Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe characters and neither the image. All rights are reserved to Rebecca Sugar and Cartoon Network.

Note: I know that the Gems are genderless, but for the sake of an easier and fluid reading I will refer them as "she". And for a better experience, I have left hyperlinks for you to see how visualized the new fusions. I do not own these arts as well. Have fun!

After his disastrous attempts to help the Gems at Little Homeschool, Steven had little choice but to come back to his house for now. At least until everything is settled down, thinks him while teleporting in the stream. He hoped that the Gems wouldn't be back until then. For now, he needed some time alone to sort out that mess that he was in.

He hears that familiar sound as the cylindrical beam of light lands him on the warp pad. His pink diamond eyes open, showing for his more muscular self an empty kitchen and, for his relief, an empty TV room as well.

Steven sighes. It wouldn't take long for his friends to guess that he was not as well as he persisted so. They would corner him for answers once again, but for which ones? After all, that was the whole point, right? If he was able to liberate the Homeworld, end the war and save the universe, the answers he needed should come easier, or at least, sort it out for themselves. For a while helping at Little Homeschool seemed to be the case, but seeing how fast things were going, how people were capable of changing and moving forward just showed him how delusioned he was about himself and what he was supposed to do with his life. Since then, he felt that he lost his touch, incapable of changing and taking new steps towards his future. He was stuck. Stuck with the uncertainties of his life and worse: his new diamond powers that were getting out of control.

His hand touches gently his forehead, trying in vain to soothe his worries. Maybe a rest would help. Yeah, that could work.

Steven passes through the kitchen and walks towards the room. His pink right foot has just stepped on the first rung when a sudden knock from behind startles him. Chills run down his back, not in fear, but in anticipation, as he turns to the door. He didn't need to open it to see through the glass frame that it was Connie who was outside. Her furrowed eyebrows were clearly showing that she was worried. He inhales deeply, and then goes for the handle.

"Connie! Long time no see!" smiling, Steven opens the door while inviting Connie with a gesture.

"I knew it! You are swelling and glowing again, Steven!" says her in dismay "I've been trying to call you, but I came as soon as I saw this." she takes her smartphone out of a pocket from her shorts and shows the screen to Steven. From it, he sees his taller and bulkier self happily saying over and over in an obsessive tone "Steven is here to help. Steven is here to help. Steven is here to help."

"What is going on?" finally asks Connie.

"I've broadcasted my subconscious sometimes these days. It's really no big deal." he dismisses her.

"Okay... but I can tell something is bothering you!" she shows the screen again but this time the screen has some interference while the pink glowing Steven says "Steven is here to help. Steven help. Steven help. Help steven. Help."

"I-I don't know what you are talking about!" says him funnily "I'm fine! Awesome, in fact! Come on, you have seen me when I wasn't doing well." he chuckles awkwardly.

"But Steven, you don't seem to be getting better, on the contrary..." she calmly says while taking a step towards him.

"I don't want you to worry, Connie!" he waves his hands in denial, still showing a smile on his face.

"But I am worried!" her eyebrows furrows further. He sees her troubled eyes looking painfully directly at his. It was awful to see her like that. She didn't deserve it, and certainly he didn't deserve her worries.

"I think I need some rest, Connie. Maybe that will work, who knows?" he then begins to move away from her.

But her hand prevents him from doing so.

"It's because of me, isn't it? Since that day you wouldn't stop glowing and swelling…" her eyes filled with guilt try to focus on his, but they clearly wanted to hide in shame.

"No, Connie! Please, it's not your fault!" his voice quavers "It's… it's mine!"

"What? What do you mean?'

Suddenly Steven cowers in pain. The right side of his head swells while both his hands desperately try to keep it together.

"Steven!" Connie startles "We should get you back to the hospital!"

He groans in pain when his whole chest swells and shrinks back in front of their eyes.

"The hospital… couldn't help me before and it certainly... won't help me now..." he tries to move Connie away, but she hurries to stand in front of him with her opened arms, halting him from going upstairs.

"Steven, please! You need to tell me what's going on!" demands Connie determined.

"You are making a big deal out of something small, Connie!" chuckles Steven "I mean, if I could save the universe and fix everything else, why would you think that I couldn't handle this?"

"Steven…" pleads her voice.

"Sure, I have done some mistakes. Like, I trashed the house today. And I've broken an anvil. But what teenager hasn't? Dad and I had a little disagreement, but that's practically a rite of passage! I mean, it would be weird if we didn't, right?" he grins awkwardly "And maybe I have had a not so nice thought or two about like, you know, slamming White Diamond's head through a pillar. But it's not that I actually went through with it!" he chuckles "I only actually shattered Jasper!"

Connie gasps in horror.

"You're… you're joking, right?"

"Oh, don't worry! I fixed that too! I can fix anything!" his gestures get more exacerbated "I can just keep messing up and fixing things forever! And you and the others would never have to know it or think any about it!"

"Steven!" she yells.

Steven stops and looks at a tearful Connie. What… what was he saying? He touches his eye: a tear of his own tries to bring him back to his senses. His eyes flinch in shame.

"How messed up is that?" he sobs "That I've gotten away from this for so long! You have no idea how bad I am! Everyone think that I'm so great, that I'm so mature, that I always know what to do, but that's not true! I haven't learned a thing from my problems! They have all just made me worse!" he keeps gesturing "You think of me as some angel, but I'm not that kid anymore!"

"Steven, I…" Connie gets closer to him, raising her arm towards him.

"No, Connie! Please! You need to stay away from me before I hurt you too!" he raises his arm, waving for her to stay away.

"Steven, please, let me help you!" pleads Connie, but there was a hint of fear in her voice that does not go unnoticed by Steven.

"Connie, no… I already told you, I'm dangerous! You will only hurt yourself!"

"Just let me tr…"

"Please! Stay away from ME!" he instantly closes his eyes and cowers, but his shout causes shock waves throughout the room. Sounds of breaking windows and pieces of wooden floor come in waves, hitting Connie and sending her flying.

Steven hears something heavy hitting the kitchen's balcony next.

"Oh, no! No, no, no, NO!"

In shock, he opens his eyes and runs desperately towards an unconscious Connie. His first wish was to hold her tight, but he knew that he couldn't move her in this condition. In desperation, he positions himself over her, with his arms supporting him above her. He turns her face towards him. A strange peacefulness is seen on her closed eyes.

"Connie, wake up!" he cries out "Please, wake up!" tears come out from his pained shut eyes and roll over his face. He realizes it when two or three drops land on her face.

"Th-that's right! My tears! I can still fix her!"

He waits for a second. Five. An entire minute.

Nothing.

"Wh-why? What's going on?!" he opens his shaking right hand and licks it. He didn't know where she hit her head, but any place would do, right? He touches her forehead gently, despite his quavering, and waits for his spit to do its job this time.

Again, Connie stays motionless below him.

"No! No, it can't be! Not now!" he looks at the spit on his hand, despite knowing that nothing would appear strange, even if his powers were still working.

"Connie…! I'm… I'm so sorry! I didn't want to hurt you!" shameful tears overflows on his cheeks as he faces his trembling hands. In vain they gently touch Connie's unconscious face.

"But I… I should be able to heal you…!" he sobs uncontrollably "Why?! Wh..?!"

A sting demands his attention when he places his hand on the floor. He watches while blood comes out from his palm. A closer look reveals a blood soaked shard of glass beneath him, and amidst the live redness, a pink diamond eye looks back to him.

"Of… of course." a timid laugh echoes in the empty room "How should I? I'm not that Steven anymore! My powers after all… no... " He takes another glance at the glass shard "It's meI It's my fault that everyone is getting hurt! I'm not a healer, I'm… I'm a fraud… I'm a..."

He is surprised by a sudden sound. Connie begins to groan, but without moving yet. He keeps watching her, as if waiting for some amend to his misdeed. But what he sees… is a drip of blood coming out of her nose.

He shouts in horror. Quakes tremble the entire Beach House.

And darkness envelops his mind.

The entire Little Homeschool is trembling. Most Gems are desperately running or trying to hold on something. Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst were about to use the warp pad when the earthquake hits them. They lose their balance and fall over the ground, but try to go towards the pad anyway.

That's when Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot show up running behind them.

"Look! What is that thing?!" shouts Peridot while pointing to something afar.

Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst look behind. Their shocked eyes comprehend the source of the earthquake: a giant pink colored monster with four limbs, adorned with horns and spikes all around his gigantic body just showed up next to the Beach House. And he was walking along the beach.

"Wh… What is that thing?!" Screams Pearl.

"It's huuuge!" Shouts Amethyst pointing in the same manner as Peridot.

"He will go towards the city!" Garnet yells amid the rumble and thundering sounds of huge stomps "Crystal Gems, look sharp! We need to stop this thing before he reaches the city!"

Bismuth changes both her hands in big hammer heads. Peridot positions herself next to Lapis Lazuli, and in Lapis' turn, water wings instantly springs out of her back.

"Wait!" shouts Pearl "He was close to the Beach House!"

"So what?" shouts Amethyst back.

"Steven just went there moments ago! He could have been hurt!" that thought alone gets Pearl desperate. She needed to get there asap.

"Pearl, Peridot, use the warp pad and rescue Steven! The others and I will form a line of defense and prevent the monster from getting further to the city.

Peridot rushes to Pearl's side while both of them step on the pad and use it. A flash of light covers them, leaving the warp empty next.

"Where do you think that monster came from?!" asks Peridot, wavering her arms agitated.

"I don't know. But if that thing hurt Steven... " tears drop in her anguish "I'll make it pay!" her resolute eyes look back to her feet beneath her. They were about to land in the Beach House.

Inside the house, a stream of light signals that Pearl and Peridot were finally there. However, both gasps at their first sight: Connie was unconscious on the floor, with Greg and Lion just beside her.

"What happened?!" shouts Pearl in dismay, rushing to them and kneeling next to Connie. Peridot follows next.

"I don't know! I was coming here to talk with Steven when I heard this loud noise and huge roar. When I turned around the rocks, that part of the house had just disappeared and a big pink monster was looking at it. When I saw it turning around, I knew that I had to come here and look for my son, but I didn't expect to find Connie of all people, and like this!" shaken, he points to her. Pearl rushes to her and rapidly checks her vitals.

"She is still breathing and has a heartbeat, Greg, but I'm not a doctor. She needs to go to a hospital immediately!" states Pearl while getting up.

"That's what I was about to do with Lion here!"

Lion roars in response as if agreeing.

"Greg, before you go, you said that you came here for Steven. Where is he?"

"I think I have an answer for that!" Shouts Peridot. Both Greg and Pearl look in front of them, where Peridot was raising a torn black shirt with a yellow star on its center.

Greg puts both his hands on his head in awe. Pearl's leg shake, almost collapsing her to the ground.

"Greg…" she sobs "get Connie to a hospital, now!" demands her.

"But my son! You can't expect me to just run and…!"

"I promise you, Greg! We will find Steven. Now go! Connie needs you!" she gives her back to him and faces the torn shirt. Greg takes a look at Connie again: still unconscious and with a small bleeding in her nose.

"I will leave this matter to you for now, but don't expect me to not come back. I'm always running other way when Gem stuff happens, but not this time, Pearl!"

"Heh" she smugs "I didn't expect otherwise from you, Greg. Not this time."

Greg nods, though Pearl was yet giving her back to him, and rushes to Connie. He puts her carefully on Lion's back, and with a quick hop, he does the same, placing himself behind Lion's pink mane.

"Now, Lion! To the hospital!"

Lion roars and summons a pink circle in front of them. He doesn't wait and jumps directly to it, with the rest of his body disappearing onto the other side.

An ominous silent embraces the two lonely Gems. Once more both look desperately at the torn shirt.

"Pearl… are you alright?" asks Peridot timidly, still holding Steven's shirt in her hands.

Pearl's hand clenches. Her eyes look in other way in grief, trying in vain to hold her new tears.

"Pearl?"

She snatches the shirt out of Peridot's hands and look again at it.

"Oh… Steven!"

Crouching, she cries frantically while clinging to the torn shirt. Peridot allows herself to share her tears with Pearl. For some time, they just stay there, crying over the shirt and looking at the debris.

However, Peridot couldn't stand it any longer and with care she places her hand on Pearl's shoulder. She answers by holding Peridot's hand back.

"Peridot?" she stops sobbing. Even sounding more serious.

"Yes, Pearl?" Peridot wipes her tears with her other hand.

"Do you really care about Steven?" she simply asks

"Wuh?! What kind of question is that? Of course I do! If it was not for him, I would still be a clod!" she protests in disbelief.

"I know that we had our disagreements in the past, but now, more than anything, we need to help everyone and beat that thing down!" Pearl sets her eyes through the wreck, watching in pain the giant monster walking towards the city.

"Pearl, I understand, I'm angry and I want to lash out on that thing myself, but look at his size… we can't just..."

"No, Peridot!" She stands up "You don't understand! I'm doing that for them, I'm doing that for us…"

"And for Steven…" with a small and sad smile, Peridot extends her hand.

"For Steven!" Pearl shakes Peridot's hand, and as if singing, a glow rises from their hands and covers their bodies. Their gems dance inside the gleam, until a blinding light grows and bursts from it.

A slender and greenish pale being with four arms reveals herself. She is a bit taller than Garnet, but certainly less bulkier. Her hair was short and contouring her cheeks, with a pastel peach color. The upper side of her clothes ressembed more of Peridot, but with a slight higher collar. On the lower side, a pencil green skirt with its front open reveals a pair of graceful and long legs, ending in a pair of black long boots. Her transparent visor, somewhat akin to the first one that Peridot was seen wearing, tries to hide her four eyes and both her Green Calcite colored gems adorning her forehead.

The fusion looks outside the beach and hears the rumble coming from the beast afar. She couldn't keep them waiting anymore. Image: i(.pinimg)(.com)/originals/75/4e/25/754e25f8a7e11722d72042f21655b4d5(.jpg)

The monstrous creature opens its mouth and throws a blast of an all consuming pink fire. Its tongues try to hit the little creatures standing on the sands beneath it, but they were agile enough to escape.

Not that they were really all that small.

Sugalite was the last one to make her landing from the jump, where Bismuth in her armour was waiting for her. Both were capable to keep the fight on the boundaries of the beach, drawing the creature further from the Beach House and people's homes. But it was certainly taking its toll on them.

The monster once more turns to the city, trying to ignore those pesky beings. Sugalite this time uses not only two, but her four arms to swing her giant flail. She smashes the creature left side face with her gauntlet purple mace in a thundering slam, evoking a terrifying roar from the beast. But surprisingly, it didn't fall. Heck, it didn't even flinch from the blow. With its claws, it grabs the whip and brings Sugilite towards it in a single pull. Sugilite flies towards it, knowing that those claws were prepared to pierce her.

That's when a hammering resounds. Bismuth has just flew towards the creature and hit its hand with both her hammer arms, with all her might. It didn't seem to hurt it, but it was enough to distract it from giving the final blow on Sugalite. Both end landing behind the creature.

"Since when you could jump that high?" asks Sugilite in her usual harsh tone.

"I don't know! I was aiming for its leg, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity, so I just went with the flow."

"You are much welcome." shouts a stranger's voice from somewhere behind.

Bismuth and Sugilite turns around and find a new fusion looking beneath them from above. She was floating towards them on a sort of flat metallic platform. Her three arms were crossed, with the exception of one that was holding an unknown spear, though its colour and shape was not strange to them. Not only that, everything on her seemed different and yet familiar. Her presence was brimming of boldness and confidence, regardless her seriousness.

"You… You are!" points Bismuth to her in disbelief.

"Watch out!" shouts the fusion. She raises one of her arms and pulls Bismuth. A second later a huge foot crushes the place where she was standing moments ago. Sugilite then uses her flail and bind the creature foot with it.

"Whoever you call yourself, help me bring the creature to the ocean!" Yells Sugilite.

The fusion looks behind her, where she sees Lapis floating on the water and concentrating.

"Call me Calcite." smugs the fusion. Out of her metallic platform surface, hand sized balls starts to merge from it and floats around her, circling the fusion as if waiting for her command. The several metallic balls become spikes and, with a wave of one of her hands, they shoot towards the creature chest.

The colossal monster howls as the spikes hit its skin, but those sounds seemed out of annoyance instead of pain. Annoyed, Calcite swings her spear with grace. She points its tip to the beast and in the next second, a glow comes from its head. A white beam is shot and blows the creature in a massive strike of light.

The beast reacts by swinging its body in pain, with its tail hitting Sugilite and sending her flying far from the beach sands and crashing directly on a building. She defuses in a big lump of light, bringing Garnet and Amethyst unconscious out of it.

"Garnet! Amethyst!" Shouts Bismuth running towards them.

In its renewed anger, the titanic critter runs berserk towards Calcite, who ignores the loud batter of its feet and quickly flies towards the sea. The sounds of big footsteps are washed away by the sea's water, with the beast struggling against it to reach Calcite. After taking some distance, she suddenly stops midair and turns around, just to see that thing fighting against the sea hitting its chest. It growls towards her, but she smirks in disdain.

As if her smug was a signal, Lapis appears flying from behind Calcite. Straightening out her arms, the ocean obeys her and recoils, forming a whirlpool around the monster. It looks around confused, until a sudden appearance of giant water shackles startles it. They bind the creature torso and hands, forcing it to stand down. But the sheer amount of its strength wouldn't permit it, leaving the pink creature and Lapis in a ferocious tug of war.

"I've got it, but I can't hold it forever." shouts Lapis while positioning herself in front of it.

"You don't need forever." Calcite tightens her grab on her spear.

Calcite floats in front of the creature, who was still fiercely fighting against its shackles. From a certain distance, she once more swings her spear and points directly to its face.

"You..." Calcite's grin scoffs in anger "You've hurt Steven…"

The pink monster roars towards her.

"I'll make you pay!"

Her tears overflow when her spear's head starts to shine. The glow grows, ignoring the creature howls and struggle in its trap of water. When its light is finally big and blinding even for her, Calcite shoots it, releasing its full blunt force directly on the beast's face. The beam relentless envelops all of its head.

Amidst the immense light, however, the beast roars, dispersing the rest of Calcite's attack with a shake of his head.

"I-Impossible!" she stutters in shock "What… what are you?!"

The monster lowers its head and shuts its eyes for a second. When it raises it, its eyes open, revealing dilating pupils glowing in a bright pink colour. Throughout its body, its spikes glow pink until the monster opens its mouth and roars, releasing a tremendous shockwave around it.

With its blasting force alone, Lapis and Calcite are sent flying, until both crash soundly on the sand. Calcite poofs, leaving Pearl and Peridot unconscious alongside an out could Lapis.

The huge creature sighes and takes a look around it. Its eyes set upon the Little Homeschool, as if it was attracting it to its next target. The monster starts walking directly to there, not minding the little annoying beings nor the sea anymore.

She sees pink spikes growing in a stream out of Steven's back. He glows and grows quickly, laying bare to a monstrous form. His huge pink eyes… they look directly at hers...

"Connie, please! Wake up!"

For a moment, she thinks she hears a male voice. Maybe Steven's…?

"... wake up!"

This time it was a female voice. Her mother's voice. She opens her eyes.

"Oh, Connie!" hugs Connie, who was laying on a hospital bed "I was so afraid, my darling! What happened?"

She tries to sit up, but her mother intervenes.

"Please, don't. You need to take a rest for now. You've hit your head pretty hard. Fortunately there wasn't any concussion."

"I've… hit my head?" she didn't feel anything, but that was the only explanation. After all, she wouldn't be in a hospital for nothing. She looks behind her mom, and finally notices that Mr. Universe was there.

"It was Greg who brought you here, darling." adds her mother while watching Connie looking confused at Greg.

"Mr. Universe? Uhn… what happened?" asks Connie.

"I was about to ask the same, Connie." Mr. Universe gets closer to her bed "It seems that something happened in the Beach House and you were left unconscious. Can you remember anything?"

"In the Beach House? … I…" she tries to recall what she might be doing there, and for a moment, her eyes close.

In a sudden flash, her memories flow in quick jumps of flashbacks. She snaps and opens her eyes. Out of desperation she grabs Mr. Universe arm.

"Mr. Universe, and Steven? What about Steven?!"

"Do you know what happened to him?! Please, Connie, I need to know!"

Connie is baffled.

"Wha… what do you mean? He wasn't in the house?"

"I've only found you, Connie!" Mr. Universe tries to hold back his tears, but his voice was clearly getting more emotional.

"Mr. Universe, the house…! How is the house?"

"Wha…? It's a wreck! I don't know what happened! I was going to visit Steven, when I saw this huge pink monster standing there, next to the house!"

Connie sits up suddenly, startling both Greg and her mother. That wasn't a dream then!

"Mr. Universe, I know what happened to Steven, but we gotta go right now!" she says in a hurry.

The earthquake gets stronger and stronger in the Little Homeschool. Many Gems run out of desperation, while some shout and point their fingers to the sea. Out of the woods, in a cliff's edge, several birds fly as if chased away by something big. Pink horns starts to come out of the tip of trees, and in a few moments, the pink beast shows itself entirely, having climbed out of the cliff in the beach shore.

The Quartz run outside the school walls and line themselves up as fast as they could, trying to improvise a line of defense. Most of them decide to fuse when the titanic monster gets closer to the school grounds.

The glows of several fusion from that distance snaps the beast and propels it to run towards them. The rumble grows in loudness as the quakes become stronger.

Amidst the thundering gigantic steps, four huge spears of light shows up inside the school grounds. They shoot abruptly from inside the walls, swiftly circling over them and flying swiftly towards the colossal monster. The thing roars in response, and out of instinct, it uses its arms to protect its body against the light. The blast erupts in a deafening explosion when it hits the creature, covering all its body with a stream of light.

"Has it worked?!" Shouts a Quartz while she watches the light dispersing and the beast's body recoiling.

A horrendous howl answers her back. Loud quakes resume in a paced frenzy. The Quartz then start to spin at the same time and rolls towards the creature. The first attacks land over its body, but the next ones were not that lucky with them being mercilessly poofed by the beast claws.

"Our attacks…! They don't wor…!" a Quartz is poofed by a swing of the monster's tail.

"Fall back! Fall back!" shouts another Quartz. They all start spinning again and run in the school's direction. A booming stomp from the monster almost hits a Quartz in the process. The first one arrives in seconds at the wall and dismiss her fusion as soon as she stops.

"You imbeciles! You really can't do anything without me, uh?!"

Both defused Quartz turn to look at the source of the ruthless voice. It was Jasper, who was crossing her arms and looking at the rest of the Quartz fleeing from the creature.

A sick smile crosses her lips.

"Garnet, Amethyst! Are you alright?" shouts Bismuth to both gems lying down on the building's rubble.

Amethyst is the first to groan. She places her hand on her head, trying to ease some pain. Garnet is the next one to move while she sits up and look at Bismuth. She then looks at the sea, and for her consternation, her eyes meet a calm ocean, without the presence of the monster or Lapis.

"What happened?!"

Bismuth shakes her head.

"We managed to attract it to Lapis' trap, but the monster was too strong for her and Calcite." Bismuth turns her worried eyes to Lapis, Pearl and Peridot, who were just recovering themselves "I can only think of a fusion who could stand a chance against that thing, Garnet. We will need Obsidian!"

"But to form Obsidian…" Garnet interrupts while standing up. She gives a hand to Amethyst next "We need Steven."

"Yeah…" steps in Amethyst "I'm worried guys… where the heck is Steven anyway?" asks her.

"Pearl and Peridot probably know what happened." answers Garnet.

The three Gems were about to walk towards the rest of their friends, when they hear a familiar sound coming from the sky. Not only Garnet, Amethyst and Bismuth looked up to it, but even Lapis, Pearl and Peridot stop to see what was happening.

It's when a massive white torso with blue and yellow arms shows up from the clouds and descends on the beach.

"No way!" shouts Amethyst.

Steadily, the ship keeps coming down, until it lands on the sands. As soon as it stops, a small circle opens on one of its sides.

In the next second, Spinel's leg shows up and stretches out of it, bringing the rest of her out next.

"Hello, Steven~!" Spinel dangles Steven's flip flop in a joyful way "You forgot your foot thumb thingie…!" But she suddenly stops when she sees the wreck that is the Beach House.

"Wha… what?!" she shouts stunned.

Three taller beings leave the ship. White, Blue and Yellow Diamond make their way to beach.

"Yoo-hoo~! Steven~!" shouts Yellow.

"Where are you?" asks Blue.

"You shouldn't hide from us, that's… uh?!" swiftly, White Diamond's countenance changes completely when she turns and looks upon the destroyed Beach House.

"Why something like this always happen when we are short for a visit?" she sighs annoyed.

The Crystal Gems approach them while the Diamonds are still trying to understand what was going on.

"What has happened here?!" asks Yellow to Garnet and the others while pointing to the house.

"We were attacked." Garnet tries to keep her composure, though it was proving hard knowing that things were quickly spiraling of control.

"Yeah! A huge pink monster just came out of nowhere and destroyed the house!" shouts Amethyst flustered.

"What? But how could that be?" asks White dismayed.

"We don't know yet, but…" Pearl tries to avoid looking at anyone at first, but her anguished eyes says otherwise "That monster hurt Steven!"

Not only the Diamonds and Spinel, but even Garnet, Amethyst, Bismuth and Lapis gasp in shock.

"Are you sure?" Garnet was worried. The irony is that she didn't see that coming.

"You see, we have found Connie there first." Peridot butts in "She was hurt…"

She falters when the others show their concern, but she shakes her worse worries and promptly adds "... it didn't seem that bad though! Even so, Greg and Lion took her to a hospital. What we found next was what convinced us. It was… uh…"

"What was it, Peridot?" asks Garnet impatient.

"... this." Pearl's gem shines, bringing out something from her interdimensional storage. It was Steven's black torn shirt.

"No…" Garnet takes out her visor. Her three eyes couldn't believe what has just unfolded before them.

"That… that can't be…" Lapis suddenly falls on her legs.

"It's impossible! That little guy, he couldn't…" Bismuth shakes her head in denial.

"That's not true! You are lying, Pearl! You are lying!" Amethyst grabs both Pearl arms and shakes her, but she just stays motionless and cries in silence.

"N-no! We can't have lost him! Not again!" Blue covers her face with her palms. White and Yellow sobs, but both try to console Blue by placing their hands on her shoulders.

"No! Just when we were finally friends!" cries Spinel desperately.

"W-wait…" White looks once more at Pearl and the T-shirt "Couldn't you find him? I mean.. you have only found his shirt? Did he… did he just… p-poof?" she almost couldn't manage to utter these last words between her hiccups.

"P-poof? But Steven…" Pearl wipes a tear with a hand and contemplates the black shirt "Steven… he can't…"

"He can't poof." adds Spinel now wiping her own tears.

"But if that's the case…" Lapis interrupts them while standing up "Why couldn't we find him? He couldn't have just disappeared!"

"Unless…" starts Peridot, attracting everyone's else glances "... he was… h-he was..."

Bismuth takes pity on Peridot and decides to get closer to her "C'mon, Tiny!" she places her hand on her shoulder. Were they always that small?

"We need to hear it." she finally says.

"I-I think… I think that monster just… just…" Peridot sobs once more, but Bismuth presses her hand on her shoulder, encouraging her "... I think the monster gobbled him."

All Gems look away in anguish. They couldn't bear even thinking about that possibility.

A huge crash attracts their attention to somewhere afar. Black smokes are seen coming from the buildings in the Little Homeschool, and next to them the colossal pink monster was using its claws on something in the air.

"Is that the monster?" asks White still not believing in what she was witnessing.

"Yes. That's it." answers Pearl. Her anger rises once more when she remembers Peridot's words.

"Pearl, Amethyst…" Garnet steps closer to them "If we wish to stand a chance against that thing we will need to form Alexandrite!" says Garnet while putting her visor back.

"Right." agrees Amethyst.

"Let's do it!" says a tenacious Pearl.

Garnet gives her hands to both Amethyst and Pearl, and the glow starts to spread, quickly permeating their bodies. In seconds a flash forms Alexandrite.

Alexandrite was about to take her first steps when she suddenly feels an arm holding one of hers. Yellow intercedes and places her hand on Alexandrite's shoulder.

"Our ship is gonna be faster." says Yellow "Follow us."

Alexandrite, Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot and Spinel follow the Diamonds and enter the ship. With a rumble, the torso starts floating and flies to the Little Homeschool.

An orange spin cuts the black smoke in the air and hits the pink creature right on its chest. Annoyed, the beast tries to swing its claws where that ball of light has just landed. Jasper has just changed herself back when she manages to avoid the enormous pink hand in the nick of time. Its claws leave five fissures on the ground as a result.

"Heh!" she smiles while taking some distance "Do you think you scare me?!"

The pink beast roars in anger. Its mouth opens, throwing its flames directly on Jasper, who quickly dodge them and jumps its pink tongues on the ground. However, in a moment of carelessness during a jump, the creature hits her directly with its claws, throwing her on a tree. Its trunk breaks with the crash and Jasper keeps flying towards several other trees. Birds and dust rise from her trail of destruction.

The monster then howls and turns to look back at Little Homeschool. The smokes are still coming from the buildings, even growing in size. It walks in the walls direction, stomping on it and destroying the last barrier to his way to the school grounds. Strangely enough, no gems were seen when it makes its entrance. It keeps going until it faces the central building, the tallest one of Little Homeschool. On its entrance, the creature sees some kind of movie screen.

The screen was turned on, but it seemed to have a glitch. Its distorted sounds attracts the pink monster attention, making it take a step closer… that's when the glitch starts to form an image… a glitching pink silhouette. The beast roars in anger and raises its claws, preparing to destroy it…

An arrow made of light suddenly hits the beast's hand, making it screech in agony. It quickly turns and sees the one who hurt it: it was Alexandrite, who was holding Opal's bow, followed by the Diamonds, Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot and Spinel.

The pink monster dashes towards its attacker, trembling the ground on its wreak. Alexandrite then opens her mouth and blasts her fire on it. The creature makes a jump, dodging it and preparing its claws to pierce the Diamonds on its fall. Quickly, Yellow and Blue launch their attacks, with a yellow thunder and a blue ray blasting right on the beast's belly and knocking it down on the ground.

"Don't give it a room to breath!" Yells Bismuth while invoking her hammers. She runs towards the creature, followed by Lapis, who was already conjuring balls of water and changing them into ice spikes, by Peridot, who was summoning three bars of metal from the fallen buildings scattered around, and by Spinel, who was inflating her hands. They all jump on the creature, with Bismuth hitting its belly with all her strength, Peridot trying to pierce it with the bars, and Spinel bashing her hands with all her might. Lapis is the last one to give the finishing touch by sending her spikes of ice on its face. The beast's eyes flinch with the attacks, waving its hand on the Gems and shooting Bismuth, Peridot and Spinel against Lapis. All four fall hard on the ground.

"Enough!" shouts White Diamond "I won't allow this madness to go on! Yellow, Blue, we will combine our attacks!"

Yellow and Blue Diamond nod and raise their hands together with White. Their palms open, and a white ball of light forms in front of their hands, glowing bigger by each second.

That's when Alexandrite uses all her six arms to pull the three Diamonds hands.

"Wha-?! What do you think you are doing?!" Yells White.

"Are you insane?!" Vociferate Yellow.

"Last time you used this attack all Gems on the planet got corrupted. I can't let you repeat that mistake!"

"Release us at once! That thing..." Yells Blue, but it was too late. The creature's spikes glows, with its ferocious eyes showing bright pink pupils. When it opens its mouth a howl resounds in fury, releasing shock waves that blast the ground in its way, hitting right on Alexandrite back and the Diamonds next. Alexandrite poofs instantly, releasing Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst senseless on the ground. The Diamonds fall next, knocked out by the attack.

The beast takes a look upon the fallen creatures. None of them were moving. It decides then to give its back and proceed to the closest buildings. It fires the little houses in its path, making a few Gems that were hiding flee in despair. The beast keeps going by using more flames on the next buildings. Screams of horror pierce the air, and smokes start to rise behind the trail of destruction left by the monster's havoc.

Meanwhile, from somewhere behind, Lapis groans and tries to move, lifting her weight with her arms. She sets her blue eyes on the monster, who was going towards the Meep-Morps Studio. Without a second thought, it smashes the place with its stomps.

Peridot wakes up next, still not being able to stand up. Lapis keeps watching it impotent as that thing wrecks all the studio. Peridot groans in pain, trying to stand up once more, but in such weak state she falls besides Lapis.

"We can't…" struggles Peridot "We can't just let that thing have its way with our school…"

"Peridot… you have seen it. It's too strong…" murmurs Lapis.

"I don't care! It's our home, Lapis! We don't have the barn anymore! Our only home is here…!"

The quakes stop. Both Lapis and Peridot watch silently while the monster moves its neck. It looks at some buildings until it stops at a glassy one.

"No…" murmus Peridot.

"The greenhouse!" shouts Lapis "We can't let it reach it!"

"... Pumpkin Junior!" shouts Peridot "We have to save him, Lapis! We have to save all of them!"

"It's impossible… we can't do it alone, Peridot!" protests Lapis.

"But we can't just stand and watch it!" yells Peridot while rising up on her wobbling knees.

"Yeah, you are right but…" Lapis stands up "... our strength alone won't have a chance. Unless…

"Unless?" asks Peridot puzzled

"Unless we do it together."

Lapis extends her hand to an astounded Peridot. For a second, she contemplates Lapis hand... and then she laughs.

Now it is Lapis who is puzzled.

"... Didn't you do it with Pearl earlier and formed Calcite?" asks Lapis, now blushing and feeling a little awkward.

"That's exactly the point." chuckles Peridot "I was never much into fusion. And when I'm finally forced to do it, I do it not only once, but twice! In a single day! How ridiculous is that?"

Lapis grins and giggles "Not as ridiculous as you, you 'clod'."

"Ha! No, you are wrong, Lapis. You and I are not clods." laughs Peridot while extending her hand "We are!".

They both shake their hands amidst their laughs. Suddenly, the bright arises and spreads from their arms to their whole bodies. Their gems then spin and float inside the glow until the light starts to take a form.

A sudden flash unveils a new being: with a seafoam color, the new fusion uses her four eyes to look the horizon through a visor. She stretches both her arms, revealing spherical hands and stick fingers that somewhat resembled the limb enhancers. Her hair, with a pale chartreuse green color, appears like a short lob but more wild. Her dark green dress features similarities to Peridot's and Lapis's but with a big ribbon covering her back and a skirt open on its front showing her legs and her barefooted feet. Image (deviantart(.com)/ivimatryoshka/art/steven-universe-peridot-lapis-619996835)

From her Hiddenite colored gem behind her back, watery light green wings spring out.

"Let's go!" she murmurs.

Her wings flap and fly its owner quickly to the monster direction. As she passes she waves her right hand, summoning metallic debris spread around the grounds and merging them into giant spikes. With a wave of her left hand, she summons a stream of water from a nearby pool, forming a whirl around her left side.

The beast was busy rampaging the last houses. It finally reaches the Greenhouse and lifts its giant foot to smash it…

… When several spikes of metal and ice hit its foot. The beast immediately pulls it back and growls enraged at the direction of the shots. Hiddenite dives towards its eyes, splashing the rest of the water on them. They immediately shut in annoyance and the gargantuan creature snarls, turning its mouth and releasing its pink flames upon the fusion. She propels herself up, avoiding the flames from burning the rest of the buildings by making herself a target on the sky.

With ease, she dodges its tongues and in a plunge she surrounds the flames, flying towards her target. Hiddenite stops suddenly within a few feet of distance from the monster's face when, in the next second, her water wings expands an enormous size, almost as big as that thing's head. From it, several spikes blend and take form, shooting towards the beast's face. Some hit its eyes, making it howl in pain and covers them with its hands. In its agitation he berserkly steps over the buildings beneath it.

From afar, Garnet, Bismuth, Pearl, Amethyst and the Diamonds start to move, recovering from the direct hit of the shockwave attack.

"Such power!" murmurs Yellow short of breath. She looks puzzled while the creature fends off a flying unknown Gem as if it is a pesky fly.

"It doesn't surprise me that that thing could beat Steven... a Diamond of all beings…" White was not as hurt as Yellow or Blue, but there were still some injuries on her body.

"We still have a chance…" says Garnet standing up. She and the others were more hurt than the Diamonds, but they were still able to rise "We need to regroup ourselves and form Alexandrite once more."

"No." interrupts White "You have seen its strength. You lesser Gems…" she awkwardly stops when Garnet and the rest of the Crystal Gems glare at her with mean looks "... I mean, you have tried before and it didn't work." she clears her throat "That monster was able to defeat a Diamond before and it doesn't seem that it will stop its rampage soon, so …"

"So, what do you suggest?" asks a skeptical Bismuth. She wasn't comfortable of having to hear a Diamond giving her and her friends orders. They are the Crystal Gems after all.

However, White ignores her. She looks to Blue and Yellow, as if talking in a secret language between them. They both gasp and cover their mouths at that look.

"White… you don't mean…!" adds a shocked Yellow.

"It has been eons, White! I don't think that would be prudent..." suggests Blue in her usual soft voice.

"Since we can't use our attacks combined…" White gives a serious glare back to Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst, not in anger or disapproval, but in compliance "We will have to use our physical strength alone to defeat it."

"I know, but last time at least we did it with Pink…" memories flow in Blue's mind, bringing out new tears of sadness while she touches her own gem.

"Blue…" White places her hand on Blue's shoulder "Yellow…" and now her other hand on Yellow's shoulder "After everything we have done, we owe these Gems, we owe Steven himself. With Pink gone only her son was able to inherit her dreams of peace, of love…" she then looks towards the monster "Now with him gone, only his dreams of a better future are left. And that thing is literally trampling on them! We cannot permit it!"

Yellow and Blue nod. White extends her arms, waiting for theirs, and they both give theirs in response. A glow comes out of White's gem first, and then from Yellow and Blue at the same time.

"Ar… are they?!" stutters Pearl with her shaking hand covering her mouth in awe..

"Are they... fusing?!" shouts Bismuth astonished.

"My Diamonds?!" gasps Spinel who was finally waking up.

From a broken wall, a hidden Gem peer the scene from afar. Jasper was still wobbling, trying to stand up and recover from the beast attack. She couldn't believe in her eyes what was happening before her. Such light, such power! She didn't know… she didn't know at all what was true power!

Her shock and weakness kicks in and Jasper falls unconscious on the wall's debris.

Garnet and Amethyst open their mouths in disbelief: before them, all three Diamonds bodies soon glow and merge into a single radiance. Their gems float and their shine grows until a flash explodes in a dazzling show of white, blue and yellow lights. The Crystal Gems cover their eyes before such blinding light.

When they are finally able to look it back, a gigantic green Gem, the tallest they have seen yet, stands before them. Her presence alone was not only astounding but ominous and cold. Six pupilless crystal eyes look directly at the creature, and she starts to move her body. Its constitution seemed harder and somewhat robotic, with her six arms resembling the Diamond's ships, though her moves were still fluid enough to walk as a sentient being. Image: (pinterest(.ie)/pin/725783296172045352/)

The light of their fusion was enough to bring that pink creature attention back to them. Hiddenite stops in mid air, shocked, as the beast roars and ignores her completely, running towards the Diamonds fusion. The fusion does the same and both clash their arms at each other, sending shockwaves throughout the ground.

Any gem that were unlucky enough to be surrounding were instantly sent flying, including Hiddenite, Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Bismuth and Spinel. A tug of war of sheer strength begins between both titanic beings. They both struggle, with the pink creature tensing its arms and legs muscles to compensate for its slight smaller size. The Diamonds fusion though manages to overcome the struggle and begins to turn the tide in her favor by pushing the beast. The creature growls and roars in protest, but the fusion takes this as an opportunity to throw the creature on the ground. Its body falls hard on the floor and slides towards the school center grounds, leaving a trail of several destroyed buildings and trees. It stops close enough by the Crystal Gems, forcing them all to jump just to avoid the debris.

As soon as they land, they wait until the dust starts to settle down. The group then gets closer to its fallen body.

"Woah!" shouts Bismuth appalled at seeing the creature down and so close "I think… I think we finally won this one!"

"That's for hurting Steven, you monster!" yells Spinel waving her closed fist midair. She runs towards the creature and kicks its foot, ignoring the others calls for her. The beast groans, turns its face, and looks back menacingly to Spinel, who shrieks and quickly runs back to the Crystal Gems.

The beast faces then the central tower, which now stands in front of it. It looks at it until that same screen from before begins to glitch and form an image once more. With an enraged howl, the creature tries once more to stand up, even ignoring Hiddenite who has just made a low pass over it and was joining the Crystal Gems.

"We are still no match for it!" shouts Garnet.

"No, we are not. But that doesn't mean that we will just sit here and do nothing." says Pearl in a scorn. She invokes her spear from her gem and swings it. Without hesitation, she dashes towards the fallen creature.

It was then that suddenly, a pink circumference bursts between her and the creature. From it, Lion makes a jump and lands in front of Pearl, who immediately stops in her feet. Mounting on him was Greg, and more surprisingly, Connie.

"Whaaaat?!" shouts Amethyst holding her head with both hands.

Garnet and the others are surprised as well, and though Pearl still couldn't believe in what she has just witnessed, she steps forward.

"Connie! You are supposed to be in a hospital! What are you doing here?!" yells Pearl "And Greg! I expected more of you! When you said that you would come back, I never expected you to risk Connie's life like this! This is outrageous!" in her rage she gets closer to them and stomps her foot on the ground.

"No, Pearl! You are wrong! It was not Mr. Universe who brought me here! It was me!" Connie opens her hand and puts it against her chest. She watches as Pearl gets even more offended, while the other Crystal Gems run towards them.

"You should not be in the battlefield! Not in your condition!" she insists.

"Yes, I should! Because if I wasn't you would have hurt Steven pretty bad!" yells Connie.

Pearl gasps in horror "What?! What are you talking about?!"

A sudden deafening noise comes from the movie screen on the tower, making everyone cover their ears, with the exception of the Diamonds fusion who is still walking at some distance and adamant to get closer to the fallen beast.

A glitched image forms and everyone's eyes are shocked at what it was screening: it was Steven, who was glowing pink just as when he was last seen by them.

"How messed up is that?" his sobs are glitched "That I've gotten away from this for so long! You have no idea how bad I am! Everyone think that I'm so great, that I'm so mature, that I always know what to do, but that's not true! I haven't learned a thing from my problems! They have all just made me worse!" he keeps gesturing "You think of me as some angel, but I'm not that kid anymore!" more interference and the image gets fast forward and glitched until Steven is seen kneeling down next to Connie "... It's meI It's my fault that everyone is getting hurt! I'm not a healer, I'm… I'm a fraud… I'm a..."

The image glitches making it difficult to distinguish it, but for their horror Steven's body glows on the screen and changes into…

Pearl screams horrified. Garnet takes off her visor, not believing in what her three eyes has just watched. The scene of his last quote and his transformation keeps getting repeated in a loop.

"That.. that is…" Bismuth stutters.

"That is Steven?!" Hiddenite glows and unmakes her fusion, releasing Peridot and Lapis and making them fall next to Amethyst.

"What have we done?!" Pearl covers her tearful eyes in guilt, not bearing to look at the monster that has just stood up in front of her "Oh, Steven!" she falls on her knees.

The stomps from the Diamonds fusion becomes louder. Garnet points desperate at them.

"Lapis, warn them before it's too late!"

Lapis quickly rises and flies to the Diamonds fusion. However, the fusion was already lifting her six fists, ready to deliver them in full force. That's when she hears some shouts and screaming bellow: all Gems, including Connie, Greg and Lion, run between her and the monster, waving their hands and asking her to stop. But she ignores them, believing that they were just being nonsensical. Moving her hips and torso, she hits the creature with all her six fists in a deafening bang, making the beast finally sputter some blood from its mouth and silencing it as it falls on the ground.

"No!" Yells Connie horrified.

All Gems hurry to the fallen corrupted Steven. The Diamonds fusion stops to contemplate what was going on. That's when Lapis shows up in her view.

"That monster there is Steven!" She yells furiously while pointing at the pink creature below. The Diamonds fusion eyes shine silently at Lapis, making her gulp out of nervousness. She then takes a second look at the monster. A closer look to its gem makes her eyes shine a second time.

Now the Diamonds fusion looks back at Lapis, but this time, her whole body glows, with a single green light becoming three in white, yellow and blue. In the next seconds, the lights reveal Diamonds, now back to themselves.

"Is that… Steven?" murmurs White bewildered while she and all the others approach the unconscious corrupted Steven.

"But how?" asks Yellow in consternation.

"Inside that monster…" Pearl interrupts the Diamonds while she places her hand on Steven's arm "Steven must be in there... so angry." She deviates her eyes in anguish and cries.

"And he is right to be anger, because I didn't protect him!" cuts off Greg in tears.

"You didn't protect him from us! He is like this because of us!" cries Blue while she gets next to him bringing piety in her eyes.

"We are the source of Steven's suffering!" sobs Yellow while trying to console Blue.

"I knew something was going on. I… why didn't I do something?" Amethyst yells out of self-blame.

Spinel passes through the Crystal Gems, ignoring even Pearl, and gets close enough to be just beside his arm.

"This is all my fault." she murmurs "I've tried to wipe his friends memories so he would die alone, on a barren world…" Spinel undo her hesitancy, crying uncontrollably while pulling her pigtails in a tantrum.

"But that was because you were angry with Pink!" Interrupts White in tears "And if Pink hurt you it was because I hurt her! Like I hurt Yellow and Blue and Steven and everyone in the entire universe! This is all my fault!"

"Yes! Yes, it is!"

Everyone stops at once and look at the source of the voice. Connie was standing between them, looking angrily at each one of them.

"Yes, you have hurt him. But this isn't the time to make this all about you! That will not help him!"

Garnet, Pearl and the others wipe their tears and listen closely.

"Maybe Steven would care how sad you are because he always puts everyone's else feelings first. But he can't do that for you right now because he needs us this time! We all had Steven when we needed him. But the only person who has never had Steven is Steven. He has always been there for us. So, how we can be there for him now?"

"If he keeps believing he is a monster, he will stay one." Garnet steps in, having just finished wiping her last tear "We must do something to get through him, or he will stay like that forever."

"And how we will do that?!" shouts Pearl in disbelief.

"I know how." says Garnet while summoning her visor back "We need to show Steven... some love!"

All of a sudden, the huge pink body moves, startling everyone around it. Corrupted Steven wakes up, looking directly to the group. He roars madly at them, pushing them some feet away from him with the air pressure of his cry alone. Even Lapis is clumsy sent back flying.

Tongues of flames start to come out between his fangs while he stands up…

"Watch out! He is going to use his flames!"

They all dodge the flames the best as they can, with some hiding behind the ruins of some buildings. Greg, Pearl, Connie and Lion were together behind one of the houses.

"If this keeps on we will never be able to get near him!" shouts Pearl.

Connie tries to peek and she sees Steven throwing his flames on the Diamonds, who were running and dodging them. She sees Garnet, Bismuth and Spinel trying to get closer, but as soon as they do it, Steven notices them and send his flames on the group.

Connie decides to get back. She touches her mouth, thinking. That's when she looks at Lion and her semblance changes.

"I think I had an idea." she runs towards Lion, who lowers his head and permits Connie to mount on him.

"Connie, where you think you are going?!" Yells Pearl anxious.

"To Steven!"

But Before Pearl could reach her, Lion roars and summons a portal, diving in it and disappearing. Pearl and Greg run desperately to the edge of the building to take a peek on Steven. In the next moment, they see Lion's portal reappearing once more, but on Steven's nose. Startled, his flames suddenly stop while he looks at this tiny creature walking on his nose without fear.

"Steven… you must have been so afraid to show this side of yourself" Connie tears up. Steven beastly eyes shift, slowly showing his pupils again, as if he was finally recognizing her "But we are not going anywhere. We are all gonna take care of you the same way you took care of us."

"She is right, Steven!" shouts Garnet running to him. A sudden blue cloud forms beneath her, permitting her to float directly to his face "Steven, when I fell apart you were there for me. Now, I want to be there for you! I know how being unable to know your own future and what to do with it may be scary. After all, there are so many possibilities…" Garnet takes off her visor, showing her three eyes tearing "... so many that we may feel lost, stuck, incapable of choosing any of them. But as a little kid have told me once, let's pick the one we want to happen and do that. Please, let us help you with that!" Garnet them floats towards its neck and hugs it. He growls once more, but in a lower tone than before.

"Is it working? You hear us?" Lapis circles him "Steven!" she then lands on his neck and hugs it alongside Garnet.

White, Blue and Yellow Diamonds make their way to him and hug him as well. Peridot and Bismuth flies to him by using her metallic bending powers and embraces his chest. Spinel in her turn stretches her arms as long as it would embrace all of them in a single hug and does it in her silly way.

"Steven, you never gave up on me on some reason I don't understand! Don't do the same for you!" shouts Peridot.

A second cloud brings Greg, Pearl and Amethyst to his chest.

"I'm here Schtu-ball! Whatever you need, I will make it happen! You hear me?!" Shouts Greg while punching Steven. He once more growls and his eyes furrow in sadness.

"I know you feel bad!" shouts Amethyst "Believe me, I get it! Sometimes it feels you will never like yourself but it's possible, man!"

"Steven!" shouts Pearl while crying "I know how awful it feels to keep a part of yourself a secret! You shouldn't have to hide anything from me!"

Connie gets closer to Steven's face now. Step by step, she calmly gets next to his skin and hugs him.

"You know… I don't have your powers, Steven, but…" her lips touch him softly, as a gentle call to his heart.

He growls as if crying. Tears flow and roll over his face. falling on the earth. The ground shines in pink with each drop, making grass grow in their place. Flowers quickly erupt on them and open, welcoming the pink glow that was growing all over the monster's gigantic body. A blinding light surrounds everyone.

… He hears the chirps first. He calmly opens his eyes and sees the blue sky. Steven sniffs and a finger wipes his tear. He looks around and finds Connie smiling to him, together with all his family and friends. He groans and sits up.

"Wha… I… did I? I'm…!" he sobs.

Lion shows up in front of him and licks his face. Steven giggles.

"Lion…" he embraces him and starts crying "Lion!" his embrace gets tighter while he allows himself to get lost in the smoothness of his mane. His let his tears runs over in cries and sobs. All his sadness, fears and anxieties bubbled inside flows out of him, washed down drop by drop gently, then unruly. Finally freeing him from such burdens.

But to be completely free Steven would soon know that he would have to leave his former life behind. Not burying it in the past as he tried to do until now, but accepting it as a step stone for new opportunities to rise. It wouldn't be easy leaving his family behind, but he just need to remember that they will be always there for him, as long as he carries their love with him in his journey. A journey to his new future.

Author's note: at first, I confess that I had some prejudice when I saw my brother watching Steven Universe. I just thought it was a silly cartoon then. But when I decided to finally sit and watch, I could see how fun it was, and how profound its message could get. There were flaws, the best cartoons have after all, but I consider this one the best among them: how rich, creative and well constructed world it is, how rounded and 3 dimensional are its characters...

... and how touching it could be. Especially in the Steven Universe Future series. For the first time I've identified myself with Steven: feeling stuck with my life, not knowing what to do, what to expect, even now as an adult. That scene during the hospital, when he was pouring his feelings, it struck me deep. I confess I cried, because such thoughts, worse thoughts, came to me as well by similar reasons. It's like watching how lost I was some months ago, and as he, I could see how a loving family can make such difference, but most of all, how it takes courage to take a step towards the change and leave what that didn't work behind. Not leave them as a waste of time, but as a lesson. I'm not saying that I could still manage to get there, to be at peace with my decisions in my past, but I'm trying, as much as Steven is trying, even now, while he travels around the country.

I hope you had fun with this one shot. If you like it, please, leave a review. Maybe, who knows, with enough reviews and attention some fan can make it into a comic, or even an animation (that would be awesome!).

This is my little tribute as a farewell to this amazing show. May it keep touching more people and healing wounded hearts. Goodbye, Steven! I hope the best for you! We all do!