Chapter 1

The Crystal Gems slowly opened the door to the barn. Garnet stepped in first, her three covered eyes swiftly adjusting to the gloom. She looked up towards the rafters, stepping from the doorway to allow Pearl to slink in, drawing her lance from her forehead and holding it steady in two hands. Amethyst and Steven came in last, and as the door swung shut with a creak behind them, Steven took a deep breath in.

"What were we thinking, Garnet? Just because we assumed-"

Garnet silenced him with a motion of finger to lips. He nodded, and they crept silently into the gloomy barn. Pearl looked upwards into the rafters, a concerned expression on her face. "Someone's following us," she said quietly to Garnet. "They have been for a while."

"Perhaps you're right," said a quiet, hissing voice. The band looked upwards, and a black figure jumped from rafter to rafter. It moved its hand to its belt, and in two seconds, a golden star-shaped shuriken embedded itself in the floor beside Amethyst's foot. She hissed like a cat and summoned her whip.

"That was only one of the things I can do! You don't stand a chance." The thin figure moved once again, and a second leaped over. Garnet could see a faint flash of purple skin, and a dark purple catsuit. It whispered to the first.

"Ah. I see." The first figure jumped down. When it came into better light, the Crystal Gems could see a heart-shaped face with a delicate nose, long pointed ears, and elven, slanted eyes the color of blood, the arching, thin eyebrows following like an afterthought. Her thin lips were spread to show unnaturally sharp, pearly white teeth. A second figure landed on all fours, then stood up. She had a more stocky figure, but was still about as slender as Pearl, possibly shorter, and curvier, with muscular legs and arms, rippling with catlike grace. She slid her goggles up to expose eyes the color of a frozen lake. They were wearing dark purple catsuits with high collars, sleeves to the wrist which hooked over their thumbs, and two lighter purple bands on each shoulder. Attached to the back of those bands were long capes that brushed the floor.

"I hate to end our visit so soon, but-!"

Before the taller Gem could finish, the one with goggles had stuck a shuriken through her neck. She poofed, and the remaining Gem bubbled her and stuck it on her belt.

"Hello," she said calmly, raising her arms. "I'm Starlite. You must be the Crystal Gems."

…

"…And that's how Steven came to be," finished Pearl. "How did you get to Earth?"

"It's awfully complicated," protested Starlite. "I don't want to bore you…"

"It can't be boring! I've never heard of Starlite. So you must be a new kind of Gem!" Amethyst crossed her legs. "Where's your gem naturally found, anyways?"

"Oh. It's found on the planet Androxias Minor. It's a barren moon that has exceptionally good conditions for growing Gems, so Homeworld turned it into a massive Kindergarten. They found our gem… and decided it would be perfect to have an assassin Gem. Thus, me." She fingered the shuriken at her side. "Well, a pilot-assassin, if you will. I'm not exactly… the best of the crop. Good enough, perfectly adept at summoning and shape-shifting and all that, unlike those third-wave Homeworld cast-offs, but… my sister, Facet 41, she is… was! good enough to go after you guys. Guess she didn't figure that the sharp blade would come from the other side of her. Never had the best hearing, her."

"Fascinating," whispered Pearl. "What made you decide to poof her?"

Starlite sighed. "They made fun of me. They always told me, 'Facet 42, you're not fit to fight. Facet 42, let the stronger Gems lift that box. Facet 42, you're useless." She put her head in her hands and groaned, stringing her long, delicate fingers through her short, dark violet hair.

"I know that feeling," rasped Amethyst. "Ya just have to be who ya are. It's not your fault if you're not a perfect Gem, after all. This is what we're for- the Crystal Gems! Here to make everyone feel better."

Starlite smiled. "Thanks. But we should likely work on the mission at hand." She drew her cape around her. "We need to shut down the Kindergarten on Androxias Minor. Assassin Gems are being made anew every day, and I should fill you in on how we fight."

"Yes, that would be excellent," muttered Garnet. "We need to know how to fight you assassins, don't we? After all, you did say they were after us."

Starlite nervously fidgeted with her hands. "Well, yes. Yes, they are after you, so… I'll help you. I was trained in the same battle tactics, but I prefer a different sword." She closed her eyes, and moved her hands to the star-shaped gem on her upper torso. As she concentrated, she drew out by the hilt a long, straight, broadsword. She lay it onto the table and opened her eyes again. "This is the sword I was assigned. I absolutely hate it, and I'll remake it at the nearest opportunity." She drew out a short, dagger-like sword. "This is what my sisters used." She dispelled them in a cloud of golden stars, each one disappearing in a flash of light. "I know how to use the traditional shortsword, so why don't we spar. Four against one. Should be… easy, right?"

Pearl nodded her head. "It would be useful to know your gem's battle tactics."

"Do you have a sparring room?" Starlite summoned the shortsword again.

Pearl brightened. "Yes! An ancient Gem arena. Come on."

The five Gems walked to the teleporter. Amazed, Starlite stuck her head out of the beam, then looked back at the Gems.

"This is ancient tech," she exclaimed.

Pearl sighed. "You didn't have to remind us of our age," she huffed.

Starlite grinned. "Are we here yet?" Just as that was said, they rematerialized in the ancient Arena.

"Okay," said the slender purple Gem. "Start."

The Crystal Gems drew their weapons, Garnet rushing for Starlite and swinging at her with her gloves. Starlite lightly jumped onto Garnet's glove, then onto her shoulder, then jumped off and rolled as she hit the ground. She popped back up, and Pearl ran nimbly towards the dark Gem. Starlite dodged to the side, twisting herself out of the spear's deadly path. She nimbly grabbed Pearl's legs, bringing the white Gem off-balance. Pearl thudded to the ground, but got back up as Amethyst barreled towards Starlite, whip flailing. Starlite methodically jumped over the shorter Gem, using her shortsword for the first time to poof Amethyst through the back of the head. She encapsulated her, sending her to just above the fighting field. Steven, worried, tapped Starlite on the shoulder.

"Are you going to give her back?" he asked, worried for his friend.

Starlite looked surprised. "Of course! I was just doing that because- if Amethyst got poofed in the middle of a battle with my sisters, my sisters would take her and probably…"

She paused and sighed. "Let's keep working."

Pearl engaged the slender Gem, their blades clanging against each other. Starlite forcefully pushed her sword over Pearl's spear, and then, as Pearl was preoccupied, jumped to the side and poofed her. She bubbled and sent Pearl to the air next to Amethyst. She tackled Garnet next, dodging and weaving between the Fusion's expert blows. She finally toppled Garnet over and poofed her, putting both of her gems into a single lavender bubble.

She then popped all the bubbles, and soon Amethyst was quick to pop out.

"You're good, Starlite," she said. She adjusted her tunic, which was dark grey this time. She shook out her feet, in light purple tights. "When'll they come back?"

Ruby and Sapphire soon joined them. They went off to fuse, and soon Garnet came back. "Starlite, it wasn't necessary to poof us. You could have just claimed victory."

Starlite huffed, "But that's not going to teach all of you anything!"

Garnet sighed. "I digress." She picked up Pearl, and they hopped onto the teleporter back home.

A/N: This is my first published story. Please R&R. I'm receptive of constructive criticism, if you want to tell me how to develop my character feel free! Love, Starry