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Get Set To Get Decked!

"Hey Steven?"

"Steven?"

"STEVEN!"

The young hybrid jumped almost out of the bench by the loud volume of the bird squeaking voice, and also pure shock of it as well. Luckily he did catch himself and shook his head of the deep thoughts he was stuck in, turning back to face his best friend Connie who had screamed. She was blushing a bit that she had screamed to get his attention, looking away for only a bit for fixing her hair and dress before she smiled worryingly at the hybrid again.

"Steven, I've been talking for a while now and you just blanked out," She said in a worry tone, though the boy could hear the annoyance laced in it. "Are you okay?"

Steven nodded softly with a slight apologizing smile, but he really was everything but okay. It's been other week sense the wedding and things have been getting worst at the temple. Garnet is starting to focus on her relationship after enjoying herself with her honeymoon, whatever that was. The hybrid barely even sees her since she stays up in her room and go out as Ruby and Sapphire. Amethyst has been hanging out with Valida more and her paintings, finding new ways to paint the purple gem. Peridot has been with Bismuth a lot lately trying to make new inventions every single day, and they always shoo the boy out of the forge when they get close to something. Pearl has been odd around him. She talk to him, but only about Rose or Pink Diamond when she served her. To be honest it felt like he was back to square one with her, so he tries to stay away from them gem as long as possible.

So he stayed with Connie more often, but even spending time with her was getting annoying. Don't get Steven wrong, he cares about his best jam bud, but their interest has been going in different directions than they were before. Back before the Homeworld business got out of control, Connie was all about books, Under The Knife, and school work which Steven found all amazing on his own. Now however, it was only training and fusing as Stevonnie. It was only about gems stuff, and it was at these times that the hybrid wanted to think about anything else but gems and Homeworld. More so now more than ever.

He still was getting those dreams, those buzzing thoughts about Homeworld and the Diamonds. He would about being out in space with Yellow in her ship, or even hanging out with Blue in her lovely water fountains. He knew they were really his mother's memories coming back to him, but they still were the only thing that made him smile these days. Steven wondered if he would get a life like that in Homeworld knowing he was a Diamond now? Would Yellow show him the worlds she conquered? Maybe Blue would sing with him as they danced in the massive throne room? Or maybe he finally get to see the other Diamond, the one with the big and hypnotic white eyes. He only caught glimpses of them, but they always terrified and calmed him in a way. Just the thought of seeing them again brought a giddy feeling to his stomach. Maybe he could try going to-

"Steven!"

"Huh," His thoughts stop short once again by his dark skin friend. "Did you say something Connie?"

Now the young girl made a pout like face as she crossed her arms over her face, glaring at the short teen in annoyance. "Yeah I did, I ask when are we going to train with Pearl. What are you thinking about that you won't even listen to me?"

Steven frowned sadly at his friend, sighing since he did feel bad for ignoring Connie like he did. He rubbed the back of neck and answered sadly, "I'm sorry Connie. I didn't mean to be ignoring you, I just… got a lot on my mind right now."

"What could possibly be more important than our training Steven," Connie looked honestly confused by this answer, not fully grasping anything else being more important than training to fight off more corrupted gem monsters.

The teen just sighed again, turning his face away from Connie's as he looked down at his hands. He couldn't tell her what he was going through right now, much less train with her. He didn't tell her this, but he's been missing their training days with Pearl cause he knew the white gem would force them to fuse, and that was something he couldn't do. His left hand quickly went to his clothed stomach, where his gem was underneath, and frowned even more. It wasn't the same anymore, it was one of the small things that did change about him, along with his eyes but lucky he was wearing contacts more often now. If he would to fuse as Stevonnie than his secret would be blown. They would all know what had happened to him.

It was two days after the wedding. Steven was getting terrible stomach pains ever since the wedding, and his vision would always seen to blurry out or even turn red. It only got worse and worse, like his every fiber in his body was boiling like acid. He would groan and even cry in pain, but like now none of the gems even noticed. He couldn't even eat any left over cake as he kept puking it back up. The teen only started to realize what was happening when his gem looked to be bleeding all over his stomach. He was scared, downright terrified, but while his gem was rotating and his eyes were changing color, Steven was already passed out from the pounding throb in his head. He didn't know how long he was passed out, but he woke up in a small pool of his own blood in the bathroom tube, crying when he saw his new gem shaped just like a diamond upside down. He didn't move from there all day.

So now, Steven hides his new diamond traits form the gems, even from Connie. For as long as he could at this point. With a sigh he looks up at the sky, speaking the first answer on his mind. "I was thinking about the Diamonds."

"Oh…" The hybrid turned back to face his friend, seeing her wear an expression of confusion and even a bit of annoyance. "Is it because your mom is really Pink Diamond?"

"Yeah… Well in a way," He sits back and looks over at the fry bits he was sharing with Connie, taking one into his mouth as he shrugged. "I get that Rose wasn't a good person, lying to everyone and all, but to be honest she has crossed my mind in a while."

"Why is that?"

"Cause I came to terms with Rose Quartz. She was a Diamond who lied and killed tons of her own kind just to live on earth and become one with humans. She was a criminal and nothing more, and I'm cool with that." Steven didn't bother to look over at his friend, knowing that her face was showing most likely shock at how harsh and even cold his answer was. He still just shrugged, deciding it was pointless to keep all of this a secret. For once, he was just happy to get that off his chest.

Connie however, frowned deeply at the boy's answer and bored like tone. This wasn't the loveable, but also naive, Steven she knew and even loves. To say such things about your own mother, it just didn't sit with the young sword fighter the right way. She shook her head in disappointment. "That's not a nice thing to think about your own mother Steven. At least she protected the earth from Homeworld right?"

She thought her words had gotten through to him, but Steven just rolled his eyes and shrugged, bringing the frown back on Connie's face. "If that's what you want to call it. Like I said; the deal with Rose being Pink is past me. I don't care anymore about her."

"Okay…" Connie was really starting to get uncomfortable with all of this. She decided to shifted the conversation just a bit off the Rose topic. "Then… Why were you thinking of the Diamonds?"

With a small sigh, Steven sat straight up and looked back up at the sky. This was it. He could tell Connie the full truth, but was it a good move. His gut was telling him it wasn't in the slightest, but this was his best friend he was talking about, his jelly to her biscuit, surely he could her a bit of what was going on his mind. The young diamond hybrid let a smile dust barely on his lips as he looked back up at the sky, wishing he could see the stars that were the Homeworld colonies. There it was again, that feeling of homesickness. Maybe he was finally starting to think of Homeworld as his home in a way, but how could it when he has never been there. The dreams he gets aren't his memories, only Pink's and it brought a bit of sadness to his heart. He wish he could see it for once in his life. Perhaps he could talk to Connie about that. She likes going to space so doing this should be very fun.

With the smile on his face growing only a bit more, Steven turned over to Connie. "I was thinking about Homeworld. The diamonds must live there all the time, and I always have been wandering what they do up there. If they got throne rooms or they very own armies."

Connie didn't seem all to happy about that, but she shrugged and looked pretty neutral about it. "Maybe they force the gems to fight or even do their evil biddings. Like those evil leaders in a sci-fi movie."

"That's not what I believe Connie," Steven stated back, jumped off the bench as he slowly floated down on the sidewalk with grace. He twirls and looks up at the bright blue sky. Pretty soon, his mouths began to speak his mind before he could really stop it. "I think they do Ball Dances and even hang out together at times. I sometimes think that Yellow goes on her ship with her army to war in the wars alongside them, protecting her court as they defeat the threats of the planet they wish to conquer. Then I think of Blue and how she might be having beautiful meetings back a lake, creating the next amazing build by the next. I can see her even dancing on top of a large pool of water and singing the most sweetest song ever to one's ear. Then I think of Wh-"

"Steven stop!"

The hybrid broke out of his thoughts as he turned over to Connie, who was staring at him with completely shocked and even angry brown eyes. Steven looked around himself and the area, seeing nothing wrong with anything. He looked at his best again and tipped his head. "Stop what?"

"This! Stop this," Connie snapped, getting up out of her seat as she still kept her glare on the short hybrid. "I don't know what you are playing at, but this isn't the Steven that I know. Whatever is going on in that head of yours, stop it. Now."

That completely shocked the boy, even to the point where his body was completely frozen and his breathing had stopped. Steven didn't think he had said anything wrong. All he did was say his opinion on the Diamonds, but for some reason it cause his best friend to speak so harshly to him. He shook his head, trying to get a sense of what was happening. "What do you mean stop it? All I did was speak my mind."

Connie's face turned into one of worry and disapproval. "You spoke as if the Diamonds had… hearts or something. The Steven I know believes them to be evil rulers who destroyed tons of their people. For god sake Steven, they tried to destroy the earth!"

"But… it wasn't their fault that there was even a war," Steven rebuttals, frowning at the blindness his friend showing. "Pink Diamond faked her shattering. Blue and Yellow only tried to destroy the earth at that point because they were scared that Rose Quartz would shatter them next. It was a last act of survival."

"How can you say that!? They corrupted all of those gems Steven, and what about the cluster? All those gem shards you told me about. They wanted to hollow out the Earth and destroy everything! Destroy our home! Blue Diamond kidnapped your Dad Steven." Steven watched with wide eyes as Connie began to shake in overflowing rage. He didn't have time to walk towards her before she snapped. "I don't understand. How can you trust those Tyrants!?"

Tyrants…

That word sparked something with in the young hybrid than he thought it would. He had to keep himself from letting his diamond eyes to shine through his contacts as his hands quickly became fist. The Diamonds weren't tyrants, and never would be something like that. How dare did Connie saw something like that! She doesn't even know the full story, yet here she was speaking as if she knew what the Diamonds were. What does she know!?

Sadly, Steven couldn't contain all of his anger as he stepped closer to Connie and jabbed a finger to her chest. The girl yelped, but the hybrid didn't care if she was embarrassed or scared. He snapped harshly back. "Don't you dare call them tyrants again Connie. You act like you know everything, but you don't! The Diamonds did nothing wrong but try and protect Pink, not even realising that she was the one pulling the strings. They are victims in this just like everyone else!"

"B-But… How can you say that," Connie pushed his finger, looking at the angry hybrid with shocked but disbelieving eyes. "They tried to hollow out the Earth."

"For your information Pink Diamond wanted her very own colony, so in a way they didn't really care. It was Pink he wanted it, but then back out of it," steven stated, glaring as he pointed out the obvious. "You saw the dream we had as Stevonnie. We acted like a brat wanting our own planet!"

"Well," Connie puffed up her chest, not backing down from this argument. "What about them making the Cluster. They fused gem shards together to try and blow up the earth!"

Steven rolled his eyes. "They did that to make something out of the war that, once again, Pink Diamond caused. I get that it was wrong, but can you blame them for wanting to get rid of the planet that took one of their own away from them!?"

"Then what about Blue kidnapping your dad!? Steven, she put him into that terrible Zoo!"

"That was all Garnet's fault for not even giving me a warning that Blue Diamond was on Earth! If it wasn't for her, my dad wouldn't have gone to the Zoo! I never blamed Blue for that," He snapped, hating to have to remember that day.

Connie screamed, "They kidnapped you!"

But the hybrid screamed back, "That was my own fault! I tried to save you and everyone else from having to go to the Zoo!" He stomped his foot to the ground and continued. "I did everything to try and protect you and the gems! The Diamonds thought I was Rose, I told them I was! How does that make them tyrants if all they were doing was bring justice to the person they believed killed a Diamond!?"

"You wouldn't have to go to such a horrible place if we had fused as Stevonnie," Connie crossed her arms, an annoyed tone returning into her voice.

"Seriously!? You're bringing that up again!?" Steven shook his head and just let out a growl, grabbing the rest of his fry bits as he went to walk back to the Temple. He was getting a ear splitting headache and honestly couldn't deal with Connie anymore. He thought she would understand him better than the gems, but it turns out he was wrong. She was just like them, believing the lies of a liar all because she saved your asses.

"Wait? Steven where are you going?" Connie looked confused and tried to grab the walking away boy's arm, only to be thrown back a bit by a harsh shove.

Steven looked over his shoulder, glaring harshly at the confused and hurt dark skin teen. "I'm going home. I can't take this anymore."

"Take what anymore? Steven I don't understand." She said in a small hurt tone, acting as if the last ten minutes of argument didn't even happen. She didn't want to steven leave, not when they were having such a good time before those Diamonds were brought up. Connie even wore a pretty dress today thinking this would be a good little date for them. She didn't want her prefect day to be ruined now, but Steven wasn't acting like himself at all. He never use to be this cold her, or even defending the enemy like this before. She had to save this day somehow. "I thought we were going to hang out and have a good time. We still need to reschedule our fusion training."

"Connie, I'm not doing Fusion training for a while," Steven shook his head slowly, still upset from the words she said before. "If you want to still train then talk to Pearl. Now I'm leaving."

"But… But Steven we're on a-"

"I have a headache Connie. Why not find something else to do since you were so good at it the last time we had an argument."

That last comment made Connie flinch hard, as if Steven just decided to take a swing at her in the gut. He saw her brown big eyes start to water up with tears, but the hybrid just didn't bother to care about it. With a huff and a deep frown, Steven continued to walk back to the temple, ignoring that he heard the sobs of the young girl behind him as she ran home.

In a way Steven did feel a bit bad for leaving Connie like that, but the tiny bit of guilt he felt couldn't match his boiling hot rage he was trying to simmer down. How did his life become this screwed up? Now he was blowing up in front of his best friend and defending the diamonds even now. He knew without a doubt that she would call Pearl and tell them what had happened, but he did really nothing wrong. The young hybrid would still defend the Diamond, even if the others called them monster Steven knew they weren't, but like always his opinions really didn't matter. He was Rose's copy, never think bad of his mother and only think bad of Homeworld. A true follow in being the future leader of the Crystal Gems. At first this was his dream, but now he didn't feel like he wanted it to become reality anymore. He wondered if his opinion would matter on Homeworld. Would Yellow and Blue be a bit more understanding than everyone else here on Earth? As he got closer to the temple, the young Diamond hybrid looked up towards the sky, that dread of homesickness now creeping back into his gut.

"Blue… Yellow…" He didn't know why he mumbled them out loud, but he raised his hand out towards the sky, feeling as if he could reach them this way. "I promise… I'll end your suffering too…" His gem glowed, but he quickly covered before hearing a loud squawk inside of the temple, sighing and knowing full well who that sighed and took one more look at the sky before heading side to face the bird music that was Pearl.

Missing only for second, that two dim gleams shined in the sky.

Then a third.