"Steven…"

"N-No…"

"Steven… Wake up, Steven…"

"No… G-Get away from me…"

"Please, Steven… It's me."

"T-That… That wasn't you, Lapis… That wasn't… T-That wasn't…"

The young Steven Universe slowly opened his eyes, and to his surprise, he was no longer bleeding out on the cold, hard floor of a dirty alleyway. He was lying down on the comfy couch of somebody's well-furnished living room with his broken hand properly mended. And right across from him in a large chair that looked just as comfy was a young girl who was starting at him with a look of both relief and horror. Steven gave the young girl a small smile and sat upright in the couch, making audible signs of pain as he struggled to prop himself up.

"Connie…," Steven said. "How did you find me?"

"Mom works late," Connie said, getting up from the chair. "She saw you run past our house about a minute after she arrived home. She found you knocked out in the nearby alleyway and brought you here."

Steven looked at his bandaged hand again, then back at Connie, who suddenly had tears flowing from her eyes. She raised a hand and smacked Steven right across his face. Steven cried out in pain and got up from the couch to confront Connie for assaulting him, but as he laid eyes on the young girl, who looked at him with a look of utter sadness and disbelief, he sat back down immediately.

"What the heck were you doing out there?" Connie asked, tears running down her cheeks. "You had me worried sick! Mom brought you in and… I saw you. Cuts all over your body, your clothes dirty and torn, and your hand…"

She gave Steven's hand a quick glance.

"What were you doing that caused… this?" Connie asked. "Where were the Crystal Gems when this happened?"

"Look, Connie…," Steven said sternly. "I got this way because of Lapis Lazuli."

"Lapis Lazuli… That Gem who stole the ocean?"

"Yes… The Crystal Gems went somewhere but Lapis destroyed the warp pad. There was nothing they could've done…"

"But how? She went back to her home planet."

"She came back… But, there's something wrong with her. When I saw her at the shore, she was… she was covered in blood. And her eyes looked so… So empty. And her voice… At times she sounded normal, but… Other times it would be so deep and gravely… Like there was another person inside her, trying to take control of her…"

"Covered in… blood? Steven… Do you realize what that means?"

Steven's eyes widened.

"N-No!" Steven exclaimed. "It wasn't her! Somebody was controlling her!"

"What do you even mean by that, Steven?" Connie asked.

"I mean, she did horrible things… She destroyed my house, a-and… and tried to drown me, and broke my hand, but… it wasn't her."

"She destroyed your house and tried to down you… yet, it wasn't her? Steven, are you hearing yourself?"

"Connie, the people on her home planet did something to her that's causing her to do this! She told me herself!"

"What, and you're believing her?"

Steven walked towards the front window and looked out at the beautiful starry night sky. He turned to Connie and gave her and confident nod.

"I want to help her, Connie," Steven said boldly. "I don't care what she's done to me or my home… I want to save her. …I want to show her that she's wrong about the Earth."

Connie gave the young boy a pat on his shoulder and a small smile.

"Steven, I get it, you try to find the good in all people. That's what I like the most about you," Connie said. "But you have to face the reality of this situation… I mean, do you really believe you can do this? You're talking about somebody who stole the entire ocean to—"

Steven swatted Connie's hand off his shoulder.

"I know what she did!" Steven yelled. "But that was then, Connie… What she's done now isn't her doing! It's the… the thing that Homeworld put inside her, or… the person controlling her… I don't know what it is, but don't you see? Whatever it is, it's making her do all these things!"

"Steven, no!" Connie also yelled. "You can't just tiptoe around this! I mean, do you really think you can simply kiss and make up with someone like that? She's destroyed your home… She's injured you! She tried to drown you! You said… You said she was covered in blood, didn't you?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"Steven, don't you understand what that implies? Lapis has either gravely injured or… or murdered somebody!"

"NO! Lapis isn't that kind of person!"

"Stop referring to her like she's a human, Steven! She isn't!"

"Connie, I'm sorry, but I don't have time for this… I've got to go!"

Steven opened the front door and darted out the house to find Lapis Lazuli… well, he would have done so, if Connie didn't grab him by his bad arm to hold him at bay. Steven gave out a loud yell, but Connie didn't care as she swung him to the floor and closed the front door behind her.

"You know there's nothing you can do for her," Connie said fiercely. "I'm sorry, but… Look at it this way: Even if she is being possessed by something, what could you do about it?"

"I can… try to reason with her," Steven said.

"Not everybody can be reasoned with that way, Steven," Connie said. "I think… I think it's best if you stayed here. Wait for the Crystal Gems to come back and let them deal with it."

"I told you before, Lapis destroyed the warp pad," Steven said. "It's going to take them hours to get back here! She'd have destroyed the entire city by now!"

"Then… Then let's just call the authorities! Let them—"

"NO, CONNIE! I don't care about stopping her! …I care about helping her."

Connie grabbed Steven's bad arm again, prompting Steven to wince once more in pain.

"No… I won't let you!" Connie exclaimed. "I don't want you going out there, not with that… that MONSTER out there!"

"Let go of my arm, Connie…," Steven said in a chillingly sinister manner.

"You can't do anything for her!" Connie yelled.

"I said let go of my arm…," Steven repeated.

"SHE'LL KILL YOU!" Connie yelled.

"SHE'LL KILL EVERYONE IF I DON'T DO SOMETHING ABOUT HER! NOW GET OFF ME!" Steven yelled at the top of his lungs as he punched Connie square in her face, knocking her glasses off and sending her to the floor.

Steven stepped back at what had just done. Connie looked up at Steven, her nose broken, blood running out her nostrils, and tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I-I'm… I-I'm sorry…," Steven said, covering his mouth with his good hand, stifling tears. "I have… I-I have to—"

Connie didn't want to hear it anymore, and pushed Steven out of her house and closed the front door with a slam. Steven felt awful, and rightfully so; the boy struck one of his own friends… Hurt one friend to save another? Was that the right thing to do? Is that the way Steven will go through his life? So many questions and emotions were running around the young boy's mind, but he couldn't focus on any of that right now. Steven ran back to the temple to see what had happened to the Gem he'd left behind.