-And I'm back, just as I said I would be! As per usual, I do not officially claim ownership over Steven Universe, the cartoon that airs (sometimes) on Cartoon Network. The only thing I claim to own are my own OCs.-
"And there you go! Clean as a whistle!" Steven announced. From the open driver's window, Buck Dewey looked out and down at the outside of his car.
"Thanks," he nodded.
"No problem, it was our pleasure!" Connie said while drying her own hands with the towel she held. Buck stretched his arm out and handed a small handful of cash into Greg's hands.
"Come back anytime!" he said, and Buck drove off.
"Look at that, my hands are all prune-y and suds-y!" Steven held his hands up before rinsing them off in the hose's running water.
"Ah, what a finish. Thanks for the help, you two. I think we got this done faster with you helping out," Greg said, then turned to notice the setting sun, "But I think it's starting to get late. I didn't make you stay out too late, did I Connie?"
"Well, Mother did say that my curfews could be extended, but only in the name of charity and community service," she replied, "And I'd say helping out a friend's father at his legitimate business counts!"
"Okay, well I should at least get you back home. Tell ya what, let me just get my band equipment squared away in the back, and I'll give you a lift."
"Thank you, Mr. Universe!" Connie said, and Greg disappeared into the back of his van. It was around this time that all of Beach City soon became bathed in the beautiful bright orange light of the late afternoon sun. With some time to themselves, Steven and Connie sat down at the edge of the sidewalk and watched the sunset.
"Wow, who knew washing cars could actually be a decent workout?" Connie said, rubbing her arm. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Steven's face, but noticed the more thoughtful look that he had on. She came to know this face- a face that said he had something important on his mind, "Steven? Everything alright?"
"Huh?" he said, his thoughts clearly interrupted, "Oh yeah, I was just thinking about..."
"About?" Connie asked.
"... Connie, do you ever think about what happened two months ago? You know with the-"
"The invasion?" Steven nodded, "Steven, how could I not think of it? I think everyone in town can't forget something like that! How you and the Crystal Gems saved us and-"
"And how you were almost killed?" Steven morbidly finished.
"Well... yeah, there was that," Connie admitted, "But don't beat yourself up over that; everybody is still alive and walking!"
"But you almost weren't!" Steven protested, "Those drone things almost killed you, Dad, and all of our friends! You were all in trouble, and I had left you alone!"
"But we had Lion and Amethyst with us, remember?" Connie said, "And Steven... I don't blame you for what you did; Garnet was in trouble, and it was very brave of you to rush in to help her."
"Yeah... but," Steven replied, rising to his feet, as did Connie, "Well I say from here on out, I won't let something like this happen again; any friend of mine in ANY kind of trouble, I will do everything I can to help them!"
"That's great Steven," Connie put her hand on his shoulder, "Just don't overwork yourself, okay? You know what they say about 'opening the window too wide?'"
"Ummm..." Steven blinked once, then twice, "No, what?"
"That... oh, never-mind." The sound of two honks behind them drew their attention.
"Okay kiddos, pile in!" Greg called out.
"Okay Dad, we're-" A familiar sound cut him off. To their left a pink image of a portal formed, and the large body of Lion jumped through. It stood before them and looked down at the two kids.
"Lion? What are you doing here?" Steven asked. The feline said nothing, except for paw at the ground twice.
"Is that Lion?" Greg called out, "Why is he here?"
"He's... I think he's trying to tell us something..." Connie said, then cocked her head at Lion, "Is that it?" It swished its mane around in a showy manner before it turned its head in a direction. It looked out towards the beach-line at the setting sun.
"Wait a minute..." Steven followed its gaze, "The beach? No, the temple! Do the Crystal Gems want to show me something, so they sent you?" Lion closed its eyes and bowed its head, which for the three humans was as good as any nod, "Guys, we should totally go check it out!"
"I... "Connie looked down at the watch on her wrist, "suppose if we move quickly."
"I dunno if I can drive fast enough to-" Lion's roar cut Greg off, and he looked up to see another pink portal had been created, "Oh... right, that works."
"Let's go then!" Steven rushed to the van and climbed in the back. Once all the doors were shut the van drove forward through the portal, Lion following right behind them.
The trip was instantaneous, and the three humans found themselves in the van now on the beach. With Lion jumping through right behind them, the portal vanished in a snap.
Looking around, nothing at all was out of the ordinary. The beach itself was in relatively good shape, save for the scrapes that ran along the ground from the water. And no one else was around, well, no other human.
"Hey guys!" Steven called out of the open window. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were seen on the sandy beach. They looked like they were studying something within the circle they were forming, when Steven's voice caught their attention.
"See? There he is now!" Amethyst pointed out.
"Ah, Steven! There you are!" Pearl said as the three humans gathered around, "Oh and hello to you, Connie."
"Hello, Pearl," Connie greeted, "Good to see you again!"
"So, Lion here said you have something important?" Steven said, when he noticed suddenly a sort of deep, humming sound, "Wait... what's that sound?"
"Eh? See Pearl? I told you that big fur ball could do it!" Amethyst nudged her elbow at Pearl.
"Yes, well," Pearl replied, "While I doubt Lion here 'told' you, per se, there is something important..."
"What is it?" Greg asked. Garnet stepped to the side and indicated with her outstretched hand. It was a familiar pedestal, with a pillow stuffed into a familiar cavity, "Isn't that-?"
"The Wailing Stone," Garnet said, "Someone is trying to send another message."
"It suddenly went off again, and we nearly had to stuff two pillows into it," Amethyst exclaimed, "Ugh, I'm getting such a headache!"
"Another message?" Steven said, "Cool! And Dad, it's a good thing you and the van are here; we can find out who's calling us!"
"Yeah..." Greg looked up at the gems, "Maybe I can help you out with this, again?"
"Couldn't ask for more," Garnet smiled and adjusted her visor.
"Um, I'm kinda lost here, what is that?" Connie spoke up.
"Huh? Oh, Connie! That's right, you've never seen this before!" Steven exclaimed, "Well here, we'll all show you what this thing does."
"Excellent," Pearl clapped her hands before her face in approval, "Now Amethyst, could you move the-"
"Oh come on, why do I have to carry this stupid thing..." Amethyst exasperatingly said to herself. She had lifted the entire apparatus upon her shoulder and moved to the back of the van, the others following behind. Greg opened up the back doors, crawled inside, and starting assembling the equipment needed.
"So what is this thing?" Connie said, "Some kind of noise-maker?"
"Not just any noise-maker, Connie," Pearl said, "The Wailing Stones were at one point a massive communication network! The Rebellion used hundreds of them to link with each other instantly, on this very planet!"
"Really?" Connie watched Steven and Greg work, "Is it all through that noise it's making?"
"Argh, speaking of that noise, it's still driving me nuts!" Amethyst said.
"We're almost done here..." Greg called out while plugging in the final wires to his mixer, "Okay Steven, plug 'er in!"
"Roger!" Steven plugged the cord into the T.V. Just like before, a more pleasant, melodious tune of notes flowed from the television, while the screen itself only showed static.
"Hmmm..." With prior experience this time, Greg pushed and turned the knobs much more quickly and efficiently, and the static was much more quick to fade to a pure blue screen like before, "I think I definitely got it this time..." In a flash, the image of blue changed drastically to one of a single, yellow humanoid figure.
"Whoa! It's-" Greg said.
"Spodumene!" Steven exclaimed.
"Spodumene?" Pearl said, "Why is she contacting us?"
"This is an outgoing intergalactic message to be received by Earth," Spodumene spoke with what sounded like a mix of cordiality and urgency, "Greetings to you, Steven."
"This is so crazy weird..." Connie said to herself.
"I hope this message finds you well, and I further hope you and your Crystal Gem compatriots are also well," Spodumene continued, "I am contacting you at this time because of... recent developments. I have a favor to ask of you, assistance even, one that I do hope to hear a response to in the future."
"Help?" Amethyst asked, "What could she need help with?"
"However, I'm afraid I cannot disclose the specifics of my request over this channel, due to the rather... sensitive nature," Spodumene continued, almost as if she had heard Amethyst, "And I have a feeling that the people of your planet would be less than welcoming to find one of my kind returning there."
"That is an understatement," Pearl commented.
"That being said, in the event you see fit to reply to this message, then Earth's lunar base would be a suitable location to do so. Message concluded; end transmission." The message, and the harsh sound of static and black and white filled the screen again. For a moment, there was silence between everyone, each one feeling something different.
"That..." Connie said, "That sounded like an S.O.S to me."
"It did, didn't it? A friend of ours needs the help that only we can give!" Steven looked at the Crystal Gems, "Um... am I right, or what?"
"Steven..." Garnet said, "You heard where she wanted us to reply to her message, right?"
"The lunar base?" Steven asked, "The... Moon Base?!" his eyes widened a little as he slowly began to realize the implication, "that would mean going-"
"You are not taking another shuttle into space!" Greg suddenly cut in. Everyone was caught off guard by the sudden assertion in his voice, "Seriously, once was enough!"
"Greg, I understand your concern, but-" Pearl said, but Greg's reply was to cross his arms and look out at the sun-less horizon, "It was all a huge miscalculation on my part!"
"Wait, you also tried to go to space?" Connie asked, "Seriously?!"
"Yeah," Steven softly said, "Pearl really wanted to go back to Crystarra that time, so we built a rocket ship out of stuff we found in the barn and-"
"And nearly got blown up in the sky," Amethyst finished, earning her a look from everyone else, "What? It happened!"
"Well I don't care," Greg said patting a hand on Steven's head, "You're my little goofball, the only one I've got in this world. I can't lose you."
"Dad-"
"He is right, Steven," Connie said, looking away at the ground, "Space is dangerous, especially for us humans. You'd be putting yourself at great risk doing this!"
"Greg, Connie," Garnet spoke up, "I agree with you. I agree that there are serious dangers involved with space travel. And I agree that building ramshackle spaceships is also a reckless idea," she cast a look off to Pearl which she could instantly tell was a glare, "That is why, if we 'were' to do this... we would be warping there."
"Warp? To the moon?" Amethyst said, "How long have we been able to warp to the moon whenever we wanted?!"
"There has never been a need to," Pearl replied, "Nothing salvageable from the days of the rebellion could still be up there."
"Whatever, I'll just add this to the list of things I was never told..." Amethyst resigned while giving her belly a quick scratch.
"Amethyst..." Pearl tried to think of words of assurance, but they escaped her.
"So..." Greg said in his uneasy tone, "You can warp to the moon, and there's no chance you'll be blown up?"
"Well, there's-" Pearl started, but a very quick look from Garnet immediately cut her off, "No Greg, there is no chance of being 'blown up'."
"And you know what?" Garnet added while putting a hand on his shoulder, "This time, the three of us would be with him, at all times, keeping him safe." Greg's uneasy gaze constantly shifted between everyone present, and occasionally at the moon that was now shining clear in the night sky. Finally he gave a deep sigh,
"Alright, if you promise me that you'll stay absolutely safe... you have my permission."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Yes!" Steven fist pumped.
"Hold it," Greg held a palm up, "I want their promise as well," he looked at the three gems, "I want you three to promise me that you will keep him safe."
"Sure thing Greg, we promise," Amethyst held her palm up as a promissory salute.
"You have our word, right?" Garnet said, while looking at Pearl.
"Yes, of course, he will be safe with us," Pearl replied as well.
"Wait, Steven?" Connie said, stepping up close to him, "I guess if you're really going, then... well..." After hesitation from trying to find the right words, she instead quickly embraced him in her arms. Steven was surprised, but nonetheless returned the hug, "Make sure you do come back to us in the end. You're my best friend."
"I'll be back, Connie, I promise," Steven said, releasing his arms to pull away.
"Okay okay, my turn now," Connie stepped to the side as Greg went down to Steven's level on one knee. The two also shared a big embrace.
"I love you, Steven... be safe."
"I love you too, Dad." The two then finally broke apart, "Right so, I guess we should get going?"
"Alright!" Amethyst said. With that, the group made their way across the sandy beach and up the beach-house steps inside. The Crystal Gem group stepped onto the pad, and Steven noticed Lion still moving as if to join them.
"No Lion, not this time," he said, stopping Lion in his tracks. The creature gave no visible facial expression, but Steven still assumed it felt disappointment, "You've gotta stay here and keep watch here on Earth!" Lion looked to its side at the two humans in the room, and it bowed its head with closed eyes. Connie took it as a sign to quickly give the head a pat.
"Don't worry about us, Steven; we'll be fine, just waiting for you to get back," she said.
"Yeah, as fine as you can be when your son leaves..." Greg added.
"Don't worry, Dad," Steven raised his crossed arms in front of him, "We'll be back!" He quickly spread them apart in an arm-sweep motion, and the teleport beam activated. The room was filled with its light, and the form of the Crystal Gems vanished along with it.
"And there he goes..." Greg said, "Honestly, I didn't think he would leave me until his college days..."
"Don't worry, Mr. Universe," Connie said, "He'll help Spodumene, and then he'll return straight to us, I have faith in him."
"Return... Return!" Greg's eyes widened in realization, "Oh man, Connie! I forgot I was bringing you home! What time is it?! Quick, let's get going before your parents have my head, or-!" The sound of a familiar roar got their attention. Connie and Greg turned to see that Lion had again roared a portal into existence, "Right, that also works. Careful Lion, if you keep doing what you're doing, you might end up replacing Steven as my son!" Both shared a laugh as they stepped through the portal.