"Guys, guys, please!" Steven begged. "He's not bad, I swear! He just likes to play around with his powers and stuff!"

Pearl grit her teeth. "Exactly, Steven. This 'Bill Cipher' person is a threat to Earth, the universe, and life as we know it!"

Garnet stood behind Steven, placing a hand on his left shoulder. "Pearl is right. You've got to believe us." She said calmly, earning a huff from the boy.

"Didn't you see how he made himself a Gem?" Amethyst asked, currently hanging upside down on the couch, her head against the floor. "It was kinda cool…" she mumbled.

"The worst thing is, we don't even know who he is, or what he is, or anything about him!" Pearl said, panicking as she dragged her fingers across her light orange hair. "Bill had nothing to do with the Gem War, and nothing in the temple or Beach City's local library says anything about him!"

Amethyst gave a shrug. "That means we'll just have to use brute force on him. He's tiny compared to us."

Garnet crossed her arms. "That did not end well last time."

Pearl groaned as she sat down on the couch, covering her face with the palms of her hands. "The only thing that I found that was even similar to Bill was the 'Eye of Providence'." She stated, earning the curious looks of the other three Gems.

"Eye of Providons?" Steven asked, tilting his head as he raised his eyebrow.

"Providence." Pearl corrected, her Gem glowing as she displayed a hologram of a pyramid with one slot missing, appearing to be a triangle with a single eye on it. "It represents a mighty entity the humans call 'God' watching over all of humankind. It's also known as the 'All-Seeing Eye'." She finished, the hologram disappearing.

"That does look a lot like Bill." Steven added, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yes, well, while that's all find and dandy, we still don't know anything about Bill except from his resemblance to the Eye of Providence." Pearl sighed.

"We're just going to have to hope for the best." Garnet concluded, gazing outside the window as she frowned.

?!

Bill watched the Gems with a careful eye. "Haha, so the skinny one found the Eye of Providence, huh?" he asked aloud, resting his arms behind his back as he let out a laugh. "I gotta admit, these stupid rocks are smarter than they look!"

"Steven! You can't just go and tell everybody about Gem history! Especially something as sensitive as this!" Pearl shouted, summoning her spear. "What if he was sent here by Peridot?!"

Bill blinked. "Ooh, Peridot? Is that another one of your 'family' members, Shining Star?" he asked Steven, looking at him with a rather uninterested eye.

"Now, though…" Bill thought, recalling the memory. "Now it doesn't seem so uninteresting…" he said, giving one final glare at the Crystal Gems before he vanished with the snap of his fingers.

?!

"Ugh, great, just great." Mumbled a voice. "First my robonoids, then my power source, and then my ship. Those stupid Crystal Gems keep getting in the way!" she screamed, slamming her fist on the side on a fence, before letting out a sigh.

Her three fingers and thumb, unattached from her body, levitated in front of her as they formed a cracked holographic screen, her index finger sliding across the pages of it as it tapped accordingly to various applications.

"This is Peridot. I repeat, this is Peridot. I've been stranded on Planet Earth due to the actions of the Crystal Gems. My shop has been destroyed and Jasper and Lapis Lazuli, as well as the Crystal Gems' where-abouts are currently unknown. Requesting backup from Homeworld. Peridot, out." She finished, though she frowned as her screen performed a glitch, unable to fulfil the task as the Gem was left without her message getting through.

Peridot slumped over on the grass, hugging her legs as she took a break from walking, pinching the bridge of her nose as he tried to think of what to do. She was stranded without any of her robonoids so they were unable to fix her screen and send help, and even if she did in fact reach the kindergarten, her machines were destroyed by the Crystal Gems so it would be a complete waste of time. With another sigh, Peridot slowly got up as she ultimately decided to visit the kindergarten anyway.

Peridot noted that the atmosphere was getting colder and colder, observing the grass turning to a lighter color as she attempted to ignore the sensation of someone watching her off with a shrug, the chilled air sending shivers up her spine as she gazed down at the floor, raising an eyebrow as the green grass had now turned a pale gray. Upon returning her gaze to her surroundings, she noticed that so had the rest of the environment.

"Hey, maybe I can help you!" sounded an echoed voice, followed by a louder laugh.

Peridot's eyes widened behind her visor as she took a step back, gritting her teeth as she failed to see anybody else in clear view. "W-Who's there?! Show yourself, coward!"

A brighter gray colored door appeared in front of her, opening by itself as Bill emerged from it, closing and disappearing once he had stepped out and floated up to her.

"Hello Yellow~!" he greeted, crinkling his eye to form a smile as he tipped his top hat.

Peridot clenched her fist and bit her tongue to prevent her from screaming, appearing to have bit too hard as the iron taste of blood filled her mouth as the Gem tried to ignore the sensation. "W-Who are you?" she asked, taking another step back.

"The name's Bill Cipher! Nice hair 'ya got, by the by." He said with an amused tone, noticing the triangular form of the Gem's hair. "Looks like somebody got inspired!" he continued, closing his eye as he straightened his bow tie.

"What are you?!" She questioned, her tone extremely loud as she shot him a glare.

"I can be lots of things. Like a star, or a tree, or a figment of your imagination, or even you, Peridot." He said, snapping his fingers as he took the form of the Gem in front of him, only appearing to have one eye instead of two under his visor as every green part of Peridot's outfit as well as her skin was replaced by a vibrant yellow.

"How did you do that?!" Peridot asked. So many questions, but this thing isn't giving any direct answers! "And how do you know my name?!"

Bill narrowed his eye as he reverted back to his original triangular form, circling around her with ease. "You were just referring to yourself in third person a while ago, my dear." He answered, finally stopping in front of her as his cane materialized in his hands.

"R-Right…" Peridot mumbled, looking at the floor as a light green blush crept its way onto her cheeks in embarrassment.

"That's not how I learned your name though, I'm afraid." He continued, yawning ever so slightly.

Peridot's attention was now once again on him, her green eyes meeting his black colored one. "How did you find out then?"

Bill let out a chuckle. "You ask too many questions. I just know lots of things, and your lovely name just happens to be one of them, Peridot."

Peridot shook her head. "Just give me a damn answer!" She commanded, catching the dream demon off guard with her impatience.

"Hmm, your pretty feisty, Peridot. I like it!" he exclaimed happily, causing the Gem to raise an eyebrow. "Say, I saw that you have a little… problem with your device, and it's aaaaall because of those bad Cwystal Gems." Bill pouted, earning a glare from the Gem.

"So? What's it to you, anyway?" she asked.

"Because, like I said earlier, I can help!" he exclaimed, tipping his top hat as a flask robonoid emerged from it, tipping over on the floor before walking over to Peridot. "See?"

Peridot's eyes widened, staring at the robonoid. "You… You want to help me?"

Bill rolled his eye. "Yeah, yeah, sure. I'd love to help you." He dismissed.

Peridot was left speechless, summoning her screen as she watched in awe as the robonoid repaired it. "T-Thanks, Bill." She nervously said.

Bill nodded. "Sure. Anytime. Now you can call for help, fix 'ya stuff, extract revenge on the Crystal Gems, blah, blah, blah, etcetera etcetera. " he shrugged. "In return, you can help me with something I've been working on." He said, placing his hands on his hips.

Peridot winced. "Like what?"

Bill narrowed his eye. "Look, I've got unfinished business with some kids and their uncle back where I come from. You help me, I help you. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Peridot raised an eyebrow. "You hate the Crystal Gems too?"

Bill gave another shrug. "Yeah, totally." He said, resisting the urge to roll his eye. "Look, we got a deal or not?" he asked, extending his arm as his hand was surrounded by a puff of blue flames.

Peridot hesitated, but once she reconsidered the whole thing, reached out with her arm and shook his hand. "Deal."

Bill smiled widely, retracting his hand as the blue flames extinguished. "Excellent! Business starts tomorrow! I'll see 'ya then, Peridot!" he saluted, not even giving the Gem any time to return the gesture as he disappeared with a bright light.

Peridot's eyes opened, as she looked at her surroundings. "Was… Was that a dream?" she asked herself, looking at the now once again green grass below her. She noticed the flask robonoid next to her, and once she activated her screen, she smiled widely.

"It worked!"

?!

Amethyst hummed to herself softly as she opened the fridge, silently grabbing as much food was she unnecessarily could. "Man, not needing to at sure makes you hungry." She mumbled, turning around and kicking the fridge door shut with her foot.

Amethyst turned around, her eye's widening. She was in… kindergarten. She immediately dropped her food, the items disappearing and clipping through the floor upon impact as she gazed at her surroundings.

"H-How did I get here?" she asked herself, squinting as she spotted three figures in the distance. "P-Pearl? Garnet? Steven?" she asked, running with all her might to try and catch up to them. "Wait! Guys! What are we doing here?!" she screamed.

The three Gems stopped in their tracks, turning around as they gazed at Amethyst, who had skidded to a halt in front of them.

"Amethyst, don't follow us." Pearl remarked, glaring at her with her light blue eyes.

"W-What?"

Steven looked at Pearl, who nodded, as he too looked at the purple Gem. "Amethyst, we've already told you. We don't want you around anymore." He said quietly.

Amethyst's eyes widened even further as tears formed in her eyes. "W-What? Steven, what are you talking about?!" Amethyst cried out.

Garnet grit her teeth. "We don't like you, Amethyst!" she screamed, startling Amethyst as she took a step back. "You are a disgrace to Gemkind! You were born an evil, sadistic monster and you always will be!"

Amethyst shook her head slowly as tears left her eyes, dripping down her cheeks. "B-But I changed, you guys! You even said that yourselves!" she screamed out, her voice cracking.

"Not everyone was cut out to be a Crystal Gem. You're lucky Rose gave you the benefit of the doubt." Pearl spat, crossing her arms.

"B-But-"

"Amethyst, we hate you." Steven shouted, silencing everyone as Amethyst fell to her knees. Sadness stabbed at her heart as more tears fell from her eyes, her vision blurry. Those words. Those words hurt. So much. And it hurt even more coming from Steven.

When Amethyst looked up, they were gone. She sobbed quietly, curling up in a ball as she wondered what to do. What do to with her life. With herself. Without Pearl, or Garnet, or even Steven, she was lost. Lost in an empty void and surrounded by her past.

"Aww, poor little Amethyst." Mocked a voice coming from her shoulder.

Amethyst perked up, looking over as she saw a figure through her tearful eyes. "B-Bill?"

Bill nodded. "It's such a shame you were stranded with people who you thought were your friends. Your family. Nobody truly cared for you in the beginning anyway, though, I'm afraid." Bill said in a fake sad tone, observing his nails.

"T-This is all your fault…" she mumbled.

Bill let out a chuckle. "Oh, no, no, no, Purple. Did you not hear what I said, hm… a couple of seconds ago?" he asked, pulling out his stopwatch. He clicked his fingers, a hologram appearing out of his eye.

"Nobody truly cared for you in the beginning anyway, I'm afraid."

"Nobody truly cared for you in the beginning anyway."

"Nobody truly cared for you in the beginning."

"Nobody truly cared for you."

"Nobody truly cared for you."

"M-Make it stop!" Amethyst cried out, clenching her fists as she sobbed harder.

Bill nodded as the hologram disappeared. "Such a shame. A beautiful young Gem… abandoned by her only friends… A pity, really."

Amethyst stared at the floor. "You think… You think I'm beautiful…?"

Bill almost died resisting the urge to laugh. "Of course, my dear Amethyst. Your beautiful hair, perfectly toned skin, your luscious nice lips~" he cooed, floating up to her face as he placed his hand under her chin.

Amethyst blushed, looking into his eye.

"All the unique ones truly do get shoved away, replaced by the 'better' stereotypes." Bill said, showing a look of sadness.

"Y-Yeah…"

Bill placed his arms behind his back. "You know, I was always called a freak. An abomination. Mother never really cared for me at all, really. It was always Tad Strange this, Tad Strange that. I had no friends." Bill said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

"Y-You were an outcast too?" Amethyst asked, sniffing.

Bill nodded. "Yes, until I met a rather peculiar young boy." He continued, clicking his fingers as he summoned a tissue, handing it to the Gem. "He always used to go out and explore the forests with me. He liked to write a lot too, you know. He was th owner of three journals he had written himself about the wonders in the wild." He chuckled. "He considered me as a friend."

"Bill has proven himself to be one of the friendliest and most trustworthy individuals that I've ever encountered in my life. What a guy! I honestly can't trust him more. Not evil in any way, Bill is a true gentleman."

"He was the only friend I had. And then I betrayed him." Bill said, releasing another chuckle before realising what he had just said, his eye widening. "I… I betrayed the only friend I had." He said, sitting down next to Amethyst, who had been listening with all ears as she frowned at his story.

"I-I'm sorry, Purple. I-I need to go." He said, snapping his figners as he vanished.

?!

Amethyst awoke with a scream, sweating intensely as she stared at the ceiling.

She was still in the temple. In her room. It was just a nightmare. She thought. But it felt so real… and Bill was there… did he truly think that of her?

Amethyst stared at the ceiling, now knowing why Pearl and Garnet have ever refused to sleep.