Author's Notes: Warning: There will be Star Wars Media in this story that will be a slight AU to the Star Wars that we know.
19 BBY
Count Dooku watched the battle above Coruscant while he was on the bridge of the Invisible Hand.
Three years ago, he had started a war against the Republic and the Jedi. Since then, he had been losing.
Yes, he had plenty of ships and still an entire Droid army along with many loyal worlds, and the corporations like the Trade Federation and the Techno Union were still with him but lately, he had been losing territory to the Republic Grand Army.
Dooku thought of his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, who was waiting for Dooku in the tower of the Invisible Hand.
"Sidious seduces you with promises of power but he already seeks to replace you." Mother Talzin, a Nightsister, had told him after Maul had captured him and General Grievous.
Dooku didn't find this too hard to believe. Throughout history, the Sith had betrayed each other. But still...Dooku had believed what Sidious had told him. How they could change the Galaxy, fix the corrupt Republic, and rule everything.
"Sidious will betray you as he betrayed us."
"Count Dooku," Said General Grievous, walking over to the Sith Lord."The Jedi are now on the ship. Lord Sidious will want you up there."
Dooku was silent for a long moment.
Sidious would find some way to betray him...
"...he already seeks to replace you..."
Anakin! Dooku realized. Sidious had wanted to turn Anakin to the dark side of the Force and for him to join them. But Dooku had seen how his Sith master had betrayed Mother Talzin...how he had betrayed Maul.
"Count?" Grievous said, wondering if the Sith Lord had even heard what he said.
"We must leave, Grievous." Dooku said."Get the Sheathipede ship. We will go to one of the other Separatist ships and leave."
Grievous was confused."Leave? But Sidious-"
"Sidious means to betray me, General. He means to betray both of us." Dooku said to him.
"How do you know that?" Grievous asked him.
Dooku looked at the cyborg."General, do you trust me?"
He was glad that Grievous still did not know that it had been Dooku who had destroyed his ship, causing him to be a cyborg.
Grievous was silent. He then answered.
"I do."
Palpatine was furious but he made sure not to show it on his face or in the Force.
He had wanted Dooku to be there when Anakin and Obi-Wan would save him. But he wasn't. He was gone.
Palpatine walked down the hallway of the Invisible Hand with his Jedi rescuers when he sensed something.
Dooku, along with General Grievous, had left the ship.
Four days later.
"Wrong as usual. The United States's lack of action in Eastern Europe proves that the Soviet Union's aggression at the Afghan border will not be opposed publicly by the United States. Issue: The Soviet Union continued its recent series of military exercises conducting a bomb test today in the Bering Sea just 1500 miles off the southern coast of Alaska. President Richard Nixon issued this warning to the Soviets."
"The United States does not start fights. Let it be clear we maintain our strength in order to maintain peace. So any adversary should ask themselves, "Do the consequences of attacking America outweigh the potential benefits?"
"As a result of the Soviet activity the watchdog group of nuclear scientists moved the Doomsday Clock up to five minutes until midnight: destruction by nuclear war.
"Question: On a scale of zero to 10, zero meaning impossibility, 10 meaning complete metaphysical certitude, what are the chances the Russians will actually attack the United States? Pat Buchanan."
"Zero. The Soviets would never risk going to war when we have a walking nuclear deterrent on our side."
"You're referring, of course, to Dr. Manhattan but does Dr. Manhattan's existence guarantee world peace? Eleanor Clift."
"Well, it hasn't stopped the Soviet Union from stockpiling record amounts of nuclear weapons."
"You don't think it's just posturing?"
"Maybe the reason why the Soviets are doing these bomb tests is because they feel threatened by Dr. Manhattan. Of course. Maybe the whole world feels like that."
Steven Universe changed the radio channel as he drove his car. He was listening to news from the multiverse. The more, violent part of the multiverse.
It had been years since Steven had seen his father and the Crystal Gems. Things had changed since then.
When other cartoon worlds started to notice each other, they decided to form a small town now known as Cartoontown, separate from the realistic, violent worlds that had war and death. Cartoontown was filled with happiness and joy and all kinds of fun.
But Steven had not seen any of this when he had been fighting in a war in one of the real worlds.
"Russia is outraged at what was done at the Zahkaev Airport-"
He then turned the radio off.
Steven was driving to Cartoontown but stopped when he saw the Owl House that was outside of Cartoontown. He parked his car near the Owl House and got out.
"Hoot, hoot, hoot!" Said Hooty when he saw Steven get out of his car."Hey, Luz! Steven's here!"
"Steven?" Luz Noceda said, surprised to hear that name. It had been four years since she and her friends had stopped Belos and saved the Boiling Isles. Luz and her family and some of her friends had actually moved to Cartoontown.
Luz opened the door and left the Owl House to see Steven Universe."Steven!" She said, surprised to see him.
Steven had been close friends with a lot of the cartoons in town before he had left to go fight in the army. He knew Luz pretty well as did he know the rest of the Owl family. Luza then hugged Steven.
"When did you get back into town?" She asked him.
"Just now." Steven answered.
"Hey, Steven!" King waved to him once he saw the Crystal Gem.
"Hi, King." Steven smiled at him.
"So, where have you been?" Luz asked.
"You know...around." Steven answered.
"Steven, no one has been around for five years." Luz said.
Steven was silent for a moment."I, uh...I was in the army."
"Army?" Luz said, confused.
"Yeah. How are things at the Owl House?" Steven said, wanting to change the subject.
"Well, Eda, Lilith, and Raine are at the market in town so It's just me, King, and Hooty." Luz said."So, you wanna hang with me and King tonight?"
"Actually, I just wanted to see you for a moment." Steven said."I got to go see my dad and the Crystal Gems." He went back to his car.
"Oh. Well, Welcome back to Cartoontown, Steven!" Luz said happily.
"I can't believe we have to work here now." Eddy complained as he stocked some cereal boxes on the shelves.
Ed, Edd, and Eddy's parents had forced them to work at a grocery market in Cartoontown that was called Gracie's Market, owned by a nice old woman named Gracie. Gracie wasn't a cartoon but was allowed to live in the town with a few other human people.
The Ed's parents had gotten their kids a job so they could learn about responsibility. So far, only Double D was doing a good job.
Steven was buying some flowers as he listened to Gracie talk.
In one aisle, Skylar Stevens, another human that lived in Cartoontown, was trying on some lipstick with her friend, Jessie.
"That color looks really good on you!" Jessie complimented her friend.
"I know!" Skylar said happily.
"Why didn't your mom take you to New York?" Jessie asked her.
"Cause she hates me. Now I have be here in some town with dumb cartoons." Skylar said.
Double D was cleaning the floors with a mop when he looked up and looked at Skylar.
Skylar saw this."What are you looking at loser?"
Double D looked away.
"I could be shopping in Soho right now, instead of Gracie's Market." Skylar said.
"I know." Said Jessie.
"So, where have you been, Steven?" Gracie asked the half-human, half-Gem.
"I was just...visiting some other worlds, that's all." Steven said.
When Steven left the store, his eyes widened in surprise at who he saw.
It was Connie Maheswaran, loading groceries into her car and talking to someone on her phone.
Connie stopped talking when she saw Steven.
"I love you too." She said to whoever was on the phone. She hung up and quickly hugged Steven. Steven hugged her as well.
"Oh, Steven!" Connie said, glad to her friend.
"Hi, Connie." Steven said, smiling.
Connie looked at him for a long moment. The two had gotten older now.
"So...what are you doing here?" She asked him, curious as to why he was here.
"I just came in for the day to visit my dad and the Gems." Steven told her.
She nodded."Right."
"How have you been?" Steven asked her."Pearl tells me you've been teaching at the high school."
She smiled."Yeah. It's weird, huh? But I love it." She said."I just bought a house in the pines."
"East side on a teacher's salary?"
"Uh, my fiancé, he's in banking. So..."
It had been years since Steven and Connie had broken up. They still remained good friends but...
"That helps." Said Steven.
"Yeah. Roger really loves it here." Connie said.
"Well, I'm happy for you, Connie." Steven said to her.
"Well, where have you been?"
"I was in the army."
"The army? What were you doing in the army?" Connie asked, surprised.
Steven was silent for a moment.
"I thought I was doing the right thing."
Steven drove his car over to where Greg and the Gems now lived. As he parked, he noticed a sign that said, "Re-elect Greg Universe For Mayor."
Greg Universe was the mayor of the town and was a good one. Steven wondered if he had any opponents against him this year.
When Steven walked into the kitchen, he saw Pearl in there. Pearl turned around and her eyes widened.
"Oh, Steven!" She said, going over to him to hug him."I'm so glad to see you." She said as Steven hugged her back.
"Hey, Steven!" Said Amethyst, glad to see him, going over to him to hug him.
After Steven was done hugging them, he saw Garnet and Greg and hugged them as well.
"I'm really happy your here, son." Greg said with a big smile. They were all sitting down in the living room."But, I have to ask...why are you visiting now after all this time?"
"Well, dad...I just want to borrow some money." Steven said to him."Not too much. Just enough to-"
"I'm sorry, Steven, but...I can't." Said Greg."I mean, I have plenty of money it's just..."
"Your worried word might get out that your own son has to borrow money from the mayor of this town." Steven finished.
There was a long, awkward moment of silence.
"I, uh...I think I'll leave." Steven said, standing up
"Steven, wait!" Said Pearl as he left. But Steven kept walking.
"Oh, hey, Steven." Said Dipper Pines when he saw Steven leave his house. Dipper, who was now 24 years old, was with Wendy Corduroy, walking on the sidewalk when they noticed the Crystal Gem.
"Oh, hi, guys." Steven said to them.
"I didn't hear you were back in town." Said Wendy, surprised to him.
"Actually, I was just leaving." Steven said.
Steven Universe got into his car and drove away.
"Is your household cat hacking into your bank account? We're gonna sit down with an FBI agent with some interesting thoughts, but first, let's check-in with the day's top news."
"Craig? Sounds like Rosie O'Donnell's landed in hot water again?"
"Sorry, guys. I'm not reading this crap. Not today. You know, as a journalist...or what's left of one after six years on this show, I feel bound to talk about the darkening political situation."
"Australia and New Zealand."
"Ah, this explosion thing, right? In the Outback?"
"Yeah. This 25-kiloton detonation pushing the world's superpowers to take sides and so threaten a wider nuclear exchange that will leave the planet an ash-choked shitscape."
"Scary stuff. Maybe we should break for commercial?"
"Craig. There are children watching."
"Well, then the children can tell their parents to get on their knees and beg for God's mercy. Because as far as I can see, the only thing that will save us is a goddamn miracle!"
"Uh...ah think that's enough TV for one day." Said Applejack to Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, using her hoof to turn off the TV that had been on the news channel."Why don't you kids just play outside for a while."
"Okay." Said Applebloom as she and her friends got up and went outside of the house.
Applejack and the Mane Six, along with some other ponies and creatures from Equestria, had actually moved to Cartoontown. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were in Rarity's home for the day.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack were also police officers for the town.
Twilight Sparkle, who was a teacher, would not stay for long, of course, since she had a responsibility to rule Equestria once Celestia and Luna retired. Cartoontown wasn't even that far from Canterlot.
"Goodness, those violent worlds are very...well, violent." Rarity said after what she saw on TV.
"Yeah. Ah just hope we never get involved into one of their conflicts." Said Applejack.
On a school bus, Twilight Sparkle was taking some of the kids on a field trip and was going to teach them some friendship lessons.
"You know...having a bar here in this town wasn't such a bad idea after all." Said Dennis Reynolds.
After Paddy's Pub had been closed down in Philidelphia, the Gang had decided to open up a new bar, called Paddy's Pub 2, in Cartoontown. They had only been in town for two months.
"Yeah. I mean, I still miss Philly but this town ain't so bad." Said Mac McDonald and Dee Reynolds nodded in agreement.
"Let's get a drink." Said Eda Clawthorne as she and her sister and Raine walked into the Gang's bar.
"Eda, it's still the afternoon." Raine argued but she still went to the bar.
After the witches sat down, Charlie Kelly and Frank Reynolds ran over to Dennis, Mac, and Dee.
"Guys, guys! Change the channel to channel 18!" Said Charlie."I just heard that there's something big going on in one of the universes!"
"Is it in our universe?" Asked Dennis.
"Yeah, did a Kardashian die or something?" Asked Mac.
"God, I hope so." Said Dennis.
"Just change the channel to channel 18!" Charlie shouted.
Mac grabbed the remote and changed the channel.
The channel showed the Galactic Senate in the Star Wars Galaxy.
"...and the Jedi Rebellion has been foiled." Said Palpatine.
"Woah, what's up with that guy?" Asked Eda, seeing him.
"The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated." People applauded."Any collaborators will suffer the same fate." There was more applause."These have been trying times, but we have passed the test.
"The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed, but I assure you my resolve has never been stronger. The war is still going. The Separatists leaders, Count Dooku and General Grievous are still alive. That is why there must be change. We stand on the threshold of a new beginning."
There was a long applause.
"In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society which I assure you will last for ten thousand years. And we will defeat Count Dooku and his droid armies!"
Suddenly, the TV went to static.
"Damn it." Mac said, annoyed. He changed the channel only to see more static.
"What does this mean?" Asked Lilith, a little worried about the speech Palpatine made.
"I don't know...but It can't be good." Said Eda.
"Ya' really think you can fly this time, Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked the orange pegasus.
"I think so." She said. She then started flapping her wings, trying to fly."I just...gotta...keep..."
Suddenly, Scootaloo saw something in the distance. Something she had seen only in pictures when learning about the violent parts of the multiverse.
A nuclear bomb had gone off in Canterlot.
"...Trying..." She said, shocked at what she saw before she fell down.
"Hey, Luz!" Said King, who was looking out the window.
"Yeah?" Luz walked into the
"What's that?" King asked, pointing at what he was looking at.
Luz was shocked at what she saw."That's...that's a mushroom cloud."
Luz then became worried for her mother.
"A mushroom cloud?" Said Hooty."I mean, I guess it looks like a mushroom..."
Connie was in her house in the living room, reading a book when she saw what time it was. She would have to pick up Roger from the airport soon. She got up and went to her car.
As the bus drove down the road, Twilight saw a deer outside, running away. The kids looked outside the window, looking at the deer.
As they all looked out the bus, Twilight's eyes widened in shock. She saw a mushroom cloud in the distance.
Suddenly, she heard a crash.
"Bye, Double D!" Said Ed as Double D walked to his house after the Ed's finished working."See you tomorrow!"
Double D waved goodbye to him before he went into his home. He noticed that some of the cartoons in town seemed to be panicking about something.
When he went inside of his home, he noticed the were was a message for him on his phone.
"Pearl?" Greg said when he came down the stairs, seeing Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Greg saw that Scootaloo was crying."What's going on?"
There were worried looks on the Gem's faces, even Garnet.
They told Greg what they had seen.
Greg tried calling someone important but there was nothing on the phone.
"Nothing." He said."Alright, it looks like the explosion came from...Canterlot." Greg said, knowing how the equestrians in the room were horrified by this."Applejack, get on the radio. I want everybody at the sheriff's station. Let's go."
"Right." Said Rainbow Dash.
"Dash, don't leave!" Scootaloo begged her, not wanting her adoptive sister to leave, worried that something might happen to her out there.
Dash looked at her. She smiled and hugged the orange pegasus."It'll be okay, Scootaloo. I promise." She said."I'll be back."
"I'll go with you." Said Garnet."Pearl and Amethyst and Rarity will watch the kids."
Greg was about leave.
"Greg." Said Pearl, stopping him."Steven...he's out there..." Tears came to her eyes.
Greg nodded, hoping that his son would be alright."We'll find him." Greg assured Pearl.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Kill them all. I want you to paint my name in their blood across the lands.
Where is he?
Burn through your veins.
Where is he? Where is he?!
For a thief, no mercy!
Max just kept driving, his foot on the pedal all the way down and his V8 engine roaring.
"Saint...are you, uh...are you okay?" Asked Chumbucket, his deformed mechanic.
Max said nothing. Hope was dead. Glory is gone.
And now he was going to kill Scabrous Scrotus.
"SAINT!" Chumbucket yelled in fear."Look!" He pointed.
Max's eyes widened when he saw what he was pointing at. It was a mushroom cloud.
He had only seen one when his world had gone insane, after he had lost his family. Max then realized that he wasn't in his mad world anymore.
"Look out, saint! Car!" Chumbucket yelled.
Max focused on the road and saw a car about hit him.
Steven was driving down the road when he saw something in the distance.
It was a mushroom cloud.
As Steven stared at this, he noticed something on the road.
He was about to hit a black, rusty car with a big engine and no windows. Steven swerved his car but thought it was too late, thinking he was going to hit the black car.
To his surprise, the driver of the black car moved out of the way very quickly.
Whoever was driving the car was pretty good.
Steven's car then hit a boulder as he swerved off-road, smashing the front of the car. Steven felt the airbag hit him.
He laid there for almost a moment, groaning in pain. He then noticed that the black car had stopped.
Steven slowly got out of his car."Are you okay?" Steven asked the person in the black car, hoping the driver was alright.
The driver came out of the car and quickly raised a double-barreled shotgun and aimed it at Steven.
"Who are you?" The man asked.
"AH!" Steven yelled, quickly putting up his pink shield to protect him from the gun.
Max was stunned by this. He had heard of other worlds and heard of strange people in them but to see it...
"By the gods..." Said Chumbucket, also shocked when he saw Steven's shield.
Max quickly focused."I'll ask again. Who are you?" He asked.
Steven lowered his shield a little to get a good look at the man. He was a man with a scruffy beard and a leather jacket and it seemed he had an injured leg.
"I'm Steven. Steven Universe."
Max continued to look at him before he glanced at the mushroom cloud in the distance.
"Do you know what that's about?" Max asked him.
"I-I don't know." Steven said, looking at the mushroom cloud. He wondered what had happened over there. Did someone bomb them?
Suddenly, Steven thought of his dad, the Gems, and everybody in Cartoontown.
"Let's leave him, saint." Chumbucket suggested."Let's get out of here before any more big booms appear and kill us!"
Max was silent for a moment. He holstered his shotgun and went back into his car.
"Wait!" Said Steven."My car...I think it's broken." He looked at the smashed car."Can you help me?"
"No." The driver said. He then drove off.
Max left the young man, putting his foot on the pedal.
He kept driving for a moment before he remembered how he had left them. Hope and Glory.
The car stopped.
"Uh, saint?" Chumbucket said, confused as to why he had stopped the car.
Max just stared at the road for a long moment. He then turned it around and drove back to where the young man. He stopped the car near him and looked at the young man.
"Are you going somewhere?" Max asked Steven.
Steven, a little surprised the man had come back, nodded."Yeah. There's a town a few miles from here. I know the people there-"
"Does this town have gas?"
"Uh, yeah." Steven nodded.
Max was silent again."Get in." He told him.
"Thanks." Steven said, grateful. He got in the black car and gave the man directions.
"Norman, get everybody out of the mines." Greg said to the man as he walked down the hallway in the sheriff's department with Garnet, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
Norman nodded and left.
Greg looked at the sheriff and chief."Sheriff, Chief. Damage, fires buildings?" Greg asked them.
The sheriff shook his head."Nothing, Mr. Mayor. The towns fine."
"Let's hope your right." Greg said.
"What does that mean?" Asked the chief.
Greg looked at the sheriff."Do we have any Geiger counters?" He asked, worried about radiation.
Eda, Raine, and Lilith left Paddy's Pub 2 and saw some cartoons and people panicking.
"Uh...what happened?" Raine asked, confused.
Starlight Glimmer had taken the Young Six on a field trip to Cartoontown when they saw panicking on the streets.
"Uh, Ms. Glimmer," Said Ocellus, a young Changeling."What going on?"
"I...I don't know." Starlight said, also wondering what was going on.
"So what does the emergency plan say?" The sheriff asked as Applejack was reading the emergency book.
"Contact any leader of a cartoon world nearby..." Applejack said."Princess Celestia and Luna were the closest..."
"Are we under attack?" An officer suddenly asked, concerned.
"I don't want to hear that word again." Greg said to him.
Greg couldn't even imagine a war with the violent multiverse. The cartoons would lose since they were too powerful.
"This could have been a test, an accident. One explosion does not make an attack." Greg told everybody."We stay calm, the town stays calm, okay?" He said to the officer that had asked him the question.
"I found the Geiger counters." Said Rainbow Dash, bringing in a box of them.
"Thanks." Greg said.
Odalia Blight, Greg's opponent for the election for mayor, then walked over to them.
"Oh, Odalia, good to see you. We can use the extra help." Greg said to her as he took the Geiger counter out of the box.
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Greg." She said to her."What can I do to help?"
"We'll let you know." Greg said to her. He checked the Geiger counter."It works."
"Mr. Mayor, sheriff," Said someone. Greg looked to see a woman and some other people go over to him."A bomb-" Said a woman named Theresa before Greg interrupted her.
"Yes, Ma'am. So far there's no sign of any radiation. We'll keep checking around town." Greg assured her.
Theresa shook her head."No, no, sir. The school bus isn't back from the field trip with my daughter."
This surprised Greg and the others.
"Well, do something!" Theresa said.
"I got it." Said an Officer to send out a search party.
"You should be out there looking for Stacy!" Said Theresa, worried for her daughter.
"Ma'am. Theresa. This is the first we've heard of it. But we will deal with it, alright? Just please, don't worry." Greg said to her.
"That's easy for you to say. You don't have a child out there." Theresa said.
Greg was silent for a moment."I do." He told her, sadly.
"So...what's your name?" Steven asked the man driving the car.
...
"Well, what's yours?" Steven asked the man in the back. He wondered how the hunchback man had become deformed.
"Oh, I'm Chumbucket." The hunchback said to him.
Steven looked at the driver and looked at his leg."So, if you don't mind if I ask, what happened to your leg?"
...
"Uh...where you guys going before you saw me?"
"Well...we're not sure." Chumbucket said."You see, the saint-"
"Chumbucket." Max said, quieting him.
Chumbucket then became silent and said nothing while Steven wondered who this driver was.
Cartoons and people were in the room, talking about what was going on.
"So, the school bus was here." Greg said, looking at a map at where the bus might be."Okay. You tell me where the might've gone."
"There's Wilson's garage off of route 160." Said a fireman.
"Or Cedar Run Road." Said Applejack.
"Maybe they took a detour." Said the fireman.
"Well, I figure with two teams there's only so many places they can be." The sheriff said.
"What about the parents?" Asked Odalia.
Everybody in the room started talking louder.
Greg looked at them."Folks! Folks! FOLKS!" Greg shouted, quieting the crowd."Look I know that every part of you wants to just rush out there. I don't blame you. But as your friend, I'm asking you to think about that. You're safe here. Now what if you go out there and you get stranded, and your child comes back an orphan? You know the Sheriff and the officers. You know they'll find your kids. So... please."
"This is a pretty fast car." Steven noted as the car was going pretty fast.
"Yep. We just got the V8 installed for the engine." Chumbucket said."Alas, we use a lot of gasoline."
Steven then noticed something outside. He saw two kids out there, one a boy and the other a girl.
"Wait! Stop the car!" Steven yelled. The driver saw the kids as well.
The driver stopped the car and drove near to the kids. The kids looked at the car.
"Please! Help us!" Said one of the kids.
"What? What is it?" Steven asked as he got out of the car, wondering why they were panicking.
"I think-I think they're dying!" The boy panted, having run from somewhere.
"Get in the car." Said the driver.
The two kids got into the car and told the driver where to go.
It was getting dark over Cartoontown. The police were at the town square when a truck full of men with guns drove over there.
"Jimmy, get over there and calm those folks down." The sheriff told a police officer.
The police officer went over to the men with guns.
"We have our frequencies, sir." An officer checking the radio said to Greg."But outside, it's like no one's there."
"Alright, um...what about analog? We could contact someone with a ham radio couldn't we?" Greg asked.
"That could work but there's only one in town that I know of." The officer said.
Greg sighed, knowing where it was."I was afraid you were going to say that."
As the police were looking at a map of where the bus might be when a mann walked over to them.
"Excuse me, Sheriff." The man said. The Sheriff looked at the man."Jason Hudson." The man with short hair and blue eyes introduced himself. He also had a scar on his head.
"It's good to meet you Mr. Hudson, but as you can see, we've got our hands full." The sheriff told him.
"Could you use an extra man?" Jason asked.
The sheriff shook his head."No civilians, mayors orders."
"But I used to be a cop in my world." Jason said to him.
"You know the roads around here?"
"No. Just moved to town."
"Then I'm afraid you'd just slow us down." The sheriff said. He was about to leave.
"You might want to get some black spray paint." Jason suggested. The sheriff looked at him, confused.
"You know, cover that?" He pointed to the police car that said "Sheriff"."Look, I know you're telling people that it was an accident. And I hope it was. But if it was an attack, Sheriff, and there's chaos out there, you might not want the wrong people knowing that Cartoontown is still here."
"With all due respect, Mr. Hudson, this is not your world." The Sheriff told him.
Greg Universe coughed as he and Garnet walked to where the ham radio was.
Garnet looked at him."I'm fine." Greg assured the gem. He then knocked on the door to the home where the ham radio was.
The door opened and Samuel J. Stuhlinger came out of the house pointing a shotgun at them.
Stuhlinger was a man from one of the violent parts of the multiverse but none of the cartoons knew which. The cartoons thought the man was weird since he was always talking about conspiracy theories and only ate meat.
"What do you want?!" Stuhlinger asked, alert as always. He then saw who he was pointing his shotgun at. He lowered his weapon.
"Oh...sorry. I thought you were aliens...I mean, we're under attack by aliens, you know."
Greg nodded."Yes, we do know. That's why we're here. Do you have your ham radio?"
Stuhlinger was silent for a moment."5 dollars. Give me 5 dollars and you can use it."
Greg sighed and brought out a five and gave it to the man.
"Stu!" Yelled Russman from inside the house."Who's at the door?!"
"Only the mayor and his alien friend!" Stuhlinger yelled. He looked at Greg and Garnet."I'll get the radio."
"Hi, Edd! Sorry, I didn't call sooner but we've decided to stay in the city an extra couple of days." Edd's mom said on the voice message she had left on the phone.
Edd had listened to this so many times.
"Put down the phone and come to bed!" Said Edd's father.
"Honey stop that, if I could. Baby, what are you looking at out the window?"
"Get over here and look at this!"
"Wh-what is that? Oh my god! Oh my god!" There was then the sound of a crash.
Edd replayed the message again and again.
Suddenly, power went out over the whole town.
"How can we lose power?" A fireman asked.
"I don't know." Said another.
"The bomb could've fried the relays."
"That's possible." Said another fireman.
"They could've blown up the power station for all we know." The chief said.
"Guys?" Said Jason, going over to them."It was probably just a drain on the system from somewhere."
"You a science teacher?" Asked the chief.
Jason laughed a little."Jason Hudson." He introduced himself.
"Chief Carroll." They shook hands.
The Sheriff, driving his police car, was driving with another police car behind while Rainbow Dash and Applejack were out in night, trying to see if they could find the school bus.
"There!" The little girl pointed at the school bus that was stuck behind some trees. Steven saw that the headlights were still on and he saw a dead deer that the bus must have hit.
The driver drove to the bus and stopped near it.
"It just went crazy, and it was running all over the road!" The little girl said, talking about the dead deer as they got out of the car.
"Alright, just don't look." Steven told them.
"Stay with the car, Chumbucket." The driver told the deformed man.
"Of course, of course." He said.
Steven was the first one to go on the bus. He checked on the bus driver, who was unconscious at the driver's seat.
"Is he alive?" Said a female voice. Steven looked to see a purple unicorn with wings laying on one of the seats.
Steven recognized her as Twilight Sparkle, a princess in Equestria. Steven also saw that the driver was surprised to see a talking pony.
He nodded."Yeah. Are you okay?" He asked her.
"Yeah. I-I think my wings and a leg are broken. And I didn't want to do a teleportation spell since I wouldn't know how to get back here. I don't know where we are. But don't worry about me. Worry about them." She pointed a whoof at the school kids.
Steven looked at the bus full of kids."Is anybody hurt? huh? anybody?" He asked them.
One kid raised their hand."Stacys sick! She can't breathe."
Steven walked down the bus, the driver following.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Steven asked as she looked at the little girl laying on the seat, her hands to her throat.
"When the bus stopped, she was like this." Said the kid.
"It's okay, let me see. let me see it. Let me see, Stacy. It's going to be okay. It's okay." Steven assured the little girl. Stacy moved her hands, showing her bruised throat.
Steven looked at Twilight."Do you have an ice pack? We've got to stop the swelling now."
Twilight looked at a little boy."Lucas, the first aid kit is under the seat." She told him.
Lucas grabbed the first aid kid and went over to Steven.
"Okay. Come on." Steven said."It's alright. Just keep breathing. Breathe normally, alright? It's okay. It's okay. You're fine. Just keep breathing normally. You're okay. Okay." Steven grabbed the first aid kit.
He then put the ice pack on her throat.
"Please." The little girl managed to say."Hurts."
"Calm down." Steven told her.
Suddenly, Stacy closed her eyes.
"Hey, Stacy! no, no, no, no..." Steven said. He then listened to see if she was breathing.
He heard nothing.
There was silence in the room.
The driver looked at the little girl.
Nobody will remember my name...
"Who has a pen?" The driver asked. Steven was confused by why he was asking this until he realized why he was."Does anybody have a pen?"
"We have pencils." Said Lucas.
Steven shook his head."No, we need a-we need a tube. Something hollow, um a straw!"
"I have a straw!" Said a little girl.
"Here, let me see it, let me see it. Come on!" Said Steven. The little girl gave him her straw."That's too thin. Does anyone else have a juice box?" He asked the kids.
Children in the bus started saying, "I do."
"Alright, get them out. Get some band-Aids out." Steven looked at the little girl who had given him the thin straw."What's your name?"
"Julie." Said the little girl.
"Alright, everybody give your straws to Julie, okay?" Steven told them."Hurry! Quick! Make them into a circle." The kids gave their straws to Julie.
Steven then brought out a switchblade he had gotten from the military."Alright, you got that? Here you go, tape them together with those band-Aids." Steven said.
Steven was about to use his switchblade to cut the throat when he realized Stacy might wake up. He looked at the driver."Can you hold her down in case she wakes up?"
The driver nodded and held her shoulders down.
Steven then started to cut open her throat slowly as the kids watched.
"Where's my straws?" Steven said. Julie handed him the straw that were wrapped around together.
He then placed the straws into Stacy's throat. Steven then blew air into the straws.
Not again, not again... Steven thought.
Finally, he heard Stacy breath.
Steven then sat down on a seat.
The sheriff then spotted a bus not too far away from him.
He grabbed his radio and contacted Rainbow Dash."Dash, we've found the bus." He told her.
"Good. Do you want me and Applejack to go over and help you?" She asked.
"No. Me and Riley will go over there. You and Applejack keep looking for Steven." The sheriff told her.
The sheriff and the other cop car then drove over to the school bus.
"How did you learn how to do that?" Lucas asked Steven.
"Uh...military school." Steven answered.
"Were you a soldier?" Lucas asked.
Steven laughed."No. A screw up."
"You did good." The driver said to him.
Steven smiled a little at him."Thanks for the idea."
The sheriff and Riley checked out the bus Rainbow Dash had seen. The sheriff walked in there and saw nothing but handcuffs and three dead bodies. The dead bodies were officers.
Riley, who was still outside, saw some words on the bus.
ARKHAM ASYLUM BUS
"Sheriff? Sheriff? Look at this. It's the wrong bus!" Riley told him.
"Riley? Riley get over here! RILEY!" The sheriff shouted.
Suddenly, the Sheriff heard a gunshot.
He then saw nothing but darkness.
"We're still stuck." Twilight said to Steven.
The driver stood there for a moment before he then left the bus.
"Hey!" Said Steven."Where are you going?"
"I'm going to move the bus."
Pearl opened the door after she heard someone knocking. She opened it to see the boy named Edd.
"Oh. Hi, Edd." Pearl said, surprised to see him."Please, come in."
Edd walked into the house to see other people and cartoons in the living room. There were candles lit since the lights had gone out with the power.
"Hi, Edd." Luz waved and smiled at him as she was with Amity, King, Eda, Raine, and Lilith.
"Are you okay?" Pearl asked, seeing that he was a little nervous. She then noticed he was holding a phone."Why do you have that?"
"It's...it's my mother." Edd said. Edd then played the message for them.
"Hi, Edd! Sorry, I didn't call sooner but we've decided to stay in the city an extra couple of days."
"Put down the phone and come to bed!"
"Honey stop that, if I could. Baby, what are you looking at out the window?"
"Get over here and look at this!"
"Wh-what is that? Oh my god! Oh my god!"
The cartoons and people were silent when they heard this.
Pearl looked at Edd."I am so sorry, Edd. I didn't know your mother was in Canterlot."
"She wasn't in Canterlot." Edd said to her."She was in Beach City."
Everyone's eyes widened and their jaws dropped in shock. Pearl was shocked that the town she had lived in was now gone.
Luz and Amity hugged each other when they heard that other cartoon worlds had been destroyed.
"I'm sure they'll have some answers." Pearl assured them.
Pearl then saw Edd leave the house.
"Chumbucket. Harpoon." Max said as he got into the car.
Chumbucket grabbed the harpoon."Harpoon at the ready, saint!"
Steven picked up Stacy and carried her to a seat in the front of the bus."How is she?" Twilight asked.
"I need to get her back." Steven said as he set her down.
Gracie was in her store at night, walking down an aisle with a flashlight when she heard someone tap on the glass.
She looked to see that it was Edd.
Steven carried the bus driver and put him down on a seat.
"Miss Sparkle?" Said Julie."Are we going to have school tomorrow?"
"We'll figure it out." Twilight told her.
"I vote no." She said and Twilight smiled a little.
Steven then saw something outside the bus. The man named Chumbucket was pointing a harpoon at them.
He shot the harpoon under the bus and connected the line to the back of the car.
The driver then stepped on the pedal and the car started going.
After almost a minute, the black car got the bus out of the ditch.
After Gracie let Edd into the store, he started taking food.
"Edd! Edd, what are you doing honey? Please! Please don't steal from me! Edd!" Said Gracie.
At a gas station, people were taking gasoline.
"Hey, you got extras there?" One man asked another as he grabbed a can of gas.
"First come, first serve." The man with the gas said.
"You pulled up your truck. You going to mow your lawn too?"
"I've got a family, you know."
"We've all got families. Come on." The man put his hand on the can of gas.
"Get your hand off the can."
The two men then spilled the can of gas.
"Alright, everybody, sit down." Steven told them as he was about to start driving the bus.
The kids sat down in their seats.
Edd had explained to Gracie that they need to put some of the food in the freezer.
"The food won't go rotten so long as the weather stays cold. Hopefully, the power will be fixed by then." Edd explained as the finished storing the food.
"Thank you for this, Edd." Gracie said, grateful.
Edd nodded."Anything for you, ma'am."
At the gas station, people were honking their horns and started pushing each other.
"You need to get some lights on before people start losing it." Hudson suggested to the chief.
"All we have are lanterns and flashlights. That's not enough to light up the street though." The chief told him.
"But your town does road work at night, right?"
Lights in the town square started to turn on after Hudson said this.
"You sure you're not the science teacher?" The chief asked Hudson as he used a crank to turn on some lights.
"Chief," Said an officer on the radio."We have a problem at one of the gas stations. We need your help right away."
"I'm on my way." The chief said told him on his walkie-talkie.
"I got this." Hudson told him.
"I'll come with you." Said Odalia, who had heard what was going on.
"Alright." He nodded. He then looked at Hudson before he left."Thanks."
"Sir." Said an officer to Greg, turning up the radio when she heard something on it.
"There's something going on at the gas station. Big crowd, looks like trouble. We need help down here." Said the person on the radio.
Pearl then walked into the building and quickly went over to him.
"Greg." She said to him.
"What? What's wrong?" Greg asked, wondering why Pearl was here.
"Edd's mother died tonight. In another explosion. In...in Beach City..."
Greg stared at her, shocked.
Beach City...the place where he met Rose...the town that he had raised Steven in...
It was gone.
Steven drove the bus, the driver in the black car following behind him.
As Steven drove, he noticed another bus as he passed by it.
"Sheriff, there's no sign of Steven out here." Rainbow Dash said on her walkie-talkie."In fact, there's no sign of anybody. We're going to head back. Let me know if the kids need anything. Sheriff, are you there?"
"Stay awake." Steven told himself."Stay awake till..."
Steven then noticed that they were running low on gas."Does this bus have a gas can?"
Twilight shook her head.
The cartoons and the people at the gas station were fighting each other when the firemen came over to stop them.
Odalia got into one of the firetrucks and grabbed a speaker."Carl! Morty!" She yelled.
Soon, the fighting stopped and everybody at the gas station looked at Odalia Blight.
"Now why are you turning on each other? Stealing from your neighbors? Then you are fighting the wrong people! We are literally in the dark. All I'm saying...is that I-I think we need to get organized. I don't know where the mayor is. But maybe it's time we came up with a plan ourselves." Odalia suggested.
Greg, Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst walked to Odalia through the crowd of people.
"What's going on Odalia? Are we making speeches?" Greg asked her.
Odalia looked at him."With all due respect, Mr. Mayor. We have a missing bus, no police, Firemen doing policemen's jobs."
"How dare you politicize this?" Said Pearl, disgusted.
"I'm not talking to my opponent, I'm talking to my mayor. I don't care about the election, I care about survival. We just might be on our own here, and I need to know what my mayor intends to do."
Some people in the crowd agreed with her.
"People, I know we've been through a lot tonight. But I just want you to know that I will take the good cartoons of-"
"Take the good cartoons of Cartoontown over any other town." Said Shep."We know, Mr. Mayor. We've heard the speech."
"Well Shep, I hope you don't think I've been asleep at the switch. We had all hoped that this was an accident. But he unfortunate truth is there was another explosion in Beach City." He told the crowd, shocking them.
"I've been busy trying to contact someone in one of the cartoon worlds."
"Yeah, well what if they're dead?" Said someone in the crowd.
"There is no report of anything happening-"
"How are we going to get reports without television? Or with no phones?"
"We don't know anything about-"
"When are we going to get the power back on?"
"Folks, one at a time, please. Calm down." Greg told them.
"Calm down? My boy is still out there." Said a man.
"The Sheriff is out there looking for your boy AND my boy." Greg told him.
More and more people kept asking Greg questions. They surrounded him.
Suddenly, everybody heard the sound of a bus honking its horn.
They turned to see the school bus driving near them and they saw another vehicle. It was a black car with a big engine on it and they saw someone on the back it. They saw a deformed hunchback.
The door to the school bus opened and they all saw Steven Universe in the driver's seat.
"Help them!" Steven said to the firemen."Help them! Get Stacy." He said as they went into the bus.
As the firemen helped Stacy, Twilight and Steven looked at each other. They both smiled.
"What's your name?" Twilight asked him.
"Steven. Steven Universe." He said to her.
"Nice to meet you, Steven."
Steven nodded."You too."
After the firemen helped Stacy, the children ran out of the bus and went to their parents, hugging them.
Steven got off the bus and saw the Crystal Gems.
"Steven!" Pearl and Amethyst ran over to him and hugged him.
"Oh! I saw an empty prison bus out there." Steven told them.
"Where?" Asked Garnet.
"Cedar Run." He told her.
Garnet nodded."Alright. We'll take care of it." Garnet then hugged Steven and smiled."I'm glad your okay, Steven."
"Hey, Shep!" Greg said and Shep, who was carrying his daughter that had been on the bus, and the crowd of people looked at him."You said earlier that you had heard that speech before. You ever ask yourself why I say it? Because I happen to trust you people. Because I love my town. Now something happened in Canterlot and Beach City. And we could wake up and find out that's where it stopped. But until we know, are we going to use our imaginations to solve problems or cause them? Now we can get the power back on, we can find out how big this thing is. If we have to, we can fight, we can fight anybody, we can fight all enemies. The only way that's going to happen is if we work together. Do you know why we're better than those violent worlds? Because unlike them, we stick together.
"Now go home. We'll meet tomorrow at town hall." Greg told them.
The crowd nodded and cartoons and people cartoons went back to their homes.
Greg looked at the chief."Chief? Keep all your men posted until the sheriff gets back." The chief nodded.
"Hey, Shep." Greg looked at him. The two then shook hands.
"I was afraid I was never going to see you again." Pearl said to Steven.
"Hey," Greg said to the half-gem, walking over to him."You did a great thing out there today." He then hugged his son.
Steven smiled."Thanks, dad."
Greg then went to check on the police to make sure everything was okay.
"You know, I go away for a few years and the town goes to hell." Steven joked to Pearl.
"I think we should rest here for the night, saint." Chumbucket suggested.
Max nodded. He needed to rest.
Soon, he would kill Scrotus.
Chief Caroll looked at Hudson."What are you thinking?" He asked him.
"Well, I was just wondering what it'd all look like in the morning." Hudson said.
Ed and Eddy were walking down a street with Double D.
"We're so sorry, Double D." Eddy told his friend, having heard that his parents were gone.
Double D was silent.
As they walked, they noticed a homeless person nearby.
"I've never seen him before." Eddy said."Hey, buddy, you okay?" Eddy asked the man.
The homeless person turned around and looked at them.
The man had long brown hair and blue eyes. He had no expression on his face at all.
The man then walked past them and walked away.
"He just looked through us...as if...he were already dead..." Said Double D.
Connie was driving down the road in her car when she heard that she was running over something on the road.
She stopped the car and got out to see lots of dead birds.
"What's happening?" She said, confused.