Well, that was it. Connie was gone. Now, she thought of Steven as a cold, uncaring monster. How could any of this happen, and so quickly, too? Even being trapped in a block of ice, it was still hard for Steven to accept the destruction of everything he cared about. Now, all of his friends were afraid of him or brutally killed. He didn't know Onion could scream like that. Stephen was sick. "Even if I do get out of here, it won't make up for what's happened. It won't bring anyone back, and the others would probably never trust me again." Steven wanted to be comforted, to have someone hug him, and to tell him everything would be okay. But it wouldn't be okay, none of this would be okay.
Steven watched through the small GoPro lodged in Stephen's naval as his despicable brother walked through town. He wondered where he would go next, or who would ruin ties with. Much to Steven's horror, he recognized the route that Stephen was taking; it was the route to his dad's car wash. Steven cried silently, hoping with all his might that Stephen would spare his father. He was one of the only ones left who still trusted him, and he couldn't bear the thought of his father dying at what he would believe to be his own son.
Stephen arrived at the carwash, spotting his father washing the tires of his van. "Hey schtu-ball!" Greg called out to his other son, mistaking him for Steven, "What's up?"
"Hey, uh, dad? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Stephen looked upset about something, Greg picking up on it. He didn't know what was troubling Stephen, but he wanted to help any way he could.
"Sure thing, bud. You can talk to your old man about anything." He sat in the opening of his van, gesturing for his son to join him. "It's about the gems again, isn't it?"
"Uh-" Stephen hesitated, not sure if he wanted to tell the full truth. He was pretty embarrassed about what he said to Connie. "It wasn't about gems," he huffed out at last, looking down at his sandals, "It was about Connie."
"Connie?" Greg figured the two of them were so close, that Connie would be the last of Stephen's worries. "Y-yeah." "What happened with Connie?" he put an arm around Stephen, hoping to comfort him. "We had some... creative differences, I guess. We kinda got into a fight."
Greg sat there for a moment, thinking about how to respond. "I guess it was something really bad to make you this upset, huh?" Stephen nodded, trying to prevent the tears forming. "I don't think she wants to be my friend anymore."
"Oh, Steven." he patted the sniffling child's back, "I'm sure she doesn't mean that. Connie probably just needs her own space right now." Because Greg had no context of Onion's peeling or the personal jabs at Connie, he didn't seem to understand that Stephen and Connie could never become friends again. Still, Stephen appreciated his dad for trying to help him, and to be honest, it did calm him down a bit. It felt nice to have somebody reassure him. Even though he would never see Connie again, nor would Greg's advice work, Stephen smiled up at his father. "Thanks, dad."
"No problem, schtu-ball!" He ruffled Stephen's hair, trying to lighten the mood.
As the two laughed and joked around for a bit, the Crystal Gems ran up to Greg's van.
"Steven, there you are!" Pearl ran up to the two men, looking frantic. "You were supposed to be home an hour ago! Where have you been?"
"Hey, Pearl, ease up a little. Steven just needed to have a talk with his old man." He smiled at Pearl, who in return softened her expression. "Did something happen?"
Stephen cursed his dad silently for telling Pearl of all people about his insecurities, only scowling back at her. "It was just human stuff. You guys wouldn't understand." Pearl felt slightly hurt at Stephen's words. She always tried to be there for him, although having little knowledge of human behavior. "O-oh, I see." Pearl looked down, feeling rather awkward.
"It doesn't matter, anyway. We have bigger problems right now." Garnet sliced the tension building between Stephen and Pearl, hoping to make things less uncomfortable for the both of them. She also was tired of always having to be the one to settle the disputes anytime conflict arose. "Malachite is out there, and we still have no way of tracking her down. Any moment she could tear free of her chains and escape her prison. We can't risk that."
Stephen had completely forgotten Malachite was even a threat, since it had been locked away at the bottom of the ocean for so long. Although mostly disinterested, he did find it to be slightly annoying that it was the Crystal Gems that had to do something about it. He was tired, and didn't want to have to do any more fighting or arguing at the moment. It seemed everything important always fell on his shoulders; what a pain! Why couldn't Lapis just keep them held down there longer? It's not like she refused everyone's help and specifically chose to drag Jasper to the bottom of the ocean by herself or anything.
"Ugh, can't that wait?" Stephen groaned, "I'm tiiireed!" Although Stephen's whining usually convinced the gems to give in to his desires, Garnet was in no mood for games today. After his irrational behavior and their distraction from the Cluster ordeal, as well as ignoring the Malachite issue, the gems didn't have much time to waste. Any further delays could result in numerous innocent deaths, or even the destruction of the Earth entirely.
"No, Steven. We have to search now. It could take weeks before we find Malachite, and we have no time left to spare." Stephen sighed obnoxiously, thinking he had no choice. But then, a brilliant idea that would appease Garnet and let Stephen catch a break surfaced. "Wait, Garnet, I have an idea!" he began to run to the ocean at a rather speedy pace.
The gems followed Stephen over to the edge of the beach, watching him wade into the vast sea shore. Shortly after entering, he dropped to his knees, submerging his face in the salty water. An obscure slurping noise left the Crystal Gems baffled. Then they noticed; it seemed the ocean's levels became lower and lower, the tides coming in less high with each wave. As the ocean decreased, the volume of Stephen increased. He grew taller and rounder with every slurp; he was actually drinking the ocean! In no time at all, the entire sea was drunk, with a massive Stephen standing in the center of it all. He had grown to extreme lengths in order to contain all of the world's ocean, his large stomach now gurgling with thousands of confused sea creatures inside. With the now barren ocean floor exposed, the gems noticed a large teal figure struggling not too far in the distance. It was Malachite. Now having no water to hold her captive, she began to writhe in place, trying to regain her mental composure.
Lapis and Jasper fought for dominance over each other, causing the unhealthy fusion to start to separate. Loud calls of anger and dispute echoed in the wasteland of an ocean, Malachite not having quite grasped the situation she was in just yet. In a short time, the two finally split apart after months of being stuck together, causing Jasper and Lapis to smack on the ground with a loud thud, several yards away from the other. Neither of them had won the battle of control, it seemed.
"Steven, that was awesome!" Amethyst yelled, almost laughing at how easy Stephen had made it for them. But before she could stare in awe any longer, the ground began to shake. Where the stunned Jasper laid on the dry ground, a large crack in the Earth formed underneath of her. Before she had time to react, the ground split wide open, causing her to get sucked in the Earth's crack. The opening shut with a loud slamming sound, crushing Jasper in the process. A painful crunch could be heard as her gem was smashed into tiny pieces, forcefully lodged into the Earth's crust. Amethyst immediately stopped laughing, now looking slightly horrified. "Steven!" Pearl yelled up at the swollen child, placing her hands on her hips, "We talked about not killing anyone any more!"
Hardly paying attention, Stephen was more distracted with a delayed gag reflex caused from absorbing the sea. He felt a sudden urge to throw up as he coughed up the ocean, releasing it and a heavy amount of backwash into the seabed where it belonged. He deflated like a flesh balloon as he exerted all of the water, his fat giggling at the immense pressure of it all. A loud flapping sound of Stephen's excessive skin, now loose due to the absence of water in his body, overpowered the roaring of the water cascading from his mouth.
He finally finished deflating, his soggy and stretched body landing on the beach shore gently. Excess skin that had been extended for Stephen to be able to contain the saltwater slowly tightened back up once more. His body returned to normal size and shape, but Stephen lay on the beach with massive beads of sweat covering his entire body. The amount of sweat formulated on him was disgusting, even to himself. Sucking in the ocean was exhausting, and Stephen really needed a break.
As for Lapis, she had been blown away by the sudden force of the ocean's aggressive waves, not having enough time to brace herself after such a traumatic event. She was flung off into the horizon, landing in Jersey of all places. Soon after landing, she decided to start her life over, and become a newer, better person. She actually decided to live there, starting a new life with a cool apartment, being a single gem taking on the big city. She would get a fun job at a local coffee shop, and come home to a wacky roommate.
"Steven, what was that?" Amethyst shrieked, dumbfounded at what just happened. "That was crazy! And not in a good way."
"That was... unexpected." Garnet, commentated, not sure on how to respond.
"What? I stopped the danger, didn't I?" he asked them, putting on Lars' sunglasses he stole from earlier.
"W-well, I suppose so." Pearl tried to act unsurprised, but she did have to admit, Stephen made the job much easier for them. Now, Jasper wouldn't be a threat, and the ordeal with Malachite was no longer a problem. The gems could exert more of their time to stop the Cluster, next.
"Well, that takes care of that!" Amethyst had regained her composure, brushing off the bizarre event. "Since Malachite is defused, does that mean we can just chill?"
"Yes." Garnet had already begun to walk home before she even replied to Amethyst.
"Cool. Well, I'm gonna go check in with Vidalia, she seemed upset about something when I talked to her on the phone this morning."
"Have fun!" Stephen smiled cheekily, having a strong feeling about what they'd be discussing. He and Pearl followed Garnet back to the temple, which wasn't too far from the carwash. Since Stephen was omitting a foul odor, he decided that he would go home and take a nice shower to wash off the fish smell and sweat stains.