Steven woke the next morning in a much better mood than when he got home the night before. "Good morning!" he cheered at the top of the stairs. He jumped over the side and floated down. "Steven!" Amethyst cheered.
"What were you doing last night, Amethyst?" Steven asked. "I saw you in the water."
"I was playing with the fish," Amethyst said. She sat on the counter, then turned into a fish. "See? They liked it!"
"You sure they weren't scared of you?" Steven teased.
Amethyst turned back. "Pfft, right, like a fish would be scared of me," she laughed. "At least I wasn't a shark."
"Amethyst, could we talk?" Pearl asked.
"Okay," she said, jumping off the counter.
"Me too?" Steven asked. "Is it a Gem mission?"
"Uh..." Pearl said. "Sorry, Steven, this is just between us."
"Oh, okay," Steven said, disappointed. Despite him going on more missions, he still feels left out sometimes. Pearl worries too much about Steven's human half, and doesn't want him coming to some still, despite how much he's helped them. It might have something to do with the whole Pink Diamond thing, and how the Diamonds are their allies now. He did tell them that he was split in two and almost killed by White Diamond. Maybe he should've left that part out for Pearl.
Steven sighed. "Well, have fun." Pearl smiled weakly, then followed Garnet into Amethyst's room. "Does it have to be her room?" Pearl asked, disgust in her voice. "Why can't it be somewhere else?"
"I've cleaned it!" Amethyst cried before the door closed behind them.
All alone. Again. Steven thought he'd finally gotten rid of that feeling. Back when he was fourteen, he would be left alone, and left out of missions all the time. He didn't even meet Connie until after she moved to Beach City. He made new friends since then, but...he still doesn't like being left out.
Maybe this has something to do with how Pearl was last night. She seemed...sad. Almost...worried. She was scared of something. The question is what? What was bothering her? What could be so bad that she didn't want to tell him about it? He's saved the world, twice, and she still doesn't seem to keen on telling him things. At least she told him about what happened to his mom, and...Pink Diamond.
"Steven!" Greg cried, opening the door. "Steven!"
"Yeah, dad?" Steven asked, turning his attention away from the door.
"I need to pick up something, but I have to clean up shop, according to the 'new rules,'" he used air quotations, "that car washes have to follow."
"There's more?" Steven asked.
"Yeah, believe it or not," Greg replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm my own man! I want to do what I want! Anyway, I need you to go pick it up for me."
"Sure, dad, what is it?" Steven asked.
"It's a new step ladder and a few strips of metal," Greg replied. "I have to fix the sign the Gems made me-where are they anyway?"
"They're in Amethyst's room," Steven said, pointing a thumb at the door behind him.
"Oh, okay, well, anyway, I need to fix the sign, and you know what happened to my ladder."
Steven laughed. "That spider was crazy!" Greg laughed too. "It really was!" They both laughed for a moment before they calmed down. "You think you can stop by out of town and get them for me?"
"They can't ship it?" Steven asked.
"Seems not," Greg said. "It's kind of weird, but I guess they have their own business to run."
"True," Steven said. "I'll grab them for you, dad."
"Thanks, Schtu-ball!" Greg cheered. "See you tonight!"
The night came. Greg had texted Steven to let him know his package was ready. Steven replied quickly and let him know he'll be out to get it in a moment. "Pearl!" he called, waving at her as she came back through on the Warp Pad. "Pearl!" He shoved his phone in his pocket.
"Oh, Steven!" she replied, obviously startled. "Don't you need to go somewhere?" Perhaps that's why Garnet never saw Steven. Maybe it's because he was out and safe. "Yeah, I do," Steven said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I just...I just wanted to check on you. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Me?" Pearl asked. "Of course I'm fine, Steven! Why wouldn't I be?"
"You've seemed...I don't know...upset?" Steven asked. "I know you have a right to be upset, but...if it's anything I can help with-"
"Oh, Steven, you don't need to worry about me," Pearl said, smiling. "I'm fine."
"You know I like helping people," Steven replied. Pearl sighed. She put her hand on Steven's shoulder, which made it much easier that he's taller now than before. "Steven, if there's anything you can do to help, I'll let you know, okay?"
"Are you sure?" Steven asked. "I don't want you agonizing in it, like what you've done before."
Pearl smiled. "I'm sure, Steven," she replied. "Now you get out there and help your dad." Steven smiled. "Alright, Pearl." Steven excitedly ran over to the door, and waved at Pearl. He closed the door behind him and ran down the stairs. "Be safe, Steven," she whispered.
To be on the road. It feels nice, to be on the road, by himself. Sure, it's actually a lot of fun to drive with his dad, but...a sense of freedom comes from being on the road himself. With no one in the car next to him.
Actually...it's kind of lonely. Steven loves people. People make him happy. Now that there's no one near him to talk to, it's actually kind of boring and lonely. Maybe he should've brought Amethyst with him.
Well, either way, he can still enjoy the road. He doesn't get to see outside of Beach City too often. The last time he remembers going out of town, on the road, was when his dad took him and Pearl on a vacation in a fancy five star hotel. That was nice. Pearl got a bit overwhelmed at first with Greg, but they're much closer now, since she even learned how to play bass from him. If Amethyst and Garnet learn how to play an instrument, they could be the Crystal Band. Hey, that's a nice name.
Steven took a left onto a dirt road. His GPS told him to take that road, then merge onto another, actual road a little bit ahead. After driving that one for a few minutes, he should get to his destination just fine. Except...something doesn't feel right.
He doesn't know what it is. Maybe it's worry. Maybe he's worried he's going to hit a deer or a rabbit. No, they usually don't jump onto this road. Maybe it's nervousness. He's never been on the road by himself before. He's always had someone in the car with him. That can't be it either. He's always walked around Beach City by himself with no problem before. Maybe he's bored. Maybe he'll turn the radio on.
He did, but the only thing that played was a short sentence of traffic on the highway, and then white noise. "Okay, that's weird," Steven said to himself. He turned it off. He stopped at a stop sign, the one to merge back onto the normal road. He checked the ground for any breaks, cracks, fractures, anything. If the Cluster reemerged, but no longer in control.
The ground is fine and nothing seems out of place. He looked at his rear view mirror to see no cars behind him, then he started driving again. What is wrong? What is this feeling?
His gem feels normal, and he doesn't have a fever. So...what is it? What could be so important, that it's nearly distracting him from the road.
His lights flickered. Steven sighed. He pulled over and hopped out of the car, leaving his lights on. "Okay, lights, what's up?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips and looking down at the lights. They flickered out again, this time, with longer breaks before turning on. "Weird," Steven said to himself. He gave the van a light kick on the bumper. Greg always told him that his van is 'super old' and if something doesn't work to give it a light kick on the bumper. He said that's what they used to do when he was a kid.
Sure enough, it did fix the lights, as they stayed on without another flicker. "Always thought dad was pulling my leg," Steven smiled, hopping back into the car and turning back onto the road.
He drove in silence for a little bit before he heard a large explosion of dust and rock. Fortunately, Steven resisted his instinct to turn around and look, as large chunks of rock came hurling out of the sky behind him and crashing into the ground in front of him, exploding in big clouds of dust. "Oh my-!" Steven cried, as he swerved the van away from large, falling rocks.
He turned the windshield wipers on, hoping to clear away some dust. A small pebble flew at the van, breaking one of the headlights, then crashing into the wheel. "Hang in there!" Steven cried, patting the dashboard of the van with a free hand. His other hand gripped tightly to the steering wheel.
A large boulder fell from above him, crashing to the right of him, causing a massive cloud of dust and dirt to explode out of the ground. Steven swerved the van out of the way. He maneuvered the van carefully through a few more rocks.
Unfortunately, his luck ran out as a massive boulder fell right on top of the van. "Agh!" Steven yelled, as the van flew into the air and flipped a couple of times. He unbuckled himself, then summoned his bubble around himself.
The van crashed into the ground, creating a large crack in his bubble. "No, no, no, no, no, please stay, please don't pop," Steven said quickly, his voice shaky.
The van bounced a few times before sliding on the ground and into a large boulder that had previously fallen. When the van stopped moving, Steven opened his eyes. "Phew," he sighed, keeping his bubble up. "Where did that big rock come from?"
Steven turned around to face the rock, and stared at for a moment. "This looks like a space rock..." he muttered. Steven turned back around, too late, as another giant boulder flew directly at him.
Before he could react, it crashed right into him, smashing his bubble, and causing him to hurtle towards the ground. His momentum caused him to bounce twice, then slide the rest of the way before he came to a halt.
He lied on the ground for a moment before he turned over onto his stomach. "I...I..." he tried. "P-Pearl..." He reached a hand out to crawl. "I...I have to f-find P-P-Pearl..."
He crawled for a short distance before his arms gave out on him. "P-Pearl..." he whispered. "Pearl..." He used the last of his strength to see a figure approaching him. A dark, blurry figure. His eyes wouldn't open, and began to close. He reached for the figure, only for his hand to go limp.