Boom.
Snap.
Steven's breath caught in his throat. He watched in horror as Lars smacked his back against the rocky pillar with a sickening sound, fell, bounced, and rolled to a stop. He lay on his side, so still.
So very still.
"Lars!" He was running to Lars, rolling him over, shaking him. Nothing. "Lars?"
Behind him, the Off Colours were celebrating. Their words were just a dull roar in Steven's head; everything was a dull roar, getting louder and louder as he looked at his friend. He'd seen Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl get up and keep fighting from worse hits than that, but they were Gems. Lars was human, and he wasn't moving.
Was he even still alive?
Steven placed a trembling hand on his chest - where was his heartbeat? He put his ear up against his chest, listening, listening... nothing.
Nothing.
He was sobbing now, his breath hitching and catching and stopping and starting and all he could do was hold on... hold on to Lars and hug him... but that wasn't enough, because he was dead. No, he couldn't hold on, because Lars was dead.
Lars was dead, and it was all his fault. Steven couldn't protect him, not from Peridot, not from Aquamarine, and not from Homeworld. Nobody on Earth would ever know what happened to him, and what a hero he really was.
Sadie, his parents, his friends...
He looked at Lars, vision blurry through the tears. His face was so still, so peaceful, half of it covered by a messy mop of hair. He'd saved them from the robonoids, he'd conquered his fear... and now he was dead.
Steven screwed his eyes shut, and held his friend close.
He didn't know how long he'd been crying, but soon he became aware of something shining from behind his eyelids. It was Lars; his body was slowly lighting up in a pink glow from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. It faded... but he was still pink.
A couple of Steven's tears had splashed on Lars' face. Did they do something to him?
Those pink hands clenched. Shocked, Steven could only watch as Lars - who had been lying dead in his arms moments before - groaned and sat up, pulling himself away and holding his head.
Lars brushed away his pink hair, revealing a long, deep scar over his eye.
"Whoa, what happened?"
