Here we are, Jasper's origin: the Beta Kindergarten.
StevenAm I underwhelmed? It's pretty bright out here.
No kidding. Red sandstone! Ha! This is what I'm talking about. We're lucky this place hasn't blown away. Beta, am I right?
Steven
[laughs] That's a math joke, right?
Come on. It gets worse. I mean, this place has got the right growing conditions in a pinch, I guess, but it's too small! It was obviously a total rush job.
Steven
A rush job?
Halfway through the rebellion, Homeworld scrambled to generate extra soldiers on the ground. Look at this-- the holes don't even line up! [scoffs] It's like they just threw injectors down wherever. Oh, and that one? This Carnelian came out sideways. How could she not? The walls are curved! [laughs] What a joke.
What you want to see is a vertical alignment; no angle in the exit; a clean, strong silhouette. None of these holes come close!
[They look up at Jasper's big exit hole]
Steven
This is Jasper's hole?
Oh, come on. We already know she's tall. Let's take a closer look. A Kindergartener can tell a lot about a Gem's makeup and flaws by their exit marks.
These aren't exit holes, anymore.
Steven
Then what are they? [gets startled as a Corrupted Gem appears from the shadows] Corrupted Gems, in cages?
Why?! Who would do this?!
[gasps in surprise as she spots a silhouette behind a cloud of dust] That's who.
[The dust cloud clears away, revealing Jasper]
Steven
Jasper!
[Steven throws his shield over a towering Injector; Amethyst backs away from Jasper as it falls between them]
Steven... I-I can't win. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I work, she came out right, and I came out... wrong.
Steven
That's just what Jasper thinks! She's the only one who thinks you should be like her!
Steven
Stop trying to be like Jasper. You're nothing like Jasper! You're like me! Because we're both not like anybody! And yeah, it sucks! [Jasper lifts up the Injector and throws it aside] But at least I've got you. And you've got me! [tearing up] So stop leaving me out of this!
Us worse Gems stick together... [sniffles] right? [Steven holds out his hand]
Steven
That's why we're the best.
[Amethyst takes his hand, and they hug… and fuse]
Huh?! Who are you supposed to be?!
Oh, yeah. Who am I? I feel like Amethyst knows this.
Forget your name, you've got a fight to win!
I think, a Rose Quartz and an Amethyst, make a… [jumps into the air and combines Steven's shield and Amethyst's whip to make a yo-yo, lands safely back on the ground] Smoky Quartz!
Is fusion the only trick you Crystal Gems know?!
I've got plenty of tricks. Ever say, "Sink the sink?"
[After briefly fusing with a corrupted Gem, the corruption spreads slowly in Jasper's left arm]
It's... corruption. [defuses back into Steven and Amethyst]
Steven
But this just happened - maybe I can do something! Jasper, it's okay. I'm here. [starts approaching her]
Steven
I'm not Rose, I'm Steven. I just wanna try and heal you. [licks his palm and reaches for her but she slashes at him, tearing his shirt]
[Peridot unsuccessfully tries to mentally move the metal rod again]
Steven
[as Amethyst tries to charge at Jasper] Stop!
[chuckles] I see how you do it now, Rose. You want Gems after they're worthless. You wait until after they've lost. Because when you're at the bottom, you'll follow anyone that makes you feel like less of a failure. [as Peridot rushes over] Huh... Just look at this one! You've stripped her of everything! Her limb enhancers, her status, her dignity...
I still have one of those things.
How can you side with Rose Quartz?! Why? Why protect this useless shell of a planet?!
It's not a shell. There's so much life, living here. [smiling] That's what I'm doing! I'm living here! I've been learning new things about myself all the time! Like how I can make metal do my bidding! [tries to show this off, but the rod just falls behind her] The point being: Earth can set you free. [Steven smiles]
[angrily, as the corruption spreads rapidly in her body] Earth... is a prison! I got out because I'm better than this place!
Steven
It's getting worse.
I only came back to finish you off.
Steven
Try not to move!
You can't manipulate me, Rose Quartz!
Steven
I-I'm not manipulating! I'm trying to help!
Help? HELP?! I've been fighting from the second I broke free of the Earth's crust! Because of what YOU did to my colony! Because of what YOU did to my planet! Because of what YOU did to my Diamond!
Steven
[confused] I... Yellow Diamond?
Wha...?! MY DIAMOND! YOUR DIAMOND! PINK DIAMOND!!! [becomes fully corrupted, barely recognizable, and looks ready to attack; Peridot finally gets the metal rod to move, plunging it into Jasper and making her poof]
[after a brief silence] You're... welcome.
[smiles, then walks over to Jasper's gem and sighs] Come here, sis. [bubbles her gem and sends it off to the temple]
[the Rubies walk up the moon base stairway followed by Amethyst (disguised as Jasper), Pearl, Garnet and Steven]
R"Eyeball" Ruby
The Earth was Pink Diamond's colony. Everything was going smoothly at first. Kindergartens were incubating their first soldiers—big, warm pieces of quartz, like this mountain over here—were being created from its rich minerals with great success. Then, bam! One of Pink Diamond's very own quartz soldiers started a rebellion and took it too far. Where were you when that happened?
Oh, you know... around. ["Eyeball" turns to Amethyst]
R"Eyeball" Ruby
I was there. I saw it with my own eye. I watched the leader of the Crystal Gems, Rose Quartz... [projects her light on the mural] shatter Pink Diamond!
[Steven looks up in his horror; Garnet is frozen still for a beat, Pearl starts shivering in fear]
Steven
No... [beat] Rose Quartz w-would never do that! [tearing up] A-And, sure, she had to fight but... But she would never shatter someone!
[Steven (in his bubble) and "Eyeball" Ruby drift in space far away from the Earth]
Steven
There goes the Earth.
R"Eyeball" Ruby
There goes my whole platoon! [growls at him] This is a mess! [walks around his bubble] What'll I say about my report?! How will I even make my report?! This is a nightmare! [looks down at him] And this is all your fault.
Steven
Whoa, hey, no it's not! You were trying to hurt my friends!
R"Eyeball" Ruby
But you opened the airlock in the moon base. You sent us flying into space with no hope of ever returning!
Steven
[long pause] Okay, so maybe that was my fault. I'm sorry. There! Are you happy?
R"Eyeball" Ruby
No! Lucky you're in that bubble, or I'd pop you right in the face.
Steven
Well, if you're going to be a grump about it, then we can just float in silence until we both die!
R"Eyeball" Ruby
Sounds great!
Steven
Fine!
R"Eyeball" Ruby
I can't wait!!
Steven
Me neither!
Steven
How come nobody told me about Pink Diamond?
We all did what we had to during the war. Everything's different now.
Steven
But did Mom really do it? Did she really... shatter her?
She had to. The Earth belonged to Pink Diamond. Destroying her was the only way to save the planet. For Amethyst to be herself, for Pearl to be free, for me to be together. [clutches her hand] For you to exist.
Steven
But I thought... a-at least she'd never—
She didn't always do what was best for her. But she always did what was best for Earth.
Steven
Even... if it meant shattering someone?
[Steven pauses, takes a deep breath and sighs as the Gems pilot the Rubies' Roaming Eye back to Earth]
Steven
Thanks for telling me.
Okay... I've analyzed the problems with the previous two Peri-plans. Relying on the injectors introduced too many complicating variables. Now we only have to rely on simple physics! We'll wait until it gets right up under us, not suspecting a thing - because it's so dumb - and then we'll drop this rock right on its stupid head! It's even more flawless! And at this height, nothing can fall on us!
Steven
What if it doesn't stop where we want it to?
I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN, STEVEN!
Steven
Aw, Peridot, it's okay. Even if none of your Peri-plans worked, at least they were really funny. [eats some marshmallows] And the others will probably think so, too when we go back and get them.
"Go back?" Let it be known that I, Peridot, refuse to move forward, or back, until I am victorious.
Steven
Right...
I don't get it. I'm smarter than your average peridot. How did I fail today against some barely functional, stupid, cloddy dumb-dumb?!
Steven
Hey, hey. Corruptions aren't dumb. They just think a little different. That's all.
[pause] Okay. Just to make sure my Earth vocabulary is correct on this. Let's say, I'm a monster. I spend all my time slamming my face into hard objects and throwing my tongues in the air for fun. How am I not... dumb?
Steven
..Well, she must be doing something right. She hasn't fallen for any of your Peri-plans. [Peridot's face twitches at Steven]
It's luck! Nothing that thing does makes any sense! [angrily kicks a rock. Steven thinks it over, then throws a marshmallow at her] Hey! [shields herself as Steven continues throwing handfuls of marshmallows at her] Why are you bombarding me with your confectionery puff rocks?!
Steven
[continues throwing marshmallows] To show you what it's like to be a monster! Pretend I'm a freaked-out human screaming at you in fear! Pretend I'm an Earth animal chasing you away from your first safe hiding spot! Pretend I'm an angry green gem trying to poof you! This is life for you, now! ENDLESS SUFFERING!
[Peridot angrily snatches the marshmallow bag from Steven and thrashes it around in her mouth]
Steven
There. You see?
[calms down, spits out the bag] Yeah.
Steven
What you're doing makes total sense. You remember what it was like to have everything important taken away. Being under attack, feeling trapped. You were frustrated. So is she. Why don't you try thinking about all of this from her point of view?
Steven
And then we go into the tricks.
All right. But I really think we should save the dog walker for next time.
Steven
This is our first impression. We gotta go big. And we should go soon, too, before they get suspicious.
Those two are acting very suspicious. [to Garnet] Should we ask them what's going on?
Steven
[finding Connie sitting sadly on the stairs by the warp pad] Hey, what's wrong?
I did something terrible at school, and I don't know what to do.
Steven
Well, that doesn't sound like you. What happened?
Steven
What?! (Who?)
A kid I didn't know. He just bumped into me in the hallway. I was so startled, my training instincts kicked in. I just reacted. I was so embarrassed, I just ran away.
Steven
But you didn't mean to hurt him! [sighs] I know what it's like. Sometimes, you hurt people by accident. Y-you just have to try not to think about it.
[Stevonnie falls off the edge of the Sky Arena, un-fuses; Steven and Connie plummet down the sky in free fall]
We're falling! Steven! Let's fuse! We can hover, we'll be okay! Steven? [sees Steven covering his face with his tears falling upwards into the sky]
Steven
I didn't want to hurt anyone! [Connie swims over and grabs Steven] I'm sorry! None of them would let me help them! I had no choice!
Steven
No! It's not!
But it's okay to think about it!
Steven
It feels so bad!
That's okay, too! There was nothing else you could've done!
Steven
I don't want to feel this way...
You have to! [facing each other] You have to be honest about how bad it feels so you can move on! That's how it was for me.
[Steven pauses for a long beat, sniffles]
Steven
Okay.
Steven Universe · 493 quotes
