Steven Universe Future: A Corrupted Identity

Chapter 14: The Fight For Earth

One word reverberated through his mind. Earth. When that skinny one said it, a burst of familiarity hit him. When he looked down at the gem to find out why he knew that word, that place, something more grew inside of it. The coldness. It filled his entire body the second he saw the look in her eyes and her hand covering her pearl.

It had to be because of Earth. That had to be the part he was missing. The thing that would destroy this icy chill inside him.

Their attempts to stop him only made him more sure. He needed to get there. To Earth. He needed to stop this feeling. It wasn't like anything he knew; he didn't have a word for it. It just cut through him and the wound it made opened him up for such an indescribable pain that he needed to stop.

He felt drawn to a destroyed chamber, the one with a monumental white chair that was split in two. He stepped into the room and looked, eyes landing on a pearlescent piece of flooring. How he knew that would take him to Earth, he wasn't sure. He just did.

He made it to the warp and stepped on it, just barely fitting if he wrapped himself up tightly. It was small. He was big. He stepped over to it and willed the room to grow in size around him as his figure shrank. When he stepped on it, he was no bigger than the yellow enemy he vanquished.

Earth, he thought again, looking skyward. A beam of light consumed him and the destroyed throne room vanished. He patiently waited, though the hunger in his heart grew with every passing second. It gnawed at his chest; each beat painful as the coldness within him throbbed. He would feel warm again soon.

The light ended and pain met his skull as he crashed through a low ceiling. He looked around, slowly reforming to his larger size and watched lights twinkle beneath him.

The floor beneath his feet cracked and he fell through, but what was a two-story drop to others was a mere stumble for him. Wood splintered and groaned as he smashed through it. His feet finally met solid stone and he stepped onto the sand below, not even glancing at his destroyed home.

Screams. He looked over to the sparkling lights and saw little specks darting away from him, arms in the air and yelling loudly. He watched them run; a flash of a cape, a little blue gem with pointed hair, a pink gem with spots on her body, a small human surrounded by two small red dots. As he watched, the chill inside of him grew until he couldn't help but yell out in agony.

All of the dots stopped in fear, looking at the pink monster before slowly backing away again.

He huffed loudly, unable to stop the coldness from growing within him. He took a single step toward the panicking crowds when something small hit him in the side of the head.

He looked over and saw a small green speck launching gray objects at him.

"Hey!" the green one yelled. "Over here!" The green dot ran behind the mountain. Her cackle sounded familiar.

He followed her, the chill only getting stronger with each step. This gem. She was important. Getting rid of her would lessen this feeling.

So he followed her, sprinting as quickly as he could and slowly gaining ground. She had jumped onto a silver disk and was speeding away in the air. He wanted to lunge out but knowing he couldn't reach her yet. They neared new structures, one with spinning fans and a warp in the center, before he felt it. Something latched onto his chest and yanked him back. He looked down and saw a splash of blue.

Water?

A small blue gem soared in front of the green one, her hands out in front of her and clenched. He pulled at the watery chains, breaking one set, only for it to be replaced by three more.