Marco gazed at the cell wall, running simulations on how to escape in the back of his subconscious, his conscious mind focused on something far more important. "Are you doing okay?" He asked Star, who had been silently fuming the entire trip.
"Shouldn't you be focusing on your breakout attempt or whatever?" She sarcastically responded.
"I'm already doing that, it's just … everything happened and it seemed like it got to you more than usual."
" No, really?" Star responded sarcastically. "What makes you say that? The fact we constantly get out butts handed to us? The fact that every time I try to be optimistic, I get slapped in the face with a cruel reality? Or the fact that we're locked up and heading towards a space zoo while my brother is stuck on the worst planet in the universe and surrounded by his abusive 'family'?"
"Okay, that was a dumb question, sorry I asked." He rescinded. "But we've been in worse situations before, right?"
"Let's just … lets just get this over with." She grumbled. "Now come on, how are we actually getting out of here?"
"Given the chains, it all depends on who comes to feed us." Marco said as he gazed at the door. "Since neither of us can actually force our way out … although worse comes to worse I could always rip off my arm."
"Don't be stupid, Marco. Just because Finn has a cool robot arm doesn't mean you should get one." Star rolled her eyes.
"I already had one, Neverzone remember?"
"Well, we're not IN the Neverzone now, are we?" Star grunted.
"No, we're in a place much more dangerous and unforgiving." He tried fidgeting with his left leg, seeing if he could do anything about the bind. "Meaning it might come to worse than just a few limbs."
"Okay, you always talk about my problems, why the heck are you so willing to do that?" She asked with a glare.
"Because if one of us is getting out of this, it's the one whose sibling has actual memories of them." Marco responded.
"Oh, don't even go there, Diaz, do you really think my mood is going to get better because my boyfriend wants to be a selfless moron right now?" Star snapped back.
"I …" He paused, a horrible thought coming to his head, a very dangerous thought likely to get him killed … but it was worth a shot. "So what, you rather I lose an eyeball?"
"No! Stop thinking about mutilating yourself, it's not funny!" Star eye's started to grow a dark shading around them.
"I mean, there are days where I think my fingers are pretty useless. Just random pieces of flesh that serve better as dog food than anything useful. Heck, that's what I did with three of my toes back in the Neverzone to tame a Wendigo. Probably should start on that just in case…"
"Don't hurt yourself, you idiot!" Black mist formed above her head.
"You know, some of the best dreams I have are when I'm pushing out of danger from being stomped or eaten." He smirked to pull off the best cool pose he could provide from his trapped position. "Because I would sacrifice my life for you over and over and over agai…"
"WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO PISS ME OFF!? " She shouted as … yes!
"Because Diamonds have trouble affecting Dark Magic, and pissing you off is kicking it in." He gestured to the small veins from her hands with a victorious smirk.
"I … hey, i t's working!" The moment she smiled it started to fade.
"No, no, stay angry, stay very angry at me." Marco pleaded. "Oh…uh, I have a bit of a bombshell, but you have to swear to focus it on the enemies."
"...What are you hiding from me?" Star narrowed her eyes.
"Promise me, please?"
"Ugh, this is so not fair. Fine, I promise." She grumbled reluctantly.
He nodded hesitantly. "Okay, so I figured that the Diamonds, being the crazy people they are, would be a level of trauma we haven't seen before, right?"
"Right….?" She said skeptically.
"So before we left, I may have … for the event that this is beyond what the mortal teenager could handle … forgedyoursignaturesformandatorytherapysessionswithDr.Mahaswarren!"
"You….you…. you…. you did WHAT!?"Star immediately broke out into black flames and turned the metal into charcoal. " YOU ABSOLUTE SCUM OF THE EARTH!" She charged right towards the cell bars and melted them into puddles.
"Hey, now, you're free!" He tried to say happily. "So let's push the button and undo the chains so we can both find the controls and hijack it." Marco pleaded.
"No, you're going to stay locked up in here while I blow every gem on this ship into shards!" His girlfriend growled as she blasted black star-like shurikens right next to his face.
"Yeah, no, you do you, whatever you need sweetie."
"Don't you DARE sweetie me after what you did!" Star punched a hole into one of the walls. "And after I'm done and we save Steven, I'm going to make you feel HELL!"How wrong was it for him to find this state just a little hot?
========================================================================
Jana groaned as she was constantly shooken. "Melon Steven, it's …" She looked at the clock. "Three in the morning, your assasination date with Onion isn't for another six hours."
"Whawh?" The little guy looked confused before shaking its head. "Wah, wah. What Whwhwhwh, wha, wha, whaaaa!" The little green boy waved his hands frantically.
"What's wrong?" She asked. "You're speaking gibberish compared to your usual wha's ."
They grunted, tapping their feet before snapping their fingers, running up to some paper and crayons as they got to work, frantically writing on the image the best they could. Curious, she got up and took a look as he finished.
The drawing was of a multicolored blob or pointy haired ladies punching a pink thing with gray lines. "Steven?" The watermelon child gave a big nod with a smile. "I knew it!" The watermelon gave a happy cheer. "You're the only one I know that can draw so bad I can't understand what they're trying to say at all."
" Whaaaaawh." The Steven possessed melon shook their head.
"I knew that you said you finally got astral projection down, but I didn't know how advanced you really took it." She patted the hard melon head. "I mean, you gotta be doing this Lightyears away, hardcore stuff." She complimented.
"Wha." He patted her face before pointing to the picture.
"Right, you probably wouldn't be doing this for fun…actually you would, I'd like to think you would take the pranking advantages of this pretty seriously, because that would just be a waste of a cool power if you didn't."
"Waaggh!" They threw the paper away, moving to draw some more, this time it was just writing.
"'Help. Plan went horribly wrong. Will starve in a few days. Send backup.'" She read it outloud while staring at him. "Not even a week past the war and you've already landed yourself in trouble…I so wish I came along."
" Wah. " The melon gave her a 'really?' look.
"Sorry, I know, it's a serious situation, I've been distracted lately." She apologized. "My mind has kinda been jumbled since the war ended. I actually can't remember how I got on Mewni." It was freaky, like that part of her brain had a fog lingering over it.
"WAAGH!?"
"Not important, let's get going." She grabbed the boy, running out the door, only to be met by Lion. "... He with you?"
"Wah ." Steven let out a sort of hand gesture.
"Guess he just has a natural radar built in for whenever you're in trouble."
"Gggrrr." The feline bowed to them, as if to say 'get on'.
"A late night ride on a pink portal making lion to deliver a dire message…man this would be an amazing date set up." Jana laughed as she got aboard. "Almost a shame we never dated…almost."
" Waaaah." Steven grunted.
"Oh, things with Tom have been great actually. Got a little clingy after the fighting was done, but in a cute way." She explained. "Also he assured me that if I ever asked for it, he'd go back to therapy."
"Waaaggh." The boy complained.
"You do know that Marco signed you up for therapy with Dr.Mahasswarren, right?" Jana asked. "Even faked Star's signature so she would join him."
" WAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHH!"
"We'll find ways to get Marco back later. Just know Lapis is soaking all of his socks as we speak….oh, Lapis and Peridot reformed too, just fyi."
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Star kinda blacked out after a Jasper started punching her in the face, waking up with a groan. "Don't tell me I got caught again." She asked, looking around at … the void … "Ah, sleep thing." She muttered.
Of course she had to get into a sleep thing when her brother's life was on the line. Hopefully she destroyed enough of the ship to at least slow down the path to the zoo. "Magic's more trouble than it's worth."
"Regular magic is. Dark Magic's much more simpler to understand…of course you find a way to mess that up though." What sounded like her own voice said back to her in a disappointed tone.
"Oh great, this." Star muttered as she saw a copy of her with dark veins and black eyes. "Can we move the whole 'inner turmoil' thing along, I'd like to wake up and take control of the ship before it's too late."
"I'm controlling you at the moment, you're so deep inside of your own negativity you can't even stay conscious." The dark version of herself scoffed. " Not that it's hard, it's like trying to stop a dam with a pile of twigs. You snapp so easily under pressure."
"So what, you're just here to insult me until I cry out a river? We have a lot more important stuff to deal with in case you haven't realized."
"No, I'm here to make you realize you need to stop putting a cap on me and let me go loose. All this time you've been trying to control dark magic is like trying to force square pegs in round holes, and everyone you know is going to end up dead because of it."
"The last time you were loose, you set my brother on fire." She reminded … herself?
"A mistake, yes, but to be fair he threw himself in the line of fire. If he really cares about his safety like we do, then he'll move out of the way and let us do what we need to."
She stared angrily at the 'Darkstar' in front of her. "What sick, twisted part of me do you even think you are!?"
"I'm the part that gave up." The pure calm in her voice stopped Star in her tracks. "I'm the part that realized that Peace will never happen unless you beat the enemy into submission." They walked to her face. "Steven was wrong, we can't talk it out."
"Okay, now I know you can't be me, because Steven's not wrong!"
"Name one person you've talked it out with." Darkstar said. " Not Marco, not Steven, what enemy did YOU talk down?"
"I …" She paused. "I talked down Bismuth!"
"You had Steven with you, and it was only because she learned Rose's truth." They countered. "We're still not quite sure how on board they are with not shattering gems."
"Ugh…there was Ludo!" Star shouted next. "We talked as we fought, and he eventually believed me about Toffee controlling him! Heck, Ludo helped the Mewmans during the War!"
"He didn't believe you until he was so far on the ground it was already over, and even then you blew him up." They showed off the image. "Not to mention all of his internal realizations were within the void."
"Whatever, you negative Nancy. No matter what I say, your just too pissed off to listen to reason."
They walked up to her. "Didn't you hear KO? I'm you! You couldn't talk down Toffee, you couldn't talk down Meteora, and you couldn't talk down Mina, and now you can't talk down the Diamonds. I came out when you gave up on Mewmans, remember?"
"Yeah, and it was horrible, it was the worst feeling I ever had in my life!" Star accused: "Steven didn't give up though, he didn't give up on them, and he didn't give up on me!" She got in Darkstar's face. "Even when I doubted myself, even when I wanted to give up, Steven was still there to keep me steady, and that led to Mewni cheering for us as a monster and their queen took the throne!"
They stared at her, an impassive face before they began to walk away. "Fine then, I'll be here when you're ready to give up again."
"That's the thing you should already know, Darkstar." Star smirked. "I'm always ready to give up, it's been that way for me since I was a kid." She laughed. "The reason I don't is because I…because WE have people we love worth sticking by it the whole way."
"Keep telling yourself that … we'll see how far it goes."
With that last sentence Star regained consciousness, holding an Amethyst by its collar as the gem stared at her in terror. "Please don't hurt me like everyone else."
"I won't...just as long as you turn this ship around." They may not be able to talk down the Diamonds, but if Steven could muster the strength to still reach his hand out, then she would be right beside him to help him extend it.
========================================================================
River planted another group of seeds down, gently patting the ground. "There there, little ones, one day you'll grow into mighty oak." He looked up. "And replace those lost." The massive waves of forest that the Gem Homeworld tore down.
There was a lot of work to be done. Relocating the dangerous animals, rebuilding fallen homes, and fixing the environment around the … 'kindergartens'. "Rose would often describe the horror of her home planet when I asked." Moon lamented as she used her spells to help restore as much green as possible. "She really downplayed just how devastating the effects were."
"Yes, unfortunately these patches of land can't be recovered." Eclipsa sighed as she watched a wilting flower plant die out. "The only possible trick I haven't tried yet is temporal magic, but I'd rather not invite the commission's lecturing."
"Yes … especially without Omnitraxus running his part." His Moonpie sighed. "I give it a month before time eats itself with the kids running around."
"Oh i'm sure they'll be fine." He patted his wife. "They've gotten really responsible as of late."
"They went off to an enemy planet with little to no protection on the sole assumption sentimentality would stop an eternity of invasion." She deadpanned.
"It stopped all the fighting at the moment." Eclipsa smirked. "Admit it, without those kid's unorthodox way of thinking, both earth and Mewni would've been completely dessemated. They're much more capable than we could ever hope to be."
"Yes … that's why it's disappointing." Moon stared at her hands. "Am I really that incapable of protecting my own children?"
"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, Moonpie. Star and Steven being this capable reflects on the strength of your parenting." River reassured her. "Those babies protecting the universe are our babies, we raised them to be that strong."
She sighed. "I suppose your right." The woman agreed. "And now we can do our part and make sure Mewni isn't in danger by the time they come back."
"MEWNI IS IN DANGER!" A knight huffed as they ran over to the Queen.
"… How have we not snapped yet?" Moon asked rhetorically.
"Hah, I'm made out of sterner stuff than the average Mewman, I don't break so easily!" River jovially responded.
"Settle down, my good sir." Eclipsa calmly approached the knight. "What seems to be the trouble? Are there more Homeworld forces entering our dimension?"
"No, no, at least, that's not what everyone saw." The knight explained. "We just received word that half of the Spider-bite kingdom was demolished by what people described as a giant knight with a flaming red sword!"
"Is that so?" River cracked his neck. "It seems this is my kind of fight. Globgor, are you with me my good sir!?" Any man that was a father was a man you could fight with.
"Yes, I believe I am." The former Mewman eater smirked as he kissed his daughter's forehead, and placed them down. "Let's-"
"Hold it you two." Eclipsa held onto their arms. "Did you say a 'flaming sword'?" She asked. "As in blots of energy struck from every swing created devastation in its wake?"
"Yes, it was in the shape of a lighting bolt."
"I take it you've encountered this before?" Moon asked with a bit of suspicion.
"Yes..it's a Solarian warrior..my mother's line of super soldiers." The dark queen spoke, a bit pale.
"Mina …" Moon's eyes widened. "We need to evacuate Mewni now. After we can get as many as possible, we quarantine the planet."
"But what about the kids?" River asked. "They'll want to join in the moment they hear word.."
"That's why they're not going to hear a word." Moon said firmly. "They have fought Mina too many times, and now she has the power to rival your mother." She said to Eclipsa.
"Yes, I agree, this war is no place for children." Eclipsa sighed. "We'll have Heckapoo lock Earth off from dimensional travel."
"I was just going to lock Mewni off so Mina doesn't conquer the multiverse." Moon said with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, that makes more sense I suppose." The queen shook her head. "Alright, we haven't a moment to lose. Mewni is not prepared for another war, so the safety of our citizens is top priority."
========================================================================
Steven felt fuzzy. He felt like he was living a life he didn't experience. He recalled a pink Pearl that laughed as he juggled balls. He recalled pretending to be busy as the overly large neck of yellow watched over him. He recalled a blue chastise him over some rainbow looking worm creatures.
But worse of all, he felt the damming gaze of white diamond stare at him as his body kept shifting between Steven , Rose , and Pink.
Steven woke up with a start, holding onto his throat. "So … much … hair …" This place has been nothing but nightmares, both metaphorically AND literally.
"How did it go?" Kelly asked, her hand brushing his head. "Did you get anyone?"
"I got Jana … she's talking with Bismuth about fixing the ships … so it's just a waiting game now." He groaned, holding her tightly. "I….keep dreaming of mom too…she spent so many years in this room." Steven sighed.
"Probably … I mean, it's not like they're gonna poof her, right?" Kelly asked rhetorically.
"...No...but they came close." Steven hugged his knees. For the first time ever, he felt just how hard it was to be his mom.
The door opened, the two of them turning to see Blue Diamond enter. "We finally had you back Pink, everything was wonderful, but your trouble making has gotten worse than ever."
"Oh yes, because everything I do must be prim and proper and perfect at every moment." He groaned out.
"Exactly! You know it's wrong but you keep repeating it over and over." Blue sighed. "Your court is being dissolved. They will soon be on trial, and if found guilty they'll be shattered."
"You mean the sham trials where nothing matters?" Kelly rolled her eyes. "Where guilt and innocence are all dependent on how you feel on a whim?"
"The only reason you're here is because you were fused." She spoke to Kelly, glaring.
"Fusion is a two way street, I wanted it." He argued. "Fusion isn't wrong." … He had such a back and forth relationship with it, guess this was the side that won out..
"To an organic!? Oh no!" Blue moaned as she went hysterical, her aura hitting him hard. "We finally got you back after so long and your worse than ever!"
"No, I'm better than ever, because I'm not going to back down and let you get away with all this without telling you how messed up in the head you all are!" Steven justified.
"I'm messed up!?" She shouted. "All I've ever tried to do is protect you!" He could feel her worry and despair weighing him down. "When I know you're going to do something asinine beforehand I try to stop it, when you're punished I make a case for the least amount of cycles." She was tired, so tired. "But you keep pushing it harder and harder every time."
"You think you're being merciful!? Hundreds of years alone in darkness and isolation isn't mercy! Making me feel your remorse and pain isn't mercy!" Steven stood up and ignored the tears. "No wonder why my mom never knew right from wrong, she had terrible and awful role models to learn from!"
"That's enough!" With a wave a finger, Blue flung an orb the size of his body right at him, and Steven didn't bother to block or avoid it, letting it hit him.
"Steven!" Kelly tried to run in, but he held his hand up to stop her.
He stood his ground, glaring at the woman. "I have dealt with despair after despair, horrible revelation after horrible revelation, injury after injury, over and over and over and over again and again and again!" Steven ranted. "But do you wanna know the one thing that stuck around!? Family is supposed to CARE!"
"What are you.." He didn't let the Diamond finish.
"Whenever Pink did something that made her genuinely happy to exist you just shoved her in here until she acted like you did, you hurt her all the time when she tried to enjoy your presence openly! For once in my life I can't actually hate my mom because doing so would just be whatever messed up stuff you did to her over and over ever since you existed!"
"Why do you keep insisting on this nonsense about.." Oh for the love of the stars, these morons are dense!
"You made Pink cry, just like this! You hurt her again and again! You never protected her at all!" Steven's words finally made the Diamond flinch. "I know what it's like to have a loving family. I have such a big and caring one." The Butterfly's, the gems, Mr.universe, with many more to come. "We're all different, we don't always agree, but the one thing we do know is to never, EVER hurt one another.
"I … I …" The aura finally died down. "I've just been hurting you all this time." She muttered. "I … haven't been doing anything but straining you."
"Yes." He slowly nodded.
"I…I can't help but hurt you … anytime I help I hurt you.." Blue cried, thankfully not spreading her powers, and leaned against the wall. "This is why you..:why she left, wasn't it?"
"Finally, someone realizes the difference." He smiled. "Yeah … it is."
"I..I always assumed it was pink, failing this world.." Blue looked out the window. "But..if Pink found happiness outside…then maybe this world failed her..as I failed her." Blue sank into her cloak. "What we've done is unforgivable.
"Nothing's unforgivable if you want to change." Steven leaned against her. "You can't undo the pain you gave Pink, or the damage you did to my home, but you can stop the cycle right now." He placed his tiny hand on her giant finger. "You can make things better between you and me.."
"Why…why…are you still offering kindness to me?"
"Because the only other options are to feel numb or to hate you, the former just makes you empty, and the latter just builds up and changes you in even worse ways."
"… You have much more experience than Pink." Blue spoke, slowly rubbing the top of his head. "We shouldn't have brought you here. Yellow has the Crystal Gems bubbled in her quarters. I can get you to your friends…your family, and into your legs."
"Thanks … thank you." Steven smiled. "But we can't leave yet … there's so much work we still have to do." They had to confront the other two Diamonds. "But first…Kelly you have a spare set of my clothes, right?"
"Yep." She pulled his shirt out of her hair.
"Good, because before we do anything … I'm getting out of this stupid dress."
"Aww, and here I thought you could pull it off." Kelly teased. He knew he could, but he'd rather not dress up like Rose, even if he empathized with her more now.