The Day the Earth Stood Still

TheOneAndOnly1993

"Pearl... I'm going to stay, and fight for this planet..."

A Quartz general screamed; "HOLD THE LINE!"

The rebels were battering the strongest ranks of Homeworld under a blood-drenched sky. Spears of light sprung up constantly, piercing the heavens with the lightforms of thousands of Homeworld Gems fleeing from the ruined Earth colony. The ragtag remnants of Homeworld's army served as the bulwark between the advancing rebels, and the fleeing aristocrats too rare and fragile to fight. Swords were clinking and clashing neath the roars of Gems, axes crunched the ground as they bit hard into the Earth. The horde writhed when the tide of battle flipped between one side and the other, never at an equilibrium. Gems were screaming and yowling as more and more clouds swirled up into the air. The ground became slick with sludge under such constant trampling. A blizzard of white-hot arrows fell upon the battlefield, answered by a maelstrom of fire raining down on the rebels.

Rose Quartz clasped her sword with both hands, her shield long since forgone a mere three Earth rotations after the battle had begun. A savage scream and she sliced horizontally, cleaving the body of another Jasper. Ashen-grey cloud burst in her face. Rose tasted asphalt when suddenly a roar came was fast approaching. A Citrine clutching a sword overhead charged for her, thinking she could end the rebellion with one swing. That is, until Garnet the Perma-fusion fell from the heavens, gauntlets forward, rendering her to cloud and a gemstone writhing in the dirt.

"YOU are the Answer..."

Neither rebel said a word, nor exchanged a glance. There was a planet to be won.

Between her and Homeworld's escape, their home planet's last defensive. That's right: defensive. Hundreds of Quartz soldiers, thousands of combatant Gems, rush jobs, malformed freaks, anything Homeworld could whip up to defend the escaping colonists from the rebels. Of course, Rose had no intention of harming innocents, only ensuring that when they leave, they'll never come back.

"Don't play innocent with me! YOU shattered a Diamond!"

"FOR THE DIAMONDS!" Another Rose Quartz, coated in metal plating, lunged forward, warhammer dragging behind her, chewing up the dirt. Rose prepared to dodge aside, when with a sudden grunt the Rose collapsed to her knees, twin blades erected from her chest. When she fell to her hands, the Renegade Pearl pulled them from her back and pushed herself off, sparing her leader an exhausted, assuring glance before launching from the erupting Quartz's form and backflipping into the fray.

"My Pearl..."

An Amethyst burst from some clashing Gems off to the side, roaring and snapping and poofing so quickly when Rose dodged in an inelegant spin, slicing her hide like butter.

Much as she hated it, Rose was made for this.

Slash, thrust, thrust, duck, overhead strike.

"RAUGH!" Rose leapt and slammed a fist into the face of a massive Onyx swinging a war-ax through the ranks of her army. Clinging to her face, Rose slammed her saber upon the Onyx's helmeted forehead. She brought it up, and slammed down again, and again, and again, and again, until the beast forfeited her ax, her strength, and her resolve, and exploded into dust.

Rose was flung across the orgy of war, but recovered quickly, utilizing her momentum to roll into a japping strike, piercing the construct of another Homeworld Gem. Back to back with a team of rebels, Rose readied her sword, taking a stance against a trio of advancing soldiers.

Cut, slash, dodge, parry, THRUST!

Whipping her head to another battle-roar, Rose parried and riposted the attack of a halberd-wielding Emerald, then dashed to the glitching form of her recent prey, another Quartz, this one a Jasper. She squeezed out a quick couple tears upon the cracked Gem in her shoulder, then sprinted off into battle, sword out at her side, without making sure she was alright.

Parry, cut, backstab, slash, slash, SLASH-

"I barely know you."

"That's a good thing."

The fury of battle almost consumed Rose, if she didn't feel a hand tug at her shoulder.

"ROSE!"

Rose Quartz whirled around, teeth gnashing, sword poised to strike just short of an inch upon Garnet's forehead. The Perma-fusion, her visor cracked and single revealed eye was wide with shock. Rose dropped her sword, gasping for a breath while mirroring her expression. Chaos churned all around them.

"What is it, Garnet!?" Rose cried over it all.

"Homeworld is thinning, but I think we should fall back!"

"But why!? We've almost beat them, this is it!" Rose's chest lurched with fear. "Is it your Future Vision?"

Garnet shook her head quite urgently. "No, I can't see anything! Everything is just a white space, I feel like something bad is happening! And... Pearl!?"

The Renegade Pearl dropped from the sky, a skinny sword in each hand, thin and deadly, like her. She had scratched all over her body, her hair ruffled and bags gathered neath her eyes, but she looked no worse for wear than the rest of them. "Garnet, Rose, I think we may actually do this! I think Homeworld may finally be making their retreat!"

"The warps haven't gone off for a couple hours," argued Garnet.

This was news to Rose. "Wait, they haven't?" Garnet shook her head. It's been hours and she hadn't noticed? Rose Quartz staggered her head spinning from the battle catching up with her. Everything was moving so fast. "Then, why aren't the soldiers retreating?" Garnet shrugged, her fears palpable in her frightful stare and tense-tightened posture.

Screams and steel sang into the casket-black sky.

Rose felt her stomach churning. She squeaked; "My friends..."

Pearl looked up to her, anxiety in her eyes. "Rose? What is it?"

Amidst all the fighting happening around them, Rose heard a growl in the heavens, felt a rumble in the Earth. Her eyes gazed upwards, and all around her the fighting between rebels and Homeworld troops waned. The rumble became louder, striking their ears hard like thunder. Gems trembled, Rose and Pearl included, though Garnet kept staring upwards. Many Gems dropped their weapons and joined them.

The very universe itself roared, and the planet shook. Half a heartbeat later, a scar of bright light tore across the sky.

"TAKE COVER!" Rose's mind flicked to autopilot, her only hands grabbing the two Gems closest to her and yanking them in close. She conjured a bubble around them just in time before the world exploded in flash of white.

"If it weren't for your mother's shield, man... I dunno..."

Everything on this planet moved fast for Rose. But this assault, this mortar from the heavens, was the longest wait of her entire life, and it only lasted two, maybe three seconds total.

The light waned. Rose cracked her eyes open, lowered her arms. The two Gems clutching her tattered dress slowly peeled away, both looking up to her with wide eyes and grimy, battle-weary faces. Garnet and Pearl.

"In the end, your mother could only save a few of her closest friends."

Together, the bubble dissipating around them, the three Gems gazed outwards. Hell was there to greet them, and Rose's world would never be the same again.

"Because of what YOU did to my colony!"

There were no hands, reaching for the heavens, there were only claws, talons, tails and tusks flailing listlessly in the air. No more limbs, only tentacles, malformed bodies twisted into grotesque shapes. No mouths, or eyes, or souls to speak of. Just teeth, and hair, and disks black and featureless, confused, terrified. They writhed in the dirt, those who had wings flapping them mindlessly, those with mouths gnashing hungrily. Their gemstones were dull, others mottled like rock, as though a disease had taken them. Many attempted speech, or perhaps just did so because their bodies let them, but their language was formless; harsh on the ears, and cut deep into the soul.

These, these were no Gems any more.

These were monsters.

The sounds of war had settled. Smoldering fires and mindless gurgles stewed in the post-battle air, tuneless screeches and long whines humming all the while.

Garnet clenched her fists tight. Her entire body trembled. Tears flowed ceaselessly from beneath her ruined visor.

Pearl fell to her knees, both hands clamped over her mouth, trying to muffle the harsh sobs that wracked her body.

Rose clutched the front of her dress in a vice grip, her mouth gaping in horror, tears filling her eyes that blinked only by pure habit. This stance she maintained, only turning slightly, slowly, taking in the horror that had befallen their kind. Futile hopes of survivors were the only thing that kept her standing, and when those hopes were just that, Rose collapsed to her knees and cried.

"Who-Who would do this?" Pearl squeaked.

"Rose never did what was best for her..."

Rose Quartz hugged herself. "We did," she whispered. Two pairs of arms embraced her tight, and she sobbed even harder, louder than all the thousands of lives squirming in the Earth around them.

"We won."

"...But she always did what was best for Earth."

The corruption of the Gems is an aspect of the show that interests me most. I can't imagine how horrific that day must have been, with Rose only being able to save Garnet and Pearl, the three of them being the last true Gems on planet Earth. It must have taken decades to come to terms with it. I think finding Amethyst, "the one good thing to come out of this mess", was one of the greatest days of their lives. Perhaps I'll write a sequel about that.

Please, review and tell me what you think.