Steven bounded down the stairs, as full of energy as ever. The hyperactive thirteen year old gem-human hybrid ran screaming and laughing from a purple dog-copter that fired water balloons every time it barked. Amethyst, who just happened to be said dog-copter, spent every moment that she wasn't barking laughing.
A water balloon shot over the warp pad and towards the door to the Crystal Gems' rooms. It just so happened that at that very moment, Pearl stepped out of her room. The water balloon struck her square in the chest.
"Ah! Amethyst! What have I told you about water balloons in the house?"
The dog-copter transformed back into a short, plump young woman. "Uh, not to do it? I don't see what your problem is, P. It's just a little water."
"Just a little water?" Pearl spluttered. "I'm soaking wet!"
"Meh," Amethyst replied dismissively, "it'll dry."
Pearl clenched her fist, but didn't press the issue further. Instead, she turned her attention to the giggling form of Steven Universe. "Steven, it's time for your bi-annual checkup."
The smile vanished off the hybrid's face. "Aww... Do I have to, Pearl?"
"Steven, you are both a growing boy and a growing gem. Something like you has never existed before and I want to make sure you're healthy and not, you know, diseased." Pearl spoke the word as if the syllables themselves would infect her.
Steven perked up a tad at that explanation. "Oh, alrighty. Lead the way, Dr. Pearl!"
"I'm not a doctor," Pearl corrected automatically, but still blushed at the compliment to her skills. As Steven had commanded, she did lead him into a room in the temple, one that served as the closest thing to an infirmary that gems had. In it, Pearl had stashed a mishmash of human and ancient gem technology, as well as her own contraptions.
She motioned for Steven to seat himself in a nearby chair. As he did so, she retrieved a scanning device that would allow her to analyze Rose's - Steven's - gem, a sort of multi-purpose diagnostic tool for gem kind.
She started to power up the machine, but then stopped. "Steven, sit still or this will take longer than it needs to. The sooner we're done here, the sooner you can go back to playing with Amethyst."
Steven, upon being told a way to maximize his playtime, froze in place and held his breath.
"Steven," Pearl said.
He did not respond.
She repeated, "Steven."
He still remained silent.
"You're going to need to breath sometime, Steven. Don't worry, breathing won't mess it up."
Steven, who had started to turn faintly blue, released his breath. "Sorry."
Powering up the scanner, Pearl placed it against his belly-button gem. "It's fine." A second later, the device beeped. Looking down, Pearl took note of the values it displayed and jotted them down on her files for Steven.
In the margins of his file, during his last checkup, Pearl had written "Upwards trend?" next to a set of data. Today's numbers only confirmed it, much to Pearl's worried confusion. She didn't know what the pattern meant for Steven quite yet, and she didn't think it was anything dangerous, but it worried her all the same.
Just what was happening to Rose in there?
Pearl carefully placed a smile on her face. "Everything looks fine with your gem, Steven," she half-lied. "Go hop on the scale so I can weigh you."
"Ok!"
She hoped everything would be fine. It didn't look bad, but Pearl worried anyway. Perhaps Garnet would have some insight.
"Ok, Steven. You're all set," Pearl declared. "Go play."
"Yay! Thank you, Pearl!" Steven bolted off, yet again propelled by that boundless energy and enthusiasm that he got from both of his parents.
Pearl, watching him run towards the beach, smiled. She quite enjoyed days like this, where there was nothing to do except for tidying up.
Behind her, the door to their rooms burst open. Garnet, in a mad dash, rushed past Pearl and grabbed her arm without stopping. Pearl found herself off balance as she was yanked behind the sprinting fusion. "GARNET!"
"NO TIME! MUST FIND AMETHYST AND STEVEN!" Garnet yelled back.
Pearl was about to reply that their purple compatriot was on the beach with Steven, but Garnet was already dragging her in that direction. Garnet burst through the door of the beach house, knocking it completely off its hinges. "STEVEN! CATCH!"
Garnet hurled something at Steven, which he easily caught. Pearl quickly recognized it as his cell phone. "Call Connie, her parents, and your father," Garnet ordered. "Get them here NOW! Their lives depend on it!"
Despite being thoroughly freaked out, Steven stilled dialed his father's number. "Dad!"
Amethyst ran up to the other two gems. "What's goin' on, Garnet?"
"Homeworld is coming, and they're bringing an army."
Crates, dozens of them, and all of them real instead of cloud, were stacked up inside of Rose's room. Some contained weapons and artifacts, others contained important documents, but most contained MREs and water. In fact, if you measured it out, there was enough food and water to support five adult humans for nearly a year.
Connie's family, Greg Universe, and all of their most important belongings were also inside the room. In fact, the only people that were supposed to be in there but weren't were Steven and Connie themselves. "Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, come on! We can fight!" Steven cried.
"Yeah! Pearl trained us herself," Connie added. "She knows how good we are!"
Garnet kneeled before them and put a gem-bearing hand on each of their shoulders. "And that is precisely why we are having you hide in here with your families," Garnet said. "You are the last line of defense protecting them from homeworld. Steven, whatever happens, Connie needs you, your father needs you, and the whole world needs you. They need Steven, the mighty Crystal Gem, as their protector. And Connie, Steven and your families need you in the same way."
Garnet stood once more. "But in order to fight another day, you need to save yourselves now."
"But what about you?" a teary-eyed Steven asked.
"Don't worry; we'll be alright. Future vision, remember?" Garnet rubbed Steven's head affectionately.
"Right!" Steven said, regaining his composure. "I'll keep them safe! Be back soon!"
"Steven," Pearl spoke. "Remember, read the commands to the room exactly as I wrote them. Anything else could get you guys hurt."
"Got it!" Steven said. "Exactly. As. You. Wrote. Them!"
"See ya, big guy!" Amethyst said. "We'll miss you, but we'll see you soon." Garnet and Pearl nodded in agreement.
"Bye!" Steven said. Grabbing Connie's hand, he lead her into Rose's room, shutting the door behind him.
As soon as she was sure that their ward and his friend couldn't hear her, Pearl asked, "Garnet, are we really going to make it?"
The red fusion was silent for an eerily long time. "There is... a possibility. The odds are-"
Pearl cut her off. "For once, I don't want to hear the odds, Garnet. A chance is enough for me."
"Awww yeah, now you're talkin', P!" Amethyst cheered. "Let's go whoop some homeworld butt!"
Her enthusiasm, despite the dreadful circumstances, was contagious. Garnet and Pearl found slight smiles forming on their faces as well. "I wouldn't have put it as such, but I agree. Let's 'whoop' copious amounts of posterior."
Together, the three of them stepped onto the warp pad. In a flash of light, they vanished, never knowing that that would be the last time they ever saw Steven Universe.