Summary: Sometimes people see things others don't.
"Timber!" River shouted, watching the tree fall down. "I must say, this is no hunting, but it's truly a great experience for getting rid of a restless leg." He told Mr Universe. Hearing the man was working on a house, he offered his assistance in the labor, as fellow fathers.
"Yeah, it feels nice to get a little physical labor done after so long." The balding man chuckled, getting the saw ready to slice it to pieces. "I can't thank you enough for helping, Mr. Butterfly.."
"Please, call me River." The man laughed. "And you're doing me a favor. Just sitting on a throne and listening to subjects can make one a bit … stir crazy."
"I can only imagine." Mr. Universe smiled. "I loved being able to perform in front of an audience for once, but it just gets draining when you're only able to write one type of song that you get demanded to play over and over again."
"I'm surprised you didn't try to expand." The man stated.
"Oh, I did. I had a lot of space songs, and songs about a free life … but after Rose passed I couldn't really write anything but sad ones." The father shrugged. "I don't know how I got more popular after then I was before."
"Who knows? I was more respected among peers before I married my Moon-pie, but I hardly take it into account." Mainly by high ups who saw him as nothing more than just 'the sperm donor' of the future Queen. "I'm surrounded by those I love and I get to do what I love."
"Sounds lovely." The man took a drink of water. "Hey, how do you do it? Know that your kid-your kids are out there, doing something dangerous and not freak out."
"I was doing the same thing around their age." River laughed. "When I was four I ripped open the head of a bear and drank from its skull. The amount of pride I felt in myself was a level of pure elation."
The man looked particularly squeamish at that. He forgot earth culture was more soft than most dimensions. "They haven't done that, right?"
"Not yet. I need to put Star through the bog beast test before going down that road." She was almost fifteen, the time was coming soon. "Any concerns for your own?"
"Lots of them … but it would be hypocritical and out of line for me to say anything." The man let out a sigh. "I had an idea of what kind of life he would live just by being Rose's son, danger would be around no matter what."
"If it's any consultation, the boy knows how to keep himself safe in a tussle. He told me how he entered a wrestling ring and completely knocked out the competition!" River laughed. It filled him with pride that Quartz knew how to use his strength well.
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"A little more to the right! No, my right!" Sapphire watched as Steven proceeded to lift a giant pillar off a warp pad with Amethyst, the others looking for damage as Pearl guided them. "Just because most of these are unusable doesn't mean we should leave the Galaxy hub in such a disheveled state."
"Why does this place even have multiple warp pads?" Marco asked. "You'd think if one could get you anywhere it would be impractical to keep them all on site and so close to each other."
"Most of these pads were directly linked to locations that lead off the planet during the war." Sapphire explained. "During that time, destroying these was one of our main objectives, it helped keep the numbers on their side low during crucial moments."
"Besides, being thorough never hurts." Pearl added. "Thanks to Sugilite we already lost one warp pad, we should see if any others have become non-functional."
"Girl, I thought you said you guys have fun on these adventures?" Asked the most recent addition, 'Ponyhead'. "I half expected a musical number to break out by now at least with everything you described."
"We totally do, most of the time things go off the rails and we end up fighting a giant crystal squid or something by this point." Star muttered, rolling her eyes. "You should've seen Quana form, they might have given you a run for your money at the bounce lounge."
"Oh what's this now? Little Q-fly finally got over the awkwardness and started chasing other girls now?" The floating unicorn head sent the boy a smirk.
"Jana's just a friend who's just helped me loosen up about a lot of confusing feelings I've had for a while." Steven shrugged, actually responding without getting embarrassed by the accusation. "Besides, it's not like she's interested, we just like having fun together."
"Hahaha, yeah totally." Sapphire didn't need future vision to know the strain on Kelly's face wasn't going to go away anytime soon. She was almost tempted to form Garnet just to see whether or not Steven would make a choice between them.
"Still tho, this is better than what you're doin, earth turd." The Pony spoke to Marco.
"I for one, am glad." The hoodie wearing male smirked. "A calm day of notes and organization. No monster attacks to drive us mental and think we can never get peace."
"Never expecting things to go right is how we survived anytime Dad took us camping." Star added. "Caught my first fish when I was four, acting like a bear using nothing but my mouth."
"And then mom got worried about salmonella and took you to the doctor, but then they gave you that blueberry potion by mistake." Steven added in with a laugh. "Good times … was that the last one?"
"Yes Qua-… Finally get it down pat and you change your name." Pearl grumbled. "Come on, we should head back to the temple."
"Sure you want to go by Steven? Not too late to change your mind on it." Star said as they all gathered together on the pad. "By doing this, you're admitting Glosseryck is right…"
"As much as I hate that, a name is only as good as I want to make it." Steven explained. "Rose-Mom liked the name, so I'm going to try and make the name Steven Quartz Universe Butterfly into something great!"
"A bit of a mouthful." Tad deadpanned.
"Oh, sorry, little green hair piece I can barely remember hangs arounds us because he never leaves his girlfriend's head." Ponyhead retorted right back. "Don't you listen to him, Q-fly. Whenever people say the name Ponyhead, I MAKE sure they know to picture me or else they'll suffer the consequences."
"You have the craziest friends, Ste-man." Amethyst chuckled. "Alright, everyone on board? I got a bag of chips and a pile of stuff I call my bed waiting for me back home."
"Yep, ready to go!" Steven waved his arms out, and warped them away. "Hehehe, warping feels so different from scissor travel. It's like I'm as light as a feather!" Steven let himself float above everyone else, flipping over and over again.
"Be careful Qua-Steven, or you'll end up-" The boy's head went outside of the edge of light. "STEVEN!"
"Bro, don't fall into the abyss! There's nothing for you there!" Star, being sensible, immediately grabbed her brother as soon as she could and brought him back into the stream, where his face was covered in frost.
"Don't worry, Steven, I got you covered." Ruby grabbed a hold of the boy and warmed her body up, wrapping him in her comforting and warm hug. "You good?"
"Guys, I saw something!" He shouted as they finally arrived back. "Something else was warping!"
Sapphire thought about it for a good ten seconds. "That's not possible, Steven. The only thing capable of warping on the planet is another gem, and none of the corrupted monsters have the mental capacity to use them anymore."
"Well something was. I saw a shadowy thing warping." He persisted.
"Are you sure your vision wasn't foggy from the cold emptiness of the void making you think about the existential nature of existence?" Star asked.
"No, I did that when I first found out Cookie Cats aren't being made anymore." The boy shook his head. "I swear, it was this dark, shadowy ball thing, and it was flowing up one of the streams!"
"Qu-Steven, I know it's hard for organic minds to comprehend what happens most of the time, but you shouldn't let your delusions get the better of you." Pearl spoke in a tone that was probably meant to sound reassuring but only came off as demeaning.
"You all thought I was crazy about the mirror, but I know what I saw!" He shouted. "There is something in the warp!" Most of the kids backed away, probably a little startled by Steven shouting.
"Can't you see if there's something going on with your future vision?" Kelly asked.
[More shouting with a sleep deprived Steven]
"… Marco, I believe humans have invented something known as coffee?" She asked, getting a nod in return. "Prepare a few gallons please." The sad part was that only half of it was going to Steven. It was going to be an exhausting week for all of them…and they didn't even need to sleep.
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Moon knew that if she wanted both of her children to grow up decently, she needed to schedule as much time as she could with them, talking about whatever issues were on their mind, and hopefully deter them from any mischievous activities that they had planned for themselves. This had mixed results, mainly from her oldest child.
Star at least stopped outright hating her, a week ago having called her in the middle of the night to tearily say she loved her. It took the Queen by surprise, but she nonetheless treasured the moment and fell back asleep with a heavy weight being lifted off of her shoulders.
Quartz on the other hand usually was open about whatever was on his mind, so keeping him out of trouble was more manageable than Star, although that didn't prepare her for the hour of talking when they were supposed to be practicing music.
"I swear, I saw something. But do they believe me, no, cause to them it's impossible isn't it? Just like how I talk to corrupted gems lately. Talking them down is an option, we just tend to invade their territory most of the time, like the Invisible Gem." It was a good way to keep track of what her son was doing with his time on earth at least.
"Admittedly, I can't speak on behalf of their behavior, outside of Rose, Pearl is the only one I've had any personal encounters with…and talking to her once was enough for me." Moon said. The pale gem usually started off most greets pulling out her spear at anyone that looked at Rose funny.
"Exactly! It's like every word I say to them about it just passes through their heads! It's something that's possibly coming from space, the thing they're afraid of all the time. Why wouldn't they take this more seriously!?"
Moon looked at how sleep deprived her son was, jittery, and causing unrest in the now shoulder sized Centipeetle and most of the castle. "Maybe you could … convince them to look around?" She asked. "If you go searching the areas and patrol in a large group, you're sure to see something."
"We did, three times, around the world. And it just, isn't there!" Quartz rubbed his hand on his face. "What's worse is that Marco is trying to put me through therapy again, and Kelly's been asking me to go through with it! It's like I'm trapped in a wall of misplaced kindness! How do you fight that?"
"… Take their advice?" She asked. "I mean … letting out your feelings is always a good place to start."
"That's what I'm doing now!" The boy took his guitar, playing an aggressive tempo. "I'm so close to shaving off half my hair and getting black eyeliner."
"Please don't turn into Dirhena, Quartz, we don't need another one." Moon sighted. "Maybe just…see it from their point of view for a minute."
"Right … their point of view … one without proof." He muttered. "A stakeout!" He laughed. "I'll catch it in the act and bubble it!"
That was not at all what Moon was trying to go for, but worse comes to worse, her son would end up falling asleep from sitting in one place for too long and he'll wake up getting over his paranoia, or at least having a more clear head in approaching the situation.
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Star took a sip of her coffee, as Kelly walked to her. "Shift change, how's he doing?"
"He entered a state of hypothetical death threats … basically what Ponyhead does with her exes." It was a fun pastime they had when they were younger, coming up with new ways to threaten people. "I've never seen him so freaked out about anything before…at least…you know." Star awkwardly pointed to Kelly.
"Yeah..I know. He just stopped thinking about the Blood Moon, I didn't want to see him freak out about something else." Damn it, Quartz, you were ruining your own chances at having a girlfriend!
"Give me another five minutes, I'm gonna try to talk him out of it." Star said, walking to him and patting his head. "Steven, bro, my lovely sibling from another world, when was the last time you slept?"
"Sleep isn't an option, not when the space invaders are coming … the orb will rue the day, isn't that right Centipeetle?" Quartz asked a beetle on a leaf. "See, she gets it."
"Qu-Steven, how many fingers am I holding?" She waved her three in front of his face.
"Three hands, like a trident … you're not thinking about Tom again are you? Wait, is he involved!? I should have known a demon could magic their way into the warp!"
"Quartz, please, don't do this, you're scaring everyone." Star placed a hand on his shoulder. "I want to be there for you, and if you say that there's something we need to watch out for, you know I'll be the first one to back you up, right?"
"I know! You're the only one I can truly trust…"
"Then do you trust me when I say you're only hurting yourself when you're doing this."
"…" He sighed. "I guess you're right." Yes, finally! "Maybe I was seeing things, maybe I have been taking this too far." He looked at the exposed night sky, a twinkling star. "And maybe there are no space invaders." The star began to glow brighter, Quartz not noticing as he turned back to her. "I mean what was I thinking, a round shadow?" A round object emerged from the twinkling, and it was heading directly at her brother.
"LOOK OUT!" Star shoved her brother out of the way as the thing landed in Quartz's spot. "What the corn…" She looked back, and saw something green and round standing up from the mini crater on legs that seemed to be floating.
"What happened!?" Marco shouted, as he and Kelly came out with cups of coffee.
"A marble came from space … I was right!!" Quartz began laughing. "I am gonna ride this for days!" He probably was, given how insane he drove himself over it. Her brother walked over to the marble. "Now just come on little guy, nice and slow-" It bulldozed right over him.
"Oh no you don't, you tiny lime flavored gumball! Not after all the crap you put us through!" Star leapt at the marble and grabbed it, only for it to keep moving forward, right towards the warp, pulling her with it. "Guys, I think it plans on taking a trip!"
"I'm on it!" Marco jumped onto her, the marble not being weighed down in the slightest. "Kelly, maybe stab it!?"
"You got it, just hold still!" Kelly jumped at it, only for green slime to squirt out from some hidden chamber, and blasting her right in the face. "Agh! Space snot!" Kelly threw her sword blindly, narrowly missing her head and chipping off a piece of the warp pad.
Almost on instinct, the orb jumped on top of the warp, with her and Marco still clinging on it, and shot the same goo right at the crack, filling it and…"It's fixed?" Star's eye's widdend.
"It's gonna fix the Galaxy Pad!" Marco shouted. "We can't let it get away!"
Quartz jumped onto the orb. "You're not … going … any-" The four of them began warping … now surrounded by a sworn of marbles. "… So he has friends."
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Steven wished he could have taken the time to brag about it, to make fun of them for calling him crazy, and rub it in the Gem's faces, but none of that mattered especially since all of his friends were being dragged along to a possibly dangerous threat from space, all because he was right about the shadow ball.
They could fix warp pads, took all four of them just to stop one, and now there was an army of them. Star's magic was the only thing keeping them at bay, forcing them out into the endless void. They finally arrived at the great pad zone, greeted by … an army was generous, and swarm was accurate. They splattered and hit the Galaxy Warp, fixing it to be brand new.
"Didn't the gems say that this was the pad that led directly to homeworld!?" Kelly wearily said, backing away from the repaired piece of crystal.
"Yes, as in anyone can come through now." The pad started to light up. "Everyone hide!" Steven pushed them all onto the ledge below. Once safe, they took a small glance up to see who showed up.
A tall green lady, with thin limbs and a triangle head. Her fingers were disconnected from her hands, and she wore glasses on her face … next to her gem. This was a gem, a HOMEWORLD GEM. "Log date, three one two. Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, reporting for maintenance check."
"Peridot." Steven whispered, remembering the name as well as the face, both of which were sending chills down his back.
"Galaxy Warp was in disarray, multiple maintenance drones were required for repair." The gem noticed a broken one crawling at her feet, poking.
"Aww, she's like a mama." Star whispered. Peridot looked down with disgust, stepping hard before it shattered. "A really bad mama." His sister now said with disgust.
"Hmm … damaged drone and the rubble has shifted … this could indicate a possible presence that correlates with the testimony of that Lapis we interrogated."
"Lap-" Marco slapped a hand on his mouth before Steven could say anything.
"Then again, the red eye reported no gems were on the planet, so her testimony in itself is highly unlikely." The gem shrugged. "Other warp pads look unstable, also in need of repair. I'll have to check for the kingergarden's progress-"
"Space Unicorn, soaring through the stars. Delivering the rainbows, all around the world." All individuals, in the open and hidden alike, turned to the dropped phone on the ground. "Space Unicorn, shining in the night. Smiles and hugs forever, all around the world."
Everyone sent a look to Marco, who nervously patted himself. "Oops." He mouthed.
The gem extended figures, picking up the object. "A primitive signal device has been found, location may be compromised. Note for future possibility of group known as 'space unicorn'." Peridot spoke, pressing a button on her gauntlet.
All the marbles beeped, before exploding, Peridot warping away with Marco's phone. "Aw man, I just paid that off." Marco grumbled.
"That was a homeworld gem….they actually came." Steven suddenly felt a wave of stress overtaking him. "She said they interrogated Lapis, does that mean she's a prisoner?! What have they done to her!? What's going to happen!? They know earth isn't dead now, what will we do when she finally comes…"
"She's not going to come back." Star's wand glowed that dark and sick green, and aimed it directly at the bad. "No matter what it takes." A darker version of her rainbow fist punch was shot out, splintering the pad into pieces.
Seconds later, the pad they arrived on glowed, and the four of them were ready to take on another possible threat, only for it to be the Crystal gems. "Steven, I came as soon as I saw the vision of you and the repaired Galaxy Pad and…" Sapphire rushed to him, tears coming out of her eyes as she hugged him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't trust…"
"That's over now, Sapphire. There's more important things to talk about." Steven patted her back. He tried to remember as much as possible, deciding to ask the first question that came to mind. "What's a kindergarten?"
They all flinched, Pearl, Ruby, and Sapphire looking like they were about to come up with an excuse, but they were interrupted by a 'tck' sound from Amethyst. "Nothing important, just the biggest problem the planet has ever faced."
"Okay, cause the gem that came through … um, Peridot, said she was gonna 'check the progress' of it or something."
"Impossible." Pearl spoke up. "That place has been inoperational for years … we were sure Amethyst was-" The gem cut herself off.
"It doesn't matter what we think is possible." Ruby growled, looking at the shattered galaxy pad, picking up one of the deactivated drones. "If Homeworld has the power to repair these instantly, then we need to be prepared for anything."
"Right." Steven felt everything go black. "Now if you excuse me, I have a week's worth of sleep to catch up on." He would brag about this maybe in a month or so when the drama wasn't so high.