The house grew cold as children slept, multiple groans from the floors, a chilly wind blowing out candles, strange things in the attic, all of it was blackened out by a cloud covering the moon, revealing a single candle … Are you afraid of the Butterfly?
"That's the title we're going with?" Star asked as she roasted marshmallows on the campfire.
"We kinda ran Steven's name through the ground, we've gotta expand." Jana shrugged as she bit into her charred and blackened one. "Besides, this time we get free marshmallows out of it. Who's going to say no to that?"
"It's got my vote." Steven smiled, pulling out some chocolates and crackers. "So what's the plan this time around?"
"Same old stuff, the nine universes … probably for the last time." Marco smiled.
"Really? Feels like some of these have a bit of mileage in them." Kelly stated. "Not all, but some."
"Eh, at most they'll all get their own epilogue section after this towards the end of the story." Tom shrugged.
"Also they don't really need it." Steven smiled. "That's the beauty of a story … it never ends. So many stories came from Steven Universe, now many more can come from this … imagine if an author takes one of these universes and runs wild with them."
"Making a full fanfic of a fanfic. That's almost every fanfic author's dream." Star laughed. "616mcu tried that once, didn't really pan out, especially since the original story got discontinued."
"Hazard Overflow actually had a successful one after working with an author called Crystalquill and joining their story." Jana said. "It worked out, but the ending was controversial … even to him."
"Well, in the end, what's important is that now those two are dedicated to telling and finishing the stories they want to." Marco placed his marshmallow on a graham cracker.
"All we can say is thanks for taking us this far … finally reaching a happy ending." Star smiled, grabbing her smore. "Now we can relax and snack with our friends, right Steven?"
"Absolutely sis." He grinned. "But do you mind letting go, I wanna give Kelly a cuddle."
"... I'm not touching you."
After a bit of silence, they all turned to the zombie holding onto Steven. "... Right, horror franchise …"
========================================================================
Yellow knocked Blue back, sending them against the ground. "Why do you keep trying to fight her Blue, why do you fight us!?" She was in tears at trying to get this amnesiac woman to understand.
"Because…as long as White Diamond exists…no one will ever be happy." The smaller diamond lifted themselves up as they used their scythe weapon to keep themselves steady.
"But we can be!" She shouted. "Pink was safe and you knew … you knew how much it hurt all of us and you said nothing, why!?" Yellow asked as she blasted them. "Do you hate me that much!?"
"Aahhhhhhj!" Blue yelled as she kept firing her powers at her. "I-I..ack…!"
"Get… away from him!"Smacking her right in the face came that disgusting Mewman creature that always tailed Blue along nowadays. " Why do you enjoy hurting him so much!?" The large bug fired off blast after blast of black enegry.
"Do you think I enjoy this!?" She shouted. "With White's rage present this is the only way to save her, it was the only way to save Pink, but the latter still decided to rebel, and we almost shattered her for it!" She blasted at the Mewman, trying to hit her head on.
"Star!" Blue shouted as she glowed and lit up, rushing forward and picking the bug up, Yellow managed to zap it out of the air. "I thought I told you to leave this one to me…!"
" Like…like I would've let you face her alone…I love you too much to do that." The bug dared to caress her fellow Diamond's face with her filthy hands.
"None of this has to happen Blue." Yellow stated as she charged up another attack. "Just surrender, it's easier that way."
Blue still looked as defiant as ever, staring at her with stern was and malice as she placed the Mewman aside. "When was the last time you said you loved me?"
Yellow paused, stopping her charge. "What..?"
"When was the last time you said you loved me?" Blue repeated.
"How is that insignificant question relative to the situation at all!?" Yellow screamed. Blue has somehow managed to surpass Pink in terms of being illogical.
"If it's so insignificant, then you should have no problem answering it for me." Blue walked forward, dropping their weapon. "Tell me right now, and I'll surrender no problem."
"The last time was…" She thought back…ten years ago…one hundred years ago, four thousand years ago, the deeper and deeper she looked, the less and less she found. "The last time's not important! You know I love you!"
"Do I?" Blue pointed her finger at her. "All you've done is attack me every time we meet, saying I shouldn't do anything or else I'll suffer. When was the care?"
"I let you cry through my eyes and held you up when White would have attacked you!" Yellow shouted.! "I was there for you! I was ALWAYS there for you!"
"No you haven't!" Blue yelled back. "Being there is more than just being in the same room as someone! It's about supporting and listening to each other! You don't do that! Anytime Blue tried to move from her grief, you discouraged her! When she made a kingdom on Mewni, you left her there alone instead of helping her! You just let her cry instead of helping her get better!"
Yellow…yellow was finding herself more and more speechless. Is that what she was doing? Was she hurting blue this entire time instead of helping her.
Blue walked back to the Mewman and picked her up. "I love Star, and I know she loves me, because she SHOWS it!" Blue kept going. "She holds my hand, she rubs my head, and everyday when I feel worried or overwhelmed, she tells me everything is going to be alright instead of just telling me to get over myself!"
Yellow was taken about, tears falling from her eyes, and she knew that they weren't from Blue's power.
"Now now, she is looking out for you." The two of them turned to see … Pink Diamond … in a monochrome color … smiling at the two of them. "She wants the best for you, just like I do." It was here and now she truly could comprehend it instead of just listening to White's explanation… Pink was alive.
"You don't want the best for me." Blue growled. "You just want what's best for you, you don't give a damn about anyone else."
White entered the room, tossing a small device onto the floor, along with a being with dying stars and a cracked skull. "The best for anyone is to be perfect. Even if they are flawed." She smiled. "You were all part of my flaws, but I cast them off. I'm truly guilty you cannot do the same."
"You..you did that..to Pink…" Yellow gasped at the sight. This was the ultimate punishment White could give any gem, but to actually do it to one of them…to Pink?
"This game has gone on long enough as it is." A Bismuth smiled. "Did you know she planned on shattering me with a device?"
"You were going to rip apart my home, I had to do something." Blue growled.
"It seems you were in on Blue's little game as well, got caught up in it didn't you Blue?" White's Pearl grabbed Blue, dragging her. "We'll have to bring you back to get your mind in check."
"What are..get your hands off of..!" The Mewman didn't get to finish as she was struck on the back of the head by the Bismuth, knocking them out.
" Such a pitiful creature." The Bismuth shook its head. "You're so desperate to not feel alone that you've clung to such inferior beings. "
"They are not inferior!" Blue sent a wave of rage and hatredto all of them, moving the controlled and purified just a tad. "She is my equal, and you're too high up to see it!"
Yellow never saw anyone fight off White's power before. She didn't think it was possible to resist White's control at all. If that was possible…then maybe they didn't have to listen to- "I've let Pink play her game for far too long and let you off too easily for even longer. Everything should be nice and dandy once your out." White's hand reached out for Blue.
"Out?" Blue asked as White's nails reached for her gem, panic swarming the little Diamond's face. "No, no, no! You can't do that! You don't know what'll happen to me!" They … never truly understood what happened to her … what would happen when that gem was removed?
"You need to be punished for a change." White grasped Blue, lifting her up. "Time for your memories to return."
"No! I don't want this! I don't want this!" Blue cried as despairand turmoilovercame her face. Yellow didn't fully understand why Blue made the choices that she did...but she never hated Blue for them. Memories of when she carried this little Blue in her arms filled Yellow's brain. She was so much smaller now like this, so vulnerable, in need of protection…and Yellow had been attacking her this whole time.
"What you want isn't what you need." She gasped the gem, the small clink sending Yellow into action before she could think. "It's time to come out … Blue-"
CRACK
There was an oppressive silence, drowning the room in disbelief. Even Yellow couldn't believe what she had done … one moment she reached down … the next she shoved that strange metal device into White's gem. They could see the small cracks growing inside of it, White's eyes becoming dazed.
"Wh…wh.." White sputtered as she turned to Yellow. "Why…?"
"You can hurt me all you want.." Yellow cried, not even trying to hold a strong facade in this horrible situation. "But don't you ever…ever hurt Blue."
"I …" It spread further … "I …"
CLING
White's image faded away, her shards falling to the ground … shining with the small light there was … and Yellow's tears. "I … I had to …" It hurts, it hurts …
"Yellow..!" Blue ran to her hand and clung to her leg in a hug, the room becoming much more blue in tint. "I'm…I'm sorry…I'm sorry.." Blue was safe from White…that's all that mattered.
"Yellow..?" They turned their heads to see Pink walking towards them. "I..I.."
"Ssssh." Yellow quieted the now second smallest gem as she held the two close in her arms. "It's okay…we're all here now….we're together again."
========================================================================
Star rolled her eyes. The Commission finally got a hold of Eclipsa the Dark Queen, and they were making her hold a trial of all things. It was ridiculous, she was obviously evil, they should just kill her now. But nooo, the Rose Guard wanted to defend her.
"I propose Truth by Box." Truth by what now?
"Oh thank corn." That annoying time out guy with the crystal head spoke as he wiped his desk clean of all evidence they apparently needed to go through in order to 'prosecute' the evil queen. "I didn't want to spend the next two days just listing off every boring detail."
"Wait, what's truth by box?" That horned kid who somehow managed to always give her a headache whenever he was around asked.
"Magic lie detector." The Rose Guard explained. Oh, nice way to finally enact justice quickly. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"We may as well speed it along. It's not like they'll say I'm innocent."
"Geez, you're really giving me a lot of confidence here mom." The disgusting hybrid daughter of Eclipsa groaned.
"Well it was either I surrender or they crystalize my entire family, so obviously I went with the less emotionally damning option."
The small annoying guy known as Sean came in, presenting the object in question. "Now presenting … the Box of truth!
"TRUTH OR PUNISHMENT!" The boy shouted.
"KILL IT WITH FIRE!" The hybrid stretched her hand in an attempt to punch it.
"Why did you let them play with the box again?" Rose questioned the dark queen.
"If it has a mode for slumber parties, then it can be played with." They shrugged. "Thought it would spice up their little get together."
"The only thing it accomplished was me having context for why Ponyhead acted so weird around me." The Steven kid shuddered. Star was on the fence if she should hunt down her best friend for treason for her taste in guys.
"Who do you have a crush on?"
"Jana!" The boy shouted.
"Marco!" The hybrid shouted.
"The Rose Guard!" … Everyone turned to the now sweating time out guy. "I um … we should get started with this thing."
"I'm already regretting this decision." Heckapoo grumbled as the box lifted up with a little hologram, showing off an image of the spell book. "Did you tap into Dark magic and create the forbidden chapter?"
"For starters, I'm not the one that called it the forbidden chapter just so we're clear." Eclipsa rolled her eyes. "But yes, I did, and from everything I've seen, Princess Star here seems to be pretty proficient in most of them, or are those black veins on her arms just for show?"
She growled. "There was little choice in the matter … it's the only thing that works on your freak of a son." As much as Star despised herself for it.
"You jump at every opportunity to kill my sister, and we don't even live in Mewni." Steven rolled his eyes. "Hope you enjoy the numb fingers." She wanted to gut this bastard so, so much.
"TRUTH! " The box announced as Heckapoo gave a little check mark next to the Guilty section. Hah, they were closer to closing the book on this bitch for good.
"Next question." The screen now showed a new image of a man. "Did you abandon both Shastican, your husband, and the Kingdom of Mewni, for a monster?" It showed her ditching the guy and jumping into the arms of a gross giant.
"Ah … hello sweetie." She caressed it like a freak of nature. "Yes, I did. Shastican was quite abusive as a person, and I found happiness in redeeming Globgor."
"He ate an entire village after you were crystalized." Mom deadpanned.
"We all do crazy things in the midst of our grief. My husband ate people, you sent the entire Serpetari race to extinction, after you came to ME to help avenge your mother. You're welcome for that, by the way."
"TRUTH!" As Heckapoo put another check for evil. Mom just shifted uncomfortably as she rubbed her arms. No need to be ashamed. That actually made Star more confident in her own decision to learn Dark Magic.
"I guess that leaves Rhombulus to go nex-"
"Did you destroy that dimension!?"
There was silence for a moment. "... Skywyne." Hekapoo sighed. "It was Skywyne."
"Baagggg." Lekmet deadpanned.
"Oh, ah, I want a redo!"
"There are no redos in this court." It displayed an image of a cartoony Eclipsa hitting a solar system with a hammer.
"Hehe, sorry to disappoint you, but I have never committed the destruction of a single universe, no matter how much I am tempted every now and again." The dark queen smugly laughed.
"TRUTH!"
The two children facepalmed. "Was she always this bad at incriminating herself?" The hybrid girl asked the Rose Guard.
"She couldn't even get away with putting her hand in a cookie child." The Rose guard sighed as thankfully they were able to count her as guilty. Star was so close to shattering rockface's head too for the idiocy.
Lekmet stood up, clearing their throat. "Baaaggg." The scene displayed an image of Eclipsa delivering a crippling blow onto Mina Loveberry, a visible wound present to this day on the supposed indestructible warrior.
"Yes, I did attack Mina Loveberry with lethal intention, but there's more to the story." Eclipsa chuckled. "The woman had been living in a dumpster and her mind was practically mush. My children's dear friend Marco Diaz did everything in his power to help her adjust to society, but that still didn't stop her from going on a mindless rampage that almost devastated Echo City if I hadn't intervened."
"Hah, a likely story!" Star laughed. "There's no way a noble warrior like Mina would ever fall from grace like-!"
"Truth." Everyone except for the dark queen's children and the Rose Guard's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Eclipsa…acted…nobly?
"Well, guess a busted clock can be right every other century." Omni grumbled as Heckpaoo had no choice but to check the mark as innocent. Like that would stop the inevitable from coming. "Moon, you have the last question."
"Actually, I don't, Rose goes next." Her mom sighed. "She may be an independent force, but she's still a member of the commission."
"Good." The woman smiled haughty. "Now let's get onto the real question … What is the full story for Meteora after Eclipsa was frozen?"
"The full story?" Star and Meteora asked at the same time. It felt dirty to breathe the same air as her.
"Yes, the full story that happened three hundred years ago." Rose pointed to the Commission. "You're plans that involved two innocent babies that you gambled their entire lives on for the sake of yourselves."
"I don't know what you're talking about." The timeout guy pouted.
"Yeah, you're being ridiculous." The flaming woman looked off put.
"We did nothing wrong. " Omnitraxus stated.
"Baaggg." … What?
"I was … given away?" Said girl asked in confusion.
"Dude, you ratted us out!" Rhombulus shouted.
"Baaggg." Yeah, they would have been forced to tell the truth, but what truth?
"Omni, Heckapoo, what are they talking about?" Mom asked. "If this involves my family, I deserve to have a right to know."
Omnitraxus sighed. "After Meteora was born, Shastican wanted nothing to do with a freak like her." He rightfully stated. "So he gave her away to the Saint Olga drone to be raised away from Mewni."
"Saint … Olga?" The hybrid was clutching her head tightly. "Mom … why does that sound familiar?"
"Because for the first three years of your life, you were raised in Saint Olga's, a reformatory school for princesses located in Mewni." Rose answered for the dark queen. "Although it's more accurate to call it a medieval prisoner that brainwashes girls into blind obedience." They rolled their eyes.
"But …" Steven looked confused. "That was three hundred years ago … how did …"
"You wouldn't have known because you were just one at the time." Eclipsa sighed sadly. "After I made my bargain with Rose for my freedom, she guided me to Earth where I attempted to live my own life. Rose had done her damndest to figure out where Meteora was, and once she narrowed it down, she gave me Skywyne's hourglass to use."
"She gifted you what!?" Omnitraxus shouted. "Do you have any idea what that could do to the timeline!? For all we know there could be a second Meteora running around!"
"There's not, because Ms. Heinous no longer exists." Rose mentioned.
"Ms. who?" Heckapoo asked.
"Who Meteora would've grown into had she stayed." Rose continued. "A bitter old woman who tortured and killed little girls for the sake of making the 'perfect princess'.
"I … was …" The girl was looking as baffled as Star felt.
"Wait, what about us?" Mom asked. "If Meteora went away, then Festiva should have …"
"Festiva wasn't any Butterfly's daughter." Rhombulous sighed. "We picked up a random pie folk girl and gave her the wand. We'd thought 'hey, start from scratch, no one will notice'."
"You did what!?" Steven shouted. "You did all that just because you didn't like monsters!?"
Star … wasn't a Butterfly … it was … all a lie … a big, fat, lie.
"Alright." The annoying box spoke up as Star stood. "Next question goes to-" She reached up, a massive skeletal hand of white and black flames came crashing from the ground, grasping the blue box until it shattered into pieces.
"A lie …" She laughed. "A lie …"
"Star, calm down…" Mom tried to say.
"Oh, don't worry Mom, you're innocent." She smiled, feeling fire and souls flooding her veins as her skin became etched in nightmares and darkness. "That means … you're the only person in this room that gets to live."
The ground shook as she channeled power, the gates of the underworld making way and forced open, as skeletons and zombies formed, hell flames took on souls as they cackled in glee. "Like you said … start from scratch right?" She laughed. "Then no more Commission, no monsters, no Eclipsa, no ROSE GUARD! It's all a new game!" She exploded as she let all her built up frustration and sorrow flow.
"Alright, that's enough out of…!" Rhombulus tried shooting those pesky rocks at her, but she ignored them as she used her wand to slice them clean open, and plunge her sword right into the snake man's gut. "... Rose, I feel this is a 'truce' situation …" He muttered.
The Rose Guard formed a bubble around her. "Aww, nice attempt." She let the temperature rise as it began to melt.
"Children, get out of here!" Eclipsa commanded the two freaks.
"No! We're not going to leave anyone!" Steven shouted as his freak of a sister stood next to him, using that dumb laser staff to fire at her.
"Good…I needed to get rid of the biggest obstacles in my way." She pressed against the White light … and kept pushing. "Ha, I was right! Darkness beats that freaky light, and guess what, I'm chock full of it!!" She formed a spear that cleaved through the annoying light and dug into the boy's shoulder.
"STEVEN!" Meteora immediately rushed in and hugged the boy from the front as Star readied to bring the spear down on them both.
"Victim or not, you're still a ugly nuisance that'll only get in my way." Star growled as she was bringing it down. "Bye, Bye, little Butterfl-"
Another light was flashed, this time a light green tint was formed from it, and from where Steven and Meteora stood, a single, taller, four armed creature of ambiguous gender formed, five horns adorning its head along with dagger like nails and a tail. "Whoa…that's weird."
"It's…fusion." Rose said in awe.
"It's beautiful." Eclipsa said in pride.
"It's dead!" Whatever this thing was, all it meant was that she had one target now instead of two.
"No we're not!" The figure blasted that green tinted white energy. "And the name…is…Stevora!"
They clashed, letting their energy hit the center, clashing out in a burst of energy. The center of the beams collided into a ball that was getting bigger and bigger. "Doesn't matter what your name is! The vultures that'll feast on your body won't have to know it!"
"Star, calm down! You're going to blow this whole building apart!" Mom called out to her.
"Then get out of here, I've come too far to stop-hey!" She was distracted from her battle as Lekmet tried to grab her from behind. "Don't interrupt me!" She gave a powerful kick, ripping off the head of that goat bastard.
"LECKMET!" The freaky figure shouted as their eyes narrowed in anger. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Stevora increased the power of their beam, tendrils of green light beginning to warp around Star's and head towards her.
"It doesn't matter if you beat me here! I'll never stop hating everyone here! I'll never stop hunting you all down! And I won't stop until you're all bloody smears against my bo-" The green tendril finally hit her, and suddenly they felt something….off…something… draining.
"It won't matter if you can't do anything about it!" They shouted, rushing in closer, shrugging the beam off as they grabbed her by the face. "Step out of the shadows for once, and embrace the light!"
"You should embrace the truth!" She shouted, trying to burn them. "You're a freak of nature that needs to be eradicated!"
"I'm a freak…and that's alright!" More and more those green tendrils dug into her, and the more drained she felt. "I'm a freak that cares, that loves, that supports the people around me! Who lives more, something more than the piles of needless bloodshed! Who are you beyond your magic!? Beyond all the red in your ledger!?"
"I'm….I'm… I…I…" She felt herself get weaker as the dark aura disappeared around her body, the passage to the underworld closing and the zombie's dissipating. "No…NO! My darkness! My Magic!" Star hit the ground, finding herself gravelling at the ground. "What did you do!?"
"We took away your magic." The freak growled. "Regular and dark, you can't use it ever gain."
"You … bastard." She growled, her hands coated in fire. "I'm still part Lucitor … you can't just rip out the thousands of souls that give me power." The fire enlarged…before going out. "What?"
"Oh, you mean these things?" The freak laughed as they unveiled a ball with thousands of little souls, each one screaming with fiery vengeance before they pressed their lips against it and swallowed them whole. "Soul sucking was the first trick Meteora ever learned after kicking the ass of anyone that messes with her family."
"… This is bringing back some very horrifying memories of White." Rose muttered somewhere.
"Be grateful for it." Eclipsa turned to the commission, her binds having been undone in all the chaos. "I know my history isn't the cleanest, but what I seek most of all is a quiet life with my children. I don't want the throne and I don't want the wand. I won't seek to free my husband if you agree to leave me and the rest of my family alone."
"Done deal." Hekapoo waved it off with mild panic. "Just leave, just leave and never bring your children back."
"NO!" Star yelled.
"YEAH!" The freak jumped, before splitting back into those bastards. "We're finally free, Steven!"
"No! Don't let these freaks get away! We have to.." Star felt herself being tied up with magic…by her own mom.
"There's a lot of things we need to do, Star." Her mom spoke with tears in her eyes. "The most being my apologies…for putting you on such a destructive path."
"She learned from her mistake!" Rose shouted. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"You can sass me or let me try to set her straight."
"I can do both, I've lived long enough to deserve the gloating."
"No wonder Glossaryck says you're just like him." At mom's comment Rose was shocked into silence. "Star … we have to stop."
"No…No…we can't be wrong…I went too far for this kingdom! For you!!" Star cried out as she fell to the ground. "I've…I've gone too far to go back to anything else."
"There's always room for change." That bitch Meteora had the gall to smile at her. "That's what makes us people."
"This doesn't change anything between us." Star growled as she was dragged off by her mom and the rest of the commission. "Magic or not, I'll come back."
"And I'll be waiting." Steven glared at her. "Come on, let's go."
"Yeah, I'm with you." Meteora walked, pausing at the exit. "… So about Rose and Rhombulus…"
"Oh would you look at that portal, let's go."
========================================================================
If you had told Rhinestone that he would be in charge of his own fleet by the time he was fourteen, he would've laughed at the fact it didn't come sooner. He knew that made him sound just a little like a power hungry maniac, but he worked hard for a chance to show his mettle.
But here he was, holding authority over a million soldiers capable of wiping out planets. The crazy gem people like Pearl and Rose now subservient to him and him alone. "And … you'll just do what I say?" He asked Jasper, who was next to another Pearl … which was freaky in itself.
"Yes, my Diamond." The raspy sounding gem bowed. "You brought in that traitorous Rose Quartz, I kneel at your power."
"And you're my personal servant, who will bend to every whim I have?" He questioned the Yellow Pearl.
"Of course my Diamond, I'm happy to serve someone as radiant as you." She gave him a weird salute.
This was freaky, to have so much power so suddenly. "Alright Rhinestone, let's try to get the facts straight." He muttered, beginning to pace. "Gems feed on planets to make new gems, led by the Diamonds. As the son of the best military commander of the four of them, you inherit their military … to do what?" He asked himself.
"To expand the empire." The Jasper clarified. "We create colonies to make more gems. We move onto the next and continue to expand."
"No, that's what White wants to do." He clarified, deciding to focus on that later. "What do … I use this for?" He always felt so powerless in situations … but now he had all the power in the universe.
"For expanding the empire of course." Yellow Pearl nodded. "We live to fulfill that purpose by any means necessary."
So this mass military force really just existed just in case any of the planet's inhabitants got a little too tricky to handle. Seemed like a bit of a waste in all honesty. "If I were to, shall we say, set my sights on…removing, shall we say, certain liable organizations in my way, would you all be ready and set to remove them at my call?"
"I'll crush them myself and leave nothing but dust from their pathetic organic bones." Jasper spoke with a bow.
This was it…this was finally the answer he was waiting for. He finally had a way to protect his entire family from everyone trying to hurt them. "Good, I think for the first order of business…"
There was a siren. "INTRUDER!" A voice shouted, followed by a familiar explosion.
"Don't worry my Diamond, I'll obliterate anyone who dares to come onto your ship." Jasper cracked her knuckles.
"Hold on, give it a second, I think I know who this is." Rhinestone waved his hand in the air to pause, as the door to the room burst open.
"GIVE….ME…BACK….MY…BROTHER!" Star panted, electricity flowing all over her lizardy body.
"Hey Star." He waved. "I'm fine, don't worry."
"A … Mewman?" Yellow Pearl muttered. "They haven't been seen in decades …"
"Rhinestone!" She tackled him to the wall, which promptly cracked. "You're alive!" Star shouted. "Don't worry, we'll beat everyone up and get you out of-"
"Get your hands off my Diamond!" Jasper growled as she grabbed Star by the tail and flung her into one of the control panels.
"Alright, you filthy sack of space rock, I'm not afraid to tussle with the likes off…"
"ENOUGH!" Rhinestone shot himself in the middle before fists could collide, taking out his trident to tell everyone he meant business. "Jasper, stand down. As…forward as the Mewman may be, she is an ally."
They immediately stopped, bowing down. "Wow … fastest redemption to date." Star muttered. "How long did it take for this one?"
"Literally like one second. The moment I showed off my gem to everyone, they all backed off." Rhinestone laughed. "Makes hiding it all these years seem almost silly by comparison."
"Super awesome." The girl snorted. "So what, you're a space queen now?"
"Something to that effect." He shrugged, for once deciding to not blast his sister in the back for the insult. "I have an entire army at my beck and call now that'll do whatever I want. For once, I don't have to sleep with one eye open anymore."
"If you are worried about a sleeping cycle being interrupted, I can watch you while you sleep.." Yellow Pearl offered.
"Hah, I think I'm going to like this Pearl." Star chuckled. "But seriously, what are you going to do with these people? Can't imagine you can just reveal yourself to a space empire and leave whenever you want."
"We're going to use them to help us." He smirked. "With our lifelong dream."
She gasped. "Making the sides of monsters and mewman's equally equipped on Mewnipendence day?"
"Exactly." Rhinestone nodded, standing on top of the command chair. "We know how afraid the Magical High Commission are of Gems. With this much firepower and technology backing us up, no one's going to muster the will to fight back."
"Wait …" His sister lost her grin. "Are you talking about … war?"
"No…well, not exactly." Rhinestone responded. "I want above all else for my family to be protected no matter what. Riots on Mewni are getting more frequent and my identity has already gone down the toilet thanks to Rose." He grumbled. "I'm not naive enough to say this won't end with some fighting coming out of it."
"I know, but….Rhinestone, you're talking about bringing an entire space fleet on all of Mewni. That alone looks terrifying and diabolical." Star looked at him with more concern. "Doesn't that show of force seem just…overkill if you just want us safe?"
"Star, this is a good thing." Rhinestone told his sister. "The MHC, Johansions, and Crystal gems are always going to find ways to come after us. By embracing this yellow diamond thing, I can get all our enemies off our backs for good."
"So you're going to do the one thing everyone accuses you of already being?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Which is the sole reason they want to come after you in the first place."
"It doesn't matter how much good I try to do, everyone always sees an irredeemable monster."
"They said the same thing about dad …" She let out a few tears. "About me … I should just embrace what they say?"
"No..!" He hugged his sister. "I'm just…I'm just so tired of trying…I may be a diamond l, but I feel like I'm going to break at any second."
"You're not going to break, that's why I'm here." Star wrapped her tail around him as she hugged him. "Any time it gets too tough, just leave it to me … remember that, alright?"
"Alright…alright." He patted her on the back as he let go. "I guess bringing an entire army did seem like the makings of a maniacal tyrant."
"You think?" Star snorted, before turning to the other gems. "Can you tell them to stop glaring at me though? We're going to be working together, and I'd not worry about being tackled just for hugging you."
"Oh, Star, this is Jasper, and Pearl." He showed off the two gems. "This is Star, she's to be treated with the utmost respect … or else." He glared, letting lightning dance at his fingertips.
"Yes, my Diamond." The two responded simultaneously as they bowed.
"You know, I'm more surprised Spinel didn't break in with you." Rhinestone pondered. "This seems more like a her thing than a you thing.
"Oh right." The girl's eyes widened as she chuckled. "I almost forgot I left her to start pressing all the buttons on the controls."
"...Pearl, prepare everyone on board for a crash landing." Rhinestone sighed, even though deep inside, he was grateful to have his family with him through it all.
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Dante was knocked into a wall. "I see the missing eye hasn't stopped you from being able to land a hit." He snarked.
"And I see that your new friend group hasn't made you grow up in the slightest." Toffee growled, pressing his tail against him as Dante burned it off for like the millionth time by this point.
"Not for lack of trying, I can assure you." Nora ice slid into the area and froze Toffee by the feet as Connie used a battle ax to smash his button half into pieces.
"What can I say, I'm over eight thousand years old and still have baby smooth skin. Experience and looks, the complete package." Dante snorted as he lit himself into a fireball and blasted him right towards his girlfriend.
"Well you could have some more firepower!" Meteora grew her arm and hit Toffee through a wall. "This isn't working."
"He just keeps regenerating! How did you take out his eye?" Star asked, trying to blast him from her position.
"Meteora's face lit up and my gem glowed when I ripped it out of his socket." Dante said as he threw more and more fire right towards that lizardy bastard. "We've only been able to use our powers like that during life and death situations."
"How does this not count as life and death!?" Connie shouted as Toffee came roaring out, hitting her to the floor with a claw raised.
"Because right now he's just been playing with us the entire time." Meteora grumbled as she made herself hulking size. "He's only here to distract us from interrupting that weapons trade of gem tech."
"Salvaged from your little excursion on that beach quite a while ago." Toffee snickered. "Anti magic tasers and shields, what monster wouldn't give an arm for that sort of firepower?"
"Great, our mistakes are coming to haunt us, what else is new?" Nora rolled her eyes as she began to freeze him over once more.
"It seems you children still don't fully comprehend the true stakes at hand." Toffee snarled as he used whatever strength he had left in his body to rip himself out of the hold, tearing off his arms and legs in the process. "This war is beyond you, it's even grown beyond me. Defeating me won't change a damn thing in the grand scheme of things." Deep down, Dante knew the bastard was right. The only true way out was to ditch Mewni altogether, but his Mom cared about this place too much to leave it behind.
"No, but I'll feel a hell of a lot better when you're just a greasy smear on the pavement!" Star shouted, blasting him into the wall. "This is my home and it's my responsibility to fix it!" She exclaimed. "I am Star Universe, and I will bring peace to Mewni one way or another!"
"Star …" The lizard bastard instantly stopped, before laughing in a deranged manner. "What do you know, two of the people I want to kill most in this world have shown up on my footsteps."
"We could've done this without you revealing your true identity, miss princess." Dante rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah, everyone wants to kill Mewmans, big deal." Star rolled her eyes.
"Oh yes … Star ..." Toffee laughed. "You know, despite how much I hate Dante, I don't want to kill him." He went on with another tangent to probably buy time. "I want him to suffer, I want to kill everyone he cares about first and leave him so broken he won't muster the strength to fight."
"You and a million other people in the neverzone." Dante laughed. "Seeing how much you've sucked in doing so for the past thousand years from my perspective, you're a long way off there, junior."
The lizard bastard merely smirked. "My other target is Moon … I already killed her mother … her daughter may finally break that woman's spirit."
"Don't you dare talk about my Mo.." Star aimed to launch herself forward, but Meteora held her back.
"This is what he does. If he can't outlive something he sees as a threat, he mocks it." Meteora explained. "He's like a lawyer, deprived and immoral in the worst of ways, but he knows how to talk out of a situation."
Toffee cackled. "Oh, I can do so much more than talk … I can fight!" The lizard rushed forward once more, opening their jaws and biting on Metora's giant arm, ripping a chunk of flesh out.
"Meteora!" Dante rushed in and got her out of the way from the carnage. "You're alright, you're alright, you're going to be alright…"
"I…I keep forgetting…how cute you are…when you dote…" Meteora snickered under her breath, placing his hand on her wound. "Cauterize it quick, I'm still young enough to stay in the fight."
"Not for long!" Connie drove an axe into Toffee's skull. "We need to go, now! We've wasted enough time as it is."
"No!" I'm staying here until I know for sure this sewage rat is dead!" Star yelled into the air as she put icy rainbow gauntlets around her fists and began beating Toffee into a bloody pulp.
"That's…exactly what your father said…right before I ripped his throat out." Toffee, even with his messed up snout of a face, managed to grin widely. "You have so much in common-" Each sentence was met with a fist to a face, getting only more fierce and deadly with every strike.. "-with…him. You're both…such blundering idiots."
"Just! Shut!" Star raised her hands, gauntlets doubling in size. "UP!" And with a final swing, she bashed his head clean through, panting, before the headless body grabbed her by the shoulders, claws digging into her.
"Star!" Nora cried as she got in close, only for Toffee's tail to bat her away.
"If there's one single thing in this damn universe that brings me joy, it's stomping on little Butterflys that fly too close to the sun." The disembodied head slowly reformed. "I stomp there, I crush them, and I break them.."
"Not…before…I break…YOU!" Nora froze the body that held onto their sister, before grabbing the head, the marks on her face glowing along with Star's. "You'll never…EVER hurt my family again, Toffee!" With that, She began freezing the head all over with an ice that held a rainbow tint within it.
"Hahahahaha! You can't do anything! No prison can hold me, there's no barrier I can…" Toffee's voice began to stutter..' "I can…." It almost sounded like he was shivering. "So…cold….I…can't…I can't feel anything….."
The headless body of Toffee moved once more, breaking the ice it was trapped in to grab the girl from behind…only to pause itself….and fall over limp.
"… I killed him …" Nora muttered. "I …killed someone…" Dante just went over to his sister and hugged her. This wasn't a moment to be praised or celebrated. The War had claimed yet another innocence, and in spite of all the good that became of it, they wouldn't be able to get it back. "Dante…does it get better?"
"The pain numbs….but it'll always be there." He spoke with honesty and grimness. "Just…don't push yourself away…the moment you find yourself alone, it begins to crack you little by little."
Star and Connie joined, hugging her tightly as small tears came out of her eyes, simply resting in one of the few calm moments of their life.
========================================================================
Where was Ruby? Sapphire had spent weeks upon months looking with no sign of the gem. Simply wandering over and over across the barren plains, avoiding the gem mutants that had gone silent as of late.
Her future vision was practically null and void by this point. Ever since that Mewman girl blasted the cluster, every pathway she saw ended up either dark or closed off. Anytime she tried to push back against the block on her powers, she'd end up coming up short or with a splitting headache.
The only thing she was able to see was the endless wasteland over and over, destroyed towns everywhere. It made one wonder what was the point of it all at times. Her entire team was gone and Steven…poor Steven, the kid that gave her the closest feeling to having a child was either dead or just as alone as she was. Part of her hoped for the former, just so Amethyst's son wouldn't have to suffer the same torment she experienced all those years alone in the kindergarten.
Sapphire continued to trudge forward into a cave. Who knows, maybe Ruby was making a camp here to hide from the gem mutants, then they'd-"Take this intruder!" A metal pipe nearly took her head off. If she wasn't so surprised by the fact there was someone else alive, she might have been more fearful of nearly poofing.
"Hello there." She greeted the human girl trying to attack her. "I didn't think anyone else survived."
"Oh, a gem that isn't a mutant. Weird.." Her would-be assailant looked at her curiously. "Hey Steven, is this one of yours or someone we should try to shatter?"
"Steven?" She could hardly process the word as a familiar purple boy came out of a hole in the wall.
"Um … I don't know her." The boy that survived thankfully, with friends as well, spoke. "I don't want to shatter her but …"
"Your favorite food is stale donuts behind the big donuts, and you're afraid of penguins because you think they have pent up aggression from not being able to fly."
"You're afraid of penguins?" The demon looking boy with an octopus tentacle snickered. "Pfft, so lame."
"Oh, as lame as the guy who swims with knee pads and arm guards?" The blonde haired girl she vaguely recalled Steven hanging around with before snorted.
"Guys, focus on that stuff later." Steven shook his head. "How would you know any of that? The only one's who'd know are the Crystal Gems."
"We were going to wait until you were fourteen as a birthday present … but I guess the surprise is spoiled." Sapphire raised her hand, showing off her gemstone. "I'm Saphire … I'm half of Garnet."
"Garnet's a fusion?" Steven's eyes widened, before he groaned. "Why did it take the literal end of the world for you guys to reveal important information?"
"Again, it was meant to be a birthday story … the tale of us meeting is pretty, as humans put it, 'adulterated'." Sapphire didn't see anything wrong with it. They'd all learn eventually.
"Oh, sound's erotic." The pipe wielding girl laughed as she scooted closer to the demon boy. "Whataya say Marco? Wanna makes things a little more steamy around here?"
"You're still trying to talk me and Star into Polyamory, don't bring genetics into this." The now named Marco scoffed. "So, where did you go when shit went to the walls?" He asked, taking on an untrusting pose.
"When the explosion happened, Garnet poofed and … I woke up alone." Sapphire explained. "I've been wandering since then."
"So that's what Star meant by splitting." Steven sighed as she approached her. "I'm sorry you had to be alone all that time, believe me, I've been looking far and wide for all of you, and the closest lead I have on Pearl is that she's buried somewhere."
"It's alright, I'm just relieved you weren't alone. It was the one request Amethyst asked." She let out a few small tears before finally hugging the boy, having her first real sense of warmth and comfort in over a year. "I'm sorry we weren't enough to stop the Cluster …"
"You did your best, and that was enough." Steven gave her a small smile before turning to the group. "Well, since you're new here, might as well introduce you to the fam. The pipe girl over there is Jana Ordana. She's as crazy as she looks, maybe even crazier."
"The human body can only display so much madness before the mind expands." Said girl boasted, and suddenly Sapphire felt maybe Steven was a bit desperate for any and all company at the time.
"The bastard right next to her is my best friend Marco. We try to kill each other at least once a week." Steven continued with a dismissive eye roll and smirk.
"Keep one eye open tonight." The boy smirked and waved his tentacle arm. "This guy still doesn't get the concept of not eating intestines."
"Let us ravish the world!" What sort of hell did she leave her baby in?
"And lastly, but certainly not least, the goddess of badassery that can whoop everyone's ass here from sheer coolness alone, my girlfriend Jackie Lynn Thomas." The boy went to said girl's side and affection hung off her shoulder.
"I believe we've already met." The girl smirked, extending her hand for a shake.
"I'm glad he has a single sane friend." Sapphire shook it.
"Then there's Star, but we'll introduce you when we head back to base." Steven rambled.
"I guess we haven't found Rose then." Everyone got very quiet for some reason.
"Yeah, about that…so…I know that Rose shattered Pink Diamond…but do you know how it happened?" Steven asked her.
She didn't want him to learn the truth at all, but given the circumstances, preserving that innocence was probably impossible by this point. "She used her sword to-"
"Nope, it was faked, Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond the whole time." Marco said with no tact. "After everything went to shit, she flew back to Homeworld to get help, and brought Yellow Diamond to earth."
Sapphire absorbed the information and let it sit for a good minute. "Ah, Sapphire?" Steven waved his hand in front of her hair. "You good?"
"Steven … how many of your friends can survive sub zero temperature?" She asked very delicately, frost running down her arms. "Because i'm doing my best to hold back before I explode …"
"So this is our cue to run then?" Jana asked as everyone began scrambling for supplies.
"Best to put fifty miles between you and me…I won't defrost until the morning." She had many things to vent about.
========================================================================
M-0 watched as they entered a new world. "Wow … so … bland." She said, looking at the barren wasteland before them, no plants, trees, or water. At least the sky had a pretty sun.
"M-0, don't be rude." ST-1 nudged her from behind. Her child had been gone for a good while, and suddenly their home was moving fast. "Steven did best to find new world. Be nice even if boring."
"Sorry about that, we had to find a planet so remote that it would be completely out of the Diamond's radius." The male that followed her child around, Ste-van, explained as everyone exited the craft.
"Unfortunately we have a problem." The green gem with lots of buttons began rambling on. "Due to the position of the sun and the constitution of materials, the right structure of molecules didn't form during the primordial boiling stages of the planetoid."
"In english?" Ste-van asked. "Or gem speak … or whatever?"
The green gem sighed. "This planet can't support life." That made Ste-van look worried and afraid for some reason. "The zoo had enough supplies to support the organics for another month at the most, but without Homeworld's resources, we have no way to restock or gain more."
"Don't tell me you're holding out on my best friend." The stretchy pink one said from behind the green on as they swung around the pretty and long glowing knife. "You'll know what happens if you do."
"Agggh, don't threaten me, I'm just being honest about the facts!" The green one tried to back away.
The big buff yellow one looked around. "We might be able to terraform if we ration it right, but with supplies as limited as they are, not everyone would survive it."
"Just … just let me think." Ste-van said, moving to a wall to lean on. "We have to stay far away, we don't have many supplies, we can't terraform without losing people …" He groaned. "Why can't I save everyone?" He asked with exhaustion and fear.
"Don't cry, don't fear." Her child hugged Ste-van as her face lit up like a sparkly ball. "I'm here, I make it better, we make it better."
"Thanks Star…I'm sorry I brought you into this mess." The boy hugged her child back as pink light glowed from his stomach.
"No sorry. I'm happy to be in a mess with you." The girl laughed as she began the mating ritual with lip contact as an even brighter light shined before everyone, revealing in place a pretty looking bug creature.
"Whoa…this is still so freaky." The pretty looking bug walked around and felt the dry and bland ground around them. "So gray…it could really use a little more green." The pretty bug's hand glowed, more and more shiny light entering the area as the ground started to sprout some of that fun green stuff that helped scratched her back.
She watched with the others as the green began to expand further and further. "Wow …" The stretchy pink one smiled. "Super cool! Lots of room to play with!"
The tiny green one looked at her things. "Well I found my next project. Figuring out how this is scientifically possible."
"If there was anything my Diamond was best at, it was managing to create something from seemingly nothing." The buff one let out a light snort.
She turned to the tall pale one, who watched with silence and sparkly eyes, patting the bug on the head with a proud look.
"Thank you for sticking with me…us…" The bug hugged the pale one, before turning to the rest of the land. "Well, looks like we have some work to do."
========================================================================
Quaser kicked a rock. "Sure, out of everywhere on earth to pick for hiding, I end up picking the place without breathable air." He groaned, making sure his bubble was secure. "Because why not add to the miserable week I've been having?" His sister killed Mina … a part of him was still coming to terms with that.
He couldn't fully hate the girl, she was his sister … but a large enough part of him did. He would remove her traitorous existence and remove the filthy monsters from the multiverse. Mina always warned him that traitors would pop up anywhere and everywhere, but to have it be the girl he grew up with…that was almost too much to take.
It wasn't that she just killed the only other being he felt such a close familial bond to, it was the sudden change in heart. They always encouraged each other during their exploits, they made bets on who would be able to serve the most Kappa heads by the time they were twenty, and suddenly…that was all gone. Suddenly everything they were ever taught and encouraged was 'wrong' in her eyes.
"Was it all a lie?" He asked aloud. "Was every single thing we went through a lie to you?" Were all those moments false?
"A lie, a lie!"
"I guess it was … some voice that's not mine." He opened his eyes wide, looking around, only to find a purple copy of him, to an uncanny level of detail … other than a gem in their chest.
"Voice that's not mine." The creature stared at him, copying the level of confusion he had on his face to a complete t.
"Agg! Who are you!" Quasar asked, getting in a defensive position.
"Who are you!?" The creature asked back.
"I asked you first!"
"I asked you first!" … He couldn't tell if they were intentionally fucking with him, or were really just that dumb.
"Whatever, just stay away from me." He growled as he turned his head.
"Whatever, just stay away from me." The creature copied as it continued to follow him.
"I know you're still behind me, go away before I get pissed." Quaser did his best to keep his eye's forward.
"Go away before I get pissed!" She shouted back.
"Look, I don't even want to be here, but this is the only place that I have now!" Quaser didn't know why he started talking to this thing like it was a person, maybe it was the annoyance or maybe it was the boredom. Probably both.
"This is the only place I have now!" The creature shouted back.
"... Did you understand me?" He asked with confusion.
"Understand me." They pointed at themselves, now glowing as they changed into a small purple girl with bushy hair, the gem still present in their chest.
"Whoa, you're a tiny little…thing…aren't you?" Quasar looked at the girl curiously.
She stared at his finger, pointing at herself. "Little thing?"
"Yeah, you're a little thing." He almost felt amused at her confusion. It was oddly endearing. "So you're all alone here too, aren't you? No home, no family?"
"No home, no family?" The head tilt made it seem like she didn't even understand the words.
"Where do … you sit?" He tried to repeat the motions to make it clearer.
"Sit …" She moved to one of the many holes in the wall, pointing to one.
"You just live in one of these holes?" On closer expectation, it actually matched her completely … it was more like she c ame from the hole. "How long have you been here?"
"How long…?" The girl held her own head, looking like she was struggling. "How long, how long, how long, how long, how long.."
"Whoa, whoa, okay, it's not that important." He pressed his hand against her mouth and made her stop. "So, what do you want to do?"
"Want …" They seemed confused again.
"You know, like….where do you want to go? What do you want to see?" His stomach growled. "Or, what do you want to eat?"
"Eat?"
"Oh corn, I hope you haven't been here that long." Quasar rubbed his forehead. Taking care of a child wasn't exactly on his agenda of things to do, especially some freaky parrot like purple girl…but she seemed like the exact definition of harmless. "Alright then, we'll find a town, and i'll show you what food is like."
"Food." They gave him a smile that reminded him of Star. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
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Amethyst laughed as she cannonballed into the pool, swimming out like she was a dolphin or something. "I told you no one could beat me at the art of cannonballing." She smirked to all the soaked kids.
"I am very lucky I'm wearing sandals." The stick in the mud one Marco grumbled under his breath. "How do you know her again, Steven?"
"Cousin on Dad's side of the family." The little dude explained with a light man shrug.
"Ie, the fun one of the family." She grinned. "Did a little roadie work for his old man for the past year or so. Now I'm taking my mandatory vacation."
"And by vacation, you mean vanish off the face of the earth for two weeks without telling anyone." Steven laughed. "First time you took a 'vacation' was when you were on the run for vandalism charges."
"So I threw a couple rocks into a limo, who wouldn't do that if they were given the chance?"
"Already have my vote for the second favorite family member, the first being you bro." Star gave the boy a noogie. "Now if you excuse me, I've gotta get revenge on Brittney."
"Could you stop feeding the cycle of vengeance?" Marco pleaded.
"Never!" The girl went off as she held in her arms several water balloons that sought to be filled with a suspiciously thick and brown liquid.
"I see you've managed to make some actual friends this time around." Amethyst nodded approvingly at the blonde girl's scheme. "Anything's better than you just hanging around that clingy nanny of yours all day."
"You have a nanny?" Some girl with uncut hair asked.
"Her name's Pearl, she was there for me before I could remember." The boy said. "She's really strict … but she was there even when Mom and Dad weren't …"
"Don't get why that was. Rose never goes anywhere from what I remember." Except maybe the bar and strip club. "Just say the word and I'm pretty sure I can convince your old man to take you on his next tour."
"Nah, It'd just be like staying at mom's house, except on a bus. I'd get bored really easily." Steven sighed. "Here, there's at least something new happening everyday"
"No running in the pool lady!" They watched as a lifeguard chased Star.
"You can't control me, authority!" She tossed some more goop balloons at the dude.
"... Oh yeah, I can see that." She smirked. "So here's another question … why is there a pool in a town called Beach Creek called Beach Creek Pool?"
"Because this town specializes in redundancy." A glasses wearing girl said as she floated in a tube. "We have a donut shop right next to a bakery, a book store next to a library, two barbecue restaurants, and two conspiracies about the town's founding."
She snorted. "Two whole conspiracies, I can just imagine the flame war I'd start by saying something ridiculous."
"Eh, don't worry, the two conspiracy nuts we have are too angry at each other to do anything about it." Marco shrugged.
"Aww, but I wanted to start a food war that would set the town on fire."
"Star was right, she is the most awesome family member you have." A fun girl known as Jana laughed.
"Currently she's the only one I have that isn't keeping any secret ms from me." Steven nodded, before turning his head. "You aren't keeping anything from me, right?"
"Not that I know of. Pretty sure I told you everything." Amethyst scratched her chin. "I'm hiding fifty grand from my gang buddies, smuggling drugs for Heckapoo, all the usual stuff.
"Yeah, but that's like breaking the law-stuff, not betraying trust-stuff." He sighed. "Maybe I should talk about it with your mom."
"Oh you do not wanna drag Garnet into this man." She rolled her eyes. "She's an investigator, she'd crack this crazy town wide open. It's how she found your half sister."
Steven stood silent for a moment. "My who now?"
"You mean I didn't tell you about Spinel? Could've sworn I said something about her…."
"No, you did not! WHO IS SPINEL!?" He shouted with hysteria.
This was gonna be a doozy. "Well see, your mom went to one of your dad's shows, they went to the back, some fans got in and things got … rowdy."
"I know mom's polygamous, no need to sugarcoat it." Steven winced.
"Anyway, Rose got pregnant, but there was some kind of damage when she gave birth, so in frustration I guess, they agreed to put the kid in the system."
"Mom did..did.." Steven shook his head. "Nevermind, do you know where she is?"
"Uh, I think Garnet can give an address." She pondered. "Do you really need it though … the case isn't going well dude." Ie, the Diamonds were slowly winning custody.
"I just found out I have a sister out there, I'm going to see her one way or another." He steeled his gaze. "And if she's willing to help, then maybe we can put an end to this diamond mess once and for all."
"Alright, finally ditched the lifeguard." Star came by, dusting her hands off. "What's this about the Diamonds?"
"Turns out I have a half sister I need to meet."
"... So is Amethyst driving or …" She already got the situation at hand, nice.
========================================================================
Eclipsa growled as she looked down at them. "Today you pay for your mothers crimes, Steven." The former queen said coldly, firing off darkness.
"Great, for once a bad guy knows the truth and she still wants to kill me!" The rainbow haired child yelled as he shaped his arms into hammers and batted the magic back as much as he could.
"If it's any consolation, my plans would've required us to be enemies anyhow, you being the son of my husband's killer just keeps me motivated." Eclipsa responded as she blasted black fire towards her supposed future descendent.
"So what, one person you care about dies and suddenly that gives you the okay for mass genocide?" The Butterfly boy sarcastically remarked as they fired off some lasers at her.
"That one person was my husband, killed because he was a monster on Earth, and civilization hasn't changed a bit over three hundred years later!" She shouted, sending chains at them. "If the world can't accept my happiness, then they can join me in my miserable darkness!"
"Can it, Marco, I don't think sanity was on her checklist when she came out of that crystal." The Star girl lept overhead as she rode a giant rainbow furred wolf to avoid the dark crystals she was popping out of the ground. "Okay, crazy lady, you're not the first psycho we've ever tangled with, and you're not even the first magic user we've ever fought. Do you really think you're going to pull this off all alone?"
"Actually, I found a friend."
The girl known as Star raised an eyebrow. "What crazy megalomaniac would team up with you?"
"That would be me." … The group slowly turned to her newest friend, a fusion that glared at them with utter hatred. "I'm back."
"Ahh … hey there Garnet." Steven spoke nervously. "I take it your still … you?"
"Still pissed you shattered my Diamond and want to stop my mission? Absolutely." They rushed forward with gauntlets, hitting the boy through a wall.
"We spent quite a bit of time together when someone here thought it was a good idea to send me into a void of nothingness." Eclipsa glared at Marco. "Turns out we have quite a bit in common, even outside our complete disdain for Earthlings." Apparently Pink Diamond's new 'off color' policy made things on that boring planet quite whimsical.
"Well, good for you." Marco chuckled hollowly. "Glad to see you can use some friends to help with sanity and we need to RUN FOR OUR LIVES EXIT BEAM!" They shot at the ground, launching himself and Star through a hole in the wall.
Eclipsa jumped down. "Come on now, did you really expect that to work?"
"It bought time." Eclipsa made a wall of black flames to counter the wave of water. "It's been a while, queen of darkness."
"Oh, Lapis, it's been quite a while for us, hasn't it." Eclipsa cheekily laughed as her darkness collided with watery fists. "To think we used to have so much fun tormenting everything that annoyed us."
"Yeah, and in all that time only one of us changed." They snarked back.
"Need an assi-" Garnet was hit with a spinning ball of yellow, sending her flying into a wall. "Well, if it isn't Jasper. Still single?" She snarked, sparks flying as she rushed forward.
"Single and proud, or are you too afraid to fight without someone holding you hand the entire time!?" The buff one rolled into a ball and kept colliding into Garnet's back.
"Meanwhile you'll both fear me!" They turned to the small green gem known as Peridot. "And my shockwave kitties!" She aimed cats that meowed hard enough to send the two of them flying.
"You had to let her examine the wand, didn't you?" Steven rolled his eyes at his adopted brother.
"Are you going to argue with the results?" Marco responded back.
"If it kicks their buts i'm down." Star swung a battle ax. "Now come on and fight! We're not giving them a moment to breathe!" It was amusing to see the kids filled with so much hope. If she had an ounce of it left, she might've been moved.
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"It's been a while since we got these in book format." Star noted. "Like, most of the time it just hijacked our Tvs and Omnitraxus took it away … even when we were broke."
"Really glad the guardian stopped him, that was our last tv." Steven snorted as he flipped through some of the pages. "Well, if there's anything to go on by this latest batch, it's that other multiverses are still intact, and there's no other version of you trying to destroy all magic."
"Do they all have their own realms of magic, or is it connected …" Luz asked. "That's like, a super crazy rabbit hole to look after."
"Can we not look down rabbit holes?" Kelly begged. "It's confusing enough to figure out the giant multiversal pillar in our town … that somehow extends for infinity according to Ben's grandpa."
"My brain's still trying to recover from creating an entire dimension, so I don't want to bother getting into detailed quantum physics." Marco laid down on the ground as he rubbed his head. "Simple version, we saved the day and everyone gets to live."
"Exactly." Star nodded. "At least until the next big evil pops up within a few months."
"Hey, better to fight to live another day than to accept doomsday." Finn laughed as he hung himself upside on a couch. "What's important is that we can still enjoy the small moments in between.
"Exactly." Steven smiled. "Now, who's up for ice cream and skating?" Star got to have her brother, her boyfriend, all her friends, her magic, and earth, everything she thought she would've given up had she followed through on what 'destiny' laid out for her. Never more than before, was she grateful to have Steven Universe in her life.