[CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains descriptions of Blood, Gore, Vomiting

A portal opened in the main room of the house and out came Lion and Connie. The landing was…ungraceful, to say the least, as Lion skidded and tumbled over himself, throwing Connie off his back. The two rolled and landed in a heap by the door, and there they lay in gasping silence.

Lion remained still, his breathing quick and eyes wide with a mixture of shock and fear as they fixed on the man hurrying over. Connie was lifting herself to her knees as Greg reached them, saying something that she couldn't understand. Her heart was pounding so hard that it felt ready to break out of her chest, and she could barely breathe. Her eyes couldn't focus on anything, and she felt like she was choking on air.

A moment later, she felt a strong pair of hands grab hold of her arms and she was lifted to her feet. Greg was trying to talk to her but nothing processed; all Connie could hear was the blood roaring in her ears. She felt the hands around her body guiding her somewhere and it took everything in her not to fall as she followed.

Carefully, Greg sat Connie down on the couch, and he crouched down in front of her. She forced her eyes to focus on him as best she could as he tried to direct her through the panic attack. Take deep breaths, hold on to me, focus on my face; she did her best to follow these instructions and, slowly, she felt her heart rate returning to normal.

Shortly after that the Temple door opened, from Amethyst's room, and the Gems practically threw themselves out of it. They stumbled to a halt on the Warp Pad and took in the scene in front of them.

Greg and Connie were looking over to them as Lion finally struggled to his feet. There were claw marks from where he had skid along the floor. Connie was still breathing hard, but she was focused and present. Everyone stared at everyone else. The sound of waves came in through the windows.

"Lion."

The cat lifted his head as Garnet walked forward. He gave a weak growl as she reached him, but it faded as her hand gently slid over his muzzle. She knelt in front of him and he moaned at her.

"You did a good job, Lion," Garnet told him as she stroked his fur.

Amethyst looked incredulous as Garnet continued to pet the large feline, and even more so when she saw Pearl calmly walking over to Greg and Connie on the couch.

"You guys! We don't have time for this!" the purple Gem almost shouted, hands above her head. "We gotta find Steven! Now!"

"Amethyst, hush!" Pearl snapped. "We can't just go running off. Lion is the only one who knows where Steven is, and we have to make sure he'll still help us after all that. Give him a moment to calm down—I want to find Steven as much as you do, but forcing Lion won't make things go any faster."

Amethyst growled and crossed her arms, her foot tapping impatiently.

"Uh…Pearl? What does she mean by 'find him'?" Greg asked hesitantly.

Pearl bit her lip and looked around for a few seconds. The others made it a point to keep their eyes away from the man. Amethyst obviously regretted just blurting that information out, Garnet was still petting Lion, calming him down, and Connie was simply looking at her hands.

Pearl's gaze shifted back to Greg. "Steven…we had to have Lion teleport him out of the Temple. Unfortunately, we have no idea where he was teleported to. But Lion knows. We just have to give him a few minutes before we go out…what we saw, it really hit us all hard—"

"What did you see? What happened to my son?!" Greg gasped, quickly standing up and grabbing Pearl's shoulders. They stared at each other and the Gem took a deep breath.

"I-I'm so sorry, Greg," she said quietly. "We…we lost him."

She felt the man's hold on her shoulders weaken.

"He's a monster, isn't he? He turned into a monster," he said before falling back onto the couch. His head was now in his hands and Pearl rubbed her arm. She had hoped to reveal that fact a bit…softer, had Amethyst not gone and dropped it like that, but perhaps it was better to just get it out of the way.

"I knew something bad happened when the Temple went silent like that," Greg said into his hands. "My son is a monster…"

Pearl reached out to offer some comfort, but pulled back a second later when she saw Garnet stand up. Lion was rubbing his head against the Gem's thigh as she turned to face the others and she had to gently push the cat's face away. He huffed sadly and sat down, but still leaned against her leg, looking for comfort.

"Lion is ready," Garnet stated and Lion seemed to grunt in agreement.

"Connie, will you come with us?" she asked next.

The girl nodded.

Garnet nodded back, and then looked toward Greg, as did the others.

"I'm sorry, Greg, but you'll have to stay here," Garnet told him sternly. Her tone suggested she had been expecting an argument, but Greg simply shook his head.

"I know I can't go," he stated, voice shaking, as he looked up. "If I came I'd only get in the way. I…I'll stay here. It…feels better…" He took a breath. "Please, just, bring my son back."

"We'll do our best," Garnet said in as optimistic a tone as she could muster. She wished she could promise, but she knew that to promise would be to lie. Greg gave her a pained look of understanding and said no more.

Connie placed a comforting hand on Greg's leg before leaving his side to join Garnet and Lion. Amethyst hurried over with Pearl next and everyone took a place on Lion's back. He opened his portal and Greg was forced to watch them all leave, left to wonder how long it would take for them to return.

Lion's portal had taken them to a tall hill somewhere in the forest outside of Beach City. The hill overlooked most of the forest and provided a clear picture of the situation they were about to involve themselves in; Steven had grown even more since they saw him in the Temple, to a size bigger than almost anything they had faced in the past.

The monster towered above the trees, his long, fatty body held up with four thick arms and two powerful legs, all covered in thick scale plates. A broad neck held up his head, and his tail, which was as long as his body, swung absently, leveling trees as if they weren't even there. His back was lined with huge, thorny spikes, from the top of his head, to the very tip of his tail. The faintest of pink glows came from underneath, the only tell that this creature was, in fact, Steven. A constant low rumble seemed to emanate from him.

"Connie, are you certain you can handle this?" Pearl asked, turning to the girl who was still stationed on Lion's back. She was staring at Steven—the beast that was her best friend. Her eyes turned to her mentor at the question and her expression changed to steely resolve.

"I'm not going to abandon him. No matter what happens, I will stay and I will fight. I just need my sword."

"Get your sword and go to Little Homeworld," Garnet cut in before Pearl could respond. "Find Peridot. Have her contact the Diamonds directly. Tell them what's happening and that we need their help as soon as possible, then sound the alarm. All the Gems there will know to evacuate. Afterwards, bring Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth back with you."

"Yes, ma'am!" Connie said, and with that Lion took off.

"A child shouldn't have to go through something like this," Pearl murmured and Garnet placed a hand on the other's shoulder.

"So what exactly is the plan here, anyway?" Amethyst said next, looking as frustrated as ever. "You gotta have some kind of plan, right, Garnet? That's why you want the Diamonds. Not sure what they can do, though. Yeah, they're big, but Steven is way bigger!"

"I want White specifically—the other two are just a bonus," Garnet stated and both Pearl and Amethyst gave her a confused look. Then Pearl gasped, having connected the dots.

"You want White to use her mind control on Steven, don't you?" she guessed and Garnet nodded.

"I'm not happy about it, of course, but it will be the quickest way to get Steven pacified. With White controlling him he won't be able to hurt himself or anyone else. We'll be able to relocate him as well. It will be best, for the time being, to take him off the planet. The Zoo should be substantial enough to hold him."

"Will…that plan work? And what about Greg? We're supposed to bring Steven back," Amethyst said, anxiously rubbing her hands over each other as she looked out to the monster. He hadn't moved much, but was visibly agitated and seemed to be venting frustration by uprooting the forest around him.

"And we will. Greg will just have to understand."

Amethyst was about to say more, but was cut off when Steven suddenly let out a roar. All three turned in time to see him swing his hand in a horizontal arch. A line of trees fell following this action, and continued falling in the direction of the Gems. Whatever Steven had hit was coming in hot.

"Duck!" Garnet snapped and everyone hit the ground just in time to avoid getting slammed into by Jasper. She flew over them and Garnet quickly morphed her arm and snatched her out of the air. Jasper grunted when she hit the ground and she coughed a few times while trying to collect herself. Garnet's arm returned to its normal length and everyone got to their feet, including Jasper.

Upon seeing the Crystal Gems she took up a defensive stance. "W-what are you doing here?" she growled, teetering slightly. It was obvious that she was rather disoriented after that attack.

Before anyone could answer her question a portal opened between her and the Gems. Jasper groaned, arms dropping to her sides.

"Now what?"

From the portal came Lion, mounted by Connie who now brandished her sword, as well as three newcomers: Peridot, Bismuth, and Lapis. Everyone dismounted and Peridot immediately launched into an update.

"I contacted the Diamonds as instructed," she announced with a salute to Garnet. She then started tapping away at something on her tablet. "With the information they gave me, I calculate that they should be arriving within the hour. They're taking one of Yellow's battleships—luckily they didn't decommission all of them, so they'll have some actual speed this time instead of that snail's pace those Diamond ships offer."

She paused and looked to Jasper, who was wearing a confused scowl.

"Jasper."

"Runt."

The small Gem squinted and adjusted her visor before turning back to Garnet and the others.

"That's all I have at this time."

"Good. In the meantime, we have to keep Steven away from Little Homeworld," Garnet directed.

As if to emphasize her point, a loud stomping started up, indicating that Steven had started walking. His heavy footsteps shook the entire forest and birds scattered in clouds above the treetops. Any other animals left in the area had surely started running from the thunder.

"So is anyone going to explain what the heck's going on here?" Jasper said over the noise. "Why does Steven have to stay out of Little Homeworld? Shouldn't he be here to help take care of that thing? That's what you all do, right? Take care of monsters."

The others gave awkward glances to each other, then Garnet stepped up and went over to the aggravated Quartz. Jasper crossed her arms and sneered. The other gave no acknowledgement of the gesture, and it was dropped.

"Steven isn't here because he is the monster. He corrupted himself and turned into that thing," Garnet stated and Jasper's eyes widened. Then she started laughing, almost hysterically, holding her stomach.

"Okay, let me get this straight," she said through her delight as everyone stared, speechless. "Steven, the kid who berated me for corrupting myself, went and did the same thing? That's great." She then cracked her knuckles and summoned her helmet. "Alright, I'll help you take him out."

"We're not 'taking him out'. We're containing him until we can change him back to normal."

Jasper gave Garnet a dissatisfied scoff. "Right, because 'containing the monster' has worked so well for you in the past," she said, shooting a look over to Lapis, who scowled back. "But, fine, I'll play your game. But when this doesn't work we do things my way. Deal?"

"Yeah? And what is your way?" Bismuth said. She was holding a hand out in front of Lapis as a warning, which Jasper chuckled at.

"Garnet, I think we should go," Pearl cut in, speaking too fast, as she grabbed onto Garnet's arm. The tension was becoming too much, and they were wasting time. "Steven might be slow, but he's big, and he's covering a lot of ground."

Garnet looked over to the others and sighed. "Right. Let's get this done."

Getting to Steven was made a little easier by the path of destroyed trees created when Jasper was swatted away, and the larger path of destruction created by Steven himself was also helpful in cutting back time. Still, it took longer than anyone would have wanted to reach him; he was slow, but what he lacked in speed he made up for in reach. He'd already cleared at least one third of the distance to Little Homeworld by the time everyone caught up.

There hadn't been any updates from the Diamonds yet, either, but Peridot assured that her calculations were correct and that they should be here very soon. Until then, everyone just had to keep Steven's attention.

Capturing his attention was easy enough; one hit with Peridot's mines was enough to bring him to a halt. His giant head swung around to look at where the mine had landed—there was a mark on his wrist where it had exploded, but otherwise the damage seemed minimal. Still, it had pulled his eyes from Little Homeworld, which is all they needed. Peridot managed to set off a few more mines before Steven spotted her hovering close by. She yelped and dropped out of the air as his huge jaws came to snap at her, steadying herself on her trash can lid once more several yards below the teeth.

"I can't believe we have to do this," Lapis said under her breath and Bismuth squeezed her shoulder.

"You know you don't have to," Bismuth told the other. "You can go back to Little Homeworld and help everyone evacuate."

"No, I'm staying here. The Off Colors can take care of the evacuation," she said as her water wings sprang out from her gem. "I just…what I mean is that, I can't believe we have to do this." She waved her hand at Steven, who was searching for Peridot. "I can't believe we have to hurt Steven."

Bismuth let out a deep sigh before picking up the trunk of a felled tree. "Not hurt, just distract."

"Yeah. Whatever you have to tell yourself," Lapis muttered before taking off to the sky. Bismuth watched her go before hefting the tree up and throwing it like a spear at the beast. It connected and splintered against his neck.

Everyone was doing their absolute best to keep Steven from leaving this area. Trees and boulders and spears and whips all cracked against him from the ground, while bombs and blades of water hit him from above. With so many angles of assault, and with so many things to focus on, keeping Steven where he was was thankfully not too difficult a task, at least.

This cacophony of attacks went on for some time before the Diamond battleship blinked into existence with a flash of light, causing Steven to cry out in shock as he was temporarily blinded. The ship touched down safely as the beast shook spots from his vision, and his attention was quickly taken back by the various Gems around him while Garnet dislodged herself from the fray. With Steven's attention trained on the others, it was relatively easy for her to get out and hurry to the battleship. She reached it just as the Diamonds were exiting.

The familiar ball of light landed a few yards from Garnet. It slipped away and revealed the Diamonds and Spinel, who was sitting on Blue's shoulder, in a fit of distress. When the Diamonds noticed the fusion at their feet all three fell to the ground, ready to ask questions. Garnet, however, did not give them the chance.

"Spinel, go help Bismuth," she said the moment they were in earshot. Spinel looked hesitant, but dropped from Blue's shoulder.

"I'll do my best," she said before running down toward Steven and the others.

"Oh, will she be alright?" Blue said as she watched Spinel hurry off. "She could get hurt—"

"She can handle herself," Garnet said and clapped her gauntlets together, calling their attention back to her. "Now, you three listen to me. I need you to use your powers to get Steven under control. White, your power should be enough, but Blue and Yellow can use theirs to weaken him if needed."

"You want us to use our powers on him?" Blue gasped, clasping her hands against her gem.

"But-Steven told us to never use our powers on others ever again," White added, indignation in her voice.

"You realize what you're asking of us, don't you?" Yellow continued, leaning down on her elbow, closer to Garnet. "You are asking us to go against Steven's direct wishes! Can we not just—hold him down or something?" she suggested, waving her hand around.

"I respect your hesitance to stray from Steven's requests, but even you three can't hold that down," Garnet said, pointing toward the giant creature that was Steven. He roared and snapped his jaws at Lapis and Peridot and swung his tail to try and hit any other Gems on the ground. Countless trees and boulders lay shattered under and around his feet.

"The others can only keep his attention for so long. I need you to get him under your control before he realizes you're here. It will be easier, and faster, if you surprise him." Garnet was speaking directly to White Diamond now, who had her fingers to her lips. She was looking from Garnet to Steven and back, concern and confusion written on her face.

"I suppose it would be fastest if you did it, White," Blue mused with some minor apprehension.

"And your power won't hurt him the same way mine would," Yellow added with a sigh.

"Is there truly no other way?" White moaned and Garnet shook her head.

"I wouldn't have had Peridot send for you if I knew of another."

The Diamonds looked at each other and, one after the other, stood up to their full heights.

"I hope he can forgive me for this once this is all over," White murmured.

"I'm sure he'll understand, White. Steven's very good at that," Blue said and Garnet took that as her queue to rejoin the others.

She added herself to the distractions, rocketing her gauntlets to slam against Steven. Everyone had to keep his attention, just for a few more minutes, and then it would be over for the time being. Maybe, once he's off the planet, he'll even calm down when White retracts her control.

That wasn't something to think about now, though. The Diamonds had found an elevated section of the woods around Steven where the other Gems could see them. The others started circling back together, opposite the Diamonds, to keep Steven from catching them. White still looked very hesitant, as did the other two, but with some coaxing from Yellow and Blue she seemed to stand just a little taller.

She closed her eyes and steadied herself and the Gems quickly took cover. Steven appeared confused at this and angrily started scanning low to the ground to find them all in what was left of the trees around him. Then he was hit with White's beam and he swung his head up and roared.

Everyone watched as he fought to keep control. This, of course, was worrying, because even the other Diamonds had not been able to resist White's control for more than a few moments. But even so, it appeared as if Steven was losing. The color was draining from his body and his efforts were weakening. The Gems started to carefully reappear from within the trees, looking relieved that the plan had worked.

But then Steven roared again. It sounded different, more strained and guttural. The sound shook the ground as a powerful shockwave spread out with a harsh gust of wind that threw everyone back. The Diamonds suddenly looked fearful and White had even fallen slightly.

Something was very wrong.

The color had started to creep back as Steven forced himself to move. At that same moment, Blue and Yellow started to hit him with their own powers. It knocked him back a few feet, but otherwise didn't appear to do much damage. In fact, aside from the initial connection, Yellow and Blue's attacks didn't appear to do anything.

Now Steven had turned to face the Diamonds head on. The color was returning faster now, and the Gems behind him could see the glow from his stomach growing stronger; and then there was a new light from above.

Somehow, Steven had regained control of himself and had turned White's attack back at her. A flash of bright pink shot out and for a moment, things were quiet. Then Steven raised his head further, and the Gems saw Yellow and Blue fall back in shock as White rose to her feet.

Connie and Lion found their way to Garnet, towing Amethyst, Peridot, and Spinel along with them. Lapis, Bismuth, and Pearl quickly found their way over as well, with Jasper bringing up the rear, and Garnet ushered them all further back behind the broken treeline.

"We're in trouble," was all the fusion said as they watched White face her companions.

White Diamond was clearly fighting with herself as Steven silently commanded her, her body taken over by a dark pink-ish purple. Her movements were somewhat scattered and she'd jerk every few seconds, trying to win herself back. A gurgling rumble came from Steven's chest as White's companions watched, horrified, as she was forced to advance toward them.

"Uh, Garnet?" came Amethyst's quiet voice, "What do we do?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe if we get his attention again, White will be able to free herself," Connie suggested, doing her best to sound confident in her idea.

"Whether that works or not, it's better than just standing around," Bismuth said. "I think we'll have to get more aggressive, though, huh" she added and Garnet muttered something under her breath, but nodded.

"Get aggressive, but don't take it too far," she said, shooting a look toward Jasper, who huffed and crossed her arms.

"Okay, let's do this thing. Spinel, come back with me. I've got an idea," Bismuth said, grabbing Spinel's arm and pulling her away.

"Pearl, let's get Opal out there," Amethyst said and Pearl gave a grunt of agreement, and then the two ran off, following Bismuth and Spinel.

"You two get back in the air," Garnet told Lapis and Peridot. "Jasper, you're with me."

"Oh, what? Why?"

"I need to keep an eye on you."

"What about the kid?" Jasper asked, jabbing her thumb toward Connie.

"I have Lion, he can keep me safe," Connie shot back and Lion growled a confirmation.

"Fine," Jasper huffed and begrudgingly followed Garnet, and Connie and Lion ran back out a moment later.

A boulder cracked against the back of Steven's head and he growled in annoyance. When he turned around to see where the rock had come from, another slammed right into his nose and he groaned, shaking his head.

"Bullseye!" Spinel said with a grin, which immediately vanished. "I hope we didn't hurt him, though…"

She had her arms and legs wrapped around two sturdy trees while Bismuth used her as a slingshot—very effective.

"Eh, look at 'im! I don't think those last two really did more than be a slight inconvenience," Bismuth said as she planted another boulder in front of Spinel. "Which, I mean, is good I guess? It's enough to get him off the Diamonds, anyway...though, I can't really tell if it actually did anything with the big guy in the way."

She looked quite uncertain as she pulled the next shot back.

"I hope the others get in there soon before he finds us," Spinel said, fearful awkwardness in her voice.

"Yeeeaah…"

Bismuth sucked air through her teeth as Steven started to hone in on the two.

"Let's go for the horns next."

Meanwhile, Lapis and Peridot were in the air about to enact their own plan. Peridot noticed Steven's slow advance toward Bismuth and Spinel as more boulders were slung, and motioned for her companion to hurry up.

"Come on, come on, we gotta get him off those two!" she said, teetering on her trash can lid as she leaned to look down at the two other Gems.

"Working on it," Lapis grunted. She was capturing at least a dozen of Peridot's bombs in spheres of water. "Is this even going to work? What if it makes the water too hot and it evaporates?"

Peridot waved her off. "Nah, trust me. I know what temperature those bombs explode at, it's not that high. Not when it's those little things."

Lapis sighed and enclosed the last four bombs, then pulled them in a bit so it would be easier to aim. "Okay, detonate them, then."

Something was tapped on Peridot's tablet and all the bombs exploded at once. The bubbles of water were boiling now, just as she said they would. "Ha! And you doubted my abilities."

Lapis rolled her eyes and lifted her arms up. "Sorry, Steven," she said before throwing them forward, the boiling water flying down with the motion. The water seared against Steven's hide and he roared in pain before turning to look at the two.

"Head's up!" Lapis shouted as a beam of pink shot from Steven's mouth.

Peridot yelped and dropped, a little too fast this time around, and only just managed to catch herself before careening into the ground. A second later she saw a dark shadow appear over her and with a deep sense of dread, she looked up.

A huge hand came crashing down on her.

"Peridot!" came Lapis' terrified scream and she quickly flew down as Steven's hand retreated. She landed and hurried to the huge footprint, finding Peridot's gem dead center. Clumsy hands snatched it off the ground, and the feeling of relief that followed brought Lapis to her knees.

Somehow, Peridot made it out with only a crack in her gem. Thank goodness for Era 2 Peridots.

Then, before she could realize what was happening, Steven's tail came swinging down. All Lapis had time to do was raise her water wings before the tail connected with a force that sent her flying who knows how fast or how far into the trees.

"Lapis and Peridot are out!" Connie said as she and Lion appeared beside Garnet and Jasper. Connie had still been figuring out a plan for her and the cat, so she'd been observing the others. Unfortunately, that meant she had to watch everything that just happened. She was really starting to think that maybe she shouldn't be here after all.

"Great, there goes our air force," Jasper grumbled. "This isn't working."

"We still have Gems left," Garnet stated in as stern a voice as she could.

"Yeah, you think? Look! He's distracted and White's still purple," the soldier growled back. Garnet, Connie, and Lion all looked and, sure enough, nothing had changed with the Diamonds.

A stream of glowing arrows cut across their vision then, scattering across Steven's side. Immediately he was on Opal, giving chase around the clearing he'd made as the fusion ran and jumped and dodged around him with a graceful air, all the while sending arrows at the monster.

"Come on, I'm tired of standing here watching the light show," Jasper said as Opal dashed by, hounded by the enraged purple beast. The ground thundered as he passed and Connie tightened her grip on Lion's mane to keep from falling off his back. She wasn't sure if Opal was helping the situation or making it worse with all the rampaging.

When she lifted her head she saw Garnet and Jasper running out, and Lion shook his fur in anticipation, ready to follow. Connie saw a determined snarl on his face and she took a deep breath, tightening her grip around the sword in her hand.

"Let's get out there, Lion."

Any other day, Yellow would have been able to best White in a fight. White wasn't a bad warrior, by any means; she knew her way around a battlefield. Yellow, however, was still physically the strongest and most skilled of the Diamonds. Now, though, she struggled. Even though Steven was distracted, his control over White was still tremendous, and it seemed that his own strength had been given to Diamond under his spell. Not only that, but it seemed like White wasn't even fighting Steven's control anymore. She was completely gone.

Yellow continued to struggle in holding White back, even with Blue doing her best to alleviate some of the force. Yellow had White's wrists tight in either hand, but the larger Diamond was really wearing on her strength. Even while using her disruption power, an aura glowing from her hands and causing a circuit board of light along White's arms, Yellow found herself losing.

Blue was trying to help by pulling White back, unable to use her own powers due to Yellow's proximity. She felt somewhat helpless because of this; out of all the Diamonds, she was the least versed when it came to fighting, especially without her powers. But, to use them would be even more detrimental to their predicament.

"Ghn—Blue, get out of here!" Yellow said through grit teeth. Her heels dug into the ground as she tried to force White back.

"But, you need help!" Blue protested, pulling harder.

"No! You're better off helping the others!"

Very reluctantly, Blue obeyed and released her grip. Yellow was right, but at the same time she couldn't just leave her. White was obviously overpowering the other, having even started to force her open hand toward Yellow's gem.

Blue nervously looked around for anything to give her an idea. Her eyes locked on something and she gasped. "I'll be right back!" she said before running off.

"No, Blue-! Gah-don't come back-!" Yellow grunted as White pushed forward, the pink in her eyes glowing even brighter with Steven's power.

Yellow was forced to take a knee as a brace, but the effectiveness was little. Both hands were now holding onto White's wrist as her sharp nails reached Yellow's chest. The nails dug in around her gem as White's fingers latched onto the cold stone. Now Yellow found herself trying to hold White's hand closer as the other started to pull away.

Yellow's eyes shut and her jaw locked from the pain as her gem was slowly pulled from her body, her hold on White weakening. She was down on both knees now, her entire body shaking with the immense effort of simply holding herself up. Her powers faded as the stone continued to be tugged out and her body started falling apart.

She could just hear the rapid steps of Blue running back.

"Y-you're too late, Blue," she coughed out, fully relinquishing her hold. In an instant her gem was ripped from her chest. In that same moment, Blue forced one of Yellow's swords, which she'd found on the ship, through White's stomach. White stiffened, Yellow's gem falling from her fingers, and the purple-pink color faded from her body.

There was just enough time for her to look down at Blue, and she saw her own feelings of fear and defeat reflected on Blue's face.

Then she was gone, and Blue dropped the sword to catch White's gem. Falling to her knees, she gently lifted Yellow's off the ground and carefully cradled both against her chest.

"Oh, Steven…" she sighed, looking out to the monster, "We weren't much help, after all."

"The Diamonds are down!" came Opal's shout from above. She had danced onto Steven's back and was actively rearranging herself as he squirmed, trying to knock her off. He bucked and rolled and twisted, trying to get at her. Fortunately, the one thing this new body of his didn't offer was flexibility, and she managed to keep her position with relative ease. Thankfully she didn't have to worry about boulders hurtling toward them, either—upon seeing her perch, Bismuth and Spinel had stopped slingshotting the rocks. Now, they were off gathering more ammo.

Jasper crashed into Steven's leg in a whirl, grinded against the thick hide, and jumped back with a frustrated yell. She could barely scratch this thing. Not even with Garnet's added electricity could she do anything to him. Steven just shook everything off. The only things that did actual, visible damage were Opal's arrows, which left pock marks that oozed small trickles of blood all across Steven's body, and Connie's blade, which caused a blanket of slashes on his hands and feet, and anything else Lion managed to reach for her.

"Perhaps there's something else we could try?" Opal said as Steven started getting more sporadic with his movements. She wobbled and jumped when he threw himself into a rearing position. He snapped at the fusion as she vaulted over his nose, which she shot with a few arrows, before falling to the ground.

She sprinted past Lion and Connie as Steven came back down to continue his chase. Connie saw his eyes widen slightly then just as his face charged by, and Steven suddenly spun the other way, throwing his body up and using his weight to quicken the turn. Lion growled and fumbled to dodge Steven's huge tail as it swung along the ground.

Opal's path was cut off as the monster fell to the ground in front of her, a fierce fire burning in his black eyes. She cursed and raised her bow, acting on instinct rather than logic, which ended up being a very big mistake.

Before she could even loose the next round of arrows, Steven's jaws descended. In that same instant, Opal came undone and Amethyst was thrown to the ground as Pearl was snapped in half by Steven's teeth.

"Pearl! Let her go!" Amethyst screamed, jumping to her feet and hitting Steven with her whip as hard as she possibly could. He growled, then squealed when the whip slashed his eye. His mouth opened as he jerked back and Amethyst leaped up and caught the pretty pearl that fell from his tongue.

"Geez, P, why'd you go and do that?" she sighed before turning tail and running toward the woods. That's all she could think to do now—run to the woods. Maybe she could help Bismuth and Spinel with the boulders? Or maybe she and Garnet could try Sugilite?

Actually, with how unstable Garnet was right now, Sugilite would probably just make everything even worse. If they were even able to hold her together.

"Ah, man…"

Connie gasped and yelped as Lion stumbled, trying to dodge Steven's hands and feet as he reacted to whatever had happened after catching Opal. A portal was summoned and Lion vaulted through it as Steven's foot crashed down, exiting a second portal a moment later just a few yards away, into a cloud of dirt and dust.

Connie coughed as Lion went to summon another portal, but the portal never came. Before the roar even started, both were knocked back as Steven's hand swatted at them blindly through the cloud. The shock of it caused Connie to lose her grip on Lion's fur, and they both went flying.

With a hard grunt, Connie hit the ground and rolled. She managed to catch herself with her elbow and knee, abruptly stopping her movement, and she coughed some more.

A few seconds later she heard Amethyst shouting from somewhere, and when she picked her head up to look, she saw the purple Gem waving frantically. Then Connie looked up and her face blanched as a huge hand came down to crush her.

Moments after the hand crashed down, Steven shrieked in pain. The hand that was about to squash Connie was rapidly lifted up, and Amethyst cheered with relief when she saw why; there was Connie, hanging from her sword, which was embedded in Steven's palm.

The girl looked up, wide-eyed and bewildered at what had just happened. Her eyes went wider when Steven started swinging his hand back and forth to try and dislodge her and she felt her hands slipping. She could see herself moving further and further away from the ground and panic started to rise in her stomach before one of Lion's portals opened beneath her.

Out came Lion with Garnet on his back, and Connie had the wind knocked out of her as Garnet's arm hooked around her abdomen. Her shoulders screamed with pain as the sword was yanked free and down the three fell into another of Lion's portals.

The next portal that opened was further back in the forest, and as Lion landed Connie saw the others gathered there, hidden under the dark shade of the trees. Once on solid ground, Garnet silently slid to the ground, gave Lion's nose a pat, then looked to Jasper. Connie's eyes followed, and she saw Jasper standing there with a very smug look on her face.

"Has Lapis reappeared?" Garnet asked under her breath and Bismuth sighed and shook her head.

"I, uh, found Peridot's gem when we were collecting boulders," Spinel muttered, holding the stone up. "She's cracked, but otherwise not in bad shape."

"Lapis must have dropped it when Steven hit her," Connie said as Garnet received the stone.

"So," Jasper piped in, "Are you ready to admit this isn't gunna work?"

Garnet's fingers tightened around the green gem in her palm and her free hand curled into a shaking fist. She said nothing.

Jasper huffed and turned her eyes to Connie, who flinched under the hard gaze.

"Gimme that sword."

"What?!"

"You heard me!"

Jasper stomped over and made to grab it, but Connie quickly rolled off Lion's back and got into a defensive stance, holding the weapon up. The huge Gem standing in front of her clenched her jaw and Connie took a step back in a moment of fear.

"Listen, Connie."

Connie faltered, caught off guard by having been referred to by name. She didn't know Jasper even knew her name. She lowered her sword and stood up a little straighter, caution on her face.

"Listen," Jasper repeated, and Connie obeyed, as did everyone else. What they heard were grumbles and roars as Steven continued to rampage, nothing but a monster left around his gem. There was the sound of crunching metal as what could only be Yellow Diamond's ship was smashed, or bitten, or hammered into the ground. The sky lit up briefly in a brilliant pink.

"Give me the sword."

Connie looked up to Jasper and hugged the sword close to her chest, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She took a few steps away.

She jolted as another roar echoed through the trees.

"Look, kid, you either hand over the sword, or you're doing this yourself."

"Fine."

The word slipped from her lips before she could even form it in her mind. Connie looked up once more. The face she saw wasn't what she expected, wasn't one she was used to.

Jasper's expression was calm, solemn, not proud or triumphant, or anything else she had imagined it would be.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you want to do this."

Connie stood up in full, brows furrowed and tears falling from her eyes, as she stared. Her shaking fingers tightened around the hilt of her beautiful orange-pink sword, and she forced air in and out of her lungs.

"You knew it would come to this," she heard Jasper say and she whimpered in response.

Yet another roar rang out.

Connie looked toward the others and found no reassurance, no hope, no...anything.

It was time for a new idea.

Eyes returned to Jasper as she came closer and Connie fell to her knees. The sword was hugged close as she cried silent tears, watching as the Gem that used to be so filled with hate crouched in front of her. Connie couldn't see any hate in this Gem now.

"It is 'Connie', right?"

The girl nodded.

"Steven doesn't think I listen when he talks, but I do. He has a lot of admiration for you. Do you know that? He always talked about how skilled and how brave you are."

She didn't know how to answer. The Gem sighed.

"I'll ask again," and Jasper's fingers were around Connie's arm, a shocking gentleness as she was lifted to her feet. "Do you want to do this?"

"You don't gotta do anything you don't want to, Connie," Bismuth said softly and Connie flexed her fingers around the sword's hilt.

Then she wiped the tears from her eyes and locked her gaze with Jasper's.

"I'm sorry it ended up like this, kid," she said before lifting Connie off the ground. Before the girl could say anything, Jasper had kicked off the ground and was whirling toward the clearing.

When Jasper jumped out of the spin and landed on her feet, Connie saw that they were at the edge of the chaos, watching as Steven stormed about, having gone past the destroyed battleship and walking toward the closest and clearest item of interest: Little Homeworld.

"I'm going to take you to Steven. Be ready with that sword of yours, because the next time I stop, you're getting thrown."

"Wait, what?" Connie gasped and Jasper chuckled.

"Act on instinct, kid."

And that was that.

Jasper kicked off again and Connie felt her stomach turn at the speed, though thankfully her mind was so preoccupied that the actual motion didn't hit her too badly.

She felt Jasper lurch as she hit a bump, and the next thing she knew they were above Steven, apparently having used his own body as a ramp.

"Alright, runt, you're up!" Jasper said and Connie found herself being thrown down toward the roaring creature below, nothing but anger staring back as he tried to reach up to them. A pink flame started to rise in the beast's throat, a rather unsettling and strange sight to the girl who was falling right into it.

A flash of orange connected to the jaw and it snapped shut as Jasper slammed herself into Steven and he fell heavy onto his hands. As he shook his head, Connie found herself shifting as she plummeted, sword held high above her head.

Wind shrieked in her ears as she fell, and she saw Steven look back to her and roar. She closed her eyes, a stark blackness swelling in her heart and mind as she accepted her mission completely.

The sword came down.

Then the screaming stopped, replaced by a gurgling, bubbling silence.

The sword had sunk deep into Steven's forehead, all the way up to the hilt, sticking out from between his eyes; eyes that were so fierce just moments ago, now staring vacantly up at the sky. Thick, red blood oozed from the wound as Connie crouched, leaning heavily on her weapon, her knuckles white around the hilt. Everything hurt, the shock from the impact washing over her, but at least nothing felt broken after that landing.

She looked down as she felt her sword jerk.

Blinding light shot out around the blade and huge cracks erupted from the wound. They ran down Steven's body, blood and white light seeping and shining from the deep gouges. The blood was heavy, sticky, and pooled at his hands and feet. Then, after what felt like an eternity, he began to fall.

Connie held onto her sword for dear life as Steven collapsed. Despite his size, his fall was slow, and he crashed onto his side in a lake of his own blood. The fluid splashed up and splattered against the girl hanging from her sword and a wave of nausea washed over her.

She managed to force the feeling down long enough to plant her feet against the purple scales holding onto her sword. With a few hard tugs her weapon was pulled free, accompanied by a sickening squelch noise, and then both knight and sword tumbled to the ground, down into the pool of red. She felt the sickness rapidly returning as she forced herself onto her hands and knees, out of the blood now soaking through her clothes. She couldn't stop the stinging acid rising in her throat anymore, her body heaving as her stomach forced everything out.

Once her stomach was sufficiently empty, with her breathing heavy and her throat on fire, Connie began to stand up. She wiped her mouth carefully to avoid the red wetness staining most of her sleeve, and looked back at the Gems. She saw that Garnet had split, Ruby and Sapphire huddled against Amethyst, who was on her knees with her face turned away, tears streaming from her eyes. Bismuth was holding Spinel, who looked like she could poof at any moment with how hard she clung to the other, and Blue Diamond loomed overhead, with the gems of her companions in her hands. Finally, Connie saw Jasper standing several yards away, and she could tell that even the stoic soldier was forcing herself to look unaffected by what had just happened.

For the first time since arriving in the forest, everything was perfectly silent.

And then a rumbling started up and all eyes turned to Steven. The cracks along his body had started projecting beams of light again, the canyons slowly growing, until the light abruptly vanished. Then, a split second later, his entire body was engulfed in light which exploded off of him in a cloud of familiar butterflies. They formed a spiraling wall around him, came together, then rushed away in all directions.

A stream came and circled around Connie and she held her arms up in an attempt to block the force of motion. Even with her eyes closed, the light from the butterflies filled her vision. And then they were gone, as quickly as they had appeared.

The strange white-blue creatures dissipated into the sky and what was left behind brought a new wave of tears to everyone. Even Jasper faltered at what she saw. The blood was gone—and so was the beast.

Left behind, where the huge monster had lain just a few seconds before, was the naked body of a boy. He was unmoving, his gem glowing faintly and slowly dimming. His body had splotches of color, scars left over from the monster, and two horns still stuck out from his forehead.

No one knew what to do, what to say.

Then Connie was sprinting full speed toward him. She heard the various footsteps of the others as she ran, following her actions. She almost tripped and practically fell as she reached Steven, her shock, panic, and confusion taking over her body. Quickly, she lifted her friend's head onto her lap. She pressed her fingers against his neck, the only thing she could think to do. She waited.

The others gathered around her, and Blue's quiet shadow hovered over the group.

Now they all waited.

And Connie let out a strangled sob as her hands moved to cup Steven's cheeks. All she could give to the others was a simple shake of her head as her tears fell, gently splashing against Steven's face. Her body shook violently and she leaned down to rest her forehead against Steven's as her sobbing grew heavier. She could feel the others' hands on her as grief spread through the group. Even Blue Diamond couldn't hold back her magical tears any longer, despite her very best efforts.

Everyone cried and wailed for a while. It's all they could do. But then something caused Connie's body to stiffen and she sat up just an inch. She'd felt something. Hands were removed from her back and she heard Sapphire whisper her name, voice soft and questioning. Everyone listened for an answer.

Connie rubbed the tears from her eyes then—with little success—before carefully moving her hand to hover closely over Steven's slightly parted mouth. Her hand stayed still for a long time, but eventually she felt it; the faintest of breaths escaped the boy's lips.

Her sorrowful tears were replaced with new ones, tears of joy as a ridiculous laughter took over.

He was alive.

"Steven's alive."