A/N. The fic doesn't follow cannon, only taking some events that happened in the series and changing things about the story and characters as they go along. All we'll try to maintain is character personalities ... mostly.

"BEACHFRONT"

STRIPS OF sunlight trickled into the temple, illuminating the living room where Steven and Connie practiced their instruments. They spent hours honing their skill, Steven on the ukulele and Connie on the violin, but their minds barely focused on it at all; their minds dwelling instead on the time they had together. They continued their joyful tune when a humming drew their attention to the Warp Pad as the Gems arrived.

"Oh, Garnet, you're back!" Steven said, rising to his feet. "We wanted to -," He cut himself off as he looked at them. "What happened to you?"

Garnet and Pearl stood on the pad, their bodies covered in bruises and their clothes torn apart. "Rogue Gem." Garnet said simply.

"This one was quiet," Pearl hissed, holding a gash on her shoulder, "Feisty."

"This is the eighth one this week." Steven said.

"Wait, where's Amethyst?" Connie asked.

"What?" Pearl looked around. "We were just with her."

Pearl stuck her head back into the portal, starting to panic when Amethyst fell right out, beer bottle in hand. "Ha! You lil bitch!" She chuckled, chugging down the gungy sludge within.

"Amethyst, what've I told you about drinking this garbage?!" Pearl took the bottle from her, gagging at the smell.

"What? This shit is great!" Amethyst grabbed the bottle, taking a swig and belching afterward. "Ah, fucking good."

"Language." Garnet glared at her.

"Whatever, grandma, I'll be in my room if you're looking for me." Amethyst took a few steps and fell over, passing out.

"She's that drunk again?" Steven asked.

"No, she's beat just like the rest of us." Pearl said. "The number of rogue gems popping up is becoming uncontainable - I'll need to look through the scanners and try to figure out why there're so many all of a sudden."

Pearl went up to the temple door, entering her room. "I'll need to heal up for a while." She headed for the egress. "Try to make sure Amethyst doesn't do anything stupid when she wakes up."

Steven and Connie turned to Amethyst, seeing her mumble in her sleep. "She's hopeless." Steven said.

"The Gems sure are going through hell right now." Connie said. "We should do something for them."

"Like what?" Steven turned to her.

"Ooh, what if we throw them a party! Something simple so they can kick back and relax." Connie grinned.

"Maybe at the beach?"

"Yeah! We can hold it tomorrow so they aren't preoccupied with a battle or something." Connie paced around. "We can invite some friends over - it'll be great!"

"Sounds like a good idea." Steven said.

"I'll go print out some fliers." Connie said, grabbing her violin and heading out. "Meet me at 3 and we'll hand them out."

"Sure thing." Steven said, moving over to pick his instrument off the couch.

"Mmmm, I love it when you're rough." Amethyst giggled.

Steven jerked up in surprise and turned back to her, seeing her still asleep. "The heck?"

STEVEN AND Connie split up through town and handed out their invitations, getting Sadie, Buck and their friends - except Lars - to agree to attend. Finishing his portion of the fliers, Steven backtracked through the city, heading to their meet up point where he'd agreed to meet up with Connie. He went up to a T-Junction, ready to cross when something red flickered in the corner of his eye.

He turned to his left, wondering what it was, but he saw nothing. Squinting, he decided to ignore it and move on, crossing the street and heading to their meeting point near the beach.

STEPPING OUT of the bathroom that night, Steven passed through the living room and headed for his bed, hearing shuffling in the kitchen. Glancing back, he saw Amethyst drinking her alcoholic concoction in the kitchen, shaking his head as she started muttering to herself and nearly stumbled over. Moving to his portion of the room, he climbed up to his bed and went into the blankets, patting MC Bear Bear's head before falling asleep.

As he slept however, a figure watched from outside.

STEVEN SLIPPED out of bed as quietly as he could the next day, warm clothes and sandals and heading into the cold early morning. He unlocked the door and slowly opened it, hoping not to awaken the Gems when he gasped as he nearly bumped into Connie.

"Wha! Connie, what're you doing here?" Steven said, lowering his voice and quickly heading into the porch. "It's thirty minutes before meet-up time."

"I couldn't wait, c'mon!" Connie grabbed his hand and ran on.

"It's just a beach party, y'know."

Connie ignored him and dragged him onto the beach when they saw Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst there waiting for them. "Hey, guys." Pearl smiled at them.

"Pearl! Hey!" Steven glanced around, tapping his fingers together. "We were just out taking a morning stroll."

"Yeah! Nothing suspicious or anything - pff!" Connie crossed her arms, avoiding eye contact.

"We know you were planning a surprise party for us." Amethyst said.

"What? How did you -," Steven looked at Garnet. "Oh, that's how."

"Look, we appreciate the gesture, but we're really busy." Pearl said. "There's just too much -,"

"For you two to do alone." Garnet cut in. "We'll help you set it up."

"Oh … well, it's not much of a surprise now, is it?" Connie said, her expression falling.

"Well, it's the thought that counts." Pearl said, giving into the idea.

"Yeah, and besides, I bet there'll be hot boys there." Amethyst said.

"Amethyst, we're not supposed to date humans," Pearl frowned.

"You're just mad cuz you haven't gotten laid in centuries."

"Uh, wha -" Pearl's face heated up.

"That's just cold." Garnet said blankly.

"Anyway, I'll go prepare the meat." Amethyst went back to the temple. "I feel like grilling up some steak!"

Pearl growled as Amethyst left and Garnet followed her, "I'll grab the plates and prepare the drinks." Garnet said.

"And I'll help you set up." Pearl said and raised her arm, opening the trunk of a small van nearby telepathically and revealing several plastic chairs inside.

"Whoa, you came prepared." Connie said.

"Well, I had Amethyst buy them," Pearl responded. "At least I hope she bought them."

"I used your card!" Amethyst yelled from inside.

"Oh, come on! That was the last money I had!" Pearl frowned.

"You should buy less glass figurines then!" Amethyst responded. "And you're always talking about not integrating with humans!"

"Well, I -," Pearl stuttered.

"Let's get started!" Steven cut in awkwardly.

Steven went up to the van and picked out a few chairs, soon followed by Connie who helped him start setting things up. Inside the temple, Garnet set up plastic cups and drinks on the countertop, working alongside Amethyst who marinated some meat.

Garnet moved up to the freezer and reached for a six-pack when she heard a loud explosion. "What was that?" She jerked up.

"What was what?" Amethyst turned to her.

"Something exploded." Garnet rushed to the window, seeing nothing outside.

"What're you talking about?" Amethyst went up to her.

"I…" Garnet paused. "Never mind, it was nothing."

Garnet walked past Amethyst, "Heh, and I thought I was the one who was a drunk." She went back to the kitchen.

Grabbing the six-pack, Garnet set it on the table when she felt the earth rumble, nearly falling over. She caught herself barely, almost dropping the beer and stood back up. She began to sweat, hearing the sounds of wails, screams and fires all around her. She looked around and started to hyperventilate as the temple collapsed and the stars in the sky started to fall!

"Garnet!" Amethyst grabbed her hand.

"Huh?" Garnet turned to her, breathing heavily and taking a second look. Nothing had actually happened.

"What're you doing?"

Garnet numbly turned to her and looked to the ground, seeing the beer spilled all over the floor. "What happened?"

"You tell me - you started looking around like you were possessed and you dropped the beer." Amethyst explained. "What're you on? Can I have some?" She grinned.

"I …" Garnet clasped her head, feeling pain searing through her skull. "I'll clean this up." She went to grab a mop.

Amethyst watched her leave then looked at the cans on the ground. "What a waste." She grabbed a can and took a sip, sighing afterward. "Great taste, but not strong enough." She shrugged and drank some more, moving back into the kitchen.

Grabbing a mop, Garnet began cleaning the spillage, wondering what it was that she saw. She was puzzled and looked at the gems on her palms, Sapphire on the right and Ruby on the left, confused as to what the vision meant. Putting it in the back of her mind, she decided to focus on setting up for the party.

SPREADING OUT a chair on the white sand, Steven stepped back and looked at the set up they had, seeing the chairs and two tables scattered around the beach. Grinning to himself, he called to Connie "I'm done over here!"

"Really? I'm not even half way done." Connie said.

"I can help ya if you want."

"No, I got this!" Connie snapped at him.

Steven chuckled to himself and went toward her when he felt a strange presence, stopping himself in his tracks. He waited, glancing around and seeing nothing but seagulls and the ocean nearby. He moved on, apprehensive and halted once more as he heard shuffling behind him. He turned back to the bushes, seeing nothing again. He frowned.

"Uh, Connie, I'll be back - I just gotta check on something."

"Sure, just let me handle this all on my own, it's okay!" Connie said.

Looking around subtly, Steven walked off the beach, keeping his eyes and ears sharp in case he noticed anything out of the ordinary. He knew something was off, having felt the same presence the night before as he slept. Leaving the beach, the boy headed up the hill behind the temple and went toward the barn.

He hummed to himself as he went, trying to seem more natural as he sensed whatever it was following close by though he could not see it. Coming up to the barn, he took a seat on a bench and started scanning the area, thinking of a way to expose his stalker. He went deep into his thought when he felt a shadow come over him.

He sighed, disappointed and rushed to the barn at a rapid speed, bashing it with his shoulder and causing the building to rock. The stalker stumbled as the building shook and fell off the roof, landing in front of the boy. He spun around, summoning his shield when he saw the follower was.

"A girl?"

The stalker, a girl slightly taller than him with paper-white skin, scarlet hair with a strip of orange at the center clad in a cream colored coat, gray pants, red boots and gloves, pushed herself up. Steven could tell she was shaken, but held his shield up, unsure of what she would do. He looked at her as she stood and noticed a gem on her left shoulder.

"You're a Gem!" Steven said.

"Heh, you're more intelligent than I thought." The girl smirked. "Guess I shouldn't expect anything less from a member of the Crystal Gems."

"Well, you didn't really hide well." Steven said. "Now what do you want?"

"Oh, sorry, I was just observing you." The gem said. "I probably should've introduced myself better - I'm Coral." She extended her hand, getting a suspicious look from him. "I'm sorry, I'm not from around here; I didn't mean to be threatening."

"What do you want from us?" Steven said, dismissing his shield a little.

"Well, I was curious about how a human interacted with the gems, but I wasn't hiding well enough." Coral said, gaining a frown from him. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You were stalking me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry - I didn't know that's something humans didn't do." The gem cleared her throat. "Well, I want to meet the Crystal Gems."

"Why?"

"I've always wanted to meet them - I'm a big fan," Coral smiled, "Please? I'm too scared to go there myself."

Steven thought about this.

STEVEN STUCK his head out from behind the bushes and looked into the beachfront, making sure Pearl wasn't anywhere nearby. He saw Connie still placing chairs up ahead and stepped out with Coral, gesturing for her to stay quiet as they went up to the girl. Connie spread out a chair and heard them coming, turning to them.

"Look, Steven, I wanted to apologize for yelling at you back there when -," She saw Coral. "Who is she?"

"She's a Gem I just met." Steven said with a grin. "She's Coral."

"H-hi …" Connie said hesitantly, getting a gleeful wave from the gem. "Um, can I talk to you, Steven?" She pulled the boy aside. "What're you thinking?"

"What?"

"She could be hostile! You never trust rogue gems!" Connie said in a hushed tone.

"Well, she said she just wanted to meet the Crystal Gems and I didn't think she was dangerous." Steven shrugged.

"All gems are dangerous! We can't just -," Connie stopped herself as she realized Coral was prying over her shoulder. "Can I help you?" Connie frowned.

"Oh, I was just listening in," Coral said, realizing Connie was annoyed. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Okay, you might need to work on that if you're interested in meeting the gems," Steven said, "Or anyone really."

"Heh, sorry - all I've learned about humans is the language, but I haven't really spent time with them." Coral said.

"Well, if there's anyone who knows anything about people, it's Amethyst." Steven grinned, "I'll just -," Connie yanked his arm, glaring at him. "Uh …" He laughed awkwardly. "Why don't you help us set up chairs? That could help us break the ice."

"Okay." Coral replied.

"We're gonna be having a small party for the Gems since they've been working so hard, so you could properly meet them then." Steven said, walking her up to the stacked up chairs. "Why don't you set up the chairs near that large rock over there?" Steven pointed to a large rock to his right.

"You got it." Coral nodded and the three spread out, continuing their set up.

Steven set down a chair and turned to Coral, seeing her having tossed the chairs around and broken two. Connie raised her brow and turned to him, gaining a groan. "This's gonna take a while."

GARNET STEPPED through the temple doors and into the archive room, her eyes moving over the plethora of books stacked on spiraling cases that lined the walls and different glass tubes tapering toward the ceiling. She grabbed a book and flipped through its pages, moving over the different notes taken by her and gems of the past on earth and other planets they'd visited.

She looked over everything that talked about the stars and any weaponry Home World may have developed. With nothing matching, she moved through possible magic and technology of any other hostile planets in their solar system. Browsing through notes about Alchemy and Transmutation, the demon Bill Cipher, the legends of the Valar, the Asgardians and other civilizations, she hoped to find something similar to her vision. She looked over notes of a being called Apocalypse who'd round up Four Horsemen, but she tossed it aside, looking anything else she could find.

After half an hour of searching, the Gem huffed and put the last book on the shelf, trying to think. Nothing in her vision seemed like any technology she'd heard of on Home World, wondering if they possibly created more since the notes were taken centuries ago. She looked at the cross-planetary clock on the ceiling and decided to give up, going back to set up for the party.

LIGHTS FLICKERED on across the beach as the party started in the late afternoon. Several people had come, more than Steven and Connie expected as they almost ran out of chairs - luckily Pearl overshooting on planning paid off. The two walked through the crowd of people as they tried to see who'd made it, getting waves and greetings from strangers they didn't expect to be there.

"Who would've thought you were famous around here?" Connie asked.

"I know, right?" Steven chuckled.

"Hey, Steven," Buck called out, walking up to them with Sadie, Lars, Sour Cream, Jenny and Kiki "This's quite the party you've set up - nice."

"Uh, it's just beach party." Steven said slightly nervous.

"One that got a shit ton a' people out here."

"Yeah, who wouldn't wanna come to a party hosted by the town hero?" Sadie said.

"I wouldn't call myself a hero."

"Don't be like that - you've kicked a whole lotta alien ass in the past." Buck said, "This town wouldn't be here if it weren't for you and those hot broads."

"They're the Crystal Gems." Sadie corrected.

"Told ya it sounded like a stripper name," Sour Cream said, gaining a laugh from Buck and a frown from Sadie.

"Wait, Lars? What're you doing here?" Connie raised her brow.

"What? You didn't think I'd come over?" Lars crossed his arms. "I wouldn't miss the party of the year."

"I dragged his ass over here," Sadie said blankly.

"Hey!" Lars frowned.

"Um, Steven?" Coral called.

Steven and Connie turned around, seeing Coral dressed in red two-piece swimsuit with a gold necklace and slippers. "Whoa …" Steven stared at her, annoying Connie.

"Damn, who is she?" Buck pulled up his sunglasses.

"She's a kid, Buck." Sadie nudged him.

"I don't mind." Lars said.

"Dude!" Sadie said.

"Is this how you wear these?" Coral asked, looking back at her ass. "It seems a little small."

"I regret lending her those." Connie huffed.

"Who's your friend?" Buck asked.

"Oh, this's Coral, she's from outta town," Steven turned to them others, introducing them, "Coral, this is Sadie, Lars, Buck, Sour Cream, Jenny and Kiki,"

"Welcome to Beach City," Buck held his hand out.

"Stay away from them, they're assholes," Sadie said, slapping his hand away.

"What? I just wanted to -,"

"And they're pedophiles too," Sadie started chasing them off.

"Oh, c'mon," Lars complained.

"Shut up, Lars," Sadie pushed him away, "Welcome to town! Enjoy the party!" She said to Coral quickly, getting the others to leave.

Steven watched them leave, and shrugged, turning to Coral. "Why don't we -,"

"I don't think so, Steven." Connie frowned.

"Connie! We need you to handle the drinks!" Pearl called out to her.

Connie huffed. "Coming!"

"It's okay, I'll just show her around." Steven said, getting an angry grunt from her. "Huh, I wonder what's everyone's problem."

Coral looked around her, seeing the people moving around, chatting and others swimming nearby. "I haven't seen so many people in one place before."

"Yeah, well people appreciate what the gems have done for them before." Steven said, walking with her. "They've been protecting earth for several years now and we wanted to make them feel appreciated." He turned and saw Amethyst making out with a guy by a rock in the distance. "Uh … why don't we grab something to eat?"

"Sure," Coral followed him.

Steven led Coral through the crowd of people, getting more attention from them as he headed to a braai stand. There, they found Pearl adding meat to a dish beside it. "Pearl?" What're you doing? You're not supposed to be working today." Steven said.

"Well, now, it'd be rude to have our guests cooking for themselves, wouldn't it?" She added a steak to the grill.

"But, they can grill for themselves, that's why we set up multiple ones." Steven gestured to the others, seeing clones of herself there. "Really?"

"Now, Steven, there's no need to worry yourself," Pearl said, setting some meat on plates. "Why don't you have some with you and your friend?"

"Oh, yeah, Coral, this is -," Steven turned and saw that Coral wasn't there.

"Where'd you friend go?" Pearl looked around.

"It's okay, I'll go find her." Steven received the plates and walked off.

Steven returned to the crowd and looked for Coral, seeing Connie manning the soda stand and seeing Sadie, Lars and the others chatting. He moved around, wondering where she could be when he saw her seated by the shore. He walked up to her and found her merely staring at the water, letting it wash over her toes.

"Hey, why'd ya run off?" Steven sat beside her.

"I wasn't sure what'd happen."

"Well, you'd say 'hello' then -,"

"Not that," Coral sighed, "I wondered what they'd think meeting a gem who was trying to look and sound human."

"What do you mean?" Steven asked.

"Back on Home World, we had strict orders not to integrate with humans and since I'd broken that rule, I didn't think they'd accept me." Coral explained.

"Well, the Crystal Gems don't follow the rules at all really."

"They don't?"

Steven pointed at the gem on his stomach. "I'm living proof of it."

"You're human?"

"What did you think I was?"

"I thought it was just part of a disguise and I thought the Crystal Gems were simply spying on the humans here." Coral said. "But, how're you human?"

"Well, my mom's a gem and my dad's a human." Steven said. "I'm like a permanent fusion."

"But Home World said that wasn't possible."

"Home World was wrong." Steven said, looking off to the water. "We might be from different worlds, but I think we're more alike than we think. We hope, fear, love and all want something more than what we're limited with - or what they limited the Gems with."

Coral sifted her mind and took in what he said, watching the sunset with him. The boy handed her a plate. "What's this?" She asked, getting a groan from him.

"PEARL, THIS is literally fucked up." Amethyst frowned as Pearl dragged her across the beach.

"How can you be having relations with a human while we're working hard out here!? And out in public!" Pearl said.

"Actually, it was behind the rock and sure, yell it louder why don't ya." Amethyst said and Pearl dropped her on the ground. "Hey!"

"I'm very disappointed with you - what if Steven saw you? That's not something a child his age needs to be thinking about right now." Pearl said.

"He's fourteen, jeez." Amethyst stood up.

"You need to start thinking about people other than yourself, Amethyst." Pearl grew angry. "I'm handling the meat and Connie's helping with the drinks and you're just off in your own world doing … that."

"Hey, why don't you mind your own fucking business!?" Amethyst said. "I'm living my own life - I don't need you prying over my shit every second, for fuck's sake. And it's a fucking party, why're we working anyway, huh?"

Pearl sighed. "You never acted like this when Rose was around."

"Ugh, here we go again with this bullshit." Amethyst scoffed.

Pearl shook her head. "Just try to help out here, okay?"

"Whatever," Amethyst walked off.

"By the way, have you seen Garnet anywhere?" Pearl asked.

"I thought she was with you," Amethyst said.

THE COLD rushed through Garnet on that summer evening as the sounds of carnage grew louder and louder. In her mind, she resolved that it wasn't actually happening, but her body said otherwise as she felt every scream, crash and explosion all around her. She battled with this feeling, but it never escaped.

"What do you think it means?" Sapphire asked.

"I don't know, what do you think?" Ruby said.

"You know what I'm talking about Ruby."

"Are you sure it's me you're talking to?"

"I'm sure … I think."

"Look, I don't wanna talk about it okay? You read the books and found nothing, so nothing's gonna happen."

"You know that's not true."

"What do you want me to say then? That, 'yes, I think the world's gonna end and everyone's gonna die?' … I don't wanna believe that …"

"... What do we do?"

Garnet clenched her fists and sat by herself on the steps of the house, burying her mind in the noise of the party and trying to focus on other things. As she tried to do so, she noticed something else and huffed. "Your breath smells like a penis, Amethyst."

"What, really?" Amethyst smelled her breath. "Goddammit."

"You don't say things like that, Garnet." Pearl walked up to her.

"But it's so pungent." Garnet sat up as the other two gems arrived.

"Only to you, remember?" Pearl said. "What's going on? The party's been on for a while, why not come over?"

"Yeah, you're pretty popular with the guys in town, y'know." Amethyst ate a mint.

"Quiet, Amethyst." Pearl snapped at her. "Come on, Garnet, if anyone deserves to have some fun in all this, it's our leader." She grabbed Garnet's hand.

"Yeah, cuz I can't have any fun." Amethyst mumbled.

"Shh!" Pearl growled at her.

"I've got to tell you something." Garnet said.

"Sure, what is it?" Pearl stopped.

"Are you stepping down and making me leader?" Amethyst grinned then frowned. "Don't tell me you're making her leader."

"I had a vision earlier today, when I'd dropped that container of alcoholic beverages on the floor." Garnet continued, "I saw the world ending."

Pearl and Amethyst froze, sharing a glance. "What … was it some kinda movie or somethin'?" Amethyst joked.

"... I'd seen the stars fall and everything collapse all around me." Garnet clasped her knees, causing her knuckles to pale. "Everyone around the world was in agony, everything decayed and nobody could stop it."

"Home World?" Pearl asked.

Garnet shook her head. "Nothing I've ever heard or read about Home World could do what I'd seen. It felt more than tech, more like magic, but nothing in the archives about other planets could do this."

"Nah, it's probably nothing; I mean, your visions have been wrong before, right?" Amethyst said, turning to Pearl who shook her head 'no'. "Well, we've misinterpreted them before - I'm not believing some shit about an apocalypse or whatever."

"And what if it's real?" Pearl asked.

"Well, we're dead then." Amethyst shrugged.

"We have to find out what the vision means." Pearl said.

"No, not right now." Garnet stood up. "Steven and Connie worked hard so we could relax today and we shouldn't disappoint them."

"Garnet."

"Now," Garnet transformed her attire, turning them into a black bikini with see-through wrapper leaving her right leg open. "Where's the party?"

"Now, that's what I'm talking about." Amethyst grinned, leaving with the taller gem.

Pearl frowned as the two left, completely seeing through Garnet's sudden change of heart.

"AND SO I said, 'fuck it'!" Lars slurred, nearly falling over as he drank his beer and getting a laugh from the others.

"I like that story." Buck chuckled.

"Okay, okay, I think you've had enough." Sadie grabbed the drink from him.

"Come on, Sadie, let the guy have some fun." Jenny said.

"Well, are you gonna help me carry his ass when he passes out?" Sadie asked.

"No, and I don't know why you do either - you're the one who brought him out here in the first place, so you knew this'd happen." Jenny sipped her coke.

"But, I -,"

"There she is!" Buck yelled and several guys in the crowd started to chatter as Garnet arrived.

Several women in the crowd grew annoyed at her presence as the men eyed her curvaceous figure and plump breasts. She took a seat closer to the shore and some guys came up to her, vying for her attention as she tried to enjoy the cool air and sunset.

"Maybe I shouldn't have brought her here." Amethyst said.

"Well, she's just relaxing." Pearl crossed her arms. "Though despite the males bothering her."

"I swear, she's low-key enjoying the attention."

Lars went toward the crowd. "Will you stop for once?" Sadie pulled him back.

Steven and Coral watched the commotion nearby, not noticing Connie stewing in anger a few feet behind them. "I guess the Gems are really popular here." Coral said. "Though I wonder why it's only with the males."

"Yeah, I wonder why …" Steven said sarcastically.

"Hey, Steven!" Greg called out as he walked up to them.

"Dad, I didn't notice you here." Steven asked.

"Why would I miss the party, huh?" Greg said and turned to Coral. "And who's your little friend?"

"Oh, this's Coral, she's from outta -,"

"I'm a gem." Coral held her hand out.

"Well, welcome to earth." Greg shook her hand and turned to Steven. "Steven, do you know where Pearl is? Her clones are acting up aga …" he trailed off as he looked to the sky, walking toward the shore. "Uh, Steven, is it just me or is something happening to the sky."

"What?" Steven turned and gasped.

The stars were falling!

The chattering of the party turned into mutters of confusion as the people looked to the skies above as the stars started streaking down. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl looked up as well, studying them whilst others started to panic.

"The stars are falling!" Amethyst yelled.

"No, it can't be happening so soon!" Pearl cried..

Garnet remained silent however, looking closely at the lights and realizing some of the were growing! "No, it's something else," She turned to the others, "Meteors are falling toward us!"

Pearl constructed a bullhorn out of her gem and called the attention of the beach goers, "I'd like everyone to evacuate the beach in an orderly fashion; repeat, evacuate the beach in an orderly fashion!" The people froze as they heard this and immediately ran off, almost causing a stampede and knocking things over. "Oh, come on!"

"What did you think they would do?" Amethyst put a hand on her hip.

"Pearl, what's happening!?" Greg ran up to them.

"We're experiencing a meteor shower, it's nothing to worry about," Pearl said nervously, summoning a controller device an tapping on it frantically.

"What's going on!?" Steven arrived, followed by Coral, and Connie.

"We have it under control, don't worry." Pearl keyed in a password and pressed her palm on the device.

The ground rumbled and lights run up the statue of the temple building, causing parts of it to shift and release steam as different compartments flew open. Seven cannons shot out of the hillside, each of them turning up and toward the sky. They came alight and fired out beams of light that rushed into each other and scattered out into several smaller blasts that flew across the sky, smashing into the crashing lights. Smoke blew across the sky from the impact, immediately dispersing as the falling projectiles revealed themselves to be massive balls of steel!

"It didn't work!" Pearl yelled.

"Fire it again!" Amethyst yelled.

"I can't, they need to recharge!"

"Why don't you fuse? That should stop it, right?" Greg asked.

"It won't work," Garnet said, "We're not strong enough."

"Wha - we gotta do something, right?" He looked around, seeing Steven run toward the shore. "Steven!"

"Steven, get back here!" Pearl chased after him.

"I'm not gonna sit back while the city get's blown up!" Steven shot into the air, breaking the sound barrier and nearly knocking the others off their feet.

Steven erected his shield and projected it out, sending it several kilometers out and covering the entire beachfront. He grunted as he felt his energy immediately diminished, pushing himself forward toward the projectiles that were right on him! Letting out a warrior's cry, the boy collided with the meteors!

A massive explosion emanated from the crash, blackening the sky with smoke and sending violent winds that threw up sand, knocked everyone over and broke apart rocks on the beach. The metal rocks crashed onto the earth and the ocean, causing a small tsunami and destroying more of the land nearby. They came down on the town as well, hitting into people, cars and buildings and sending up rubble onto others.

Steven was flung through the air and crashed onto the earth, digging into the ground and ending up in a trench. The boy pulled himself out of the hole, covered in cuts and bruises, and he stood up, seeing people running about and fires all around him. He looked at the chaos, unsure of what to do when he saw Greg pinned beneath a large rock!

"Dad!" The boy rushed up to him and grabbed a hold of the rock, trying to pick it up. "Hang on!"

"Steven, stop!" The man said.

"I gotta save you!"

"No, I …" The man breathed heavily, "It's too late."

Steven stopped and looked beneath the rock, seeing Greg's blood splattered on it. "… I-it's gonna be okay, I'll get ya outta there and I'll find Pearl, she'll know what to do." He looked behind him, failing to see anything through the rising smoke.

"Steven … I can't feel anything …" Greg breathed hoarsely, coughing up blood.

"No, no, it's fine, I can heal you myself!" Steven said, "I'll, I'll - I'll pull you out and -,"

"There's no time, Steven!"

"Then I'll make time!" Steven yelled and lifted the rock, only to get knocked back as a rock crashed nearby.

Steven coughed as sand flew all over the place and pushed himself up, running back to his father when he saw a dark silhouette in the dust behind him. He froze, unable to tell what it was as the ten-foot tall humanoid form drew closer and closer. He looked at it then his father, quickly summoning a shield that immediately faded. He tired to think and ran toward the man again.

"Steven, stop!"

"I have to save you!"

"Steven …" Greg said, tears falling down his face. "Why don't you go find Connie? I'll be fine."

"No, you won't! I can fight it, I just need to -,"

A flash of light came out of the obscured figure, chucking up earth and causing people nearby to flee. The boy looked up and saw more rocks on top of Greg. "Steven … please …"

"Dad …" Steven choked up as tears streamed down his face.

Another crash sounded off nearby and the boy stopped, looking to his father then to the smoke all around that led into the unknown. Looking at his dad one last time, he ran off.