"What do you mean you almost crashed Greg's van?!" Pearl angrily berated.
Steven continued to look away from them, expressing nothing but shame and bitterness, "I said I was sorry..."
Garnet, Amethyst, and Spinel continued to stare at the hybrid with shock, the latter in complete horror.
"You could've killed him, Steven!" Pearl continued, crossing her arms, "These pink outbursts of yours are getting out of hand, we need to-"
"IT'S NOT AN OUTBURST!" Steven screamed, glowing bright pink. From the pain erupting from his body, from his sharp teeth, to his claws, to the purple splotches on his skin to the spikes on the back, he fell from the couch and landed on the table, nearly breaking it in half.
Steven stumbled away from the table, but Spinel rushed over to him, "S-Steven! Stop, you're hurting yourself!"
"I'm not!" Steven snarled at his mother, but held back, "I-I just... I need to go to my room to think..."
"Wait, dude, you need to tell us-" Before Amethyst could finish, Steven created a barrier that pushed her and Spinel away from him. Through his new pain, and still glowing pink, he walked over to the stairs.
"Steven!" Pearl banged her fist on the barrier wall, "Drop this wall!"
Garnet stepped up, "Please, let us help you."
"Hey! Back off!" Spinel scolded them. When they complied, Spinel looked up at Steven, "S-Steven, are you sure you... don't need me right now?"
Steven tried to smile and chuckle, "Y-Yeah! I'll be fine! I just... I need to be alone right now-"
"No. Not right now," said Pearl, her stern tone filled with concern, "You have to talk to us. You don't like it when we lie, yet it's okay for you to-"
Steven fell to his knees, "I-I don't want to hurt you!"
Spinel's pigtails faltered, "Steven, you know we're going to help you with anything you're dealing with."
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! THIS IS DIFFERENT!" The hybrid lashed out, cracks developing on the window panes and mug.
"Steven!" Garnet's voice rose, "You need to come down and talk to us!"
"Yeah!" Amethyst added, "Just chill!"
Steven clutched his head, visibly trembling.
"We need to do something about this before someone gets hurt!" yelled Pearl.
Spinel glared at her wife, "Before someone gets hurt? Pearl, Steven could get hurt!"
Then Steven began to clutch his head, his claws digging into his scalp, "S-Stop it... Please..."
"Then talk to us, Steven," Garnet replied, "We'll do anything for you."
"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Steven cried in anger and anguish, his powers throwing Spinel, Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst back against the kitchen or on the floor. Steven's tear-filled eyes widened in shock, realizing what he had done and let out a sad whimper as he broke out of the window and ran away from the beach house, away from town, and away from the city.
Steven didn't want anyone to see how monstrous or feral he had become now.
It was far past noon by the time Steven ran far into the forest, still on all fours. He eventually had to stop, slowly down his pace and he clung onto a nearby tree. By the time he stood up, his legs and spine gave off a few painful cracks, his anatomy settling back to bipedal.
Sighing, and forcing his pink aura and features to go away, Steven figured he needed someplace to hide. I can't go back, he thought, They'll never forgive me for almost killing my father or hurting my mother. I... have to get away from them before I hurt them anymore. Oh... I really want to tell everything I'm feeling, but with these powers, I can't risk anyone getting hurt by me... or worse-
... Wait. Are those... voice he's hearing?
Puzzled, but with heart sinking into the pit of his stomach, Steven slowly and quietly followed the source of the voices. What he saw was the last thing he wanted to see.
Shade was crouching in front of a cave, slamming two pointed rocks together aggressively over a bundle of sticks surrounded by large stones. And from his left, Apache and Midnight were walking back, each holding a small net full of fish.
"This is so dumb," Shade complained, still attempting to make a fire, "Why are we even doing this? We're Gems, not humans!"
Midnight cringed as Apache rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't be such a knob head. I just wanted to see why humans enjoy eating so much, now get the fire going."
Shade grumbled, "Humph, no wonder that attitude of yours has gotten Steven and the rest disliking you so much."
"N-Now Shade," Midnight tried to intervene when Apache became infuriated, "Let's not remind ourselves how we've gotten into this mess, we've forgiven our sister, right?"
"But what about them? They probably wouldn't care if we died..."
The taller monochrome Gem wasn't sure if she could respond to that. Apache only hung her head in shame, until she hear slight rustling and growling.
She turned to face the bushes, dropping the net of fish, "W-Who goes there?!"
The three Gems all froze in fear as Steven appeared from the bushes, glowing bright pink. But not just that, he was covered head to toe with purple splotches, his teeth sharp, his fingers becoming long claws, two pink horns poking out from his hair, a row a spikes running down his spine, and his eyes black with pink pupils.
"You..." He snarled deeply.
Apache, Midnight, and Shade all quickly got into a group hug, awaiting the inevitable...
... However, Steven only let out a tired sigh, and slumped to the ground. He groaned out, "... I don't wanna fight anyone... I just... can't..."
Confused, the three black and white Gems separated from their hug. Feeling a bit braver, Apache took a step forward.
"S-Steven Universe?" She asked, trying to sound gentle.
But the hybrid looked up at her, glowering, hatred flaring in his eyes, "Don't... you dare touch me..."
Apache flinched, stepping away from Steven. She was sure that she was just a fair distance away from him, but she guessed not. Saying nothing, Apache walked back over to her sisters to try to continue making a fire.
For the next hour when the moon hung in the darkened sky, Steven sat and leaned against a tree while watching the three Apache Tears succeed in making a fire and started cooking the fish until the skin of the fish turned dark, but not enough to be burnt. Midnight lifted the long stick holding the fish from the fire and removed the fish from it, handing it over to her sisters. She placed more raw fish over the fire as she and her sisters ate the cooked fish.
"Wow!" Midnight smiled happily at the taste of the cooked meal, "This is delicious!"
"I'd say!" Shade agreed, unexpectedly more chipper.
When Steven saw that, gazing at the fish over the fire, the scales reflected by the warm orange light, his stomach began to rumble. He grabbed his stomach, trying to quiet it down, but his hunger intensified along with a new, strange instinct in his brain coming alive. Still, he didn't want to come close to the enemy. Groaning, Steven stood up and began to walk away, wanting to find something else to eat.
"Hey, Steven Universe!" Apache called out to him, "Want some food? I promise we won't bother you!"
Steven growled, his spine aching, "I... don't... need... your... help."
The monochrome Gem frowned a bit, worry flashing in her dull gray eyes. Despite this, she grabbed the pole and took another fish from it, standing up and standing a car's length away from the hybrid, holding out the fish.
"Come on," Apache insisted, "Let me help you."
Steven's gaze shift from between her and the fish. Growling in frustration, Steven made a mad dash towards her, and she shut her eyes until she felt the fish get snatched away from her hold and she opened them to see Steven running back, sitting back against the tree and gnawing on the fish's scales before digging into the pink meat underneath.
Startled, Apache, Midnight, and Shade didn't say anything else as they went back to eating their meal till they were satisfied. Of course, they weren't tired, except for Steven. After whispering an idea to her sisters, Apache and them backed away from the cave to let Steven sleep for the night. He didn't thank or even look at them as he walked inside. While Midnight and Shade hopped up over the cave to try sleeping, Apache continued to look into the cave, appearing very concerned.
Steven blinked his eyes awake, and from the entrance, he could see the sun rising over the horizon of pine trees. Pale orange surrounded the bright sun like an aura, dividing the sky with it along with the midnight blue. Steven groaned a bit, and stretched out on all fours... only to feel different. His spine had stopped aching, but it felt... longer?
Trying not to panic, the teen stood up and leaned against the cave wall and looked behind him. Out, from under his jacket, was a dark purple tail, along with smaller spikes until it stopped at the tip. It calmly swayed, but Steven nearly fell over of how strange it felt. He placed a hand on it, and the sensitivity made itself known as he tensed up from the contact with it.
But the worst part? He wasn't even glowing pink anymore, yet all his features were still there.
"W-Wha... Why is..."
Steven ran out to find a river to look at his reflection. When he found one, he looked into it and gasped in horror. While his eyes weren't black with pink pupils anymore, his brown eyes had turned pink, his pupils in the shapes of diamonds. He continued to stare and stare at himself, then at his new monstrous form.
With tears forming in his eyes, Steven began to sob into his clawed hands, curling up into a ball with his tail curled around his legs.
From the distance, Apache, Midnight, and Shade were watching, deeply concerned for the poor hybrid. But unfortunately, there was nothing they could do for him. Even if they tried to ask the Gems for help, they'd regret it for the rest of their lives. All they could do was stand back and watch Steven suffer.
Two days later...
Steven continued to devour his new prey. He tore into the flesh of the trout, hating how he loved it raw rather than cooked. He despised his new self, but he couldn't fight it back now. All he wanted to do was take his anger out on anything, and sadly, it felt great.
No one to stop him, no one to tell him no. Not even those three cowards bothered to stop him and just stare at him with concern. But who cared about them? If they don't want to help him, why should he care about them at all?
"S-Steven Universe?"
Pausing for a moment, Steven looked up from his prey and stared at his main enemy.
"Are... you doing okay? You don't look so good."
Steven glanced down at his filthy, bloody clothes and he grunted, "Why does it matter to you?"
"Look, I just..." Apache sighed, feeling determined and stepping towards him, "I'm gonna take you back to the Gems. Whether you want me to or not, you need help, Steven Universe. Now just calm down and let me-"
"GO AWAY!" Steven snarled, standing up despite his quadruped position and swiped his claws at her. Apache yelped and backed away, staring at Steven as he crawled on the ground, saliva escaping from his lips. This wasn't human.
"H-Hey-"
"Shut... up. Leave me alone..."
"B-But, you need help-"
"I'M FINE!" Steven roared, lunging towards her. Apache quickly got away before he could land on her. Her fight and flight instinct flared and she chose the latter, she couldn't find it in herself to fight him. She dashed back to find the cave, but her fear pounded in her gemstone as Steven came close behind her. She tried to escape him by turning another way so he was forced to slow down and she ran into a random direction.
She kept running and running down the forest with no path, hoping she escaped the the aggressive hybrid. Apache stopped for a moment, hearing nothing. She sighed in relief, thinking she outran him. Above her, came a raindrop and she looked up to see the clouds gathering in the sky, thunder booming from the distance.
But before she knew it, something pounced on her from behind and she and the being fell down a small cliffside until they landed on the bottom. Apache looked up and horror sunk into her gemstone as Steven clutched her by the throat, holding her down.
"S-Steven Universe!" Apache shrieked, trying to move away, "Stop! You're hurting me!"
"Like you stopped when you were hurting me and my family?" Steven asked, his voice deep with fury, "Never..."
Apache couldn't move, paralyzed in fear. Steven raised his claws up, his eyes burning into hers. Lightning struck behind him as he went for the finishing blow...
Heavy rain fell from the dark, cloudy sky as Steven ran into the beach house, his left hand in his pocket. He broke the door open and dashed for the bathroom. Although he was soaking wet, his tears fled down his face.
"S-Steven?!" He heard Spinel cry out as he locked himself in the bathroom. He froze as the other Gems called out his name, only to hear the mortified cries of Midnight and Shade. Hearing the Gems interrogate them, Steven threw the cabinet door open, turned on the water, and tossed the Diamond Aura bottles into the bath.
Steven continued to heave for air as he grabbed the item that was in his pocket; Apache's shattered gemstone.
He struggled to put the pieces back together until they were sorted correctly and clutching it tightly in his fists, he shoved them into the water.
"Please... Apache..." He whispered, tears falling into the water, "Please come back..."
No response.
Steven began to cry out, "APACHE! PLEASE COME BACK! I-I'M SO SORRY! PLEASE COME BACK! I FORGIVE YOU! I SHOULD'VE LISTENED TO YOU! PLEASE! PLEASE COME BACK!"
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But nothing happened.