Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. -Martin Luther King Jr.
"C'mon, C'mon! Fight! Attack! Jump! No, no, no ... Noooooo!"
The disappointing "game over" music played from Steven's new game, Sorcerers and Griffons. "Dang it! This level is so hard!" Steven groaned.
Garnet sat beside him on his bed watching him play, thoughtfully. Meanwhile, Pearl was in the kitchen washing dishes and quietly humming. Amethyst was snoring on the couch, stirring slightly from Steven's vocal frustration.
Steven sighed, the "Try Again" screen was taunting him. "Are there any possible futures where I beat this level?" he asked Garnet.
"…You'll have a better chance if you use that fire power-up." Garnet replied, adjusting her shades.
"Awww. I was saving that for the boss level…" Steven dropped his controller in defeat. Garnet smirked and ruffled his hair in comfort.
"Steven why don't you take a break? You've been playing that silly game for a while now." Pearl suggested.
"Yeah you're right." Steven clicked the "quit" option and set his controller down.
"Could you guys keep it down! Gem trying to sleep here!" Amethyst called out, adjusting her position on the couch. Pearl sighed in annoyance at Amethyst's laziness and continued rinsing dishes. Garnet got up from Steven's bed and moved to sit with Amethyst on the couch, enjoying a quiet, peaceful day inside. Steven started unplugging his game console, trying to think of what to do next. He looked at the time, and realized Crying Breakfast Friends is usually on at this time. Turning the TV back on, he clicked buttons on the remote to see if his beloved show was there. Unfortuneately it wasn't. Just more of that show, Inter-dimensional Family Friend, which Steven didn't particularly care for. Then he decided to flip through more channels to see what he could find. Or maybe he and the gems could watch a fun movie tonight. Steven stopped at the "Beach City News" channel, giving up. A blonde woman wearing too much make up, and too much intonation in her voice was making hand gestures in front map of Beach City.
"It looks like we have a lot of moisture coming up from the south. We should expect a little rain with winds blowing at about 10 miles per hour…"
"Steven, I thought you were taking a break from all that technology." Pearl commented.
"I know, I know, but I wanted to see if Crying Breakfast Friends was on. But it looks like nothing interesting is on... Except the news." Steven as blankly watching the screen. Garnet sat up from her spot on the couch, sensing something was wrong.
"Thank you, Donna. I know me and my wife will enjoy the warm weather!" The news anchor, Jim Pickles, paused to give a hearty laugh. When his laughter died down, he peeked at his papers in front of him and continued. "In other news a sad event occurred this week in Beach City..." Steven's interest was immediately caught. Garnet's bad instinct didn't settle and Pearl looked up from her work on the dishes.
Amethyst yawned and stretched. "What's going on?" She asked tiredly.
"Shh!" Steven shushed. "Jim Pickles said something bad just happened in Beach City!" Pearl stepped out of the kitchen and got closer to Steven's room. Garnet and Amethyst adjusted their positions on the couch so they could face the TV. Steven turned up the volume and they all waited expectantly.
"The local nursing home faced a tragedy when oldest twins in Beach City passed away, just a week before their 98th birthday. Albert Jones died last Thursday night around midnight, and sources say his brother Alexander died the following morning. Now, today on their shared birthday, their family says that they will…"
"Wow. Only 97 years old. I remember I could barely summon a whip at 97! And these geezers just died!" Amethyst laughed.
"Amethyst! Don't be insensitive! Humans are very frail beings and they have short lives. Of course they're going to die sooner than us! It's not… Steven, are you alright?" Pearl interrupted herself when she noticed Steven sniffle. He had tears in his eyes as he listened to the story. "They were brothers who died at the same time! They didn't even get to see their 98th birthday!" he wiped his eyes, and the crystal gems all exchanged looks, all thinking the same thing.
"Don't worry bud. I'm sure they're gonna celebrate their birthdays together… wherever they are now." Amethyst said, uncertainly.
Steven sniffed again. "You think so?" he asked.
"Absolutely." Garnet replied, more confident and comforting than the previous gem.
"We're gonna take a break, but we'll be right back! And stay tuned. After the break we'll get an inside look on the case of Patrick Foster. The 21 year old who was hospitalized after a-" Steven took the remote and turned the TV back off. He heard enough of the news for today.
Pearl returned to the dishes, pondering outloud. "That's too bad... It is a strange coincidence though. Two brothers, in the same city, a week before their anniversaries of being alive, pass away within the same 24 hours? No wonder it made the news."
"Yeah but they were twins!" Steven added.
"Yeah, so?" Amethyst questioned.
"Well they say twins are like, connected in a way. Some can feel another's pain, or they can read each other's minds… I think they were connected, like, spiritually! Or something." Steven explained.
Pearl shook her head. "But theoretically speaking, humans can't do any of those things. Even if they were born at the same time, that doesn't mean-"
Pearl was interrupted by Steven's phone. Steven grabbed his phone from where it was charging and opened it. "Oh, my dad wants to meet for lunch today. I should go meet him at Fish Stew Pizza." Steven said, typing away on his phone.
"Alright. Have fun." said Pearl, drying one of the last dishes. "Not too late okay? And don't spend too much time on your communication device! Remember, humans are easily addicted to technology!" Pearl called after him.
Steven smirked. "I won't!" Then he closed the screen door behind him and walked down the beach.
"I still can't believe the kinds of things they announce on public television. Everything's always centered around death and destruction. Ugh! It's disgusting. Steven shouldn't be watching those kinds of things." Pearl complained, drying her hands.
"Well, whatever gets people's attentions..." Amethyst shrugged. She lifted her head and looked at Garnet. "You seemed pretty interested though."
"I Saw Steven get upset over a different story." Garnet vaguely replied.
Amethyst and Pearl shared a glance, knowing she meant she saw something with her future vision. "How upset?" asked Pearl.
"Very upset."
"More upset than seeing two old twins die?" Amethyst questioned.
"Yes." As stoic as Garnet usually was, she did seem a little shaken from whatever story she Saw.
"Well, what did you see?" the purple gem asked, curiously.
Garnet stood up. "It doesn't matter. That wasn't the story on the news, so it didn't happen."
"Are you sure?" Pearl asked. "If something happened, we should help."
Garnet paused in thought. "No It couldn't happen... Not in Beach City."
The strange thing about storms is that they're hard to predict. Of course, it's easier to predict when you have high tech barometers and weather satellites. However, the thing that makes them complicated is that there's always a calm before the storm. Everything seems perfect, until there's a sudden change of speed. Wind picks up, dark clouds move in, and suddenly you have to run for cover. That's why Steven felt suspicious as he walked down the boardwalk to Fish Stew Pizza. It was a lovely day, sun shining, birds singing, and it seemed like the time to be outside enjoying it all… but there were no people. Fun Land was deserted, the boardwalk was empty, and a lot of the smaller shops were closed for the day. It was unusually quiet.
When Steven made it to the entrance of Fish Stew Pizza, he saw only his dad and a few other customers in there. Slower day than usual. His dad was already seated at a back table. Something about his dad seemed a little off today as well.
"Hey dad." Steven greeted cheerfully as he sat down.
"Hey Steven." Greg smiled more as he saw his son. "How have you been?"
Steven shrugged. "I'm fine. I've been trying to beat that one level in a game, but it's pretty frustrating. And emotionally exhausting!" Greg chuckled a little at that. Then a small frown fell on his face. "So… have you seen the news recently?"
Steven frowned as well as he thought about the twins. "Yeah I did. It's pretty sad huh?"
"I'm still baffled by it. I-I just don't want to think about such a terrible crime happening to good people like that, you know? Not here in Beach CIty."
Steven furrowed an eyebrow, confused. "I don't if it was really a crime… I think they lived a long happy life didn't they?"
"21 isn't really considered a very long life, kiddo."
"21? I thought-" Steven was interrupted when Kofi dropped off a pizza at their table. His dad must've ordered for them already. "Oh, thanks Kofi… Where's Kiki? Doesn't she usually help with the shop?"
"I gave her and Jenny the day off today. They're both upset from the news." Kofi quickly explained with his eyes cast down. "I think I'll close the shop early today too."
"We understand. We won't stay too long and keep you busy." Greg told Kofi sympathetically. Kofi nodded and went back into the kitchen. Steven stared after him. "Everyone seems really upset about those twins." he thought to himself.
"So, uh… I ordered our favorite." Greg offered.
"Extra large." Steven smiled.
"And extra fishy." Greg finished, returning his smile. "Thanks dad." Steven said, grabbing a slice. Greg paused for a second, thinking. "Hey Steven… You know that I love you no matter what, right?"
Steven looked up at his dad, a little confused, but appreciative anyways. "Well, of course I know that Dad."
"And you know that I'll accept you no matter who you turn out to be, right?"
"Yeah I know."
"Good. Because you're my only son and... I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you."
"Thanks dad. This doesn't happen to have anything to do with getting captured by blue diamond and put in a human zoo does it?" Steven asked.
"What?" Greg looked up, "No, no. It doesn't. Not really. I just felt that after the events that have happened... I felt I needed to let you know."
Steven was touched, letting any previous suspicion or confusion vanish. "Wow. Thanks Dad." He said sincerely.
After that the conversation picked up. Steven told Greg more about his gem adventures and his new game, Greg told some stories about what he saw in space (and how they'd make a killer album), and they both laughed as they talked about the humans they saw in the human zoo. When lunch was over, Greg payed and they started leaving the shop. "Thanks Kofi. Take care, alright?" Greg said before he left. Kofi looked up from from where he was wiping off a counter and nodded, refusing to smile back.
Greg exited and the door closed behind him. He looked uncertainly at the sky. Darker clouds were rolling in and the wind was picking up. "Are you sure you don't want a ride back kiddo? I'm not liking this weather."
"No, it's okay Dad. I'm not that far from the temple. I'll see you later though?" Greg nodded and hugged his son tighter than usual, which Steven noticed, but didn't mention.
"I'll see you later Dad!" Steven waved as he walked towards the donut shop. Greg waved back, "See ya Schtu-ball!"
Steven looked at the sky hesitantly. Would he be able to make it back before it started raining? He had no choice but to take his chances and he started walking faster, cursing the weather. How could a place as nice as Beach City sometimes have such bad thunderstorms?
As Steven walked down the street, he stopped when the pizza car pulled up in front of him, with the same squad inside.
"Hey Steven!" Jenny called. Buck nodded towards Steven in a greeting and Sour Cream did some sort of hand sign. Steven smiled and waved. "Hey guys. What are you doing? It's about to rain!"
"The rain can't stop us from anything. We do whatever, no matter the weather." Buck said.
"Yeah but we were heading home now. We're just coming back from Patrick Foster's house. Sending condolences to his family and… you know." Jenny added, her expression changing.
"Patrick Foster? Who's he?" Steven asked.
Buck and Sour Cream shared a look. Jenny raised her eyebrows, continuing. "Acquaintance of ours. Ya know, the one who went to the hospital after the… attack."
"One of your friends was attacked?"
"Haven't you been keeping up with the news?" Buck asked. Steven furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Kind of… Wait, so everyone's upset about something else? Not the oldest twins?"
Jenny shook her head, somewhat surprised. "Hop in. You should see something."
Without much hesitation, Steven got into the back seat of the Pizza car next to Sour Cream. Jenny put the car into a different gear and they started driving. Steven's confusion didn't settle. "Where are we going?" he asked.
"Laramie Road." Jenny said.
"Woah really? This soon?" Buck asked. Jenny shrugged. "Steven wants to know what happened, and you guys said you wanted to check out the fence sometime. Let's go."
"Yeah but Patrick was found there yesterday. Who's to say that road is even, like, open to the public?" Sour Cream tried to reason, but Jenny kept driving. "It's a common bypass and Patrick's not there anymore. It'll be open.
"But that road… I thought it was closed because there was construction going on there…" Steven thought back to what Connie had said before their mission. That's why she thought the road was closed at least. Buck scratched the back of his neck. "That road's messed up. But there's no construction happening any time soon."
"Yeah. Now Laramie Road is messed up for a different reason." Sour Cream said.
Jenny started to slow down as they came to the scene of the crime. She pulled over and unbuckled her seat belt. "This is it."
Steven got out of the car and looked around. The view was nice for the most part. He could see part of the town and he could look over the ocean. It would've looked nicer if the anticipated storm didn't make the water look so dark and choppy. However, Steven had no idea why they brought him here. "What happened here?"
Buck stared at the fence. "Patrick Foster was found here yesterday. He was… Beat up pretty badly. Tied to that post right there."
Steven looked at the post Buck was referring to. He felt sick when he saw red stains on the fence, and the ground. He got closer to the fence, and felt this indescribable sorrow for this victim as he absorbed this new information. "How bad was it?"
"Bad. He was out here all night before they found him. He's in the hospital now. Think he's in a coma." Jenny replied, melancholy. It was obvious they all felt a great heartache as they stood in front of the crime scene. Steven started breathing heavier, unable to comprehend this kind of hate. This kind of evil. "Why? Why would someone do this?"
"Because Patrick's gay." Sour Cream explained.
Steven turned to him, confused. "...Gay?"
"Yeah. Ya know. A queer." said Buck.
Steven only vaguely knew what those terms meant. "Wait- so he was beat up and tied here because he…?"
"Because he liked other guys? Yeah." Sour Cream replied, looking away. Steven shook his head, "But why? What's wrong with that?"
Looks were exchanged between the group, not knowing what to say. "... A lot of people see things wrong with it." Jenny said eventually.
"Really? But he didn't do anything! He didn't deserve this!"
"We agree. This was an all time low for whoever did this to Patrick." Buck replied, bowing his head.
A clap of thunder sounded overhead. Small raindrops started falling, almost one at a time. "Rain's started. We should go." Jenny informed the group. "Steven, do you need a ride?"
"No. I'll walk." Steven said, quietly.
"Alright. Take care."
"See you around little man." Buck added.
"Later." Steven watched as they all got into the car and drove away. He looked back at the fence, absolutely floored. How could anyone find the hate within themselves to do such a horrible thing? What was going to happen to Patrick? What's going to happen to his attacker? Why did this have to happen?
The rain started picking up. Fat raindrops bounced from the ground, and more thunder boomed through the sky. Steven stayed in place though, not caring if he got wet. In his mind, his life in this town seemed perfect and happy before, as if it would last forever. But that's the strange thing about storms. Everything seems perfect, until you have to run for cover. But there was no protection from the storm Steven was facing at this moment. And no barometer or satellite could've ever predicted this.