Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“LEAVE ME ALONE” Steven screams.

As he shouts, a pink blast radiates from him, shaking the entire room and leaving Steven blindsided. When Steven returns to his senses, everything around him begins to slow, until eventually everything is completely motionless. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl slow their approach until they are barely even moving towards him.

“I-I’m speeding up again.” Steven says while looking at his hands and the slowing objects around him, realizing that his super speed powers have activated again.

I’ve gotta get out of here” Steven says to himself, attempting to avoid talking to the gems. He begins to go down his stairs, his movements creating a pink trail behind him with every movement. Steven approaches his front door, about to exit, but looks back at the slowly approaching gems.

“Should I leave, where would I even go,” Steven thinks as he reconsiders whether he should leave or not, eventually deciding to leave out of fear.

“They can’t help me” Steven says, “I don't even think I can.”

Steven opens the door and runs out, slamming the door in front of the gems who are too slow to catch up with him. He runs down the stairs connecting his house to the beach. Once Steven is on the beach, he begins to run towards the town, hoping to get away from the gems. As he runs on the sand, he creates a cloud of sand behind him, each step propelling a large amount of sand into the air as he speeds down the beach. Steven continues to run, refusing to let himself think about his actions or the greater consequences of his decisions. The gem’s words to him beginning to echo around his head.

“Steven, you have got to calm down and talk to us” Garnet says,

“We need to do something about this before someone gets hurt.” Pearl exclaims.

Soon, these thoughts are the only thing Steven can hear, drowning out any sense of reason, but he keeps moving forward.

Steven makes it to Beach City, passing the big donut. He sees Sadie and Shep together, slowly eating donuts as Steven passes by, only making him run faster. He runs through the town, hoping to find a place to go. He runs into the streets, dodging cars that pass by in slow motion, even jumping over some in opposing traffic. He runs by a paper stand, blowing all the papers into the air as he passes by. To the pedestrians, all they see is pink blur speeding through the town without a second thought.

Eventually, Steven makes his way outside of beach city and into the woods outside of the town. Steven’s super speed subsides, not being able to maintain that amount of speed for that long. He slows down and bends over, huffing into the ground as he places his hands on his knees.

The events of the past few months begin to take a toll on Steven's well-being, beginning to recall events within that time. His fight with Jasper, The incident at the reef, his doctor's appointment gone wrong… His proposal. All of these thoughts begin to swirl around Steven's head, drowning everything else out.

“Stop… Thinking” Steven says, trying to calm himself down. A small part of his reason still remains, and Steven begins to think where he can go get help.

“This all started when I fought Jasper” Steven thinks, “Maybe if I find Jasper, she can help me fix this.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Steven says to himself, hopeful yet apprehensive at the thought.

With a large pull from his growing reasoning, Steven begins to head towards Jaspers cave, about 10 miles outside of beach city. Steven attempts to reactivate his super speed to get there faster, but to no avail. He continues on foot, his feet beginning to hurt now that he is a few miles in. Steven eventually makes his way into the rural forests outside of Beach city, getting closer to Jasper's cave.

Before he can make it there, the sun begins to set, lighting the sky orange as time quickly passes by. Eventually, the sun begins to dip below the horizon, leaving Steven in the dark with no way to see where he is going. Steven begins to doubt himself and his decision to run away.

“What am I doing, this isn't me, I'm not some kid who runs away, I’m supposed to be more responsible than this” Steven thinks.

Steven continues to walk in almost pitch black at this point, using his shield to slightly illuminate what’s around him, but only by a few feet. Steven continues to berate himself, but before he can tear himself apart again, he begins to hear a strange noise coming from his left, a whistle of some kind. Confused, he looks to his left, only to see a bright light slowly coming towards him. Steven puts his hand above his eyes and squints at the blob of light. Before he can make out what it is, he glances down and realizes he’s standing in between two large rails with wooden beams connecting them.

“Train tracks” Steven says, before instantly realizing what situation he’s in. The bright light begins to come even closer, the whistle growing into a loud horn, a train horn.

“I’m in front of a TRAIN...” Steven shouts before the deafening train horn cuts him off.

Before the train has a chance to plow him over, Steven jumps out of the way, the train grazing his foot as he jumps above it. Steven floats above the train as it passes by below him, rushing by the tracks he was just standing on. From the air, Steven has a better view of the train. The train is dark gray and windowless, with eerie green lights placed on the top. On the sides are usual train doors outlined by the green light. As he begins to float down, he realizes the train is slowing down to a halt, and the door on the side of a cart opens. Steven lands, and out of pure curiosity, approaches the door. Above him, he sees the destination sign say BEACH CITY.

“Beach city doesn’t have a train station” Steven thinks, Before he can reconsider his decision to approach the train. A strange green light approaches him, and everything goes white. Steven hears a loud ringing noise as he is suddenly knocked out by a mysterious force.

While Steven is unconscious, he begins to dream of events within the past few days, His dreams are random and sporadic, eventually devolving into nothingness, until landing on a particularly vivid dream about the one particular event that has reshaped his life in the past few days. His proposal to Connie.

“I’d rather be me with you” Steven sings, pouring his heart out to a strangely unamused Connie. As he begins to propose, he realizes he’s been here before.

“Oh no, I have to stop, please make it stop” he says, but none of those words leave his mouth. He fights with all his power to stop the dream, to wake up, to pretend it never happened, but he’s forced to relive his nightmare.

As Steven begins to propose, Connie cuts him off “Oh just stop it Steven, you really think singing some stupid song and giving me a glow bracelet from a dollar store is going to do anything for me.”

“W-what” Steven stammers, heartbroken.

“God you’re so pathetic, it’d be sad if it weren't so funny” Connie says while laughing. She continues to laugh at Steven, but he can’t move. All he wants to do is lay down and cry, but he is forced to stand there, with one knee on the ground, and watch her laugh with pure malice right in his face.

Eventually he begins to hear more laughs. Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, his father, suddenly it felt like every laugh in beach city was surrounding him “What a mess, you have been teaching this kid Greg” Amethyst says, giggling at the same time. “He didn’t learn this from me, I don't know where he got this from” Greg says, half laughing and the other half in a shamefully disappointed tone.

His vision fades out, until all he can hear are the laughs, eventually it all becomes white noise to him, slowly morphing into the sound of the ocean right next to the beach. The sound of waves crashing into the shore, molding and changing the sand as it does, it becomes the only thing Steven hears as he returns to consciousness. Steven wakes to find himself back on the beach.

“Jesus, I really am losing my mind, first I hallucinate a train, pass out and have… whatever that was” Steven says to himself, “Whatever, I should just get going, maybe Jasper can help me not hallucinate trains too, though I think she has a few screw loose in her head too.”

Steven stands up, gathering every bit of strength he has. He looks at his surroundings, only to become more confused.

“How’d I get to the beach, I was just in the woods” he says confused.

He turns around only to see nothing but plains in the distance, no sign of the woods he was just in. Turning to his left, he expects to see Beach City in the distance, but all he sees is just an endless beach with no turns of enclaves, just stretching for as long as he can see.

“Wait, what’s going on? Where am I, am I still dreaming?” Steven begins to glow pink, and the humming sound he’s become all too familiar with begins to fill his ears. Before he gets the chance to run, a voice calls out in the distance.

“Well, I’ve never seen one of you ever do that before, can you all do that?”. Steven, shocked that he isn’t alone, looks around to find the person who just spoke to him, but all he can see is just an endless beach.

“Hello, over here” the strange voice says again, almost sounding like it's coming from the ocean. Steven begins to walk over to the ocean, confused “Umm hello, are you in there” Steven says, immediately beginning to doubt himself.

“This is stupid, I’m literally talking to water,” Steven thinks, but before he can continue, the water begins to rise. Steven immediately backs away, summons his shield, and prepares for a fight. The water continues to rise, coalesces into a 6 foot tall blob of water, A face suddenly appears, and the blob begins to speak.

“Whoa, and a shield too, you are just full of surprises aren't you,” the blob says, “The name’s Randall, how can I help you today.”

“Who are you” Steven shouts, holding his shield even tighter now.

“Well, I just told you, my name is Randall, don’t worry, I can repeat that as many times as you like until you have it down.”

“NO...no, I got it, thank you, my name is Steven Universe, I guess what I’m asking is, what are you?”

“I am so happy you asked, I happen to be a salesman” Randall says with confidence. Steven sighs, realizing he’s not going to get an answer.

“My main product is donut makers, we’ve all been there, you’re carrying your shield around, being all defensive, and you start to think, Wow, I really wish this was a donut right now” Randall pitches.

“Sure” Steven says, giving Randall an unimpressed facial expression.

“Well don't fret young man, for I have the product for you, introducing the donut maker, here let me show you” Randall pitches.

“That's a pipe, it's literally just a pipe” Steven says, beginning to lose patience.

“That might be what it looks like to you right now, but let me show you what this baby can truly do.” Without a moment's hesitation, Randall takes the shield from Steven.

“Hey, give that back” Steven shouts as he instinctively swipes his arms trying to grab the shield.

“Don’t worry sir, I'm a professional” Randall says as he lays the shield on the ground, and smashes it with the donut maker. The shield, being Steven's shield, doesn’t budge.

“Huh...well that usually doesn’t happen, but trust me when I say that 99% of your possessions can be donuts with this simple tool” Randall proudly proclaims.

Steven picks his shield off of the ground before saying, “Look, can you just tell me where Beach City is, I guess I’m lost.”

“Well, I don't know where a beach city is, but I do know where the door is, it's just on that hill.” Randall points to a small slope to Steven’s right.

Steven, being even more confused, says “Dude, what are you even talking abo-”

Before Steven finishes his sentence, he looks over to the slope and sees a red door with two yellow handles on opposite sides of each other. The door doesn’t look like it's connected to anything, instead it just hangs there like it was placed in the middle of nowhere.

“Well don't be shy, you can’t stay here forever” Randall says. Steven begins to cautiously approach the door, bringing up a new shield for the worst case scenario. He reaches the door, and begins to open it. What he expects to see when he opens the door is just more beach, and he’d have to be stuck with Randall until he can find a way out. What he didn’t expect to see when he opened the door is a completely different world.

“Welp, happy travels, if you ever need to make something into a donut, don't be afraid come talk to me” Randall says.

“What is this place, where am I, what’d I get myself into!” Steven says anxiously.

The world he finds himself in is a large metal platform surrounded by a vast and desolate wasteland, with orange, cloudless skies, except for a swirling white cloud to the right of the train. The ground is about 50 feet below him, and is a mix of red and brown dirt, nothing that could be on earth. Just below the platform is a set of massive train tracks that the large platform is gliding on. Then, the realization hits Steven.

“Wait, I am on a train, I think this IS the train” Steven says, realizing that he’s actually between two train cars, and the large metal platform is the bridge connecting the two train cars.

“Am I dead? Did the train hit me? Did I die?” Steven asks. “Is this where people go when they die? Is this a punishment? Where am I?”

As he begins to realize the severity of his situation, Steven begins to glow pink.

“Oh boy, okay, calm down, lets…..let's try to get a better view” Steven jumps as high as he can to the top of the train car, and looks down both directions of the train, which seems to stretch as far as he can see.

“Does this train….go on forever, there’s no end, it's just more train cars. Am I on homeworld, did I accidentally warp somewhere, is this a new power?” Steven contemplates, “What am I doing, I wasn't thinking, I just wanted to get away, I thought if I slowed down that all these horrible thoughts would catch up to me.”

Steven sighs from frustration, and sits on a small platform close by. He sits for a moment, putting his face in his hands, regretting his decisions.

“I shouldn't have left the gems, all they wanted to do was help and I ran away, now I might be stuck here forever, and they’ll never know what happened to me. I don't even know what's happening to me.”

Suddenly, Steven hears a strange scrolling sound. Initially startling him, he jumps to his feet. He realizes it’s coming from his right hand. He looks, only to see a bright green light emanating from his hand.

“AHH….Get this off” Steven screams, while trying to rub it off. “Wait, is that, a number?” On Steven's hand, he notices the number 153 written on the hand, scrolling down to 152, and then again to 149. Eventually, it stops at 140.

“What is this, I can't rub it off, and its glowing green, is this some kind of new pink diamond power, I can suddenly just create numbers in my skin…...no that doesn't make any sense” Steven thinks. “UGH, none of this makes sense, not a single thing that has happened in the past few hours makes any kind of sense.”

“Wow, you are a fast kid, I’ve never seen anything like that before, you must not be a normal kid, are you?” Randall says, finally making his way on top of the train car. Steven sees Randall, and begins to calm down, finding humor in the situation.

“You’re asking me if I’m normal, you’re a talking blob of water” Steven says while laughing, before explaining his abilities. “I’m half gem, half diamond actually, I doubt that makes any sense to you, but it basically means I have super powers, I just wish I could control them better.”

“That’s odd, but I guess I’ve seen some weirder things pass through the train car, I must ask though, how high is your number?” Randall asks.

Steven, getting excited since he might finally get some answers, shows Randall his number.

“Alright, I’ve seen higher, you won't be here for too long as long as you don't run into any trouble” Randall says “Once that number reaches zero, you can go home, but it won't be easy, you’ll have to find out a lot about yourself before that can happen.”

“So, I just have to wait until this number hits zero, how long will that take?” Steven asks.

“I don't know, that's for you to determine, the more you learn about yourself, the lower your number gets, and once you’ve learned enough to make the right decisions in your life, the train will let you leave” Randall explains.

“Okay” Steven says while staring at his number. “Thank you, for everything. You didn’t have to help me, I don't deserv-'' Before Steven can finish his sentence, his number rises to 143.

“That too, you can make backwards progress, you’ll have to be careful, but I believe you can do this, you just have to do this one step at a time, one train cart at a time” Randall says “And I’m always here to help, even if you feel like you don't deserve it” Randall says while smiling.

“Thank you, maybe I should get help from people like you more often” Steven says as his number drops back down to 140. Steven gets back on his feet, and stares into the wasteland with a new found determination.

“I’m going to get off this train.”

Chapter Text

The train door clicks and shifts, twisting and turning until the door splits in half, opening a path for Steven as he opens the door to the next train car. As Steven enters the next train car, the door opens to a bright blue sky with puffy white clouds and warm sunny 80 degree weather. There is a stone path lined with trees, branching off into a few different paths. Off of the path are large chain fences, with plentiful vegetation and wildlife inside, and all around are signs and posters of animals and informational displays describing what's inside the cages.

"Is this.. A zoo, I guess it's not all doom and gloom on this train" says Steven, in a better mood than before now that he at least gets to explore. It's been a few hours since Steven entered the train. As he slowly begins to get into a rhythm, he begins to cheer up and enjoy the better things on the train.

"OOOOOOH, they have TIGERS, I have to see one" Steven says while exploring his surroundings. Steven runs over to the left where the tiger display board is. As he looks in, he sees a full grown tiger looking back at him, and two more tigers in the background feeding in a smaller, separate enclosure. One looks younger than the other, and is probably the child of the two older tigers.

"Aww, look at this little family, aren't they adorable" Steven says while putting his hand on his chin.

"You're sure excited, can I offer a bottle of water, it's important to stay hydrated on a hot summer day like this" says a zoo employee next to the tiger exhibit.

"Sure, I could use a drin-" Steven says before suddenly noticing the zoo employee.

The employees are humanoid in figure, but have the heads of different kinds of lizards. Steven notices that the employee offering the water bottle is a gecko, two more employees in the distance are iguanas, and the employee feeding the tigers is a chameleon.

"Wait- you guys are lizards, isn't that a little....ironic?" Steven says with a smirk.

"Don't patronize me sir, just take the water bottle" says the lizard employee.

"Alright, I don't want to keep you waiting, I better gecko-ing" Steven says with a cheeky smile to a clearly unamused employee.

Steven takes the water bottle and continues on his trip down the brick road. He eventually finds a map of the place abandoned on the ground next to the monkey exhibit.

"Wow, this is a big zoo, nothing I can't handle in a day though, assuming time is even passing in here" Steven thinks. "Lets go to the reptile section, I need to know what that looks like if all the employees are reptiles."

Steven begins to make his way over to the reptile enclosure, exploring the rest of the zoo on his way there. Steven passes a segment of the zoo dedicated to farm animals, including pigs, sheep, and cattle. A herd of cows moos at Steven as he passes by. Steven jokefully moos back, laughing to himself as he does. The cows then follow him as he walks by next to the enclosure, continuing to moo at Steven as he moos back.

As Steven explores the rest of the zoo, he begins to see signs for animals that should be extinct, such as a path leading to an area called Mesozoic Meadow. "Yeah I've seen enough movies about dinosaurs to know that's not a good idea" Steven thinks, avoiding the path. Steven even begins to see signs for mythical creatures, such as an exhibit for Unicorns. Looking into the unicorn enclosure, Steven sees a herd of horses with large horn protrusions on their heads soaking themselves in mud.

"I always thought they'd be a bit more elegant, then again I thought that about regular horses in the first place" Steven thinks.

Steven eventually reaches the reptile closure after about 30 minutes of exploring the zoo. There is a sign on an arch above him saying "Roaming with Reptiles." The sign leads into a large building designed like a dirt cave, with many different enclaves that hold a glass container, each filled with many different types of lizards, snakes, and turtles. Above the cave like walls are little circular sunroofs meant to give the area lighting. All over the walls are lizard footprints, snake tracks, and dinosaur bones.

While all the snakes and turtles are normal, many of the lizards have basic human features, like human arms or a human face where the lizards snout should me.

"Okay that's a little disturbing, but at least the interior design is good" Steven thinks.

Steven continues to make his way down the reptile exhibit, taking notes of the many different types of animals they have on display. Steven also sees smaller forms of dinosaurs in the enclosure, such a small feathered velociraptor looking right back at him behind a ceiling high glass wall with a cage about the size of a small apartment. Eventually all the velociraptors in the cage come up to look at Steven.

"Okay, I'm just going to assume you're all here to meet your idol Steven Universe, and not the other reason you all might be staring at me right now" Steven says to the velociraptors looking at him. One jumps forward, bouncing off of the glass before running back into the forest in the cage. "Okay, I'm going to leave now," Steven says jokingly to himself.

Steven even finds a cage full of small dragons, roaring like a full sized dragon at Steven as he walks by, slightly startling him and causing him to glow pink for a brief moment before calming back down.

Across from the mini dragon cage is a small girl, maybe about 10 years old, with a green t-shirt and tan shorts. She is also wearing a backwards blue baseball cap on her head, with the visor on the other side of her head pointing down. She has a small line of freckles sparkling her cheeks and nose, crying with her head down in her knees. Steven immediately runs over to help her, thinking she's either hurt or in danger.

"Hey ... are you alright, do you need any help" Steven says out of concern.

"*sniff*...The...*sniff*...The dragon, it roared and I...*sniff*" the girl continues to cry into her knees. Steven gathers that she walked past the dragon cage, got roared at, and is still scared by the incident.

"It's okay, it's okay" Steven says while putting his hand on her back, "Here look, they're tiny, and behind a glass cage, they can't hurt you" The girl crying slows, and she starts to look up at the dragon cage. Trusting Steven, they. both stand up and the small girl gets a bit closer to the cage. One of the dragons roars again and she runs back to Steven, hugging him out of fear.

"Don't worry, it's not going to hurt you, here, I'll show you" Steven holds the little girl's hand as they slowly approach the cage. The mini dragons roar again, and the little girl gets closer to Steven, but keeps walking forward. Eventually, they make their way up to the cage. The dragon that roared at the girl, only about a few inches long walks up to the front on the glass where the girl is. The dragon tilts his head, and opens his mouth to make a much smaller bark. The two laugh and bend down to look at the dragon.

"See, he's just curious, he won't hurt you" says Steven.

"Awww, he's kind of cute, look at his little wings, and his little nose" the little girl says with a smile. The dragon flies back up to a branch high above the two and starts to mind his own business. Steven and the little girl step away from the cage to get a better view of the whole enclosure. It's a model of a large tree with many different smaller branches for the dragons to climb on. Off to the side is a small water pond where two dragons are drinking, and a feeding area where one is eating. There are around 5 or 6 other dragons in the cage with the original dragon.

"Well aren't they just adorable when they're not screaming at you" Steven says jokingly, the girl laughs and continues to talk about how much she loves reptiles, especially lizards.

"I'm sorry the lizards here are a bit weird, both kinds of them. But hey, you got to see a type of lizard no one has ever seen before. I'd say this was a success" Steven says "So what's your name, I'm Steven by the way"

"My name is Hailee, Hailee Martinez" the little girl says.

"That's a cool name, my full name is Steven Universe" Steven responds. Hailee's eyes immediately light up.

"Your last name is Universe, that's so COOL."

"Thank you, It's technically DeMayo, but you'll have to keep that a secret" Steven says with a wink, while the girl makes a zipping motion over her lips. They both giggle and begin to walk away from the dragon cage. "Are you with anyone right now, it seems weird that you were all alone right next to those dragons" Steven says out of concern.

"I...I can't find my mom, I don't know where she is. I saw a train and I just kind of...showed up at a zoo I guess" Hailee says. Steven gathers that she was abducted by the train just like him. "Well, you can stick with me until you find your mom, I don't want you to have to go at this alone." Hailee seems to be excited with the idea, and Steven takes this reaction as a yes as they leave the reptile enclosure together.

Hailee continues to drag Steven across the zoo, letting Steven navigate to whatever animal they want to see next. They watch a herd of zebra's feed, and get ice cream from a cart right next to the monkey cages. She eventually forces an apprehensive Steven down the Mesozoic Meadow despite his obligations.

"Have you watched any dinosaur movie ever?" Steven says while laughing.

"No, that's why I want to see one now," Hailee responds as she continues to drag him into the area. Many dinosaurs are on display, carnivores and herbivores alike. The main exhibit is a large T-Rex in the back. Steven and Hailee arrive at the exhibit as a T-Rex makes its way through the forest in its cage and towards the two. The T-Rex stops right in front of the two. Hailee looks in wonder as Steven gulps in fear. Hailee tries to walk closer before Steven picks her up and carries her away from the T-Rex.

"OKAYYY....TIME TO GO" Steven says as he carries Hailee away.

"Put me down, I'm making friends" Hailee says while giggling, reaching for the T-Rex.

Steven and Hailee explore the rest of the dinosaur area, making Steven read the informational displays while Hailee looks into the enclosure.

"You're old enough to read, aren't you" Steven says

"Yeah, but I still like it when people read it to me, plus it gives me more time to look at the animals" Hailee says, Steven laughs and agrees to read to her. While Steven is having fun with Hailee, he begins to wonder why she is on the train in the first place.

"Randall was talking about how your number goes down the more you learn about yourself, but this girl is just in elementary school, what could she possibly have to learn about herself right now." Steven thinks.

"Hey Hailee, can we slow down for a second, I need to ask you something" Steven says

"But we're so close to the elephants, come on" says Hailee, dragging Steven by his hand.

"Will get to them, don't worry, but let's sit down for a second" Steven points at small bench where they can sit down for a moments

"I want to ask you about the train, I assume you've seen the outside, the weird wasteland, how do you feel about it?" says Steven. Hailee's demeanor changes back to the shy girl from before, clearly frightened about the thought of the train.

"I don't really know where I am, I just...thought I should stay here and wait for my parents, they always talk about if I get lost then stay put. Outside is really scary, I just want to stay here" Hailee says, clearly uncomfortable about the subject.

Steven tries to comfort Hailee, saying. "I understand, I think it's scary out there too. We can stay in here for a little while if you want too. Here, can you show me your hand, I'm sure you've noticed a number on their by now"

Hailee shows her right hand to Steven. Her number is 34, far lower than Stevens which excites him, since he might be able to help her get it down to zero.

"Alright, we can work with that, Can you tell me how you got on the train?" Steven says. "I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours"

Hailee seems hesitant at first, but after Steven promises to tell her a story, she quickly calms down and tells Steven how she got on the train.

"Well, before everything happened, Me and my mom went to the pet store to get a lizard, I've always wanted one and I got really good grades this year so my mom finally agreed to get me one. I set up his little cage and put him in." Hailee stops for a minute before beginning to tear up. "I tried to get him out of the cage to play with him, but I...I think I accidentally hurt him, I didn't mean too, I was just trying to play with him and I...I" Hailee begins to sob into Steven's lap.

"Its okay, you didn't mean to hurt him, I'm sure it was an accident. I'm sure your lizard, wherever he is now, knows that too" Steven says "So what happened next"

"My mom heard me crying and ran into the room to hug me, She tried to tell me is was okay but I was too sad and ran outside. I hid behind a tree in our backyard when I heard a train horn" Hailee explains

"Okay, well let's talk about that lizard, do you feel bad about happened" Steven says, trying to help her learn more about herself in hopes of getting her number down

"My mom told me to be really careful, I wanted to listen but I was just so excited" Hailee says into Steven's lap while still crying.

"Well sometimes it's just important to give animals their space, I have a pet...cat...at home." Steven quickly realizes that saying he has a pet lion would derail the conversation, and thinks that probably saying anything about his past or his abilities might derail any kind of productive conversation, so he slides past it for now.

"This pet cat is really nice, but sometimes he just needs his space, and if I don't give it to him, he might act up or get angry with me, and do something he's not supposed to do. Maybe in the future you just need to let your animals have a bit more time to themselves before you play with them"

"*sniff*...okay, next time I'll give my lizard a bit more space, he'll still want to play with me eventually right?" Hailee asks.

"I'm sure he will" says Steven

Suddenly, they both hear a scrolling sound coming from Hailee's hand. Her number has scrolled down to 30.

"Well would you look at that, you'll be back home in no time, Off to get your next lizard now that you know what you did wrong the first time" Steven tells Hailee/

Hailee is clearly excited, and back to her pumped up and excitable self. "Yay, it finally changed, I didn't think it even could, thank you." Hailee gives Steven a big hug. Steven hugs back, excited that he can finally help somebody again.

"Huh, maybe this is what I should be doing, I need to stop worrying about myself too much, I'm sure I'm just overreacting about my own problems" Steven says. Before Hailee can respond, a scrolling sound comes from Steven's hand. His new number is 146, 6 higher than it was before.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME, why did it go back up!? I literally came to the conclusion that I should help people, how could that possibly be a bad thing" Steven shouts out of frustration.

"Are you sure you don't need to worry about yourself, you're on the train too" Hailee says.

"Yeah but, but how could deciding that I should help people be a bad thing"

"Well maybe it wasn't that, maybe it was that you said you shouldn't worry about yourself, we're both on this train for a reason, maybe we can help each other" Hailee says

Steven tries to rebuttal, but can't think of a good argument, he realizes she's right.

Steven gives a long sigh before saying "You're right, maybe I need a little help too, thank you for being there for me" Steven says while giving a hesitant smile to Hailee. After this, his number lowers down to 130.

"See, I'm right, I am smart aren't I" Hailee says with a cheeky smile.

"You definitely are, so...are you ready to move on, surely we can't stay in this car forever" Steven says

Hailee pauses for a moment before saying "Can we at least see the Elephants before we go, your promised"

Steven laughs before saying "Alright, we can see the elephants."

"YAYYY" Hailee says before immediately standing up, grabbing Steven's hand, and takes off.

After the elephants, they go to the exit together to continue their journey. Before Steven can open the door, Hailee stops him.

"Do we have too, I don't like out there" Hailee says

"I don't either, that's why we're here for each other, I'll be with you every step of the way" Steven responds

"Okay, I'll stay brave as long as you do too"

"I promise" Steven says as he opens the door.

Chapter Text

Steven and Hailee appear disgruntled and coughing while charging out of a train car behind them. The train car from the exit is seemingly full to the brim with different types of air fresheners and perfumes, floating in the air and into their face as they walk by.

"Come again soon" says a cloud of air freshener.

"Sure, anytime" says Steven after closing the door and taking a second to vigorously cough out all the air fresheners stuck in his lungs

"Yeah let's both agree to never go back in there" says Steven jokingly to Hailee while hacking.

"I don't think I'll ever smell normal again, am I gonna die like this" Hailee says jokingly to Steven.

Both share a laugh before heading to the next train car. They have gotten used to the view of the wasteland by now, and have taken a bit of enjoyment out of the bleak atmosphere of it all.

"Alright, place your bets, what's the next train car gonna be" Steven says

"Hmm...What about a car full of lamps, and there are like lamp people, who have made a town called Lampshire, but all the lamps there are really angry, which is why they are always lit, because they're always really firey with each other" Hailee says with a smile.

"What about like a red carpet car, and we have to walk the red carpet and pose for pictures with people with cameras for heads, and after all that we get to watch a movie, we could probably even get popcorn" Steven jokes, Hailee laughs and continues to spout random ideas before they make their way to the next door.

"Alright, ready to go in, hopefully we won't have to fight off a bunch of angry lamps or the paparazzi" Steven says

"Don't worry, our smells will scare them off, nothing can defeat my aura of stench" Hailee says before bursting out in laughter along with Steven. The two open the next door, to find a large white room at least 3 stories tall. The walls are decorated in a romanesque style architecture, with floral decorations lining the walls. There is a long gold carpet leading to the other end of the room where there are 3 figures standing in the distance, two of which are holding hands.

"What is this place?" Hailee asks.

"I don't know, let's see," Steven says.

The two enter the room as the door closes behind them, as they get closer, they see that the three figures are standing over a large floral arch, and the one in the center is reading from a book while the two other figures are across from each other, holding each other's hands.

"Aww, it's a wedding, I've never been to a wedding before" Hailee says.

"Really, I figured you would've seen at least one by now" Steven responds.

"Have you seen a wedding" Hailee asks out of curiosity.

"Seen one? I can do you one better, I planned a wedding. I'm practically a wedding expert by now" Steven brags with a smug grin.

"Wow, I wish I could plan a wedding, I'd make everything lizard themed. The tables, the flowers, all of it will be lizards" Hailee says excited by the idea. "At that point you might as well be marrying two lizards" Steven says.

"WAIT, you can do that?" Hailee asks, not really realizing Steven was joking.

Suddenly, Steven hears a "SHHHHH" coming from the audience. The closer of a look they get, the more they realize that this isn't a normal wedding. The bride, the groom, the priest, the audience are all stereotypically shaped robots, with square heads and antennas sticking out of their bodies.

"Our.Love.Will.Be.Eternal" says the robot bride during her vow in a classically robotic voice.

"Well this is a bit unexpected," Steven says to Hailee. "But hey, I've never been one to stop true love"

"Excuse.Me...You.Two.Are.Not.Properly.Dressed" says a robot with a professional gown and a clipboard, theoretically the wedding director. "You.Two.Need.To.Come.To.The.Dressing. Room.With.Me" says the wedding director.

"Alright, ready to play dress up Hailee" Steven says, trying to get Hailee excited.

"LETS GO" Hailee shouts before getting shushed by the entire audience.

"Lets go now" Steven says, trying to get out of the way.

Steven and Hailee are led into a smaller room on the left side of the wedding hall. The room is full of clothes racks strewn about the area, some of them being full of tuxes, and the others being full of many different kinds of dresses. There are a set of changing rooms in the back, all with designed white curtains. The area is also full of many different wedding props, such as flower bouquets here and there, and a table full of different kinds of boutonnieres.

Steven is given a tux and Hailee is given a small flower girl dress, both are thrown into dressing rooms to change into their new outfits. Steven begins to change into his new clothes, throwing his old clothes into a basket in the corner marked laundry. Steven emerges first with black suit and pants with a white dress shirt underneath and a black tie. He has a small pink flower as a boutonniere on his left side over his heart.

Hailee emerges shortly after him in a small purple dress with a colorful flower bouquet on her left shoulder. The robot wedding director picks out shoes for the two, Steven's being a pair of polished black shoes with a small heel in the back, and Hailee's shoes being a pair of white flats with a strap across the top, decorated in a floral bouquet.

After this, they are taken into the makeup room. Two robots sit them down into a large, Hollywood style makeup stand. The two robots then cover both Hailee and Steven in makeup, covering up blemishes and highlighting their eyes. One of the robots attempts to remove Hailee’s baseball cap, only for Hailee to swat at the robot and grab its arm.

“The hat stays,” Hailee says in a serious tone.

The robots finish up their makeover and Steven and Hailee are brought back into the main dressing area.

"Good day, my good sir" Hailee says with a curtsy.

"Good day ma'am" Steven says with a bow, neither of them being able to stop themselves from giggling. The two attempt to exit the dressing room, but are intercepted by the wedding director

"You.Too.Are.Not.Ready.Just.Yet" says the wedding planner. "You.Too.Do.Not.Have.A. Gift...Therefore.You.Must.Pay.In.Service"

"Umm...What's that supposed to mean?" Steven asks.

"We.Need.Help.Setting.Up.The.Dining.Hall...You.Two.Will.Help.Us"

"That sounds like something we can do, Mr. Veteran wedding planner over here and I will be happy to help" Hailee says.

"Good...Follow.Me" The wedding director says. The wedding director leads them into a separate, smaller yet still large room full of food on many different tables surrounding the room. All the food is still covered by tin foil, preventing two from being able to see what's underneath them. In the center is a large wedding cake with two small robot figures holding hands at the top. Across the room are two robots hanging up floral banners at each arch, and two other robots in chef outfits bringing the food in.

"You.Two.Will.Help.Decorate.This.Room...Start.With.Putting.These.Flower.Vases.On.Each.Table." The wedding director explains.

Steven and Hailee get started moving flower vases onto the dining tables, Steven using his spit to enhance the flowers while Hailee isn't looking.

"Woah, how'd you make the flowers look so nice" Hailee asks.

"A little trick I learned while planning a wedding before" Steven responds.

"Can you tell me more about the wedding you planned, it seems like a lot, did it take a long time? Was there anything you couldn't do?" Hailee asks.

"It was really fun, eye opening actually. Obviously the wedding I planned was much less extravagant than this, but it was nice, and I helped marry two people who were in love. It was such a nice experience for them, I hope I can have that one day too" Steven says, immediately starting to think about Connie.

"Thinking about marry someone already, aren't you only like, 16 years old" Hailee asks

"Hey, I'm 17 actually, but yeah I guess, maybe I jumped the shark, but why wait you know. If we're gonna be together forever than I might as well just get it out of the way" Steven responds

"Wait just one second, you actually proposed to someone? You can't even get married yet, how long have you been dating this person?"

"Well...technically I'm not dating her, I ju-"

"Wait WHAT, you proposed to someone you just met" Hailee says, shocked

"No, I've known her for a little while, we just...haven't really turned it into anything... I've been a little too nervous to ask" Steven says.

"Yet you felt confident enough to propose to her?" Hailee says, crossing her arms

"Yeah but...well...Don't look at me like that, I had my reasons for doing it, you wouldn't understand" Steven says defensively

"Well how'd it work out for you?" Hailee asks

"Not well," Steven says.

"Wow, I'm so surprised" Hailee says sarcastically. "I've never really even had a boyfriend before and I know that that isn't a good idea"

"You're way too young to have a boyfriend Hailee, plus, in my defense I've never really had a girlfriend either." Steven says.

"Right, so that's why you immediately decided you needed a wife" Hailee responds.

"....Can we just get back to the flower vases?" Steven says, wanting to be done with the conversation. Steven and Hailee continue to decorate the dining hall before the wedding director grabs their attention.

"The.Ceremony.Is.Almost.Over...You.Two.Have.Done.Enough...Let.Me.Take.You.Too.Your.Seats" The wedding director says.

The wedding director led Steven and Hailee back into the wedding hall. The groom is finishing up his vow as they enter. The wedding director quietly takes them to their seats in the back row. Steven and Hailee sit down as the wedding director immediately flees back into the dining hall to finish preparations.

"You.May.Now.Kiss.The.Bride" says the priest before the two robots kiss using what appears to be a pair of extended lips from their face. The rest of the audience including Steven and Hailee clap in celebration. Doves are released into the air as they kiss, and flower petals fall from the ceiling, one landing on Steven's nose, making Hailee laugh.

After the ceremony, the crowd is led into the dining hall. All the food is now uncovered, and the smell quickly reaches Steven and Hailee's noses. They make drooling faces, looking at all the food. The robots continue past the food as Hailee and Steven look at all the options.

"OMG OMG OMG OMG THEY HAVE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM, MY DAY IS SAVED" Hailee screams out of pure excitement.

"I thought I'd never see a pizza again, screw vegetarianism, this dude needs pepperoni right now" Steven says before both of them stuff their face with everything they can. The robots only stare in horror as they ravage the area.

"Shouldn't we save some ice cream for the others?" Steven says.

"Their robots, since when do they need food" Hailee responds.

"Fair point," Steven says before laughing and continuing to eat.

After Steven and Hailee have reached their full, they rejoin the rest of the crowd in the ballroom. The ballroom is a large, one story tall, flat area where the robots are all gathered. There are many windows that look into large and flat fields of flowers and trees, but upon closer inspection by Steven, he realizes that they are just very realistic wallpapers. In the corner of the ball room, there is a robot DJ, switching out the music tracks as the songs end. Many of the robots inside are doing their own variation of the robot dance.

"I guess that's the only dance they can do" Steven thinks.

"Stevennnnn, I need to pee, can you help me find the bathroom?" Hailee says while holding her legs together and jumping up and down.

"Okay, it's right over here, I'll show you" Steven walks her over to the bathroom to the left of the DJ, where she immediately runs inside. Steven waits on the outside for her to return, before noticing the bride is standing just a few feet away from him, Steven walks up to start a conversation.

"Hello, I'm Steven, I just wanted to let you know I loved the ceremony, you too seem really happy together in your own robot way" Steven says.

"Thank.You...We.Have.Been.Planning.This.For.Months."

"I can tell, it was lovely....Can I ask you a personal question, how did you know when it was time?" Steven asks.

"Excuse.Me" asks the robot bride.

"I guess what I mean is when did you know that the only point forward in your relationship was marriage, when did you decide that it was time." Steven asks.

"Well, we were happy together for a long time, but we wanted to wait until we were both ready. We didn't want to put anything into stone until we were both in positions where we knew this is what we wanted for the rest of our lives, and that didn't happen instantly. It took time, but I was happy to spend that time with the one I love, so I was willing to wait" The robot said in a strangely more human form, almost as if that message was meant to be understood by Steven.

"Huh...wow, thank you, I never thought of it like that. I guess I asked because there's a person I really like in my own life. I thought a wedding was the one and only solution that would guarantee us being together forever" Steven says, beginning to really think about the reality of his decision to propose to Connie.

"But...Maybe I should have just waited. Besides, it's not like she won't be there until then, I can spend that time waiting with her, and one day we can reach that point together" Steven says after taking the bride's advice to heart. Suddenly, Steven here's a scrolling sound from his hand, his number has dropped to 105.

"Huh, would you look at that, thank you for talking to me, I hope you and husband are happy for a very long time" Steven says.

"Thank.You...We.Will.Spend.The.Rest.Of.Our,Robot.Lives.Together" the robot tells Steven. Hailee emerges from the bathroom with a face of relief and runs back over to Steven.

"Got everything out" Steven says with a smile.

"I haven't peed in a bathroom that nice since the zoo, it was a nice change of pace" Hailee tells Steven.

"That was like a day ago" Steven says while laughing.

"Hey I have a small bladder, and I happen to eat a lot, I'm a growing girl" Hailee responds.

"Come on, let's get out of these clothes, my collar is beginning to itch, and I don't know if I like this tie, I've always been kind of a bowtie person." Steven says.

"I know, do you know how hard it is too pee in this dress, you boys are so lucky you still get to wear pants" Hailee adds.

Steven laughs, and then says "I want to apologize for earlier, I'm sorry I was so dismissive of you, you were calling me out and I just kind of ignored you. I thought I knew everything about weddings, and I let that arrogance get to me, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I was a little too sassy in your defense, I just think you need to take things slower, maybe start by actually taking her on a date first" Hailee responds.

"Yeah, that sounds kind of nice actually, I guess I'll have to put that on my list for things to do when I get off this train" Steven says.

They both laugh before Steven says "Come on, lets go, I miss my jacket now"

Steven and Hailee return to the dressing room to put back on their old clothes, which were conveniently washed and folded by the wedding team. After getting dressed, they go to the exit, just under the floral arch that the two robots were married under.

"Ready to go," Hailee asks.

"Yeah, I learned a lot in this car." Steven says.

"I learned I can eat way more ice cream than I had originally thought, that counts right?" Hailee asks jokingly.

"Sure it does, come on, let's get going before another wedding begins, this one really took everything out of me" Steven adds.

Steven and Hailee leave the car as the door shuts behind them.

Chapter Text

"Here you go, Chilldon, hope she loves it" Steven says.

Steven has a ring made elegantly out of ice, the centerpiece being a collection of beautiful snowflakes, the center one expanding across the ring with smaller ones inside of it. He gives it to a strange monster completely made of ice, with ice spikes poking out of its shoulders, and a layer of snow on his head that vaguely resembles hair.

The world Steven and Hailee find themselves in is a world made completely out of ice. Every tree, house, car, and person are made up of some form of ice. Steven and Hailee are on a town main street outside of what appears to be some kind of fast food joint, interacting with a vaguely humanoid ice monster.

"Thank you Steven, She'll love this, I don't know how I'll ever repay you." The ice monster says.

"Umm, some hot chocolate might be nice" Hailee says, shivering intensely even with Steven's jacket on. Steven is wearing a new jacket made out of snow, which turns out to be quite ineffective, shivering as well.

"What do you mean by.....hot?" the ice monster asks.

Steven and Hailee stare blankly at the monster for a few seconds before Steven says "Just tell us where the exit is"

Steven and Hailee find the exit and leave the ice car. The ice monster says his last goodbyes before Hailee closes the door. Both of them take off all their ice related gear they gathered on the trip and throw all of it to the train wheels.

"Alright, now give me my jacket back, you've had your turn" Steven says.

"Aww...but I like the pink," Hailee says, before giving it back reluctantly.

"Maybe next time we help an ice monster find the perfect ring for his bride, we should pack a bit more clothes to wear, I never thought I'd miss the room temperature nothingness of the wasteland, but here we are," Steven says.

"I hate not being able to skip train cars, some of them are fun, and some of them are just...cold, very cold" Hailee says, still shivering. "Are you sure we can't stay out here for a little bit, It's warm out here, what if we go into an antarctic car with penguin people and we have to be cold again"

"What's wrong with penguins" Steven says, teasing Hailee.

"Nothing, I just can't get into their lifestyle" Hailee says with a laugh.

Steven and Hailee make their way over to the next train car door before stopping at the entrance, not opening the door just yet.

"I know we can't control what train car comes next, but maybe we can find a way to skip them if we keep going, then we can have control over which train cars we go in" Steven says, "I'm sure there's a way to control this train somehow" Steven thinks.

"I guess, I haven't felt this out of control since my mom forced me to go on a roller coaster a few months ago" Hailee says.

"I know, I haven't felt this out of control since I got stranded on Homewo-" Steven says before pausing, realizing he still hasn't told Hailee about his past. He attempts to change the subject, avoiding it entirely.

"UMM, so lets head to the next train car."

"Wait, where did you get stranded, I want to hear this" Hailee asks.

"Uhhh...Ummm. yeah I got stranded on home....depot" Steven says, desperately trying to figure out a way to avoid saying homeworld.

"Home Depot, I've never been there, what's it like?" Hailee asks.

Steven gives a nervous expression while touching his fingers together before saying "Umm...it has tools..." Steven pauses, as Hailee stares at him confused. "And I got lost...in the tools."

There is a long pause as before Steven continues.

"OKAYYY, let's open up this new car to see what we got" Steven says in a panic.

Steven opens the next car door, it opens to what appears to be a room of just plain white walls. As they walk in, they realize that the train car is about 500 feet long and about 100 feet wide, with the other door on the very opposite side of the car. The distance between the two doors is made up of a giant maze with white walls blocking and splitting off into many different paths, only one of the paths leading to the next door. The two doors are above the maze on two different platforms, connected to the rest of the car by a set of stairs.

"A maze, this should be interesting," Steven says.

"I've never been good at mazes, I usually just end up drawing through the walls anyways" Hailee says.

"Yeah I don't think we'll be able to do that this time around. It should be okay though, I read about this in a book, the best way to get through a maze is to just track where you've already been, and just use that data to move forward" Steven says. "We just need a way of marking where we've been, you don't happen to have a marker on you, do you"

"No, but I still have the map from the Zoo Car, we can use it as a paper trail to mark the paths we've been down" Hailee says while giving Steven the map.

"Why'd you keep this?" Steven says with a laugh.

"I wanted to keep it as a souvenir, but if we need it for the maze then I guess I can say goodbye to it" Hailee says, clearly saddened by the idea. Steven contemplates using the map, but after looking at the map, and then back at Hailee's saddened face, he decides not too.

"Aww, If it means that much to you I wont get rid of it, why didn't you just take pictures of the Zoo though." Steven asks.

"My mom doesn't let me have a phone, I always end up dropping them" Hailee says.

"Well maybe if you weren't so reckless you'd have a phone right now" Steven says while rubbing the top of Hailee's head with his knuckles. "Wait, but I do, we can just use my phone"

"How can we leave a paper trail with your phone, I don't want to break another phone" Hailee asks.

"No silly, I can take a picture of every intersection to mark where we've been. It'll be a bit harder to track, but with some pre-planning it should work. Plus, this way, we don't have to tear up any souvenirs" Steven explains.

Steven takes the time to prepare his phone by taking a picture of the other end of the train car. Then, as they descend into the maze, he takes pictures of every intersection they come across. Steven marks the path they take by Hailee standing in the path they're about to go down, Hailee adopting silly poses in each picture to Steven's amusement. Steven, after he comes to a dead end, puts every picture he just took into a folder named "Dead end" and continues to do this with every part of the maze.

They continue to do this for around an hour, continuously taking pictures and moving them into folders marked "Dead end 3," The number being based off the order they found the dead end in. By the time the hour is up, they have a pretty good understanding on the first half of the maze. Hailee notices that each wall seems like it comes out of a hole in the floor, just perfectly sized for the wall, almost like the wall can be retracted if needed too. Hailee does not tell Steven, as he is too busy trying to map out the maze.

"Alright, We've made it about half way through, I'd say we're making good progress" Steven says confidently. "As long as we rely on the past, we can keep moving forward."

"I guess, this does all seem a bit...complicated, are you sure there is no better way to do this?" Hailee asks, becoming mildly concerned.

"We're doing fine, planning is just the best way to do these things, you just gotta let the process work itself out" Steven says, still smiling. "Oh, that's another dead end, alright, let's just make sure to mark it and head back" Steven and Hailee make their way back through the maze, marking the parts of the path they've already been down, and putting them in folders to try and organize.

Steven and Hailee make their way back to the intersection they have been using as a base, with 4 different paths to take from the one intersection, but when they reach it. They only see one straight path. Steven looks at his phone and back at the maze, trying to figure out where they are

"Ummm...We must have gotten lost, let's go back to the last intersection and try to see where we might have gotten off on the wrong track" Steven says, trying to remain confident. They try to go back to where they came from, only to find a new dead end once they turn the corner. Steven's face goes white, beginning to freak out at the thought of being lost. They yet again try to go back to the 4-way intersection, only to find it's a 2-way intersection, changing yet again as they turn the corner.

"Wha-what's going on, We were just here a minute ago, It was just a long path, not an intersection." Steven says, trying not to get too worked up to the point where he starts glowing, still being nervous about displaying his powers.

"I think the path is changing," Hailee says. "The maze is changing as we turn corners, and we can't see it because the walls are too tall to see anything happening behind them." Hailee takes Steven behind a corner, they wait a minute at the corner, and turn back around, only to see a completely different path forward, confirming Hailee's theory.

"Oh no...if it's changing, how are we supposed to track it?" Steven asks, trying not to panic. Steven leaves Hailee side and walks around a corner as he begins to pace around, trying to come up with a new idea. He contemplates if the original plan with the zoo pamphlet would work

"Could we use the zoo pamphlet....No, that's stupid, the maze would just move the pieces around, making them useless."

"STEVEN" Hailee shouts from a distance much larger than Steven had originally thought she was. Steven looks back at the place he left Hailee, only to see a dead end where to corner used to be

"HAILEE" Steven yells, realizing the maze must have moved her when he accidentally left her side "STAY WHERE YOU ARE, I'LL FIND YOU"

"OKAY" Hailee yells, giving Steven an indication on where she is. Steven tries to make his way across the maze, no longer keeping track of where he is. He makes his way over to the area where he thought Hailee was, only for Hailee to yell again in a completely different location, this time in the area he just came from. Steven attempts to reach the area again, but as soon as he gets there, a wall blocks the path.

This pattern continues for a few minutes before Steven and Hailee appear to be only one wall apart.

"I'M OVER HERE" Hailee shouts.

"I can hear you, I think we're on opposite sides of this wall" Steven says, reassuring Hailee. "I guess my plan didn't end up working out," Steven says with a guilty laugh.

"We didn't know the maze would change, other than that the plan was really good" Hailee says, trying to build Steven's confidence back up.

"Thanks" Steven says, slightly beaten down "I shouldn't have let myself leave your side, I'm sorry I got us into this. I was just so frustrated."

Steven sits down next to the wall, putting his arms on his knees and leaning his head up on his arms. "This is how I always used to feel you know, like I could never figure my way out of a stupid endless maze. I've never had much control over my life, things just kind of happened. I never got any kind of choice. I just ended up feeling lost, like I had no idea how to be myself, which is why I spent most of my life trying to be a different person" Steven says.

"Uhh... Did I just say that all out loud" Steven says after realizing what he just dumped on Hailee

"Maybe...yeah...I can pretend I never heard it though" Hailee says, desperately trying to make Steven feel better.

"You don't have too, I just don't want you to get caught up in all my problems" Steven says

"Isn't that what we're here for though, to solve each other's problems" Hailee says. "Maybe if we're both honest about how we feel, we can get through this together."

Steven pauses for a moment, considering what Hailee suggested, before saying "Ughhh...Why do you have to be so smart sometimes" Steven says with a laugh. "Alright, let's start about how we feel about the maze, do you want to go first"

"Ummmm....Can you go first? Please?" Hailee says.

"Okay fine" Steven says with a laugh, giving in. "Alright, I guess I feel trapped, like everything that's happening to me is out of my control, and everything I know about this place has changed in an instant. I constantly feel like I have to figure everything out time and time again, and once I do figure something out, bam, it changes. I just want things to stop changing so quickly"

"I don't know much about change, but I do know what my mom used to tell me, do you want to hear it?" Hailee asks

"Sure, I guess I can use some advice from Mrs. Martinez"

"Okay, so my mom always used to drive me to school in a big minivan with big seats, large compartments, and a TV in the back where I could watch cartoons on our way to school. But one day while I was in school, my teacher told me that I had to take the bus home. Later I found out it was because my mom got in a car crash, and it destroyed the old minivan. We had to get a new car, and this time it was just a normal black car, with no TV or big compartments to put my stuff in, and I wasn't allowed to eat in it because it was new. I was really sad to see the old minivan go, but my mom told me 'Hailee, life is full of changes, sometimes we'll like them, sometimes we won't. Since we can't control them, its best to accept them for what they are, that way we take the power back"

"I still don't fully understand what she meant but I got the main idea" Hailee says with a laugh.

Steven laughs back, saying “I understand her, maybe I just need to keep moving forward, instead of focusing on the past too much.” Steven says, seeing his number go down.

“You’ve got a smart mom, I assume your dad is the same too” Steven says.

Hailee goes quiet for a moment before saying, “Yeah, I think he was, me and my mom don’t like to talk about him too much anymore.”

Steven surmises that Hailee’s dad isn’t involved in her life anymore, and quickly attempts to change the direction of the conversation away from her dad.

“Well your mom definitely is smart, I see where you get it from” Steven says, making Hailee blush. “Okay, your turn.”

"Well, I guess I feel...bad" Hailee says

"Alright, off to a real deep start already I see" Steven says sarcastically with a smile.

"HEY...I'm trying, okay. I guess I feel like things are happening without me even seeing them, like as soon as I turn my back, everything changes. I can deal with change, but I feel like it all happens without me even knowing, like I don't even get a part in it " Hailee says.

"I can understand that...Some things change in my life without me seeing them too. I have these two friends. These two friends were dating each other, but then one went to space...uhh...camp, space camp, and the other one had to stay behind. As it turns out, they grew apart during this time, and I didn't find out until one of those friends was dating a new person" Steven says. "It felt like my friends were changing without me, it was something I wasn't used too."

"Maybe we both worry about the past too much, we should just keep moving forward, and if the world wants to change with us, then let it" Hailee says triumphantly.

"Yeah, just keep moving forward" Steven repeats.

"Wait a minute," Steven thinks. "Hailee, I know how to get out of here"

"Wait really, How?" Hailee asks

"Well, this maze is always changing right, then let's just keep moving forward. We know where the exit is, so we just have to keep moving forward in that direction, if we get stuck in a dead end, we can just wait for the maze to change, and then it'll eventually lead us to the exit" Steven explains

"Are you sure this'll work?" Hailee asks.

"Forwards is the only way to go now" Steven says.

The two start to move towards the exit, constantly keeping track of which end is the end of the train car. Eventually, the two are separated again by more than one wall, but now, they're on the same page, just keep moving forward. As Steven reaches a dead end. He closes his eyes and paces around for a second, he reopens his eyes and peers down the corner, only to see a completely new path for him to follow. Hailee continues the same procedure, until they come across each other for the first time since they were separated.

"Steven" Hailee shouts, seeing Steven down a long corridor. Hailee immediately runs up to Steven, giving him a big hug as Steven leans down and hugs her back.

"I wanted to hug you earlier when we were saying all that stuff but I couldn't so I'm getting it out of the way now," Hailee explains.

"Me too" Steven responds.

The two finish off the journey together, closing their eyes and waiting for a second when they reach a dead end, traveling to the exit wall in any way they can. Both Steven and Hailee make sure to stay next to each other, preventing them from being separated from each other. After about an hour of this, they eventually reach a path that leads to a large staircase. The two climb the stairs to be met with the exit door

"We made it" Steven says, "and it only took us....2 hours"

"We've spent longer times in cars before" Hailee responds

"Yeah but at least those cars were fun, I don't think I'll ever want to see a white wall ever again after this" Steven says. Steven opens the door back into the wasteland, where they immediately lay down to rest now that their eyes aren't being blinded by pure white anymore.

"Is it just me or is the wasteland much prettier now" Hailee says.

"I never thought I'd like the look of this place, but after spending hours in there, I'm kind of learning to appreciate it" Steven responds.

"Want to keep moving forward, that is the only way...forward," Hailee says, trying to figure out the proper way of saying it.

"I've legitimately been trying to avoid saying that this entire time dude" Steven says with a laugh. "I'm glad you did it before I did"

"I'll have you know that I am quite the sentencesmith" Hailee responds.

"For the record, I don't think sentencesmith is a word" Steven says.

"It is now" Hailee yells.

They both get a good laugh in before beginning to move forward yet again to the next car.

Chapter Text

"HIIIYAAHH" Hailee shouts as she opens the car door with a karate chop.

Steven and Hailee emerge from a dojo car with mirrors lining the walls, a patted red floor, and punching bags in the corner.

"We must go master, thank you for teaching us your wisdom in the ways of martial arts" Hailee says with a giggle and a bow.

"The student becomes the master, remember that Hailee. I wish you well on your journeys" says the master, who is a anthropomorphic punching bag wearing a karate uniform and a black belt lined with gold stripes "And Steven, you have great power, but it's important to learn restraint, and when to use that power and when not to, you don't want to your enemies to end up like Sammy over there" The karate master points to a destroyed punching bag on the far end of the wall with feather surrounding it in a bursted fashion.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, I might have gotten a little too into that punching bag" Steven laughs as he puts his hand behind his head.

"Alright let's go. It's probably best we leave now, I don't want to be around when I they start asking for a reimbursement for that punching bag" Steven says to Hailee while putting his hand on Hailee's back, trying to push her away from the door before quickly closing it.

"I had no idea you were that strong, you really did a number on that bag, I guess you could say it was time for him to hit the sack" Hailee says with a cheeky smile.

"That doesn't even make any sense" Steven laughs. "But I appreciate the effort."

The two approach the next door. Hailee tries to open it with a crescent kick, but the door doesn't budge. "Owww, I really gotta stop hitting metal doors" Hailee says while holding her foot.

"You might want to use your hand, that might help" Steven says sarcastically with a smile while opening the door with his hand, revealing a loud cheering noise coming from the inside the train car. As the door opens, They see a massive crowd of people surrounding a large dirt arena. The area they stand in resembles common roman architecture, with stone arches above the arena, metal gates sporadically placed in a wall that surrounds the dirt arena, separating the crowd from the arena.

"Wait, we're in a stadium, and an old one at that," Hailee says.

"I think we're in the colosseum, but definitely the colosseum in its prime. We must be in Rome, or at least whatever this train's version of Rome is. This is awesome, I've always wanted to go to Italy" Steven says.

"Wow, it's huge, but I don't know if I like where we're standing" Hailee points out. Both Steven and Hailee are at the bottom of the colosseum, with the massive crowd watching their every move. Before they can realize what situation there in, the door closes behind them, and they are stuck at the bottom of the arena

"I don't know if I like where this is going" Steven says out of concern.

"SILENCE" says a loud voice in the audience. Steven and Hailee look up to see a man in the distance on a platform separated from the rest of the audience. He is dressed in a gold chest plate engraved with vines sprawling over the armor. Despite the roman architecture and culture, the man is holding a microphone, which amplifies his voice through unknown means "Our contestant has arrived." says the man.

Suddenly, the ground below Hailee begins to shake. The earth underneath her forms a circular platform, and the platform begins to rise in the air. Hailee drops to the floor before the platform moves up higher in the air.

"STEVEN..." Hailee shouts.

"Don't worry, I'll save you, just stay where you are." Eventually, it begins to bring Hailee over to the man at the podium, dropping her right next to the man.

"Now, we wouldn't want you to get in the way of this little girl, you will be able to leave as soon as your friend completes his challenges, if he can"

Before Hailee can respond, the man begins to address the audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, The Gamemaster has quite a treat for you today. It seems no ordinary person has wandered into our humble world today. No no no, we've got a special one here, and I don't know about you, but I want to see what this thing can do" says the man.

"Steven, what is he talking about?" Hailee shouts into the mic, catching the strange man off guard. Steven realizes he hasn't told Hailee anything about the gems or his powers and how they came to be.

"I-I didn't want to scare her, they scare me sometimes" Steven thinks to himself. "I should have told her, I was just too scared that she wouldn't want to be around me anymore" Still, it appears that Hailee is going to learn the truth now.

"Hailee I'm sorry, I never told you, I'm-" Steven says before being cut off by the man with the microphone.

"Really, you haven't even told her about yourself yet, well, I guess she will find out with the rest of you" The man says before the crowd goes wild.

"Oh no" Steven whispers to himself before glowing pink, shocking Hailee.

"This child here is not human, or at least not fully. He is half alien, and is able to use his alien abilities in combat. He's quite the powerful alien too, one of the strongest of his kind." The man says to the shock of both Hailee and Steven. "You see, look at him right now, look at that pink glow of his, he can't help but let his alien side out. Let it out Steven, show us what you can do" The man says while taunting Steven. "You know you can't hold it back, it's who you are, you were meant to fight, you were meant to kill. Let it out"

"AGGGRRR...STOP IT" Steven shouts, sending a sonic bolt of energy radiating from his body, cracking the ground and the wall behind him. The audience is silenced for a brief moment before beginning to cheer even louder.

"Now THAT'S what I'm talking about, look at that roar, enough to make the ground beneath him crack, now let's start putting these powers to the test"

On the other side of the arena, a large metal gate rises slowly. Before it can finish rising, a large hoof steps out of the cage, and red glowing eyes open up from the dark that stare straight at Steven. Once the gate opens, a large black figure with hooves, horns, and human chest steps out.

"A Minotaur" Steven says out of terror.

"The minotaur holds a giant metal sword, capable of crushing any human with one slice. His red eyes continue to stare right at Steven, his mouth salivating as he shows his fangs, but does not approach.

"Alright Steven, let's get to the rules of the game. There will be three challenges, all three of which will test different aspects of your powers. This first test is the test of strength. Your goal is to kill the minotaur by any means you see fit. Don't worry, the minotaur isn't real, so there's no need to feel bad for killing it, that is if you can."

Steven, realizing he has no other choice but to fight, summons his shield in his left hand, and a bubble fist in his right hand. The minotaur gets on all fours and prepares to charge, his large sword on his back. "Let round one....Begin" says the Gamemaster.

Suddenly, the minotaur charges on all fours with full force straight at Steven. Steven jumps out of the way and floats above him, letting him charge into the wall and letting him get his horns stuck. Steven then accelerates his fall and slams both his fist into the monster's back, pushing the minotaur into the ground and creating a large dust cloud around the minotaur as the crowd cheers. Before Steven can regain his footing. The minotaur recoils and frees his horns from the wall, flinging himself back into an upright position, and launching Steven into the center of the arena. Steven lands on his feet and resummons his shield.

The minotaur pulls out its sword, and slams it into Steven. Steven increases the shield's size to absorb the impact. It's successful, but Steven's feet sink into the dirt with the weight of the impact. The minotaur takes the opportunity and swipes his sword horizontally at Steven like a baseball bat. Steven is barely able to create a bubble around himself before the sword hits and sends him flying to the left of the arena, smashing into the wall. Steven bubble takes most of the impact, but still leaves Steven with the wind knocked out of him. The minotaur spares no time, and immediately charges towards Steven with his sword in the air, ready to finish him off.

Steven regains a small part of his strength, forms two bubble fists along with a larger bubble around him to absorb the impact of the attack. The minotaur slams his sword into Steven, and even with everything protecting Steven, he is barely able to stop the full force of the attack. He is left in a battle of strength, pushing the blade away from him as the minotaur attempts to further the blade into him. Steven struggles to push back the blade, slowly sliding back into the wall as the minotaur pushes closer and closer

The blade slowly approaches Steven, his bubble fist beginning to give way and creating wounds in his hands. Before the blade can get too far, Steven experiences a new rush of adrenaline as he fights for survival. Steven regains his footing as the air in his lungs return. He lets off a giant roar, creating a sonic boom around him, sending the sword flying back, severing one of the minotaurs' horns in the process and pushing him down onto his back.

Before the minotaur has a chance to recover, Steven floats into the air, creating a pink wall made with hexagonal panels with his powers. He turns some of the wall panels into long jagged spikes before slamming it into the minotaur, impaling him in several places, including the head. Steven returns to the ground as the minotaur goes limp and the pink walls dissipate, releasing the lifeless minotaur from its prison. The minotaur fades and turns into a blob of blue and green pixels, sparkling and cracking until it dissipates into thin air.

"It's...just a hologram" Steven thinks "This must all be a simulation, a deadly one at that"

"We have a victor, round one goes to Steven Quartz Universe" says the Gamemaster.

Steven is clearly exhausted from the fight, huffing and puffing into the ground, sweat dripping off his forehead.

"Your test of strength is complete, you will be given a short break. Hailee, I assume you'll want to give your friend a pep talk" the Gamemaster says. Suddenly, the ground below Hailee begins to rise again, sending Hailee back down a few feet away from Steven. Steven attempts to approach Hailee, but she backs away from him out of fear. Steven, realizing what he just did, explains himself.

"I'm so sorry you had to find out this way, I never wanted you to know what real damage I can do, that's why I tried to hide it from you. But it always finds its way out, no matter what, thats what happened to the punching bag this morning." Steven says, falling to his knees. "I just didn't want to see you get hurt, I hurt people sometimes, I don't mean too, I just cant control my powers as well as I want too. I didn't want to hurt you too."

Hailee, seeing the pain Steven is in immediately rushes towards him to hug him.

"I'm sorry I was afraid of you, it's all just so scary, I thought he was going to get you, I thought you were going to die" Hailee says, she attempts to say more afterwards, but it's completely muffled out by her cries.

It's okay, it's okay" Steven says while hugging her back with tears in his eyes. "I should have told you, I'm bad with that stuff, I didn't mean to scare you, I'm such an idiot"

"*sniff*..you're not an idiot...*sniff*...and I'm not scared of you, I just wish I knew more about what just happened, are you really an alien?"

"It's a little more complicated than that but...yes, but I'm still human to. I'll tell you everything once we get out of here but you have to go back up there. I don't want you to get hurt. I'll never forgive myself if that happened" Steven says.

"I'd forgive you" Hailee says with a smile through the tears "Do you think you can get us out of here."

"Let's hope so," Steven says. "No, I know so, we'll get out"

Steven releases Hailee, and she returns to her stone platform, where she is lifted back up to the Gamemaster.

"Alright ladies and gentleman, after that heart pounder of a round, we'll begin round two, this round will be a test of quick-wit. Steven will be facing multiple opponents, and will have to think quickly in order to defeat them all." The Gamemaster says

Suddenly, every metal gate lifts up, releasing one roman soldier with a red flare on the helmet and black chest plates. Steven looks around, seeing 12 soldiers surrounding him. Steven takes a defensive position before the Gamemaster begins the round.

"Let round two...BEGIN"

All soldiers begin to charge forward, Steven immediately throws two shields at the two soldiers in front of him, splitting them both in half, bursting into blue pixels and dissipating into thin air. Before he can react, Steven is immediately pounced by three other soldiers, one of which pins him to the ground while the two others raise their spears. Steven quickly forms a spiked bubble, knocking the three back. Jumping into the air, Steven releases the bubble and sends spikes flying into the arena, piercing two gladiators, leaving 8 left.

Four spears fly into the air and towards Steven. He accelerates his fall, landing on his feet and allowing the spears to go right over his head. Suddenly, a gladiator with a sword charges from the left, Steven quickly summons a shield, blocking their attack. Another soldier approaches from the right, Steven, in one swift motion, knocks the gladiator's sword out of his hand with his shield and throws his shield at the gladiator to his right, his shield bounces off the gladiator to the right, dissipating his form, and returns to Steven just in time for him to block a new attack from the gladiator to the left. Steven moves his shield and hits the gladiator with a bubble fist to the stomach, sending him flying back to the wall, where his form dissipates, leaving 6 soldiers left

Steven sees three more soldiers charging at him from the left, and two more from the right. Steven pivots into place and bolts towards the three soldiers to the left, activating his super speed as he goes. He shoulder smashes one soldier with his super speed, immediately sending him to the other side of the arena, killing him. He then deactivates his super speed and creates two hexagonal walls in between the two soldiers left, and pushes them towards each other, crushing them both, leaving 3 soldiers left.

Steven quickly tries to turn around, but one of the soldiers gets the upper hand, and grazes his arm with the sword, creating a gash on his upper shoulder. Steven quickly reactivates his super speed to escape the encounter. Now weakened by his wound, Steven can only manage to maintain his super speed for a few seconds before it stops. His super speed deactivates and Steven is forced to take a second to rest. Another soldier takes the opportunity presented to him and sneaks behind him and stabs Steven in the back of the calf, piercing through his flesh, stopping at the bone. Steven barely avoids going into shock and screams out in agony. He falls to the ground, but while falling, is able to turn over, and use his momentum to swing his shield up in the air at the soldier who stabbed him, decapitating him, leaving two soldiers left.

Steven collapses into a crawl position, his leg is badly damaged from the spear wound. The spear cut every muscle and blood vessel in his calf that it came across, and even put a large dent on the bone where the blade stopped. The wound in his leg creates an intense throbbing, almost paralyzing pain. Blood pours out of the wound, and the muscles below the wound begin to go limp. Steven is experiencing a pain powerful enough to send him into a rage, something he has never experienced before as pure survival instinct kicks in.

Steven uses all the strength he has left to lift his head back up, The two soldiers remaining begin to charge towards Steven. Steven throws his shield at one of the soldiers, cutting him in half before his form dissipates. The final soldier begins to approach. Steven, filled with the pain of his gored leg and sliced shoulder, and the pure rage that comes with it, summons a primal yell much louder than he's ever had before.

"Go AWAYYYYYY...." Steven screams, creating a sonic boom so powerful it knocks the soldier into midair towards the crowd at almost super sonic speed. Before he can reach the stands, a blue force field appears, obliterating him before he has a chance to pass the walls of the arena. Steven collapses back onto the ground, shaking due to blood loss. His wounds are bad, but before he has the chance to bleed out, Steven uses his spit to heal the wounds in his calf. The wound quickly closes as the blood flow slows, the pain subsiding. The muscles below the wound begin to come back, but Steven is unable to stand up for a few moments. He also uses his spit to heal his hands and his shoulder wound, which leaves a massive, but healed scar.

"Round two goes to Steven Universe," says the Gamemaster. The crowd goes wild, cheering Steven's name. Steven manages to stand on both his legs again, slowly recovering back into peak position.

"I must say Steven I am impressed, there was a moment there where I thought you might not make it, but you pulled through and even stronger than before." The Gamemaster says "Are you ready for your final challenge, Steven Universe"

"Do I have a choice" Steven mutters.

The game masters sneers and says "No...you don't"

"How did he hear me?" Steven thinks, but before he can process what happened, a fog blue pixels begins to form across the arena, all sparking in and out of existence as they float around everyone in the audience. Then, the pixels begin to gather in a spot about 20 feet in front of steven. Pixels from across the arena shoot towards the forming blob, all condensing into a smaller and smaller area. Suddenly, the pixels begin to form a humanoid figure, equal in height to Steven, and as the pixels coalesce, Steven begins to realize who his new opponent is.

As the pixels clear, a person emerges out of the cloud. The figure has curly black hair, a pink unzipped jacket with a black shirt underneath with a big yellow star on the cover.

"You've managed to fight off a bloodthirsty minotaur, and a whole battalion of soldiers, so lets put you up against an opponent more up your ally, someone I'm sure your very familiar with" The Gamemaster says "Steven Universe, meet Steven Universe, your final opponent."

The hologram Steven gives off a sinister laugh, clearly more confident and more malevolent than the original Steven.

"What's the problem, scared to face yourself?" Hologram Steven asks.

"I face myself everyday, you're no different" Steven says

"Oh, I see, well, I'm about to show you a side you've never faced before" Hologram Steven says.

"Let the final round...BEGIN."

Suddenly, hologram Steven creates a wall of pink spikes, and sends it flying towards Steven. Steven shouts, creating a sonic boom, breaking the wall around him, letting the rest of the wall pass him and land at the back of the arena. Steven then throws two shields at hologram Steven. Hologram Steven dodges both, and activates his super speed, charging into Steven. Steven's thrown aback by his attack, but quickly activates his super speed, leveling the playing field. The two continue to try and one up each other as the crowd only see two pink blurs bouncing off each other, flying across the arena like two balls in a pinball machine.

Suddenly, the two stop in the middle, across from each other, hands connected to each other above their heads as they try to push each other back. Pink lightning radiates from them as energy builds up. Hologram Steven appears to be getting the upper hand in the battle, slowly pushing Steven's arms back

"What, giving up already? are you so terrified to see yourself like this that you'd rather die than keep fighting" Hologram Steven says with a sneer.

"You're not me, you may have my body, but you're nothing like me, I never want to be anything like you." Steven says

"Oh Steven, but I am you, and maybe that's why you hate me so much right now" Hologram Steven says.

Steven, in a rage, grabs onto Hologram Steven's forearms, and swings him across the arena. Hologram Steven slams into the stone wall, cracking it behind him. Steven then sends a wall of spikes at him, but before they land, hologram Steven forms a bubble, deflecting the attacks. Hologram Steven then spikes the bubble, and sends the spikes towards Steven. Steven jumps into the air to avoid the spikes, but is intercepted by Hologram Steven, also jumping into the air. Hologram Steven grabs Steven by his jacket collar, and the force of the jump pushes them back into the blue force field above the arena walls. Hologram Steven pushing Steven into the force field

Hologram Steven forms a bubble around his fist, and sends a punch straight towards Steven's face. Steven moves out of the way just in time, forcing Hologram Steven's fist to connect with the force field, sending him launching back down to the arena floor. Steven then summons his shield, and jumps off the force field straight towards hologram Steven. Steven slams into hologram Steven, creating a large pink explosion. A crater is created, and the force of the explosion pushing the two on opposite sides of it. Both are laying down, recovering from the blast, Steven slowly regains his footing, standing up.

"What makes you think you're anything like me. You're mean, and vindictive, and all you want to do is fight. How are you anything like me?" Steven says

"You really think I'm nothing like you? I'm what you constantly try to bottle up every day of your life. You're constantly trying to prove you're the better person, locking away your feelings and forcing yourself to be happy," Hologram Steven says while standing up

"I still get out sometimes though, your fight with Jasper, why did you really fight her, because you wanted her to go to your little school? That's cute, but you know damn well that you wanted that fight. You lashed out, and finally got what you wanted, to see jasper down in the dirt. Tell me that isn't what you wanted!" Hologram Steven argues.

Steven begins to fall apart, thinking of what Jasper has done in the past. "She....She poofed Garnet, knocked me out, tried to shatter Amethyst, almost killed me, almost killed all of us, I just wanted her to apologize, to show me at least some form of apology for all the pain she put me through, but she just wouldn't, and I...I"

"You took it upon yourself to get that apology out, these people have hurt you, why should you have any sympathy towards them. They are terrible people who show you time and time again that they don't care about their past actions and yet all you try and do is prove to yourself that you can help them make a change." Hologram Steven yells, beginning to become emotional himself.

"You're....YOU'RE WRONG" Steven shouts as he creates a sonic boom, launching hologram Steven back. Hologram Steven flips before landing on his feet. Hologram Steven creates two pink walls, flanking Steven. Hologram Steven attempts to close the walls, but Steven creates two large shields with each hand, breaking the walls. Steven then launches the two shields at hologram Steven.

Hologram Steven creates two hexagonal shards, splitting the two shields away from each other, causing them to barely miss hologram Steven. Hologram Steven then charges at Steven, grabbing him and tackling him back into the crater. As Steven and Hologram Steven attempt to one up each other in a wrestling match, an opaque bubble is formed around the crater, shielding the two off from the rest of the arena, and the Gamemaster.

Both Steven and hologram Steven are huffing and puffing, exhausted from the fight. They both collapse next to each other, laying on the ground breathing heavily. They are forced to talk to one another, as their bodies are too tired to even move. Steven begins to speak.

"Some people do change, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, they all became better people when-"

"When they met you?" Hologram Steven interrupts, "God you're more arrogant than I thought, they didn't change because of you, they changed because deep down they were better people who were just put in bad situations. All you did was give them a place to stay while they figured it out on their own. Jasper has been given that for two years, the Diamonds have been given that for two years and yet they still act the same. Some people can't change, sometimes fighting is the only option"

"......You're right" Steven says, shocking Hologram Steven. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try, how am I supposed to know if people can change or not if I don't give them a chance."

Hologram Steven, still huffing, says "You give people too many chances, the diamonds murdered millions of innocent creatures, yet you act like deep down they're innocent, they are horrible people, you know this"

"Maybe" Steven says without confidence, "but if I'm going to fix an empire, I need them on my side, shattering White diamond wouldn't solve anything, violence doesn't solve everything" Steven responds.

"Some people only respond to violence, you think Jasper listens to you because you're kind, she listens to you because you're pink diamond. Those two lapis's didn't listen to you because you danced for them, they listened to you because your lapis kicked their butts. Peace and love doesn't solve everything" Hologram Steven responds.

"You.....well.....I...." Steven realizes he doesn't have an answer for what hologram Steven just says. "Fine, I hate fighting, I want to see the good in everyone, I want to see people become better, but...maybe some people don't deserve that, alright?"

Hologram Steven loudly exhales before saying "Alright, maybe I am a little too forceful, I'm just so tired everyone acts like they can push me around, like I'm just some punching bag they can hit a thousand times and I'll still be there to clean their gloves afterwards. I just want gems like Jasper to finally respect me and see what I'm trying to do for her"

Steven begins to laugh, giggling at the pure insanity of the situation. Hologram Steven joins in, realizing what is happening "I think we want the same thing, just neither of us know how to get there" Steven says before standing up.

"But maybe instead of pushing each other away, we should work together, then if we have nobody, we at least have each other" Steven says as he reaches his hand out to hologram Steven, Hologram Steven takes Steven's hand and gets up with Steven.

"There's only one way we're getting out of here, you know that right." Hologram Steven says.

"I know, some people can't change, some people get joy out of tearing innocent people down, and then, and only then, is it okay to give those people a taste of their own medicine." Steven says, hologram Steven gives Steven a smile as they both know what to do now.

"Just make sure to keep Hailee safe," Steven says.

"Wouldn't dream of doing anything else" Hologram Steven says.

Together, they dissipate the opaque bubble surrounding them.The crowd begins to cheer as the two opponents return, but the Gamemaster has a concerned face. Holding hands, Steven and Hologram Steven combine their powers. The two glow white and fuse into each other, creating a larger and more powerful version of Steven. The crowd makes a noise akin to pure bewilderment. The Gamemaster steps back out of pure shock.

Suddenly, the combined Steven creates a massive wall of spikes, slowly coalescing into one giant spike, glowing pink with lightning erupting from it, the front of the spike is glowing pure white as it gathers the energy to pierce the force field. Steven throws his arm forward, launching the pink shard forward. It shatters the blue force field, passing right through it and straight into the gamemaster, skewering him to the wall, killing him instantly.

Suddenly, the entire arena begins to fade out, The crowd, the gamemaster, and guards are all turned into blue sparks. Megasteven unfuses, and Hologram Steven fades out of existence, the blue pixels condensing back into Steven, uniting the two together, this time on new terms.

The platform below Hailee fades out of existence, sending her falling down to the floor.

Steven jumps towards Hailee, catching her in his arms, and slowly floating her down to the floor. The floor erupts into a storm of blue sparks, revealing a dark turquoise surface with lines of green creating a bunch of squares across the floor. As the colosseum turns into a blue storm of sparks, the real walls of the train car are revealed, just like the floor, a grid of dark turquoise panels, and as the sky fades out, the ceiling is the same. All of the blue sparks coalesce around an area on the other end of the car, creating the exit door at the far end of the train car.

Steven lets Hailee down to the ground, and Hailee immediately turns around to hug Steven.

"I'm so sorry you had to see all of that, I had no idea things would get that intense" Steven says as he gets on his knees to be head level with Hailee "Are you okay Hailee?"

"I'm okay, I'm so sorry I couldn't help, I just closed my eyes when I saw that soldier stab you in the leg, I couldn't look," Hailee says.

"It's okay, I never wanted you to help. I just wanted you to stay safe. Honestly it's probably for the best you didn't see the second half of that battle." Steven says out of concern.

Looking at his hand, Steven realizes his number dropped all the way down to 58.

"I might be a karate master now, but maybe I should just stick to a singular, human opponent" Hailee laughs.

"Yeah, I wish I could too, I guess I owe you an explanation on all of this. Long story short, I'm a hybrid, I'm part human, and part gem. A gem is basically a race of space conquering aliens. My mom was one of their leaders, but she left the empire to start a life of her own on earth, where she created me, and now I have her powers," Steven explains. "I can tell you the full story on the way to the train car"

"Please tell me more, I'd like to forget about everything that just happened right now" Hailee responds

Steven laughs and says "Yeah, me too"

Steven lets Hailee hop on top of his shoulders, and gives her a shoulder ride to the next train car while telling her the story of Steven Universe.

Chapter Text

“So you MADE a school, I just go to one and only that exhausts me” Hailee says.

Steven laughs before saying, “Yeah, it was a little rough at points, but it was worth it in the long run, I needed a place to help the uncorrupted gems learn how to live on earth” Steven says.

“Can other gems board the train, or is that just an us thing” Hailee asks.

“Honestly, a few days ago I didn’t even know I could board this, who the hell knows?” Steven responds.

“Okay, but who was Pearl’s original master if it wasn’t pink diamond” Hailee asks.

“I have no idea,” Steven asks.

“And what was in that chest in lion’s mane?” Hailee asks

“I mean it’s kind of a long sto-” Steven says before being interrupted.

“And what about the origins of the diamonds? How did they all come into existence, are you all supercomputers? How does a gem get light to condens-”

“Okay clearly I don't ask enough questions, Jesus Christ” Steven says while laughing. “Maybe once we get out of here we can figure all that out.” Steven exclaims.

“I wonder if we can see each other when we leave, we both live in two different places, we’ll have to find away to see each other again after this,” Hailee says out of concern.

Steven’s face goes white from the realization. “I’ve already lost too many people, I can’t lose her” Steven thinks to himself. He begins to think about ways he can stay in touch with Hailee after they both leave the train, but his mind goes blank.

“Yeah Umm...well umm…We’ll figure something out, don’t worry, this won't be the last time we see each other” Steven says.

“Okay, I’m sure you can figure something about, being half supercomputer and all” Hailee says.

“I’m not a supercomputer...or maybe I am...I don't know, stop giving me an existential crisis!” Steven says jokingly, laughing with Hailee.

Steven and Hailee approach the entrance to the next car door. Steven begins to open the door, meeting much more resistance than usual, struggling to twist it open. Steven eventually twists the handle far enough to open the door, only to be met with a big wall of plywood covering the path into the next train car. He puts his ear up to the plywood to see if he can hear anything from the other side, but it is silent.

“Umm, that’s strange,” Steven thinks. He attempts to push the plywood out of the way, but to no avail. Hailee attempts to help Steven push the plywood out of the way, but neither of them can get past it.

“Umm, so are we just supposed to skip this train car” Hailee asks

“I have no idea.” Steven says “Here, let me try something, step back for a second, this might get a little messy.” Hailee, trusting Steven, steps a few feet back from the door. Steven then creates a bubble around his fist, and punches the plywood. The plywood splits into two before flying a good twenty feet away from the door and into the train car.

“Whoa, that was awesome, do it again!” Hailee says with excitement.

“If we find any more plywood, sure, but I think this plywood has had enough,” Steven says with a laugh.

Steven and Hailee walk into the next train car, which appears to be an abandoned train station. Train tracks filled with wood and stone debris, with train cars sporadically placed, most of them being off the tracks, strewn about as if they had been abandoned here for years. Vines and small bushes are beginning to cover the train cars, slowly decaying them into the growing layer of dirt beneath them.

Above Steven and Hailee is a dome ceiling, half of which has collapsed and broken apart, revealing a dark cloudy sky with a mild green tint above. Many roots from different plants are drooping down the side of the cracking walls. Debris from the ceiling litters the area as Steven and Hailee attempt to walk their way through the abandoned train station.

“What happened to this place?” Hailee asks.

“I don’t know, were we not supposed to go in here? The door was boarded up” Steven says.

“It’s not like we can skip cars, we have to go through here, is this what the car is supposed to look like?” Hailee asks.

“I don’t know, we weren't able to get into here without my powers, it’s possible we were never supposed to be in here” Steven responds.

The two continue to walk through the abandoned train station, finding signs dangling from one cord, and computers that have long rotted away. Worn down suitcases with clothes hanging out are scattered around the station, as if people just left them right where they were and just disappeared. They notice many rows of seats people used to wait on, now torn to shreds with the cotton strewn about as plants begin to grow in the crevices made.

The two make their way to the entrance of the train station. The glass walls destroyed with glass shards skewed about, cords from the ceilings above hang down, and former desks are now filled with bird nests and rodent hideouts, yet no animals have been seen. Hailee tries to walk over the glass covered floor before Steven stops her.

“Wait, I don’t want you walking over that. Here, give me a second” Steven says, before glowing pink, and creating a hexagonal pink wall about an inch off the ground, making a safe path for both of them to cross over the broken glass. As Steven and Hailee exit the train car, they see the damage is far beyond the train station.

“Oh no” Hailee says, covering her mouth out of pure shock.

“This is...disturbing,” Steven says in response to Hailee.

What they see is the decaying New York City skyline, complete with the desecrated versions of the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, and the One World Trade Center in the background. They look behind the train station to see the Metlife building, except it has completely collapsed, with nothing but a few stone columns several stories high remaining, the rest of the building is now a pile of rubble above the train station and the streets below.

“I think this is New York City, so if that used to be the Metlife Building, then that train station must have been Grand Central train station” Steven says, attempting to figure out where they are in Manhattan.

“How long does this train go on for, the door could be on the other side of the world.” Hailee says out of concern.

“I don't think we’ll need to worry about that,” Steven says, pointing out a subway map on the street. The map is well worn, with mold beginning to cover parts of it, but it is readable. “I think this is only Manhattan, I can’t see any bridges on this map. It’s just the island.”

“Umm Steven” Hailee says with concern.

“Yeah” Steven responds.

“We have even bigger problems now,” Hailee says.

Hailee points to their left, where a pack of wolves emerges from the shadows, the pack being about 5 wolves in size. The pack slowly approaches the two while growling and beginning to display their teeth, jumping over rubble in their way. Steven and Hailee back up a few steps as the wolves begin to approach, intimidating the two.

“They must have gotten out of the Central Park zoo, we need to leave” Steven says.

“Wait, 5 wolves is small for a pack, there are probably more surrounding us that we can’t see. I read about this in a book once, they send a few wolves to intimidate their prey, wait for them to flee into another group of wolves that goes for the kill” Hailee says.

“Well what does the book say to do in that case?” Steven says.

“I don’t know! I don't think the book ever thought the person reading it would be in this situation” Hailee panics.

One of the wolves jumps towards the two. Steven instinctively bubbles himself and Hailee before the wolf has a chance to pounce. The rest of the 5 wolves begin to surround the bubble, scratching and biting at it, attempting to pop it. Steven rolls the bubble away from the pack, trying not to hurt the wolves in the process but just trying to avoid getting eaten. Steven and Hailee roll the bubble down the street, but before they can roll away, 4 more wolves hop out of the shadows in front of them.

“And there’s the rest of the pack” Hailee says, “how long can this bubble last?”

“A while, but we won't be able to find the door if we're stuck here, we have to find a way out” Steven says

“Why don’t we just punch our way out, you have superpowers don’t you?” Hailee asks

“I’m not going to kill a pack of wolves just because they’re hungry” Steven says, shocked by the suggestion. The two think for a moment before Steven comes up with an idea.

“Wait a minute, I can fly above them”

“How many powers do you have?” Hailee asks.

“A lot, it's best to just go with it” Steven responds. Steven pops the bubble, letting it expand and knocking all the wolves gnawing on the bubble back. Steven then grabs Hailee and jumps about 30 feet into the air towards a building still standing in the street across from them. One wolf jumps just in time to grab Steven’s leg, coming with him as he floats, forcing him to land abruptly on the top of a 5 story building. Steven, Hailee, and the wolf crash into the rooftop as the wolf lets go of Steven’s leg.

The lone wolf stands back up, and begins to approach Hailee, lowering himself as he gets ready to pounce. Before the wolf has the opportunity to attack, Steven jumps in front of Hailee and summons his shield. The wolf attempts to jump forward before Steven swipes at him with his shield, sending him flying back down to the streets below. Steven and Hailee both run over to the edge to see the wolf and the rest of his pack. The wolf lays still for a moment, but gets up, limping away with the rest of his pack.

“Alright, I guess we’ll have to deal with escaped zoo animals too, and we still don’t know where the next door is.” Steven says while healing his bite wound with his spit.

“Well, the entrance was in a train station, would it be a stretch to think the exit would be the same, you know, keeping up with the train theme.” Hailee recommends.

“I guess it’s the best lead we got, we were in midtown Manhattan, so it doesn’t seem like the exit being in downtown manhattan would be that much of a stretch” Steven says.

“How come you know so much about New York City, do you live here?” Hailee asks.

“No, I live in Delmarva, right by the beach. I guess I know a lot about this place because it’s actually one of the places I’d love to live, so many people, so many skyscrapers, it just seems like a beautiful place to explore and take an adventure in. I guess I've just done a lot of research on the place in my own time” Steven explains.

“I’ve never been to New York, I guess it’s weird since I live in Boston and that’s pretty close, but we’ve just never taken the trip” Hailee adds.

“See, we’ll be close when we get out of here, we’re both east coast nerds” Steven says while rubbing Hailee’s head. “Come on, we better get going.”

Steven and Hailee continue their journey to lower Manhattan. They pass by the ruins of the empire state building, still standing tall but with a few chunks of it fallen to the ground. The skyscrapers around it are in various states in decline, some of which look like they’ve barely been touched while others are just a pile of rubble and broken glass.

“What do you think happened to this place?” Hailee asks.

“I don’t know, it looks like everyone just decided to leave suddenly, I don’t know why though, what could make everyone decide that they could no longer live here” Steven answers, trying to make sense of the wreck the city is in. “It is still really suspicious the door was blocked off” Steven adds.

Steven and Hailee eventually make it about halfway between midtown and downtown Manhattan before they see a strange carving in the street.

“Wait, what’s that” Hailee asks, pointing it out to Steven.

“What do you see?” Steven asks

“It looks like someone carved a message in the middle of the street, a big one, I can’t see what it says though” Hailee responds.

“Wait, give me a moment, I can probably read it with a better view”

Steven bends his knees, glows pink, and jumps in the air towards the roof of a10 story building nearby, landing on his feet as he gracefully peaks at the very top of the building. From the top of the building, Steven can see what the message says.

‘For my love Alrick, You were too good for this world, I’m sorry I couldn’t save you’

“Who’s Alrick?” Steven thinks, confused by the message. “Is it a name, it sounds like the name of someone who passed away”

“Maybe this message was written by a person still grieving” Steven thinks.

Steven floats back down to Hailee, explaining the message. “Whoever Alrick’s admirer was, I’m willing to bet they had something to do with the state the train car is in right now.

They must have written that into the pavement, somehow”

“Let’s keep going, maybe whoever this is left more messages” Hailee says.

Steven and Hailee continue to travel downtown, now walking on the rooftops of skyscrapers using Steven’s powers to see any kind of messages. They find another message sprawled out on a building saying ‘I wonder if you can see me now. Please tell me you're still here with me somehow.’

Later they come across another message on a street saying ‘I wont stop thinking about you, I love you Alrick.’

“I think whoever wrote these messages was in love with Alrick, could it be his wife?” Hailee asks.

“That’s what it’s looking like, she loved someone, and lost them, that can’t be easy on her” Steven thinks, starting to think about the loss of his friends in his own life.

Steven and Hailee eventually make it to lower Manhattan, where they see a final message on the side of the One World Trade Center, saying ‘I don’t know how, but I will bring you back, I can’t be Amelia without you.’

“Her name is...Amelia” Hailee says.

“What did Amelia do to this car?” Steven thinks.

Below the World Trade Center is something neither Hailee nor Steven have seen on the train before. There is a grid-like pattern on the streets and on the side of the building with green lines illuminating each square, about a foot in area. Inside the square is a divot where it looks like a basketball sized ball could fit into. There are also many basketball sized blue orbs surrounding the area scattered about, some in the divots while others are lazily strewn about on the streets

“Okay...I don’t know how this car could have gotten any weirder but it did,” Hailee says.

Steven floats Hailee and himself down to the street. They attempt to approach the building, before Steven accidentally kicks one of the glowing blue orbs, causing it to roll into one of the sockets nearby. The ball enters the socket, and glows brighter for a brief second. Suddenly, the sky turns from a dark cloudy sky with a green tint to a partly cloudy day, with parts of a clear blue sky poking through. With the new found light, Steven and Hailee find that many of the buildings around them are severely disfigured, some missing entire sides of their face, and some looking like they skipped a few stories during construction.

“Do these orbs make up the train car?” Steven wonders. “Maybe the reason this car is so messed up is because someone removed too many of these orbs, and caused it to look like this.” Steven says, “Maybe this girl, Amelia, was trying to build something somewhere else, and used orbs from this place to make something else entirely, maybe even a new car where she could make Alrick again”

Before Steven has a chance to theorize, Hailee takes the opportunity to see what would happen if she removed an orb from it’s socket.

“Hailee NOO…” Steven tries to shout, but he is too late. Hailee removes the orb, causing one of the nearby buildings to lose it’s foundation, causing it to tumble down towards the two. Steven quickly jumps towards Hailee and summons a giant shield before the building lands on the two, creating a giant dust cloud around them.

The dust clears, revealing Steven and Hailee holding each other as the rubble crumbles onto the shield, sliding off into the streets around the shield. Hailee lets go of Steven before steven begins to become frustrated with her.

“Hailee what was that? How could you think that was a good idea.” Steven shouts out of frustration.

“Why are you so reckless sometimes” Steven shouts, before immediately covering his mouth, regretting getting angry with her over a simple mistake

“I’m SO sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, I wasn’t thinking I just did it” Hailee says

“It’s okay I forgiv-” Steven tries to say to neutralize the tension, but is cut off.

“It’s NOT okay, both you and my mom are constantly getting mad at me for not thinking about my actions but I just keep doing it. I almost got us killed by making the same mistake I always do” Hailee shouts, “I’m sorry, I never think about how my actions affect other people, I just do them, that’s what my mom always tells me, that’s what you tell me, that’s what my lizard tried to tell me. I’m sorry for being reckless, I promise I’ll try and do better”

Hailee puts her hand in her knees and crosses her arms, crying out of frustration with herself. Her right hand is positioned in such a way that Steven can see her number while Hailee is crying into her knees. Hailee doesn’t notice it, but her number has dropped all the way to one. Steven immediately begins to freak out about the number.

“She can’t leave now, my number is still so high” Steven thinks as he looks at his number, only to see it is still only at 48.

“I...I can't do this without her, She’s been with me this entire time, I can’t do this on my own. I need someone to help me through this, I’m not good at being alone” Steven begins to have a panic attack, before realizing something he can do. “Her number goes down the more she learns about her own recklessness, if I just…”

Steven conscience completely rejects the idea, but his panic attack doesn’t allow him to think, it only allows him to act. “I just...need her to stay a little bit longer, just until I can get my number down too, I swear I’ll get her off this train”

Steven begins to approach Hailee, no longer thinking in her best interest. “Hailee, don’t believe that, I like how you’re reckless”

“Wait...Really? But why?” Hailee asks.

“Uhhhh..Yeah, I like how you do the first thing on your mind, and it always takes you somewhere” Steven desperately tries to spin the situation, but notices something that will help him greatly. As more dust clears, Steven looks back at the building Hailee destroyed. Steven sees two large pieces of plywood bolted on a large stone wall, small holes fill the pieces of plywood, revealing a red door behind them. Steven quickly takes the opportunity presented to him.

“Look...Over there” Steven says to Hailee while pointing at the door.

“Your recklessness might have put us in a little danger, but because of it, we found the exit. We wouldn’t have found that if it weren't for you removing that orb to reveal the door.” Steven says while continuing to twist the story in his favor.

“Wait, that’s the door” Hailee shouts, “We can finally get out of here.”

Hailee quickly stands up, running through the dangerous rubble to get to the exit. Steven sees her number as she passes by, it’s risen back up to 10. Steven follows Hailee into the rubble and meets her at the door. Steven uses his bubble fist to knock away the plywood, revealing the bright red exit door they’ve been looking for.

“That’s still super cool you know,” Hailee says. “I’m sorry for being hard on myself, but if you think being a little reckless is a good thing than maybe I should let that side of me out a bit more”

“Yeah...Totally” Steven says, beginning to feel guilty about what he is doing.

Steven opens the door to back up the wasteland, and sees the next train car in front of them.

“Finally, I’m so glad we found it, I thought we’d be here forever searching for it” Hailee says, relieved.

“Yeah, it would suck having to be in the same place forever wouldn’t it?” Steven says. His conscience slowly creeps back into his head “You won't get away with this, you can’t trick her to stay here with you, she has to move on, just like you. You’re doing a horrible thing” Steven’s conscience says.

“It’s okay, I'll only keep her here for a little while longer, until I can get my number down too” Steven thinks.

“She trusts you, you know, she looks up to you, how dare you manipulate her like this”

“It won't be for long, I swear,” Steven thinks.

“She’s a smart girl, she’ll figure it out if you keep it up, you can’t hide this forever”

“Well...I won't have too, lucky for me” Steven thinks, before burying his conscience again.

“Ready for the next train car” Steven asks.

“I’m ready to get off this train already,” Hailee responds.

“Yeah, me too”

Chapter Text

"Umm Hailee, I think we need to talk a little bit more about one of your re-election campaign slogans" Steven says while looking down at a stack of papers.

Steven and Hailee are in a circular office with tan walls and white ceilings. There is a large mahogany desk near the end of the room where Hailee is sitting. Three large windows with yellow curtains are behind the desks with a flag in between each window. The rest of the room is decorated with fancy and expensive looking furniture, book cases with complex patterns on them, and elegantly designed door frames. The room largely resembles the oval office in the US white house.

"What's wrong with it, it speaks to the people" Hailee responds while shaking her fist dramatically.

"Look, I think universal healthcare is a good idea too, but I think saying 'Free drugs for all' can be misinterpreted" Steven says.

"Yeah, I just don't see how anyone could misinterpret that" Hailee says with a sarcastic smile. "It's clear cut and to the point, plus who cares if someone does misinterpret it, votes are votes you know."

"Rightttt, but as your campaign manager I suggest you at least appeal to people who aren't from Detroit. You know, normal people." Steven says, "I'd also suggest you take the baseball cap off during press conferences, I think people are starting to see you as less professional because of it."

Hailee puts her hand on her baseball cap, suddenly becoming uncomfortable with the idea of taking it off.

"I'm not going to get rid of it, I like it. It reminds me of my dad. If people don't like it, then they can vote for someone else" Hailee says.

Before Steven can ask what she means by that, a figure enters the room. They resemble a large piece of paper rolled up with a red ribbon around the center, with limbs and a cartoon style face sticking out of the front.

"Ummm, President Martinez, this just came from congress, thought you might want to see it" The figure says.

"Thank you Monika. You know, you really are a good intern, I hope you know that." Hailee says, clearly making the intern slightly uncomfortable. The intern leaves and Hailee reads the note.

"Ohh, would you look at that, I've been impeached." Hailee says casually, "It's probably for the best, we should leave before they find the mics I put in all the senators phone cases."

"Hailee what on god's green earth have you done." Steven says.

"Don't worry about it, let's get going now" Hailee responds.

"Yeah, I guess we should, I did end up using our campaign funds to buy a new pair of expensive flip flops, which I do not regret." Steven says while showing off a pair of gold flip flops with a designer brand name logo on them.

"They fit really well with the rest of your outfit I gotta say" Hailee says.

"I know, it's just one of those things you see in a store and cant leave without, you know"

Steven and Hailee both share a laugh before leaving the office, Hailee giving the intern outside an extra long goodbye.

"I liked Monika, she was a good intern," Hailee says.

Steven and Hailee make their way across an exact recreation of the white house, with decorated walls, chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, and paintings of past presidents. Many people pass my Steven and Hailee as they walk by, all of which are anthropomorphic rolls of paper, most of which wave nervously at Hailee as they walk by.

"Wow, people really respect the president, don't they?" Steven says.

"Yeah, they definitely do...And I've fired 10 interns in the past few hours so I get a little more respect around here now." Hailee says.

Steven and Hailee reach the exit door on the other side of the white house, with a large panel next to it with several buttons on it, which spell out different outcomes that could happen in a presidential term.

"Well there's no way we can get you re-elected, ready to resign" Steven says.

"I like to think of it more as... quitting while I'm ahead" Hailee responds as she presses the resign button on the panel, unlocking the door. Steven opens the door as a group of interns gather around the door, watching Hailee leave.

"Alright, I want to thank you all for helping me run the country, I couldn't have done it without you, and as my last decree as president, I fire all of you. Now everyone get out, except for you Monika, you can sta-" Hailee tries to say before being dragged out of the train car by Steven.

"Okay, enough harassing interns, let's just get to the next train car, I've had enough politics for....ever" Steven says.

"I'll have you know I was a great president, just not a very pure one"

"I've literally had to fight off and cure thousands of corrupt gems across the globe, I don't think any of them compared to you and the things you did while we were in there."

Steven and Hailee both laugh before continuing to walk to the next train car, Hailee looking down at her number for a brief moment.

"Still 10, what could I be missing? You'd think running a country could help me learn new things about myself."

Steven goes quiet, knowing what she is missing, but refusing to acknowledge it. Suddenly, the voice inside Steven's head returns, scolding him.

"You know, whatever happened to helping people," says the voice inside Steven's head. The voice became active after the gladiator car, and has only become more and more prevalent the more he keeps his charade up. "I thought you're whole 'quote on quote' identity was helping others, this seems like a pretty big step in the wrong direction"

Steven looks down at his number, only to see it has risen to 60, 12 higher than it was the last time he checked.

"You see, even your number thinks you're a piece of shit right now, This godforsaken hellhole of a train is looking down on you right now" the voice says. "If your whole goal is to get off this train, keeping the truth from Hailee is almost a surefire way to do the exact opposite."

Steven continues to ignore his ever-growing conscience, choosing to bury it and keep on moving forward, only letting it fester and disturb other parts of his body.

"Steven, is your... face twitching?" Hailee asks, looking at Steven's eye, which is beginning to twitch uncontrollably.

"Uhhh yeah I guess, must just be an extra injury I got from the gladiator arena" Steven says, he attempts to use his spit to heal his twitching eye, only for it to start twitching even more.

"Steven, are you okay, I know the last few cars, especially the gladiator car, were a bit rough for you. I don't want you to think you can't talk about it" Hailee says with a concerned expression.

"Oh please, I'm fine, nothing to worry about" Steven says as his number begins to rise again. They both reach the next train car, Hailee taking on the task of opening the door as Steven tries to get his face twitching under control. Hailee opens the door to see just a plain white room, no bigger than a 1000 square feet. In the center is a platform a few inches off of the ground, with an engraving on the top.

As Steven and Hailee approach the engraving to see what it says, the entrance shuts and locks to their surprise. Steven attempts to open the entrance door again, only for it to not budge. Steven also attempts to open the exit door, but can't twist the door knob, both doors are locked.

"Wait, were we just trapped here?" Hailee asks.

"I guess," Steven responds. "There's only one way to get out of here then."

Steven approaches the engraving on the platform and reads it to himself,

'As you've travelled in life, you've had to leave things behind to continue on. This is another one of those points. Leave something you care deeply about on this pedestal, and then and only then can you continue on your journey.'

"It says we have to leave something behind that we care about," Steven says. Steven tests this by laying his pink jacket down on the pedestal, only to see that the exit door unlocks. Steven then removes his jacket, and the door relocks.

"Alright, problem solved, we'll just leave your jacket here and be on our way" Hailee says, relieved at the simplicity of the car.

"NOOO...." Steven shouts, shocking Hailee.

"Is there...something wrong?" Hailee asks.

"Well, yeah, I care a lot about this jacket. We've been through so much together. I..I don't want to leave it behind in a place like this" Steven says, hugging his jacket while getting emotional.

Hailee runs up to Steven, saying "It's okay, I didn't know, I'm sorry, we can think of something else. Any ideas?"

"Umm, I still have the receipt for the flip flops I bought, let me try and see if that works."

Steven pulls out a paper receipt from his pocket and places iton the platform, only for nothing to happen.

"I guess I don't have much of an attachment to a receipt." Steven says with a nervous laugh. Both Steven and Hailee begin to contemplate what they are going to leave behind. Steven suggests the zoo map, but Hailee refuses. Hailee suggests the boutonniere Steven kept from the wedding car, only for Steven to turn down that idea as well. Both are beginning to become tired as they haven't slept in a good 16 hours, and decide to take the opportunity to sleep.

"Look, I think we should just sleep on it" Steven says while yawning, "It's been a while since we've slept anyways, maybe that'll help with my eye twitching too"

"Yeah, and those bags you have under your eyes" Hailee points out.

"Wait, I have bags under my eyes? You know what, never mind, let's just go to sleep."

Both Steven and Hailee try to get some sleep in the car, attempting to avoid having to give up any of their possessions. Steven bundles up his jacket and pushes into the wall to use as a pillow. Hailee attempts to use her arm as a pillow, but after a few minutes of trying, can't get comfortable. Steven sees Hailee struggling and decides to give Hailee his jacket pillow for her to use.

"Being honest with myself, I'm not gonna get any sleep tonight aren't I" Steven thinks before giving Hailee his jacket. Hailee thanks Steven and quickly falls asleep, leaving Steven alone in a blank room with nothing but his thoughts. Steven stares at the roof of the train car for a while, before eventually falling asleep too, resting on his side while using his arm as a pillow.

Steven sleeps without incident for a while, but after about a few hours, he begins to dream, seeing himself in a dark version of the car they are in now, with the walls being a shade of dark grey rather than white. Hailee is nowhere to be seen, along with Steven's jacket. Eventually, blue sparks begin to appear in the room, glimmering in every corner, very similar to what he saw in the gladiator car. They quickly condense into a blob, and the blob turns back into Hologram Steven, this time with an extremely agitated face.

"What are you doing?" Hologram Steven asks.

"What are you talking about?" Steven responds.

Hologram Steven gives Steven a blank stare out of pure shock, "Isn't your goal to get off this thing, maybe you should be learning what not to do since you seem incapable of determining what you should be doing"

Steven contemplates his decisions for a brief moment before saying, "Look, I know what I'm doing is wrong but-"

"BUT..." Hologram Steven interrupts "BUT WHAT? What could you possibly say that could in anyway justify what you are doing right now"

"I DON'T KNOW" Steven shouts, struggling to defend himself, "I just need someone to be there for me, I can't do this on my own, I don't know how."

Hologram steven gets down on his knees in front of steven and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Well maybe that's why we're here."

Hologram Steven sits next to him as they both lean their backs up against the wall.

"We're on this train for a reason, we're supposed to learn more about ourselves and grow as people and move past our problems, that's how we get your number down, so how about we address what is keeping our number up"

"Alright,I know keeping Hailee here is keeping my number up, but I just don't know what to do without her. I don't know if I can do this on my own" Steven confesses.

"She deserves better than this though. She worked through all her issues and became a better person. She realized what the train needed her to learn. Keeping her here is only dragging the both you down" Hologram Steven says.

"I know but... Ugh, why am I so reliant on other people, independence seems so easy for other people, why is it so hard for me?" Steven asks, beginning to think about his past and how it could have led to this.

"I guess we've always had the gems, and Connie, Lars, Sadie, my dad, I've never had to be on my own. I've been through so much with all of them." Steven says.

Hologram Steven considers this for a moment, before saying "I love how they've been together with us for so long too, but do you think maybe...it kind of hurt us in a way too?" Hologram Steven asks.

"What do you mean?" Steven asks.

"Well... maybe we've never really learned how to be on our own, we've always relied on other people to get us through things, maybe we're still doing that" Hologram Steven says. "Maybe this is our opportunity to change that"

Steven pauses, considering what hologram Steven is saying. Before Steven can respond, Hologram Steven suddenly bursts into a storm of blue sparks again, sparking out of existence pixel by pixel as Steven begins to wake up from his dream. Steven opens his eyes to see Hailee standing above him.

"You're awake!" Hailee says excitedly.

"Yeah, how long has it been?" Steven asks.

"A couple of hours, I've been awake for about an hour. I was going to wake you up, but your number was going down, so I assumed something was going on in there" Hailee says with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess I had an interesting dream" Steven says, considering if it was even a dream or something to do with his empath powers.

"Anyways, I think I found out what we're going to leave here" Hailee says.

"Wait, really" Steven asks.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it while you were asleep, and I think we can leave my hat," Hailee says, finally taking off her baseball hat that she's refused to take off earlier. "I love this hat, but if we have to leave something behind, I think I'm ready to say goodbye"

"Hailee, are you sure about this? You've never taken your hat off before, does that hat mean anything to you?" Steven asks.

"My dad gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago." Hailee says, talking about her dad for the first time, beginning to tear up. "He...He disappeared a while ago, my mom and him got into a big argument, and he packed a bag and never came back. We don't know where he went, all we know is that he didn't want to see us ever again. Mom says if he doesn't want to make an effort to be in our lives then neither should we, but I kept the hat, it was the last thing I had from him, I couldn't let it go." Hailee confesses.

"Hailee I... I had no idea, I'm so sorry" Steven says.

"Its...it's okay, I want to move on. Besides, I'm beginning to outgrow it anyways" Hailee says with a smile through the tears.

Hailee places the hat on the pedestal, unlocking the next door. As the two approach the door. Hailee continues to look at the hat. As Steven opens the door and begins to step out, Hailee stops him.

"Wait, can I just say goodbye, one last time" Hailee asks.

"Of course, I can wait here," Steven says, reassuring Hailee. She walks back to the platform, sitting down in front of it, and looks directly into the hat. She pauses for a moment before beginning to speak.

"Hat... I..." Hailee tries to speak to the hat before realizing something.

"I guess this really isn't about you isn't it" Hailee realizes, changing who her goodbye is addressed to.

"Dad... I don't know where you are, if you can hear me, if you even care about me" Hailee says, beginning to cry. "But... I just want to say I still miss you, I still love you. *sniff* I remember when it was my first day of school when we moved to Boston, I was so nervous and scared of the other kids, but you visited during recess and helped me find new friends on the playground. You brought me lunch, and helped me swing across the monkey bars, all because you cared about me. Thank you" Hailee says.

"But...you left, you packed your bags and left me, and my mom, and everyone you loved. I don't know why you did it, maybe I was too annoying for you, maybe you didn't like mom anymore, maybe you wanted to start a new life somewhere else without us. I don't know, and I'll never know, so that's why I need to move on. I don't want to keep you around if you didn't want me around, I'm sorry."

Steven watches Hailee put her face into her hands and sob. Steven begins to tear up as well, reconsidering letting her leave her hat in the train car.

"Don't force her to do this," Hologram Steven says inside of his head. "She deserves better than this, you know she does."

"Hailee stop," Steven says after closing the door and running back to Hailee. "I don't want you to have to leave this hat behind if it means so much to you"

"*sniff* Thanks, but we have to leave something," Hailee responds.

"No... I have to leave behind something" Steven says, realizing now what he has to do in order to get them both out of this room. "Hailee, I haven't been completely honest with you, I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to stay here only to suffer, I just thought I needed someone here with me, I was selfish."

"Steven, what are you talking about?" Hailee asks.

"Remember when we were in that creepy abandoned city, and you removed one of those orbs without thinking. I told you that I thought you being reckless was a good thing, but I lied, it's not a good thing, it can seriously hurt people if you aren't careful. That's what the train has been trying to get you to realize. I knew you'd believe me and it would keep your number up so you'd stay with me longer, but I can't do that anymore. I'm sorry I kept you here" Steven says with tears in his eyes.

"Steven I..." Hailee tries to say, shocked by the lie. "Is that true, was I right when I yelled at myself before?" Hailee asks.

Before Steven can respond, they both hear a scrolling sound coming from Hailee's hand. Her number drops all the way down to zero, and a bright green light shines from her hand. On the other side of the platform, a series of green lines appear, slowly drawing the outline of a train car door, the door's handles twist and the entire door glows white. As the white fades, an orange wormhole appears, coming from the vortex in the wasteland sky. Inside the wormhole is a small townhome in downtown Boston.

"I'm so sorry I held this from you, you need to go home, It's tim-" Steven tries to say before Hailee hugs him tightly.

"I forgive you," Hailee tearfully says. "I understand why, please don't think you can't do this on your own, you're the bravest person I know, you can do this too."

Steven hugs her back, crying into her shoulder.

"Is it really okay, what I did" Steven asks with tears in his eyes.

"Well, no" Hailee says with a nervous laugh. "But, I understand why. You have problems you need to work through as well, maybe lying to me and eventually confessing the truth was one of them. Besides, at least I got to be president, that wasn't a waste of time" Hailee says, trying to make Steven feel better about his deception.

"You don't have to make me feel better, I don't deserve it" Steven says, looking away from Hailee.

"But you do, you helped me through this mess, protected me when I needed this the most. You might have your own personal issues to deal with, but you helped me become a better person Steven, I hope I was able to return the favor" Hailee says with a tearful smile.

"You did, but I need to do the rest without you," Steven says.

"I hope you can grow as a person too, you deserve it" Hailee says.

"Yeah" Steven responds with an apprehensive tone. "You can always visit me after I get out of here too, Beach City in Delmarva, I live under a giant statue, kind of hard to miss"

"I will, once I eventually explain all of this to my mom, that's going to be a bit of a challenge now that I think about it" Hailee responds.

Hailee steps on the platform, and the exit door to the car unlocks, letting Steven out. Steven opens the door, and him and Hailee look at each other one last time.

"Goodbye Steven," Hailee says.

"Goodbye Hailee" Steven responds.

Hailee takes the exit, warping out of the train car and back to her home. The portal glows white again for a brief moment as it disappears, leaving the green outline of a door, which slowly undoes itself until it disappears.

Steven closes the door to the car, using Hailee's exit as an opportunity to get out of the train car, leaving something behind he deeply cares about. Steven sits down on the metal platform that connects the two train cars, and begins crying into his hands.

"You did the right thing," Hologram Steven says in his head.

"Then why does it hurt so much?" Steven asks.

"It hurts so much because it's the right thing to do" Hologram Steven responds.

Steven cries into his hands for a few minutes, but eventually stands back up. He begins walking to the next train car, continuing his journey without Hailee

Back in Boston, Hailee knocks on her front door. After a few seconds of waiting, her mom opens the door. She has messy short hair and her face is fairly disgruntled. She is busy on the phone, talking to the police about her daughter, until she looks down to see who's in front of her. Hailee's mom sees her, and abruptly hangs up on the phone call, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hi mom," Hailee says.

Chapter Text

*Quack* *Quack* *Quack*

Steven exits a train car seemingly full to the brim with white ducks, all bunched together and quacking at Steven as he makes his way through. The door opens, and Steven bursts out, letting several ducks burst out with him. He quickly turns around and tries to shut the door as fast as he can. He attempts to shut it, partially closing it with his arms and then pushing the door with his back to do the rest as the sheer amount of ducks begin to put pressure on the door. The door eventually snaps shut as Steven leans his back up against the door and takes a second to rest.

"So....Many....Ducks" Steven says aloud.

One of the escaped ducks looks walks up to Steven, tilting its head while looking at Steven.

"Don't tell me you want back in," Steven says in an exhausted tone.

The duck walks past Steven, and phases through the door back into the train car.

"Okay, you can do that I guess," Steven thinks.

Steven gathers up the rest of the ducks wandering the platform and allows them to also phase into the door and return to their train car.

"Come on, go back to your friends, I'm stuck here without mine so the least you can do is value yours" Steven says to a particularly stubborn duck refusing to go back in. The duck eventually phases through the door and back into the train car with a little push by Steven.

"Alright, Steven Universe has saved the day once again, now it's time to try and forget that ever happened," Steven thinks as he wanders to the next train car.

Steven walks up to the next door, twists the handles, and opens the door. He walks into a large pink room with many different hearts scattered across the walls. Paintings of couples holding hands and cupid are scattered across the wall. Carnival music is playing in the background, except with a slightly romantic twist. In the center of the room is a small manmade river flowing to the left. The river flows to the end of the room, entering a large hole leading down into a smaller tunnel, perpendicular from where Steven is standing. The hole that the river goes into is shaped like a large heart, with flashing lights on the outline. In the center of the room is a small red boat with a spot for two passengers to sit in.

"Welcome young man, don't be shy, come on in" A female voice says. Next to the boat is a pink concession booth with red hearts scattered about on the design. Inside the booth is a small cat figure, completely white in color. The cat is wearing a suit and a small tan hat, with its ears poking through.

"You're a... cat" Steven accidentally says aloud.

"I'm THE Cat, young man" The cat says, "I assume you've seen weirder things on this train by now."

"Yeah, I guess I have, the first person I saw was a blob of water come to think of it" Steven says with a laugh.

"Vraiment tu dis, he happens to be one of my clients, small world I guess. He's not exactly the brightest bulb in the box, but still easy to sell to nevertheless." The cat says.

"Wait, you gave Randall the donut holer, I was wondering where he got that from'' Steven responds.

"Indeed I was, he actually has formed a pretty nice business for himself around it, I didn't anticipate that, but I get a royalty check in the mail every few weeks so I can't complain." The cat says while perking up one of its paws.

"That is in the past however, nowadays I spend my time running some of the more fun aspects of the train. I used to run a whole carnival, but I had a little... incident there, so I decided I'd move here to something a bit more low key" The Cat says.

"What is this place?" Steven asks.

"Well isn't it obvious my curious young man, this is the tunnel of love. A car dedicated to showing young couples the magic of love." The cat says. "I don't really understand it, but I am able to collect a lot of nice things from this car, so I stay."

"I'm not really dating anyone though," Steven says with an awkward tone.

"Well then we'll just have to find you someone, it shouldn't be difficult for a handsome young man like you" The cat explains.

"Uhh, I don't know about thi-" Steven says before being interrupted by the sound of a train car door opening.

A young man around the same age as Steven barges in, coughing up duck feathers as he begins to pluck them out of his hair and clothes. He has long brown hair that partially covers his ears and ends halfway down his neck. His skin is slightly tan in complexion, and is wearing an unbuttoned green plaid shirt with a dark grey shirt underneath and a pair of blue jeans. The young man looks at Steven and the cat, unaware of what's going on. The cat takes advantage of the opportunity.

"See, there's someone right now, I didn't even have to move the train car" The cat says. "Over here sir."

The young man looks confused, but walks up to the cat, clearly still slightly disgruntled by the previous car, plucking the final feathers from his hair.

"Are you... a cat? You know, never mind, This train is completely lost on me at this point," The young man says.

"Ahem... I think you meant to say 'Well hello there, The Cat, my name is" The cat stops, signaling him to complete the sentence.

"Oh uhhh.... Riley" The young man says, "Riley Brown."

"Riley, that is an interesting name for a young man like yourself, I'd like you to meet..." The cat says before signaling to Steven to complete his name.

"Uhhhh... Steven Universe" Steven says with a nervous tone.

"Steven Universe, now THAT is an interesting name, you too will work well together, I'd say my job here is almost complete already." The cat says.

Steven freezes, realizing what is happening, Riley, still not to sure what is happening, asks the cat, "Umm, What is this place"

"This is the tunnel of love my good sir, the car dedicated to showing young couples the magic of love, or whatever the romantic people say," The cat repeats.

Riley looks at Steven, who shrugs back at him, and then looks back at the cat, instantly realizing what the cat is doing. Riley freezes as well, Steven speaking up this time.

"Ummm, I don't know, were both-"

"Nonsense," The cat interrupts, "I'm sure you two handsome young men will work great together."

Before Riley or Steven can respond, the floor above them lifts up and angles to the side. Steven and Riley fall over onto each other as the floor below them dumps the two into the red boat together. The floor returns to normal after the two are in the boat, the pistons that angled the floor deactivating. The cat presses a button inside the booth, which releases the clamps that hold the boat in place, releasing the boat and sending it down the river.

Steven regains his composure, only to find himself laying under Riley. Riley regains his composure as well, and instantly realizes what position the two are in. They both instantly pop back up and scoot themselves to opposite sides of the small boat, almost like they are two opposite magnets repelling each other. The boat flows into the first tunnel, leaving the two in a pitch black area, preventing them from seeing each other.

"Alright, this is probably the worst situation I've ever been in my entire life" Steven thinks.

Steven and Riley sit in silence for a brief moment before the tunnel lights up again, going into a smaller but longer room. The room contains an assortment of mannequins, some human, some not, doing vaguely romantic gestures, such as holding hands or reading from the same book. The tunnel has a dim red light, just enough for the two to see each other. Riley is looking to the ground while Steven is looking to the side. Steven, sensing the tension, decides to be the first one to break it.

"So.. umm... Riley, was it?" Steven asks in a nervous tone.

Riley doesn't respond back, instead he begins to laugh. He continues this for a few moments as Steven nervously laughs back, having absolutely no clue what to do next.

"This is why I'm on the train, isn't it?" Riley says.

"What?" Steven asks.

Steven receives a surprised look from Riley, almost like he wasn't supposed to hear what he just said.

"Nothing!" Riley responds.

There is another brief pause, before Steven looks at Riley and begins to speak again.

"How long have you been on the train," Steven asks.

"A few months, I think," Riley says.

"A few months" Steven thinks, "People can be on the train for that long, what does his family think. What could he have to learn to get off of here"

"I've been here a few weeks, I'm worried about what my family thinks about me right now. They must think I ran away" Steven says aloud.

"My family doesn't care about me anyways, not if they knew everything about me." Riley says with a depressed look on his face, surprising Steven.

"Why would you say that?" Steven asks. Riley doesn't answer, but just stares down at the floor. Eventually, Riley works up the courage to ask Steven something.

"Can I... ask you a question?" Riley asks, "We're in this train car together, maybe for a reason... Are you... gay?"

"What!?" Steven is initially shocked by Riley's seemingly random question, but gives it a good thought, considering it might have something to do with why Riley's on the train. He thinks about Riley's question for a moment, before responding, "I... I guess I've never really thought about it"

Riley scoffs and rolls his eyes, frustrating Steven.

"What!" Steven asks in a frustrated tone.

"What do you mean you've never even thought about it, how could you not think about it. Isn't that like... one of the most important things in your life." Riley responds.

"NO! it isn't!" Steven says, getting angrier.

The two sit in silence for another few moments, stewing in their own anger as the boat continues down the tunnel at a calming pace. Steven, calming down, reconsiders his own thoughts about himself and his sexuality.

"I... I guess I have a lot of people in my life that are considered "gay". I've never thought of them as any different from anyone else, Why do you act like there is something so horribly wrong with being gay?" Steven says.

"I don't know, I guess there isn't, aren't you just lucky" Riley responds.

"Lucky about WHAT! They're just who they are, nothing more, nothing less. Life doesn't revolve around the people you're attracted to, you know," Steven says.

Steven expects an angry response from Riley, but instead he just looks to the ground defeated. Steven realizes there's more to this situation than just an argument. As Riley continues to stay silent, Steven speaks up again, attempting to better understand Riley.

"Do you have people in your life like that?" Steven asks.

"No, pretty much nobody. It's actually almost the exact opposite. Everyone expects me to be someone I'm not. Being around people who are free to love who they love... sounds kind of nice actually." Riley responds, "I'd love it if I never even had to think about who I was attracted to, I could just be... me"

"I guess, maybe I took it for granted, I'll give you that." Steven says.

"So... are you gay?" Steven asks, "I guess I should return the question considering the situation we're in together."

"I... I..." Riley stumbles, unable to form the words in his mouth. Steven realizes how uncomfortable he is with the question, and tries to alleviate the weight of the question.

"I mean, It doesn't matter if you are. Hell, I never really even thought about it myself, maybe I am a little gay, or bisexual if that's what it's called. I've always been called feminine. For the longest time I thought that was because I'm technically my mo- act like my mom. I definitely like Connie, my friend back in the real world. Still, I guess I did always like some of the boys in my life too though. I always liked Jamie's hair, and I liked how cool Buck always looked. To be honest, I just never really gave much of a crap."

Riley listens to what Steven has to say, before responding. "I've... never told anyone about this. This is a very new thing to me, sorry if I'm a little less confident than I should be. I guess I am... gay. Is that... a good thing?"

Before Steven can answer his question, a scrolling sound comes from Riley's hand, his number has dropped from 16 to 12. Riley gives a face of relief, receiving his answer.

"That hasn't changed in weeks, I was too scared to say that out loud because I didn't know how the train would react," Riley says while smiling, beginning to tear up at the validation.

Steven realizes this might be the first time Riley has ever gotten any kind of validation or praise for his sexuality, so he begins to try and expand that.

"I'm guessing you don't get a whole lot of that in your real life" Steven says with concern.

Riley pauses for a moment before saying, "No, I don't."

"Well... now's the time, just because the people around you think something is wrong doesn't mean it is wrong. It might mean that they just don't understand it. It's far easier to hate something you don't know a lot about then to take the time to learn about it. Maybe you can help your family understand. They love you, and they'd love to get to know a part of you they haven't seen before, even if that part is a little bit different from them," Steven says.

The boat stops at the end of the room, before a new dark tunnel. Suddenly, above the tunnel is a fluorescent neon light that says, "Compliment each other" in a romantic font. Steven and Riley look at each other nervously again, but quickly laugh it off, now that they've broken the ice a bit.

"I.. Umm.. I like your jacket" Riley says.

"Thanks... I like your hair, I like... looking at it" Steven says, before immediately realizing how weird what he just said sounds. Riley laughs, stroking his hair.

"I like your hair too" Riley responds, making Steven blush, trying not to look flattered.

"I like your accent, I think the almost southern but not quite aspect of it is kind of... cute" Steven says.

"I like your flip flops, I wish I had the guts to wear those even in this place" Riley says.

"Umm... I like your shirt, and your jeans" Steven says while eyeing his shirt, not realizing the boat has already moved on from the compliment section. Steven stands up, getting off the floor of the boat and sits on the bench in the boat. He invites Riley to sit with him by reaching his hand out to him while he is still sitting on the ground. Riley accepts, grabbing Steven's hand and sits down on the bench next to Steven

The boat makes its way into a second extended room. This time, there are pictures of various sets of married couples doing activities together, such as cooking or cleaning the house. There are an assortment of different kinds of couples presented as well. Riley focuses on a picture of two men with a child walking through the park together.

"How did you get on the train in the first place, you act like your family wouldn't care if you never came back," Steven says with concern.

"I... I guess I exaggerated a little bit. I have no idea how they would react, they've always been politically opposed to it, but they've always told me they love me, even if they disagree with me. Maybe I let my own confusion blur out their own acceptance, made me think they'd hate me if I told them the truth you know," Riley states.

"Anyways, I guess they must know now. I had a... a magazine under my bed. My mom found it, and I left before my parents could confront me about it. I don't even know what they thought about it" Riley says with tears forming in his eyes, "I just ran into a cornfield outside my house, that's when I saw a train coming towards me, you can probably put together the rest."

"I'm sorry you felt like that, I don't think your parents ever wanted you to feel like you didn't belong. Parents say stupid shit sometimes, doesn't mean they always believe it" Steven says while putting his hand on Riley's shoulder, giving him a smile.

"Thanks, what about you though, how'd you get on the train?" Riley asks.

"I guess something similar, my... I guess you could say parental figures were confronting me about things I didn't want to talk about, and I ran" Steven says, not going into detail. "I found the train while in the woods outside of my hometown."

Riley senses there is a lot of unresolved tension between Steven and his family, and tries to move away from the situation. "Well tell me about these other people in your life. They must be pretty gay if they stopped you from considering your own sexuality" Riley says with a laugh.

Steven perks up, relieved that Riley didn't press for more details. "There's quite a bit now that I think about. I actually helped plan a wedding for two women in love. One of my sort of parental figures was in love with my mom. Unfortunately for her, my mom wasn't what she needed her to be now that I think about it" Steven says.

"There's also Sadie and her partner, Lapis and Peridot, the guy who runs the amusement park. My mailman, Jamie, acts pretty gay too, though I've never seen his boyfriend before, if he has one." Steven continues.

"Wow umm, that's a lot" Riley responds.

"Yeah I've kind of been surrounded" Steven says with a laugh.

"I honestly wish I could say the same, rural Oklahoma isn't exactly the most progressive environment. I've always liked the idea of California, everyone seems so open with themselves there," Riley says.

"Sure, but you'd also have to deal with entitled celebrities, bad politicians, and having no money." Steven says, making both him and Riley laugh. "I like Delmarva, I still get to live next to the beach and I can actually afford to fill up my car with gas."

"Oklahoma's nice, if you can handle the homophobia and tornados. The most interesting thing in the state is a tiger park about 50 miles away from where I live so that's nice." Riley says.

"Doesn't the guy who owns that have like 3 husbands." Steven responds with a laugh.

"Yeah totally, gay rednecks dude" Riley says.

Steven and Riley continue to laugh, on much better terms than they were a few moments ago. The boat stops again before a new black tunnel. Above the new black tunnel is a new sign that says "Now huddle closer." Steven and Riley read the sign and immediately look away from each other, noticing they had slowly gotten closer physically over the course of the ride.

"I mean.... I think we have to if we want the boat to continue, right?" Steven says.

"Uhh... Yeah, for the train, we need to do it for the train" Riley responds.

Steven and Riley scoot next to each other, Riley putting his arm on Steven's shoulder while Steven wraps his arm around Riley's back, his hand touching Riley's stomach.

"This is totally only so we can progress," Riley says.

"Yep, 100% just for the train car" Steven responds.

Before the two of them know it. The boat continues down the dark tunnel, much faster than it had been going previously. The boat starts to go downhill as the water lowers, revealing a set of roller coaster tracks, the boat secretly being a cart on a roller coaster track the whole time. A safety pole extends out from the bottom of the cart and a large seatbelt straps the two into the cart. The boat/cart begins speeding down a large hill. Steven and Riley immediately wrap their arms around each other even tighter, screaming at the sudden increase in velocity.

The cart continues to speed down a large hill, twisting left and right, splashing water on the two at every turn. The cart goes up for a brief moment, giving Steven and Riley a brief moment to regather their thoughts, before they are immediately thrust back into action as the cart continues to go down hill, for a second almost going completely 90 degrees downwards. The cart levels out, returning to a large pool of water, splashing tons of water off each side of the cart, leaving Steven and Riley soaking wet.

The water rises around the cart, reverting it back into a boat. The metal bar protecting the two retracts and the seat belt unbuckles and retracts as well, leaving Steven and Riley continuing to hold each other. The two realize they are still in that position, and immediately separate, both blushing while doing so. Steven putting his hand behind his head while laughing.

"Well I wasn't expecting THAT." Steven says with a laugh.

"I haven't been on a ride like that in a long time" Riley says, also laughing, "That was fun."

"Yeah, that was fun," Steven says while looking at Riley.

"Oh uhhh, your hair is in your face" Steven says before stroking Riley's face, moving his hair off of his forehead and eyes. his hand settles on Riley's left cheek, their faces only a few inches away from each other. Steven realizes what position he's in, and immediately backs off, returning to his senses.

The boat continues down what appears to be the final room, based on the lack of a dark tunnel at the end. The final tunnel is full of different kinds of couples kissing and cuddling. Pictures of blobs underneath sheets and two figures behind shower curtains are also present, but the two go out of their way to avoid looking at those images.

"I think we're near the end," Riley says. "It's been... nice... to meet you"

"It was nice to meet you too..." Steven says with a nervous smile.

The room ends with a heart shape exit, very similar to the entrance. The new room they find themselves in is a room very similar to the beginning, except the exit door to the train car is on the opposite side of the room then the entrance. The cat is in a booth at the exit, smirking at the two as they enter the room, clearly much closer than they were before. The boat stops in the middle of the room. A side of the boat opens up, allowing the two to exit.

They exit the boat, and begin to head over to the exit before the cat stops them.

"Now hold on a second, the door is locked, and there's only one way to unlock it" The cat says.

The cat presses a button on a control panel in the booth. Suddenly, a neon sign lights up above the door, saying the words "Now kiss" in a romantic font with an outline of a pair of lips at the end of the sign.

Steven and Riley both read the sign, their faces both going white, then red in just a few seconds. The cat puts her head on her arms, waiting for it to happen. The two look at each other, knowing what they have to do to be able to exit the train car.

"So umm... I guess we have to kiss. you know, for the train car." Riley says with a nervous smile, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah.... I guess so... Is it okay if it isn't just for the train car" Steven asks.

Riley smiles at Steven as Steven approaches him, kissing him while putting his hand on Riley's shoulder. Riley kisses back, wrapping his arm around Steven's shoulder while the other hand touches his hip. The door latches and unlocks, ready to be opened. The two continue the kiss for a few more moments after the door unlocks. Eventually, the two separate, smiling while looking into each other's eyes, before being unable to stop laughing.

"Okay, just a quick confession, that was kind of my first kiss" Riley says while laughing

"I think that was mine too," Steven says with a laugh.

"My my my, you two have grown closer in the 20 minutes you were in there. I wonder what could have happened" The cat says. "I'm just kidding, I know everything that happened, security cameras are quite the asset."

Steven and Riley look at each other again, now holding hands.

"So, we're both headed in the same direction, I don't suppose we can stay together, at least for a little while," Steven asks. This question is immediately interrupted by his conscience, taking the form of Hologram Steven in his head.

"Okay, I know you're enjoying your new boy toy, but what happened to continuing this on our own?" Hologram Steven asks.

Before Steven can respond to his conscience, Riley responds.

"I.. I mean... you are a boy, what would my parents think..." Riley says. "You know what, to heck with them, I am who I am and they'll have to love me for it anyways. This is who I am and I'm proud to be me. I want to do this with you, I want to be with you."

Right after Riley says this, his number begins to lower. Steven immediately lets go of Riley's right hand, letting them watch his number as it reaches zero. Suddenly, Riley's hand glows a bright green, and a new portal forms right next to the pair, this time showing a small farmhouse in rural Oklahoma.

"Home, I can finally go home," Riley says excitedly. Steven is initially happy for Riley, realizing he learned what he needed to learn in order to exit. His happiness for him is cut short though by the realization that he has to leave.

"No... He's leaving... I don't want him to leave" Steven thinks.

Riley looks back at Steven, seeing him clearly saddened by the new development. Riley faces Steven and grabs both of his hands before speaking.

"Steven I... I didn't think this would happen right now, my number was changing so slowly, I had stopped paying attention to it. I didn't realize it had lowered that quickly when I met you. I didn't mean to lie to you." Riley says, holding Steven's hand while trying to make him feel better.

"No, it's okay, you need to go home, you deserve to go home, I want you to go home" Steven says to Riley, not looking him in the eye.

"No, I won't leave you here. You need help too, I don't want to leave you if you need me, I'll find a way to bring you ba-" Riley tries to say before being interrupted by a new kiss from Steven. Steven continues to kiss him passionately, touching and feeling him all over his body, knowing it will be the last time he gets the chance too. Riley kisses back, not wanting to let go of Steven so soon and suddenly. The two kiss for a good minute, the cat smirking at the pairing, citing a job well done. Eventually, the two stop kissing.

"Go, I'll be okay, I want you to be with your family, and find a guy that doesn't live halfway across the country." Steven says while forcing a smile.

Riley stammers, trying to come up with a response before eventually giving up, opting to hug Steven.

"Thank you Steven, for everything," Riley says.

"Yeah, that's what I'm here for," Steven responds.

Riley kisses Steven one last time before approaching his portal stopping right before the exit, looking back at Steven one last time before he goes.

"That girl you mentioned earlier, Connie right?" Riley asks.

"Yeah, what about her?" Steven asks.

"She must be very lucky to have you," Riley says to Steven with a smile.

Steven blushes before saying, "I hope so, I want her to feel like that. Whoever your new boyfriend is will be too, I doubt it will take you long."

Riley smiles at Steven one last time before taking the exit, warping back into the real world. The portal closes, leaving just Steven and the cat.

"Wow, I must be better at helping passengers than I thought, I'm two for three right now," The cat says.

Steven collapses to his knees, losing yet another companion on the train, this time being a new lover. The cat sees this and begins to reassure Steven.

"Look kid, I know it's tough, but you can't forget your main goal, getting off this train. Don't lose sight of that, plenty have before you and plenty will after you, don't become someone who can't move on" The cat says. Steven listens to the cat, taking her advice to heart. He stands back up, resummoning his drive to get off the train.

"Both Hailee and Riley want me to get off this train, I can do it for them, I can do it for me." Steven thinks, his number lowering in the process.

"I'd also recommend covering up a little bit more, It looks like it's 3 o'clock down there," The cat says, pointing at Steven's jeans.

Steven looks down, and immediately covers up his crotch, scowling at the cat, who is laughing at Steven. Steven takes off his jacket and wraps it around his waist, and opens the next exit door.

"Just keep going," Steven's conscience says.

"Just keep going," Steven says.

Chapter Text

"So are we just not going to talk about this?" Steven's conscience says, taking the form of Hologram Steven.

Steven is walking in between two train cars, heading towards the next entrance. He is slouched over with his hands in his jacket pockets, completely enveloped in his own head as he walks. It has been about a day since the love boat car, and Steven has passed through several train cars since.

"I don't need to talk about it, Everything's fine," Steven says stubbornly.

"HUH... Bingo! I got Steven universe bingo!" Hologram Steven says, "Let's see, taking in a person who needs help while refusing to let them help you, tirade about violence never being the answer, falling in love with someone you just met, refusing to let someone you love leave, and now the "Everything's fine" line. Now if you could give me a cash price that would be nice"

"You really are a jerk aren't you," Steven says, getting angrier at his conscience.

"Well when you do the same things over and over again, it gets fairly easy to predict." Hologram Steven responds. "You're even willing to go gay to achieve this, it's quite remarkable actually. Next time I make a bingo card I should add 'reconsidering sexuality' to the board."

Steven continues to march forward, ignoring his conscience, while it only grows in size and strength.

"You can't just ignore me you know, we're the same person" Hologram Steven explains.

"Watch me" Steven responds.

"Believe me, if I could stop watching I would" Hologram Steven snaps back, "It's like watching a show that's been dragged out way past its end, it just a never ending vortex of characters learning the same things and forgetting them by the next episode, except it's literally your life."

Steven begins to glow pink, his hand curling into a fist.

"God you have self confidence issues. Who are you getting mad at, me? I'm literally you, you're getting mad at yourself." Hologram Steven says.

"Maybe if you actually wanted to help instead of being mean to me then I'd listen, instead you seem so hellbent on insulting me, aren't you just insulting yourself" Steven responds.

"YESSS... You've finally cracked the code, I hate myself, now what are we going to do about it," Hologram Steven shouts in frustration.

"This" Steven says before burying his conscience, preventing him from speaking by immediately cutting him off with different thoughts or ideas, before eventually his conscience gives up and quiets down.

Steven reaches the next door, twisting the handle, and opening it. Inside the train car is a room about the size of a living room in a normal house. Inside the room is a couch and a chair facing towards each other. There are several bookcases scattered throughout the room, filled to the brim with an assortment of books ranging in size and color. The room has a series of windows on one wall, showing a beach next to a large blue ocean. There is a coffee table in between the couch and the chair, with several magazines and a box of tissues placed on there.

Inside the chair is a woman in her 30's with short brown hair, glasses, and red earrings. She is dressed professionally in a blue blazer with a white blouse underneath, and blue dress pants. She sees Steven as he walks in and greets him.

"Well hello there, you're just in time. I have time for an hour-long walk-in appointment starting right now, come on in." The woman says while signaling Steven to sit on the couch across from her.

Steven cautiously enters, observing his surroundings as he approaches the couch. He notices several framed degrees on the wall for psychology, all from universities Steven has never heard of before. Steven reaches the couch, moving pillows out of the way as he sits.

"Alright, let's get started. Let's start with our names. I'll go first. My name is Jane Waters, you can call me Dr. Waters if you like." The woman says.

"I.. umm.. I'm Steven Universe" Steven says with a hint of confusion, not certain where he is or who he is interacting with. "Is she... a passenger, she looks so human" Steven thinks.

"Where am I?" Steven asks.

"Well I can't answer where we are in the universe, I have no idea. But I can tell you where we are on the train. This is the 'Dr. Waters: Office for Troubled Adolescents'. You're in my office. I'm a psychiatrist, dedicated to helping the passengers on the train. I'm far more direct than my colleagues, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I love using my expertise to help people the best way I can." Dr. Waters says.

"Are you... A passenger? you look so human." Steven asks.

"I get that a lot, thank you. I'm a denizen of the train, therefore I don't fit the standard mold of what you'd consider a person. I don't have a number, but that doesn't mean that I'm not a person. I was created by the train, just how you were created by your parents. We're not that different if you think about it" Dr. Waters explains.

"Okay, I understand," Steven says, rethinking some of his moral decisions he's made on the train so far.

"Would you consider holograms people? I might have... permanently incapacitated a few on the train so far," Steven says, nervous about her response.

"I don't know, there's quite a bit of fascinating research into what makes humans human, I'd recommend consulting them. The best answer I can give you is no, since they are just holograms, and are only figments of our imaginations brought to life by technology with no consciousness." Dr. Waters says, giving Steven the relief he needs.

"Thank you, that makes me feel a little bit better about that," Steven says with a nervous laugh. "So you are a therapist, right."

"I am indeed, I studied psychology for ten years, or that's at least the memories the train gave me." Dr. Waters says casually, puzzling Steven.

"She seems so confident with her identity, I wonder how long that took" Steven thinks.

"So let's get started shall we. Do you know how this train works?" Dr. Waters asks.

"Umm... I know the basics?" Steven says, realizing he really doesn't know much about his surroundings.

"I'm going to take that as a no," Dr. Waters assumes, "Basically, the train abducts people who are at a crossroads in their lives, and tries to point them in the right direction. This means that when you were abducted by the train, you were at a state in your life where you could make enough wrong decisions to the point where you'd ruin your life or the lives of the people around you, which is why the train intervened. So let's talk about why the train might have decided why it needed to abduct you."

"Well, I ran away from home, and ran into woods, maybe it didn't like the fact I was in the woods at night, they can be pretty dangerous" Steven says.

"Yeah somehow I don't think that's it," Dr. Waters says with lighthearted sarcasm, "Let's look into why you might have run away, were you having any family troubles."

"I umm, well I guess, they confronted me about a few things and I.." Steven says before going silent, staring at the ground.

"Look, I get it, it's hard to self reflect when you're dealing with issues like your family. Let's try and get a better understanding on what might be an issue based on what the train has already discovered, what is your number at and where did it start?" Dr. Waters asks.

Steven looks at his number, to find it is at 32.

"It started at 153, it's at 32 right now" Steven says.

"Alright, looks like the train has already discovered quite a bit, that's a good thing. You've discovered a lot about yourself so far. What we can do now is find out what made the train abduct you in the first place, it seems like we're almost there." The therapist says, "Before we jump into the deep end though, let's do a few exercises that'll help you reflect honestly and effectively."

Dr. Waters and Steven continue to do basic therapeutic activities, such as looking at ink block pictures, improv exercises to help lighten the mood, and basic conversation about Steven's past and his abilities.

"So you're what's called a gem, right?" Dr. Waters asks.

"Yeah, half gem, half human actually," Steven responds.

"Okay, that is definitely interesting, I'm going to hope you still have the same mental prowess as a regular human, since my job would be obsolete if you didn't think like normal humans do" Dr. Waters says with a laugh.

"I'm human." Steven says defensively, "I'm just a gem too."

Dr. Waters continues asking Steven questions about his background, hoping to get a better understanding of who he is and how to help him. She also goes into depth about who she is and how she came to be a psychiatrist, hoping that'll help Steven relate to her more. After about 15 minutes of discussion, Dr. Waters moves on to the train.

"Alright, I think we have a basic idea of who each other are, so let's start talking about what you've experienced on the train. Let's start off with who you've met along the way. Is there anyone or anything that had a particularly big influence on you"

Steven pauses, thinking for a moment before saying. "Yeah actually, I spent most of my time here with another passenger named Hailee. She was an elementary aged girl who was on the train because of her reckless behavior. I helped her slowly realize this, and her number eventually reached zero and... she left."

"Alright, it seems like this little girl had a big influence on you, what did you learn from her." Dr. Waters asks.

"I... I learned a lot actually. She was so smart, she helped me realize so much about myself that I never even considered. She helped me with my crush back home, she helped me accept some of the changes in my life, she made me laugh when we were going through some of our worst times... I miss her." Steven says.

"She sounds like a very helpful person in your life, I'm sure you helped her as well" The therapist says.

"Yeah, that's kind of what I do, helping people you know." Steven says, "I... I hurt her though too. I tricked her into staying here longer just so she would still be with me on my adventure, I didn't want her to disappear, she was one of the main things helping me through this mess."

Steven put his face in his hands, saying "I was selfish, I'm a fraud aren't I"

"I wouldn't necessarily say that" The therapist says, "You acted selfish, everyone does from time to time. The important thing is you came to your senses and decided what you were doing was wrong, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I did," Steven says. "I haven't forgiven myself though, She trusted me, and I took advantage of that."

"That may be true, but mistakes aren't something you can look at as permanent stains on a record. We all grow and change as people, and mistakes we've made in the past aren't necessarily mistakes we'll make in the future. What you need to do is forgive yourself, learn from your mistake, and move on while taking the knowledge of your mistake with you so you don't repeat it." Dr. Waters says.

Steven appears uncomfortable with the conversation, so Dr. Waters decides to move on and address more of Steven's issues.

"Let's move on from Hailee, were there any others that helped you along your journey" Dr. Waters asks.

"A few, a giant blob of water named Randall helped me build up the courage to take on the train, a robot bride helped me with my relationship back at home. I guess you could say my boyfriend of 5 minutes helped me realize there was a lot more to me than I had originally thought before he ended up leaving too." Steven responds.

"Boyfriend of 5 minutes? Now that sounds like an interesting story, tell me about that situation and how it affected you?" Dr. Waters asks.

Steven gives a nervous expression, still distraught by Riley's disappearance and the events of that car. He gives his best explanation of the story anyways.

"Well, a few cars ago, I got paired up with a guy in a 'tunnel of love' ride. We were both stubborn at first, but we eventually got to know each other. He was so nice, and cute, and sweet. He was great. He was so insecure about his own sexuality and I was able to help him, it was wonderful, all I wanted to do was help him." Steven says, thinking about Riley.

Dr. Waters writes a few notes down on her paper before saying "It sounds like you have unresolved sexual tensions for this person, a common symptom of this is overly sexually gratifying yourself to the thought of this per-"

"OKAY LET'S MOVE ON NOW," Steven says, his face beginning to turn red.

"Okay, I guess we don't need to discuss that right now," Dr. Waters says with a slight chuckle, "So how did this encounter end."

"Well... he got his number down to zero, and he left too." Steven says. "I felt awful, I wasn't able to help him anymore."

"Well it sounds like he didn't need your help anymore," Dr. Waters says.

"What?!" Steven says, shocked by her comment.

"I think I know what is going on, you get attached to people you think need help, but this directly interferes with how the train works. People you help leave, which only ends up hurting you in the long run. Your attraction to this boy was based off your drive to help him."

"No... I..." Steven tries to say, forming the words.

"I'm sure you liked him because you found him attractive too, I'm not trying to downplay that, but I believe it's obvious you are driven to people who you believe need help. This can show up as a platonic bond, like with your friend Hailee, or a romantic bond like, like with Riley. You form relationships around your drive to help people, which unfortunately directly interferes with the train's goals."

Steven begins to glow pink, retreating into his own mind while Dr. Waters explains the ins and outs of his condition.

"She's making a point you know, Why exactly did you keep Hailee around again." Hologram Steven asks.

"It.... It wasn't like that" Steven responds

"Then what was it? and why did you make out with Riley before he left, did you actually do that in his best interest, or did you just want him to stay." Hologram Steven pushes.

"STEVEN" Dr. Waters says.

Steven is jolted back into his conversation with the therapist, his pink hue retreating and his normal skin color returning.

"I just wanted to make sure you're still with me, you seemed... distracted" Dr. Waters points out.

"Yeah I'm..... I'm fine" Steven says, lying to himself and Dr. Waters.

"Alright, so your relationships you've formed on the train are indicative of someone with a savior complex. Essentially, that is someone who feels like it is their purpose to help others, and feel they need to put others well being over their own, often in extremely harmful ways to themselves. I want to explore this in some of your relationships in your personal life. Who are some people you've met and grown closer to in the past few years." Dr. Waters asks.

Steven gives his best attempt at answering, "Ummm, in the past few years? I guess Peridot counts as that, Lars too."

"Alright, let's start with this friend, Peridot, how did you two meet," Dr. Waters asks.

"Well, she was a refugee, I guess you could say. She was originally trying to hurt me and my family, but only because she was misguided! I helped her learn the beauty of the things she was ignoring, and we grew to be good friends in that process," Steven explains.

"So what I'm hearing is that this friend was initially someone out to hurt you, an enemy in layman's terms, that you felt you needed to save from their mindset. You accomplished this, saving them from the conditions that they were in. Your relationship was formed around the concept of you helping them through a tough time. Now, is it possible that at some point this friend was getting emotionally stable enough to live independent of you, and began to rely on you less?" Dr. Waters asks,

Steven thinks back to his encounter with Peridot while watching the camp pining hearts reboot.

"I think so, We were hanging out, watching a crappy reboot of a show we like. While watching, I fell asleep and ended up having a nightmare about her not needing me anymore and her leaving. She found out about this and decided to stay with me, even though she didn't need me anymore. I didn't want her to leave, but I didn't know what to do. We were always able to solve problems together but now that things have calmed down, we can't do that anymore," Steven explains.

"You see, this is exactly the problem, you take people in who need help, and when they no longer need to be reliant on you, you believe that they are drifting away from you as they discover who they are on their own." Dr. Waters responds.

"But... Why can't they do that with me?" Steven asks.

"I'm sure they can, but you need to keep in mind that they need to be around other people too. They need to branch out and explore new horizons. This doesn't mean that you'll never get to see them again, it just means that they've already grown as much as they can with you, and need to have other experiences in order to keep growing. What about Lars, the other person you mentioned?" Dr. Waters asks.

"Well... We were both kidnapped and taken to homeworld, somewhere we weren't familiar with. I helped him through it, and we became closer because of it." Steven answers, clearly becoming more and more uncomfortable.

"And so you two grew closer, but after you left this terrible situation, you two began to drift apart now that you two didn't need to rely on each other, which gave you extreme distress," Dr. Waters predicts.

Steven thinks back to when he accidentally trapped Lars in a pink dome during the graduation ceremony, almost crushing him.

"I... I never wanted him to feel like he couldn't move on, I just wanted to stay so... so..."

"So you could help him more," Dr. Waters says, completing Steven's sentence. Steven tenses up and looks at the ground.

"Do you see my point here Steven, forming relationships like this are ultimately harmful, people grow and change with your help, and when they inevitably grow to no longer rely on you so much, this distresses you." Dr. Waters explains.

"I can't help it though, I help people, that's who I am" Steven says.

"I know you think that, but you are your own person, maybe you should discover who that person is." Dr. Waters explains. "Let's backtrack for a bit, are there any other people you met on the train that had a particularly big influence on you, maybe something that stuck with you."

"I guess you could say I'm stuck with the hologram version of myself now" Steven says out loud on accident.

"A hologram version of yourself, that sounds interesting" Dr. Waters says.

"Its... It's nothing, he's not that important" Steven responds, trying to avoid talking about his holographic counterpart.

"You mentioned a hologram car earlier, is this where this hologram version of yourself appeared," Dr. Waters asks. "I want you to explain more about this, I think it'll give me a good insight into what you see in yourself."

Steven gives in, explaining the events surrounding Hologram Steven's appearance.

"Well, the car was actually a gladiator arena. It was run by a hologram, I was able to shut it off by killing the creator, who was a hologram too, which caused the entire hologram to shut down. Before that though, I had to fight a hologram version of myself. He was much more abrasive and rude than me, but we both thought the same things. In order to destroy the hologram, I had to fuse with the hologram to combine our powers, but I think that allowed him to enter my brain, and now he wont leave, it's like he's my conscience now." Steven says.

"Okay, so what you're saying is that hologram Steven has replaced your conscience," Dr. Waters asks.

"Yeah, that must've been what happened," Steven responds.

"Okay, so what if I told you that never happened?" Dr. Waters asks.

"What?!" Steven asks, confused.

"I think YOU think this hologram version of yourself entered your brain and now won't leave, but what I actually think is happening is your mind is beginning to hold you accountable for all your actions under the disguise of Hologram Steven." Dr Waters explains.

"But, he acts just like him" Steven responds.

"Well whatever this hologram version of you was, he was based on you. It's possible he was based on all the emotions and feelings you choose to bury, which is why he is so much more abrasive than you. When you destroyed the hologram, you destroyed Hologram Steven too, but he activated something in your mind, and now your true thoughts are leaking out" Dr. Waters explains.

"I don't want to be like him though, I'm not like him. He's mean, and rude, and constantly insults me. He never wants to help, he only wants to hurt me," Steven responds.

"This is how you interpret him sure, but what is actually happening is this new conscience that the hologram version of you activated is holding you accountable for your own actions, which is something you aren't used to. This is a good thing, it allows you to self reflect and become a better person because of it." Dr. Waters says.

"But I don't want to be like him. I understand why he is the way he is, but that's not me. I'm supposed to be nice, and understanding. I'm supposed to be responsible, and never feel angry or vengeful. I'm supposed to help." Steven responds.

"I think it's great how you have such a drive to help people, but you need to acknowledge you also feel these emotions. They are a part of you too, and denying it will only allow them to grow stronger and more toxic." Dr. Waters tries to explain.

"Fine, then let them, I won't let them take over" Steven says stubbornly, now refusing to listen to Dr. Waters. Dr. Waters continues to try and explain, but gets nothing out of Steven, eventually she gives up trying to explain, and addresses Steven's unwillingness to listen directly.

"Listen Steven, I know it's hard, but you have to let me help you. You have to let other people help you. I understand that you feel like you need to sacrifice yourself to help others, but you have to know that you can help others and yourself at the same time." Dr. Waters says.

"What do you know about me, you don't know anything about me, nobody does." Steven says angrily, beginning to glow pink.

"But that's where you're wrong, plenty of people know you, and want to help you. Nobody wants to see you like this. Nobody wants to see you stuck here. You have to be willing to accept help from others," Dr. Waters says, pleading to Steven.

"i don't need help... i don't need help..." Steven whispers to himself, still in earshot of Dr. Waters.

"Steven I-"

"I ... DON'T ... NEED ... HEELLLLPPPP" Steven screams.

As Steven yells this, a large blast erupts from Steven, causing everything in the room, including Dr. Waters, to explode away from him. Books fly off as shelves break. All light bulbs in the room shatter into pieces. The windows shatter as well, the window frames being launched into the beach outside. The couch Steven has been sitting on breaks in two as it flies to the back of the room.

Dr. Waters is caught in this explosion, being thrown to the back wall. A large snap is heard as her back hits the wall. She falls to the floor, going limp as she hits the ground. Her face goes white as her eyes roll back into her head. As the force of the explosion subsides and everything has settled, Dr. Waters still hasn't moved.

Steven's rage dissipates and his pink hue disappears. Steven is left with a destroyed office, and Dr. Waters laying on the ground. Steven sees Dr. Waters, and immediately runs up to her, unsure if she is okay.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I just got out of hand, I didn't mean to hurt you" Steven says.

He grabs her and puts her in his arms, only to see that her body is limp and unresponsive.

"What... What have I done" Steven thinks.

"I... I..." Steven's conscience tries to speak, but is completely distraught by the events that just took place.

Steven goes into a state of pure shock, reliving every moment he's experienced on the train car. He sees getting abducted by the train, finding Hailee at the zoo, fighting Hologram Steven in the Gladiator car, kissing Riley. Everything swirls around in his head, all coming back to the moment that just happened.

"I... I... I killed her" Steven thinks. Steven begins to cry uncontrollably, tears falling on Dr. Waters cold face. Steven attempts to bring her back using his tears, but since she is technological and not biological, it does not work. Suddenly, her body begins to fade, almost like a fading sprite in a video game. She eventually disappears, and as she does, a blue orb falls from the ceiling. The orb goes blue at first, but the glow fades, leaving only a gray, ghostly hue left.

Steven vomits, completely losing any control he had before, mortified by his actions. He looks at his number only to see it continuously rising. Steven stands up instantly, attempting to back away from his own hand, which grows back into the hundreds. He begins to slowly walk backwards while looking at his hand, tripping over part of the couch he destroyed. He falls into a sitting position as the number keeps rising, this time into the thousands. Steven's number continues to rise, becoming so large that the number wraps around the palm of his hand, with the number spilling onto the back of his hand before it stops rising.

Steven sees this and immediately runs to the exit, escaping the scene as fast as he can, activating his super speed as he escapes. He blasts through the exit door before running to the other train car. He opens the door and enters a car resembling a candy store with giant peppermints as denizens. One of the peppermints tries to approach him, but Steven becomes too distracted and runs past them. He immediately runs through there as soon as possible, plowing down anything that stands in his way. He reaches the exit getting ready to plow through the exit door before being struck by something in the face. His super speed deactivates as he trips and falls to the ground.

Steven regains his awareness, noticing the object that hit him is a small white cylinder, about a few inches long, with a flat top and a black wire attached to it. Before Steven can get a better look at the object, the wire pulls it away.

"Nice shot Grace." A male voice says in the distance.

"Thank you, I've been practicing," Another female voice says in the distance, "Now what was that thing,"

Steven looks over to find two people walking towards him. The woman has a dark complexion, with short hair and an orange shirt with purple pants. The man is pale with long blond hair and a white hoodie with torn khakis. Both of them have red lines across their face resembling a radio wave, and both are wearing a strange suit, with arm appendages that shoot the strange object that hit Steven.

"Wait, That's a passenger Simon." Grace says.

"We've stumbled across something very interesting haven't we," Simon says, staring at tear ridden Steven on the floor.

Chapter Text

"GET AWAY FROM ME," Steven yells at Grace and Simon, who have noticed him on the floor. "I'm not safe, you need to leave me alone, I could hurt you."

Grace and Simon look at each other for a brief moment, before continuing to approach Steven.

"It's okay, we won't hurt you," Grace says.

"But I could hurt you," Steven responds.

"I highly doubt it," Simon says in a confident tone, "You might not know who we are, but trust me when I say that we're the toughest passengers on this train, nothing can hurt us."

Grace attempts to walk up to Steven, but Steven creates a pink hexagonal wall, preventing her and Simon from getting any closer.

"Just go away, before I can hurt anyone else," Steven says to Grace, clearly distressed.

Grace and Simon look in wonder at the pink wall in front of them. "Did you just make this?" Grace asks. Steven stays silent, letting the wall do its job at preventing them from getting any closer. Grace touches the wall, only for a pink spike to appear, immediately pushing her hand away while pricking one of her fingers. Grace is initially in pain, but quickly comes back to reality, releasing the valuable asset Steven could be. She begins to try and calm him down.

"Hey... kid, sorry if we got off on the wrong foot. I know you think you're dangerous, but trust me when I say we can handle it. You don't have to be afraid," Grace says in a calm voice. "I see your number there, you've already made a lot of progress, bigger than most we already have in the apex"

Steven stays silent, looking at the ground.

"Let's start from the beginning, what's your name. My name is Grace, my last name is... not important." Grace says.

Steven stays silent for a moment, but eventually opens up, "I'm.... Steven"

"Okay Steven, It'd be nice if you could take down this wall, or whatever it is." Grace says with a laugh, "We just want to get to know you, I'm sure you've seen a lot on the train now, probably have been told a bunch of lies, probably been tormented time and time again. All we want to do is help you, that's more than we can say about this pseudo-conductor in charge right now"

"Wha... What are you talking about?" Steven asks.

"Wow, you really don't know, do you. Who do you think runs the train, surely you must have thought of that at some point." Grace points out.

Steven looks to the side, considering Grace's words.

"Look kid, the train isn't what it used to be. The conductor used to be this woman named Amelia, but this little two faced robot took the train from her and started using it for his own purposes. I'm the leader of a group called the Apex, dedicated to returning the train to who it really belongs to, us." Grace says.

"Amelia" Steven thinks, remembering the name from the destroyed Manhattan car that he and Hailee explored a week ago. He drops the wall, allowing her to approach. Grace hunches down right next to Steven, putting her hand on Steven's shoulder.

"I've heard of Amelia, what happened to her?" Steven asks.

"She used to run this train, prioritized us and made this train ours, but she was overthrown, and now no one knows where she is. This little robot that overtook her is now trying to get rid of all of us on this train." Grace says. "Come on, our base isn't far from here, just a few cars down."

Steven looks at his number. It still extends around his hand, not moving up or down in any direction.

"Are you sure, I'm... dangerous, I shouldn't be around people." Steven says while backing away from Grace.

"You might be, but that's more of an asset than you think it is. I suggest you use that power, you could do some serious good on this train if you embrace it" Grace responds. Steven considers her words, and looks down at his number. Feeling he has no other options, he gives in.

"I guess I've got nothing to lose... lead the way," Steven says, trusting Grace.

"Alright, that's what I like to hear, let's get going," Grace says. "Simon, run ahead of us, make sure everyone is on their best behavior, we've got a new passenger, and we don't want to lose this one."

"You got it boss," Simon says, before running out the exit door.

Grace reaches his hand out to Steven, he accepts, and gets up on his feet with Grace. Grace walks him through several train cars. None of them have denizens inside, instead, they seem eerily cleaned out, like they've been looted and the denizens cleared out. This makes Steven mildly suspicious, but he continues with Grace, trusting her. After a few more cars, Grace stops Steven.

"Alright, this is it, you ready to see what we've been building." Grace says.

"I don't know about this," Steven asks.

"Come on kid, it's just a train car, nothing you haven't seen before." Grace says. Grace opens the door, revealing a large indoor mall. The mall has skyroof windows that have been blacked out, the lighting being replaced by torches and lanterns scattered about. Many of the display windows are broken with whatever used to be in them gone. Graffiti is scattered all throughout the car, most of which is a red circle with a wavy capital A in the center, seemingly the symbol of the apex. In the center of the mall is a jungle-gym-esque type of structure built out of repurposed wood and seemingly random objects.

"This is the base of the apex, pretty cool right?" Grace says.

"It's definitely ummm.... unique" Steven says with concern.

Inside are many kids, ranging from barely elementary school students, to some old enough to be in college. Many of them are dressed in worn down outfits lazily put together with whatever they could find. Many of the kids are doing dangerous stunts, such as painting graffiti at dangerously high places, or riding skateboards over floors filled with broken glass.

"This is the mall car, we took it over a little while back. We are all free to do whatever we please in here, we do what we want." Grace says, "And no one tells us no"

"That sounds very... intense." Steven says.

"I know, that's why it's great" Grace responds.

"Is that... your symbol." Steven asks, pointing at the wavy A graffiti all over the walls.

"You got it, symbol of the apex, the wave representing the one true conductor of this train." Grace says.

"True conductor of the train?" Steven thinks, but is cut off by Grace.

"So tell me about these powers you have. I see your number, you're a passenger, but I've never seen a human so what you can do before. What's changed while I've been on this train" Grace laughs.

Steven laughs back nervously, before saying "I guess I'm not fully human, I'm part gem, an alien of sorts. I can use my gem abilities too, that's what that was earlier."

"That's sick dude, you can run super fast, and make walls, is there anything else you can do?" Simon asks, approaching the two.

"A lot actually" Steven says with a laugh, "I guess I can do this too."

Steven summons a shield on his right arm, showing it off to Grace and Simon. Many other passengers in the mall car notice Steven, and run up to him to see his shield.

"How'd you do that," A random child asks.

"That's so cool," another child says.

"Thank you, Thank you" Steven says while blushing. "Here, I can also do this."

Steven glows pink and focuses his power. He creates a hexagonal wall, and separates all the hexagons into individual pieces. Steven then throws his arms into the air, allowing the hexagons to all separate and fly to different spots in the room, letting them float in the air while slowly turning, like hundreds of small chandeliers floating in midair. The apex members stare in awe at Steven's display, flattering Steven. He then coalesces the hexagons into a spot above his head, and creates a giant apex logo, impressing even Grace and Simon.

"Sick dude," Simon says. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"I got it from my mom's side of the family," Steven says while blushing at all the flattery, before being dragged away by a few of the younger apex members wanting to play with his powers. Grace allows this, letting Steven get to know the other members of the apex. Steven continues to show off his abilities, thriving off the compliments and awe-inspired gazes of the apex members.

Steven creates a large hexagonal wall between the floor and the edge of the second floor balcony. He then lets smaller hexagons protrude out of the larger ones, making a large climbing wall. The kids quickly take advantage of this, attempting to climb the wall. One of the kids slips and falls, but before he can hit the ground, Steven catches him midair and slowly floats him back down to the ground, causing a chain of kids wanting to jump into the air with him and slowly float back down.

"You really are something," a high school aged passenger says to Steven.

"Thanks, I try you know," Steven says with a nervous smile while scratching the back of his head.

"I'd love it if you showed me more later in private." the passenger says with a smirk.

Steven cheeks immediately turn red, but gets dragged away by more kids before he can respond. Steven continues to play with the other members of the apex, giving them shields to slide down ramps with, and using his super speed to play advanced games of hide and seek. Grace and Simon watch in the background, developing a plan for Steven.

"Whoever this kid is, he's certainly... something. What should we do about it" Simon asks.

"Hmm... Let's see where this goes, it's not like he's getting off the train anytime soon, did you see his number?" Grace says.

"Yeah... That's actually what I wanted to ask you about, what did he do to make his number so high already, shouldn't we be a bit... concerned," Simon points out.

"Oh please, like he's done anything we haven't done. Ever since that damn basketball of a conductor took over, the train has hated any kind of individuality we've expressed, all it wants to do is get rid of us. Maybe Steven is already more on our side than we think." Grace responds.

"Right..." Simon says, "I'm still a little bit concerned about this."

"Then stop being concerned," Grace responds.

Steven takes a break from hanging out with the other apex members, getting tired from the seemingly endless energy that many of the kids have. He sits down on the edge of a water fountain that hasn't had water in it for a very long time. Grace approaches Steven, and asks him about the car.

"So, what do you think." Grace asks.

"When I first saw this place, I didn't know what to think, but I've taken a bit of a liking to it. To be honest, I also like all the attention." Steven says with a laugh.

Grace laughs before saying, "I know, this car can be a lot sometimes, but I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, I want you to have fun here."

"Thank you, I think I like it here, it's nice in its own... rugged way." Steven responds.

"Good good, then I guess you won't mind staying here for a little while" Grace adds.

Steven is initially shocked and a bit hesitant towards Grace's advance, but looks down at his number, which still hasn't budged, and reconsiders.

"Well, I guess It's not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon, I guess I can stick around for a little bit, got room for a half human/half alien hybrid in your club?" Steven asks.

"Always." Grace responds.

Grace and Steven share a laugh, before Grace confesses something.

"Besides, it's not like I'll be going anywhere anytime either" Grace adds before taking off a long glove on her arm covering up her sleeve. She removes the glove, showing her number, which has extended all the way down her forearm and stops at her elbow. Steven gives an expression of pure shock to Grace.

"Holy sh-" Steven says before cutting himself off.

"I know, pretty cool right? The perks of being the best" Grace says.

"That number, how did you get it so high, is that... even possible?" Steven says in pure shock.

"Oh please, this is nothing compared to some of the numbers I've seen, you should have seen Amelia's number, it covered her whole body. What a legend" Grace responds.

Steven's heart sinks, realizing there is a lot more to Amelia than he had originally thought. "What did Amelia do to this train?" Steven thinks.

"But... you're supposed to get your number down, so you can leave." Steven says.

"No no no, that's what this fake conductor is trying to tell you, This is what you want." Grace says while displaying her arm. "The exit is for the weak, we were chosen by the train to live our lives here, the train belongs to us. It's a place where we get to be who we are, without anyone saying no, or trying to help us. It is our domain."

"But... I've made friends on this train who have left. They weren't weak, they were strong. They moved past their issues." Steven says, confused by Grace's logic.

"They didn't realize the opportunity the train gave to them. We can be who we are here Steven. No one can hold us back, nothing ever has to change." Grace responds.

Steven tries to respond, but gives his number one good look, Its bright green glow piercing through any kind of faith Steven has in himself. His conscience returns for a brief moment.

"Steven... I know what we did wasn't okay, but I don't know about this. Her number is so high, you know she must have done some bad things to get it that high" Steven's conscience says, trying to reason with a broken Steven.

Steven continues to look at his number, before giving in.

"I guess... I guess I don't have a whole lot of options, maybe I should embrace it" Steven says, giving up.

"That's what I like to hear." Grace says, "Just one more step before you can become an official member of the Apex."

"What" Steven asks.

"This," Grace says.

Grace pulls a red marker out of her pocket, and grabs Steven's face, drawing a squiggly line across his face. She starts at his left cheekbone, drawing a wavy line across his face, over his nose, and stopping at his right cheekbone.

"There, now you're one of us." Grace says.

"What is this?" Steven asks, stroking his face where the line was drawn.

"It's a representation of the one true leader of the train, Amelia. We wear this to swear our loyalty to her, and to show that we won't be bullied off this train. We wear this to show that the train belongs to us," Grace responds.

Steven is skeptical of Grace's ideology, but gives in anyway, feeling he no longer has any options, and doesn't want to disappoint her. Just as Steven is inaugurated into the Apex, Simon interrupts the two, giving Grace important news.

"Grace, there's a new car that just dropped ahead of us. We're gonna go investigate it, wanna tag along" Simon asks.

"A train car dropped down?" Steven asks, "They can move?"

"Wow, you really haven't been on this train for long," Grace says with a laugh, "New train cars are made all the time, and are placed down somewhere on the train. A new one just touched down a few train cars away. We're going to go explore it, this'll be a good first assignment for you. Plus you can show us what you can really do." Grace says while playfully punching his shoulder.

Steven, still flattered by the rest of the gang, says "Yeah, sure, let's see what I can do."

Steven, Grace, and a few other members of the apex leave the mall car and towards the new car. Grace and the others equip a strange device she calls a harpoon pack on their backs.

"This is how we skip train cars, we don't want to get caught up in too much of hassle with some of these cars, it's best to just go over them." Grace says while handing Steven a harpoon pack.

Steven refuses, saying "Don't worry about me, I don't need it"

Steven then glows pink for a moment, and then jumps to the top of the train car. He lands on his feet, and turns around to look at the apex members on the ground. All of them are thoroughly impressed, all of them giving Steven impressed facial expressions. Grace nods at Steven, giving him a job well done, and gives her teammates the order to follow him. Suddenly, Grace and the apex members point the strange harpoon packs, with the cylinder attachments at the end, to the top of the train car.

They fire the harpoon packs, the cylinders flying into the air with a white cord behind them. The cylinders attach to the top of the train car in front of Steven. The white cords attached to the cylinders retract, carrying the apex members up the side of the train. The apex members fly into the air towards Steven, landing on their feet in front of him, impressing Steven.

"Wow, that was... awesome," Steven says.

"Thanks, thought I might return the favor" Grace says confidently.

Steven, Grace, and the apex members walk across the top of the train car. Once they reach the end of a train car, Steven jumps across the gap and onto the next train car. Grace and the apex use their harpoon packs to follow Steven. They do this for the next few train cars, until they reach the car they were looking for.

"Stop here," Grace says. "This is it."

Steven, Grace, and the rest of the group make their way down to the entrance door. They all stop right in front of the entrance, Grace steps ahead of Steven to open the door. Inside is a brightly colored world themed after ice cream. Large mounds of vanilla, chocolate, and mint ice cream are in the background. Large spires of waffle cones tower high into the sky, some with chocolate syrup covering the top. Right in front of the door is a main street filled with many different ice cream vendors, The vendors themselves being ice cream cones with small limbs and cartoon faces.

"Now this is the car for me," Simon says. "This'll keep the kids happy for a long time."

The gang enters the car, Steven looking around at the architecture of the area, made almost exclusively from different forms of ice cream cones. The brick road they are walking on is made out of square sherbet popsicles. Building columns are made out of push-up ice cream cones, and the face of the buildings made out of ice cream sandwich shaped drywall.

"This is incredible, everything here is food... Hailee would have loved this" Steven thinks.

Before Steven gets the chance to explore the train car, Grace addresses the crowd.

"Alright gang," Grace says, signaling everyone to gather around her. She gives the crowd a sinister glare before saying, "Dig in."

Suddenly, the group disperses, many group members begin tearing apart the delicately made buildings to the horror of the denizens of the car. Simon grabs a large wooden popsicle stick on the ground and uses it to smash display cases, and grabs the ice cream inside. Two kids push one of the push up ice cream columns out of the way, collapsing a building, letting it's edible contents spill everywhere. Grace calmly snaps a piece of waffle cone off of a building next to her and begins to eat, watching the chaos around her.

Steven looks in horror at the surrounding chaos. He sees the ice cream denizens screaming for their lives as children chase them, buildings collapsing as the older passengers push out the columns holding them up. In the distance, a giant waffle spire begins to topple down, sending a crowd of ice cream cone denizens heading down the street away from the collapsing tower.

"What are they doing," Steven thinks in pure shock.

Steven looks back at Grace, who continues to lean up against a wall and let the chaos ensue. Steven approaches her, attempting to reason with her.

"You have to stop this, you have to call this off. You're destroying these people's homes. They need places to live too. This is their world you can't just go and destroy it" Steven yells.

Grace finishes chewing her waffle cone snack before addressing Steven. "I don't have to do anything, this is our train, not theirs"

"You can't just destroy their home though, they're people too-" Steven tries to say before getting interrupted.

"Jesus I really just have to spell everything out for you don't I. Steven, these aren't people, they're just creations of the train. They're nulls, they are nothing, not even zero" Grace says, "We don't need to feel bad about anything we do, this is our train, not theirs."

"You can't just destroy them though, what makes you any better than they are?" Steven yells, getting fired up.

Grace smirks, and signals Steven to look at his number, and says, "That number right there, how'd you get it that high."

"W-What does that have to do with anything?" Steven asks.

"There's only one way a number can get that high, you've killed nulls too. Don't act like you're this moral preacher to help us see the error in our ways, you've done the same things we're doing right now" Grace says, before leaning in closer, "Now I'm going to ask you one more time, how'd you get your number that high?"

Steven stumbles over his words, conflicted between fierce anger and pure embarrassment. Eventually, he storms off, exiting the train car and back towards the apex base.

"Where are you going?" Grace asks.

"I can't be here right now, I'm going back." Steven responds.

Grace initially tries to run after Steven, but is stopped by Simon.

"Just let him go, if he doesn't want to be a part of us then let him, he'll only slow us down if we keep him here" Simon says.

Grace lets out a deep exhale before saying, "Alright".

Steven jumps to the top of the train car, beginning to head back to the apex base. His anger clouds his judgement, but his conscience is still able to come through. His conscience takes the form of hologram Steven in his head, and begins to speak.

"Steven, this is not okay." Hologram Steven says.

"Oh, you again" Steven responds angrily.

"God dammit Steven, this is serious. You saw what they're doing to that car. Nothing about what they are doing is okay." Hologram Steven says.

"GRR.. I KNOW, don't you think I know that." Steven responds.

"Then why aren't you doing anything about it Mr. Change your mind. This is a good opportunity to actually use those skills you know. We have to do something!" Hologram Steven shouts.

"I can't do anything about it right now. I... I did the exact same thing they're doing. I killed Dr. Waters, I'm no better than they are." Steven says.

"But that was an accident, they're killing others on purpose. They're destroying their homes and using them for their own purposes. They're just like the diamonds Steven, you need to stop this" Hologram Steven points out.

"Look, I don't know. I'm just heading back for now. I can talk to them about this later." Steven says.

"What if they don't listen to you." Hologram Steven asks,

"I DON'T KNOW" Steven shouts, "....I don't know."

Steven stumbles back into the mall car, to see it mostly empty, with most of the apex members in the ice cream car. Steven looks around to see no other apex members in the main area, giving Steven the time he needs to be alone. Steven walks through the rugged, worn down car, considering Grace's actions and what he should do in response. Eventually, Steven sits down on the old water fountain and puts his head in his hands, screaming into them out of frustration with Grace and himself.

The scream activates a sonic bolt, shattering the stone fountain below him, sending pieces of it flying across the mall. Steven falls to the floor, landing on his butt, now sitting down on the broken floor. Steven's pink hue reactivates as his inner conflict becomes more intense, unsure on how to process the new group he finds himself in. Steven tries to continue contemplating what he should do next, but notices something in the distance that catches his eye

Across the room, Steven sees Hailee and some and another child run across a hallway about 50 feet away from him. Steven immediately pops up, seeing Hailee for the first time in over a week. He immediately runs over to the two, but they turn a corner before Steven catches them. Steven turns the corner as well, and sees the two. The other kid is a small boy with red hair and a brown harpoon pack on. Steven looks at Hailee, only to find she is another small girl, who resembles Hailee, but is a bit shorter and has darker hair.

Steven looks at the ground in disappointment, but quickly notices what the two children are doing. The two have cornered a peppermint shaped denizen from the candy car where Steven was first discovered by the apex. The two kids continue to harass the peppermint, kicking him in his legs and tackling him to the ground. The two are laughing as they do this, having no empathy for the denizen. Steven watches them, seeing how little they care about the denizens feelings. Steven exhales, considering what the kids have been taught.

"That girl isn't Hailee" Steven thinks, "But it's what Hailee would have become if she were still here with me."

"She would have loved this place, she would have loved the people here. This is what she could have become if she stayed with me, if I didn't let her leave '' Steven thinks while looking at the two children continuously assaulting and beating the denizen.

Steven approaches the two kids, glowing pink and summoning two shields in each of his arms. The two kids notice the clearly angered Steven and immediately run off, the peppermint denizen fumbles to the ground, covering his face and accepting his fate. After the two children disappear, Steven drops his shields and lets his pink glow fade. He bends to the denizen, and tries to talk to him. The denizen sees this, and immediately stands up and runs away, running towards the exit and leaving the mall car as fast as he can.

"I'm not letting this continue," Steven says passionately.

Just as he says this, Grace re-enters the car with the rest of the apex. The apex group is carrying in supplies from the ice cream car, including ice cream pillars, parts of waffle cone spires, and tons of ice cream pints. Steven immediately stands up to confront Grace and Simon, hoping to reason with them.

"Grace, we need to talk... privately." Steven says.

Grace scoffs before saying "Whatever you say to me, you can say to the rest of the apex."

"Fine, have it your way. What you're doing is wrong, just because they don't have a number doesn't mean they aren't people. There is nothing separating us from them, you only think that so you can justify taking advantage of people." Steven scolds, "I made that mistake too, and I will NOT make it again."

"Steven, sweetie, you know that's not true. They aren't human, we are." Grace says.

"Even if that is true, that doesn't mean we can just hurt them and do whatever we want, they have lives too. We have to be accountable for our own decisions" Steven continues.

Grace scoffs and walks past Steven, blowing him off. The rest of the crows disperses, following their leaders' orders. Steven continues to follow Grace, trying to get a hold of her.

"Listen to me Grace," Steven tries to say. Grace continues to ignore him, walking back towards the center of the mall car.

I'm trying to help you." Steven says.

Grace hears this, immediately stopping dead in her tracks. Steven almost runs into her, but stops himself before he does. Grace immediately turns around, grabs Steven's jacket collar, and talks right into Steven's face.

"Don't you DARE try to help me," Grace says, shocking Steven. Steven frees himself from Grace's grip.

"You need to listen to m-" Steven tries to say before getting cut off.

"I don't need to listen to ANYBODY, not you, not the train, NOBODY" Grace says, slowly approaching Steven, getting in his face.

"At least here me out, you need to see the error in your ways, I'm trying to help you." Steven says, getting angrier himself. "Maybe for once you can actually listen to what someone else is trying to tell you, maybe you can learn something!"

"GRRR. You act like you're so much better, but you are no better than me, look at your number. You've done things to, you have no right to talk." Grace points out.

"I made a mistake, something I regret, I'm trying to stop you from doing the same" Steven responds.

"Just because you're 'sorry' doesn't mean you didn't do it. Now tell me, what... did... you... DO?"

"I KILLED SOMEONE" Steven shouts, alerting the rest of the apex. "I killed my therapist all because she tried to help me, I'm stopping you from doing the same thing."

Grace continues to get worked up, looking like she is about to yell right back at Steven. But then, before she can continue, she realizes something.

"You said a therapist?" Grace says, regaining her sinister composure.

Steven's face goes white, not anticipating this reaction from Grace. Steven stays silent as Grace continues.

"You know, we have this train mapped out for hundreds of cars down the line. It just so happens that there is a therapy car pretty close to here. In fact, that train car, if I'm remembering correctly, is just behind the car we discovered you in."

Steven instantly freezes, giving Grace the leverage she needs.

"Simon, get a small crew ready." Grace yells, "We're going on an adventure."

Steven's shock turns into rage as he says, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"Me and Simon are gonna take a little trip to the scene of your crime, see for ourselves what truly happened," Grace says.

"You won't, I'll stop you," Steven says, his anger growing.

"I'm sure you could, which is why I'm giving myself a head start" Grace says, before pointing her cylinder launcher at Steven's face, firing it.

Steven recoils, toppling over and onto the ground as Grace runs the other direction towards the exit. Steven holds his nose, crying out in pain. The point blank shot shattered the bones in his nose, giving Steven excruciating pain as he rolls around on the floor. Steven can't help but cover his nose with his hands, writhing in pain, unable to focus on anything else. Eventually, his reasoning returns, and he removes one of his hands from his nose and licks it. He then reapplies his hand on his nose, the spit being directly applied to the wound. Steven glows pink as the bones rearrange themselves back into position, Steven feeling every bone movement in his nose.

Eventually, the bones fully return back into position as his nose glows white, repairing itself. By the time the process is over and Steven is no longer in pain, Grace, Simon, and a few other apex members have already left. Steven gets back onto his feet, and begins to chase after Grace and her gang. He activates his super speed to catch up with them. He exits the car, busting through the doors and jumping as quickly as he can to the top of the next train car. He sees Grace and her gang a few cars ahead, and continues to pursue them.

Eventually, Steven can no longer maintain his super speed. It stops, leaving Grace a train car ahead of Steven. Steven runs as fast as he can towards Grace, but before he can reach her, she has already harpooned to the top of the next train car, waving goodbye to Steven as she is dragged along. Steven jumps to the other train car, but Simon turns over in midair, and launches another cylinder towards Steven. The cylinder hits his shoulder, hitting him with enough force to send him onto his side midair. Steven plummets onto the top of the next train car, hitting the floor with his ribcage, sending him rolling down the train car roof as Grace and her gang fly above him.

Steven recovers, running again towards the gang, but before he can catch back up to them, they reach their destination. Grace lands in front of Dr. Waters office, the rest of her crew following her. Steven finally catches up to them, landing on the ground with his pink hue in full force. His fists are curled with pink lightning radiating around them, his eyes glowing bright as his pupils form into a diamond shape.

"ENOUGH" Steven shouts, creating a sonic boom knocking some of the apex members back, Grace and Simon stay steady. Steven notices the door he bursts through is repaired, with no sign of the damage Steven made while bursting through it earlier.

"Don't worry Steven, I'm only doing this for your own good" Grace says, opening the door. Inside is a perfectly repaired office, with no sign of any damage that Steven caused. The couches, the chairs, and the bookcases are all in the spots they were before. The windows are unbroken and window frames look like they've never been touched. In the center of the room is Dr. Waters, sitting there with her legs crossed, staring right back at Steven and the others.

"She's... alive?" Steven thinks.

"Umm... can I help you guys?" Dr. Waters asks.

"She... she doesn't recognize me?" Steven thinks, questioning his sanity.

"Pfff, Whatever happened to murdering your therapist Steven, this place looks like it's never been touched, what kind of game are you playing kid," Grace says while laughing.

"I... I destroyed this room, she died, her orb dropped from the ceiling, I killed her." Steven says, his pink glow dissipating, his eyes returning to normal.

"Well, I guess we'll have to do it ourselves" Grace says, "Grab her, We're gonna wheel her, and finish what Steven started."

Simon and another apex member grab Dr. Waters arms. She tries to fight back, but two other apex members grab her legs, letting her thrash about. Steven attempts to save her, but is stopped by a cylinder flying right into his stomach, making him fall to the ground. Before Steven can get up, two apex members tie his arms to the railing using the white cord attached to the cylinders, preventing him from stopping them. Steven tries to summon hexagonal shards to stop them, but can't without his arms available. Steven watches helplessly as the group prepares to throw Dr. Waters over the edge, and down to the wheels to be grinded up.

"PLEASE.. STOP" Dr. Waters shouts, thrashing about.

Steven does his best to free himself from his restraints, attempting to break the railing he's attached to, but stops after Grace points her harpoon pack at Steven, threatening to fire it at his forehead point blank.

"Stop it Steven, this is for your own good" Grace says "This is what life is like. You can't rely on anybody, especially a null."

"What do you think you're going to accomplish by this, is threatening me and killing my friend going to sway me to your side." Steven says.

"You still don't get it do you, this is personal now. I'm trying to teach you a lesson, to show you that you can't rely on anybody in this world. No one in the real world wants to help you, we all have to fend for ourselves... Not even my family wants to help me" Grace says, looking down to the ground.

"But here, none of that matters, I don't have to rely on anybody, I can be me without anyone getting in my way, and if you can't see that, then I'll just have to make you."

Steven looks down at the ground, considering what she is saying, but immediately jerks his head up, more confident than ever.

"You... are... wrong..." Steven says.

"What?" Grace says.

"You're wrong, there are people in my life that I can rely on. My family, my friends, the people that matter most to me can help me through anything. I don't have to do everything on my own, because part of caring about someone is being willing to help them through anything, and that's what the people in my life are trying to tell me." Steven says.

"I was so focused on helping others that I never stopped to let them help me through the issues that I need help with too. That stops today. We all need help, and the first step is admitting it. The people in my life want to help me and there is nothing you can do to change that. The gems, my dad, my friends, Hailee, Riley, Dr. Waters, they all want to help me. It's time I actually start being willing to receive it" Steven shouts.

Grace gives Steven an infuriated, yet disappointed look, before saying "Drop her."

The apex crew throws Dr. Waters over, sending her falling to the wheels. She screams as she falls, but her scream is cut short as she is seemingly caught. Suddenly, metal tentacles begin to attach themselves to the railing, wrapping around them. Steven, Grace, and the rest of the crew look in horror as an amalgamation of wire cords rises from below the platform. The entity that caught Dr. Waters is a grouping of long metal tentacles, all originating from an eerie white mask with glowing blue eyes.

"Shit, he found us, everybody get out of here. Let it get Steven" Grace says, signalling for everybody to retreat. Grace and the rest of the apex run away, heading back towards their base. Steven sees the metal abomination and immediately panics, his pink hue and diamond eyes returning, giving him the strength to break free from his restraints. The amalgamation of metal wires put Dr. Waters back down onto the platform before turning its attention to Steven.

Steven, out of pure fear, begins to attack the robot, throwing a shield at it. The robot moves all of its wires out of the way of the shield trajectory before seamlessly moving towards Steven in one action. Steven forms a bubble, but a metal cord flies right through it, popping the bubble. Steven uses his bubble fist to punch away the metal cord, but two more wrap around his legs. Steven throws another shield at the robot, severing one of its metal appendages, but still leaves many left.

The metal wires wrap around Steven's arms, making him incapable of movement. The robot lifts Steven into the air and puts his face a few feet directly in front of the robot's face. Suddenly, the white face lifts up, revealing a white ball with a black stripe down the middle and two white dots in the black stripe.

"Umm, if you could stop breaking my robot, that would be nice" says an overly optimistic voice, coming from the white ball.

"Ugh.. we're going to have to repair it again aren't we" says an overly pessimistic voice coming from the same white ball.

"LET ME GO" Steven says while struggling to break free, but is unable too.

"Yeah, I'd love to but you'd just break my stuff, besides, we should probably talk anyways. You've broken a lot of things on your adventure here, it's been a real struggle to fix everything." The overly optimistic voice says.

"We need to stop letting gems on this train, they cause too much trouble" The overly pessimistic voice says.

"Nonsense, the train for everybody, besides, he hasn't caused any more problems than a normal human could cause." The overly optimistic says.

"But humans are easy to deal with, it's the non-humans that break all our stuff" The overly pessimistic voice says.

"Well if they break it, we can just fix it again. That's the fun in it!" The overly optimistic voice says.

"Umm... Hello?" Steven says, trying to get the strange robot's attention.

"Oh yes, you, I guess I should introduce myself" The overly optimistic voice says

"Uhh you really don't hav-" Steven tries to say.

"My name is One" The overly optimistic voice says. "One" says the overly pessimistic voice right after, forming the word One-One.

"I am the conductor of this lovely train, bringing peace and guidance to people all across the globe" Happy One-One says.

"Yeah I... wait, you're the conductor?" Steven asks.

"Unfortunately yes" says sad One-One.

"Absolutely yes" the glad One-One responds. "We've been the conductor of this train for as long as I can remember. We had a 33 year hiatus a little while ago, but now we are back and better than ever."

"A 33 year hiatus" Steven thinks, "Grace mentioned something about a conductor, Amelia, she must've replaced One-One as conductor, but One-One managed to take the train back."

"If you're the conductor, then what about Amelia?" Steven asks.

"Umm... We don't say the A word around here, she kind of put us through a lot you know" sad One-One says.

"It is true, she overthrew the train to make a train car for her and her lost lover, quite a tragic story actually." glad One-One says.

"It's my favorite story, tragedy is kind of my thing" sad One-One says.

Steven, getting tired of One-One antics, asks, "Yeah umm, can you let me down now, I promise I won't destroy your robot."

"Yeah fine whatever I guess" sad One-One says.

One-One orders the robot to lower Steven down to the ground, unraveling the cords around his limbs, setting him free.

"Thank you," Steven says, "I'm sorry about your robot, and I guess everything else I broke on the train"

"It's okay, nothing stays fixed anyways," sad One-One says.

"But we all grow from our mistakes, and mistakes we made in the past aren't mistakes we'll make in the future as long as we learn from them, did you learn that Steven?" happy One-One says.

"I learned a lot of things, but yeah, that was one of them," Steven says with a slight chuckle.

"Good, then I can do this," happy One-One says.

Suddenly, Steven hears a scrolling noise coming from his hand, much louder than before. He looks at his hand, noticing his number. To his surprise, his number is falling rapidly, the scrolling going so fast that Steven only sees a green blur of numbers on his hand. The number begins to unwrap around his hand, becoming small enough to fit on his palm again. After a few more seconds of pure free fall, the falling slows. It finishes on the number 3.

"It... It went down!" Steven says with excitement. "I must've said something right while talking to Grace."

"Well more like I just forgave all the damage you caused on the train by destroying a train car, killing a denizen, and smashing right through 3 train car doors, but yeah you can think that if it makes you feel better." happy One-One says

"We need passengers to actually leave the train and stop getting stuck here for mistakes they made in the past, I don't want someone who is ready to go home to stay here and ruin things even more." One-One says.

"Thank you... One-One, I promise I won't let you down." Steven gratefully says.

"It's still at 3 though, I think there's one last thing I need to do," Steven says while looking into the therapy car. Steven re-enters the therapy car to find Dr. Waters in the chair, causally relaxing with her legs crossed.

"Well that was a traumatic experience if I do say so myself, I did however know about One-One being down there so I wasn't too worried, being observant is the best way avoid getting yourself in true danger." Dr. Waters says with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, that's definitely true" Steven says with a laugh, "Dr. Waters... do you remember me?" Steven asks.

Dr. Waters gives Steven a good look before saying, "Unfortunately I do not, I'm sorry if I forgot you, I have to deal with a lot of patients."

"Oh I think it's more than that" Steven says with a nervous chuckle. "I might have... caused you permanent injuries, I don't know how you came back but I guess whatever process it was, it involved wiping your memories."

"Ooooh, I know, I had to reset her orb that gives her a physical form after you blasted it into non functionality" happy One-One says from outside the room.

"I restarted her so she could experience the long and painful road to death just like the rest of us," sad One-One says.

"Yeah... that," Steven says.

"Ohh, wow, okay." Dr. Waters says. "Well I guess I still feel like me, so whatever memories I lost weren't that important. I hope I was able to help you anyways."

"In the long run, yes, you did." Steven says. "Thank you."

"It's what I do," Dr. Waters responds.

"I also wanted to apologize, you tried your hardest to help me, you cared about me, and I lashed out because of it. I never wanted to hurt you, I'm so sorry. I pride myself on being the guy who helps everybody, but I don't let people help me, and then I get mad when they eventually leave to discover themselves on their own. I'm kind of a hypocrite like that. Maybe it's time I start to discover who I am on my own."

"Well that's good, I'm glad you've come to that realization." Dr. Waters says. "Anyways it's probably a good thing I don't remember it, isn't it."

"Yeah" Steven says with a laugh, "And thank you again, for everything."

Just as Steven says this, his number drops down again. It reaches zero, and his number glows a bright green. Suddenly, the outline of an exit door forms with green lines. The center glowing white as a wormhole is created. Inside the wormhole is a view of the temple at night from the beach, with Steven's house in the distance. Steven smiles, knowing he can finally go home after everything he's experienced on the train.

"I'm... I'm going to leave now, I need to see my family again, I need some help if i'm being completely honest. I think I'm ready to get it" Steven says.

"I wish you the best... Steven Universe." Dr. Waters says, remembering his name.

Steven smiles, taking the exit, warping back into Beach City. As he steps through the portal, his sandal touches the beach, slowly sinking into the wet sand. Steven looks back into the portal as it closes behind him, leaving the green outline of an exit door, which eventually fades as well. The portal disappears, leaving Steven looking at the slowly moving waves of the beach, with the moon reflecting on the seemingly endless ocean.

"Thank you, for everything, Infinity train," Steven says.

Chapter Text

"STEEVENNNN" a familiar voice yells from the distance. Steven looks over to see pearl on the house porch, with Garnet and Amethyst quickly lining up behind her. Suddenly, the three fuse into Alexandrite, and immediately charge straight for Steven, stomping into the sand without any hesitation. Alexandrite reaches Steven before unfusing, leaving the three gems in the air, about to dogpile Steven. All three of them land directly on Steven, hugging him.

"Steven, you're finally back, we thought you'd never come back, we looked everywhere" Amethyst asks with tears in her eyes.

"Steven I'm so sorry," Pearl says before immediately balling, not being able to form any words.

Steven immediately breaks down, beginning to cry as well. "I'm sorry, I never wanted to leave for that long, I got abducted by this weird train and I... I..." Steven tries to continue, but just continues to cry without being able to form any words.

The four continue to hug it out, crying into each other's shoulders, finally reunited.

"I'm so sorry, I ran away-y-y-y" Steven says while continuing to cry.

"It's okay, It's okay, that's not important anymore" Garnet says, taking her visor off to wipe the tears from her eyes. "We want to help you, we're sorry if we didn't tell you that enough."

"No... no, I'm sorry, I didn't think I needed your help, I was so focused on helping others I never stopped to let them help me. I pushed you all away to avoid confronting my own problems, I'm so sorry" Steven says before continuing to cry.

"Steven, we will always be here to help you whenever you need it, we're your family, and we love you." Pearl says.

"And don't EVER run away again, or I swear to god Steven" Amethyst says while jokingly holding up a fist. Steven laughs before collapsing back into crying.

"I never wanted to make you guys think I'd never come back, I was just scared, and then I got kidnapped and I... I..."

"It's okay Steven, everything is okay now. You're back, we knew you could do it, and you did"

"Wait... what?" Steven asks through his tears, "You guys knew where I was."

Garnet smiles before saying, "We had a little visitor stop by, she told us everything."

"Hailee," Steven says. "Hailee came down to see you guys, she told you everything that happened."

"Yeah... everything she saw, yes, It took her a little while, she's very... descriptive" Pearl says.

"Homegirl don't shut up," Amethyst says with a laugh.

"Yeah, she's kind of awesome like that." Steven says.

"She's inside right now, we let her and her mom stay down here while you were gone, We were all waiting for you to come back" Garnet says.

"Wow, okay, I umm... A lot has happened since we last spoke." Steven says with a nervous laugh. "I think it might be a good thing she didn't see any of it, I might have gone a little off the rails after she left"

Steven and the gems make their way to the house, The gems being sure to not let Steven outside of their sights or general vicinity.

"I'm not going to disappear into thin air... again" Steven says.

Steven and the gems make their way up the stairs to Steven's house and open the door. Hailee is sitting down on the couch, twiddling her thumbs while looking at the ground. She hears the sound of the door opening, looking up at Steven and the gems walking through the door. Her eyes immediately light up, and immediately runs towards Steven. Steven bends down to give her a hug, Hailee slamming into him with tears in her eyes.

"I was so worried, I was beginning to think you'd never come back" Hailee says while crying into Steven's shoulder.

"It's okay, It's okay, I'm back." Steven says with a smile, patting her back.

"I'm so happy you made it back, you have to tell me everything that happened while I was gone, I need to know" Hailee says.

"I think I need to talk about those things to a therapist before I tell you" Steven says with a laugh, "Though I do suppose I can tell you some of the less... intense details."

Hailee lets go of Steven, letting Steven look up to see another woman in his house. She has the same skin tone as Hailee but is significantly older, and has shorter hair with bangs.

"You must be Hailee's mom. It's... nice to meet you." Steven says while getting up, extending his arm out to Hailee's mom for a hand shake. Hailee's mom accepts, smiling at Steven.

"I always imagined you'd be a bit bigger, at least based on the way Hailee described you." Hailee's mom says with a laugh, "Also feel free to call me Maya."

"I'm sorry about your daughter's disappearance, I don't even want to imagine what that must feel like" Steven adds. Maya smiles at Steven before giving him a hug.

"You don't need to apologize, you're the reason my daughter came back to me. Thank you so much for looking out for her in that hellhole you guys found yourselves in. I don't know how I can ever repay you." Maya says, beginning to tear up herself.

"Don't worry about it, besides, I couldn't have finished without Hailee either." Steven says while looking at Hailee, standing next to both Steven and her mom.

"Thank you for everything Hailee." Steven says, "I'm sorry I never got the chance to say that until now."

The three laugh before Maya continues, "I thought my daughter had gone crazy when she came home with dirty torn clothes, saying an alien helped her navigate a giant train in another dimension. I was about to take her to mental hospital until she showed me this zoo map with dinosaurs and unicorns on it. Then she somehow convinced me to drive down here and I met your friends-... moms-... parental figures, whatever they are. They explained all the alien stuff, and I guess from there I just had to trust everything my daughter said."

"Yeah... it's kind of a lot isn't it," Steven says with a laugh, "I barely knew what was happening with that train, I still have no idea what it was."

"HUHH... Steven, I forgot to mention, I finally visited New York City on our way down here. You know, the nice version of it." Hailee butts in.

"This girl is so lucky it's summer break" Maya says jokingly. "You better be thankful this whole debacle didn't end up with you missing 3 weeks of school."

"Good thing I don't really have school, I'm mostly taught by those three," Steven says while pointing at Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. The gems wave back excitedly. Steven, Hailee, and Maya have a good laugh, but are interrupted by a loud slamming of an opening door. Inside the door is Connie, who immediately rushes over to Steven.

"You're... You're back!" Connie says.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry about everything, I can explai-" Steven says, before being interrupted by a big hug from Connie, crushing his rib cage.

"I thought I'd never see you again, I was so scared, but you're back now!" Connie says while continuing to hug Steven, he blushes before attempting to hug her back, Connie hugging too tight for him to fully wrap his arms around her.

"I'm... happy to see you too..." Steven tries to say with his rib cage being crushed by Connie's hug. Connie releases her grip, letting Steven take in a deep breath.

"Oh uhh... Sorry," Connie says with a nervous laugh.

"*cough* Don't worry, *cough* It's okay" Steven says while smiling, still recovering.

"The gems told me about the train a little while ago, I have no idea how something like that could even exist, do you think it might be from another dimension, or like from a different reality?" Connie asks.

"I don't know, I'm just glad I'm off it now" Steven says.

"Yeah... I was so scared when the gems told me you disappeared, I thought I'd never see you again, I'm so sorry." Connie says, looking down at the floor.

"What are you apologizing for?" Steven asks.

"I guess our last interaction wasn't necessarily a positive one, I kind of blamed myself for your disappearance. I'm so sorry if I made you fee-" Connie says before Steven cuts her off,

"Connie, none of this was your fault, please don't think that you caused this. I... I had some emotional issues I had to work through, I still have to work through them, but I know what they are now. You are such a great friend, you did everything you could to help me, even if I was being a little weird, thank you." Steven says.

Connie hugs Steven again, Steven being able to hug her back now. Connie lets go after a few seconds before asking Steven something.

"Can we go talk somewhere else for a second, I've been meaning to ask you something, preferably in private," Connie says with a nervous smile.

"UHhhhhhhh" Steven says, being unable to process the information. Steven looks around the room. He looks over at Hailee, who is giving him an excited thumbs up, while the gems are smirking at Steven, signaling him to say yes.

"Uhh yeah, let's go down to the beach, Is that good?" Steven asks.

"Perfect," Connie says, grabbing his hand and dragging him outside of the house. The two make their way down the stairs and onto the beach. They make their way towards a section of the beach that can't be seen from the house, stopping at a fallen piece of the obsidian statue, now a boulder sticking out from the sand, big enough to act like a bench. The two sit down on the boulder and spend a brief moment in silence, both building up their courage. Then, Connie starts to speak.

"I'm still really glad you came back, It's really nice to see you again," Connie says while blushing.

"It's nice to see you too." Steven says while blushing as well, "I missed you while I was on the train, I always wished you were there with me."

Steven thinks about what he just said, realizing how that could be misinterpreted, "I mean umm... I never wanted you to be on the train, I'm glad you stayed here... I... I don't mean that I didn't want to see you, I just..." Steven stumbles before Connie starts laughing.

"I get it." Connie says while laughing.

"Thanks... for stopping me," Steven says while laughing as well.

The two continue to laugh for a moment, Connie putting her hand on Steven's shoulder while they laugh. The two stop laughing, and Connie continues

"I guess what I'm trying to say is... when you were gone, I was scared I could never do something I've been wanting to do for a little while," Connie confesses, her heart racing

"Do what?" Steven asks, his heart racing as well

"This" Connie says, before pushing Steven's face towards hers. She leans up and kisses Steven, putting her hand on Steven's cheek while she does. Steven kisses her back, letting his hand flow through her hair. The two continue to kiss for the first time, releasing all of their feelings for each other in that one moment. The two separate, smiling at each other as they do.

"Wow umm... so that's why you umm." Steven says with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah that's why I wanted to be alone, I didn't want to cause too much of a scene" Connie says while blushing, "I think they caught on anyways."

"I guess that isn't such a bad thing," Steven says with a smile, "Besides, they probably found a way to watch us anyways."

Connie laughs before pointing at something in the distance. Steven looks over to where she is pointing, seeing Amethyst's eye extended across the mountain, which immediately retracts as soon as they notice it.

"And now they know everything," Steven says while laughing.

"Oh well" Connie says, shrugging her shoulders.

"So, are we dating now, is that how this works?" Steven asks nervously.

"I mean... I hope that's how it works." Connie says.

"Alright, new rule, if two people kiss, then that means they're dating. So I guess that means we're dating now, right?" Steven responds.

"I'd like that," Connie says while smiling.

"I'd like that too," Steven says while smiling back. The two kiss again briefly, now as a new couple. They grab each other's hands, looking off into the moonlight reflecting on the sea.

"So if we're a couple... I guess I need to confess something." Steven says.

"What?" Connie asks.

"I mighhttttt have made out with another guy while I was on the train, but only to advance through the train car... okay maybe a little bit more than that" Steven says jokingly, but also nervously. Connie looks shocked at first, but quickly devolves into laughing.

"Really, we just started dating and you're already cheating on me?" Connie says while laughing.

"Hey it was extenuating circumstances," Steven says while laughing back, "If you ever need to kiss another girl to get out of a mysterious train car, I'll forgive you."

"I mean what's his name? Was he cute? Where does he live? I need to know this information if he's my new competition." Connie responds jokingly.

"Riley... Yes... Oklahoma... and no you do not need to worry about him," Steven says.

"Okay, but if you're going to be into both girls and guys then I need to know everything about my competition because now that I have twice as much," Connie says while slamming her fist on her palm.

The two continue to laugh, still holding hands. Connie slowly stops laughing, and then lays her head on Steven's shoulder. Steven blushes at first, but then wraps his arm around Connie, leaning his head on Connie's head. Steven and Connie continue to look at the seemingly endless ocean and the night sky reflecting off of it.

"You see, I told you taking her on a date would work, you should really listen to me more." Hailee says from a distance, walking up to the two. Steven and Connie immediately pop up, turning around to look at Hailee.

"Hailee uhh... what are you doing here?" Steven asks.

"Relax, I'm the ambassador, everyone at the house wanted to know if you guys were done yet." Hailee responds.

"Ambassador, that's a pretty big word for you" Connie says with a laugh.

"I'm well versed in the world of politics nowadays after being president, I'll find myself back in that office one day." Hailee says.

"I have no idea what she's talking about," Connie says to Steven.

"It's kind of a long story," Steven says with a laugh, "We should probably head back anyways."

"Okay" Connie says with a laugh before turning to Hailee, "Thank you for helping this hunk of feelings through the train, I doubt he could have done it as easily without you," Connie says while laughing, getting a glare from Steven.

"Don't worry about it, he helped me too" Hailee says while smiling at Steven, who smiles back.

Steven and Connie walk back to the house with Hailee, Steven and Connie holding hands as they do so.

"I like this," Connie says.

"I like this too," Steven responds.

**** A Few Months Later ****

"Okay, you have your computer right? And all your clothes, and your toothbrush, and your..." Pearl says before being interrupted by Steven.

"YES Pearl, I have everything, I double checked, and you triple-checked" Steven says.

"Okay, just thought I should make sure again," Pearl says while backing off.

"I'm gonna miss you man, you better facetime us everyday or I will find you." Amethyst jokingly says.

"9 pm everyday, I promise," Steven says.

Garnet comes down the stairs into the living room, handing Steven his notebook with his travel plan that he left in his room. "Don't forget this" Garnet says while handing it to Steven.

"Oh... Thank you Garnet, I almost forgot that, that would have been pretty bad," Steven says with a chuckle.

"You see, I thought you might have forgotten something" Pearl repeats.

"Alright, I yield," Steven says jokingly to Pearl.

Steven and the gems make their way down to the beach, where Steven's car is parked. The back of Steven's car is packed with different suitcases and bags, filled with all the things he will need on his trip. Connie and Greg are standing next to the car, helping Steven organize all of his belongings.

"You're all good to go Schtu-ball," Greg says.

"Thank you dad." Steven responds.

"I'm going to miss you Steven, make sure to take plenty of pictures, I want to see what you're getting to see." Greg says while giving Steven a hug.

"I will, I will, I'll also vlog a little bit, I promised Peridot and Lapis that," Steven says.

Steven makes his way over to the front of his car, where Connie is setting up a new stereo system for his car. Connie finishes installing it as Steven reaches her.

"There, now you can actually listen to music using your phone, you'll save so much space not having to keep a bunch of cassette tapes everywhere." Connie says.

"I still like the cassettes," Steven responds while smiling.

"Yeah yeah whatever," Connie says jokingly, "Alright, let's go over the plan one last time."

"Yeah, first we'll drive up to Boston and visit Hailee for her 11th birthday, then I drop you off at Harvard and start my tour of the 39 states. Eventually I'll make my way over to Oklahoma and visit Riley." Steven says before getting a glare from Connie.

"...as a FRIEND." Steven says, making both Connie and himself laugh. "I'll make my way back here and from there I can decide where I want to live."

"It better be as a friend." Connie says jokingly, "I'll fly out to Oklahoma City and meet you there, and then I'll join you until we hit California and we can spend a week on the beach there. Then I'll fly back to Boston and you'll travel the rest of the way,"

"Then I decide where I'll live after that, I promise I'll try and make it close to you" Steven says while grabbing Connie's hand.

"Thanks, I'll see what I can do about becoming a doctor where you decide to settle down, as long as I have a say in it too." Connie responds.

"Of course," Steven says before kissing Connie on the lips. Steven and Connie reunite with Greg and the gems, saying one last goodbye before their trip.

"Alright, I guess this is goodbye for now... I umm... I don't really know how to-" Steven tries to say before being interrupted by a group hug.

"You've always been bad with goodbyes Steven" Garnet says jokingly.

"I know, I'm sorry, I'll miss you guys. I promise I'll keep in touch, and I'll visit all the time if I decide to move somewhere further away. I'll send you guys a bunch of pictures too," Steven says, beginning to ramble on.

"Go Steven, we'll be okay, we want you to see the country, keep us updated on your favorite place. I'm a millionaire, I can afford to live anywhere," Greg says with a laugh.

"I will, I promise," Steven says with tears beginning to form in his eyes.

Steven and Connie separate from the group hug and make their way over to the car. They get in, Steven starting the engine. The gems and Greg wave goodbye as Steven begins to drive off, Steven and Connie waving back. Steven eventually gets on the road, only to see the citizens of beach city all waving goodbye to him as he passes by. Steven and Connie both wave goodbye as well, with tears forming in their eyes.

"I love this place, I can't believe we have to leave it," Connie says.

"I know, but let's see what else this country has to offer, I'm excited" Steven responds.

Connie grabs Steven's hand, letting him drive with one hand on the steering wheel. They exit the town and on a small road surrounded by trees, heading to a freeway a few miles outside of town. Before they make it to the freeway, they get stuck at a train crossing, with a train speeding by as they wait.

"I hope that doesn't bring up too many memories for you," Connie says while laughing, looking at the train.

"Enh... Just add it to the list of fucked up shit I went through during my childhood." Steven responds.

"LANGUAGE Steven" Connie says jokingly.

"Sorry, I'll watch my mouth," Steven says while laughing.

The train continues to slide over the tracks as the warning signs flash big red lights. While they wait, Steven and Connie stare at the night sky, admiring the full moon and the stars glittering the sky. Eventually the train passes by, letting Steven move past the train. Steven drives over the tracks and drives down the road, continuing on his long journey to find out who he is as a human being, this time on his own terms.