SU canon-divergent short fic idea that I MIGHT continue later (no promises!). Basically CYM but White doesn’t pull out his gem- something else happens instead.
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Steven could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he watched Connie fight. She had jumped into White’s head like the angel she was, immediately running in to assist in talking to White. When she hadn’t accounted for was that White was faster, and before either of the two children knew it, Pearl- possessed by White- had disarmed and grabbed Connie, rendering her helpless. She twisted in Pearl’s arms, trying to break herself free, but it was no use.
Steven himself was thrown on the floor by Garnet and Amethyst, also possessed by White, landing on his hands and knees. He scrambled to his feet quickly, sparing a glance toward Connie for a split second before turning back to White. “Let her go,” he demanded, feeling his resolve strengthen.
“These worthless gems weren’t enough, were they?” White asked, ignoring him. “See how you surround yourself with lower life forms? You’ve smothered yourself in them. It feels good, doesn’t it, Pink?” She grinned at him knowingly. “Dulling your power, hiding your face, blaming all your problems on someone else.”
Steven opened his mouth to interject, but White wasn’t done talking just yet. “You became Rose Quartz-“ she spoke the name with a hint of disdain- “to deceive your pathetic friends, and now you’ve improved on that because you’re even deceiving yourself.”
“No. You’re wrong.” Steven glared up at her, trying with everything he could to believe it. “I’m not my mom!”
“But don’t you know things about her that you couldn’t possibly know?”
At this, Steven froze. It was true- he had many dreams from her point of view, visions, emotions. This huge vortex stormed within him, asking that exact question and so many like it. Was he his mom, and all of this was a lie? But, that wouldn’t make sense- he and Rose were so very different from each other! ...Right? Their gem weapon was the same, but he felt those same protective instincts he always imagined she’d felt. He felt her guilt over the suffering she caused others. He had to shoulder her legacy. But, that didn’t mean they were the same, right?
Steven was beginning to doubt. Well, no, not beginning to- it was just impossible to ignore and shove down now.
White was speaking, and somewhere in all that, Steven heard Connie’s voice say something, call his name, probably either telling him it wasn’t true or trying to reassure him. Her words fell on deaf ears, though, as the storm in Steven’s mind was too loud for him to hear anything else.
That’s why he didn’t notice the beam until it was too late.
Connie shrieked as White Diamond’s mind control beam hit Steven, impacting his gem first, then the glow spread out until his whole body was glowing white. Steven cried out, not because it was painful, but because of how jarring the experience was. He could feel bits of himself turn numb-like, though not quite since he could still feel his joints, but something akin to it, like they didn’t belong to him anymore. It started from his belly, then spread outward.
By the time the beam faded, Steven had fallen on his hands and knees, struggling to breathe, struggling to move. Connie screamed his name over and over, and he could hear her struggling to escape from Pearl’s grasp, but his mind was… numb. Like zoning out, but not completely. It was almost like half of it just shut down.
He felt her hand on his back, and relief could be felt… somewhere. But it was almost locked in a cage, like it didn’t belong to him anymore. He could feel it, it was right there, just out of reach-!
“Steven! A-are you okay?! Say something!” Connie’s breath was coming out short and fast, verging on hyperventilation. He felt her other hand touch his back; she was shaking him now.
I’m okay, Connie, I think, he wanted to say. He wanted to lift his head up so he could meet her eyes and give her a small smile, just enough to let her know it was alright. But he couldn’t move. He tried to lift his hand. Nothing happened. He tried to push himself up off the floor. Nothing happened. He tried to summon his shield. Nothing happened. He tried again to summon his shield. Nothing happened.
“Steven, please!” Connie shook him harder, and the pure panic that was coming off of her in waves hit Steven so hard he thought he might collapse. “Please say something! Look at me!” Her hand was on his chin now, trying to lift his face up.
Suddenly, he was finally able to move. He let Connie’s hand guide his face, and was able to look into her eyes. She had tears welling there, though her frown was quickly replaced with a relieved smile. “There you are! Don’t scare me like that!”
Steven smiled- a little wider that he’d intended- and let out a small chuckle. “Sorry about that. White Diamond’s mind control beam just felt relieving for a moment there.”
...What?!
Steven hadn’t meant to say that. That wasn’t him. He’d wanted to say Sorry, I just… couldn’t move for a second there, but I’m okay now, I think. But he didn’t.
Connie quirked an eyebrow, smile faltering. “...Relieving?”
Steven chuckled again, a hollow sound that he didn’t want to make, and continued to hold his too-wide grin. “Yes, relieving! I feel much better now!”
Connie stiffened, all relief gone. “Steven, are you sure you’re alright?”
No! Steven screamed in his head. I’m not! She’s got me, Connie! Help! I can’t move! Get out of here, RUN!
“Oh, don’t worry about her,” White Diamond said from her spot in the room. Connie’s head whipped around to face her, eyes blown wide with fear and panic. “It’ll take some time, but she’ll be herself again soon! She just needs to become acquainted with Homeworld first, I’m sure! Why don’t you crawl back to your precious Earth, little pet?” Steven couldn’t see White from where he was positioned, but he watched as Connie’s fearful expression intensified, concern and worry creasing her features. She turned back to Steven, who was still smiling an unnaturally large smile for no reason, then back to White. “I’m sure the lapis out there wouldn’t mind taking you away.”
Connie glared at White, standing up and pointing at Steven. “What did you DO to him?!”
Connie, no! Steven wanted to scream at her to stop before something bad happened, but his mouth wouldn’t budge. Instead, he stood up, a much-too-smooth motion coming from him, and he pulled his arms up into a shrug. “She helped me,” Steven wound up saying. “I see clearly now!”
Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes, meaning that no, he could no longer see clearly.
Connie saw them, though they were small. Her eyes searched the rest of his expression, and she saw something hidden there. Her own tears made a reappearance. “...Steven?”
Steven shook his head. “No. I’m sorry for the confusion and the lying, but my name is Pink Diamond.” The grin stayed the same, mocking him and her together. The tears threatened to fall any second now.
Connie seemed three seconds away from breaking down, and she was aware of it. Instead, she moved forward, flinging her arms around Steven and burying her face in his neck. “I’m gonna get you out of here,” she told him, squeezing him tighter. “I promise. Peri, Bismuth, Lapis and I? We’re not leaving until we break you free- until we break you all free. I promise you, Steven. I promise.”
The tears finally broke free. But, the usual sobbing that accompanied them was not there- just the soulless grin that White Diamond was making him display.
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I’ve had this one in my head for months now (probably since I first saw CYM, in which case, over a year now). I headcanon that White can only control gems, and nothing else, since she is a gem and all gems are programmed to follow her orders, essentially. Like, a computer can’t hack a human. However, Steven is half-human, meaning she can only take control of his gem half. This means Steven is fully aware the entire time he’s possessed. But, because his gem half runs parallel to his human one, he cannot do anything about it.
Plus, icing on the cake, he’s still full-color, except his gem and his gem powers, which are now greyscale. But his shirt covers his gem up, so no one will eeeeven notice... though, because his gem half is running parallel to him, maybe he does become a bit more pale? The hue of his skin goes down just a hint? Not enough to be anything too obvious, though.
I’m not sure how to continue this one, so if you want to do it, by all means, go for it. Tag me when you’re done, or just reblog this post with your addition attached! I’d love to read ideas or short ficlets!
Do you take requests?? If so, could you please draw something for @mynameishibou’s AU, Change Your Mind? If not, then just ignore this!
Oh I do take requests!! I took a while to finish this cause I couldn’t decide who to draw for such an adorable au, I ended up drawing adorable green boy!!I’m really sorry for the sketchy look of the drawing, I haven’t been able to draw lately and that’s how it ended up coming
Also!! Thanks @mynameishibou for the great au and the great designs!! I’ll be doing more art for this au in the future ;)
