This is the first what if that nearly happened instead of how we saw events play out.
This is set in chapter 38, When Honor Dies, before Steven turns monster. What if instead of that, Black went with another option?
...
With Steven, the only special gem left to assist him, Black considered his options as the Crystal Gems had the two completely surrounded, leaving any chance for a quick escape seemingly impossible. After a few moments, he found that one option stuck out more in terms of success than any others he could think of.
"Steven, make a barrier between us and them and don't drop it until I say otherwise. I don't want them to reach us as I need a moment."
As ordered, Steven brought up a wide barrier between the Crystal Gems, Black, and himself.
"Alright, it's done Black. Now what should we do?" asked Steven.
"Steven, I need you to hold still, no matter what happens." said Black, who was still several feet taller than that of the boy. With this order, Black reached down and picked up the hybrid. Now within the diamond's grasp, Steven could only wonder what Black's plan would be.
"Uh heh, Black...what's the plan here exactly?"
"Steven, I wish to part some information to you. Since I first discovered you, I didn't think much of you. Your abilities were dull, your organic form was a hindrance, and you could barely do any basic tasks, let alone any that I would require of you. However, over time, I noticed you grow and mature. Your abilities began to manifest and you took control of most of them within record time. Soon, you were prepared for the universe, as you showed when you tackled the headache that is my sister and the rest of her former authority and though you had some minor hiccups alongside a major one or two, you managed to do the impossible and change her mind. However, soon after, I noticed your abilities take a turn as your pink powers manifested. These abilities intrigued me and spurred on the idea of recruiting you sooner rather than later. I continued observing as you struggled to contain these abilities or even figure out their origins. After awhile, you and the rest of your friends believed them to be a part of your ever growing trauma, but I believe I know the real cause for them."
With a finger, Black brought it up to Steven, who was still sitting still unmoving in Black's grasp, though he was somewhat concerned still.
"The real cause for all the success and abilities did not lie here..." Black said as he pointed to Steven's head. "...but rather, here." He said as he moved his finger to the black gem on the boy's stomach.
"Okay...but Black, how does all that help us now?" asked a curious, yet somewhat alarmed Steven.
"Well, as I said, I have observed you grow up and gain your abilities. Though they were impressive, none of them matched up to the powers of the other diamonds during your invasion to Homeworld. But, you still managed to get to White. But something happened there that gained a large thing of attention from me. We discovered something about you that day, something concerning your gem. Am I right?"
As he watched Steven think, he looked on as the boy began to realize what Black was referring to. Seeing the look of agony and horror on the child, he continued.
"What happened that day affected you and all of Homeworld in ways that not even I thought would be possible. Though separating your gem came at a great cost for you in that you almost died and were traumatized beyond belief, you still managed to free Homeworld and defeat my sister...or should I say, the pink you did. Think about it Steven. You and the rest of the Gems were essentially defeated that day. They were all under White's control and you were literally within her grasp and at her mercy. But, through some miracle, your gem saved all of you. And now, I believe it's time for that entity to do the same once more for me."
With this, Black began to bring two fingers to the child. "Be grateful I don't have you do this to yourself. Even that would be far to cruel for my tastes."
As the diamond neared his gem, Steven began to plea. He might not have been able to resist, but he could still try to talk Black out of it.
"Black, please, anything else, just not this. I won't be able to survive long without it. You know this. There has to be another option."
"No my young diamond, I'm afraid there isn't. All your abilities come from your gem and that is the ticket I need for success today, despite how much it's in poor taste. As for your survival, I'm afraid that you won't survive Steven. I have no more use for your organic half as it's emotions and overall weakness has been nothing but a nuisance to me."
Now gripping the edges of the gem, Black began to give a slight pull. Everything seemed to slow. Steven couldn't hear anything but his own heartbeat. His friends watched on it horror as the gem began to slide out of it's host. With a sickening pop, the gem was freed from Steven, who had been unable to do anything.
As the gem was released, the barrier that Steven had created had fallen. Now holding the gem, Black dropped Steven the same way White had...by simply letting go. As he neared the ground, his body gave a sickening thud as it recoiled in the direction of the Crystal Gems, whom had rushed to his side.
"Steven, say something. Please, anything" being one of the sentences among others the group gave in attempts to ensure the boy was still alive. After a few moments, Steven opened his eyes, though it was hardly good to see. The same light that was usually found was no longer seen. Alongside that, the boy seemed pale and almost sickly as he shook and gasped in breathes of air. With the bit of strength he still had, Steven looked up to see his gem start to glow.
"I'm sorry Steven, but this was the only way." Black said as they all watched the pink diamond gem take form. As it shifted through it's previous forms of Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz, it soon settled on the familiar appearance of the teen. Soon, Pink Steven, who was currently grey in color rather than the usual pink, was standing. As he finished taking form, the gem looked over to Steven, then up to Black.
"There we are. Now then, Pink Steven, I trust you know who I am?"
"...Black...Diamond."
"Very good. Now then, for your first task, I want you to defeat any and all of the Crystal Gems and then the diamonds. None of them can stop you at your strongest, so don't hold back."
As if to silently say that he understands, PS turned to the group of gems. Before anyone could react, PS gave a shockwave that separated the group, with the only exceptions being the human half of Steven, and Connie, the two of whom had managed to stay together. As everyone attempted to recover from the attack, they saw that PS had knocked them all away without even trying.
"Gems, take him down. If we can poof this Steven, then Black will lose control over his gem."
Hearing the fusion say this, Jasper moved towards the gem, but was knocked back as the gem gave a counterattack. Before anyone could react or move in for an attack, PS dashed towards the orange gem, who was still recovering. With a swift strike, the warrior was poofed, leaving only the gemstone behind. Seeing that the gem was no longer an issue, PS turned his gaze to the others.
"No...no no." said Steven as he watched his half attack the others. "Connie, you need to stop him. I can't do anything as it is."
"But what about you?"
"Just...go. I'll...be fine." said a weak Steven.
Hearing this, Connie charged the other half. As she neared, she unsheathed her sword, but PS heard hear approach and dodged the incoming strike. As she swung and missed, she left herself wide open. With a quick tense of his movements, PS unleashed another shockwave, sending Connie back to H. Steven.
"No. no, don't do this, please."
With it's current target, PS dashed towards Connie, who hadn't recovered yet. As he made a move to bring a strike down, he stopped suddenly as H. Steven moved in between the two. While he did not have the energy to stand long, he still positioned himself in a way that would have received the blow if it continued. Now standing still, PS stared at it's other half.
"Please...don't do this. We can achieve his goals another way. We don't have to do it this way. I don't want this...and I know you don't either."
As PS listened to his words, Black watched on with a growing annoyance.
"What are you waiting for Pink Steven? Finish them. I said to defeat the Crystal Gems, and that includes your organic half. He has no use to me or you anymore."
As he said this, Black noticed that PS wasn't moving or even responding as he continued staring at H. Steven.
"Fine then. I'll do it myself. If the organic half is so adamant in stopping you, then I suppose we'll just have to erase the problem." Black said as he moved to bring a massive strike down on the human Steven. However, as his fist made contact, he found that it didn't strike the human, but rather a gray barrier made by Pink Steven.
"What do you think your doing? You would go against your diamond?!"
"You won't harm him...me" said Pink Steven.
As he retracted the barrier, he made a shockwave, one with enough force to send Black Diamond away a few feet and knock him on the ground. Before he could recover, PS dashed towards the diamond. Using his strength, he brought down several mighty strikes on the diamond. After sometime, he stopped. As the elder diamond was now in a poor condition, he looked on at the group.
"Hmph, guess this is what you would call instant karma heh heh. Even with my last ditch effort, I still lost to you all...well done Steven...I hope...you survive." He said as he poofed, leaving behind a large gemstone and a generous amount of smoke.
As he poofed, the gems under his control on the battlefield paused. After a moment, they began to poof as the power that was controlling them began to dissipate. As gems began poofing, PS looked over to his human half. Before he had a chance to do the same, he quickly moved to the human.
"Don't...have...long. Need...fusion"
As he said this, everyone could tell he was fighting the urge to poof as well. Seeing his desperation, H. Steven attempted to stand. After a moment, he succeeded and moved into PS's grasp. Now holding each other, a light began to envelop the two. As it died down, the normal Steven was left behind, lying on the ground, unconscious. As his friends rushed over to him, he had signs of life, but none that he would be waking up. As the Gems gathered the boy, they all saw that all the other gems had also finished poofing. With Black Diamond defeated and Steven back in the company of friends, it was clear that the war was over.
...
So there we are. This was a short little what if that almost happened. I toyed with this idea versus monster Steeb for the longest time as both would have had an impact. In the end though, I ended up choosing the path of monster as it was more relevant and provided more plot filled points, such as Black's talk with White, Connie's injury, and Black's speech leading up to the transformation. I won't say I don't like this path though. Had I given it more thought, I'm sure I could have found something as well...but I am glad with how the monster point turned out as well.
If I have any other what if's the come up, I'll update this part of the story, but for now, that is all for Control. Next, I'll be beginning what comes after with Black's defeat. After all, Steven still has trauma to deal with and closure to find for his life. Here soon, you'll find that the story was changed into a series (name pending still) and a part two will be added (it shall be dubbed "Echoes Of An Old Life"), so be on the lookout for that to begin this week.
Side note, this fic was posted on AO3 and . For those on Fanfic, this will just be added on to the story rather than becoming a separate part of the series as I am still unfamiliar with it's layout and design...that and I don't really like it's setup versus that of AO3.
With that, thanks for staying with me this long guys. Hope you all enjoyed this short little what if. It was interesting for me to explore and I'm glad I did as I was curious how it could have turned out if this were the path I took. But regardless, Happy Tuesday. Hope to see everyone again in 'Echoes of an Old Life' once I get it started this week. Thanks everyone and have a good one.
Changes by Black Sabbath