[WARNING]
First, this is a completely separate story from the original Steven Universe. The main character here is entirely different from anything presented in the original story.
Second, this story will have more direct themes, including 'complicated' and not-so-subtle topics.
Third: This whole thing draws heavily from Steven AUniverse: Ask WhitePearl and Steven by Chekhov in Tapas. If this somehow reaches them and they don't like it, I will take the story down.
With that said: Enjoy (or probably hate) it!
In the state of Nevaska, it's a cold, and silent night.
The only audible sounds are the footsteps of a short girl with short blonde hair and glasses, wearing a baggy hoodie.
She walks nervously, holding some books. Suddenly,she's stopped by a group of thugs.
The leader of them whistles and says in a rough voice: "Hey, pretty. What would a pretty girl like you be doing in here?"
She takes a step back, evidently intimidated: "I-I was just heading back to my dorm. I went to the library to get some books and—"
The leader interrupts: "Well, that's interesting, but how about a little fun?"
The girl froze at the man's words and stuttered: "I-I'm not interested, thank you."
She tries to leave, but the group pulls her into an alley, causing her to drop her books.
The leader chuckles: "I don't think you get it. Lemme break it down for you: Just give in or it'll be worse for ya."
Terrified, the girl tries to call for help but the group prevents her from doing it.
They smirk among themselves, but before they could continue, they hear a rough, heavy voice from the end of the alley:
"Oi."
They look toward the source of the voice and see a tall figure staring at them. Only its dark eyes are visible, glowing with a white diamond-shaped outline.
"I see you're busy. I'm not in the mood to talk today, so just let the girl go."
The leader glares at the man angrily: "This isn't your business, punk."
Figure rolls its eyes and passes its hand over its face. "... look, I've got a goddamn hangover today, so let's make this quick."
The figure suddenly rushed to the leader and punched his face hard enough to knock him out.
The rest of the group look at the figure with surprise and fear. They draw their knives and prepare to stab him.
It looks at them annoyed and suddenly pulls two large axes from his forehead, scaring the thugs, who eagerly drop their knives and run away.
The figure sighs: "Cowards..." It drops the axes, making them disappear. It walks towards the girl. It crouches in front of her, getting on her eye level, its diamond eyes glancing into hers. The dim light made him unable to see his appearance. He asked in a neutral tone: "Yo, you okay?"
She looks at the figure in shock before nodding: "Y-Yeah… thank you…"
It nods: "Cool…"
Silence falls between them for a few moments until the girl asks: "... who are you?"
The figure chuckles. "Well, you can call me Steven."
She nods, slowly calming down and getting up. "... Thank you… thank you so much…"
She picks up the books from the ground and looks at him curiously. "I'm Fionna."
He looks at her and says with a softer tone. "Nice to meet ya."
They look at each other before Steven stretches and says in a laid-back tone: "Eh, I guess that's it. See ya."
Steven tries to leave the alley but is stopped by a police officer who points a gun at his face.
"Freeze! You're under arrest for assaulting an individual and threatening a group! You're coming with me!"
Steven looks at the officer in silence. He simply huffs and raises his hands.
Fionna takes a few seconds to process the situation. As she realizes what's happening, she quickly steps forward, saying nervously: "W-What?! S-Sir, he didn't mean any harm. He did it because they were trying to hurt me!"
The officer looks at Fionna: "Girl, don't try to help this criminal! If what you're telling is true, then he's not only going to be arrested for assault, but also for vigilantism!"
Fionna gets even more shocked, but Steven shrugs and simply puts his hands behind his back, allowing himself to be handcuffed.
He looks at Fionna, his face still shrouded in the darkness of the night: "Don't worry, I'm more used to this. It won't take one day before I break free."
She tries to say something, but the officer drags Steven to the car aggressively and drives him to the station.
She stands in the alley, surprised and shocked by everything that had just happened.
After regaining her senses, she gathers her books and runs back to her dorm.
As she goes back to her dorm a ton of questions invade her mind, "Who was that guy? Why did that guy save me? Where did he take those axes?" And the more she thinks about it, the more she feels guilty for not doing anything against his arrest.
She lays on her bed and covers her face with a pillow, the guilt taking over her.
She keeps thinking on what to do, and she lets a sigh, determined to help.
[THE NEXT DAY]
Fionna went to the jail as a visitor. A guard is guiding her through the cells.
The guard looks at her with a raised brow: "I don't understand. Why would a girl like you want to see a criminal?"
She quickly speaks up: "He's not a bad person. He saved me and was arrested for it, the least I can do is try to get him out."
The guard shrugs: "Suit yourself then…"
As they approach the cell, they feel a strong scent of weed and beer. They get in front of the cell and see Steven lying on the bed, smoking a joint, drinking beer, and reading a magazine.
The guard quickly bangs the bars of the cell with a baton and speaks in an aggressive tone: "Wimbleton! Where do you keep getting that?!"
Steven laughs: "Like I was going to tell you."
The guard goes to enter the cell, getting the baton to hit him, but Fionna intervenes. She gulps and steps closer to the bars: "... Hi… D-do you remember me?"
He stops and looks at her: "Oh… it's you… the girl from yesternight. Fionna I guess?"
Fionna nods: "Yes, that's me… I came here because I want to get you out."
He glances at her in silence and simply raises an eyebrow: "... why?"
She takes a deep breath and approaches, nervously gripping the bars: "... Because you saved me. This is the least I can do… You… you were my hero, my savior, and I think that I should make it up for you… do something that shows how grateful I am for your generosity…"
At the end of her speech, the silence settles down between them… before Steven bursts in laughing.
He slowly stops laughing and shakes his head: "Damn… I've never heard such a load of bulls#it before…" He gets out of the bed and approaches the bars, revealing his appearance.
He has dark skin, messy black hair covering his forehead, eyes with dark-gray, diamond-shaped irises, dark circles under his eyes, and sharp teeth. He wears a black T-shirt with a white pentagram, a black jacket with white details, gray ripped jeans, and black sneakers.
He glances at her with a smirk while gripping the bars: "Do I look like a hero to you?"
She steps back, intimidated by the real appearance of her 'savior': "... it doesn't matter your look, you saved me, and that's that. You're a good person."
Steven laughs at her face: "Sure, 'A good person'. I'd say more… an asole scoundrel. Yeah, that's more like me."
Fionna looks at her with disappointment, but still looks determined to help.
Steven smirked at Fionna through the bars, his sharp teeth visible as he continued to mock her. "So what's the plan, doll? You gonna break me out? Or maybe talk to the big boys and convince them I'm a misunderstood saint?"
Fionna bit her lip, unsure of how to respond to his sarcasm. She had come here with a sense of righteousness, thinking she could repay him for his help. But now, seeing him up close, hearing the way he dismissed her gratitude like it was a joke, she started to wonder if she had made a mistake.
But no. She couldn't give up now. Not after what happened the night before.
"I don't know what you've been through, but you didn't have to save me, and yet you did," Fionna said, her voice steadier now. "Maybe you don't see yourself as a hero, but that's what you were to me last night. You stopped them when no one else would. I don't care how you act or what you call yourself, I know there's something good in you."
Steven's smirk faltered for a second, but he quickly masked it with a shrug. "You're wasting your time."
"I don't think so." Fionna held her ground, stepping closer to the bars again. "I asked the guards about you. You've been arrested before, lots of times, actually, but you always end up escaping and not being found..."
Steven raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "You've been doing your homework. Cute."
"I know there's more to this, and I want to understand why. Why you saved me, why you keep getting caught up in this stuff." Fionna's gaze softened, a genuine plea in her eyes. "Let me help you."
Steven's expression darkened. This time, the smirk faded entirely. He leaned closer. "You don't know what you're messing with, girl. This isn't some superhero movie where you swoop in, get the misunderstood bad guy to 'open up,' and ride off into the sunset. So just stop this bulls#it and get lost."
Fionna felt a chill run down her spine at his words, but she didn't back away. "Maybe… but I'm not scared. I can handle it."
He stared at her for a long moment. The tension between them hung heavy in the air, broken only by the occasional crackle of the guard's radio in the background.
Finally, Steven sighed and stepped back, running a hand through his messy black hair. "Alright. You want me to get out, huh? Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." He approaches the bars and grips them. He starts forcing the bars in order to break free.
Fionna gasped as she watched Steven grip the metal bars of his cell with both hands. His muscles flexed, and for a moment, she thought it was a joke. But then the metal started to groan, and to her shock, the bars bent outward under the pressure of his hands.
The guard, who had been standing nearby, whipped around at the sound. "Hey! Stop that!" He raised his baton, ready to strike Steven again.
Before the guard could swing, Steven punched him in the face knocking him out.
Steven let out a low chuckle stretches, passing through the bard. "Told you I wouldn't take a day to get out," he muttered.
Fionna stood there, torn between awe and fear. She had wanted to help him get out, but she hadn't expected this. The person in front of her wasn't just some guy with a bad attitude, there was something otherworldly about him.
"You… you just broke out of jail," she whispered, her voice shaky. "What happens now?"
Steven shrugs, as if it was just a regular part of his day. "What happens now? Well, I get to go to a bar to drink something... and you, doll, go live your life."
Fionna blinked, still processing what had just happened. This wasn't part of her plan at all. "You're just… leaving? After all of this?"
Steven shrugged, walking toward the exit like nothing had happened. "Yup. I'm not sticking around here. You want to help me? Just stay out of trouble."
Fionna stood frozen for a moment, her mind racing. She knew she was being reckless, but something in her refused to let this go.
"Wait!" she called, taking a few hurried steps after him. "I'm coming with you."
Steven stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, his expression a mix of confusion and annoyance. "Come again? You wanna tag along with a guy who just broke out of jail?"
Fionna nodded, swallowing her nerves. "I told you, I want to help you. And… I want answers. You didn't save me for no reason. There's something else, isn't there?"
Steven stared at her for a long moment. Then, with a deep sigh, he rubbed the back of his neck. "You really don't know when to quit, do you? Fine, if you wanna follow me, don't say I didn't warn you."
Fionna's heart raced. She knew this was dangerous, everything about him screamed trouble, but she felt like this was her only shot to understand who he really was.
Steven started walking again, and Fionna quickly caught up to him.
"Where are we going?" Fionna asked nervously, trying to keep up with his long strides.
"There's a bar a few blocks down," Steven said casually. "I need a drink. After that, I don't know. Guess you'll find out."
Fionna wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or more nervous. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, but there was no turning back now. As they stepped out into the cold Nevaska night, she glanced at Steven, trying to figure out what made him so different. His strength, his eyes, the way he carried himself, it all felt unnatural
And as much as she was afraid of what she might uncover, Fionna couldn't shake the feeling that she was about to learn something far bigger than she ever imagined.
[TO BE CONTINUED...?]