Author's note: Like I said last chapter, this will be where things get interesting and diverge a bit from the original version of Future. In addition to merging Rose Buds with Volleyball, A Very Special Episode will mostly be skipped since while I did enjoy that one, it pretty much rendered itself non-canon by the end. However, elements of that will be incorporated into the final episode of Part 1. But I've been talking too much, let's get on with the show!

Synopsis: Steven is forced to air out more of his mother's dirty laundry when Pink Pearl and a group of Rose Quartzes visit Earth.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst, Ocean Jasper, Lace Amethyst, Famethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, Pink Pearl, Shell, Mega Pearl

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Kimberly Brooks as Shy Rose, Superfan Rose, Hippie Rose, Angel Aura Quartz, Zebra Jasper, Biggs Jasper, Carnelian, Skinny Jasper

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Lamar Abrams as Wy-Six

Cristina Vee as Jay-Ten

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion

Nol Wells as ?


Steven Universe: Alternate Future

Part 1, Episode 3: Cracks and Buds

"Thanks for stopping by to help me with this painting while I help some of these Gems today TZ." Steven, wearing a doctor's uniform, thanked Teal Zircon while she stood before a painting of her former leader Rose Quartz. "Seeing this after all I've been through recently is kinda making me uncomfortable, so I want it moved somewhere else."

"Can do Steven!" Teal exclaimed while keeping her eyes on the painting, contemplating what to do with it. "Now where to put this."

First, Teal tried hanging the portrait above the temple gate. "Naw, no good."

Next, Teal went up to Steven's conservatory and thought Rose's serene expression would fit well among the greenery, but then changed her mind. "Hm, needs to be more grandiose."

Then, she tried going up to the temple's hand and hung it on one of the fingers. "Nice view, but I'm not sure."

Warping back down to Steven, Teal Zircon carried the Rose Quartz painting over to the kitchen and leaned it against the trashcan. "Hey Steven, you think this is a good spot?!" she called to Steven, who had just wrapped up healing a Ruby.

"Wait, in the garbage?" Steven asked as he walked over to the painting near the trash. "Why would you choose that place?"

"Well, it's simple really." Teal explained. "Y'all think Rose is trash now so therefore, she belongs with actual trash."

"No, it's not like that!" Steven objected to the Zircon's decision. "Rose may have done some highly questionable things, like faking her own death as Pink Diamond and lying to both sides for thousands of years, but that doesn't mean she should just be thrown away like that!" Before Steven could continue, there was a knock at the door. "Hang on, gotta take this."

When Steven opened the front door, he was greeted with tons of Quartzes with cracked gems and physical deformities. "Volleyball must've gotten real wild, eh?"

"You said it!" Biggs Jasper replied, sticking out a finger that had an eyeball at its tip.


A few minutes later, all the Quartzes were back to normal thanks to Steven, and they returned to their volleyball game while he waved them off. "Come again!" Steven cried. "But not like, too soon. Remember, volleyball isn't a contact sport!"

"Yo Schtu-ball!" Steven's father Greg called for him while he walked towards the beach house with Amethyst in tow. "Did you and that crazy Zircon find a good place for that painting yet?"

"No can do." Teal answered with a shake of her head.

"What she said." Steven agreed. "After everything that's happened lately, I don't know if I still want her hanging over us, y'know?"

"Hey, speaking of pink Gems, I think someone might wanna talk with you." Amethyst said, and she & Greg moved out of the way to reveal Pink Diamond's former Pearl standing behind them.

"Oh, it's you!" Steven exclaimed, recognizing Pink Pearl from when he managed to free everyone from White Diamond's control, including her. "What brings you to Earth?"

"I came here because I heard you might be able to help with this." The Pearl said, stepping forward while gesturing to her hideously cracked eye that extended to parts of her face and even a small portion of her hair.

"Well step right on in!" Teal Zircon exclaimed before she and Steven walked Pink Pearl into the house and sat her down. "You came to the right guy. You should've been here earlier. He was able to fix up all these Quartzes, including one that had an eye growing on her finger!"

"Thanks TZ, but let me take care of this." Steven said. "I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy." He began to lick his palm, which grossed Pink Pearl out. "Don't worry, it may seem gross but it gets the job done." He placed his healing saliva-covered palm on his patient's gem and waited for her eye to be healed. But sadly, nothing happened.

"Did it work?" Pink Pearl quietly asked.

"Maybe you should try touching her eye?" Teal suggested.

"That's exactly what I was going to say." Steven stated before he licked his hand again. This time, the spit went on Pink Pearl's injured eye. But just like last time, nothing happened. "This can't be right!" he said to himself. Steven rushed over to a plant and plucked off a leaf to double-check. He tapped on the stem the leaf came from, and out of it came a bouquet of flowers. "It's alright, my powers are fine."

"But what if there's something more to this?" TZ guessed, sitting down where Steven once sat right across from Pink Pearl. "Tell me, I've been told you were controlled by White Diamond once. I know this might be a touchy subject, but is there anything you remember from that time?"

"Nope!" Pink answered. "8,000 years just, blip! Gone!"

"So you don't remember getting cracked in the first place?" Steven asked.

"Oh no no." Steven's patient corrected him. "This was from before."

"So White must've hurt you at some point!" Teal guessed earnestly. "Is that right?"

"Oh stars, no!" Pink Pearl stated. "This was all Pink Diamond's doing!"

"My mom?!" Steven yelped at this revelation and began tensing up, turning a little pink in the process.

"Told you." TZ muttered, unintentionally making Steven more nervous already until Pink Pearl let out a gasp.

"Are you okay?" Pink Pearl asked Steven, who began to ease up more thanks to her.

"Sorry, it's just baggage." Steven let out a sigh of exhaustion. "And thanks a lot Teal."

"Oop, sorry!" Teal giggled nervously. "No hard feelings?"

"It's fine." Steven said to Teal and turned back to Pink Pearl. "Anyway, I think I know just the Pearl to help us fix you!"


As Steven took Pink Pearl outside, Amethyst joined the two as they began searching for Pearl. "So, I take it fixing her eye was a no-go?" she asked.

"You're right, and that's why we're looking for Pearl." Steven said. "You know where she is?"

Before Amethyst could answer, a stray volleyball zoomed past her, Steven and Pink Pearl. Right in front of them, the same group of Quartzes Steven healed earlier were playing a very aggressive round with Pearl serving as the referee.

"Think fast!" Angel Aura Quartz yelled before she spiked the ball towards Zebra Jasper's head, followed by Pearl blowing the whistle.

"Next set!" Pearl declared before she noticed Steven. "Oh, if it isn't my favorite medical professional. How's your clinic going?"

"Hey Pearl, you got a moment for she and Steven here?" Amethyst asked, pointing to Pink Pearl.

"Sure." Pearl accepted as she looked at Pink Pearl. "Did you come to compete?"

"Pardon?" Pink Pearl asked confusedly.

"I mean, in the volleyball tournament." The other Pearl blushed awkwardly.

"Actually, we came here because we need your help." Steven said.

"Okay, what can I do for you?" Pearl asked the two.

"So, this is Pearl." Steven introduced Pink Pearl to Pearl. "She was Mom's, I mean, Pink Diamond's Pearl too, a long time ago." Unfortunately for Steven, introductions quickly got confusing. "And Pearl, you remember Pearl? She was also Pink Diamond's Pearl, AGH! That's too many Pearls!" he snapped in befuddlement. "We should probably give you a nickname."

"A nickname?" Pink Pearl blushed in surprise.

"Yeah, a nickname." Steven repeated.

"Like how Steven calls Teal Zircon stuff like Teal or TZ." Amethyst said. "Maybe we could put an eyepatch over that eye and call you Captain Pearl!"

"Oh, I know what a nickname is." Pink Pearl stated. "It just reminds me of how Pink Diamond once gave silly little names to everything." She added, reminiscing on her former owner with a longing stare. "She was so funny like that."

"Looks like someone's still holding a torch, am I right?" Amethyst snarked. "Now if only I had an eyepatch lying around."

"How about-" Steven began just before a volleyball hit him in the face, and an idea hit him just as hard. "Volleyball!"

"Volleyball? You're so funny!" Pink Pearl, now known as Volleyball, blushed with a cute giggle. "You're just like her."

"No, I'm not like," Steven yipped in surprise. "Anyway, we're here because of the crack on-"

Steven was cut off however by the beach growing darker as a large rumbling sound rang out, and an equally large dagger-like silhouette descended towards them.

"Uh guys, is that who I think it is?" Greg rushed to join the Gems, as the shape grew closer to the Earth.

"Um, is whoever's in there with you?" Volleyball asked nervously.

"Yep." Steven answered, before the Human Zoo docked itself right in front of him. "They're with us."


"Ste-Van, greetings!" Wy-Six, one of the humans inhabiting Pink Diamond's former human zoo, merrily greeted Steven alongside Jay-Ten through the communicator in Steven's conservatory.

"Jay-Ten, Wy-Six, how did you get your space station all the way to Earth?" Steven asked just as cheerfully.

"We took the Zoo ship and made it into a cruise ship!" Jay-Ten answered.

"Um, I don't think I was told there were humans that made it to space." Volleyball stated.

"You were still under White's control when Pink had this human zoo made for her." Pearl suggested to Volleyball just as Greg, Amethyst and Teal Zircon arrived in the conservatory. "I'll fill you in later."

"Oh hey Jay-Ten. Hey Wy-Six." Greg nervously greeted the two Zoomans, whose pleasant expressions turned sour in his presence. "I haven't seen y'all since the Choosening!"

"You mean since you DIDN'T choosen us?!" Wy-Six said angrily. "Don't you have any sound discs to listen to in your wheeled conveyance?"

"Yes, yes I do." Greg replied as he nervously walked away from the conversation.

"Now that he is gone, we'd love it if you came by for a visit." Wy-Six offered.

"Sure thing." Steven accepted the offer. "Is it okay if Amethyst came along and saw the Famethyst?"

"You're right, I gotta introduce the Quartzes to them!" Amethyst exclaimed before preparing to run off. "Oh we're gonna have such a ball!"

"As long as she is not Ga-Reg, she is welcome." Jay-Ten smiled.


Since Steven had last been there, the Human Zoo had received a massive overhaul. Now that Era 3 came with the end of the caste system, the Famethyst and the Zoomans essentially took over control of the zoo from Holly Blue Agate and turned it into a paradise for themselves.

"Ste-Van, welcome to our cah-ruse!" Wy-Six declared, introducing Steven, Pearl, Volleyball, Amethyst and the Little Homeschool Quartzes to the new & improved Human Zoo.

"Wow, it looks so much different that last time." Pearl gasped in astonishment at how much change they brought to the space station.

"Um, was it always like this?" Volleyball asked the Zoomans.

"Kind of." Jay-Ten said to the Pearl. "We were descended from humans that were taken here and choosened, but it's all different now for us while the Amethysts and Jaspers laze around like delinquents! Am I right Holly Blue?"

"Stop relaxing and get back to your posts, you low class twits!" Holly Blue yelled orders to the relaxing Amethysts, despite the fact that she no longer had power over them. "How can anyone function with this total lack of order?!"

"Aw come on Holly, chill out." A Carnelian the size of Amethyst said while another Amethyst put a flower crown on the angry Agate's head. "You know you want to."

"I give up. No one answers to me, and I answer to no one." Holly Blue kept ranting, unaware that Steven and Volleyball were standing behind her. "I'd give anything for an order from the Diamonds, but all they ever talk about is Steven, Steven, Steve-STEVEN?!"

"Hi Holly!" Steven casually greeted Holly Blue. The Agate gave a stink-eye to Volleyball before nervously shuffling away while performing the Diamond salute, and ran off as her former subordinates laughed at her expense.

"Soon boy. Soon." Holly growled under her breath as she ripped the flower crown off her head and the doors slowly closed behind her. "That Pearl we made into a sleeper agent better work."

"Bye Holly." Steven said just as casual, unaware of what Holly Blue murmured.

"Yo, Famethyst!" Amethyst called to her fellow Quartzes. "Meet some of my new homies!"

"AMETHYST!" the Famethyst cried out happily before Amethyst spin-dashed towards the group and knocked them all down like they were bowling pins.

"Hey, you came here with Amethyst here?" a very skinny Jasper asked Zebra Jasper as she held up Amethyst. "You guys are gonna love it here."

As the large group of Quartzes laughed and played together, Steven looked on with a grin. "What a weird, happy family."

"Ste-van, we have some special friends we'd like you and your Pearls to meet." Wy-Six said to Steven and the Pearls before he led them out of the Zoo.

"They wanted to meet us?" Pearl asked in total confusion.

"Yes, it is they who wanted to come with us to Earth." Jay-Ten replied before they stood in front of the door that led to a room where so many Rose Quartz gems were bubbled by the Diamonds. "We cannot wait to see the look upon your faces when you see their faces! Ooh, here they come!"

The door opened, and standing before Steven, Pearl & Volleyball was a Rose Quartz with a face and hair eerily similar to the Rose that Pink Diamond had disguised as. While Steven and Pearl stood wide-eyed in shock, Volleyball was still left in the dark.

"Yes, that's the look we wanted to see!" Wy-Six exclaimed.

"I suppose she looks familiar to you?" Volleyball asked her friends, who were still silent in alarm as two more Roses, a medium pink-colored messy haired Rose with her gem on her shoulder and another with her gemstone on her chest and slightly straighter hair of a lighter color, rushed out of the room, where tons more formerly bubbled Rose Quartzes frolicked about.

"S-s-so many Rose Quartzes." Steven finally stuttered in surprise. "But how?"

"Now that it's Era 3, we were all unbubbled, so now we're making up for lost time!" the shoulder-gem Rose revealed excitedly while shaking Steven's hand. "Hi, I'm Rose Quartz! And you, you must be Steven!" she added while picking the boy up. "You're so much smaller than I thought you'd be! Is it because you're half-organic? Isn't he amazing Rose Quartz?"

"It's, like, we were bubbled but, like, now we're not." The chest-gem Rose pointed out while speaking like a hippie while her super-excitable companion presented Steven to her.

"Uh yeah, it's really great." Steven laughed awkwardly. "I'm glad to see you're adjusting well."

"Oh, isn't Steven just the best?!" the hyperactive Rose exclaimed. "You're so kind and friendly and brave and smart and handsome and gentle, and we haven't seen the Earth since we first emerged! Tell us, what's it like living there?"

The familiar-looking Rose Quartz peeked out from behind the hippie-like Rose, continuing to make Steven & Pearl nervous while Volleyball still looked befuddled.

"I'm sorry, what?" Pearl stuttered.

"You know, the planet you live on, Earth!" the happy Rose shouted as she lowered Steven to the ground. "What's a day in the life like for a hero like you?"

"Well, most days I am pretty busy." Steven answered shyly. "I wake up pretty early and-"

"Where's your house at?" the hippie Rose interrupted with a question of her own.

"Oh, we have a beautiful view of the ocean." Pearl answered.

"I've never seen the ocean before!" the exuberant Rose said, placing a hand on Steven's shoulder.

"I've never smelled it before." Her relaxed friend added as she placed a hand on Steven's other shoulder, making him even more disturbed. "Speaking of smell, what's it like breathing?"

"It's mostly nitrogen." Steven explained. "My friend Connie says-"

"I bet you sleep ALL the time!" the Rose that had pretty much become Steven's new number one fan cheered.

"Well, not all the time." Steven replied. "I only need eight to ten hours of sleep at night at my age."

"What's it like eating food?" the fangirling Rose squealed eagerly.

"W-w-w-well why don't you come to dinner and find out?!" Steven blurted out while looking at the shy Rose with a massive degree of unease. "That is, if you want?"

"I'm still lost. Why are Rose Quartzes such a touchy subject for you?" Volleyball piped up, breaking up the tension.

"Oh ye of little faith." Pearl declared as she put a hand on her fellow Pearl's shoulder. "You have so much to learn."

Just then, the Quartzes suddenly arrived via conga line led by Amethyst; seemingly unaware of what just happened. "Yo Steven!" Amethyst cried, before she turned catatonic at the sight of the Rose Quartzes with Steven and the Pearls. "Uh, what did I miss?"

"Family reunion." Steven answered meekly before the Quartzes conga-lined away. "So what do you say girls?"

"I'd love to Steven!" the shoulder Rose cheered and gave Steven a big hug. "Come on guys, Steven's having us over!"

"Like, wow man." The chest Rose replied. "You really are a real sweet guy Steven."

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up later!" Volleyball laughed while Steven and Pearl walked away with the Roses. When she was left completely alone, Volleyball hesitantly knocked on the wall and a peephole opened up. "I've come to report Holly Blue."

"Excellent, at least I have one bright spot." Holly Blue sighed happily from the other side of the wall. "Can you give me any important info?"

"Yes. Apparently this Rose Quartz they once spoke so highly of is a rather uncomfortable subject for the Crystal Gems." Volleyball said nervously. "I could see it in Steven, the Pearl and the Amethyst's eyes when they met those Rose Quartzes."

"The boss will like this." Holly Blue purred mischievously. "Return to that boy at once and see what else you can gather."

"That reminds me, I think I'd like to back out of this revolution." Volleyball murmured. "I know it's because of Pink Diamond that I'm like this, but Steven is barely anything like her! He even gave me a nickname!"

"You one-eyed moron!" the Agate yelled at the Pearl. "Our master has brought us together in the first place because Steven bent all of Homeworld to their knees by being a controlling brat, just like how Pink constantly threw tantrums because she didn't get what she wanted! Is that clear Pink Pearl?!"

Volleyball didn't listen however, and instead walked faraway from Holly Blue. "I still won't have any part in this." She declared hotly. "And by the way, they call me Volleyball now."

"What kind of stupid nickname is that?!" Holly shrieked furiously. "Get back and do as you're told, like the slave you are!" Her yelling fell on deaf ears and Volleyball was gone, leaving Holly to panic. "The master will not like this."


"He's cutting one of those carrot beans again." The excitable Rose announced as she, her fellow Roses, Garnet and Pearl watched Steven cut up some carrots on his dinner plate. "Going up…..into…his mouth!" she continued before Steven picked up a piece of carrot to eat. "Ah, and it's gone! No one can eat a carrot bean like you!"

"I've been doing this for most of my life now." Steven said, still unnerved by the Roses' obsession with him. "I'd hope that-"

"Hey Scthu-Ball!" Greg cheerfully greeted his son as he entered the beach house. "Any idea when the Zoomans will leave? I haven't had this many of my exes visiting since-"

"You must be Steven's human dad!" Shoulder Rose exclaimed. "Hi, how are you?!"

Greg completely stopped in his tracks at the sight of the three Roses, especially the one that looked almost exactly like his late wife. "I can feel the rest of my hair falling out."

Just as Greg was about to leave, Steven tried to stop him. "Don't go Dad. You wanna join us for dinner?"

"Nope!" Greg answered without hesitation, and left just as quickly as he came. As Mr. Universe left, Volleyball finally returned to Steven.

"Hi everybody, sorry I took so long." Volleyball fibbed. "Amethyst wanted me to stay a while."

"Uh…" Steven muttered.

"Okay, now back to this eating thing!" Shoulder Rose continued while she took Steven's plate for herself. "So, you take this food stuff and you put it in your face hole like this, right?"

"Yeah, that's basically it." Steven laughed nervously.

"Y'know, if I had my own Pearl, I'd totally, like, want it to be just like you." Chest Rose said as she gazed at a very unnerved Pearl. "You tried this butter stuff? It's real groovy."

"It's okay, but thanks anyway Roooooose." Pearl answered very uncomfortably.

"Excuse me Pearl, but are you alright?" the shy Rose Quartz asked Pearl.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Pearl abruptly declared and, as she stated, moved away to the bathroom.

"Yo, you're lookin' kinda tense." Chest Rose said to Garnet with a hand on the fusion's shoulder. "How about I give you a nice relaxing message while we talk?"

"I'm also in need of the bathroom!" Garnet stated and got up to follow Pearl to the john.

"Okay Steven, I think I got this eating thing down." Shoulder Rose proclaimed while holding a carrot from Steven's plate in front of his face like he was a little boy. "Here, open your face hole." With that, Steven reluctantly took the carrot and ate it. "Good job!"

"I, uh, should probably see how Garnet and Pearl are doing." Steven nervously said. "Why don't you talk to Volleyball here while I chat with them?"

As Steven left for the bathroom after Garnet & Pearl, the three Roses stared at Volleyball.

"So, what was it like as Pink Diamond's Pearl?" Navy Rose asked Volleyball.

"They're not her." Steven whispered to himself as he watched the Pearl talk with the Quartzes, with a hand on the doorknob. "It's not weird at all."


Steven found Garnet and Pearl waiting for him in the bathroom as he closed the door behind him. "So, how's it going?"

"Don't you think this is super weird?" Pearl asked her son figure. "I mean, we've lived without Rose for sixteen years now, and then here come these Rose Quartzes that were bubbled because of her! And one of them even looked like her!"

"Of course it's super weird Pearl!" Garnet answered bluntly.

"Come on guys, we can't all be like this." Steven tried to calm the two down. "It's like Pearl said, they were bubbled because they looked like Mom. Now they're finally free, and all we're doing is hiding away in the bathroom whispering to each other about the same thing."

"I know it's wrong," Garnet stated. "but I'm overwhelmed."

"You know what? They don't just look like her, they are here!" Pearl exclaimed. "Because she made them!" The ex-servant took a deep breath and buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. "I thought I'd be more prepared for this."

Just then, they heard someone rushing down the stairs, followed by a familiar voice. "Hey Steven, where are you?! I still need help with the painting!"

"That's gotta be TZ." Steven recognized the voice and prepared to go back outside. "You two wait here, I'm gonna go back out to make sure they're having a good time. And that they don't see the painting."

"Oh Steven, come out come out wherever you are!" Teal Zircon called for Steven around the house while she hauled the painting around on her back, when she noticed Volleyball and the Roses. "Oh hey Pink Pearl, who are your new friends?"

"Oh, you're that Zircon from earlier." Volleyball said. "I was about to tell these three Rose Quartzes about how I got my eye cracked when you came around. How are you doing?"

"I still can't find a good place to hang this doohickey that won't make Steven freak out." Teal explained as she flipped the painting off her back to show Volleyball. "I understand why he doesn't want it within his line of sight, but it's a very nice lookin' "meep morp" as I've heard some Gems call art."

As Steven finally emerged from the bathroom, he saw that Teal Zircon was presenting Rose's painting to Volleyball while the Roses looked on.

"I think we should leave." Navy Rose suggested. "We wouldn't want to overstay our welcome."

"But we're having so much fun!" Chest Rose complained, and the trio looked at Steven with hurt on their faces.

"Do you not want us here?!" Shoulder Rose asked Steven sorrowfully.

"N-no, you're totally welcome here!" Steven stuttered bashfully, taking a brief moment to glare at TZ for bringing up the painting at such a bad time as he slightly began to turn pink. "I-in fact, I think there's still something we should t-t-t-t-took, I mean talk about, like Volleyball! We haven't brought up your eye yet!"

"Oh yes, it's a real shame what White Diamond did to this poor thing!" Pearl dramatically agreed as she impulsively burst from the restroom, realizing far too late what she just did and covered her mouth in shame. "Oh, darn it!"

"Yeah, I mean, Steven's healing powers won't work on her eye." TZ replied. "Hey Pearl, you know a place where she can get fixed?"

"Well, when a Pearl was damaged, they're usually taken to the Reef." Pearl explained. "It's located on one of Saturn's moons

"Yes, that's exactly what Pink would do!" Volleyball chirped happily.

"Ooh ooh, can we come too?!" Shoulder Rose asked Steven and Pearl. "I always wanted to know how Pearls are made!"

"Oh sure, the more the merrier!" Steven accepted.

"That's so awesome!" Shoulder Rose yelled, and she dropped down to the floor. "I'm dying, I'm dying, I am dead! I am dead Rose Quartz!"


After they all had a good laugh, Steven, Pearl, Volleyball and the Roses all left for the Reef via Warp Pad, leaving Teal Zircon all alone in the living room. At least until Garnet peeped out of the bathroom. "I predicted you would play a role in screwing the pooch TZ." She coolly stated.

"Was it something I said?" Teal said meekly.

Far from Earth, past Saturn & Jupiter and on the moon called Titan rested the Reef, a Gem facility that was essentially the birthplace of Pearls. And it was just the place that Steven was looking for.

"Here we are." Pearl announced as the Warp Pad took her, Steven, Volleyball and the Roses to a clamshell-like building surrounded by water.

"So this is the Reef." Steven declared as he looked around the place.

"This is where Pearls are made, right?" Navy Rose asked.

"Were, but you're right." Volleyball answered. "It also serves as a luxury boutique and center for refurbishment & repair."

"Repair, yes!" Steven exclaimed. "Just what I needed to hear." When Steven pressed his hand on a nearby pedestal, the facility turned on and a voice similar to Pearl's spoke to the group.

"Welcome, Pink Diamond." The voice greeted Steven.

"No, my name's Steven Universe." Steven corrected the voice.

"Welcome, Steven Universe." The voice corrected itself. "My name is Shell, your guide to the Reef."

"Wow, it sounds just like Pearl!" Shoulder Rose chirped eagerly.

"Well, this is a place for Pearls." Pearl stated with a chuckle. "Anyways, tell Shell why we're here Steven."

"Okay." Steven said, and then he turned to Shell. "My friend Volleyball here has a big crack on her face, and we'd like to get it fixed. Can you show us where you can help?"

"Understood." Shell obliged as a path to the center of the facility was lit up. "Please follow the illuminated path to the Care Center."

"You really didn't need to go all this way for something so trivial." Volleyball smiled.

"It's not so trivial Volleyball." Steven assured Pink's former Pearl. "Soon, we'll all be able to put this behind us."

"And don't you worry." Pearl added while taking her fellow ex-slave's hand. "I'll be with you the whole way."

Steven and his Gem friends began following the lit path to the Care Center while they examined all the boutique's accessories and holograms of Pearls.

"This is like, so cool." Chest Rose commented. "Pearls are so lucky to get all this cool stuff."

"Please feel free to take your time looking at the boutique's latest offerings as we make our way to the Care Center." Shell instructed. One offering in particular caught Volleyball's eye.

"Look at these darling fans!" Volleyball exclaimed, pointing to an assortment of fans.

"I'm taking one of these for the road." Chest Rose snickered while taking one of the fans for herself.

"What about you Pearl?" Steven asked Pearl. "Any memories rushing back into you?"

"Please, nothing like examining all these glitzy tchotchkes to get you remembering the simpler days." Pearl scoffed when she found a ribbon wand on display. "I mean, who even needs something as tacky as a ribbon wand, right Volleyball?!"

"What a sweet ribbon wand!" Volleyball gasped at the wand on display. "It looks just like mine!" To demonstrate, she summoned a ribbon wand of her own just like what was displayed and began twirling it around. "It was a gift from Pink. Isn't it exquisite?"

"Ooh!" Shoulder Rose whooped in excitement.

"Takin' this one too." Chest Rose declared as she snatched the ribbon wand from its stand.

"It's sweet she gave you all these keepsakes." Pearl laughed sardonically. "But I don't think there's any need to get attached." She tried to remove the ribbon wand from Volleyball's grasp, but the other Pearl refused to lose it.

"Guys, can we keep moving already?" Steven said impatiently.

"Yes, let's." Pearl obliged grumpily before she stomped away to the Care Center. "I've had enough of this old circus of objectification."


"Welcome to the Care Center." Shell introduced the almost featureless round room to its guests as they stepped into it. "We have everything you need here to update and repair your Pearl."

"If only I had something to help us remember this trip by!" Shoulder Rose whispered to her fellow Quartzes as Volleyball stepped onto a panel in the middle of the Care Center.

"Hey, I got these." Chest Rose replied, holding up the trinkets she took from the boutique. "Can't wait to show everyone at the Zoo."

"Scanning in progress." Shell informed as the one-eyed Pearl was scanned for any injuries to her form.

"So how do I look?" Volleyball asked Shell, but the answer she got was nothing like she expected.

"I am sorry." Shell apologized. "There is nothing I can do."

"But I thought this place was for fixing Pearls!" Navy Rose exclaimed. "There's got to be some kind of misunderstanding!"

"That's right! What's wrong with her?" Steven agreed.

"There is no visible damage to her pearl." Shell analyzed. "Perhaps the damage was severe enough to impact her even if her gem shows no signs of disrepair."

"So, it's psychological?" Steven gulped at the AI's answer.

"That's absurd!" Volleyball laughed creepily while turning to the others. "I'm totally fine!" The forced smile on her face and the worsening cracks on her eye, on the other hand, told a completely different story.

"How could White be so careless?!" Pearl shouted furiously at Volleyball.

"Oh no Pearl, you got it all wrong." Volleyball revealed. "This was all Pink's doing."

"What did you just say?!" Pearl yelled in Volleyball's face, as Steven watched in horror.

"Ah dudes, I don't think Steven's looking too hot." Chest Rose muttered while she noticed Steven sweating very nervously.

"It's a real funny story." Volleyball said. "Once, Pink got so fed up with Yellow and Blue Diamond refusing to give her a colony that she went straight to White Diamond. Of course, White told her that she wasn't fit to have one, and that set her off."

"Set her off?!" Pearl shouted, currently unaware of the stress Steven was under at the moment. "What kind of crazy talk is that?!"

"You know how Pink's powers were so destructive, how she threw tantrums left & right and that her screams could crack walls!" Volleyball continued explaining, accidentally earning her more of Pearl's ire. "But she didn't mean to hurt me! I was just standing a little too close during one tantrum and-"

"It doesn't matter!" Steven yelled while averting his ears from more of his late mother's dark secrets. "I don't want to hear anymore, I just want to fix this!"

"Destructive powers? Tantrums?!" Pearl exclaimed in disbelief of what Volleyball was saying. "The Pink I knew was a healer who kept her feeling secret!"

"The Pink I knew couldn't keep a secret to save her own gem." Volleyball admitted.

"Are you kidding?!" Pearl replied as Steven's angst reached a boiling point. "If anything, she was too good at keeping secrets! In fact it was because of one secret that we're even here today!"

"STOP IT!" Steven finally screamed as he fully turned pink and his shout knocked the Roses off their feet, catching the Pearls' attention. "I've had enough with hearing about all the horrible things she did! I get it already, she was the absolute worst, can we just cut it out already?! I don't want to think about it anymore!"

"Steven, please!" Pearl cried out, shocked at both Steven's outburst and how it changed his body.

"I just want to fix it!" Steven exploded, causing a room-wide shockwave created by his fury, forming a crater beneath where he stood. Pearl rushed to the traumatized Volleyball's defense as the pink-colored Pearl curled up into a ball on the floor. When Steven finally calmed down, he gazed at his reflection in the broken floor and immediately regretted what he just did.

"I am terribly sorry for the troubles these defective Pearls have caused you." Shell coldly apologized while the whole Care Center turned an ominous red. "Rejuvenation is required to contain these two."

Suddenly, a pair of oyster shells emerged from the ground and began trapping the Pearls inside of them right before Steven and the Roses' eyes.

"Zoinks man!" Chest Rose yelled, a complete 180 from her usual hippie-like persona. "What do we do?!"

"We have to use our heads!" the panicking Shoulder Rose suggested, and her two sisters turned to face her. "Uh, what are you looking at me for?"

"When the process is complete, they will obey you without fail." Shell continued while pulling up a viewscreen showing the Pearls inside the clam-like trap.

"What have I done?!" Steven yelled frightfully while banging on the shells. "Please, let them out!"

In the midst of the chaos, a loud clanging noise was heard from the other side of the shell, which came from Chest & Navy Rose trying to use Shoulder Rose as a battering ram to help free the Pearls. "I didn't mean use my head!"

"Do not worry Steven Universe, your Pearls are about to be better than new!" Shell assured the boy while presenting him the viewscreen. "Feel free to examine this process from the outside using this screen."

While Steven was forced to watch as Pearl & Volleyball were writhing from the pink energy they were zapped with coursing through their forms, the Roses kept on using Shoulder Rose's head to try breaking them out.

"What are you three still doing?!" Steven cried out at them.

"We're just trying to help, uh doy!" Shoulder Rose yelled while rubbing her head.

"Can't you all take a hint?" Shy Rose stated. "He doesn't like us because we look like his mom, and us coming here made it worse!"

"There's no way that's true, right Steven?" Shoulder Rose began sobbing in disbelief.

"That's not important!" Steven replied. "What's important is that we have to save them!"

"Wow dude, not even considering our feelings?" Chest Rose said. "That's just cold!"

"Never meet your heroes." Shoulder Rose began crying.

"No please, don't leave me like this!" Steven yelled for them while they tried to escape the Reef. "You can still help me, it's just that you guys look so much like my mom! I thought I could finally move on from her, but then here you three come and start making feel all twisted up. I've been pretending I'm fine this whole time, but to be honest, I'm not."

"We've been pretending to be fine too." Navy Rose confessed.

"But not pretending to have fun with you!" Shoulder Rose added.

"And not pretending to take all this cool stuff." Chest Rose also stated.

"Your mom created us, and then we were bubbled because we looked like her." Navy Rose said. "Because we were Rose Quartzes. I don't really expect you to understand."

"But I do understand." Steven responded softly. "If anyone knows where you're coming from, it's me."


While Steven and the Roses were still outside, Pearl and Volleyball were on the verge of being rejuvenated into completely new Pearls, and used these last moments of their current selves to confide in one another.

"I'm sorry for not believing you!" Pearl apologized quickly to her fellow Pearl. "I just can't stop making all these excuses for her!"

"Is that what you've been doing?!" Volleyball asked while twitching in agony. "Like I said, she didn't mean to do this to me!"

"But you were hurt!" Pearl yelled. "Badly hurt!"

"You were badly hurt too!" Volleyball exclaimed. "But how did you stop all the hurt?!"

Pearl simply responded by hugging Volleyball tightly and proclaiming, "I didn't." When Volleyball hugged her back, the two began glowing in harmony.


"Don't worry Pearls, we got you!" Steven exclaimed as he and the Rose trio raced to the viewscreen just as it disappeared. "Oh no, are we too late?!"

Thankfully for Steven, his question was answered in the form of the clamshell exploding and from its remains came a fusion of Pearl & Volleyball, standing calm and confident. The fusion had a single gold eye while the other got its cracked eye from Volleyball, and was dressed in very regal attire.

"You fused!" Steven exclaimed joyously. The Roses were just as amazed, particularly Shoulder Rose who just kept squeeing in amazement.

"WARNING: UNKNOWN ENTITY SIGHTED!" Shell roared in alarm while activating the Reef's defense systems. "FACILITY DEFENSE PROTOCAL INITIATED!"

"We can cheer later dudes, we gotta bounce!" Chest Rose cried out as claws emerged from the walls. The Pearl fusion, however, detained all of the claws with elegant ease using a weapon that was Pearl's spear combined with Volleyball's wand.

"That's so awesome!" Shoulder Rose cheered. "Go Mega Pearl! Yeah, that's what I'm gonna call her, I call dibs!"

"Hang on everyone!" Mega Pearl exclaimed as she rounded up her four friends and sliced the Care Center's door open immediately after it was shut. Laser began firing from the walls, which Mega Pearl nimbly maneuvered through. But as one last defense, smaller clamshells tried to block the exit while tendrils emerged to keep Mega Pearl restrained.

"We were almost there!" Steven groaned in frustration, before Mega Pearl picked him and the trio up in her hand.

"You four take it from here." Mega Pearl said before she turned her ribbon spear in a lance that pierced straight through both the clams and the exit. She then tossed Steven, Shoulder Rose, Chest Rose & Navy Rose forward, and Steven used his shield to slide on as he reached for the pedestal to shut down the facility once again.

With the defense systems finally off, the door opened and Mega Pearl was lying gracefully on the ground, now free from the tendrils, and gazing tenderly at Steven.

Steven smiled back just as Shoulder Rose rushed up from behind him. "That, was, SO AWESOME!" she squealed and squished her cheeks in excitement.

"Best day ever." Chest Rose declared with her face to the ground and a thumbs up in the air.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Navy Rose sighed, exhausted but relieved that everyone was okay.

Unbeknowst to all the Gems as they left the deactivated Reef, a peculiar device left out some dying beeps in the Care Center, and then finally shut down.


Night fell by the time Steven and the Gems returned to Earth, and they all gazed out at the ocean together.

"Wow, everything looks so pretty at night." Shoulder Rose muttered in awe.

However, Steven was silent for most of the night, until he turned to Mega Pearl and the Roses. "I'm sorry that this whole trip was for nothing." He apologized to the fusion, and then turned to the trio of Quartzes. "And I'm sorry I made you guys feel bad."

"Nothing personal Steven." Chest Rose accepted the apology. "And like you said, no one could understand us more than you."

"Yeah. Guess that kinda makes us siblings in a way." Steven admitted.

"What does that mean?" Navy Rose said shyly.

"Well, my mom created you, just like how she created me." Steven guessed. "I think that would make you my sisters in a way."

"That sounds awesome!" Shoulder Rose cheered, and she gave Steven a big hug. "Siblings forever!"

"I'm glad to be related to you." Chest Rose agreed with the sentiment.

"I can't wait to tell all the other Rose Quartzes about this." Navy Rose said. "It was very nice getting to see Earth."

"This whole endeavor wasn't for nothing." Mega Pearl finally said softly. "Your mother's Pearls just never knew the whole story. One knew your mother as she was trying to change, but didn't know why. The other never expected her to change at all. But now, I can understand it all, and they can have each other."

With that, Mega Pearl unfused back into Pearl & Volleyball, holding hands and gazing out at the night sky. As Volleyball leaned on Pearl, Amethyst and the Little Homeschool Quartzes suddenly returned.

"Yeah, Famethyst for life!" Amethyst cried, accidentally ruining the mood as the others stared at her from behind. "Hey, what did I miss?"

"Oh, Steven!" Teal Zircon yelled as she raced towards Steven. "First things first, sorry for making your guests feel bad. And second, I think I finally found a place to put Rose! And no, I won't put her in the trash this time."

"That's great TZ." Steven smiled at the Zircon. "What did you have in mind?"


Later that night, Steven was lying peacefully in bed with Lion by his side. And within Lion's mane, Rose Quartz's painting leaned against the tree within its pocket dimension, no longer hanging over everyone.


"So she just up and left?!" a voice barked at Holly Blue Agate from a computer screen in a hidden room at the Human Zoo. "Why didn't you stop her?!"

"I tried your clarity, but she refused to listen!" Holly Blue pleaded on her knees. "Please forgive me, I can do better on whatever assignment you give me next!"

"Okay, I'll let this slide." The voice sighed, bringing joy to Holly Blue's face. "Return to Homeworld at once, I have another assignment for you. But in the meantime, what about that tracking beacon we planted on the Pearl?"

"It seems to have short-circuited, last I checked." Holly Blue declared. "Last known location was the Reef on Titan."


"And that's why you never send a Pearl to do, well, anyone else's job!" a slim, black figure wearing a white cape complained on the other end of the call via a green visor, pinching the gemstone replacing her nose in irritation as she arrived via Warp Pad at the Reef. "I'm already at the designated location. I'll keep you all updated with further orders."

Pushing the pedestal, the facility suddenly reactivated, to the figure's delight.


And cue For The Damaged Coda! Gotta say, this was probably my longest chapter yet. Now that we have yet another load of dirty laundry cleaned up, it's time to ask some bigger questions. Who is Holly Blue taking orders from when she said earlier she didn't take orders from anyone? What does this mystery character want with the Reef, and how will Steven react to a possible revolution taking place right under his nose? Join us next week for more answers, and happy holidays!