We Aren't the Crystal Gems Without You

"STEVEN!" Amethyst's heart-wrenching cry brought the other gem's attention to Steven, wide-eyed and a look of horror painted across his face.
That morning, the Crystal gems, along with Steven, Connie, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli, hurried to the warp pad at Garnet's warning of at least a dozen wildly dangerous corrupted gems on the loose.
As they boarded onto the warp pad, Steven asked Connie, "Do your parents know you're coming on a gem mission with us?"
"Yeah," answered Connie, "but if I told them just how dangerous it was going to be, I know they wouldn't have let me go. At least not without every protection device on the planet." Steven laughed.
As Steven and Connie continued to talk, Peridot was busy speaking with Lapis. "Isn't this exciting? Our first gem mission together!" she exclaimed.
"Mm-hmm," Lapis agreed
"Now everyone," began Pearl. "According to Garnet's observations, this is going to be a very dangerous mission. I want everyone to be very careful. Especially you two," she glanced at Steven and Connie.
"We will," they responded together. The warp pad flashed and they soon arrived at the gem battlefield, which then just looked like a huge strawberry field.
"Where are the corrupted gems?" asked Amethyst. No sooner had she said that when a piercing shriek hit the air.
"Found them," noted Garnet as the shrieking revealed itself to be many corrupted gems, hungry for battle.
Peridot took a quick scan of the battlefield. "If my calculations are correct, which is highly probable, Garnet was right. There are twelve monsters here."
"Then we'll put in twelve times the effort," said Pearl, drawing out her spear. Garnet and Amethyst's weapons came out as well. Lapis stood depressed in front of the only puddle she could find so far on the field.
"It's okay, Lapis. I'm sure that there's more water around here somewhere," Peridot said. "Now if only I could find some metal..." She wandered off in search of anything she could use.
The beasts approached rapidly. "Crystal Gems!" Garnet called. "Get ready!" And off they went for the gems of the monsters.
Every now and then, someone would call out saying that they got one. Soon, Peridot found some weapon remains and manipulated the metal parts of them to do her bidding. "For Camp Pining Hearts!" she shouted triumphantly as her metal sword hilt hit one of the monsters. After a glare from Lapis, she corrected herself, "I mean, for the Crystal Gems!"
As the largest corrupted gem approached Steven and Connie, Steven shouted, "Connie!" and gave her a knowing look.
"Got it," she replied. They grasped hands and leaped at the monster. In a flash of pink light was Stevonnie, shield in one hand and sword in the other.
"They fused!" shrieked Peridot. "H-has this happened before?"
"Loads of times. You probably were too busy with your meep morp or whatever to notice," Amethyst called.
"Was not!" Peridot shrieked.
"We don't have time for bickering! Just focus on fighting the corrupted gems, not each other!" Pearl yelled.
The gems continued to fight the remaining monsters. Stevonnie leapt again at the corrupted quartz, but the monster knew how to fight back. It let out an ear-splitting roar and hit Stevonnie with its front leg. Their fusion came apart and Steven bubbled them for protection from the next blow.
After more hits from the corrupted gem, Connie noticed the sweat on Steven's forehead. "Steven, you can't hold the bubble much longer."
"Yes, I can!" he said through gritted teeth, but in spite of it, the bubble broke right then as the monster hit it again, sending Connie and Steven flying in two different directions. Connie was cornered by another corrupted gem and had no choice but to defend herself. Steven on the other hand, was completely worn out. Though he was half gem, he was also half human. Overusing his powers had depleted his energy.
The corrupted gem towered over him. He didn't have the strength to bring out his shield or to bubble himself anymore. "Help," he whispered as the monster made a final swipe at him.
For a few seconds he couldn't see anything. Then he could tell he was on all fours. In horror, he could see blood staining his hands.
"STEVEN!" he heard a cry that he thought belonged to Amethyst. He lifted his head up to look at her. She was strangling one of the last corrupted gems with her whip. The monster was gone in a poof and its gem hit the ground. But Amethyst was in no hurry to pick it up. As she looked at Steven, a look of sheer terror spread across her face. Steven gave her a grieved look as his hands gave out. He hit the ground with a thud and was gone in a pink poof. The only thing that remained of him was his rose quartz gem.
"STEVEN!" the gems all cried in unison. They ran to where his gem lay, but were blocked by the last monster, the quartz that had done this to Steven.
Pearl let out a grief stricken sob and screamed in rage as she launched herself at the corrupted gem, as did Garnet and Amethyst. Peridot, Lapis, and Connie stood at the side, mouths open, still processing what had happened. In a poof, the monster's gem fell to the ground. Though she hadn't defeated the monster, Peridot was the one who bubbled the gem. The others were crowding around the place where Steven's gem was.
Pearl was the first to reach the gem. She cradled it in her arms. "My baby!" she sobbed, tears streaming down her face.
Amethyst watched Pearl in stunned silence, then fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands.
Garnet said, "We were right there!" But she didn't seem to be speaking to anyone in particular, just herself. "We could have saved him! I could have looked into the future and seen this as a possibility! I-we- argh!"
"Garnet...?" Amethyst looked up at her and knew what was happening.
Ruby and Sapphire split apart. Ruby screamed and stormed over to a few yards away, fire lighting under her feet. She was muttering furiously.
Sapphire collapsed to the ground, dissolving into tears. As soon as Ruby saw, she rushed over and dropped to her knees as well, her arm around Sapphire. Though she tried to hide it, a tear of her own could be seen trickling down her face.
Behind them, Peridot and Lapis watched, silent for a moment. Then they stood and both shouted, "Steven!" and ran over to the other gems.
Connie was slumped over on the ground, farther back from everyone else. Her eyes were red, puffy, and glassy from crying. She felt like she was going to be sick.
They all sat in silence for a long while, the only noises were the wind in the field, or the occasional quiet cry from one of them.
     Finally, Pearl broke the silence. "What are we going to tell Greg?" she asked, her voice breaking. No one replied.
     "What are we going to do without Steven?" murmured Garnet, fused again.
     "We aren't the Crystal Gems without you," Amethyst told the rose colored gem, which she had taken into her own hands.
     "First Rose, now him..." Pearl whispered. "Please, Rose. Not him. Not my Steven!" her voice rose.
     "He's going to be okay, isn't he, Pearl?" Amethyst asked, panicked.
     "Gems can regenerate their bodies, but Steven's half human!" Pearl cried.
     "Garnet! Use your future vision! See if he'll come back!" Amethyst demanded, trying to convince herself that everything would be alright.
     "The future is unclear. I can only see a few possible paths. I can't see which path will be taken, if any of them at all," Garnet responded. Though her voice seemed to hold no emotion, her teeth were gritted and a tear was rolling down her cheek.
     The group was silent once more. Then Peridot decided to speak up. "Think about it. Think about all those times when we were unsure of what to do, or the times when we didn't think there was a way out. But who was there all those times with a solution that worked? Steven. He's special. He'll find a way. At least, I think he will."
     "So do I," Lapis agreed.
     "But how can you be sure?" Connie spoke up for the first time since the battle.
     "Because..." Peridot didn't know what to say.
     "-we are the Crystal Gems," Amethyst finished for her. She was singing Steven's song.
     "We'll always save the day," Garnet sang.
     "And if you think we can't," Amethyst went on.
     "We'll always find a way," sang Pearl quietly.
     "That's why the people of this world," Amethyst continued.
     "Believe in," Pearl sang.
     "Garnet."
     "Amethyst."
     "Peridot."
     "Lapis Lazuli."
     "Connie."
     "...and Pearl." Their singing got softer and the words had become more drawn out.
     Amethyst sang the last words so quietly that the wind carried away her words. "A-and Steven."