Warp Tour

On a clear, sunny evening Steven and the gems walked through a meadow of flowers. Pearl and Amethyst were the first ones to walk out into a small clearing, where the warp pad sat in the middle.

"Wow, I can't believe that went so well!" The lanky gem said as she smiled, putting her hands on her hips.

"That was kinda cool when you hit it with your spear and it went, 'bing-bong!' Bsh!" Amethyst made an explosion sound as she waved her hands. Pearl blushed and held up a hand to her mouth, "And the way you were circling around it, almost looked like strategy~"

Amethyst blushed, "W-well, I can do that stuff, too." And rubbed her arm while looking away.

As Garnet sent a gem away, Pink emerged from the meadow with Steven on her shoulders. His eyes were puffy and red, along with his nose and cheeks.

"Sorry I couldn't help… I think these flowers are making me-Ah… Ahhh…" He looked to the side and sneezed. "Sorry."

"Steven, you're supposed to sneeze into your antecubital fossa." Pearl explained, making Steven look at her confusingly. "My what?"

"Your… this thing." Pearl pointed at her inner elbow. Steven was put down as they got onto the warp pad. Warping away, Steven looked at his elbow before feeling the urge to sneeze again.

The gems noticed this, and Amethyst quickly pointed at Pink, "Do it at her!" The tall gem quickly grabbed her and held her up like a shield, "Get her Steven!" Pearl, meanwhile, panicked and tried moving away from him. "Steven, your fossa!"

Steven sneezed and began floating up, before his head was out of the warp stream. "Wha… woah!"

He looked out at what appeared to be space. Large, black clouds swirled and moved wildly, large white bolts of lightning shooting out of them. A distant warp chime gained his attention, and looked down. A new warp stream appeared, and a circular object shot up through it.

"What the-" He was pulled back into the warp stream, and he saw Pearl holding him.

"Careful! It's incredibly dangerous to stick your head out of the stream." Pearl said, as Garnet flicked off frozen snot from his nose. "There's not much air, and it's incredibly cold."

"Yeah, what if you got dragged out?" Pink said as she put a hand on her hip. "You could've been turned into an icicle."

"Guys! I saw something out there!" Steven yelled as he escaped from Pearl's arms. "Something warping!"

"What? That's impossible. Are you sure your vision isn't blurry from pollen?" Pearl asked, and Steven frowned.

"I can see perfectly… Pearl?" He squinted to see if he was right. "I know there's something out there!"

"Steven, nothing's been out there for a long, long time." Garnet said, while Pink nodded next to her.

"Yeah, you probably just saw lightning or something." Steven frowned at them and crossed his arms.

Steven stared at the ceiling, occasionally looking down at the warp pad. His mind was still taking in the warp encounter. So much so, that he freaked out when he heard the refrigerator open.

"Ahh! Amethyst." He said in an annoyed tone, looking down at the purple gem.

"Hey Steve! Want some macaroni cheese?" She asked as she ripped open a bag of cheese. Steven sighed as Amethyst began walking away to her room.

"Wait! I can't sleep." He quickly said, stopping her in her tracks.

"Why? Are you scared that thing you saw warping right into the house and attacking you in your sleep?" Amethyst asked, each word making Steven retreat under his blanket.

"No?" He whispered under the blanket, holding it up to cover his face.

"Oh! Good, good… nighty night. Don't let the warp monster bite!" Amethyst teased as she walked into her room and let the door close. Steven could hear her laughter all the way from his bed.

He huffed and threw the blanket off, standing up. Taking out a water gun from his closet, he walked down to the front door and narrowed his eyes.

"Looks like I'm not sleeping tonight." He said as he glared at the warp pad.

Next Morning

Steven was fast asleep with his water gun in his lap, leaning against the door.

"Steven, we have a surprise for you!" Two fingers began tapping on his head, and he almost instantly woke up.

"Ahh! Aghh!" He began spraying down whoever was in front of him, which turned out to be Pink Diamond.

He soon stopped once he realized who it was. "Oh… sorry Pink."

"Steven! That was very uncalled for." Pearl reprimanded, before Garnet pulled a tray of cookies out from behind herself. "Guess you're not getting any cookies."

"Oooh! Let me have 'em!" Amethyst said, reaching for the tray. Garnet complied, letting the short gem eat the cookies.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't…"

"Didn't get any sleep." Garnet finished for him, and he yawned, "Maybe."

"This isn't about that warp thing, is it?" Pink asked as she stood up and wiped water off herself.

"But it's real! I saw something warping!" Steven argued, before Pearl put her hands on his cheeks.

"Listen, nothing on Earth can use the warps but us. Do you understand?" Steven began looking away, making Pearl smile. "Steven, nod in agreement if you understand." He moved away, and Pearl held on.

"Nod in agreement-"

"Okay Pearl, that's enough," Pink interrupted, and the pale gem let go with a frown.

"Steven, if it's bothering you this much, then I don't see the harm in checking out the warps. Would that make you feel better?"

Steven nodded with a grateful smile as Pearl looked at Pink questioningly.

They first warped back to the flower meadow, looking around to see if anything was there.

"Nothing unusual here." Garnet said before Steven sneezed from allergies, "Bless you."

Next, they appeared in a large crater, which had a huge, circular orb in the middle. A long piece of duct tape ran along one of its sides.

"Nothing here either. And the Geode is holding nicely." Pearl said as she put her arms on her hips.

As they appeared on the top of a forested mountain, Amethyst called out, "Woah, now that's something!" She pointed at a nearby mountain goat, which had a few babies around it. "Steven Jr.'s been busy. That makes you a grandpa!" Amethyst laughed as she looked at Steven.

"Congratulations." Garnet said as she ruffled his hair.

"Now you can come visit your grandkids Steven!" Pink said happily, but the boy was getting annoyed.

"Hey, we're getting off task here!" He huffed while putting one hand on the other.

"We've looked all over. There's nothing out here to find!" Pearl said, her arms crossed.

Steven looked away, "But you're wrong." He muttered while rolling his eyes, making Pearl turn to him. " Excuse me?"

"I-I mean-"

"Nothing on Earth can use these warps but us." Pearl said, making Steven look down.

"Well, what if it came from space?" Steven countered, making Pearl raise a finger and pause.

"I… don't appreciate your tone." Pearl warned as she pointed at him.

"Alright, how about we check the Galaxy Warp then? If it's anywhere, it should be there." Pink said, while Steven glared at Pearl.

"Yes, and then we can be done with this childish hunt." Pearl said angrily, crossing her arms again.

They appeared on a large raised platform, which was surrounded by water and jagged rocks. Dotted along the platform was different warp pads, and a large one sat in the middle of them. Pearl quickly stepped off and began walking towards the large warp pad.

"These are the warps that once connected us to other planets. If something tried to come from space, it would be through here," Pearl pointed at the large warp. "But wait! This one is broken, marked inactive by the very depressed cartoon breakfast sticker you placed here yourself !"

Steven gasped as she pointed at the sticker, and Amethyst bumped into him. "Welp, Pearl's right, as usual. You get used to it."

Garnet's hand landed on Steven's head, but he quickly took it off and looked up at her. "We're safe." She said, making Steven frown deeper.

"Well, I guess so." He muttered as he walked over to the sticker. As Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst talked, Pink frowned and walked over to Steven.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked as Steven glanced back at her.

"Yeah, I guess." He said as he bit down on his lip, glaring at the sticker on the warp.

"See, now Steven's much better." Pearl said after hearing him. "Now we can put this all behind us!"

"Finally, that took us all day." Amethyst groaned while putting her arms behind her head.

"It was important to make Steven feel secure." Garnet said while smiling.

"Yes, now Steven feels much better." Pearl stated, and Steven finally had enough.

"I'm a little tired of being told how I feel!" He screamed while turning on Pearl, glaring at her. "I know I saw something outside the stream!"

"And I know you didn't!" Pearl said, starting off a huge argument between the two. As they fought Pink backed away to Garnet and nudged her shoulder.

"Garnet, step in or something!" She whispered, while Amethyst watched the fight in amusement.

"Steven, you just don't know what you're talking about." Pearl said while rolling her eyes.

"It sounds like… maybe… You don't know what I'm talking about!" Steven yelled while pointing a finger at Pearl's chest. Garnet stepped between them, "Alright Steven, that's enough. Let it go."

He lost his fight in him and looked down, biting his lip again. Pearl huffed and began walking to the warp, Amethyst following her.

Steven glanced at the large warp pad, looking it up and down warily.

Later that Day

Steven sat cross legged on the ground in front of the warp. A bowl of macaroni was in his lap, and his eyes were red.

As he took a bite of macaroni, the warp activated in front of him. He yelped and quickly got to his feet, leaving his bowl to fall on the floor. The warp pad stopped and...

He frowned when he saw Pink, who waved at him. "Hey Steven... you're still here."

"Yeah." He groaned, frowning when he noticed the spilt macaroni on the floor. Sitting back down, Steven glared back at the warp. Pink frowned and walked over, before sitting down next to him.

After they sat there in silence, Pink spoke up with a joke, "Y'know, I actually waited to come back. You've been sitting here about fourteen thousand seconds."

Steven nodded his head slowly, still glaring. Pink looked away worriedly, "Yeah... listen, I know how it feels when people don't… y'know, take you seriously."

Steven looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well, yeah. Back in the day, every time I tried saying anything… I was just overlooked. I… I don't know, It was a long time ago."

She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm just saying, I understand. And I think you're onto something with this warp situation."

"You think so? Ugh, I'm tired of being told I'm wrong! I know I saw something… we just can't find it." Steven muttered the last part out, and crossed his arms.

"I'm sure we will. Also, are you gonna clean that up?" She pointed at the discarded macaroni, before a loud whistling noise reached their ears.

A loud crash roared behind them, and they turned to see a small green orb on the floor. A perfect circular hole was now smack dab in the roof.

Steven and Pink stood up and stared at the orb. The boy began laughing wildly as Pink looked at it in confusion.

"I was right!" Steven said while stepping up to it, but Pink quickly pulled him away.

"Be careful!" She warned as she kept an eye on the device. The device suddenly grew out four little legs, making the two recoil slightly.

The orb began walking to the warp, and Steven quickly put the two together. "It's trying to get to the warp!"

He quickly got in its way, while Pink walked up behind it. She grabbed it quickly, making it begin wiggling around.

"Got'cha!" She said as it struggled in her grip. "Go get Pearl and Garnet!" She ordered Steven, before getting hit in the face by the orb. It held up one of its legs, which began sparking with little bolts of electricity. The orb touched her arm, making her yelp and let it go.

As she held her arm in pain, the orb began making a run for the warp, but got one of its legs grabbed by Steven.

"Stay. Down!" He warned as he held onto it. It tried shocking him too, but only left small lines riding up his arm. He quickly swung it around and let go.

The orb smacked into the warp, leaving a small crack. Steven gasped, seeing how badly the throw hurt the orb. With shaky steps, the orb opened up a small port, and shot a glistening liquid at the crack.

As soon as it hit the crack, the crack began disappearing until it was completely gone. The warp began glowing, making Steven panic.

"It's trying to warp away!" Pink yelled, before rushing and jumping onto the orb. Steven jumped on too, landing on Pink.

The warp activated and sent them into a warp stream. Pink continued wrestling with the orb, while Steven joined in with her. That was, until five more orbs flew in from outside the stream.

"There's more of them!?" Steven said before getting hit in the back by one. They began swarming the two, piling up on each other. Pink and Steven tried pushing them back before the warp stream ended.

They all fell down on the warp as all of the orbs began letting go and walking away. Steven looked up and saw more around the Galaxy Warp, shooting the weird substance from earlier. Pink let go of the broken orb she had as she looked up at the large warp.

"What are they doing? Are they fixing it?" Steven asked as he saw the orbs spray around the warp. It was soon completely engulfed by the liquid, and fixed in an instant.

"I… I don't know!" Pink said as she looked at the warp in horror. Suddenly, it activated and caused the two to gasp. Pink quickly grabbed Steven and ran up to a pillar. She jumped up and created a shield under herself, keeping them in place.

The two watched with wide eyes as a gem appeared on the warp, who looked around with a bored frown. Five floating fingers acted as her hands, and they formed a translucent screen.

"Log date three-one-two. This is Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, performing Earth hub maintenance check." The gem, Peridot, said aloud as she tapped on her screen.

Steven looked at Pink and whispered, "Peridot, her name is Peridot." But Pink covered his mouth in a panic. As they listened to Peridot, the green gem stopped with a startled gasp.

The two eavesdroppers watched her look down at the broken, leaking orb, apparently named a "Flask Robonoid". It lifted one of its legs, and pointed it straight at them. The two froze, expecting Peridot to catch on. Instead, the green gem put her foot down on the robonoid and crushed it.

Steven gasped at the action, thinking of it as if it were her baby. Pink scowled as Peridot continued talking while stepping down from the warp. The green gem turned around and stopped. She bent down and took off the sticker Steven placed on the warp.

She looked around before hastily walking back up on the warp. "This site may have been compromised." Her gem glowed before she took a large green device and placed it on the warp pad. After she warped away, it exploded and deactivated all of the Robonoids nearby.

Pink and Steven came out from hiding and ran to the warp. "Who was that gem? Are more gems coming here?!" Steven questioned as he looked up to Pink. She looked terrified.

The pink gem didn't respond, and her hands shook violently. She never responded to him, just staring at the warp pad. "We should go tell the others about this." Steven muttered as he frowned at the warp.

Steven stepped back in surprise when a small crack glowing pink appeared between his feet. He yelped and looked up at Pink, who was radiating a pink aura.

"A-Are you okay?" Steven asked, reaching a hand out to her. A sharp pinch on his finger quickly made him recoil. He looked at his finger and saw a small, thin cut on the end. It began leaking blood, and Steven wiped it on his shirt to get it off. To his surprise, Pink finally moved.

She slowly walked towards the warp while her hands squeezed into fists. She stopped at the stairs of the warp, bringing her arms over her head. Pink shields formed overhead, lined with spikes. It soon made a large spiked wall, floating in the air.

Steven watched as Pink brought down her hands and the wall fell, making him bring up his arms to block his face. Fragments of the warp flew across the Galaxy Warp, and a few small rocks hit Steven's arms.

After silence fell around him, he uncovered his face and looked at Pink. She was still glowing, now standing in front of a small crater where the warp used to be.

Steven was taken aback by her. He hasn't ever seen her... glow before. It made him feel nervous, just adding to the heat of his new cut. The pink gem's glow slowly died down, until she was normal again. Her hands still stayed as fists, but loss the stress in them.

Steven walked over and stopped at the edge of the crater, "I… guess they can't come back anymore?" He frowned at just the amount of damage done. He couldn't even imagine having the power to do... that.

After getting no response, he put a hand on his gem. "We should go tell Garnet and Pearl."

"No." Pink muttered, making Steven look at her in confusion. She was glaring at the crater, gritting her teeth.

"What? Why not?" He questioned while looking at her in surprise. 'Why wouldn't we tell them!?'

"If they find out that gems are coming back to Earth... they're gonna fall apart. We have to keep this a secret."

"Like we did with the Secret Team?" Steven asked, making Pink nod slowly. She still never met eyes with him. "But we disbanded the Secret Team! We said we would be one team again." He was so confused. It didn't make any sense!

"Well, just think of this as an extension, Steven. Think of this as our own team. Okay?" Pink asked, turning to him and getting down on her knees. She finally looked down at him with a reassuring smile. He could see how forced it was, but another part of him wanted to just go along with it. Maybe it was the aura she now had around her. But that glowing...

"Steven," He looked up at her. "We're doing this for them." She put her hands on his shoulders and grew her smile. He glanced back at the crater, eyes examining the edges, before slowly nodding.

"Okay. I'll keep it a secret." He gave a light smile at her, before she pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Steven. Please, let's not talk of this again." He could hear a distant happiness in her voice. She pulled away and smiled again, this time with the sincerity in it.

"So... What about the warp? Aren't the gems gonna ask about it?" Steven pointed at the crater, causing Pink to rub the scruff of her neck.

"We'll tell them a corrupted gem destroyed it. Here," She looked around before finding a small piece of rubble. Picking it up in her hands, she crushed it in her hands before a light twinkle appeared near her hands. Steven watched curiously as she opened her hands and revealed a now shiny pink rock. She created a bubble around it and sent it away, "There! Now they'll believe it more."

"How'd you do that with your hands?!" Steven asked in surprise. Pink winked at him, "Magic." She waved her hands to the side in an arch, making him laugh softly.

"Anyway, if they ask about the warp thing, just pretend that you agree that you saw nothing." Her face gained a tinge of seriousness, and Steven nodded.

"Yes ma'am!" He gave a fake salute, making Pink snort and mimic him, giving a salute of her own. The tension had finally died out from the air as the two began giggling.

"Anyways, let's get all of these weird robots out of here." Pink said as she picked up a Flask Robonoid. Steven agreed and picked two up, carrying them under his arms and accidentally getting some of the weird green goop they had in them on his shirt. He groaned disappointingly, "Ahh, this shirt was new!"

As the two cleaned up the Galaxy Warp, a pink and blue light shined from a multicolored star in the sky. The black night sky, blanketed with stars, gained a beautiful pink and blue hue that week.