Chapter 26: New Threats, New Struggles

Greg was currently making his way to Jamie's acting studio. He was running a few minutes late, certain he would miss the opening act. "Ah jeez," he said to himself, "Of all the times for the van to break down…"

He was halfway there on foot, trying to walk as swiftly as possible when all of a sudden, he heard a voice, "Um, excuse me, sir?"

"Hm?" the middle-aged man looked around in confusion, then turned around and looked down. He saw a gem, only this one was a peculiar sight. She was rather short, barely coming up to his knees, but what drew his attention was everything else about her. From her having two sets of legs, one pair directly behind the other, to having a collared dress shirt that was red on one half and blue on the other and ending with a red bowl haircut with a splotch of red and blue near her right eye. Her left eye… was a gem. IT was a splotched mixture of red and blue, it was also accompanied by a second, teardrop-shaped gem of the same color design.

"Uh, hey there," he said awkwardly, "Can I help you?"

"Yes…" she said in a seemingly kind tone, "You can help me find someone. I'm looking for a young man named Steven."

"Oh, you mean Steven Universe?"

"Yes, that's it! I don't suppose you know him?"

"Know him? I'm his dad! The better question is what I don't know about him."

In a split second, the odd gem went from cheerful to smirking as she suddenly spawned a pair of watery wings from her back and flew right into Greg's gut, sending two surprisingly strong fists into him that knocked all the wind from him. The gem then grabbed Greg's long head of hair and dragged him behind his still parked van and quickly punched him into unconsciousness before rooting around his pocket for his cellphone. She began to scroll through the contacts list until she found Steven, and smiled… She then began to deliver Steven a text message.

"I have your father. If you want to see him again, you will come to the woods at the southern outskirts of town. Come alone. And come quickly; he might not last long otherwise…

The small fusion had a sinister smile on her face…

Despite him shoving past many people as he dashed out of the drama school right after the play ended, Steven paid them no mind. His heart was racing at a mile a minute and it was all he could do to run past the other Crystal Gems. He was not naive enough to think this was anything but a trap, but how could he risk his father's safety by bringing them as backup?

Suddenly a voice spoke to him from within the shadows of an alley, "My my, you look quite troubled. Something you need help with?"

"Ye- I mean, no!" he quickly lied, "I just need to be somewhere right now."

"You mean… wherever your father might be?" she said cryptically. Then suddenly she said, "Don't worry… your 'Greg' is perfectly fine… for now…" she did a sinister laugh…

Steven then looked at her and then stated in shock, "W-Wait. YOU!? You took him!? But… but why!?"

"Oh Steven," she then began to point at her two gemstones, while continuing, "Don't tell me you actually don't recognize me?"

He was completely baffled looking at his father's kidnapper. He never saw any gem like her before, but a nagging feeling in the back of his head said otherwise. Looking at the two multicolored stones on the same side of her head, though, made him alarmed. One was a circular gem in place of her right eye and another was a teardrop on her cheek like some kind of birthmark. And then all at once, a horrible thought came to him… He had seen those gems in those places before even if they were different hues. He saw them in quick succession when he was brought into trial on Homeworld…

"Aquamarine and Eyeball?! What?! How?! Why are you here and like… that?! Fused?!"

"Are you familiar with the term 'common enemy?' It's actually quite simple, you simpleton. Those two Gems both despise you with every fiber of their being and so now I'm here."

"You took my dad! How could you?! The war's over now!"

"To answer your question: quite easily. He's just as soft and pathetic as every other organic being on this planet. And I'm sorry, but you're quite insane if you think I'm the only gem in the cosmos who's unhappy with you."

"What?"

"Well to be honest, some Gems out there were actually very happy with the way things were before. Then suddenly their way of life, their joyful duties were suddenly taken away from them? A LOT of those Gems are really out for your, 'blood' I presume?"

Steven felt tense at her speech, "But now we have a chance to make ourselves heard and even stand up for the old ways. Especially with that tyrannical rogue Diamond stirring things up. Heh-Heh-Heh-Heh-Heh!"

"You little…!" he growled, his body briefly flashing pink again before grabbing her by the arms, "Where is he?! I won't let you take him again!"

"As priceless as your expression is, I'm not telling!"

That only made the boy turn pink again and hoist the gem up like a doll in his arms. "I'm warning you!"

"Or what? You'll try to befriend me like you did with that other Ruby?!" She laughed uproariously at her own joke only to be suddenly thrown away and landed back first into a brick wall hard enough to leave several foot-long cracks.

"I'm not kidding around! You think you can just mock me after kidnapping my family?! I tried being nice before so now I'm done! Tell me where Dad is or you're gonna be sorry!"

"A bit too late for that," she snarked, summoning a cutlass from her gems, "I'm already sorry I've ever been in contact with you!"

She then unleashed a barrage of slashes against her opponent, Steven just barely able to dodge each one, to the point where he actually had to summon his sword and shield to aid him in the brawl. Their fight eventually pulled them out of the alleyway and into the main street where several pedestrians panicked seeing a tiny flying alien wielding an ice sword trading blows with a glowing pink teenager.

She then summoned a small HORDE of ice swords that were floating atop her wings, drawing them out of the water in the air. Steven panicked for a moment, but quickly countered by summoning a wall of hexagonal barriers that kept all her projectiles at bay before leaping over it and nearly slicing her in half with his own blade. The fusion dodged, but the shop window behind her was not so lucky as it broke into thousands of shards from the force of the attack.

"Oh look at that!" goaded Bluebird, "Breaking more things just like how you broke our whole society into pieces!"

"Shut up!" demanded Steven, his entire body burning from anger.

"Or what? You'll sink your teeth into me like you did with the other Diamonds? I don't know how you convinced them you were Pink Diamond because I think you're better off shattered!"

Having already been threatened, insulted, attacked and being reminded of several past failures, that line was the final straw. As Steven was reduced to snarling in anger, half ready to foam at the mouth, his body spoke for him. His clothes began to rip slightly as the muscles underneath swelled in size before he started trying to rein it in. He would not let himself become that mindless goliath again even if it meant wiping the floor with the annoying nuisance who put his father in danger. The only problem with that was that it made his whole body flare in pain like he was trying to keep in an explosion. Seeing his discomfort, Bluebird charged in with more ice swords ready to slice him to bits. Steven just BARELY managed to notice this and set up a hexagonal gem barrier in front of him out of instinct. This helped him stay in control of his body again as the little 'episode' seemed to stop for a bit but soon he was fighting a battle on two different fronts. He may have been faster and stronger than Bluebird, but having to do all of this while simultaneously keeping every muscle in his body in check meant he was taking more hits than normal. And even then, there was the occasional lapse where his arm, let or even head would bloat before he forced it back down. Seeing this, the rogue fusion took her change and began to ram Steven blowing him back a bit. She then began to deal a deadly swing, Steven tried to parry it only for the slash to knock his sword out of his hand. She then used her power to summon a flurry of swords to surround Steven. Fearing for his life, the hybrid surrounded himself in a standard gem bubble!
"Face it, Universe!" Bluebird stated, "You're outmatched!"

Right before the attack could land, all of her swords melted at once thanks to her being flung into another wall. When Steven opened his eyes, he saw Garnet standing in front of him looking ready to smash Bluebird into paste with her gauntlets.

"You okay?" she said, with her normal stoic smile.

He lowered his bubble… "Y-Yeah… I'm fine."

"You might be alive now," called Bluebird as she rose from her latest beating, "But that Greg won't be! You want him back? You better be ready to search for him!" She then crossed her arms, revealing a pair of orange bracelets that soon engulfed a near-white warp stream that sent her flying away in an instant.

"What the-!?" Steven was shocked at what he just saw. Only to suddenly be flooded with worry.

Then Garnet placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, then she said, "She took Greg?" Steven silently nodded, then Garnet stated, "Then we'll get him back."

"I mean… If she can teleport like that, he could be anywhere!"

"Then we'll have to go bigger than just us."

That night, Steven felt more awkward than he ever had in his entire life. He was half tempted to run away as Peridot used a communicator left by Yellow Diamond to call up her and the other three Diamonds. Considering how their last meeting ended, he honestly thought searching the whole planet himself was a better prospect.

Before he could back out, though, four screens appeared showing the surprised faces of each of the Diamonds.

"Steven, is that you? What is it?" asked Blue, "Judging by your planet's rotation, it's quite late."

"Your body changed quite substantially again," noted Yellow, "Are you needing us to run some form of tests on this?"

"Well perhaps he could explain if you both stopped badgering him!" said Black, "Now then, go on. What's the issue?"

Steven breathed in and explained his recent run-in with the gem he only knew as Bluebird, a fusion of two other gems that had each nearly killed him in the past, and how this gem had kidnapped his father. "And… that's what happened and… I need your help…" He looked very nervous at his sorta aunts and uncle… Especially at White since she had yet to say anything since the meeting began.

"So you know that this gem is a fusion between a ruby and an aquamarine," surmised Yellow, "Fortunately, that makes it much easier to track them."

"Track them how?" asked Steven.

"Each gem has a unique signature whenever it warps," explained Black, "And while it might take some tweaking to account for them being fused, we should have a definitive answer with all of our resources devoted to it."

"So… you'll be able to find them!?"

"Absolutely," White stated, "Anything to make up for… what happened a bit earlier."

"Oh yeah… I'm really sorry about that. I-"

"Steven, we get it," assured Blue, "Our way of life is what led to situations like Pink Diamond. Trying to enforce our will over other planets isn't going to work forever."

"The only downside is," said Yellow, "Now we have throngs of upset militia who just had their jobs taken away."

"Wait," Steven said, suddenly remembering, "Bluebird said the same thing, but when did they start working for Red Diamond?"

"What makes you so sure of that?" asked Blue, "From your story, it sounds like she isn't fond of Red either and could just be working as a personal vendetta."

"Well… They did have a warp stream device a lot like Red Pearl…"

"Many possible explanations for that," said White, "Red could've tried recruiting her but failed, Bluebird could have stolen it from one of Red's agents or she simply found it through chance. While I would not completely discount that insane Diamond being involved somehow, it is only an option at this point."

Indeed Steven was worried now, more of his enemies would potentially be working for Red Diamond… Suddenly an idea sparked in his head, "Wait! Bluebird used Dad's phone to send me a message! Maybe we can track her down through the phone number!"

"We'd need a sample of your technology to track the signal, but it should be easily doable," confirmed Black, "I'll send my pearl over to collect it."

It was not long before Black Pearl warped into the temple and ended up leaving with Steven's cell phone. The boy could not tell what was more surprising: the usually eccentric pearl acting so serious or that he was giving his phone up to the Diamonds. Eventually the Gems began to triangulate Greg's location. It took a few minutes, but soon they found him. The only issue was he was nowhere near Beach City.

"Egypt?!" yelled Steven, watching the holographic map Black Pearl was generating along with a glowing dot showing his father's location.

"No doubt she brought him there through a warp stream," examined Yellow Diamond, "But fortunately, there's a warp pad maybe a hundred miles from that location."

"Forget that! I have an even faster way there!" Steven ran up to his room to find Lion lounging on his bed.

"Lion! I need your help!" he yelled at his pet and friend, only to be met by a drowsy growl.

"This is an emergency! I'm serious, Dad's been taken and we need to get him back NOW! You can make one little jump to Egypt, right? Then you can go right back to your nap, okay?"

Much to the boy's delight, Lion actually seemed to agree to that as he got up and headed with him downstairs. After taking a look at the globe at where he would be going, the feline was ready to head off, standing tall as if to await further orders from Steven. However, just as he was about to climb on board his friend, he heard a voice call out to him, "Steven! Wait up!"

The young hybrid turned around and noticed that Lapis was flying towards him.

"Lapis!? What are you doing here!?" he asked in surprise.

"Garnet told me what happened. I'm here to help."

"Uh, are you sure? We're going to a desert so…"

"So what? I'm not completely helpless if there's no water. Plus that fusion can fly so I'm the best fit to go up against her. Plus I'm gonna make her pay for making your father miss the play."

Skewed priorities aside, Steven was appreciative and decided to go along with it. Lion wasted no more time as he roared open a portal and brought the two to the middle of the thankfully cool desert. They were miles away from the nearest populated city but that wasn't the main issue in their minds… That would be a knocked out Greg lying on the sand right behind two new gems. Both of them were blue, the same height as Lapis and had water wings deployed as if ready to fly off any minute. In fact, it turns out they were more Lapis Lazulis.

"What the heck?!" said an immensely confused Steven, "Who are you two? Where's Bluebird?"

"She had to get more help," explained one of them, "Luckily, we stepped up to the plate."

"But- Seriously!?" Steven said, exasperated. The two gems seemed to ignore his statement, and looked at their fellow Lapis.

"What are you two looking at?" she said, feeling awkward as the two stared at her.

"Do you have any idea who that is?" said one of them, her curlier hair waving in the desert wind, "That's the gem who's completely ruined our whole life!"

"Yeah!" agreed the other one, the gold flecks on her cheeks accentuating her face, "That's the creep posing as Pink Diamond!"

"'Posing?'" Steven gawked, but the pair still ignored him while his Lapis got offended.

"Okay, you two are a bunch of nut jobs who need to shut it. First of all, he's my friend and has been way nicer to me than anyone on Homeworld. And second, you all need to let Greg go before I make you."

The two invaders looked at each other for a moment before laughing like she told a hilarious joke. That only made the original Lapis even angrier.

"You, forcing us to do anything?" snarked the curly-haired Lapis, "That's a riot since you stuck around those pathetic Crystal Gems. Everyone knows the only reason they got by is Pink pulling the strings the entire time."

"Besides," agreed the gold-freckled one, "There's two of us and only one of you. What makes you think you can beat us?"

"I know I can!" yelled Steven as he rushed towards his father, only to be blocked by a heavy splash of water from one of the two rogue Lazulis.

This prompted the two to laugh. "Yeah right!" They only stopped when Steven came a few inches away from socking them both and flew away right before he would have collided with them.

As they dodged their sudden attack, their eyes were taken away from the Crystal Gem Lapis who wasted no time following them into the sky. Even with a lack of any water to manipulate, she was still capable of briefly shaping her wings into aquatic fists to pummel them with. Steven was shocked with the sheer aggression Lapis was showing, but then the Lazuli Duo managed to do a brutal one-two counterattack, knocking her back greatly! Seeing his friend getting clobbered brought out his pink side again and before he knew it he was flying up to meet them.

The rogue gems were so engrossed in laughing over their enemy that they did not notice Steven rushing in to meet them and thus got two barriers smashed in their faces.

"You think this is funny?" he asked as he summoned more barriers along with unsheathing his sword, "Laugh at this!"

He then threw his sword at the duo at high speed. The rogue Lazulis both only had a split-second to dodge the attack and even then Steven essentially headbutted one of the two, knocking her back several meters.

The other one managed to take to the air, giving Steven and Lapis a dark look, "Is that it?" she said as her companion was able to get back up and fly next to her, "You are no match for us…" Her voice sounded both threatening and overconfident, and at this point, it was starting to really tick off the hybrid. He felt the burning sensation throughout his body again. He could feel his muscles trying to explode out of control again, but he forced them down. He also ended up grounding himself, much to the confusion of his foes.

"Uh, is he okay?" asked the freckled Lapis.

"Who cares?!" chastised her partner, "Now we should move in and attack!"

"Good luck with that!" boasted the original Lapis Lazuli. Seeing that Steven had the fight mostly handled, she briefly left to find any possible source of water to boost her chances against the rogues. Thankfully there was a reservoir outside of the nearest town she could use, but she made a mental note to bring it back. She formed the hundreds of gallons of liquid above her into two house-sized fists and smashed both enemy Lazulis into the sand. It was only then that she saw Steven clutching himself in pain.

"Oh my gosh!" she shouted, flying to his side, "Are you okay? Did those two hurt you?"

"It's… complicated," he ground out as his body started flickering pink, "You came back just in time." His body kept shifting, changing in size and structure unevenly. Lapis was shocked, "Wha- What's happening!?"

"Good question!" he panicked, shutting his powers off completely and thankfully making his body return to normal. The only problem is now he was sweating bullets and both of the enemy Lazulis started firing water rockets at him.

"Thanks for bringing us all this ammo, idiot!" taunted the curly Lazuli as the barrage continued.

Having to protect herself and Steven, Lapis was forced to use her powers to detonate the rockets in midair before they could reach her but that stretched her powers and her focus to their breaking point. It made it impossible for her to see the freckled Lazuli fly around behind her and latch a water chain around the exhausted Steven's stomach and try to drag him away.

"Hey!" Lapis yelled, "Leave him alone!"

She managed to hijack the water being used and shot it straight at the freckled Lazuli, knocking her back greatly. While Lapis to keep Steven safe, she still had the other one to deal with as she made all the water circle around them like a tornado.

"Don't even think about flying away!" she shouted over the raging torrent around them, "Try to get out through the top and my partner will stop you!"

Steven watched as his Lapis used her powers to stop the rapid spinning, but that still left him stuck in a column of water. Knowing that the freckled Lazuli was waiting for someone to pop out of the only opening, the boy realized brute force was not the answer here. While his friend and the curly-haired enemy were straining their hydrokinesis, Steven decided to try talking his way out of it.

"W- Wait! Stop!" Surprisingly, the three near-identical gems all stopped what they were doing and looked at him. "We shouldn't fight! I mean, we're all Gems, right?! Just let Dad go, and we can talk this out! Okay!?"

The two Lazulis stopped to talk to him for a second… then their expressions turned to those of spite.

"Talk? TALK?!" shouted the curly Lazuli, "That's how you ruined everything! You convinced the other Diamonds to throw away everything that made our society wonderful and turn into a mess!"

"B-But…" puttered Steven, but there was no stopping her.

"Shut up!" the freckled Lazuli said, "You took away the only thing we were ever made for!"

"W-well, can't you just find something else?"

"Is that supposed to be a joke?!" shouted both Lazulis at once, but Lapis stepped to try and calm them down.

"Steven's right! Homeworld may have made you for one specific thing, but you both have options!"

"What if we don't want 'options'?" said the curly Lazuli, "What if we were perfectly happy with how things were? What if we got thrown in jail just for finishing up a job we were already assigned?! We've spent millennia doing the same thing and being praised for it and now YOU get to walk in and say it's all wrong?!"

"And we're not the only ones!" cried the other Lazuli, "My other friends are all either depressed because they have nothing to do anymore or have run away! I watched them all flee just to get away from the insanity you made all because you think you know better!"

"You started this fight the day you started interfering in our lives!" The grounded Lazuli then started shrinking the water column surrounding them.

"And if you won't go away, we'll make you do it! We're doing this for everyone you've hurt!" The airborne Lazuli made the column's top shut, trapping her comrade and the two enemies in the giant water tube. With them stuck, they then made the tube spew around several blades that threatened to impale both of them. Steven summoned a bubble around him and Lapis, but he knew it would not last long between the new wave of attack and the exhaustion from keeping his powers under control.

"Steven, you're shaking!" Lapis said, trying to regain control of the water.

"I don't have a choice," he groaned, "I can't let it end like this…"

"And it won't," she promised. Overpowering the duo was not working and diplomacy was gone, but perhaps there was still a solution.

She could feel the pull both of the enemy Lazulis had on the swirling vortex, but she could tell they were spreading their power thin to keep up such a vicious onslaught. Lapis reached out a hand and focused on one single point directly behind the rogue gem inside the tornado.

"What do you want?" asked the enemy Lazuli, "Pleading for us to stop again?"

"No… I told you I'd make you stop this."

"Stop this then!" A watery chain wrapped around Steven's bubble, still taking a beating from the bombardment, and squeezed it with all her might. The boy inside cried out in pain, his entire body begging for mercy, but Lapis was unaffected. She gave the cocky gem an icy glare as she pulled her arm back and released her power. A single water sword flew out amongst the dozens flitting about and stabbed the curly-haired kidnapper right through the chest. This caused the rogue gem to poof, her gem landing on the sand. Her partner looked at this and froze in shock.

Steven, feeling his fatigue get to him, simply fell to the ground nearly unconscious. His gem bubble vanished in a spark of light as he collapsed.

"Steven!" Lapis noticed this and rushed to his aid. As she was distracted, the remaining Lazuli went and fled to where Greg was still lying knocked out. She then grabbed him and then took out a device from her gem's storage space, then with the press of a button, the two teleported away.

Lapis was just barely able to see this, "No!" They were too late! Greg was gone, again…

"Lion…" called Steven weakly, "We need you…"

"Steven, don't worry. I'll take you home and-"

"I'm not… going home. I'm… going after her."

"Did you take a hit to the head? Look at yourself! You can barely get up! How are you gonna fight her and whatever new cronies she's with?"

"But… Dad…" His pleas stopped when his body finally gave out on him and he slumped to the ground. Thankfully, Lion was bounding towards him and Lapis helped him onto the animal's back before hopping on herself and the two were teleported back home.

Later they were at the temple beach house, tending to an irate Steven, upset that they let a rogue gem get away with his father AGAIN. Every muscle in his body ached from overexertion and now he could barely move on top of the bruises spread through his arms and back from Bluebird and the Lazuli duo.

"Steven," Lapis said, "We did what we could… We-"

Suddenly his body was glowing pink, his muscles twitching as if trying to hulk out. In their opinion, it was a surprise Steven's body didn't regress to that monster yet, and right now it barely twitched in terms of size.

"I think our bigger concern should be THAT," said Peridot, backing away from Steven's bed as he laid there, "Have you actually tried running any sort of test?"

"Not really. It does seem like it flares up whenever he gets emotional…" answered Lapis.

"Perhaps we should focus on this more," said Black Pearl, having been assigned to watch over the boy by his Diamond until he recovered, "With everyone else searching for leads, we have ample time here to get more insight into his condition."

"Perhaps you're right," Peridot told the masculine gem, "We shouldn't let this opportunity pass by. Isn't that right Steven?"

Steven looked at them for a bit, then frowned, nervous, "I… I dunno… I mean… I guess… But..." He then looked at the monitors Peridot was tending to, "What about Dad?"

"Steven," Black Pearl said, with a sense of seriousness, "If ANYTHING new comes up, I PROMISE you'll be the first to know."

"Right now, you need to sleep," advised Lapis, "Like it or not, you won't be doing anyone any good being so banged up and exhausted."

"And as tempting as it is to experiment," Peridot muttered, "I'm no expert on human anatomy to judge much."

"Not helping, Peri…"

"Well, is there anyone here who is more knowledgeable?" asked Black Pearl, "Bearing in mind that his unique physiology would mean some liberties would need to be taken with typical human treatment."

Peri thought for a second then said, "I think I know someone!"

The next day, Steven was at the hospital. He was currently in one of the rooms awaiting a checkup and full examination. He felt a bit nervous at this, especially with everything that has been happening to him recently…

Then, the door opened and Connie's mother, Dr. Mahesweran, entered the room.

"So what exactly can you tell me about his ailment?" she asked Lapis as the pair observed Steven lying in bed.

"Well, his entire body starts glowing pink when he gets over-emotional and it makes him way stronger and faster, but it's also making him seriously hurt and exhaust himself. I kinda think he's trying to stop whatever's happening."

"Hmm… This is going to be a fair amount of guesswork, but I should at least be able to give a thorough analysis and determine what's going on inside Steven. For now just wait out in the lobby. I'll bring Steven back when I'm done, okay."

Steven looked at Lapis. The two looked at each other for a second, then Steven said, "I-It'll be fine Lapis, I'll be fine…"

"...Okay… I'll be waiting outside then." She then stepped out fo the room and proceeded to the lobby.

Steven meanwhile just waited for Dr. Mahesweran's instructions. "Alright," she said, "Let's get started, when was your last checkup?"

"Uh… checkup?"

The doctor frowned at that, "Y'know, the last time you were examined by a medical professional or a nurse."

Steven then frowned himself, "Uh… never?"

Dr. Mahesweran's eyes went wide with shock at this, "What!?"

"Yeah. I never got sick or really injured so I never went and whenever I got scraped up, Pearl was always there."

"Oh dear. This is going to be a very big learning experience then."

And the first thing that entailed was a hospital gown. Once Steven was changed, and blushing constantly from the breeze, the doctor went to work examining Steven's body. Thanks to the embarrassment he felt, along with these remaining injuries, the pink flashes came about repeatedly and caused Priyanka no end of headaches. Whether it was his heartbeat becoming wildly erratic when she tried using a stethoscope, a barrier popping out of the thin air when she tried checking his knee and even trying to get an x-ray was obnoxious when his arm briefly swelled up to several times its size before the machine could read it.

After almost an hour, the doctor only felt more confused than before. "Okay, all I can gather is that these powers seem to act reflexively. How do you feel?"

"Really… done with this," groaned the boy, now flickering like a half-dead lightbulb, "Can I just take something and go home now?"

"I'm seriously reluctant to give you any kind of medication. No one knows how that would affect your body."

"But… My dad's still out there! He got abducted last night and I need to look for him!"

As he said this, the rapid expansion started again causing Dr. Mahesweran to back away before he managed to get it under control.

"Hmmm… I think I have an idea on what you need."

"Really?"

"Yes, but it's not an area of my expertise. Before I do anything else, though, I have to ask you a few questions."

"Like what?"

"Have you made any radical changes to your lifestyle recently?"

Steven was very reluctant to talk, but eventually mentioned his bodybuilding phase and how he went from relatively fit to oversized colossus in the span of a few weeks. As stunned as Priyanka was at this information, something Connie hinted at during their day together, she shrugged the shock away and began to theorize, "Hm… As odd as your situation is, I think I can see the problem."

"What is it?"

"You acclimated your body to being in a radically different state than it is currently and now the stress of the situation with your father is causing, for lack of a better term, withdrawal symptoms to appear."

"So… How do I stop it then?"

"Well, the symptoms of any withdrawal period fade with enough time even."

"But I need to save Dad now! I can't just wait forever until it goes away!"

"I'm aware of that, but a quicker answer is not my specialty. There is no magic cure that can just stop all of this. My first bit of advice would be to calm down and-"

"But Dad is somewhere in the world being held hostage by a group of rogue gems and- He might be hurt or they could be- Argh!" Suddenly, with the thought of his father being tortured, he felt an intense pain and began to clutch his heart. His body began glowing even brighter than ever as the lights in the room began to flicker. His body beginning to quiver and twitch.

"Steven, you need to stop straining yourself! It's only making your condition worse!"

"I can't help it! I don't wanna become that obnoxious jerk again!"

"Look, I won't pretend I fully understand your situation because I don't. I'll never be a gem, but it's obvious this is coming down to stress and that's something everyone has!"

"Really?! That's all you've got for me?! My whole life's been one problem after another!"

Steven's body began changing again, but this time it was failing. His body was slowly bulking up, getting bigger despite the hybrid's struggling.

"Fighting killer monsters every day, having an entire empire full of gems that want me and the planet dead, the other gems all having tons of baggage to fix, and now just when everything is being ruined by Red Diamond!"

"Steven!" Priyanka called as she watched him grow up and out more, eventually fleeing the room as Steven's head began scraping the ceiling.

"I haven't even done anything this time!" he growled as his muscles bulged, smashing through the walls and all of the equipment, "Everything was finally fixed and now this?! When does it end?! I swear if I find that Diamond, I'm gonna crush her!"

Lapis was forced to grab Priyanka by the arms and fly her out of the building as a large chunk of the hospital was quickly being demolished by the walls of Steven's muscle. His lumbering form fell to the ground. He then slowly shook his head and got up and realized it. He was a giant again! He looked around. Part of him that was thinking too fast was grateful, he wasn't as big as he was last time. The rest of him was freaking out! He turned back into that… that monstrosity! His face slowly changed into a look of sadness. He looked like he was about to cry until Lapis flew in front of his face.

"Steven? Can you hear me?" she asked. Seeing the expression on his face and how it reacted to her words, she took it as a sign to continue.

"Look, as crazy as it may seem, I know what you feel right now. You feel like you have all this power and it's exciting, liberating… and addictive. You feel like you can do whatever you want no one can stop you and part of you likes it."

He was listening to every single word that she was saying, "But the other part of you? It feels guilty that you like and you try to bottle it up and then you just feel terrible. Steven, that's how I felt as Malachite. One day I just gave into that wanting for power, but I had the other gems and you to pull me out of it."

"But…" he protested, but Lapis was not done.

"I know what the other gems told you, but there's something else. Remember how power is what you make it? You have all this strength, but you need to find the right way to use it. It's fine not wanting to resort to violence, but you've seen sometimes there's no other way. You don't need to be afraid of what you can do, Steven. You need to use it the right way."

Her words reminded him of the advice that he himself would give to other gems. "Heh… it's weird," he finally said after a few seconds, "I'm really used to helping out others who need help… It's weird that now… I'm the one who needs help…"

Lapis smiled at him and then proceeded, "Okay, you're right. I'll just try to readjust…"

He then began to shapeshift again, but this time, he didn't shrink back down to normal size. When he stopped, he was around 7 feet tall and built like an olympic bodybuilder. Thankfully, he was wearing that leaf cloth from the last time he was a giant brute and was instead still in his hospital gown.

"Well, as incredibly bizarre as that was," commented Priyanka, "It looks like your issue is more or less solved. Quick question: How many more times is your body going to change like this?"

"Not sure," Steven said, "This is… still pretty new to me…"

"Hm…" the good doctor thought about it for a moment, then said, "Perhaps… if such a change happens again, you should just let it happen."

"I guess so. My life's changed a ton in the past few years already so why not?"

"Hm…" the good doctor looked at him and thought about it for a second, then she said, "Perhaps this isn't just a physical ailment. From what you were ranting about earlier, this could also be a psychological issue as well?"

"What?"

"You said it yourself, you're holding all this stress after years of life or death situations."

"Y-Yeah I guess… Steven nervously looked at her for a second as she continued.

"I recommend making a sort of support network for yourself. I want you to tell everyone you trust what you told me and Lapis today and explain how you feel. That way you'll have as many people as possible to be there for you. And if you feel it's necessary, perhaps you should look into a professional therapist or counselor but that's entirely up to you."

"Well… I don't know where to start on any professional help, but I think I can go to my friends for help. And… And I can even go to you for advice too, right?"

Priyanka smiled at him then said, "Of course, anything for my daughter's best friend."

Steven then put on a warm smile on his face as he and Lapis left while several people came to investigate the broken down rooms.

Later Steven was entering the beach house, he was a bit nervous about what would happen next but he simply made himself remember that his friends would be there in case he would dive off the deep end again. Not only would he be showing off yet another makeover, but spilling all his emotional baggage again made him think searching for that rogue Lazuli was the better option.

Within a few moments, Steven called the other Crystal Gems to see him. Some were shocked and worried about the fact that he suddenly bulked up again. Then he began to explain everything that just happened to him, leaving out no detail whatsoever. By the time he was finished, he actually felt both more and LESS anxious.
"…And that's the whole story," he said in conclusion, "So… I… I'm gonna need someone to lean on everyone now and then, especially if things get… a bit too much for me… Please?"

"Of course, man," said Amethyst, "That's what we've been trying to do ever since you were a baby."

"I may not have been here since the beginning," agreed Bismuth, "But I'm willing to try anything if it means keeping you in good shape. You deserve it."

"Steven, if you ever doubted that we'd want to help you, I'm so sorry," said Pearl tearfully, "I've always tried being there for you and I'll keep doing it for as long as it takes." She walked up to him, undeterred by him being several heads taller than her, and wrapped her arms around him. It felt nice to Steven, it reminded him of when he was far younger. The better days, as one would call them, before things got complicated in a hurry. Eventually, the other gems began to hug him as well and in a few seconds, he was embraced in a warm, loving group hug. This made him smile warmly and think, I have the best family in the universe…

The tender moment was broken up by the warp stream going off behind everyone where Yellow Pearl entered the house.

"Am I… interrupting anything?" she said awkwardly, noticing how everyone was still clumped together.

Everyone looked at her as an awkward air lingered in the room. "I'm sorry…" she said, just as awkwardly at first, "But, my Diamond has found some information that may interest you…"

Steven was currently chatting with the other diamonds, now dressed with his normal clothes and shapeshifted back to normal size. He also had his jacket tied around his waist in case things got crazy. The news he got WAS already crazy enough though.

"What!?" Steven said, "Dad's on the MOON!?"
"We received reports of recent, increased activity on the planet's sole satellite," Black explained, "It seemed like someone, or something is up there, doing something. What it is, we don't know…"

"There's more…" Yellow added, "We've also seen a few certain energy signatures… The same signatures of Red Diamonds transport ships…"

Steven began to glow pink, his body slowly going back to bodybuilder size.

"S-Steven!?" Pearl stuttered as she began to run over to him.

Steven silently looked at her, and decided to just let the change happen. He was bigger again, his shirtsleeves were torn up. His nails were also more claw-like. He took a deep breath and TRIED to relax, "... Thanks Pearl." He then looked at the monitors showing the Diamonds, "We need to head up there."

"If you're going," said Blue, "You'll need more support this time. Who knows how many gems will be waiting up there?"

Steven immediately looked to his original three caretakers. "You guys want to pitch in?"

"Totally!" said Amethyst, "Nobody messes with that old chump except me!"

"That man's been through more than enough," affirmed Pearl, "And I'll hardly let that megalomaniac have her way with him or any of us!"

"Like you even needed to ask," said Garnet, "And I still owe that Bluebird for getting to you in the first place."

For the first time in a while, he had stars in his eyes.
"We will also lend some support," Yellow stated, the group turned and looked at her.

"That'd be nice," said Steven, "But don't you have stuff on Homeworld to take care of."

"The rest of us are more than capable of running things until Yellow returns," said White, "She's decided to engage Red personally."

The entire assembly was shocked, including Blue and Black. Yellow herself simply shrugged and explained her sudden interest.

"That nuisance has launched another attack on one of my colonies. As much as you disagree with our policies, Steven, I can't change anything if Red steals all the inhabitants and turns them into her mindless experiments. Once I handle her once and for all, I'll be sure to begin restructuring and repurposing my operations to be less hostile."

"Thank you," said the hybrid, genuinely pleased to see her change her ways, "But this isn't going to be easy."

"Red's forces won't be able to do anything if their stuck in their gems thanks to my powers."

"I meant changing colonies."

"Oh… Well, as troubling as it may be to some gems, you made a valid point that our current course isn't sustainable."

Steven nodded at her, "Hey, nothing in life is easy. I mean… Mom knew that. Changes take time and hard work."

"As encouraging as that is," interrupted Black, though he did give Yellow an approving look, "Your father's position is tenuous at best. We need for you to depart now before Red changes his location again."

"Right," Steven stated, "We need a plan…"

"I just so happen to have one," said Yellow, "Give yourselves a few minutes to prepare before you depart. I'm going to make sure Red has no idea you're coming."

"Very well," Garnet said, "You heard her. Gems, let's prepare for the battle at hand."