Across the northern sky raced what at first appeared to be a meteorite. While relatively small in size, it hurtled towards the open fields of Thorway in a great plume of fire. And yet, the object itself was jet black, not even slightly red from the fierce entry velocity.
It landed not far from an isolated house in the midst of grassy fields, which immediately drew the attention of the sole resident who came blustering out in his pyjamas.
"Hva i verden er dette!? Hva i verden er dette!?"
He stumbled through the chilling fields, frosty grass biting at his ankles, all the while racing towards where he heard the meteorite land.
He also very nearly fell into the crater upon reaching the rim. To his shock, there was no fire around the landing zone. Just a frightful black glow that lit up the surrounding field in a dull light that he could barely make out.
"Hva er dette…?"
A sudden whoosh from the black spherical object nearly made him fall over in fright, arms flailing while his pyjama leggings slapped about his stumbling feet. When he finally regained his balance, his jaw dropped altogether.
From the object emerged a long grey arm. It was at least twice his height in length from wrist to elbow, and that again from elbow to shoulder as more of the being within emerged. Oddly enough, there was a black pyramid on that very shoulder.
The head was next, enormous in size, and apparently shaped into an identical black pyramid. He soon came to realize that the shape was actually a hat of some sort, for the front facing corner was cut off to reveal a face underneath it. The eyes were hauntingly dead, two black ellipses in stark white orbs that looked as if they had been stretched upward. When they lashed towards him, he very nearly went that shade of white in terror.
Soon the other shoulder came out, the being using both arms to hoist herself free of the object. Two sets of arched plates that had been previously folded down on her shoulders flared up to make her already cold appearance look menacing. Her shirt had four black bands crossed over a darker shade of grey material, all converging on the shape of a white diamond. Below what he could only assume was a midriff that exposed her lack of a navel was a skirt that bore similar plates to those on her shoulders, shimmering black against the only light grey to be seen on her form.
When she finally stepped out altogether, he began to calm down at last, if only out of confusion at the fact that she appeared to be wearing black tights under the skirt. Her boots were pointed at the top, right below each knee.
His gaze eventually turned upward again to see the being staring right down at him. She was incredibly tall.
"En gigantisk grå kvinne?"
He finally did fall to the ground when the giant being dropped to her knees, and then sat down on her ankles before leaning down to look at him face to face. Up close, he could see that her eyes were almost as tall as he was, and while her featureless nose was snubby, it looked as if it could cause him a lot of pain just from a firm nudge.
There was barely time to get up again before the being spoke in a distinctively feminine voice.
"Peridot."
The man blinked. "Peridot?"
The being noticed his confusion, rolled her eyes at it, then brought her hands forward to gesture while spelling it out.
"Peh. Ree. Dot."
He blinked again, mouth still agape from continued shock.
After another eyeroll, the being put her hands on her knees.
"Warp. Pad."
Still nothing.
"Warp, pad. Beam, light."
The man closed his mouth to swallow. Those words were a bit more familiar.
"Stråle av lys? Beam of light?"
The being nodded at last, nearly smothering him with her enormous pyramid of hair every time it bobbed down over him.
"Direction?"
The man pointed off behind him in the vague direction that he had seen what he assumed was the beam of light, somewhere in the midst of fields of giant strawberries and oversized weapons.
He didn't get any further acknowledgement from the being, who rose to her feet in a single movement and began striding over, the ground shaking slightly with every step. He was left staring at four deep dents in the field where her knees and feet had planted in.
"Mareritt. Bare et mareritt…"
With one last look at the landing zone, he mumbled to himself and began trudging back home, getting one last look at the giant grey woman while she strode off into the distance, a silhouette of towering terror against the night sky.
It was an early morning for Steven, having made the walk up from the temple to the Beach City boardwalk before dawn. He had no particular reason for being out there so early, the mood had just struck him as such.
Almost as if he had been given the impulse…
His look of suspicion over what amounted to basically nothing was interrupted by the sight of Mayor Dewey on the swift approach. A blue-grey jumper and grey sweatpants were an unusual change from the business suit and slacks he seemed to have several copies of, but also very fitting as he was clearly on a morning jog of his own.
"Mooorning Universe."
"Morning Mayor Dewey. I didn't know you did morning jogs."
By then, Mayor Dewey had come to a stop near one of the benches, which he promptly plonked down in with an exasperated sigh.
"I decided it's about time to encourage a healthier lifestyle for the town. And that means I have to lead the charge. Starting with exercise!"
Steven nodded in his usual way, a pleasant smile and a half-knowing look in his eyes. "That's great! I've always thought about being a workout instructor again."
Mayor Dewey took one mortified look at him, cleared his throat and straightened out his jacket, then hastily returned to his jog.
"Good luck with that then Universe! I uh, have to keep the pace up!"
He was down past the donut cafe corner by the next minute.
Steven shrugged. "He's really giving it his all."
He continued on his trip down the boardwalk, sandals clapping with every step, and remembering to step over the board that always squeaked and had often interrupted the niceness of the moment.
Somewhere in front of the arcade strip, he stopped to approach the railing and lean on it while looking out to the rising sun on his left. The warm red glow brought with it a happy feeling that made him smile even more.
As the colours began to shift through to orange, he briefly glanced away to avoid straining his eyes. That put him right in position to see Lapis Lazuli slowly gliding down to the boardwalk near him, landing on her feet with barely a sound.
"Hey Steven."
Steven was of course happy as ever for the company. "Hey Lapis. Come to watch the sunrise, or did you wanna talk?"
She approached the railing beside him, resting both arms on it in front of her and leaning out to look over the morning ocean roll. "I guess I could watch the sunrise for a while if you want me to."
"Lapis, I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't want to assume you only came to ask me something."
Lapis blinked in a spot of confusion at that, but chose to let it slide in silence. "I guess now that you mention it, this would be a good time to talk huh?"
With a growing grin, Steven ran his hand through his hair as if to slick it back, and mimed a pen and paper. "I'm all ears Lapis. Ask me anything."
"Well, I think… I mean, I guess…" She clenched her hands together with a huff of mild frustration, which made Steven a little concerned. "I think I've been having dreams lately."
"Oh."
He said that as if it explained everything to him. It only opened up far more questions. The way she said it sounded as if she was uncertain of what to think, not disturbed or pleased. It could have been about what happened in the dream, that she was dreaming at all, or if he was even the right person to discuss it with.
"Peridot was in them a lot."
Just for a moment, he blushed, more on instinct than any particular thought. "What happened in them? Were you just imagining meepmorp ideas with her, or was it something else?"
Lapis sighed again, twisting an arm back up to rest her chin onto her palm. "She had her limb enhancers, most of the time. But it wasn't on the Gem ship or Homeworld, so I know they're not memories. I don't even really remember what was being said, it's all muffled when I think about it. I remember a lot of pointing at text and diagrams I don't have a clue where to begin on, and when she took the limb enhancers off it was to use some big machine. None of it makes sense."
"That kinda happens with dreams a lot. Either you don't remember them well, or they don't make sense and it becomes a ramble of explaining how things didn't make sense. I wouldn't worry about it."
"That's the thing Steven. I'm not worried about missing something. I just feel…" Her fingers curled in under her chin a little, a frown starting to form. "Frustrated. It's like I've missed something important. But how can it be important when it's just a dream?"
Steven reached out to her arm, resting his hand there softly and putting on his best supportive face. "Maybe tonight I can try using astral projection, see if I can make sense of it. I've gotten practise with helping Kiki out since I used it to find Malachite."
Lapis merely sighed and leaned back off the railing, bowing her head again before lifting it back up to look at him. "I guess it's worth trying. Thanks Steven."
He made a joking double finger gun in response. "Anytime Lapis."
When she didn't immediately fly off as expected, he quickly glanced around the boardwalk in search of something they could do. While she hadn't exactly been the social type, the fact that she had come over to Beach City of her own accord struck him as a good opportunity to at least try and make her a little more comfortable with the other residents.
The donut shop was what eventually held his attention as an ideal starting place, definitely quiet enough for them to talk more while in the company of others, or at least Sadie. "Hey, Lapis, you wanna come with me to the donut shop? You don't have to eat anything, it's just a nice place to talk."
Lapis went through a series of more subtle expressions, looking over at the place in question for most of them. She settled for looking away while holding her arm in uncertainty. "I don't know. I'll just feel awkward, and not say much, and kinda ruin the whole point of it."
"Well if you're not sure, that's okay. I can come by the barn after breakfast. Sadie mentioned something about a new bagel line, and I figured I'd try that first. See you after then?"
"Okay…"
With another reassuring smile, Steven turned and headed off towards the donut shop, leaving Lapis to watch him depart.
Her expression grew lower. She also turned with the intent of leaving, getting so far as bringing out her wings before pausing, and looking back over her shoulder at the donut shop.
At the store itself, Sadie was barely in the door herself when Steven arrived. Given how often that it occurred however, she was barely even fazed.
"Really excited for those bagels huh?"
Steven beamed a smile, but gave a bit of a shrug after. "Actually, I just felt taking like a walk and watching the sunrise. And I could help out first if you'd like."
"Aw, that's real nice of you to offer, but I think I'll try handling it alone today. Lars might have had slack days, but knowing he's not going to be around for a while kinda changes things."
Not for the first time, Steven nodded in a knowing way, his shoulders slouching just a little. "Yeah, I suppose. No telling when I might be gone for a while too, so I'm not much of a replacement am I?"
Sadie placed her hand on his shoulder briefly with a continued smile. "It's the thought that counts, really." She hummed on her way around the counter to unlock the display cases. "Maybe when I've had time to think, we can work out something part-time for you. So many hours a week for example, so you're not really missing shifts while out on gem missions. Have to check with your dad first of course."
"Great! I'll ask him later today, see what he thinks."
"Alright, if you're that excited, I'll go talk with Greg after I close up. Why don't you have a seat in the meantime, I'll get that breakfast bagel ready."
While she went off to the staffroom, Steven wandered back over to the sole table inside, taking up the seat facing towards the counter.
"I wonder if phone signals work through Lion's mane. Or on Homeworld."
He was musing to himself of course, as there was no-one else in the customer room itself.
At least until the door chime signalled the arrival of a new customer.
Sadie's voice rang out from the doorway of the staffroom. "I'll be with you in just a moment!"
Steven had turned around by then, and had the pleasant surprise of seeing Lapis there after all.
"You came!"
She dragged her fingers through her hair in a spot of nervousness. "I thought about a while. And-" Her hand fell from her hair in accompaniment with a shift of her gaze. " I'm willing to give 'this' a go. If you really think it'll work out."
"Don't worry, Sadie's one of the nicest people in Beach City. And if things still get awkward, I'll just explain or say something funny. No pressure."
"No pressure, got it."
Lapis slowly moved over to the seat opposite Steven and sat down, brushing her skirt forward as she did so. Looking back at his cheerful-if-blank face in silence was already beginning to feel awkward, but not nearly as much as she had expected.
"She'll be back out here any moment, don't worry."
"I'm not worried."
"I know. What I don't know is alternate ways to provide comfort, ah?"
The finger guns came back out at that.
Lapis took her turn for a blank stare.
"Alrighty Steven, it's well on the way." Sadie was barely out of the staffroom before stopping mid step in surprise at seeing a Gem in the shop that wasn't Amethyst, Pearl or Garnet. Moreso that it was one of the more elusive Gems that she had encountered only once before, and had yet to even speak with.
When she did find words to use, she did so with a nervous wave of her own. "Oh hi there. Haven't seen you around since the carwash. What brings you to the Big Donut?"
After an assuring nod from Steven, Lapis twisted in her seat to look at Sadie properly. There was an odd comfort in knowing she wasn't the only one feeling uncertain about meeting someone new, in the proper sense anyway. "I needed to talk with Steven."
Her gaze dipped a little. It was impossible to not feel Steven himself was ready to intervene after her shutdown tone. But in the face of uncertainty, she had been strong and brave before, so she picked things back up herself. "We discussed things, and he wanted me to come here. So…" She slid her gaze back to Steven's encouraging motions. "So I could talk. With humans I guess. Like you?"
Sadie scratched the back of her head. "Well, I'm definitely human, so you're on the right track huh? I'm Sadie by the way."
"Lapis Lazuli. Lapis is fine. Bob I'm not sure about."
"Lapis it is then. I suppose we can talk once Steven's bagel is ready, unless you've got Gem business to get to soon?"
There was a head shake from the Gem.
"Great, then I'll be back in a few minutes. Won't be long Steven."
Steven smiled back at her, doing his best to keep the mood high. "Thanks Sadie."
As soon as she was gone, Lapis twisted back around and cupped her hands either side of her face. "What am I doing Steven? Why am I doing this? I don't have to interact with humans that often anyway."
"Just relax. Remember, you don't have to do this, it'll just mean you can begin to socialize with Beach City residents better when you come to visit. Even if it's just a hello and a smile. The last blue Gem most of them saw was Aquamarine after all, so showing them how nice you are would really help ease things again."
Lapis sighed, folding her arms around to clutch at the other, and slumped back into the seat. "You're right. It'd be better than watching videotapes again and again, never actually trying to understand actual human relations. I won't know what to expect for the first time in a while, but that's not a bad thing is it?"
"Of course it isn't! Not everyone will become friends with you immediately, but part of life on Earth is overcoming challenges, however they appear. And given enough time, Beach City will be a place where pretty much everyone knows your name."
After a few moments, Lapis narrowed her gaze at him. "That sounds familiar. Like a catchphrase."
Steven gave one of his innocent shrugs just before Sadie made her reappearance. "Maybe we've both heard it before somewhere, it just sounded like the right thing to say."
Lapis smiled a little at that, her eyes starting to follow the breakfast bagel that was placed in front of Steven. "Well, I think I'm starting to agree."
"Here you go Steven. One breakfast bagel meal. Anything else I can get ya?"
"I'm good. Thanks Sadie."
"Anytime. So, Lapis…"
Sadie turned to see Lapis slipping from her seat. What would have been an awkward moment of disappointment instead became slight confusion as the Gem wandered around the counter to eventually sit up on it towards the left wall of the store, looking back over her shoulder at Sadie.
"It's a little quieter here, and I've noticed you stand behind the counter a lot anyway. I hope you don't mind."
"Well…" Sadie reached around the back of her head again, looking back to Steven briefly for an answer on how to proceed.
He gave an encouraging nod after taking the first bite of the bagel.
Good enough for her. "Sure, good a place as any to chat."
Lapis gave a light swing of her legs while waiting for Sadie to move around, spending most of that time glancing over the fridges in front of her.
"So, how's the business? Steven talks about this place a lot, how much he likes coming here."
Steven gave a thumbs up to Sadie, mouth full of seasoned bagel and lean fried egg.
She chuckled with a hint of nervousness. "Oh, well actually I'm not so sure now. I was just telling Steven how I have to take things carefully for a while, with Lars gone from Earth for who knows how long. I guess you and the other Gems are the only ones who can help him now, so I'm kinda grateful you're here."
Lapis tilted her head slightly. "Why though? I can't fly to Homeworld again without being noticed, let alone bring him back myself. And I'm no good with Gem technology, so I can't help with building a ship." Her head tilted down in front of her again with a mild look of regret. "I'm really not the Gem you should be grateful to have around."
"Well, even if you can't help directly…" At that, Sadie moved a little closer, putting her hand out to Lapis' arm. "Just taking the time to ask how I'm doing means a lot. It was hard explaining everything to his parents, and I've been worried about what I'll do without him. But sometimes all you need is a kind word to be helpful, and make someone else's day better."
"You've got Steven for that though. He's always full of hope and nice things to say."
"And that's good. But, it means more coming from someone I barely even know in a way. If that makes sense?"
Again, Lapis hummed in thought, staring ahead while she did so. It took her a while, but she did eventually catch onto what Sadie was implying.
"Because we don't know each other, there's no real expectations, just impressions." She turned her head back with a half cocked smile. "Maybe there is more I can do to help around town, while Peridot works on the ship. Things that don't involve grabbing cars with water, or draining the ocean away."
"Yeah, not doing those things would be a good start. Just don't feel like you absolutely have to help out. No-one's pressuring you into it at all. Let it be more natural."
Lapis snickered at first, but soon settled into a smile. "Steven's right, you are the nicest person in Beach City. I can see why he comes here all the time."
"Aw, thanks. And see? You're already doing great with those kind words."
Before blushing ever so slightly, Lapis turned her head back towards the fridges yet again. "Yeah, that wasn't so hard."
Steven made his way up to the counter, placing down some notes and a few coins next to the register, accounting to how much the new bagel poster at the front of the store had displayed. "Breakfast bagel was great. I'm sure it'll be a hit when more people get to try it."
"Think you could sign a review while you're at it?" Sadie waved away the notepad and pen he was drawing from his pocket. "I'm joking, have a good day Steven!" She glanced over as Lapis slid herself off the counter to walk back around. "And you too Lapis."
With another smile, Lapis brushed past to where Steven was waiting. "Thanks Sadie."
And with that, they left.
It wasn't until they were well past the backlot of the Big Donut that Steven spoke up, while simultaneously giving Lapis a soft nudge to her arm. "See? You were great! You asked how she was, sympathised with her problems, lightened things with some topically relevant humour. And you're feeling better for it right?"
She nodded with that small smile of hers. "Yeah, I am."
"And once you've done it enough times, it'll come naturally. You don't have to go around town saying hello to everyone, just whenever you happen to meet someone on the way will make a difference."
Not long after, they arrived at the car wash. Greg was sorting through a few boxes outside the back of the van when he noticed the approaching pair, immediately picking up with a smile.
"Hey hey, look who's here!" He caught Steven's embrace with a small chuckle, ruffling his hair before looking up to Lapis.
"Hey Greg. How's the wash doing?"
"Great actually, thanks for asking. I really think the new sign is doing wonders for promoting the business. I'm even getting some tourist customers now."
By then, Steven had wandered over to one of the boxes, idly looking through an assortment of electronics. "Wow, there's so much old stuff here!"
"Oh, Yellowtail was cleaning out his storage unit and offered some boxes for free. I think antique electronics was a hobby of his at one point. Not sure if any of those things still works, but you're welcome to it."
Lapis wandered over to the box as well, looking over it for a few moments before bending over and pulling out one of the larger objects.
Steven quickly recognized it as a radio. "Ooh, this is what humans used for receiving audio meant for lots of people years ago." He carefully turned it in his hands after Lapis passed it over for examination. "Wow, it doesn't even have FM! This really is old!"
Lapis blinked at him with a continued blank look. "FM?"
"Frequency modulation, Lapis." Greg joined the gathering around the radio at that, picking up the radio as it was handed to him in turn. "That came after amplitude modulation, AM radio. I guess in a way, you can think of it as the difference between infrared and ultraviolet light, though that's not really scientifically accurate. Just an analogy."
"Oh, I see." Despite finding little understanding in said analogy, she was nevertheless making the effort to pretend she did. Thus, when the radio was handed back to her again, she did her best to act as if she could make sense of it. "So how does it work? It looks more complicated than the wailing stone Steven showed me, but nowhere near as advanced as Gem tech. Or Peridot's pad."
Greg shuddered at that memory before reaching over to one of the control knobs. "Well, basically you turn that to adjust frequency. I'm not sure if there are any AM broadcasts in the area, but who knows what the range is like. The other is for volume." He turned his head slightly to look for a switch. "Of course, it might not have power, could even be too old to take any batteries I have on hand."
After a glance of his own, Steven reached towards the bottom of the radio and pressed down, popping out a small compartment that was devoid of suitable batteries.
"Huh, well whaddya know. We might have this thing up and running for you in no time Lapis."
A little disparaged by the thought of actually keeping the radio, Lapis kept hold of it anyway, keeping it steady while Steven loaded the batteries in, and holding out for Greg to switch on.
The first sound to come out was a loud squeal that quickly degraded into static.
"Alright, it turns on! Try adjusting the frequency until you hear something, then fine tune it to get a clear signal."
"Okay."
All three went quiet as Lapis began doing just that. The squealing came and went abruptly at certain points, but the static remained.
She was drawing near to the end of the spectrum when Greg sighed, giving a shrug. "Oh well, mustn't be any broadcasters in the area after all. Sorry Lapis."
"It's okay. Maybe Peridot can do something with it. Or I can just hang it up on a wall."
"Yeah, I guess after what she did with that lawnmower, there's not a whole lot she can't do with Earth technology."
Steven's phone buzzed at that moment. He glanced at the others while pulling it out. "It's Connie, mind if I take this?"
Lapis merely shrugged, while Greg did the same. "Sure."
The phone was up against his head right after. "Hey Connie, what's up?"
"Well, I'm not sure yet. I was doing some of my daily news browsing, and I came across this article from Thorway. Steven…"
There was a pause, in which he heard Connie taking a deep breath.
"I think there's another Homeworld Gem here on Earth. And from the sound of it, she's looking for Peridot."
His expression went right to concern as he looked to Lapis in particular.
"Okay, come over as soon as you can. Lapis is here, she'll go get Peridot now. I think the Gems will want to see this article for themselves."
"Agreed. See you in a while Steven, stay safe."
As soon as the call ended, he lowered it down, staring into the screen for a long moment.
Both Lapis and Greg were growing quite concerned by then, the latter reaching out to his shoulder.
"Steven? What's this about an article?"
Gaze remaining on Lapis, Steven finally turned it back to his father. "Connie thinks there might be a Homeworld Gem out to get Peridot." He looked back to Lapis again, who was already growing worried. "Just get her to warp right to the temple, or fly her back here if you have to. Okay?"
"Don't worry Steven, I got this."
And she was off in a soft splash of her wings, flying across Beach City and out of sight before the minute was up, radio in hand.
That left Greg alone with Steven, lowering down to one knee so he could look at him properly. "Steven, promise me you won't do something risky again. We only just got you back."
Steven kept up the confident look for both their sakes, nodding in answer.
"The Diamonds don't know I escaped Homeworld. This Gem they sent won't be ready for me. But I won't charge in either, I promise."
"That's all I ask Steven. Go get 'em."
With that last embrace in parting, Steven raced on to the beach ahead, headed right for the temple.
Just over a minute later he was hurrying through the door, flailing his arms at Pearl in silence after noting she was on the phone. The strangeness of that had yet to occur to him.
She acknowledged his call for attention with a gesture for patience. "Oh, one moment, or several as it will probably end up becoming, you know how it is with me being a Gem and all."
After setting it to mute, she placed it down on the counter and folded her arms. "Steven, as much as we all love having you back, if this is a panic attack about the breakfast bagel not turning out right-"
"Connie thinks there's a new Homeworld Gem coming to get Peridot!"
Pearl's expression dropped, her hand fumbling for the phone again. Before bringing it back up, she took a deep breath to compose herself.
"Go get Garnet and Amethyst, I'll be right with you."
While he was off to the temple door, she unmuted the call.
"Sorry, it turns out this is a real emergency. I'll call you back when it's resolved, alright?"
By the time she walked over to the warp pad, Steven, Garnet and Amethyst had gathered at the door. Again she folded her arms, this time with more concern than anything.
"Before we go over to the barn, is there anything more we should know?"
"Well that's down to Connie, she only had time to say that a news article from Thorway tipped her off before she had to hang up. That and Lapis went to the barn to get Peridot here."
Right on cue, the warp pad activated. All four of them went into a defensive posture until they saw two figures materialize. To the relief of all, Lapis and Peridot had arrived safely.
"And I told them that waiting months for the next season of Camp Pining Hearts was just unacceptable! Don't they know how painful the suspense of not having the next episode is?"
Lapis rolled her eyes while waving to the others. "I'm telling you Peridot, it's not that big a deal. It's not going to be anything groundbreaking when it does come out, so no point in getting in a fuss. Hey Steven."
Steven merely lifted his hand for a short wave, waiting for the two to step off the warp pad. "Glad you're okay Peridot."
She in turn looked at all of the Gems surrounding her. "Yes, Lapis informed me of Connie's, 'discovery'. I suppose this is as good a place as any to bunker down until she gets here. Unless you plan to take me to the moon."
"I don't think that will be necessary." Garnet dematerialized her gauntlets, but nonetheless remained cautious. "I haven't foreseen any battle with this new Gem, yet. That doesn't mean I don't believe Connie, only that we should have time to prepare properly."
Pearl hummed in thought, clasping her chin. "We still have the escape pod, admittedly it's at the barn and not in any position to fly. But if we strip out the tracking system, we could wire it back into the warp network again. And if we restart some of the robonoids as well-"
"Pearl." Garnet interjected with a very cool fold of her arms. "Don't get carried away just yet. Aquamarine caught us by surprise, this time we have to keep everything organized. And that means sitting down to assign roles first."
From her own corner of the gathering, Amethyst shrugged, noting that Lapis had a similar reaction.
Steven on the other hand was more upbeat, wrapping an arm around Peridot's shoulders. "We can set up a whiteboard, and flow charts, and brainstorms! Peridot can make a slideshow, Connie can do more research on the internet, and I can make everyone sandwiches!"
"Living room first. Pearl, if you could begin with the organization, we can work on the tracking system later."
She nodded in agreement, after which all but two of them dispersed into the rest of the house. Amethyst and Lapis were left behind, the latter of which was first to comment.
"Just before all this, I was having a nice conversation with Sadie. Felt like things had actually settled down enough for me to start getting comfortable. And then it starts all over with Homeworld again."
"Lapis, not to be rude, but if you're not used to it by now…" Amethyst chewed her lip before she went and said something mean spirited anyway. "Welcome to the Crystal Gems, where every other week means a new panic about losing people you care about." She sighed and nearly shoved past, finding a seat at the gathering in the living room on the faint hope she'd actually get a worthy role.
Lapis herself stood there a while, solmen in expression, and her eyes shaded a little by her fringe. Her hand tightened, and perhaps for a moment the waves outside crashed in a little harder than usual. The moment passed when she made herself calm down and follow suit.
In the meantime, Steven and Peridot had both found comfortable spots on the lounge, watching as Pearl began drawing up a spreadsheet of tasks and their names, including Connie.
"You're not panicking as much as I thought Peridot. I mean, after the Roaming Eye came you were really booking it."
"Well Steven, this time I don't know who or what's after me. And I'm choosing to see that as a good thing." She knocked her heels together idly, now wishing she had remembered to get her pad from the charging station. A distraction was still more than welcome for her. "And while I appreciate that Connie was concerned enough to warn you about potential danger to me, I of course have to remain skeptical. It's entirely possible this is just a false alarm after all."
"Maybe, but Connie sounded pretty sure. We'll know when she gets here anyway."
By then, Pearl had finished her spreadsheet, a large grid with several columns of tasks ready. Garnet stood silently on the other side of the whiteboard.
"Alright, as you can see, I've put myself down for warp pad tracking and robonoid reprogramming for starters. Peridot, I'd appreciate your help with the latter certainly, but there are plenty of other tasks that you and everyone else might want to consider first. So far the only time constraint is when the tracking system is rebuilt and it picks up this rogue Gem, unless Connie tracks it down first with help from the internet. Any questions?"
Peridot raised her hand almost immediately.
"Why repair the robonoids? We aren't using the Homeworld warp to rescue the human Lars, are we?"
Pearl placed her forehead into her palm. "This is going to take a while." She pulled away to begin gesturing with the green marker in hand. "The warp pads at the communication hub and Mask Island have yet to be repaired. While I doubt there's anything of particular use in either area, we could use the extra coverage to chase down the Gem if she tries to escape on foot. And there's no harm in letting her waste time on a lost cause."
Garnet adjusted her visor ever so slightly, subtle enough that Steven was the only one to notice.
"Alright, but I would much rather work on the tracking system first anyway. Fixing two pads is a minor task that can wait."
Pearl made a small mark where 'Peridot' and 'Tracking' intersected, below the one she had placed in her own row.
By the time Amethyst and Steven had worked out their assignments, the former opting to retrieve items from the barn in safety, the latter forgoing making sandwiches in favour of keeping everyone on task and motivated, and Garnet settling for a patrol of every working pad early on, Connie had arrived.
While all were relieved to finally have answers at the ready, Lapis in particular was grateful that she had been given a reprieve from finding her own role in the plan. So far, nothing had come to her.
Connie was slow to make her way in when she saw the gathering of Gems. "I told my parents that we'd only be planning for now, but I didn't realize you were this organized."
"Well Connie…" Pearl tapped her fingers together awkwardly. "I wish we actually were. To be honest, we haven't actually been able to plan anything significant without more details on this Gem you've found out about."
"Right, yes." She hurried over to the couch, sitting down beside Steven and pulling her laptop out to set on the coffee table. "I did more searches on the way over, and I even found a few photos taken right before she warped away. So far, no-one else has seen her."
While the pages loaded up, Peridot hummed in thought of her own. "She probably went to the kindergarten to search the secret lab first, then the beta kindergarten. Standard search protocol. All we need to do is-"
Her line of thought stopped abruptly as the first image finally came up. The other Gems had gathered around by then, all struck with surprise, and mild fear at what they saw.
Steven, Connie and Amethyst were the only ones who felt oblivious to the apparent revelation.
The photo in question showed a Gem of dark grey and black colours running to the warp pad through the strawberry fields. Her hair was shaped in that of a square pyramid, and both her shoulders and skirt had black fins laid out over them.
Of the Gems, Peridot was most shaken, which prompted Steven to ask the obvious question.
"What is it? What's so bad about this particular Gem?"
Pearl was about to speak, but instead covered her mouth with her hand and stood up to step away. Garnet lifted her visor for several seconds before standing up as well. Amethyst, while concerned, was still too clueless to know how to properly react.
When Peridot finally did speak up, it was with a mortified look all across her face. "I've never seen this type of Gem before. Do you realize what that means? A Homeworld Gem that a certified kindergartener doesn't know about?"
Steven took the time to think about it, and came to a typically optimistic conclusion. "She's a fusion? Maybe she's running from Homeworld, and we got this all wrong!"
Peridot nearly ripped her hair out in the explosion of frustration that came, instead settling for wrangling Steven's shoulders. "She's new, Steven! She's a new Gem grown specifically to hunt me down! This is terrible! This is disastrous! Nowhere is safe, nowhere!"
It took the combined efforts of Lapis and Amethyst tugging Peridot off Steven to make her stop shaking him, and a supporting hold from Connie to bring him back to his senses. For that, she glared at Peridot with her own annoyed look.
"I was going to show you the second picture, but if this is your reaction-"
"Oh, it gets worse does it? Does it!?"
Garnet stepped in yet again to calm Peridot down.
"Panicking does nothing useful, remember?" She looked back to Connie and gave a silent nod.
After another glare, she leaned back over to the laptop and brought up the second image. The Gem in question was now standing on the warp pad, the black pyramid on her right shoulder that was clearly her Gem now visible. It was her size that had finally been revealed to them that was more concerning however. The fact that she took up the entire space on the warp pad alone told them all enough.
Not nearly the size of a Diamond, but definitely larger than any other single, uncorrupted Gem they knew of.
And the diamond on her chest was a stark white.
Steven's expression lowered again as he took all of that in, feeling he could only state the obvious. "She works for White Diamond. She's involved now too. All three have issues with Earth, because of me."
Connie was quick with the show of support. "Steven, don't blame yourself. She was bound to get involved eventually. At least we know what her agent looks like."
Peridot was still frantic, clinging to both Gems behind her by then, leaving Garnet to take charge as she always eventually did.
"It doesn't matter if she's an unknown Gem, or just another Jasper equivalent. We are the Crystal Gems, and we will find a way to stop her. Size is not a problem."
"Isn't it? Who knows how powerful she is? She's already the size of Sardonyx on her own!"
Garnet smiled at that moment. "Exactly."
While Pearl took that assurance to heart, Garnet looked back to the others. "When we locate her, Pearl and I will fuse to face her first. Sardonyx is ideal for playing nice, and going rough when it comes to that. Steven, Amethyst, be ready as Smoky Quartz to follow up our attack. Lapis, Peridot, you'll provide ambush with your respective powers. And Connie…"
Connie looked up at her, filled with concern over the impending battle of her own. Jasper and the corrupted Gems seemed far less threatening when compared against a Gem that clearly towered over any human.
"You're our secret backup. We don't know what to expect, so if she has the power to incapacitate us all, like Aquamarine did, it will be up to you to intervene. The Diamonds don't consider humans a threat." At that, Garnet's smile became a half cocked grin, one hand balling into a fist and slapping into the other. "Let's prove them wrong."
"Yay for human power!" Steven stood up from the lounge, hand raised above his head.
Connie soon followed, lifting her hand up with a smile. "Human power!"
Not wanting to be left out, Peridot joined in as well. "Metal power!"
"Amethyst power!"
The others looked to Amethyst, who shrugged it off, her arm raised as well. "What? Shapeshifting power doesn't have the same ring to it."
Keeping to his assigned task, Steven bounced his hand up eagerly to encourage the others. "Come on Pearl, your turn."
"Oh, alright." With a bit of hesitation, Pearl lifted her hand as well. "Pearl power!"
Lapis blew her fringe out of the way. "Water power!"
At last, Garnet raised both her hands, proudly showing off the two Gems in her palms. "Fusion power!"
The next few hours went by quickly for all but Lapis, who had elected to sit outside and watch the ocean on the off chance the mystery Gem was planning to swim to Beach City, mostly to not get in the way.
Garnet and Amethyst left almost immediately for the barn, Amethyst returning after a while with the escape pod minus sole remaining drill. From the look of it she had yanked it off rather than cutting it off with her whip.
That left Peridot and Pearl working together again on rigging the two devices together again, Peridot taking the time to note the irony of the fact that it had originally been used to track her down.
Steven and Connie poured through several more news sites, looking for any trace of the black Gem beyond what they already knew from her arrival in Thorway.
"So Steven, didn't you tell me that one time about Peridot explaining that newer Gems weren't as strong as the older ones? And how there were lots of 'defective' exit holes on Homeworld?"
He was in the middle of reading an article about alien conspiracy theories, for once not written by Ronaldo, but still heard enough to nod. "Yeah?"
"Well, I'm just wondering why the Diamonds would even make a new Gem. If she's that big, where did they even find the space to grow her to that size? Would they still be making new colonies out there?"
The sigh Steven made was more exasperated than he would have liked. So many questions had been pressing since his return. And Connie's were absolutely valid, and even important under the circumstances, but they were still a few among many.
"I don't know. I saw what the plan for the Earth colony looked like, and I guess that's what Homeworld as a whole looks like. But if they have been making new colonies since, why was Peridot still grown on Homeworld and not in a better location? It doesn't make sense."
"You're right, I'm sorry I asked. I guess questions and speculation is all we have to go on."
"Maybe."
The article was soon closed after providing nothing of use, taking Steven back to the picture of the Gem on the warp pad. This time he looked closer at her, the blank expression on her face, the three layers of arched plates coming from her shoulders. The midriff above her skirt that looked strange without a navel of any sort. Parts of her looked a little complex for a typical Gem body.
"I wonder, these plates on her shoulders and skirt. They must be physical, not made of light like the rest of her. But if they're meant to be armor pieces, why are there so few?"
Connie took a turn at examining the photo in detail. What concerned her more was the Gem itself, four surfaces coming to a point instead of being faceted like virtually every other Gem she had seen, Jasper aside. Everything about her seemed a little off.
"Peridot can't summon a proper weapon, right? If this is a newer Gem like her, maybe those plates are part of a physical weapon that she assembles instead. They'd have to expect the Crystal Gems would try to fight her at some point."
Steven looked at the plates again. A lot of physical Gem weapons looked nasty, but there was a sense of elegance to the design that made him fear what those plates would turn into. Elegance meant finer design, and thus deadlier weapons.
From across the room came triumphant exclamations from Pearl and Peridot.
"Yes! Given enough time I can connect this tracking system to my pad and have constant monitoring of warp activity!" Peridot had jumped up in glee, that subsided slightly when she noted Pearl's lack of amusement. "I'm sure I can also provide similar functionality to your 'phones' when I have merged the two technologies together. If only we did this sooner when searching for Jasper."
"That would have been useful yes, but now it's going to be invaluable. Thank you Peridot."
The warp pad began to energize at that exact moment, while the tracker alarm in the escape pod blared off a warning.
"Aah! She found me!"
Peridot leapt for cover, while the other Gems and Connie made for defensive positions. Pearl was quick with orders.
"Steven, guard Peridot! Connie, be ready to strike! She can't materialize standing up in here, not at her height. That's your opportunity!"
The energy beam landed on the pad, casting them all in the familiar glow. As soon as it dissipated, Garnet was left standing there, hands raised for caution.
"Easy Gems. I saw this was the time to come back and test the tracking system again." She turned her head slightly to either side. "Good work on your reactions."
All the Gems relaxed a little, except for Peridot who was still cowering behind Steven and chattering away into the collar of his shirt.
"And don't worry. Amethyst is coming in just a moment."
Not long after Garnet stepped off the pad, it powered up again to allow Amethyst to arrive just as predicted.
"Yo." With a casual flick of her hand, she tossed Peridot's pad over to her. "I finally found it. You really need a better spot to charge it from."
Peridot came out of hiding to catch it, frowning at Amethyst a little before reattaching it to her arm, and feeling that much better for it. "I calculated the optimal path for Earth electrical wiring to go through, and applied those calculations to my standard routine based around usage, occasional departure from the barn and when I need to get away from Lapis' snoring. It's fine charging there."
Amethyst rolled her eyes, but still let the matter drop at that.
The brief turn of the conversation had given Steven time to think, and eventually come to a question that he couldn't avoid asking any longer.
"So Garnet, don't you have any idea where this new Gem will be when we find her?"
That made her reach under her visor, rubbing all three of her eyes in an effort to hide her own discontentment, made harder still by the attention placed on her. As always, there was nothing easy about admitting to a shortcoming.
"No, I don't. I didn't want to say anything until I was certain, but so far something about her is eluding Sapphire's future vision."
The effect was exactly what she feared. Everyone else grew concerned over that implication.
"Gems, this doesn't mean she's prepared for us, or that the Diamonds have found a way to hide their agents from foresight."
Despite knowing better, Amethyst couldn't help butting in. "Aquamarine and Topaz certainly got away with it…"
"And I still blame myself for not being ready for them. The point is, we can't fully rely on future vision anyway, even when it does work." She lowered her hand at last, letting her arms fold back up. "We have the technology to find her, and we have the teamwork to take her down. Not knowing the outcome only means we try harder."
As if to punctuate her point, the tracking system blared out yet another alert.
Pearl moved to investigate, dipping her hand into the system momentarily before sighing and pulling it out.
"Beta kindergarten's pad just activated. She'll be there any second now."
"I knew it!" Peridot smacked her fist into her palm. "First the Alpha, then the Beta. She's seen the lab is ruined, and therefore useless!"
Connie hummed with her own note of concern. "She's been at the Alpha kindergarten for nearly a day then, based on when those photos were taken."
"And that means she's doing a thorough search everywhere she goes." Garnet brought her gauntlets back out. "Alright, we give it half an hour. Crystal Gems warp in and take positions before fusing. Crystal Temps ride in with Lion right after. Wait for Sardonyx to begin the attack, and don't get spotted before then. We good?"
An array of mumbling went around the others, until all nodded.
"Good. Steven, go tell Lapis the plan, and make sure Lion is ready. Connie, now would be the time to call your parents. Let's do this."
Exactly half an hour later, Steven, Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet materialized on the Beta warp pad, all in ready positions. There was no sign of the gem from their position.
After another search, Steven brought up his phone. "Gems to Temps, zone clear."
On the ridge to their right, a small portal opened, through which came Lion and the Temps, Peridot barely visible in the top of his mane. Lapis had her hands on Connie's shoulders for support during the trip, taking them off as she brought her own phone up.
"Temps to Gems, no sign of Possibly-Onyx. Moving out."
Pearl's hand went to her face yet again. "I thought we agreed this gem was not a Black Onyx of any sort."
Steven gave one of his characteristic shrugs. "We can't keep calling her 'mystery gem', can we? I mean, you've barely told us about mystery girl, but that's different, since it's private for you."
"Oh, right."
Immediately, she had gone back to thinking about the call that Steven had interrupted with his urgent news. Since then, she hadn't even thought to follow up that sudden end with even a quick update, at least until the reminder. It was a sudden distraction that she didn't need.
Fortunately for her, Garnet was still observant as ever.
"Call her once we have this Gem bubbled. Time to fuse."
Pearl nodded while stepping off the pad with Garnet, taking one last glance at Steven and Amethyst. "Yes, you're right. She's not going to distract me, I promise."
"I believe you."
While they began their fusion dance, Steven and Amethyst set off towards the rightmost valley in the direction which the Temps were headed.
"Amethyst, anything you think we should clear up before we fuse as well? I'm only asking because of that."
One of Amethyst's trademark sighs came, but in a rare moment for her she took the time to brush her hair back to look at him properly. "I told Lapis some of it. The thing is, every time a new Homeworld Gem shows up, someone gets poofed, or even snatched away. I'm really starting to worry that this time it'll be something even worse. Especially with all of us here together. What if she's here to shatter Peridot?"
"Unless Homeworld created a Breaking Point of their own, I doubt that'll happen. Peridot is probably one of the toughest Gems ever." Steven sighed as well, though it was less burdened than it might have otherwise been now that he knew what he knew. "Like Garnet said, we're a full team now. We've got Peridot covered, and she'll cover Smoky Quartz back. You ready?"
Amethyst made herself smile just a little, nodding as well. "Yeah, I'm ready."
She raised her hand for the high five, gem starting to glow in preparation.
Steven met it with a heartfelt slap, bringing the two into one yet again.
"Continuing report; as of yet, I have been unable to locate Peridot Facet-2F5L, Cut-5XG. Detailed analysis of the Alpha Lab confirms destruction of all relevant facilities by renegades and experiments. The supply of a data recovery module will be required for further progress in tertiary mission protocol.
Secondary mission protocol has been put on indefinite hold. The first human lifeform I encountered spoke a language not shared by those at the zoo, by the subject known as 'Steven' or by 'Gareg'. Suspicions that they are diverse beyond initial assumptions should be confirmed. Further observation will be required to deduce if they obey a caste system of rank and status, or choose the renegade lifestyle of disorderly mingling. Such observation cannot be made without dedicated time allotments that have yet to be determined.
Primary mission protocol is underway. Capture and study of so called 'corrupted' Gems will begin as soon as suitable subjects are located. The lack of estimated numbers of said Gems indicates potential deconstruction and collection by the renegades prior to my arrival. Until further instructions are given, I will refrain from assaulting their base to obtain suitable subjects."
The towering dark grey Gem twisted the device in her hand exactly ninety degrees for transmission.
"Relay to Outpost Elysium, encryption standard Black-9. Inform the operating Obsidian to redirect transmission to Homeworld sector 8-11-P, file classification 'Cold Star Coal'. Transmit."
The device glowed for several seconds before blinking out of her hand, well on its way to the Elysium colony.
The Gem remained emotionless in her expression as she reached around to her right shoulder, removing a small Gem pad from underneath the topmost plate. It began to read out information to her, at which she made a slight frown.
"Undesignated Gems approaching? Scan for corruption."
The display blared a warning at her. Her frown deepening, she closed it up and placed it back into her shoulder before turning around.
"Why hello there!"
Immediately, she was beset upon by a maroon Gem almost equal to her in size, wearing attire she had never seen before, and approaching with all four arms in wide greeting. The beaming smile on her face was unnerving for one so blank in her own expression.
Sardonyx was hardly put off by that fact, using the lack of aggression as an opportunity to get much closer. "You must be the new Gem on the block! Or should I say, the rock! Oh ha ha ha!"
One of her hands landed on the Gem's left arm, below those pointed plates. Another went to hip, while the other two remained splayed out in a non-threatening way.
The Gem blinked, peering from beneath the cover of her hair mass. "You are a tri-fusion? What is the specific advantage in this combination?"
"Oh, fishing for secrets are we dear? Tut tut!" Sardonyx made a not-so-subtle attempt to urge the Gem to walk towards one of the branching valleys where the rest of the Gems were preparing their ambush. "Don't you know? We need to sit down for dinner and a nice chat before I spill all my delicious details. Why, I can even put on a show for you!"
To demonstrate, she summoned a wand and a hat, tapping one to the other and making a shower of confetti spray out over herself.
The Gem remained completely unfazed. Sardonyx less so.
"I see we have a hard sell in you my dear. If magic isn't quite to your taste, perhaps something a little more…" Two hands went behind her back, summoning her hammer in preparation for a strike. "Tangible will do?"
Her midsection spun around with great force, swinging the hammer right into the grey Gem's face. The impact sent her flying down the valley, right into a pillar of water formed into the shape of a hand for a slap to the face of incredible proportions.
Lapis cocked a smile at the sight. "That put some sense into you?"
As it turned out, the Gem in question had finally pulled an expression larger than 'very slightly annoyed'. That of 'slightly annoyed'.
"The Lapis Lazuli that returned? What are you-"
A large piece of scrap metal wrapped around her eyes at that moment, clamping down hard to a point where she felt her perfect pyramid of hair being cruelly malformed. The force with which it crushed in disorientated her enough to make her stumble into one of the cliff faces.
"Nice one Peridot!"
"You too Lapis!"
The Gem made a sound akin to what Lion did when yawning as she physically tore the metal off her head, finally having moved up to a look of 'annoyed'.
"The Diamonds told me you Gems were hostile!"
"Hey, down here!"
She looked down to see a brown coloured fusion, wielding three weapons she had never encountered before.
"I'd deliver a pun about fans right about now, but somehow, I don't think you'd be blown away by it!"
To further invert the joke, Smoky Quartz swung all three yo-yos around the Gem's legs, pulling them tight just in time for Sardonyx to charge in with another sweltering underarm swing.
All of their combined efforts sent the Gem crashing into another cliff face at the end of the valley, where she remained unmoving, limbs spread wide.
After Smoky Quartz and Sardonyx shared a glance, the former huddled up into a ball at the latter's feat, who extended a free hand out to a point.
"We are the Crystal Gems!"
Peridot cupped her hands either side of her mouth. "And Temps!"
"Earth belongs to humanity! Not the Diamonds!"
On the ground, Smoky Quartz began to spin rapidly.
"Any Gem who works for them is not welcome here! Not now, not ever!"
The rolling brown ball began to heat up.
"And we will never stop fighting your tyranny!" Sardonyx nodded to Lapis and Peridot, who both readied their respective materials for the attack. She brought her hammer high above her head.
"How do they say it? Oh yes." The hammer swung down. "FORE!"
Smoky Quartz, in her rolled up sphere of burning doom, was launched right at the Gem pinned against the wall, causing an incredible spray of dust and debris to explode out from the impact zone.
Several seconds passed before the dust finally began to settle. Sardonyx dematerialized her hammer, taking a step towards the deep crater in the wall where the Gem had been.
To the relief of her, and both Lapis and Peridot, Smoky Quartz walked out looking no worse for the experience.
"That, was awesome!"
"Bravo! Bravo!" Sardonyx settled into applause with two of her arms, the others adopting a thoughtful look. "Though, if I might say so Smoky, haven't you already used a variation of that pun?"
Smoky Quartz gave a smirking shrug. "Eh, no biggie. First time she'd hear it, so who cares?"
Sardonyx gave a shrug of her own, glancing over to Peridot and politely extending a hand for her to climb onto for a safe way into the valley.
"Yeah, it's probably the last thing she'll hear too! That was an incredible use of your various talents!"
Lapis smiled a little more at Peridot's excitement, having drifted down earlier, but remained silent.
"Quite. Now, I suppose we need to begin the task of locating her gemstone. Remember, we are looking for a black square pyramid-"
All four Gems outside the crater whipped their heads around to the darkened space within. In spite of all that had been thrown at her, the dark grey Gem was still intact, and now looking positively enraged.
"You renegades are brutes! I didn't even threaten you, and you still tried to shatter me on sight!"
All four of the present Crystal Gems readied for another attack.
The Homeworld Gem was quicker, reaching her right arm around to her gemstone, and drawing out a long rod coloured in shining silver. Just before she saw the hammer materialize in Sardonyx's hands, a pillar of water hurtle towards her, several pikes of metal and a trio of yo-yo's heading for her limbs, she brought one end to her lips and held the rod parallel to her shoulders.
The effect was instant. A single note, that despite coming from what had taken the form of a flute, was anything but the sound that a woodwind instrument could possibly make.
It was piercing, resonanting, destructive.
Sardonyx fell apart. Smoky Quartz fell apart. Garnet fell apart.
Seven Gems were left writhing on the ground in pain, each clutching at their gemstones while the note reverberated within the crystalline structure of each. It wasn't seeking to shatter them, not yet at least. The intent, and very real effect, was pain and nothing more.
The Gem lowered the flute from her lips just briefly, letting the perpetuating effect of the note do its work.
"I came to ask Peridot questions about the Cluster, whether it was time to re-evaluate its worth over studying this planet. And I was met with exactly what Yellow Diamond told me to expect. Hate. Hate for your own kind! Hate because you do not know who I am! Hate because-"
She let out a piercing wail as a set of claws and a sword was dragged through the base of her neck right down to the skirt line before falling away. The damage caused her to fall forward onto her hands and knees, flute pinned beneath her palms while she wailed again.
Finding a spot amongst the pained Gems, Lion leapt in between them and the Gem, Connie holding Rose's sword directly at the face of her enemy.
"Earth doesn't just belong to humanity! It belongs to all life that wants to be free, including Gems! Homeworld hates freedom, and we will fight any Homeworld Gem who comes to take that away from us!"
The Gem lashed herself back up, the third wail causing Lion to stumble back, and nearly made Connie fall off altogether.
It was enough of a distraction to bring the flute back up and play a different note.
It was a complete inversion of the destructive note, bringing harmony, alignment and restoration to her form, fighting back the damage done by the Gemslayer's Blade.
By the time Connie had recovered, the Gem had risen back to her feet, and was ready to jump away.
"You can't hide behind that blade forever, Connie of Earth! I will create a note that harms humans if you persist, mark my words. Shungite is here to stay!"
And with that, she leapt off into the distant sky, well out of view from the valley floor.
Connie hopped down from Lion as soon as her awareness had caught back up. "Lion, go get Greg! Please!"
Lion gruffed, pawing at the ground for a few seconds, but finally roared a portal open and departed.
In that time, she had made herself think back to the lessons from her mother about how to handle a crisis. "Okay, first rule of triage, tend to the quietest first."
Steven was groaning, rubbing around his stomach. Pearl was starting to wail as well. Peridot had recovered enough to crawl over to Lapis, who was hissing and trying to scratch at her back.
"Ruby! Ruby!"
She had yet to meet Ruby and Sapphire in their separate forms, and it was quite possibly the worst possible situation for that to happen in.
When she moved closer to the huddle of blue, she found her first case of triage.
A vicious crack had formed on Ruby's gem. Already, her form was starting to lose cohesion.
"Oh no, no no no!"
With desperation driving her own, she scooped the Gem into her arms and spun around, bolting right for Steven. She could hear Sapphire crying more, too distressed to follow.
"Steven! Wake up! Steven!"
Still bleary eyed, and pained from the attack on his Gem, he was barely able to muster enough saliva to coat Ruby's hand before muttering a question to Connie.
"The others?"
Connie was barely able to hold back her own tears, looking over at Sapphire. Eventually she laid Ruby down beside Steven to bring the tearful Gem over as well, trying very hard to ignore the pain of the frost coating her arms.
"Only one crack. Steven…" She wiped her arm across her eyes in a futile effort to keep her own vision from blurring altogether. "I'm so sorry. I should've attacked sooner."
He coughed several times before shaking his head, finally closing his eyes to wait out the pain keeping his vision obscured. "You did your best. We got too confident. She... She took advantage."
"Shungite. She's a Shungite."
"Steven! Connie!"
Pearl scrambled over, looking very bedraggled, but no longer wailing in pain at least. She gasped in horror at seeing Ruby's state, unable to take her eyes away.
The crack had stopped spreading, and some of the finer lines had started to fade, but not nearly at the speed that Steven's healing was supposed to work at.
It was still a monumental relief that Connie leapt on as an opportunity to keep all the Gems from falling further. "She's going to be okay, eventually. That sound just needs time to dissipate, and she'll be okay. Right?"
A fresh portal opened up, Lion leaping back through once again. Greg launched himself from the beast's back to where the Gems had gathered, taking up Steven's hand immediately.
"What on Earth happened?"
Before Connie could answer, Peridot clambered over, shaking her shoulder.
"Lapis stopped moving! She's not glitching, I don't know what's wrong!"
After a pained look to Greg, she dashed over with Peridot to Lapis instead. She had stopped scratching at her Gem, and with no actual skin to damage there was nothing to suggest she ever had been. But, just as described, she had ceased all movement. No poof, no glitch. Simply stuck in that form.
"We have to get all of them to Rose's Fountain. Steven's in no condition to help."
"Can you carry her to the warp pad?"
In a feat of strength that impressed even herself, Connie gradually slipped her arms under Lapis and hoisted her up. While a lot heavier than Ruby, thanks to the feigned density of her form, she was still within her capacity to move safely.
"Greg! Get Steven! Pearl, you'll have to carry Ruby! We all warp over to the Fountain one at a time!"
He nodded hastily, scooping up his son and holding him close while waiting for Sapphire to climb onto the shoulder of his woolen jumper. Pearl was close behind, Ruby curled up in her arms as well.
With the other worst cases in hand, Connie looked to Peridot and Lion. "Peridot, ride him to the Fountain warp pad, and make sure the way is still clear."
Being proud of how masterfully she had handled the aftermath was as far from her mind as Homeworld itself. With three Gems incapacitated, and three more on the move, it left her with only one thought in mind.
The one who had caused the entire mess.
In the heat of the moment, and her surge of anger at Shungite's actions, she had forgotten to check on Amethyst.
She stumbled on after the group, wincing every time the pain in her chest surged, but determined to follow on. For once in her life, she felt like she had gotten off far more easily than she deserved, and the last thing she wanted was to whine about that fact.
The others would take notice and apologize for forgetting soon enough. There was no blame to be found in that, and she understood that at long last.
"My Diamond?"
"What is it Pearl?"
Pearl swallowed slightly, arranging some tasks on her data screen before moving them aside, just as Yellow Diamond looked at her.
"White Diamond wishes to speak with you."
Yellow Diamond rolled her eyes, flicking her hand in a very dramatic way before picking up her personal communicator.
"She's finally decided to take action. Good, we've enough moping about as it is."
The screen opened up in front of her. To the further annoyance of Yellow Diamond, White was turned away from her altogether, leaving only a vague shape of her hair visible.
"Deigned to speak with your fellow Diamonds at last?"
"I would watch that tongue of yours, Yellow. Especially seeing as you have yet to apologize to Blue."
Yellow scowled quite a bit at that. "Her insistence on playing along with that farce led to an incredible breach of security! She should apologize to me for wasting precious time when I could have resolved-"
"Be silent, Yellow. I do not want to hear it."
The scowl nearly turned to anger. "Excuse me!? I am not an Agate to be ordered to silence!"
"And yet you whinge like one. I have not forgiven you for your treatment of Blue."
"And since when have I needed your forgiveness, White?"
The transmission flickered briefly, switching to a viewpoint that was further away. Still facing White Diamond's back, but now showing in her entirety. Her hands were positioned behind her back, one clasped in the other.
"Your continued obsession with an insignificant planet is bordering on becoming a hazard to the Plan. The Cluster has failed, and we are losing too many resources, including time, by meddling with the renegades and the Rose Quartz hybrid. We must return our focus to the Carbon Army, and let Project 'Cold Star Coal' continue her work."
While Yellow did reign her anger at White's attitude in, she still sneered at the mention of Shungite. "That degenerate shard will endanger the Cluster, and all progress made on resecuring Earth. And you won't even tell your fellow Diamonds the primary purpose of her mission! Why should I care?"
White Diamond's fingers clenched. For a moment, she nearly turned her head, but eventually made herself refrain from doing so. She didn't feel eye contact was deserved at that time.
"She has filed two reports within the past hour. Her first battle with the renegades has been an undeniable success, save for the human that has aligned herself with them. Shungite will adapt, and continue her mission. She will not fail where your agents so clearly have. End of discussion."
The transmission closed at that, leaving Yellow to stand up with a stamp of her foot that nearly sent Pearl flying across the dome space.
"Unbelieveable! Speaking down to me as if I were an insolent Quartz, and not her equal!"
Pearl, after recovering from the near miss, did her best to nod in a knowing way.
"Calling the only good thing to come from that miserable rock a failure, right after she uses a pathetic shard to do her work!"
"It is very distressing, my Diamond."
Yellow glared at Pearl for a long moment, before finally relenting and sitting back down.
"Put the word out to my forces. Tell them to abstain from Earth for the time being, unless directed by me personally. We must find Rose Quartz and the human she brought with her before she escapes Homeworld!"
"Yes my Diamond, immediately."
White Diamond rubbed her left temple, sighing softly as she stared out across the depths of space.
"Pearl, you may allow the transmission from Outpost Elysium through now."
Her own Pearl nodded gracefully, relaying the instructions through her own data screen. "Yes my Diamond."
A large display of the Elysium Lab feed came up in front of White Diamond that time, allowing her to speak with the attending Gems face to face.
"You have a progress report, Peridot Facet-1B81 Cut-9T?"
The Peridot named, wearing the standard limb enhancers of her era and an eyepiece over her right eye, the left taken up by her gemstone, gave a quick nod while making the appropriate Diamond gesture with her extended hands.
"Yes. Lapis Lazuli Facet-129G Cut-11 and I have made significant progress since our last status report. We believe energization will be stable within four standard rotations, though this is due to change as further reports from Project 'Cold Star Coal' come in."
"Very good. You should be pleased to know that Shungite's first battle has been an almost total success. She even survived an encounter with a human wielding the Gemslayer's Blade. You are to be commended."
Peridot blushed so hard it looked as if her head was ready to explode. "A thousand words of gratitude, my radiant Diamond. We shall all redouble our efforts on your behalf."
"Work at a pace that is efficient and precise, Peridot. I have grown tired of mistakes being made due to rushed projects. Perfection is the key, not speed."
"Yes my Diamond. We will remain focused."
The transmission closed at that, leaving White Diamond to sigh softly, still maintaining her gaze away from the expanse of Homeworld.
"They weep for that which cannot be recovered. It is futile. We must look forward, my Pearl. The constant has grown brittle, change is required to become stronger."
The white Pearl nodded silently.
"Have my ship readied. I believe it is about time I visit Elysium myself."
"Yes my Diamond, right away."
The black screen closed in around White Diamond's head, then popped altogether.
(Imgur link for Shungite, copy and paste this onto end of URL; D4blQBJ )