Sadie's P.O.V

Everything was going so well this morning before the place got crowded worse that its ever been before. I didn't think I'd get anything out of today, to be honest. The morning was like any other, slow stream of customers and a very number of donuts sold. I was almost hoping Lars would walk in the door and give me a hug, saying that he's back from space and would like to go on a date with me. But no, my very best friend didn't come today and to make matters worse, most of my bandmates parents, along with Mr. Universe and Mr. Maheswaran, have now taken up shelter inside the shop.

I was forced to sit at one of the tables inside the shop, Jenny, Kiki, Buck, Sour Cream, Onion, Ronaldo, and Peedee sitting around and/or next to me. From what I've heard, they were all dragged here by their parents and by a special meeting request on behalf of Mr Maheswaran. I don't what could be so urgent that we'd all have to be here, but I just hope it's worth it. Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but I still have a business to keep running, you know?

Right now, the adults are huddled around the donut counter. Among the adults are Kofi Pizza, Ms. Vidalia, Steven's father, Mr. Dewey, Mr. Fryman, Mayor Nanefua, and of course, Mr. Maheswaran. The officer is the main lead of their conversation, pointing to each of the other adults in turn as if he's instructing them to do something. Surprisingly though, Mr. Fryman and Mr. Pizza are both retaliating against whatever it is Mr. Maheswaran is ordering. Mr. Universe just looks uneasy, easily reflecting my personal feelings about this situation as a whole, while Ms. Vidalia does her best to comfort her old friend.

"It's just not necessary, Doug!" Kofi stresses, "If you have the boy contained and under control, what is it that we should be worrying about?"

"Because, Kofi, no place is airtight. If we take the precautions now, we won't have to suffer worse consequences later on" The older Maheswaran argues.

"Be that as it may, Doug, but you have to look at a different way. From what I've heard about these two guardians of his, is it really hard to not see why what he did?" Mr. Fryman speaks up, rolling his eyes and steps forward.

"Oh, so now you're condoning murder, Fryman?!" Doug snaps.

"That's not what I said. I know just like anyone else here that it's wrong to kill someone, but when you put your self in the Universe kid's shoes, your perspective would most definitely change" Peedee's father replies.

"While I understand where you're coming from, I can't excuse the boy's actions. He made the choice to do such horrendous things and now, like any other criminal I've dealt with, he'll be facing the brute force of the after effects" Doug replies sternly.

Mr. Fryman steps back with his arms crossed, obviously upset with Mr. Maheswaran. Jenny and Kiki's father doesn't look any happier, glaring at Mayor Nanefua as if he's demanding that she stick up for him. The old lady shakes her head and Mr. Pizza sighs in defeat.

"Personally, I just find it hard to believe that this is the same boy that worked all night and helped me prepare for that election debate. The behavior is so unlike the kid" Mr. Dewey chimes in.

"If only you knew what the Gems were like, Dewey" Mr. Universe sighs, "I wish I had known. Maybe if I had paid more attention to my own son's problems instead of thinking of myself, none of this would've happened".

Mayor Nanefua then reaches over to pat the man comfortingly on the arm.

"Nobody here is blaming you for your son's problems, Greg" The old lady soothes, "What's important right now is that Doug gets Steven to a psychiatric hospital and gets him the help he needs".

This seems to give Mr. Universe some peace of mind. But Kofi quickly begins to argue again and the conversation picks back up. But, at this point, I've stopped listening together all entirely. I sit back in my chair and try to make sense of what I just heard. Steven? Murder? Psych Ward? None of those should ever be in a sentence together. The whole concept of Steven killing someone is just like Mr. Dewey said, hard to imagine. He's been the kind and gentle soul that Beach City needs more than anything. Were things so bad with his moms that it caused him to go all serial killer on them? God, I hope that isn't the case, because if it is, then I've truly failed Steven as one of his best friends.

"Hey" Jenny says, nudging my shoulder, "Are you ok?"

I look over with a sullen expression, my face devoid of any cheer.

"I don't know, Jen. I've heard so much in so little time, none of it good. Steven appears to be in a bad spot right now and I can't help but feel like I could've done more to prevent this" I answer.

I hear the shuffling of feet and when I look up from the ground, I see Sour Cream, Peedee, Buck, and Kiki kneeling down in front of me. They all have hope in their eyes.

"Believe me, Sadie, I'm sure we share that same feeling" Peedee chimes in.

"But, this isn't the worst thing that could've happened to my little DJ pal" Sour Cream adds.

"He's right. Steven could've ended up paralyzed or worse, killed!" Buck exclaims.

"It's not the end for him, is what I think the boys are trying to say" Kiki says, looking me right in the eyes, "Our friend might've gotten himself into trouble, but as supportive friends, we're gonna do whatever it takes to help him".

"Amen to that" Ronaldo chirps, his gaze permanently glued to his phone.

I roll my eyes at the elder Fryman brother and turn back to Jenny.

"And this is Steven were talking about. He's stronger than anyone gives him credit for" My band partner consoles.

I smile slightly at that, but then the heated adult conversation quickly draws my attention, as well all the other teens in the room.

"Pardon me, but what's going on here?" I ask.

The adults cease their bickering and turn to see that their kids are now watching them with great interest. Mr. Maheswaran composes himself and answers me.

"I'm sorry to be a bother to you, Sadie, but the other grownups seem to be having trouble agreeing with me. The problem we've been going back and forth on is what to do with young Steven now. And, since nobody can agree on anything, I've decided to give my police buddy, who's watching the kid as we speak, and have him put Steven on the phone. That way, they can see how right my intentions are" Mr. M explains calmly.

I shrug, feeling pretty fifty-fifty on the whole proposition. That doesn't stop the security officer from taking his phone out and dialing the number anyway. He puts it on speaker so that we can all hear, the adults moving over so that my friends and I can circle around the phone. It rings only a couple times before the person on the other end picks up.

"Hey, Brandon! How's the kid doing?" Mr. Maheswaran asks.

"I'm sorry, Brandon can't come to the phone right now, but if you'd like to make an appointment, then that I can do" An innocently smug voice replies.

Immediately, the temperature in the room drops by three degrees and everyone goes silent.

"How did you get this number, kid? And what have you done with my guy?" Mr M demands.

"Well, he left his phone on the table when you brought the girl into the room and I thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up. As far as your friend here goes, he's just taking a nap in the corner. I hear getting bonked on the head really has a tendency to do that" Steven responds using the same tone as he did before.

"What do you hope to gain by calling me?" Mr. Maheswaran asks, all of us leaning closer to listen.

"That depends. Where are you, Doug?" Steven says, unnerving me with his first name calling.

"In my office, why?" Mr M lies.

"Hmm, that's funny. Because, if you were, we would be speaking in-person and not over the phone" Steven replies, sounding so intense that it makes me shiver, "Now, you might be wondering how I got out of those cuffs. You might also be curious as to why I kill in the first place. And, you even might be wondering where it is that I am now. The answers to these questions are well within your reach, Officer Maheswaran. You just need to look close enough to see the patterns. Your attempts to contain me have thus far been pretty weak and feeble. Not even you with your entire police force can stop what's coming. I'm gonna right the many wrongs left here by those who remain in Beach City. I warn you though, you won't know where I'll be but should you try to find me, let's just say you'll never see me coming".

The line goes dead after that, leaving me and the rest of the people both very shocked and pretty terrified. A buzz then sounds, making us all turn our heads toward the source. Frowning, Mr. Universe reaches into his pocket and takes out his phone. It's more than likely a text, but based on what just happened a few seconds ago, we're all really hoping it's not what we think is.

"Uh oh. Amethyst says that we need to get to the police station pronto!" Greg says dreadfully.

Mr. Maheswaran's eyes widen and he hurries toward the door, Mr. Universe following right behind.

"Keep your children here and make sure nobody leaves! If he's escaped, there's a chance he might come here! Me and Greg will go check it out but keep in touch!" Mr. M orders before running out the door with Greg hot on his heels.

Me and the others are now left to wonder what could happen next and if anyone is safe from Steven's plan.

Amethyst's P.O.V

It's been fifteen minutes since I sent Greg that text and he still hasn't shown up. I'll admit that I'm beginning to grow worried. Could he have possibly missed it or just not received it at all? Whatever it is, I just hope that he gets here. With the situation going down in front of my very eyes, I need a friend that I can count on to help me through this. Lapis and Peridot are good company, them being fellow Gems like myself, but regarding the certain specialty of this event, Greg would be a better shoulder to may or may not cry on.

I lean, as relaxed I can at the moment, against the side of a police cruiser. By my side are the two former Homeworld gems, both looking scared and in complete disbelief at the scene in front of us all. My gaze hasn't left the front of the police station since we've arrived and for good reason. About every officer that was in the building is outside with bandages on their bodies, the injuries ranging from their heads to their knees. The pain shows bright as day on their faces and the mood set by their battered and beaten appearances all but contributes to the sympathy I feel. However, the pain I feel myself has nothing to do whatsoever with these humans. It's the fact that I have a pretty good idea who caused all this.

It was my Sugar Cake's doing.

I don't know the exact details of what occurred, mainly because I haven't talked to any of the wounded officers, but the story pretty much explained itself to me once I saw all these humans. Peridot and Lapis were a bit more confused than me and asked me if I had any clue as to what had transpired here. Since I'm usually pretty good at forming my own conclusions, I told the two what I believe had happened. From the massive amount of injuries, Steven most likely fought his way out past these police. And, judging by a particular missing police cruiser, Steven almost certainly fled the scene shortly afterwards, probably hoping to not get caught and arrested again when the officers recovered from their wounds.

The reactions I got from Peri and Lapis were a mixture of pride and fear. If they're thinking like I am, as far as my brother goes, the pride stems from Steven standing up for himself and not letting the authorities hold him down. The fear, on the other hand, most likely attributes to all these cops in front of us and just the thought that Steven himself could cause so much harm. As I've noticed though, Steven didn't indiscriminately kill them when he was escaping, which gives me a probable insight into his mentality. He killed Pearl and Garnet because they were mean to him, but these officers were just doing their job and hadn't done anything to him. Could that be why he spared them or is it something much deeper?

"Don't you wish this was just a bad dream, Lapis?" Peridot sniffles, her voice directed away from me, but obviously aimed for the Ocean Gem.

"Yes, I do Peridot" Lapis replies, her voice coming more my direction, indicating that she's looking at the same thing I am, "I truly wish this was all just some demented part of my mind that's sucked us all in and is torturing us for our past misdeeds. Sadly though, I'd be excessively fooling myself if I kept choosing to believe it. The fact of the matter is that all of what we see is reality and that my Beach Summer Fun Buddy is probably further away from me than I ever thought possible!".

Lapis begins to break down at the end of her sentence, crying into her hands. I wanna do something besides just stand here and feel bad, so I play the comforter, and turn around to allow Lapis to hug me. She lets her sorrow come out in more frontal force, clinging onto me in desperation. Peridot hugs Lapis from behind and I pat the top of the water gem's hair.

"There there, Lapis. You couldn't have predicted this. You're not a Sapphire and even if you were, I'm pretty sure you still wouldn't have seen this unfold like it has so far. None of us expected this and it breaks our hearts just as much as yours. What's important right now though is that we remain strong and stick together. Only as a group can we have any chance of fixing this and bringing our boy home" I console her, letting a couple tears come out myself.

A siren then wails in the air, it's intensity and volume growing as it draws nearer. Our emotional moment comes to a halt when we break apart to see a police cruiser come racing inside the station parking lot. It parks near the front in absolute haste, its spinning lights adding to the intensity. Both car doors open and, as I had prayed for, out steps Greg and Mr. Maheswaran. I'm more than happy to see Steven's father but less so the human girl's dad, the reason being that the latter is the one, aside from Connie, that is at fault for taking Steven away when this all started. Both men quickly close their respective car doors and rush over to where we are.

"Amethyst! Thank goodness you're ok!" Greg exclaims, hugging me tightly.

I let out a small sigh of relief, glad that I can feel some small sense of happiness right now. However, as I would expect, it's only short-lived and due mainly to Mr Maheswaran.

"Good god! What happened here?!" He says exasperated, surveying his battered companions.

The man looks over to me a second later, obviously wanting an explanation. Wish I could give him one, but his guess is as good as mine because all I have is speculation thus far.

"Ms. Amethyst, was it like this when you got here?" Doug attempts calmly.

"Yes" I answer.

"Fucking H" I hear him mutter.

Doug then saunters over to one of the injured officers sitting on the pavement. From his posture, Mr. M clearly knows this person more definitely than the others. His speech implies as much too.

"Brandon, what happened to all these men? Was it the Universe kid?" The police officer asks.

"Yeah..... it was. Little bastard got the jump on me when I went back inside the interrogation room. Whacked me good upside the head and walked out with the girl on his arm" His friend answers.

"Girl? What girl?" Doug questions.

"That Alesha Smith chick we brought in for excessive alcoholism. You remember me putting her in the same room with Universe before leaving, right?" Brandon replies.

"I do, yeah. But is it true that this same kid beat up all my men and was still able to walk away without some major fractures of his own?" Mr. Maheswaran additionally asks.

"Beats me, Doug. I was knocked out until Marcus found me. Whatever occurred to the men would be better found out by asking them. Although, now that I think about it, you should probably check the interrogation to see if he left anything behind. It might give you a clue as to where he went" Brandon surmises.

"Ok, I'll do that. You take care of yourself, Brandon" Doug says to him.

Mr M stands up when he's done and comes back over to our little group. Greg's already made introductions with Lapis and Peridot in the meantime, but I wasn't paying close enough attention. I was more preoccupied with listening in to see if I could hear anything new.

"You four, come with me. We're gonna investigate the last place the kid was. Look around as best you can if you spot something out of the ordinary, let me know. We're looking for things that could tip us off to where he's going next" Doug says.

I nod and wave the others forward as Doug pushes open the station's front doors. Soon, we're all inside and walking through an office complex. Doug leads us down a couple of turns but eventually stops at a door in the middle of a tightly spaced hallway. I assume this to be the interrogation room, and Doug proves it when he turns the handle lets us all in. He goes in first and we all crowd in behind him like children getting onto a school bus. Mr. M leaves the door ajar, but personally, I don't think it's needed because the mess is pretty minimal.

I've seen the insides of interrogation rooms before, not from being arrested myself mind you, and the only thing out of place is the central table being overturned. It lays on its side with its top end facing the two-way mirror on the wall adjacent to us. The scene is cleaner than probably any of us were expecting, but then again, the room clearly shows that Steven didn't cause massive destruction trying to get out, like a hole in the wall for example. Our group fans out in the small space and looks up and down the walls for anything out of place. I choose to go for the table, seeing as it is the only difference in the room to begin with, and when I clench my hand on the edge to turn it right side up, my palm brushes over something. This gives me cause to pause, but I feel the surface and it comes off as a medium temperature phone screen.

Looking over the edge, I see that it's exactly that. A phone. But, it's taped to the tabletop. I quickly rip the phone off the wooden surface and turn it over in my hands. Doesn't look to be damaged and it even appears to have a pre-recorded audio message pulled up on the screen. I get everyone's attention and they all circle behind me as I hit the play button in the center.

"Thought I would leave without giving you some context? If the answer is yes, then I pity you, but if it is no, then you're already starting to understand. Whatever it is you are thinking right now, let it all fade into the background. Focus on my words and you may yet find yourself closer to knowing where I am now, since you're obviously wondering that" Steven's voice drawls.

Even though this is little surprise for us, it's still creepy as shit.

"I'm gonna try to trace the signal of the audio" Doug says, pulling out his own phone, "Universe can smart talk all he wants, but he can't outsmart a tracer".

"And don't even think about using a tracer" The audio continues, making Doug freeze, "Trust me, I know how police work better than you think, Mr. Maheswaran. And I also know that you're feeling helpless right now. You wish that you could've been here to keep me chained because now that you've seen the after-effects of my exit, you feel responsible for all the cops that have a fractured rib or a broken femur. Believe me, I would've felt the same, had I been in your place. But, the purpose of this message must now be made clear. As you've devised by now, I've managed to evade any of your fellow officers lurking around the streets because believe it or not, I encouraged them to chase after me when I left. But, their effort was just as silly as the kind you portrayed when placing me here in the first place. Now that I'm gone, I'll give you a little hint for what you could do next. Call your closest family because you never know who could be creeping outside their window or peeping at them from the parking lot of their workplace. We live in such corrupted times, Mr. Maheswaran. Now follow that tiny freebie and you may just catch a sniff of my trail. If you don't though, you probably already know that after so long running, a person can easily vanish and never be seen again".

A frightful and tension-filled silence fills the room after the recording ends. As I look around at those surrounding me, I see grim expressions for Greg and Peridot, but Lapis, not so much. In fact, the ocean gem gets down on the carpeted ground and looks intently at something I can't quite make out. Mr. Maheswaran, on the other hand, is starting to panic and dials someone's number with shaky hands. It rings a few times before someone picks up.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end asks.

"Connie! Are you alright?!" Doug asks frantically.

"Yeah, I'm alright, why?" His daughter replies.

"Where are you right now?!" He asks urgently.

"At the house inside my bedroom" Connie answers quickly.

"Ok, listen closely. I want you to head into the basement, lock the door, and find a place to hide. Stay away from any windows and keep your phone on. Can you do that for me, sweetie?" Doug instructs.

"Yes, I will. But what's going on, Dad?" The younger Maheswaran asks.

"Just a precaution. The Universe kid broke out of the station and he may be coming for you. It's only a slight possibility but I want you prepared if he comes your way" Mr. M tells her.

"Ok, I'll head down now. Bye, Dad" Connie concludes.

"Bye, Connie" Her father concludes as well.

Mr. M hangs up but then gets right back on the dialer and has the phone ringing once more. It rings much longer this time, making Doug visibly more concerned. He mutters for 'her' to pick up and whoever this lady is finally does after about thirty seconds. I don't listen in though and instead kneel down next to Lapis to see what she's looking at. It's a small puddle of some pinkish substance. I'm nervous as to what it might be but Lapis proves to be the bravest out of us two and wipes her finger over the substance, afterwards tasting it. As she ingests the substance, I see her eyes flit back and forth, trying to get a pin on what exactly the pink stuff is.

"Weird..it...smells of Steven" Lapis formulates.

I frown, thinking how odd that is, but then something clicks in Lapis' mind, causing her blush profoundly and fan herself with her hand. I try to put the pieces together and once I really think about it, a realization dawns on me. Along with some unnecessary embarrassment.

"Is that what I think it is?" I ask, knowing that we have the answer.

Lapis only nods in response, still too flustered to speak. I put my hand on her shoulder and am about to say something until Mr Maheswaran speaks up.

"I think I've figured out where the Universe kid is going. You can come with me, but we have to leave now!" Mr. M says urgently.

"Alright" I say accepting.

Peridot, Greg, and Lapis all agree as well, spurring Doug to run out the interrogation room door. Peridot and Greg rush after him, anxious to find Steven, but I take a moment to help Lapis up off the floor. She's not acting like her usual self but then again nothing about any of this would have anyone acting normal so what do I know?

"Easy does it, Lapis" I say, ushering her forward, "Let's go after our best bud".

"Yeah..." Lapis sighs, her cheeks still tinged a dark blue, "Let's go get him back...".

Chuckling ever so slightly, I grab Lapis by the arm and we rush out of the interrogation room and through the building as fast as we can, the exit doors the only thing in our way. We're coming, Steven. We're coming.