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Aboard the Starship Blackthorne, Bloodrose Steven was awaiting for an answer on his secured line to the Gembuster HQ. Just then the image of Spiritmaster Llesh showed up on screen. "Bloodrose, my boy, I apologize, I haven't had much time to communicate with you, did you take care of GKG 001?" Llesh answered. "Yeah, it's been destroyed, but several gems didn't make it" Bloodrose Steven said. "I see...that wasn't unexpected but still very disheartening" said Llesh "In my younger days that would have bought a smile to my face, but alas, I've grown to learn many things about the gems, how many grow out from their main purpose, that they too were part of a system that not even their leaders understood, I must have gotten softer with age I suppose." "Or wiser" Bloodrose Steven commented. Llesh laughed at that. "I taught you well, my boy" Llesh said "but I think we should keep this under wraps from You Know Who, I didn't want to tell you this, but, he turned a blade against me because he suspected me of betraying him." "I don't believe it" Bloodrose Steven Commented. "Yo yo!" said DJ Rayve, who was now just an alien octopus in a fishbowl "He actually did that? Our Prospector!? I thought somethin' was off when he told me to off some'a dem humans." 

"Oh, you're still here, I forgot" Bloodrose Steven said. "Say whaaat? You lucky I can go 8000 hours without food, buddy!" DJ Rayve said angrily. 

It was a normal weekend morning at the Universe Household, weather aside. The forecast called for thunderstorms. "Awww...phooey, I was hoping to see Selena today, stupid thunderclouds" Rose complained. "Well, we can't do much about the weather" said Connie. "I can't believe it, I have a magic dad and he can't make thunderstorms go away" Rose pouted. "You look so much like your father when you pout like that" Connie commented with a giggle. "Sorry, honey, my powers don't work that way" Steven apologized "now come on, I'm making your favourite pancakes for breakfast." "Dad's super strawberry surprise pancakes!?" Rose excitedly exclaimed, rushing towards the table. "Huh? this is just an ordinary strawberry pancake, where's the cat shaped whipped topping with the strawberry nose?" Rose asked. "Gee, I thought that since you were 18 now, I thought you'd want a more grown-up breakfast" said Steven innocently.

"Curses, foiled by my own age! Adulthood, why have you forsaken me!?" cried Rose. "Rose, I'm joking, I got yours right here" said Steven, swapping out Rose's plate for a plate with Rose's favourite type of pancake. "That wasn't funny, Dad!" Rose grumbled. "I thought it was pretty funny" Greg chimed in. "Me too, the look on her face" Amethyst laughed. The family and Amethyst all enjoyed a nice breakfast. A huge loud bang interrupted their meal. The huge thunderclap had disturbed Nora and Lisa who began crying. Connie's maternal instincts kicked in, as she went to console the twins. "Jeez, I don't blame those babies for crying, that thunderclap scared the heck out of me" Amethyst commented. "There hasn't been a storm this bad since Rose was a baby" Garnet added. "Yeah, I remember that, you invited me in on that day" Greg agreed. "Wait a minute, I remember that day" Connie interjected "didn't that storm cause the power to-"

And as if on cue, the power went out. "Me and my big mouth" Connie grumbled. "Oh, great, no power, no internet, well this day's not gonna be fun" Piers commented. "Well, you can always text your girlfriend, can't you?" Rose suggested. "Oh yeah, I think I can...hey wait, what's with the reception?" Piers asked. "Must have taken out the cell tower must have been damaged by the storm" Connie pondered. "Wait, don't those things have lightening rods to prevent such a thing?" Greg asked. "I think I saw Ronaldo steal the lightning rod off of the closest one a few months back" Steven said. "Is it just me or does this seem oddly convenient?" Piers said.

"Well, what do we do now?" Amethyst asked. "We could tell stories to pass the time" Steven suggested "like how I helped end an oppressive system and saved the earth and all of gemkind." "Dad, we already know that story" Rose said. "Yeah, how about some other stories?" Rose asked. "Well, did I ever tell you how it all effected me two years later?" Steven asked. "Yes" Piers and Rose responded. "And it won't be much a story anyway, most of the people in this house were actually there when those events happened" Connie added. "Yeah, I suppose so..." Steven said. "Oh wait, how about we tell the story about what had happened during our first date?" Connie suggested.

"Ugh, if I wanted to hear mushy crap, I'd put on Crying Breakfast Friends" Piers said. "Hey, I won't have anyone badmouthing my favourite show, growing up" Steven said. "No, no, I'm talking about modern Crying Breakfast Friends" Piers explained. "Oh yeah...that one is pretty sappy" Steven admitted. "I don't get it, what's the difference?" Amethyst asked. "Well, in the original show, they dwelled into mature subjects, essentially, they were crying for a reason, in the new show...they're crying just because, there's no depth to it" Steven said "Animation Channel is awful when it comes to reboots."

"Well, our first date isn't exactly the subject of the story, you know the outdoor movie theatre in Little Homeworld?" Connie asked. "Yeah, what about it?" Rose asked. "Well, The Diamonds were there opening night and well, I won't spoil it, but I think you'll enjoy this..."

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It had been just one month after Steven's huge breakdown. The progress he made for his recovery had been going along very well, he'd been doing everything his therapist told him to do, and improvements in his mental health have been showing, little by little. Tonight he and Connie were going to the newly opened Beach City Drive-In Theatre set up on the outskirts of town. Nanafua had the Drive-In Theatre built as a way of driving in tourists. "Thanks for the tickets, Dad" said Steven. "Think nothing of it, Shtu-ball, I helped set up the sound system there, so I get free tickets for life, you two have fun" said Greg "oh! but not too much fun" Greg winked. "Daad!" Steven responded in embarrassment. Steven got the car started. "So, tonight's production is a horror movie" said Steven "I'm surprised they're letting me go tonight, they've been very overprotective lately." "Well, they know I'm with you" Connie suggested. "Still though, I wish they'd lighten up just a little, It's not like the littlest thing can make me go pink anymore" said Steven. "Well, it's only because they care about you" Connie said "and trust me, I know what you're going through, if my mom knew this was a drive in movie, she'd freak out." "Let me guess, it's probably for the same reason my dad told us to not have too much fun" said Steven. "Hit the nail right on the head, Steven" saids Connie with a laugh.

Steven then noticed something in his rear-view mirror. The Diamond Mech. "Steven, are you there?" asked the voice of White Diamond. "Oh you have got to be kidding me..." grumbled Steven "Uh, Hi White, what uh, what particular reason are you here for exactly." "Oh, we just wanted to see if you're okay, are feeling alright?" Blue asked. "Uh, I'm fine, thanks, me and Connie were just uh...going to the drive in movie..." said Steven. "Oh, that sounds like good fun, we shall join you!" said White. "Me and my big mouth" Steven grumbled. "Well, it's not like they can see what we're up to in your car" said Connie. "You got a point Connie" Steven realized. Not only were Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl being a bit overprotective of Steven during this period, but the Diamonds as well were desperately trying to make up for all the wrongdoing they had put Steven through before they learned the truth about who he was. Steven of course, was grateful for this, but he had found them too overbearing for his liking.

There was a big turnout for the opening night of the drive-in theatre. The Diamonds parked right behind the projector, even though they were unfamiliar with movie theatre etiquette, they did know their gargantuan size would be a hinderance to viewing the movie. Most people showed up in their cars, but some gems, who didn't own a car, simply sat in front of all the parking spaces, some people even offered some gems a seat in their cars, the gems who bought small enough ships parked in some of the parking spaces. "Uh, Steven, don't look now, but The Gems are here" Connie warned. Steven saw in the parking space next to them was Greg's Van. Pearl caught sight and waved at them, beside Pearl was Amethyst and behind them were Ruby and Sapphire. Greg had let them borrow the van for the movie. Ruby and Sapphire were unfused because they were on their date night, they found it difficult to date just as Garnet. "I thought there was a catch" Steven grumbled. "Hey, at least they're not in here with us, let's just forget about them and enjoy the movie" Connie suggested, giving Steven a kiss on the cheek. Steven and Connie could hear the gems in Greg's van going "awww" in response to that.

It was show time and Ronaldo had taken centre stage. Nanafua wanted to hire a manager and Ronaldo was one of the first people to apply, and pretty soon after the movie, Nanafua would come to regret that discussion, Ronaldo's position as manager, needless to say, was short lived.  "Welcome everyone to our opening night! Tonight's feature is: "The Delmarva Ax Slaughter" a movie so horrifying, it's been banned in every country on Earth" Ronaldo announced "Also, rumour has it that this film is based off a true story...enjoy!" Ronaldo exited the centre stage as the film began rolling. The movie started with an establishing shot of two human teenagers leaving a car and entering an abandoned human.

White Diamond was bewildered by what she was seeing "Who's that human? Who's that other human? Is that place their home?" She asked. "All good questions, White, how about we watch and we'll get the answers" said Yellow sarcastically. Back in Steven's car, Connie was leaning in close to Steven. "Alright Steven, get ready, any minute now, there's going to be a jump scare cat, I hear these movies always have at least one jumpscare cat to prepare everyone for the real scares" Connie warned. Steven and Connie leaned in forward in anticipation be quickly recoiled as the sound of a woman screaming played through the speakers. "Wh-where's the jumpscare cat!? There's supposed to be a jumpscare cat! You can't just have the killer cut someone's head clean off out of nowhere like that!" Connie exclaimed. "Clean off?! There was blood everywhere!" Steven said. 

Two hours later, the movie was at the final scene, a female police officer on screen was talking into her radio "Calling all units, calling all units, The Psycho disappeared, I repeat, The Psycho has disappeared, he's armed and dangerous, if you see him, do not approach, hid and call for backup! Huh? No...no...AAAAAAAAAAAH!" the audio played. Soon afterwards the credits started to play. Everyone took a few minutes to recuperate, afterwards they went after Ronaldo for choosing such a horrible movie. Steven and Connie left the car, feeling a bit exhausted. Pearl rushed out of the car to check up on them. "Steven, Connie, are you alright!?" Pearl asked. "Oh, yeah...that movie was pretty scary, huh? said Steven nervously. "Oh yeah, the movie...super scary, I think Steven should drive me home, what do you think Steven?" asked Connie. "Oh, yeah, totally, see you" said Steven. 

"That may have been the scariest movie I have ever seen" said Ruby. "And how would you know? You and Sapphire were making goo-goo eyes at each other through the whole movie" Amethyst scolded. "Hey, that's not true, we saw the credits" said Sapphire. "Some of the letters...were bleeding" Ruby shuttered. On the Diamond Ship there was a different story, Blue Diamond and White Diamond were laughing. "This is what humans find scary? What a riot!" laughed White. "I know, who would be afraid of a silly thing like that" Blue added. Yellow, however, was shaking in fear, the stunned look of horror upon her face,  this film was unlike anything she had seen before.

"Wait, hold up, Great Aunt Yellow was afraid of a movie?" Piers asked. "Well, sometimes, we don't choose what we're afraid of" Steven explained. "But why would she be afraid of a human serial killer?" Rose asked. "Fear and rational thought don't often mix" Garnet answered. "Thanks Garnet" said Steven "now, where was I? Oh yes!..."

White Diamond figured that some of the gems in the audience were disturbed by the movie and decided to comfort them. "But what about Spinel?" Yellow asked. "Oh, she's playing with Pink's original pearl, remember?" Blue reminded her. "Oh yes...I forgot" said Yellow dismissively. "Calm yourself Yellow, it was just a human movie, a work of fiction" Yellow thought to herself. Just then, she remembered what Ronaldo said "rumour has it, this film is based off a true story" those words began echoing in her head before the image of the film's Psycho cutting off her head with an ax flashed in her mind. "Oh no oh no! Why did White want to stay on this planet with a psycho on the loose!" Yellow thought to herself.

Blue placed her hand on Yellow's Shoulder to which Yellow screamed in horror. "Yellow? What's wrong!?" Blue asked. "Oh, I mean, aaaah! sorry, that movie was sooo boring, yep, boring, not afraid in the least!" Yellow lied. "Oh, I understand, only a fool would be afraid of the movie" Blue said. "Yep...that's not me alright" said Yellow, lying through her teeth. "Oh, how about we go for a walk?" Blue suggested. "I can't possibly think of anything better than going outside of the ship" said Yellow, trying to hide the complete and utter terror she was feeling. She was not at all comfortable with leaving the safety of the ship, and even less comfortable when they were leaving the well lit parking lot. They were about to enter a forest. "Here, Blue, after you?" said Yellow. "What?" Blue asked. "Oh, uh, nothing, I'd just like you to go in first" lied Yellow. Blue however, caught on to what was going on.

"You were afraid of the movie, weren't you Yellow" Blue said mischievously. "Yes! I admit! Just check to see if the forest is safe!" Yellow shouted. "What!? Are you crazy!? There might be a psycho lurking in there, I'm not going in alone!" Blue snapped back. "Ah ha! You're afraid of the movie too!" Yellow said, pointing at Blue. Blue began to tear up. "Yes! Yes I am! Oh Yellow, I'm sooorrry!" Blue cried as she hugged Yellow "I shouldn't have made fun of you for being afraid like I was!" Yellow hugged her back and they both started crying. "Unbelievable" they heard White's voice say. They look and saw White Diamond with a smug grin on her face. "You two, were afraid of a silly piece of fiction" White said, as her face transitioned from smile to frown "I thought I was the only one!" Yellow and Blue continued crying, opening up their hug to let White in. "I-I just didn't want to leave Earth because I was afraid the Psycho might sneak aboard, and I didn't want to be alone, that's why I went to those gems!" White explained. All three Diamonds continued crying "Why would humans make such a horrible movie, we're going to be killed by a psychotic human!" Blue wailed. "Wait...psychotic human..." Yellow said, stopping her crying "but...a human can't hurt us, can he?" "Yellow, you're right" White said.

Crying turned to laughter. "Wow, I can't believe we fell for that!" Blue said "The closest thing to a diamond that Psycho can harm would have to be..." "STEVEN!" The Diamonds shouted in unison. "Oh no, while we were cowering in fear, the psycho could have been going after Steven" White realized. "What if the psycho already got him!?" Blue worried. "That's what The Psycho wants us to think, Blue, we have to protect Steven, that Psycho doesn't know who he's up against!" Yellow declared. "Yellow's right, and I have a plan!" White added.

Later that night, the Diamonds hid behind the cliff behind Steven's house, waiting for The Psycho to come. They soon spotted a burly figure emerging from a vehicle...The Psycho! "Get him!" Yellow commanded. Blue quickly grabbed the figure. "We got you now!" White declared. "AAAH! What did I do!? What did I do!?" said the voice of Greg Universe. The Diamonds were suddenly confused. "Steven's father? You're not the psycho" said Yellow. "What!? You grab me out of nowhere and I'm the psycho!?" Greg exclaimed. "Well, you do have an unkempt appearance that most would associate with mental instability" Blue said. "What were you doing creeping into Steven's house?" White asked. "I was just going over to use the bathroom" Greg explained "or at least I was until you grabbed me." It didn't take long for Blue to realize what he meant by that. "Eugh!" she cried as she dropped Greg into the sand as she ran off towards the ocean "Gross! Grrrrooooosssss!" Blue Diamond desperately cleaned her hand in the ocean. 

"What the heck's going out there!? I'm trying to sleep!" Steven shouted from his balcony. The Diamonds then explained everything that happened to Steven. "Seriously? You thought the movie was real?" Steven questioned. "But that human on the stage said the film was based off of a true story" said Yellow. "You guys, that's just a marketing ploy used by studios to get people to watch the movie" Steven explained. "Well, I must say, I'm impressed, we were scared out of our minds by this movie, but you seem okay" White Diamond commended. "Actually...me and Connie didn't see the movie" said Steven "the first ten minutes were too much for us so, instead we did... something else" Steven said nervously. "Something else?" Blue asked. "Oh, uh, don't worry about it, we still had a great time" Steven said. The Diamonds, satisfied that there was no psycho after all, left for Homeworld, although Blue Diamond was still wondering what Steven could have possibly done with a human female in the back of the car. 

Three hours later it was nine in the morning, Steven decided to give Connie a call. "Hi, Connie, so, how did it go?" Steven asked. "Fine, the results were negative" said Connie. "Oh, good, so we're in the clear?" asked Steven. "We were...until my mom found the test" Connie admitted "she's on the phone with Pearl right now." "Did you say Pearl?" asked Steven, nervously. "STE-VEN!" he heard Pearl shout from downstairs. "Where's an ax murderer when you need one?" Steven grumbled.

"Dad, was that last part really necessary?" Piers asked in disgust. "Come on, lil' bro, I think it's cool to know that I could have been born much earlier" said Rose. "Oh please, if you were born when me and your mother were teenagers, your grandmother would have killed me" Steven said. "It's no exaggeration, either, my mom did not exactly have a high opinion of your father at the time" Connie added. 

Chapter Text

"Wow, I can't believe Great Aunts Blue and Yellow and Great Granny White were afraid of a movie" Rose laughed. "It was probably the size of the screen that did it" Connie guessed. "So, anyone else got a story?" Steven asked. "Well, me and my girlfriend got into some pretty sticky situations together" said Rose.

Situation 1: Rose and Selena were in class together. "Psst! Selena, you got any spare sticky notes? I used mine all up?" Rose asked. "Sure, but why do you need so many sticky notes?" Selena wondered. "Oh, I'm trying to make the world's first feature length flip book made out of sticky notes" explained Rose with her hand on top of a stack of sticky notes the size of her desk

Situation 2: "Oh jeez, Babe, could you help me? I think the door on my locker is stuck" Selena asked. "Well, I would but, my hands are kind of sticky from those jelly donuts in the cafeteria" Rose said.

Situation 3: Rose and Selena were relaxing in the park. "Hey, what's that in the ditch, is that a stick?" asked Rose. "Well it's stick-ey" Selena guessed.

"That wasn't a story" Piers criticized. "Well who asked you" said Rose sticking her tongue out. "Hey, how about your Grandpa tells you kids a story?" asked Greg. "Oh man, a story from my dad" said Steven "It's been way too long. You always told the best stories when I was a kid" Steven commented. "Yeah, on my birthday, he told me about the day I was born" Rose added. "Oh yeah, I remember that, you were so cute back then, what on Earth happened?" Connie teased. "Hey! I'm still cute!" Rose insisted. "Anyways, this isn't a long story, but I think you're going to find it hilarious" Greg said "so it started five months after your dad left beach city..."

Steven had been gone from Beach City for five months, things were as peaceful as can be. Greg had come home from a garage sale. "Hey check out what I got from Vidalia's Garage Sale" said Greg showing off a lawn gnome. "A lawn gnome? Greg, even I know how tacky those things are" Pearl criticized. "What? Come on, gnomes are kind of cute" Greg said, defending the lawn gnome, putting it on the table. "Actually, now that I get a close look at it, this gnome kind of looks like you" Pearl said, giggling. "What?" Greg reacted. Pearl was right, however, the gnome's face did in fact resembled Greg to a T. "It does not!" said Greg.

"Oh, don't get too close, I'm having trouble telling you apart" Pearl joked. "This is ridiculous, hey Garnet, do you think this lawn gnome looks like me?" asked Greg. "No" Garnet answered. "See?" said Greg with a smug sense of being right. "I think you look like that gnome" Garnet continued. The room filled with Pearl and Garnet's laughter. "You know what? We should call this one Gnome Greg, so that there's no confusion" Pearl suggested. "Ha. Ha. Very funny" Greg said sarcastically.

Later that night, Greg got up to make himself a midnight snack. He poured himself a glass of milk and made himself a peanut butter sandwich. He turned and noticed, on the table was Gnome Greg with a glass of milk beside him and a peanut butter sandwich in front of him. Greg was disturbed by seeing his porcelain constructed doppelgänger with the exact same food and beverage he had. Just then, Amethyst came by "Oh, there's my sandwich" said Amethyst. "Wh-what? You made that sandwich?" Greg stuttered. "You didn't think Gnome Greg came to life, poured a glass of milk and made himself a sandwich, did you?" Amethyst joked. "Did you say, "Gnome Greg"? Pearl put you up to this, didn't she?" Greg accused. "What can I say? Pearl's finally developing a sense of humour and I for one want to support her" Amethyst said modestly. "Two can play at that game..." Greg said, narrowing his eyes.

The next day, Greg came home holding something in his hands. "Hey guys, I got something else from the garage sale" Greg announced. He presented a porcelain sculpture of a woodpecker, that was light blue, dark blue, white, and orange on the head. "I call her, Woodpecker Pearl" Greg said. Amethyst and Garnet couldn't contain their laughter, Pearl however had a more annoyed expression on her face "Oh, we're not keeping that" Pearl said.

Everyone laughed at Greg's story. "Wow, I can't believe I missed that" said Steven. "Hey, you had yourself an exciting time in that band you joined" Greg shot back. "Wait, Dad was in a band!?" Rose exclaimed. "Yeah, Blade Palace, they were a pretty popular band, Steven sent me the debut album as a gift, I gave it to your brother" said Greg. "Wow, Piers, he gave that to you? What'd you think, son?" asked Steven. "It was good, like, wow, I couldn't just hear the music, I could feel it" said Piers "even the songs from after your band peaked were pretty decent."

"Hey, you guys wanna here a really funny story?" said Amethyst with a mischievous grin. Steven knew that when Amethyst grinned like that, it was nothing but trouble. "Is it an embarrassing story about me?" asked Steven in morbid curiosity. "Oh no, it's about how Pearl found out she got Sabina pregnant, trust me, her reaction was hilarious" Amethyst said.

Greg was working at the car wash, Amethyst was yawning out of boredom when she heard a knocking at the door. "Yo" said Amethyst answering the door "hey, you're that girl Pearl's dating." "Yeah...is she here, there's an important thing we need to talk about" Sabina said shyly. "What?" Amethyst asked. Sabina took out a pregnancy test that displayed positive results.

A few hours later, Pearl came back. "Pearl, I think your girlfriend might be cheating on you" Amethyst suggested. "What!? That's not like her at all! Do you have any proof?" asked Pearl. "Well, she had a positive pregnancy test, how's that for proof?" Amethyst said. "She's What!? I-I didn't think that could be possible..." Pearl stammered. "What do you mean, she probably met some guy and...wait...Pearl...did you form yourself a..." said Amethyst coming to a realization. "I-it's not what you think! It was just an experiment! I swear!" Pearl screamed defensively, running away.

Amethyst couldn't help laughing at her own story "I've never seen Pearl so flustered, but it was so satisfying". "Speaking of babies, how about I tell the story about how I babysat these two munchkins!" said Rose looking at her baby sisters

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful Saturday evening, Steven and Connie were planning on going out on a fancy night out with each other, but  they couldn't figure out who would watch the babies. "How about Amethyst?" asked Connie. "Nah, she has her own thing going on tonight, besides, I think she may have had an influence on Rose when we left her in charge of Rose" Steven said. "Ugh, yeah, I remember when Amethyst stubbed her toe in front of her..." Connie remembered "I can't believe her first words were the "F-word" right when my mom was holding her." "Don't remind me, your mom blamed me for that, I could still feel her glaring at me that day" Steven said.

"Hey, what'cha doin'?" Rose asked. "We're trying to figure out who will look after the babies while we're on our night out" said Connie. "Yeah, almost everyone's got their own thing tonight, we may have to cancel our reservation" Steven added. "I could do it" Rose offered. "Really? You sure about this?" Steven asked. "Of course, you two worked so hard to take care of me, Piers, Nora and Lisa, you two deserve a night out once in a while" said Rose. "Thanks Rose, that means a lot coming from you" Steven commented. "I guess we could, think you can handle them, Rose?" Connie asked. "Are you kidding? My little sisters love me!" Rose boasted. "She does have a point, she does get along well with them" said Steven.

"Alright, you've convinced me, so, the emergency phone numbers are over by the fridge, right now they're having their nap, if you need any advice, you know our numbers" Connie instructed. "Advice on how take care of my adorable little sisters? Like I'd need it, I got this in the bag" Rose assured her "I'm not like the seventeen year old me anymore, I am an adult now, babies are nothing I can't handle!" "Okay, well, just let us know if you need help" said Connie.

Rose went to check on the babies, to see how they were sleeping. "Awww...they're so cute!" Rose commented. Rose, happy knowing that the babies were safely asleep, went to watch TV. "Yeah, everything's going to be fine, It's not going to be like the last time I babysat" said Rose "these girls are nothing like that rotten little Onion Jr." Just then, however, she had dramatic flashbacks of that experience. "Why does my own mind hate me?" Rose groaned. 

Then, crying could be heard on the baby monitor. "Big Sister to the rescue!" Rose declared, running over to the nursery. By the crying babies was a schedule that her dad wrote up. Steven had been a very diligent father during his children's infantile years, he didn't just take care of them, he paid attention to them, their behaviours, when and why they cried, until he began to notice the patterns and wrote them all down, without Garnet's future vision, he had managed to accurately pinpoint when to feed, change and put the babies to sleep, and he always left the schedules he wrote up right next to the babies. "Oh, okay, so you two are hungry, no problem!" said Rose. Rose picked up both babies and put them on their high chairs. 

"Okay...so the baby food is...." Rose pondered, going over each cabinet "Ah! Here it is! Chocolate Frosting? That's a baby food flavour now?" "That's not it" said Garnet. "Oh, Auntie Garnet, where were you?" said Rose. "The Moon" said Garnet. "The Moon? Why?" said Rose. "Visiting the casino" said Garnet. "There's a casino on the moon?" asked Rose. "There's a whole resort there actually, they're not exactly equipped for human customers yet, they're waiting until commercial space flight is invented" Garnet explained. "You mean there's an entire resort made by gems on the moon?" Rose excitedly asked. "Well, not exactly made by gems...but that's another story for another time" said Garnet "but right now, I see you need help locating the baby food, you're looking in the wrong cupboard." 

Garnet opened the cupboard next to the one with the chocolate frosting and saw plenty of jars of baby food. "There, now you know where it is" said Garnet "I used to feed you when you were that age when your parents went out, so here's some advice, Nora and Lisa respond well to "Here comes the train", makes it much easier for them to open their mouths." "I got it! Garnet, let's fuse!" Rose suggested. Garnet of course responded with a quick "No." "But Auntie Garnet, you know so much about taking care of babies and well...you know I couldn't even handle a six year old, which should have been easier" Rose argued. "Onion Jr. wasn't a normal six year old" responded Garnet. "Come on, pleeeeease?" said Rose doing her "cute face".

"Oh, come on, Rose, that's not fair, you know I can't say no to that face" Garnet complained "Argh! Fine, fine! I'll do it! You know, you really shouldn't use your good looks to manipulate others, that's not very nice." Rose laughed innocently in response to that. Garnet and Rose then fused into Neo Sunstone. "Hellll~o cuties! Your half-sister Neo Sunstone is here to give you your num-nums!" said Neo Sunstone. Nora and Lisa looked at Neo Sunstone with a look of disturbance on their faces. Neo Sunstone reached into her pocket and took out a spoon that was shaped a train and took a spoonful out of the baby food jar. "Open wide, here comes the literal train!" Neo Sunstone said, putting the spoon near Nora's face. But instead both babies looked afraid of Neo Sunstone, they started crying. "Wh-what? Wh-why are you kids crying, it's me! I'm fun!" said Neo Sunstone. Panicking Neo Sunstone reached into her pocket and pulled out a clown with a red balloon "You'll float too!" said the clown. "Hey, I wanted the funny clown, not the creepy one" said Neo Sunstone. "Awww" said the creepy clown, legitimately. 

"What do I do?" said Neo Sunstone, stumbling to try to entertain the babies who continued crying. "What do I doooo? I've summoned an arsenal of things babies like, why is nothing working!?" Neo Sunstone moaned. "Maybe zee babies do not like Neo Sunstone" a voice said. "Huh? Who said that?" said Neo Sunstone, suddenly from her chest came an old man. "Aaaah! Pervert!" Neo Sunstone cried, punching the old man. "Mon dieu, I am not zee, how you say, pervert, I am your celebrity guardian angel, Sir Wilfred Laurier" The Old Man said. "Sir who?" Neo Sunstone asked. "Zee seventh Prim Minister of Zee Great North?" said Wilfred. Neo Sunstone gave him a blank stare, to which he sighed and said "I am zee guy on zee Great Northern five dollar bill." "Oh, Mr. Northy Fivey!" said Neo Sunstone. "...Yeah, whatever" said Wilfred. "You gotta help me, my Rose half's baby sisters, they started crying ever since I came" said Neo Sunstone "but I don't understand it, they were fine when it was just Rose here!"

"Maybe it's because zey want their sister and not their sister's fusion?" said Wilfred "after all, Rose said it herself, zee babies like her very much, do they not?" "You're saying it's not just food that they want, it's me?" Neo Sunstone realized. "Perhaps you should not use fusion as a means of taking care of your responsibilities" suggested Wilfred. "Hey, did my Garnet half make you?" Neo Sunstone asked suspiciously. "Perhaps, or perhaps I was made by zee subconscious of your Rose half, it's a matter of perspective" Wilfred commented. Neo Sunstone then decided to unfuse back into Garnet and Rose. "Hey, hey, I'm here, I'm here" said Rose in a comforting tone. The babies slowly stopped crying. Afterwards she fed them and burped them, and took a rest. 

"Auntie Garnet, did you know what would happen with Neo Sunstone?" Rose asked. "I did, I had a similar experience with your dad when he was a baby, he cried when I unfused into Ruby and Sapphire, I didn't understand why at the time" Garnet explained. "Hey, something smells" said Rose. "Aaaand that's my cue to leave" said Garnet leaving the house. 

Outside the House Piers was returning home and noticed Garnet leaving. "Trust me, you don't want to go in there" warned Garnet. "Ew, ew, eeew! AAAAAAUGH! It's on my shirt, It's on my shirrrrt!" they heard Rose say from inside of the house. "I believe you" said Piers. 

"Well you certainly did a good job of cleaning up before we got home, Rose" Steven commented. "Those babies are lucky they're cute" Rose grumbled. 

Unbeknownst to them, on the ceiling, little specks of light were rising up from the light bulbs and phasing through the ceiling like ghosts. 

Chapter Text

The power outage had effected Little Homeworld too...but the strange part was, Little Homeworld was on a completely different power grid, even the Starship Blackthrone was effected and it ran on its own independent power cell. Junior rushed back into the ship. "Hey, Cap'n Dad, I was looking around town, but I saw no damaged wires anywhere, I even checked the electrical plant, it seems that there is no power outage at all" Junior explained. "Then why are there no lights on?" said Bloodrose Steven. "I've tried to run diagnostics, but my scanner's display is not working, none of the lights on it are" Robyne added. "So if electrical systems are working, how come lighting systems and electronic displays aren't?" Junior asked.

"I don't know, but whatever this is, this storm isn't causing it" Bloodrose Steven concluded "alright team, we need to investigate this." "Should we contact your counterpart?" asked Plasm. "We may need all the help we can get on this mission" Bloodrose Steven answered. Tho'rax looked around at all the equipment and noticed little lights sparking up from the equipment hovering up and phasing through the instruments and machinery.

At Joshua's Warehouse Home, he was comforting his adopted daughter, who had never been near a thunderstorm before. "Why, why is the sky making that horrible noise!" she complained out of fear. "Hey, come on, it's normal weather" Joshua said "you know what, how about we play a game? This is somethin' Gem-ma told me. Every time you see a flash of lightening, start counting from one, the longer you can count  between the flash and the boom, the farther away the storm is. Trust me, I used to be afraid of thunderstorms too, kid." "O-okay, I'll try it" Margaret said. A flash of lightening flared in the sky and Margaret began counting and the boom of thunder roared when she reached 10. "See? That means the storm is going way soon" Joshua said in a comforting tone. Margaret felt a bit calmer after hearing that. 

Outside they heard the screech of tires outside the warehouse followed by knocking at the door. Joshua got up to see who it was, and he wasn't expecting his mother. "Ma? What's going on?" Joshua asked. "It's your Gem mother. Something's wrong, it's like she's sick or something!" Sabina said. "Say what, now!?" Joshua exclaimed. "No time to explain, she was just fine a second ago and she collapsed!" Sabina said. "Come on Margaret, put on your rain jacket!" Joshua said. They each got into Sabina's car and rode off back to her house. "Hey, ma, why ain't ya usin' no headlights?" asked Joshua. "I-I don't know, it's just for some reason they won't turn on" Sabina said "I was going to check but I had no time, Pearl was suffering, I hope she's okay!" 

They arrived at their house in Little Homeworld, all they could see was Pearl's gem. Joshua placed his hand on it. "It's still warm, she's fine or at least she will be" said Joshua "Uncle Steven told me 'bout feeling a gem when their poofed, if it's warm, it's okay." "Just what was happening, Ma?" Joshua asked. "Well, like I said, she was fine moments ago, but a while after the power went out, she started look ill...small specs of light started leaving her body" Sabina explained "not too long afterward she collapsed on the floor..." "I better check the other gems in the area, ma" said Joshua "I think this might be effecting other gems too, if that's the case we better get Uncle Steven to look at this, and quick."

At the Barraga residence, Darla came to her father "Daddy! Something's wrong with The Off-Colours!" "What?!" Lars exclaimed. Darla led her father to the Sun Incinerator. Lars couldn't believe what he was seeing. His little girl was right, the Off Colours were suffering, writhing on the ground, as specks of light left their bodies, going upwards above the ceiling like ghosts. "You guys! Are you alright!?" Lars asked in vain. "Th-there's something terrible that's going to happen" Padparadscha groaned 

"P-poof us! Make it stoop!" Rhodonite said. "pleeeaaase, do as she says" Fluorite added. "If it will make it stop" said Lars. "Daddy no! Don't hurt them!" Darla pleaded. She felt Fluorite's hand on her shoulder "It's going to be oookaaaayyyy, we are in pain right now, but poofing us might make the pain go away, please do not worry for us child" Fluorite said "your father will figure things out"

Chapter Text

"So, Here's a story you might find interesting" Garnet said "It was before Steven was born"

It was the early 1930s, Rose Quartz went out into town. She had noticed some commotion going on. A corrupted gem was reeking havoc all over the town, she did not hesitate to go into action. This corrupted gem didn't have much abilities aside from being very strong and dangerous, so Rose didn't need any help. The corrupted gem was throwing cars every which way it could, but Rose called to it's attention. It came at Rose Quartz full throttle but her shield blocked the corrupted gems attack, she pushed hard on the corrupted gem sending it flying backwards. 

The corrupted gem got back up on its feet, and tossed a nearby car aside, Rose noticed that there was a human inside it, Rose knew she had to stop it, she ran as fast as she could, activating her speed powers, and grabbing ahold of the car from the underside before it could land. "Thanks, lady, you saved my life!" The young man inside the car said. "No need to thank me yet, I just need to take care of this one problem" said Rose. Rose charged towards the corrupted gem and in a flurry of punches the corrupted gem poofed!

"Excuse me, miss, but that was amazing!" said the young man from the car. "You're very welcome" said Rose. "Hey, Miss, mind if I ask you a few questions?, My name is Joe, Joe Shuster, me and my friend Jerry are on a bit of a writing block and what I just saw has given me a few ideas" said the young man introducing himself

"Wait, hold up, I know that name" said Piers "are you telling me that grandma inspired superman?" "Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying" Garnet answered. "That is so cool!" Rose commented. "He was traveling, trying to find inspiration, and well, Rose Quartz had that effect on people" Garnet continued. "Hey, speaking of traveling, you never did tell us about what you saw when you were still travelling, Dad" Rose remembered. "Well, yeah, I think I can share a few stories about that" said Steven "Well I went past this town that had a huge creek that was popular with the local kids, they like, developed a sort of society in there, in fact, I made a few friends there, they were a bit younger than me, though, but I still follow them on social media, however, the most interesting story I could think of was when I ran into these people in a retro style van, they even had a weird hippie flower on it."

Steven was driving down the road and noticed a van with the words "Mystery Machine" written on the side, he noticed that the people surrounding it, presumably the owners of the vehicle, looked frustrated. "Hey, you guys need any help?" Steven asked. "Yeah, our tire just busted, do you have a spare on you?" Asked one of the people, a young blonde man with an ascot. "No, but I know how to fix it" said Steven. Steven got out of his car, licked his hand a bit and placed it on the the tire, the hole in the tire sealed itself up.

"Jinkies, how did you do that?" asked the bespectacled one. "Oh, healing powers, I'm part gem" said Steven. "Gem? As in, rocks?" The bespectacled one asked. "No, no, It's more like this..." Steven said. Steven then explained to the group, who's names he learned were, Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby. At first Velma was bewildered by what she had learned, as it questioned her scientific knowhow, but Steven served as actual physical evidence to his own explanation.

Afterwards, Fred, who appeared to be the leader of the group explained where they were going, Steven decided to go along with them. There was a newly opened amusement park that was having troubles with a strange Frankenstein-esque monster causing havoc in the Haunted House attraction. Steven had his shield ready during the investigation. That's when they encountered the creature, the gang usually ran away and thought of an elaborate trap that they would trick the monster into with a convoluted chase, but Steven used his powers to make short work of the monster, which turned out to be a man in a mask. 

It turned out that the man was a prospector who wanted all the gold beneath the land and used the monster as a way of scaring away business. 

"Thanks for the help, back there, Steven" said Fred "How about you come join us?" "I would but, I have my own thing going on right now, but thanks for the offer, do you have social media?" asked Steven. "What's social media?" The whole gang asked. But before Steven could explain, he was interrupted by the Park's Owner "Hey, Kid, who ya talkin' too?" he asked. "I'm talking to these...guys...." said Steven, noticing that there was nobody there. "Well, anyway, thanks again for stopping my uncle, you know, you remind me of this group of kids who saved this park back when my father owned it" said the Park's owner "they'd be at least in their seventies now...at least they would have if it weren't for that accident on the nearby highway all those years ago"

"You encountered actual ghosts!?" Rose exclaimed "lucky! All I encountered was a fake ghost last week." "You think I was lucky, I had to talk to my therapist on the phone for ten days straight after that" said Steven

Chapter Text

Steven got everyone marshmallows to roast over the fireplace for everyone. Everyone had decided to take a break from storytelling. "So, what are we going to do for dinner tonight if the power doesn't come back on, Dad?" asked Piers. "We've got plenty of canned food, I could heat up some beans over the fire" said Steven. "What the? Steven, I think the fire is dying" said Connie as she reached for a match. She lit the match, the head started blackening but no fire. "This is weird..." said Connie placing her finger near the match head but quickly recoiled. "Argh! It's like there's fire there but no flame!" said Connie. Suddenly two loud thuds hit the ground. Everyone saw that Garnet and Amethyst were writhing on the ground. 

"Garnet! Amethyst! What's wrong!?" Steven asked. Amethyst and Garnet's forms appeared to be destabilizing, going all static, sort of like how Amethyst's body was when her gem got cracked. "I-I don't know...n-n-not even my future vision is working properly...It's like something's draining from my body" said Garnet. "St-Steven...I think you should poof us...maybe that will help!" Amethyst suggested. Steven looked at both gems and saw that specks of light were leaving their bodies. "Hey, maybe the same thing is happening with the fire" said Rose "maybe instead of a power outage, something is effecting all lights." "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Rose might be onto something" Piers added.

"If this is the case, S-Steven, you've got to poof us!" said Amethyst. Steven hesitated for a moment but he knew that it was the right thing to do "Alright, I'll do it, but I won't like it" said a very reluctant Steven, stomping on both Garnet and Amethyst so they'd poof, he put the gems into his shirt pocket for safekeeping. Just then a knocking on the door was heard. Steven opened the door to see Bloodrose Steven, his alternate timeline counterpart, at the other end of the door. "Sorry to bother you, but something strange is happening, it's an emergency" said Bloodrose Steven. "Yeah, I think I just noticed it myself, Garnet and Amethyst were fine but then all of the sudden, their bodies started going haywire" answered Steven. "It's effecting gems too!? This is worse than I thought" Bloodrose Steven commented. 

"Do you know what's going on?" asked Connie. "I don't know the cause but what's happening is, all forms of light in the area are being drawn towards something, however since all things that emit light, including from electronic devices are being drained of said light, we cannot exactly pinpoint its location" Bloodrose Steven explained "right now, we're relying on Tho'rax's senses and Junior & Robyne are investigating the skies looking for what's causing all this." "Yo! Uncle Steven!" called Joshua's voice off in the distance. "Somethin's wrong with Gem-ma! She spontaneously poofed!" Joshua called out. "It got Pearl too!?" Steven exclaimed. "We have to investigate this, whatever is causing this, we cannot let it leave this area" said Bloodrose Steven. "Agreed" said Steven putting on his coat. 

Bloodrose Steven, explained to Joshua about what happened. "So, something's suckin up all da light in dis town?" Joshua reiterated. "Can't explain it myself, but yeah, that's the gist of it" Bloodrose Steven confirmed. "Say, where's that purple blob? What's he doing?" asked Steven. "He can't come outside, it's raining, his body is liquid itself so, as you can imagine, he's trying to be careful" Bloodrose Steven explained. "Hey, who's that?" asked Joshua, pointing to what appeared to be a large person in a black hazmat suit. "Who are you!?" asked Steven. "AAAAAUUUGH! Don't hurt me!" The person in the hazmat suit screamed. "Hey, you're that Bismuth who works with Don Ruby" said Steven.

"Y-yes, Dr. Bismuth, that's me! I maaaaay have something to do with what's going on" Dr. Bismuth admitted. "What!? You had something to do with this!?" Bloodrose Steven shouted. Dr. Bismuth screamed in horror, nearly fainting "I'm Sooooooorrrrry! It was an accident!" Dr. Bismuth pleaded. "I'll handle this, other me" said Steven "Dr. Bismuth, what is it that you wanted to tell us about what's going on?" Dr. Bismuth composed herself and explained what was going on. "Me and Peridot were working on a version of warp travel that humans could activate, we were working on a device that could emit pseudo worm-hole like objects that could cause instantaneous travel" Dr. Bismuth explained "but there was a minor miscalculation and we may have opened a door to another dimension...aaaand something crawled out and ate Peridot's body...her gem is fine, it's with me."

"So it's a creature of some sort? Can you tell us what it looks like?" asked Bloodrose Steven. "Well...it looked like a giant golden horseshoe crab mixed with a cockroach!" Dr. Bismuth said "it appears to feast on light." "On light, jeez, imagine what would happen if the sun would come out" Joshua commented. "Something bad, I think, it could be the end of organic life on earth if this thing eats the sunlight" said Bloodrose Steven. "Don't look now, but a few miles out in the ocean, I see a break in the clouds, and given the direction of the wind and clouds, it's coming this way" said Steven "we better track this thing down, and fast" 

"Captain!" "Cap'n Dad!" said the voices of Junior and Robyne. "We found it, It's on top of the cell-phone communication tower" said Robyne. "Well, let's get in the car...I know my headlights will probably go out, but we need to get there and fast" said Steven "that break in the clouds is approaching, and fast!"

Chapter Text

Steven made sure to drive carefully, as the current situation did not allow for his car's headlights to function properly, driving in a thunderstorm without headlights proved to be a difficult task. "So, where's the rest of your team?" asked Steven. "Knowing them, they're heading right where we're going" said Bloodrose Steven "if this thing Dr. Bismuth described does eat light particles, your shield probably will be useless, I hope you know how to fight without your powers." "Well, neither will your laser sword, besides my powers can work without the glowing" said Steven. "Well, I can fight without my laser sword, after all, I have Ol' Righty over here" said Bloodrose Steven, patting his robotic arm "this baby has a rocket fist, the flames from the thrusters won't glow but the basic principle of propulsion should work." "You have a rocket fist!? That is the most awesome thing I have ever heard" praised Steven.

"Ay, guys, in case we haven't forgotten, 'dere's a big monster we gotta smoke before it causes any more damage" Joshua scolded from the backseat. "He's right, I don't know what will happen if that break in the clouds reaches this area, but if this thing can eat sunlight too, there's going to be trouble!" Dr. Bismuth panicked. "She's right, we need to stay on topic" said Steven "Say, speaking of which, how come you're not effected by this at all, Dr. Bismuth?" "It's this suit I'm wearing, it keeps the light that constructs my body stable in case a ship's speed goes too fast, It can cause our bodies to be lung back out of the ship." Steven thought back to when he flew a ruby ship to the Human Zoo, when exactly the same situation happened when Steven accidentally made the ship go to fast. "I actually invented this thing for black hole research back when I worked for the Diamonds...but the research was halted when the test subjects never came back" Dr. Bismuth added.

"You put gems near a black hole!?" Joshua exclaimed. "A-at least they weren't ripped apart by the black hole, thanks to this suit they were merely spaghettified" Dr. Bismuth said with a nervous laugh before fainting out of panic. "Oookay, guys, I don't think she'll be much use in this fight" Joshua commented. Steven and Bloodrose Steven looked out the windshield and saw particles of light streaming towards a singular point. "We're getting close" said Steven. Bloodrose Steven noticed the big bright light, still disturbed by the events with the White Diamond of his timeline. Just then, from the sky, came a familiar avian face. "Robyne!" said Bloodrose Steven. "Here Captain, you might need this" said Robyne, handing Bloodrose Steven his helmet. Bloodrose Steven took his helmet and put it on. 

Everyone gathered to where the cell phone tower was. On top of it, as Dr. Bismuth described, was what could only be described as a cross between an insect and an arthropod. At its head was two parabolic antenna. "Let me try to communicate with it" saids Tho'rax "we are similar lifeforms, I have been able to communicate with earth insects, perhaps otherworldly ones may also follow suit." Tho'rax began dancing in the creatures eyesight. The Creature did not understand what he was doing. "Hmm...perhaps dancing is not how you communicate, maybe my antenna can communicate" Tho'rax said, flexing his antennae in the direction of the creature. The creature, instead, sent electrical blasts towards Tho'rax who was sent to the ground, convulsing. 

"Okay, we just need to knock this thing off of their" said Bloodrose Steven, aiming his robotic arm at the creature. The creature fired another beam of electricity at Bloodrose Steven's arm, who also fell to the ground, his skin all singed. "Other me! are you alright!?" said Steven, holding onto him. "F-forgot to put on...the...rubber...covering..." said Bloodrose Steven. Steven gave his other timeline counterpart a kiss on the forehead, causing the body heal. "Not a word of that to anyone" Steven warned. "My lips are sealed, no pun intended" Bloodrose Steven concurred. "What do we do about this thing, it appears we can't go anywhere near that thing without being zapped" said Robyne "and my weapon can't do anything, it just eats my projectiles." "Uh, guys, look!" said Joshua. Everyone turned and noticed the break in the clouds had made it to Beach City. The Creature too noticed it and hopped down from the tower. "Quick, don't let it get any sunlight!" Steven commanded.

Everyone tried to block the path of the creature, but instead the creature hopped over them and scampered towards the sunlight. Everyone feared for the worst, but instead the creature recoiled when its foot made contact with the direct sunlight. The creature leaped a few steps back and squealed at the sunlight. "It doesn't like sunlight? But this creature eats light...what's going on?" Joshua pondered. "No time for wondering about that, we now have a key to defeating it, we must get it back into the sunlight." Bloodrose Steven commanded. "B-but how, this thing has an answer for all of us!" Dr. Bismuth cried out in dismay.

"L-let me help..." said the struggling voice of Lapis Lazuli, who placed her hands upward towards the sky "Please work, please work" Lapis muttered, as her powers pulled the parting in the clouds towards the creature, the creature tried to scurry away, but Lapis, kept focusing, and managed to make sure the parting kept up with the creature. "Impossible! A second generation Lapis Lazuli shouldn't be able to do that!" Dr. Bismuth commented "Oh, forget it, hey, you! Lapis Lazuli, think you can use that parting in the clouds to lure that thing back to the lab?!" "I-I think I can" she called back.

And so, with Dr. Bismuth's guidance, Lapis Lazuli lured the creature with the parting in the clouds back to Dr. Bismuth's lab, and right into the portal where it came from. Afterwards, lights came back on all across town, all electronic equipment started displaying things again. "Wow, so that thing really was causing the power outages" said Steven. "But one thing doesn't make sense...how can it eat light but hate sunlight" Joshua commented. "It may be a bit premature, but I do have a hypothesis, you know how some plants are safe for humans to eat but others aren't? Perhaps that's why it couldn't handle the light from a star, it can eat other forms of light such as the ones produced by fire and electrical appliances and devices but the light radiated from a star is poisonous to it" Dr. Bismuth hypothesized. "But how can it be possible? the light from a star is like a fuel source to all lifeforms across the universe" asked Steven. "Well, are you, perhaps, familiar with multiverse theory?" asked Dr. Bismuth. "So, this thing came from a parallel universe, like me?" asked Bloodrose Steven. 

"You're not from a parallel universe, you're from a parallel timeline" Dr. Bismuth corrected "you, Metal Armed Steven, come from the exact same universe as we do, but with a different history, I'm talking completely different universes with completely different laws of physics from our own, capable of producing lifeforms that would be impossible in our reality, where time works differently, the possibilities defy comprehension." "Wow, that does sound interesting" Joshua commented. "But one thing's for sure, I am not messing with this machine again" said Dr. Bismuth. "You can say that again" a familiar voice added. "Peridot!" everyone happily cheered. "I regained physical form exactly after you put that thing back where it came from" Peridot explained.

"Oh, that reminds me, Lapis, what were you doing back there where that thing was?" asked Steven. "Well, I was practicing what that other Lapis who lives north of here taught me, when I started feeling ill, than I saw you guys fighting that thing and when I noticed how it reacted to the sunlight from the break in the clouds, I decided to see if I could help" Lapis explained. "Well I'm glad you did Lapis, you're a real hero" said Steven.

Chapter Text

On Homeworld, Pink Diamond's original pearl went to seek out the Cubic Carbon, the reclusive creator of the first gems, she made sure to avoid all the excavation teams Yellow Diamond had sent down into the chasms. She knocked on the dome where he was hiding in. "Hello Carbon, I'm afraid there's been more activity down here, as you may have noticed" said Pink Pearl. "There will be no need for apologies, they'll find me eventually" said Carbon "no doubt Yellow Diamond will be curious about her origins, I hope she can handle the truth." "You've seen how things have changed with your drones, The Diamonds have changed thanks to the start of era 3" Pink Pearl reassured him. 

Pink Pearl then noticed a device right next to Carbon. "Looking at this, are we?" said Carbon, picking up the device "My first invention, I made it to help my studies when I was a child." "What did it do?" Pink Pearl asked. "I think you mean, what can it do, this thing still works, when I make something, it's built to last" said Carbon "You put this device over your head and it records your thoughts or anything you might have learned, copies them and then stores them in case you ever forget them, it's like taking notes, but this machine playback the thoughts like they were fresh out of your mind." "What inspired it?" asked Pink Pearl. "Back when my species thrived on this planet, this city we're in was a meritocracy, and my parents, they were miners for the intellectual upper class, when I was a child I liked to tinker with machines, having noticed this my parents forced me to study hard so I could become a scientist" Carbon explained "during those years I grew colder and more distant to my parents, believing they only wanted me to be a scientist so that they could live off my success...but in my later years I learned the truth, once I did become a scientist, all my parents did was congratulate me and apologize for being hard on me, it turned out they were pushing for me to be a scientist, not for their own benefit, but so that I could live a better life then they did...oh how I miss them." Just then a beeping was heard on one of Carbon's monitors. "Drone Unit #652398765430 has been captured" a computerized voice announced. "Present video feed" Carbon commanded. On screen the video feed from Drone Unit #652398765430 was on display. On the footage, Carbon spied something familiar, the emblem of the Gembusters. Pink Pearl and Carbon gasped. "Initiate self destruct sequence" said Carbon. "Affirmative, beginning self destruct sequence" A computerized voice answered. "They've captured my drone, I can't risk them finding Homeworld's star co-ordinates, destroying it is the only way to insure they won't be able to access the data" Carbon proclaimed. "I'm surprised they haven't found Homeworld yet" said Pink Pearl. "To hide a planet, use the entire universe" answered Carbon.

While Steven was off with his counterpart and Joshua to see what was causing the power outage, Rose began telling her own story. "So, remember that Time Space Displacement thingy I accidentally hit Dad with that sent him back in time?" asked Rose. "Yeah, it also sent your grandmother back from after she met your father for the first time" said Connie. "Well, I did it again last week" said Rose "when you and Amethyst were visiting Pearl, except this time...I accidentally sent my brother back in time" admitted Rose. "Oh yes, I remember that, that device also sent a past version of Steven to this timeline" Connie added. A Time Space Displacement Grenade was a device an old time travel experiment from era 1, when someone is struck with it, they are sent to a random point in time and it has a secondary effect where a random individual the time traveller knows personally in a random time is sent to the original time, it can only be reversed if the time traveller is stuck again. 

"Hey, Garnet! You said you were supposed to get rid of this thing" said Connie. "Shoot, I knew I had forgotten something" Garnet cursed. "Don't worry, Auntie Garnet, I got it" Rose proclaimed, grabbing the device out of Connie's hand and tripping over, sending the device landing on Piers's head, and with a flash he was gone. "What's going on in here? I've got a mayoral election campaign to plan for" said Steven. "Uh, Dad, I did it again" said Rose. "You did what again?" asked Steven. "Remember when she accidentally sent you back in time and you met your mother?" asked Connie. "Oh my stars, no she didn't..." Steven grumbled.

"Guys, I'm home" said a young but familiar sounding voice "why does the house look so different, did you redecorate while I was at the Big Donut?" Steven and Connie glared at their oldest daughter. "Garnet? Amethyst? Did you change clothes?" Asked 14 Year Old Steven. "Actually, Steven, you are not in your own time...this is the future" said Garnet, not wanting to mince words. "The Future...?" said 14 Year Old Steven, turning to face his adult self and adult Connie. The younger Steven's eyes began to sparkle with a familiar wide eyed expression of amazement. "Oh my gosh! Me and Connie as adults! Hey, are you two married!?" 14 Year old Steven asked. "Guilty as charged" said Connie showing her wedding ring. "Alright!" said the younger Steven full of pep. "Oh my Gosh!" He cried in amazement. "Dad! Why didn't you tell me you were this awesome when you were a kid!?" said Rose. 

"A daughter? No way, and she looks like Stevonnie!? Awesome!" said 14 Year Old Steven. "No, You're awesome!" said Rose. "I keep trying to tell you, Steven, she takes more after you" Connie commented.

Meanwhile in another timeline a much younger Connie in a red dress and big hat sat in the back of Greg's Van with a much younger Greg. "So...He's not going to grow up?" she asked. "Well, It's hard to say, he's a gem and well gems don't really grow up" said Greg "I mean, I've known the gems since I was 22 and they never change they just are what they are, but Steven's not like the other gems, he's half human so I'm not really sure how he's going to change, We're just going to have to wait and see." Just then a huge flash appeared in front of them, and when it stopped, there was a boy who looked like an older version of Steven but with a darker skin tone lying on the ground. "Who are you? Are you alright!?" asked Greg. "I think so...why do I get the feeling my appearance may have saved someone from the most embarrassing moment of their life?" Piers asked.

"Well, thank goodness we got rid of that thing" said Piers "I think this family has had enough of this alternate timeline bull-" "Language!" Connie interrupted. "Err...I mean Boloney?" said Piers.

"Hi, I'm Sunstone, Steven and Garnet's fusion, now in the last chapter you may have noticed that Steven was driving without headlights, now that may be fine in the world of crappy fanfics but out there in the real world you should always make sure your headlights are working before you operate a vehicle of any kind if applicable, and stay indoors during a thunderstorm, but if you really have to go out during one, make sure your raincoat's made of rubber"

"And I'm Neo Sunstone, in the first major story, Yellow Diamond was lying about being afraid of the movie, it's not okay to tell a lie, ever, unless you're in a real bind and telling the truth will get you in trouble"

"Neo Sunstone, what are you doing here? Garnet is fused with Steven"

"I think you're forgetting, Dauntie Sunstone, I spit in the face of things making sense!"  

Chapter Text

On Homeworld, in Carbon's hideout, Pink Diamond's original Pearl was about to leave when she heard cries from outside. They sounded like moans. "What is that?" she asked. "It's alright, they're incapable of moving" Carbon assured her. "What is incapable of moving?" Pink Pearl asked. "The remnants of White Diamond's beta test" said Carbon taking out what appeared to be a disc like object "this video log will explain everything." Pink Pearl took the disc from Carbon and placed it in a device he gestured towards.

"Day one of the White Diamond Beta Test, for this test, the Council Of Elder's ordered the construction of a fully automated prison ran by the White Diamond prototype, personally I'm against the idea of a soulless machine running our city and so are the people who are working for me on this but what must be done must be done, I suppose. I really hate the idea that it has to be a prison though" 

"Day five of the White Diamond Beta Test, well, it's been five days and we have been approved to visit the prison and see how the beta test was being progressed, I still think they should have sent one of us to monitor the test, but no, the Council of Elders are too determined on White Diamond being the perfect leader for our people, if not the world. I was horrified when I went in there, what she did to the people in there, I knew that those prisoners were murderers, thieves and the like but surely they didn't deserve what the White Diamond Prototype did to them. Those smiles...they were unnerving. The frontal lobes of their brains were replaced with modified gem power cores of The White Diamond Prototype's own design, it called its actions, correcting the prisoners. The Council of Elder's were, of course, impressed, deeming that The White Diamond will help people, though I don't think it would be right to call those prisoners "people" not after what was done to them." 

The audio log stopped playing. "Because their "gems" are a part of their brains, their bodies still think they're alive despite being long decomposed, neither alive or dead, forever in a strange limbo" said Carbon. "So the people those things out there are dead, but their bodies aren't?" asked Pink Pearl. "I'm afraid so..., I wanted to remove the gems from their bodies so I can end their suffering, but I don't have the heart to do it" said Carbon "and I'm not just saying that because my heart was replaced long ago."

Pink Pearl left the hideout and saw the things Carbon had been talking about. They looked humanoid, but the flesh was decomposed beyond recognition, they looked like Skeletons almost. 

*27 years ago, Bloodrose Steven's timeline*

The Steven of this timeline was sent to the Human Zoo, he had been told he was to meet his new court there. "I think you will like what we have done, these new gems are just like you" said The Blue Diamond Of This Timeline.

"New gems just like me...?" asked The young Bloodrose Steven cautiously. "We finally found a way to get some use out of those humans in the zoo" Blue Diamond continued. That made Steven worried. She opened the door into the human captivity part of the Zoo. The Door behind him closed. He heard some rustling in the nearby synthetic bushes. "Um, hello?" Steven asked. Out of the synthetic shrubbery came the humans of the zoo, except their eyes were blackened, tears of blood streamed down their faces, and embedded in their foreheads were strange gem like objects. "My Diiiaaamooonnd" they moaned.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Blue Diamond. "What did you do to them!? You hurt them!" said Steven out of fear, but then he looked at Blue's eyes, and that gave him a worse fear than what he felt when he saw what had been done to the people in the zoo. She grabbed him in one hand "Is nothing ever good enough for you!? Is it!? I am trying to accommodate you in every way possible!" Blue snapped "Do you know how much I am sacrificing for your benefit!? Can you not show me a little gratitude, New Pink!?" She than slammed him against the ground. 

Bloodrose Steven woke up with a jolt, remembering he was in the car of his counterpart from the current timeline he was in. "Hey, other me, you alright?" asked Steven. "Yeah, just...a dream, that's all...." Bloodrose Steven said.