Catch Up
Just one day shy of two weeks since he went missing, the Crystal Gems super soldier unexpectantly retuned with new weapons, armor, seventeen vehicles, and various other items. He told them exactly what went down, which had worrisome implications.
Flashback
"This could be a problem." Garnet stated uneasily.
Amethyst and Pearl nodded in agreement.
"I know." Jason shook his head. "The normal soldiers aren't that big a problem, but if they have more people like Frank, it becomes one."
"We'll have to be cautious." Garnet declared.
"You're not going to ask me to leave and take this problem with me?" Jason asked.
Sure, Humanity's Defense had problems with all of them, but the super soldier seemed to be their main target right now.
"You could have left when we were dealing with those monsters." Garnet reminded. "You could have lived in isolation and not dealt with other gems in general."
"You've had our back the whole time you've been here." Amethyst added.
"Well, we've had out rough patches, but you've always returned." Pearl corrected. "Besides, even if they're after you now, the leader of Humanity's Defense hates all things gem, so it's as much our problem as it is yours."
"All I can say is I won't let any of you down." Jason declared with a smile.
Present
After that conversation, the gems filled the super soldier in on what he missed. Pearl attempted to build a rocket with Greg and Steven and almost ended up taking the boy away for fifty years. Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst screwed up a little, releasing gem shards in the temple.
The trio decided to form a 'secret team' to fix their mistake before Garnet found out. She ended up finding out anyways. Steven then went on a camping trip with Sadie and Lars, only to get trapped on the island for several days because Sadie hid the warp pad.
She trapped Lars and Steven just because the former 'wouldn't ever let her help him'. Despite the fact she ended up poofing an invisible gem monster, Jason decided he'd have a little chat with Sadie eventually. After all, up until now, he thought she was quite the reasonable sort.
It appeared he should have thought more critically of her part in utilizing the fire salts to prank Lars. Finally, Steven hung out with Ronaldo and learned about some conspiracy theories around Beach City. They proved false when he found out it was all done by the Crystal Gems.
Jason had no idea how the guy wasn't tipped off. Regardless, it ultimately ended with him kidnapping Steven, and the gems were forced to rescue him. Unlike the Sadie situation, Steven being kidnapped was by his own hands.
Over a Week…
Jason spent the next week taking inventory of what he got from Humanity's Defense. Aside from the 17 vehicles, there were multiple sets of armor, various weapons, ammo, non-perishable food, computers, tablets, and medicine & medical supplies
"I'm starting to think I should build or contract a house to be built for me." Jason thought. "I'm sure I can get a permit from the mayor to build near the gems live. A garage, my own bedroom, maybe a basement, and extra rooms to store stuff would be welcome at this point."
That aside, it was time for Jason to address the issue that his allies were not ranged combatants. They are almost entirely limited to close quarters. The only thing he could think of was to ask any of them if they wanted to learn guns. Only the gem who'd already been learning agreed.
Sky Arena
"Pull!" The super soldier called out.
Garnet threw a disc of clay into the distance. Jason used a sniper rifle to scope it before taking the shot. The super soldier then looked at his spotter.
"It's a hit." Pearl declared while looking through some binoculars.
"With that, I think that's enough for today." Jason stated contently.
The group were standing in the arena Pearl took them to when she was showing Steven sword combat. It was also a place Jason visited often with the pale white gem for their lessons. Before it had just been sword and spears.
Now, it includes guns. Speaking of guns, Pearl excelled in dual wielding semi-automatic pistols. If she were to use one pistol, or a revolver, she wouldn't do as well when compared to using two at the same time or a two-handed weapon.
"You think?" Amethyst commented.
Jason looked at all the scattered clay from the discs Garnet had been hurling. "Yeah, I think so." He looked at the other two gems. "You sure you two don't want to try? It's pretty fun."
"I will admit there is a bit of an exhilarating feeling when it comes to firing these weapons." Pearl added.
"No." Garnet stood firm.
"Sorry, bro." Amethyst yawned. "Sounds like too much work."
"Alright then Pearl." Jason turned to his student. "You got firing down, and you already know the inner workings of most firearms. The next lesson is how to fight in close quarters with your guns."
"Why don't I just pull out my spear?" Pearl asked while beginning to perform said action.
Before she could fully pull it out, the super soldier grabbed her arm to halt her and placed the sniper rifle under her chin. "That's why."
Pearl let her spear go, and it disappeared back into her gem.
"Was that necessary?" Garnet asked.
"It was." Jason stated firmly before turning to her. "Look, the two of you may not want to do this, fine, but at least one of you does. That's why I'm going to make sure to teach her everything I know." He turned to Pearl.
"If you were dealing with a human that snuck up on you, or somehow got close like that, a smart or highly reflexive one would stop you from pulling out your weapon. Then, they'd put a round into you before you could react. Every. Second. Counts."
Pearl nodded. "I understand."
"Good, now we…" Jason began.
"Guys!" Steven ran in after appearing on the warp pad. "Could you come back to the house? We have a problem."
Beach House: Much Later…
"Alright, 1…2…3!" Jason grunted as he pulled the sweater over Greg's head.
His head finally popped out of the hole. "Thanks Jason."
"No problem." The super soldier replied.
Steven was pacing before the gems. "How am I supposed to choose just one of you to bring to dinner? You're all so cool!"
The boy had quickly filled everyone in on the situation with Connie's parents. Now, he was deliberating on who to take to the dinner. His dad was an obvious choice, but he's kind of got three moms to deal with, and all of them have unique personalities.
"Why does it have to be dinner?" Pearl asked in a disgusted tone. "We get all the energy we need from our gems, and while our human constructs are capable of eating, I find it very uncomfortable."
"I love eating!" Amethyst chucked. "Feels weird."
She then pulled out chips from a bag and proceeded to munch on them grossly.
"Okay, okay. Let's focus." Steven declared. "Which of you would make the best, most nuclear mom? Garnet, you keep us safe by scaring off the bad guys, just like a mom would." Her reply was to say nothing. "But you're not the best conversationalist. Amethyst, you would be a super fun mom!" Amethyst continued eating, picked her nose, and drooled. "Can moms be gross?"
"Why not?" Amethyst asked as she pulled a strand of mucus from her nose.
"Pearl!" Steven moved on without answering. "You're always worried about me, you teach me lots of stuff, and you're approachable." Amethyst continued eating, which doesn't sit right with Pearl. "But, you can't eat dinner." Steven sighed and walked to sit sadly on the couch beside Greg. "Man, why did Connie have to say I have one mother instead of zero or three?"
"We'll figure this out." Greg tried to comfort his son. "We just have to put our heads together."
"Why didn't I think of this before? It's so obvious!" Steven declared. "You can all come to dinner. All three of you fused into one!"
"What!?"
"Whoa!"
"What?"
"Steven, you know we only fuse in deadly situations!" Pearl exclaimed.
"It'd be like I'm actually bringing my whole family!" Steven tried to reason.
"That's insane." Amethyst bluntly stated.
"Fusion is serious." Garnet added. "Not a trick for dinner parties."
"I agree with Garnet." Jason stated.
"I know." Steven stated sadly. "I guess this is it. I'll never get to see Connie again. Oh Connie, I'll never know a star that shines as bright as you."
"We have no choice." Garnet submitted.
"Well, with that settled, what do you have for me?" Jason asked.
"That's easy." Steven stated. "You're the older brother that cares a lot about his little bro. You're always helping me out and protecting me whenever danger comes."
"That should be no problem." Jason smiled. "By the way, when's this dinner?"
"In 30 minutes." Steven replied.
"What!?" Jason yelled in surprise.
Restaurant: Evening…
After the last-minute notice Steven gave, Jason decided to drive on ahead, so he'd be on time. While the others got their situation sorted, he was to stall. Since this was to be formal, Jason wore a dark blue dress shirt with matching pants.
It wasn't long until the super soldier made it to the restaurant. "Well, this is the place."
He spotted a group of three sitting on one side of a table. From the hair on the child sitting at the end, he knew it was Connie and her parents.
Jason walked up to them with a nod. "Mr. and Mrs. Maheswaran, it's a pleasant to make your acquaintance." They looked at him. "My name is Jason West, and I'm Steven's older brother figure."
Connie gave him a questioning look along with her parents. He knew the girl was expecting Steven, Greg, and one of the gems to be here.
"If that's the case, where is the rest of the family?" Mrs. Maheswaran questioned, critically.
"That's actually why I'm here now, ma'am." Jason replied. "It's taking the family a bit longer to get ready than usual, so they sent me on ahead to ensure one of us would be here on time to explain this unfortunate turn of events. I hope you can forgive us."
Mr. Maheswaran leaned over to his wife. "Well, the more the merrier I say."
"Alright." Mrs. Maheswaran relented. "We were most interested in meeting Steven's parents, but meeting all of his family is an improvement." She then looked around. "Though I do hope they get here…"
The ground shook roughly, interrupting the mother's words. Suddenly, the family of three were looking past the super soldier prompting him to follow their gaze.
"Hi Connie! Hi Jason! Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Maheswaran!" Steven greeted from the top of the fusion's shoulder, with Greg on the other side.
The fusion used some of her hands to lower Greg and Steven to the ground.
"Thanks…honeybun?" Greg awkwardly stated.
"You're welcome…Greg." The fusion replied hesitantly.
Greg got the ball rolling. "I'm Greg Universe, and this massive drink of water is my wife, Alexandrite."
"Hi-i-i-i-i-i." Alexandrite stated awkwardly.
Dinner went by for a few minutes until Alexandrite proceeded to start munching on 6 breadsticks, at once, in a crouched position.
"I hope this place has unlimited breadsticks." Mr. Maheswaran whispered to his wife.
"Don't be rude." His wife scolded.
"Bleh." Alexandrite stuck her tongue out in disgust.
"That has to be Pearl's side." Jason thought.
Greg chuckled nervously at the fusion's action. "Isn't my wife a riot?"
"So, how did you two meet?" Connie's mom asked.
"How did we meet?" Greg muttered, clearly not prepared to be put on the spot. "Well, we…"
"They met on a roller coaster!" Steven interrupted. "She was too tall to ride! Heh-heh."
Connie shook her head in disapproval.
"Uh, I remember it like it was yesterday, right honey?" Greg answers while laughing nervously.
"Eh-hem." Connie's dad coughed to get their attention. "Uh, what is it that you two do for a living, Mr. and Mrs. Universe?"
"Well, I own a local car wash, and my sweet, dear wife here…" Greg was blanking.
"My mom works on an apple farm!" Steven declared.
Connie sighed and slammed her head on the table.
"I really wish this hadn't been short notice." Jason thought. "If I had been told in advance, I could have prepared them for this."
"What did we say about heads on the table?" Connie's mom scolded her daughter.
"She uses all her arms to pick apples out of huge trees." Steven continued.
"You know what they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Greg declared.
"Yes, I hate doctors." Alexandrite added.
"Well, I'm a doctor." Mrs. Maheswaran informed; a tad miffed.
"Steven, help me find the restroom!" Connie frantically voiced.
He nodded before heading off with Connie into the restaurant.
"What is it that you do, Jason?" Connie's mother asked.
"I actually happen to serve in the World Army." Jason decided to go with a stretched truth. "Though, I only joined shortly after finishing high school."
"Oh, you're a soldier." Mr. Maheswaran commented with a smile. "That's an honorable profession young man. I actually work as a security guard for a private security firm."
"That's just as honorable in my eyes sir." Jason answered truthfully. "Any jobs that saves or protects lives automatically has my respect."
"Where did you go to school?" Mrs. Maheswaran questioned.
"I actually got it through the army, ma'am." Jason answered as truthfully as possible. "My father is a high ranking official, so I took my classes on base."
"So, you have a father then?" Mrs. Maheswaran questioned.
"That is correct." Jason nodded. "I do remember telling you I was Steven's brother figure. That came about when my father sent me to live with this family. It's been a real positive experience."
"We couldn't be more grateful to have him." Greg added.
"We couldn't agree more." Alexandrite stated.
Connie and Steven ended up returning before dinner was served.
"So, Steven was telling me on his mom's apple farm they're bioengineering a gala-fuji hybrid." Connie explained.
"Yes, that's definitely true." Steven declared in a somewhat annoyed manner.
"Ugh!" The fusion had popcorn shrimp but ended up smooshing it against their face. "What are you doing?" Another of her hands slapped herself in the face. "I'm hungry!" A second mouth appeared below her face. "I don't think so. Cut it out, you two. Grrrrr-ugh!"
Alexandrite proceeded to slap, punch, and hit herself in various ways.
"Stop! You don't have to eat it!" Steven yelled in hopes of stopping her.
Alexandrite started moaning at the news, and her face began to crack. Everyone gasped as she broke apart. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl dropped, hitting the ground roughly.
"Steven!" Pearl cried as she crawled towards him. "Thank you. You don't know how horrified I was when that dreck nearly fell into our mouths. Eating food is so disgusting! You chew it into nasty mush, swallow that goop, and it comes out of you? What a completely horrid experience!"
"Uh, speak for yourself." Amethyst put in her two cents on the issue as she walked up to Pearl. "I love it when mush passes through my body."
"It doesn't matter what you two think." Garnet scolded before bonking their heads with her gauntlets. "We're doing this for Steven!"
"Ah!" The two cried out in pain.
"What is going on here?" Connie's dad questioned. "Who are they!?"
"I knew I should have trusted my bad feelings about this new friend of yours, but I never thought I wouldn't be able to trust my own daughter." Connie's mom scolded.
Said child was horrified and tried to run off; however, Jason stopped her. "Hold on just a minute, please." Everyone looked at him. "I know this seems bad, but I implore you to look at it as I see things. Everything was done with the best of intentions.
Connie and Steven value each other's company to the point they went to all these lengths. Connie wanted you to like Steven, so she told you what she thought you wanted to hear. On Steven's side, he just wanted his whole family here.
Yeah, it's not a nuclear family, but it is a loving one. Just look at what everyone here did tonight. Steven wanted you two to meet his whole family, but he also wanted to conform to the idea you had about us. His three guardians came together and attempted to fulfill both wants.
Greg Universe, who isn't married to any of them, played along with this because he knows how much his son loves his guardians. Our families might be different, but I can see what makes us the same. The love we have for the children we care for."
"Wow." Connie's mom stated, genuinely impressed. "You must really care about Steven to say all of that."
"I'm not the only one who loves this kid." Jason ruffled his hair while the gems and Greg came to stand with him. "Can't you look past what happened here tonight and see what I do?"
"Well, I must confess I wasn't certain what to make of this new development, but there is truth in what you say." Connie's mom voiced
"So, can I still hang out with Steven?" Connie asked hopefully.
"Sure." Her mom answered.
"Alright!" Steven declared, elated.
He laughed while hugging Connie. Her response to his affection was to chuckle nervously at the contact along with a large blush appearing on her face.
"Uh!" Both of Connie's parents voiced, disgusted at the scene.
Mr. Maheswaran grunted as he walked over to the two and separated them with a satisfied look.
The poll as it currently stands: In my story, Universal Rewrite, should Steven's mom be Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz? (Do you want Steven's mom to be a genuine Rose Quartz or the canon of Pink Diamond shape shifts into Rose Quartz)
Pink Diamond: 5
Rose Quartz: 3
This takes into account the votes on pole and reviews, as well as the fact the review who put his vote to now settling on just Pink Diamond.
Da Lone Ranger: Noted.
dindagangleader14: What I will say is, I am a fan of Steven Universe and enjoy it from the first episode all the way to the last. That said, I believe if you're going to write fanfiction, you got to change the story. That's not to say no one can enjoy a retelling of something, but it's not what I personally look for. To that extent, I'm fully disregarding all the reasons we were given why the diamonds had to live. Does this mean I'm going to have them shattered? No, that's not what I'm saying.
What I am saying is...things like them just being too powerful for any gem or fusion to ever beat, them being needed to continue gem reproduction, and curing corruption are not going to actively take into account. Again, I'm not one of those people who think the diamonds needed to die, but one issue I take is they were given every reason under the sun why that wasn't an option.
