"Alright, here comes the mind potion." Luz aimed her bottle at Pearl. Luckily for everyone, mainly her, Steven found Amethyst, so that took care of her little mishap. And with the world and most likely the multiverse about to go bye-bye very soon, it was time for her to pull her weight with what she knew best. "If this reset works like you said it does, I'll just throw this at her and it should be able to bring out any repressed memories she has in her head."
"Are you sure I shouldn't retaliate against the threat? My Um-Greg Universe?" Pearl asked, willing but obviously concerned. It was sort of a comfort to see her to at least have a little hesitance under all that servitude.
"Yes…I'm very sure." Her step-dad answered, sweating from the glare her mom had been giving him the entire day.
"Well then, I'll gladly take the attack head on." She smiled.
"So weird to see Pearl back to basic." Steven muttered. "But one hit and this nightmare is over."
"Right." Luz smiled as she tossed the bottle to Pearl's head, causing the gem to look drowsy. "And in we go-" She stopped, hitting a wall. "What the …" She looked over the strange structure blocking her entrance. "What is …"
"Oh my god." Marco groaned. "It's a firewall!"
"I knew gems were artificial, but are they really THAT robot-like?" Kelly asked with utter bafflement.
"Hey, if I was a robot, I wouldn't be able to do this." Amethyst walked to the fridge and shoved an entire ham covered in chocolate and honey into her mouth, swallowing it whole. "Ahhh, can't believe I actually forgot how to eat for a while. Feels good to have those memories back."
"Trust me, it was weirder for us than it was for you." Steven said, before sighing. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way."
"Oh, let's make a game out of it." Spinel grabbed onto the boy. "Can we, can we, can we?" It was like looking at Hooty, except with a slightly less annoying voice.
"Can't really do that with Pearl, she's the most straight laced out of any of the gems." Star snapped her fingers, looking at the dazed gem, who after being hit in the head, went back to do what she was doing before, moving a bunch of speakers and wires. "Is now really the best time to be organizing sound equipment?"
"Um-Greg Universe told me I should be doing something else other than staring into his eyes with wonder..." The gem responded with a smile.
"Yes, anything else.." Greg winced as mom continued to stare.
"So I'm prepping everything for tonight's concert, where there should be a promising showcase of the 'rock and roll genre'." Amethyst giggled at the formality Pearl was showing.
"Weird that the mayor decided not to cancel it with everything going crazy." Marco rubbed his head.
"She had everyone evacuate to the warehouse where the concert's being held. Said something about it keeping the town's morale up." Luz mentioned.
"Do we use the red wire or the blue wire?" The still amnesic Garnet was tangled in all the cables. As said as this was, it was oddly cute seeing her confusion.
"Alright, let's think this through." Amity brought them back on track. "You guys have been in her head before right? You know her whole backstory the best."
"Well the gem war really messed her up. She was just a regular Pearl until she met Rose, she fell for her, they explored the planet.." Steven noted. "And then she brought her to the … rebellion!" He shouted. "We need to bring out her inner rebel!"
"I don't think we have time to plan another war." Luz mentioned. "Then again, Eda's pretty good at defying authority, we can definitely get some kind of higher authority mad at us to fight against.
"We don't need a full scale war, we just need something to bring out her renegade side." Star said. "Something so crazy and high level. Something so loud that it'll shock the Pearl we know back into action. An environment so full of rebellious spirit that she'll have no choice but to follow along with it ." She paused. "But what?"
"How do I do this?" Garnet pressed wires together, a loud blast of sound hit Star and sent her flying into a wall.
"That's it, a rock show!" Amethyst pounded her fist on her hands. "What's more rebellious than loud music sung by a bunch of teenagers complaining about how hard life is!?"
"Heck yeah!" Steven shouted. "Dad, we need you to bring your A game tonight!"
"I'll rock hard for Pearl's sake." More glaring from her mom. "Oh you know what I meant."
"Whoa, the power of music is going to save the day!" Luz cheered. "And this time, I can get a front row seat to see it in action."
"Oh! We're going to play a music game!?" Spinel cheered as she shifted her hands into drums and banged them on the ground. "We're going to perform together, right!? Just me and you together, best friend?"
"Maybe if we have time." Steven waved off as he picked up a stereo. "We literally have no time to lose. Either we perform the best rock show ever, or the multiverse collapses….again."
"We really need a betting pool on what dooms the multiverse next." Marco deadpanned. "I'm gonna put thirty bucks on that Litch guy Finn's always fighting."
"Forty for another gem Rose ticked off." Steven rolled his eyes.
"Forty five for a robot uprising." Star chuckled. "Zombie's are basically nothing to us, might as well shake it up a little."
"Oh, Fifty, for that Cipher guy's ghost!" Everyone looked at her. "What? It's plausible enough, and I'd rather have that guy than Belos come back to life."
"You know what, fifty snails on Ciphers ghost too." Amity agreed. "I'd definitely have anyone other than Belos."
"They're in therapy now, Camila, this is just how they cope." Her mom groaned as she rubbed her forehead. "Don't let it get to you, don't let today get to you."
"Your woman seems troubled, my Um-Greg Universe." Pearl said. "Shall I offer something to her?"
"Ah.." That still didn't stop mom from giving her step-dad more glares. "Better let me take care of it…you just…get all the equipment into the van."
"As you wish, my eloquent Um-Greg Universe." They needed to get this woman's head fixed before her mom went nuclear on her step-dad.
========================================================================
Star could barely hear the coms over the sound of the crowd. Gems, Monsters, Mewmans, human, creatures of all kinds where all apart of it. Star would've normally cried tears of joy at the progress if the situation right now wasn't so dire. "Everyone in position!?" She asked loudly, hoping they'd answer.
"The music is ready to go!" Amethyst shouted in her ear as she whacked her drumsticks on the drums while Greg played on guitar. Luckily for them, Sadie was accommodating enough to let them play with her, given how the world was about to blow up if they didn't.
"Hello Beach Creek!" Sadie shouted into the mic. "Who's here to have a fun time!?" The entire crowd roared in applause and eagerness. "Who's here because it's the end of the world!?" The crowd cheered as if that was normal, which to be fair it was for this town, but Star could've sworn she heard the distinct shout of 'what?!' from Lars in the background.
"This song goes out to a very special person in the audience!" Amethyst shouted out. "And we hope she can take a hint!"
"She better." Steven hummed as he and she stood right between Pearl, whose eyes were directly glued to Greg and Greg alone, looking like she wasn't even phased by all the shouting.
"Not that I'm not willing to do whatever it takes to get her hands off of my husband…" Camila said as she awkwardly moved among the crowd. "But are we certain this'll work?"
"Oh yeah, if anyone's song can do this, it's Sadie's." Star reassured her. "It's all about working tirelessly in a crappy customer service job. If that doesn't relate to Pearl's life, nothing will."
"YAY! Music!" Spinel and Garnet held hands and jumped together like little school girls. Well, nice to see the two amnesia ridden gems get along at least.
The guitar blared out. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The girl shouted. "Thank you for gracing me with your presence!" Ah, sarcasm, it was a wonder to hear someone else be frustrated with life for once.
"Good afternoon, sir! What can I do, sir? Just say the word, sir! Anything for you, sir!." Sadie began strong as Greg hit the guitar with everything that he had. Even if the situation was completely serious, she couldn't help but move her body and dance alongside Marco.
"Your friends all say, sir, You don't deserve her! I disagree, sir, I live to serve, sir!" Luz and Amity certainly wasted no time getting into the groove, the human girl spinning the witch around rapidly. "I think about all the wasted time I've spent! I wanna be…disobedient!"
Steven got in on it soon enough with Kelly, though every time she had her back turn, Spinel would interject herself into the mix and try to keep Steven separate from everyone else. "I stood awake wondering where my summers went! I wanna be…. disobedient!"
Oh this reminded Star all too well of herself. "Disobedient, disobedient!" Doing everything she could to be disobedient, to rebel against whatever standard Mewni held for her back before she learned the true weight of the responsibility she needed to have.
"I've been good, sir! So very, very good for what? And I've given you, Every single thing I've got!" Sadie shouted out. Yeah, they've all been there. "It's feeling strange, man! This whole arrangement Is gonna end with me totally deranged!" Like they weren't already.
"When I think about all the wasted time I've spent … I wanna be disobedient!" She glanced at Pearl, who hadn't moved a single inch, simply smiling and watching Greg. "I stood awake wondering where my summers went!"
"Come on, Pearl, doesn't this ring any bells to you?" Steven asked her with pleading, eyes that Pearl just ignored as she stared ahead.
"I wanna be disobedient!" She still kept that love sick expression stuck on her face. "Disobedient…disobedient.." Pearl was still stuck…she wasn't changing in the slightest.
She pressed the com. "It's not working Amethyst!" She shouted. "She's still just standing still."
Amethyst looked tense. "I'm gonna do something really intense, sorry in advance everyone, especially to Greg and Steven.."
"What are … oh not again." The man muttered into the com.
"Whatever it is, just do it." Steven nodded to the stage.
Amethyst began glowing, shapeshifting into … oh. "I … want to be … disobedient." Spoke the image of Rose Quartz, slowly strutting across the stage to Pearl.
"That's what your Step brother's mom looks like?" Amity asked Luz as she looked on with wide eyes. "And she went out with…him?" She pointed to Greg. "...How many rabbit's feet did he chop off to have to get that kind of luck?"
"I want to be … disobedient." They reached for the gem's hand. "Disobedient … disobedient …" Pearl looked away, keeping her eye on Greg. "Disobedient …"
The song died down, the crowd was cheering…and Pearl was still looking at Steven's dad all lovey dovey. "Dang it, why didn't that work!?" Star cried out.
"She never met Rose in this state, she doesn't have any emotional connection to her." Marco explained with a frustrated sigh.
Greg apparently couldn't take it anymore, rushing down and looking at Pearl with seriousness. "What do I need to get you to stop caring about me!?" He shouted in frustration.
"I'll be with you as long as you exist, my Um-Greg Universe!"
"As long as you…That's it!" Steven shouted. "That's the missing piece! Mom disappeared, and that forced her to change!"
"And then she grew up independent and strong!" Kelly finished. "She rebelled because her guiding force was gone!"
"Alright!" Luz shouted. "If Pearl just needs to lose Greg, we can use one of Mom's medicines to clinically kill him, then revive him with a defibrillator!"
"We are not doing that." Mrs Universe-Noceda said, before looking at the man in question being held by Pearl. "... But I am tempted."
"We don't have to kill my dad, we just have to make him disappear." Steven thought it over, before looking at his gem and sighing. "I'm about to do something either really cool or really stupid."
Star instantly got what he was thinking. "Steven, there's a lot more practical ways to do it, you know, your powers are still fluxing."
"What other choice do we have? It needs to be both dad and not be dad telling her to move on, otherwise the message won't stick."
"I'm personally on the choice of reviving your dad after we murder him." They all stared at Amity. "What?"
"Alright, Dad, come on, we're doing something drastic!" Steven grabbed his hand and ran to the stage.
"Like what?" Steven whispered in his dad's ears as Greg's eye's widened. "You sure? I've never…"
"We got to at least give it a chance." Steven grabbed one of the spare guitars and nodded determinedly at his dad. "Come on, let's duet!"
The two played simultaneous guitar solos as the stage lit up with flares. "Wait, are they doing what I think they're doing!?" Luz's eyes shot up with excitement.
"What, what are they doing right now?" Mrs. Universe-Noceda looked at the two universe boys as they continued to play, pressing back and back against each other as a light emerged, causing a small explosion.
"Um-Greg!" Pearl shouted at the explosion.
"Steven!" Spinel was held back by Kelly.
It was nothing but smoke at first. "It's a big old universe out there." Spoke a voice with so much masculinity she almost forgot Future Marco was a thing. "And when you're crushed under the weight of those stars." A pink jacket was tossed to Pearl, who looked absolutely baffled. "Well sometimes, you need that special someone, to remind you you're so much more." A buff man with four arms, a pompadour, and a double decker guitar gave them a wink.
"I have so many questions right now that I'm pretty sure I don't want answers to." Luz's mom muttered as they all pretty much found themselves mesmerized at the combined Steven and Greg…Steg.
========================================================================
Steg adjusted their stance. So this is fusion … it's kinda cool, if weird to do with my son. Don't think about it too deeply. Just play how you feel right now. They began to strum, power emanating from every strike of the guitar as gale winds blew through the crowd.
They looked at their friends and family, half looking stunned and half looking completely baffled. I'm going to be explaining this to Camila for a while when this is over. Don't worry about the future, just focus on the moment. They stared at the worried and confused Pearl. They were right, they needed to do this for her.
"No one … Is holding you back now." He sang out. "No one … Can push you around."Looks like we got your musical talent.Hey Stewball, don't count yourself down. You're half of this duet.
"What do you wanna do?" They asked the gem, a pink light surrounded him, allowing him to fly with the wind flowing through his hair. "You're the master of you." Just be free with your own choices. "And isn't the thought enough to lift you off of the ground." Steg placed some pink energy onto Pearl, lifting them onto the stage.
She stared at them with confusion. "Nothing …" Pearl sang slowly. "Is holding me back now …" She gazed into the light of the double moons in the night sky. "No one….Can push me around!"
Pearl continued to lightly tiptoe in the sky as Steg let her take the stage. There were many ways to describe Pearl. A bit obsessive, a worrywart, and stubborn. But she was also smart, loyal, and never back down for anything once she had her mind set on something." "What do I wanna be" She asked. "….I'm the master of me!" The gem smiled as Amethyst jumped on the stage, giving Steg the opportunity to surround her in pink light as they all flew across the sky.
"And isn't the thought enough to lift off of the ground." Steg asked as they began to rise with Amethyst. "We could be independent together." He told Pearl as they flew by by side." "Independent together, we can fly." They danced and played their instruments.."
For so many years, both Greg and Pearl lived with unspoken resentment for each other. They saw each other as rivals for the same prize. But with Rose gone, they saw just how petty it was in the long run. "Independent together."
They shouldn't be against each other "Independent together." Now, especially now of all times, they should be supporting each other, lifting each other up, allowing them to fly right beside them when the other falls down.
"Independent together, you and I." She began shifting, light changing and jerking around every second as if unsure of what to do, until eventually it settled onto a familiar pale gem, rocking a jacket.
"High above an endless sea." Amethyst held her hand out to Pearl, who gladly accepted as they slow danced in the sky. "No one brought us here but me." Two gems who had been through a lot with each other in the past few centuries. Mistakes were made along the way, some they wished they could take back, but through thick and thin, they were always there when they made them.
"Every step and every choice." Pearl continued, twirling in the sky, making the very moonlight a radiant white pink. "It's my fault, it's my thought It's my words, it's my voice!" No matter what came next, they would come out of this, stronger, better, and able to stand side by side with each other, independently, as equals.
They crashed into the ground, Opal coming out of the light as she began strumming her own guitar, a confident smirk on her face. "Independent together." The full gem fusion softly sang as she pulled out her own guitar, playing along with him as the crowds began to go wild. "Independent together if we try."
"Independent together….Independent together.." He floated them higher and higher, lifting each other up as a good family always does for each other. "Independent together, you and I."."
Steg noted the sweat on their face, exhaustion filling their body. "Independent together." If it's too much we can slow down. No, it's fine to finish. The audience could use some reassurance.
"Independent together, we can fly." He saw the crowd cheer in ovation. He saw Kelly shooting them two thumbs up. "Independent together." He saw Luz and Amity raving with each other as Camila shook her head with a small smile on her face. "Independent together." He saw Marco and Star embrace each other, likely relieved that they were almost done fixing the gems. "Independent together, you and I." He saw Garnet, looking confused, but happy at least. "Independent together … you and I …" And he saw Spinel…looking horrified and scared…he saw her…running away. No, where is she going!? We have to follow…!
Steg fell to the ground, feeling himself unable to move another inch. Alright … mighta … pushed … Steven … Steven! …
"STEVEN!"
========================================================================
Lars watched as the most masculine thing he's ever seen vanished into a ball of light, leaving Mr Universe and an unconscious Steven. Here he thought it was just gonna be a normal day. Wake up, bake, plan the next space adventure. But apparently, the world was ending, and nobody thought to tell him!
"Steven!? Steven!" His thoughts were almost drowned out as Star shouted her brother's name, the boy's limp body flailing in her arms. "Wake up! I told you this was a bad idea!"
"Spin…Spinel.." The boy briefly managed to mutter as his eyes seemed to fall shut. "Find..Spinel.."
"What's he talking about, she's right…over.." Kelly pointed to an empty area. "Dang it, we did lose her!"
"Oh come on, she was the clingest one around, how did we lose her!?" Star shouted, running off. "Marco, take half the city! Everyone else nurse Steven."
"What's going on, why are we looking for Spinel?" Pearl asked with confusion.
"Pearl! Of course!" Marco pounded his fist. "You said you knew her before you reset. What's her deal?"
"Right, of course." She shook herself. "She used to be with Rose all the time back when she was Pink Diamond …she was designed to be her playmate and they hung around each other all the time in her garden, but a few months before she got a colony, the Gem vanished."
"Yeah, like how Bismuth 'vanished'." Kelly sarcastically snarled.
"They spent all their time in the garden if I remembered correctly …" The ground rumbled. "What was that?"
"That would be the poison breaking the ground open." Amethyst pointed to the earth, which began to crack as pink liquid bubbled out.
"Is this what you guys meant by the end of the world?" Lars rhetorically asked.
"Unfortunately yes." Star sighed. "Ugh, there's just too many things to cover all at once right now."
"First things first should be getting Steven someplace he can rest." Mrs. Noceda grabbed holdhold of the unconscious Steven. "I can take him back home while the rest of you deal with everything outside the temple.""
"I'm perfectly … fine … three headed puppy …"
"I'll go along and make double sure he actually gets that rest." Luz nodded.
"Good. While they cover that, Star, Kelly, and Amethyst, you fan the search for our missing looney tune." Marco instructed. "The rest of us need to get everyone else someplace safe."
"Alright people, move it, move it!" Star shouted.
"But we wanna see the rest of the concert!" A random fan shouted.
"I've been in enough situations, I've got this." Lars cleared his throat as he turned to the audience. "Kelly has magic lice!" They began screaming and running to the bunkers.
"… How many situations has THAT worked in?" Sadie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Far too many to be perfectly honest. Even worked on a race of magma-made aliens for some reason." Guess a fear of bugs was just a universal trait. "Come on, we can get more people to safety if we get to the sun chaser." Felt weird to be helping out a disaster happening on earth for once.
========================================================================
In the vast realm of unconsciousness Steven found himself in, he couldn't help but get a nagging feeling that something terrible was about to happen.
Yes, he managed to restore Amethyst and Pearl's memories, but the way Spinel looked at Steg…at him with such hurt and betrayal…He was so focused on how the fusion would make Pearl feel about Dad that he forgot all about how Spinel might've been affected.
It was like Kelly all over again, the levels of abandonment, the jealousy of being with someone else, Rose abandoned her … and he did it all over again.
"It's always the same." He looked at Toffee. "Saving people is pointless in the end."
"Oh, like I'm going to listen to something you say." Steven brushed past the image of the lizard man. "I don't regret saving people no matter what."
"What about the people you didn't save?" The skull of Omni spoke to him as it laid down on the ground.
"I tried to save you…you did it to yourself." Steven did his best to ignore him as the skull broke in half.
"Is that what your excuse will be once your done with me?" Spinel came to him, half in her old form, half in her new one. "You're just going to just place all the blame on me?"
"No! That's not what I'm going to do!" Steven shouted at her. "That's not who I am!"
"Isn't it?" He gazed at White Diamond, smiling down with condensation. "I remember you always being like this."
"For the last time, I AM NOT MY MO.."
Steven stopped, looking into a mirror that appeared right in front of him, gazing back at his reflection … the reflection of Pink. "You haven't changed a bit."
Steven woke up, gasping for air as he felt a wet and cool rag on his forehead. Alright, maybe he had more deep seated issues he hasn't touched yet … or he was gaining them all over again. Either way, it was just something he'll probably end up talking to his therapist about.
"Steven!" He heard Luz cry out to him as she grabbed him, making him realize that he had been sleeping on the couch.
"How long have I …"
"About two hours." His step-sister explained. "Half the gangs out trying to find Spinel while the other half is getting people to safety."
"And considering the show setup was about two hours … we have ten left until the end of the world." He shook his head, doing his best to ignore the negative side of this situation. "Did Pearl say anything about Spinel's past?"
"Only that she used to be Pink Diamond's playmate, and that they played together in some sort of garden."
"Well that's specific." He snarked. "Alright, time to go looking for a garden in the universe." Like there weren't a million of those.
"Whoa bro, should you be moving right now?"
"I'm the only one Spinel connected with today. I'm her only friend." He sighed. "I shouldn't have left her alone."
"Don't be too hard on yourself. You're literally juggling about a dozen things at one time." Luz patted him on the back. "Take it from someone who has more than her fair share of experience putting the weight of the world on her shoulders."
"We don't have much of a choice do we?" He asked. "Mom's the one at fault, Spinel will only talk to me, and now that I ignore her for a second she's nowhere to be-"
Crash
"Or she's in the warp dome as we speak." Steven turned his attention to the stairs.
"Can I at least come with?" Luz asked.
"Stay behind me." He nodded. "We don't know what kind of state she's going to be in." If Spinel's memories came back, then she was likely going to attack them again, and he rather not use the rejuvenator on the gem again.
They cautiously approached the warp room, where the gem was, standing onto of the crystal pad, looking lost and afraid as she stared up in the sky. "Spinel?" Luz asked.
"I-I.." Spinel sputtered. "I-I got left alone….and so many bad thoughts filled my head." She got on her knees and squeezed her face. "Feelings are flooding my head …" "So many bad thoughts…so many violent thoughts, and they.." She hit herself on the head. "They just. won't. Go. Away!"
This was a bit of a tight squeeze. They needed her to remember so they could turn off the injector … but it seemed horribly cruel, and she'd go back to being a psychopath on Mina's level. "I… Spinel, we need you to remember." He said, getting closer. "Lots of bad things are going to happen otherwise..." Was it more cruel to leave her without her memories and pretend nothing ever happened? Pretend like she didn't try to kill the planet and have her be this…regressed version of herself?
"I don't wanna remember … bad things happened …" She clutched herself.
"What about the garden?" He asked, approaching the pad and getting on top of it with her.
She looked up. "The … Garden." The moment the words came out of her mouth, the galaxy warp pad lit up, to who knows where.
"Steven!" Luz shouted his name as he disappeared with the gem. She wouldn't get hurt being in the way, and in the likely chance this was going to get messy, she could tell Pearl and the others where he was.
"Spinel, where are we going?" He asked as they traveled the light of the cosmos.
"Back … to where I never left." They arrived at a place covered with dying vegetation and darkness, perfectly horrifying compared to most of his life. "The Garden."