Jamie - residential mailman of Beach City - craned his neck around the beach to see if he could find a mailbox of sorts. There was an order for an address written "Giant Woman Temple on the Beach", and although he could see a house built into the hands of the depicted woman, he couldn't find a mailbox anywhere

"Hello?" called Jamie. He held the package up in his hands. "I have a package for a Universe, Steven?"

"THAT'S ME!"

Jamie looked around a bit to see who had spoken. Underneath the patio of the house, a tent was set up in the shade. Something moved around inside, and the zipper on the 'door' moved. A small boy with curly brown hair and a pink T-shirt crawled out a moment later, stumbling in the sand in his haste to run at the mailman.

"I'm Universe, Steven!" He eagerly took the package from Jamie and held it to his chest protectively. "Thank you, man, mail."

"Signature, please?"

Steven took the clipboard and took a minute scribbling his name down on it. In the end, it was kind of sloppy and surrounded by several cartoon-y stars.

"What is it, anyway?" Jamie asked curiously.

Steven's big brown eyes were shimmering happily as he proclaimed, "Only the most amazing thing on the whole planet!"

"...That doesn't answer my question, but whatever you say!" Jamie turned on his heel and waved over his shoulder. "Have a nice day!"

Steven almost tripped several times in his sprint up the stairs to his room. He threw the door open with far too much force and ignored the sharp crack it made against the wall. "I got it!"

The Crystal Gems were inside his room, Ruby leaning against the far wall with crossed arms, Sapphire seated at the island with her arms folded neatly in her lap. Opal was leaning against the counter with a piece of aged parchment spread out before her for inspection.

Opal was the first to ask, "You got what?"

"The most amazing thing on the planet!"

Silence was held for a good five seconds before Sapphire finally said, "It's a backpack shaped like a sandwich."

"This isn't JUST a backpack shaped like a sandwich!" Steven tore off the tape and crinkling wrapping paper and pulled out his prize. It looked like a giant plush cheeseburger with two straps on either side of the bottom "bun". "It's a backpack shaped like a cheeseburger!"

Sapphire hummed. "My mistake."

Ruby curiously stepped forward to get a closer look at it. Steven handed it to her, and she turned it this way and that in her red hands, shook it experimentally and scoffed, "What's so great about a backpack-cheeseburger?"

"It can hold so many useful things! Everything in it is a pocket. The cheese, the lettuce, the tomatoes...you could fit a million things in here!"

"That's wonderful, Steven. But we can't celebrate right now. We're busy."

Steven's ecstatic smile fell, replaced by a curious frown and a raised brow. "With what?"

Sapphire turned to Opal and gave her a single nod. Opal opened the old parchment to Steven, one hand at each corner. There were a series of diamonds and arrows spread across the material. The ink was slightly faded from years of age.

"We found this on one of our missions," explained Opal. She let the parchment roll back into her fingers. "We believe it's an emergency code to keep the Aerial Tower suspended in the air. We have to leave immediately if we want to make it in time."

The three of them approached the Warp Pad, and Steven cried out, "Can I come with you?"

Ruby shook her head vigorously and made an X with her arms. "Uh-uh. No way. It's way too dangerous for you."

Steven sighed and threw his new backpack around his shoulders. He kept his voice surprisingly even as he said, "How am I supposed to be a Crystal Gem if you guys never let me go with you guys?"

A glance was passed around the Gems, and Opal was the first to speak. "I suppose he has a point."

Sapphire advised, "Go get what you need."

Steven nodded and ran for the stairs to his loft. He spent a good fiften minutes tearing through his items, either tossing them aside or stuffing them into his backpack. He put the safety blanket, first aid kid, and emergency food aside in favor of some crossword puzzles, glow sticks, a roll of duct tape decorated with ducks...Things that would surely come in handy.

"STEVEN!" Ruby called impatiently from downstairs. "COME ON! PACK IT AND SACK IT!"

Steven hastily zipped up all the pockets and darted down the stairs to the awaiting Warp Pad. What with the size of it, he, Ruby, and Sapphire squeezed in side-by-side with Opal towering behind them. A moment later, the Warp Pad beneath him lit up, and jets of light were rising around him.

The Crystal Gems were used to Warping, as they did it on nearly a daily basis. Steven was not. As the others only slightly lifted from the Warp Pad, Steven kept rising and rising, until Opal eventually sighed and grabbed his hand to keep him anchored.

Eventually, the jets of light vanished, and gravity returned. Opal caught Steven when he came falling down and helped him land on his feet.

"This is it," said Opal. "The Aerial Tower."

Steven gasped as he looked around them. They were in a sea of white clouds as far as the eye could see, and strong wind was everywhere. At the moment, they were standing on an "island", a small grassy area connected by a white bridge to the Tower itself. The Tower was shaped like a teardrop, the walls made of ancient stone decorated in runes, opalescent pillars on all sides. Other islands branched off from it, and Steven watched as a flock of pale pink birds flittered underneath them.

"This used to be a place for only the most elite Gems," explained Opal. She held out a long finger, and smiled warmly when one of the pink birds landed on it. "It's been abandoned for centuries, but if we can get the emergency code in, we can save it for centuries m - HEY!"

The bird suddenly dove for the parchment in Opal's hands, tearing off a small piece of the corner. Opal shooed it away and glared at it as it disappeared into the clouds. "Pests."

A light bulb lit over Steven's head, and he pulled his backpack off of his shoulders. "Here, let me put that in my backpack for safekeeping!"

Opal held up the parchment and clicked her tongue thoughtfully. "I don't know...Will you be careful with it?" She passed the parchment to him when he nodded.

"I will hold it was if it were my son," Steven said before all but cramming it into his backpack. Opal groaned to herself.

"Hey!" Ruby yelled at them from the connecting bridge, waving her arms, "We're on a mission here, in case you forgot!"

They crossed the bridge (the Gems growing antsy when Steven walked a bit too close to the edge) to the tower. The ground floor was a vast area, and the ceiling and floors were covered in exquisite drawings still pristinely polished. Steven tried to take in as many of the images as he could, but Ruby's growl of disdain interrupted him. "Of course."

In the middle of the room, there was a large circular area of the floor missing, and Steven could see clouds for miles below. There was a missing space on the ceiling above it, too, and a strong current of wind was pushing through them.

"Is this seriously the only way up?" groaned Ruby.

"Only Gems with flying abilities could go through," explained Opal.

"I can," said Sapphire, "but the rest of you cannot."

"Here!" Steven swung his backpack off again and rummaged around inside. "Let me see if I have something that can help...Wait...Here we go!"

Steven took out a wad of blankets from his backpack and unraveled them. At the Crystal Gems' confused stares, he explained, "We can use them like parachutes and ride the wind up!"

Opal glanced back at the current. That had the possibility of working, but if it didn't, they'd be falling for miles. She turned to Sapphire and asked, "Will that work?"

Sapphire shrugged.

Steven passed one blanket to each Gem, the largest one going to Opal. He helped them tie the corners around their arms like straps, and when they were done, they stood on the edge of the current, obviously unsure. From where they stood, the strong air still ruffled their hair and clothes.

"Ready?" Steven asked over the roar of air.

"NO!" "LET'S DO IT!" "Hm"

Steven threw his body forward.

Immediately, the blanket on his back swelled with air, and he was drifting upwards with incredible speed. He laughed to himself - it worked! - and looked around at the others. Sapphire was as still as always, Ruby was trembling like a startled Chihuahua, and Opal was holding her knees to her chest as she squealed in fear.

"Nice work, Steven," said Sapphire.

Ruby finally let her body relax, and let out a strained sigh. She turned her head to see how many levels they had passed - at least twenty, surely. She cracked a grin. "This isn't so bad. If we keep going we can - AGH!"

Steven looked up just in time to see what she was staring at. One of the openings above - Steven noticed that they were getting smaller and smaller the farther up they went - was blocked by a fallen pillar. Sapphire reached out and held him to her body, taking the force of the blow when they collided with it. Ruby followed after, hitting it with a yelp, and Opal just barely managed not to crush any of them when she followed last. With their blankets crumpled, they began to fall, but Opal quickly extended her limbs outwards to catch onto the sides. The others fell atop her, and used her body as a bridge to get to safety.

When Opal crawled on after them, her hair was an unruly mess and she was clearly disoriented, but still managed to give Steven a thumbs-up. "Nice one."

Ruby ran a hand down her face. "I'm already tired of this place. Let's keep moving so we can get out of here!"

They walked around the floor for a bit, searching for another way to continue upwards, and eventually managed to find an island with two bridges connecting their floor to another. Outside, the clouds were turning a pale blue color as the evening approached.

"Does anybody want snacks?" asked Steven. He swung his backpack around and carried it in his arm as he opened it. "I've got some potato chips, gummy worms, trail mix...I have some leftover Opal J - Oof!"

Steven collided with Ruby, who had stopped in her tracks. "What's w...Oh."

The floor was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of the pink birds, perched on every surface, nests in every crook and cranny. In the middle of the floor was a massive nest of soft grass, and an equally massive bird with bright pink feathers and a razor-sharp beak was resting in it. Each and every bird had turned to them. Their feathers were ruffled, and even Steven knew that they were poised to swoop down and attack.

The Crystal Gems were frozen, trying to find out how to get out of this situation without triggering the birds, which seemed impossible.

"What do we do?" Opal hissed through gritted teeth.

"I'll distract them," said Opal. She slowly lifted her hands to her Gems to summon her bow as she continued, "The two of you grab Steven and - "

"GUMMY WORM DISTRACTION!"

Steven had ripped open the pack of gummy worms in his backpack and threw the contents into the air. The colorful gummy candy fell onto the floor, and after staring down at it for a moment, the birds swooped down to feast. All together, they looked like a giant pink mass of feathers and talons.

Ruby turned to Steven wide-eyed. "How did you figure that out?"

Steven shrugged. "Birds like worms."

"...Makes sense."

They continued up the tower, finding whichever ways they could to continue their descent. Eventually, they found themselves stuck on a floor near the top of the tower, and walked outside to another island to see what they could do. The wind was as strong as ever, but the clouds were now blue and purple, and Steven could see stars in the spaces between them. The topmost floor was a considerable distance from them, maybe fifty or so yards.

"Maybe we could find a way from here," said Opal. "You got anything, Steven?"

Steven hadn't been paying too much attention, and turned to her when she said his name. "What?"

Ruby smirked at him and nudged the backpack with her knuckles. "Come on, let's see what you got."

Steven pulled his backpack off of his shoulder and opened all the pockets to find something useful. Crossword puzzles - no. Glow sticks - no. Floaties - no.

Seeing the look of anxiety on his face, Ruby started to pump her fists up and down, urging him on. "Steven! Steven! Steven!" She frowned and nudged Sapphire, growling under her breath, "Encourage him!"

Sapphire joined in, but her monotone voice sounded more like a broken record. "Steven. Steven. Steven."

"You got it, Steven," cheered Opal.

Steven rummaged to the bottom of his backpack and finally gave a gasp of surprise. A grin spread from ear-to-ear and he pulled out a large ring of rope. The Gems waited for him to explain, so he did: "We can attach this to an arrow from Opal's bow and fire it to the tower to climb across!"

The Gems burst out into cheers for him. As Ruby ruffled Steven's hair, Opal summoned her bow and pulled the string back so a blue arrow appeared in her fingers. She held it out to Sapphire to tie the rope in a tight knot around it, and Sapphire held the rest of the rope to keep it from flying off. Opal aimed, paused, and fired.

However, after only two seconds, Sapphire ran out of rope to hold and was forced to let it go. The arrow embedded into the side of the tower above, and the rope dangled only about three yards beneath it. The arrow then disappeared, and the rope fell into the clouds and out of sight.

An awkward silence followed after this, and it was only broken when Steven let out a disappointed sigh. He pulled his backpack back on and felt himself being lifted up a moment later. Opal smiled down at him comfortingly as she picked up Ruby and Sapphire as well. "It was a good idea."

With the three of them tightly in hand, Opal took a great leap upwards. She first landed on a tiny piece of rock hovering in the air, and then leaped again to the top of the tower.

Steven was set on his feet and looked to see what awaited them. It looked like a dashboard of sorts, covered in four diamonds colored blue, white, pink, and yellow.

The tower suddenly swayed left. Steven felt Opal grab his shoulder as their weight shifted, but the tower went upright soon after.

Ruby stood upright and ran to the dashboard. "The Tower is starting to fall!" She turned to Steven and held out her hand, her Gem facing upwards. "Steven, give me the diagram!"

Steven nodded and reached into his backpack. He went through the first, and then the second...panic started to set in at the fourth. When the last one was searched, he started to hastily tear through them again, tossing items over his shoulder in a desperate attempt to get them out of the way.

Behind him, Opal asked, "You DO have it right?"

Steven gulped, sweat running down his face. This was bad. Really, really bad. "I...um...must have dropped it some - Oh, wait, no, here it is."

He pulled the crinkled parchment from his backpack, earning a sigh of relief from all of them. Steven chuckled as he unfolded it and turned to the Gems with a crooked smile. "That could have been a disaster."

A pink bird proceeded to swoop down and snatch the parchment from his fingers before flying off.

Steven's jaw hung open and his eyes were wide open. He turned to the Gems to see that they looked exactly the same.

The Tower trembled again, and Steven felt his stomach jumped when they dropped several feet. He ran to the control board and looked at the diamond-shaped buttons. "If that parchment had a bunch of random steps on it, we just push a bunch of random buttons, right?"

Opal looked down at Sapphire. "What are the odds of that working?"

Sapphire shrugged.

"We have to take it!" Steven took a deep breath of air to calm his nerves. He hovered his hands above the buttons. Sweat continued to collect on his brow, and he whispered, "I have to do this very carefully."

He attacked the buttons at random, smashing them with his fists and finishing it by simply sliding his arms over them back and forth.

They held their breaths as they waited to see what would happen. The Tower trembled, and they flinched, but slowly, it began to lift into the air. They were frozen with shock, and Ruby barked a laugh as she cried, "It actually worked!"

The Tower froze, and then began to plummet.

Screams filled the air as they were lifted upwards from the force of the wind. The clouds engulfed them, and everything around Steven turned into a panicked haze of confusion. He hardly managed to realize that the clouds had broken, and he could see dark blue water for miles and miles, before he slammed into the floor again. The tower had hit the water and was steadily sinking down. He could hear the loud gurgling sound, and watched as hundreds of pink birds took to the sky to escape.

"The Tower will suck us down with it!" cried Ruby.

"Wait!" Steven swung his backpack off and reached inside. "I have an idea - "

The water engulfed them.

The Tower vanished into the dark waves of the sea. The rippling saltwater settled, and there was only silence in its place. The half-moon shimmered on the crests, and dark clouds passed lazily overhead.

Soon, a bubble popped on the surface, then another, and another, until there was a flurry of them, and the Gems and Steven broke through the water, gasping for fresh air.

Steven sighed in relief - the purple floaties on his arms kept him suspended. Sapphire's skirts were swollen around her, keeping her afloat, Opal's mane of white hair was concealing her face, and Ruby was trying her hardest to keep her legs kicking as hard as possible.

Steven sighed and, with tears pricking his eyes, murmured, "I'm sorry. I screwed up everything..."

Opal pulled her dripping white hair away from her face to smile at him. "It was an accident, Steven. It could have happened to any of us." She held out a long arm to Ruby, who wrapped her arms and legs around it for dear life.

When she finally calmed down, Ruby pushed her sodden headband back and added, "Yeah, and you still helped us out. A for effort!"

Steven smiled appreciatively. "Yeah, I guess I did help, huh? And here, I have floaties for everyone!" He reached into his backpack - with difficulty - and handed out a few floaties and rings. Ruby snatched hers at once and went to puffing into it vigorously.

"Okay, so..." Opal paused as she pulled on a fourth floatie to her bottom-left arm and turned to Sapphire. "How far are we from home?"

"We are in the middle of the ocean with no mode of water transportation. The journey back will be three days, minimum."

A stunned silence followed. Steven chuckled and reached back into his backpack. "I still have some gummy worms left. Any takers? No? Just me?"