Steven wasn't sure how long he'd been in that room. Hours? Maybe a whole day? He only knew he had cried his eyes out a long while ago, and now his eyes got heavier and heavier until he could barely keep them open. He kept himself pressed against the cold, crystalline wall. He tried so hard to picture it as Spinel, he just wanted to curl up in her lap and snuggle into her chest, knowing everything was going to be okay.
Except it wasn't.
He wasn't okay. Without his family around to love him, to protect him, to reassure him they're here, he will never be okay. Steven hiccuped, but he couldn't cry anymore. He just kept clinging and snuggling against the wall, desperate for any of his family to hold him close. Any one of them sounded wonderful, any one.
Breathing out his defeat, Steven closed his eyes, pressing his cheek into the wall. But only after a few seconds, he felt... warm? His brown eyes opened again slowly to see... dark pink? Still tired, he could only muster enough strength to look up, his gaze met with the loving, pink ones.
"... S-Spinel...?" He whispered weakly. The moment they both locked gazes, he could feel joy resonate in him, finally reunited with his guardians.
"Did I wake you up, sweetie?" She asked, a hint of laughter in her tone.
Steven looked around the room. The dark empty room they were in was illuminated a deep crimson, created by the crackling fire in the fireplace. Turning to the left, Steven saw the rest of his family sleeping soundly. Pearl, Garnet, and Greg were the closest to them, laying on a sofa. Jasper was lying on a bean-bag, with Amethyst laying in her beige, fluffy hair comfortably. Lapis and Peridot were asleep on a pile of hay, while Bismuth was simply resting in a armchair.
"N-No..." He responded, "I-I was just scared of leaving you or everyone else..."
Smiling, Spinel stroked his curly hair with her fingers lovingly, "Oh Steven, you won't ever have to leave us. We'll always be there for you, no matter what."
Sighing in pure content, Steven nuzzled further into Spinel's chest, hugging himself close to her, not wanting to be let go again, "Love you Spinel..."
"I love you too... Starlight."
Steven's heart almost stopped. That voice. He looked up, and he wished he hadn't.
The room had turned an ugly gray, Spinel's eyes and smile were wide, but there was no emotion in them. He turned behind him. The Gems were in the exact same position, but their heads were lifted up to look at him, staring into his soul with their empty smiles. Greg laid on the couch, his expression lifeless and his eyes rolled back, red liquid leaking out from his mouth.
Steven screamed in fright and fear, falling to the floor from Spinel's lap. The room had disappeared, instead, there soon the Diamonds towering over him. Their features began to twist, but White Diamond was the most terrifying of all, her mouth comprised of multiple black holes forming a smile.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Steven shielded his face with his hands, crying out for someone to help him. White Diamond pushed the two disturbing Diamonds away, a white chain tying itself around Steven's neck as leader of the Gems crept closer. Her face seemed to get bigger and bigger, getting closer to his own. He saw his own reflection in the hollow gray eyes.
"T̷̖̄̀í̷̧̳m̷̢̕e̷͍̽̕ ̶̩̼͒t̶̫̽̽o̴̧̍͌ ̶̩̄̓c̷̠̻͋o̶̞̽̑m̴̞͍͂ḛ̴̾ ̷̭̻͐͂o̷̰͛̍u̶̫͆t̸̯͂.̶̼̍̀.̴̭̭͌̀.̶̠̺̈́̈́ ̴̙͝P̷͍̀̅ị̶̗̿ñ̶͉k̷̭̋.̴̬̑.̶̫͉̐̀.̵̙̀͗" She lifted two black claws up to his gemstone. Steven shrieked and tried to pull away, but it was no use as White Diamond pulled it out, coating his stomach and his gemstone with blood...
Steven woke up, screaming. In his panic, he patted his stomach and felt that his gem was still in, and he sighed in relief. But his fear returned quickly as he remembered where he was.
Prison.
Hugging his knees, he began to cry once more. He ignored the loud stomping from behind the door and opened to reveal a irate Blue Diamond.
"I cannot believe-" She began, but her anger faded at what she saw.
Steven looked up at her, hot tears spilling down his face.
"Oh Pink..." Blue Diamond stepped towards him, her hands moving over to hold him. Steven whimpered as she gently held him and pressed him close to her cheek.
"NO!" He protested, glaring right at her, "I don't want you! I want my family! I want my dad! I want..." His fury melted into despair, "I WANT MY MOM!" He bawled, covering his eyes and his tears staining his pink gloves.
"Pink!" The Diamond looked almost aghast.
Steven yelped, wiping his tears away, "I-I... I'm sorry..."
Sighing, Blue Diamond placed him down, "What's going on with you? You keep demanding for these Gems back, and what happened at the ball? What's wrong?"
"Everything!" Steven wailed, "I-I don't know what's going on anymore! I just want to go back home!"
"Pink... this is home."
"NO IT'S NOT!"
"Pink, quiet down-"
"NO!" Steven's anger returned, "I WANNA GO HOME!"
Blue Diamond temper flared, "Are you referring to Earth? Why would you want to go back?"
Steven tried to lift himself up with the wall, hiccuping, "B-Because we're free to do what we want! This place is just cold, lonely, and just so... strict! You Diamonds want Gems to do one thing when they want to do another thing." He frowned to himself, "Maybe that's why Pink left..."
"Excuse me?" The blue monarch's eyes narrowed, "What did you just say...?"
"T-This is why Pink left! I bet she can't take being locked up all alone! This is why she ran away!"
"STOP TALKING!" Blue Diamond's aura spread throughout the room, forcing more tears down Steven's face, "Oh Pink... why must you make me do this? Your stay on Earth has warped your sense of right and wrong! I have to discipline you, or else you won't learn!"
Steven mumbled something quietly.
"Pink, will you please speak up?"
"At least the Gems never do stuff like this to me!" Steven shouted angrily at her.
Overtaken by fury, Blue Diamond fired a burst of blue energy at Steven, making him collide with the wall again and he slumped down in pain.
Steven shivered harshly in agony, staring into Blue Diamond's eyes.
She gasped, "O-Oh no... what have I... I didn't mean to..." In her horror, she made her aura disappear and she leaned against the wall, "I... I'm doing it again..."
"A... A-Again?" Steven got back up, wobbling a little until Blue Diamond caught him and held him up in her palm.
"This... all this is why you left," She whispered, "Isn't it?"
Steven was unable to respond.
"You were happier on Earth," She said, "From what I've seen, you and your Crystal Gems wanted to protect the Earth the moment you stepped foot on it. Perhaps... because of us. We were failing you. Homeworld was failing you. I... We never should've brought you back. I'm so sorry for making you unhappy again."
The boy sighed, "Will... Will you help me get back home? And get my family back?"
Blue Diamond nodded, the tears stopping, "Of course. It's the least I can do..."
"T-Thank you... Blue." Steven smiled, hope flaring in his chest.
After Steven changed back into his usual clothing and got something to eat, he kept hidden in Blue Diamond's hair as she stepped towards Yellow Diamond's palace. The two Topazes let her through, the room appearing dark. The doors closed, and yellow lights filled the room as Blue Diamond placed Steven on the floor. There were several bubbles containing Gem experiments. Above the throne, were the bubbled Crystal Gems. But below, sat Yellow Diamond.
"What... are you doing?" She asked, disgruntled.
"Give me back my family!" Steven exclaimed.
The yellow monarch ignored him, "What are you doing, Blue? Take Pink back to the tower."
Blue Diamond shook her head, "... She prefers to be called 'Steven'."
Steven glanced up at her with gratitude.
But Yellow Diamond slammed the armrest of her throne and stood up angrily, "What are you talking about?! You heard what she said at the ball! You can't keep bending the rules for her, Blue! She has to set an example, and we have to set an example! If we bend the rules for her, we have to bend them for everyone!"
Steven took a step back, afraid.
"Now take Pink back to the tower. She clearly hasn't cleared up her behavior!" Yellow Diamond ordered.
"I... won't."
"Then I'll do it myself..."
Steven yelped as Yellow Diamond reached down to grab him, but Blue Diamond smacked her hand away.
"Blue?!"
Incredulous from what she just did, Blue Diamond fired her blue energy at the other Diamond, knocking her back. Yellow Diamond then charged at Blue Diamond, engaging into a fight. Steven quickly rushed over to the bubbled Gems, still held in a blue bubble. He leapt up to grab the bubble, trying to pop it.
Yellow Diamond reached over to grab him, but Steven summoned a bubble shield to protect himself and Blue Diamond grabbed her wrist.
"When we thought Pink was shattered, when she abandoned us, I alone was there for you, and you would use your power against... me?!"
With a shove to the wall, Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond fell down onto a bridge-like platform. Steven, in his bubble, landed in between them. His bubble popped, along with the blue bubble keeping the Gems in. Gasping in relief, Steven grabbed all the gemstones in his arms, snuggling against them.
"S-See guys?" Steven asked, gasping for air, "You're free! You all can come out!"
But there was no response. Just from that alone made Steven realize he might've had a hallucination of their voices at the ball.
"You'd hurt a fellow Diamond?!"
"Didn't we hurt Pink?! She was suffering in silence for ages, just like our Gems; just like me! And I know you're suffering in silence, too!"
Yellow Diamond's furious facade dissipated a little from that remark, but she clenched her fist and used her destabilizing powers on Blue Diamond. She fell to the ground, crying out in pain. Yellow Diamond continued to stare in anguish and betrayal.
"STOP IT!" Steven shouted in protest.
When Yellow Diamond didn't stop, Steven held the gems in his one arm and summoned a shield with his free arm, firing it at her hand, disrupting her.
"Don't do this! Please!"
"Yes I do!" Yellow Diamond retorted, "This is what White Diamond expects of all of us. From a thin flake of mica, to the deepest, hardest stone. We all must make sacrifices for the sake of our perfect empire!"
Steven felt fury return, "Does hurting your loved ones make it perfect?!"
The yellow monarch's anger vanished, staring in distraught at Blue Diamond, smoke rising from her attack.
"Yellow," Steven began, "Does hurting or shattering Gems make you feel better?"
"N... N-No..."
"Then is this empire really worth it? You don't have to sacrifice anything anymore. You can live peacefully with Blue, White, and the remaining Gems on Homeworld. No more colonies, no more fighting, just peace! H-How does that sound?"
Speechless, Yellow Diamond groaned in misery and fell to her knees, "Stop it Blue... Stop using your power on me..."
"I'm not," said Blue Diamond.
Yellow Diamond continued to cry, the other Diamond standing up and walking over to her, comforting her.
Steven clutched the gems close to him, "Why are they taking so long? Even Amethyst would wake up by now."
"They'll be like that for a good while," Yellow Diamond told him, wiping a tear from her eye, "They all took a direct hit from me."
"Yellow," said Blue Diamond, "We've got to get Steven out of here. Before White finds out about any of this."
The yellow monarch stood up, "Right. Quickly." She walked down the platform, "Your legs are this way."
Picking Steven up, Blue Diamond followed Yellow Diamond towards the building where the pink legs stood. Steven stared at each of the individual gemstones; Jasper, Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot, Sapphire, Ruby, Amethyst, Pearl... and Spinel. He wondered if they could hear him or his thoughts.
Please... wake up. I can't stand being all alone without any of you...
"Here we are," said Yellow Diamond, "Hurry, get inside."
But just as the blue monarch placed Steven down, a white bubble rose from the ground, dissipating to reveal White's Pearl. Steven gasped, holding the gems in his arms away from the Pearl.
"You're not going anywhere..." White's Pearl spoke.
The ground began to shake as the bust part of the ship floated up and placed itself onto the legs. Now Steven had no way to get home, or even contact anyone from Earth.
"You've made a grave mistake!" The Pearl continued, "Go to your rooms!"
The ground shook again, Blue Diamond asking, "Uh... which rooms should we go to?"
"Blue, don't make her any angrier than she already is!" Yellow Diamond yelled.
Steven trembled in fear and hopelessness, the hard surfaces of the gemstones digging into his flesh beneath his shirt.
"Steven," Blue Diamond whispered quietly, enough for only him to hear, "I have a plan. Stay calm."
He looked at her, then the mech, and back to the Diamond and nodded.
"Alright White," Blue Diamond sighed, "We'll do as you say."
Yellow Diamond stared at her, flabbergasted.
"See, that wasn't so hard," said White's Pearl, "Off you go now."
Blue Diamond nodded and walked back to her tower. Yellow Diamond was forced to follow as well.
"And make sure no one sees you," The Diamond told Iris, "Steven needs to get out of this place."
Iris saluted, "Of course my Diamond."
"Don't take too long," added Yellow Diamond, "We don't know when White will eventually find us out."
Steven sighed, looking up to Blue and Yellow Diamond, "Thank you, both of you. You don't know how much this means to me."
"It's not a problem, Steven," Blue Diamond replied, "We promise we'll talk to White, then everything will be okay."
"Tell Spinel we said 'hello'." Blue Pearl told him, Yellow Pearl giving a sympathetic smile and a nod.
Steven nodded before stepping into the Roaming Eye. Iris gave the Diamonds and Pearls a salute and bow before she went inside as well. Iris walked up to the panels and turned them on, making the Roaming Eye float upwards. The Diamonds and their Pearls waved goodbye as the red machine flew up, hiding behind the buildings so the mech couldn't see. Soon enough, they reached out of Homeworld's territory and they were on their way to Earth.
Steven wasn't sure how long they had been in space, but Iris decided to take a different route so no one would find them. It must've been at least over an hour since they left Homeworld. But Steven couldn't find the urge to sleep, still hugging the gemstones close to his chest.
"Steven?" Iris spoke.
"... Hm?"
"Are you alright? You've been quiet since our departure."
Steven sighed, "I just wanna go home. I'm just... so tired of everything right now."
"I understand, we'll be reaching Earth soon, so hang tight."
Humming a reply, Steven looked down at the gemstones he'd already stared at for the past hour. He knew Yellow Diamond stated that they all took a direct hit from her, but it has been too long. Trembling a bit, he shut his eyes, tears forming and dripping onto the gemstones.
"Please..." His voice was barely audible, "Please come out... I miss you..."
A few seconds passed, and he opened his eyes to see the gemstones glowing. Gasping in joy with his love and hope returning, he placed the gemstones on the ground apart to give them space to reform. The first who reformed was Amethyst, whose outfit was completely different from her previous one.
"Augh..." She groaned when she tried to rationalize what was going on, "What happened?"
"Amethyst!" Steven ran up to her and hugged her tightly.
The purple Gem was confused for a second, but laughed in relief and hugged him back.
Then, Bismuth, Lapis, Jasper, and Peridot reformed. The three were confused to where they were and what happened, but Peridot groaned at the fact that her limb-enhancers were gone.
Steven was overjoyed and gave them tight hugs as well. Just like with the others, Jasper's outfit had changed as well, now it was a dark mahogany waistcoat with a tall collar with a single yellow star metal buttoning it. Her top was a pale fiery orange, her pants were dark brown, and her boots were a pinkish-scarlet.
The next three Gems to reform were Ruby, Sapphire, and Pearl. The couple rushed over to fuse back into Garnet, as her outfit and Pearl's were different.
Lastly, after giving them hugs, the heart-shaped Gem floated up, turning upside-down and Spinel reformed back, except she too looked different. Her dress was still dark pink with a slight red tint. The lower half of it had three black ruffled tiers, the middle tier having a row of white stars. Her pink gloves had changed into black fingerless gloves. Her boots were less pointy with her white ribbon having become laces for them.
Even her facial features had been slightly altered. Her pigtails, which used to be spiky and unkempt, now looked softer and brushed out, still slightly spiky. Her black tear-stains had changed into three upside-down eye-lashes.
"W-Wha...?" Spinel blinked her pink eyes open, puzzled.
"MOM!" Steven practically jumped into her arms, overexcited to see her again.
Spinel's shock remolded into loving joy as she embraced her son again, spinning on one foot before stopping.
But her shock returned, "W-What did you call me?"
Light danced in Steven's tear-filled eyes, "I-I called you Mom... Y-You've always been there for me, so I thought you'd... you could be my mom instead of Pink or Rose..."
"Oh Steven..." Spinel sniffled, tears trickling down her cheeks, "You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that..."
"Spinel!" Pearl cried out as she too hugged Spinel around her shoulders, pecking kisses to her forehead. Spinel giggled in embarrassment before turning her head to kiss Pearl on the lips. The other Gems either 'aww'ed at the sight or were jokingly disgusted.
Steven smiled at his family as Spinel and Pearl pulled away, "W-We're all here..."
"Steven?" Iris interuppted, turning over to see what was happening, "What's going on back there?"
Pearl blinked, "Another Pearl?"
"I-It's a long story..." said Steven.
After sitting down, Steven told the Gems the entire story about his stay on Homeworld. This greatly stunned them after hearing that Steven had to talk to the Diamonds all alone.
"All by yourself?!" yelled Jasper, "In front of them?!"
"That must've been tough," Lapis sympathized.
Bismuth's eyes were wide, "Geez, what a wild ride that must've been for ya."
"And they gave you another Pearl in my place?" Pearl said, staring back to Iris, who gave a polite wave.
Garnet shivered, "You're very lucky you got out alive, and to even talk to the Diamonds themselves."
Spinel, who had Steven in her lap, coiled her arms around and nuzzled Steven, "Oh my poor baby, you should've never had to go through that alone. We've would've done anything to help you."
Steven nuzzled her back, "W-Well, I did it, didn't I? I-It was really scary though... Oh, Spinel, the Pearls said hi."
"You mean Yellow and Blue Pearl?" Spinel's face brimmed with a smile, "That's good to know they're-"
"UM GUYS?!" Amethyst screeched, "WE'VE GOT INCOMING!"
Now alarmed, the Gems rushed towards the window where Amethyst was, and Steven felt dread sink as they saw the mech flying towards them.
"HEY YOU! NEW PEARL!" Bismuth screamed, "GO FASTER!"
"W-What?!" Iris was confused and afraid, "Go faster?! A-Alright!"
But before she could do that, the last thing Steven could see was the giant Diamond mech crashing into them, and his world went black and silence swallowed him...
... Okay, I might have gotten too carried away with writing the nightmare scene. Sorry if that got too disturbing. Plus, there was no way I was going to have Steven fuse with 8 Gems at a time. I am not doing that.
Also, this might be a weird opinion, but I think out of all the characters in SU, I think the writers' least favorite characters to write are the Diamonds themselves. All four of them. They make them the worst kind of people, but then just immediately redeem them even after we learned they killed thousands of Gems (except Pink).
Especially Pink. Yes, I'm aware she was abused and she had every right to run away. But that doesn't mean she had any right to abandon Spinel, to let the thousands of Gems get shattered or corrupted, to abandon Pearl, to leave to Gems confused and depressed when she died to create a baby and make them take care of him.
And then in the movie, TWO years after the series ended, White, Blue, and Yellow STILL consider Steven as Pink Diamond and act overdramatic to Steven wanting to live his own life with his family. Oh and they ONLY took Spinel with them because she's 'Pink's long lost treasure'. So, they've learned nothing.
Fuck the Diamonds. Yeah, FUCK THE DIAMONDS. THEY CAUSED LITERALLY EVERY PROBLEM STEVEN HAD TO FACE OH MY GOD-
