Steven quickly summoned his shield as the warp stream began to fade.

"Okay monster!" he yelled, heroically leaping off the newly formed warp pad. "Face your doom at the hands of the Crystal..."

He paused, recognizing the surroundings as his home.
"Gems?" He looked around in confusion. "The monster's here?"

"Nope," Garnet said, bubbled Gem in hand. "We're just dropping you off, Steven." She tapped the bubble and it vanished into the temple.

"You're leaving me here?!" Steven moaned. "Aw, come on guys! We're on a roll!"

"Steven, three missions in one day in MORE than enough," Pearl said. "We're all very proud of you, but it's time to call it a night."

"Eat some dinner, take a shower, and then get in bed," Garnet instructed. "We'll be back in the morning." "Later dude!" Amythest waved as the warp pad activated and the Gems vanished.

Despite his lingering reservations about being left behind, Steven did as he was told and tended to his needs. After a decent meal and a hot shower later, Steven crawled into bed. He lay there, thinking about the events that had transpired today. Together he and the Gems had beaten a giant, fire-breathing ant, a living mountain, and a 50-foot-long floating serpent. Wondering what monstrosity the Gems were facing without him, Steven drifted off to sleep.

"Cookie Cat, he's a pet for your tummy," Steven sang in a hushed tone as he sprayed whipped cream all over his mountain of waffles. He was interrupted by the hum of the warp pad.

"Morning Ste-Man!" Amethyst bounced off the pad and landed on the couch.

"Have a good night?" Pearl asked.

"Fine," Steven replied. "How was the hunt?"

"Oh, it was..." Pearl paused and, to Steven's surprise, yawned. Something Steven rarely saw her do. "long."

"It was a giant bull." Garnet said as she sent the bubbled Gem to the boiling room. "Armored skin. Whirlwind breath. Took us forever to pin him down."

"Ha! You should have seen Pearl on its back!" Amythest joked from the couch. "Oh, I hope I never forget that face."

"Excuse me Amethyst, but that thing nearly flattened me!" Pearl argued. "Yeah, and it was hilarious!"

"Well, why don't you guys join me for breakfast and tell me the whole story?" Steven pushed a few chairs out for the Gems.

Garnet suddenly put her hand to her shades. "Sorry Steven, but we've got to go," "Aw! Another mission?" Amythest groaned.

"I'm sensing something heading for Charm City," the Gem leader explained. "We need to head it off. Gems, warp pad!"

Groaning, Amythest left her spot on the couch and shuffled over.

"Really Amethyst, show some pride in your work," Pearl scolded her. She waved cheerfully to Steven. "Bye Steven!" With a flash, they were gone.

"Come on, Lonely Blade!" Steven cheered on his TV. "End Lord Kougun's reign of terror!" The warp pad flashed and the Gems were back.

"Guys!" Steven cheered.

Garnet dashed off the pad and through the temple door. "Can't talk right now, Steven,"

"Huh?"

"There's a giant ice monster up in the Great North," Pearl explained. "We just dropped in so Garnet could grab the Magma Piercer."

"Magma Piercer? What's that?"

Steven got his answer when Garnet rushed back out of the temple, a glowing red broadsword in her hand.

"We need it to break through the monster's armor. Okay, bye!" Pearl barely had time to finish before the warp stream swallowed them up.

"일어나, 하나, 둘, 셋, 넷! 아래, 하나, 둘, 셋, 넷!"(1)

Steven flexed and stretched, following along to the foreign workout program.

"왼쪽 : 하나! 오른쪽 : 하나! 아래 : 하나! 최대 : 하나!"(2)

WOOSH!

"They're back!" Steven switched off the radio and rushed inside, only to see the Gems once again warp away. Floating away from the pad was a note, which he caught and read.

Steven: Banshee attack in Mexico. See you soon. Love, the Gems.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Oh boy!" Steven threw down his Metal Mutt metal detector and started digging through the sand. "Please be gold! Please be gold!"

He held his discovery up to the sunlight and frowned. "A Guacola can?! Ew!" He threw it away in disgust. "Who even drinks that stuff?!"

Somewhere far away, Onion burped.

"Hmmph! So much for man's best friend," Steven grumbled at his detector. "I knew I should have gone for the Copper Kitty Collector." The lights suddenly flashed in his house. "Eh, maybe the Gems brought me something."

Unfortunately, the only thing Steven got was a look of confusion upon entering his house. The Gems looked rather worse for ware. All three of them were covered in mud and dirt, their hair was in a mess, and their postures were unbalanced.

"Uhhhh," Pearl moaned as she staggered off the pad, her entire head a sickly green. "H-Hi St-Steven. H-How was y-your-" Her cheeks puffed up and she collapsed to the ground. "Bleech!"

"Ew!" Steven covered his nose as he ran to grab some paper towels. "What happened to you guys?!"

"Angry... living... tornado," Amethyst said, nauseatingly. "So... much... spinning." She struggled to reach the couch, stumbling left and right before collapsing just short of it.

"Amethyst!" Steven dropped the towels and ran to help her.

"I... okay." She moaned, giving a half-hearted attempt at a thumbs up.

"Steven..."

Steven turned to Garnet. He had just enough time to grab the fallen bubble as she came apart. On the ground in front of him lay Ruby and Sapphire, both looking as bad as their fusion.

"Guys," Steven whimpered. He sent the bubble off before grabbing each of the Gems and dragging them over to the couch. He gently lowered each Gem to the floor, a soft pillow placed under each of their heads.

"Just try and take it easy," he said softly. "You've done enough for the day."

(1): "Up! One, two, three, four! Down! One, two, three, four!"

(2): "Left! One! Right! One! Down! One! Up! One!"