The Universe trio nervously walks along with Eastview's newly manifested parts, the people around them looking like 'actual' people now. Steven could finally make out what they were saying as they passed several of them, each unloading their luggage after arriving in town. There were now kids as well, running past them in a game of tag. He couldn't help but shiver uncomfortably at just how realistic everything and everyone looked, knowing for a fact that they were all created by Billy and Tommy's mother.

"It's so odd seeing so many people here when just this morning it was just…us," He mumbles quietly, now eyeing a jogger running past with his dog. Steven froze when the animal met his eyes, the familiar feeling of fear creeping back in, tightening his chest.

Rose pulls him protectively close to her, glaring at the dog and jogger as they sped away from their view.

"I hope the Maximoffs like singing. Maybe we can still make it up for them with a song or something," Greg strums his guitar in hand, playing with the strings and humming a melody.

"Uh, Dad," Steven starts hesitantly, still close to Rose. "When…and where did you get a guitar?"

"Oh, huh?" Greg turns to him, oblivious to his uneasiness, and continues to play with the strings anyway. "I…don't really know? I think I've always brought it with me. Yeah, that must be it!"

Steven watches him successfully crafting a tune as they keep walking, bobbing his head lightly as he now tries to come up with some lyrics.

"I'm getting kinda worried," He murmurs under his breath.

"Oh, I'm sure your Dad can charm them! I mean, he charmed me." Rose beams down at him, shaking his shoulder a bit for comfort.

"It's not that, it's…I don't think it's gonna be easy. This whole time we were looking for her and all this stuff just manifested!" He argues, a hand waving at some family having a casual barbecue on their lawn. He even had to admit that it smelt good. "It's getting kinda obvious that she doesn't want us around. It's like…White Diamond all over again."

Rose stiffens beside him. In hindsight, Steven wasn't one-hundred percent sure if this was really his mom, not that he anticipated for her to react a bit realistically considering she was…what? Brainwashed earlier this morning? If his theory was true, his gem was separated and instead of it being him, it was actually Rose this time.

"So, you know then…" She spoke quietly beside him, eyes downcast. "Y-You know that I'm ━"

"Pink Diamond? Yeah." He finishes for her. "So does the rest of the Crystal Gems."

He finds the tiniest bit of satisfaction in seeing her face be engulfed with shock and fear and immediately feeling bad right after.

"I had to tell them. They needed to know."

Rose was quiet for a moment, her grip on his shoulder tightening a bit.

"H-How did…h-how did you all know?"

"I kept having your visions," Steven tells her quietly, feeling nostalgic for a bit. "And one thing led to another, at first I thought you had Pearl shatter her for you. So I confronted her about it but she couldn't physically tell me anything."

Rose wilted beside him, now close to tears.

"Steven━I'm…I didn't want…I'm really sorry━"

"She made me go inside her gem and it's where I found out about you." He interrupts her coldly. "Garnet came apart. Sapphire was angry and Ruby was left crying, she didn't know what to do."

"A-And…a-and Amethyst?" Rose croaks out, waiting in anticipation.

"Well, I guess she was upset." Steven shrugs, trying not to get it to him with how everyone was a mess that day, including himself. "But she took it the best out of everyone. She was shocked at first and then…she just rolled with it, I guess."

Rose chuckles darkly, her bangs hiding her eyes.

"...She was the youngest out of all of us. She never knew Pink Diamond either…I suppose."

"...yep."

After that, they're both quiet. They let Greg fill the silence with his improv song, hoping that they'd still impress Miss Maximoff and not dread the possibility of her just simply erasing them from existence.

They kept walking along, passing several new houses that kept on expanding within Eastview. And with each new block they pass by, there are more people and children. Greg strums his last notes, ending his song and then turning to them.

"What'd you think, guys? Think we can still knock their socks off without fruitcake?"

Greg, from what he noticed, was a bit uncharacteristic and in some cases, completely oblivious at times. Where Steven is hoping to trust him more than his mom, Rose was proving to be more sane and secure compared to his Dad. It's chilling to think for a moment if it was just him and his mother who were truly real out of all the manifested people around them, including his Dad.

He wonders if Greg can be woken up like Rose.

"I think it's pretty good, Dad." He breaks their tense silence, ignoring his mom's reaction from beside him. "The Maximoffs will love it. That is…if we can find their house before the day ends."

Steven sighs. They've been walking for what felt like hours now and none of the houses seem like the Maximoffs. In all honesty, he doesn't know what it looks like or where it's located. He had hoped his Mom and Dad would have known, or at least before Rose woke up from her trance, and yet she tells him that all she knew was that they were having dinner with them tonight. Another thing would be to go back to their house since they were neighbors, but Billy and Tommy had specifically told him that their house keeps relocating itself as Eastview continues to grow.

It would seem their house had even relocated from under their noses as well.

"Hey, let's not give up now!" Rose butts in awkwardly, forcing a smile. "I'm sure our neighbors would be looking for us as well…uh, considering how everything here keeps changing and evolving! Who knows? Maybe they'll just pop right beside us━"

"Greetings, Universe,"

Greg screams, Rose jumps and Steven was sure he almost tripped the second the voice greeted them warmly.

He turns his attention to the person and immediately gawks in disbelief.

Standing before them was a man with red skin. Of course, Steven was mildly bothered by that, considering that gems are another kind entirely compared to humans in the eye.

No. What puts him a bit on edge, Rose as well, was the tiny yellow gemstone protruding on his forehead. It was hexagonal in shape, surrounded by a pattern Steven believes to be metal. The man's face has subtle markings that seem alien to the eye, but despite his foreign appearance, he was looking at them with kind eyes.

He was wearing an open brown suit, with a blue vest underneath. Steven can tell that he was aware of their unusual stare, yet he gives them a shy wave in response.

"I didn't mean to frighten you all with my sudden appearance. I usually disguise myself to look more…human to the eye. I would gladly change to something you are more familiar with if my being here is too distracting, but uh…my wife greatly encouraged me to meet you all with honesty."

He spoke with such a kind tone, Steven quickly felt bad that he needed to elaborate on himself because all three of them were so caught off guard by his appearance.

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Greg was the first one to respond, extending a hand. "Your tattoos are pretty sweet!"

The man takes his hand with a relieved smile.

"Thank you. But they aren't really tattoos, they're vibranium." Upon seeing their confused stares, he quickly explains it to them. "It's a very rare metal that came from a meteorite. Nearly indestructible I must say, it's a wonder why it's Captain Rogers' most desired weapon to be based upon."

"...Riiiiight," Steven drawls awkwardly. "Sorry, we didn't mean to stare earlier. You uh…don't have to change your appearance for us. It's cool."

The man gives him a warm smile.

"And you must be Steven Universe. It's a pleasure to meet you, lad." Steven offers him a hand to shake. His skin was odd to feel like it was something stiff yet organic in a way. "My boys talk a lot about you, young Universe. It is my pleasure to give you our thanks for helping Billy during the pressure of the earlier construction happening outside."

His eyes widened at that.

"Y-Your…Billy and Tommy's father?"

"Please, call me Vision."

"Oh!" Rose gasps, taking their attention for a moment. "You're so kind, Vision! But uh, I was wondering recently…" She trails off, still gaping at Vision's gemstone. "Are you like…from space? I mean, you don't have to say anything specific, especially if you're not comfortable talking about a particular home planet━"

"Mom," Steven interrupts, glaring at her.

"Oh, I take no offense to your question." Vision replies to her kindly. "Though I was expecting to have this sort of conversation during dinner when we're all getting to know each other, there's really no harm to give an answer now. That is…considering this is a burning question that needs an immediate explanation?"

Rose meets Steven's eyes, watching her son pouting at her for being a bit rude and on the nose.

"I'm really sorry," She sighs. "It's just that…your gemstone," She points to his forehead, where Vision quickly looks up in response. "I have one too, and I was wondering if you originally came from…Homeworld?" She finishes hesitantly, watching as the man blinks in question for a second.

"Are you inquiring if I'm an alien from outer space?"

"Or! uh …were you just…harvested? Here? On Earth?" Steven adds, grimacing as he panics for a little. He turns to look at Rose again who just shrugs apologetically at him. This was their chance to get close to Miss Maximoff, he hopes they didn't blow it with Vision for putting their noses in his business.

"Ah! Am I subtly informed that you also possess an infinity stone?" Vision asks curiously, now eyeing his mother in interest. Both mother and son merely turn to one another, looking even more lost than having a proper answer.

"Infinity…stone?" They both ask him, which Vision claps his hands before explaining.

"Why, yes! Your mother is curious about the gemstone on my forehead, correct?"

"Well, we're both curious, really…" Steven tells him, scratching the back of his head.

"I've never heard of━of…an infinity stone?" Rose repeats with uncertainty. "I thought you were a Jade or a Heliodor…or something," She chuckles timidly at her mistakes. "I don't think Homeworld had…infinity stones. As a matter of fact, I don't think they've harvested one either."

Vision squints his eyes at them, head tilting with mental calculation. Steven gulps at his response and wonders if they somehow had screwed up and asked him too many questions.

"Hmm…I feel like we're not entirely on the same page here. You mentioned a homeworld and I would assume that the inhabitants there are…sentient gems?"

Rose looks back at Steven, both of them deciding whether it's a good idea that they tell the poor man about homeworld and its conquering race or they'd leave out some parts to make things less complicated.

"Yeah, kind of," Steven quickly replies, sweating a bit out of nervousness. "You see, my Mom was from Homeworld which is from space. She came to Earth one time and reeeaaaaally liked it and decided to stay here and live with my Dad. And to summarize a really complicated and long story, they had me."

"Oh," Vision beams, looking between the two of them. "That sounds like a very interesting story to tell during dinner!"

"Ah, speaking of dinner," Greg brings his guitar back into view. "I hope you guys love singing! I mean, which family doesn't love a little sing-along after having such a nice meal?"

"That's lovely! Uh…Gregory? Did I get it right?"

"Just Greg is fine."

"Excellent! My wife and I would love a rendition of Yackety Yack by the Coasters."

"Psst…" Steven quietly pokes Rose on the side, signaling for her to move away a bit from where Vision and Greg are having a little chit-chat.

"Didn't you mention something about the Avengers before?" He whispers quietly, eyeing his Dad posing with his guitar and singing something for Vision.

"Oh, did I?"

"Yes, you did," He hisses impatiently at her. "You said they were like a superhero team or something."

"I did?"

Steven palms his hand in frustration.

"You don't remember them? You asked for like…an autograph earlier,"

Rose frowns at him. "I'm sorry. Everything has been like…a blur after you woke me. I think there are some pieces I remember if I try hard enough."

"Is Vision an avenger?" He watches her focus for a minute, closing her eyes as she concentrates.

"Hmm…oh," She unintentionally grabs his shoulder and Steven is immediately hit with a vision.

He thinks he's seeing from someone else's eyes and feeling their feelings. He felt despair, wrath, and sadness clawing at his chest in such a huge amount, the person's hand from his view was wrapped in the same red energy that constructed Eastview. He realizes that he was holding a heart reconstructed in metal, and a monstrous robot with its chest ripped open lies before him.

"It felt like that,"

The familiar voice came from his mouth, hand still clenching what appears to be the robot's heart for what seemed like a final time as gravity immediately pulled him under. Steven realizes that they were inside a train. He doesn't know why they're falling, but it seems to go on for a while. He didn't dread if the time came for him to splat on the ground, the person he's in now didn't care enough about their own survival.

'Wait for me, Pietro,'

He thinks, until Vision swoops in effortlessly, catching them in midair and saving them just in time before Sokovia met their end.

The scene changes.

Steven finds himself in bed this time, enjoying a cup of warm chocolate. He hears Vision expressing pain not far from where he's from, and he's surprised to see him so human. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed casually in a blue sweater. He was near the window, crouched on his side and a hand touching the gemstone on his forehead.

"Vis? Is it the stone again?"

He hears the person say.

"It's as if it's speaking to me," Came Vision's response.

"What does it say?"

Steven is ashamed to have witnessed such a personal scene, a tender moment where Vision kisses the person's palm in comfort, allowing for them to feel the gemstone that shone brightly on his forehead.

"Tell me what you feel."

"I just feel you."

The person answers with no hesitation.

Rose must have felt his uneasiness for intruding on a moment that felt too private, so the memory skips. And to Steven's horror, he was somewhere above a lab, staring down on a table where Vision was horrifically dissected apart by several humans. On top of the person's despair, Steven felt incredibly sick to his stomach. A hole was torn open on Vision's forehead, the gemstone now gone. He feels himself tremble, banging on the window glass that keeps them apart.

"W-What are y-you doing to him?"

She wanted him to be buried as a hero who helped save the universe. She couldn't believe her eyes, couldn't believe why they would have done this to her beloved, couldn't believe how fast they betrayed his wants in order to use his valuable body parts for their own greed.

"We're dismantling the most sophisticated, sentient weapon ever made."

The man tells them with zero empathy, all business.

"Vision's not a weapon! You can't do this━"

"I cannot allow you to take three-billion dollars' worth of vibranium just to put it to the ground. So, the best I can do is to let you say goodbye to him here."

Steven is lost to the person's grief, watching themselves shatter the glass that separated them and hovered gently to where Vision was being dissected. He feels her hoping for a connection, the slightest light of prayer that Vision was still there, that there's still a chance to save him━

"...I can't feel you."

Rose breaks the connection and Steven is left gasping for air. He clutches his chest in pain, breathing heavily. He turns to Rose who feels exactly the same. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, her eyes wide and terrified, experiencing the memories and feelings of the person's hopelessness. Steven would argue that it felt a lot worse than Blue Diamond's grief. Whatever the person was experiencing it was dancing close to madness. The way it would have anyone not only break down to an endless sob but have them clawing at their hair or their skin or their face, sinking down to an empty void with the slightest ray of light to reach, a mere illusion until another wave of despair chooses to come down upon them again.

He may also have the slightest suspicion that they've lost more than the man who stood before them now, alive and cheerily singing along with Greg.

"I think my wife and kids would love it! Though I have to admit, improv isn't really our forte."

"It's all about improvising with your feelings! Let the words out and ride the tune that fits it." Greg stops playing with his guitar upon briefly glancing at their pitiful state.

"Rose? Steven? W-Why are you two crying? Is everything alright?"

Vision now turns to them, surprised and shockingly concerned.

"Oh, good heavens! What happened?"

"I-It's f-fine…w-we're fine…" Steven mumbles tiredly, quickly wiping his tears. The same goes for Rose.

"Oh, honey! It's just that━" Rose sniffs, voice trembling. "Y-Your song was s-so amazing! It really brought us to t-tears!"

Greg turns to meet Vision's own suspicious look.

"You both cried over our rendition mix of 'No fruitcake' and 'Yackety Yack'?"

"E-Exactly!" Steven adds, immediately continuing with an awkward clap. "Y-Yeah, g-go team!"

"Well, I believe we better get going then." Vision says, checking on his watch. "Wife is probably ready with dinner on the table at this rate. And don't you two worry! I estimate that we have enough napkins and tissues to dry your tears!"

Vision went behind them, hands on their shoulders and leading them to the side. Steven blinks, staring dumbfoundedly at a quaint house where Tommy quickly speeds directly at them all the way from the front door.

The kid stops in front of him and swiftly punches him on the chest, though not hard enough to actually hurt.

"Thank God you're alive!"

"Uh…thanks?" Steven replies, feeling relieved to see the twin again. He was wearing a green shirt this time with skinny pants, hair a bit disheveled after running straight to him.

"Billy is inside. He wants to tell you something really important so you better get your butt in here quick."

"Oh, okay. Is your Mom ho━"

"Wait! Steven━"

He wasn't able to hear the rest of Rose's warning, being immediately dragged inside their house until time suddenly froze all of a sudden. Steven felt chilly, unable to move a muscle in his body yet aware of everything in his surroundings. He could clearly see Tommy before zipping to the front door, frozen like a statue instead of a speeding blur. Both of them were an inch off the ground, having stopped from moving in mid-air.

He felt goosebumps, feeling eyes watching him from the sidelines. So he took a peak without actually moving his head, spying from the corner of his eyes and catching a strange-looking man staring right back at him. He looks incredibly pale, with dark circles under his eyes that were ice-cold to look at. He peered at him quietly from his corner, stroking his beard in interest.

"Good luck."

He smirks at him cockily, knowing what he's about to face is a serious challenge.

Time moves again. He successfully gets dragged inside the house and misses the silhouette of a giant looming figure with glowing white eyes.

Steven finds himself in the dining room. He feels Tommy stiffen beside him, engulfed in the familiar red energy he's beginning to fear.

"What did I say about running inside the house?"

"...sorry, Mom."

He felt his stomach sink, mouth slightly agape in disbelief.

She has short wavy hair this time, in red rounded shoulders, cinched-in waistlines, and a full-on skirt dress with black polka dots. She lets Tommy go, allowing the boy to speed around the dinner table and sit down next to his brother, who was eyeing Steven nervously the whole time.

Rose quickly barges in not far from behind, followed by Greg and Vision casually talking about improv music.

"Thanks for finding them for me, Sweetheart," Wanda tells him sweetly, waving a finger in the air as all the doors to their house immediately close.

"Oh, the neighborhood was stunning, dear! Though, it is quite easy to get lost in, seeing how our guests wandered for hours. So maybe take it down a notch." Vision replies kindly, unaware of the growing tension from the four people side-eyeing each other, with the three being nervous, and the other in a passive-aggressive manner.

"I'm still working on that. Building our, safe and protected pocket reality is no easy feat, Vision."

"Never said it was, love." He blows a kiss to her, which Wanda dramatically catches it.

"Um…" Steven gulps, thinking of a phrase to start off easy but Wanda quickly interrupts him.

"Oh, don't be nervous!" She waves him off casually, the candles on the dinner table lighting up, giving part to the most delicious food Steven had seen in his life, yet his appetite says otherwise.

"You should all sit down! I don't bite." She chuckles darkly.

The next thing they all knew, they were all seated around the table in a blink of an eye. Rose looked completely stunned and a bit frightful from the sudden display of reality manipulation. Wanda sat at the helm and Steven from the other end. Vision and the twins sat on Wanda's left side, with Rose and Greg sitting on her right.

"Wanda," Vision reprimands from where he's sitting. "There's no need to frighten our guests."

She looks at him in playful disbelief. "Vision, please. I'm just trying to get everything and everyone in order. I'm really famished from all the new states I'm still building outside Eastview."

She points a finger to her wine, making it move and pouring down her glass.

"After all, we're all here for a civil conversation,"

Steven and Rose eye each other nervously, the wines from around the table pouring down on each of their glasses, with the exception of Billy and Tommy. She eyes the gem hybrid sharply, raising her glass to her lips.

"Aren't we, Steven?"