AN: Welcome back everyone to the world of Steven Universe: Alternate Future. When we last left off, Steven was finally at peace with himself and Black Rutile has been punished for her crimes against the universe. But while everything on Earth is all well and good, what about the rest of the galaxy? That's what the first chapter of this new story shall answer. Inspired by the likes of Cowboy Bebop, Black Widow and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, we shall follow up on White Topaz's nod to a few Black Pearls foiling the plans of a Cinnabar in league with Black Rutile, who has already made a cameo appearance in Made Me Realize for the sake of setting this up. I've planned sixteen episodes to release over the next few months broken up into two seasons, so be on the lookout for those. But enough talking, let's get this party started.
Synopsis: Five Black Pearls are molded into an elite mercenary team by Yellow Diamond to hunt down her former general Cinnabar.
Cast:
Deedee Magno-Hall as The Black Pearl Brigade, Shell, Yellow Pearl
Avi Roque as Cinnabar
Noël Wells as Black Rutile
Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald
Awkwafina as Kyanite
Allison Janney as Pyrite
Kimberly Brooks as Dalmatian Jasper
Zehra Fazal as Zoisite
Lena Hall as Bloodstone
Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond
Kathleen Barr as Púrén
Olivia Olson as Citrine
Christine Pedi as Fire Agate
Erica Luttrell as Orange Sapphire
Hayley Kiyoko as Violet Morganite
Steven Universe Alternate Future: The Black Pearl Brigade
Chapter 1: Orientation Day
"COMMAND: GENERATING PEARL SOLDIERS." A reprogrammed Shell monotonously droned with cold indifference as numerous, black-colored Pearls dressed in black and white jumpsuits were churned out by the dozens. "COMMAND: PROGRAMMING PEARL SOLDIERS."
As the Pearls were educated into seeing Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems as the enemy, two other Gems stood above their foot soldiers. The anarchist Black Rutile watched eagerly as her plans slowly came to fruition. A red-skinned Gem was by her side with a neatly-cut military hairstyle, a red suit with orange details, a black rhombus symbolizing her allegiance, and black boots.
"Black Rutile, old friend, you've done it again." Cinnabar smirked. "Pearls were once seen as nothing more than servants that just stand around and look pretty, but now you turned that stereotype on its head in the most ironic way possible."
"Yes, my genius is unmatched, Cinnabar." Black Rutile replied while folding her arms. "I still can't believe Steven didn't catch on that he was being spied on. Guess he was too busy being a bratty little princess to even notice the beacon."
"Or maybe he didn't catch how expertly hidden it was." Cinnabar added. "Once these Pearls are finished, our armies shall be stronger than ever!"
"Which reminds me, how is the reclamation of the old colonies going?" Black Rutile inquired.
"Swimmingly." Cinnabar proclaimed. "As our power over the cosmos grows, so too do our supporters."
"COMMAND: ARMING PEARL SOLDIERS." Shell declared while giving each newly-created Pearl a spear to wield in combat. "COMMAND: ALL HAIL BLACK RUTILE."
"Well, I've seen all I need to see." Black Rutile stated. "I shall leave things in your capable hands for the time being. In the meantime, I shall hand over control of the Black Pearls to you."
"It shall be my pleasure, my Rutile." Cinnabar said gratefully and saluted her white-caped master before five more Gems appeared out of the shadows.
The smallest was a slender, blue Gem with long white hair, a standard Blue Diamond uniform, and her gem on her forehead. The second was a confident, yellow-skinned Gem in a glitzy gold jacket, matching colored heels, a pale-yellow undershirt, her gem on her neck with a band that made it resemble a choker, a gold fang sticking out of her mouth, and a cane in hand. The following two were a Jasper with gray skin and black spots all over her body, her gem in place of a left hand & a poncho, and a green-skinned Gem in a dark green catsuit, a red belt & gloves, her hair combed over to the side with the ends dyed red, and her gem in place of an eye. The final Gem was of a similar color scheme, but she had curly red hair, a green lab coat, orange goggles, red sandals, and her gem on the right side of her chest.
"Well, girls, shall we?" Cinnabar said to the other Gems as they departed from Shell. However, one of the Pearls turned her emotionless face over to Cinnabar as she walked away from the growing army of Pearls.
Under Cinnabar's command, the Pearl foot soldiers were trained and conditioned for a single purpose: serve their master Black Rutile and destroy the oppressive regime of the Crystal Gems. They were never commanded just to stand around. Their lives were nothing but constant combat and weapons training.
Often, some would be given to other Gems allied with Black Rutile who were just as disgusted with the regime fueled by what Black Rutile claims to be Steven's messiah complex, which she believed to be an evolution of his mother getting what she wanted by being a brat. And it was this common act that led to five Black Pearls, in particular, realizing they might have a greater purpose.
"Oh, you are most generous, Cinnabar, these Pearls are perfect!" Emerald giggled eagerly while Cinnabar lent an army of Black Pearls to the former fleet commander. "With these, Lars and the Off-Colors will finally be no more, and the Sun Incinerator will be mine again at last!"
"Don't let your pride be your fall Emerald." Cinnabar coldly stated. "I've seen how many times you let Lars get one over you, and I don't think I take it happening again to a piloting prodigy like you!" Emerald was taken aback by her ally's sudden change in behavior and grew more unnerved as Cinnabar continued raising her voice. "You have become a complete embarrassment to the Gem military thanks to those Off-Colors, and that is why you have joined us! DON'T YOU REMEMBER?!"
"Yes, ma'am." Emerald nervously answered before turning to her squad of Black Pearls. "Now then, Pearls, move out!"
"Yes, my Emerald." The Black Pearls bowed to their unlucky master and moved out.
However, things were not meant to be for these Pearls. Though Emerald successfully reclaimed her Sun Incinerator from Lars, it came at the cost of many of the Pearls being poofed by the vigilante trio of Hessonite, Squaridot, and Citrine.
The few that remained served as bodyguards for Morganite before Lars would come to hijack a speech the designer was making at Igneous Square. Those few would join Morganite, Holly Blue Agate, Navy, and a slew of other Gem troopers to pursue Lars and Hessonite while the pair escaped Homeworld for Earth, leaving them with one Citrine to fight. The resulting brawl was intense and left many Gems poofed, but in the end, Citrine survived. Her gem showed many cracks, but she took it as proof that the clash wasn't easy. Now all that was left was to bring these followers in.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Yellow Diamond yelled as she gazed upon the Gem civilians in a frenzy. The planet seemed split in two in more ways than just literally. One massive crowd supported Black Rutile, while the other was utterly opposed. "Someone, contain this at once!"
"Don't worry, Yellow, I've already got that covered," Citrine stated while walking up to her former Diamond with most of the anarchists behind her. "These three were in league with an ex-intelligence agent of White Diamond named Black Rutile, who's gathered up a whole army of Gems who, let's say, aren't very pleased with what Steven has done to our society. Luckily, I was able to help Lars and Hessonite contain this section of the group. Eight other Gems were able to escape off-world, unfortunately."
"Black Rutile?" Yellow wondered, the name ringing quite a few bells for her. "She always did have a bit of a complex, but I never guessed she'd be planning behind our backs."
"Well, you can ask some of these Pearls here all about their superior." Citrine said, dropping five of the Black Pearls at Yellow's massive feet. "Do with the rest as you will."
"Gladly." Yellow declared before scooping up the Pearls and walking away to interrogate them.
Moments later, the Pearls were forced into a small interrogation room. There wasn't much light to be found in the area once the door closed behind them, and they were ordered to sit down. Just then, a holographic screen appeared with Yellow Diamond's face on it, watching the five intensely. "Let's get down to business, shall we?" she stated. "What does Black Rutile want with us? Why were you created?"
"Shell created us under Black Rutile's orders to carry out her plans against Steven Universe." The leading Pearl declared. "When he began Era 3, all Gems were stripped of their status and forced to submit to his twisted, possessive idea of compassion, which also meant demilitarizing our people, reducing the Diamonds to his slaves, and leaving us open for invasion. Black Rutile could not stand for this and, along with other Gems whose lives Steven ruined, enacted a plan to overthrow him and become the supreme ruler of the Gem race."
"Us, his slaves?" Yellow wondered incredulously. "What kind of nonsense has she been telling you?!"
"She is only telling us that she's doing what she thinks is right." Another one of the Pearls added with a raspy voice. "You are no longer fit to stand above all other Gems. Your attachment to Pink Diamond had made you weak and pathetic."
"And it's evident you have been brainwashed." Yellow continued. "If this were any earlier era, I'd have you all shattered or harvested for this kind of behavior, but maybe since you're so loyal to Black Rutile, we could work something out."
"What do you have in mind?" a third Pearl asked the Diamond in a slightly deeper, more masculine voice than what is expected of a Pearl.
"Since there is no way we can detect Black Rutile at the moment, the next best option would be to track down the rest of her subordinates." Yellow replied. "Luckily, we have five sitting here right now."
"You mean us?" the fourth of the Pearls, a nasally-toned one, asked.
"Exactly." Yellow stated confidently. "Henceforth, I shall dub you the Black Pearl Brigade. You five shall be my personal mercenary squad against Black Rutile's forces. Once they have all been eliminated and brought to justice, you shall be free to live your lives as free Gems."
"I still don't get this." The last of the Pearls stoically remarked. "Are you sure there aren't any consequences for us failing our mission?"
"To be frank, I don't think I thought this far." Yellow replied. "So now that we've made introductions and I explained what you're in for, are you with me or not?"
"One second, my Diamond." The leading Pearl stated before she and the other four huddled in a circle. "Do you think she could be right, girls? What if we could be of use to them?"
"I still don't buy it." The fifth Pearl answered. "We have been made to serve Black Rutile and Cinnabar, and yet we're just going to defy them just because we've been told to?"
"But who knows what lives as our own Pearls could be like?" the third Pearl stated. "It could be glorious!"
"And yet this can be done by doing all the dirty jobs?" the second Pearl wondered.
"I believe so. But she did make a promise that she doesn't intend on going back on." The fourth Pearl said.
"Well, I guess it's settled." The leader said, and they turned back to Yellow. "We shall accept your offer."
"Excellent, we shall provide you with the necessary equipment ASAP." Yellow grinned in satisfaction. "And while we're at it, could you find a way to make yourselves easier to tell apart? You don't need to, but I won't mind." With that, the screen turned off, and the Pearls were once again left alone in the interrogation room. A new life was ahead of them, and none of them knew what could be in store.
Far away from Homeworld on Revanche 666, Cinnabar had now taken control of the Rutile Rebels' home base in the absence of their leader Black Rutile. As her five subordinates sat at a round, white table, Cinnabar herself entered the meeting room with news. "Men, I have just received word that Black Rutile has successfully made her way to Earth. We should be receiving confirmation that the destruction of the Crystal Gems is successful, hopefully soon." Cinnabar then sat down at the table. "But that leaves the question of what to do now?"
"Well, whatever you want to do, I'll be sticking by you the whole way!" Kyanite eagerly declared. "Hey, I heard there's a civil war going on back home! Wanna see if we can go down and fight there?!"
"Don't get too eager, Ky." Pyrite stated, rubbing two of her fingers together in greedy delight. "Everything can be solved with enough Minerals. How about we pay everyone 500 of them to keep them all quiet?"
"Minerals, schminerals." Dalmatian Jasper menacingly pointed the gem on her hand stump to Pyrite before the stump turned into a hook. "Not everything is a way for you to regain your fortune, Pyrite!"
"Oh, cool your jets, DJ. Besides, you're all moronic boobs." Zoisite coolly insulted her three comrades, much to their annoyance, before turning to the Gem next to her. "Bloodstone, what do you make of it?"
"What do I make of it?! Oh, I'll show you what I make of it!" Bloodstone dramatically slammed her hands on the table before running off and returning with a board connecting various pictures together with lasers. "Recently, I've come up with the theory that the Crystal Gems are more than just an annoying rebellion who has slowly become worse than the oppressors they were fighting against! I believe that they're actually some kind of hive mind that deprives victims of any distinguishing personality traits before absorbing them into their collective, and Black Rutile will soon become one of them!"
The other Gems groaned in irritation as Bloodstone continued, not wanting to hear another one of her inane theories.
A few days later, word had gotten out that following Black Rutile's journey to Earth; she had been declared at large after a battle with the Crystal Gems resulting in her defeat. With that, her vast criminal empire was on the verge of crumbling apart, with only a few figureheads struggling to keep it afloat, such as Cinnabar.
In the meantime, the newly christened Black Pearl Brigade had been making a name for themselves by hunting down and arresting all Gems who dared side with Black Rutile across the stars. They had also taken the time to reinvent themselves to be told apart better, mainly by changing their hairstyles and weapons.
"Keep moving, girls; Fire Agate's base should be up ahead!" Cap, the leader of the Pearls with a military buzzcut style, commanded the Brigade as they laid siege to a former colony planet that one of Black Rutile's supporters had claimed for herself. "Pony, we need you to clear a path!"
"On it!" Pony, the second in command named for her ponytail, obliged, taking out her twin swords and slashing her way through a squad of Jaspers and Topazes. "Braids, you're up!"
"Glorious!" Braids, the Brigade's braided energetic strongwoman, cried while swinging her battleax at an Amethyst fusion, poofing its two components and buying her enough time to bubble them. "Any more defenses to get through, IQ?"
"Negative, only a few Robonoids stand in our way now." The long-haired IQ scoped out the situation with a portable scanner device while keeping a Nephrite at bay with a scythe. "Tails, we need you now."
"Affirmative." The Brigade's pigtails-wearing sniper Tails coldly accepted, readying her rifle with a bayonet at the end and firing lasers from it, causing the Robonoids to go haywire. "We're ready now."
"Okay, team, less chitchat and more combat!" Cap ordered before the Pearls charged at the base, where Fire Agate awaited them. "Let's move out!"
"No, no, no, I can't possibly fail like this!" Fire Agate panicked as she watched the Pearls storm her base. "I have to get more help, and quick!" She rapidly jammed at the buttons of a nearby control panel in desperation, fearing that the Pearls would be getting closer with each press. Finally, Cinnabar appeared on screen, and she wasn't happy. "Oh, Cinnabar, how delightful to see your face!"
"Let me guess. You're being invaded by this Brigade I've heard about lately?" Cinnabar coldly scowled.
"Yes, they're heading towards me as I speak!" Fire Agate frantically cried. "I need you to send backup at once! This is urgent!"
"And yet the criminals and lowlifes you allied with can't lend their assistance?" Cinnabar responded. "Face it, Fire Agate, you have sealed your doom today. This shall be my final message to you, goodby-"
Just then, the Brigade burst through the doors of Fire Agate's compound, frightening the Agate, and she accidentally turned off the console. "Please have mercy on me."
"Sorry, but we're nothing like the Crystal Gems." Cap stoically declared. "Mercy is not in our dictionary." With that, she jabbed her spear straight into Fire Agate's chest, poofing her and forcing her to retreat into her gem.
"Okay, girls, another mission over with." Pony declared while placing Fire Agate's gem in a bubble. "Let's blow this colony and bring her home."
"Affirmative." IQ reiterated nasally while triumphantly rubbing her nose. "Let us return to our vessel and await our next orders."
"Yes, what she said." Braids repeated nervously before the Pearls left the building.
The Pearls began leaving the colony planet using the Servant, a moderately-sized customized ship built for the team's missions that served as their headquarters when receiving missions and relaxing in-between them. Sitting down at the captain's chair on the bridge, Cap made another order. "Púrén, connect us to Yellow Diamond."
"Yes, captain." The ship's holographic AI Púrén complied, displaying herself in a form almost exactly like a Pearl before revealing a screen that presented Cap with Yellow Pearl on it. "Oh, it seems someone else is making the call."
"Greetings Brigade, I trust that your mission to Dangan-40 was successful?" Yellow Pearl asked.
"We can confirm Yellow Pearl." Pony stated. "By the way, where's Yellow Diamond at?"
"She and the other Diamonds are off searching for more Black Rutile supporters on Homeworld." Yellow Pearl replied. "Which reminds me, your next assignment is to stop an uprising on Boba-80 by an Orange Sapphire and a Violet Morganite."
"We'll get there as soon as we deliver Fire Agate to Homeworld." IQ proclaimed. "Over and out." When the screen faded, the Pearls decided to converse among themselves for a bit. "I'd say we've been pretty successful since our inception, haven't we?"
"Yes, our missions have been glorious!" Braids bombastically declared.
"Surely." Tails smirked in response.
"But still, we have yet to locate the current head of the Rutile Rebels." Pony replied. "We've searched high and low, yet she always seems one step ahead."
"Do not fret; we shall find her eventually." Púrén proclaimed. "In the meantime, let us return Fire Agate first and then go to Boba-80."
"Agreed." Cap stated. "Púrén, set a course back for Homeworld."
"Command received." Púrén nodded, activating the ship's boosters and flying away from Dangan-40.
A few hours later, on the colony planet of Boba-80, an Orange Sapphire and a Violet Morganite were making a speech together to the Gems present. The Morganite had her hair styled in a topknot and wore attire befitting a Japanese lord, while the Sapphire wore white high-heeled boots and had her gem on her shoulder.
"We shall stand here and fight for this lost cause!" Orange Sapphire cried out to the enraged masses. "We've come too far to surrender to Pink's hellspawn yet, and I know it won't be easy! But the line can't be drawn here!"
"They have been holding us back for too long." Violet Sapphire calmly added. "It is time that we give them what they deserve."
"Now then, are you with us?!" Orange Sapphire yelled, causing their audience to roar in agreement. "That's what I need to hear! Stick around for a word from our master Cinnabar. She'll give you the specifics." The pair left the stage, satisfied with how well the speech turned out. "Have to say, that went better than I thought." She said to Violet Morganite. "I was almost expecting something to go wrong."
"Is that so?" a voice echoed throughout the backstage while a small red dot appeared on Violet Morganite's face, pointing at the gem between her eyes.
"Who said that?" Violet Morganite nervously looked around before she felt someone stabbing her through the chest, and she barely had any time to react before poofing. "WHA-?" she cried out before erupting in a cloud of smoke, leaving only her gem behind.
"Violet, no!" Orange Sapphire exclaimed before a massive battleax emerged from the shadows and struck at her neck, poofing her as well.
"Sapphire and Morganite secured. I repeat, Sapphire and Morganite secured." Braids spoke into an earpiece, allowing the Pearls to make themselves known. "How do we break this to their fans?"
"Simple, we don't." Cap stated as she bubbled the two inactive Gems. "They may eventually get wise, but I'm sure they'll fly into a panic soon."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's book it before they find us!" Pony suggested hurriedly. However, she didn't account for someone else watching the Pearls as they departed. A security camera spied on the five closely, and on the other end of the surveillance device, Cinnabar watched the screen intently.
"So, these mercenaries happen to be some of my Pearls?" Cinnabar frowned. "How about we play a little game then?"
And so ends the first chapter of the Black Pearl Brigade! As I publish this, I'm almost done with my pitches for the first season, so be on the lookout for the following chapters of this walk on a different side of Steven's universe. I think the dialogue seems a little flat, but I hope to get better as the series goes on. Until then, stay tuned and stay frosty!