Connie woke up the next morning to the sound of growling.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes before propping herself up on her elbow. She blinked a few times to clear away the blurriness, noticed Steven was no longer beside her, and turned to look at the source of the noise. Lion was standing by her feet, crouched down in a defensive stance, his back facing her.

This wasn't good.

Hesitantly, the girl stood up and walked along Lion's side, gently brushing her fingers along his fur. His head shifted to look back at her for just a moment before it turned forward again. The growling never stopped.

Connie froze.

Backed into the corner of the room was Steven, down on the ground, growling right back at Lion. He was positioned in a way that showed off the spikes on his back and his tail was thumping against the wall in agitation.

However, that's not what stopped her. What stopped her were the changes.

Not only were his eyes pitch black, but what looked like thick plating traveled along the top of his corrupted arms. Long spikes stuck out from his shoulders, and there were two large, sharp, curved teeth protruding from either side of his jaw. Connie took in a sharp breath when Steven's eyes fixed on her. There wasn't even a shred of humanity in that gaze.

She felt her chest tighten and she gripped Lion's mane.

"Lion, t-take me downstairs," she choked out. Lion looked at her again, then quickly but gently lifted her up over his head. His eyes were on Steven as he walked to the stairs, a snarl on his face, then he was through the doorway.

Greg had started making breakfast not too long ago, and Amethyst was lying on the couch. She sat up when Lion hurried down the stairs from Steven's room. He rounded the corner of the coffee table and crouched down to allow Connie to slide off his back, which she did slowly, and she almost fell over when she hit the floor.

"Connie? What's wrong?" Amethyst asked, jumping off the couch. Connie was shaking and her breaths were short and fast. She tried to answer but no sound came out so instead she just leaned against Lion and shook her head.

Greg had looked away from the stove when he heard Amethyst's concerned voice. "Whoa! Okay, hold on," he said a second later, shutting off the burner before running over. He grabbed onto Connie, who now looked like she was about to collapse, and helped her stand up a bit straighter.

"I know what this is. She's having a panic attack. I'm going to take her outside for a bit until she can calm down. Amethyst, do me a favor and go check on Steven, something must have happened," he said, and Connie nodded a confirmation. "Do you want to go outside?" Greg added, and Connie nodded again.

"Alright. Uh, be careful, Amethyst."

"Right."

Greg started to lead Connie to the door while the Gem ran up the stairs. She stopped at Steven's doorway, feeling uneasy. She didn't hear anything…she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Cautiously she entered the room.

Silence.

She looked around and saw Steven in the corner, poking at his teeth. He looked up when he felt her gaze on him, staring back with eyes all black.

"Amethyst?"

"S-Steven…"

"Where's Connie?"

"You…" She glanced back at the stairs. "…Don't remember her leaving with Lion?"

Steven had a concerned look on his face when she turned back.

"Lion was here?"

Amethyst sucked air through her teeth. Okay, that's not great.

"Uh…what's the last thing you do remember?"

Steven's brows furrowed. "I…I was with Connie last night…I fell asleep, but I woke up over here? I don't know how I got here. Did something happen? Did I do something? I'm worse, that means something happened, right? What happened?!"

"Hey, hey, it's okay! I don't think anything happened. Not really. Connie seemed fine…I mean, mostly. She was kind of shaken up but she wasn't, like, hurt or anything?"

"That means I did something!"

Amethyst scratched the back of her head and went over to Steven, who had started shaking. "Okay, um, how about we just go downstairs? We'll ask Connie to explain what happened," she suggested, holding her hand out.

Steven looked but didn't take it, instead holding his own hands close to his body. Amethyst cleared her throat and her arm dropped to her side. "Let's just head down. You gotta get breakfast, too; Greg was almost done making it."

Steven glanced to the doorway and got up.

He couldn't stop thinking about whatever had happened just a few minutes ago. Why couldn't be remember? He usually remembered when something happened. And he changed again? But it was different this time. The last two times something changed it had hurt. This time he felt nothing. The teeth and spikes were just there. His claws trailed along the wall as they descended.

When Amethyst and Steven reached the landing a loud growl started up. Lion, who was sitting by the door, had turned when he heard footsteps and started snarling at the two on the stairs. "Lion, chill out!" Amethyst said, holding her arms out. "What's wrong with you?"

The growling just got louder, and also doubled, and Amethyst looked over her shoulder to see Steven returning the growl. Her eyes widened and she cursed under her breath as she ran down the remainder of the stairs.

"Get! Shoo!" She started pushing Lion away, or tried to, but he wouldn't budge. Groaning, she shifted into Purple Puma, opened the front door, and shoved the big cat outside. She heard Greg say something as she did this, but didn't bother to listen further before shifting back to her normal form. The noise from the stairs stopped and when she looked over she saw Steven standing there, staring at her with a dazed and confused expression.

"Amethyst…?"

She took a deep breath. "Come sit down, Steven."

Greg and Connie had come back in not long after, and Amethyst made sure that Lion stayed out. Connie was looking a bit better now, though still somewhat nervous and fidgety. Greg went and finished making breakfast for everyone and stayed with Steven at the counter while Connie and Amethyst ate on the couch.

"Hey, Connie…what happened this morning?" Amethyst asked in a hushed tone. "Like, you've seen all kinds'a messed up stuff by now, and you've never freaked out like that. I mean, I can guess what happened. When I brought Steven downstairs, Lion started growling at him? And he…started growling back?" The Gem rubbed her neck. "Is that what happened with you?"

"…There was nothing left of Steven," Connie replied, laying her plate on the coffee table. "All the noise woke me up. I don't know why Lion came down from the observatory; maybe he sensed I was in some kind of…danger? But, I wasn't…at least, I don't think I was. They…they were just snarling at each other. Steven looked at me, and there was…nothing. Those eyes weren't Steven's. I mean, they still aren't I guess? But they're still human. The ones I saw this morning weren't."

Amethyst puffed out her cheek and looked over at Steven and Greg. She didn't really look at Steven earlier when this happened to her. She hadn't noticed what Connie did.

"Does he know about his eyes?"

"I'm not sure," Connie said. "Greg probably told him, though."

There was a pause and Connie reached over and gently grabbed Amethyst's hand. The Gem looked away from the kitchen and saw tears in Connie's eyes. "Aw, man…maybe you should go home."

The girl took in a deep breath and closed her eyes before rubbing the tears away. "Maybe…I don't know. I'm…scared that I'll have another panic attack. But, I don't want to leave Steven. It's just going to get harder to see him again if I do."

"…Yeah, you're probably right about that," Amethyst agreed with a quiet groan as she laid her head on the back of the couch. There were a few minutes of silence before Connie spoke up again.

"I think what he's doing is a threat display."

Amethyst picked her head and gave a confused look.

"This morning, Lion had come down and, given what happened with you, my guess is that Lion started showing aggression toward Steven first before I woke up. A lot of animals will respond to aggression with threat displays. It's when they try to look bigger, or make loud noises to try and scare the other animal off."

"But Steven's not an animal."

"No, but corrupted Gems practically are. When he feels like he's in danger those instincts must kick in. That must be why it hasn't happened around us. We aren't a threat."

"But—"

"Amethyst, I don't want this to end like that, but come on. You can't deny it. Look at what's happening! You guys have been trying for months to stop this but you can't. He's corrupting just like the others and we can't do anything about it!"

Amethyst just stared for a while. Of course she was right, they all knew that. She opened her mouth to reply, but a scratching sound suddenly started up from the door, cutting her off. They both looked over and saw Lion sitting outside with his paw on the doorframe. He watched the two on the couch and scratched again.

"Hey, uh, guys?" Greg said from the counter, "Something's up with Steven."

Steven had gone rigid, his gaze locked on the door as Lion scratched at the wood. He started pushing soon after, which caused Steven to raise his shoulders and his tail started twitching.

Amethyst quickly stumbled off the couch and ran to the door as Lion started to push, but just before she reached him the door slammed open. There was a clattering sound behind her and she looked back to see that Steven had knocked over his chair in a panic and was now on the floor, a low grumble coming from his throat.

Lion had also looked over at the sound and he and Steven stared at each other for a few seconds before the cat took several steps forward. Steven started growling louder when he did this, and Lion growled in turn, his fur raising.

"Whoa-kay, everyone needs to calm down," Greg said in a hurry and tried to pick Steven up but the boy wasn't having any of it. He squirmed out of Greg's arms, his thorny spikes cutting through his father's skin, and snarled at him, which made Greg flinch away. Steven then backed up a few feet, his claws cutting grooves into the wood, and turned his attention back to the lion slowly advancing toward them.

"Greg, you might wanna move!" Amethyst called, shifting into Purple Puma.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Greg answered and hurried to the other side of the counter, where he grabbed a napkin to take care of his bleeding arms.

Amethyst grabbed Lion's tail and started dragging him back, but he was fighting with her, and eventually spun around to swipe his claws at the Gem, causing her to instinctively release the lion's tail. He then roared at her, which threw her back against the wall. She grunted and fell to her knees as Lion turned back to Steven.

Before she could get up, Lion lunged forward.

His attack came to an abrupt stop, his claws just inches from Connie's face. The girl, who had been sitting frozen on the couch just seconds before, had practically thrown herself off and, without thinking, planted herself between Steven and the big pink cat. Slowly, Lion lowered his paw, but he didn't stop growling, and neither did Steven.

Connie's heart was racing. The others were just staring. She took a long, deep breath.

"You need to leave."

Lion snorted in response and started to stalk around her, but she stepped over to block his path again.

"Leave him alone."

Lion tried to go around her again, and again she cut him off. They did this a few more times until Lion finally gave an aggravated groan and backed away. Glaring eyes rested on Connie as he ascended the staircase, and then he was gone.

Connie slowly turned around as Steven's growling quieted down and Amethyst hurried over. "How'd you know that would work?"

"I…didn't," Connie admitted. "I just had to do something. I didn't really stop to think about it."

"Well, luckily it worked out," Greg said. "Though, let's hope it doesn't happen again. Might not work a second time."

"Yeah…"

She sighed and they all looked at Steven.

"You think he's okay?" Amethyst asked, walking past Connie. Steven looked at her and started growling again, causing the Gem to take a step back.

"Okay…maybe we should wait a minute before trying to go near him," Greg suggested. "You don't wanna end up like me." He forced a chuckle and Amethyst gave him a sympathetic look.

Connie looked back and forth between the two, then to Steven, who appeared to be calming down, but slowly, and who was still letting out a quiet grumble. He looked up at her and Connie saw those angry eyes once more.

Steven's eyes finally started to change, the anger fading, and Connie took a step toward him. He didn't growl, which was good, so she took a few more steps. Amethyst glanced at Greg, then Connie. "Uh, be careful. This is…different from the last time."

She nodded and hesitantly crouched down in front of Steven, who just stared at her. His gaze followed her hand as she slowly started to reach out. He blinked a few times and shook his head before sitting up. Connie looked at Amethyst, who gave a motion telling her to continue.

"How is he?" Greg asked as Connie's hand finally rested against Steven's cheek. The boy blinked again and leaned his head into Connie's touch.

A few seconds went by before he asked, in a soft voice, "What happened this time?"

"Um…Lion tried to attack you," Amethyst told him. "Connie got him to go upstairs before he could hurt you, though."

Steven lifted his head and looked over at his dad. Greg quickly hid his arms behind his back but wasn't fast enough to prevent Steven from seeing the red cuts. His eyes went wide.

"D-did I do that?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"It was an accident, kiddo, don't worry about it," Greg told him, but Steven just looked more upset. "Listen—it wasn't your fault. I'm the one that grabbed you, okay? You didn't do it on purpose."

"It doesn't matter if it wasn't on purpose," Steven said as tears started streaming from his eyes—now an all too common occurrence. Before he said any more, Amethyst grabbed his face and made him look at her.

"Steven, I need you to calm down. We can't have another one of those episodes. Just look at me and breathe, okay?" she said gently before taking in a deep breath. Steven did the same, though his was quite a bit shakier.

Then the exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"Feel better?"

"No," he said, but he definitely sounded calmer. Amethyst patted his cheek and straightened up.

"Hey, Steven?"

Steven looked to Connie, who had stood up and now had her hand held out to him. He carefully grabbed it and she pulled him up off the floor.

"Let's go sit on the couch. I can read some more, if you want."

He nodded and followed her, while Greg came out from behind the counter.

"I'm gunna' take care of this," he said and headed to the bathroom while Amethyst went to join Steven and Connie.

She hopped up and looked over to the warp pad. "I wonder when the others are gunna get back," she mused, kicking her feet. "I think…when they get back, maybe it'll be time to talk about this again…"

A soft rumble came from Steven and Amethyst didn't say anything else on the matter.

Greg had finished patching himself up, and all were on the couch, listening to Connie read. Steven had curled up on the cushions, with the back of his head pressed against Connie's leg. Cat Steven had joined them and was stretched out along Steven's side, which Steven had tried to prevent her from doing, but the little cat was quite stubborn and wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

Thankfully, Lion hadn't shown up again. Amethyst had gone to check on him and he had been asleep in his bed. Hopefully he'd stay there for a while. They certainly didn't need that happening again. Connie suggested maybe taking Lion to stay at her house, which might work, but at the same time he could just teleport back whenever he felt like it. It was something to think about, though.

For a while everything was fine. It was peaceful.

But of course the peace couldn't last.

A sudden blinding light flashed from Steven's gem. It fizzed and glitched and pulsed and Steven's cry sounded broken, distorted. Cat Steven scrambled onto the back of the couch as the teen's body convulsed before he fell to the ground. It happened so fast that the others couldn't even react until it was already over.

"Whoa, what was that?" Greg said, quickly standing up, but Amethyst's hand darted out and caught the man's shirt. Greg looked at her and she tugged him back down.

"Hold up, Greg. We gotta be careful, okay?" she said and Greg looked at his son for a moment before giving a hesitant nod.

"Connie, you good?" Amethyst said, turning to the girl. She looked a bit shaken, with her eyes locked on her friend. It took her a moment but she nodded before pulling her legs up to her chest.

"I-I think so," she muttered. "Is…Steven okay?"

Amethyst shifted her gaze to Steven, who had lifted himself off the ground, panting heavily. Two shaking arms held him up while the other two were pressed against his stomach where his gem still flickered. He didn't seem…feral like before, but it would probably be a good idea not to jump in and help right away, just in case.

The three on the couch waited silently while he caught his breath. His gem blinked a few more times before the light finally faded out and Steven let out a moan before mumbling, "I feel nauseous."

The others released a collective sigh and Amethyst got up, hopped onto the coffee table, and stepped down before heading over to the Temple door.

"Where are you going?" Connie asked, anxiety high in her voice.

"I'm getting the others back! I'm not waiting anymore. I just have to get my Warp Whistle, I'll only be a few minutes," Amethyst called back. "Just help Greg with Steven, okay?"

She disappeared through the door and Connie put on a concerned look, which only worsened when she heard a rather unpleasant sound from behind her. Turning around, she saw that Steven had propped himself up on the coffee table and had started dry heaving. His gem was flickering again and his claws were digging deep grooves into the table as Greg did his best to offer some comfort.

"Uh—I'll see if there's something to help in the kitchen," Connie said, pushing herself off the couch. They had to have something for nausea somewhere. But, then again, this did seem to be coming from Steven's gem, so even if she did find something, who knows if it'd work.

Back at the couch, Greg had managed to get Steven on his feet. The dry heaving had stopped and was replaced with coughing and gagging now—not too much better, but still better.

"I'm going to take Steven to the bathroom. I think I remember leaving Steven with some nausea pills a while ago, try to find those," Greg said and Connie waved an acknowledgment. She was searching through all the drawers trying to find something. Frustrated, she climbed onto the counter and started looking through the cabinets on the wall. After quite a lot of searching she finally found the pills shoved in the very back of one, along with a random assortment of other over-the-counter medications. Did Steven ever even use these?

Connie heard the Temple door open and out came Amethyst. She didn't even announce herself before blowing into what Connie could only guess was the Warp Whistle. The warp pad lit up and Amethyst ran around it, stopping short when she spotted Connie on the counter.

"Uh, you should probably not be up there."

"Sorry. I just had to find something," Connie told her before carefully climbing back down onto the floor. She held the pill bottle up for Amethyst to see, then they both looked back to the warp pad as the light beam disappeared.

"What happened?!" Pearl gasped, running over to Amethyst and grabbing her shoulders. "Where's Steven? Is he okay?" she asked, shaking Amethyst a little and looking around. She straightened up when she saw Connie, looking a bit surprised. Amethyst removed Pearl's hands with a huff and crossed her arms, which brought Pearl's attention back.

"Steven's…well he's not good, duh, but he hasn't gotten drastically worse," Amethyst told the others. "And he's been eating and drinking and talking a lot more since I invited Greg and Connie over."

"Greg's here?" Ruby asked as she and Sapphire appeared at Pearl's side. Connie joined them, the pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other, looking sadly over at the unfused Gems.

Amethyst sighed and motioned to the couch. "Greg's with Steven in the bathroom right now. Something happened with his gem that made him feel really sick. We can wait for them." She paused and rubbed her arm. "…We all need to talk about some stuff."

That left an unpleasant aura over the group as they all waited. Silence stretched out among them, finally being broken by the creak of the bathroom door. Steven looked a little better but definitely still sickly as he followed his dad.

He stopped walking when he realized the other three were waiting with Amethyst and Connie. Without a word, the others watched as he sat at the far end of the couch. Connie took a deep breath and went over to him.

"Um…here, this should help you feel better," she murmured, handing him the glass and a couple tablets. He took them silently as she returned to her spot, bringing her knees up to her chest again.

A few minutes later Amethyst groaned and ran her hands down her face. "Alright…Let's get this over with. We can't avoid this conversation anymore. How much longer are we going to warp out of here, searching for something we know we can't find?" she said, throwing her arms up. "There's nothing to find. We're all just wasting our time at this point. No one wants to admit it, but we are. I'm tired of it! Steven's not getting better and we can't do anything about it! We have to accept that!"

The others just stared at her, unable to say anything. Then they all turned to Steven.

He'd started crying.

Amethyst had a guilty look on her face, but she couldn't take back what she said. She didn't want to take it back. No matter how hard it hurt, it was the truth. Yet, the guilt remained, and she looked away.

"I'm sorry," Amethyst choked out. "There's just nothing we can do."

"…She's right," Sapphire said, wiping tears from her face. "Steven needs us here. We shouldn't leave him anymore. There's no point to it. Nothing is going to get accomplished."

"I w-want to see Gar-net," Steven cut in, the words skewed by his heavy sobs and hiccups. "P-plea-se. I w-ant to see her one m-more time."

"Steven, don't say it like that," Pearl said, her voice wavering. "Please, don't say it like that."

He didn't respond. All he could do was cry.

Ruby jumped off the couch and tugged Sapphire with her.

"I-I don't know if I can," Sapphire said in an almost whisper as Ruby held her face.

"Come on, we have to try. We'll force it if that's what it takes."

"We've…never forced Garnet, before."

"We've never had to. I don't want to do it, but if that's what it takes, then we'll do it. It's for Steven."

Sapphire looked over to where Steven was watching them through shining tears.

"Come on, Sapph, you can do it," Amethyst said. Pearl nodded and Greg gave a thumbs up. They were all doing their best to be encouraging, but it was so painfully difficult.

Sapphire bit her lip and gripped Ruby's hands tighter. "Okay."

Steven hid his face as the two small Gems lightly touched their foreheads together. The others watched in choking silence as Ruby and Sapphire came together in a bright light, then came apart, then back together again. The light was shaking, fighting to keep form, and after much too long a time, the form finally held.

The light dissipated and Garnet was down on her knee, exhausted from the strain of reforming. The others immediately moved to hug her, but her arm lifted and cut them off. She then forced herself upright and, on trembling legs, walked over to Steven. He looked up at her, his sobbing starting all over again as she crouched in front of him.

He wrapped his arms around her and wailed into her chest.

Everyone talked for a long time after that. Their voices were quiet and solemn as they discussed what their next steps down this road would be. Steven had been clinging to Garnet the entire time, curled in her lap. They all decided that, no, there was no reason to continue going out. There was nothing else they could do for Steven except to just be there with him until this ended, in whatever way it would.

No one wanted to talk about the end, though.

Steven's grip on Garnet suddenly grew tighter and his claws dug into her back. She sucked air in through her teeth and the talking came to an abrupt halt. Steven's gem was flashing again as Garnet tried to loosen his grip on her.

He wasn't letting go. He heard the others' voices, panicked as they tried to get through to him, but he couldn't understand. Their words were drowned out by the ringing in his ears. The ringing was loud, so loud. The ringing was followed by heavy thudding, except that wasn't in his head. Steven opened his eyes.

Lion came thundering down the stairs, slammed into the wall when he hit the landing, and vaulted down to the first floor. Everyone jumped to their feet and Steven dropped from Garnet's arms, his hold on her failing as Lion appeared. He crouched on the ground, his growling loud and fierce as Lion approached with glowing eyes and shining teeth.

The feline roared, throwing everyone and everything out of his path before they could make a move to stop him. He didn't allow them back on their feet, quickly letting out another blast, aimed directly at Steven. The force was so strong that it threw the boy against the Temple door and he fell to the ground. He shook his head after a moment and started snarling, pushing himself against the door as Lion charged.

The Gems tried to stop him but he managed to dodge every attempt. He was determined to get to Steven and was not going to be blocked off this time. Lion's paws hit the ground hard before leaping over the warp pad. In that moment the Temple door opened and Steven fell through with a startled cry, his claws marring the wood floor as he failed to hold his ground. Then the door shut, just in time for Lion to collide headfirst into it.

Lion collapsed to the ground but was quickly on his paws again, shaking his head wildly to force off the dizziness. He started pacing and turning circles in front of the door then, stopping with every pass to scratch, growl, and roar in frustration. His fur was standing up as his anger grew.

He crouched down in surprised as Garnet summoned her gauntlets. Lips curled in a grimace, Lion looked back to the others. He looked both baffled and furious that Garnet and Amethyst had started coming closer, their weapons at the ready.

"Wait! Don't hurt him!" came Connie's frantic plea as she ran out in front of Garnet and Amethyst, leaving the couch where Pearl was trying to calm Greg down after having to watch his son almost get mauled.

Connie had her arms outstretched, acting as a shaky barricade. Garnet growled and her gauntlets disappeared, but Amethyst still gripped her whip.

"We do not want to hurt him, but we must get into the temple and Lion is in the way," the taller Gem said, trying to keep her voice calm. She was already struggling to hold her form, and it was obvious that this event had just made that even harder. Worry was on Connie's face and her heart was beating fast, but she held her ground all the same.

"Something is really wrong, Connie," Amethyst said, pulling the girl's attention away from Garnet. "A lot just happened, and I don't know what you were looking at, but I was looking at Steven. He got pulled into Rose's room and with him being in that state who knows what he's doing in there?"

Connie looked back at Garnet, to Amethyst, to Garnet again. With a deep breath she dropped her arms and turned around to face Lion, who's ears perked up slightly when she looked at him. She took a step toward him and he puffed out a growl, making her stop short. Not wanting to rile him up again, Garnet motioned for Amethyst to put her whip away. "If we don't appear as a threat maybe he'll let us in," she said, and Amethyst grumbled but did as instructed.

Still, Lion kept his defensive posture as Connie tried to get closer. Her hands were shaking as she held them out in front of her. "Lion, you need to get out of the way. Please just move," she begged, followed by a yelp when a large paw swung at her. Immediately Garnet and Amethyst were at her side, Amethyst grabbing Connie and pulling her away as Garnet summoned her gauntlets again.

"Sorry, Connie, but we have to get in there as soon as possible!" Amethyst said as Connie struggled in her arms. "Pearl, how's Greg doing?" the Gem called a moment later and Peal responded with a "Doing better," as Greg took a few deep breaths. This really just went from bad to worse.

Everyone's attention went to Garnet and Lion as he started to roar, but the attack was cut off as large gauntlets clamped around his muzzle. He growled and pulled back as Garnet tried to move him, shaking his head back and forth but she couldn't be knocked away. With a tremendous amount of effort, Lion was tugged off his feet and thrown across the room. "Pearl, Amethyst, quick! Into the Temple!" Garnet shouted, slamming her hand against the door as the gems to her room lit up. "We'll have to travel through the Temple to reach Steven. Be cautious when we reach him—there's no telling what we'll—"

She was cut off as the whole Temple rattled, almost knocking them off their feet. They heard Lion snort a moment later as he stood up. "Get over here, now!" Garnet commanded and the others ran over. Connie also joined them, shoving Pearl's arm away when she tried to keep her back.

"No, I'm coming too! I want to help!"

"Ahhh! We don't have time for this!" Garnet interrupted before pushing everyone through the door. She heard a loud protest from Greg but didn't stop to answer. Lion was running back and the last thing they saw before the door closed was his mouth opening.

The Temple shook again and dust and debris fell from the ceiling, burning into ash as the pieces splashed into the lava pool in the center of the room.

"What the heck's he doing up there?" Amethyst said, holding her arms over her head to block the bits of rock.

"We have to get up there before the Heart gets damaged," Pearl said and the others nodded. Connie looked confused but didn't ask questions. Those could be asked later; right now they had to focus. She grunted when she felt Garnet's arm around her and she was lifted off her feet.

"Let's go."

Climbing through the Temple was becoming more difficult with every passing minute as the crystal tubes they were scaling were bombarded by debris. Connie clung to Garnet for dear life as pieces of the Temple fell and smashed around them. Amethyst was breaking some of the pieces apart with her whip, which helped but not by much. The Temple was rattling almost constantly now from whatever was happening in Rose's room and Pearl nearly got hit by a falling rock, causing her to slip but Amethyst was able to catch her before she fell too far.

"This is getting to be impossible!" Pearl yelled after Amethyst swung her back up. "Whatever Steven's doing is getting out of control. He's going to bring the Temple down at this rate!"

"That's why we must hurry," Garnet said with a grunt as she punched through a rock. Connie yelped and quickly shielded herself with her arms as the pieces tumbled down around the two. She was starting to think that maybe she should have stayed back with Greg. It was too late to turn back now, though. She was stuck here whether she wanted to be or not.

There was no more talking between them after that. All their focus was put towards getting to Steven. They climbed through several rooms, none of which were explained to Connie. She could guess to whom they belonged to, but only in fleeting thoughts. She couldn't think straight anymore, her mind unable to focus on anything for more than a second or two, if that. Everything was just too loud and crazy right now.

They climbed for what felt like ages but finally, with one last crack of Amethyst's whip, they arrived. Garnet handed Connie over to Pearl so that she could enter first to assess the situation. She came back a few seconds later with a fearful look on her face. "It's…very wrong," was all she said before slowly leading the others up.

None of them were prepared for what they saw. The room was dark, black clouds swirling throughout with rain pouring down in all directions, following the howling wind. Strange pillars of various sizes and shapes littered the room, and in the center was a large tower-like structure full of holes. At the top was Steven down on his knees, bent over himself with his head hidden under his arms, his gem flashing blinding light like lightning in the storm. His body looked distorted, mutated, far beyond what it was before. The spikes along his back had grown, his limbs were unnaturally long, and even with as far away as the group was it was clear that overall Steven's size had almost tripled.

And, standing in front of him, was something…someone, someone that looked familiar but at the same time so very foreign.

It disappeared suddenly—

—And materialized in front of the others in a burst of cloud.

They all reeled back at the site.

What stood before them was a shifting amalgamation of both Rose and Pink Diamond, their features blurred together and ever changing as she—it?—came closer.

"Steven doesn't want you here," it said, sounding like a dozen voices in one as an arm came reaching toward the group. Amethyst threw her whip out, cutting straight through the figure, and for a moment it disappeared. They saw it reappear at the top of the tower, then heard something else poof into existence in front of them.

Before anyone could register what it was, Amethyst was hit with an uppercut that sent her into the air, then was slammed back down, throwing the others back. With a groan she picked herself up, shook her head, and scrambled back once she finally saw what had attacked her. Standing in front of her was a large shadowy creature, a huge, toothy grin the only thing visible on its head. It looked almost human, in a disgusting kind of way.

Amethyst narrowly dodged another attack and stumbled to her feet. "Guys, what's going on? What the heck are these?!" she yelled, blocking a punch. She was knocked to the ground a moment later as her legs were swept out from under her and she snorted. She could already tell that this was going to be very hard.

"Steven's hallucinations! This is how he described them," Garnet answered, throwing one away from herself. "They must have manifested from the room's magic."

"How is this happening? The room should only be conjuring what Steven tells it to! He couldn't be telling it to make these, could he?" Pearl cried soon after, parrying a few attacks with her spear. She huffed and forced the creature back as best she could before jumping away to try and gather her senses.

At least now they knew why the Temple was coming down around them earlier.

She yelped as the cloud monster formed behind her and knocked her to the ground. Garnet passed by, a third creature hot on her heels, as Amethyst continued to struggle with her own. Meanwhile, Connie, not having brought her sword, hurried to find a hiding place. She spotted a nearby pillar and made a beeline for it.

"We don't know what Steven's telling the room to do, but we know he doesn't want us here," Garnet said after giving a hard roundhouse kick to her assailant. She summoned her gauntlets and hit them together with a loud clang. "This must be how it's trying to get rid of us. Steven would never tell it to hurt us, but he's not himself, and that must be affecting the magic here. We have to figure out how to get him out of here before it's too late!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Amethyst hissed, now simply running away from the shadowy monster. "He's, like, a thousand feet in the air and we can't jump up there while these things are trying to smash us!"

"But Lion can!" Connie cut in, yelling above the wind, her head popping out from her hiding place. "Lion can get him out!"

"Lion's gunna kill him if we bring him in here!" Amethyst shouted back as she ran by. "We gotta figure something else out!"

"We don't have any other options!" Connie said, hitting her fist against the pillar. "Garnet said we need to get Steven out of here, and if none of us can get up there, then we need Lion!"

"She's right! Amethyst, grab Connie and get out of the Temple," Garnet ordered and Amethyst groaned before skidding a few feet and turning to run back to Connie.

"You guys be careful," she called before hooking her arm around the girl behind the pillar, which knocked the breath out of her, and then Amethyst jumped back down the hole they had come through.

It was much easier going down than going up, but there was still rocks to dodge. Amethyst had propped Connie over her shoulder as she maneuvered the crystal pipes, swinging off as they entered the next room. It was purple-blue and had huge piles of junk. Definitely Amethyst's room, Connie concluded.

"I hope you can keep Lion under control long enough to get Steven out of here," Amethyst said then, hurrying to the door as it stretched open. She ran right into Lion and she and Connie fell to the floor with a startled cry. Lion on the other hand had immediately started growling again.

Quickly Connie got to her feet and put her hands on Lion's muzzle. "Lion, it's okay! It's okay, shhh," she said, gently petting his nose. His head shook and he snorted but seemed to calm down. Connie sighed and carefully climbed onto Lion's back. "Alright, let's get back in there."

Amethyst got up and nodded before turning around and opening the door again. "Hurry on in there. I'll grab hold as he goes by."

"Right. Okay, Lion," Connie said, leaning forward to pat the big cat's head, "We gotta get Steven out of the Temple. Can you do that? Please?"

Lion puffed, looking none too pleased at the mention of Steven, but he seemed to be listening all the same. He sprinted inside as the Temple shuddered and Amethyst just barely managed to grab his tail before he ran by. Connie helped her up and from there they instructed Lion on how to get to Rose's room.

Up and up they went, the falling rocks proving to be only a small problem as Lion dodged around them. His eyes were locked forward, determination showing in his snarl. Amethyst looked as worried as ever, and Connie really hoped that Lion wouldn't go off the rails when they got to the others.

Just get in and get Steven out, that's all he had to do.

The noise of the storm grew louder by the second, just adding to the headache of the Temple falling to pieces, as Lion vaulted through floor after floor. He passed the Crystal Heart in a fraction of the time it took the Gems to get there, and before they knew it they were bursting back into Rose's room.

Pearl and Garnet were still fighting several yards away, but were showing clear signs of exhaustion. However, as soon as Lion's feet touched the ground, the attention of the monsters was torn away from the Gems, and focused on the pink cat instead. Amethyst jumped off his back and turned to Connie.

"I'm going to check on the others now that those things seem to be distracted," she said, then pointed to the tower in the center of the room. Steven's gem still flashed at the top, the light appearing even brighter now, almost bright enough to mask his form, which had grown even larger.

"That's where Steven is, Lion. Go get him, and be quick!"

Lion nodded and ran off with Connie clinging to his fur as the shadowy creatures gave chase. The room had started falling apart now, holes like shattered glass opening up into blinding nothingness scattered throughout. Portal after portal shot out from Lion's roar as he made his way to the tower, avoiding holes and cloud monsters as he went, the rain cascading down in a never-ending torrent. Connie felt drenched to the bone.

They reached the tower and Lion leaped up, his claws digging in. Connie held on for dear life as he forced himself up the side, using his portals to aid in the climb until he reached the top, where one last portal took the two several yards above.

The portal opened over Steven and they fell for just a moment before Lion sent out one last roar. As it shot out, Steven lifted his head and swung it around to face the two. Connie felt her chest tighten again; almost nothing of the boy was left. His body was that of a monster, covered in spikes and scales. Burning eyes glared as the portal formed below, and as Steven tumbled through Connie saw his body shift and grow and a horrifying and painful screech sounded as the pink gem flashed one last time.

Instantly the room quieted.

And that's when everything came undone.