Steven: By the way, what were you going to Homeword for?
Lars: I wanted to ask the Diamonds for help because of what Emerald did to us; it didn't seem like a bad idea, I mean, they're good people now, right? Anyway, in the end I decided to save you when I saw that all those Gems had you cornered.
Steven: I see.
Lars: What happened there, dude?! Why did those Gems have you cornered?! I'm not sure I got a good look, but I thought I saw your friends among them!
Steven: Yes, my lifelong friends were about to kill me.
Lars: Wow, that's tough, man. Why would they want to do such a thing?
Steven: It's a long story, but I can sum it up in two words - Gem Rejuvenator.
Lars: What, is that pink Gem up to no good again? Wasn't she satisfied with almost destroying the Earth with that injector?
Steven: She's got nothing to do with it. Well, she does, but not directly... Ugh. It's kinda hard to explain, I'll tell you the whole story later.
Lars: Okay, I understand. It must be hard for you, take your time.
Steven: Yeah, I really need time to take in what just happened. By the way, how long will it take us to get to Earth?
Lars: I'm not quite sure, this ship is much slower than the Gem ships. Let's see, if we keep this speed, I estimate that we'll get to Earth in about five days at the most... or maybe we'll blow up any minute now.
Steven: That's a long time... Wait, what?!
Lars: Don't worry, I've got it all under control... I hope. Anyway, if you're in a hurry, you know you can use my hair to get to Earth in a jiffy.
Steven: No. I'd rather take these five days to figure out what I'm going to do to fix this.
Lars: I see. It wouldn't hurt to take a little break, though. *points to a door* Look, that door leads to the only room on the ship, there are several beds, so pick the one you like best and feel free to make yourself comfortable.
Steven: Thank you, Lars...
[Time Skip - Ten days later.]
Steven: We finally made it to Earth.
Lars: About five days at the most, my ass!
[The spaceship lands in front of the temple, both Lars and Steven get out of it and head for the beach house.]
Steven: Good thing we didn't blow up.
Lars: No kidding, dude.
[The spaceship behind them suddenly explodes, startling them.]
Lars: Holy shit! That made jump, dude.
Steven: Well, we made it in time, I guess...
[Steven and Lars open the door to the beach house and, purely by chance, Greg and Connie are there, sitting on the living room couch with visible concern on their faces.]
Connie: Did something just explode out there?
[Both Greg and Connie turn to look and see Steven and Lars standing at the doorway.]
Steven: Hey, Dad. Hey, Connie. What's up?
Connie & Greg: Steven!!
[Greg runs up to hug Steven.]
Greg: Thank goodness you're all right, son! You and the Gems just disappeared off the face of the Earth! I've been looking all over for you for days! I-I didn't know what else to do, I was at my wit's end! I was scared.
Steven: I'm sorry I worried you, Dad. It won't happen again, I swear.
Greg: It's okay, son. Just don't disappear for days without telling anyone where you're going, your old man isn't up to that anymore. Oh boy, now I understand how my parents felt every time I snuck out of the house to party all weekend. Please don't be like me, son, be better!
Steven: I'll keep that in mind, Dad.
Greg: Anyway, where were you all these days!? And what happened to the Gems at Little Homeworld?!
Steven: It's a long story, Dad. *turns to Connie* What are you doing here, Connie? Shouldn't you be preparing for college stuff?
Connie: Your father contacted me a week ago, he asked me if I knew where you and the Gems had gone. I obviously didn't know anything, and I started to get worried as the days went by and you didn't show up, so I came to see what was going on.
Greg: What happened, son? You don't look so good.
Steven: Well, you see...
[A few moments later.]
Steven: And that's what happened.
Connie: You're joking, right?!
Steven: I wish I was.
Greg: That's sound pretty serious.
Steven: Yeah, it IS quite serious! I have to save the whole universe... again. And I'll do it alone... again.
Greg: That's not true, Steven.
Steven: Huh?
Greg: You've got the three of us!
Connie: That's right, Steven! We're gonna help you in any way we can!
Lars: Yeah! Count me in, man!
Greg: See? You're not alone, son.
Steven: *smiles gently* I really appreciate it, Dad, Connie, Lars. Still, the four of us are not enough to fix this mess.
Greg: Maybe if we come up with a good plan we can save the universe and all the Gems.
Steven: Yeah, "maybe".
Connie: Have you thought of a plan yet, Steven?
Steven: No, not yet. I'm counting on you to help me with that, you're smarter than me after all. You're the brains in our relationship.
Connie: Heck I am. And with all due respect, let me tell you that what you and Jasper did was really stupid. You shouldn't have attacked head-on, especially if you didn't have a plan in mind. What's more, I'd go so far as to say that Emerald told you all that just to provoke you and lure you to her, and you foolishly took the bait.
Steven: Please don't remind me anymore, I wasn't thinking straight. That doesn't matter anymore, though! What's done is done! Now our top priority is to come up with a plan to stop these mean Gems!
Connie: Okay, look. I think I've got the basic idea for a plan that might work.
Steven: Are you serious?!
Connie: Yup. This plan has a couple of problems that need to be solved quickly, though.
Steven: What are you talking about?
Connie: The first one: we need a lot of Gems.
Steven: That's a big problem. There's not a single Gem left on the face of the Earth. To make matters worse, I just lost the last one left.
Lars: But you said there are still planets that haven't been conquered.
Greg: You just have to contact them and tell them to come to Earth.
Steven: I can't do that.
Connie: Why not?
Steven: The control panel was destroyed, we can no longer contact anyone from other planets.
Connie: Steven, this is serious! What do you mean the control panel was destroyed?!
Steven: I know it is! And as for the control panel, I... I destroyed it in a fit of rage a few days ago.
Connie: *facepalms* You gotta be kidding me.
Greg: Wasn't there also a control panel at Little Homeschool? Why don't you use that one?
Steven: That's true! I completely forgot about that one!
Lars: That's convenient.
Connie: All right, we'll call them when we're done with this.
Steven: Sure. What's the other problem with your plan, Connie?
Connie: The second one: we can make our friends remember who they really are, as we know them so well, but... what about the rest of the Gems?
Steven: Gosh, that's right, I hadn't thought of that! We won't be able to help any Gem if we don't know anything about her.
Connie: We can't just bubble them, right?
Steven: Of course we can't! All those Gems are just being manipulated by someone else! They wouldn't deserve it.
Connie: This is the trickiest part. If we don't find a way to make them remember who they are, all our efforts will be for nothing.