Note: Any references that this story makes aside from the universe that this takes place in belongs to their respective owners and should be as such.

(Author Disclaimer: This is the 2nd arc of the Steven Universe FF series. Go read the first arc: "Steven and the Floral Miasma" for a better understanding and context to certain events of the previous arc. That is unless you can catch on. Anyway, thank you for understanding, and enjoy this shizzle.)

Warning: Explicit Sexual Themes, Language, Violence

Ch.2: Relics of Homeworld part 1

Standing there in shock Pearl never thought that something like the Gem Penitentiary would be here on Earth, crash-landed to be exact. By the looks of the damage covered by remnants of some kind of crystal Pearl made the deduction that it was attacked recently.

"(I can't believe this. From what I remember, those ships were equivalents to 25 basic Homeworld Warships. How can one be destroyed like that?)"

"Welp I'm going to check it out."

Steven started walking towards the edge of the shore, he started to take off his jacket and shirt causing Pearl to once again turn red. Mind you it was from embarrassment but it was from her looking at Steven's chiseled back.

"Wait Steven why?"

"For survivors duh. If at least one is still alive in that ship maybe they can explain what exactly happened to them."

Just as Steven was about to unbuckle his pants his danger senses kicked in immediately. Staring out towards the ship he saw an ominous yellow aura surrounding it. Beads of sweat rolled down the back of his neck and cheek. Just what was that presence he was feeling? It was strong but the ominous glow caused his chest to tighten slightly. Whatever was inside that ship was not friendly. Pearl took notice of his expression.

"Steven? Steven, what's wrong?"

"...There is someone in that ship, I can sense them as clear as day but...whoever is in there is not friendly at al-"

Before Steven could finish his concern a sudden powerful explosion ripped through the side of the ship. The shockwave produced caused a tall wave to form. Luckily it wasn't a destructive tsunami and Steven along Pearl jumped back so they wouldn't be caught and dragged out to sea. When the wave died down a human-sized silhouette made by the raging flames was spotted walking out from the ripped hole.

The silhouette raised one arm across their body horizontally and swiped it without much effort, blowing away the combustion. Steven could now see clearly that that big aura came from the mysterious individual. But before the light was able to reveal their full form the stranger vanished.

Although Steven had enhanced senses the stranger was too fast for his eyes to follow. He was able to turn his head to his left to see the stranger in front of Pearl but he was too late to do anything as they punctured through her gut with their finger only.

The last thing Pearl saw was the stranger's yellow eyes piercing through her soul before she poofed. Both her gem and the Peridot gem fell on top of the sand.

"Pearl! You son of a- huh?"

Steven only looked away for a second and the stranger disappeared. Concentrating on his steady breathing made his power senses sharper. Thanks to that Steven instantly felt a presence literally behind him so he quickly ducked down, dodging a swift swipe that he was about to be hit with. If he didn't, he felt like his head would've been sliced clean off.

Without losing momentum Steven shot out a kick from below, striking the stranger in the face and sending them flying in the air until they finally landed onto the sand. Quickly scrambling to stand up Steven put up his guard, ready to fight back against his assailant.

For a few seconds, the stranger didn't move until they slowly got back up as if gravity didn't affect their body. At the same time, the sand slid off the entirety of the stranger's back, acting like water droplets.

"(Who the hell?)"

Now that Steven has a good look at the stranger's appearance their or ahem her yellowish-white body was covered head to shoulders in golden fur that was slicked back except for her face. With the sharp sideburns and black nose Steven almost mistaken what clearly is a gem for a lion. The indication of this, the long smooth yellowish-white oval gem horizontally placed above their belly button area.

The only piece of clothing on this gem was a one-piece tan jumpsuit, a prisoner? Then again Pearl did say that the Penitentiary was used for forcibly reprogramming gems, describing it as a maximum-security prison. Wait so if this gem was the only one that survived does that mean that she was the cause of the crash?

"Who are you?!"

Partially clenching her shaking hand, producing a crack the gem shifted her eyes to Steven's gem belly button. Taking quick notice of that Steven summoned his shield. The mysterious gem jabbed all her extended claw-like fingers and impacted the shield. The sheer power from the strike almost caught Steven by surprise. Good thing he did too. If Steven didn't bring out his shield 2 and a half seconds later he would've had a hole through his stomach.

Steven was holding his own with his shield until suddenly a powerful jolt of electricity stabbed into his entire shield arm, dematerializing it and numbing the entirety of his arm painfully.

"(Rrgh shit! What the hell did this gem do?)"

Steven only looked down at his hand for a moment, which was a mistake. From that mistake, the gem took the opportunity and swept his legs. Whilst in midair the gem grabbed the back of Steven's head and drove him into the sand.

Lifting Steven off the ground bleeding from the nose the gem placed her finger on his gem. For a few seconds, she stared at the gem very intently until she shifted her eyes directly at Stevens.

"(She's guh very strong. That power she used is...similar to Yellows' except it affected my limbs.) What...are you?"

Were the last words Steven was able to let out before his light was knocked out thanks to a punch to the face. After that...everything went black.

25 minutes went by,

"...Gasp Pearl!"

Steven shot awake after what felt like hours of him being knocked out. Wow, first off he couldn't believe that he was taken down so easily. Though he should be surprised Steven was already aware that there will always be stronger opponents out there. That bastard may have got him by surprise, but the next time won't be the same result.

"Oh thank god you are okay Steven. I've been trying to wake you up."

Sitting right by Steven's side Connie was there when she saw him unconscious on the beach.

"Connie? Ow son of a- how long was I out?"

"I think almost a half-hour maybe? A few moments after you left Pearl and I heard your voice and she went out to check. Then I heard this explosion so I looked out the window. Steven, what was that gem?"

Before answering Connie Steven wiped the dried blood off his nose with his arm. No other place seems to hurt except for a slightly throbbing headache so Steven got up to his feet while brushing his pant leg free from the sand particles.

"Hell if I know, one thing's for sure. That gem was crazy strong, even stronger than Emerald was when she went over the top...damnit I got sloppy."

"Here, I grabbed Pearl before anyone would step on her."

Connie showed Steven that she had Pearl's gem safely in her hands.

"What about that other gem, the Peridot gem."

"This one right?"

Also in Connie's hand, the Peridot gem was there next to Pearl's. Steven breathed out a sigh of relief. Good thing Pearl and Connie were alright. But wait, this made him think a bit. It seems like the gem didn't attack anyone else, why was that? Was she just trying to escape since she's a prisoner? That sounded about right. After all, Steven and Pearl were the only witnesses around.

"Yeah, that one!"

"...You're going after that gem are you?"

"As soon as possible. That gem was in that prison ship for a reason and it most likely has nothing to do with jaywalking. I'm not taking the risk of letting a dangerous individual walk and possibly hurt someone who stands in her path."

Steven found his shirt and jacket on the sand so he put them on quickly. For now, he had no leads even when he did try to use his enhanced aura sensing the gem seemed to have vanished without a trace. The only option he had was to go to New Homeworld to go see Peridot...the Crytal Gem's Peridot. Maybe she would be able to assist in the gem hunt.

"I'm heading to New Homeworld, hopefully, our Peridot is there...I promise to be careful this time."

"You better okay?"

With a simple nod from Steven Connie gave him Pearl and Peridot along with a good luck kiss.

"I'll go warn the town and contact the other Crystal Gems. You just focus on finding that criminal."

"Alright...see ya later."

This was not the time to fool around after training nor was this a drill. Steven needed to find that gem-like yesterday. Although there was a certain feeling he couldn't get out of his mind. Thinking back why did that gem look so scared? Yes her body language didn't say much but her actions were the result of something putting that gem in fight or flight mode on overdrive.

Well, whatever the reason the interrogation will help get some answers. As Steven passed the Big Donut a pair of purple eyes followed him from the outside wooden seats the person was sitting at. The person in question was drinking iced tea while swinging their legs back and forth, alternating between the two like a child.

Suddenly a plate with a purple crepe was set down in front of them, complimentary from the owner himself, Lars. He was giving this person the best service possible the moment he was told of their social status in the universe. Funny thing is that this is the 30th crepe they ordered yet Lars looks like he hasn't skipped a beat, what development.

To make matters better for Lars the individual gave him a very rare spherical molded metal that sells for very high prices. Seeing him work this hard especially with that goofy look on his face can make anyone feel uncomfortable.

"Was there anything else you need valued customer?"

The individual instantly stopped swinging their legs and looked directly at the sweating Lars.

"No, I thank thee. Just another fill of the ahem 'iced tea' (an addicting product it is, what a creative species)."

"Right away ma'am!"

Lars turned and sprinted by into the bakery. Now that he was gone the person began to swing their legs again while taking a delectable bite from the crepe. The sweetness made their tastebuds dance which would sound strange if any other gem heard that.

"Mmmm~ so good."

"*Gulp* Sheesh you have such a massive sweet tooth."

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't."

"Well don't forget that I'm eating it as well. Also, we need to refocus on our mission...after finding her."

"Yeah yeah I know. As soon as I'm done with this we can resume."

Ego continued indulging in her bakery goods. That is until she remembered something important.

"Oh wait I just remembered. That son of a bitch Green Pearl still needs to pay dearly for her insolence! Rrrgh damnit, my appetite just left the building!"

"Okay, seriously I'm getting worried for once Ego. You're supposed to be your usual annoying ass self, pissing me off every minute of every day. It's like you are literally embodying your name."

"...I don't dive into your own personal shit so don't jump in mine."

"WTF you do that all the time you hypocritical prick!"

"Don't..test..me."

This was seriously the first time Vessel has ever heard Ego acting like this. These 90 degree flips as of late felt so unusual after being with someone for over a century. She must really really hate being made a fool of by anyone. The skin-crawling thing was the fact that Ego's voice after saying those three words got deeper.

"Just you wait you fucking rejected pebble, I'll slowly crush your gemstone in my hand so I can pretend that you're screaming."

"Ego."

In response to the third voice, Ego sat up straight.

"Thou is distressed, I understand your darkened woe. But nonsensical violence and torment will only inflict obstacles upon our goal. Calm thyself."

"...Okay Seraph!"

How, just how does she keep on doing these kinds of things? She was able to quell the rage and bloodlust of Ego so easily, WTF? For clarification Vessel has seen many unexplained things that her senior comrade was able to do, things that no ordinary gem can explain. Hell, not even the Diamonds with all their might and wisdom would be able to figure out the shit that happens if it were in front of them.

"Thank you...The one, Steven Universe ran past my peripheral vision."

"Oh, poop you did? Does that mean it already started?"

"Yes, Ego it has. Vessel, I trust thee to follow him when he goes on the gem hunt."

"Y-yes Seraph, I understand."

"Good...This will be a 'kill two birds with one stone' kind of situation."

"SON OF A BITCH! Screw you Smash Brothers and screw you Kimchilover69! Elite Smash is such a pain in the fucking ass."

In New Homeworld, under Bismuth's shop for the 40th time, Peridot almost threw her Switch across the room. Slightly steaming after losing for ahem the 40th time in Elite Smash she plopped back onto her chair sighing while chugging down a bottle of seltzer.

"Pheew okay, mayyyybe I need to stop using King DeDeDe to troll...it's not bloody worki- Ah shit!"

Peridot got startled by the opening of the mechanical, causing her to fall background from her chair. The one who opened it was Steven who just arrived in New Homeworld not too long ago.

"Glad to see that you're still here."

"I'm working and you can't tell me that I wasn't!"

"Actually I can but that's not why I'm here."

"Oh...then why are you here? Is the graduation day today? Jeez, time goes by when I'm wasting my life trying to reach the top."

"No no that's tomorrow according to Pearl. Right now we have an emergency on our hands."

As if on cue Peridot swiped both her arms across her desk to remove all the crap on top of it including her Switch. Great, now she would have to fix that later. In mere seconds she typed on the keyboard to bring up the world map. Steven didn't need to say what he needed specifically but her intuition was on the dot.

"Oh okay, thanks for bringing that up."

"Anytime...now what's up?"

"You see Pearl and I saw an escape pod and a giant ship that clearly had signs of crash landing near the beach. Afterwo-"

"Hold it Universe. As much as I want to hear the side story I'm going to need more detail. Specifically about the giant ship cause now I'm curious. What was it?"

"Pearl told me that it was called the Gem Penitentiary. It was riddled full of ho- Peridot?"

Peridot's entire body locked up the moment Steven said that name right next to her. How odd, Steven has never seen that happen to Peridot before. From her stuck facial expression, Peridot seemed to have gotten into shock. The only way that could happen was obvious enough.

"Hey, hey Peridot wake up."

"Wha?! Oh sorry Steven I kinda blanked out for a second there. For a moment I thought you said the Gem Penitentiary."

"That's what I said."

"...Tell me you're bullshitting?"

"Not even a little bit."

Peridot went silent again except her body didn't go stiff this time and her head was lowered. Knowing well that she was most likely processing this information Steven didn't say a word. It didn't take too long for Peridot to show a determined look on her face as she looked back at Steven in the eyes.

"Alright, I'll get to it immediately. You'd better take to that ship afterward when you capture them, deal?"

" Deal."

"And while we were talking I was able to pinpoint unrecognized gems that are on Earth...strange? There are 4 of them and three are at the same spot...together? Bah must be a bug, anyway I'll stay here and keep watch. I'll send the coordinates to your phone so keep in touch."

"Got it."

And with that Steven starts his search for the dangerous criminal gem. He wasted no time as he left Peridot's quarters in a haste, rightfully so. But just as he left Peridot looked back at the screen with a look of slight surprise.

"Huh? Why are the Diamonds coming to Earth? Wow, they couldn't wait until Christmas?"

It took a little time but after almost half an hour of searching around, some areas of Beach City Steven received the coordinates from Peridot. The fact that it was pretty slow meant he was going to need to update his cellphone.

"Okay so according to the coordinates the single unrecognized gem should be...oh what the fuck?!"

Steven instantly recognized the coordinates and the address displayed on the screen with the location. The criminal was at the back of Connie's house. Bad news, really bad news for Connie and her family if they are there. So Steven made sure to make a beeline towards Connie's house.

"Connie?"

Within a surrounding black void, a small white light enveloped Connie as she was floating in a deep peaceful slumber. The voice that echoed in her head felt soothing to her.

"Connie...Connie."

Wait this sounds like Steven's voice calling out to her. Was she asleep? Huh, maybe she nodded off at some point.

"Wake up Connie...Connie."

Connie tried her best to open her eyes once but they were too heavy. But after a short while, the weight started to decrease, allowing her to open her eyes a bit. The only thing she could see in front of her is darkness (no surprise there). Slowly but surely the wave of exhaustion was melting off her as if it was a wax candle beginning to drip after exposure to the candle's heat.

This made it easier for Connie to open her eyes completed while adjusting to the darkness and the fuzzy vision clearing itself. Before her peripheral vision was starting to fill with white light something that resembled an ominous white toothy smile appeared at the corner of her eye.

"*Gasp*...(What the heck was that dream? I felt like I was floating peacefully just like when I died.)"

When Connie did die there was a time in which she felt warm while floating in a void of white, soft, and beautiful humming serenading her from all around. At that time it did felt like a dream except this time darkness was all around her in which she couldn't open her eyes. What was that thing she saw before she opened woke up from the dream...Not like that would matter since it is not important to anything whatsoever.

"Well good morning sleeping beautiful."

Oh, so it was Steven that was calling out to Connie back to the realm of reality. Funny how she barely recognized the voice. Now that she was awake she realized that she fell asleep with her head on her work desk in the extra room. Lifting her head up Connie shook off the sleepiness.

"Steven? What happened? Did you get that gem?"

"Yes, I did actually. Turns out that gem was a psychopath that has slaughtered millions of her own kind, cannibalized some too, didn't think that was possible."

"Huh, *yawn* you learn something new every day. I'm glad you are back safe and sound."

Connie and Steven shared a warm hug, the worry that was slightly eating at her faded away. After a few seconds of the embrace, Connie felt a cold sensation on her lower back. Steven, who was the obvious culprit slipped both his hands under her shirt and sensually felt up and down from the spine to the tailbone. While Connie's body was gradually getting hotter the loin area of her pants developed a small wet and sticky stain the moment Steven carefully moved his knee in between her legs and carefully caressed her covered pussy.

"*Whisper* Sorry for taking you by surprise, you just smelled so good that I can barely control myself."

As Steven was playfully biting down Connie's neck she let out a soft whimper that was music to his ears, prompting him to advance just so he can hear more of those addicting tones. One of his hands shifted around Connie's curves to the front of her body in which Steven removed his knee and slipped his hand through the pants to reach her sweet button. We call it the sweet button cause once you press it, it turns women on...Oh shut up that was funny! The rush of pleasure swam throughout Connie's brain, filling her thoughts with butterflies.

Soon the teasing started to become unbearable for Connie. Especially when Steven inserted two of his fingers inside her wet cunt, her voice increasing slightly in volume the more the pleasure was rising to a boiling point.

"St-Steven, ah~ stop teasing me."

Well with that kind of statement would make someone want to do it more. Anyway, Connie gripped the back of Steven's jacket, moaning into his shoulder while slowly rocking her hips in rhythm with his fingers. At last, the bubble that contained the ever-rising bubbling steam of her orgasm popped as she came onto Steven's hand with a fluttering, satisfied look on her face. But with these two's stamina, just one orgasm wasn't enough (though Steven hasn't yet) to satiate their hunger for one another.

Steven then took out his fingers which were drenched in Connie's juices. Feeling weak in the legs Connie almost lost her balance until Steven caught her. A sly, seductive smile was plastered on his face with one eyebrow raised, looking directly into his lover's eyes.

"Did that feel good for you?"

"Haah haah haah mmhmm haah."

"Then how about we spend the rest of the afternoon training for a marathon."

Connie was going to open her mouth to respond until her head cleared a bit after the hard orgasm. "(Something didn't feel right.)" Connie thought to herself. This weird feeling was familiar, this unique warmth surrounding her body from the dream earlier was still here. What the heck was going on?

And it wasn't just the warmth that made Connie feel off. She remembered when she touched Steven's hair it felt metallic and smooth and his skin was rough, almost equally like sandpaper (although his fingers didn't feel like that when his hand was feeling her up). But the very thing that hit the lightbulb switch above Connie's head was Steven's eyes. What is that supposed to mean exactly? Well, let me be more specific on that.

By Steven's eyes, Connie was looking at his irises. Why? Cause the color pattern reminded her of a mural at a church (or a kaleidoscope), with the reds, blues, and a little yellow. This was not Steven, not at all. Whatever this thing was was not him.

"Connie what's wrong, why are you looking at me like th-"

Immediately, Connie broke away from Steven's(?) grip and push kicked against his chest, putting some distance away between them. There was no doubt now, somehow she was in a dream within a dream. This fake Steven must be the damn culprit. Understandably in a sense of reality, he was slightly ticked from the chest kick.

"Okay, ow. What the hell was that for Connie?"

Since this was a dream Connie realized that she was the one in control so she materialized her sword and took up a defensive stance.

"Who the hell are you?"

Steven(?) rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"You're joking, right? It's me, Steven...Are you feeling okay?"

"Like hell you are. I know that this is a dream. Don't ask me why but you feel way off than necessary so again who are you?"

"...Hmhmhm."

Smiling ear to ear Steven(?) put his hands in his jacket pockets. So this bastard standing in front of Connie wasn't the Steven that she usually fantasized about in her dreams, he was way too realistic to the actual Steven. How the hell did she not notice this before?... That was a trick question by the way.

"And I thought humans were more weak-willed than most species. Your eye for detail astonishes me."

"Don't avoid the question!"

"I'm not, I'm just acknowledging your perception. Your boyfriend almost fell for it, if only I didn't say anything, curse my curiosity."

"Steven encountered you?"

"Oh? So he didn't tell you? The fool didn't even know that he was in a dream and he was all over me."

"Heheheh...screw you. You definitely did the same thing you did to me you son of a bitch. Using Steven's form to feel me up? What kind of fucked up head do you have?"

The fake Steven let out a laugh as if Connie made a joke and it was amusing to him. What an asshole.

"Though what you say is the fact I did get something out of it."

"And that is?"

"Your weakness."

Understandably Connie tilted her head in confusion. Weakness? What was he talking about?

"Your face tells me that you don't understand what I'm talking about. I'll tell you then. The moment I entered both of your dreams at different times I deduced that you two are each other's weakness."

A vein popped in Connie's forehead, clearly pissed. I mean wouldn't you if some dipshit was talking all that bull about your lover being your weakness? That would set anyone off.

"Son of a bitch, what do you know?"

"Enough thanks to you. But I won't stop there either, there's more that I will gather. Just you wait, human. The Nexus are already here and when they bring the Diamonds...well I'll leave that as a surprise."

"Nexus? What's a ne- Hey wait! Tell me what I have to kno-"

"*Gasp* haah haah haah what a dream that was...so I was sleeping on my desk."

Connie was able to wake up from her dream for real this time

She can tell because she pinched her arm to confirm that this was indeed real. But of course, a question popped into her mind after that. That super fake Steven said that "the Nexus are already here." Just who are the Nexus and what do they want with Earth?

The gear grinding thinking process was interrupted thanks to the sound of Connie's trash bins being tipped over in the backyard. Immediately sensing danger Connie opened her closet where her brown winter jacket and her sword were. Without wasting any time she put on the jacket while strapping the sword on her back.

Carefully walking outside Connie surveyed the area before turning her head to the right to the toppled-over trash bins. A slight rustle from a bush caught Connie's attention so she silently unsheaths her sword, ready to strike at whoever was in there. Hopefully, it was just a tiny squirrel or a chipmunk.

Tightening her grip on the hilt Connie took a deep breath and swung her blade horizontally, slicing the top of the bush with excellent precision. But whatever was inside the bush jumped out before the swing did its job.

"(Like hell you're getting away!)"

There was no way Connie was going to let it get away so she threw her sword behind her, the sound of the schtick indicated that she hit something.

"Wow, I actually hit something with that bold maneuver."

Now adjusting herself she saw who she hit. A few centimeters from the tip sword was sticking out from the leg of the gem Connie was able to recognize.

"It's you."

End of Ch.2