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Chapter Text

The Quartz Rangers were at their latest mission "Wait, team! I detect danger! Be on the lookout!" said Carnelian. "Do you think it could be a bad guy, leader?" asked Tiger's Eye. 

"It may very well be. Aventurine, do you see anything?" asked Carnelian. "Over there! In the bushes!" said Aventurine. Silence answered. The children watching them were confused. 

Carnelian took out a small device and nodded at Aventurine. "I said, Over there! In the bushes!" Aventurine continued as Carnelian pressed a button on the device and Jasper Screamed in pain in the bushes.

Jasper's scream sounded like a roar which scared the kid. Reluctantly, Jasper came out of the bushes, wearing an evil looking mask and said, in an uninterested tone, the lines they made her rehearse

"Ha. Ha. I have come to steal the birthday cake" "Are we gonna let this fiend steal the birthday cake!?" asked Carnelian. "No way!" The Rest Of The Quartz Rangers proclaimed.

Don Ruby had Jasper on rent for all other members of The Homeworld Underground, seeing as Jasper was now working for her for the next six thousand years, as per the deal Joshua made Don Ruby settle on. 

Right now it was The Quartz Ranger's turn with her. Since The Homeworld Underground no longer needed to be secret, and no longer necessary in Era 3, The Quartz Rangers, being a team of Hitgems, didn't have a lot to do. in their initial line of work. 

To give themselves something to do, and to make some spending money, they started a business performing these superhero skits for kids. They did performances for children's birthday parties, public events, etc. 

The Quartz Rangers played their theme song on a boom box as they proceeded to take on Jasper in a rehearsed and well choreographed fight (at least the choreography was good for The QR) 

All Jasper had to do was fall in defeat in a dramatic fashion, which she reluctantly did. The mark Don Ruby placed upon Jasper as a symbol of her service had small nanobots in it that would shock her if a button on a specialized device was pressed. 

After the fight was said and done, The Quartz Rangers handed these foam swords to the kids to hit Jasper with, adding to her humiliation. After the party was over, the parents paid the Quartz Rangers.

"Wow, that was a spectacular show you guys put on, you're better than the online reviews say" said The Mother. "Thank you, Ma'am, we like to put our all into our shows" said Carnelian. 

"The bad guy's acting could use some work though" said The Father. "Eh, she's an unpaid intern, you know how they are" said Carnelian. "Boy, do I" said The Father. 

Jasper was relieved this was over, she couldn't bare this humiliation, luckily, her time with The Quartz Rangers was almost up. "That was a good show, huh guys?" said Tiger's Eye. 

"Yeah! Good work, Team! Jasper's bad acting aside, those kids were well entertained!" said Carnelian "Oh! And Prasiolite, those backflips were a nice touch! They weren't in the script, but I can certainly edit them in!" 

Of course, The Quartz Rangers, now that their time with her was up, ditched her to go hit the town and hit on some floozies. "Thank goodness that's over, I haven't even done one full century of my 6000 terms of service and I'm already sick of it." 

Just then a small spaceship belonging to The Goodpebbles showed up in front of her. "It's our turn with you next!" said Scrappy. "Alright, what do you want?" asked Jasper.

"Let us ride on your head, you can do whatever you want while we're up there" said Lanky. "We just want to pretend to be big every now and again" said Softy.

"Well, I can tolerate that more than the other stuff I've done for the past few days" said Jasper "especially last Monday..."

*Last Monday*

Amethyst was throwing pies at Jasper. "Hey, wait a minute, you're not part of The Underground!" said Jasper. "I know, but the last few times we fought...I've been wanting revenge" said Amethyst.

"Fair enough" Jasper sighed "I did humiliate you."

Meanwhile, on Homeworld "Yellow! You lied to us! You said she was taken care of!" said White. "I...I'm sorry! I...I couldn't do it! She was one of us, even if she tried to shatter Pink" said Yellow. 

"Yellow, surely you knew the danger in rejuvenating her" said Blue. "But the way they explained it, I thought it'd be different" said Yellow. "Wait! You three! Wait!" Spinel interrupted. 

The Diamonds stopped and looked at Spinel. "Couldn't we save this until after we catch her? I mean, Red Diamond is on the loose on Earth, shouldn't we focus on catching her?" asked Spinel.

"Look at you, being the voice of reason, Spinel" said Steven. "Well, someone's got to" Spinel shrugged and then leaned into Steven and whispered "besides, I don't know if you've noticed, but, The Diamonds are...kinda stupid. I don't know how they managed to rule several planets."

Chapter Text

"Ted" found himself dazed and delirious, she had passed out several times, something was wrong with this body. "Hey, hey, are you alright?" asked A doctor with a goatee and sunglasses.

Dr. Buck Dewey MD had started his career as a doctor just recently, currently working at the hospital Dr. Maheswaran worked at. "Oh good, you're awake again. Mr. Macfarlane, I'm Dr. Dewey" said Buck.

"Wh-where am I...?" asked "Ted" "You're in the hospital, you were stabbed in the abdominal region. Luckily the knife didn't pierce anything important...but the paramedics have said you've been displaying other symptoms.

"What's going on here? What's wrong with this body? Why is it smelling so bad lately?" Red thought to herself as Buck looked at the chart. "This...this is impossible" said Buck. "What is?" asked "Ted".

"These symptoms...they're...this couldn't be right, someone with displaying your symptoms is normally six days dead!" said Buck.

"Only six days? It's been longer than that, could my gem have preserved this body and delayed its decay?" Red thought to herself.

"I may have only been a doctor for a short time but...this is something new, I may have to call in a specialist or..." Buck stammered when suddenly "Ted" passed out again...but this time it looked like something came sliding out of his shirt and onto the floor.

A bright red gemstone. The gem then glowed and Red Diamond fully formed. "Aw, That body was past its best before date" Red moped "now you know my dirty little secret." 

"You're a...a gem!? And you've been wearing a dead man's body?" Buck yelped "wh-what the fuck!?" "Now what to do...what to do with you?" said Red. At a glance, Red then noticed a picture frame next to Buck.

A Picture of him and his bandmates when they were part of Sadie Killer And The Suspects. Next to him and his wife and husband was Steven. She recognized Steven from his announcement to Homeworld back on The Wandering Eye ship from the days where her gem thought she was a ruby.

Red lunged towards the framed photo and looked at it, particularly the part of it with Steven. Buck decided to take advantage of his would be assailant, he had a clear path to the emergency alarm button with was right next to the door. 

Buck shimmied against the wall towards the emergency alarm button when Red's hand slammed against the wall a few inches away from his face, tightening her grip on it making finger marks on the wall.

"And where might you be going?" she asked, still focused on the picture. She then slowly turned her head to face him "This man, Steven Universe, do you know him?" 

"N-no! He...that's just some dude who photobombed us in the picture!" said Buck. Red Diamond leaned in close to Buck and licked his face, slowly, her tongue slithering all over his face "I taste a liar..."

"I'm not, I swear! I don't know him!" Buck continued to lie, even with his own life at risk. He would never sell out a friend, not even if he had no other choice. 

"If you don't tell me...well, I guess I'll need a new disguise, won't I?" said Red. But Buck remained stoic, even under pressure. "But then again, I suppose I gathered enough gem data...I mean, I'm nowhere near as powerful as I was before my gem was hacked, but I can stop time once again." 

"Stop...time?" asked Buck. "Oh, yeah, you see...originally I could just teleport, but that has limitations, required too much focus and even then I can only teleport within a certain radius" said Red Diamond "but that's when I discovered I can absorb the data of other gems, all I had to do was shatter them, crack them open like a walnut and let the sweet, sweet data be absorbed by my own superior gem." 

"Then it's you...you're the reason behind all those gem disappearances at Nexdor!" said Buck as he placed his hand on his breast pocket, which contained a direct signal beacon to The Sun Incinerator which Lars gave him in case he saw Fluorite back when they didn't know she was shattered. 

"Yes, yes I am...but now that you know that...I can't draw attention to myself, now can I?" Red Diamond summoned her scimitar like blade from her gem, still close to his face. Buck made a split decision and jabbed her in the eye. 

As Red staggered backwards, Buck hit the emergency alarm button and announced over the intercom "Security! We got a code silver! Code silver!" he said rapidly. Buck suddenly choked as he felt something sharp go right through him.

"I'm gonna make you suffer for that!" said Red. Suddenly, crashing through the window came Red's Pearl. "My Diamond! My Diamond! There you are! I was worried! Worried! Worried!" said Red Pearl.

"Awww, aren't you sweet, my ever loyal pearl?" Red Diamond replied "and your timing couldn't be anymore perfect! I need you to rip this man apart with your bare hands...I have to deal with some unwanted pests!"

Buck, still suffering from his stab wounds looked up and saw Red Pearl, gazing at him with a malicious grin on her face. Red Diamond simply left the hospital room and saw that the security team was already there. 

"Stop right there!" said The Security Team, all armed with tasers "put your weapon down, now!" Suddenly, Red disappeared and was behind them. The security guards didn't notice she was behind them, however.

"Boo!" Red Diamond said loudly, startling the guards. They tried to tase her, but she was unaffected by the tasers. "You think a little zap's gonna stop me!?" Red giggled maliciously. 

"Ma'am! Don't do anything reckless, the police are on their way, and all of them are armed" The oldest guard warned "you're just gonna make things harder on yourself!" "Oh boy, more humans to play with!" said Red Diamond. 

Back on Homeworld, The Diamonds agreed with Spinel, now was not the time to sit there and argue while Red was running amok on Earth. "Alright, to our ships then" White ordered "We are bound for Earth!" 

"Wait!" said Steven. "Yes, what is it, Steven?" asked Blue. "You guys would draw too much attention due to your...stature" said Steven "no doubt you'll make the news if you come to investigate." 

"You're right...if Red knows that we're on Earth, she'll probably get desperate...and take on more drastic measures, she needs to be, not captured, but broken before she can harm anyone else...like I should have done all those years ago" said Yellow.

"And what's where we come in" said The Voice of Yellow Pearl. "Our pearls!" said Blue as she noticed, Blue, Yellow and Pink Pearl. "We've decided to volunteer to come to Earth in your stead" said Blue Pearl. 

"You will? But you have no combat experience?" said Yellow. "They'll have us to back them up" said Bismuth. "Us, The Crystal Gems, not once did we ever shatter...but this time, we're gonna make an exception" said Garnet.

"I don't like the thought of it...but if this is what we gotta do...I guess we'll have to" said Amethyst. "I know, Amethyst, it would be hard for me too..." said Pearl "I don't know how we can recover from this once we do it..but we'll do it together." 

Outside The Hospital, The Sun Incinerator landed in The Parking Lot. "Buck's beacon came from here..." said Lars "now that we know the situation, be prepared for anything."

"Um, is it okay if I stay here? I don't know if I can face the killer again..." said Fluorite's component peridot. "It's okay, you don't have to come with us" "you can stay here" said The Rutiles. 

"That's right, besides, you can be our getaway pilot in case things get too hairy in there" said Lars. "Okay...yeah, I can do that" said Fluorite's component peridot. 

Chapter Text

Lars, Rhodonite, Rutile and Padparadscha slowly entered the hospital...police cars were parked outside...all of them empty. The Hospital was dark...except for the daylight shining through the windows. 

"She must have cut the power..." said Lars "first thing we gotta do is find a circuit breaker. I don't know anything about human medicine, but I do know there are people here on life support. We should restore power here first."

"It will be pointless. Red Diamond has already killed everyone in here, save for us" said Padparadscha. "How do you know that?" asked Rhodonite.

"I can predict things that have already happened, remember? And with my memories restored, I can see things that have happened without me being there" said Padparadscha "stick close to me, Red Diamond has the power to stop time."

"Yeah, I think I can remember you telling us that. That's why The Underground made you with your laggy future vision" said Lars.

"Yes, an ordinary sapphire would be useless, the stopping of time would cause a lapse in their future vision, but not me...the lag in my predictions can fill in the gaps" said Padparadscha.

Lars turned on a flashlight while the Off Colours lit up their gems and scanned their surroundings using the beams of light. "Oh god...she really did kill everyone here before we arrived" said Lars. 

There were bloodstains and various body parts scattered around. "We're gonna stop her! We must! She can't continue on doing stuff like this!" said Rhodonite. 

"Wow! Rhodonite's brave all of the sudden!" "She's got newfound courage!" said Rutile. "That's right, after what she did to Fluorite, I owe it to her to be brave! Her one surviving component would want me to!" said Rhodonite.

"Oh, feeling brave now, are we?" asked an ominous feminine voice. Rhodonite jolted and turned around but there was nobody there. "She's still here..." said Rhodonite.

"Yes, I am..." said Red's voice behind Lars this time. Lars turned around and saw her, and then swiftly punched her...but it turned out to be a mirror with her reflection in it.

"She's playing games with us!" said Padparadscha "That means she sees us as worthy opponents!" "Oh! I remember you! You're that annoying faulty-by design sapphire that led to my initial downfall!" said Red in a furious tone.

Suddenly, mirrors with Red's reflections all over them. "Well, you're right, I do like to play with prey I deem worthy, those humans were not entertaining enough...especially the unhealthy, the juveniles and the infants" said Red Diamond. 

"There's not just mirror's all around us!" "Several are down the hall, she must have set them up so that she can project her reflection from far away!" said Rutile. 

"Let's play a game! Hide and seek! Come and find me!" said Red Diamond. They heard a metallic sound above them "Oh! And there's my pearl crawling through the vents! Be careful not to be near any vent openings!" 

It was after school for Joshua and Friends. They were decided to go see a movie after school. They were going to see the new movie, Ron Dick: Volume 4. They were hoping Jacob was working the box office today.

Jacob was once putting up letters on the marquee of the theatre but the ladder was on uneven pavement and he fell. Joshua managed to save him using his blank.

Ever since that day, Jacob, out of gratitude, let the kids purchase tickets to any movie they wanted to see, even the ones they were too young to watch. To their bad luck, however, Jacob was not working the box office. 

"Aw man...and the movie's rated R. I guess we'll have to wait for another day" said Kyle. "Oh...Hey Joshua..." said an awkward raspy sounding voice. It was Jasper. "Jasper? What are you doing here?" asked Joshua. 

"Jasper? Is that the gem you were telling us about?" asked Joshua's other friend Penny. "Hey, she might just be our ticket in..." said Joshua. "Huh?" asked Jasper.

"Well, you see, there's this movie we want to see, but we're too young to see it...but seeing as how you're an adult, technically, they might let us see it if you accompany us" said Joshua.

"Eh, I'm on break, sure. Besides, couldn't be worse than what I've been going through today..." Jasper grumbled. 

Lars was firing his blaster every which way, destroying mirror after mirror. Padparadscha was on the lookout when Red Diamond appeared right in front of her, but Padparadscha jabbed her in the eye in response.

"Argh! You little-!" Red growled. "Listen, everyone! She cannot break anything in frozen time, she's not that strong yet!" Padparadscha warned. "Got it! Thanks, Padparadsch-aaaaaaaargh!" Lars yelped as he felt a slash in his back. 

"Captain Lars!" Rhodonite cried out. What Rhodonite didn't know was that she was right next to a vent which Red Pearl leaped out of, catching the gem of Rhodonite's component Pearl, chomping down on it enough to crack it!

"Peaaaarrrrrl!" An unfused Ruby cried out in vain. "S-s-s-s-save....yourself!" The Unfused Pearl cried out as Red's foot stomped right through her body, crushing her gem!

Chapter Text

Lars and the Off Colours were in horror when Red stomped right through Rhodonite's component Pearl's body and crushing the gem beneath. "Ruby and Padparadscha! Retreat!" "Tell Steven!" said Rutile. 

"I won't let you! Pearl, chase!" Red ordered. Lars kicked Red's Pearl as it went by him. "HEY!" Red shouted as she suddenly appeared in front of him "Nobody hurts my pearl except for me!" 

While Red was distracted, Rhodonite's Ruby grabbed the shards of her fusion companion and ran off with Padparadscha "No you don't!" said Red as she suddenly appeared in front of them. 

Padparadscha was already prepared as she broke out a special weapon Lars assigned everyone called a dazzler, it was a small device that emitted a high powered strobe light with a very intense brightness!

Red Diamond recoiled as Padparadscha and Rhodonite's Ruby slid in between her legs. "Now, Rutile!" Lars ordered as he and Rutile dogpiled on Red Diamond, in order to give those two more time to escape. 

When used on a gem, the dazzler will leave the gem temporarily stunned twenty seconds. Which gave them plenty of time to get onto the ship just outside. As Red regained consciousness, the ship was already airborne and flying away.

Lars and Rutile suddenly hit the floor and noticed Red was already outside, gazing at the ship. Even with her ability to stop time, she couldn't catch the ship once it was airborne. 

She turned to Lars and Rutile in fury "Pearl...go off in that ship's direction..." she growled. "Yes! My Diamond! Yes! Yes! Yes! Off I go! Watch me go!" Red Pearl said, scampering off on all fours.

"As for you...you made me very, very, angry...that ruby ran off with what was supposed to be my snack!!!" Red grumbled. "Is that how you few other gems? Snacks?" "Despicable!" said Rutile.

Suddenly, she saw a blade pointed at her gem, held by Red Diamond's hand. Before she could react, she punctured it! "Shut up...! I'm done playing games" Red grumbled. 

"Rutile! No!" Lars reached out. "Lesser gems speaking up to a diamond like that? Can you believe it? It's a diamond's right to treat lesser gems however they see fit. And yet the other diamonds would punish me for how I do it. Hypocrites, if you ask me." said Red. 

"Well, now it's too late! The Sun Incinerator's fast! Padparadscha, Rhodonite's Ruby, and Fluorite's Emerald are gonna tell Steven, when he and The Crystal Gems hear of this, it'll all be over for you!" said Lars. 

"Steven? As in, Steven Universe, son of Pink Diamond?" said Red with a sudden grin. "That's right! He's not gonna sit idly by as you murder innocent gems! He'll be coming right for you!" said Lars.

"Oh, you silly human...that's exactly what I want!" said Red. Suddenly, Lars found himself against the wall, Red was in front of him, jabbing a knife into the palm of his hand as he screamed in pain. 

"I've coveted the power of Pink Diamond for such a long time, her power has potential. Potential she was too stupid to realize! If I had it, I could have overthrown White, then I'd have been free to openly express myself! You see? I want him to come, so I can rip his gem out and break it open like a coconut and inhale that sweet, sweet power I've been wanting for so long!" said Red. 

"If you're gonna kill me, too bad, I'm reanimated, practically invulnerable" said Lars. "Oh, I figured something was different about you" said Red "but I'm not gonna kill you...after all, you're gonna be the only one in this hospital...the only suspect!" Red laughed psychotically as she left. 

Rebecca was in her room with Alex. "I can't believe it! Our first group project as a couple!" said Rebecca. "Heh, don't you mean lab partners?" Alex joked. "Hey, we're now partners in more than one sense of the word" said Rebecca. 

"You're right about that...oh!" said Alex as he went over to open the door and opened it six inches. "Why did you do that?" asked Rebecca.

"Oh, just something I remembered from a talk I had with your dad when you bought me over" said Alex. "Oh god, what did he say?" Rebecca said in embarrassment.

"Nothing bad. Your Dad's actually pretty chill" said Alex.

*A week ago* 

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything" said Steven "it's just that, well, I guess I knew at some point Rebecca would start dating, It's just, well, I wasn't ready for when it happened, it's nothing against you, I think it's more, well, me. I just, I just want to make sure Rebecca's okay, you know."

"Yeah, I get it, My Dad's kinda the same" said Alex. "Good. Glad you understand. You know, you've grown into a fine young man, Alex" said Steven. "Thanks. It wasn't easy, though" said Alex.

"Yeah, I heard the story from Rebecca" said Steven. "I never meant to hurt Rebecca like that, you know...I just..." "No need to explain, just promise me you won't hurt her like that again" said Steven.

"Don't worry about that. Rebecca means a lot to me too...I regret hurting her like that in the first place" said Alex. Steven nodded "Glad we're on the same page. And one more thing, if the two of you are going to hang out in Rebecca's room, leave the door open six inches, okay?"

They then heard a knocking on the door "Oh! Hey, you're with Alex" said Steven "what's with those textbooks? You doing homework?" "Actually, we're working on a group project for science class" said Rebecca.

"Well, don't let one person do all the work while the other slacks off, alright?" said Steven. "Dad, we're not in a crappy high school sitcom" said Rebecca. 

"Hey, where's Joshua?" asked Connie "oh! A message! He's at the movies with friends. Hey, should we tell the kids about what's happening?" "Let's wait until they're both home, I think this is a family meeting sort of subject" said Steven.

Two hours later, after the movie and Joshua said goodbye to his friends, Joshua looked at his phone and noticed a message from his Dad saying to call him when the movie's over.

"Wow, I was not expecting this "movie" thing to be this exciting" said Jasper "all that action, the suspense, reminded me of my glory days. Are all movies like that?" 

"Not all of them, but I'll let you know when one like that comes out, we can see it whenever you're on break" said Joshua. "Th-thanks" said Jasper, blushing. "Now, I've got to call my Dad, he wants me to call him" said Joshua.

Steven answered the phone "Joshua, hey, the movie over yet?" "Yeah, just finished...I'm with Jasper, actually" said Joshua. "J-Jasper!? You're with...no, no, it's fine" said Steven. "Huh?" said Joshua.

"Look, there's something we gotta tell you and your sister, something important" said Steven "just...stick with Jasper until you get home, alright? I love you, son." 

Chapter Text

Steven and The Gems jolted when they noticed the Sun Incinerator land on their beach. "It's Lars!" said Connie "he could help us!" Steven, Connie, Rebecca, Alex and The Gems all ran out to greet the Off Colours.

"The Captain Lars who outwitted the most capable and intelligent emerald serving in Yellow Diamond's Court! I can't believe I get to meet him!" said Yellow Pearl.

"A human who outwitted a Homeworld general with a complete citrine squadron" said Blue Pearl "this is exciting!" The door to the ship opened, out came Padparadscha...a ruby...and a peridot...but where were the others?

"Where's Lars?" asked Steven "where's The Rutile Twins?" The Ruby and The Peridot looked at each other sadly. "Wait, this ruby...it must be part of Rhodonite!" said Garnet "but, you've never been separated..."

Rhodonite's component ruby opened her hands, revealing the shards of Rhodonite's Component Pearl. Everyone gasped at the sight.

"Oh gosh, I am so sorry" said Garnet. "She can be bought back" said Padparadscha "you managed to retrieve her shards before Red Diamond could consume the data. All we need is the essence of all four diamonds"

"You mean...we can fix her!?" asked Rhodonite's Ruby. "That's wonderful!" said Fluorite's Peridot. "Alright, I'm gonna fill up the bathtub and get ready!" said Steven. Everyone watched as Steven got everything ready.

"Alright, give me the shards" said Steven, Rhodonite's ruby gave Steven the shards, which he assembled together. "I'm glad you could at least have your fusion-mate restored" said Fluorite's Peridot. 

"I'm so sorry" said Rhodonite's Ruby. "Don't be. We're gonna bring that Red Diamond to justice! That includes Rhodonite!" said Fluorite's Peridot. Steven put down Rhodonite's Pearl's shards into the bathtub.

"Hang on to your butts" said Steven as he licked his finger and stuck it in the water. The water glowed and out came Rhodonite's Pearl, fully formed. "Peeeaaarrll!" "Ruby!" The two gems cried as they reunited into Rhodonite, who was in tears.

"Hey, Rebecca, not to sound rude but, what's happening?" asked Alex. "You know all the gem disappearances in Nexdor?" asked Rebecca. "Yeah?" "Well, My Dad and the gems figured out the culprit, I think" said Rebecca.

"And she was one their victims? Harsh..." said Alex. "Which is why we want to have a word with you kids when your brother gets back" said Connie. 

Don Ruby was relaxing at her desk when The Goodpebbles Ship pulled in, hovering next to her head "My Goodpebbles, what news have you come to share with me?" asked Don Ruby. 

"Well...take a look at these" said Scrappy as holographic photographs popped up of Red Diamond leaving A Hospital. "So, she is back after all, huh?" said Don Ruby "Yellow Diamond should have let us shatter her long ago..."

"What're you gonna do, boss?" asked Softy. "Red was My Diamond...I'm gonna take her out myself" said Don Ruby as she took out a small watch like device with small needles pointing inward where the wrist would go.

"The Overdrive Gear!? Boss! Don't you remember what it did to you last time!? If you use that in a fight against a diamond...it'll kill you!!!" said one of Don Ruby's Topaz Guards.

"To be face to face with Red Diamond is to be face to face with death itself...nobody should fight Red Diamond if they ain't prepared to die" said Don Ruby "I probably won't make it back, if I don't...tell the gang...all debts are officially cancelled."

Joshua and Jasper took a shortcut back to Beach City through the woods. "Thanks again for today" said Jasper. "No prob" said Joshua "I hope you don't mind coming home with me...I don't know why Dad suddenly changed his mind about me being around you, though." 

"Well, whatever it is, I'm glad. Because I feel something in you I don't feel for anyone else, pride. You're my first and only protege and, I'm glad it's you" said Jasper. Suddenly, they heard a rustling behind them.

"What was that?" asked Joshua. "Probably a stupid rabbit or something" said Jasper. "If you go out in the woods today, you're sure for a big surprise..." an ominous voice sang in the distance. 

"Who's there!? Show yourself!" Jasper called out. Giggling could be heard next to them as they saw someone skipping off in the distance "Over here!" Jasper turned to face the voice "No, I'm over here!" 

Jasper turned around again, and again, and again, laughter and the silhouette of someone skipping through the forest surrounded them. "Uh...Jasper?" said Joshua, pointing at the clearing ahead, as a red gem emerged from the trees. 

"Who are you supposed to be?" asked Jasper. "Oh, nobody special...just a rejected diamond with no court or nothing..." said Red Diamond as she leaned seductively against the wall. 

Jasper found herself blushing, feeling a passion she never felt before. "Jasper! No! That's Red Diamond! I've heard of her! She's dangerous!" Joshua put his hand on Jasper's arm and suddenly the lustful feelings Jasper felt were gone.

"Interesting..." Red Diamond was suddenly behind Joshua "this human seems to have some sort of power that can override my charms..." "Hey! Leave him alone!" said Jasper as she was about to punch her when she and Joshua suddenly disappeared. 

"Oh? Jasper, the Perfect Quartz of Earth would protect a human!? That is sooooo unlike her!" said Red Diamond "Why, why would such a ruthless, loyal to Homeworld, gem do that?" 

"Never you mind why!" said Jasper "just let him go or else! I don't care who you are!" "Oh...I think I know...you like this human, don't you?" asked Red Diamond. Jasper was suddenly silent. 

Red suddenly began laughing "I...I don't believe it! You fell for a human!? Hilarious! Have you not noticed how young this one is? Not even an a young adult yet!" Red mocked. 

"No...that's...not true" said Jasper. "Oh? Then you won't mind me doing this?" said Red as she pulled in Joshua close to her lips and kissed him. Jasper was suddenly filled with blind rage. 

As for Joshua, she could feel Red's tongue slither down his throat, like a serpent, and suddenly expanding, blocking his windpipe! She wasn't kissing him but strangling him from the inside! A literal kiss of death!" 

Jasper punched Red, with enough force to pull her away from Joshua, allowing him to gasp for air! Jasper was punching Red Diamond in the face from left to right "Lousy! No good! Dirty rotten-!" Jasper grumbled.

When suddenly, Red Diamond was no longer beneath Jasper, but was hunched over, facing her at eye level, with her hand on Jasper's gem "Got your nose!" and with a pinch, Jasper's gem crumbled!

"JASPER!" Joshua cried out in vain. "Now...what do I do with you?" asked Red as she looked at Joshua with a deranged look on her face as Jasper's data was being absorbed by Red. 

"I-I'll kill you!" Joshua roared as he summoned Thorn from within himself "MUDA!" one strong punch sent Red sliding right through several trees in a row "Oooh! A human that produces a blank...you must be Steven Universe's kid!" 

"Yeah, so what if I am!?" said Joshua "Jasper was my friend! You're gonna pay for what you did to her!" "Warning: Be prepared to get your ass kicked!" said Thorn. 

Joshua and Thorn charged right at Red, with Thorn's fist already in a preemptive flurry "Muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda!" They got a few hits in before Joshua felt a sudden sting at his back, like something was scraping him!

"Sorry, little boy, but your "muda muda muda"..." Joshua suddenly felt a blade scraping him all over his back, plus a few painful jabs "...is useless! Useless! USELESSS!" Joshua was screaming in pure agony!

Joshua kept trying to get away, but Red kept torturing him with his blade "HEY! You! Leave the kid alone!" said the voice of a ruby. Red looked over and saw Don Ruby.

"I remember you..." said Red "you were...the ruby that escaped!" "Heh, got me figured out, did ya?" said Don Ruby. "No longer hiding? Where did you get that sudden bravery from? Not afraid of me anymore?" asked Red.

"Oh, I still am. I am, as the humans call it "scared shitless" of you. But I'm not running away from you anymore" said Don Ruby "you gotta be stopped. This time, Ol' Yellow's not gonna bail you out!"

"You don't have that Padparadscha with you! You can't do anything!" said Red Diamond "I'll massacre you!" "I'll be gone before you can even get the satisfaction" said Don Ruby as she twisted the device embedded in her wrist.

Don Ruby suddenly expanded in size "OVERDRIIIIIIVE!" Don Ruby cried out as her transformation completed "Behold! The Overdrive State! A Gem at its pinnacle! Come on, leave the kid alone, you want me more! Your pride wouldn't allow anyone to escape your grasp!"

Red Diamond stood up furiously "You were such a good member of my court...you knew me so well!" "You're damn right!" said Don Ruby. Joshua was feeling faint, losing so much blood.

Suddenly, he saw his blank automatically summon itself while Red Diamond was distracted, picked him up and dashed off at breakneck speed, it must have been some adrenaline that conjured up the sudden strength in his blank, for it was going at super-speed, right towards Beach City, towards home!.

Connie was checking the time "The sun's going down, where is that boy?" she worriedly asked "I hope him and Jasper aren't doing that training again." "I'll go and look for him" said Steven. "Dad! Look!" said Rebecca pointing out the window.

It was Joshua's Blank, Thorn, staggering up the stairs, shoving the door open so hard that it knocked it off its hinges "Request:...Help..." Thorn muttered before fading away and the battered and bloody Joshua fell, being caught by Steven. 

Everyone in the Beach House gazed in horror at the sight of Joshua, gash marks and stab wounds covered his upper torso. Steven couldn't hold himself back as he pulled in his son and held him tight, screaming in emotional agony!

Connie fell to her knees next to her husband, Rebecca was teary eyed with her hands over her mouth. "Wait! Steven, look! The wounds are healing!" said Pearl. Steven let go for a moment and saw that he was indeed healing.

"My healing powers! Oh thank god!" said Steven in a relieved tone "Joshua! Hey, it's Dad! Can you hear me, buddy?" Joshua moaned. "Yes! Oh thank god you're alright!" said Connie.

"And he didn't turn pink" said Rebecca "that means he got to you just in time!" "Hey...wait, those scars on his back, look!" said Garnet. Steven looked over his son's shoulder, at the boy's back.

The scars on his back were in the shape of letters, Joshua's assailant left a message! It read: "Hello Nephew" 

There was an eerie silence that now filled the Beach House. "Joshua...what happened?" asked Steven. Joshua couldn't answer, he could only cling to his father and sob.