Steven Universe Future: Isolation

Chapter Five: The Tides Turn

The battle was going poorly: Sugalite was angered by her lack of effectiveness, Blue and Yellow were tangled up with White, and Pearl was unable to bring herself to hurt the boy she loved.

Sugilite's whip wrapped around the beast, but he simply squared himself and puffed out his chest to break the line.

"Alright," the fusion growled as Steven looked at her with an amused expression. "I've had enough of you."

She ran forward, but Steven's gem glowed. She slammed into a pink barrier as diamond-shaped panels enclosed her into a dome.

"You think this can hold me?!" Sugilite yelled as she slammed her fists against the glitching wall. Pearl watched the fusion struggle; she watched the shadow of cracks appear in panels behind her, like thorny vines stretching across the pink light and reinforcing it, while at the same time, breaking it.

Steven turned away from the fusion to focus on White as the dome began to slowly shrink. It grew smaller as the walls closed in on the monumental fusion. She pushed and struggled, but she couldn't stop it. The more she struggled, the faster it closed in on her.

Pearl summoned her spear and ran forward. She tossed it like a javelin and it embedded in the heart of one of the vine-like cracks. The panel dissolved in a burst of light. Garnet and Amethyst unfused and tossed themselves through.

"Thanks, P," Amethyst said as she brushed herself off. "Another minute there and we would have been done for."

A huff from Steven drew their attention back to the beast. He just stared at them from over his shoulder. The pink dome behind them poofed from existence.

"Oh, now you can control it," Pearl said dryly.

He just continued watching them at the diamonds fought, his face unreadable. The longer they looked back at him, the worse they felt. Those eyes; off-colored and distant, so unlike the boy they knew.

"What are we going to do?" Amethyst asked no one in particular as she finally turned away from Steven's unrelenting gaze.

"The Little Homeworld gems are nearly here," Garnet said. "Connie is a minute away. Together, we can take him."

"Can we?" Amethyst asked as Steven roared and rammed his horned head into Blue's chest. "Without hurting him, I mean?"

All of their eyes fell to his bloodied tail and to the scratches and bruises that were forming on his skin as the fight went on.

"We don't have a choice," Garnet said, her jaw clenched.

"And with him controlling White, how do we deal with that?" Pearl asked as her eyes drifted to the Diamond.

Garnet shook her head. "Steven used her power against her by corrupting the blast meant for him. When it hit White, he connected her mind with his. It's just like when he connected with us when the Diamonds first came to Earth. We take him out and she goes down too."

"Right," Pearl said with a nod.

Steven growled lowly as if he heard Garnet's plan. His eyes narrowed and the air around them suddenly seemed to tingle. They all gasped and shielded their eyes as a bright pink glow overtook Steven's form.

At his roar, the sand around Steven's feet flew into the air and pelted the Crystal Gems. The scream that cracked walls sent fissures into the ground; it split concrete and buildings imploded upon impact. The mountain behind them cracked in two.

The Diamonds were thrown back; Yellow landed in the ocean, Blue crushed the Funland pier, and White fell to her knees and was pushed back.

With the aura still over his skin, Steven got down on all four legs once again and turned to face the three gems. His eyes skated over their gemstones and his eyes narrowed. They felt the very air sizzling as it threatened to destroy their bodies.