(Crystal Temple)
Steven sat in his bed, very confused. He was Pink Diamond, and none of the gems would tell him. Why? Why was it supposed to be a secret? He needed to talk to someone about this.
"Steven." Jarek's voice said.
Steven was snapped out of his thoughts, as he looked at him.
"Yes?" Steven said.
"What's the matter?" Jarek asked.
"Nothing." Steven lied.
"It doesn't look like nothing." Jarek said, seeing right through his words.
"It's nothing... " Steven said again.
Jarek tilted his head.
"If you won't tell me, then I can't help you. I was gonna go get some burgers, would you wanna come along? Greg's going." Jarek said.
"You invited my dad?" Steven asked.
"Yeah, why not? Because of you and him, I freed those chickens from their Korean prison." Jarek said.
"But.. they're stuffed animals." Steven said.
"I heard their calls for help. It's a diamond thing I have." Jarek said.
"Right.. yeah, I'll come with you." Steven said, weirded out by this new discovery.
So the two left the house, to go and eat.
(Roads)
"I appreciate you doing this for us." Greg said.
"Nah, it's nothing. I just wanted to hang out with you two again, in return for you changing your mind on your view of earth." Jarek said.
"I just lost my mind up there, I'm really sorry about that. You were right about me." Greg said.
"Don't apologize. Just don't do it again. You know that place is gone now?" Jarek asked.
"There was a big explosion when we left. You know about it?" Steven asked.
"I did it." Jarek said.
"What?! Why?!" Steven asked, horrified.
"Those humans were stunted, and didn't know anything other than their daily routines. No, they're not dead. They're on a transport to Red Diamond's facility on Tallon IV, where they'll be transferred over to here. Can't leave traces in space to where the diamonds will find them." Jarek said.
"Oh, thank god." Steven said, relieved.
"So what is it with you and the diamonds? I know you have a diamond on your chest, what's that about? And why's your skin still gray?" Greg asked.
"My revenant powers still live within me. I'm still technically a Revenant, but this time I have Orange Diamond to keep my body stable. It's all complicated, it'd take a whole textbook just to explain it." Jarek said.
"Oh. Yeah, I just wanted to know." Greg asked.
"It's cool. Anyway, Holly is at my castle, I befriended her from the Zoo." Jarek said.
"Holly? That big blue gem?" Steven asked.
"Yes, she's a real looker, I know. She's working at Roxanne's restaurant right now as we speak." Jarek said.
"Oh, how did you get her to be on our side?" Steven asked.
"Torture." Jarek said.
"TORTURE?!" Steven asked.
"No, dude. I just gave her a stern talking-to." Jarek said.
"Oh, that's good. You really need to stop fighting and hurting others." Steven said.
"Yeah, it's not always a good idea to fight, Jarek." Greg said.
"Fighting is what I do better than most I know, Greg and Steven. It's just the thing I do now. Back then it was about killing others with airplanes, now it's fighting and defending my best pals." Jarek said.
"Did you just add the b before pals?" Greg asked.
"Yes I did." Jarek said, looking at him.
Greg sniffled and smiled while nodding.
"Thanks, Jarek. That means a lot." Greg said.
"You won't need to thank me. I plan on getting full at this burger place we're going to." Jarek said.
"Where is it?" Steven asked.
"It's over there by the Brooklyn Courts." Jarek said.
"That's where Connie lives! She goes there for lunch!" Steven said.
"Bro, what is it with you and her? Did you and her have a heated argument and then you couldn't solve it so you decided to tell me and seek help?" Jarek asked a little fast.
"?... Yes, I was going to when we were eating?" Steven said, completely shocked that he figured him out.
"How do you do it?" Greg asked, slightly amazed by this.
"I don't know what it is. I think I can read minds now." Jarek said, worried.
"Really? Tell me what I'm thinking!" Greg asked, interested with a smile.
A moment passed.
"Oh god! No!" Jarek said, seeing his thoughts.
"What?" Greg said, nervous.
"You're thinking of Rose inappropriately!" Jarek said.
"Dad!" Steven said, disgusted.
"Now you're thinking of Pearl that way." Jarek said.
"Pearl?!" Steven said.
"Okay stop! Stop!" Greg said, embarrassed.
Jarek laughed maniacally.
(Rosio's Burger Hut)
Jarek, Greg, and Steven were eating hamburgers at a red tiled table clothed table.
"So Steven is Pink Diamond?" Greg asked, curious.
"Yes.. and Purple Diamond was the one to tell him." Jarek said.
"Shoot. I never knew that. I always knew Rose never liked talking about her, or the gem war, or homeworld.. but I didn't think she was really her." Greg said.
"I don't get it. Why can't Connie and I talk about this?" Steven asked.
"Because she'll tell Pearl, and she'll flip out, and then Garnet will be the next one to find out, and then they'll separate and Ruby will die. I have foreseen it." Jarek said.
"But you don't even know if that'll happen either." Greg said, eating some of his french fries.
"I can see the future. Ever since I re-joined bodies with Orange Diamond, I've been having premonitions of the future. I don't know what this is, she won't even talk to me anymore." Jarek said.
"What's going on in your head?" Steven asked, concerned.
"Everything is in right color again, I no longer see in orange, and her voice isn't in my head." Jarek said.
"Why do you think that is?" Greg asked.
"Steven?" Connie said, walking to the three.
They looked at her, with wide eyes.
"Connie?!" Steven said, nearly choking on his food.
"Here we go again.." Jarek said, resting his head on his fingers.
"Relax. This may be good for them." Greg reassured him.
"Can you excuse us?" Jarek said to Connie and Steven.
"Jarek?" Greg said, confused.
"I need to have a word with you, alone." Jarek said.
"Ookay?" Greg said, confused.
(Outside)
Jarek and Greg were walking to the parking lot.
"It's a big risk, with me even telling you about it." Jarek said.
"I'm not gonna tell anybody? Why would I tell?" Greg said.
"Yeah, why? Because he's your son and you want to help him out. Look, I've been having those dreams as visions, as well as pieces of my past." Jarek said.
"Okay? But, Steven is just fine. The gems don't know yet and they're not going to. I've been around Connie and Steven a lot longer than you have, and Connie is very smart and trustworthy. I know she is." Greg said.
Jarek looked at him with a stern expression.
".. I sure hope so." Jarek said.
"She is." Greg said.
Jarek looked at his watch, and saw the time on it.
"New watch? It looks kinda like top secret." Greg said, noticing it.
"Oh no, I just modified it so that it looks like 007, that N64 game. You want one?" Jarek asked.
"Sure. Haven't played that game since Rose was around." Greg said.
Jarek took out a watch of the same kind, and handed it to him.
"If it isn't any trouble asking.. " Greg started.
"Yes? What'd I do now?" Jarek asked.
"That depends, when Andy told me about the lookalike of you, it made me wonder.. did you blow that big city he was talking about?" Greg asked/
"Yes. And then four years of service to Ouroboros led to its eventual downfall." Jarek said.
"What is it about that? What was Ouroboros?" Greg asked.
"Ghosts that lived through the power of technology. I almost rendered this planet inhabitable in my timeline, and it was all a plot to destroy the man that took my life from me." Jarek said.
"You mean... you were a bad guy like this person? You killed innocent people?" Greg asked.
"Everything comes at a price. If things had went differently for me, I wouldn't be having these bad dreams. But I can't turn back time anymore." Jarek said.
"Anymore?" Greg asked.
"Yes, I was able to in the past, but not anymore. I won't go into details about that part, but it was really cool." Jarek said.
A minute passed.
"You probably don't want me around your son no more?" Jarek suggested.
"I didn't say that, and no... I want you to tell him what you told me." Greg said.
"You're not mad?" Jarek said.
"No, I used to tell him 'the important thing is : you told the truth,' and in this case you came clean about what you did." Greg said.
"You realize I can get arrested for having just said all that, right?" Jarek said.
"You said in your original timeline, not this one. So how would anyone even know?" Greg asked.
"Somehow Andy knows. So something went wrong with my plan. For all I know, you could hand me over when I'm least expecting it." Jarek said.
"If I wanted to, I would have left already. I'm not gonna turn you in." Greg said.
"Promise?" Jarek said.
"When have I ever lied to you?" Greg asked.
"Never." Jarek said.
"Let's go back inside. I'm glad you told me the truth." Greg said.
"Yeah.. and if it wasn't for my trust in you, I wouldn't have talked." Jarek said.
"I'm glad you trust me. And to be honest, I trust you with Steven's life." Greg said.
"Really?" Jarek said.
"Yeah, he says a lot of good things about you when you're gone." Greg said.
"That's nice. I wish I had more people I could have trusted back then. My two main friends are gone." Jarek said.
"Oh yeah, Steven told me about a gem you came here with, his name was Robot or something?" Greg reminded.
"Robo. He was melted by Centipeetle gemlings." Jarek said.
"Oh darn. That sucks. It's a pretty funny name for a gem." Greg said.
"He was a Lepidolite, that was stuck to a robot, and my other lackey, Marco, and I freed him. He couldn't remember his name at the time, so we gave him a nickname.. it being Robo." Jarek said.
"Huh, when was this?" Greg asked.
"About 4 months before I came to this dimension. Because I am from another one." Jarek said.
"Oh, that's far out. You go adventuring a lot, huh?" Greg asked.
"I used to. My story goes even farther back before Ouroboros." Jarek said.
(Yellow Steven AU ; Jarek's Castle) SAME TIME
"It started when I joined UPEO, the Universal Peace Enforcement Organization, that acted as a police air force in the different cities. And about 4 weeks later, I was offered to work in General Resource by the man of the money, the devil himself : Abyssal Dision. He offered his hand in friendship, and I took it. The first few weeks of me being with them were a pain, believe me. But my partner Keith Bryan, he and I became great friends after a little while. I showed him my skills on our missions together, I saved his life, and then Dision tried to turn me against him and the company. But I passed, and stayed with Keith while Dision left and began his so-called Revolution to sublimate people into being just like him : living without a body." Jarek explained.
"What happened next?" Steven asked.
"Didn't you fight him next?" Jasper asked, listening too.
"Yes, after he took down a main piece of Neucom. But like the old name goes 'There are Casualties of War' and I lost Keith to him, after he himself laid the final blow on Dision." Jarek said.
"Oh.. he didn't make it. That's why he's not.. " Steven started.
"That's why he's not here with me. Otherwise he would have came with me to the castle." Jarek said.
"You've told that story enough times already." Pablo commented.
"They don't know. And Jasper was the one who was asking." Jarek said.
(Blue Steven AU) - SAME TIME
"But I didn't go with Dision and Keith. I stayed with Fiona, and then UPEO later tried to kill her and I saved her life. We both transferred to Neucom together and our love for each other grew. We... we even planned on getting married after the war was over, but it all went south. We fought side by side, with her sister against General Resource and she ended up joining Dision in the end. And ultimately, we had to destroy her along with him. And then.. she was left heartbroken because she had to kill her herself." Jarek said.
"And then what happened?" Blue Pearl asked.
"She committed suicide, despite my pleas for her not to." Jarek said.
"I'm sorry." Steven said, feeling sympathetic.
"Oh right, I forgot a major part." Jarek said, scratching his chin.
"Which part was that?" Steven asked, brushing his curly hair.
"The part where I restored Kuai Liang. Sub Zero." Jarek said.
"Oh right.. he was dead, wasn't he?" Steven asked.
"Yes, and then I brought him back to life with the power of my light shard. I was doing a quest, on the planet Ranvin, and I ended up in hell. I fought him, when he was a revenant. And then with my shard of light, I rid him of his darkness and his hold to Quan Chi. He was a free man once again." Jarek said.
"Wow.. so that's why he looked so young.. not like in the game." Steven said, slightly amazed.
"When you're a revenant, you don't age. You're dead, period." Jarek said.
(Normal Universe)
Jarek nodded his head.
Steven and Connie looked at him.
"I never knew you did any of that." Connie said.
"So now you know the truth about me. I understand if you guys don't want to hang out with me anymore." Jarek said.
"No, we wouldn't do that. I know my mother is Pink Diamond now, and I have to answer for what she's done, whatever they may be." Steven said.
"No, Steven. You're just her son. Descendants don't do that for their parents. The parents do that themselves. And in this case, since Pink Diamond isn't here, she doesn't need to answer for anything. In Homeworld's eyes, she's dead. Leave it that way." Jarek said.
"Yeah you're right. I'm sorry I freaked you out." Steven said.
"No, I'm sorry that Purple Diamond is an idiot. She's planning on assaulting Homeworld, knowing she's not strong enough. I warned her not to go, but she didn't listen, and now she's gonna die." Jarek said.
"There may still be time to stop her." Connie said.
"She's strong enough. She has rain and thunder on her side." Steven said.
"What is she anyway? Rain from mk?" Greg asked, weirded out.
"Pretty much, but as a diamond." Jarek said, also weirded out.
(Jarek's Castle)
Orange Aquamarine was scrubbing the dishes, cleaning them.
"Good. You're getting it." Black Diamond said, watching her wash the dishes.
"I don't get it. Washing dishes is running hot water, and scrubbing away the gunk and leaving soap on it." Orange Aquamarine said.
"You're cleaning them, so that no germs are on them and we can reuse them for more meals." Black Diamond said.
"Oh okay. But why soap? Isn't there something else we can use to clean these?" Orange Aquamarine asked.
"No, just soap." Black Diamond said.
Magma Amethyst dumped the dust and dirt from the dustpan into the trash can.
"There you go!" Black Diamond said to her.
"This place seems more tidy. I like it." Magma said.
"Mama, where do I put these?" Tundra asked, holding a cardboard box of cleaning supplies.
"Just put those in the closet. We'll be cleaning the hallway next." Black Diamond said.
"Okay." Tundra said, walking to the closet in the hallway.
Black Diamond's phone rang.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Hi honey, I'm gonna be out for a little while longer. I gotta go run some errands." Jarek said.
"Okay, we're gonna be busy too, cleaning up the castle. Take care." She said.
"Alright, you too. I'll see you tonight." Jarek said.
"Love you. Bye." She said.
"Bye. Love you too." Jarek said.
Then the phone call ended.
"Was that our so called dad?" Orange Aquamarine asked.
"Yes, he's gonna be out there until tonight." Black Diamond said.
"Oh. Do you know where? I wanted to go and meet him." Magma said.
"After we're done cleaning the castle, you may go out and explore." Black Diamond said.
"Alright, mom." Magma said.
"Hey um.. it's nice that you all are helping around here, but who are you guys?" Steve asked, coming up to them.
"My name is Magma." Magma said.
"I'm Tundra." Tundra said.
"I'm Aquamarine! Who are you, cyclops?" Orange Aquamarine said.
"My name's Steve. And it's rude to call someone with one eye a cyclops!" Steve said.
"Oh. It's true." Orange Aquamarine said.
"Well, I'm not orange!" Steve said.
"I'm not light blue." Orange Aquamarine said.
"I'm not a kid!" Steve said.
"I'm not skinny!" She said.
"I'm not a pipsqueak!" He said.
"I'm not deadbeat dad!" She said.
Steve sighed through his nose and walked away.
"(Steve mimic) This would have happened if I were black!" Black Diamond said, shielding her mouth with a cloth.
When will they learn?