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[indent]Steven's back ached.

That was the first thing he noticed when he woke up. The second thing he noticed was that he was outside - and as he shifted slightly to try and get more comfortable, he figured that he must have conked out on top of his Dondai. He was almost going to turn over and maybe get [i]five more minutes[/i] before a surge of panic filled his body- Like, he up-and-left with no warning last night! After the Cactus Steven incident he'd insisted to the Gems that he didn't [i]have[/i] anything he needed to talk about, that he just wanted to rest after all the fighting and the picking-cactus-spines-out-of-skin.. and he did all that, obviously, but when he was sure the Gems weren't paying any attention, he slipped out of the house. He just.. He needed to be [i]alone in his thoughts[/i], so he'd gone to that one little spot in the outskirts of the city that he liked. His personal little [i]broody space[/i], if you will. Brooding Hill was [i]fine[/i], but [i]everyone[/i] went there to brood. It was too mainstream. Or would it be main-hill? Ha-

Ah! Right, right, anyway- [i]Crap,[/i] he shouldn't have conked out! He needed to call Pearl and tell her that he was ok! He snatched his phone from his pocket and was horrified to find he had almost [i]20[/i] messages. He quickly tapped the screen to read them, thinking it was his dad, Pearl, and Connie all texting him in a panic, but.. No. No, the messages were from someone who's number looked.. Garbled? Glitched? Ah, no, was his phone [i]broken?[/i] The glimpse he allowed himself to take of the messages were.. Nonsensical, to say the least- His phone had to be busted, somehow, right? Cracked? Overheated? He brushed his finger against his phone, then tried to maybe angle it in such a way that the sunlight catches a crack before just giving his phone's screen a quick peck - he couldn't see it, but it had to be there, somewhere. He checks again, but.. Nothin'. No scratches, it's not overheating- There's nothing wrong with his phone. The number and the contact information really were just positively garbled beyond his comprehension. Maybe it was a hacker..?

Steven readjusted how he was seated as he scrolled through all of the messages, carefully taking in the information they held. It all sounded kind of [i]bogus,[/i] or like a really weird spam-y copypasta. Like.. Crossroads? Tokens? Pacts and traitors and wishes..? It all sounded insane, but..

He looked up again, suddenly finding himself.. [i]Unsure[/i]. Like sure, this did [i]look[/i] like home, but something [i]felt[/i] funny when he woke up - and not just his back. Something just.. felt.. [i]wrong[/i]. It was too quiet, it was.. It was just too.. Aaah, he couldn't quite explain it in words. It's just a [i]feeling,[/i] you know? With that, he hopped down from the roof of the car, and after securely placing his phone in his pocket, decided to jump up up UP into the air to get a look around. It felt [i]silly[/i], because he knew, logically, that he'd just end up laughing this off as he sees Beach City and Little Homeworld in the distance- but... Well, he [i]didn't.[/i] He didn't see Beach City. He didn't see Little Homeworld. He didn't even see where Jasper's had made her little clearing. He only saw more forest, and up to a point it stopped being [i]his[/i] forest. Where his forest ended and this new, [i]weird[/i] forest began, it was [i]snowy[/i], and the trees were of a different type. It.. It didn't make [i]sense![/i] It looked like someone cut a chunk of his home out and plopped it somewhere else! It made no sense-! His descent sped up slightly as he felt a flush of anger rush from his chest and to his face. Like- what? Just.. Just [i]what?[/i] What was going on? [i]Why did this happen?![/i] Why him? And why now, of all the times-

He landed firmly on the ground below with a little puff of dirty dust, his face still tinged red from the surge of emotion. Steven then pulled his phone up again and re-read the messages, scanning for any sort of answer, but... Nothing. He grumbled, hands shaking as he wrestled with the urge to just [i]smash his phone into bits[/i], but- no. No, he can't do that- But as he's looking at the phone, he gets another idea. Maybe he can call his dad. His dad could go to where Steven last remembered being, and then-

The positively [i]horrific[/i], robotic screaming that emanates from his phone makes Steven let out a girlish yelp of surprise. In said surprise, he accidentally drops his phone to the ground and stumbles before falling backwards, his right ear ringing from that horrible technological death-screech. He quickly got right back up, hanging the phone up as fast as he could so his speakers didn't get shredded to pieces from that noise.

[color=ed145b][b]"Ho-kay,"[/b][/color] Steven breathed, talking to himself, trying to pep himself back up. [color=ed145b][b]"Okay. This is fine! This is [i]fine.[/i]"[/b][/color] He turned his phone's screen off to conserve the battery, and with still-shaking hands he pocketed it again. [color=ed145b][b]"You've been through weirder- er, [i]equally weird[/i] things, and.. And you got through it. You'll be ok, Steven. You [i]will[/i] be ok."[/b][/color]

An explosive exhale quelled some of the anxieties that had bunched up in his chest and throat, and he opened the door to his Dondai - he's not about to walk in the snow in flip flops and get frostbite and all [i]that[/i] crap. When he sat down in the driver's seat, he was surprised to actually [i]see[/i] those five little "token" things that the mysterious text messages made mention of just.. chillin' on his dashboard in a neat little stack. He pulled his phone out again to re-read the texts for a third time - mostly the parts [i]about[/i] the tokens. Flip one like a coin, and something good [i]or[/i] something bad could happen; get [i]100[/i] of them, and you can wish yourself back home; or use three, and summon someone to help...

He opens his glove box and moves the tokens from his dash to safely in his glove box. He can't summon anyone to help, because what if they get hurt? He wouldn't be able to live with himself. Connie would probably be infuriated, but.. No. No, he wasn't going to watch Connie [i]die[/i] like he did Lars, and he's not going to watch the Gems get [i]shattered[/i]. Steven reverses the Dondai out of the clearing, picks a direction, and then drives. He very nearly goes to turn on some tunes, but.. He feels like he really ought to focus on where he's driving, lest he runs into something unpleasant.

Hopefully, of course, he doesn't, but.. Better safe than sorry.
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