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Greg
Fandom: Steven Universe Future
Created: 6/14/2026
Tags
AU (Alternate Universe)Science FictionSpace OperaAdventureDramaFantasyJealousyDivergence
The Ultraviolet Inheritance
The morning sun filtered through the windshield of the van, casting a warm, golden glow over the cluttered interior. Greg Universe groaned, his back popping in three different places as he sat up on his makeshift bed. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, feeling the familiar grit of a life lived on the road—or at least, in a parking lot.
"Another day, another wash," he muttered to himself, reaching for the rearview mirror to check if his beard had finally crossed the line from 'rugged' to 'disaster.'
He tilted the mirror down, but the face looking back at him wasn't the one he had known for fifty-odd years. Greg froze. He blinked once, then twice, leaning in until his nose nearly touched the glass. His eyes, usually a soft, approachable brown, had transformed. The irises were now a deep, electric violet, and the pupils had sharpened into distinct, four-sided diamond shapes.
"Whoa," Greg breathed, his heart hammering against his ribs. "What in the... Steven? Is this a shapeshifting prank?"
He scrambled backward, his heel catching on a stray guitar cable. As he flailed for balance, his sleeve pulled back, revealing something that made his blood run cold. Embedded flush against the skin of his forearm, just below the elbow, was a polished, multifaceted gemstone. It glowed with a faint, rhythmic purple light, pulsing like a second heart.
The van door slid open with a sharp metallic clatter.
"Dad! You awake? I brought breakfast and—" Steven stopped mid-sentence, his eyes wide. Standing beside him was a Gem Greg had never seen before. She was tall and elegant, with skin the color of lilacs and a sheer, flowing shawl that drifted around her like mist. Her hair was styled in a sharp, regal bob, and her pearl was set firmly in the center of her chest.
The moment the stranger’s eyes landed on Greg, she gasped, a sound like wind chimes in a storm. Without a word, she snapped her heels together and crossed her arms over her chest, forming the sharp, angular salute of the Great Diamond Authority.
"My Diamond," she whispered, her voice trembling with a thousand years of relief. "You have returned. The Ultraviolet Radiance has returned to us!"
Greg stared at her, then at Steven, then back at the purple rock in his arm. "Uh, hey there. I think there’s been a bit of a mix-up. I’m just Greg. I fix vans and play power chords."
"Dad," Steven said, his voice dropping an octave in sheer bewilderment. "Your eyes. And... is that a Gem?"
The Lavender Pearl didn't wait for an explanation. She stepped into the van, her movements fluid and haunting. "The lineage was thought lost when the Purple Court was fractured. To find you here, in such... humble remains. We must move. The galaxy must know!"
Steven didn't hesitate. He grabbed Greg’s non-gemmed arm, his Pink State flickering briefly around the edges of his silhouette in his excitement and confusion. "We need to get to the house. Now!"
The trio sprinted—or in Greg’s case, stumbled—across the sand toward the beach house. The Lavender Pearl glided behind them, her feet barely touching the dunes.
Inside, the Crystal Gems were gathered around the kitchen table, discussing the latest reports of rogue gems in the Reef. They looked up as the door slammed open.
"Guys! Emergency!" Steven shouted.
Garnet stood first, her three eyes widening behind her shades. Amethyst dropped her burrito, and Pearl looked like she was about to faint. They weren't looking at Steven; they were staring at Greg’s forearm.
"Greg?" Pearl squeaked, pointing a trembling finger. "Is that... a facet-cut violet adamant?"
Garnet stepped forward, her gauntlets not summoning, but her hands shaking. She reached out, hovering her palm over Greg’s new gemstone. Her shades glinted as she processed a thousand different future streams, all of them converging on a single, impossible point.
"It’s true," Garnet whispered. "The legends of the 'Hidden Facet.' Greg... you aren't just a human who happened to fall in love with a Diamond. You are a descendant of the lost Purple Diamond line."
Greg sat heavily on the sofa, his head spinning. "Garnet, talk to me in English. Or at least in rock-talk I can understand. I thought Rose was the only Diamond who ever came here."
"Purple Diamond was the 'Forgotten Sister,'" Garnet explained, her voice solemn. "She disappeared eons before the rebellion, seeking a way to bridge the gap between organic life and Gem essence. She believed that true perfection wasn't in stasis, but in growth. She must have integrated her essence into a human bloodline, waiting for a generation where the spark could reignite. Greg, you are a hybrid. Not like Steven, who was made—you are the result of an ancient inheritance finally waking up."
"A Royal," Amethyst whistled, leaning in to poke the gem. "Man, and I thought the Cape was fancy. You’re like, the ultimate big boss."
The Lavender Pearl stepped forward, gently brushing Amethyst’s hand away with a look of utter disdain. "He is the Ultraviolet Sovereign. And he cannot be seen in these... rags."
Before Greg could protest, the Pearl grabbed his hand. Her strength was surprising, fueled by a fanatic devotion. "We must depart for Homeworld immediately. The palanquin is being summoned. You must be draped in the silks of the nebula! You must take your throne!"
"Wait! Hold on!" Greg cried out as he was practically dragged toward the warp pad. "I have a car wash to run! I have a cat I need to feed—well, a neighborhood cat!"
"We’re coming with you!" Steven yelled, gesturing for the Gems to follow.
As the warp light engulfed them, pulling them toward the stars, something shifted deep within the physical light of the universe.
Deep within the subconscious realm of the Pink Diamond gemstone—the one currently residing in Steven’s belly—a flicker of consciousness stirred. Pink Diamond, or the remnant of her essence that lived on in the data of the gem, watched through the veil of Steven’s eyes.
She saw the Lavender Pearl clutching Greg’s hand. She saw the way the Pearl looked at him with such singular, unwavering adoration.
A cold, sharp spike of jealousy pierced through the pink void. *Mine,* a silent voice echoed in the depths of the gem. *He was mine first.*
Pink had always been the one to discover things, to claim things, to love things with a suffocating intensity. Seeing Greg—her Greg—being hailed as an equal, as a Diamond, sparked a chaotic mixture of emotions. She felt a thrill of excitement; the idea of her favorite human being a secret royal was the kind of twist she would have adored. But the sight of another Pearl claiming him, leading him away to a life she was no longer a part of, made the phantom walls of her mind tremble with rage.
*You won't keep him from me,* the silent vow rippled through the pink light. *Not for long.*
The warp beam vanished, leaving the beach house in a deafening silence.
Back on Earth, the dust settled. The house felt emptier than it ever had. It was only minutes later that the Gems and Steven materialized back on the pad, looking disheveled and frantic.
"They’re gone," Steven panted, clutching his chest. "The Pearl... she used a high-clearance warp code. I couldn't follow. They’re halfway to the Andromeda sector by now."
Pearl began pacing the floor, her hands pulled into her hair. "This is impossible. The Purple lineage was scrubbed from the murals! Blue and Yellow told us she was a myth, a defect in the history books!"
"She wasn't a myth," Garnet said, her voice uncharacteristically strained. She sat on the edge of the wooden stairs, looking out at the ocean. "She was the experimenter. She wanted to know what it felt like to die, so that she could understand what it meant to live. She chose a human form, lived a life, and passed her gem down like a secret. It stayed dormant for centuries, hidden in the DNA of the Universe family."
"But why now?" Amethyst asked, kicking a loose floorboard. "Why did Greg wake up all 'sparkly' today?"
"Because of Steven," Garnet replied. "The presence of another Diamond hybrid, the stabilization of the Earth, and the sheer amount of Gem energy Greg has been exposed to... it acted like a catalyst. The gem didn't just wake up. It recognized that the world was finally safe enough for a Diamond to be human."
Steven looked down at his own gem, his mind racing. He thought of his dad—the man who played air guitar and ate pork rinds—sitting on a massive, cold throne in the stars.
"We have to get him back," Steven said, his voice firming up. "He’s not a Sovereign. He’s my Dad."
"It won't be that easy, Steven," Pearl lamented. "If the Homeworld gems find out there’s a new Diamond—especially one that is half-human—the political upheaval will be catastrophic. The Lavender Pearl won't let him go. To her, he’s a god that’s been resurrected."
As they began to pull up star charts and ancient records, trying to find the coordinates of the lost Purple Court, the air in the room seemed to grow heavy.
None of them noticed the slight, pink glow emanating from Steven’s navel, or the way the shadows in the room seemed to stretch toward the stars, as if something deep inside was reaching out, desperate to reclaim what it had lost.
Greg Universe was a Diamond now. And in the vast, cold vacuum of space, the game of gems was about to begin all over again.
"Another day, another wash," he muttered to himself, reaching for the rearview mirror to check if his beard had finally crossed the line from 'rugged' to 'disaster.'
He tilted the mirror down, but the face looking back at him wasn't the one he had known for fifty-odd years. Greg froze. He blinked once, then twice, leaning in until his nose nearly touched the glass. His eyes, usually a soft, approachable brown, had transformed. The irises were now a deep, electric violet, and the pupils had sharpened into distinct, four-sided diamond shapes.
"Whoa," Greg breathed, his heart hammering against his ribs. "What in the... Steven? Is this a shapeshifting prank?"
He scrambled backward, his heel catching on a stray guitar cable. As he flailed for balance, his sleeve pulled back, revealing something that made his blood run cold. Embedded flush against the skin of his forearm, just below the elbow, was a polished, multifaceted gemstone. It glowed with a faint, rhythmic purple light, pulsing like a second heart.
The van door slid open with a sharp metallic clatter.
"Dad! You awake? I brought breakfast and—" Steven stopped mid-sentence, his eyes wide. Standing beside him was a Gem Greg had never seen before. She was tall and elegant, with skin the color of lilacs and a sheer, flowing shawl that drifted around her like mist. Her hair was styled in a sharp, regal bob, and her pearl was set firmly in the center of her chest.
The moment the stranger’s eyes landed on Greg, she gasped, a sound like wind chimes in a storm. Without a word, she snapped her heels together and crossed her arms over her chest, forming the sharp, angular salute of the Great Diamond Authority.
"My Diamond," she whispered, her voice trembling with a thousand years of relief. "You have returned. The Ultraviolet Radiance has returned to us!"
Greg stared at her, then at Steven, then back at the purple rock in his arm. "Uh, hey there. I think there’s been a bit of a mix-up. I’m just Greg. I fix vans and play power chords."
"Dad," Steven said, his voice dropping an octave in sheer bewilderment. "Your eyes. And... is that a Gem?"
The Lavender Pearl didn't wait for an explanation. She stepped into the van, her movements fluid and haunting. "The lineage was thought lost when the Purple Court was fractured. To find you here, in such... humble remains. We must move. The galaxy must know!"
Steven didn't hesitate. He grabbed Greg’s non-gemmed arm, his Pink State flickering briefly around the edges of his silhouette in his excitement and confusion. "We need to get to the house. Now!"
The trio sprinted—or in Greg’s case, stumbled—across the sand toward the beach house. The Lavender Pearl glided behind them, her feet barely touching the dunes.
Inside, the Crystal Gems were gathered around the kitchen table, discussing the latest reports of rogue gems in the Reef. They looked up as the door slammed open.
"Guys! Emergency!" Steven shouted.
Garnet stood first, her three eyes widening behind her shades. Amethyst dropped her burrito, and Pearl looked like she was about to faint. They weren't looking at Steven; they were staring at Greg’s forearm.
"Greg?" Pearl squeaked, pointing a trembling finger. "Is that... a facet-cut violet adamant?"
Garnet stepped forward, her gauntlets not summoning, but her hands shaking. She reached out, hovering her palm over Greg’s new gemstone. Her shades glinted as she processed a thousand different future streams, all of them converging on a single, impossible point.
"It’s true," Garnet whispered. "The legends of the 'Hidden Facet.' Greg... you aren't just a human who happened to fall in love with a Diamond. You are a descendant of the lost Purple Diamond line."
Greg sat heavily on the sofa, his head spinning. "Garnet, talk to me in English. Or at least in rock-talk I can understand. I thought Rose was the only Diamond who ever came here."
"Purple Diamond was the 'Forgotten Sister,'" Garnet explained, her voice solemn. "She disappeared eons before the rebellion, seeking a way to bridge the gap between organic life and Gem essence. She believed that true perfection wasn't in stasis, but in growth. She must have integrated her essence into a human bloodline, waiting for a generation where the spark could reignite. Greg, you are a hybrid. Not like Steven, who was made—you are the result of an ancient inheritance finally waking up."
"A Royal," Amethyst whistled, leaning in to poke the gem. "Man, and I thought the Cape was fancy. You’re like, the ultimate big boss."
The Lavender Pearl stepped forward, gently brushing Amethyst’s hand away with a look of utter disdain. "He is the Ultraviolet Sovereign. And he cannot be seen in these... rags."
Before Greg could protest, the Pearl grabbed his hand. Her strength was surprising, fueled by a fanatic devotion. "We must depart for Homeworld immediately. The palanquin is being summoned. You must be draped in the silks of the nebula! You must take your throne!"
"Wait! Hold on!" Greg cried out as he was practically dragged toward the warp pad. "I have a car wash to run! I have a cat I need to feed—well, a neighborhood cat!"
"We’re coming with you!" Steven yelled, gesturing for the Gems to follow.
As the warp light engulfed them, pulling them toward the stars, something shifted deep within the physical light of the universe.
Deep within the subconscious realm of the Pink Diamond gemstone—the one currently residing in Steven’s belly—a flicker of consciousness stirred. Pink Diamond, or the remnant of her essence that lived on in the data of the gem, watched through the veil of Steven’s eyes.
She saw the Lavender Pearl clutching Greg’s hand. She saw the way the Pearl looked at him with such singular, unwavering adoration.
A cold, sharp spike of jealousy pierced through the pink void. *Mine,* a silent voice echoed in the depths of the gem. *He was mine first.*
Pink had always been the one to discover things, to claim things, to love things with a suffocating intensity. Seeing Greg—her Greg—being hailed as an equal, as a Diamond, sparked a chaotic mixture of emotions. She felt a thrill of excitement; the idea of her favorite human being a secret royal was the kind of twist she would have adored. But the sight of another Pearl claiming him, leading him away to a life she was no longer a part of, made the phantom walls of her mind tremble with rage.
*You won't keep him from me,* the silent vow rippled through the pink light. *Not for long.*
The warp beam vanished, leaving the beach house in a deafening silence.
Back on Earth, the dust settled. The house felt emptier than it ever had. It was only minutes later that the Gems and Steven materialized back on the pad, looking disheveled and frantic.
"They’re gone," Steven panted, clutching his chest. "The Pearl... she used a high-clearance warp code. I couldn't follow. They’re halfway to the Andromeda sector by now."
Pearl began pacing the floor, her hands pulled into her hair. "This is impossible. The Purple lineage was scrubbed from the murals! Blue and Yellow told us she was a myth, a defect in the history books!"
"She wasn't a myth," Garnet said, her voice uncharacteristically strained. She sat on the edge of the wooden stairs, looking out at the ocean. "She was the experimenter. She wanted to know what it felt like to die, so that she could understand what it meant to live. She chose a human form, lived a life, and passed her gem down like a secret. It stayed dormant for centuries, hidden in the DNA of the Universe family."
"But why now?" Amethyst asked, kicking a loose floorboard. "Why did Greg wake up all 'sparkly' today?"
"Because of Steven," Garnet replied. "The presence of another Diamond hybrid, the stabilization of the Earth, and the sheer amount of Gem energy Greg has been exposed to... it acted like a catalyst. The gem didn't just wake up. It recognized that the world was finally safe enough for a Diamond to be human."
Steven looked down at his own gem, his mind racing. He thought of his dad—the man who played air guitar and ate pork rinds—sitting on a massive, cold throne in the stars.
"We have to get him back," Steven said, his voice firming up. "He’s not a Sovereign. He’s my Dad."
"It won't be that easy, Steven," Pearl lamented. "If the Homeworld gems find out there’s a new Diamond—especially one that is half-human—the political upheaval will be catastrophic. The Lavender Pearl won't let him go. To her, he’s a god that’s been resurrected."
As they began to pull up star charts and ancient records, trying to find the coordinates of the lost Purple Court, the air in the room seemed to grow heavy.
None of them noticed the slight, pink glow emanating from Steven’s navel, or the way the shadows in the room seemed to stretch toward the stars, as if something deep inside was reaching out, desperate to reclaim what it had lost.
Greg Universe was a Diamond now. And in the vast, cold vacuum of space, the game of gems was about to begin all over again.