And Evil Never Beats Us

This couldn't be happening…

Steven stared at the burning remains of what had once been the temple. The head had fallen off, and crushed what remained of his room. He wanted to go and get his ukulele, but knew it was probably destroyed, along with everything else he owned.

It had all happened so quickly. It had been a relatively quiet morning. He had been eating lunch at the boardwalk. Amethyst had frantically burst into Fish Stew Pizza, rambling incoherently about the Homeworld gems and telling Steven he was needed at the temple. By the time he arrived back home, the gem warship was hovering over the beach, and Garnet and Pearl had prepared themselves for battle. A single gem had descended from the ship and told the Crystal Gems to surrender. They, of course, refused, and combat ensued.

It hadn't really been a fight. It had been a massacre. It took the mysterious gem mere seconds to split Garnet, and force Ruby and Sapphire to retreat into their gems. Pearl tried to lunge with her spear, but the mysterious gem sidestepped the attack and promptly impaled Pearl with her own weapon. She had paid very little attention to Amethyst, and barely reacted when amethyst's whip hit her directly in the head. She had merely walked up to Amethyst and landed a crushing blow to her head. The purple warrior hit the sand silently before retreating into her gem like the others. Then, the gem had turned its attention to Steven…

A flash of pain brought the young boy back to reality. Steven tried to stand up, but his strength failed him and he fell into the cold sand. He let out a groan and clutched his right arm. He couldn't move it at all, and it had begun to swell. Everything hurt, and he was having trouble seeing out of his left eye. In addition, he was beginning to feel nauseous. He slowly crawled over to the water's edge to get a better look at himself. He looked down at his reflection in the water to see his condition. The image that stared back frightened him.

Steven looked worse for wear. His left eye was almost entirely swollen shut. His shirt was torn off just below his chest, and his right sleeve was gone. The skin on his right shoulder was black and beginning to peel. He was covered in cuts and scrapes. Steven then noticed the thin crack running through the gem in his navel. He suddenly felt even more nauseous. He turned around, leaned over, and brought up his lunch.

Despite his condition, Steven was aware of his surroundings and the gravity of the situation at hand. He didn't think anyone had time to evacuate Beach City before the battle. He turned his attention towards the town. Though the fighting had primarily taken place on the beach, the small beachside town had been ravaged by the gem warship. Most of the buildings had been reduced to rubble. Steven thought, "I have to find everyone and make sure they're okay. I'm the only one who can save them."

Mustering what strength he had left, Steven managed to stand tenuously, and began to limp towards the wreckage. He didn't see anyone or anything moving. Horrifying thoughts about the fates of the other residents flashed through his mind. Had his dad made it out okay? Were Sadie and Lars alright? Did the Pizzas make it out of their store before it collapsed?

Steven's morbid train of thought was interrupted when his legs gave out and he fell face-first into the sand. He desperately tried to get up again, with similar results. Steven struggled to regain his balance, but ultimately was only able to get onto his knees. He sat there, gazing out over the smoldering rubble that was once his home. Tears began to run down his cheeks.

Steven looked up at the cloudless sky and began to sob. He wasn't able to save his family. He wasn't able to save his friends. He wiped his tears with his working hand and exclaimed," I'm sorry! I wasn't able to do anything! I'm worthless! I couldn't protect the gems. I couldn't protect any of the people who care about me. I couldn't even save myself! If mom hadn't given up herself for me, maybe none of this would have happened! Then everyone would still be…" He put his face in his hand and continued to cry.

Finally, the dizziness got to him. Steven fell onto his side and groaned softly. He realized that at least Connie was still safe, and smiled weakly at the thought. "I'm sorry Connie. I guess…you'll have to find a new friend," he whispered to no one within earshot. He took one more shuddering breath, and everything faded to black.