Faded Gems

There was one day that I will remember for the rest of my life, and that day... Was an episode of Steven Universe.

Now, you might think, "How could such a happy, cheerful, adventurous show go wrong?" Well, I will tell you.

I had gotten home and did my normal routine: do my homework, get something to eat, etc. My mom had called down to me telling me that she had to go walk one of her friend's dog, because she said her friend was at work.

So, I was home alone. Normally, my brother would be with me, but he went with my mom, and my Dad was at work. So I was laying in bed, on my phone chatting to friends on an app called PicCollage, when I looked up to see that Cartoon Network was advertising "New Thursdays". It had said up next was Steven Universe, one of my favorite Cartoon Network shows other than Pokémon, Regular Show, and Teen Titans Go. I posted on the app from earlier saying to my followers that I would be back soon. I turned off my phone, set it beside me, and turned up the TV. I was pretty sure that this was supposed to be that Uncle Grandpa/ Steven Universe crossover, so I was excited. But I didn't get what I expected. The episode started with the normal title theme for the show, which I always LOVED to hum to. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the theme, but when it got to the title of the episode, that's when it got... strange. The normal clothesline that held Steven's clothes was snapped, and Steven's shirts and pants were on the ground, dirty and a bit shredded, but not enough that they were completely apart. The title, in a bit of a lighter tint that usual, read "Faded Gems". "Huh," I had thought. "The episode is supposed to be named 'Say Uncle'..." I went to the guide, and it still said the title for the crossover. I thought that maybe, at the last minute, CN decided to air a different episode that they thought should come before the crossover. But, man, I was disappointed!

The episode started inside the house, but it was a bit... quiet. Steven then came in through the screen door, looking a bit sad, but not in a depressed sort of way. Just his normal sad face. It was raining outside, so I thought he was just sad he couldn't be out there. Suddenly, Amethyst and Garnet came through the warp pad... But Pearl was missing. I noticed that Amethyst had a tear running down her face, and it looked like the normal cartoon style,very bright blue, and not clear. Not hyper realistic at all.

I was a bit surprised by this, seeing how Amethyst is normally the most hyper and cheerful of the group. I went back on PicCollage and asked for the Steven Universe fans to chat with me about the new episode. surprisingly, a few of my followers/friends were seeing the SAME EXACT THING that I was! For some reason, the episode went to commercials already, so I decided to chat about what was going on. We referred to each other by parts of our usernames, so this is how the conversation went:

Me (Tails): Um... Rubix... Foxy... Creepy... Did you guys just see that?

Rubix: Tails, we ALL saw that. Other Steven Universe fans are spam-posting stuff about this!

Foxy: I just don't understand what's going on, though... Why were Steven's clothes like that?

Rubix: I honestly don't know... Maybe something to do with Lion?

Creepy: Possibly, but Lion's always loyal to Steven. It would never do this!

Me (Tails): By the way... Where's Pearl?

Creepy:...

Foxy: Um...

Rubix: Maybe that's what Amethyst was crying about? Pearl being gone?

Suddenly, I heard that the show was coming back from the commercials.

Me: Guys, it's back on!

We all continued to watch the show. It came back to where we were, but Steven was hugging Garnet and Amethyst, sobbing. It was his normal voice, not like a realistic sob, but his normal crying. Then, for the first time that episode, someone said something.

Garnet: "Steven... Everything is going to be ok..."

Steven: No! Pearl's gone! She's gone forever!

I was shocked by this. I looked down at the conversation.

Foxy: Pearl's gone?

Creepy: Gone how? Is she... dead?

Me: The show wouldn't get that dark, guys.

Rubix: Guys! Look!

I look up at the TV. Lion comes in through the door, and is carrying... Pearl's Spear... Lion walks up to the others and drops it on the ground. It is snapped in half, but Lion didn't do it. It was obvious it wasn't bitten in half, but forcefully pulled apart.

Steven: How did this even happen...

Garnet put a hand on Steven's shoulder and started telling him a story.

Garnet: As you know, our gems are the source of all our power. If we were to get weak, our gems would lose power, and thus fade. Because of this, we would no longer be able to go on, and we will just fade out of existence. We tried our best to cure Pearl, but... we were too late...

This shocked me. Pearl had faded away? Suddenly the title made sense: Faded Gems. The Gems can fade away. I looked at the TV again.

Steven: I wish she was still here...

He started sobbing again. The episode slowly faded to back and played the normal credits. This was so dark! I couldn't believe what I just saw! I look back down at the phone.

Rubix: What?! Is Pearl dead?!

Me: No... She lost her power... She simply faded away...

Foxy: Guys! The TV!

Creepy: I've never seen CN post a commercial like this...

I look at the TV. In the normal CN font, it says this: "We are sorry for the inconvenience. This episode was never meant to be aired. We now return to what was normally scheduled." Then the Steven Universe crossover came on. I was surprised to see that episode. We're all of the gems supposed to fade away eventually? Even Steven? Me and my friends occasionally talk about the episode, but not much. I will never forget that one fateful Steven Universe episode. And did anyone record this? I mean come on, there was DVRs in the 2014s. Just tell me if someone recorded this or not.