"Aw come on Please."

"No"

"Please, Pleeeeaaassseee. I haven't been on a mission in so long. I'm becoming mission deficient. I mean how can I be a crystal gem without any mission experience? You need to level up your Steven."

"I said no and that is final young man."

"Just let him come. It's only a trip to the relay tower and back. That's all."

*sigh* "Alright fine but just promise to stay alert and keep your guard up okay."

"Woooo!"

Steven jumped in the air cheering. It had been weeks since his last mission. With the impending threat of the home world gems it was unanimously decided (by Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, and not Steven) that he should only be allowed on "safe" missions i.e. sit in his room and wait. It wasn't so bad at first, but after leaving earth's atmosphere on three separate occasions and going on insane missions to collect feral gems Beach City just seemed so tame, so boring.

"Just hang on for a second alright. I need to get my mission pack."

Pearl glanced at garnet. "His mission pack?"

"Uh, duh. That weird backpack he carries around all time." said amethyst filling in for Garnet's silence. "Seriously though, that thing kinda gives me the creeps. It's too…cheerful ya'know."

Steven ran up the stairs of the loft to search for the backpack he had discarded by his bed.

"Hm, let's see. What could come in handy for this mission? A pillow maybe? Yeah they're like armor against gravity. Totally worth it. Action guy hank? Well his glow in the dark laser eyes could come in handy but on the other hand…*argh* ow ow ow, my stomach."

Steven crumpled over on his bed clutching at the gem protruding from his belly as tears began to form in the corner of his eyes. *argh* "Ow, come on not now." He grunted to himself as waves of pain pulsated from the rose quartz gem in his middle causing him to curl up further into himself on his bed

That was the other problem with being forced to sit still for weeks on end: the stomach pains. It had started out small and unnoticed at first. A pinch here maybe an upset stomach there, but lately it had been almost crippling. Garnet had told him it would be fine in just a little while "I've seen it." was all she said in her stoic manner. Amethyst didn't really seem to care that much "It's probably just puberty dude. Looks like someone's becoming a man." whatever that was Steven wasn't sure he wanted to find out. But Pearl, Pearl seemed to care as she worked herself into tears listing a number of diseases with names too long for him to pronounce or remember that all started with a little stomach pain and usually ended in death. Then again though that was just Pearl being Pearl, so nothing to worry about…right?

Finally the pain receded enough to let him uncurl and stand up. Frustrated by his moment of weakness Steven pulled up the edge of his shirt and wiped the manly, totally not childish pain tears from his eyes and kicked his cheeseburger backpack aside. "Stupid gem why can't you work the way I want you to?" He muttered to the rose quartz as his raced back down the stairs. The gems were already standing on the warp pad waiting for him.

"What's this? I thought you were going to be needing your "mission pack" for today's secret special mission Steven." Garnet said reaching down and giving his cheek a slight affectionate pinch.

"Uh, well you know I'm a growing boy…um man and men don't need cheeseburger backpacks for missions." Steven said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Is that so?"

"Yup, Amethyst says I'm growing into puberty."

"WHAT!?" Shrieked Pearl

But before anyone could calm her down there was a flash of light and where they had been standing in the cramped, so-cal room of Steven Universe they now stood outside the entrance of a cave jutting out along the side of a cliff, the sea below them raging on.

"Amethyst why - tell - Steven shouldn't have to - *gah* this wind is so-"

A cold, wet wind blew off the sea below and up the side of the cliff drowning out anything Pearl might have said about the sanctity of Steven's innocence. Realizing the futility of trying to lecture amethyst, she gave up and followed the others inside. The cave itself was as wet and dank as the weather outside. Steven shivered.

"So what are we doing here again?" he asked.

"We're here to check on the relay tower to see if long range communications are still online. At the very least we need to secure it and ensure that Peridot can't use it to contact the home world, but it would be nice if we could contact other gem controlled worlds and maybe get some help." Garnet responded. "Who knows, maybe there are other like-minded gems out there."

They walked in silence for a long time. With the sun hidden behind the clouds and no other sources of natural light the cave had been dim at the entrance but as they walked past the cracked walls of rock stepping further and further into the gloom it was threatening to become pitch black.

Pearl was light on her feet as always and could easily avoid any obstacles no matter how difficult it was to see them in the dark and Garnet just soldiered on like it was nothing but Amethyst was struggling and after the second time she tripped over a jagged rock and went head first into the ground she cursed.

*Argh* "Why the heck are we walking around in the dark!?" Steven, didn't you bring a flashlight in that backpack of yours? Well now would be the time to use it genius!"

"I-I didn't bring my backpack remember? But I think I might have something just as good."

Steven fumbled around in the dark reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. Manipulating the screen till the flashlight app appeared he tapped it and instantly the cave was illuminated by the phone's single LED light. By all accounts the cave was completely ordinary with dripping stalactites and an uneven floor scattered with rocks and pebbles. How had he been able to walk this far into the cave without falling on his face more than once or twice? He'd never know.

Steven looked at Pearl. "We're looking for the relay tower right? In this cave? Aren't these places supposed to be a little more um, you know, more mystical looking or whatever?"

"Oh, Steven, the relay that we are looking for was originally used as the main form of communication between earth and our home world, eh, before everything went to pieces. The point is we couldn't just leave something like that out in the open for anyone to find especially the recently evolved humans so we tucked it away in a place where almost no one would think to look. It was actually my suggestion which got it placed here and considering the lack of damage or signs of life. I'd say I did a pretty good job of it to." Pearl said with only the slightest hint of modesty.

They walked on further until they came to a large ornate door depicting what looked like two gems holding hands. A miniature version of earth floated above the conjoined pair with strange symbols Steven had never seen around the edges of the door.

"Whoa, Pearl did you design this door too?" Steven asked

Pearl became a little flustered. "Well no, I didn't actually design any of this I just made the…..you know what? It doesn't really matter who built this. What 's important is that it was my idea to put it here and that's all that matters."

Amethyst snorted. *Ha* "sounds like someone's jealous Rose didn't want them on the construction team."

"That's not true I can build things too…sort of. I mean I built a rocket ship out of Greg's old junk…it did explode, but who could build anything with this primitive technology. It's just that some gems are better suited to those kinds of tasks and, and we were spread so thin at the time." Pearls eyes became downcast at the thought.

"Yeah, don't forget that your "EMP" knocked out the town's power for like a day. I believe the phrase "artistically challenged" was used. Like a lot. Like a lot a lot." Amethyst chided.

"All right break it up you two, the last thing I need is another headache from your constant bickering." Garnet said, interrupting pearl and amethyst as she strode over to the door and placed her hand over the miniature earth. The door reacting almost immediately to the presence of Garnet's gems lit up before dissolving into nothing.

The room beyond the door was in worse shape than any of the crystal gems could have anticipated. Large, glowing green crystals that had once served as the base of the communication array lay shattered and broken on the floor. What must have been a command council at one point in time had been broken in two and thrown across the room. Worse yet were the holes that had been drilled into the walls almost as if someone had tried desperately to escape…or get in.

"Oh my!" Pearl exclaimed. "Look at this place. Its structural integrity must have been compromised centuries ago. It's practically a miracle the ceiling hasn't caved in yet."

Steven stepped into the room with the rest of the Gems to help survey the damage. He only got a few steps in before he heard a loud *CRUNCH* underneath his shoe. He took several steps back and looked down to see the shattered remains of several gems. Red, yellow, pink, blue, a color he had never seen before. Suddenly the collar of his shirt was too tight and his breath caught in his throat. What had happened here?

"Look at it Steven and remember" It was Garnet; she was staring at him from across the room. "These were once living beings and now they are not. It's important to remember that war can be a truly terrible thing. Not something to romanticize about like in your movies or videogames." She walked over to him and put an arm around his back bringing him in for a close hug. "Do you understand Steven?" He could only nod his head in the affirmative. "Yeah, I get it."

Garnet smiled at him and released him from the embrace. Standing up she looked at the other gems. *sigh* "Well, I think it's obvious this place is trashed beyond repair or at least beyond any repairs we can make. At least we know Peridot won't be using any of this. It was worth a look but I'm thinking we should head home now."

The others agreed and began to make for the door, the war had clearly left no place untouched and it was a little disheartening to know that there would be no help coming for them in future battles. They were completely and totally alone.

*crack*

Pearl's head swiveled around. "Wait! Did anybody hear that?"

*Crack*

"Yeah, there it is again. Everybody, I think something is coming this way."

*CRACK*

The ceiling was beginning to divide as the sound of a thousand drills boring through rock filled the room. Before any of the gems could react the ceiling broke and chunks of debris rained down on them. Steven threw up his shield to protect himself from the cascade of rocks just in time to see a perfectly Shaped Steven sized rock bounce off the pink dome and land a foot away. At the sudden activation of his powers a searing pain began to form in the pit of his stomach. "No! No, not now." he said through gritted teeth as he tried to maintain the protective barrier that saved him from being flattened into a Steven pancake. Finally the maelstrom stopped leaving the room clouded by dust. Not needing it anymore Steven allowed the pink bubble surrounding him to burst as he collapsed on the ground clutching at his insides.

"OW, oh, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst?" He moaned. "I think I need some help here. *argh* Steven down you guys."

The dust in the room was still settling and he couldn't see well. The pain in his stomach had reached a point where concentrating on anything else became difficult. Despite all this he could still make out bits and pieces of what was going on around him.

"Argh, what are these things?" followed by the crack of a whip. Amethyst.

"It doesn't matter just stay together and don't let them split us up. Finding Steven is now our top priority." Garnet; that was Garnet's voice.

"Arg! So many legs. I hate these feral gems. Haven't we rounded them all up by now? Where do they keep coming from?" Followed by the sound of Pearl's spear carving out a chunk of rock and an animal's scream.

The gems Steven thought They must be fighting whatever tried to bring the ceiling down on our heads. I've got to…argh…I've got to help them. He struggled to his feet only to be brought down to his knees immediately after. Taking in a deep breath he stood up and powered forward. Got to help them, Got to help them. If only I could just reach them then maybe I could… The pain in his stomach had become a pressure. It needed release. The gem embedded in his middle began to glow a bright pink as the dust finally settled enough for him to see. The gems, his friends and family, were being swarmed by giant insects, no, more like giant spiders. Their shiny black bodies were covered in light brown stripes as dark brown multifaceted gemstones adorned their backsides. Their legs spun and swiveled just below the joints, like tiny drills. There were so many of them, crawling along the ceiling, walls, and floor that they threatened to overwhelm the gems where they stood.

"Steven!" Pearl shouted when she spotted him and jumped in front of him to skewer two of the arachnids that had broken off from the pack to attack him.

He couldn't help it any more, the pressure inside was demanding release. Steven's eyes widened as a burst of swirling pink energy shot out of his rose quartz gem with enough force that he had to brace himself to keep from falling on his back. Whoa, a new power. This is so cool he thought. And then-

*Omph*

Something had slammed into Pearl's back almost knocking her off her feet as she tried to maintain balance. Her legs felt weak for some reason and were hard to control as she threw her spear out in front of her for support. She looked down to see a ragged red hole in her chest.

"B-but I was so careful and kept my guard up like you taught me to…Rose."

Steven watched in horror as his friend collapsed on the ground and retreated back into her gem to restore herself from the wound HE had given her.

"I-I didn't…I didn't mean to…."

A rock loosened by the fighting fell from the ceiling and cracked Steven in the head. The room swam before dissolving into darkness.

"Pearl…I'm sorry."