The Crystal Gems were prepared to come face-to-face with the being that Garnet detected earlier with her Future Vision. But come the Gems' arrival to the spacious and prestigious structure that was the Galaxy Warp… there was nothing to be seen. Amethyst jumped off the warp pad, her thorny whip in tow, ready to strike whatever monster was waiting for them, only to be disappointed there wasn't any foe for her to fell.
"Are you sure there's something here, Garnet?" Amethyst asked. "Because I don't see squat."
"Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it isn't here," Garnet said as she took off her visor, revealing her small, beady, yet beautiful eyes… along with the third eye situated in the middle of her forehead, which was looking around the area erratically. "But… There's something wrong."
"What do you mean?" Pearl asked. "Can't you see whatever this… thing is with your future vision?"
"No…," Garnet said as she dropped her visor to the floor and started rubbing her temples. "I can't… I can't see… anything. Whatever it is, I think… I think it's disrupting my future vision…"
"W-What!?" Pearl cried. "W-What kind of creature is this? Is it even a Gem Monster?"
Garnet grabbed her head and yelled out in pain, and collapsed to the floor. Pearl and Amethyst ran to their fallen comrade to aid her, but all of a sudden, Garnet was engulfed in a flash of light! Pearl and Amethyst covered their eyes so they wouldn't be blinded. As the light dissipated and the two Gems uncovered their eyes, in Garnet's place there were two smaller beings… one a brutish-looking specimen that was red as fire, and the other a fragile-looking creature that was blue as ice.
"R-Ruby!?" Pearl exclaimed. "S-S-Sapphire?"
"H-Huh!?" Ruby yelled. "What the heck just happened!? Why did you un-fuse us?"
"It wasn't me…," Sapphire said as she rubbed her head. "I don't know what is was, it… It managed to escape my future vision."
"Is that… possible?" Amethyst asked.
"No…," Sapphire said as she brushed her bangs aside, revealing her single, closed eye, situated right in the middle of her face. "But I can use fine now, so let me a take a look if—"
Sapphire opened her eye, her eye completely bloodshot and her pupil shrunken to a point, and shrieked in horror at what see saw. Ruby went up to her to pick her up, but the little red creature was met with a fierce electric shock as she placed her hands on her partner.
"W-What the heck?" Ruby said worryingly as she looked at her hands. "What can't I—"
"It's a trick," Sapphire said as she got up from the floor.
"What do you mean, Sapphire?" Pearl asked hesitatingly. "What did you see?"
"It isn't here," Sapphire said as she ran atop the warp pad. "It tricked us into coming here."
"What did?" Ruby said. "Sapphire, what's going on?"
"I… I don't know," Sapphire said. "But whatever I sensed when we were at the house, it fooled us into coming here. We never should've left the temple… It was there all along."
But that's when Sapphire noticed something rather odd with the warp pad.
"What?" Sapphire said. "The warp pad to the temple… it's broken."
The rest of the Crystal Gems were taken completely aback by this statement.
"Broken?" Amethyst yelped. "How?"
"I don't know!" Sapphire yelled. "I can't see who did it… But we need to get back, and fast."
"Sapphire… What's happening?" Pearl asked placing her hand over her chest.
"Steven and all of Beach City are in danger…," Sapphire said.
"Wake up, Steven…"
"…"
"I said… WAKE UP, STEVEN!"
The young Steven Universe felt a hand strike him right across the face, instantly waking him up. Steven looked around to see where he was, and it was familiar enough to him to realize that he was inside his home, but there was something horribly wrong: It was completely destroyed. The floorboards were yanked out of the floor and scattered all over, the furniture was torn to shreds, the windows were smashed, and there was water everywhere. And as for Steven himself, not only was he on the floor and completely soaked by water, he had numerous cuts and bruises all over his body. His clothes were ripped and dirtied, his hair was a complete and utter mess, and the worst of all was his hand, which was completely broken and unable to function.
"Finally."
Steven got up from the floor and saw Lapis Lazuli, her dress and face still soaked in blood, and her eyes still glassy and devoid of life. Lapis pointed at the temple area of Steven's abode, and the young boy was shocked to see that the warp pad was completely destroyed, rendering the Crystal Gems unable to come back from the Galaxy Warp.
"Lapis…," Steven said, a hint of fear in the tone of his voice. "Why?"
"S-Steven… N-No, Steven!" Lapis exclaimed, looking at her surroundings and covering her mouth in horror. "T-T-This… This isn't my… Yes, it was… We know what we did…"
Steven backed away from Lapis, who was holding her head and yelling out loud.
"S-Steven… Homeworld s-sent US here…," Lapis said, her voice echoing. "Sent m-me here… D-Did… DID SOMETHING TO US… It's made me… I can't… c-c-c-control…"
"Yes, you can!" Steven cried. "I… I don't know what they've done, but whatever it is, you can't fight it! I'm sure you can!"
The Gem lunges at Steven and strikes his across the face once again, sending him to the floor.
"That isn't going to work," the Gem said. "NOT this time."
Lapis walked towards Steven, grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, and hoisted him up from the floor.
"Half-Gem, half-human," Lapis said. "Talk about an abomination…"
"L-Lapi—" Steven failed to say, as Lapis placed a finger upon his lips.
"We'll make it all better," Lapis said, a wicked grin appearing on her face.
With a motion of her hand, all the water in the house collected together and forced a massive, floating sphere of liquid. Lapis threw Steven right into the sphere, and watched as the young boy struggled to hold his breath. The crooked grin on Lapis's face just kept getting wider and nastier the more Steven tried to escape the sphere of water, but all of a sudden, her grin vanished and her eyes went from glassy and soulless… to bright and full of life. Lapis put her hand down, and the sphere of water fell to the floor, becoming a large puddle of the destroyed floor, with Steven in the middle of it.
"What are you doing…? WE MUST KILL HIM!" Lapis yelled. "NO! I won't let you!"
Steven got up, coughing uncontrollably, looking upon Lapis, who was writhing around the room as if she was in pain.
"They sent us back here for a reason…," Lapis said. "I don't care what they want anymore! I've seen it… Their evil… The horror, the h-hurt… You were right… Steven, you were right!"
Steven's eyes widened.
"FOOL… You dare defy Homeworld!?" Lapis yelled. "I don't care about Homeworld! THIS IS MY WORLD NOW! STEVEN, RUN!"
The young boy didn't have to hear the Gem twice, as he darted straight out of the house and down the stairs and onto the sea shore. He looked back and saw Lapis, high in the air with wings made entirely out of water, hitting herself in the head and yelling out loud in pain. Steven continued to run, all the way into Beach City. It was nighttime, so there wasn't anybody outside or any stores open. Steven was running out of breath trying to find a place to hide and collect his thoughts, but managed to find an alleyway, far from his house and the terror that has wrought it. Steven sat down on the dirty floor of the alleyway and looked upon his broken hand, his fingers were mangled and bleeding out, while not profusely, but bleeding out nonetheless.
I don't know what to do, Steven thought. I can't get to the Gems… My hand's broken… It… It hurts.
Steven couldn't take the stress of the situation anymore, and started breathing more and more heavily. He was going into shock. His pupils shrunk, his heart was beating faster and faster, until… He fainted. His face hit the pavement, he closed his eyes, and he curled up into a ball as tears flowed from his eyes once again…
Garnet… Amethyst… Pearl…, Steven thought before finally sliding into unconsciousness. H-Help… Help me…
