Note! Read this before continuing! This will be a type of self-insert story. I'm usually not a fan of these and I like to use the characters I make. I will make an exception, however. I have been going through some things and I find that writing myself into an already existing world helps out a lot. It's a type of escapism.

If this is for personal use, why am I posting it? To improve! I do enjoy writing and I do want to get better. There is always some way to improve, whether it's through grammar or need to be more descriptive, I aim to improve. Critique is useful and welcome! Even if I do ignore some of it for this story, it will be used elsewhere!

This story will be following the Steven Universe story, starting from episode one. Of course, there will be episodes that I'll skip over either because my character won't be there or I just don't care for it (a good portion of the Ronaldo episodes.)

Now, to explain the character a bit. Of course, I am going to bend the rules a bit here to make sure he exists. Rose Quartz had twins, one that was half human and half gem and one that was purely human. In no way, shape, or form should my character exist. But in this universe, Roses' healing powers had a powerful burst of energy to create Steven and my character. Usually, I would explain it somehow through storytelling but this is a special case.

Why did I explain all of this? Well, if you're still here, I explained it so the people that aren't interested can leave before they become invested and waste their time. Some people don't like self-inserts, some people don't like following a story through again, and some people don't like breaking the rules of that universe. I understand that.

If you just do not care and want to read… Well, enjoy it!

-000-

"No!" A voice rang out through the quiet city of Beach City. Within The Big Donut, a young boy stared at an empty freezer in despair. The young boy wore a pink shirt with a yellow star in the middle which is very iconic for his family. He was Steven Universe, a half gem half-human, that lived just outside of Beach City.

The boy next time him winced at Steven's cries of despair. He wore a red vest and a black undershirt complete with a yellow star in the middle. Similar to Steven, he had dark brown hair and eyes. While Steven's hair was curly, the boy's hair was shorter and straight. He was Vexan Universe, Steven's twin brother. However, he was pure human, despite Steven being half gem.

"This can't be happening!" Steven continued as he turned around, grabbing his head. "This has to be a dream! Lars! Lars! Please tell me I'm dreaming!" As he yelled this, he ran over and hugged an older man. The guy had curly orange hair in the style of a mohawk and had pierced ears.

The lady at the counter watched as Steven ran over and hugged Lars. She was around Lars' age with shoulder-length, yellow hair. She was Sadie, Lars' co-worker at The Big Donut.

"Get off me man, I'm stocking here," Lars replied as he forced himself out of Steven's grasp. He walked off with a few boxes in his hands, leaving Steven to land on the floor face first.

"Steven… Get up," Vexan said with a sigh as he walked over to his brother.

"I'm sorry Steven, I guess they stopped making them," Sadie told Steven, who immediately got off of the floor.

"Stopped making them? Why in the world would they stop making cookie cats?" Steven asked as he looked over towards the empty freezer. "They're only the most scrumptious and delicious ice cream sandwich ever made! Don't they have laws for this?"

"I was never a fan of them, to be honest," Vexan said as he watched Lars stock the shelves.

"Tough bits man, nobody buys them anymore," Lars told Steven with a sigh. "Even your brother didn't buy any. I guess they couldn't compete with lion lickers."

"Not lion lickers, nobody likes them," Steven said as he walked over towards the freezer with a lion's head on it. "They don't even look like lions. Kids these days, I'll tell you what!"

"I have to agree with Steven here, they are definitely worse than cookie cats," Vexan commented. "At least cookie cats were kind of cute."

"Thank you!" Steven exclaimed with a big smile as he looked at his brother.

"Well, if you miss your wimpy ice cream so much, why don't you make some with your magic belly button?" Lars asked with a laugh.

"That's not how it works Lars… Right?" Steven asked as he pulled up his shirt to look at his gem. Instead of a belly button, there was a pink gem that looked somewhat like rose quartz. Steven let out a sigh as he approached the empty freezer once more, "oh sweet cookie cats, with their crunchy cookie outside, your icy, creamy outsides, you were too good for this world." While Steven said this, he drew a cookie cat on the freezer with his finger before kissing it.

"Thinking about it now… I think I just don't like ice cream…" Vexan mumbled to himself in thought, ignoring his brother's actions as usual.

"Uh… Steven?" Saide asked as she watched Steven hug the freezer. "Do you want to take the freezer with you?" With a sad face, Steven nodded his head slowly.

"Are you… Sure that's a good idea, Sadie?" Vexan asked as she stepped out from behind the counter.

"It's not like we're going to use it anymore," she replied simply as she unplugged the freezer.

-000-

Steven hummed to himself as he walked back to his house, Vexan right behind him. Now that he had the freezer, Steven was back to his usual happy self… Which meant that he was, once again, walking faster than usual. Vexan sighed to himself as he slightly jogged to keep up.

The two walked up the steps to their house, which was on the side of the mountain. It was at the base of a giant statue of a mysterious woman with six arms, three of which were broken off. At the top of the statue was a lighthouse.

"Hey guys, you won't believe this!" Steven exclaimed as he opened the screen door, just to recoil in shock from a green and black centipede lunging at him. Vexan, who was right behind him, grabbed Steven's shoulders and pulled him back.

The centipede tried to lunge at Steven again just to be stopped by a purple whip that tied around the large bug.

"Sup Steven and Vexan," the whip wielder called out as she waved at them, still holding the centipede back. The short woman had light purple hair, purple skin, and a purple shirt. A dark purple gem peeked out of her shirt, a gem similar to Steven's. She was Amethyst. With a huff, she pulled back and sent the centipede flying.

The centipede flew over another woman who danced in the middle of a strange stone. She was taller, had orange hair and very pale skin, and wore an outfit similar to a ballerina's outfit. She had a spear in her hands that she used to knock away other centipedes, elegantly twirling it around as she, herself, twirled too. On her forehead was an oval-shaped gem. She was Pearl.

Pearl knocked all of the centipedes around her flying, one of which was caught by another woman. This woman had a black, square afro and primarily wore red and black. She had a visor that obscured her eyes, a red star in the middle of her chest, and two gauntlets with stars on them. She was Garnet.

Garnet grabbed the flying centipede before bringing it down on her knee. She threw the centipede into another one before punching two others. One landed on her massive hair, which she simply grabbed and pulled apart, making it disappear.

The three women continued to chase and attack the centipedes as they roamed through the house. Steven set down his new freezer as he and Vexan walked in, watching a centipede walk right past them.

"Awesome, what are these things?" Steven asked in awe as Vexan pulled him away from a nearby centipede.

"Sorry Steven and Vexan, we'll get these Centipeetles out of your room," Pearl told the two as she lifted up what Vexan now knew was a Centipeetle. "We think they were trying to get into the temple."

Once Vexan saw that there were no Centipeetles around them, he closely looked at the one in Pearl's arms. The top half of the Centipeetle was pure black while the bottom half was dark green. It looked like the green part of the body had gems as well while the center of the mouth had an eye.

"Great… More gem stuff," Vexan thought to himself as he let out a sigh.

"Aww, you don't have to get rid of them," Steven told Pearl as he walked over to her. "They're really cool!" As he said this, however, the Centipeetle spat out green acid that proceeded to burn a hole in the floor.

"Giant bugs that spit acid? Nah, I'm good," Vexan said as he, Steven, and Pearl looked through the hole.

"Um... Guys, these things don't have gems," Amethyst yelled out as she casually picked her nose.

"That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby," Garnet calmly said as she walked up to Steven. A Centipeetle jumped up, just to be punched casually by Garnet.

"We should probably find it before anyone gets hurt," Pearl said as she still held a Centipeetle in her arms.

"Oh! Oh! Can I come? Can I?" Steven asked, excited as he turned towards Garnet.

"Steven, until you learn to control the powers in your gem, we'll take care of protecting humanity," Pearl told Steven with a smile as she snapped the Centipeetles' neck. "Okay?"

"Aw man," Steven replied with a sigh. A noise attracted his attention and Steven saw that a Centipeetle had opened their freezer's door that had multiple pink packages in it. "Hey! Get out of there! Go on! Shoo! Shoo!"

"Looks like they got into everything," Vexan said as he watched a Centipeetle run away with a can in its mouth. Garnet stopped the bug while cracking her knuckles, launching it backward with a punch.

"Not cool!" Steven replied as he looked into the freezer. Peering inside the freezer, Steven noticed that the pink packages were cookie cats. "No way… It can't be! Whe-Where did you get these?" Steven asked as he grabbed one of the packages. "I thought they stopped making them!"

"Well, Vexan told us and since they were your favorite-"

"We went out and stole a bunch!" Amethyst exclaimed as she cut Pearl off, jumping onto a nearby counter.

"I went back and paid for them," Pearl replied, annoyed.

"The whole thing was my idea," Garnet said as her gauntlets disappeared.

"It was everyone's idea," Amethyst corrected Garnet.

"Not really."

"All that matters is that Steven is happy," Pearl said with a slight smile as she looked at Steven. Vexan awkwardly shifted his feet as he roughly threw his hands in his pockets.

Vexan sighed as Steven started to sing about cookie cats. It irked him a bit that the gems went out of their way to make Steven happy. Despite the two being brothers, Vexan knew that the gems favored Steven more than him… Probably because Steven had a gem. Whenever he and Steven were in the room, the gems easily made it seem like he wasn't even there.

Vexan was pulled out of his thoughts as a strange pink light caught his attention. While Steven was chewing, the gem on his stomach started to glow.

"Uh… Steven," Amethyst began.

"Wha- my gem!" Steven exclaimed as he lifted up his shirt, revealing the glowing gem.

"Quick, try and summon your weapon!" Amethyst explained.

"I don't know how!" Steven yelled out as the light started to fade. "Ah! It's fading! How do I make it come back?"

"Calm down Steven, breath," Pearl told the half gem as he continued to freak out. "Don't force it."

"Yeah… And try not to poop yourself either," Amethyst added with a slight smirk.

"Please don't," Garnet said. Steven's gem stopped glowing and Steven slumped to the floor as everyone let out a sigh.

"Aww, I was really close that time!" Steven exclaimed with stars in his eyes. "Can one of you just explain how to summon a weapon?"

"Oh! I'll go first!" Pearl volunteered as she raised her hand.

-000-

After a few hours, Steven came back to the house with the gems. Vexan decided to stay home and play video games while Steven learned how to summon his weapon. It wasn't like Vexan would have learned anything from joining…

"I think my best bet is to recreate what happened the last time my gem glowed," Steven told the gems and Vexan in thought. Steven moved the gems and Vexan into their places like before reaching into the freezer and grabbing another of his favorite desserts.

"Then I took a bite of this cookie cat," Steven said as he ripped away the pink package. "Oh wait, I sang the song first." Vexan let out a sigh as he watched his brother sing the last part of the song again.

"Aww, it was funnier last time," Steven said, disappointed, as he lifted his shirt to reveal his gem. "Maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem…" Vexan let out a small snort at this, making Pearl look at him in the corner of her eyes before she knelt in front of Steven.

"Don't be silly Steven, of course you are," Pearl told Steven as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"And you're fun to hang around, even if your gem is useless!" Amethyst added. "I mean… You're one of us, Steven. We're not the Crystal Gems without you. You and Vexan both." Garnet simply nodded in response.

"Yeah, even if I don't have powers, I still got… Cookie cat!" Steven exclaimed before taking a bite out of the ice cream sandwich in his hands, a look of bliss on his face. "So good…" With that, Steven's gem started to glow once again. Suddenly, a shield appeared out of his gems.

"Steven… It's a shield," Pearl said in awe as everyone gathered stared at the pink weapon.

"Oh what? I get a shield?" Steven asked in excitement. "Oh yeah!" With that, Steven sent the shield flying, making it bounce around the house. Vexan barely ducked under the shield as it came close to his head. It eventually slammed into Steven's tv, breaking it instantly.

"Oh? Cookie cat!" Steven exclaimed as Amethyst started laughing. "I summon my ice cream by eating ice cream!"

"What's in these things?" Pearl asked as she picked up the wrapper on the floor. Suddenly the building started to shake as various Centipeetles crawled over the walls and windows.

"What was that?" Steven asked before the Crystal Gems ran outside.

"It's the mother," Vexan heard Garnet say from outside the house. Interested, Vexan followed Steven outside and they watched Garnet jump up the mountain towards an unknown foe.

"Stay in the house you two," Pearl ordered the two young boys.

"No way, I'm coming too!" Steven exclaimed as he ran back in the house and towards the freezer.

"Steve…" Vexan began as he watched Steven grab a few cookie cats and wires. With a sigh, Vexan walked over and helped Steven load up the cookie cat freezer full of frozen desserts. The two ran outside and saw the Crystal Gems run behind a hand-shaped stone before the large Centipeetle started firing acid at it.

"Hey!" Steven yelled out as he and Vexan threw rocks at the giant bug. It was like the Centipeetles from earlier but a lot larger. Near the head was a white mane and the eye had a gem in the middle of it that acted like a pupil.

"Leave them alone" Steven shouted towards the enemy as he slammed the cookie cat freezer onto the ground. The large Centipeetle stared at the two boys, acid dripping from its mandibles. Vexan, a bit afraid, started to take a few steps back.

"Steven! Vexan! No!" The Crystal Gems shouted from behind the stone hand they were behind.

"Cookie cat crystal combo powers… Activate!" Steven shouted as he grabbed a cookie cat and ate it. He lifted his shirt to reveal his gem as the Centipeetle moved closer to the two boys.

"Uhh… Steven?" Vexan asked as he noticed that Steven's gem was not glowing.

"Uh-oh…" Steven muttered out as he realized that his gem was not glowing. He picked up the small freezer before he and Vexan ran away, barely dodging the large Centipeetles' attack.

"We need to save them!" Pearl exclaimed as she watched in horror before ducking out of the way as a second pair of mandibles chopped part of the stone off. The second pair of mandibles, which replaced the Centipeetles' tail, reared back.

"Can we save ourselves first?" Amethyst asked.

"Goodbye my friends," Steven said with tears in his eyes as he devoured two more cookie cats.

"Why isn't it working?" The twins asked at the same time as the large bug reared its head back, ready to strike. The two jumped out of the way as a stream of acid hit where they just were.

"Steven! Vexan!" Garnet called out, just as she stopped the tail from chopping her into two. Steven let out a gasp and Vexan looked over to find that the cookie cat freezer was not as lucky as they were.

Vexan couldn't pay attention to Steven, however, because he had to dodge out of the way from another bite. Suddenly, Steven threw the cookie cat freezer towards the Centipeetle, shocking it instantly. Suddenly, the rock the gems were behind exploded, revealing the Crystal Gems with their weapons out. The three ran forward and attacked the large bug at the same time, making it poof seconds later. A gem fell to the ground, which Garnet bubbled instantly before making it vanish. Vexan stood up and walked over to his brother, patting Steven's back as he buried a few cookie cat wrappers.

"Farewell sweet cookie cats, I'll always remember the time we spent together," Steven said as he stared at the dirt, tears welling in his eyes. His stomach started to grumble, to which he replied with "Shh, hush now."

"Are you crying?" Amethyst asked as she knelt next to Steven.

"Only a little!" Steven exclaimed in response.

"Well I guess your powers don't come from ice cream," Amethyst said with a slight laugh as the other two gems walked over.

"Of course they don't come from ice cream," Pearl told Steven as she put a hand on the twins' heads. "Don't worry Steven… I'm sure one day you'll figure out how to activate your gem."

"Yes, in your own Steven-y way," Garnet said with a smile.

"I'm okay guys, I-" Before Steven could continue, his stomach interrupted him. "I think I ate too many cookie cats."

The group started to laugh as Steven started to throw up, which made Vexan laugh a little harder.

-000-

Later that night, while Steven was fast asleep, Vexan stared at their ceiling. The two shared the same room and their beds were somewhat close together. Vexan looked over towards his twin as Steven snored slightly, thinking about the day's events.

It was… Fun.

Maybe… Maybe he'll give this gem stuff a try. While he may not be a gem, his brother was half gem… And he will try his best to support him!

-000-