Evening is setting in, the sky changing to lovely shades of pink and orange, seagulls continue to call loudly from the air. That's one thing she doesn't like about Earth, Centi thinks as she heads home to Little Homeworld, seagulls. She's loath to leave her friend, but at this point there's nothing more she can do for him. She will visit again, she decides, as soon as she is able. Connie also decides to head home for the evening, getting a ride from Lion and a promise from Pearl to call her immediately if anything changes. She has studying to do, and the last thing she wants is for her mom to ground her and keep her from coming back and continuing to help Steven. Garnet goes up to the dome to relay the new information to Spinel and the Diamonds.
"We're coming to Earth." White declares. Garnet is silent for a moment before simply nodding her head. She knows there's no point in arguing, the Diamonds will do as they please, regardless of her opinion.
"Don't worry Garnet ol' pal!" Spinel bounces about on screen, "With the diamond's new powers they're sure to be able to help Steven! Even if the essence didn't work!"
Garnet simply hums in response and frowns. Her future vision showed the Diamonds' involvement improving the chances of success, but she can't help but doubt their physical presence being good. Nonetheless if they have new powers, maybe there's a chance. Ending the call with the Diamond's declaring they'll be arriving tomorrow, she makes her way back downstairs. Pausing in Steven's room she can't help but stare at the painting of the two of them. She wraps her arms around herself, her form glowing and beginning to destabilize. She can't afford to fall apart. Ruby and Sapphire are in turmoil, but quickly their determination synchronizes them. Garnet refuses to let Steven down by falling apart now. As her form stabilizes again, she continues downstairs to tell the others about the Diamonds imminent arrival.
The next day Amethyst, Connie and Greg stay with Steven at the house while everyone else goes to Little Homeworld. They've got some work to do, classes at Little Homeschool to cancel for the day, and they want to let everyone know the Diamonds are coming. Plenty of resident gems are former Crystal Gems or gems the Diamonds hurt, and they'd be terrified to see them simply show up out of nowhere. Better for the gems living in Little Homeworld to be aware and prepared, than caught off guard. Even if the Diamonds and their ship don't get anywhere near the town, no need to risk panic and chaos.
At the house Steven is outside on the beach with Amethyst. She found someone's old leg limb enhancer in her room, and they're playing fetch with it. Amethyst almost wishes it was one of Peridot's old limb enhancers, she'd love to see her reaction, though Steven would probably feel bad if he found out he was playing with one of Peridot's legs while corrupted. He's probably going to be pretty embarrassed by some of his actions when they get him fixed anyways, she thinks to herself.
He's having a blast! Amethyst is really good at throwing his new toy very far so he has to really run to get it. Sometimes she throws it way up into the air. So high he can't see where it's going to land, so he runs in rough circles until it falls far enough he can see it, then he launches himself full speed to snatch it out of the air before it touches the ground. Other times she'll chuck it nearly the entire length of the beach, making him run full speed and long distances. The feeling of sand beneath his paws as he runs is incredible, it's pleasantly warm and the small stones slip under him as he moves. It brings to mind what he thinks running on water might feel like. The extra effort he has to take to keep himself from slipping while not losing track of his toy is exhilarating. Bringing the toy back to Amethyst is always rewarded with a new throw, never the same each time, keeping him guessing and working. The wind flowing around him, whistling in his ears, makes him feel like he's flying. Sometimes he feels like he's got wings, he runs so fast, so far and so high! More than once he jumps across the sand, up into the air much further than most should be able to. When that happens, he feels like he's floating and almost never wants to come down!
Connie and Greg grin and giggle at Steven's antics. Seeing him leap easily several hundred feet into the air, or across the sand, alarms them at first until they realize he must still be able to use some of his powers, namely, floating. The other gems return just as a low rumbling sound begins in the air. Knowing it's most likely the Diamond ship entering the Earths atmosphere, they all gather closer to the temple. Amethyst calls Steven back over the house with her, joining Greg and Connie at the base of the steps. Peridot and Lapis fly up onto the deck while Bismuth stands next to Greg. Pearl and Garnet stand next to Amethyst. Everyone is tense, and standing as though ready for a fight, despite knowing there won't be one. Old habits die hard. Before long the rumbling intensifies and the torso and arms of the Diamond Ship appear on the horizon, rapidly closing in on their position. The ship reaches the beach where they alight carefully next to the temple.
A white bubble phases through the ship and lands on the sand, dissipating to reveal the Diamonds, with Spinel on Blue's shoulder. The gems remain in place as they close the distance between them. They each stop and gasp as they get a closer, in person, look at Steven. Yellow scrunches her brow and looks away, unable to bear the image her mind supplies of how much he must be suffering. White's face becomes a blank mask, carefully hiding the guilt she feels deeply, blaming herself for all of this. Blue, tears in her eyes for the first time in years, kneels in front of the group. She shakily reaches out to Steven as Spinel climbs off her shoulder, only to halt as Steven cowers behind Amethyst and Connie, shaking like a leaf. Spinel watches the interaction, remembering how heartbreaking it felt for Steven to be so scared of her, and knowing the pain must be so much worse for Blue.
As soon as the giant metal half person appeared in the sky he felt fear course through him. It's different from what he felt with Amethyst and the others. That was simply a fear of something new and unknown, this is deep in his bones, making them ache, muscles tense and twitch, and heart race so fast it's like a buzz in his ears. The feeling only intensifies as three giant women exit the giant metal person, and approach him and his family. The feelings become the most intense when he looks at the white one. The yellow and blue ones frighten him, but the white one downright terrifies him, rooting him to the spot with the echo of cold heartless laughter ringing in his ears. He doesn't know why they affect him so.
"Let's skip the pleasantries shall we? Yellow, why don't you start?" The white one says.
The yellow one steps forward, the blue one moving aside to give her room, sparks flickering around her hands as she leans down and points at him. The power reaches him, and courses through his body. It's uncomfortable, makes his fur stand on end, makes his skin feel tight, as if it's too small for his body. He whines, he wants it to stop. Needs her to stop. His muscles spasm and he collapses to the ground. Please make it stop!
The static energy begins to dissipate and he heaves a sigh of relief. "With my new power I should be able to alter his physical form!" He peeks an eye open at the giant women. He's not sure what they're saying, every sound has a static quality to it now.
"He may be resisting, maybe he needs to feel better first. I can help with that!" The blue one gestures and a fluffy blue cloud appears in her hand. She daintily blows it toward him, he braces for the impact, but feels nothing. He opens his eyes and looks around himself, the cloud around him quickly dissipating, along with the static in his ears. He huffs and shakes off the remaining cloud clinging to his fur.
"Your new power didn't work either!" the blue and yellow ones stand back to their full, giant, heights.
"Enough of this. Maybe if I connect with him and he speaks through me we can better understand what he's going through." The scariest giant woman steps forward. Her steps make the ground beneath him shudder.
"Do you hear me Steven? Just let me in…"
The gem on her forehead glows and her color shifts through the entire spectrum until…
Pink.
There's suddenly a pressure in his head. Too much. It's too much! He sees the beach house, and the gems standing at the base of the steps. He's so high up!
Too full!
Too much!
Images flash in his head, rapidly, painfully. Amethyst, Centy, a van, then a maniacal smile framed by pitch black lips as a giant hand, with pitch black nails, extends to him. To his stomach. His gem.
He screeches in rage. No more! No more hurting! If they won't stop, he'll make them!
LEAVE ME ALONE!
Steven and White both let out blood curdling shrieks. White's pink color fades back to her natural white shade and she collapses. Blue Yellow and Spinel rush to her aid. The gems stand frozen for a moment, unsure of what happened or what to do. As Blue and Yellow help White to sit up, a low angry growling catches everyone's attention. They turn and see Steven, head low, fur standing on end, growling and snarling at White. His eyes are practically glowing with rage, his claws are out, and they all stare in fear as the spikes along his back glow and start to elongate. With a loud snarl he launches himself, teeth snapping, at White who flinches back, but Amethyst thinking fast summons a thornless whip and wraps it around him to hold him back. He pulls against her, dragging her across the ground, clawing at the air and snarling in rage, until the other gems grab Amethyst and the whip to hold him. He's pulled to stand on his hind legs, front paws scrabbling at the air, still snarling like a vicious wild animal. Connie rushes to Steven to attempt to calm him, standing in front of him.
"Shh, Steven, it's okay. Shh, I'm here. AH!" Connie cries out as one of Steven's claws catches the palm of her hand that had been raised to pet him. Steven freezes in place, pupils mere pinpricks, every muscle taught, frozen, with his mouth open. His eyes turn to her as Connie pulls her injured hand back, holding it to her chest, and reaches out to him with her other hand. "Shh, it's okay." She whispers.
He's perfectly still, still standing on his hind legs as the tension from the others holding the whip holds him in place. She gently touches his head, continuing to speak to him quietly, patting his head. Gradually his muscles relax, and his pupils return to normal as his rage and fear eases. Amethyst dissipates her whip, allowing Steven to return to standing on all fours when she's sure he's not about to launch himself at White again. He seems to almost shrink in on himself, curling up and making himself appear smaller, ears back and tail tucked. They all join Connie in calming and comforting him, everyone sitting on the ground, not wanting to tower over him, making sure he doesn't feel trapped.
Steven, eyes half lidded, leans toward Connie, nose pressing gently against her hand still clutched close to her chest. Unsure, she opens her hand for him to see. He whines, low and quiet, and carefully licks her bleeding palm. Everyone, even the Diamonds and Spinel, watches in astonishment as Connie's wound slowly heals, not even a scar left behind.
"He still has his healing powers!" Pearl gasps.
Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Bismuth stay outside to talk with the Diamonds while Peridot, Lapis, Connie and Greg take Steven back into the beach house. Where he collapses on the floor in front of the couch, exhausted. Lapis sits down near him, gently stroking his back in comfort, Peridot and Connie join them, while Greg sits on the couch to watch over them all.
"So, what exactly happened?" Garnet asks. She clenches her fists in anger. It was a bad idea to allow them to meet Steven. What if this incident sets him back? Makes him worse? She nearly destabilizes again as she irrationally wishes to simply punch White in the face.
White clears her throat, "The connection worked, but his mind is in such an… abstract state, it was unstable. His mind is in chaos. He wasn't able to speak through me, but I was able to see something. Like a wall. I believe most of his consciousness, and memories, are there." She stands to her full height, "It's not unbreakable. He already has some of his memories, namely several memories featuring the Amethyst, a Nephrite, and something called Chaaaps. Before his fear began destabilizing the connection a memory broke through. A memory of me. Then there was rage along with the fear, and I was brutally shoved out. I've never had this happen. Usually when I connect with a gem they are able to effectively control me with their thoughts. It's usually more organized and controlled. I don't know if this is caused by Steven's corruption, being part human, or what…" She gestures with her hands, to show her confusion. She's incredibly upset she wasn't able to help, after everything he's done for them and gemkind.
After White finishes her explanation she, Blue, Yellow and Spinel opt to take their ship and leave. The last thing they want to do is make things worse than they already have, and without any other form of help to offer, there's really no point in them staying. So they leave, hoping the Crystal Gems will be able to help Steven, and that the next call they get is good news.