to him. "Don't worry, I'm with you till the end of the line! Just grab my hand!"

Steven gave a big smile, realizing that even with all his faults there were still people looking out for him, and took Connie's hand, causing the two to merge into a mass of light.

"Well, that should take care of him." Black Rutile declared, dusting off her hands and beginning to walk away. "Come along you three, let's go reawaken the Cluster and wipe this planet off the face of this universe for good."

"Uh, my Rutile?" White Topaz said while she, Aquamarine, and Eyeball gazed over the edge of the cliff to discover a pink light rapidly approaching them. "I think Steven is….not dead."

"Wait, seriously?!" Black Rutile yelled before Stevonnie leaped up the mountain and onto the cliff where the four enemy Gems stood. "You fused with a human?!"

"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Stevonnie declared as they swung their sword to try and poof Aquamarine, but she swiftly dodged and fused with Eyeball to form Bluebird Azurite.

"Of course I knew you can fuse with humans kid, it was in my data!" Black Rutile exclaimed before turning to White Topaz staring in amazement at the fusion. "Topaz, fuse with me!"

"Wait, we get to fuse too?!" White Topaz giddily exclaimed. "Eee, I can't wait, we've been practicing for so long!"

"Just shut up already." Black Rutile snarled before extending her hand. "Now, may I have this dance?"

"Gladly." White Topaz responded, taking her superior's hand before they began dancing the tango, their gems glowing as they danced until they formed into a giant light that resulted in a new, much larger fusion with four eyes & arms, spiky hair that went down to her back, a black-and-grey uniform and Black Rutile's white cape.

"BEHOLD FOOLISH LESSER BEINGS!" the new fusion bombastically declared. "THE GODLIKE SUPERIORITY OF THE MIGHTY LEPIDOLITE!"

"One fusion against two fusions." Stevonnie muttered. "Have to admit, those aren't very good odds."

"You bet." Jasper declared, zooming up the mountain to stand by Stevonnie's side and pounding her fists together. "For them!"

"You followed us?" Stevonnie asked Jasper.

"I don't like the Crystal Gems, but I hate them just as much." Jasper explained roughly. "Now come on, let's finish this!"

"Oh, a fair game, I see!" Lepidolite asked as she summoned two pairs of claws on each pair of her hands that extended from her knuckles while Bluebird summoned her ice cutlass. "Well, game on!"

Lepidolite clashed her claws with Stevonnie's sword while Jasper grabbed Bluebird in her massive hand and smashed her face into the rock face. However, despite Lepidolite being surprisingly evenly matched with Stevonnie, there was one thing they had that she lacked. Control over the fusion itself.

"So you can fuse with humans?!" White Topaz exclaimed cheerfully while Lepidolite slashed at Stevonnie before she switched to Black Rutile. "Did you even listen to Aquamarine's report, why are you acting like this is so new to you?!" Black Rutile yelled. "Why do you always have to be so dense?!"

"This is almost like Malachite." Stevonnie compared the abusive control Black Rutile had over White Topaz to the strained but peaceful relationship between Lapis and Jasper. "Listen, why can't you just work together?!"

"Because she's a completely moronic clod!" Black Rutile yelled through Lepidolite.

"Even if she treats me like trash, she's still my boss!" White Topaz added. "After all, isn't that what master/servant relationships are kinda like?"

"Master, don't!" Bluebird yelled as Jasper kept beating her up. "You're going to make them do some speech about the stupid power of friendship or something!"

"Well, you want us to work together?!" Lepidolite said, now no longer personified through Black Rutile and White Topaz's arguing. "Then work together we shall!"

Lepidolite then grabbed Stevonnie by their arms and once again threw them over the edge of the cliff before walking off to assist Bluebird. But just like when Steven was tossed over the cliff, things went horribly wrong for them.

Stevonnie reappeared in a massive gust of wind, now bathed in a pink glow and with a furious snarl replacing their confident grin. "Why won't you listen?!" they yelled, lunging at Lepidolite and striking their sword straight into her chest. "I'm not the real monster, YOU ARE!"

"No no no no no no!" Lepidolite screamed as Stevonnie's sword cut into her body and striking her straight in Black Rutile's gem, causing the two to ultimately defuse. As the pair of Gems were dropped to the ground, White Topaz laid on her back, utterly stupefied. Black Rutile on the other hand was terrified beyond all recognition, a far cry from the confident mastermind she normally is.

"W-w-who are you!?" Black Rutile shivered in fear of the pink Stevonnie, who now had a psychotic smile on their face. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"

"I'm-" Stevonnie began when they suddenly stopped and gazed at their hands. "I don't know." With that, Stevonnie finally un-fused back into Steven and Connie, just in time for the other Gems to arrive.

"Steven, Connie!" Garnet cried as she, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Bismuth, Hessonite, Lars, Squaridot, and the Light Prisms were carried up the mountain by a massive water elevator created by the trio of Lapides. When they reached the cliff, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all rushed to give the two kids a big hug. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Connie replied shakily. "First we fused into Stevonnie to fight Black Rutile, who fused with White Topaz to create this big fusion called Lepidolite, then after we were tossed over a cliff, Stevonnie turned pink and-"

"Wait, pink?" Pearl wondered. "It's just like all those other times Steven lost control! What could it be?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know too!" the utterly defeated Black Rutile yelled. "What is that, a human thing?"

"Uh, no everyone! Everything's fine!" Steven began lying. "It's just a human thing, but I'm the only one who can do it!"

"Alright, keep your secrets brat." Black Rutile declared before she snapped her fingers again. Getting up from Jasper's beatdown, Bluebird picked up Black Rutile & White Topaz and carried them away. "Your little power fantasy will soon come to an end!" she declared. "And Gems, I'd keep an eye out on that monster if I were you! He could become a bigger threat to Earth than I am!"

As the three Gems got farther away, everybody turned to Steven with nervous looks on their faces.

"Steven, is there anything you need to tell us?" Connie asked her best friend.

"Uh, anyone wanna go out for pizzas?" Steven tried to change the subject, and everyone went silent in response.

"What is this pizza you speak of?" Hessonite piped up.

Later that day, reconstruction of Little Homeworld had quickly begun. With Peridot and Squaridot's help, the Cactus Stevens were now fully organic once more and helped in the repairs, alongside the Light creatures created by George and his sisters.

"Wow George, you, Elaine, and Cosma are one great team!" Steven said to George as they looked upon the Light Army's hard work. George turned to Steven with a confused look on his face. "Oh, I came up with those names for your sisters based on this TV show with a character also named George."

"Hey Steven, the pizzas are here!" Lapis called for Steven.

"Ooh, gotta go you guys!" Steven said before leaving George and his newly named sisters to work. "See you again soon!"

Steven returned to the Little Homeworld Warp Pad, where the Crystal Gems and the Off-Colors were setting up a little picnic with pizza boxes all around. "You see, this is what we need more of." Steven said. "Just us hanging out, no Gem monsters or evil Gems threatening and scarring our lives."

"Are you sure you're okay kid?" 1J9G asked Steven.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Steven replied. "Wait, what are you doing here? Weren't you on Black Rutile's side?"

"That Jasper saved my life because she knew what it was like to be alone, so I'm coming here as gratitude." 1J9G stated. "I came with Black Rutile as 1J9G, and I'll learn to become a better friend as Laz. You like the new name I got?"

"I love it!" Zuli exclaimed happily. "It's so wet!"

"Well, if you say so." Steven said awkwardly before he found Lars and Hessonite collecting the inactive gemstones of Emerald, Pyrope, Demantoid and all the Cluster Gems. "And what are you going to do with those?"

"We'll take the Cluster Gems back to Homeworld." Lars answered before pointing to Emerald and the Garnets. "As for these three, I'm not sure yet."

"They'll be safe with us." Garnet said, taking the three Gems out of the bubble. "And who knows? Maybe they'll become students of Little Homeschool."

"Speaking of which, Squaridot." Hessonite said to her Peridot sidekick. "You said that you were given the chance to come to Little Homeschool before you joined me? You think the offer still stands?"

"You know what?" Squaridot said. "I think I'm gonna stay here. Thank you Hessonite for everything." She then hugged the orange Garnet. "And tell Citrine I said hi if you find her."

As the group all sat down to their victory picnic, many eyes were still on Steven, who paid more attention to his slice of pie.

"Seriously, that boy just ain't right!" Jasper said as she prepared to leave.

"Yo Jasper, have a little more tact!" Amethyst scolded her fellow quartz while turning to Steven. "But what if Black Rutile is right? What if Steven becomes a threat to Earth?"

Steven still didn't pay any attention and kept on eating, but the Gems guessed that he might've been deliberately distracting himself. But why?

Elsewhere, Black Rutile had now touched down deeper in the forest, letting Bluebird Azurite drop her off in front of a cave. "Ah, this should make a good hideout."

"Why can't we just flee on your dropship?" White Topaz asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's been seized by now." Black Rutile said as she sat down on a rock formation, slouching and pressing her fingers together. "Tell me, my friends, what do you think is Steven's greatest weakness?"

"He can't fend for himself!" Aquamarine stated as she and Eyeball un-fused.

"He always has to get his nose in everyone's business." Eyeball remarked, rolling her eye with arms crossed.

"Uh, he's got boatloads of trauma that no one bothers to bring up?" White Topaz asked meekly.

"Correct Topaz, very good for once." Black Rutile congratulated her Topaz. "Now, as you see, he can't deal with his whole worldview changing, since learning there were so many Gems against him shattered everything he almost knew about his actions." She declared. "But what if we did the same, but we turn the humans against him?"

END OF PART 2: GRADUATION

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3: FRAGMENTED MIND

And that was Enemy of my Enemy and Part 2 in general! This was a really long one, filled with ideas that I've had in my head for ages! The whole group of past enemy Gems was inspired primarily by the Evil League of Mutants from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I imagined the bad future to be similar to Deliver Us from Prince of Egypt, and the justice debate was basically the Ship of Theseus scene from WandaVision. And that's not even getting into what I have planned for Part 3, but that's another time for another day. And if the subtitle is any indication, you all know what's coming.

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