Steven POV
Steven Universe, that's my name. Son of a human father and an intergalactic space mother. I don't know much about my mother, but what I have learned a lot about was what impact she left on those around her. In my newest adventure I was able to acquire a VHS tape, I finally saw her with her eyes open. So many things have began to change lately, it's kinda scary.
I sat there on my bed as I ran my finger across the tape. What were you like? What made you laugh? What was your favorite food? All those questions appeared in my mind as I thought.
Suddenly a figure's head appeared next to my bed as it startled me. I turned quickly as I noticed it was Pearl. The crystal gems were used to coming into my room unannounced and I usually didn't mind it. But for some reason I don't want them to see the tape.
I quickly hide the VHS tape under my bed as she turned and noticed me.
"Oh there you are Steven" Pearl said placing a hand on her chest.
"Didn't you hear us calling?" Pearl asked confused.
"Why were you calling?" I asked actually interested.
"We are going to go on a mission, you wanna come don't you?" Pearl asked slightly noticing how I was acting.
"O- of course I wanna go!" I said standing up quickly.
I jumped off my bed as I ran down the stairs to the second floor. I did always love to go on missions with the gems. I ran towards the warp pad as I saw Garnet and Amethyst standing there waiting.
"Sup Steven" Amethyst said sticking her hand up waiting for a high five.
I jumped up and smacked her hand as I slide to a stop at the warp pad.
"Sorry about the hold up" Pearl apologized even though she really didn't need to.
"It's alright" Garnet said nodding her head.
I jumped onto the warp pad as Pearl walked on top of it, joining the others.
"Everyone ready?" Garnet asked as she looked around at everyone on the pad.
Everyone stood tall as I looked up at Garnet and smiled. Garnet looked down at me as she activated the warp pad. A beam of light surrounded the pad as it shined brightly. We were all engulfed by the light as it teleported us.
I stared at the light as I remembered falling outside of the warp zone once. There was darkness outside of the warp zone and I wasn't sure why. Now that I think of it, I never know where we actually go when we warp. Are we still on Earth? Or are we some place else when we fight these corrupt gem warriors?
The light around us soon dispersed as we arrived at our destination. I looked around me as I saw sand under the warp pad. I looked out into the open as I saw sand everywhere. This was a desert battleground, completely void of life.
"Oh no" Pearl said softly as she was the first to step off the pad.
Pearl bent down near the sand as she picked up something. Garnet and Amethyst got off the pad as well as they walked past Pearl without saying a word. I walked next to Pearl as I noticed she held a tiny fragment of what looked like a badge.
"This is a gem colony badge" Pearl said getting emotional.
Pearl placed the fragment of badge on the ground as she continued walking. I walked with the rest of the group as they inspected the ruins.
"So what are we looking for?" I asked unsure of what they were looking for.
"A sand gem" Garnet said dusting off a bit of rubble.
"Sand gems are usually found inside huge luscious castles" Pearl said a hologram appearing from her gem.
She usually did that when she got really into explaining something.
"They were housed in stone castles, built by the humans of yore. The sand gem is one of the oldest artifacts created by gem kind" Pearl said touching me on the shoulder.
"Much more outdated than what we have currently" Pearl said proud to know the gem kind history.
"It's like Pearl's humor, dusty and not up to speed" Amethyst commented as she laughed to herself.
Pearl rolled her eyes as the group continued walking. Garnet stopped where she stood as she pointed in the distance.
"There" Garnet said trying to get everyone's attention.
I looked out in the distance as I saw it, a stone castle.
"Ohhh I can't wait to see it" Pearl said getting excited.
"Let's move, it shouldn't be far from here" Garnet said starting to make the trek towards the castle.
"Let's go check out some old stuff" Amethyst said as we all began walking.
We soon made it to the castle as I stared up at it in awe. The castle was huge, and there were chucks missing from some of the architecture. The sand had made its way into the cracks, must to the dismay of Pearl. Pearl sighed loudly as she shook her head.
"Yet another ancient masterpiece destroyed by time" Pearl said walking to the door.
Pearl prepared to enter as she turned back and faced me.
"Let's try not to sink this one into the ocean, please everyone?" Pearl said referencing the time I brought Cheeseburger backpack.
I still felt bad about that, even though I helped get through all the obstacles I still forgot the most important ingredient.
Garnet walked and put her hand on Pearl's shoulder.
"You shouldn't worry so much" Garnet said walking in first as she took the leader role.
Pearl didn't look convinced as she walked inside. Amethyst and I walked inside the castle as the inside didn't look extravagant at all. There were piles of dirt in the corners of the room as tiny grains of sand rained from the ceiling.
"This is horrible" Pearl said as we walked through the main room.
There was a spiral staircase on the other side of the room as it led up to many other floors.
"How are we going to find this thing if there's a million floors?" Amethyst asked not sure.
"Ugh, don't tell me we are going to search every single room" Amethyst said bummed out.
Pearl rubbed her chin as she thought of a solution.
"I don't understand why it would be hidden" Pearl said looking around the room.
Pearl dusted off a panel on the side of the room as she accidentally pushed in a button. The button moved inward as Pearl freaked out a bit.
"Oh no no I didn't mean to do that!" Pearl shouted feeling clumsy.
The middle of the room changed as it flipped over to reveal a small pillar.
"Oh thank goodness, for a second I thought the whole place was going to come down" Pearl said sighing in relief.
I noticed that there was something on the pillar as I ran closer.
"Steven wait!" Pearl shouted to me worried.
By the time she yelled I was already right up next to the pillar. I noticed that on top of the pillar was what we were looking for.
"You guys I found it!" I shouted to all three of them.
Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl ran up behind me as they all looked over me and at the gem.
"We have to be careful, this could be rigged" Pearl warned everyone.
Garnet looked around the room suspiciously as I noticed.
"Garnet, what's wrong?" I asked a little scared.
"We should grab it and go, I feel many presences" Garnet said as I saw nobody around the room.
I didn't question it as I turned to Pearl and Amethyst.
"Umm I uhh we can…" Pearl said starting to freak out again.
"Forget this!" Amethyst said reaching in and grabbing the sand gem.
Pearl gasped as Amethyst pulled the sand gem. To her surprise the gem didn't budge, it was stuck. Amethyst pulled harder on the gem as the pillar shook slightly.
"Don't break it Amethyst!" Pearl scolded as she grabbed Amethysts arm.
"I'm… not!" Amethyst said as the gem gave way.
The gem got unstuck as it caused both Pearl and Amethyst to tumble backwards. They both landed on their buttock as Amethyst stood up quickly.
"Give it to me! You are too careless with it!" Pearl said standing up and trying to take it from her.
"It's still in one piece geez" Amethyst said as she kept it away from her.
Pearl and Amethyst fought over possession of the gem as suddenly there was a rumbling from around the room. I suddenly noticed what Garnet was talking about. There were creators all over the walls!
They slowly uncloaked from their sand like camouflage. Pearl and Amethyst stopped fighting as they noticed the creators. Some creators unlatched from the walls as they landed on the floor. They looked upwards as they stared at the sand gem, obviously they were it's protectors.
Garnet summoned her weapons as one of the larger creators charged at her. Garnet stepped to the side as she punched the charging monster in the ribs. The monster went flying into a pile of sand as the other creators hissed. There was one big humanoid monster and all the others were centipedes, like the one I made friends with. The one that charged was the humanoid.
Some of the centipedes latched onto Pearl as she tried to get them off. Pearl dropped the gem as it fell to the ground. Amethyst reached for the gem as one of the centipedes grabbed it with it's jaws and scurried away.
"Hey! Give that back!" Amethyst shouted in anger as a few centipedes jumped at her.
Amethyst summoned her whip as she spun around and smacked them out of the air. I turned around as I saw a few of the centipedes after me now. They uncloaked as they jumped off the wall at me. I didn't have time to react as instead I screamed. I braced myself as suddenly a spear flew out and impaled them. I turned as I saw Pearl trying to get the bugs off of her. The centipedes had taken all of us by surprise.
"This doesn't make any sense! How do they know to protect the sand gem?!" Pearl said confused and angry at herself.
"They are working together to try and take us down!" Pearl yelled out as she kicked a few centipedes coming at her again.
The huge monster was up and active now as it tossed Garnet into a wall. The wall crumbled slightly as the whole structure shook. The monster walked over to Garnet slowly and methodically as I noticed it. The monster was similar to the one Sadie faced on the island, it resembled a gem warrior.
I stood there helpless as I walked the gem warriors be overwhelmed by bugs. There was just too many centipedes collaboration together, they had the element of surprise. I closed my eyes as I clenched my feet tightly. There was a loud yell of my name from Pearl as suddenly a light descended from a higher floor.
I opened my eyes just in time to see a figure fly down and land a kick across the face of the large corrupt gem warrior. The warrior stumbled backwards as Garnet saw her chance. In an instant Garnet punched directly through the chest of the monster, causing the monster to screech and then puff into smoke leaving behind a corrupt gem.
The mysterious figure was in a crouched position as it stood up. The figure was hooded and was shaped like a man. I stared at the back of his head with awe as he turned his head slightly. I could see a part of his nose while the rest was shaded.
"Get your comrades and let's go, now!" The figure said in a deep voice.
Garnet didn't say anything to the stranger as she rushed to the aid of Pearl and Amethyst. As Garnet ran by she picked up the corrupt gem and bubbled it. Garnet ran towards Amethyst as she punched the centipedes off of her with one arm. Once Amethyst was free Garnet teleported the monster back to the temple. Amethyst helped Pearl as she wrapped her whip around a centipede and threw it into the air. Garnet grabbed the centipede as it fell and smashed it into the ground.
"What exactly just happened?" Amethyst asked confused.
"We got saved by him" Garnet explained as she pointed at the man.
"There's not much time!" The man spoke loudly.
"They won't rest, you have to retreat!" The man warned us.
"Let's go then!" Garnet said throwing the sand gem to me.
Garnet held me on her shoulders as she rushed to the exit. Pearl and Amethyst followed behind as the man got in front of us. The man fended off the sand gems as he drew their attention. The bugs seemed to fall for mindless distractions now, which seemed odd to me. The bugs crawled after the man as he jumped off the walls of the room. It was then that I realized the bugs were being controlled by the corrupt gem. That's why they suddenly were mindless, the master was gone.
Our group ran through cleanly as I turned around and saw the man getting overwhelmed. The whole castle shook violently now as it looked like it would collapse on us.
"Whoa mamma, it's all coming down!" Amethyst shouted dodging a piece of rubble that almost crushed her.
"What about him?!" I said worried for the mystery man's safety.
Garnet nor Pearl answered me as we rushed out of the front door of the castle. The whole place came down as it collapsed upon itself.
"Nooo!" I yelled stretching my hand out as if it would help.
I thought the man was a goner but at the last minute I saw a puff of smoke dart out of the castle. The smoke trailed around the figure as it disappeared, revealing the hooded man. Behind him was a few strangling centipedes.
Garnet took me off her shoulders as she ran to the warp pad. Garnet slid to a stop as she used her gauntlets as brakes. Pearl jumped and landed daintily on the warp pad as Amethyst ran and slid with her feet. Garnet put me down as she got ready to warp. I stood there as I noticed that the man was actually rushing towards us.
The warp pad started warping as I saw the man speed up. What was he doing? He dashed into the warp pad at the last second as it teleported everyone. As the warp pad teleported I turned next to me and saw the man standing there silently. I was shocked, he was right there with us!
Never before had someone actually decided to come with us when we warped back home. The warp cycle ended as we all stood there in the middle of our house. I stared at the man not knowing what to do.
His face was still covered as I could only make out the rest of his nose and chin. The man slightly turned to me as his attention was squarely on me. What did he want with me? What are his intentions? What even is he?
There was a stranger in the middle of our house, and we opened the door for him.