Summary:
A powerful change indeed
Bismuth watched as White hit the wall, yelling to get her team's attention. "Hey, you guys okay!?"
The headpiece was quiet as it slowly pulled themselves off, revealing the Crystal gems, defused and back in their normal forms. "Yeah, we're okay, if slightly bruised." Amethyst called back out.
"That….was….so noisy…" Steven groaned. "Third worst headache of my life."
"That's why pushing fusion past three gems is always a risk, the thoughts can get so unfocused and unfiltered." Pearl explained as she peeled her face off from the surface, clinging up to the eyes.
"How does Fluorite handle that?" Marco asked, before shaking his head. "Listen, just keep the robot busy, we're going in!"
"You got it!" Peridot chipperly shouted with a thumbs up as she tossed Marco and Kelly over to Garnet, who grabbed ahold of them. "Just remember to not die, because I know how difficult it is for this group to remember that."
"Completely fair!" Star shouted, jumping inside of the eyes.
"Steven, that especially goes for you!" Lapis called out as the boy climbed up
"I am probably the one with the biggest chance of living!" He called back as he moved through the eye. "You guys just try and not get shattered or blasted. Seeing blue and yellow under mind control already gave me enough nightmare fuel for the month."
"We'll do our best, little man!" Bismuth called back. Man, that kid truly was better than Rose.
"So." Lapis spoke up suddenly. "Any regrets from how little free time you had?"
"Eh, not really. I was taken out of the bubble and thrusted right back into the action, I couldn't have asked for anything better." Bismuth smirked. "Only real regret was never getting the chance to tell Rose off right to her face."
"Amen sister." Lapis snorted. "At least Peridot managed to cross telling off a Diamond to their face off her bucket list."
"And I will hold it over everyone for eternity." The small spitfire grinned. "Along with my superior human, Marco."
"Aha, no. You're smart, Peridot, but on this you're clearly out of your depth." Lapis responded. "Steven stopped Blue and Yellow when nothing we threw worked, he's clearly the better human."
"He stopped them with parentage, not skill, something Marco has in strides." Peridot glared.
"Skill that literally does nothing against fifty foot tyrants, and Steven's the only one emotionally mature and capable of pulling this plan off."
"As the elder Crystal Gem, let me just end the petty argument here and now." Bismuth told the two. "Star is clearly the superior, followed by Kelly." And ran to the giant robot before either of them could argue, clearly displaying her dominance in the matter of debate.
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Kelly slid inside of the small hole, entering a giant gray space, where she saw White Diamond, along with Yellow and Blue at her side … not what she was expecting, this was somehow much much worse. "Ooof, she's so…"
"Yeah, that was my reaction too the first time….except with a lot more headaches." Star whispered back as they all landed.
"Oh, Starlight, what are you doing?" She asked with the tone of a disappointed mother, the Diamonds matching her words and movements perfectly. "Do you want your legs back? Do you want your planet back? You know I can't do that, look what a mess you made the last time you went off world."
Steven walked up to her, slowly but determined as he clenched his fists. "White Diamond, my name is Steven Quartz Demayo Universe Butterfly, and I…"
White Pearl appeared in front of the boy, cutting him off. "It seems we've made quite a scene, so many curious eyes and so much damage, it's going to take forever to fix it all." The gem spoke with White's voice.
"Turning everyone into your personal puppets isn't fixing anything!" Star yelled out.
" Of course you'd think that, Mewman, coming from a world so savage and chaotic. Tell me, when has anyone who's been given free will never taken advantage of it?" There was an uncomfortable silence as White's voice continued to speak out of the Diamonds. " Just look at Yellow here, so strong, so capable." With every movement, Yellow matched White's motions perfectly. "She's nearly perfect, but all the yellow in her light can't help but be weak when it comes to Blue."
"Oh, and Blue." Blue Diamond began to pose with White's motions, a hand under her chin. "Her light absorbs all warmth, leaving cold emptiness, and because of that she thinks she needs you Pink, that you're the only reason worth living." That dangerous silence raged on.
"As for me, I don't need anything. I cut off all of my imperfections, I'm every color of the spectrum." White gave an almost wistful sigh. "But you're all parts of me, parts I need to repress and cultivate."
"If they're all a part of you, then you can't be perfect." Amethyst augured. "Whatever messed up junk they're made up of is what you're made up of."
"Oh my, I almost didn't see you there." White looked down.
"She's quite funny." White Pearl gave a chuckle.
"Is that what they're supposed to be? Funny?" The Diamonds asked.
A beam of white light came before any of them could process it, hitting Amethyst head on. "AAAGGGHHH!" She screamed, before hitting the ground. "Heh … Yellow was a lot more … painful than that, you clod …"
"Amethyst, your gem!" Marco called out, but it was too late as all the color was sucked out of it, leaving it a gray rock as the monotone colors began overtaking her body, all energy dissipating as she fell to the ground.
"Stop this now!" Pearl raised her spear, before she too was hit with a light, colors fading away.
"Leave them…!" Garnet didn't get the chance to finish as she was struck too.
"I'm going to maim you!" Star shouted, holding out her hands with a dark spark to them.
"If there's one thing you've become exceptional in, Starlight, it's highlighting the most amusing aspects of these lowly organics." White laughed as Star fired on her…only to make her slightly blink. "You may have some power, but you're an eternity too early to be facing me."
"Just stop this!" Steven went down, cradling Amethyst.
"Leave them be, you're making it worse." White had the GALL to accuse her boyfriend. "That's what you do. I make things better." She snapped her fingers.
Amethyst turned her head, a creepy smile. "Thank you White Diamond, I feel excellent."
" I feel so much better." Garnet's rose in the same pose as White stood in.
"My Diamond, I feel amazing!" Pearl's entire head rotated three hundred sixty degrees
"Absolutely horrifying." Kelly muttered.
"There we go, all the flaws removed." The maniacal Diamond smiled.
"Their insecurities." Amethyst spoke.
"Their dependency." Garnet went next.
"Their obsession." Pearl smiled. "It was written all over their gems, it was almost suffocating."
"I hate having to spread myself so thin but you've made it absolutely necessary." As she spoke White Diamond became brighter and brighter, getting harder to look at without shielding their eyes. "Now there is nothing to inhibit my White light from shining through them." She raised her arms, the light almost exploding and becoming as bright as the sun, overwhelming the room as it felt like an immeasurable weight. "Now they are brilliant, now they are perfect … now they are me!" How could anyone process their sanity with the WHITE plaguing their souls?
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"You're wrong." Steven got White to look at him, so at least it was a start. "Nothing's perfect. Trying to be perfect just makes people unhappy." He looked back at them. "My friends…my family, they're fine as they are, flaws and all!"
"There you go again, encouraging flaws and deficiencies, just like you always do." White rolled her eyes.
Steven felt his rage boiling over. "I … am not … my MOM!" He shouted.
"You're MOM ?" The entire room was laughing, the sound almost as suffocating as the light was blinding. "Once again, another game taken too far Pink."
"Oh shut up, you self entitled, selfish shiny glowing bitch!" Kelly brought her sword and began to run right at the villainess, only to be blocked with a kick from Pearl on the side.
"Can't have that." Pearl pulled out her spear, interrupting Kelly's path and clashing with her. "I hope you don't mind a few holes in your pets, Starlight, then again, you have far too many as it is."
Marco pulled out his gloves, rushing in, only to duck under a fist from Garnet. "So … the mentor has become the enemy … didn't think this was how it was gonna go." He grumbled to himself.
"This would've felt a little more cathartic about a year ago!" His sister growled out as she blasted black flames at Amethyst, who merely rolled out of the way.
"It just wasn't enough to spread your poisonous mindset to so many gems, now you've deluded this odd collection of organics into fighting a cause they have no business being apart of. When will your insanity end, Pink?"
"Just stop it!" Steven shouted. "I'm not Pink Diamond, and you calling me that isn't going to change it!"
White Diamond … merely smiled. It wasn't the creepy one either, it was the one of a parent playing along with a child. "Do you want me to take a gander?" She asked. "You experience immense wells of rage when nothing goes your way, and gain a minor destructive tendency when you feel safe."
That felt too invasive for him to not feel goosebumps. "I..I just get irritated a lot…"
"You constantly choose your wording, or outright lie to those around you to get them to follow your point of view, or even do what you say." Pearl said Kelly blocked a blow.
"Don't listen to her Steven! You're probably the most honest guy I know!" Kelly defended as Pearl pushed her into a wall.
"You would prefer to do the most basic and childish things rather than be saddled with responsibility beyond your comprehension." Garnet said as she tried to land a blow on the evasive Marco.
"He deserves to enjoy the little things! What kid wouldn't want that!?" Marco defended as Garnet landed a blow into his stomach.
"And the ones you care about most are so horrifically rotten that even your companions refuse to accept them in their hearts." Amethyst wrapped up Star in a whip, almost as if displaying her.
"He's really determined and emphatic! He gives everyone a chance!" Star said as she struggled to wiggle out.
It felt like White was reading him like a book. "How…how…"
"I know this because I've seen you do it time and time again. I know because everytime you feel bad, sad, or horrible about yourself, you constantly surround yourself with the lowly and hopeless because from the top of the heap, the landfill you love to wallow in makes you feel special." White piled on and on. "How good does it feel trying to 'fix' their problems instead of abandoning them?"
"No…No one deserved to be abandoned!" He tried to shake off the confusing feelings White was trying to give him.
"And we haven't even covered the leaks." Blue and Yellow spoke. "You know things you possibly couldn't don't you? You know things that only Pink would know."
All the dreams, all the memories he's ever had about Rose, about Pink, how he was able to access them long before he ever realized the truth. "It's … it's just connecting. It's my power."
"Keeping secrets, hiding your face, blaming all your problems on someone else." The Crystal gems, having captured his friends in their grasps, surrounded him, White's voice echoing all around Steven. "You became Rose Quartz to run away from it all, and now you're so lost in this little fantasy you've created that you've managed to deceive yourself." No, no, he wasn't hiding, he wasn't lying! He couldn't be Rose Quartz…He didn't want to be Rose Quartz!
"You're there Pink, even with your memories gone, you haven't changed a day from the moment you were brought into existence." White said bluntly. "Making mistakes and acting like a child. The only difference is you actually managed to start from scratch this time around." She raised her hand to him. "But this latest game has gone on long enough."
He tried to move back, but White's Pearl blocked his path, pushing him between the two fingers. She raised him up. "Stop, stop, please stop."
"It's time to come out, Pink." She moved his shirt, her free hand staring at his gem with more emotion than his entire body as she reached to grab it.
"STEVEN!" Star called out to him as the black aura surrounded her, but unable to break free from Amethyst's hold.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Kelly cried out from him, as White's black and dagger like nails surrounded Steven's gem…and effortlessly pulled it out.
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Star could do nothing but hear the horrific scream cry out from her brother, watching as she essentially ripped him apart. She let go of Steven without care as he fell. Star broke out of her hold with more force than before, rushing forward and catching the boy. "Steven, Steven." She checked him over.
He was pale, a lot paler than he was ever before. He was sweating and breathing heavily. She looked down … at his naveless stomach. "I…it's…it's so hard to breathe…." He gasped out. "Everything's….so…so black….it's all so black and heavy…."
"We can fix this, I can heal you …" Once she figured out how, but she needed an option NOW.
"Where….where…" Steven felt around his stomach, searching for what wasn't there anymore. "Where is it….I….I….I…need…."
She looked up, seeing the Pink Diamond inside of White's grasp. She smiled as … it began to glow. "There you are, Starlight."
The gem, the whole pink diamond gem glowed brightly as it began to form, everything they feared hitting them as Pink Diamond's shape took place … only for confusion to enter the air once it shaped into Rose Quartz … and even more took place as it shaped….into Steven. "What the…?" Marco asked the question on everyone's mind.
There was a confused silence overtaking the room. "Where … where's Pink?" White asked, for the first time, conveying emotions that weren't passive aggressive anger.
"She's gone ." The thing answered with no emotion whatsoever.
"What was that?" White asked again, more anger in her voice, only to receive silence. "Answer me." She said with raw rage.
The Pink Steven, whatever it was, slowly turned its head to White, the neutral expression on its face sending out waves of fear into everyone around them. "She's GOOOOOONNNNEEEE!" It answered, forming a crater as the ground shook, blasting everything back, cracking the ground White stood on and making her trip while the rest of the gems fell to the ground, letting go of everyone. The situation had gone from bad to nightmare fuel fast. She needed to get Steven to a safety zone or-
"I need …" The Pink Steven turned straight to them at Steven's whimpering voice. "I need … I need it …" He answered, panting heavily.
The moment he said those words, the Pink Steven began to make his way to the siblings, at an even pace as they focused with emotionless eyes, walking on the air to the ground effortlessly. Every battle and sisterly instinct was telling Star to run in the other direction, to find another way to save her brother, but now wasn't the time to be picky or hesitant.
So taking a deep breath, she scooped her weak and ill brother in her grasp and slowly trudged towards the Pink Steven. "Where do you think you're going?" White asked with annoyance, very present for the first time. "Don't you take another step!" The thing kept walking as if it didn't hear her. "That's enough!" She blasted the Pink Steven, light enveloping his body … only for it to fade, revealing them to be perfectly fine, unphased as they walked.
"Did he just … shrug off the most powerful Diamond?" Kelly asked quietly.
"I'm not sure who I'm more scared of now." Marco whispered back. "That kind of power…is inside Steven all the time."
As much as Star agreed, she still had to press on. This was her best chance at saving him. "You little …!" White shot another blast, larger, only this time a jagged and crystalline shield blocking the attack as they paused moving.
"Don't you dare wave your shield at me!" Yellow and Blue shouted as the rest of the gems under white's control began glowing eyes just like White was, anger and fury irradiating the air. " I only want you to be yourself! If you can't do that, I'm going to do it FOR YOU!" The beams fired rapidly at him, white and pink light flying everywhere.
" You can't touch me, you can't hold me." The gem side of Steven blocked the rays as it spoke evenly. "You don't even know me. Why would I ever want to listen to someone as ignorant as you?" With a simple raise of its hand, the barrier exploded, sending everyone flying. "You're stopping me from my objective …" It raised a spiky shield at White, ready to send it right at her gem.
"Stop …" Steven's voice caused the thing to freeze. "Don't … hurt anyone …"
For the first time in their lives, the thing that could kill them all in an instant complied with their demand, simply dissipating the makeshift weapon and turning back to the two of them with emotionless eyes.
Star continued to walk forward, cautiously placing her brother in this thing's arms. "Please, take care of him."
"I will….Just like you." The thing sent her a neutral look that once Star looked closely enough, shared some hint of empathy towards her.
Her brother looked at his gem half, a wobbly smile forming as he hugged the pink thing, tears running down his eyes. "You…you have no idea how happy I am to see you."
"I do … I'm you." The gem half smiled back with tears running down their eyes as well. Laughter soon overtook the air as the Steven's halves began spinning around in a twirl, hugging and just being happy…being themselves.
"What…what are you doing?" The mind controlled gems asked as they laid down on the floor like mannequins as the Steven's continued to twirl. "What's going on…why are you laughing!?"
The Steven's continued to ignore her as they spun around more and more, White's giant head curiously glance as the two began to glow bright, and merge with each other like they were a fusion.
"I'm … I'm back" Steven said with teary eyes and a relieved smile. "I'm me!"
"You've always been you." Star ran up to her brother and squeezed him hard as Marco and Kelly joined in on the group huddle. "You've always been Steven."
"NO!" White shouted, pounding the ground like a baby. "You're Pink Diamond! That is Pink Diamond's gem! You don't act like this! You don't sound like this!" White continued to complain as she made the ground bounce. It was almost like being on a trampoline. "You're just … JUST ACTING LIKE A CHILD!"
"I am a child." Steven looked down, then back up at her. "What's your excuse?"
White stared at him, before … blushing? It spread to all the controlled gems, and even the room itself. A familiar shade of pink controlling the entire room. Well … this was interesting.
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There was so much warmth forming up in White's face. For the first time ever, she was caught off guard, not only by what Pink … by whatever this thing was being what it was, she was caught acting undignified and immature, a capability White didn't even know she had.
She looked around, seeing her ship growing more and more pink in shading. Her gems, the one's she made pure and perfect, all of them were glowing pink
"What is this … what's wrong with their faces?" She asked. "They're supposed to be cured of their flaws, they're supposed to be clear due to my will …" With the warmth glowing around her face, it was getting harder and harder to think more clearly … "I'm … I'm in control ." Whatever that thing was shouldn't have affected her abilities…
No … no … NO! "It's coming from me … Something's wrong … WITH ME!?" The shock made her own face glow pink, bright and pinker than ever.
"No!" She waved her hands, cutting the connection between the other gems as to not infect them further. "Nonononono." She kneeled down, hands resting on her face.
"Did Steven beat her … with a burn?" The organic clad in red asked with a laugh.
"The higher they are, the harder their self confidence falls. Stelly taught us that." The organic clad in green shrugged with a smirk of her own. "Not to mention all the pink, it's like a flag of victory."
"I think I found a headache worse than Obsidian." The Amethyst muttered. "What did we miss?"
"Oh, just everything." The Mewman snorted as they helped everyone up. As they did so, the other three gems that were engaging the droid from the outside slipped through the eye holes.
"Steven, we're here too …" The Lazuli paused. "Did we miss everything again!?"
"Yeah, sorry." The bushy organic shrugged. "If it helps, none of us were actually capable of fighting anybody."
"Well, whatever you guys did, it made White shake like a piece of chalk!" The Bismuth laughed. "Oh, what a time to be alive and out of a bubble!"
Great, now she was being insulted by lowly gems. Because that's what someone as flawed as her deserved.
"What happened …" The old Pearl asked. "Where am I …"
The thing that wasn't Pink slowly approached her with a gentle pat on the back. "Lets just say you're somewhere safe now, you won't be controlled again." Any gem White could control was now at risk of being flawed … any gem in her court was now at risk being flawed.
She turned and saw her fellow Diamonds help each other up. She didn't know why she felt the need to go to them, to seek help from them … maybe her flaws were now corrupting her mental state and making her dependent. Either way, White just knew she didn't want to feel as alone as she did now. "Yellow … Blue …" She reached to them, only for the two to back away.
"She's … off color." Yellow stated, holding a protective arm in front of Blue. Of course, they rejected her, it made sense.
"Hey." She turned to the thing that was not Pink. "Can we talk now, about fixing everything?"
"I…I can't fix anything." White responded dejectedly. "I was so certain Pink was just playing a game … I was certain she'd come crawling back to me like she always did." She turned to the small creature, who looked at her with concern of all things, concern, after all White put it through. "If you're not Pink, who are you? If I'm not perfect, who is anyone? What was the point of being made perfect if I can't be perfect?"
The thing that wasn't Pink gazed into her eyes. "Who cares?"
"I … what?"
"The big three gods don't care about us, luck has a twisted sense of humor, our origins would make you question existentialism itself, and the past is a decaying mess of endless mistakes." The child right before her groaned. "The idea of perfection is irrelevant and impossible." The … human said, before letting out a soft smile. "But there's always the future to change into something amazing." They extended a hand. "If you're willing to improve, that is."
"But…but this is how it's been since the beginning .."
"Not everything in a kingdom or world has a great start." The Mewman stood next to him. "But as long as you realize your mistakes, you can make it better."
"Besides." The boy … Steven continued. "The best part about immortality is that you have all the time in the universe to make it right."
"Where … where would we even begin?" She asked.
"You could start by taking a step out of your own head." He suggested. "Metaphorically, and literally."
White looked at the creature .looked at Steven curiously. A creature so fundamentally flawed on a biological level alone, yet without those perceived flaws, she wouldn't have been able to realize the flaws she didn't even realize she had. This boy … this boy who somehow carried Pink's light without being her was right when she was wrong … maybe there was something to be learned here. "...Alright…..Steven."
"It's so weird to hear them say his name after all this time." The Mewman scratched their head.
"I call that the biggest win I've had all year." Steven smiled. "Now, let's start fixing things."