Steven Universe: Beyond The Mirror

It Is That Bad

Deep in a forest, a pink portal with two rings within pops up in the middle of a wide dirt path. A pink lion leaps out of the portal, crashing down onto the dirt path, its passenger letting go of the lion's tail. The passenger flies into the dirt path on its side, grunting on impact.

Lapis moans in anguish, pressing a hand to her forehead as she struggles to get up. She opens her eyes and she tilts her head up towards the gray clouded sky. Non-stop droplets of water drip down on Lapis, creating splotches on her cheeks.

Lapis stands on the dirt path as she turns to face the lion that brought her to her new surroundings, realizing that the portal has vanished. Lapis raises an eyebrow as she turns back to the path ahead of her. "Huh." There are trees and bushes wherever there isn't a dirt path. There is no sign of life anywhere in sight. No insects, no humans.

There is a rustle in the bushes to Lapis' right, causing her to gasp. She approaches the bushes with slow, gradual steps, her bare feet making prints in the dirt. She gapes as her ears catch a familiar voice. "What am I gonna do?" Lapis narrows her eyes as she brushes past the bushes to find a patch of grass with an oak tree ahead. In front of that oak, sits someone beyond her belief.

Steven sits in front of the oak tree, his legs crisscrossed. His head is bent down towards his arms resting on his legs, his face scrunching with a sour scowl. "I can't just...do that to them. I...I just don't know." A tear slips out of Steven's eye as he lifts his head up. He gasps, his back jolting into the tree behind him. "Lapis!"

He immediately gets up and rushes into Lapis, throwing his arms around her and pulling her in for a tight embrace. "You're okay!" Steven pulls away from Lapis as he looks up into her face, grinning with her. "I thought something really bad happened to you. What-!"

Steven's grin falters as his eyes catch the torn, wrinkled skirt. He looks back up at Lapis' face as his lips curl into a frown, discovering dark blue bruises on her cheeks and a black eye. He also notices that Lapis' clean hair has become messy and dirtied. Steven takes a few steps back as his lips quiver. "What happened to you? You look...hurt."

Lapis widens her eyes as she drops her own grin, bending her head down towards her skirt. She frowns for a moment as she feels her eye sting. She groans as she slaps a hand to her eye. She collapses on her knees as Steven grimaces. "Lapis?!" Lapis' forehead pounds as she grits her teeth. "Lapis!" Steven's eyes well up as Lapis lifts her head back up, her hands pressing the ground.

Lapis forces her grin to come back as her black eye twitches. "It-it's okay! I'm fine!" Steven puts a hand to his mouth as tears roll down his cheeks. He casts his eyes down as they droop. He forces them shut--and back open as he detaches his hand from his mouth. "They--they did this to you?" Steven staggers back a bit more towards the tree as he sniffles.

Lapis moans for a moment as her body convulses, forcing her grin. "Steven, I'm okay! Really." Steven casts his eyes back down on the ground, facepalming. "Why would they...they would never-!" Lapis lets out a shaky chuckle, her grin faltering by the second. "Steven, I'm fine."

Steven shakes his head as his eyes widen. "All this time, I never thought they'd...what if-!" Lapis finally drops the grin. "I'm okay, Steven." Steven brings himself to look Lapis in the eye, slipping his hand off his forehead as he scowls at her. "They did this to you?!" Lapis scoffs. "Steven, it's not that bad." Steven stomps his foot, gnashing his teeth.

"It is that bad!" Lapis gapes through drooping eyes as Steven bends his head down, his fists trembling at his sides. "Steven?" Steven starts lifting his head up, shading the top half of his face. He turns away from his companion and he storms off into the tall bushes without another word.

He brushes past the bushes into another patch of grass. He presses his hand back to his forehead as he releases a heavy sigh. He stops in his tracks a few feet in from a rustle in the bushes behind him. He widens his eyes as he turns around to face the bushes. He casts his eyes down on the grass...and he crouches down onto his hands and knees. He crawls up to the bush and he slips his hands into it.

He narrows his eyes as he pulls out a green mechanical sphere with three sharp legs in the shape of inverted triangles. He flips it around to look into a camera lens fixed at the core. Steven's face scrunches. Gazing at the camera lens, he closes his eyes as he pushes the robonoid back into its hiding spot.

Hey, guys. It's the author here without the A/N this time. I want to thank whoever is reading this for doing...just that. Reading this note. Look, I'm going through a phase right now in which I'm starting to feel that my storytelling ability doesn't really matter to people anymore.

I'm not that depressed, just very unmotivated. I was selfish earlier today on SUA for making a rant on a major lack of commenting. I drove away my readers on there and it's getting scary for me. I don't know if I'm not writing enough or if I'm just not the right person to do be putting my time on this anymore.

But you know what? You guys are here being engaged with what I write at least in this series anyway. That is something that I really appreciate and shouldn't take for granted. The process has been a bit slow lately for writing chapters, but I've been coming up with some really cool ideas.

After watching the special event the other night, I know exactly how I'm going to end the series. I just need to focus on the dozens of chapters that I still need to write to get there. Expect the next chapter later this week...or next week. I need to look back on everything first though before I can continue on with the next part.