In response to one of the guest reviews (Please excuse the length of this, but I'd have sent it in a PM if I could. The actual chapter length is 3,411 words.)

Who said word play was going to be the thing that turned around Steven and the CG's relationship? This was just the tiny, little push that Amethyst needed to realize how wrong her actions are. Her siding with the CGs hinged completely on the fact that Pearl told her that you had to do things you didn't like for the greater good. Amethyst never liked the way they had to treat Steven, so this was all she needed to finally see some sense. Of course, now she'll be living in Irony City...

Pearl and Garnet are going to have... Quite a bit of feelings and stuff to figure out. And don't forget, this word play was just about Ruby's life. Steven's still going to end up starting a war. The war is inevitable. Ruby's shortened life was not.

My whole idea with this story was loosely centred what the CGs without Rose's influence later on would be. I'm not saying that they would be exactly how I'm writing them right now, oh definitely not. Also, I've been giving them a more villainous twist as I go. There have been several parallels made with Garnet and Jasper throughout the story, while Amethyst mirrors tiny pieces of Lapis (Haha, get it?) And Steven. Except, Steven is a little more like Lapis when it comes to Home World, but Lapis shows signs of Malachite and the parallels only get more confusing from there. The point being, math is stupid and it's better to look for perpendicular bisectors instead.

With the CGs... To say the least, they're directionless, emotional wrecks. Note how Amethyst is the most sympathetic out of them, because she didn't have Rose in her life. Garnet and Pearl however, are still very much lost. Everyone has some talking and things to get through before apologies could even try to be made.

So yes, they are horrible to Steven, they've been outright despicable and abusive with their actions. They have justified everything they've done because of Garnet's future vision. That's not an excuse, or me saying "lol the CGs are actually sort of good guys but not really!" That's just their perspective on things. Their perspective being that they are the heroes and doing the right thing.

Yellow Diamond has been equally horrible to Steven if not more than the CGs. But she's mainly been more centred around emotional abuse while the CG have been the opposite of that. The interactions between her and Steven have all been from Steven's point of view. And he idolizes her, and doesn't want to disappoint her. Steven has gotten through years of being berated, and harmful physical "training" but he still sees the CGs as the sole bad guys.

The main theme in this story (Which will become more prevalent throughout the next chapters.) Has to do with moral black and white. Steven and the CGs see the world like this, instead of realizing that there's no such thing as a person who is purely good or evil. CGs think Steven is evil because he's from Home World. Steven thinks the CGs are evil because they're the CGs, and later on because they're horrible to him. However, something will be learned from this eventually.

It's also why the number two shows up a lot in this story. (ie; Rose is split in two, there were two sides to the previous war, Steven makes two non CG gem friends on Earth, and two *spoilers* human ones, and so on.)

There are no good guys and bad guys in this story. (Except for Lion Lickers. Those things are one hundred percent evil no matter what I wrote in the above paragraphs.) There are just gems and people. Some of them are worse than others. A lot worse.

Steven and the CG's relationship (Along with Amethyst's for that matter.) is not going to be all sunshine and daisies by the time this is over. It is not going to be the same as in the show. Everything is going to start off very slowly and precariously. It won't be Bird Mom and Square Mom have fun with Steven. It will be more bleak than that.

*whispers*

Thisstory'sfinalchaptersinvolve"TheReturn,""JailBreak,"and"FullDisclosure." (Butyou didn'thearthatfromme.) However if there is enough demand for a sequel their relationship will begin to progress into something more friendly.

Thanks a ton for your insight! When someone brings up a point or has a question with a story, chances are that five other people or more are wondering the same thing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe.

The kindergarten was deathly still. But the sound of the warp pad interrupted this, for only seconds. The noise bounced off the walls of the canyon, echoing softly before fading out entirely. There was nothing to stir the worthless dust, other than the two outside presences that warped there. They stepped off the warp pad, and began to walk down the short hill where it rested, heading towards the bottom of the kindergarten.

Apatite shuddered. Her hair started to stand on end as she stared at the discoloured soil, and the many, identical holes in the wall. Something put the gem on alert, even though she knew that there was nothing other than them inside of the kindergarten. A small part of her felt torn when she looked at what had become of the place. Compared to everywhere else they had been, it was horrible in comparison. There was just something so wrong about the kindergarten.

Staring at it, she felt like she might start to remember. Apatite averted her gaze from the holes in the wall. There was a gem for every spot here. They'd been left to grow, and were harvested not long afterwards. Yet, what should have been a sign of life for gems was not. The holes were more like graves to all the kindergarten gems that were lost in the war. How was it that so much was destroyed here to make them, but all of them had died off in the end?

"This place is creepy." She said.

"I know. But we'll hear the others if they find us."

A quick sniff of the air told the gem what she already knew.

"There's nothing to eat around here. No water either."

Steven pointed to the top of the canyon.

"Stuff starts to grow once we get out of here."

"Then let's get out of here." She said. "You can handle a vertical climb, right?"

Steven looked at the top of the cliff, and then at the ground, and then at the top again.

"I'll carry you."

Tucking Steven under one arm, she reached for one of the holes just above her head. The gem shuddered as she touched the inside of it, but didn't stop until she had hoisted herself upwards. Then, with a little tricky manoeuvring, she pushed Steven towards the next hole above them. Then, she climbed up to the next one, grabbed Steven, and lifted him into the following hole.

"Wow! You're so strong!"

Gritting her teeth, the gem rubbed one of her arms.

"Thanks."

"So how did you take down that bird?"

Some of the ledge she held on to crumbled, as he grip tightened. Apatite reached out for another hand-hold, and took another step upwards. After a moment, the gem was able to speak once again.

"... That gem and I called a temporary truce."

Astonished by the answer, Steven asked;

"You worked together?"

Quite literally. But she couldn't tell Steven that without sparking another argument.

"You could put it that way, yes."

Balancing Steven on one arm, she helped him reach the next hole. The gem bit back a snarl when he stepped on her head in the process. No matter how many times he accidentally pulled her hair or stepped on her toes, Apatite was never prepared for when he did something like that. She rested against the wall for a moment, and rubbed her head before climbing again.

"So it was a hard battle?"

"I couldn't have saved you if I was on my own." She quickly said. "I figured you wouldn't want to remain in the bird's stomach for the rest of your life."

Thinking back to the inside of the bird, Steven knew that he didn't want to be back inside of again. Especially with her there. Steven didn't care what Amethyst's reasons were! He didn't care that he would end up killing another gem because of his actions! Well... He did care about that a lot. But he didn't want to be bubbled again. The inside of his gem was awful, he hated it! Reforming was already bad enough! He didn't want to spend the rest of his life inside it.

"Two heads are better than one I guess."

For some strange reason, Apatite snorted when he said this.

"More like one head is stronger than two." She thought.

"What's so funny?"

"You wouldn't find it funny." She hastily snapped.

Something about her tone of voice told Steven not to bring it up again. But despite this, he was going to ask anyways. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the warp pad activated. Apatite cursed, and she got into the nearest hole with him. They both cautiously stuck their heads out, and looked down. There, standing on the warp pad, was Amethyst.

Apatite quietly hissed, barring her teeth at the gem.

"Why are they still after you?!"

Until that day, Steven might have asked the same question. But now he knew the truth.

"Apatite, there's something I have to tell y-"

"Shhh!"

Slowly, she slid out of the hole. Keeping herself pressed to the side of the cliff, Apatite waited for Amethyst to walk closer to them. All of a sudden, she leaped off the side, and plunged straight downwards. Steven looked away before he could see what happened. He heard a faint squeak of pain, and then nothing. When he dared to look again, Apatite was climbing towards him. A new bubble followed behind her, this one containing a purple gem stone.

"You bubbled her?"

"Yup! One down, two to go!" She grinned. "Three if we want to get technical."

Apatite grinned, but Steven did not share in the enthusiasm with her. Instead, he seemed a little upset.

"What's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath, Steven spilled the entire story of what had happened inside of the bird's stomach with Amethyst. Apatite remained calm throughout the short explanation, even though she seemed to get a little twitchy at certain points. Once he finished, the gem cursed, and made a mock-punch at the newly bubbled gem. Then she pulled at her hair, clearly trying to contain her rage.

"W-what should I do?"

"Nothing!" She hissed. "They have no right to do this to you! If there really is going to be a war against them, then they'll all end up dead anyways! Prolonging it won't do anything in the end! I can't believe those stupid, idiots are relying on future vision of all things!"

"What's wrong with that? Isn't predicting the future a good power to have?"

"No! Yes! It's..."

She became unstable once again. Her gem turned visible as her figured buzzed in and out of a solid state. When she reformed again, the gem's skin colour was different, and there was something wrong with... With everything. She was still flickering slightly, almost as if she wasn't fully there. Her hands didn't seem to match her proportions, and she had an extra finger on her left hand. Her teeth were now all pointed, and a few of them were missing.

"This place... So many bad memories!"

"S-stop thinking about your past!"

"I... Can't!"

"Come on! It's not that hard! Just do what I do!"

"Y-you need to think about yourself as w-well." She rasped. "I make you remember too!"

A chill ran down Steven's spines as she said so. Apatite outstretched both of her hands at his neck. Squeaking, Steven crawled to the back of the hole. The space gradually got smaller as he did, and darker. Keeping as far back as he could, Steven hoped that she wouldn't be able to get him from here. He could see Apatite reaching for him, but he slapped away her hand.

"You... Must think about your past!" She said, a note of hysteria in her voice. "She wants out!"

"W-who wants out?"

"I can feel her... She's in there! In gem!"

"Apatite, you have to stop remembering!"

"I... Won't let you- Steven needs m-me!"

A hand grabbed Steven by the ankle. He was pulled towards the gem with a single tug of her wrist. Something funny happened to his leg when she did so. For a moment, Steven had thought it was broken again. But this time, it looked like it was in a funny position. A deep, aching pain set in on his upper thigh, where something didn't seem right. Steven realized that the bone in his leg had been shifted out of joint. His leg was dislocated.

Still clinging on to his ankle, Apatite pulled him out of the hole. Helpless and hurt, he could do nothing as the gem let go of his leg.

Garnet could not find Pearl. She was not in her room or outside of the temple. She hadn't heard the warp pad go off either. Garnet was also fairly certain that her lion had run away to join Steven, so it probably hadn't opened up a portal for her. A tiny part of her wondered if she had run off to find Amethyst. An even tinier part didn't blame her if she had.

It was only when she was walking to Ruby's room that she heard something. Garnet thought it might be the sinker. It continued to elude them, no matter how many times they tried to hunt down the mysterious monster of the temple. However, nothing lashed out at her. Garnet heard the sounds coming from Amethyst's room. The fusion cautiously entered. When she rounded a larger geode, she saw Pearl, facing away from her.

Pearl was by one of the waterfalls, and she had a pile of different things in her arms. Swords, pieces of the robonoids, and more weapons. Then, she jumped up to the top of the waterfall, where her room was. Pearl returned, with her hands now free. The gem stood expectantly in front of the falls, clearly waiting for something. Then, one of the same swords from before fell over in to the water, as did the same robonoid parts, and other weapons.

The cycle repeated a few times, with Pearl replacing her things in her room, only to retrieve them from Amethyst's room. Finally, Garnet decided that she should probably speak up.

"Pearl."

Pearl dropped her things.

"O-oh! Hello Garnet!" She greeted. "I w-was just p-picking up some of my things!"

Garnet chose not to make a conversation out of that topic.

"Peridot's been sending larger robonoids to Earth."

"O-oh really? Why didn't you say so? I could've helped in finding a way to stop-" Pearl seemed to freeze. "Well, I could've helped destroy them."

"They've been entering the atmosphere regularly for the past hour. I could keep fighting them, but I don't want to."

Just then, there was a loud, crashing sound.

"What was that?!"

Garnet groaned, rubbing her temples.

"Another one." She said. "It'll be in the kindergarten."

Steven fell through the air, to what would certainly be his doom. But in some, strange miracle, he managed to form a bubble around himself before he hit the ground. Steven bounced a few times before he came to a stop. Then, the bubble popped. Groaning, he struggled up to his feet. His dislocated leg gave him a difficult time, but Steven was getting used to bad things happening to his leg at this point.

Animalistic screams came from Apatite. The gem was starting to slide down the wall, preparing to chase after him. Steven didn't know what he could do or where he could go. But suddenly, he noticed a hole in the ground that had not been there before. It was square in shape, as if something had drilled downwards. He looked back at Apatite, who was still limping towards him.

Steven took a leap of faith, hoping that he would survive this fall as well. To his surprise, he was instantly met with solid ground. The walls however, were moving around him. Steven realized that he was on an elevator. He slowly descended into the darkness underneath the kindergarten. He could still hear Apatite's voice echoing down the elevator shaft.

Shuddering, Steven brushed the tears out of his eyes. He was going to be on his own again. Everyone he became friends with left him in the end. Pyrite, Amethyst, Lapis, and now Apatite. And not to forget, all of them had tried to kill him. Why did this keep happening to him?! Why was he always alone at the end of the day?

Something nudged his shoulder. Steven realized that it was the bubbles containing the desert glass and Amethyst. He never paid any mind to the bubbles that usually floated around him or Apatite. They'd lost the Heaven Beetle, but had gained one. They must have followed him when he fell. When Apatite had dropped him...

She was corrupting again and there was nothing he could do about it! And she'd tried to kill him! Or, at least make him retreat to his gem again... Nothing she said made any sense! She kept talking about him remembering, about someone else... But she was the one who had to remember everything that happened in her past, not him! Still, it brought a frightening question to mind.

If he stopped recalling what happened in his past, would he end up like Apatite?

It seemed almost like a fate worse than death...

The elevator stopped. There was no door to it, only one wall that stopped abruptly, and a platform leading towards an alcove. There was an odd, greenish light in the area, but Steven could not tell what the source of it was. Something scurried past him. Steven jumped backwards in surprise. It was a small, green, flask robonoid. It ran over to a raised hand print in the ground. The kind used to verify someone's identity.

The robonoid heaved itself on to the print, spreading out it's legs like little fingers. It seemed like enough identification for the hand. It glowed, and then sank in to the ground. The entire space around him turned green as well. Then, the wall in front of him started to glow. Steven realized that it wasn't actually a wall, but a screen. And he was now staring at an alarmed peridot.

"Ack! What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Peridot, it's me, Steven! I've been stranded here forever!"

"How do you know my name?!"

Steven gave the peridot a strange look.

"You're a peridot." He said. "How could I not know your name?"

The peridot blushed and straightened up in her seat.

"Rude! You're just a human! You shouldn't even have the brain capacity to know what a gem is!"

Steven lifted up his shirt to show his gem.

"Nope! I'm a full, one-hundred percent gem!"

The peridot squinted at him. Steven wondered if it was too dark for her to realize exactly who he was.

"Why the human clothing? It's hideous."

"I've been trapped here!" He said, waving his arms. "I just told you that!"

"Yes, yes, while that's all wonderful, I need to get back to my job."

He felt his stomach sink a little. Why wasn't she listening to him?! Didn't she get that he was trapped on this planet and he needed a way to get off?! Escape was so close he could taste it, but the gem wasn't even taking him seriously!

"Tell me, have Stevens replaced humans as the dominant species on Earth?"

"What?! No! Steven's my name!"

"Then what are those shabby, gem-like things right behind you?"

Steven slowly turned around to face two-thirds of the remaining Crystal Gems. The boy became white, and felt his heart skip a beat. They both pulled out their weapons and took on a fighting stance.

"We are the Crystal Gems! We're still alive, and we're still the guardians of this planet and all its living creatures!"

"You what?! But the records say that Gems were wiped out on Earth!" Peridot seemed to realize something. "Wait a minute, you're the ones that have been destroying my plug robonoids! Are you the reason the Home World warp is down again?! Why do you keep destroying my THINGS?!"

A quiet thud caught all of their attention. Rough, raspy snarling filled the room. The hunched, over figure of Apatite crawled into the room. She flickered and buzzed, no longer having a solid body. Peridot recoiled from her monitor at the sight. A rising panic started within the gem. Weirdos interrupting her work on Earth was one thing, but, whatever that was?! That was an entirely different situation!

"B-but it's too early for the clusters to hatch now!"

"A what?"

"None of your business you clods!"

Peridot got a better look at the gem as it crawled towards the Steven. She realized it was not part of the cluster, as it only had one gem. The gem reached out towards the Steven, who dodged out of the way. The other two gems were much too started to do anything at first. They stood there watching as the gem went after the other one.

"He has Amethyst!"

The other gems then leaped into the mix, and the Steven screamed again, ducking and dodging their attacks. Peridot's transmission ended then and there, the screen going dead. On her end however, she received a chilling finish to things. A blurry, distorted image of Steven screaming as the gems went after him was frozen on her monitor. One of his hands was reaching out to her, as if he were begging for her help.

Peridot shuddered. She'd better report this.

"S-Steven..."

"Get away from me!"

Apatite grabbed on to Steven's foot. He tried to shake her off, but she was too strong. Apatite started to pull herself to her feet again, remaining just barely solid. When she tried to speak, the centipeetle's screech sounded instead. The others backed off as she turned unstable yet again.

Her figure started to tremble as she grew taller. Extra arms and legs sprouted from her sides, and her body continued to morph into something completely un-gem-like once again. Despite all Steven's efforts, she was becoming corrupted again. Before she could transform completely, she managed to say one last thing.

"R-run!"

So Steven ran without looking back. He heard the gems fighting with Apatite, things breaking and shattering like glass, but he didn't dare look to see what was going on. He ignored the odd pulsing in his leg, and picked up the pace of his wonky, wobbling gait. He'd survived a broken leg. A dislocated one was nothing in comparison.

Steven ran through the kindergarten, the never-ending reminder of all the gems that had been lost in the war. He ran past the same, repeating holes, the grave markers of a million, faceless, nameless gems. He ran from the abandoned injectors, that still clung to the Earth, waiting for the day that they would finish the job. He was going to start another war after all. It only made sense that they would return eventually.

Steven ran away from the gems, and yet another friend who had turned on him in the end. He tripped and fell over rocks, boulders, the same playthings of a gem he had thought was his friend. He ran through the dried riverbed that was the canyon where gems had been grown. There was water here at one point, before it was all ruined. But now there was nothing to pull him under the waves and leave him there to drown. Lapis was gone too.

Everyone was gone! He just couldn't take it any more! Steven felt his eyes grow heavy, the world spinning around him. Suddenly, the ground rushed to meet his face, and everything turned dark around him. A black, sickly colour. A colour darker than the empty graves that bored in to the walls of the kindergarten.