Steven Universe Future: Isolation

Chapter One: The Leaked Files

Author's note: ALL of the dialogue in this (with the exception of the first two spoken lines) is from a LEAKED AUDIO tape of Steven Universe Future. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! THIS IS A SPOILER!

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"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Rage coursed through his veins; hot and bubbling over until he couldn't contain the heat anymore.

The rage inside him burst outward and exploded the road under the van. The sickening crunch of metal met his ears and his dad's scream brought him back to his senses. The van careened off the road and flipped. Steven acted quickly; he reached over and grabbed his dad, who was in the driver's seat and put a bubble around them. They landed in a huff, their seat belts keeping them in place and the bubble keeping the shattered glass from injuring them. The van was bent, crushed by the power of a single yell caused by his new destructive power.

Steven quickly popped his own bubble, undid his seat belt and ran out of the van. Tears of shame burned his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. His dad only wanted to talk about what was bothering him. Pestering him until Steven couldn't take it anymore. And he still couldn't take it.

"Steven!" Greg cried from inside as the Crystal gems could only state, their hands over their mouths.

Steven took a step back, eyes wide as he stared at the damage. Then, he bolted. Back up to his house, just needing a moment to himself. His dad was only trying to get him to talk, but he didn't understand. He couldn't understand what Steven was feeling. He never had before. All of this gem stuff, it just hurt his dad. It caused him to collapse, have nervous breakdowns and nearly lose his life to Bluebird.

No, his dad wasn't the answer. Steven could handle it alone.

He burst through the front door, aware the gems were hot on his tail. He turned, forcing himself to face them instead of climbing the stairs to his room.

"You crashed the van with Greg inside?!" Pearl exclaimed in disbelief. "You know who fragile he is. These pink outbursts of yours are getting out of hand!"

Steven whirled on her. "It's not an outburst!" he roared, his entire body heating up again as the pink overtook him once more. She didn't understand either. These emotions, they were all him. Things he felt. Things he couldn't control if they kept pushing him. They wouldn't understand. He just needed to be alone. He just needed to breathe.

"See! This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Pearl retorted, her hands going out. "What's happening to you?"

Steven took a shaky breath, but nothing could cool the anger that burned inside him. What was happening to him? He was growing up. He wasn't the same happy kid they wanted him to be. He thought they understood that, but he was wrong.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, but he winced at how broken the word sounded. "It's nothing," he said, much calmer. The pink didn't leave his skin and his blood didn't stop thundering in his ears. He needed to be alone. He needed to calm down. This wasn't helping. He turned to walk up the stairs, but Pearl called him again.

"Steven! Where are you going? We're not through - AH!"

A pink wall burst from nothingness in front of her. It blocked the stairs and separated the gems and Steven. He just looked through them, eyes slightly wide at the sudden display of power.

"Steven, drop this wall!" Pearl commanded, her finger pointed at the ground to show she meant business.

"Pearl, I'm sorry, I'm trying!" Steven said frantically, but nothing he did made the wall fall. Last time this happened, there was a resolution with his friends. He felt comfortable and safe. He felt okay. But now? Everything was wrong. His heart hammered against his ribs and his breathing was shallow. He didn't want to worry them. He didn't want to hurt them. But he didn't want the wall to vanish either.

"I just...need," Steven said, hands going into his hair as he clearly struggled with himself. "Some space," he finished after a pause. "Okay? I'll be in my room." He tried to leave again, but the voices called him back.

"Not so fast, my dude," Amethyst said, her voice more urgent than Steven had ever heard it. "You gotta tell us what's going on."

Garnet spoke up before Steven could. "It looks like Steven's trying to avoid a serious discussion about this altogether."

His eyes snapped to the fusion as his breath hitched in his throat.

"No, I'm not!" he shouted. At his words, cracks burst forth under his feet. The wood in his staircase splinted and the painting of him and gems on the wall behind him shook and threatened to fall.

"Steven!" Garnet said, stepping forward and putting a hand on the pink wall. "You have got to calm down and talk to us."

Amethyst nodded, her face concerned. "Just chill man," she pleaded.

Steven looked at them. He didn't want to talk. He just needed...

His breath hitched in his throat again as he looked at the damage around him. The worried faces of the gems, his shattered stairwell, to the memory of his dad yelling as Steven crushed the van with him inside. His vision went blurry with tears he refused to let fall as an icy hand strangled his heart.

His hands contorted into fists against his will as he closed his eyes for a moment to try and force down these suffocating feelings of rage and shame. But the panic held onto him tightly. A pained gasp escaped from his lips as his hands gripped his head tighter. The vision behind his eyelids seemed to flash pink as he tried to force it down, but it didn't want to be contained anymore.

"We need to do something about this before someone gets hurt," Pearl said, her voice starting strong and cracking at the end as she watched the boy she love struggle with himself.

Steven fell to his knees, unable to stand as he fought to subdue the pink aura. But it lashed back harder. The black behind his eyes was completely pink now. The hand around his heart was squeezing, making breathing near impossible. He drew in gasped breaths, pained noises escaping his lips once more.

His head was splitting. His entire body was trembling and he didn't know if it was sweat or tears rolling down his face.

"Don't let this power control you," Garnet told him. "You're better than this."

Was he though? Was he better? Everything he did since he brought peace to the galaxy was one failure after the next. He couldn't help Jasper. He couldn't help gems pick jobs they wanted to get used to life on earth. He couldn't run Little Home-School. He couldn't say goodbye to his friends without nearly killing them. He couldn't even raise a healthy garden without that backfiring on him.

The panic grew until it muddled his thoughts. He could feel himself falling into a dark pit of despair, but nothing helped. He wasn't the boy he once was. He wasn't the savior of the galaxy anymore. He was just a failure. Doomed to hurt his friends who didn't need him anymore.

He needed to get away.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Steven roared at them. The entire house shook and Steven bolted to his room, not even noticing how the roof caved in and blocked the stairwell behind him. He didn't see the dust racing behind him as he closed the blinds to his room, locked the sliding door and vaulted himself into his bed. He didn't see how his own pink aura lit the room in a vivid hue.

He only knew this despair and darkness. He only knew that he was nothing compared to what he used to be. He was a failure. He was a disappointment.

And he was alone.

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Author's note: I had to quickly write this immediately after I heard the leak on Twitter (leaked on Jan. 12, 2020, early in the day) and I may turn it into a short series if you all want me to. It sounds like CorruptSteven Theory is real! I am so excited.  Are you?