So, I wrote a thing. For lack of better terms, it’s a fanfic of a fanfic. Ha.
All kidding aside, full props to the original AU this is based on, @lab-raised-steven . The person running it is a really awesome dude who helped out a lot with the lore and writing process as I wrote this.
The idea is that Jason Stross, a character of mine, waking up to find himself locked away in the Lab of Dr. Robert Wendell, at the mercy of said sadist.
This all stemmed from me reading how much of a bastard one of the scientist characters are and thought, “Hey, it’d be kinda cool of Jason met this guy.
So, without further ado, I hope you find this piece entertaining, but most importantly, I hope you give @lab-raised-steven / @lab-raised-archive / @societyslostone (Main) a visit!
Have a great day!
WARNING: Contains violence and mention of severed limbs.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
There were many times Jason had felt this way.
A splitting headache, drowsiness to the point he was unsure if he was conscious, his entire body was engulfed with pain, and pure confusion of where he was.
The last thing he remembered was the explosion he caused by destroying the Warp Pad he warped in through. Then falling into this planet’s ocean. He was sure that he was going to die.
At least, he was unsure if he was still alive.
When he did eventually wake up, everything from his environment to clothing was different.
He found himself in a dark and cold room. His prosthetic arm was taken as well as his regular clothes. He found himself in a sort of teal hospital scrubs. His organic arm was handcuffed to the metal chair he was sitting on, along with his feet.
He tried to stand, but the handcuffs and his weakened state proved that the effort was fruitless.
It did however receive a reaction.
Jason’s attention was pulled away from the chair as he saw a door open, flooding the room with a blinding white light. A humanoid being walked in. As soon as Jason’s eyes grew accustomed to the light, he was met with a man standing above him. A human male. He held with him a decently sized briefcase, to which he placed on his own size of the table.
The contact caused a short clanging sound as it hit the metal surface.
He was a paler man under his lab coat. He kept staring at Jason through his glasses, windows to an icy cold stare looking up and down Jason’s body. Examining him. Studying him.
Not saying a word, his gaze left Jason and looked over to the briefcase.
The man opened it, angled so that Jason could not see what was inside it.
The man pulled out a small plastic rectangle. A voice recorder.
The man brought the voice recorder close to him as he looked over at Jason again.
“Doctor Wendell’s log. Ruby 19, Year 7019 After First Contact. Two nights ago, a life form was found off the shore of the Empire State. Unconscious and barely alive.” The Doctor spoke into the voice recorder. He was speaking as if Jason was not in the room, but it was clear that he was talking about him.
“The life form is human-like.” The Doctor continued. “Same physicality. Similar DNA matches. However, it is clear that the life form, a human male of military age.” He looked up at Jason with his eyes. “His apparel and other equipment also suggest military background for whatever planet he hails from.”
He looked back at the recorder. “Judging by the condition of his body, he did not arrive to this planet willingly. When stripped of his suit, bruises, cuts and signs of head trauma were found throughout his body. He now seems awake and conscious.”
He looked back at Jason, “I am going to now attempt to extract further information.” He kept his gaze on Jason, placing the recorder down. He rested his hands on the metallic table, ensuring distance between the two.
There were a few seconds of silence before he spoke.
“You are not of this planet.” Doctor Wendell said, the sound of his voice bounced off the walls of the small and cramped room. “Is that correct?”
“Who are you?” Jason asked hoarsely. “Where am I?”
Wendell groaned, sighing in disappointment. “I am asking the questions.” He said, clearly forcing himself to remain calm as he eyed Jason with more intensity.
“Where the hell am I?” Jason demanded. While his energy was still low, he was able to rise from too tired to a tired aggravation.
Wendell did not answer. In a quick motion, he stood from the table, keeping his eyes on Jason.
He reached into the briefcase again, pulling out a baton of sorts.
It was odd to Jason, for he recognized it, but did not at the same time.
It reminded him of the Destabilizers that were left by the Gems on the planet Kul-Baris, but it looked different. It looked far too primitive to be made by the Gems. It almost looked as if it was built by human hands. Humans of this planet.
Wendell walked around the table with the baton in hand, growing more frustrated with each step.
By the time Jason processed the Doctors intentions, it was too late to defend himself. After two heavy and fast hits of the baton, the first to his head and the second onto his chest, Jason felt as the voltage violently traveled through his body. He yelled in pain as Wendell kicked at his chair, pushing him into falling to the ground.
Jason could only watch as Wendell walked over the table and began to stomp on him rapidly over his body, his legs and even his head.
Once the Doctor decided it was enough, he hit Jason a final time as he pulled the chair to stand back up. Jason spat out a significant amount of blood.
“I believe you are unaware of your situation.” Wendell said as his hand gripped Jason’s jaw tightly. “Whatever significant life you believed you lived before coming to this planet is over. As far as anyone in this universe is concerned, you are dead.”
He threw Jason’s jaw, causing his head to grow sore from the sudden jerk. “And on this planet, you do not exist.”
Jason looked back up to Wendell.
The Doctor looked back at Jason as he returned to his end of the chair. “You are my property. You belong to me now.”
Wendell put the baton back into the briefcase. “Perhaps if you behave, I will eventually give you your arm back. Continue this aggression.” He looked at Jason’s organic arm. “I will take the other arm. I will ask again. You are not of this planet. Is that correct?”
Jason could only look at Wendell. The echoing pain told him to comply, as if it was a survival instinct.
“That is correct.” He said, groaning from the pain Wendell presented him with.
“What is your planet of origin?” Wendell moved to the second question.
Jason was quiet for a few moments. “Requiem.” He spoke, unsure of the point of answering such a question.
“Where is this planet?” Wendell asked Jason. “Where is Requiem.”
Jason looked over to Wendell, his eyes grew more tired from the question. “I studied engineering.” He said to Wendell. “Not navigation.”
Wendell held a deep sigh as he looked over his notes.
“Perhaps we can talk about something you do know about.” Wendell said as he flipped through some of his notes.
“The device on the back of your head. Imbedded in your spinal cord. On this planet, we call it the Atlas Vertebra.”
Jason froze. The already cold temperature of the concrete room and metal chair he was handcuffed in felt as if it dropped a few more degrees.
The Neurolink, a device most of the populace of the Requiem Republic use for better control of devices and communication.
His left arm shot up to try and reach the back of his neck to confirm but was painfully reminded of the four-inch handcuffs connecting him to the chair.
“Handcuffs.” Wendell sarcastically reminded Jason. He went bac to flip through his notes. He pulled out a page and placed it on the table in front of Jason.
“Surgical procedure.” Wendell said as he presented the page. The main one was of Jason, post procedure. It only showed the back of his head, a blood-soaked bandage where his Neurolink once was.
Jason began to feel soreness in that area, now realizing the removal of the device.
“We found bits and pieces of information.” Wendell said as he pulled the photo away. “Some audio. Some visual. Saved in such a small piece of technology. For lack of a better term; memories. Judging by the recorded brain waves, memories of significance.”
“Huh? You went through my Neurolink?” Jason asked, finding the task to be near impossible, even by the standards of Requiem technology. “How- “
“My organization specializes in studying and reverse engineering Alien technology.” Wendell interrupted Jason again. “Until your arrival, it was only Gem technology.”
Wendell then pulled some more pages from his notes and placed them in front of Jason. “Activating your ’Neurolink’ took a dull afternoon.”
Jason was silent as he looked down. They were more photos. However, they weren’t just any images. They were memories. His memories. Moments he remembered from his life.
By the looks of the photos, less than perfect memories.
“We chose these particular memories.” Wendell said. “Of the few we managed to recover. Based on the heightened brain activity. Some of which are obvious why.” He pulled up a photo and placed it in front of Jason.
The picture was from Jason’s perspective. Filtered through the HUD display of the helmet he wore that day. However, he was well aware of the event shown. It was such a long few years ago, but it felt so recent, as a pain began to grow on what remained of his right arm.
He was lying on his back that day. Forced down onto the cold icy surface of the cavern in the photo. He remembered his entire body was in pain that day. Standing above him was a figure that clearly wasn’t human, but humanoid.
The figure looked as if they were encased in a full body suit of black armor, which had a purple glow coming off of it.
What made the memory as significant as it was, however, was the figure in question, now covered in Jason’s blood as it held his severed arm.
“Such as this one.” Wendell said as he tapped on the arm in the picture. “I can only imagine losing an arm in anyway could be traumatic.”
He pulled another photo out, nowhere near as chaotic as the previous. “Let’s try something more recent.”
Jason was not wearing a helmet in this memory, as the photo lacked a HUD display. It was a rather peaceful scene; the memory was of Jason was sitting on a couch in a rather nice home.
The majority of his vision held another face. It was a blue woman, silver hair ran down her head, down to her shoulders. Her blue eyes glistened as she smiled at Jason.
“This one, and another, I found interesting.” Wendell said, jotting a few notes regarding Jason’s facial expression to the photo, which oddly seemed more distressed than fond of the seemingly peaceful memory.
Jason’s face grew pale, his eyes fixated on the photo.
“Same amount of brain activity.” Wendell said. “Nearly identical to the rest. However, the chemical balance suggests happiness. That you are at peace.”
Almost immediately after the statement, another picture was placed on top. “Fifteen hours later. Or at least that was what was logged, this happens”
The picture was once again of a blue woman. The same from the previous. Her face, however, was from happy. She looked in pain. Her eyes filled with despair. Sorrow.
Betrayal.
She was looking straight at Jason, even through the photo. Jason tensed up as he looked at the photo. He was silent, but visually distressed from the photos.
“Who is she? Why is she so important to you?” Wendell asked Jason, detecting the distress. “The Blue Woman.”
Jason exhaled uneasily. “Please.” He said in a defeated tone, desperate to get away from the photo. “No. Not this.” She softly said in nearly a begging manner.
“You do not have a say in this R-054.” Wendell said as he reached for his baton, visually warning Jason. “Who is she? A Gem?”
Jason remained silent, paying no attention to Wendell as he kept looking down at the photo.
“Was she just some whore? Don’t remember her name?” Wendell asked. “Perhaps your planet allows that?”
Jason violently tried to stand up from his chair to argue but was still confined to the handcuff. Such a thing did not matter however, as almost immediately, Jason was met with another attack by Wendell’s baton.
The force from the blow caused Jason to fall to the ground, his chair clattering on the floor.
“You don’t want to behave?” Wendell asked as he walked around the table toward his fallen and handcuffed prisoner. His baton shot sparks out. “Fine.”
Not waiting for a response, Wendell repeatedly struck at Jason, not seeming to show any signs of backing away anytime soon.
Chained to the chair, Jason had no way to defend himself. He could only look up to see Wendell repeatedly hit him until his vision began to black out as he lost conscious.
Jason wasn’t sure how long he was out for, but when he woke back up, he found that he must have been out long enough to be moved.
He was no longer restrained, but he might as well have still been. He was now in a small room that was barely more lit. There were three concrete walls. One of which had a door, presumably locked.
The fourth wall, however, was made of a thick sheet of glass. The other side of the window held another room. The light was off, all Jason could see was utter blackness. As if he was looking out into the void of space.
AS if on cue, a loud siren played off as the light turned on, showing the parallel room’s occupant.
The room was nothing more than another cell, identical to Jason’s. He found himself stunned as he found who or what was in the other cell’s bed.
A child. A boy. Until the siren, he was sound asleep.
The boy had curly black hair, and he wore the same hospital gown as Jason, minus the bloodstains from beatings. What received the most attention from Jason, however, was the boy’s eye. His left eye remained closed, bearing only a scar down it.
Jason shuddered, as he couldn’t bare to consider if the scar was a cause to what the people behind this facility did to him.
Better yet, why was the boy here?
Sure, Jason was from another planet. While he wasn’t fond of his stay in his current location, he did understand it.
The boy awoke. Stepping out of the bed, he did not seem to notice Jason at first.
That was when Jason saw the Gem imbedded in the boy’s abdomen. A large pink Gem. Almost looking like a Quartz. He wasn’t sure what specific cut of Gem it was, but he knew it was a Gem. Such a thing only served to cause Jason more confusion. Was the boy a Gem? Could Gems even be organic?
Jason was so wrapped up in his questions, he failed to notice the boy finally seeing him.
Understandably, as his sight was on a grown stranger with one arm, wearing a blood-soaked gown, he began to panic.
The Boy backed into his bed, falling over as he looked at Jason.
As Jason looked at the panicking Boy, he began to sit down on his own bed, slow and calm.
“It’s ok…” Jason said to The Boy, unsure if he would even hear him. “I won’t hurt you…”
His arm was raised, almost like he was giving The Boy a lowered hand wave.
The Boy began to calm down as he saw Jason was not a threat. He readjusted himself, sitting down on his own bed, studying Jason.
He raised his own hand, thinking they were waving at each other.
So some quick context, fellow Tumblr user @cratmang created an SU character, Conga Tourmaline, an interdimensional traveler that travels through and studies the Alternate Universes of Steven Universe.
They currently have two posts on her on their blog, which goes into better detail on her character.
So I reached out to them and asked if it would be ok to write a quick thing where my character Jason Stross meets her.
They said yes, and the result is an SU OC that isnt an SU OC being tied into an alternate version of @ask-whitepearl-and-steven, an alternate version of @lab-raised-steven, a hint of @revolver-d‘s Black Pearl, an even smaller hint of Symbiotic Titan, and topped off with Doom.
And some Trailer Park Boys for good measure.
Without further ado, I hope you read this and enjoy. lol
_ _ _ _ _
It was clear that Jason was in some sort of space station. Where said station was on the other hand, was the real mystery.
Any time he would have a chance to see through the windows available, all he would see is a thick fog of grey and orange. While he wasn’t sure where he was, one thing was clear.
He surely wasn’t on Earth.
Whoever it was that did abduct him, was of a background he was unfamiliar with, as the technological architecture in no way resembles that of anything he had ever seen. It was still Alien.
With all of that said, however, he was unsure if the unknown entity, or entities, were hostile.
He was stripped of his armor and equipment, leaving him in only his Second Skin suit. If whoever was keeping him here wanted to kill him, chances were he would have already been dead before awaking.
As he walked through the space station, one thing he saw more of were speakers, practically outlining the hallways and rooms of the large structure. Some such speakers, in the distance, seemed to be functioning.
Jason began to travel down the massive hall, toward the other far off end to investigate the source of the noise. As he stepped closer to the source of the sound, which all conveyed in a large lit room in what seemed to be the center of the station, it seemed as if the sound itself was music.
Jason stood confused as he began to recognize the sound. It seemed like familiar music, which more or less seemed to confuse him even more. The guitar strums from the music made it sound like the Earth genre of music known as “Country”.
As Jason approached the main room, he reached down to his thigh, almost out of muscle memory, to retrieve his blaster, only to be reminded that all he had was the Second Skin suit on him.
He had to be careful, as he was not 100% positive that his “host” was friendly. He continued to silently step into the room.
What he saw was a single figure, dancing along with the music. Their back was turned to Jason, so they did not notice him.
The figure in question, was nearly covered in green. Their four arms moving carelessly in the air along with the beat of the music. Jason wasn’t sure if what was at the top of her head was either a hat or hair, but the green object made sure that they stood a good two feet above him. At first glance, Jason would have guessed that the figure floated, but after further examination, it appeared to be standing on metallic legs.
As Jason stepped forward to the figure, almost on cue as he came close to six feet, the figure turned around, still following the beat of the music. It was then Jason saw the few view of them, their long pointy nose, their goggles shielding their three glowing green eyes, and the headphones over their ears.
It was odd, other features of his captor made it seemed as if they were a Gem. That said, as he got closer to them, their suit seemed to be of other origin than Homeworld. As he got a closer look at their legs, he saw that they were much smaller than expected. The legs seemed to have ended in rather small and sharp points.
The headphones they wore were probably more for show due to the already blasting music, which didn’t turn off, only lowered in volume significantly as the figure recognized the human in their presence.
“Oh excellent!” The figure said as she clapped her four hands together. “You’re awake.” She giggled as she walked past him quickly. “I bet you hear that one a lot.”
Her voice was oddly cheery, seeming to be more focused on the excitement of the music. The most noteworthy factor of her voice was that it seemed as if it were of three different people speaking in unison.
Some of her arms were still flailing the in air to the music as she reached into a nearby drawer to dig through the container.
“No… no… not it.” She kept saying as she rummaged through. “Aha!” She said as she pulled put a round glass bottle of a reddish-brown clear liquid. She returned to Jason, who realized a bow was wrapped onto the neck of the bottle.
“Welcome, Jason Stross!” The Green figure said, as she handed Jason the bottle. “To my Studio!”
Jason took the offered glass bottle, still keeping his eye on the figure welcoming him. As he looked down at the label of the glass container, the description of the contents caught his eye. He looked back up. “Is this-?”
“Coaxian Brandy.” The Figure interrupted with a smile. “Pre-Genesis. Very rare.” She explained. She then extended one of her hands out to Jason. “We apologize, Jason. Please allow me to introduce ourselves, Conga Tourmaline, Interdimensional Traveler, Occupant to the Throne of Loki, unrivaled in magic and technology!” She said in pride, seeming as if it was a name Jason should have heard by now. She reached for Jason’s hand to shake it. “Most call me Conga.”
Before Jason could ask anything else, he heard the lyrics of the song blasting through the speakers.
“No one’s got your back, but whose got your belly?” The speakers yelled at the two.
“What the hell is that?” Jason said to Conga in a demanding tone, his confusion turned into agitation.
“Oh, sorry.” Conga said in a humorous manner as she reached for a control panel. The country music quickly turned off as the speakers switched to a more electronic song.
“Now what the hell is this?” Jason asked Conga, his agitation lowered, but still present.
“You don’t recognize it?” Conga asked. “Jason, it is your theme song after all!”
“What?” Jason asked. “I don’t have a theme song. I’m not some fictional character, where the hell am I?”
Conga raised her finger as if to explain the creators of the two of them, NickDempsey and Cratmang, discussed the possibility of her and Jason meeting. However, Jason was still human, and couldn’t possibly comprehend the possibility of the Fourth Wall’s existence. She decided to go for option B for her explanation of their interaction.
The time to decide on how to explain to him seemed to be more than too long for Jason, as he began to step closer to Conga, seeming to be more threatening.
“Listen.” He said in an authoritative tone, you’re going to tell me or- “
“Jason Stross, even without our Interdimensional Powers, I am still a fusion of three Gems. Three.” Conga said, almost in a bragging matter. “I believe that we would be considered a difficulty to harm, even by the great Reaper of Kul-Baris- “
“Don’t call me that.” Jason demanded; his aggression grew back up.
The phrase sent a chill down Conga’s back, or spine if Gems could have one. It was enough to understand why some lesser Gems in this dimension to grow fear upon the mere mention of her human guest.
“I don’t suppose ‘Blue Diamond’s Pet’ is a better title?” Conga asked, receiving the same glare from Jason. “That was a joke.” She was quick to say.
“Why am I here?” Jason asked. “Why did you kidnap me?”
“Kidnap?” Conga asked, as if to defend an accusation. “We saved you. You were almost killed by that Black Pearl!”
Jason remembered the encounter in Angel City. He was responding to a series of complaints of disappearances, only to find the violent Gem in question.
Jason had to admit, much to Conga’s defense, the Pearl did beat Jason into an inch left of his life.
“Fine.” Jason said to Conga as he placed the bottle of liquor on a nearby table. “So, you did, but that still doesn’t answer my question.”
“Well, as I’ve said…” Conga began her explanation. “During our interdimensional travels and studies, I’ve tended to notice you a few times when investigating a few AUs.”
Jason looked at Conga with a combination of confusion and curiosity. “AUs?”
“Alternate Universes.” Conga said as she moved past Jason toward a door on another side of the room. The door was closed until she approached it, causing it to open to reveal a darker lit room. The only source of light seemed to be from a series of screens inside the smaller room.
Conga looked back to Jason, as if remembering that he was still there after a split second of forgetting his presence. “Right this way, please.”
Her demeanor looked more or so like someone excited to show him a project.
Jason slowly began to approach the room, looking from behind Conga.
The source of the light, evidentially, was a series of large, floating screens flying around the small room.
“Alternate Realities, to be specific.” Conga began to explain in an amused and excited way, almost as if she had rehearsed her speech. “Universes vary. All are different. Be it a small difference, such as an object being a different color, or something huge, such as a historic event ending in the opposite way.”
A screen descended between Jason and Conga, who presented the screen to him.
The screen showed Jason in his Paladin armor, along with three other beings. Two of which were Gems Jason had not seen before. One was a Pearl, lacking any color and an eye. The other Gem, which seemed to be closer to Jason in the image, was a Blue Gem, a few inches under Jason’s height. The Gem in her chest was suspiciously a familiar shape. An odd shape to be in a Gem that small.
The third, was a small child, which seemed to have a Gem of his own pointing out of his forehead. The sight was odd, he knew he never saw the kid before, but he seemed familiar at the same time.
“I first found out about you in an alternate universe of White Diamond Steven…” Conga said to Jason.
“Huh?” Jason asked upon hearing the name Steven. “You mean the kid in Beach City? With the Crystal Gems?”
“Exactly!” Conga excitingly said. She then pulled another screen showing only Jason in a cell.
A thick wall of glass separated his cell with another, holding what seemed to be the same kid from Beach City they were just talking about.
Unfortunately, the two seemed miserable in their location, almost seeming trapped.
“This one is an alternate version of the Lab Raised AU.” Conga said as she pushed the screen away from the two, directing Jason toward the rest of the screens. “You seemed to be in so many alternate versions of the universes I was looking into, we did some digging and saw alternate versions of your own universe.”
“Alternate versions?” Jason asked Conga, looking over to another passing window which revealed him sitting in a booth, sharing a table with a man wearing red goggles and a large, black hat covering his long, silver hair. The other man seemed calm, while Jason had an expression of agitated annoyance on his face.
“Exactly!” Conga said excitingly. “Technically speaking, the universe you are from is an alternate version of your original universe.”
She was only met with the facial expression of more confusion when she looked at Jason Stross. “Right…” Conga said as she continued on her spiel.
The words that came from Conga’s mouth seemed to have went from one of Jason’s ears through the other, as he just continued to look at the other “windows”. Some seemed to be recreations of previous events he had been in, minus a small detail or two.
Then the few that really caught his attention, seemed to be windows into other worlds. Places that Jason would never see himself being in.
However, he was still there. In each window, different in one way or another, he was still there.
One however, caught his attention.
“What’s the deal with this one?” Jason asked, interrupting Conga Tourmalines lecture on the infinite universes.
Conga looked over to the window Jason was looking over to. “Oh!” She said excitingly, walking over to Jason and the window. “This one is interesting.” She resumed her excited tone. “This one is similar to this current universe.” She explained. “Only, except of arriving on Earth, you arrive to the planet of Argent D’nur.”
Jason looked at the window, studying it. While he had “less than pleasant” feelings about his time on Earth, it now seemed like cake walk next to the universe he was currently looking at.
He only saw a small glimpse of it, but it seemed more than enough.
All he saw of his time in “Argent D’nur” was him, in complete, unfiltered fear, as he was grabbed by the collar of another human in an arena looking environment.
The other figure in the window, however, complimented Jason’s fear, with complete, untainted rage as he raised his fist to punch Jason’s entire head out of existence.
Due to no audio feed, Jason could not tell what the other being was saying at first, but he could read lips. If Jason was right, the other being was saying “Rip and Tear.”
“Unfortunately, you do not last long, in that universe.” Conga said in a sudden grim tone.
