Hi guys! The story's finally here! Anyhow if you haven't read the story "The last Quartz" you really should. I know I know, I didn't fix a lot of the grammar mistakes and I'll at least try to give a brief overview of everything happened in this story, but if you have time you should see that so you can at least understand the plethora of the concepts within this story. Anyhow, here it is the beginning of a new story. I hope you guys enjoy, and please leave a review if ya can, thanks! Have a nice day guys! BTW any new comers, this has the gems classified with gender neutral pronouns like "they" instead of "she".

As the grass blows, crickets chirp, and voices ring through the air. Steven groans slightly before opening his eyes, only to be met with a full moon in the middle of the night sky. His head throbbing and his body aching, he sits up, that's when the voices become clear.

"You should've destroyed that machine when we had a chance!" He heard Pearl shout.

"And for what? Just to destroy hundreds of hours of hard work?! You clods should've known better than to let a lethal gem roam around the planet all willy-nilly, it's not our fault when you decide to screw up!" He heard Peridot retort. That's when he turned around and found the gems only a few feet away in a circle. Peridot and Lapis had been on one side while the other Crystal gems had been faced against them on the other side

"Watch it short-stuff!" Bismuth threatened. Lapis then stepped in front of Peridot and narrowed their eyes.

"No, you 'watch it'." They said sternly.

"Enough!" Garnet said. All noise quickly died out as the eyes of the gems were immediately shifted towards them. "This fighting is pointless, as Crystal Gems we need to remain united. If we all break in moments of hardship then all of our enemies will leap at the opportunity. We need to be better then this." They said. The gems remained quiet, not daring to break the tension.

"Now-" They continued. "Does anyone have any idea of what the Quartz may have done after we were all poofed?" Garnet asked.

"I do." Steven said somewhat hesitantly.

"Steven!" The gems all collectively called out, just as they rushed over to him however he held out his hand and put on a brave smile.

"I'm fine." He said. He then turned his attention over to Garnet. "After everyone was... Poofed, Quartz picked up Peridot and Lapis' machine that's all I can remember." He said.

"Are you sure you're alright Steven? Do you need any help? If they hurt you I-"

"Guys enough." Steven interrupted in a rather serious tone. "I can handle myself." He said. Once more silence filled the night as they stared at almost an entirely new person.

"Steven, what's gotten into you?" Pearl asked. Before he could respond however, Garnet raised a hand.

"This isn't the time." They said before getting on one knee and becoming eye level with Steven. He felt shivers up his spine as he stared into he reflection through their glasses.

"Steven, we are about to go through an incredibly dangerous time, we don't have any idea about what's going on or what the intentions of this gem are. It will be very dangerous,for everyone not just you. Can I trust that you'll be able to handle it?" Garnet asked. Steven paused for a moment before giving a false smirk of bravery.

"Garnet, I'm a crystal gem too! The Earth is my home, and I wanna defend it from whatever threat I can!" He exclaimed. Garnet then smirked before laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Then I'm going to expect much of you." They said before rising back to their feet.

"Garnet are you sure that this is a good idea?" Pearl asked worriedly. Garnet then turned to them.

"He can handle it." Garnet said. Thus their planning continued.

"Well, back to the main point at hand, if this is all about information then I can probably find something off of the ship parts that Quartz crashed into the barn." Peridot suggested.

"I think I also spotted a hole in the ground not too far off from here, could lead to something big." Bismuth said.

"Alright then. Peridot, Lapis, go to the barn and dig up whatever information you can find. Bismuth lead us to the hole." Garnet firmly stated.

"Alright!" Bismuth said excitedly as the two groups parted ways.

After a bit of running the gems managed to reach the hole. It looked as though it ran deep into the Earth though it was somewhat difficult to see during the night. It also seemed to be a big enough size to fit a grown man which unfortunately meant that Bismuth, being far larger than an average human, couldn't fit.

"Bismuth." Garnet said.

"Oh! Right. Heh, just like old times." They said before shrinking down to a more suitable size.

"Steven, it'd probably be best if you sat this one out." Garnet said, turning their attention to Steven.

"Aww, why can't I go? I can fit." He said.

"It's not about fitting, this hole could be miles deep and that means molten rock, you're bubble can't fit down here which means you have no way of defending against it. Not only that, Quartz could also be down here, that's far too risky." They stated.

"I can adjust my bubble's size, also what happens if down there one of you gets hurt or even cracked? I can help, please just let me." Steven pleaded. Garnet stared at him for a brief moment before adjusting their glasses.

"Fine. But remember, be safe!" Garnet said. They then turned their attention to the group as a whole. "Gems, let's move!" They said before leaping into the hole.

"You heard the gal, let's go!" Bismuth said as they also jumped down.

"It's like a giant slide!" Amethyst said before laughing as they dove head first into the hole. Pearl then turned their attention back to Steven.

"You don't have to do this you know. We want you to be safe, it'd probably be better if you stayed." They pleaded, a soft expression painted across their face.

"I'm a Crystal Gem too Pearl. Where you guys go, I'll go!" He said. Tears began falling from Pearls eyes at that notion. Steven couldn't help but to feel a surge of concern.

"Pearl?" He asked.

"It's nothing!" They said as they then elegantly jumped into the hole. Steven reached out but by the time that he did it was too late. He let out a sigh before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Alright Steven. You can do this, don't let everyone down... Please." He said before he then went over to the hole." A bubble then manifested around him before he slowly rolled over and descended into the darkness.

Rummaging through garbage most certainly wasn't an exciting task but for Peridot this was standard. Going through different pieces and mechanisms and trying to identify where they went and how they all fit together was less than child's play to any sort of Peridot.

What made the task heartbreaking to go through with however was the fact that what they were rummaging through wasn't just garbage. It was their home, their shared home with a dear friend as a matter of fact. The ship had done much more damage to the barn then they initially thought and unfortunately that led to it collapsing entirely.

What little structure had been left of the building fell as soon as they stepped foot on the wreckage. Now with the help of Lapis they had to sift through all that remained.

"Oh no!" They shouted.

"What!? What happened, did something hurt you?" Lapis asked, rushing over in a mere matter of moments.

"Look!" Peridot shouted as they pulled a large piece of a strange black object out of the wreckage. Lapis looked at it for only two seconds before deeming it to be irrelevant.

"I have no idea what I'm looking at right now." They stoically said.

"You don't? It's the TV! Oh no, all of our Pinehearts, how are we going to watch it now!?" They shouted dramatically. Lapis sighed as a smile came over them.

"I'm surprised that a tech expert like you is worried about all of that." Lapis said while shaking their head. "Couldn't you just build a new TV? It'd probably be better." Lapis said.

"But it wouldn't be the same! The small cracks, the little chips, the static like noise whenever an episode played. It's all gone now!" Peridot said.

"Yeah, just like the rest of our stuff. All because of them..." Lapis said angrily. Peridot turned their attention towards them, discarding the wreckage in their hands.

"Hey. We can't blame everything on them." They said lightly.

"Can't we?! After all, they're the reason this new gem became loose! They're the reason that another gem came and tried to poof you. They're the reason why I was..." They began to shake as they recounted thousands of years of imprisonment.

"Lapis, I didn't know that was still bothering you..." Peridot said at a loss for words.

"Oh yeah, well it is!" Lapis shouted, tears now flooding through their eyes. "And those gems are the reason why! Steven's the only thing that kept me here but now... It just seems like he wants to give everyone a chance, no matter who they are, and no matter what they've done in the past! Look at where it got us!" They shouted.

"Lapis please calm down. I-it may look bad but I'm sure there's a way out of this." Peridot said hopefully.

"There is." Lapis said as they then took a step closer to them. Though Peridot was very anxious, they didn't move back. Lapis wiped their tears.

"We should go somewhere else, build a new home. Far from the rest of the gems." They said.

"Lapis, we can't. How are we supposed to work with the gems if we're far away?" Peridot asked.

"That's the point! We don't have to work with them or be near them! We can just fly somewhere else like the moon! That way we don't have to deal with all of their problems. We could build another machine and become powerful enough to defend Earth on our own!" They said excitedly.

Peridot considered it for a moment. They turned their attention towards the moon, though there weren't too many resources directly on the rock, space was more than full of different star systems that could help with that. Not only that but a distant part of them longed to see the stars once more. To explore space and to discover and create new technology. However, another thought did pop into their mind.

"W-what about Steven? He didn't do anything." Peridot said.

"That's the point! If he and the other's had done something our house wouldn't have been destroyed." Lapis replied. Afterwards they were silent for a moment, looking towards the ground before letting out a sigh. "Look, I see him as important too. He helped me in one of the worst times of my life and freed me. I'll always owe him no matter what I do. But the other's... I can't be around them, especially not her. Not the one who put me in the mirror." Lapis said.

"I-Is that what this is all about? Is it all j-just because they brought the gem who trapped you in that mirror?" Peridot struggled to ask. Lapis' eyes shifted downwards.

"Would it be wrong if it was?" Lapis asked. Peridot simply stared at them. They tried their best to think of the best words to say but their mind simply became blank in that moment.

"I don't know." They said. Peridot then turned back towards the wreckage. "I really don't." They said under their breath.

Sliding down the hole was taking longer than everyone had hoped it would. As they slid, Garnet also made sure to note the peculiar shaping of the hole. How it sloped diagonally and appeared to be carved out with an explosion of some sort.

As they noted that, Steven thanked the stars as he'd luckily been protected by his bubble, something that no one questioned in terms of usefulness. It would prove just how essential it was once they reached the molten section of the Earth. Upon seeing this section, Steven instantly realized just how close they were, smiling somewhat as he recounted his experience with Peridot inside of the drill.

He was proved right as soon after they reached this section a large dark hole appeared in the distance.

"Everyone, brace for landing!" Garnet yelled as the hole grew in size. Soon everyone managed to slip through it and upon doing so they were once more immersed in darkness. They began to plummet downwards and Steven couldn't help but to yell out, uncomfortable with the notion of free falling, the likes of which was lasting much longer than he anticipated it would.

The only source of light had been his bubble and as a result he couldn't see the other gems, which was added to his building nauesa. Eventually he did reach solid ground, in one of the more painful ways. With a loud thud his bubble completely burst as his body met with the Earth. He groaned in pain, holding his side as he rose to his feet.

"Steven?" He heard Pearl cry from a distance. "Are you ok? It's so dark in here I can't see a thing!" They noted.

"Gems, let's brighten things up!" Garnet said. With that four lights began illuminating the dark hole they'd somehow fallen into. The light was bright enough to cover the distance between Steven and the others.

"Guys! I'm over here!" He shouted, waving in the distance, a smile on his face as the gems rushed over.

"You ok dude?" Amethyst asked.

"I'm fine, just a little banged up from the fall." He then looked upwards at the dark, seemingly endless, void that surrounded them. "What is this place?" He asked.

"Didn't you and Peridot come down here before? How do you not know?" Amethyst asked, looking around as well.

"Well when we came it was in the drill. Not only that, the cluster was the first thing that we hit. If it was here, it should've lit up the entire area." He responded. Pearl looked at Garnet with caution painted across their face. Garnet reciprocated the notion as they then began to walk in front of the gems, the rest of them following in their path.

They began walking around, searching for any signs of gems or life even. At one point Garnet stopped however, halting the rest of the gems. After doing so, they looked downwards for a moment.

"Garnet? You feeling alright?" Bismuth asked as they noticed Garnet shutter slightly.

"Come look at this." Was all they had to say. Bismuth walked over to their side and widened their eyes.

"Woah... What could have done this?" They asked.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's going to be a problem." Garnet said.

"Uh guys, I don't know what you're talking about but, look!" Steven shouted, pointing upwards. The rest of the gems turned their attention towards that direction and were alarmed as tiny specks of yellow light began to shine through the darkness. It started out as only a dozen of them, but more and more began to shine through and soon the entire ceiling seemed to be illuminating this light.

A loud buzzing also began to ring through the air, deciding not to tempt fate Garnet turned to their right and saw a nearby wall.

"Everyone! This way! NOW!" Garnet yelled as they then rushed over to Steven, picking him up before bolting in the direction of the wall. The rest of the gems followed suit, only stopping once they'd reached the wall of dirt.

"Amethyst, turn into a drill and make an exit. Be sure to move in unpredict-" before Garnet could finish however, a beam of white light flew past their face and burned a hole through the nearby wall.

With that, Amethyst quickly turned into a large drill, big enough to house all of the gems.

"Hope in!" They shouted and soon everyone was on board. They then began to drill through, the drill making loud noises as they tried to zig-zag and curve amdtried to move in the most unforeseeable pathway. Meanwhile Garnet put Steven down.

"Steven, use your bubble to surround us, we don't know how dangerous those lasers are." They said.

"Right!" Steven replied, he then spread out his arms and a large bubble surrounded the drill, excluding the main part used to drill through the dirt. This was noticeably waning on him however the strain didn't seem to matter as soon the buzzing began to return with a new sound.

The sound had been a loud, ear piercing noise that rang through all of their ears, louder than that of Amethyst. It sounded as though thousands of drills were beginning to surround them from all sides.

"Amethyst, do you know how close we are to the surface?" Garnet shouted over all of the other unbearably loud sounds.

"Not a clue!" Amethyst replied.

They continued to drill, and as they did all of the other gems could hear the other noises beginning to close in on them. It felt as though the very Earth was beginning to shake and just before all of the sounds could reach them, they were met with the night sky.

Amethyst flew into the cold air before crashing down and shifting back. They all then crashed onto the ground, Steven's bubble bursting once more in the process.

"Whoo! We escaped!" Amethyst shouted, rising to their feet.

"What was tha-" Garnet was interrupted as the ground began to shake and not too long afterwards, they were met with their enemies, all of which were illuminated by the moonlight.

Their bodies were all the same, sleek and shiny grey metal in the shape of an insect. They were like beetles, their eyes glowing a bright yellow and their wings flapping at ridiculous speeds, with a noise that pierced the ears of all those who were near.

Hundreds, if not thousands of them flew into the air and not one of them even made a passing glance towards the gems as they appeared to be journeying into the stars above. None of the gems even wanted to attempt to stop them, as their sheer numbers alone were enough to seemingly destroy any and all who decided to stand in their way.

Eventually however the metallic creatures stopped emerging from the abyss, leaving a hole larger than that of the barn. As the creatures and loud buzzing sound that they made faded away in the distance, the gems simply stared, still shocked at the sight that they had just witnessed.

"Holy stars! What was that!" The gems collectively jumped as they turned towards the direction of the sound only to find that it'd been Peridot who'd been floating an a large hand of water alongside Lapis.

"Wait, you didn't know what that was?!" Steven asked, as Peridot and Lapis hovered closer to them.

"No! Well I mean, I have an idea of what it might be. After all that's what we were coming to tell you! But what the heck was all of that stuff?!" Peridot shouted.

"We don't have a clue, nor do we have time. Did you find anything concerning the ship?" Garnet quickly asked.

"Y-yes! I mean we did. Home-World apparently was working on something. More specifically however, The Diamonds were working on something. From what I've gathered from the hard-drive of the ship, it was really important. No one but them were allowed to know the specifics, but the Diamonds did say that this project had been in the works for over a millennia and was going to be the start of a new era!" Peridot said.

The notion of whatever that project could've been alongside the idea that those creatures could've come from Home-World was enough to send shivers down everyone's spine. No one spoke a word as their minds collectively imagined the worst possibilities and the horrific atrocities that Home-World could've been planning. That was until Garnet decided to speak up. They turned towards the rest of the gems.

"Crystal Gems, listen up!" They shouted, and everyone stood in attention. "I'll be the first here to say that even with my future vision, I don't know what's going on. I don't know how bad it's going to get. And I don't know what Home-Worlds planning. What I do know however is that what matters is right here and right now! We are the Crystal Gems and we're here to protect Earth and Rose's legacy! No matter what happens, no matter what battles we win or lose I want all of you to remain strong. Because by days end, mark my words. Those Home-World gems will be shaking in their boots once they see just how big of a threat we are." Garnet promised.

Whoo-hoo! First chapter!