Vague images and thoughts flashed in his mind, but none stayed long enough for him to focus on them. A black and white gemstone. A scared pearl. A crack in a sea of white. A pink figure with curly hair.

Nothing coherent. Nothing worth focusing on.

Everything was calm around him. He no longer felt bone-splitting pain. Come to think of it, he no longer felt much of anything. The yellow and white enemy were gone. It was easy to stop them. Their coldness left him the moment the white one vanished from view.

But he was still cold. Not just in his gem, but his chest. There was something out there causing it. His eyes scanned the cityscape around him, but nothing moved. If he could find the source of that coldness and stop it, he could finally be free.

But no one was here. They all left after he burst through the roof of that blue chamber. They scattered when they saw him. Screaming. A few flying red dots tried to fight him, but he knocked how out the air as easily as if he were swatting a fly.

He slowly moved along the city, not caring about the damage he caused along the way. His large pink talons dug into the ground, his horns scraped against the glass and metal, and his gigantic form barely fit through the narrow alleys. He hardly noticed any of it. His eyes turned to a tall gray tower on the skyline, then to a pink room with an open balcony and to a head-shaped white statue.

Feelings began to rise within him, especially as he stared at the tower. Loneliness. Desperation. Sorrow. Ones he couldn't tether to any memory, but they were there, creeping in and stalking their way into his conscious mind.

Then he realized why. It was because of her. The person who made him this way. But if he wiped every trace of her from the planet, the cold would go away. No one would think of her anymore. She would be lost to time; lost to him. And he would be able to leave the past behind.

He made his way over to the tower, his breath quickening with an almost sickly excitement. He wanted to see it on the ground. To see the bricks shattered into dust.

His speed picked up and clouds of debris rose behind him in his wake. He reached the tower and was about to crash into it before he turned last second, his tail swinging high. It bashed into the tower, logging itself into the base and leaving a significant dent.

More, he thought. He grabbed into the tower with his clawed fingers and tore into it. Pieces began to fall as cracks compromised the structure. One bounced off his head and shattered against his horn. Immense satisfaction grew within him, a warmth that spread into a smile on his spreading face.

More.

A small stinging pain in his side distracted him from his next assault. He whipped around and saw a small figure lashing a purple whip against him.

"HEY!" the figure called. "STEVEN!"

He lowered his head to look at the insignificant purple speck and huffed. His breath pushed the hair out of her face and she suddenly looked very sheepish.

"Uh...hey dude," she said, waving.

He raised his head and looked away. Her words meant nothing to him, just a garbled mess of sounds. But this feeling in his chest. The coldness. The feeling that he knew her and that she knew him. That she knew him. Or knew who he used to be. He had to squash it.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The gems didn't have to look hard to find signs of Steven. The ground shook and the isolation tower where Pink was so commonly locked in began to crumble. At its base, the Crystal Gems saw a flash of pink.

They rushed over, occasionally stumbling from the force of the attack. Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet slid to the stop, gasping in terror.

The monster was a deep pink and lizard-like, with diamond-esque large horns prominent on its head and poking through its jaw. Spikes lined its back and sides and lead down to its tail. The monster towered over Blue Diamond, who watched it apprehensively.

It stood tall as it squared its shoulders to bash against the tower again.

Amethyst pulled out her whip and jumped up, whapping her weapon against the monster's leg to get its attention. She had to know.

It worked.

"HEY!" she called. "STEVEN!"

The monster lowered its face and Amethyst saw similarities to her friend. The face shape. The nose. The diamond-shaped pink irises. It really was him.

"Uh…" she said, feeling his hot breath blow over her uncomfortable. "Hey, dude." She waved sheepishly. "Sorry about hitting you."

But Steven raised his giant head, clearly not listening to her anymore. His eyes glinted maliciously, which was the only warning Amethyst had before his leg rose and smashed down above her.

She jumped away, falling on her butt as the ground shook.

"I don't believe it," Pearl said, eyes on Steven. "How is that Steven?"

"It doesn't matter," Garnet said, teeth clenched. "We have to get through to him." She summoned her weapon, looking at Pearl to do the same. "We need to fuse," Garnet said.

The Crystal Gems nodded and took hands, glowing brightly. Blue stepped back, the look of disapproval on her face as Alexandrite appeared before her, but she kept quiet.

The fusion put its fist on the ground and roared before launching itself at Steven, who just watched them. Four of her hands grabbed into the spikes on his back and the other two summoned a weapon. Pearl's spear stabbed his back, spraying the fusion with blood. Human blood.

Alexandrite drew back, her hands covering her mouth as she realized this wasn't a normal corruption. Steven wasn't a normal gem.

Steven roared in pain and he turned violently. Alexandrite barely held on and grunted as the centripetal force threatened to overtake her. Then a shadow came over her as Steven slammed his back into the tower.

Unfused, the Crystal Gems clung onto their friend still, hanging onto his spikes for dear life.

Steven fell to the ground, revealing that although he could stand on his hind legs, his movements were more reptilian-like as his long neck stretched to try and glimpse the gems on his back.

Garnet stared at the dripping wound, horror on her face, Pearl looked on the brink of tears. Amethyst refused to look at it.

"We can't fight him," Garnet said. "We'll hurt him."

"He'll hurt us!" Amethyst suddenly yelled, pulling herself up to stand unsteadily on one of spikes. "What are we supposed to do?"

Blue yelled, catching Steven's attention before he could raise onto his haunches and slam the gems back into the tower again. He turned to face her, huffing in annoyance.

"I don't know," Garnet said. "We can't poof him. We have to heal him, like this."

"But that means bringing him to Earth," Pearl said, had over her mouth. "To Rose's Fountain. Garnet, we can't!"

Garnet looked up at the monumental beast in front of her, who was taking Blue's attacks like it was nothing more than sand hitting his skin.

"We don't have a choice," she said. "Amethyst, run ahead of us. Get Connie and Greg to the fountain. Let them know what's happening."

Amethyst was about to protest when Garnet gave her a hard look.

"Okay," she said. "Just be careful." She hopped off Steven's back and used her whip to grab onto a spire. She rolled onto a ramp below them and ran off, unnoticed by Steven.

Garnet let out a breath. "We have to keep it together," she said to herself as she looked at her bloodstained hand. "For Steven."

She and Pearl jumped up his back and slowly climbed to get to his head. They hung onto his horns and each stomped down. When that didn't work, Garnet slammed her fists against his head and Pearl pricked his rock-hard skin with her spear. Steven bucked up, clearly not noticing them until now. He looked around wildly, the gems hanging on for their lives.

Blue used the distraction to launch herself at him. The force sent Steven falling back against the tower, which finally collapsed backward under the weight. Pearl and Garnet leaped off, narrowly dodging the falling rocks.

They landed, thick dust obscuring Blue and Steven. When it cleared, Blue brushed herself off and slowly standing, using a building to support her. Steven's tail was visible, poking through the debris.

"Well, that was effective," Pearl said, looking over to Garnet. "Is he okay?"

The debris rumbled and shook as Steven pulled himself out. One of the spikes on his right side was splintered and broken and scratches littered his body, but he looked otherwise fine.

"He's fine," Garnet said through gritted teeth.

Steven's roar shook the entire city. The gems clapped their hands over their ears and watched as his gem glowed brightly. A pink aura spread over them.

Immediately, their hands began to shake and brows furrowed in a pained rage. Pearl looked to her spear and lost sight of herself. She wasn't a friend to this beast. She was a warrior.

Pearl shouted charged recklessly at Steven, her face warped and twisted. She had to stop him. Enough was enough!

The pink monster turned to her, eyes glinting brightly as Pearl jabbed her spear into his leg. It was no more than a pinprick of a wound to the monster. She used her spear's staff to launch herself up into the air and summoned another one, using them as points to jump from to climb the monster.

She finally reached his face, having launched herself in the air in front of him, and the anger quickly left her body. The monster grinned at her, his mouth opening.

What had she done?

He snapped at her, her form nearly dissipating as her fangs cut into her, but the pink aura held her together. She screamed, feeling pain that she wasn't sure was hers. Steven threw his prey into the air and Pearl watched his eyes land on her gem.

He reared his head back, lowering it so his horns followed her path.

"Steven!" she yelled, helpless as he lunged forward.

Out of nowhere, Garnet appeared next to her, pushing her out of the way. Pearl fell to the ground, watching Garnet unfuse a second before the horn pierced her.

Ruby plummeted to the earth and Sapphire dropped down, the wind showing her single eye, which was pointed at the monster.

Ruby landed on the side of a building and ran, jumping over large gaps and catching Sapphire before she hit the ground. Pearl righted herself and rushed over to them.

The pink aura was still bathed over them. Pearl's hands shook, but the anger she felt was nothing compared to her shock of what just happened. Ruby was grumbling lowly, her feet engulfed in flames. Sapphire was silent, ice appearing under her dress. They watched the scene above them, unmoving.

Blue lashed back out at Steven, hitting him squarely in the chest with her power. It knocked him back and the pink aura faded.

"Ruby, Sapphire," Pearl gasped as the anger left her body. "Are you two okay?"

The smaller gems took hands and Garnet reformed, looking more composed.

"We're fine," Garnet said. "Are you?"

Pearl couldn't answer, her hand reaching up and touching her gem. "I'm fine. We need to get him to Earth before he…"

The monster looked down at them suddenly, tears in its eyes from Blue's power. They saw its eyes widen ever so slightly as it looked at Pearl as if it heard her and knew her before it huffed and turned away from them.

It sprinted away from the tower, ignoring their calls and attempts to get his attention. Ignoring Blue stomping on his tail. Ignoring Garnet slamming her fists down on his toes. Ignoring Pearl's mournful shouts.

Its eyes were set on the warp pad to Earth.

"We need to stop him!" Pearl shouted, trying to keep up as she ran. "Garnet, we need to fuse!"

Blue slammed her shoulder into Steven, who stumbled sideways. He turned to her and roared in her face, his tail whipping against her face. Blue stepped back and waved her hand. Lights burst above her and shot down at Steven, who looked like he barely felt the impact.

Garnet didn't answer Pearl, her fists clenched and eyes on the still oozing wound on Steven's back.

"Garnet!"

She turned and looked at Pearl and Blue and the monster clashed once again. She nodded and threw Pearl into the air, catching her and forming Sardonyx.

"Well hello everybody!" Sardonyx said. "What a monstrous crowd we have tonight."

Blue was forced away from Steven and she crashed into a building, out of sight. He turned to face the new fusion, who didn't even come up to his shoulder. He lowered his head to get a closer look.

Sardonyx grabbed the monster, two hands on the horns on his jaws, two holding spikes on his side. She dug her heels into the ground as he tried to throw her off. Luckily for her, it had to dig its front claws into the ground to prevent her from overturning him.

"Oh no you don't," Sardonyx said, grunting with effort. "Aren't you a pushy one," she laughed at her own joke, but the monster roared and tried to snap at her.

"Nobody likes a critic," she told him. Her heel meeting the edge of the stadium in front of White Diamond's ship.

Blue pulled herself up and grabbed Steven's tail. She yanked him back. The pair pushed and strained, and slowly, his claws began to dig into the pavement and move backward.

"That's it!" Sardonyx said.

Steven roared, inhuman and ear-piercing. The fusion and Diamond cringed but held on. Steven bucked back and yelled out, new horns jutting out of his side. Blue yelled out and backed up rapidly, holding her hand to her chest. New spikes formed on his tail. He slammed his tail against Blue's chest and knocked her away once again.

"Uh oh," Sardonyx said. "Looks like we're in a prickly situation."

Steven suddenly lunged forward and whipped his head and body around violently. Sardonyx was thrown into the air and forced to summon her weapon as the monster lunged up to meet her. Her hammer met his horns. The right horn cracked and shattered off, Steven bucked back in pain and shook his head violently.

Sardonyx landed and aimed another blow at his cheek.

The monster ducked last second, the hammer flying over his head. He burst forward at the fusion from below and knocked into her, his intact horn impaling itself into her stomach.

"Oh," Sardonyx said before disappearing in a poof.

Pearl and Garnet fell, landing heavily. The monster turned away from them and headed to warp, which was exposed by the giant hole in the throne room's wall.

Blue didn't reappear. Pearl and Garnet could barely stand.

Nothing was in his way.