What Lies Beneath

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe Future. Rebecca Sugar does. I only own the OC characters.

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Destiny was stuck in place, as if roots had grown from the ground and wrapped around her ankles. The chaos going on around her went unregistered, too transfixed by the monstrosity before her. A beast in the place of what used to be Steven.

The creature towered above the canyon walls, standing on six legs. The moonlight cast a purple tinge over its hide, its spikes a dull magenta. It bellowed in anger, turning its fury on the gems who had hurt it, as they madly scrambled to flee its destruction. Its stomps shook the ground with every step.

The young organic stood and stared in shock and horror at this monster that Steven had become. She watched as gems were poofed merely from his roar, cracking them as he stomped on them. With fear and dread roiling in her veins, she was blown away as Steven reared back and let loose a stream of magenta fire from his mouth, devastating all in his path. He had become a mindless beast with only the instinct for destruction.

The wind was knocked from her as something collided into her side. Moments later, a huge clawed foot descended on the spot where she once stood. She took a moment to process that Jasper had saved her from being crushed by the leviathan raging over the landscape. They were sheltered by one of the boulders Bluebird had dropped earlier. Destiny observed Steven moving away from them, continuing his rage-filled onslaught.

She sprang to her feet and moved to race after the retreating form, but she was stopped by a hand wrapping around her arm, tugging her back. She craned her neck at Jasper, the quartz's expression unreadable. Destiny pulled against her grip. "Let go!" she yelled. "I have to save him!" Jasper did not relent. "Hold on, she said, tone calm. But it only served to aggravate the organic further. She pulled and twisted, demanding Jasper to release her, tears streaming down her face. "This is my fault, I have to-"

"Listen to me!" Jasper shouted, effortlessly pulling Destiny towards her so that their faces were only inches apart. The quart's expression had hardened into barely contained frustration. "Even I know that you alone won't be able to reach him." She knew, with sinking despair, that the gen was right. She broke down into sobs, collapsing into Jasper's arms. "Destiny," the quartz rasped. The young woman looked up at her, face stained with tears. "When you became my physical form, it wasn't an accident. It was fusion."

Destiny took a moment to process those words. "But that's not possible," she said, voice shaking with emotion. "Organics can't fuse with gems."

"Well, you're not entirely organic, are you?" Jasper stated more than asked. The young woman's brow scrunched down, orange eyes blazing. "That still doesn't make sense. My other form is human in origin."

"That may be," the quartz said, "but that doesn't change the fact that, among most organics, you're more unique." Jasper gripped her shoulders, determination set in her features. "Besides, we both need each other's strength right now." She smirked. "And that's more than enough for me."

Destiny sniffed, wiping at her eyes. She gave Jasper a watery smile, yet she took the quartz's words to heart. "Yeah," she said. "You're right."

A light began to emanate between them. Their forms melted down into particles and reformed once more, shifting back into their more preferred position. What stood in their place was only Destiny, still in her reverted form, but Jasper's gemstone once again glittered on her chest. Two halves had become whole once more.

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The monster wobbled shakily on its six legs, trying to get used to its new body. For some reason, it felt out of place, like it used to be something before it became... whatever this was. But its memory was completely blank. There was only the anger, sadness, and fear that roiled like a thunderstorm in its mind, drowning out all other noise.

It remembered that something had happened to it, something painful. Someone had tried to hurt it. And like the animal that it was, instinct took over. There were small dots gathering at his feet, each one a different color. They were trying to poke him with sharp objects. They might as well be using toothpicks.

Dangerdangerdanger. With a huff, it lifted its massive foot and stomped hard on the small dots. There forms dissipated in a puff of smoke, and he felt a few of the hard stones crack under his weight. It didn't care. They were a threat. It had to get rid of them.

Snarling and growling, it made its way through the canyon, stomping and swiping at any other form that tried to hurt it. The ground shook when it walked, boulders from the ravine jostled from their positions, tumbling and landing onto any unfortunate who happened to be underneath. It left a trail of debris and cracked gemstones in its wake.

It eventually spotted a large metal disk off in the distance. It triggered something in it, a memory. Images of it being caged flashed through its mind, filling the beast with rage. It reared its head back before spewing a powerful jet of magenta fire from its mouth, obliterating everything in its path. It left a giant smoking crater, all traces of the disk gone.

All the dots started to scramble away from it, realizing they had no chance in going up against it. It roared at them, releasing its anguish in a massive wave. The wail dissipated more of the forms, the rest scurrying out of harm's way. Soon, there was hardly anyone, or anything, left. It had decimated everything around it.

"Steven!" The shout came from his right, and he turned slowly to face who was calling it. It didn't know who this "Steven" was, but the name sparked something in its clouded mind. A small figure stood at the edge of the canyon, waving their arms in hopes of getting its attention. It slowly moved its face closer to get a better look at the figure.

They were dressed almost entirely in black, flaming orange eyes fixating him with relief at the monster's attention. They stopped their rapid arm movements, peering up at the behemoth before them. "It's me, Destiny! Remember?" they shouted, the only way for the monster to hear them. The name was familiar, another spark dancing around its brain. The comforting scent of clover, the feeling of strong arms around him; it remembered. Recognition flashed in its eyes, and the memory of what had happened rose to the surface. Massive tears welled up and spilled from its eyes, the emotions crashing in. The small figure, Destiny, moved forward to press herself against the beast's massive chin, her best attempt at a comforting embrace. "I know, Steven," she murmured. "I know."

The monster sobbed, its tears the size of small lakes. Destiny continued to hold it, her own tears mixing with its massive ones. Eventually, she pulled back, warmly smiling up at the beast. "Let's get out of here, yeah?" The monster huffed in agreement, eager to leave this place behind. Destiny climbed onto its massive nose and up its forehead to situate herself on its head. She gave its dome a few pats. "Ready when you are." The beast rumbled in acknowledgment, turning back towards the middle of the ravine. A pair of gargantuan, leathery wings sprouted from its back, unfurling to its fullest. With a few mighty flaps, the monster took to the sky, desperate to be anywhere else but here.

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Author's Note: Please excuse me as I attempt to bullshit my way through this. I'm completely going against common lore, I know.

Sorry that I've been gone so long. The stress of school really heightened my anxiety, and the depression at the end of the semester kicked in. I had to move out of my dorm room early, switch to online classes. Ultimately, I failed two of my classes, which is the first time that's ever happened, so self-esteem was at an all-time low. I'm better now, but there's still the problem of figuring out what the hell I'm going to do.

I also wanted to finish writing this before I posted anything else. I really need to get cracking on my other fics, and I really want to start on writing part two of Redrum Origins.

I also rewatched Gravity Falls and I'm still not over it.

I hope you are all safe.

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower