Author's Note: Hey again! We're back with the double post, just because I'm in the spirit of giving, and because I'm excited to keep the story rolling! As always with this project, I'm aiming to capture the spirit of the MCU, weaving plot lines and characters from various IPs together into interesting, alternative, or definitive versions of themselves, in ways that hopefully make for a pretty cool crossover story.

As we head into the new year, I hope to bring you all much more of the DWU. (Hard to believe we've been doing this for six months!) Writing this story for you all has really helped me stay grounded in a weird year, and I thank you for that. We'll see much more of Steven, Ben, Jake, Jenny, and even more (lookin at u Danny) as their stories continue to develop and intertwine. Again, thanks so much for being awesome, and tagging along for something I hope will be really special!

Anyway, that is enough out of me. Happy holidays, and enjoy the chapter!


Chapter 5 - Steven's Lion

Riding on the back of the great pink lion, Steven's mind was racked with guilt. His friend had been there for him today, and what did she have to show for it? Broken glasses and a grounding. The half-gem sighed, resigning to find a way to repay her, as the lion deposited him on the beach. They climbed the steps leading up the temple entrance, and Steven was surprised at how the lion nudged him affectionately on the way up. He turned to look at the creature, which stared at him expectantly.

"What's with you?" Steven asked.

The lion blinked. Steven giggled.

"Goofball," he said, turning to go inside. As he did, the lion shoved its head against him once more, this time hard enough to knock him off balance. Steven looked at the beast quizzically, and then grabbed its cheeks. "What?"

The lion blinked. Steven yawned.

"Sorry, lion, I'm too tired for your cryptic weirdness," he said, "I gotta get to bed."

With that, he opened the door to the temple, dragging his feet as he made his way up the stairs that led to his loft bed. Kicking off his clothes and flip-flops, Steven collapsed gracefully into his bed, and soon, he drifted off into sleep.

His dream was pink.

He blinked, glancing around at the hazy world around him. He was sitting in some kind of field of grass, which tickled his face slightly. Glancing up, there was a sky. It, like the grass, was rose tinted. Steven stared in wonder. If he squinted, he could almost make out a shape in the distance. A singular tree, it seemed, resting on a mound in the distance. Rising to his feet, he started to walk towards the tree.

After several seconds, he began to feel an aching in his chest, and realized, as he tried to gasp, that there was no air! He tried to scream, but no sound came out. What was happening? As the edges of his vision crept to black, Steven fell backwards into the sea of grass-

And suddenly gasped for air!

He was back in his room, in bed. As he panted, he felt a large, furry shape looming over him. As he squinted in the darkness, Steven was able to make out exactly what it was. The pink lion, it seemed, had crawled into the temple, and up and onto Steven's bed, smothering him in his sleep.

"That explains the dream," Steven muttered, glowering up at the lion, which simply blinked in response. With a sigh, Steven tried to reason with the beast. "Lion. When you, a 400 pound lion, lie down on top of my windpipe. I can no longer breathe."

There was no response from the lion, and Steven rubbed his face. Of course there was no response. It was a wild animal. However, as Steven continued to groan, there was a sudden relief of pressure as the massive beast lifted itself, shifting slightly to the side, and curling up in a ball beside Steven. It closed one eye, but kept the other trained on him in the dark.

Steven furrowed his brow. The lion was acting strange, but, it was going to have to wait until morning. A young boy needed sleep. With that, Steven curled back up in his blankets, and drifted off into sleep again.

Once again, he dreamed of pink.

When he opened his bleary eyes to a field of grass once more, Steven was annoyed. He knew that lion had once again began to smother him. However, before he could try to shake himself awake, he found himself looking at the island again. He was much closer this time. He could make out shapes on the hill. A flag, some kind of box, and…

A Mr. Universe t-shirt?"

Steven blinked in confusion. Mr. Universe had been his father's alias back when he used to play rock music. What was that doing in his dream? Curious, Steven crept closer, trying to get a good look at what else was on the island in the sea of grass.

Then, he began to choke again. Crap! He thought, as he ran out of oxygen. He dropped to his knees, frantically feeling around on the ground for some kind of exit. That's how he had woken up before. Tears formed in his eyes as his lungs ached, and soon, his vision went dark again.

Gasp!

Steven was once again on his back, panting for air, the pink lion standing above him, a looming shape in the night. Steven shook his head angrily, making a "no way" gesture with his hands.

"Nope! Sorry, lion," he said, "I'm not gonna let you smother me in my sleep."

Getting out of bed, Steven stormed over to the door of the temple, flinging it open and pointing a finger outside sternly. The lion glanced at him.

"Out," Steven said.

The lion didn't budge.

"Out! I mean it." Steven said, an edge of command in his voice.

The lion, reluctantly, padded down from the loft bed, and stopped at the door in front of Steven, staring directly into his eyes intently. Steven shook his head.

"Go on," he said, turning his head up and away.

The lion's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer before the beast padded out onto the porch. Then, Steven closed the door and locked it behind it. As Steven made his way back to his bed, there came a scratching noise, as the beast pawed at the entrance of the door. Steven groaned, pulling his pillow over his head as the scratching continued.

Finally, agonizingly, Steven drifted off into sleep.

This time, he dreamt of darkness. He was surrounded by an inky black expanse, and only one thing was apparent to him. A boy, strung up by chains that seemed to stretch up and to infinity. The boy was a bit younger than Steven, probably Connie's age, with shaggy black hair. His face was bruised, and his head hung limply. Steven, shocked, took a step towards him. As he did, he sent a ripple of pink through the darkness, and it seemed to echo over to the boy. It had an effect, and the shaggy haired kid suddenly snapped up slightly, his eyes searching in front of him, but sweeping over Steven as if he weren't there.

"Who's there?" The kid said.

Steven gulped. He took another step forward.

"What is this?" The kid said, this time more urgently.

"You're hurt," Steven said, "what happened?"

"How are you in my head?!"

Steven blinked.

"What?" He said.

What kind of dream was this?

"Where are you?" Steven asked.

Then, the boy began to fade away. He called out, apparently to Steven, but whatever he said became garbled nonsense as he and the rest of the dream was wiped away, vanishing into a murky blackness, that Steven swiftly began to forget, as the warm embrace of sleep took him fully, finally, into its grip.


As the sun began to rise, Jasper was once again thankful that she was no longer taking shelter in the frozen north. She had wandered down to the thick forests of the east coast, and had established a small shelter for herself. A simple hut, with a fire pit and a place to sleep. A small clearing had started to become established around her, marked by trees that she had punched to shreds in her bouts of rage and exercise.

This morning, to the hulking gem's annoyance, she had visitors. Glancing into the clearing, she saw a herd of equestrian creatures. They had hooves, muscular bodies, and long faces, but their dominant feature was their singular, dazzling horns. As the creatures grazed peacefully on the grass in the clearing, Jasper came charging forward, waving her hands threateningly.

"Hey! Get outta here!" She shouted, her actions startling the herd of unicorns and causing them to prance off into the forest. She grumbled as she turned to walk back towards her firepit. "Stupid Terra beasts."

Jasper had had to fight her way through nearly a dozen separate, dangerous gem monsters to get to the place where she was now. She was certain that they were becoming increasingly common, even in her very brief stay on the planet. She wagered this had something to do with the technical jargon her subordinate, Peridot, had been spouting. She cursed herself for not having the foresight to listen to her expert. Whatever the case, she had not seen one of the monsters in many days, but the downside to these moments of peace was that she had to share the space with the local wildlife.

That was exactly what Jasper expected to find when she heard branches breaking around mid-day. Glancing up from her contemplative gaze at the fire, she peered into the forestry, trying to get a good look at what was coming. Then, she began to hear voices.

"-is way, Master. I'm pretty sure these are it's tracks right here!"

Humans. Jasper expression turned sour. Of all the creatures on this miserable rock, they really were the worst.

"Be careful, Fu Dog!" Another voice said, "It's-"

Suddenly, there was a sound that was decidedly inhuman. An ear-splitting roar that shook the treetops and caused birds to scatter in every direction. Even Jasper's ample hair stood on end as the beast gave its battle cry. She rose to her feet, fists clenched and ready to defend her meager home if need be.

"Stay back! Dragon's Form!"

There was a flash of purple light further into the forest, and briefly the sounds of combat. Then, there was a sound like thunder cracking, and a large figure came hurtling through the air, landing heavily in the clearing before Jasper. It was a massive gem monster, made of various limbs hewn together in an unsettling manner. Jasper wrinkled her nose in disgust as the beast writhed for one last time before it poofed, shaking the earth as it did so and releasing a massive cloud of white smoke.

As the smoke dissipated, Jasper found herself starting at the largest cluster of gems she had seen yet. It was a massive, boulder sized anomaly, formed out of multiple different gems clearly stuck together into an odd…

Cluster.

Jasper gulped. Something about that word didn't sit right with her. However, she had no time to think it over, because as soon as the smoke was gone, a strange creature bounded into view. It was small, almost insignificantly so, with grey fur and a squished, wrinkly face. It ran on all fours, and as if passed into the clearing, it was obviously making a bee-line for the gem. However, as it came hurtling past, it stopped, sniffing the air, and turned to look at Jasper with keen black eyes.

"Shoo!" She said, waving a hand. The creature cocked its head to one side. "Go on! Where do you keep coming from?"

"I was just about to say the same thing," the creature said. Jasper was shaken by its sudden speech. It was one of the voices from before. It had sounded so human. "You're not one of the bad ones, are ya?"

Jasper scoffed.

"Leave now, and I will spare you."

"Fu Dog! Have you found it?" The other voice called from the woods.

A bead of sweat dripped down Jasper's forehead as she grit her teeth. The creature glanced from her to the forest, and then back to her.

"Uh, yeah, boss!" he called back. Then, in a quieter tone, he said to her. "We're trying to figure out what's going on here… Can you help us?"

There was a lumbering noise as something large began to walk towards their location. Apparently, whatever was this little creature's master had been powerful enough to dispatch that massive gem mutant. With a grimace, Jasper began to back away from the tiny shack. She had no belongings that weren't stored in her gem, and she didn't want to stick around to meet the other thing.

"Hey, wait," the creature, Fu Dog, said. "Where ya goin'? We want to help!"

Jasper dashed off into the forest. She had wandered too close to the human civilization, and now, whatever defenses they had threatened to assault her territory. Or, worse, they could be in league with the rebels, and compromise her location. Neither could be afforded. She was on the move once again, heading further and further south.