Two episodes in one chapter. Huh.


Far down below, within the untouched reaches of Homeworld, laid a pink Gem with her stretchy arms coiled around a boy and a teen, all inside a pink bubble. It dissipated as the boy woke up slowly, groaning a bit.

"D-Did..." Steven panted, sitting up, "Did we escape?" He looked around, slightly unnerved by the dull colors and the silence of the unknown place they had fallen into.

Spinel's eyes shot open and she sat up, still holding Lars, "O-Oh my stars! Steven! Lars! Are you two alright?!"

Lars groaned awake, "I-I... think so..." He saw the arm coiled around his sides and pushed them off of him, standing up and taking a few steps away from them, brushing the dust off of him, "Where are we anyway?"

Spinel stood up, releasing Steven from her hold, "I... don't really know…"

The boy looked up at her, "Spinel… they were going to kill you… why did you say those things?"

Spinel breathed, out of sorrow mixed with fatigue, "I-I wasn't thinking clearly... Oh Steven, I'm so sorry..."

Steven glanced away, just as Lars stared at them, "Who were they?"

"They're the Diamonds," she told him, "They're a bunch of tyrants who conquer other worlds for their empire. They swore vengeance on Rose Quartz for shattering Pink Diamond, well, that's what they thought. We need to get out of Homeworld, now."

Lars frowned, "But how? Don't you have those warping thingamajigs?"

"Not here, no," The pink Gem shook her head, "We're going to have to find someplace to hide for now. Come on."

She guided the young males behind her as they walked through the desolate underground. Long green glass vein-like tubes stood above their heads, broken statues of Gems laid about the path they walked down.

"H-Hey Spinel," Lars panted as they stopped to take a break, "Do you even know where you're going?"

Spinel bit her lip, "... No. I just have a feeling they're looking for us." When she moved her hand over to clutch Steven's hand, he shifted it away from her.

"Steven?" Lars asked, noticing what happened, "Are you... okay?"

He didn't reply.

Spinel sighed miserably. Steven was still unhappy with her, even when she explained everything. But after what she had done, lying to him for his whole life, she couldn't blame him. She never will.

Suddenly, her pigtails perked up, as if she heard something. And with the light appearing behind them, the three saw what it was. A Robonoid, but Spinel knew what it was made for.

"RUN!" She shrieked, grabbing the boys' arms and dragged them with her when the Robonoid fired a laser, destroying the head of one of the statues. She turned a corner and quickly took the boys behind a Gem structure.

Spinel looked over her shoulder to see the Robonoid scanning the area for them.

"J-Jeez," Lars said through his gasps, "What was that about?!"

The pink Gem put a finger to her lips, signalling him to be quiet and she whispered, "That kind of Robonoid is made for shattering Gems. Both of you, stay here while I distract the thing." She ran off, allowing the Robonoid to follow after her.

Steven sighed, standing up and walking away as Lars caught his breath, "S-Steven? Seriously, where are you going?"

"Nowhere," The boy grumbled.

The teen stared before groaning in frustration, "Great! Here we are, two scared losers stuck in some strange place with a bunch of aliens trying to kill us! And now, we're leaving your crazy mom to distract something that could kill her!"

"She's NOT crazy!" Steven snapped.

Lars took a step back, knowing he hit a hard spot. He relaxed, feeling ashamed, "I-I'm sorry Steven, I'm just... so scared right now. In fact, I've always been! I've never been able to stand up for myself cause I'm just a scaredy cat. W-Well, except when it comes to baking, but that's beside the point!"

Steven continued to eye his companion, his scowl fading slightly as sympathy flickered in his gaze. "I-I'm sorry too. Everything that's happening, then and now, is just a lot to take in. Spinel's lied to me all this time, but she and Pearl had no choice."

Lars didn't know how to respond to that, until they heard footsteps and Spinel approached them, "I-I think we lost it."

Steven was about to say something until they heard a quiet voice speak, "Hello? Who are you strangers?" They all looked to see a hand poking out, pointing into the hole it came from.

"I'll handle this," said Spinel and she walked over to the hole, "Hey, we're just a couple of escapees trying not to get killed."

"Really?" "So are we." "Come down, you'll be safer."

Spinel was a little suspicious, but looked over to the boys and knew she had to protect both of them, so she gestured over to them.

The three hopped into the hole, landing on the ground with a thump. She kept her arms coiled around them as the figure stepped closer.

"Are you all alright?" "You three didn't land too hard, did you?"

Spinel shook her head, "Of course not! Thank you for saving our lives, whoever you..." Her voice disappeared as the gemstone in their stomach area illuminated cherry red, revealing two Gems conjoined at the waist.

Lars yelped at the sight of them, and the Gems flinched from that.

"Oh!" Spinel gently placed the boys down to slowly approach the Gem, "You're a... Rutile, right? Well, both of you are."

"Thank you for saving us," Steven added.

The Rutile Twins inspected Steven and Lars, "How bizarre!" "What are they?" "Those two certainly don't look like any Gem we've ever seen."

Spinel laughed lightly, "They're not Gems, they're humans. This is Steven, and this is Lars."

"I'm only half-Gem," Steven showed them the gemstone in his stomach.

The Rutile Twins seemed to understand, "Then who are you?" "Your gem is unfamiliar."

Spinel blushed a bit, rubbing the back of her head, "O-Oh, that's right. My name is Spinel."

"Spinel?" The Rutile Twins' eyes widened, "Could it be-" "It can't!" "But it has to be!"

Before Spinel could say anything, they heard the Robonoids above them, and the Rutile Twins quickly took them down the cavern, their gemstones lighting the way. Much to Spinel's chagrin, the conjoined Gems kept raving about her during their walk.

"It is Pink Diamond's Spinel!" "I thought she was just a legend!" "She looked so much different than we imagined!" "What will the others say?"

"O-Others?" Lars nervously gulped.

"Yes. There are others waiting for us." "But they won't hurt you."

When they continued walking, Steven whispered to Spinel, "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"... I hope so." Spinel murmured back, hoping the Rutile Twins didn't hear.


At the end of the cavern, the group arrived at a cliffside, staring into the seemingly endless pillars with millions of exit-holes. Spinel winced at the haunting sight and kept her grip on Steven and Lars.

"What is this place?" Lars questioned.

"A Kindergarten..." Steven's voice was hardly above a whisper, "A really, really big one."

Unbelievable... Spinel thought, Why are there so many? And why down here?


Through a tunnel, the Rutile Twins got the three refugees into a room and whistled, the sound echoing off the walls.

"We're back!" They called out, "Here we are!" "It's okay to come out!"

Another tall Gem peaked out from one of the exit-holes from the floor. But from what Spinel could see, it was a fusion. A fusion between a Pearl and a Ruby.

"Oh, thank goodness!" The fusion said fearfully as she walked out, "I hope you weren't followed! You weren't, right, I hope, you double checked!" She laid her eyes on the three newcomers and gasped in fright, "You've been followed!"

"Um, hi," Steven approached the petrified fusion, "Don't worry, I'm not a threat or anything."

"It's okay, Rhodonite," The conjoined Gem assured, "Relax. We brought them here."

Rhodonite was still unsure, "Can we trust them?"

Spinel nodded, "Of course!"

Just as the Rutile Twins were about to introduce Spinel, a tiny peach-colored Gem stepped out behind Lars and he jumped back, frightened a bit.

"Everyone!" The little Gem chirped, "A wondrous prediction has come before me! The twins of Rutile will bring one, no... two- no... Three strangers to our current place of hiding!"

Rhodonite groaned, "We know, Padparadscha, your prediction already happened."

"They were being chased by one of those terrible Robonoids," said the Rutile Twins.

"Don't tell me you tried to fight those things."

"No, no, of course not." "These three were about to be scanned when we pulled them under. We were just in time."

"Let… Me… See…"

A deep low voice came from behind them and a giant Gem fusion with 6 gemstones appeared. Lars screamed in fright, running behind Spinel as the giant Gem fusion came close.

"They… Don't… Look… Like… Gems,… But… This… One… Does…" She spoke slowly.

"T-Thanks," Spinel stumbled, "B-But Lars is a human and Steven's only half Gem. I-I'm just a simple Spinel."

Rhodonite's eyes widened, "Spinel? Ooooh! You're the Spinel we've heard about! The one that used to belong to Pink Diamond, right?"

"Did you hear that, Fluorite?" The twins asked the new fusion, "We brought the famous Spinel!"

"How… Honored… We… Are… To… Meet… You,… Spinel…" said Fluorite.

Spinel swallowed down any awkwardness she felt, "Thaaaanks... B-But besides that, who are you all?"

"We… are the Off-Colors," replied Rhodonite. "And it seems your little friends are off color too. No wonder they chased you off the surface."

"What do you mean 'off color'?" asked Steven.

"You know, wrong." The Rutile Twins answered, "Not... right." "Flawed."

Padparadscha then gasped excitedly, "Oh my stars! This Gem is the fabled Pink Diamond's Spinel!"

"Like her?" Spinel pointed at the tiny Gem.

Steven tilted his head, "I don't see anything wrong with any of you."

"Gems… Like… Us… Aren't… Needed…" Fluorite explained, "Padparadscha… Can… Only… Predict… Things… That… Just… Happened."

"Here comes Fluorite!" said Padparadscha.

They all turned to Rhodonite as she explained, "And a fusion like me... is unforgivable. When my- our Morganite found out, let's just say... we were replaced. But my story's nothin'! I mean, Fluorite, how many Gems are you now?"

"Six…" The massive fusion replied, "Maybe… More,… If… We… Find… The… Right… Gem…"

"And then there's us," The Rutile Twins spoke up.

"You mean, you're not a fusion?" asked Steven.

"We're... just a Rutile that came out wrong. We survived because... all the other Rutile ran away when we emerged." "We survived... because they were afraid of us."

Spinel and Steven stared at the Gems with sympathy as Lars blinked, "Afraid of you? So you've been hiding your whole lives. What happens if they find you?"

The conjoined Gem glanced at each-other, "We'll be..."

"... ... Shattered." Padparadscha finished.

Lars looked down, until he and everyone else heard something.

"Oh!" "No!" The twins cried as they saw a red light scanning the area.

Rhodonite panicked, "You were followed! They're gonna find us! They're gonna break us!"

"This is our fault!" yelled Steven, "If it weren't for us, you would be fine!"

"We couldn't just leave you there!" said the Rutile Twins, "We had to do something!"

"What do we do?!" Lars yelped.

Spinel hugged the boys close to her, "We've got to hide! Now!"

As three of the Robonoids floated inside, the Off-Colors, Spinel, Steven, and Lars ran to hide. The pink Gem managed to find a hole big enough as she huddled in the back, arms still coiled around the boys.

Spinel noticed that Lars was hyperventilating and whispered some calming words. Steven, on the other hand, stopped squirming in the tight hug around his body, and felt the feeling of being loved and protected, as he had always known as a baby. Thinking fast, he summoned his shield.

Lars finally calmed down and sighed, "T-Thanks Spinel."

The pink Gem nodded sweetly, before peeking out to see two Robonoids slowly and steadily scan the holes close to the Rutile Twins, who realized their fates. Everyone gasped, Rhodonite covering her and Padparadscha's eyes.

Spinel and Steven continued to stare in horror, but Lars, feeling a surge of bravery, got out of Spinel's arms and ran out, "We gotta do something!"

"LARS!" The two shouted after him.

The Rutile Twins cowered, preparing for the inevitable until a rock was thrown at one of the Robonoids and the two turned to face Lars. They both scanned Lars, the teen reminding himself that it's okay to be afraid, and the Robonoids ignored him.

"That's it!" Spinel realized, "Those Shattering Robonoids must be only after Gems!"

"You're safe!" Steven agreed.

Lars chuckled a bit, feeling proud of himself, "Alright, looks like the tables have turned-"

"Human Lars!" Padparadscha suddenly appeared, shocking Rhodonite, "I've been possessed with the most marvelous vision! You, Human Lars, are gemless and will be safe from the Robonoids, which only target Gems!"

Another Robonoid scanned the tiny Gem's gemstone and prepared to fire, but Lars was able to push Padparadscha and himself out of the way as it fired at the ground.

The teen gasped for breath, "I think... that's the coolest thing I've done in my life-"

"LARS! HELP!" Steven cried, holding onto Spinel as the Robonoid targeted them, scanning their gemstones on Spinel's chest and Steven's belly.

Spinel gritted her teeth and screamed, "NOT MY SON, YOU PIECE OF TRASH!" She punched the Robonoid and it crashed into another Robonoid, destroying the two until there was one left.

It fired a laser at the two, but Steven instinctively blocked it with his shield that deflected the laser and shot itself at another wall away from Rhodonite.

"Do not worry, Human Steven!" Padparadscha chirped happily as Spinel lifted her up, "Spinel will protect you!"

"Padparadscha!" The terrified fusion called out, "Come back!"

Her yelling brought the Robonoid's attention and it scanned around, which made Rhodonite freeze up. Not a moment too soon, Lars jumped in the way, avoiding it from finding the fusion's gemstones.

"Okay…" Lars breathed, picking up a rock shard, "Okay… Okay!"

In an act of courage, the teen jumped onto the Robonoid and whacked at the sensor as it fired multiple beams around the room, the Off-Colors avoiding being hit.

"LARS!" Steven screamed, "JUMP OFF! NOW!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO GET HURT!" Spinel joined in, the tiny Gem in her arm appearing mildly concerned.

But the teen ignored them and he rose the rock shard up, "EAT THIS!" Plunging the shard into the sensor caused the last Robonoid to explode, sending Lars flying and his head slammed against a pillar, a sickening crack could be heard as he fell to the ground, motionless.

Steven's horror intensified, "LARS!" He ran over to the teen, shaking him desperately and repeating his name. Spinel ran over as well, gasping for air as the Off-Colors cheered upon their victory.

"S-Steven?"

"H-He..." The boy whimpered, his hand placed on Lars' chest, "... He's dead..."

Spinel's breath stopped, the boy hiccuping and hugging Lars tightly.

No... What have I done? I saved my baby's life just so his friend could die instead? No... this can't be happening... I didn't even get the chance to forgive him... Oh Lars, I'm so sorry...

With her own tears falling, she fell to her knees and wrapped the two in her arms. She gently rocked Steven and Lars, as if they were infants. Steven continued to sob quietly into Lars' chest until he lifted his head up to give one look to the dead teen.

A single tear fell from his cheek and landed on Lars' cheek... And suddenly, from the tear, Lars began to turn pink from head to toe, his hair becoming pale pink. Opening their eyes, Spinel, Steven, and the Off-Colors stared in reverence as Lars woke up and groaned, brushing his hair from his scarred eye.

"Oh my!" Padparadscha broke the silence, "Something incredible is going to happen to Lars!"

The revived teen sat up, "What the heck just happened-"

"LARS!" Steven shrilled in joy as he hugged Lars tightly, "Y-You saved us! You destroyed the Robonoids but one of them exploded a-and you weren't moving!"

Spinel hugged the boys close to her, "Oh Lars! You're okay! We thought we lost you, but Steven… was able to bring you back!"

"W-What?" Lars was confused, "Bring me back?"

Steven wiped his tears and stared at them, "O-Oh sorry, I didn't know I could do that!"

"You mean… I was brought back from-" Lars lifted his hands and yelped, "I'm pink!"

Steven winced a little, thinking Lars was mad, "I-I know, but do you feel okay?"

"I don't... really know..."

"B-But your body, are you sore?"

"No."

"Are you tired?"

"...No?"

"Do you feel good?"

"No?"

"Do you feel bad?!"

"S-Steven, Steven!" Spinel calmed the frantic boy down, "We don't need to overwhelm him with questions. He's already under a lot of stress."

Lars sighed, "No Miss Spinel, I-I'm just a little freaked out."

"At least we're all on the same page here," said Steven.

From the distance, everyone heard the sounds of the Robonoids down the tunnel.

"They're back!" Rhodonite panicked, "Those Shattering Robonoids are back!"

"Quickly,… Block… The… Entrance…" said Fluorite.

Spinel stood up and looked to the two boys, "You both stay right there."

With their nod, Spinel ran over to help the Rutile Twins, Rhodonite, and Fluorite push a giant rock to block the entrance of the room.

"Is this gonna be enough?" Rhodonite whimpered.

Thankfully, the red scanners failed to scan them through the tiny gaps in the entrance and the droning noise faded.

"They… Seem… To… Have… Overlooked… Us…" The massive fusion spoke, "For… The… Time… Being…"

"Quickly!" Padparadscha pointed to the entrance, "Block the entrance!"

Spinel patted the tiny Gem's head, "Already done, tiny." She then looked up, concerned, "But if that's the case with the Robonoids looking for Steven or I, then we need to find another way to escape."

"How?" Steven looked up at her, "Navy from long ago stole the Roaming Eye to find her friends, the Crystal Gems won't have any way to get to Homeworld!"

"And if they did," Spinel said in thought, "Homeworld would find them and…"

"Why don't we just head out there?" Lars suggested.

Rhodonite shook her head, "No no no! If we leave this cavern, we'll be completely exposed!"

"But… If… We… Stay… Here…" said Fluorite, "They'll… Find… Us… For… Sure…"

The Rutile Twins put their hands to their chins in thought, "So, either we stay here and get caught..." "Or we go out there and get caught."

Everyone fell silent, not knowing what to do, until Spinel noticed something about Lars and inspected him, "Wait..."

Lars felt weirded out by Spinel's narrowed gaze, "U-Uh..."

"Steven?" The pink Gem looked over to said boy, "Could you try something?"

The boy tilted his head, "Like what?"

Spinel picked him up and held him close to Lars, "Touch his hair."

Steven, unsure what she was up to, patted Lars' hair, and unexpectedly, it glowed when it made contact.

Lars shrieked and nearly jumped back from shock, touching around his hair, "What was that?! It lit up, right?! You all saw it!"

"We did!" Spinel nodded in surprise, "Lars, I think you've got Lion's powers!"

Th teen stared at her with bewilderment, "... Powers?"

Steven gasped at what she meant, "I think my tears did more than bring him back, it gave him that portal power-thing that Lion can do!"

"What's a lion?" One of the Rutile Twins whispered to the other, who shrugged.

Lars was still freaked out, "S-So, since I got this weird thing going on in my hair, what are you two gonna do?"

"I think…" Steven thought, "I should try it first. I'll need to go through your head."

"Y-You're going to possess me?!"

"No. In a literal sense."

"U-Um... okay. I trust you."

After telling the Off-Colors to stand back, Spinel watched her boy step through Lars' head and disappeared for a few moments. She silently prayed to the stars that this was some way to get her, Steven, Lars, and even the Off-Colors back to Earth.

Then Steven appeared from Lars's head again, "It works!"

Spinel felt hope flare up, "It does?!"

Steven hopped from Lars' head, causing him to fall back, but Spinel was able to catch him before he could land, "T-Thanks."

Spinel nodded before turning her attention to the boy, "So we can head back to Earth?"

Steven nodded vigorously, but the Rutile Twins looked confused, "But we heard Earth was decimated." "Incredulous."

Spinel and Steven were able to explain what really happened to Earth the real story of Pink Diamond being Rose Quartz, how she faked her shattering to save Earth, even if it came with a heavy price of corrupting thousands of Gems and the Crystal Gems unable to go back to Homeworld. This left Off-Colors... shocked.

"Oh my stars!" Rhodonite began after the story was finished, "We've been lied to for our whole lives!"

Spinel sighed, "Pink didn't give Pearl or me a choice. Believe me, I would've told everyone if it wasn't for that stupid promise we both made, and for that, we suffered because of it."

"We're so sorry that happened," The Rutile Twins said, "That must've been awful to go through."

Padparadscha gasped, "Pink Diamond was Rose Quartz!"

"We… Can… Hardly… Believe… It…" Fluorite spoke, her hand to her face.

Steven glanced down, "Yeah, hard to take in..."

"But really," Spinel added, "Earth truly is a wonderful place. You'd be whatever you'd want to be without any judgement from those tyrants above us."

"No judgement?" "No more hiding?"

"That… Sounds… Wonderful…"

Steven smiled brightly, "It is! And now, we have a portal to get us all there!"

"All?" Lars frowned, "But how am I supposed to go through my own head?"

Spinel and Steven felt the dread replace the hope, realizing they wouldn't be able to go back with Lars.

"O-Oh stars no," Spinel slowly panicked, "Lars, we're so-"

"No," The teen cut her off, "I get it. You two should go, and I'll stay and help the Off-Colors."

Steven shook his head, "N-No Lars, you're going to die here! There has to be another way to get all of us home!"

Lars kept his gaze calm and serious, "Look, the Earth is better than this place. No killer robots, just seagulls flying over the sunset, and it's beautiful! Just go. I took it for granted, so don't pass up this chance!"

Spinel's eyes glittered with swirling light, "Lars…"

Rhodonite took a step forward, but the conjoined Gem stopped her.

"We… Won't… Do… It…" said Fluorite, "Not… If… It… Means… Leaving… You… Behind…"

"What?!" Lars shouted, "I'm trying to be selfless here!"

"We… Know… This… Planet…" She replied, "We've… Been… Hiding… In… These… Tunnels… For… Eons,... You'll… Need… Us… To… Help… You… Get... Around… Besides,… Us… Off-Colors… Stick… Together…"

The Rutile Twins agreed, "We'll get to Earth another way." "We'll find an alternative route."

"But still," Lars gestured to Spinel and Steven, "You both have got to go back."

"How can we leave you behind?" Spinel asked, Steven sharing her concern.

"Well, those giant ladies are after you and Steven, right?" Lars pointed out, "You won't be safe unless you're back on Earth.

Steven felt tears well up in his eyes, "But Lars-"

"Don't argue with me!" The teen insisted, "You're always trying to help me. You brought me back to life. Just... Let me be somebody who deserved it."

The two stared at him in revelation, before realizing they indeed had no choice.

"Alright," Steven nodded, "I'll… I'll bring whatever you need." He then brought Lars in for a tight hug, who slowly reciprocated it.

Spinel looked over to the Off-Colors, clasping her hands together as if praying, "Please protect Lars, all of you."

"We… Will…" Fluorite replied gently.

"We can't leave without Lars!" Padparadscha yelled in a bit of alarm.

"We'll see you on Earth, I hope," Rhodonite added before correcting herself, "No no no, we will!"

Spinel gave them a smile of gratitude before stepping over to Lars and hugging him as well, "Take care, Lars. We'll miss you dearly."

"Thanks, I will. And Steven?" Lars looked over to the other boy, "... You're still a mama's boy." He grinned.

Steven blinked, but laughed a bit, "Yeah, guess I am... ... So, if you could just..."

"Right."


After stepping out of Lion's mane, Steven and Spinel landed on the sand. Lion lifted his head upon their return.

The pink Gem stood up and placed Steven on the ground. Closing her eyes, she felt the wonderful breeze brush through her form. Oh, how she missed Earth after a long while on that cursed place.

"Hey, why are we at the beach anyway?" Steven asked himself, "Lion didn't want me to go into the house."

Spinel blinked her eyes opened, "Let's just head inside now."

The boy looked up at her, tugging on her dress. Spinel got the message and lifted Steven up in one arm, cradling him. He nuzzled against her shoulder, and she kissed his forehead.

"I'm so sorry for what I did..." She whispered, "I never wanted to lie to you or anyone."

"And I'm sorry for what I said..." He replied, "I don't hate you. I never did."

Spinel felt her throat burn, but tried to swallow it down as she walked up the stairs to the beach house. She prepared herself for any backlash or harsh words any of the Gems wanted to say to them. She knew she deserved it.

The pink Gem, holding Steven close to her, opened the door and saw that the house was dark, not just from the fact it was late dusk, but the lights were off as well. The most shocking part was seeing everyone inside the living room.

Pearl was finishing explaining the story of Pink Diamond to Greg, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Peridot, Lapis, and Jasper. The Gems listened with disbelief or sorrow, having appeared to have been crying some time ago.

However, they heard the door creak open, they turned to see a slightly disheveled Spinel and a worried Steven cradled in her arm.

"... H-Hey..." She began.

Thick, hot tears began to spill down Pearl's cheeks and she cried out in a high-pitched voice, "SPINEL! STEVEN!"

Spinel expected her reaction was fury, but instead it was a hug from the sobbing pale Gem, joined by Greg and the rest of the Gems, even Jasper. Ignoring their former expectations, Spinel and Steven were overjoyed to be back home safe and sound, hugging everyone back, eyes filled with happy tears.


Writing Fluorite's dialogue was haaaaaaaaaaarrrrrd…

But hey, at least everyone knows the truth now, right?