Hello and welcome readers to my Steven Universe fanfiction. Anyway, I don't own anything except for the OC. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. Steven Universe is owned by Cartoon Network and Rebecca Sugar; please support the Official Release.

Space Race

—…

It's been a week since the Lapis incident, and things were going back to normal. Greg's leg got healed, and the Gems got his van back up and running, which made for an amusing and awkward moment when Greg hugged Pearl. Now, Vergil and Steven were going back on missions with the Gems. Even after a thousand-year war, the Galaxy Warp remained. However, they were now inactive—Destroyed after the war was over.

Except for one. One that was used by the last Gems on the planet. The Crystal Gems warped to the Galaxy Warp. When the tunnel of light lifted, it treated Vergil and Steven to the sight of it.

The Galaxy Warp is the former central hub on Earth for interstellar transport through the galaxy used by Gems, replacing the Colony-type ships. The system consists of numerous Warp Pads of varying sizes that have been inactive for thousands of years. The Galaxy Warp is located atop a large plateau, surrounded by the Tunguska Sea and numerous smaller islands in the middle of a chunk land area of Siberia.

Six massive crystalline rock formations surround the perimeter of the summit, which houses sixteen individual Warp Pads arranged in a crop circle-like pattern. The central pad directly links Earth with the Gem Homeworld.

"Woah." Steven marveled.

"So this is the Galaxy Warp." Vergil looked around in wonder.

The Gems started moving around as Garnet stepped on one of the Warp Pads—Checking to see if it worked or not.

"Inactive." Garnet announced. Steven proceeds to paste a sticker of a crying apple on the Warp Pad.

Amethyst jumped onto another warp pad and tried to warp somewhere else. But just like the others, it didn't work. "Inactive!" She announced. Steven ran over and pasted another sticker on the warp pad—This time of a crying croissant.

Vergil walked over to one of the broken pads as well. He stepped on it and tried to warp it to a random location. But it didn't work either. "Inactive!" He announced. Steven ran over and slapped one of his stickers on the Warp Pad. This one was of a crying potato.

Pearl stood on yet another pad. She looked down at it and said disappointingly. "Inactive." Steven walked over to her and pasted another sticker of a crying pear on the warp pad. This one was a crying pear.

"Do we have to check all of them?" Amethyst complained tiredly. "They're all still inactive, like always."

"We need to make sure." Garnet answered firmly, walking away to another set of pads.

"I've never seen so many Warp Pads before!" Steven pulled out two stacks of colorful Crying Breakfast Friends stickers. "I hope I have enough of these Crying Breakfast Friends stickers. Where do all these Warp Pads go, anyway?"

Vergil looked around at the other pads and kicked a pebble away. "Apparently, they warp you to other planets or even out into space."

With a small smile, Pearl sat down on the warp pad she was standing on as Vergil and Steven walked over to her, anticipating another piece of information from the Gems. "That's correct, you see, boys, these Warp Pads were used to travel off-planet. They were our connection to the Gem Homeworld and to Gem-controlled planets all over the universe."

The two young Gems looked up at the sky in awe, and Steven gasped with stars in his eyes. "You mean we could go anywhere we want in outer space?" He exclaimed, excited about the idea of going on a planetary adventure to other worlds.

"Yeah…" Amethyst came over apprehensively while scratching her butt. "We could do that if they weren't all busted."

"It's true." Pearl said with a look of disappointment. Further emphasizing the hopeless circumstances. "The Galaxy Warp have all been inactive for thousands of years."

"Can't we fix them?" Steven asked, hopeful.

"…No." Garnet responded in her usual blunt tone. Her shades reflect the sky.

"Steven, they're the ones who broke the Warp Pards to begin with." Vergil informed him.

"Is that true?" Steven asked with a questionable look.

"…Yes." Garnet said, still being blunt.

"It's fine." Pearl reassured with a small, fake chuckle. "I'll always have my memories of other worlds. But now I'm here. On Earth. Forever." She finished with an expression that grew more miserable as she spoke.

"With me!" Steven attempted to cheer her up.

"And me." Vergil added softly while holding her hand.

Pearl paused for a moment, trying her best to lighten her saddened expression for the sake of Steven and Vergil. But all she could offer was a weak smile. "Right, with you two." Pearl said, patting them both on the head as she stood up. She walked up to a broken Warp Pad. He followed her as she gazed up at the distant, countless stars. "It really is incredible out there, though. I wish you both could see it."

Steven, seeing that the Warp Pad is visibly broken, pastes a sticker of a crying waffle on it.

Garnet turned back to the only available Warp Pad that would take them back to the Temple. Amethyst hurriedly followed her while Pearl still lingered behind—Staring up at the starry night sky with a wistful gaze, letting out a soft sigh.

The following day, Steven and Vergil went to It's A Wash to meet with Greg. They plugged in an old TV, and Greg and Steven started watching 'Crying Breakfast Friends!' outside. On-screen, various breakfast-themed characters are crying, such as Crying Waffle, Crying Pear, Sad Apple, and Spilled Milk.

{Stay tuned for another episode of Crying Breakfast Friends!} The TV Narrator announced.

"Yeesh. I must be getting old. I used to like cartoons." Greg rubbed the top of his head.

"It's not you, Greg." Vergil reassured him, sitting on top of the van and on his phone—Clearly not interested in watching the show. "That whole show just doesn't make sense."

Steven wasn't bothered by their opinions and instead started a conversation with his father. "Hey, Dad, did you know the Gems used to travel all over outer space?"

Greg chuckled and rolled his eyes back. "Yeah. They're pretty far out, son."

"I think Pearl really misses going out there." Steven feels down before he sees a comet print on Greg's Van and gets an idea. "Dad, can you help me build a spaceship?"

Greg paused before looking uncomfortable at him. "…You know, that might be a little outside my skill set. How 'bout a bunk bed with wings? I could probably do that."

"No way! We could totally build a spaceship!" Steven declared as he stood up on his chair, motivated. "People have done it before, and we're people!

Greg thought about it. "We are people."

Steven's eyes lit up again. "And Pearl would love it so much to see space again."

Greg pondered the idea before caving in. "…Sure. Why not? How hurt could we get?"

"Vergil, are you in!" Steven loudly requested, looking up at the van.

Vergil sat up and looked at him. "In what? What's going on?"

"We're gonna build a spaceship together!" Steven proclaimed enthusiastically.

"Steven, you can't just build a spaceship. It doesn't work like that." Vergil informed him with a sigh.

"Why not?" Steven wasn't swayed. "People have done it before, and we're people."

"Yeah, but it takes like hundreds of people to build a spaceship. Three guys can't do it on their own." Vergil corrected him logically. "And even then, we don't have parts or equipment or anything."

"Actually, I think I can help with that." Greg suggested a solution.

After arriving in the countryside outside of town in Greg's Van, Greg brings them to a barn full of various junk.

The barn just looked like any ordinary barn. It was large and red with a black roof located uphill and across the bay from Beach City. However, surprisingly, it was filled with a large variety of scraps, including several airplane engines and parts. Some other contents were hats, bowling balls, materials, a stuffed dinosaur, paint, and much more.

"My aunt and uncle had a great love for aviation and each other." The Car-Wash owner explained, pointing to a portrait of his relatives on the wall. "They cherished the years they spent together, and they held on to every belonging they ever owned…" Greg stopped to think about what he had just said. "Kind of like me and my storage shed… I'm starting to think our family has a problem."

"Starting to?" Vergil gave him a deadpan expression.

"This is great!" Steven cheered before announcing. "I hereby declare this barn to be Dimension & Universe & Universe's Universal Space Travel HQ!"

"Steven, while I appreciate the fact that you put my name first on the brand, I'm still not 100% on this." Vergil told him, unsure about this whole thing.

"It'll work." Steven assured him optimistically. "We'll start building. You go get Pearl."

With a shrug, Vergil left to go collect Pearl and bring her to the barn while Steven and Greg began to draw a cartoonish design on a chalkboard and began their attempt at building a jury-rig spaceship using wood and duct tape. It hardly looked like they even knew what they were doing.

Before long, Vergil brought Pearl, and Steven was covering her eyes, to the barn as a surprise. He then stopped Pearl as they stood in front of the barn.

"Okay, now." Steven exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. He uncovered Pearl's eyes, and she looked up at a sign hanging on the doorway of the barn.

"DUUU Space Travel"?" Pearl read the sign on the barn. She looked at Steven and Vergil with confusion. "What is this?"

"Well, it wasn't my idea if that's what you're thinking." Vergil crossed his arms.

"We built a spaceship!" Steven exclaimed brightly. He then ran to the barn.

"A spaceship?" Pearl asked, intrigued.

"No, not a spaceship." Vergil informed her.

"A spaceship!" Steven reiterated again after pushing out his so-called 'spaceship. Pearl's intrigue quickly washed away as the boy gestured to a tiny little cart made of wood, a black seat, a crude windshield, and four small wheels. It has a traffic cone nailed on the front as a nose and two wings attached to the sides with tape.

Pearl raises an eyebrow. "A spaceship."

"I repeat, not a spaceship." Vergil reiterated, facepalming.

Steven wasn't detoured and was eager to test out the vessel. So, the young boy got in the crudely made spaceship, and he prepared to pilot it down the hill by the barn. Pearl and Vergil followed the father and son to the hilltop, skeptical about the cart actually being able to fly, but she didn't show it—Vergil did, though.

After his son placed his helmet on his head and covered his eyes with goggles, Greg knelt down to brief Steven. "Now, remember Steven, if you run into any trouble out there, you can always bail. There's never any shame in bailing."

"Fatherly advice understood!" He said with a salute. "Thank you, Dad. Light the engines."

"Roger that!" Greg lit a sparkler and placed it at the back of the "spaceship".

"Next stop: Outer space!" Steven exclaimed, raring to go.

"Blast-off!" Greg exclaimed, pushing the spaceship with his legs.

They all watched from the hill as gravity took control and propelled the cart down the hill, with Steven riding in it. He begins riding towards a ramp at the bottom of the hill. At first, It looked like things were going to be okay. But then it became apparent that Steven wasn't slowing down. In fact, he was picking up a lot of speed.

And things started to fall apart—Literally, starting with one of the wings that was taped on to rip off in the wind. Then, the wooden sides of the cart broke off, along with the back wheels coming off.

Pearl panicked. "Aah!"

"Oh no." Vergil grimaced.

"No shame!" Steven shouted, leaping out of the crumbling ship.

The "spaceship" rams into the ramp—Breaking the wooden ramp and breaking the ship into pieces on impact with the rock.

"I think your calculations may have been off." The white Gem remarked caustically.

"Well, they can't be off if you don't do any." Greg clarified.

"And that is why two guys can't build a spaceship." Vergil said, vexed.

After Steven made it back up to the barn, Pearl stood in front of the chalkboard while the other three sat in front of her. The Gem was mulling over the simple sketch of Steven in a spaceship, flying through outer space, until Pearl pointed at Steven's drawing on the chalkboard with a questioning look. "Did you really think this was gonna work?"

Steven & Greg shrugged in an 'I don't know' kind of way and hummed. [Mnh-mnh-mnh.]

"The obvious answer is no." Vergil muttered, sounding bored.

"Here, look." Pearl flips the other side of the chalkboard. Grabbing a piece of chalk, she started drawing out a more suitable design for the rocket. "You need smooth, curving surfaces. Otherwise, you're never gonna get enough speed to break Earth's gravitational pull. Probably swept-back wings for supersonic flight, airtight cockpit with ejector seat, and we'll need some serious engines, or maybe rockets would be better."

"I vote rockets!" Steven exclaimed excitedly.

"Where are we going to get rockets?" Vergil questioned profusely.

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on a sec." Greg interjected before this went on any further. "We're not actually talking about building something like this, right?"

Pearl looked away from her detailed diagram of an actual spaceship on the chalkboard and looked at them. "What? This?!" She gestured to the chalk drawing before laughing a little. "Of course not. That would be ridiculous." Pearl, however, switched from going against the idea to thinking more about it. "I mean, yes, theoretically, it's not a stretch. You've got plenty of spare parts here, albeit for incredibly primitive propulsion-based space travel. The idea is ludicrous. It would never work, althoooooough… Several humans, a monkey, and a dog did make it into space." At this point, Pearl was entirely in on the idea as her excitement levels grew more and more. "I don't know why. I've never even thought of it before. This could actually work!"

"Woah, this is actually coming together." Vergil thought, feeling more confident in this idea compared to before.

"Uh…" Steven and Greg said in unison, unsure of how to answer.

"I hear what you're saying, and I agree—" Pearl said, pacing behind Greg and Steven. "It would be incredibly dangerous, a fool's errand." She stopped for a moment to pull a lob of stuffing out of Greg's loveseat. "This chair is disgusting. But aren't the true fools the ones who don't seize an opportunity despite all the inherent risks?" She hands Greg the lob of stuffing. "And I'd be able to show Steven and Vergil the wonders of the cosmos!" The white Gem said with a determined look up at the sky, clasped her hands in delight, and smiled wistfully. "And maybe just for a second, from a distance, I could see what's been going on without me." Steven gazes excitedly at Pearl, and Vergil looks at her with a new sense of enthusiasm. "Alright! Let's do it!"

"DUUU Space Travel, GOOOOO!" Steven proclaimed loudly.

"Yeah, and we should come up with a new name!" Vergil pointed his hand to the sky.

And so began a long day of working towards their goal of making a spaceship. With the design drawn out and with Pearl's intellect and knowledge to guide them, the group set to work on building a spaceship.

Greg brought out the tools from the barn, and Pearl examined how they worked, like the drill. Vergil helped Steven and the father bring out some of the parts from inside. As the father and son carried out a wing, Vergil looked over the blueprints to know precisely what part would go where.

A moment later, Vergil was sorting out different parts from one of the planes, taking only the things they would need for the spaceship. After putting all the essential parts in a pile, he showed it to Pearl. The white Gem took a moment to look at it before smiling and nodding at the half-Gem. She handed it off to Steven, who ran off to put it with the other parts. Greg was sitting on the ground, reading a book on advanced avionics, and did not understand anything about it.

Pearl had everyone get to work on building March 2 of the ship as soon as the parts were collected, which was a glider. Deciding that they needed to test out the engine first and that a glider would be the best platform to do it, they got to work on building it and then resembling it into a working machine that was capable of flight. As Vergil was fixing up the engine, Pearl was welding the frame of the glider.

Steven had his own blowtorch and used it to cook grilled cheeses with Greg, which made Vergil facepalm. A few minutes later, they were on a lunch break while Steven and Greg ate and drank water. Vergil went back to using his phone, and Pearl sat in the love chair with a pleasant smile.

About an hour later, the engine was complete. The four stood the engine on melt legs outside and then got behind a turned-over table. With the control in her hands, Pearl turned on the engine. The machine rumbled and shook as it powered up. She then cranked up the power, and the engine's exhaust nozzle roared with a blue flame shot from it. The Gem gave it more energy, and the machine flew off its legs—Flying around the area before passing over the group and going up. It flew straight up before exploding.

Pearl and Vergil looked at it for a moment with Steven and Greg. Vergil slowly looked at Pearl. She looked rather proud of his quality work on the engine, and Steven gave him a thumbs up. Greg looked a bit more startled than the others.

A few moments later, Pearl told Vergil she had an errand for him, and so he dashed off using his super speed until he was out of sight. Greg and Steven then assembled the glider, and the other two team members placed the engine onto the vehicle with a small seat for Steven.

Finally, after a full day of hard work, Mach 2 was done. Steven took the pilot's seat and prepared for launch. With that, he took the glider into the sky. The young boy steered the aircraft with wide-eyed excitement as he curved through the air with grace and skill. Steven cried out in joy as he turned right. The jet engine propelled them over the barn.

While Pearl was smiling at how well the project was coming along, Greg was still a little nervous. Holding up a walkie-talkie, he pressed the button and called them. "Ground Control to Mach 2. Come in, Mach 2. How are you doing, buddy?

"Aah! Aah-aah-aah-aah! Woow!" Steven continued to cheer incomprehensible in the wind.

"You think we're taking this a little far?" Greg asked the tall Gem apprehensively.

"We're not even close to being done." Pearl said, looking back up at the approaching glider.

"We're not?" Greg sounded perplexed.

"Okay, Steven. Go ahead and bring her down." Pearl instructed him with the walkie-talkie.

Using the wind, Steven piloted Mach 2 down toward the ground—Landing the prototype smoothly on the hill. He smiled when he came to a stop. But then it jotted forward a bit when the engine suddenly backfired behind them. The wings collapsed immediately. Luckily, the ejection worked and shot Steven out of the seat.

He landed on the ground before Steven raised his fists in the air. "Wooo!"

"Was it supposed to fall apart like that?" Greg asked analytically. The engine suddenly exploded, destroying the glider with it.

"Don't worry." Pearl said reassuringly. "This was just to test my engine concept. I'll work out the kinks in the next one."

"Hang on, hang on. Next one?" Greg looked alarmed at her.

Just then, Vergil flew in from the sky with his wings out and floated down slowly to land in front of Pearl before shape-shifting his wings back into his arms.

"I'm back!" He announced.

"Oh, Vergil, did you get the rocket fuel?" Pearl asked hopefully.

"You bet I did." Vergil reached for his Gem as it glowed, and he reached inside to pull out a medium-sized keg of fuel. "One keg of rocket fuel, fresh from Miami."

"You went all the way to Miami?" Greg asked with shock.

"What? It was the only place I knew that had a space shuttle." Vergil shrugged as though he was being told off.

"Excellent work, Vergil." Pearl praised him, very pleased, which made him happy. "This is just what we needed."

"Was it okay for you to just take that?" Steven asked curiously.

"Oh, what's the harm?" Vergil brushed it off. "What would they say, some random kid speed-blitzed into the space station and picked up some rocket fuel before putting it inside a magical Gem on his body, and then sprouted wings before flying off?" He gave a detailed description of what had actually happened. "Who would believe that?"

"Oh, sweet Rosebud." Greg cringed.

"We're almost ready. Is there a shop in town that carries F-1 single-nozzle liquid-fueled rockets?" Pearl asked the former rockstar nonchalantly.

Greg stared at her, startled and shocked. "You really are serious!"

"Well, Of course! What do you think all this was for?" Vergil wondered why he was even asking. "What, did you think all this time we were just doing this for fun?"

"Exactly!" Pearl said as if it was apparent. "We're also going to need a spacesuit for Steven so he doesn't freeze or explode."

Steven imitates an explosion with his hands.

"Fortunately, I don't need a spacesuit to survive the trip." Vergil said like he was bragging.

"Lucky." Steven replied with joking envy.

"Whoa!" Greg said, finally putting his foot down. "You are not taking Steven to space."

"Yes, I am." Pearl said with a smile on her face. Not at all taking into account what the men told her.

"No! I'm not allowing it!" He protested.

"But why? This is why we founded Dimension Universe & Universe." Steven said with sad sincerity.

"Steven, you're grounded." Greg asserted.

"What?!" Steven asked in shock.

"But he didn't do anything?" Vergil noted, not understanding the reason for the punishment.

"No, no. I mean, he's grounded!" Greg explained before turning back to Steven. "You don't get to leave Earth."

"Oh…" Steven said, now getting what Greg meant. But then, even more distraught, exclaimed. "What?!"

"As C.E.O. and Supreme Space Commander, I hereby ground this astronaut and cancel this mission." Greg said firmly to his son.

"Aw, man!" Steven mauled as he walked over to stand next to Greg. "Stupid company by-laws."

"I'm beginning to see why more people are self-employed these days." Vergil noticed, still standing beside Pearl.

"Hey! Who made you C.E.O.?" Pearl demanded, appalled by Greg's decision.

Greg tilted his head towards Steven, who smiled sheepishly. "He did."

"But you barely did any work at all and left all the complicated stuff to someone else." Vergil protested before he stopped and thought about what he had said. "Which, I guess… Is kinda like a real C.E.O."

"Fine!" Pearl shouted, quite outraged. "If neither of you will help, Vergil and I will just do it by ourselves! Not like it'll be much different." She stormed off into the barn as Vergil followed her and looked back at Greg.

"To make it official, I, the head of the engineering department of DUUU Space Travel, hereby secede my department from the organization and intend to continue the operation independently." Vergil announced before entering the barn and shutting the door.

"Pearl, Vergil!" Steven called out before he slumped. "Aw, the organization we built from the ground up fell apart."

Greg walked over and stood with the boy. Placing his hand on Steven's shoulder, he said sympathetically. "I'm sorry, bud. Sometimes, you just have to know when to bail.

Night fell upon the tiny little town of Beach City, and so did the barn. Greg was fast asleep in his van, parked next to the barn. Steven is sleeping on top of the van in his caterpillar sleeping bag when Pearl comes in and pokes him in the face.

"M-mm… Wha?" Steven groaned before waking up.

"Shh!" Pearl shushed him before she smiled and whispered. "Want to see something really cool?"

They got down from the van and went past Greg, who was snoring and sleep-talking. "No. Don't give him the banana. That's what he wants."

Pearl and Steven sneak past Greg and towards the barn. Pearl opens the barn door to reveal a completed spaceship. "Presenting the brand-new ballistic-flight-capable Dimension Universe Mach 3!"

Steven gasped and shouted in excitement. "Spaceship!" He ran towards the machine, laughing happily and moving around it on all sides of it.

"Wait, Steven. Keep your voice down." Pearl said, trying to calm the excited boy down from waking up Greg.

Steven grunted and laughed as Vergil came out from behind the ship and smiled proudly. "What do you think? Not bad for a one-night job, huh?"

"I'll say." Steven looked all over the ship before noticing the Universe label from his father's van on the side of the ship. "Whoa! It's even got the logo from the van!"

"And if your dad asks, we'll say we borrowed it." Pearl said with a smile.

"Yeah, borrowed, but without giving it back." Vergil said in a roundabout way.

Climbing into the cockpit of Mach 3, Steven sat in the love chair Pearl used as the seat. "Whoa, Look at all the buttons! I must press them all."

"If you want, Steven, we could take her out for an engine check." Pearl proposed to Steven and, with a quick flash of light, changed her outfit into a skintight spacesuit. "It'll be quick."

"Yeah, and it'll be fun too." Vergil urged him to say yes.

Pearl went up the ladder of the ship and climbed into the cockpit. Picking up Steven, she sat down in the chair before placing Steven in her lap. Vergil hopped onto one of the wings on the side of the ship and held onto it while kneeling.

"Aren't you going to ride inside the ship?" Steven asked curiously.

"Unfortunately, the maximum capacity of passengers on the inside is two, being you and me." Pearl explained.

"Besides, I'll be fine like this." Vergil reassured him. "I've seen Sonic the Hedgehog ride planes and ships like this all the time."

Despite Pearl's attempt to hide the starship from Greg, nothing could stop the loud noise it made when its engines started powering up—Causing the ground to rumble from it and waking up Greg. "Wha?! What the…?" He looked around before noticing his van had been tampered with. "Pearl!"

Jumping out of the van, Greg ran up to the front of the barn. The ship was rolling out of the barn, and inside the cockpit, he saw his son and Pearl piloting the Mach 3 away.

"Steven, what are you doing?!" He yelled up to his son. Greg chased after Mach 3 as it unfolded its wings. But it was too late. With a loud rev of the engines, the rockets fire up, creating a blast that knocks Greg back. The ship shot forward with a powerful boom, shooting across the yard before gracefully lifting off the ground and into the air.

After watching the ship ascend into the sky, Greg quickly got up and ran towards the barn.

Pearl began to glide Mach 3 over the ocean—Smiling confidently and proudly as Steven looked out the window in amazement. Vergil stayed on the wing, looking excitedly as the high pressure and G-force traveling at such a fast speed and high altitude didn't bother him at all. Probably due both the fact that he has both the powers of flight and super speed, along with the fact that he can survive and even breathe in any atmosphere.

"Wow! Look! You can see the temple!" Steven said, pointing at the ground with a light laugh.

"You can see the whole city!" Vergil said, looking downward.

Pearl focused on adjusting the ship controls. "Mm-hmm."

That was when the ship's intercom lit up. "Hey, can you hear me!?" Greg's voice asked over the radio transmission from the ground and watched the ship through a pair of binoculars—Sounding frightened and concerned.

"Hey, Dad, guess where I am," Steven said lightheartedly, despite Greg freaking out.

"We'll give you three guesses." Vergil played along like it was a joke.

"I know where you are! It's where you're going that concerns me!" Greg exclaimed through the radio.

"Don't worry, Dad. This is just a quick test flight." Steven told his dad.

"This will be perfectly fine. Just a pop over to the nearest star system." Pearl said evenly. "I'll give him back in 50 years."

"50 years?" Steven exclaimed at the same time. Now that the young boy realized what she was saying and doing, he looked at her in disbelief, too.

"What?! I'll be dead in 50 years! Pearl, you bring him back right now, or I'll—" Pearl turned off her end of the transmission—Cutting off Greg and leaving Steven to start panicking, even if Vergil and Pearl were as calm and collected as ever.

Vergil placed a finger on his chin and pondered his thoughts. "Hmm, I wonder if Pokemon will still be a thing in 50 years?"

"Pearl, I'm not supposed to go. Pearl!" Steven tried getting her attention.

"It's okay, Steven!" Vergil knocked on the outside of the cockpit to get his attention. "I was surprised at first too, but I decided— To a Gem! 50 years isn't really that long! And Garnet and Amethyst will still be here when we get back! Just the same as they are now."

"He's absolutely right! Oh, this is so exciting! Steven, you're gonna love it." She said before playing on a keyboard panel that she used as a makeshift console. The back of the wings opened to reveal eight small engines. As the boys heard the sounds of the engines getting ready to ignite, Steven got back into Pearl's lap, and Vergil braced himself. "Hang on tight!"

Pearl pushed the control handles forward, activating the afterburners. Vergil grunted as he was pushed back. March 3 darted across the ocean before it turned sharply upward into the sky. The ship gained even more speed as it climbed into the heavens and approached the atmosphere. Piecing through the clouds, Mach 3 opened itself to the vastness of space it was traveling towards.

That was until Steven glanced tentatively out the window, only to see a piece of scrap metal peel off the ship and scrape against the windshield as it fell back down to earth.

"What was that?" Steven asked before another piece of metal came off.

"Was that the sound of a metal plate peeling?" Vergil asked tentatively.

That's when the warning lights in the cockpit begin to flash on.

"Is that the sound of the warning alarm alarming?!" Vergil asked, also alarmed.

More scrap metal pieces are seen falling off Mach 3 as it penetrates the atmosphere. It was becoming apparent that the ship could not withstand the gravitational pull of the earth and wasn't strong enough to pierce through the atmosphere.

"Pearl!?" Steven turned to her fearfully.

"Pearl! The ship's falling apart!" Vergil told her worriedly, aware of the danger they were now in. "It's not going to hold out!"

"We can make it." Pearl said with resolve, paying little attention to the warning signs. Pushing the ship even further. "We're almost there."

As the ship approached the atmosphere, more of the Mach 3 began to fall apart. Not just the tiny pieces but essential parts of the hull—Showing visible tears in its shell. The engines were becoming unstable, and smoking poured out of them heavily.

"Pearl!" Steven called to her, trying to get her attention in vain.

"Why?! Why did we make this a rush job?!" Vergil cried out in hindsight.

"I'm gonna show it to you." Pearl said, continuing to be oblivious to the situation. Her eyes were watery and were on the verge of tears. But she remained determined to make it to the stars.

Steven looked around the cockpit in panic—Trying to find a way that might help them. They had to get off this ship. But how? That's when he saw the release mechanism from the seat ejection. Pearl had used an actual ejection system from the Air Force boneyard to make it. He pulls on it, and it releases the glass hatch covering the cockpit, exposing him and Pearl to the atmosphere.

"Steven! What are you doing?!" Pearl asked, upset and dismayed.

"We need to go, Pearl! We're not gonna make it!" Steven told her with urgency.

"But we're almost there!" Pearl insisted, not wanting to give up.

"Pearl!" Steven gently placed his hands on Pearl's cheeks and made her look at him. "I know you miss space, and I know you worked hard, but sometimes… You just got to know when to bail." He recited the advice Greg gave him.

"Pearl!" Vergil called out, also getting her attention. "Just because this ship didn't work doesn't mean we won't get another chance! We'll find a way! No matter what!" He promised seriously. So for now… Let's head back!"

Pearl sheds a tear as she gazes up to space and then backs down at the boys, needing to choose which is more important to her. Without even needing to think about it, she made her choice. She then pulls a lever on the side of the chair she is sitting on and hugs Steven tightly. The chair ejects both of them out of the spaceship, and Vergil spreads his wings before jumping off just as it explodes.

"Nooooo!" Greg screamed in horror after watching the ship explode from the ground and scanned the sky with his binoculars, hoping beyond hope that they survived. "Please-please-please-please-please!" He finally sees the ejected Pearl and Steven floating back to Earth with a parachute along with Vergil, who glides around them. "Ahhhh…" He said in amazement before falling onto his knees. "Ohhhhh…" He gasped out breathlessly, holding his chest. "Ohh, this kid's killing me…" He then lay down and cowered. He was very tired from the emotional roller coaster he went through. "Ughhhh…"

As they gently floated back to Earth, Pearl lovingly wrapped her arms around Steven. "I'm so sorry. I almost got us killed."

"I'm used to it." Steven casually rebuttals.

"It is a shame we couldn't go to space, though." Vergil brought up, looking up at the sky above. "I guess we just weren't ready for it today."

"But like you said—We'll get there someday—" Steven looked up at Pearl. "I promise."

Pearl adverted her eyes a bit. "You know, I think I'd rather be here on Earth." She said, smiling contently.

"With me!" Steven happily added while still looking up.

"And me!" Vergil did the same.

"Yeah. With you." Pearl said softly with her smile widened.

The star iris zooms in on the distant sunset, ending the episode.

And that's the chapter.

There weren't many changes to be made for this chapter, but I felt it was fine this way. Plus, I got it finished faster than I usually do, which is a win for me.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed. If you want more, then be sure to leave a review. If you like the story, click follow or favorite, and as always people, have an awesome day.