Steven Universe Future: Isolation

Chapter Two: The Song of Corruption

Inside, Steven lifted his head at her soft "please," but winced horribly when Garnet's hand slammed against the wall once more.

"Enough of this, Steven!" Garnet yelled. She brought her double-handed fits against the wall, but stumbled back as the force went up her arms. "Stop avoiding the situation!"

"I'M NOT!" Steven yelled at them. He didn't remember getting back on his feet. He didn't remember feeling heat spread from his gem and coat the room in a deep pink hue. When he saw the gems take a step back, he snapped back to his senses once again and nearly fell to his knees in shock as the room spun around him. "Please," he said, putting his hand on the glass door. "Just leave me alone."

"Not a chance," Garnet growled on the other side of the door. "Stop acting like this."

Steven's hand dropped from the door and he stood there and stared at her figure. If Garnet could have seen the anguish on Steven's face, she would have dropped her weapons and removed her visor. She would have put her hand to the wall to match Steven's. She would have felt her own eyes burn with shame. She would have understood.

But she didn't see it. On her end, she was trying to order around a stubborn teen with gem powers.

Inside, Steven felt his entire body go numb at her words.

Stop acting like this? He thought as his vision unfocused. Like what? Himself? She didn't like him. She didn't like the person he was becoming. She just liked him he was younger.

They'll never accept him now.

He fell to his knees and his thoughts became muddled into his emotions. He couldn't hear them pounding on the wall anymore. He could only hear the ringing silence and the pounding in his head. Tears streamed down his face like acid, but he didn't move to wipe them away.

They moved on without him. They didn't know him anymore. They didn't want to. They just wanted old Steven back.

The ringing in his ears began to morph. In and out it came, like waves of a song churning in the confused mess of emotions.

"I can't be him," Steven whispered to himself, his head falling as he stared at the carpet he didn't see. "I can't stop being this way."

The ringing grew steady and formed into a wordless hum.

Steven doubled over and let out a pained sob. He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to replicate the hug he so desperately needed but didn't deserve. The longer he clung to them, the more pain he would cause them. He needed to push them away. Needed to make them see that he wasn't worth their time anymore. They had more important gems to help than one that deserved to be in a bubble.

More important problems to solve than a boy who lost control of his powers for the upteenth time.

The wordless hum grew louder and finally caught Steven's attention. The words took shape, echoing in and out of his conscious mind. It was soothing. Almost like a lullaby. When his anger lashed out, it coaxed it back with a gentle hum.

His room pulsated pink; the color began to slowly fade from the walls as the glow of his skin lessened.

"STEVEN!" Garnet yelled. "Don't give in!"

The song faded as Steven jumped back to reality at her words.

Give in? He looked around, his heart slowly speeding up with the absence of the song. It was helping him. For all he knew, that song was the answer to this pink aura.

"Come back," Steven whispered to it, but it didn't.

"Talk to us!" Garnet yelled again, frantic this time.

"No," Steven said, loudly enough for the gems to hear. The anger was back. His entire body ached as it coursed hotly through his veins. His head throbbed and his chest felt like it was about to burst.

He needed that song to calm down. To control this. And they took it from him.

"Steven, please, we're worried about you," Amethyst tried again.

He forced himself back to his feet, his stance unsteady but offensive. His entire body trembled, filled with emotions just begging to burst out of him. He couldn't hold them in. He needed that song back. He needed the gems gone.

"Just...LEAVE!" he yelled. With every ounce of strength he had left, he forced his emotions out of his body. He yelled out, replicating the final note of the song and hoping to bring it back. His room splintered apart at the outburst. The glass door shattered and the curtain flew back to reveal the gem's shocked faces.

He watched as the pink wave hit his barrier. Some went straight through and blasted the gems off their feet. They flew off the deck and onto the beach below. Unseen by Steven, their forms vanished and their gems dropped into the sand.

Some reflected back to him. It struck him square in the chest. He stumbled back and fell on his bed, winded. The room spun as he struggled to stay conscious.

"I didn't mean...to hurt...," he panted. He tried to push himself onto all fours, but failed and collapsed.

Then he heard it again. Louder this time. More urgent. Calling to him.

He reached out his hand as his vision began to fade, as if trying to grasp onto the words of the song. The song spiraled around his barely conscious mind and seemed to caress his soul. It was so gentle. So peaceful.

He felt the tension leave his body and it became very hard to keep his eyes open. He hummed to it, the tune coming to him like a long lost memory.

Then it changed. The soothing presence became blinding. Pink light pierced through his mind and he gasped out in pain. He felt it wrap around him and envelop him in its barbed grasp.

"W-wait," he said, panicked as he struggled to fight against something that he couldn'tQ1 see.

The song shrieked in his ears; wailing harshly in his own voice and echoing the emotions it had consumed. It wrapped around him, constricting his very soul until he couldn't feel anything but the cold pain of everything he wanted to escape from.

It bound him there. Unable to think. Unable to move. Unable to scream in pure agony as its thorns dug into his throat. He felt the burning hatred seep into his face as the song yelled out mournful words he could barely understand.

He reached out his hand, now toward where the gems once were.

"Help," he managed to whisper.

His vision was blurring and fading fast. The last thing he saw was dark pink splotches spreading across his skin. The last thing he felt was his skeleton breaking as it the song snapped his spine.

The last thing he heard was a yell of broken agony, completely unaware that it was his own.

The song enveloped him completely in its thorns and he knew no more.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Author's note: How do you think Steven would become corrupted? I tried a different approach from the usual panic and I think it turned out okay. Let me know what you think!