Steven Universe is the property of Cartoon Network, Rebecca Sugar, and the rest of that strange team known as the Crewniverse.
On a nondescript beach the sound of water crashing on the shore can be heard along it's entire length. This night, a beam of light shone down and from it staggered two men carrying a person each on their backs…
P: Ohhh man…that was horrifying.
Y: Gamma did tell you we would not succeed. Honestly getting thrown here was merciful.
Γ: Epsilon…he's still back there, we need to go back…
Y: We are in no state to return; I had to carry you this far, and even Omega is incapacitated.
P: Yeah, and he's pretty heavy too…I can't keep going…must rest. (Passes out.)
Y: Gamma…I am sorry, I am too heavily damaged. (Collapses)
Γ: No…we need to save Epsilon, I can't leave him back there.
Psyche: Victor, even if you could go back you are not strong enough. I don't want you to end up in any worse condition.
Γ: Hey, I've been banged up before-
Psyche: Not like this; those demons did something to you, I'm not quite sure what it is but you need rest.
Γ: You're right…you always are, aren't you? (Falls asleep)
Psyche: …Not always.
It seemed like hours on that cold beach; lapsing between the edges of life and dream for Rho. But sometime through the night a beast came to him. Too weak to fight back, he waved his arm at it and when it didn't leave, he let it drop back into the sand.
"We've fought demons, monsters, and madmen," He groaned. "And the end for us is to be carrion on some forgotten world…" Passing out again the creature licked his face and growled, signaling three women to its location. One of them, shorter than the others got to them first.
"Quick over here, I found them!" She yelled.
"Ugh, they look horrible! However they are still alive." The second one noted, a slender hand up to her mouth.
"Move them to the temple for recovery." The third one ordered, her voice with a toned English accent to it.
The three picked up each of the fallen bodies and placed one on the beast and went back to a house embedded into a cliff face. Behind it was a ancient statue of a woman with six arms, adorned with jewels and clad in armor. They went inside and placed them on floor mats for the time being. Another of their number, a nimble one with a tank-top and athletics shorts bound with a sash, avian facial features, an albino complexion, and a giant pearl on her forehead began to look each of the visitors over. After taking off Gamma's armor and cataloging each of their weapons she then went to look at Upsilon. As soon as she touches him, his eyes open and a massive three fingered hand closes around her skull.
"Heren wa, anata wa hijō ni jūdaina misu o okashite imasu." Upsilon said.
"Agh…ah," The woman choked out. "Watashi wa sore ga darena no ka wakaranai!"
Upsilon looked around and saw her two teammates: a small one with purple skin and white hair almost as long as she was tall, a portion of it covering her left eye. Beside her was a maroon heued giantess, Upsilon's size at least, with cube shaped hair and pink shades covering half of her face ready to spring into action. He immediately let his captive go.
"I am sorry for that." Upsilon stated while standing. "You went to some trouble to retrieve us; I should not have repaid you in that fashion. Let me start again; I am called Upsilon."
"Pearl," The pale one replied back, rubbing her chin. "And you should lay back down, you wern't exactly in the best condition when we brought you in."
"I will be the judge of that." He told her and went to the display on his gauntlet and was surprised when holographic images took its place. A few seconds later he was able to manipulate the new interface and scan himself.
"Life signs normal, motor functions normal," He began to rattle off. "Wait- my energy readings are outside of nominal parameters, is that how you managed to find us?"
"Indeed." Pearl answered. "As a matter of fact the signal you gave off when you arrived is the exact same one we use for long range transit."
"We were wondering how you managed to find this place." The tall one said, arms folded.
"We did not, we were thrown here by a rather malevolent force." Explained Upsilon. "Regrettably we were not able to defeat it."
"Hey at least you're still alive." The small one consoled.
"I understand your optimism, but I do no share your sentiment." Upsilon said, the resentment leaking into his voice. "I can not lose that way again…will need time to study…" He sat down and closed his eyes. "The others will wake up by noon tomorrow; my senses will be non-existent until then while I collect battle data, and Pearl," Upsilon added. "If you want to continue studying that armor, be careful, it does not like others touching it."
Some time after he went into stand-by, Omega came to with a huge yawn. Not soon after, he heard shouting across from him.
"Why won't you tell me who your owner is!" Pearl demanded, her hair unkempt.
"Because somthing in my core systems keeps me from giving out such information to someone looking so clammy." Retorted Psyche.
As Pearl groaned, her long haired companion was laughing at the botched attempt, hands clutching her sides.
"I think you should keep going!" She goaded. "I especially liked it when she called you-what was it-a 'minor irritant grown a few sizes too large'?"
"Is that all you're going to do Amethyst? Or will you help me?"
"Oh no, you didn't need my help remember? You were afraid I would press the wrong button and wipe the memory."
Completely exasperated, Pearl walked away to collect her thoughts. Sitting where she once was Omega looked over at Amethyst.
"Maybe she shouldn't mess with things that don't belong to her."
"Well we didn't have much of a choice. Your friend over there didn't tell us anything." Amethyst jabbed her thumb at Upsilon, who was currently neck deep in a closet full of clothes. "I'd like to see his face when he wakes up."
"If you can break Upsilon's composure, you would earn my respect."
"Could you lend a hand?"
"I'm no good with talking to that thing, and it is quite protective of itself."
"Okay, then which one of you can?
"Well, Gamma most likely…" Omega's voice trailed off as he looked over to him only to see Gamma's left hand on fire. The flesh darkened and blistered and soon after black growths erupted from the skin and encased his hand in a jet-black material. As Omega and Amethyst gathered around to inspect him, Gamma had opened his eyes and immediately began to struggle.
"That's not good, Rho wake up!" Omega shouted, shaking their last sleeping member back to reality while trying to restrain Gamma. Soon Rho came to and put a hand to his forehead.
"Where's the fire?" He asked as soon as he found his voice. Amethyst simply turned his head over to the event unfolding in front of the three. Once Gamma calmed down, he flexed his new appendage, looking at it with horror.
"W-What is this?" Panic gripping Gamma's throat as the words came out.
"It looks like obsidian…" Rho speculated.
"It is obsidian-hold on," Amethyst paused for a moment. "This isn't normal for you?"
"We're rather new to this, I had to relearn geology to get this far." Rho hurriedly explained.
"Alright stop, who are you guys exactly?"
"We were a group of college kids who got it in our heads to try and defend our home." Declared Upsilon, who had escaped his prison of fabric sporting a fedora on his head. Tipping it in the direction of Amethyst he then began his report to Gamma.
"Sir, the results of our encounter are poor; our compatriot Epsilon is missing, we must assume he has been captured. Also I believe our armor has been cursed, it has been showing different abilities since awaking."
"What kind of curse?"
"Well starting with Rho; his armor seems to have vanished," Hearing this caused him to stand up but instead of his skintight mail, he wore a martial arts gi.
"My old gi…I haven't worn this in years…" Rho looked down at himself.
"I, on the other hand have had my entire Archive augmented as a series of holograms." Upsilon displayed this by creating models of everyone in the room, including one of Pearl that came from the Gem herself, coming back with arms full of electronics. The two looked at each other with renewed curiosity.
"Pushed to the limit, I see?"
"I am going to find out what this thing knows." She placed the devices onto the table where Gamma's armor and weaponry lay. Before Pearl could grab the first tool, a hand came down to stop her.
"You need not do that; Psyche has quite a temper." Gamma's voice assured Pearl and he was able to grab his communicator and affix it to his ear.
"Hey, this one didn't treat you too bad did she?"
"Not at all, I was just having myself some fun."
"Good for you, and did you get any information on our rescuers?"
"They call themselves the 'Crystal Gems', a group of planetary defenders. That is a much as I could find out. Also there are anomalies in their brain waves."
"Thank you. Upsilon?"
"They are not what they appear; their culture is unlike any I've studied: a heavy use of the five pointed star, appearing on the clothes and items of each," The quick deduction of Upsilon surprised the two Gems. "This house has been gutted out to be replaced by a teleportation array, based on some kind of crystalline technology. I cannot sense anything beyond that door in the back however, it has a strange form of interference."
"If you're going to keep going like this, can I stretch out a bit?" Rho asked, and got up to an empty part of the room and went through combat forms. In the meantime Gamma began to put on his armor.
"The gemstones on their bodies have a massive amount of energy inside them; considering the contents of the kitchen and the lack of living room, this group does not need food or rest. I envy your anatomy, Pearl; it took most of my adult life to come close."
"They might be augmented like us." Gamma theorized.
Upsilon looked at Pearl and Amethyst for a while. "If they were Psyche would not have difficulties scanning them. These are Xenos, not human."
"You guys are human!?" Amethyst realized.
"We're not like most, that's how we survived such wounds." Said an enthusiastic Omega.
"No human on Earth should be that strong!" Pearl cried out.
"Maybe not on your world but on a parallel one…" Suggested Rho. A strange noise came from the mystic door, the form stepping out surprising him. His roundhouse should have floored his foe, but she didn't seem to care as it connected. He pressed his attack throwing a combination of punches, all of them deflected with the precision of a master. Countering with a spinning backfist that was caught by the stranger, Rho took her hand and saw the argent gemstone within her palm.
"Rather unsporting having true fists of stone?" He said looking into an expressionless face.
"So I'm guessing 'Ruby'?" Omega called out.
"No…'Garnet'," Rho confirmed. "Legends say the holder is protected from harm. Upsilon, how old are these Gems; start by cross-referencing the significance of their names!"
"Well, pearls have always been a representation of purity." He defined. "More like stuffiness." Was the addition of Amethyst, which got a huff from Pearl.
"And the Amethyst was the jewel of the Greek god Dionysus." Gamma said his armor in place.
"Goddess, the Greeks were better about that." Corrected the purple Gem.
"You're Dionysus!" His leap to conclusions was rewarded by her transforming into a large cat and letting out a mighty roar. Reverting to her normal form she laid back on a nearby couch. "That would make you over three thousand years old!"
"Yeah, we're awesome."
"This one still escapes me, Rho I request assistance." Upsilon was focused on a picture above the door. It was an image of a fair woman with a flowing white dress and curly pink hair. At the bottom of the frame, there was the outline of a star with a crystal in the center.
"Hm…if the naming pattern is constant," Began Rho as he stood next to Upsilon. "She should be 'Rose Quartz', which is known for being carved into hearts."
"I have not seen this one around. A founder perhaps? Or a fallen soldier…" As he was in thought, the door opened, revealing a young boy with jeans, flip-flops, and a pink shirt with a yellow star in the middle.
"What! They woke up and you didn't tell me?" His lament caused the Gems to move closer to him as he circled Upsilon.
"Wooow…are you from the future?"
Upsilon knelt down to the child. "In a manner of speaking. My name is Johann."
"Uh-Alexander." Rho stammered.
"Athanor." Omega declared.
"Victor." Acknowledged Gamma.
"And you are?" Inquired Upsilon.
"Steven Universe!" He said, bursting with excitement. "And as guests of the Crystal Gems, allow me show you around."
"I would be delighted." Upsilon accepted the offer, and Steven pulled him around the house, showing him every little thing he could find.
"I can't put my finger on it, but a child here seems to be off," Omega questioned. "Why is that?"
"He's a Gem, like us," Pearl clarified. "And due to his age and inexperience we teach him whenever we are able. Also he lives here as well."
"Then you either taught him how to shapeshift well or you're not telling me everything. Please don't make Upsilon pull more information than he needs to, it's quite annoying."
Pearl did not answer, and the other Gems looked down in remembrance. Omega saw this and looked over at Steven, who was showing Upsilon his room upstairs. He went up to meet the two and put as much care as he could manage into his words.
"Steven, I understand that these three take care of you, but where are your parents?"
Steven rushed over to his shelf and grabbed a picture. On it, he was on the shoulder of a middle aged man wearing an ornate red robe and crown.
"That was me and my dad on my tenth birthday; he gave me this!" He pulled out a detailed ukulele and strummed on it for a while.
"I assume that one of the others is your mother?" Upsilon interrupted.
"You were standing under her photo." Steven pointed to the image of Rose Quartz. "I never got to meet her, but I know she's always close by." At that, his stomach began to glow a soft pink. Lifting up a small portion of his shirt there was a identical stone in place of his navel.
"A hybrid…" Muttered Omega.
Upsilon went rigid and went down to the picture in a hurry. His mind went in a million different directions at once. New displays were brought into his vision as he talked to himself.
"The crystal and stones are not cultural traditions, but actually part of their bodies; cross-species reproduction should be impossible! Even if these creatures could shapeshift a perfect human reproductive system, the strain of supporting something so foreign inside the body would be-"
"Fatal." Finished Omega. Upsilon's composure broke, he lumbered over to a chair and collapsed. Placing his hands to his face, he tried to collect the new information.
"Who's in charge here?" He asked the Gems.
"That would be me." Garnet walked toward Upsilon.
"This task has no place for a child. So much knowledge and skill lost to never be recovered; you had to have known, had to have seen..."
"Rose Quartz guided us through many ordeals; when she chose to have Steven we may have disagreed, but we did not stop her."
"Does love run that deep?"
"Considering your history," Omega said. "I think you know well how irrational love gets."
Upsilon looked over to Steven, his eyes full of memories long past. "I chose duty over love when I had the chance, I would never take that back. I-I do not understand such unconditional love and all that I can do is continue studying until I can make sense of it. Please, Steven, hand me your uke."
Steven did so without hesitation, putting the instrument in his hands. He began to play a little off key, but the words were unmistakable.
It might not be the right time I might not be the right one
But there's something about us, I want to say 'Cause there's something between us anyway
I might not be the right one It might not be the right time
But there's something about us I've got to do Some kind of secret I will share with you
I need you more than anything in my life
I want you more than anything in my life
I'll miss you more than anyone in my life
I love you more than anyone in my life…
The ground rumbled beneath them, shaking everything and everyone in the house. Upsilon stopped playing and soon after a loud bang could be heard causing all of the windows to shatter. Pearl went to Steven's side and kept him on the ground while Garnet and Amethyst looked out the window.
"That's a huge problem!" Said Amethyst, mouth agape.
"Stay in the temple Steven," Ordered Garnet. "We can handle this."
"As the leader of this group," Gamma advised. "We are willing to render as much help as we are able."
As the Gems went to the door Pearl turned back to him. "Don't worry, we do this for a living. Leave it to us."
They passed through the door to engage the unknown enemy, leaving the rest to stand around. The constant din could be heard outside, and Rho's body tensed with impatience.
"Listen to that, we can't just leave them out there!" He told the others.
"That may be so, but if these creatures have been fighting such threats for most of human history, we might just get in the way." Upsilon noted.
"Upsilon, we were Guardsmen," Rho reinforced. "You really don't get much more expendable than that. Even if we're a nuisance, we can buy enough time for them to beat it!"
"Rho is right; we are protectors of this planet, even if it is not our own," Gamma agreed. "We in good conscience must assist them, but first we must find out what happened to your armor."
"I know where it is already." Rho stated, his body shimmering gold. Reciting a psalm from his religion, the pieces of his armor manifested from the light.
'He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.' Rho finished, his armor complete and his sword and shield in hand. 'With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.'
No more words were said, the four men out of time ran out the door to meet this new foe. However, they were unaware that the door led out to a porch above a three story cliff. Moving too fast to change direction, the four vaulted over the railing and used their hover-boots to cushion their fall. Looking over to their left they saw it: and oversized crustacean with misshapen claws doing battle with the Gems.
"Upsilon, an analysis on the target if you can." Gamma requested.
"It is a Pistol Shrimp of the family Alpheidae, although magnified in size to nearly fifty feet in length. The overdeveloped left claw is capable of snapping shut with enough force to create a concussive blast at high temperatures."
"An organic Melta gun…"
"Yes it is."
"Those three seem to be doing good work out there." Omega admitted and he wasn't wrong. Amethyst lashed out with a studded whip, aiming for the eyes and halting its advance. Pearl sent thrust after thrust of her silver spear into gaps of the shrimp's exoskeleton. And Garnet was in the eye of the storm, beating back the giant appendage with hulking red gauntlets, keeping it from firing into her team. The other claw was overlooked and Pearl was snapped up by the smaller claw. Hurling her to the ground, it then batted away Amethyst and opened its firing claw, making a clicking noise. Slamming shut with a ear deafening bang, Garnet was thrown back as well. Before it could fire again, tongues of flame were sent out by Gamma, forcing it back. Rho and Omega moved out to replace Pearl and Garnet's positions as Gamma and Upsilon help the three up.
"Believe it or not," Gamma told Pearl. "We do this for a living too; Rho! Omega! Give it all you've got, don't let up for a second!"
Omega was jumping around the creature striking with his twin sabers."Good! We needed to stretch out the muscles a bit!"
"He seems…excited." Pearl commented, her eyes wide.
"Do not be concerned, it is his nature to thrive in combat." Upsilon stood next to Garnet assessing their next move. "We should add ourselves to the fight."
Garnet said nothing and began to run down the shoreline, everyone else on her heels. "Amethyst, restrain the firing claw! Pearl will provide support. Gamma, you and your men will tie this thing up."
They moved off into their roles, Amethyst ended up next to Omega on the side of the alphae. Her whip lassoed the massive arm and held it back, Omega drifting back to her side.
"You got another one of those?"
She reached into her chest and pulled out an identical whip from her gemstone. Tossing it to him, he repeated her action and they began pulling together. Upsilon and Pearl attacked in tandem with Gamma and Garnet, aiming for the eyes and antennae. Rho was alone against the little arm, which was still putting up a fight. The combined assault met with success, a ichor running onto the sand from the shrimp. Rho was backed up into the rear of the assaulting force, stunning them, and a swing sent Omega and Amethyst out in front.
"Oh no…" Whispered Gamma as he looked at the claw opening, and heard the priming of the weapon. Rho slipped under the claw and with the quick help of Upsilon and Garnet, managed to lift it before if fired, blasting them all across the beach. Battered, they all saw the Alphae readying another attack, this one to be their end. The cannon fired and a pink lion leaped in front of it with Steven looking small on its back. The roar it made created a similar sound wave, buffering enough of the shot for Steven to erect a shield large enough to absorb the rest.
"Steven!" The other Gems cried out.
"I'm not gonna let you hurt my friends you overgrown lobster!" He yelled to the Alphae. "We'll boil you in the biggest pot I can find!"
The monster began to shake, then it attempted to retreat back to the ocean, only for it to recede, eliciting a screech from the Alphae. Upsilon's entire body was in motion, performing the waterbending motions he had learned in Republic City.
"It must not enter the water! If it fires from there, it will vaporize anything it shoots at!"
Garnet responded first, grabbing the things tail and holding it back. As the others went to help, she waved them back.
"Gamma! Make the biggest fire you can!"
"With you in it!"
"Just do it already! We're running out of time!"
Gamma's every muscle began to tense up from storing up the large amount of energy needed to ignite the air. Releasing all of it at caused an inferno to erupt around Garnet and the Alphae, consuming the two. It grew hotter and hotter and as it did, the obsidian on his hand growing past his armor and up his arm. Once it reached his shoulder, Rho went up to him and caught his attention. After looking at his mutation, he calmed down, and the fire subsided. The area now had a thin layer of glass on the surface, shimmering in the sun. Garnet stepped out to the cheers of everyone as she tossed the Alphae's destructive arm on the ground. The rest of the body was cracked, steaming, and unmoving.
"You should have told me you were fireproof." The snide tone from Gamma did not pierce the composure of Garnet.
"There wasn't any time." She repeated. "I've removed the primary threat, let's clean this up."
Steven was a little ahead of the group, prodding the exoskeleton. As Pearl yanked the boy away from it, the monster shuddered to life, and took a swipe at them with its remaining claw. Pearl jumped them away and to the side of Amethyst, setting Steven down. Omega stormed to the thing; hair on end with a electric charge.
"JUST DIE!"
"You are wasting your time," Upsilon' statement caused Omega to turn around. "It will take more than that to break that chitin."
"We'd better hurry…" Gamma said, watching the small claw rapidly grow and contort.
"An Avenger Bolt Cannon would do it-" Rho's estimation was cut short when he saw Omega look over his head. Following his eyes he stared in awe, followed by Upsilon and Gamma. In the place of Pearl and Amethyst stood a giantess twice as tall as Garnet with teal skin, and four arms. Multicolored stones were on her chest and forehead. She held a recurved bow in her left arms and readied a arrow of light with the right ones.
"The Destroyer…" Upsilon gasped.
"No," Rho corrected, a smile on his face. "That's an Opal."
Omega went to ground as Opal fired, the arrow hitting its mark. Breaking the shell it detonated, bursting the Alphae from the inside. Once Opal's task was done, she split back into Pearl and Amethyst. Questions had to wait while the body was searched, Steven found a shard of crystal in the remains. Rho came up to him and gave him a pat on the back.
"You did good out there. You show more courage than most your age."
"You guys were in trouble, I had to do something."
Rho walked away laughing, passing Upsilon on the way back.
"That boy holds the fate of two races in his hands," He thought to himself. "I fear it will destroy him." Upsilon gave Rho a bit of data, and he thanked him for it.
"Yo!" Amethyst's gaze turned skyward as with the others, a bright star in the morning sky. "Can you tell me what this is?"
"Star of Misfortune," Gamma voice was fatigued. "We are cursed and must leave."
"Our ride is here." Omega opened up the door.
"It was a honor to fight with true guardians of Earth." Gamma said.
"Come back soon!" The farewell from the youngest of the Crystal Gems came as the visitors passed through the threshold. As he walked Gamma eyed his arm, temporarily normal from using so much power.
"Next course of action sir?" Asked Upsilon.
"I'm not going back home without Epsilon, and I'm not going to let Hild get away with what she did to us. We're back to business: wherever this place lets out, we gather as much information and power as possible-"
"And shove these gifts right back down Hild's throat!" Omega finished, wrapping his arms around his three companions. "I like this plan, lets do it!"