They say that all things come at a price. This holds true in the case of Steven Universe, a young boy with fantastic powers. The cost of such powers, in his case, was his mother's own life. On top of a missing mom, he also has an entire planet that wants nothing more than to see him dead. For a crime he didn't commit, murdering an alien he never met, soldiers will descend from the sky for the sole purpose of killing him.
Today, however, is not one of those days. No secrets from his mom, no alien army coming for his gem, just a peaceful day on the beach, playing volleyball with one of his super-powered step moms.
"Heads up, Steven!" Amethyst called out as she slapped the volleyball out of the sky. The ball ignited, burning like a meteorite, heading straight for Steven, who defensively threw his hands up. A protective pink bubble appeared from rose petals below him, just in time for the volleyball to smash into it, and bounce off, high into the sky. Steven is sent rolling backwards a bit, still inside his bubble.
"Aww Amethyst." he groaned. "That was our last ball!"
"Eh, don't worry about it," she shrugged in response. "We can just use this one!" she eagerly lifted the bubble, Steven inside, and gives it a couple gentle tosses.
"Whoa, hey!" Steven laughed. Their shared laughter faded to silence, along with Steven's bubble fading into nothing.
"Wait," Amethyst said softly. "I think our ball is coming back." She pointed up to the sky, where they could see a small black dot, getting bigger and bigger, as if moving directly towards them. Before long, they could see that whatever was in the sky was not their ball. As it grew closer and closer, they could see flames surrounding it. Curious, but nervous, they stood in silence as it fell. The silence was ended with a loud crash, when the now massive sphere planted itself in the sand, sending clouds up all around it. The impact was enough to knock both gems off their feet, and catch the attention of Garnet and Pearl, who were inside together.
Scrambling to their feet, Pearl and Garnet rushed through the door, Pearl literally throwing it off the hinges in a panic.
"Steven! Amethyst!" she cried out as the two leaped off the ledge and onto the beach beside their friends, who were still shrouded in a sandstorm.
The dust cleared, and gave the three and a half gems a clear view of what had fallen from the sky. A familiar, but still strange sight: a Homeworld ship. This one in particular was a strange, deep purple colour. It was a near-perfect sphere shape, with a half-circle near the top, serving as the windshield. The flat part of the circle ran along the bottom of the windshield, and was just inches above where a door would appear. A crack at the top of the door appeared, and it slowly opened towards the Crystal Gems, forming a small ramp. A soft smoke leaked out of the ship, and from the haze stepped a pair of white boots. A dark red bodysuit surrounded the alien's strong, yet plump frame. It traced her body up to her shoulders, where soft, pink skin could be seen. Reaching down behind her shoulders were curly, messy strands of bright pink hair. She stepped closer, moving down the ramp with her weapon already drawn. Along her arm were thick, metal plates, white metal with a pink trim. They were wider than her arm and could easily protect against even strong attacks. At the end of her gauntlet was a long, pointed blade, all forming one unit that she could use for attacking and defending. But in her eyes, you could not see anger. She didn't bring any hatred, or bad intentions. Instead, the look on her face was one of fear and exhaustion, even for a creature who didn't need to eat or sleep. She kept her weapon, the bladed gauntlet, protectively across her chest. Completing her look was the gem planted in her chest. Slightly off to the left, where a human's heart would be, was the center of this alien's form: A rose quartz gem.