What?! A double update?! How does he do it?! Lmao, I jest, only a joke, I know many do double updates all the time.

Anyway, I wanted to save this till I have a sold idea for everything that I wanted out of the next chapter, but I was dying to get this out, so I'll do a double update in hopes that I won't be in too much trouble for taking a little while to update again.

Anyway, enjoy the second chapter of today.

-=The Pearls' house=-

-=Yellow Pearl/Blue Pearl/Pink Pearl/Spinel=-

Whenever Steven would leave to go participate in his clean up duties, he would leave Spinel with the Pearls as they liked her and she felt pretty comfortable around them as well, though from the second Steven would leave she would just ball up in the corner with her bear, worrying about the day he wouldn't return.

Pink Pearl had decided to show her interest in the younger Gem, opting to try and have a conversation with her.

"Um- Hello there." She said with a wave and a small smile. The one eyed Gem sat down on her legs in front of her. "I don't believe we have really talked since you began staying here. Steven calls me Pinkie, so since it's easier to say than spewing out my facet and cut, I just go by that."

Spinel glanced up from the ball of anxiety she made out of herself. "Nice to meet you, I'm Spinel..." She said quietly as she gave he own wave.

"Nice to meet you too." The Pearl's smile got bigger at the fact that this Gem had even talked back to her.

"Did you need help with something?" Spinel asked, as she had been helping the Pearls around the house in turn for letting her stay, despite their protests.

"No, not really- it's just that...well, you're so energetic and happy when you first get here, are we doing something wrong?" She asked, making sure to keep a friendly face and tone as not to make her feel any worse.

"Oh, stars no, you all have been wonderful." She responded, mustering up a smile. "I'm fine, no need to worry about me."

"I see...so, what is it that you got there?" Pinkie asked, gesturing to the stuffed bear she was clutching onto as if her life depended on it.

"Oh, well I got this when Steven took me to earth. He brought me to a place where we played games, and I was able to get this. He told me to keep it on me if I start feeling anxious about him not coming back...but, it's not helping all that much right now..." She explained, looking over the plushie. "It really only helps remind me that he wouldn't purposely abandon me..."

"Oh, well that's nice. So, you're worried about something then? Is that why you always look so glum, sitting over here in the corner?" She questioned.

"Yeah...Steven is in trouble. I'm sure you've heard about the rebellion against him by now, right?" The younger Gem asked.

"Yes, the little war that took place throughout the day in the capital?" Pink nodded, thinking back to when Blue Pearl told her and Yellow about it.

"Yeah, well Steven blames himself and so he can catch the rogue Gems, he's been using himself as bait with the cover of being part of the clean up crew. I'm just worried that he won't return when they finally do take the bait." She explained, still doubtful that things would go so smoothly.

"I see. Yes, that is a legitimate concern that we should have, but I trust that the Diamonds assigned capable Gems to watch over him." The Pearl answered with a reassuring smile.

"Right, I mean, White sent them out to watch him, I'm sure she pulled out her most elite Quartz soldiers." Spinel nodded, feeling a bit better, even if just for a moment.

-=Steven/Rebel Gems=-

-=The capital=-

"Jasper?! You're behind all of this?! I thought we could be friends after I helped you!" Steven tried to argue, wincing as he felt the pain in his back settling in.

"Friends? Is that a joke? Why would I want friendship from the thing that actually took my Diamond away?" She growled as she pressed her foot on his chest, being careful to keep far away from her Diamond's gem.

Steven felt surprised when he didn't feel terrible about being told that it was his fault for his mother being gone.

Now if that was because he was over it or that he was glad she wasn't around to ruin more lives, he couldn't decide.

"She created me cause she wanted to, no matter what her motivations were, it was her choice to have me. You being mad that I'm here and she isn't, is just you being mad at her and her own decisions." He said confidently as his gem glowed.

"Don't you dare talk down to me in such a way you abomination! You were a mistake, the sooner you realize that, the better for everyone!" Jasper shouted, pushing her foot down harder.

Steven could feel his back begin to heal up, but the pressure on his chest became unbearable. He calmed down and thought about the situation from a realistic perspective.

He had been trained for these kind of situations, Bismuth was very thorough in making sure he could defend himself.

He grabbed her ankle with one hand and materialized a shield in his other. He used his Gem strength to hit her behind her knee, forcing her to kneel before wrapping his other hand around her ankle. He then used all of his strength to put her over his shoulder from her knee and flip her onto the ground as hard as he could.

He thought he had gotten her good, but she just chuckled as she slowly got up. "Well, I guess you have her fighting spirit, I'll give you that much."

Steven wasn't completely sure if that was a complement or not but he didn't have time to figure it out as she dashed for him.

"No one touches him but me; he's all mine!" She shouted as she brought her fist down on him.

The hybrid was lucky enough to shield the attack before it could hit, but the sheer force of her attack cracked the pavement below his feet.

He felt his spine and knees giving out and knew he had to do something before she really hurt him. He once more calmed his breathing and used her momentum against her, putting his shield at an angle so her fist would slide off to the side and strike the ground.

He took the short time he had before she recovered to slam his foot into the side of her head, sending her tumbling back a few feet.

"Ha! Where was this when we first met?!" She said, grinning wildly as she charged at him once again, this time in the form of a spin dash.

He was hardly able to dodge her rapid attacks, needing to use his shield at times, just managing to not loose an arm.

Once she came at him again, he summons his spike bubble, hoping that she would poof on this attack or at least be disoriented enough to allow him to run.

Unfortunately, she just launched herself into the air and landed on the other side of him. "I've learned about you organics, so I know you can't hide in there forever, and you'll come out eventually...and when you do..." She grabbed a spike and leaned closer to the surface of the bubble. "you're finished."

He backed away to the other side of the bubble. "You'll be surprised how little I need to survive nowadays." He said cockily as he leaned against the surface of the bubble. "By the time I need new air, you guys will have been caught already."

"Jasper, we really shouldn't play around here, we need to bring him back before she has to come out here herself and she gets pretty scary when she's mad..." A Gem spoke quietly to the Quartz warrior.

"Oh shut up, that runt won't do anything." Jasper waved her off. "Now, with that being said, I'm getting bored and he has a point."

She pulled out a destabilizer and slammed it into the bubble, the secure sphere dissipating almost instantly.

Steven fell to the floor and began backing away, his mind clouded with different scenarios of how this could turn out.

He turned around and began to run but she caught him by his shirt and lifted him to her face. "Well, you fought somewhat respectably up till you cowered away inside that bubble I guess, but that won't change your fate." She said, summoning her crash helmet.

"Wait-wait-wait!" Steven held his hands in front of him but before he could even summon a new shield, she head butted him once again, knocking him out.

-=Steven=-

Location: -=???=-

Steven woke up in a dark room, it only being illuminated by a barred window at the top near the ceiling.

He slowly got up, the world around him swaying back and forth before finally stabilizing.

He glanced around his cell, realizing he was alone. "Now is my chance to escape." He thought as he went to jump for the window, only to find himself on the ground right after.

"Wh-What? Why can't I go higher?" He questioned out loud before trying again, only to fail once more.

He went to use his bubble, but to no avail, next he tried summoning his shield, but as you would imagine, it didn't work.

"What's happening?!" He panicked as he sat down while looking at his stomach. He pulled his shirt up to see that his gem had been locked.

When he took charge of Homeworld, these were more commonly used to keep criminals from trying to escape prison while they served their sentence fully conscious, but they weren't available for civilian Gems, how would they get their hands on one?

He was taken out of his thoughts when he heard the door to his cell open, Jasper walking in with a couple of other Gems.

"Let me out of here!" He demanded, jumping to feet. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Well, some of us have our individual reasons, but all of us agree that you're changing things for the worse, and as loyal Gems to the authority, it is our job to get rid of you so things can go back to how they were." Jasper explained with her arms crossed.

She then leaned forward toward the hybrid. "But, I have my own personal reasons, as I'm sure you could've assumed. Anyway, we came to an agreement on what we should do with you. Grab him."

Before he could react, he felt two Gems grab his arms from behind. No matter how much he squirmed, all it did was intensify the pain.

"So I guess you wanna know what's going on, and since I'm half sure this will kill you, I'll just tell you." She said with a nasty smirk. "You see, we all have come to agree that Homeworld would be better off without you, but the Diamonds would be very upset. So, in your place, we're just gunna take her back." She said, pointing to his stomach.

"Wh-What?...What are you saying?..." Steven asked, his face paling, and his heart beginning to race in fear as she grabbed his shirt and pulled it up.

"Well, we're going to rip our poor Diamond out of you and free her. You're obviously some disgusting organic prison, so just like you did when I captured you for the first time, I think it's time for a little prison break." She chuckled darkly as she reached for his gem.

Steven began to panic, taking the opportunity to spit in her eye and kick her in the face with all the might he could muster as just a normal human.

"Why you little-" Jasper sneered as she slammed her fist into his chest, breaking quite a few ribs.

The hybrid shouted out in pain with an ear piercing cry of agony that echoed down the halls of the dungeon he was being held in.

Steven began squirming more, whimpering out for her to stop, a sharp pain appearing in his chest behind his ribs, therefore unable to muster any more than that without pain. At this point practically begging her not to, but it was all ignored. He felt her grip onto the Diamond in his stomach, and before he could process what was happening, he blacked out.

Once the hybrid was out, Jasper set the Diamond down on the ground as it began to glow. A wild grin spread across her face as she stood with a Diamond salute.

At first, she saw the outline of her Diamond, Jasper becoming slightly disappointed when it turned to the silhouette of her Rose Quartz persona, though she reminded herself that it was still her Diamond.

But in the end, her disappointment was justified, as the final form was that of Steven. "What? She chose that form?"

She reminded herself as well that she shouldn't question her Diamond, that she was probably just confused and disoriented.

"My Diamond, you're free from that thing now; I let you out." She said slowly as she approached the motionless being of pure Diamond energy.

Once she didn't receive an answer, so she decided to try again. "M-my Diamond?...Pink?"

"Pink?...Your Diamond?..." It spoke calmly I'm a monotone version of Steven's voice as it slowly turned its head to looked at her.

"Oh, your mind must be all jumbled up from being in that thing for so long." Jasper sighed as the Gems from earlier dropped him onto the ground. His eyes opening, as he felt his consciousness coming back.

The glowing, pink, emotionless being looked down to him and began to approach him. Jasper put a hand on its shoulder. "My Diamond, don't worry yourself with that abomination, let's just get you out of here, ok?"

Steven tried to get up, but he was quick to realize that he had no control over the right half of his body to the point where his right eye wasn't seeing out of his own...it was seeing from his gems's eye? As for the rest of his body, it was as if someone pulled a plug and disconnected him from it.

"N-no, I need it." He called out horsely as he reached and arm out, the pain in his chest worsening. He was scared, he was cold, he was hurt, and he could feel himself...dying.

"Your Diamond? Pink Diamond..." it said, this time it was less of a question.

"Yes, you're Pink Diamond, don't you remember?" Jasper asked, desperate to have her Dianond back.

"No. She's gone. Our name is Steven." It said in its usual calm voice as it turned back around and began approaching him once again.

"Wh-What?..." She asked, a cold feeling rushing through her.

It turned back around to look at her. "Our name, is STEVEN!" It shouted loud enough to send her and the other Gems flying into the walls of the cell and making Steven cover his ears while the lock on its gem exploded off. "Remaining threats decapacitated."

Once the dying boy looked back up, the entire room was covered in cracks and there was a small circular carter in the floor.

He flinched as it reached out for him, but to his surprise, it just slowly and gently turned him onto his back, though despite the gentleness of the movement, he felt a sharp pain in his lung.

"Searching for irregularities." It spoke, seemingly to itself. "Five broken ribs and a punctured lung. Systems failing, chance of repairs 93%. Chance of current survival 0.1%. Please try to keep on breathing through the pain."

He was confused, the pain had gotten worse, and his vision was fading, but he listened to what it instructed him to to and tried to stay awake, focusing on breathing. He winced from each breath, but nevertheless, he never tried to stop himself from doing so.

Though, despite his efforts, he felt himself drifting off...was this death? Why...did it feel so relaxing?

The pink version of the boy stood over him, realizing that he had just died. It stood over him before laying against the diciest teen.

A bright light lit up the room and they were one entity once again. "Brain is still perfectly intact, chance of successful revival 99%. System reboot."

Steven's heart began to pump once again, his lungs filled with air and allowing fresh oxygen to go to his brain.

They hybrid's eyes shot open as he gasped for air, clutching his shirt over his chest. He wanted to get up, though he found himself unable to move due to the pain in his torso.

"Wh-What just happened?!" He panicked, feeling as though he might cry. "Do not worry about it, revival was a success. Now- please be silent and relax so that I may repair your body."

Steven had so many questions, but neither the energy or will to even bother asking. What he gathered was that this thing in his head must be his gem and that it must've awaken by being removed from his body.

Then the gravity of the situation hit him: he was just dead there for a minute. The thought horrified him to no end.

Maybe five minutes of thinking about what just happened to him later, he was able to get up again, and he noticed that the others were all poofed, though none of them seemed to be cracked.

He could hear voices coming from down the hallway outside his door so he got ready and summoned his shield.

"Please refrain from combat; healing is only at 72%. Escape without conflict if possible." He heard a monotonous version of his voice speak, recognizing it as his pink self's voice.

"Why can you can talk to me still?" He questioned, becoming even more confused.

"Please focus on the task at hand, survival chances are at 45% and dropping by the second." It reminded him.

He shook his head and focused, he could ask his questions after he escaped. The hybrid turned to the bars on the window. "Can I break those bars out?"

"Healing will be reduced by 40%, but it is an acceptable escape route." It informed him.

He floated up to the bars and held back his cries of pain as he struggled to rip them out. "Three cracked ribs, two broken, healing reduced to 53% please refrain from letting it hit zero, I cannot revive you again, as you are running on low energy."

He let out a pained grunt as the bars finally let out, breaking the stone around them. He was quick to slip out the window and into the pouring rain just before two Gems rushed into the room.

"Go get back up, we need to search for Pink Diamond immediately!" He could hear one shout.

He tried to run but ended his falling to his knees due to the pain shooting through his torso. "Healing at 34%, please rest."

"Listen, I don't know what's going on with you, or why you can talk to me still, but we need to get out of here now, can't I heal any faster?" He asked, unsure of how he was healing as fast as he was in the first place.

"Negative, but I can strengthen you and your body as to not cause any irreversible damage, though due to your current state, the repercussions include complete drainage of energy, dehydration, unconsciousness and 40% chance of a coma, as well as prolonged healing, do you wish to proceed?" It offered.

"Yes, it's better than dying again, just get me away from here!" He panicked as he could hear shouting from around the corner.

"Overdrive accepted, you have ten minutes until shut down." It warned.

Steven could feel a warmth envelope him as he was surrounded with a pink aura, his hair waving as if it was floating. He felt much better now, in fact, he couldn't remember a time when he felt this good to begin with.

"Alright, I just have to figure out where I am and find a warp pad." He spoke as he jumped up extremely high into the air.

He noticed that he wasn't too far from the center capital, so before leaving, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of the building he was just in. It seems they took his communicator but had no clue what a phone was so they ignored it.

After he finished with that, he landed on a roof and launched himself towards the capital. Not long after he was jumping from roof to roof until he sensed something flying right for him.

He jumped up in the air right as a ball of water crashed through the roof right where he just stood.

The powered up hybrid turned around to see two Gems that looked awfully a lot like Lapis. "Two Lapis Lazuli: terraformers, but also potential deadly warriors, in your current condition, you have no chance to fight both of them, and it would decrease your remaining time by five minutes, leaving you with two minutes to reach the capital if you were to defeat them instantly. In the event that you do fight them, they currently have a nearly endless supply of water due to the rain, you wouldn't stand a chance. The best course of action is to flee at a faster rate. Concentrating power on speed boost."

Steven felt much lighter on his feet now, assuming that it was due to what the voice in his head said, so he decided to do as it commanded and run. "Speed boost negating one minute from your remaining time. You now have five minutes and forty seconds left."

He jumped from roof to roof faster now, leaving cracks under each step and the two attackers in his dust.

All in all it took him four minutes to reach the central warp in the middle of the capital. He was quick to jump on it, his mind set on getting to Spinel at the moment, maybe one of the Pearls could help him.

In a flash of light, he disappeared from the warp.

-=The Pearl House=-

-=Steven/Spinel/Blue/Yellow/And Pink Pearl=-

Spinel was pacing back and forth in front of the warp pad, as it had now been a full 34 hours since Steven had left for clean up duty.

"Spinel, I'm sure he's alright. He probably just had some sort of coincidental inconvenience that separated him from the warp, you should try to sit down and relax, okay?" Pinky offered with a smile as she patted the seat next to her. "We can get back to figuring out new fun games to play tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, I just can't relax right now; my mind just refuses to believe that anything good has happened." She said holding her bear close. "He shouldn't be gone this long, every minute is starting to feel like a hundred years..."

Everyone in the living area was surprised to see the light shine from the warp pad after all this time, while Spinel was overjoyed when she saw her best friend's face...well that was until she saw his condition.

The boy was bruised and panting, he looked exhausted, but the most notable difference was that he was now enveloped in a pink aura.

"S-Steven?..." Spinel managed to be the first to speak.

Despite his battered state, he was able to give her a reassuring smile as he staggered forward. "Hey, Spinel." He waved slightly as he approached her. "I'm back, I kept my promise."

The boy gave a weak chuckle as his eyes slowly closed, his aura disappearing as he fell forward. Spinel was quick to catch him before he hit the floor. "Steven! Steven wake up!"

He could hear her voice becoming more muffled as he fell unconscious with his hand in hers.

-=End Of Chapter=-

Now, you may be asking why Pink Steven is behaving the way he is here. Well based off of an AU comic where Spinel actually kills Steven and Pink Steven comes out sort of like this, combined with the forgotten fact that Gems are basically computers or AI, I thought it would be interesting to make Pink Steven some kind of AI mock up that is there to insure his and Steven's survival, as we see in Change Your Mind, his one objective was to return to Steven and save his life and nothing was gunna get in his way.

Now, we have included power boosted Steven, this version of him will only be able activated when he is in a situation that has his life on the line. That being said, give me some suggestions on what this second form should be called, I'd love to see what interesting names you come up with. (Note: this is not his Diamond form, it's just him unlocking the basics of what a Gem of his caliber should be able to do with the organic body that limits it. So basically it's pushing his limits and giving him the power that's available to him at this point in time, though it's power he has yet to access.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always-

Good morning, goodnight, or good afternoon, I'll see you all again soon.