Disclaimer: Characters, settings, names from the cartoon television show 'Steven Universe' are creations and property of Rebecca sugar and Cartoon network. Any Non-steven universe characters, settings, names, Gems, Gem powers, beliefs, mythology are my own creation.

Author's Note: to make the most of these last chapters, I will be breaking my 2500 word rule until the story's end. I hope this story steady climb to the climax and end will be everything I envisioned when I first started to write out the first chapter script. Also, if you want an idea for what Carlos looks like, go to google image and type the name 'Victor Mancha.' he's a Marvel character from a series called 'the runaways.' the image of him in his red sweater with his hands in his pockets is the closest thing to what I modeled him after. And he's one of Marvel's growing roster of Latino Superheroes.

Story Tags: Steven Universe, Lapis Lazuli, OC's, Connie Maheswaran Pearl, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Bells, Whistles, Citrine, Peridot, Beach City, Gem Powers, Romance, Adventure, Comfort, Destiny.

Music Inspiration: "The Hero" (One Punch Man Opening)

Chapter 34: Steven's Back!

Friday

August 21, 2016, 7:00 [Evening]

Recap

Three months went by since Steven and Carlos left to an unknown location to help Steven master his gem form. Within those three months Pearl has kept in contact with Carlos, her lover and boyfriend through use of cell phones. Carlos fed Pearl Steven's progress with each month that passed and the new one that preceded it. In the second month, Pearl received information that Steven's skin had reached a condition known as 'Impervious skin,' giving him partial invulnerability after surviving the fourth house in Chicomoztoc.

After Steven mastered his gem form, Carlos shared with Pearl that his punches when he was being 'serious steven' could detonate small mountains. Or that when he was running at top speed, could circle the planet once under three minutes. Pearl sent him a message to congratulate Steven for her, and to get his butt back home already.

Beach City, The Lighthouse

The day arrived for Steven and Carlos to return. Lapis, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst and the rest of the team had gathered at the top of the lighthouse, just above the Crystal Temple. Soren joined everyone, choosing to levitate above everyone with his arms crossed. From what he heard Pearl sharign with Lapis and Amethyst, Steven had apparently mastered his his gem. He was even able to enter his Mastered Gem Form, something next to impossible for hybrids to pull off. But that wasn't what concerned him, what concerned him was the power young steven had at his disposal wtihout entering into his mastered gem form.

If this was true, then Steven could really do that. Steven will have become what Red Beryl said he was in his dream, The Shield of Humanity.

Greg was also there in attendance with everyone else. He kept Lion on a Body Leash so as not to pounce on people. He was especially going to try to pounce on Steven when he got here. Greg waited patiently, yet nervous to see his son again. How much has he changed, will he be able to do that thing he asked if he could do after he came back. Greg thought about it as he waited for his son to return.

"Hey Steven."

"Yeah Dad?"

"Soren, the really tall guy over there said your mother was tucked away inside of Lion. He said you would have a choice to make. What the heck was talking about son."

"Oh. That. I spoke to mom already with a little help from Connie. She told me only when I master my half of the gem completely, I will have two choices. I can either absorb mom's other half and use it to enter a form called "True Mastered Gem Form." or I can sacrifice Lions' life for mom's half to absorb his raw magic to replace what she gave to make me. When that happens, Mom will come back, stronger than before thanks to Lion."

Greg came back to the present and wondered if Steven could stomach to make one of those decisions. He was in love with Lion, who became his best friend. But he, like himself wished he could be reunited with his mother/ partner. Greg petted Lion's head softly, letting out a few tears. Almost like Rose from within Lion knew Greg's feelings, stood on his hind legs and licked his tears away.

Bells and his family kept looking straight when Bells noticed Soren looking towards at a specific location in the horizon.

"Where are they already?!" Lapis shouted, anxiously impatient.

Pearl was right there with Lapis,"I'm right there with you sister. Carlos said he would be arriving today with Steven at about this hour."

"Calm your impatience you two. Your partners are going to be here in a matter of a seconds. Great red beryl it is true." Soren said with great disbelief.

If cool and stoic Soren sounded surprised to everyone, then that raised some pretty bright red flags.

"Look, Over There!" Greg pointed towards the horizon.

It was like the whole Horizon itself had undulated and then shook violently like water shaking inside of a glass. Two streaks of light exploded from under the horizon. One was olive green and the other, pink. The loud explosion from the sonic boom reached everyone. But it was not the only thing to reach them, strong winds blew towards all of them. Greg held on to Lion who formed a magical barrier around them. Soren held his hand out to keep the air from hitting him. Bells formed a psychic barrier around his family. Lapis shielded ruby, sapphire, pearl and amethyst.

The wind speeds were as fast as 105 mph. In addition to the blast of air, was also rain. The force from the sonic boom sent seawater from the ocean with the blast wave. And the ocean itself was also affected. Very large crested waves with foam patches were sent crashing against the seashore. Ten seconds of rain later, and the whole gale vanished and the ocean went calm again.

From the ocean to the sky, several sonic booms were heard and the whole sky shook violently. Soren's eyes widened with further disbelief. Several cannon fire sounds exploded in rapid successions high up in the atmosphere. With so much disturbance filling up the sky, the sound of rumbling thunder and thunder claps followed.

Flying out of the clouds and towards the lighthouse. Carlos and Steven were standing before everyone before they could even blink. The speed at which they appeared and arrived caused another gale to blow forwards and a thunder clap to follow after. Being behind a barrier saved Greg and the martian family from having their ear drums pop and bleed. The volume of the thunder clap was greatly reduced while behind a soundproof barrier.

Carlos appeared with his hands inside of the pockets of a Dark green zip up turtleneck sweater. Steven appeared with his left knee on the ground and his right hand touching the ground. Both of their faces and areas of exposed skin shined a bright red with steam coming off of their faces, hands, head and clothes. Steven rose to his feet, straightened himself and ran his left hand over his shaved head.

He threw two peace signs and spoke, "Sorry we took so long everyone. We could have gone faster, but that would have caused tsunamis and earthquakes."

Everyone was speechless, amazed and a little intimidated. Carlos saw their shocked faces and tried to explain what this was all about.

"if you're wondering why we're red like tomatoes and steaming like steamed broccoli. Its because we were flying at Mach 300 which is approximately...209,341 miles per hour. It's just a few miles slower than a lightning bolt."

Lapis stared at Steven and saw that he had lost his chubbiness and was looking lean and sharp. His dark brown curly hair was gone, instead it was cut and shaved into a Caesar fade haircut. He wore dark blue baggy cargo pants, white tennis shoes with pink laces. On top he wore a white a white sleeveless shirt with the word 'rose' in the front. Over the white shirt Steven wore a black sleeveless hoodie with a pink interior and Rose's symbol on the back.

Steven looked so, so different than before. His dark eyes were practically shining with excitement and enthusiasm. Was he still the same Steven from before? Lapis wondered.

To Pearl, Carlos looked relatively the same. But he did seem to glow with more confidence and his hair was brushed back. He had a little bit of stubble around his chin and jaw line. Carlos wore a dark green zip up turtleneck sweater with the 'Hecho en Mexico' log on the back. He had on black regular fit khaki pants and black and green sneakers on his feet.

Pearl took a step forward and jumped into Carlos's arms. Their lips met and melded together in a long awaited passionate kiss. Lapis blushed hard seeing Carlos twirling Pearl around. Citrine rested the side of her face on bell's upper arm, it made her gem warm seeing a gem and human so comfortable and in love with each other. Greg looked away and went over to talk to Steven

Steven walked first towards his dad and Lion. Greg tried to keep Lion from pouncing on top of Steven, but Lion's sheer excitement overpowered Greg and pulled him with him. Steven jumped into Lion's arms and rolled around the ground with him and his dad included. Lion licked Steven's face and breathed around his ears. Steven laughed under Lion he licked him mercilessly. Amethyst had herself a laugh with Ruby. Soren closed his eyes, raised and eyebrow and shook his head.

"Ok Lion! That's enough, I command you!" Steven said. Lion did the impossible and listened to Steven. He took a seat on his bum and let out some low growling sounds.

"Hey look at that, it worked on Lion after all Carlos. Carlos?" Steven told Carlos.

Carlos was too busy carrying Pearl back to the temple and tongue fighting for him to give Steven a vocal response. Instead he gave Steven a thumb's up and levitated off the ground and flew Pearl and him back down to the temple.

"What worked Steven?" Lapis inquired.

"Beast Lordship. A power I gained while I was training with Carlos. It allows me to have complete control control and mastery over animals and creatures. Those on land, inside of the earth, in the air and under the ocean. I can talk to them, use them to help me, see through their eyes. It's a really cool power but one which caused a lot of bleeding and pain."

"Bleeding? Pain? Steven, what kind of training exactly did Carlos put you through." Greg asked, worried over what his son might have been put through.

"Carlos didn't put me through anything dad. Everything that I went through was out of his control and solely up to me. Heck, he even joined me in some worlds he already conquered."

"Worlds?" Greg said, confused at what Steven was talking about."

"Ok everyone listen up. I'm back, it's been a fruitful three months of hard work for me. I can proudly say that I have mastered my gem form and all of it's powers. First to you dad. I know I said I would be able to free mom after I mastered my gem powers. But I also said I could take her other half and gain more power, actually it would be more power that I would not need. I'm going to think about it and tell you what I want to do.

Secondly, Lapis I want you to know that I missed you and dreamed about of you every night while I was away. Actually now that I think about it, where me and Carlos were, there really wasn't a sun. interesting. Anyway, I want to spend as much time with you as possible before they come.

Thirdly, to everyone else. I missed all of you, I'm happy to be home and reunited with all of you. And Soren, thank you for holding down the fort in my absence. I'm ready to be the Shield of Humanity."

Soren stared at Steven closely. His pillar of light did not register, what he saw made him shudder. Their was no pink pillar around Steven, his pillar spanned a fifteen miles wide. Covering not just Beach city but several other small towns in the state. The whole world seemed pink. For the first time in his life, Soren felt it. He felt...a creep of fear. If this was Steven's power signature at a relaxed level, he dared to wonder what he was like when he was serious and even further than that, Blood lusted. Not since his older brothers has Soren seen such a terrifying level of magical power. And Carlos, the other hybrid he brushed away as nothing more than a low class warrior, finally lifted his veil.

What he saw was Carlos's green pillar mixing with Steven's pink color. The whole world turned a Grayish-brown color before Soren's magic detecting eyes. Soren saw the radius of Carlos's olive green aura extend twenty miles, five miles more than Steven's.

"If these two ever fuse, my dear O' mother better bring my brothers with her. where on earth did these two gain this amount of power from" Soren thought to himself first before answering Steven, "I trust your claim Steven. I hereby pass the role of planetary guardian to you, Shield of Humanity."

Steven gave Soren a thumbs up and levitated off of the ground.

"wait a second Son, where are you going." greg asked Steven.

"Oh, I was going to pay Connie a visit."

"Connie? Why are you going to see her?" Lapis interjected angrily.

"because we're going to need her when it comes to tackle yellow diamond and her armies when the time comes. I know you don't like her Lapis, and I don't know what I can do or say to make you like her. But I can't worry about that right now, I have a planet to protect."

as Steven was about to fly off, Lapis grabbed Steven's wrist and pulled him back down and pulled him towards her. Greg's eyes went wide when he saw his son and Lapis embracing each other and tongue wrestling. Amethyst placed a hand over her mouth from shock and walked over to Greg to keep him from separating them.

Steven held the back of Lapis's head with his left hand, while tightening his hold around her back with his right arm. Steven's heartbeat rose, as did his breathing. Steven and Lapis's first passionate kiss slowed to a stop. Lapis closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against Steven's. Her cheeks flushed a baby blue hue, Steven's a red hue. They stared into each others eyes, tenderly.

Steven knew just from that kiss how much Lapis missed him and desired him. He hugged her tighter and rested his face on the crook of her neck. He rubbed her back, feeling her gemstone on her upper back as he did.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long Lapis. When all of this is over, I want you to be mine, all mine." Steven whispered into her ear.

Lapis said nothing, except hug Steven tighter. Steven pulled from Lapis when she released his hold around his back. Steven levitated off the ground and flew towards the direction of Palmyra.

Crystal Temple, Beach City

7:45 [Evening]

Resting on Pearl's bed in her room, Carlos laid on his back, holding Pearl close to him who rested on her side. Her right arm was slung over Carlos's waist, holding him close to her. Carlos's light pink tongue and Pearl's salmon colored tongue slid and danced with one another. Their wet tongues massaged the other's and licked the outside and inside of each others lips. In between kissing pearl, Carlos spoke.

"Come extrañe my Perla. I missed you so much pearl. My beautiful pearl."

"Oh carlos." Pearl breathed sensually. Her hand which was gripped on Carlos's side, had slid down to his growing bulge.

Carlos had to stop her, but Pearl would not have any resistance. She grabbed him by his sweater and pulled him on top of her. She crossed her legs and ankles behind his back and resumed kissing him. But when their lips stopped meshing together and pulled away, Pearl spoke and asked something of Carlos.

"Carlos, our time together has been magical and amazing. But would it be selfish of me to ask something more of you while we have these calm and peaceful days?"

"more of me? What do you mean darling."

"I know I told you 'not today' three months ago when we very intimate with each other. But when you were away I was thinking about it and I...i think perhaps it's time. You told me in the first of May that the least we could do is give the opportunity of life to our children. I want to give life. I want to be the mother of your child...my love."

Carlos looked touched, emotional and looked to the side to keep from Pearl seeing tears well up in his eyes. Pearl cupped Carlos's face and turned it to face her. She wiped away his tears before they fell with her thumbs.

"But pearl, what if Homeworld attacks tomorrow. And when you begin to show, what are the others going to think. What about commander Soren. If he doesn't want to-"

"Carlos dear relax. Homeworld won't attack tomorrow or the day after that. My pregnancy will be just like rose's, except instead of the regular nine months human women endure, mine will only be seven months. As for commander Soren, well he isn't the only commander on this planet who can ensure this gem won't have to give up her form for her baby."

"Connie. You're talking about Connie." Carlos said surprised. "when should we start." he asked, somewhat embarrassed.

Pearl's cheeks flushed heavily, she bit down on her lower lip and started to slowly undo her sash.

Palmyra

Appearing at the front door step of Connie's home, Steven rang the bell and waited patiently for someone to answer the door. The front door opened up, Steven tilted his head to the side slightly when he saw that it was Mrs. Maheswaran who answered the door.

"Oh, Steven. My this is quite the surprise. I almost didn't recognize you, my you look so...fit."

"Oh this? Yeah I was away for three months working and training."

"Well you look really good. I meant that as a compliment, nothing weird."

"ah shucks mrs M, thanks. Listen, I wanted to talk you your daughter about important gem business."

"ooh, how important."

"Like the fate of the world kind of business."

"I'm certain that no matter how serious it is, it won't be a problem for my little girl. In the last few months she's protected our town from attacks from those awful monsters she said you and your freidns fight on a regular basis."

"That's amazing Mrs. M. so can I coming and talk to to her now?"

"You can't."

"i can't? Why."

"because she isn't here. She's on a date with the mayor's son."

"Date?" Steven said confused.

"Yeah. He's a fifteen year old boy whose sweet, kind and very intelligent. He's gotten several invitations from different universities to come join them as his young age. I'm so proud of my Connie. I'm sorry for trailing off Steven. Connie should be back at eight, you can wait for her here If you like."

"N-no that's fine. Thank you for your help Mrs. m." Steven levitated off the ground and flew to the center of town." the speed of Steven's take off blew Mrs. Maheswaran's hair back and pushed back inside her home.

The sun was going down and the town of Palmyra was lighting up for the night. It took only steven several seconds to find where Connie was at. Hovering one thousand feet above Palmyra, Steven's eyes which could now detect all forms of magic saw a large and tall mass of brown that spanned nine miles wide. He zoomed in using telescopic vision through use of a magical method called 'Telescope eyes.'

Steven watched Connie walking hand in hand with her date down main street of Palmyra. She wore a black dress with a matching top. Around her waist was tied a red sash with a bow behind her back. Connie kept her hair tied in a low ponytail. She didn't wear her glasses

Steven felt his chest tighten. His eyes blinked over and over, not from confusion but from disbelief. He hung his head low and raised a sad smile over his otherwise depressed countenance.

"I suppose I deserve it." Steven said with a sullen tone.

Steven turned to the direction of Beach City and flew away at regular speed, which was enough to cause a sonic boom. Back down on the ground, Connie stopped to look up at the sky. She stared up at the spot Steven was hovering at. She blinked a few times in quick successions.

"Connie, something wrong?" her date asked her, concerned over her sudden silence.

"No no, i'm fine. I thought I heard something."

Neso, Neptune's Moon

Far far away from the earth, on Neptune's moon Neso. The countdown screen that appeared under the radar dish with the green focus now read 24:00. in one more day the first of four plagues would find its way to earth. And if they were put down by the crystal gems and the rest of the gang, then the Crystal skull lied waiting patiently for it's time to rise.

Next in Chapter 36, 'Rise of the Plant Folk'.