Do you know the Hindi equivalent of the f-word?
Well, the Phantom Thieves sure did now, what with Connie murmuring it nonstop under her breath as she hastily ducked back inside, her face the definition of panic.
"Connie-san?" Violet asked in concern. "What's wrong?"
"Yeah, what the hell's going on out there?!" Skull exclaimed, only for Queen to silence him with a glare. "Right too loud, sorry."
To Connie's surprise, Oracle answered in her place, the tech girl in a similar state of panic as she examined her holo-screen, voice hushed. "Guys, there's something big just outside, and I mean really big. What's even crazier is that it's somehow got all three signatures of those cognitive versions of Steven's family!"
"All three," Panther murmured in utter confusion, shaking her head. "But how's that even—?"
Connie shushed the other girl with a rushed finger to her own lips – and not a moment too soon because suddenly Cognitive Alexandrite's gravelly voice boomed directly above them.
"I know you're here, little humans. Stop hiding and come out. You wouldn't want to upset Steven any further, would you?"
Everyone inside the tent went deathly still for the longest time, too gripped by fear to utter a single word, never mind a sound lest they expose themselves.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, a reverberating huff echoed before the sound of the giant standing up and walking away followed, the loudness and tremors of her footsteps fading as she left to search somewhere else for her quarry.
The whole group released a collective sigh of relief once they couldn't hear her anymore.
"I think I just wet myself," Skull whimpered.
"W-What even was that just now?" Panther stammered.
"Alexandrite," Connie answered with a placating hand to her own forehead. "Or at least this world's version. She's a fusion of Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst."
Everyone simply stared at Connie with blank stares, gobsmacked.
Queen blinked then her head to make sure she heard right. "I'm sorry. Fusion?"
"Wait, you mean like fusion-fusion?" Skull asked in wonder. "Like in DBZ?"
Despite the situation, Connie managed a rattled half-grin. "Well, if DBZ were more varied in its dances, then yeah. And if the fusors got bigger in size instead of just staying the same height. Also, I remember Steven telling me once that Alexandrite has fire breath, too?"
Again, everyone simply stared at Connie.
"Now might be a good time to leave," Joker commented, deadpan.
Mona drooped his head in exasperation. "I'll say. Once we're back in our world, you're gonna have to give us a full rundown of everything Gems can do. That way, we don't get sidelined by any more surprises from their cognitive selves."
Sounds good to me, Connie thought as she nodded in agreement and opened the flap to check outside again. She smiled upon seeing no one nearby. "Looks like the coast is clear. C'mon!"
Altogether, the Phantom Thieves snuck out of the safe room and carefully made their way through the park, following Oracle's guidance since she had uploaded a scan of Joker's map during Connie's nap. Since they stuck close to the alleyways and side paths, they managed to avoid running into any Shadow patrols and reached their infiltration point in little time.
It was once they got over the wall and on the other side when things went sideways.
The gang barely took a few steps into the forest when two pairs of gloved hands parted the trees on the other side of the entrance to reveal Cognitive Alexandrite, sneering down at the group with her upper mouth.
"THERE YOU ARE!"
"RUN!" Connie shouted. She and the Thieves began a mad dash through the woods, barely dodging the fusion's massive hand slamming down where they'd all just been.
Much to everyone's rising terror, the ground rumbled beneath them as Cognitive Alexandrite immediately started giving chase! The titan released a savage roar from her lower mouth as she tramped every tree unfortunate enough to be in her way, hellbent on the group's capture!
"Seriously, this is Alexandrite?!" Queen screamed in horror.
"Someone, pull out their phone," Mona begged in hysterics. "SOMEONE, PULL OUT THEIR PHONE!"
Indeed, Joker was already fumbling with his cell until the Meta-Nav's soothing voice graced his ears. Out of his peripheral, Joker noticed the fusion reaching a gloved hand towards them.
Hello. Would you like to return to—
"YES!" he screamed.
Beginning navigation. Thank you for your service.
And just like that, the world around them liquefied and warped.
XXX
When Connie came to, it was to a mouthful of dirt and grass.
She promptly spat her impromptu lunch out, spitting into the ground repeatedly to rid herself of the taste.
"BLEH!"
"You OK there, Connie?"
Connie looked to the left to discover Mona – er Morgana – beside her, back in his regular cat form.
"Yeah," she replied in a dazed tone. Her eyes shifted to find the other Thieves in the process of either standing up or helping the others onto their feet, all back in their regular clothes as well. Looks like they returned to the real world, the trees and water tower all normal again. "Sorry for not warning you guys about Gem fusions earlier. Are cognitions usually that desperate?"
"More like determined," Ann replied as she dusted the dirt off her shorts.
("I might have lost a few years from that," Sumire bemoaned.
"Indeed," Yusuke shakily agreed. "The powers of Gems are clearly not to be underestimated."
"Hold up. Phones," Akira reminded everyone, holding his own cell up.
"Oh shit, right," Ryuji murmured as he and the others pulled out their own as well.)
Connie, standing up herself, got the hint and did the same.
AK: OK, so Gems can fuse into giants. Anything else we should know?
CM: Let's see. Shapeshifting, weapon summoning, regeneration, bubbling, using their gemstones for storage. And those are just the things they have in common. Each Gem type comes with their own special set of abilities too. And there are a lot of types.
FS: And I'm guessing every fusion's got their own special blend of moves too.
CM: Well, as long as we don't run into cognitive versions of Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth in there, figuring a workaround shouldn't be too hard for all the fusions.
AK: Yeah, except we still have Steven's Shadow to worry about. Has the real one always been able to fly?
CM: Usually, he can just levitate. I guess when he starts glowing pink like that, his powers all get a serious boost.
Morgana hung his head in chagrin. "Which means we can't afford to underestimate his Shadow." He hopped onto Connie's shoulder to be eye-level with her. "I know what I'm about to ask sounds bad, but Isn't there some kind of weakness of his we can exploit?"
Connie pursed her bottom lip before continuing to type on her phone. Steven's always been pretty empathetic. He can get overwhelmed if too many people around him are sad or upset…but he's also used to helping others work through their problems.
YK: In other words, he has high emotional intelligence. That makes for quite a charismatic individual.
SY: Yes, even with his issues, it's not hard to see why so many people like him.
RS: Tell me about it. I mean, yeah, the way his Shadow was babying us pissed me off, but I can't really say I hate him or anything.
MK: True, but that also means he has the capacity to be very persuasive.
CM: Well, he did once end a feud between Fish Stew Pizza and Beach Citywalk Fries by tricking the owners into liking the food he and his family made.
Everyone gave their phones and then Connie a long, bemused look.
RS: Has this place always been weird?
Connie smirked, a certain conspiracy theorist coming to mind at the wording. Wacky is more like it. Then her face fell. But so far as beating Steven in battle, everyone's guess is as good as mine. He's part Diamond after all.
HO: Diamond?
AT: Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. Rhodonite, Spinel, and other Gems had mentioned them before. Were they the leaders of Homeworld?
Connie nodded. And the most powerful, and I'm not just talking about their authority. When Steven, me, and his family all went up against just Blue Diamond a few years back, we barely left a scratch on her. Also, all of them except Steven's Mom are literal giants. They're insanely strong and each has powers almost no Gem can fight back against.
MK: And I'm guessing even for non-Gems, they're still near impossible to take down.
The grimace on Connie said everything, and everyone fell into worried silence.
That is until Akira cocked his head in a curious manner. So, they're basically Gem Gods, right?
Connie blinked at the wording on her phone. Uh, more or less.
AK: We've got this then.
Wait, what? Connie stared down her phone and then Akira himself, not sure she read his response right. Sure enough, the Phantom Thieves' leader was giving her a confident smile, one that proved contagious among most of his teammates.
HO: Oh, good point! We've bested gods before!
Again, what?
"Plus," Morgana added in a thoughtful tone, "considering Steven can't be any older than us, he obviously hasn't had as much time as the other Diamonds to fully master his powers."
Makoto, however, frowned at her teammates' bravado. We shouldn't assume we can simply take his Shadow head-on, you guys.
YK: Indeed, it would be wiser to document all his known abilities, including his more recent ones, so that we may be better prepared for our next encounter.
Futaba pouted. Well duh, but you guys make him sound like he's gonna be some ultra-hard superboss! I doubt he'll be any harder than Yaldabaoth and Maruki.
MN: All we're saying is that it'd be better to overprepare than underprepare! Considering what's on the line, we can't afford to take risks.
Morgana hummed in thought. "In that case, why don't we pick this up once everyone's back home? No doubt Connie needs to report back to the Crystal Gems ASAP to waive off suspicion."
"Sounds good to me!" Ann agreed before turning to the girl in question. "What do you think, Connie? Connie?"
The Indian girl finally snapped to when Sumire gently shook her by the shoulder. "HUH?! Oh."
She hurriedly texted the rest of her response. Sorry. I blacked out after that part about you guys…beating gods.
Everyone else either sweat-dropped or blushed in embarrassment.
MN: Right, we're sorry. We weren't entirely sure if you'd believe those parts of our story.
RS: But yeah, for real. We've deadass beaten gods.
FS: And did we forget to mention we beat the first one on Christmas?
Of course they did, cause why not? Connie couldn't help but chuckle weakly. Seriously, what kind of JRPG had she become a part of?
"They're both kind of long stories," Ann explained with an embarrassed chuckle. "We'll tell you later. Anyway, we were discussing how we should get ready for Steven's Shadow in case we run into him again. You wanna group chat later on for a strategy meeting?"
Connie shook off her exasperation to fix the other girl and her (now their) friends with a determined grin. "Yeah, I'm down for that!"
Ann smiled and texted Connie's response to everyone else.
HO: Then it's decided!
Morgana nodded. "In which case, we better get Spinel and Lion out here so we can all get back."
"Golly, you guys got done that fast?"
Right on cue, Spinel backflipped like a slinky into view, surprising everyone more with her words than with her entrance.
Connie furrowed her brow at the Gem in confusion. "Fast?"
"Yeah, I just got comfortable too!"
Connie shared a look with Ann and then checked the trajectory of the sun, shielding her eyes as she did. It'd barely changed position much to her shock.
"Spinel," she asked in a slow, wary voice. "How long were we gone?"
The jester shrugged her shoulders. "Just a couple of moments. Why?"
Morgana's eyes widened in shock. "That can't be…"
All the other Phantom Thieves must have noticed the solar discrepancy too because they all quickly checked the time on their phones.
Same hour, same minute. Only the seconds had changed, and even then, not by much.
(A stunned expression took over Yusuke's face. "How odd…"
Futaba shielded her eyes and looked up at the sun like Connie had just done, mystified. "Hey, guys, what time was it when we left?"
"The same as it is now," Makoto gawked, hand to her mouth in disbelief. "How is this possible?")
"Whenever we entered the Metaverse, time would keep passing in this world," Morgana explained for Connie's sake. "It'd always be evening when we returned, and these guys couldn't risk getting caught out in the dead of night with school going on."
AK: Especially if it ever cut into our curfews.
"That's why infiltrations always took us days," Ann added before rechecking her phone's clock, perplexed. "But now barely any time's passed. What's up with that?"
Good question, Connie mused as she brought up the Meta-Nav icon and studied it, reflecting back on everything Ann and the others had told her about both it and the previous version.
Could this oddity with time be related to that world having Gems for Rulers?
In any case, there'd be plenty of time to ponder later, as Akira pointed out in his next text: One step at a time.
"He's right," Morgana agreed as he hopped off Connie's shoulder. "We'd be better off taking a rest after all that…but since we've got way more time left on our hands and our newest recruit is back on her feet faster than expected, I guess it'll be more of a small break."
Another moment of quiet passed as everyone digested the cat's words, trying to come up with a feasible way to make use of all that extra time.
Suddenly, Connie started dialing a number.
"Don't worry, I'm not telling on you guys," she was quick to assure once she noticed some of the others staring, quick to remember their wariness of the Crystal Gems. "I'm just gonna tell Garnet and the others that Lion and I are about to take a break from patrols for now and ready to head back."
"Good call," Morgana praised with a nod. "No pun intended. That should waive off suspicion long enough for us to work out the rest of our infiltration route. I noticed a few things while scoping the place out that might serve us well."
"Actually, I better call my parents, too," Ann agreed as she started dialing on her phone as well. "Just to be safe."
That reminded Connie, she should probably give her own parents a quick call before she got back with the Gems.
Before she could, though, screams started emanating from the town proper!
("What was that?!" Sumire exclaimed, startled like everyone else.
"More affected Gems perhaps?" Yusuke asked in a wary tone.)
"On second thought," Morgana amended with a serious frown, "maybe it would be best if we stopped for today."
A cheery ringtone made Connie shoot her eyes back to her phone. A text message from Pearl.
Connie, we need your help! More Gems have gone berserk! Meet us on the boardwalk as soon as possible!
Ugh, of course, Connie mused with a grimace as she typed back a message saying she'll be on her way. Once finished, she addressed Ann. "Trouble in town. The Gems are gonna need some backup."
Then she turned to Spinel. "I can't show up without Lion if I wanna avoid suspicion, so you're gonna hafta get these guys back really fast."
"Uh, sure thing," Spinel responded with a taken aback shrug before looking around. "Except where is the big furball?"
Connie panned her eyes as well and found Lion to be nowhere in sight. She took a few steps forward and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Lion! Hey, if you can hear me, I need you to come out! It's urgent!"
Much to her relief, Lion appeared without further prompt, bounding from behind a few trees. His eyes were glowing, which Connie took to mean he already knew what to do.
However, instead of approaching the group of youths, he took to sniffing the air. Then without warning, he roared open a portal and leapt into it.
"Hey!" Connie called out, hand extended, but to no avail as the portal twinkled out of existence.
("What's up with him?" Ryuji asked, completely baffled by the large cat's behavior.)
"Hang on," Morgana abruptly cautioned as he got up on all fours. "Something doesn't feel right."
Connie fixed a perplexed stare on the cat. "Well, yeah. The screaming we just heard."
Morgana shook his head. "Not just that. Something feels wrong, almost like…something from the cognitive world followed us here."
Everyone stared at him, his words putting them all on high alert.
("Are you saying we might still be in danger, Mona-chan?" asked Haru in concern.
"Wait, what do you even mean something followed us?" asked Futaba as well, looking around the area in confusion. "We're the only ones who came out of the Metaverse! How could—")
"AAAHHHHH!"
Everyone jumped again, this time at this particular scream's proximity.
Connie furrowed her brow once she realized this scream sounded familiar. Without another thought, she raced down beside the main road, following the sound until she reached the U-STOR Self Storage building. There she nearly ran face first into Lion, who was carting a skinny white man with balding brown hair, clinging to the beast with a rattled expression.
"Mr. Dewey!" Connie called out as she watched the former mayor shakily dismount Lion. "What's going on?!"
Dewey needed a moment to settle his nerves enough to explain clearly, hand to his chest as he panted. "People…going crazy. I was just doing my job back at the Big Donut, serving this one tourist when all of a sudden, she just…snapped! It doesn't exactly say in company policy how to address mental breakdowns, so I—"
Connie held her hands up. "Whoa, whoa, hold on! What do you mean 'snapped'?"
Also, mental breakdowns? Why did that sound familiar?
"I mean, one minute she was perfectly calm, then the next she's on her knees bursting into tears and blubbering over why she's not back in some kind of 'zoo'! Even went calling this whole place 'too scary'!" Dewey started massaging temples, beside himself. "Is it the humidity this time of year?"
As the former mayor rambled on, a thought froze Connie cold, her eyes going wide.
"Anyway," Dewey continued, "I was about to ask for help from one of my Gem coworkers when all of a sudden there's crying and shouting outside too! We look out and suddenly a whole bunch of tourists are in the same state all over, begging to be 'taken back' or something! Steven's caretakers were there and told me to go look for you in the park. That's where I ran into your big pink friend here."
He thumbed over at Lion, who merely chuffed.
Connie shifted her eyes to the ground to digest everything she'd just heard and then back up at Lion with a pressing frown. "Get me and Mr. Dewey back to the Big Donut. I need to see how bad it is."
"Any way we can help?"
The voice startled Connie into shooting around out of surprise, only to discover Ann and the others right behind her. Connie had not noticed them tailing her all the way here. She took a moment to alternate her gaze between the gang and the town, deliberating whether or not to involve them.
"Um, that depends. How well do the rest of your friends speak English?"
The various expressions of uncertainty shared among the Thieves confirmed as much.
"They've all had classes on English," Ann hastily explained, only to rub her head in embarrassment. "But speaking it's kind of hit and miss for some of them."
"Not to worry," Morgana assured the girls. "I'll be there to help with the translations…as long there are no Gems around of course."
("Translations?" Sumire asked in wonder. "Why though?")
"It seems the culprit has finally started targeting humans as well," Morgana grimly explained as he turned to address his team.
All the Phantom Thieves sans Ann recoiled in shock.
("No way!" exclaimed Ryuji.
"This is basically the psychotic breakdowns all over again," Makoto bemoaned. "But we're not in the Metaverse anymore, and we can't risk going back with that fusion still hunting for us! What can we do?"
For a moment, silence dominated, heavy and daunting.
("Whatever we can," Akira answered at last, full of quiet confidence.
Ryuji nodded with a fist-pump. "Hell yeah!"
"Is involving ourselves such a wise course of action, though?" Yusuke asked with a shake of his head and hands akimbo. "It is not as if communication here would be simple."
"But that doesn't mean we can just turn back and ignore all those people in need either," Haru countered with conviction.)
Morgana hung his head and then turned to Connie, apologetic. "I know your original plan was to keep us secret until we helped Steven, but with things escalating like this—"
"I know," Connie sighed reluctantly. Looks like a change of plans was in order. "With everything going on, we don't have much choice anymore."
Ann shared a counseling gaze with Akira and the others, who all nodded in return, before refacing Connie with a determined glare. "Then we still have a job to do! To the boardwalk?"
"To the boardwalk," Connie replied in kind.
XXX
Chaos awaited the team once they emerged from Lion's portal, Spinel using the same method of transport as last time (much to Dewey's discomfort).
All over, both Gems and humans alike were in various forms of distress: rage, tears, fear. There were also unaffected Gems and humans doing their best to reign in the chaos and do something with the victims, anything from cajoling to comforting to even tough talk.
In short, the whole town was a mess.
("Oh my," Haru murmured in sympathy at the sight of so many tortured souls.
"Dude, where are we supposed to start?" asked Ryuji, eyes wide at the bedlam.)
Ann tapped Connie's shoulder and pointed ahead. The Indian girl panned her eyes and spotted Amethyst in the distance, the purple Gem helping Skinny escort an inconsolable Era 1 Peridot to a nearby bench.
"Ann, follow me. Everyone else, wait right here! We'll be right back." As fast as possible, she and Ann hurried over. Once they got close enough, Connie waved a hand in the air, plastering on what she hoped to be a convincing smile. "Amethyst!"
The small Quartz lifted her head and gave a smile of relief at the sight of Connie, although her eyes lingered on Ann for a hot second, too.
"Hey, nice of ya to drop in! G, Pearl, and Biz are almost done rounding up the rowdier Gems. Last I checked, P was over at Greg's carwash. Head on over there since she's closest! If you see anyone handling somebody not fighting back, send 'em over to the Temple. Peri's setting up a refuge for everyone there."
Connie gave a thumbs up. "You got it! If you don't mind, Ann and a few friends of hers would like to help out, too."
She gestured to the girl in question and then the group of youths waiting far in the background. A few Gems had taken note of the new teens, who stared back either in curiosity or nerves. "Their English is a little shaky, so it'll be easier working with them if you let them stay together so Ann can translate."
"Actually, we all got these apps on our phones that can translate text into English, too," Ann added, pulling out her cell, mentally thanking Futaba for having such foresight. "It even does sound to text! That way, they won't need me for every person they talk to."
Amethyst pursed her lips and fixed another long, deliberate gaze on Ann and Connie before finally shrugging.
"Aight. None of the humans have gotten as bad as some of the Gems, so you and your pals can get started here and work your way outward. Just make sure to clear the way if anyone starts getting aggressive and come back here for help."
Connie nodded and thanked the Quartz before giving Ann a thumbs up and departing for the carwash, leaving the other girl and Amethyst in awkward silence as they gave each other a side eye once Connie went out of view.
Ann decided to break the ice first. "So…Amethyst, right? I better get back to my friends and let them know the plan."
"Uh, yeah sure."
For a moment, the purple Gem seemed as though she wanted to say something more, but when only another moment of silence passed instead, Ann gave a forced smile before stepping away.
Neither of them noticed a shadowy figure slipping out of sight behind Fish Stew Pizza.
Morgana did, however, grimacing from inside Akira's bag while Ann discussed the plan with everyone.
As did Akira, merely shifting his eyes to keep everyone else from noticing and worrying in turn.
The two caught each other's eye and furtively shared a nod.
It figures they'd have trouble waiting around the corner in this world, too.
Best keep an eye out.
XXX
When Steven woke up, a cat's single blue eye was staring back.
The boy gave a drowsy yet genuine smile as he stroked the calico tabby's head, Cat Steven giving a happy purr in return, before he sat up with a stretch and yawn.
Ah, that nap had been a good call. Steven may still not be at one hundred percent but at least his head felt clearer.
To his surprise when he looked around, it was still just him and his father. Had no one showed up while they'd been sleeping, or perhaps they had and noticed Steven there yet chose to let him rest?
Either way, he appreciated the chance to have a little peace in a familiar place.
Which is why when his ear caught a voice rising from outside, one he recognized, his mood (and stomach) started to lurch. Were the others waiting on him for a talk?
Then again, Steven supposed a talk was inevitable given how he left things last time anyone saw him, let alone how he left.
That didn't mean he had to look forward to it, though, which is why he found the fact that no one was coming in for him to be a huge relief. He still needed time to brace himself for the emotional interrogation he knew was waiting for him on the other side.
Which is why when the door opened to reveal Peridot and the same glasses guy as from the police file Steven had read on Peridot's laptop earlier, he wound up on all levels of shock.
When Peridot finally looked into the living room and noticed him, her eyes widened immediately. "STEVEN?! When did you get back?!"
For a hot second, Steven wanted to chuckle and call out Peridot on her joke – except when he caught her expression, he realized she was indeed not joking. Had no one actually come back here since his return?
"A…few hours ago," Steven plainly answered. "No one besides Dad was around and he was asleep, so I decided to wait on everyone." Then his attention drifted to the stranger, who had his phone out for some reason. "So, who's your friend?"
Peridot blinked and regarded her companion but waving a nonchalant hand. "Oh no, I wouldn't say 'friend' as much as 'acquaintance out of circumstance'. This is Akira, one of Ann's friends from Japan. Ann brought them over here to help with the situation."
Right, because this guy is the leader of the Phantom Thieves, Steven mentally noted. He reminded himself to thank the blonde girl later for this opportunity as he stood up and approached with a practiced smile, careful to keep his voice even to prevent waking up his still slumbering father.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Akira. I'm sorry we had to meet like this, but I appreciate you and your friends helping out!"
As Steven spoke, he noticed how Akira alternated his eyes between him and the phone. Steven chose not to take offense to this behavior as he had dealt with worse before. Only when the boy finished speaking did Akira finally look up, revealing his phone so Steven could see.
Right away, Steven noticed the phone was open to some sort of app, his own words recorded in a text bubble, and Akira's typed response below.
AK: Sorry, I wasn't ignoring you. My English still needs work, so I need this app on my phone to translate most of what you're saying.
Steven blushed, feeling ashamed of his own assumption. "O-Oh, I'm sorry! I'm not the best at dealing with humans!" Then he blanched, eyes darting from the floor to Akira and back, hands twiddling. "Not 'dealing'! I'm not implying you're a headache or anything, w-what I meant is that—"
A clearing of the throat kept his attention on Akira, who was donning an understanding smile and had his phone's screen out again so Steven could see.
AK: It's cool. Making friends isn't always easy.
Maybe the short-and-sweetness of the response was the reason, or the calm yet confident smile but something about this guy made Steven feel instantly assured, a lot like how Garnet made him feel.
Or at least how she used to make you feel, his inner voice softly sneered. Steven took a deep breath and silently told his inner voice to zip it before schooling another smile.
"So, any way I can help?" he asked with a touch of hope (and desperation).
To his concern, Peridot immediately shifted her eyes in a nervous manner.
"Not that your assistance wouldn't be appreciated, Steven. It's just that the situation has…shifted in a way you might not be prepared for."
Steven snorted immediately, even doubling over a little. More people in need? That wouldn't be a problem for him! In fact, now that he had come closer to the front door, he noticed the faint myriad of voices streaming from outside.
Right away, Steven gently pushed his way past Peridot and Akira, who made way for him. He didn't notice their anxious expressions.
"Oh c'mon, Peridot! After all the stuff I've seen, there's no way whatever's out there could be any…"
Then he reached the porch outside and took in the scene on the sand below, smile falling and eyes going wide, his voice growing faint.
"Any…any…"
There on the beach stood a makeshift camp of sorts, a spread-out menagerie of both Gems and humans either sitting or walking about. Most of the people seated were in various stages of grief while others were doing their best to console them.
With slow and careful steps, Steven walked down the wooden steps and took in how similar – how identical – the Gems and humans in distress looked.
"Peridot," Steven asked in a faint tone once the green Gem and Akira had caught up with him, "when you said the situation had shifted, what exactly did you mean?"
Peridot eyed Steven oddly, taking note that while the boy was taken back by the scene, he wasn't as taken back as she expected. "Whatever's been affecting Gems has started reaching humans now. It couldn't have been more than three hours and we already have so many cases. So far—"
Whatever the tech Gem said afterward, Steven didn't register. His mind was too fixated on the first sentence of her explanation.
Because this was real. Reading about all that stuff about cognition and other things had felt unbelievable simply because all the unbelievable for Steven had involved Gems in some form…yet seeing all of this made those documents feel more real now.
It took Peridot putting a hand on his shoulder to jolt him out of his mental spiral.
"Steven?"
The boy jumped at her touch but was quick to throw on a shaken smile once he noticed how shaken his response had made her. "YEAH! Yeah, of course I'm fine! Why shouldn't I be fine?! Like I said, this isn't anything I haven't handled before!"
Peridot furrowed her brow, unconvinced, especially at the response to a question she hadn't asked. "Steven, I admire your confidence, but this isn't like Corruption. Humans are being affected now too, and we're basically at a loss on how to fix this on our own."
"Which is why it's a good thing I'm here!" Steven asserted with a little more force in his voice then he intended. He didn't notice Akira fix a cautious gaze on him. "I'm Gem and human, so as long as I'm helping out, we should find a solution in no time!"
For the longest time, Peridot took in her friend's obvious façade, knowing better, but eventually gave in with a resigned sigh. "Let's just focus on accommodating all the victims for now. We can discuss the situation further once everyone else is back."
Having said her piece, Peridot walked out into the camp.
Only once she was out of earshot did Steven let his smile drop, feeling as though he had just let her down.
A finger tapping his shoulder drew his attention back to Akira, who held up his phone again.
AK: She's right. Let's focus on helping folks here.
Once again, Steven found himself accepting the other boy's words despite them only having met. Part of the hybrid wanted to push back, assure him back that he'd be fine on his own, yet something about the boy's demeanor made all protests die on Steven's tongue.
Again, a lot like Garnet yet somehow also not, now that he reflected further.
Maybe I'm just that desperate, Steven ruminated. After all, he needed to get on this guy's good side if he wanted to get these Phantom Thieves' help. Thus, with a nod and another forced smile, he followed Akira into the camp.
If any silver lining existed, helping out at least gave Steven an outlet. Being out in the thick of everything, doing what he'd always done (the only thing he'd always done), directing unaffected Gems and humans to those who needed help, he could distract himself from his own problems.
Except he found himself sometimes getting sidetracked by Akira. Not so much by the sight of the other boy helping out, but rather the boy helping so close by.
It wasn't as though the other boy was critiquing Steven or anything, he was just simply there doing his part to help others. And so easily, too. For someone who had a flimsy grasp on English, this guy had little struggle in making his intentions clear through action.
Steven would be lying if he claimed not to feel a bit of jealousy.
Although he also couldn't help but feel like this guy was keeping a close eye on him.
And then all too soon, Peridot took Steven to the side.
"Hey, why don't you take a break?" she invoked in a gentle tone. "We should be alright until the others arrive."
"Are you sure?" Steven tried to argue. "I mean I could always head into town and –"
That's when he felt Akira's hand on his shoulder, phone out.
AK: Let's take five.
Again, Steven wanted to persist, but something about the firmness in Akira's eyes made him hold back on protesting. Seriously, why was Steven having such a hard time saying 'no' to this guy?
Besides, he mentally needed to remind himself, this could be my chance.
For these reasons, Steven gave in with a sigh and let Akira walk him some distance down the beach, opposite the direction of Beach City.
Once they got a good distance away, not so close to the camp that they could be overheard but not so far that they couldn't keep everyone else within their line of sight, Steven paused in his walk. Akira had gone a few feet ahead before realizing Steven had stopped and so turned to face him, waiting patiently for the other boy to say or do something.
Which is a good thing since Steven found himself tongue-tied at the moment.
"So…um…," Steven started, only to found himself at a standstill. Why was he struggling all of a sudden? This was just one person after all. OK, a person who could give Steven the answer to fixing this whole mess, but still! When Steven looked up again to keep trying, Akira had his phone up again.
AK: Let's sit down.
And once more, Steven found himself complying without a fight. Seriously, what was up with this guy – or what was up with Steven rather? Ugh.
The hybrid ran both hands down his face with a groan as his behind plopped down on the sand, Akira following suit. After a few moments, Steven peeked through his fingers and took in Akira's chill sitting pose, not even looking his way.
Part of Steven found it infuriating.
That's when the dam finally burst.
"Look, let's just get this out of the way!" Steven exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defeat. "I know you're one of the Phantom Thieves and Ann probably is too and you clearly know how to fix this, so if you'd just show me how you do it, I could fix this whole thing and we can all be happy and celebrate before moving on with all our lives until the next horrible thing comes along, OK?!"
All this Steven blurted in one breath, too, forcing him to take a heavy literal breather by the end.
"So," he sighed once his wind came back. "What do you say?"
To his credit, Akira was clearly taken back by the outburst. However, he didn't take long to recover because he looked away from his phone for a moment after reading the other boy's response to consider before refacing Steven and giving him a nod.
Steven needed a moment (a few moments) to register the response. Once he did, though, he could have sworn his heart and maybe even gem skipped a beat as a full-blown smile bloomed on his face. When was the last time he'd even been this ecstatic?
"You…you will? Really?!"
Another nod from Akira, this time with a calmer yet no less genuine smile.
Suddenly, the open zipper of the bag next to him burst open, and a black-and-white cat's head popped out, the animal clearly shocked judging by the look on its face.
Then it opened its mouth.
RE-KSSHHHT-OW?!
Everything felt inert for the next few seconds, at least for Steven. He merely stared at the cat, eyes blank and unblinking, before snapping to and digging a finger into his own ear to make sure he hadn't heard anything wrong.
Surely enough when the cat opened its mouth again…
You-BZZZZT-ow me-KKKKZZT-dy?!
Yep, no, no, Steven most definitely heard that!
He tore his gaze away and held his head in both hands, confused panic starting to set in.
Was that really the cat just now? Was this part of all this cognitive stuff? Or maybe another Diamond power? At this point, he wasn't even sure anymore.
For the umpteenth time that day, a gentle yet firm hand met his shoulder.
Somehow, this simple act got through his clouded thoughts and recaptured his attention, drawing it to Akira who was giving him a look of concern. Even the cat had quieted down, instead giving Steven what felt like fascination.
Akira held his phone up. We'll figure this out. All of us. But there are some things we need to set straight first. Particularly with you.
Despite himself, Steven managed to center himself enough to respond. "L-Like what?"
The chance for an answer never came because all of a sudden…
Steven honestly had no idea how to explain.
One moment, Akira simply had his hand on his shoulder, the next, he was suddenly rushing at Steven!
The shorter boy found himself jerking back out of reflex, holding a hand out to stop the other boy's momentum – only for that to somehow cause them both to spiral in midair before landing on what most certainly was no longer sand, let alone something with water.
If he'd had time to notice, Steven would have noted the surprise on Akira's face, followed by fear and…defiance?
Whatever happened, it had left Steven with a possible bump on the back of his head. He sat up with a groan, rubbing his aching cranium.
Only to come face to face with the glowing yellow eyes of himself.