-I do not own Steven Universe, nor make any money from this pure, fictionalized story inspired from it. It would be nice if I did, though.-


"Quick! Let's get him inside!" Connie and Greg rushed to the busted in door, where the massive pink lion lay.

"Okay, um... I'll try and push, Connie you pull!" The girl nodded, and both took their spots. Greg put his hands against the back of the feline and pushed hard, while Connie took one of Lion's paws in her hands and pulled as hard as she could. She then remembered she might hurt him, so she tried to tone down the strength of her pulling. They had almost gotten him in the warehouse completely when Lion started to stir from its knocked out state, something Connie noticed quickly.

"Mr. Universe! I think Lion is starting to wake up!" At that point the large cat stood back on its legs, its stance a little wobbly. Greg quickly shut the door behind them.

"Um... how 'ya holding up, Lion?" Greg asked. Lion only shook its lowered head with its eyes closed, it's paw rubbing at the top of its head.

"You're hurt?" Connie guessed. She moved the paw to see for herself the top of the head.

"Ouch," she winced, "Something really hurt you. But wait, where's Steven?"

"Oh man!" Greg said, "Maybe he's still out there! I'll take a peek!" He rushed back to the door and very carefully, opened it up by a crack, just enough for him to look with at least one eye. The more he scanned outside, the more his heart began to sink.

"Do you see him? Is he still out there?" Connie asked.

"But... where is he?" she heard him ask, and he pulled all of himself away from the door, "A second ago we heard all that crashing around! Now, I don't see anything-" He cut himself off so abruptly, which perked Connie's attention.

"Mr. Universe? What is it?" she asked, "Do you see Steven?"

"Not Steven..." Greg said, slowly backing away from the door, "But suits of armor... walking around the streets..." Connie's eyes widened, and Lion gave a low growl.

"Do you think they're... the ones Steven said attacked?" Connie asked, fear gripping her voice.

"They haven't seen us, I don't think they know we're here," Greg said, then turned to motion to both her and Lion, "We should get back with the others, away from the doors." Connie nodded, but Lion showed some resistance when he was motioned to follow her.

"No, Lion, you've got to come with us, too!" she said, both hands lightly gripping around his neck. Lion then gave no more fight and followed the two back to the center of the building. Everyone was sitting in a tightly packed circle, with Mayor Dewey in the center, quietly mumbling to each other inaudible words. They had almost joined them when they heard something. A sort of thudding noise, that caused them to turn back to the door.

"Wha?"

"Oh no, oh no..." Connie said, taking more steps away from the door.

"Mr. Universe? Connie?" Connie almost jumped from not expecting someone's voice behind her. She glanced back to see that Sadie and the other townspeople were now looking at them and towards the door, where Connie looked back to as well, "What was that?"

"Okay um... nobody panic, but," Connie said uneasily, "Mr. Universe, how close did you say...?" More thuds came from the door, and Lion let out more growls like before.

"What is that? Is that Steven, messin' around with us?" Lars said, hiding his fear behind a veil of sarcasm. One last thud on the door, and no more followed. Everyone's ears perked up. Greg and Lion both took timid steps towards the door... and both jumped back when they saw it.

"Holy moly!" Greg cried out. Some sort of point shot inwards from the door; a dark purple object, sharp and edges glinting carved a slit into the door. Worse, the area around the impact seemed to turn the same color as this blade. Everyone cried out in alarm at the sudden action. The pointed edge sank back through the door, only to be replaced by three more blades puncturing it at the same time, each one demolishing the door's image more.

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"Rose has been found? Interesting."

"It's time for retribution to be paid in full!"

Emerald continued to stand where she was, barely knocked out of her dumbfounded state to explain in full the situation. But she could still not believe it herself: it was a success! The operation was performed successfully and Diamond had survived! And... now standing before her were seven colored copies of Diamond, all bodies now being used at once. Gem history was being written with every passing moment, for the better... and for the rather strange...

She did note though the... rather 'uniqueness' of each Diamond that stood before her. Each one held a different stance than the other. For example, the body of the red Diamond appeared to be tense, as if she were prone to excitement and even anger. The body of the black Diamond, as if direct contrast, was more relaxed. One thing was definitely similar about them: every one's eyes were the same shade of dark plasma purple, which somehow even the purple Diamond's skin tone contrasted with.

Emerald let more personal thoughts on the matter drift through her mind. Mistress Diamond had survived the ordeal and had seven fully functioning bodies to show for it. For the most part she herself wasn't showing any more horrid side effects, despite dark plasma that was needed as a power source. Maybe she was unscathed after all? She simply felt she had to be sure.

"Mistress Diamond, or should I defer to plural at this point?" Looking at them, only three of the Diamond's shrugged their shoulders, "You have only just survived a very delicate and dangerous experiment, and already you're thinking of setting off into battle?"

"She is right, for the most part," the blue diamond said, taking steps towards the green gem, "It would be nice to make sure these bodies are in top physical performance..." Emerald suddenly shivered as the blue diamond walked around behind her, trailing her finger across her upper back from shoulder to shoulder. She tried in vain to hide a blush that crept up over her face.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you Emerald?" Blue Diamond's voice whispered close to her ear, her voice carrying a sensual edge to it. Memories long thought abandoned rushed to her mind, those of her and Diamond in more... intimate scenarios. In spite of her own self control, Emerald couldn't fight the small grin her lips were forming. Had Diamond herself remembered such times? If so, then perhaps the cloning process did have some perks in the end.

"There is no time!" White Diamond announced to all present, "The fact that Rose Quartz continues to exist is still an affront! Her petty ideals have tarnished the name of the Diamond Authority in the past, and continue to now!"

"That is true as well," the green Diamond crossed her arms over her chest, "Rose was very influential, gathering fellow subordinates to join her and her cause. What were once loyal gems, they chose to serve her instead."

"There is only one thing she deserves," the red Diamond said. She held out her open-fingered hand before her, light gleaming off of the smooth, crystal textures, only to close her fingers fast and hard, "to be crushed and rubbed completely out of existence!"

"I, ah, do not disagree with you..." Emerald said, "I'm just, concerned for your well-being. Are you certain these bodies are sturdy so soon after your gem cloning?" To her credit, the Diamonds did take a moment to cast looks over their bodies, as if inspecting them for tiny cracks.

"I don't see anything wrong with this body..." the black Diamond spoke up finally. Suddenly, she shot her arm straight into the air, shape-shifting from an arm into a massive claw of black-colored diamond. The claw's two points took hard grip of a stalactite hanging from the ceiling and with a loud snap, disconnected it from its base. The deadly sharpened object sailed fast to the ground, embedding itself into the floor and sending a long, vibrating echo all around the room. Emerald herself jumped back in surprise, while the Diamonds didn't even so much as twitch their feet, "And nothing wrong with my powers either..." She looked back up at Emerald and shrugged again.

"You see, Emerald? You continue to worry too much!" The yellow Diamond proclaimed, stepping up to her green subordinate, opposite the blue Diamond. She held out her own palm before her and Emerald, showing them a small sphere of slowly glowing energy, "The operation was a success, and now the time has come for a personal field test; a chance to 'remind' Rose the folly of her ways, all at once! I thought you would be a little more supportive of this."

"I am, my Ladies," she said, looking again at the seven clones, "It's just... I..." Her hands rubbed against each other in front of her as she held her head down, struggling to find the right words. Something tickled against her bare shoulder, and Emerald was reminded of Blue Diamond's hand massaging it, "... Is this really the right thing, for you?"

"The inevitable will not be stopped any longer, Emerald," the harsh voice tone of Red Diamond said, "Rose Quartz must be destroyed first. And I agree with Yellow Diamond, in that we should leave immediately, ourselves. From what you said, she is already in captivity, under surveillance by our top gems. There is no way she could escape."

"It is settled, then," White Diamond said, and now Yellow and Blue Diamond left Emerald's sides to stand back before her with the rest of the group. Even as she moved away from her, Blue Diamond still gave a subtle wink to her.

"The end of the Stars Faction will soon be delivered by my own hands, in the form of justice that has been at least one thousand years overdue. This is the will of Rainbow Diamond!"

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Jet stood in the hangar bay, motionless, her arms crossed over her chest, eyes glued to the hangar bay door as it slowly opened. On either side behind her she was flanked by two more soldier drones, also standing motionless and at attention. She watched a single object: a beaten and battered ship pod fluttered pathetically into place. It dropped down in close proximity to Jet, but the black gem did not even flinch; her mind was too occupied to notice.

The doors closed, pressurization returned to the interior, and the pod door itself opened. Jasper leaped out onto the ground, a curious smirk never leaving her face. In fact, it only seemed to grow wider when she finally met Jet's face.

"Well, well, well, the cowardly general greets me?" she smugly asked. Jet remained silent, and at this Jasper's eyes narrowed, "Me? I was simply fighting this entire war on my own! You could even say I single-handedly won it as well!" She gave a chuckle, and Jet finally relaxed her arms. She turned her head to the open pod, and caught sight of different colors within.

Jasper followed her gaze with her own,

"Ah yes, just in case you needed proof..." She ducked her upper body back into the pod's opening, then quickly emerged holding something. Jet looked at the unconscious being that Jasper held by its hand: three feet six inches long, malleable yet resilient skin, and bearing the tell-tale gem right in its belly. It was definitely her, but Jet didn't say anything.

"That's right, can you believe it?" Jasper said, "Rose Quartz for some reason has been passing herself off as a human for all these years!" Lowering her arm, she dropped the human to the ground, but it did not stir awake from the rough treatment, "And capturing her? It was easy! Almost too easy, even with backup she had with her..." She ducked back into the pod, and Jet continued to look upon the human. It held hair on its head, except black, but its overall structure was not the same as Rose's. The attire it wore was that of a pink colored top with the image of a five-pointed... star? Perhaps humans had a different perception of what stars physically looked like, but Rose herself couldn't have...

"And here we are..." Jet brought her silent gaze back to Jasper, now carrying two more bodies on her. These two were vastly different, both from each other, and from the human. One was about as tall as both Jasper and herself, while the other was... definitely shorter...

"Looks like these were all Rose had left to stand up to me, but she," Jasper pointed down at the fusion's body, "gave me more trouble than I care to admit. Not like it would've stopped me anyway!" She took a moment to flex her chest in pride, something she definitely was not shy of showing since she first arrived, then looked at the other gem, "And look at that, General Jet; looks like Rose Quartz somehow swayed your precious partner to her side!" Jet's lips pursed, but for the life of her she couldn't remember why exactly in that moment.

It was definitely her, Lapis Lazuli lay unconscious before them like the others. Suddenly the very fact that a conquered Rose Quartz and rival Garnet were present as well was completely forgotten, instead this one blue gem had her full attention. She looked exactly the same as when she had seen her last, except for her look of defiance was instead a look of serene peace. Jet felt her fingers flex in place at her side; they clenched a hard fist, then stretched apart again. It wasn't a very productive or even meaningful action, yet Jet absently wondered why she was doing it.

"All in all, I'd say congratulations are in order, huh?" Jasper's voice brought her back. Jet now looked right at the burly brown gem, staring into her wild, undisciplined eyes, "In fact, maybe I'm due to become general for this, or even leader of all gems!" Jasper was about to let her mouth run along with her mind of the possibilities, but stopped when she noticed Jet moving closer to her. She took odd special care in stepping around the body of the blue gem, until now she stood directly in front of her. With her visor in place, Jasper simply looked into Jet's face, not knowing at all what she could be feeling.

Finally, Jet's mouth pulled back into a smile, and she slowly lifted her left hand to pat Jasper's shoulder.

"Congratulations..." she said, her voice just low enough to conceal emotion. Jasper returned Jet's smile with a smug grin of her own... until a very loud thud filled the room. Jasper's eyes widened in shock and surprise, and her mouth exploded with grunts of pain. She drifted her eyes down to see that Jet's other hand was a fist that had collided hard with her midsection, then looked back to see Jet's teeth were now openly bared before her, "You stupid, STUPID GEM!" A thick clouded explosion, and Jet now stood alone. She flipped her fist into an open palm, catching the small gemstone that was Jasper, then immediately created a black shaded bubble around it.

"Don't think this excuses your earlier actions," she spoke to the inanimate gem, "You acted in direct defiance of command. You'll be returned to Crystarra as well, to await a punishment of your own." She tapped the bubble on the top, and it vanished into thin air. She shook her head, then activated her communicator,

"Citrine, update."

"General! The gem fugitives Pearl and Spodumene have been taken into warship number one. I assume Jasper has delivered priority one and the other gems as well?"

"She has." No one was currently around, so Jet was free to openly allow her smile to return as she remembered what she had done, "Also, what is the status on the drone detachment sent to Rose's base?"

"Ah, General," Jet could hear a sort of excitement creep into the gold gem's voice, "They have scouted the base, and have actually have found something! You see, Rose Quartz seemed to fancy herself a hoarder! Countless bubbled items were found in a secret holding room."

"Really?" Jet was genuinely surprised now; Rose Quartz was a fugitive, and now a rival collector? "Then, what sort of items have been found?"

"Strangely, they are all gems... warriors that have in some way or another been touched by dark plasma..." Citrine said, "But also... General, the drones have found... the four cosmic beetles." Jet's mouth and eyes widened.

"That is a very serious claim, Citrine," Jet said sternly, "This had better not be some jest!"

"I promise you, General, I do not jest in any way! These ARE the cosmic beetles, I can verify them myself!" Jet paused, and found herself taking a sharp breath.

"You are absolutely certain?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Then listen carefully: those cosmic beetles are now the next highest priority. I want them secured and delivered aboard warship number two. Do NOT let anything happen to them, do you understand?"

"Y-Yes ma'am, I very thoroughly understand!"

"Then see to it. Jet out." Her connection cut, and Jet let her mind wander. How does such good fortune continue to go their way? First Rose Quartz, now the four legendary cosmic beetles? Could it really be good 'luck', as Kyanite said earlier?

She shook her head, reminding herself that luck was non-existent. Turning to her silent workers, she pointed at the bodies,

"Take the fusion and Rose Quartz to the holding cells," They said nothing at all, yet moved obediently to seize the bodies. Jet looked back to the blue body, "I will take care... of Lapis Lazuli..."


-Okay, I have three things I'd like to mention, all of which actually are mentioned in this chapter:

1. I hope no one minds, but writing 'towns-people'-centric sections are not really my strong suit. That is planning to change later on, but just bear with me for now.

2. For anyone who is starting to pick it up, yes Diamond's bodies' personalities are being based off of the seven deadly sins. Some are... easier to do than others.

3. Oh God, I've wanted to write Jet punching Jasper for a long time now! It was actually one of the things that this story was leading up to! I had a lot of fun committing it to words!-