Hey, guys! Don't worry, I'm still doing my Transformers story, but this will be a little side-project. Don't read this if you haven't seen Steven Universe, unless you want to anyway, I'm cool with whatever. Original characters and TV show belong to Rebecca Sugar. I'm just following Rule 63.

We…

Are the Rebel Gems! We'll always pull on through!

And if you think we won't, we'll know just what to do!

That's why the people of this world have faith in…

Onyx

Carnelian

And Quartz

And Stephanie!

Chapter 1: Introductions

A long time ago, on a distant world know as Homeworld, an advanced civilization existed. These were not organic beings, but sentient gemstones with the power to form bodies out of solid light. These gem-based life-forms required no food, sleep, or oxygen for sustenance, yet they had thoughts and emotions of their own. These life-forms followed under the rule of the Diamond Hierarchy, a ruthless and cruel regime with a burning desire for power. With the help of their generals, the armies of the House of Diamonds conquered many worlds, building makeshift laboratories, dubbed the Kindergartens, to both breed more gem warriors and terraform the planet to better resemble Homeworld. With this unconquerable army, the Diamond Hierarchy had no trouble in expanding their sinister reign. But everything changed when they found their way to the planet Earth.

Crimson Topaz, a seasoned general of the Homeworld Regime, scouted ahead of the army to study the planet for weaknesses, and instead, witnessed the beauty and potential in this organic planet. He was amazed by the dominant race of Earth, the technology they possessed, the religions they followed, the lives they lived, it was all beautiful to General Topaz. When the remaining army arrived, Crimson Topaz protested against using the planet for Homeworld to expand, but the Head of the Diamonds, Grey Diamond, brushed aside his concerns. As the Homeworld gems began to establish galaxy-warp pads and a Kindergarten, Crimson began to secretly share his viewpoint with many of the Homeworld gems. Eventually, Grey Diamond had had enough of Crimson Topaz's sympathy and ordered him to be executed.

But, Crimson was a well-respected and loved figure among the Homeworld army, and while much of the Regime followed Diamonds' orders out of fear, many of the gems turned against their masters to side with Topaz. And so began the Rebel Gems. The Rebel Gems aided many of the human armies of Earth to fight back against the Homeworld oppressors for years, with both humans and gems losing their lives, until they had succeeded in damaging the Kindergarten enough to render it inoperable. The Diamond Hierarchy decided to cut their losses and leave Earth, seemingly forever. But before they left, they created a super-weapon that would wipe out all gem-based life on Earth. In the end, Crimson Topaz was only able to save three of his closest friends; the mighty Onyx, the loyal Quartz, and the young Carnelian.

The four Rebel Gems looked around, finding nothing but death as far as the eye could see. The four brave rebels were now alone, with no hope of ever going home. Despite their loss, the four comrades rose from the ashes of defeat and created a massive temple as refuge. The Rebel Gems thought that they would be able to live in peace in their new home, but Homeworld's weapon had done more than wipe out the remaining rebel forces. An after-affect created some sort of chemical that took root in dispersed areas around the planet. This chemical had altered the gems that were shattered in the war, transforming them into mindless, deformed abominations. Crimson Topaz and his friends swore that they would find these creatures and contain them to prevent them from harming anyone.

That was almost three hundred years ago.

By the year 1989, the Rebel Gems had been through much. They had witnessed humans colonize foreign lands and achieve many technological advancements. In that time, the Rebel Gems fought alongside the humans of their geographical home with their own revolution, siding with General Washington, who shared their idea of freedom. A Civil War, where Onyx was proud to fight for those treated poorly due to the color of their skin. And two wars to end all wars, which came close to ending the planet they swore to protect. It was believed that the Gems would continue this cycle for centuries, but one day, Crimson fell in love.

Her name was Margaret Universe, a musician who traveled all over the country. She was a simple woman who only wanted to make something of herself. One day, she arrived in Beach City to perform a one-person concert, but no one showed up. Except for Crimson. He loved her music and sat through the entire show. Afterwards, Margaret was touched that someone actually enjoyed her music style and she sought out her first and only fan. As they spent more time together, Crimson and Margaret realized that they loved each other very much.

Eventually, the two lovers conceived in 1999, and would one day give birth to the only gem created without the use of a Kindergarten. But as they followed their regular check-ups, Crimson realized that Margaret's physiology was too different from his own for the baby to survive birth. In a desperate attempt to save his child's life, Crimson went to Onyx to ask for a solution. Onyx used a his special ability, known as future vision, to predict any way for Crimson to save the baby, but in the end, there was only one possible outcome that would have the desired result: Crimson would have to transfer his topaz gem to the child at the moment of its birth. The only problem with this was, Crimson would give up his physical form and be gone forever. But Crimson's love for Margaret overcame any fear he felt, which paved the way for him to feel pride that he would be able to live on through his child as she would join the Rebel Gems to continue their mission.

The Rebel Gems swore to uphold the mission of protecting Earth and all of its creatures as Crimson told them of his decision to give his life. When the time came, Crimson gave his love a final kiss good-bye and disappeared in a flash of light. Margaret walked to the Rebel Gems' temple where she introduced them to the first human-gem hybrid; Stephanie Topaz Universe. The Rebel Gems were disheartened at first, due to the loss of their closest friend, but they were overcome with joy and happiness as they saw the smile on Stephanie's face. When Stephanie's topaz showed signs of power for the first time, the Gems consulted with Margaret to raise Stephanie themselves, training her to take her father's place. While reluctant at first, Margaret finally agreed under two conditions: the gems would build a house next to the temple for Margaret and Stephanie to live, and they would not tell her about the Homeworld invasion until she was older.

The year is now 2015, and the Rebel Gems have trained Stephanie well thus far. Stephanie is sixteen now, and has inherited much from her father. She has red, curly hair that went down to her neck, yet she inherited her mother's eyes. The years of exercise the Rebels put her through had given her a strong and slender build, despite her love for candy and donuts. She would normally wear a red shirt with a yellow star on the chest to match her father's, and blue jeans with sandals. Her weapon, summoned from the crimson topaz gem in her navel, was her father's nigh-indestructible shield that could act as a projectile weapon. She had also gained a portion of Crimson's super-human strength, able to lift large objects with ease. She was also learning how to control her father's pack of magic tigers, four faithful scouts that protected Stephanie and her family. Yet she still had much to learn.

The young girl sat in her home as Quartz told her stories of Earth's history. Quartz resembled a man in his late twenties with white skin. He wore a light-blue, skin-tight body suit that ended at the neck, covered by a white tunic. Yet the most distracting feature was the quartz gemstone embedded in his forehead. Quartz acted as an over-protective older brother in Stephanie's life, making sure that her safety came above all else. Stephanie loved Quartz, but his behavior would annoy her to an extent. For example, Quartz often expressed his horror and disdain for eating food, marking it off as 'revolting.' Despite this, Quartz did try to adapt to life on Earth, and being with Stephanie and the others made doing so that much easier. Whenever Margaret was at work, Quartz would handle the task of homeschooling Stephanie. He taught her what most children learned at school, but he was also in charge of teaching her how to fight and defend herself with her weapon. However, today he was entertaining her with a story of her father.

"Your father was one of the best warriors in the entire Homeworld army." Quartz told Stephanie as she happily brushed the hair of her father's tigers. "No other soldier on Homeworld could match his battle prowess. Yet he had a heart of gold, and only used violence as a last resort. I understand you've become quite peaceful, yourself… and he was a good friend… which reminds me." Quartz stood up and walked over to a chest in the corner of the room. His gem glowed as he held up his palm to unlock it. He went back to Stephanie, holding a red scabbard with a handle at the end. "Your father made me promise to give this to you when you were well-trained. And while that hasn't come quite yet, I feel that you ought to at least know what you have coming towards you. Your mother was reluctant, worried that we'd take you on some damn, fool's crusade."

"What is it?" Stephanie was now on her feet, eyes-wide, as Quartz handed her the scabbard.

"Your father's sword. A straight-bladed saber that can only be unsheathed by the one who possesses its designated gemstone. It is the traditional weapon of all generals on Homeworld, to act as a secondary weapon."

Stephanie's gem glowed as she held the handle in her grip. The sword was the same color as her gem as she admired how the light glistened off of it. She slowly put the scabbard on the floor so she could hold it with both of her hands. Quartz smiled as Stephanie motioned the sword around through the air. "It is capable of cutting through almost any material and firing a concentrated concussion blast. And in my opinion, it is a much more suited choice for a much more civilized era." Stephanie put the sword back in its scabbard and handed it to Quartz.

Suddenly, the front door burst open with a loud bang. "Dumb police! Uh, you're dumb!" Before she knew it, Stephanie was soaked by the short, blue Rebel who resembled a young man in his early twenties. This gem wore baggy jeans with a lighter colored t-shirt that covered a blue gem in his chest. This gem was known as Carnelian, another brother-figure for Stephanie. When she was younger, Stephanie always preferred to take Carnelian with her to concerts, movies and other fun activities she enjoyed. But as Stephanie got older, Carnelian began to target Stephanie for his pranks. He also enjoyed eating food, despite not needing to, making him a bit of a glutton. He also enjoyed collecting random items and piling them up in his room. Still, Stephanie loved him like family, even if he did get on her nerves. "HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, Stephanie! You shoulda seen your face! You were all like; 'Ah! I'm wet!' HAHAHAHA!"

"Oh, yeah?" Stephanie got up and walked over to the short gem as he continued to giggle while holding the water gun. "Well, you were all like; 'Ah! Stop doing that, Stephanie!'"

"What?" Carnelian raised an eyebrow in confusion until Stephanie snatched the water gun out of his hand and proceeded to spray him. "Ah! Stop doing that, Stephanie!" Carnelian and Stephanie shared a sour look before they both laughed at their fun. Quartz, however, did not share their optimistic viewpoint, and buried his face in his palm out of annoyance.

In a flash of light, the warp-pad in the center of the room activated, revealing a dark silhouette. The light disappeared to reveal a seven-foot tall gem that resembled an African American in his early thirties. This gem wore a black, skin-tight suit with a white star on his chest, complete with a silver lining. The suit left his head and his hands uncovered, and he had a silver belt around his waist. His eyes were covered with mirrored sunglasses that were directly flush with his cube-shaped hair. Two grey containment bubbles hovered over the two onyx gemstones embedded in his palms. This was Onyx, the most mysterious and emotionally stable of Stephanie's guardians.

Onyx acted as a father figure for Stephanie as she was growing up. He was the one who listened to her opinions with an open mind, and actually took an interest in what she had to say. At times when Stephanie was scared or worried, Onyx would be the one to comfort her. Despite Quartz's excellent teachings, Onyx was the only one who could teach Stephanie hand-to-hand combat techniques, trying to find ways to make the lessons relate to her. Despite not needing to eat or sleep for sustenance, Onyx would occasionally do it to spend time with Stephanie. Onyx was also the only one of the remaining Rebel Gems who had taken the time to live among the humans and learn their customs. To this day, he still visited Harlem, Memphis, Montgomery, Ethiopia, Morocco, Mali, and Rwanda when he had nothing to do.

"Hi, Onyx!" Stephanie hugged the tall Rebel as he tapped his middle fingers on the bubbles, sending them into the containment center of the temple.

"Stephanie, you're all wet! You'll catch a cold!"

"Onyx, it's almost summer."

"Even so…" Onyx placed his right palm on Stephanie's forehead, sending a small jolt through her body that instantly dried Stephanie's skin and clothes. Next, Onyx's right gem glowed slightly in front of Stephanie's eyes. "I can sense that you're still upset that Carnelian would do this, but you must move past it and forgive him. Okay?"

"Okay…"

Stephanie's attention was brought to the sound of the front door opening. She turned to face a woman in her forties with long black hair, a tie dye shirt covered by a sleeveless vest, and blue jeans that met at her ankles. This woman was Stephanie's mother. Even before she met Crimson Topaz, Margaret Universe was seen as a hippie; always talking and singing about peace and love, attending environment preservation rallies, and she had even started her own organic produce shop in Beach City. She had her own room in the house near the temple so that she could help raise Stephanie. She hugged her daughter and held up a home-made handbag. "Hi, sweetie, I brought dinner."

"Hi, mom, how was your day at the shop?" Stephanie smiled at her mother as she began to help unpack the fruits and vegetables from the bag.

"Well, it wasn't a completely bad day. Same amount of usual customers and sales." Margaret said as she chopped up the ingredients to make the salads. The other gems sat at the dinner table to accompany their friends. Onyx had only a small salad so that Stephanie and Margaret could have more. Carnelian, on the other hand, grabbed a bottle of mustard and sprayed it all over his salad, then shoved the entire bowl into his mouth. As Carnelian pulled the bowl out of his mouth, Quartz moved away from the table in disgust. As Stephanie finished her salad, she turned to Onyx with an eager expression.

"So, Onyx…" the tall gem looked at his little friend as she spoke. "Next time you go on a mission, will you take me with you?"

"Stephanie, you know that you have not yet completed your training. You're not ready."

"But, I've already learned how to summon my dad's shield! And I'm getting closer to having the tigers properly trained! And let's face it: there's nothing that scares me! Nothing at- AAH!" Stephanie ducked under the table as the others heard a knock at the door. The Rebels and Margaret faced the screen door to see a young, dark-skinned boy with blue jeans and a white t-shirt. A smudge of grease was on his cheek underneath his glasses and his black hair was in a tangled mess. He put his arms behind his back as he waited, patiently, for someone to answer him. "Get rid of him!"

Margaret went over to the door. "Can I help you, young man?"

"Um, hi, I was exercising near here earlier, and I think I forgot one of my boxing gloves. Have you seen it?"

"Is that what this is?" Carnelian walked over to Margaret and held up a red boxing glove. "I tripped over it on my way home. I was gonna add it to my pile of junk."

"Thanks! I owe ya!" the boy grabbed the glove and walked back down the steps to the beach. Margaret and the gems went back to the table, where Stephanie breathed nervously.

"Who was that?" Quartz asked the sweating girl.

"Uh… he's just a boy I know. He doesn't know me… we've never met…" Stephanie reluctantly answered. Carnelian gasped and put his palms on Stephanie's cheeks.

"OH, MY GOD! You have a crush on him!" Carnelian's comment made Stephanie blush brightly.

"W-what?! No! Shut up!"

"Yes, you do! You wuv him!" Carnelian put his hands together and made a kissy face.

Quartz was excited to think Stephanie had a crush. "Let's set up a play date! I'll write out an invitation, we'll have to find out his favorite kind of activities-"

"No!" Stephanie finally cut in. "I do not 'wuv' him. He moved into the city a month ago, and I've seen him help people and fix things and generally be the nicest boy I've ever met in my- YES, OKAY! I ADMIT IT! I LOVE HIM!"

"No, you don't." All eyes turned to Onyx who crossed his arms as he looked at Stephanie.

"Yes, I do! I fell in love with him the moment I saw him!"

"No, you didn't!" Onyx put a hand on Stephanie's shoulder as he continued. "Love at first sight doesn't exist. Love takes time and understanding. Love requires interaction and cooperation. I'm not saying you won't be able to love him, but you need to like him first. Go talk to him. Get open. Get honest. Invent yourself to this boy and let him do the same to you." Onyx tilted his sunglasses to casually wink at Stephanie. "That's love."

Stephanie had never seen Onyx without his glasses before, which made it natural for her to be as shocked as she was. Onyx's left eye had a black iris with a white pupil, his right eye had a white iris with a black pupil, and, in the middle of his forehead, there was a third eye with a grey iris and a black pupil. "EYE-!" Stephanie moved back slightly out of shock, but smiled nervously and attempted to finish her sentence without offending her guardian. "-think I understand."

Onyx placed his glasses back on his face and smiled at Stephanie. Stephanie got up, went to her room and pulled a necklace out from her dresser. She went back to the dining room and proudly announced her plan to her family. "Okay, I'm going to go and talk to him! But you guys can't watch! It'll mess up my funky flow!"

"Funky flow?" Margaret, Quartz, and Carnelian questioned in unison.

"We won't watch." Onyx promised.

"Okay…" Stephanie reassured herself as she walked out the door and headed towards the boy. "Let's do this!"

Next: Bubble Buddies!

No, Onyx did not brainwash Stephanie. It is a special power he has that will be explained later on.