Steven Universe belongs to its creators.
Any other references are just references, I can't claim them either.
Knowledge of Steven Universe is Recommended
I am a shitty and a very lazy writer, but I still proofread and execute grammar checks. Not well, but it's more effort than some people around here.
Alexander Sunshine was very confused, stuck in a white room.
He was, at first, chilling by his lonesome safely at home on Christmas. Something quite common for the 22-year-old geek with a shitty family to do. Despite the loneliness, he rolled with it, as he was nothing but adaptive. In fact, he has been rolling with it for most of his life.
Abusive parents? Bear with it then move out of the house at 18!
Bullied by his fellow students? Tell the teachers! That doesn't stop it? Booby traps the bullies' backpacks with mentos coke volcanoes, along with other such tortures.
Can't make friends? Watch a bunch of anime and cartoons, or make imaginary friends!
Getting ganged upon in a dark alley? Go out with a bang as he had nothing to lose. Thankfully when that had happened, he had survived... barely.
Can't get a girl? Work out in depression.
Alone at Christmas? Get himself a gift!
There was too much available in life to not try and live it. Did it hurt him when all those things happened? Hell the fuck yes, but he was no quitter.
He will find true happiness eventually, he believed in his hard work. Plus, he has had just as many good people in his life push him forward as he had put him down. He found his situation wasn't all that bad.
However, all of that was temporarily thrown out the window when a crack in reality opened up beneath Alex's ass and stripped him of his previous mortal coils. His soul was then transported through the infinite void, only to be placed in a white room.
"What the fuck just happened? I'm, am I dead?! Why?! I was sitting down on my couch doing nothing!"
Looking around he saw a text on one of the walls.
[You have fallen in between your couch cushions. Which normally doesn't do anything. However, your couch cushions somehow linked up with a tear in space & time. So, you lost yourself within the nexus of reality, an instance between all dimensions and realities. I have brought you to limbo to reset your soul and send you to some new world with a new body. Mostly because finding a way to your old world is impossible.]
"Wait, what? How the fuck does that make sense." Trying to maintain any semblance of his old sense of logic, Alex protested against the lack of a greater explanation.
[You have the choice of trying to earn a cheat before you are transferred to a new world. Or, get transferred without any special benefit.]
Alex was ignored. Whatever. Alex, as per usual, will just roll with it.
"Sure? How will I earn one?"
[You will undergo one trial of variable difficulty based on how broken you want your cheat to be.]
"Give me the cheat that would best allow me to live a stable and long life in my next world. Also allowing me to fight against the new world's strongest beings if my freedom is in question." Alex, despite being able to roll with it, still wasn't fond of things being ripped away from him. So better to be prepared for that kind of shit.
[As you wish, you will attempt the trial of the Light Devourer.]
"Wha-"
Blam, Alex felt his soul being shot out in an unknown direction traveling at a speed that his mortal mind can only assume to be beyond even light. As everything went black, he couldn't even feel the accelerating movement anymore.
Then everything became hot and bright. A scorching bright light that surrounded him chipped away at his soul. Along with an impossibly excruciating amount of heat. A temperature so hot that it made him feel extremely cold. Alexander Sunshine had his spirit shot into the center of a bright shining sun.
Ironic.
The heat made his spirit feel like he was being braised in a bronze bull, scorching every part of him inside out. The light was just as bad as it felt, like someone using a razor blade covered in itching poison to carve the word "Light" into his spiritual eyes.
His spirit was trapped inside the gaseous ball of light in this state for months. Slowly, however, he adapted as he got used to enduring the heat and light, to the point where he was able to finely tune it out after about five months of agonizing torture.
That was a mistake, as he was hit with a terrifying rage of pure hunger. He had an ungodly amount of hunger swelling within him causing him to begin to eat up his own soul. Fearing for his life, he immediately tuned in to the pain that he had ignored from being trapped in the sun to combat his hunger, making it vanish completely.
Eventually, he had to finely tune the two torturous feelings until they balanced out. Though this was merely a temporary solution as the hunger was growing stronger and stronger. He needed to find a food source at some point. As time passed, such a concept became more and more meaningless. As he was scavenging around, he felt the heat and the light become almost tangible, with this discovery, he worked hard to the point he had collected a clump of the sun in his hands. Then he ate it.
Then he ate some more.
He just kept on eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating.
Until he had devoured the whole sun, Alex did not stop. He was not satisfied until he had completed consuming the very thing that had caused him so much pain and suffering. It helps that the sun had become tastier and tastier, near the end, the dying star tasted like ambrosia. Food fit for the gods.
Once the sun was gone, he was still not satisfied, he wanted more. However, those thoughts ended when he felt himself being pulled until he was back in the white room.
"Oh, I'm back? Send me out again! I'm not done, let me eat more stars!"
[Calm down discount Necrozma, you have passed your first trial, within 5 years too. No other trial is needed. You can now be sent to your next world. No need to worry about tripping into another spatial rift either. Your situation was an anomaly. Enjoy your new life freely.]
"Fuck that! Send me to another sun, let me devour another! Give me more!"
[Mental instability, you may have adapted a little too well. I will haze out your time and experience during that trial and reinforce your memories from before the trial. That will fix you up, and done.]
Alex felt something shift and his mind stabilized.
"Ah, fuck you! That trail was shit, Room!"
[But you got your cheat power, not only that, you earned it. As such, it is time to move on. Also, it's not 'Room', it is Nexus, now goodbye and good riddance.]
Alex was once again flung out.
This time, after everything went black, he found himself waking up in a forest. Upon his arousal, he felt himself up.
His height felt similar, his hair was still black, and he still had his scar on his back. However, his skin had a bit of a tan, and his muscles were more pronounced.
Yeah, Alex was definitely not in his original body, but a similar one. With that established, the first task he assigned himself to do was gathering food.
Sort of.
Alex raises his hand in the sky and pulls, focusing on the rays of sunlight that slipped past the treetops. Slowly a glowing orb of light develops in his hands, he then slurps it up like it was soup, devouring the energy.
"Very fulfilling, but a bit bland in taste," and with further observation, Alex noticed that his whole body felt rejuvenated. After some more testing over several days, he had determined that eating sunlight also heals and cleanses the body. He didn't even need sleep anymore as long as he had enough of it saved up from the morning. For a lack of a better term, it was purifying. Ironically so.
That was not all, Alex could manipulate light with great ease initially, and his control over it was growing stronger. Focusing on himself, he could feel that he was also passively absorbing sunlight throughout his body.
"What the hell! Am I a Kryptonian?" Alex shouts, only to chuckle right after. After getting used to his powers to an extent, then began moving around looking for civilization. All while he continues practicing his light manipulation along the way.
Moving through the jungle with his enhanced speed, while barging through some branches with his enhanced durability, Alex spots the shadow of a humanoid figure up ahead.
"Could it be a person? Maybe they are hiking around and I could ask for them to help point out where there might be civilization!" Alex thought, "Though it seems that I am in another world, there might not even be humans here. Better to just find out for myself." He then approached the figure and noticed the various hues of pink on its long curly hair, blemish-free pink skin, and colorful body. The being in question also had a very tall and bulky figure, that somehow still looked very feminine. The life form also managed to notice Alex because the pink being had turned around to stare at him. This allowed Alex to notice a very iconic gemstone on the pink giant's stomach.
"Rose Quartz?!" Alex annunciates, having accidentally voiced his thoughts.
"A human?" The Quartz softly questions. Seems like he wasn't the only one surprised.
They both gave each other a surreal stare, and time seemed to stop for a brief minute. However, they both awoke from their stupor at the same time.
She summons a pink great sword...
I shot a laser through her chest...
The Quartz looks at me with utter disbelief, and her body poofs into thin air. Leaving her belly button gemstone to fall to the ground.
"That was outrageously easy. Thankfully, that probably wasn't THE Rose Quartz (Pink Diamond) but rather a very similar looking genuine Quartz soldier." In fact, Alex thought that this specific Quartz might be the one affectionately named Shy Rose from the fan base due to her quiet and mature nature. A canonical Rose Quartz, one that has yet to be bubbled and placed in the zoo. Though that begs to question a couple of things.
Why the fuck is he in the world of Steven Universe! Though it does explain why he underwent a trial to eat the sun. The gems are hard light constructs after all, but why the hell did he pop up during the time of The Rebellion! At least he thinks this is before The Rebellion.
Alex grabs the gemstone and runs off in the opposite direction, where there was one gem soldier, there was bound to be a whole squadron somewhere nearby. He also couldn't just let the Quartz that he popped reform, he didn't need witnesses to go off and start a search party for a super-powered human that can possibly kill a gem.
While running, Alex looked at the pink gemstone in his hands.
"What should I do with you? Hmm..."
It has been almost a month since he was dropped into this world. Alex had situated himself in a cave, the man in question had just woken up and stretched out his aching body.
A quirk of his power was that after sunset his body gradually weakens in the dark. Don't get it wrong, he is still a superhuman, but he was only at 56% or 52% of his full power. Of course, when Alex lit a small fire, that went back up a bit. But only up to about 69% percent. Lastly during full moons, he can be up to 96%.
Thankfully, even in the complete darkness, he wasn't any weaker than 50%. All of this was tested throughout his time in the newly designated Comfort Cave.
Alex then grabs the gemstone that he had covered in a hard light ball, A bubble per se, and eats the hard light to rejuvenate himself. Still maintaining a tight grip around the gem to prevent it from reforming. He, being a relatively sane human being more or less on the side of good, didn't want to shatter the gem without the absolute need to. However, he couldn't just let the gem go.
Alex also wanted to interrogate the Quartz, to get a rough understanding of when he was dropped into. He was quite a fan of this show when he was young and did a bit of research into the history of the Crystal Gems' war against the Diamonds. Thanks to his revitalized memories from the sunlight's purification, he could make a rough estimate of how long he has before the start of the show.
It seems quite a bold move to make, freeing his prisoner, but it was best to do it now in the sun where he was at his strongest. Tossing out the gemstone, almost like a Pokéball, the gem began to reform. After the transition was complete, the Rose Quartz immediately summoned her weapon. Alex made a couple of balls of light that would shoot laser beams floating around her in response.
"I'm going to be asking a few questions. If you don't want to be popped again, or even shattered, you will talk." The soldier looked at him with fear, then slowly nodded, still keeping her sword out.
"Is there a beta kindergarten?"
"Yes..." She stares at me with great confusion.
"How old is it in terms of earth's solar orbit?
"It hasn't been more than a single orbit since excavation began, how do you as a human know about it?"
"I have no obligation to tell you, you are my prisoner, not the other way around," Alex scoffs. "So, this is after the Battle of the Ziggurat, roughly around the time Jasper is born. 5200 years before the start of the main storyline, and 150 years before Pinks shattering, and the corruption beam." Mumbling while in deep thought, Alex almost fails to notice the Rose Quartz sneaking upon him. Almost.
"Hiiaa." Swinging her pink 8ft 6in long double-edged buster blade, the Quartz soldier charges with great determination. Only to be blasted by a beam and blown back by Alex's quick thinking. Dropping her sword in the process, but not popping as the blast was more concussive than piercing.
He goes to pick up the pink blade and feels the light that is pulsing in it. Suddenly, an idea pops into his head, he then bites into the sword like a cookie.
"Mmm! It's like strawberry taffy, this taste's good!" With great haste, he continues to munch on the weapon much to the Quartz soldier's horror. After finishing his meal. Alex's black hair and his black irises turned pink, though that was something he himself had no knowledge of. A vast amount of information floods his brain as he instinctively creates a replica pink buster sword. Though it was a bit smaller to better fit his size. Despite that, a 5ft blade with a 1ft 8in handle was still no joke.
"I can copy a gems weapon if I eat it? Well, that's convenient. However, I wonder what would happen if I ate a gem's physical form? Can I even do such a thing?" Alex thinks out loud, failing to realize that the pink hue on him was beginning to fade. The boost was permanent, but the aesthetics were temporary.
"Please don't eat me!" The Gem pleaded, not wanting to think of the consequences of being devoured by the human.
"Why should I listen to you? You all killed plenty of humans trying to take over the earth. You just tried to kill me. That's basically the same as me shattering you."
"I... I haven't hurt humans."
"Yet." Silence, but Alex actually kind of felt sorry for her. The Rose Quartzes were so much like Pink Diamond, especially with their empathy. It didn't help to know that they would be unjustly punished for Pink Diamond 'shattering' herself. Hell, he wasn't any better right now, she was an innocent bystander who happened to be unfortunate enough to meet him at that spot... All by her lonesome... Ok, that's a little odd.
"Why were you by yourself out in that part of the field?"
"I... I wanted a break from all the insults sent toward me, the other Quartz kept saying that I might also become a traitor. I wanted a quiet place to relax."
Shit, that arguably makes a lot of sense. However...
"Why were you not with the other Rose Quartz's then? Find respite in those similar to you?"
"We were all separated from each other to be better accounted for... Just in case the rebellious behaviors are due to the gem type."
"Ah... Fuck!" Alex had trapped himself in a moral dilemma, this is why you shouldn't try to talk too much with your captured victims. You can start to sympathize, or even empathize with them.
Alex really wanted to hide away for the next 150 years, until the war was over. However, if he let this Quartz go, that goal would become several times harder to achieve. Alex was not entirely against shattering gems and killing people, survival is quite important to him. However as much as he likes to say that he is gray/neutral, Alex leans toward the white side of the moral spectrum, more than he cares to admit.
Sitting down on a log, the light eater munches down on some deer jerky. While eating is not a necessity, it was appreciated and enjoyed.
"To be honest, I don't want to hurt you. So, take a seat, let's talk things out," Alex proposes. Hesitant, but the Quartz complies by sitting on a different log anyways. "So, you know I can't let you go back, you know too much."
"I, I will keep all knowledge about you a secret!" The gem swiftly replies for the sake of her freedom.
"I don't believe you and have no reason to trust you. Especially after you tried to basically 'shatter' me."
"Oh..."
"Yep, and even if I did trust you for no reason. It has been longer than a week since your disappearance. You disappearing then reappearing out of nowhere will be suspicious. You will probably be under more scrutiny and other such pressures as well."
"I am fine with that; I don't mind the scrutiny. What can I do for you to set me free?"
Alex gave her a hard stare. Then thought, "Fuck it, I'll go on the run. It's too much of a hassle keeping a constant hostage around anyways." Then a mischievous idea surfaces. "Here. If you can eat one of these, I will let you go," he spoke while passing over a deer jerky. The Quartz looked back at him in horror but took the meat anyways.
The pink gem first took a bite of the meat, then began chewing in disgust, but eventually decided that the texture actually wasn't that bad. Though she would have no idea how it would taste, as she has no taste buds. She goes to swallow it when the meat has practically become mush in her mouth, only for the food to go nowhere as she didn't have a throat. She just stops there and looks super confused and lost, like a deer caught in headlights.
Ironic. Also, not as funny as he had hoped the situation would turn out to be.
"Stop, you can spit it out, and leave right after. You are free to go." Well, not completely.
Spitouy! "Really, that simple?"
"Yes really, I'm packing up my stuff too. Now you can leave that way before I change my mind," and she bolts off. Alex shook his head and began his plan. By controlling all light to move around him as if he didn't exist rather than bounce off of him, or passively be absorbed by him, he can turn himself invisible. A trick that was easier to do than it sounds with the help of luminokinesis.
Alex then follows the Quartz soldier who was running in the direction he had pointed out. Almost like a machine, she moved in a perfect line until she started to recognize her surroundings a couple of days later. Finally, she arrived back at her base. She also happens to spot her superior out on the field.
"Fire Agate! Rose Quartz Facet-4F36L Cut-2XG reporting for duty!"
Everything went silent. All the gems in the surrounding area looked toward the Rose Quartz.
"Interesting, and here I thought you had deserted and joined the rebels. Now, why were you gone for so long?" The Fire Agate demanded.
"Ah, I was ambushed by a group of rebels and taken hostage for information. However, I kept quiet and escaped."
"Well, keeping quiet is something you are annoyingly good at. Oh, and where were the rebels' base camp?"
"At a cave-in that direction, ma'am."
"As soft-spoken as ever. Hmm, now, you could be lying and trying to infiltrate as a spy, but we still need every Quartz soldier we can get. How to solve this predicament?" The bitch of a Fire Agate began circling around the Rose Quartz soldier like a hungry shark. Looking to be deep in thought until:
"Aha! I know just the thing to do! I will send out a search party to see if we can catch up with this group of rebels and deal with them. In the meantime, I will just have you rejuvenated and reset!" Fire Agate smacks her hands together matter of factly.
"Wha, Fire Agate!? No, please! Please don't reset me!" The Rose Quartz begged to retain her mind and memories.
"Oh! So now you can yell? Whatever, never did like your current personality. Quartz! Take her away. Also, let's get a search party going." A bunch of Amethyst and a couple of Jasper Quartz grabbed onto the Rose Quartz to take her away.
Now, watching all this happen, this was mighty convenient for Alex. The Rose forgets about him, as he gets to hide away like he wanted to. This was the best outcome for his goals to come to fruition.
All except for one factor, this would not sit right with him morally, and what's the point of an op cheat ability if he is constantly afraid of the consequences of his actions?
"Fuck it, I'll just roll with it." Alex had been creating a small ball of concentrated light in case he was detected somehow as a getaway move. He fired the ball out near where Rose Quartz and Fire Agate were located. Then blew up the ball, turning it into a massive light-only flashbang.
He then rushed in and grabbed the 8ft tall Rose Quartz soldier and hoisted her over his shoulder. Being a little jealous of her height when doing so.
"What, what are you doing?" The Rose questions as she pushes aside her mental crisis.
"Saving your holographic behind!" Alex intensely whispers his response. Then he ran for several hours, eating light to constantly revitalize himself along the way.
"You can put me down now; I can run on my own, probably a lot faster at it too." The Quartz finally musters up the courage to say. She had several hours to gather her thoughts and is in a stable mood now. Relatively speaking.
"Yeah sure," Alex obliged, and then let her down. After an awkward pause, Alex gave out a few suggestions, "I have thought up some options for you. You can try and join the Crystal Gems, or wander about on your own. Unless you have any other ideas of what you want to do?"
"I... I don't know." As stable as her mood was, the gem was still at a loss on what to do with her life. Her previous purpose to serve her Diamond and the Diamond Authority has been thrown out into the wind.
"That's fine, you went through one hell of a scenario just now. I can tolerate you for about a week until you figure yourself out." After some time, Alex eventually found a new cave hole near a beachside to set up a base. "Yah know, at some point, I'm going to have to be involved with the gems-based aliens whether I liked to or not. Better if it was sooner than later, I guess. Since they have a technological advantage, learning from them to make myself some form of entertainment for the coming years doesn't sound too bad. That is assuming that I am immortal as long as there is sunlight."
Using his makeshift primitive fishing pole, Alex goes fishing by the beach off of some rocky areas. Later he was joined by the Rose Quartz. While they have left each other alone, for the most part during the past week, the gem would often awkwardly hang around him. Watching him do stuff that he does to pass the time. To cut the awkward silence, Alex decided to make some small talk.
"Hey."
"...Hello," she responds. Then, absolute silence once more. Well, besides the occasional seagulls and the sound of the ocean.
"Shit, things got more awkward, do something. Say something!" Alex panicked, "Ha-have you figured out what you want to do?"
"No, not yet."
"Why not join the Rebels?"
"Don't know where they are, or how to get to them..."
"I see..." This made sense to Alex as you can't join the rebels if you don't know where they are.
"Yet that's not the only reason. I am afraid of them, human. However, I also do not wish to live by myself. Yet, I cannot live within the Diamond Authority either because of you."
"I see, my bad, but I wish to live as well you know. If we never had met, none of this would have happened."
"Yet we did meet."
"Yes, yes we did," Alex then let out a sigh. While took a good look around him, the clean ocean breeze, the sun shining down warmly as a fish just got caught on the line. He takes in a deep breath, then lets out a sigh. "Haaaai, you can hang around me until we meet up with some of the rebels, Rose. I will stick with you and help you until you decide if being with the rebels is ok or not. Is this alright?" Not that Alex had anything better to do anyway. He didn't need to eat or sleep, a shelter, while being a nice place of comfort, was unnecessary for him. Plus, Alex had been feeling lonely too.
"That would be more than 'ok', weird human." That last part started to annoy Alex.
"Wait. That needs to change if we wish to get along with each other."
"What do you mean?"
"If we are going to be sticking with each other, introductions are in order. The name's Alexander Sunshine, which can be shortened to Alex, how about you?"
"Rose Quartz Facet-4F36L Cu-," the gem spoke, though was then swiftly cut off.
"Nope, too long. Yet I can't just call you Rose Quartz, it would become way too confusing later on down the line. Hmmm, you need a nickname unique to you. To help me better deferential you." The gem thinks about what Alex had said, then nods in agreement. "Hmm. From now on, I'll be calling you Hostag-"
"No!" The Quartz intensely objects.
"It's a joke! Just a joke, no need to get so upset. Hehe," all Alex got was a blank stare. "Fine, how about, hmmm..." The man then goes deep into his thoughts
Rose Quartz - pink color - rose flower - rose blossom - cherry blossoms - plum blossoms - Peach Blossom - Peach?
"How about Peach, though being named after a fruit might-,"
"It's nice."
"What?"
"I like Peach. I also don't like your distasteful use of language sometimes."
"Oh, would you like me to tone it down then?"
"That would be greatly appreciated."
Cannon Omake: 1
Sapphire was one sapphire amongst many in the diamond authority, yet she was a bit special. She was specifically Yellow Diamond's most powerful Saphire. The keyword being "was". Sent off to replace the one that Blue Diamond had lost to the rebels as a gift. Such a sentence clearly defined her purpose as a tool that aided the functioning machine that is the Great Diamonded Authority. Yet she doesn't mind such a truth.
This was also something she had long since foreseen happening. In fact, she actually manipulated the events around her to end up in such a position. If such a truth were ever to be revealed, she would be tried for treason and either shattered or reset.
A sapphire gem isn't meant to selfishly use its power for itself, it went against the purpose of a gem. The very reason behind their existence spoke against such selfish action.
However, Saphire had long since accepted such a risk. It was due to her one flaw; she was too compassionate. A future she saw 150 years in the making made her realize that the end of this war would lead to the insanity and misery of so many gems. It haunted her, giving her nightmares, something no other sapphire seems to be seeing. Even if they had, why would the others care? Even if they foresee thousands of gems shattering, it would be ok as long as it benefits the will of the Diamonds
Yet Sapphire cared, despite her frosty nature, she cared with a burning passion. So, no matter the cost Sapphire had to make her way to the rebels, to warn them of such an awful fate.
Even at the cost of her own life.
A/N:
So, I make a bunch of new fanfic, yet to have finished or even get started on the others. Fuck me.
Reviews are much appreciated.
