Hello everybody!

Welcome to my newest story, Similarities! I've been wanting to write this story for a VERY long time. I hadn't managed to find the time until now. Hopefully you enjoy it just as much I do while writing it.

Being my third current story that I'm writing, it may take a while to come out. Forgive me it I take four or five weeks - I'm going to try to write this as quick as I can while still trying to keep it at my regular quality.

I'm not great at writing first chapters so please forgive me that it's pretty short. I tried my hardest!

If you enjoy it, be sure to follow so you don't miss anything. Also, please leave a review - I 'd love to hear what you think!

Enjoy!

"I'm not sure it looks right..."

"You look perfect anyway, Peri,"

"No, I need something to make me look even better,"

It was 7pm on a cold Winter's night and Peridot, with help from Lapis, was preparing for her first real mission alongside the Crystal Gems and was deciding how to make her special debut.

"Hmm... Have you still got that bow tie?" Peridot asked, looking confidently into the large mirror before her. "It'd definitely make me look smarter,"

"Or cuter," Lapis gave a small smile, making her green roommate blush and give her an annoyed look.

"Then what SHOULD I wear?"

"Just be yourself! You don't need to look fashionable to win a fight," She handed Peridot a small box. "...And you certainly don't need to look fashionable to hang out with me,"

"What's this?" Peridot questioned, shaking the box. "Is it for me?"

Lapis laughed. "Of course, silly!" She lifted up the box's lid for her. "So, do you like it?"

Inside the box was a necklace. There were five lime-green beads that were covered in glitter and the string that held it together was a shade of dark blue that matched that of Lapis's Gem.

"It reminded me of you so I knew I had to buy it," The blue Gem told her. "Want me to help you put it on?"

Peridot nodded her head and Lapis stood behind her and tied the necklace nicely at the back.

"Wow, thanks, Lapis! It's really cool! I'll be sure to wear it proudly,"

(Two hours later, at the Temple)

"Are you ready, Pear?" Amethyst asked, her signature weapon in her hand.

"You bet!" She replied. "After all, what could go wrong?"

"Honestly, Amethyst. You can't ask Peridot if she's ready if she doesn't know what the mission is," Pearl pointed out, two spears in her hands. "Peridot. Last night, while us Crystal Gems were out on a mission, Steven told us he saw something small from space crash into the Earth. With what's been going on recently, there's a chance it's something sent from Homeworld. We need to find what it was as quick as we can and we couldn't possibly search everywhere with just five of us,"

"Five?" Peridot questioned.

"Connie, Steven and Garnet are already looking." Amethyst told her.

"Makes sense," Peridot replied. "I'm going to assume Garnet told you two to stay here and wait for me,"

"Yep!" Amethyst replied.

"Steven and Connie are checking the desert and the Homeworld Warp. Garnet is checking the Strawberry Battlefield and Empire City. I'm going to check London and Pink Diamonds Palanquin." Pearl explained. "I don't know what Amethyst is going to check,"

"I'll check the fridge and then I'll check both of the Kindergartens," Amethyst told her, a wide grin on her face.

Pearl groaned in annoyance before turning back to Peridot. "Why don't you check Beach City? If you find something, call me immediately,"

"Sure," Peridot replied, walking over to the door. "See ya!"

(A few hours later)

Peridot had checked the beach, the streets, the shops, the nearby towns and now she had just finished searching the lighthouse. She was about to head back when she tripped over.

At first, she thought she'd tripped over a stone or a twig. She stood up and dusted herself off. As she did so, she saw something glowing where she had tripped previously. Curious, she picked it up.

It was quite a strange looking object. It was a box with no lid to open and the entire thing was glowing a soft blue. I'm her hands, it felt like silk. However, it clearly wasn't silk.

"What is it?" Peridot asked herself, gently holding it in her hands.

"PERIDOT!"

"W-Who's there?" Peridot asked. She looked closely at the box. "D-Did you just talk?"

"No, silly, we're BEHIND you!"

She spun around to see Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst stood behind her looking very nervous.

"Okay, don't move," Pearl cautiously told her.

"Why not?" Peridot questioned. "Is it this thing I found?"

"Yeah, just don't move," Amethyst informed her, slowly edging closer to her.

"Do you know what it does?" Peridot asked, looking at Garnet. Receiving no reply, she began to panic. "SOMEBODY TELL ME!"

"Calm down, Peridot; you'll be fine as long as you don't drop it," Garnet informed her. "No pressure,"

Unexpectedly, the cube began to get hotter.

As Garnet and the other Crystal Gems slowly came closer towards her, she found that the 'thing' was beginning to burn her hands.

"I-I don't think I can hold it for much longer!" She exclaimed, her hands almost turning red with the heat.

"You're doing great! Just don't let go!" Pearl yelled.

"I...CAN'T... HOLD IT!"

With that, she accidentally dropped the cube onto the grass in front of her and it shattered into thousands of pieces.

"PERIDOT! RUN!" Garnet yelled. She could see so many possibilities of what could happen next, none of which ended well.

Bright white beams of light erupted from the box. Hands made from the blinding shot into the air. She began to run. Peridot's metaphorical heart began to race. Whatever was coming after her had to be something terrible. If it wasn't, why would Garnet, the most powerful of the Gems (aside from Lapis), tell her to run? What was going to happen to her if the strange light-hands got her? She continued to run. She had no idea where she was, how far she had ran or where she was heading, her mind was too busy focusing on running as fast as she could.

Alas, she was too slow. The arms pushed her to the floor and tugged at her Gem, as if they were trying to tear it off. She shut her eyes to prevent the bright light from hurting them. More and more landed on top of her and she found herself unable to even struggle. There was nowhere to run, even if she could.

There was a sudden burst of pain as she felt her visor being ripped off of her face. She tried to scream but two of the hands were covering her mouth. Some had pinned her down by her arms, legs and torso while others were still pulling at her Gem.

The pain was overwhelming as she felt their nails dig into her physical form - just because she was a tough Gem didn't mean she couldn't feel the same amount of pain. "MAKE IT STOP! SOMEBODY! PLEASE!" She thought to herself, unable to speak. She felt so many feelings she'd never felt before. Horror, guilt, worthlessness... This was not what she had expected.

She had failed her first mission.

The pain was unbearable. Everything seemed to be fading away. The whole world seemed to get darker and that screams of Pearl, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire and other voices she didn't recognise began to drift away.

Those screams were the final sounds she heard before she passed out, unknowing of the adventure to come.