Steven sat against a simulated wall, staring at what his house once was, warm and empty all at once.
"Room, show me my mother," he commanded and Rose Quartz appeared in front of him.
"No, not Rose. I want to see my mother, Pink Diamond. I saw her in the Centipeedle's mind."
Rose didn't move.
"Show me!" He ordered, and she finally shifted, growing taller, her gem shifting around to a familiar shape and position on her stomach. Steven stood up, coming to a stop in front of Pink Diamond, taller than her by a few good feet.
"I hate you," Steven tells her. She didn't move or react, but he knew she wouldn't.
"I hope you're watching from inside of me, because I want you to know that I hate you for what you've done. You chose to be a general and stand behind a false face when you could have changed everything as Pink Diamond. You could have saved the gems, and maybe dad would still be alive if you never existed." He spat at her, the implied 'if I never existed' being left unsaid.
"You don't believe that last one." It responded, stone faced, and Steven looked away.
"Room, get her out of my sight, and, if I ever ask to see her again, make a copy of me and have it slap some sense into me." Pink dispersed into a pink cloud and Steven sighed.
"Room, show me the real door," he said, the door appearing and the two Jaspers peeking through the door frame.
"Any contact?" Their pink leader asked, walking through the door and the Jaspers falling into step behind him.
"No contact, my Diamond." Jasper answered gruffly.
"So things are either going perfectly or something's gone horrifically wrong." Steven said, tone pessimistic as he shrank down and started heading towards the city.
"Don't hurt anyone, try not to break anything, and, big Jasper, try not to insult anyone based on their looks."
"Yes, my Steven." She responded as they reached the paved road and walked past the Big Donut.
Moving farther down the boardwalk, they all headed towards Fish Stew Pizza. He pushed the door open with a pink hand, causing the bell to ring cheerfully.
"Oh, hey, Steven!" Kiki greeted.
"Hi, Kiki, one large pizza to go."
"Sure, Steven. Will that be enough for your… friends?" She asked, looking cautiously at the two orange gems flanking him.
"It'll be enough, they don't need to eat." Steven assured her, waving a hand dismissively.
"Okay, that'll be 15.98." She told him, and he walked closer to the counter to pay, gesturing for the Jaspers to sit in a booth.
After he had handed over the cash, Steven sat next to Skinny, with Jasper sitting down with a thump in front of them. Having heard her sister talk to Steven, Jenny emerged from the back and pulled a chair up to the open side of the booth.
"So, who are your new friends?" She asked, leaning forward and causing her large earrings to swing with her head movement.
"Jasper and Jasper." He said, indicating the two of them.
"Were they in those big hands?" Jenny asked, voice lowering conspiratorially.
"Yeah, that would be them," he confirmed.
"And they have the same name?"
"It's the kind of gem they are, which are Jaspers."
"And what are you?" She asked, taking in his pink complexion and trying to come up with a guess.
"She's Pink Diamond." The large Jasper answered quickly, her gaze seeming to cut through Jenny.
"I'm a Pink Diamond," he corrected her. "And don't let it slip to Ronaldo, I'm only telling you because the only people I think you'd tell for sure are the Cool Kids and Kiki."
"That's pretty accurate," she agreed. "So, one has a gem as a nose and the other has one on her stomach. Do you have a gem?" She asked, looking him up and down curiously.
"Yeah, it's on my stomach too." Steven replied, his hand moving to rest on said gem that was hidden by his shirt.
"Can I see it?"
"You want me to take my shirt off?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Yes, I do! Come on, pink boy, take it off, I have got to see this."
He sighed, pulling his shirt up to reveal his gem, the diamond gleaming brightly from the reflected fluorescent lighting in the restaurant.
"Damn, thats a big diamond!" She exclaimed in awe, and the Quartzes looked at the diamond before sharing a look with each other.
Seeing the look, he dropped his shirt quickly to ask, "How long did it take the town to rally and approach the temple?"
"A few hours, Dewey's upset with you by the way," she informed him as she leaned back, a small smirk forming on her lips.
"Good, I'm already dealing with three unfit leaders as is. Dewey was just unlucky enough that he also happens to be unfit for his position. Although, I have to admit, he is a lot easier to deal with," he admitted to her, and she eyed him warily.
"You're not going to kill Buck's dad, right?"
"No, I don't hurt humans, and I've already told them humans are off limits."
"You've... told them?"
"They can't go against my orders at the moment. I'm working on it," the teen said with a sigh.
"That sounds awful, they have to do everything you say?"
"We were created to serve Steven." Skinny piped up, not looking up from where her hands rested on the table.
"That's a lot to take in." Jenny muttered, sounding a little overwhelmed.
"You don't know the half of it."
The bell gave another cheerful ring and Steven looked over to see Ronaldo entering.
"Empty your pockets," he commanded immediately, and Ronaldo stared at him for a bit before pulling a potato out of his pocket and placing it on a table. After a short glare from Steven, he turned and absconded.
"What happened between you and Ronaldo anyways? You used to at least humor him."
"He hit me with a potato, it didn't hurt much, but, damn, if it didn't piss me off."
"That does sound like him, his blog's funny though."
"His theories always involve sneeple." Steven deadpanned, rolling his eyes.
"Can you prove it's not?" She teased.
"Actually, yeah, I can," he said, pulling out his wallet. "It's not 'sneeple' behind everything, funnily enough, most of his theories are misunderstood gem artifacts and recorded history of Earth's invasion." Steven continued, pulling out a dollar and placing it flat on the table, gesturing to the gem.
"Look familiar?"
Her eyes widened, "That's really cool."
"Steven!" Kiki called out and he stood up, the Jaspers copying his movements.
"Later, Jenny." the Jaspers following after him as he grabbed the pizza from the pickup area.
"Thanks, Kiki." The pink teen told the other twin, walking out the door.
Steven handed Skinny the pizza box before lifting the panel of his father's storage unit, opening the box, and grabbing a slice.
"Eat if you want, but you'll need to shapeshift a digestive system."
Seeing an old health book sitting on top of one of the many piles in the crowded unit, he grabbed it and handed it to her, taking back the box and setting it on top of a set of bongo drums. She opened it slowly, her eyes widening at the graphs on the pages.
"This is what's inside of humans?" She asked in horror.
"Yeah," he said absentmindedly, moving boxes around and looking for something. The bigger Jasper stepped closer to Skinny and looked over her shoulder.
"Pitiful creatures." She muttered as Skinny flipped the page.
Steven found another book and set it off to the side for later.
"Got it!" He announced, pulling a box out and opening it to reveal Greg's shirts. He took a bite of pizza and pushed the box out of the unit with his other hand.
"Limited edition Mr. Universe merch." He told them, pulling a black shirt with a bright yellow star out of the box and tossing it to Skinny. He finished off the pizza and got to work on looking for a shirt in the other Jasper's size.
"I don't want to stare at yellow and blue diamonds all the time, so, for now, it's star shirts for y'all," he explained, reaching the bottom of the box and finally finding a properly sized shirt.
"Here." He directed to Jasper, tossing it to her.
"Image modifiers not bonded to your body- weird." Skinny remarked, putting the book aside and pulling the shirt over her head. Jasper hesitantly followed her lead and tugged hers on too.
"Jasper, go grab the ship,"
"But, my Diamond-,"
"If you're about to imply that I need to be guarded then shut it, go get the ship. It wasn't a question." Steven interrupted, causing Jasper to tense and position her arms into a salute.
"My Diamond." The orange gem said, quickly turning and leaving.
"So, do you want to try eating?" The teen asked Skinny when Jasper was out of earshot. She nodded hesitantly, so Steven reached over and opened the book to flip to a diagram of the digestive system.
"You'll need to shapeshift these parts. It's a human digestive system," he informed her, and she stared at it intensely for a moment before her torso glowed slightly.
"This feels strange," she muttered, and he opened the box for her to pull out a slice.
"Like this." He instructed, taking a bite and chewing it slowly. She copied him, her eyes widening at the taste.
Steven made a show of swallowing it, not wanting her to spit it out into his storage locker. She copied him again, her swallow seeming slightly forced.
"That's… not bad." Skinny remarked in surprise, a small smile forming on her face as she continued to chew.
"It's why I still bother eating, the taste is worth it," her diamond said, amused at her reaction to food.
"Now, the reason I sent Jasper away is because I wanted to talk to you in private. The other Jasper seems like a bigot. She mocks you and the Carnellion for being different, doesn't she?"
She nodded in confirmation, arms crossing across her new shirt.
"If she takes it too far, tries to intimidate you or any other gem, you have my permission to poof her any way you can and you bring her gem to me."
"Why? She's perfect!" She argued, confusion marking her features.
"There's no such thing as perfect," he retorted.
"The Diamonds are perfect, you're perfect."
Steven scoffed, "Perfect? I'm a mess. And I'd assume the other Diamonds are too."
"Look, I don't give pep talks anymore, I'm not the happy-go-lucky human I once was. But one thing I do know is that the only opinion of you that matters is your own, and you need to learn to love and respect yourself," he told her, hearing the ship approaching.
"Times up." Steven handed her the box of pizza and the anatomy book before grabbing his book and pulling it shut. The ship opened up in front of them, allowing Steven and Skinny to walk inside. Steven let his form return to normal with a deep sigh of relief.
"Take me to the moon." He commanded Jasper as the door closed.
Steven stepped out of the ship onto the lunar surface, feeling his body adjust to the low gravity.
He walked towards the door, Skinny opening it up for him. He stepped out slowly and took in the large murals of the four Diamonds.
"You two stay down here, and one of you scratch that out." He said, gesturing to Pink Diamond's visage.
He started to walk up the stairs to find the Diamonds, who were in the throne room. Yellow was looking uncomfortable from where she had shrunk into Pink Diamond's seat, Blue standing behind her.
Steven cleared his throat and they turned to look at him.
"Oh, hello, Pink." Blue greeted happily.
"My name is Steven," he corrected her, watching as Yellow stood to shapeshift back.
"Have you finally come to your senses and decided to return to Homeworld?" Yellow asked, her tone condescending.
"No, but I have decided to let you bring your Bismuths and Peridots. However, I want the Lapis first, along with a few other concessions."
"Oh, and what do you want?"
"First of all, you'll only be bringing enough gems to save the gem architecture that is already collapsing on Earth and to deal with the Cluster," he started, moving towards the center of the room.
"Okay," Yellow agreed slowly, curious.
"Good, I'll fix the galaxy warp and you can get started on your part. I'll also take the Quartzes once the Kindergarten is cleared and then I'll start on my part." Steven said before startling slightly as they heard a crash from downstairs.
"Hmm, the Lapis is back." Yellow noted.
"That didn't sound good, Yellow." Blue said nervously as the sound of Quartzes screaming could be heard.
"She found the Jaspers," he said, unsure of how to react.
The noise stopped and Lapis walked up the stairs, both Jaspers encased in water and suspended in midair.
"My Diamonds," she said, her eyes widening when she saw Steven's tall figure.
"Are you okay?" He asked her, to her surprise.
"Yes, my Diamond, I'm unharmed."
"Okay, then let the Jaspers out."
"But they were breaking the mural," she told him.
"What?!" Blue and Yellow exclaimed.
"They were doing what I told them to, I don't want to have to look at her every time I come
here."
Yellow sighed, holding the bridge of her nose as tears began to pool in the corner of Blue's eyes.
"Calm down, Blue, the mural was poorly made anyways, Pink didn't even wear her hair like that in Era One." Yellow told her, trying to stop her tears from falling.
"You're right, it's just that we've already lost so many of her treasures." Blue acquiesced, rubbing her eyes.
"Put a pin in that, we'll revisit it later. Lapis, drop the Jaspers." Steven commanded.
"Oh, yeah." She said, shrugging as she dropped them and they glared at her.
"And pull the water out of their shirts, I don't want them to start to smell."
She waved her hand and the glaring Jaspers were now dry.
"Lapis Lazuli, you now belong to Pink Diamond." Blue said, and Lapis looked between the two.
"A Lapis on a planet that is 71 percent water will be a great tool." Yellow muttered to herself, raising her hand to her chin in thought.
"Yeah, sure, that's totally why I asked for her," he replied, turning and rolling his eyes.
"Call your Bismuths to the galaxy warp, I'll greet them when they arrive." He stalked out of the room and down the stairs, the Jaspers rushing to keep up and Lapis flying near his shoulder. Skinny opened the door and he made his way towards the ship, the door opening automatically.
"Can you find the galaxy warp with this thing?"
"Yes, my Diamond." Jasper answered him, sitting in the captain's seat and closing the door, the ship taking off towards Earth.
"If I may ask my Diamond, why do you want the Lapis?"
"I wanted her near me for a reason, you don't need to know it just yet."
Steven stepped out onto the galaxy warp and walked towards the center, stepping up onto the cracked warp pad. Kneeling down and licking his palms, he slammed them onto the crystal structure, engulfing it in a pink glow as it knit itself back together. He stepped back off of the warp pad, now waiting.
"If anything other than a Bismuth or a Peridot steps through, poof them." Steven said as it lit up.
A group of Peridots appeared, all of which were of various shades of green and heights. They quickly stepped off of the platform, scanning it, as a group of Bismuths arrived. Their rainbow dreads varied in lengths and patterns, each with a Diamond on one shoulder.
Jasper made a noise to get their attention and they all looked in her direction, surprised when they made eye contact with a dead Diamond, who seemingly suddenly appeared on a planet soon to be destroyed.
"You're here to restore the already existing gem architecture and to disable the forsaken geo-weapon called the Cluster. If you don't, I'll do everything within my power to make sure that Blue, Yellow, and I are still on planet when it emerges." Steven said, pink eyes glittering dangerously. They stared at him with wide eyes, shocked.
"You better get started, you can start on the Sea Spire and use it as a base of operations. The Moon Goddess Statue has it frozen, but it's in rough shape." The group nodded their understanding.
"Why were you scanning the warp pad?" He asked the Peridots.
"It's... so old, my Diamond." One of the taller ones replies, the others nodding in agreement.
"It's thousands of years outdated," he tells them, watching as they took in the ancient architecture with renewed shock.
"We are not colonizing this planet. You will not interact with the life of this planet if I'm not present, understand?" They nodded their understanding once again.
"Good, Bismuths, take one of the warp pads and get to work. The faster we get finished, the faster all four Diamonds end up back on Homeworld. Peridots, get into the ship, we're taking you to your sister so you can figure out how to take care of the Cluster." The teen told them, clapping to hurry them up, and the two groups mobilized swiftly. The Peridots moved towards the ship and the Bismuths moved onto a warp pad and teleported away in a flash of bright light. Steven turned his attention towards Lapis.
"Stay here and keep anyone from coming through, I'll send two Amethysts to replace you later and you can meet up with us." She nodded, looking around at her temporary station, as he stepped onto the ship.
"I won't let you get trapped again." Steven told her as the door closed, and, for some odd reason, she believed him. Lapis' form relaxed as she stood and watched as the ship took off into the air. Steven looked at the Peridots who all stared back at him for a moment.
"How are you alive?" One of them asks, the others moving to cover her mouth frantically.
"Pink Diamond was Rose Quartz," he deadpanned, tired of having to repeat it.
"Make a note of it in however Homeworld shares data, Diamond level authorization." He sat against the wall and rested his head back, watching them take notes.
"Are your limbs false?" He asked, remembering his earlier encounter with the first Peridot he'd met.
"Era Two Peridots come out small." Jasper butts in to explain before they could respond.
"So there are hundreds of small, adorable, green nerds on Homeworld? Are they not supposed to be small?"
"Era One Peridots are around six feet tall," the orange gem said, gulping nervously before she continued. "E-Ever since your supposed demise, Homeworld has had a shortage of materials, gems are smaller and weaker than the First Era gems."
"I don't know how gems are made." Steven admitted blankly, and the gathered gems looked between themselves, murmuring.
"You didn't emerge knowing?" One asked.
"I didn't 'emerge' knowing how to sit up," he tells them, and the big Jasper choked on nothing, Skinny covering a snort.
"I don't have memories of a planet other than the Earth, and I'd crush your gems before I let you hurt it. You can spread the word on that too." He warned them, feeling the ship land.
Standing in one fluid motion, he moved out from the ship, seeing the Amethysts surrounding Peridot, her hand raised ready to fire on them.
"Look, Peridot, I brought you backup, looks like you'll need it." He gestured to the group of Peridots behind him, and the Amethysts summoned their weapons, ready for a fight. The Diamond cleared his throat and they all looked towards him.
"What happened?" He asks a short haired, lavender Amethyst, watching the Peridots as they stepped out of the ship. Steven took in the gem's weapons and the ball of energy forming at the ends of her fingers.
"She wouldn't stop calling us clods!" She accused and one of the Peridots scoffs.
"That pebble loves calling other gems clods."
"Says the Zeta Kindergarten clod herself!" Peridot snarked back, taking her eyes off the Amethysts long enough for them to rush her and grab her arms. A blast went off as a result, and Steven slapped it out of the air before it hit him, causing everyone to freeze. A gem having nearly struck a Diamond was unprecedented.
"Let her go and put away the weapons," he demanded, the entertainment of the situation having worn off.
"Peridot, you're in charge of the other Peridots since you know what we're going to accomplish, and stop calling the Amethysts clods when there's 19 more of them than you."
"HA! Even the Diamonds know 'clod' is better than 'pebble'!"
"Human curses are more creative," he said offhandedly, turning to the Quartzes.
"Is there anything else that I should know about other than the fusion experiments?"
"Some humans were poking around near the first emergence site, we saw some red and blue flashing lights."
"That's great," Steven said sarcastically. "Humans poking around means about as much trouble as gems doing it. Skinny, take the Amethysts and go send the bubbles to the Moonbase. I'll see if the humans are still hanging around." He clapped and they all rushed off to follow his orders. The big Jasper moved to follow Steven.
"You're staying at the bottom of the cliff, I'm just going up to take a look."
They walked through the Kindergarten, Steven shrinking to his more human form and jumping up the side of the cliff. He caught the lip of the edge and pulled himself up to see bright, yellow police tape surrounding the site, along with a hastily constructed lab tent in place of the ones that had been torn apart by the corrupted gem. Immediately, alarms started going off obnoxiously and he sighed.
"Motion detectors." He remarked to himself, casually flicking a ball of pink energy at the alarm, causing it to spark wildly before giving out. The pink hybrid walked towards the broken open lab.
Steven stepped through the hole, licking his hand and healing it as he walked by. He sat at the now functioning computer, finding an environmental study on the total lack of nutrients in the area. Reading over the study, he pored over their theories on the strange, human shaped holes that ran across the cliffs. He closed the first one and opened the second, going over it too, before closing it and opening older scientific studies on the area that went back a long time. Steven read over these as well, when he heard the sounds of a far off car approaching. He pulled the tower out from the computer before bubbling it and sending it to the Quartz's ship as he heard the car pull up. The teen opened the tent to see the police SUV that had pulled up as he stepped out.
"You're here about the alarm, aren't you?"
They shone their lights on him and the oldest of the two men sighed.
"Damn hippies."
"What are you doing here?" The other officer asked.
"I needed to get my paper from the computer. I couldn't even get out of class for an animal attack, and I can't afford to retake it if I fail." Steven lied easily, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing. The older one accepted it, sighing again.
"Where's your car?" The younger of the two asks.
"Connie took the car, I caught a ride from the hotel I was staying at."
They took in Steven's form for a moment suspiciously, before they relaxed and the same man offered, "Want a ride back? We're at least a few miles from town, you must've really wanted that grade."
"Do you have any idea how much college costs?"
"Yeah, it's ridiculous." He agreed as they walked towards the car.
"You'll let me out, right?" He asked them jokingly as he climbed into the back of the SUV, causing them to chuckle lightly.
They pulled into the City and Steven was let out of the car in front of the hotel.
"Thanks guys," he smiled at them briefly as he exited.
He waved a farewell at them as they drove away, only letting the fake grin drop when they were out of sight.
"Stars, that was exhausting." He exhaled out, jumping up and disappearing into the sky, not seeing a familiar face watching him closely from a window.
"Who are you, Steven?"
