Shades of Pink
Chapter 1
Different Earth's
Beaming wide, Steven took the hand that was offered to him. Gwendolyn pulled him to his feet. A frown made its way onto Steven's face as he realized an unknown person with magic powers was in front of him. His explanation for this in his head was that a new Gem was on Earth.
Steven threw his arm up and cried out, "Get away from me!" Much to his and Gwendolyn's surprise, beneath his shirt a glow emanated. A pink sphere had materialized around him.
Gwendolyn stared in confusion, but Steven himself was more bewildered. Gwendolyn and Steven then had to turn their attention back to the situation at hand when they heard a loud cry. They watched as a punch from the largest of the other three crystalline beings sent the octopus zooming down the beach.
Gwendolyn took this one in with a single glance. Her skin tone was a shade of pink. She had a dark cube shaped afro and was wearing a visor that was a gradient between pink and blue. It was clear this was a color theme with her, judging from her bodysuit and armor. Her left leg was a shade of dark red with the left being a dark blue. Her torso was adorned with a chest plate. On the left side of it was a dark pink star with another star spreading out from it a lighter shade of pink. The rest of the armor piece was shade of pink lighter than the second star. She had two shoulder pads; a dark shade of red-blue and armed with large gauntlets that were pink, dark blue, and black and a large yellow star on the top.
Taking in her glance she said to Gwendolyn, "Garnet" As a way of greeting before she dashed down the beach after the octopus, who in the meantime had risen into the air. Despite taking a massive leap, Garnet, as she assumed that was her name, failed to hit the monster.
Gwendolyn took a few steps forward and with a grasped fist shining pink, she lashed out. From her fist a stream of energy emerged and luckily, Gwendolyn managed to ensnare the beast. Her makeshift whip wrapped around it as she pulled squeezing the beast and making it squeal. As she pulled the thing thrashed and made it impossible for her to pull it down.
Gritting her teeth she tried to focus on keeping her whip solid otherwise it would fade away. Help arrived as a black whip studded with purple crystal spikes zoomed through the air winding around the octopus. Looking sideways Gwendolyn saw the second whip wielder next to her.
Her skin tone was a pale purple and she had long white hair with purple tones in it. She wore white ankle high boots, black leggings with star shaped holes on the knees, and a purple tunic on her torso. There was a strap cast off her shoulder also revealing a black strap. Her top was a little low which showed a large purple gem on her chest that Gwendolyn could tell was throwing off magic. The second whip wielder nodded at her, "Sup! Name's Amethyst. Okay, with me, on three we pull this sucka down!"
"Amethyst, we don't know who or what she is!" The shout came from behind them. Gwendolyn looked long enough to see it was a tall figure comparable to her in height. Her skin tone was white with subtle hints of a pale blue in it. Her forehead had a large, round, white gem set into it that, again, drew Gwendolyn's curiosity as she could feel magic coming from it. She wore a teal tunic with a satin ribbon sash wound around her waist. On her legs were short yellow leggings with pale pink socks, and ballet shoes the same color as her tunic. A crystal spear the same color as her shoes and tunic was in her grip.
Looking back at Amethyst, she saw her roll her eyes. "The lame's one, Pearl. Ignore her for now."
"HEY!"
Came an indignant cry as Amethyst went on, "And again, with me. Ready?" Gwendolyn nodded as Amethyst counted as the octopus thrashed around in desperation. "One, two, THREE!" The two heaved as they slammed the squealing monster into the dirt. Gwendolyn's whip fazed away, and much to her shock, Amethyst's also burst into sparkles before it too vanished.
Looking back at Amethyst, she blinked astonished as the gem on her chest glowed and the handle for what had to be a new whip phased out of it. She was right as Amethyst pulled it out and tossed it forward. Before either of them could do anything else, Pearl hurtled past them with a cry. Pearl launched herself at the enemy slashing at the monster.
Garnet hadn't been idle either. As soon as the creature hit the dirt she was right at its face punching it. After the fourth or so punch, the thing had come back its senses lashing out its tentacles. It spun in a circle rapidly knocking Pearl and Garnet away.
Seeing this Steven cried out his bubble vanishing with a pop. Gwendolyn looked at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the matter at hand. Seeing the creature rise into the sky, Gwendolyn narrowed her eyes. Knowing the whip method wasn't a good tactic she took a few steps forward and raised her left hand. It glowed as her magic symbol appeared before it.
The four were in awe at the sight and what happened next surprised them even more. Her voice held a slight echo to it as she chanted, "Tempestus Impaetus!" A bolt of pink lightning came down from out of nowhere and struck the octopus dead on. The creature dropped and twitched, but it wasn't down for the count yet.
Gwendolyn called out to the other four as she kept an eye on the creature, "Any ideas for this guy?"
Garnet snapped out of her stupor calling back, "We need to damage its physical form so that it retreats to its true form."
Gwendolyn, confused, frowned at this, thinking ok…? Speaking aloud she said, "OK, so let's stop elemental attacks and get physical. Well, to a point." Hands glowing lightly, the glow shifted becoming pink orbs. The four blinked at this as she made throwing motions. To their surprise, the orb duplicated itself as the copy launched at the octopus.
Garnet and Pearl moved so they were in close range with their two teammates and watched as Gwendolyn threw bolt after bolt at the thing. They wondered how she was using bubbles to attack. Granted they seemed to be a lot more stable, even if after striking they vanished. Still this stranger was a mystery to them.
After the sixth hit, the creature squealed and from its mouth a glow began to shine as it charged up an attack. Recognizing it for what it was, Gwendolyn began to act but she wasn't the only one.
Steven moved forward standing next to Gwendolyn as she took a stance. The glow from before ignited under his shirt once again and without thinking, he raised his right arm. A white disc with a faint pink tone began to materialize. At that same moment, Gwendolyn was chanting "vortress nebulae." She conjured up an invisible force spell that glowed a faint pink in her left hand. They both raised their weapons bringing Steven's disc and Gwendolyn's barrier together.
As their magics' intersected, the whole area lit up like a shining pink star, the glow everywhere. All five of them stared as the white disc now had Gwendolyn's symbol painted onto it. Their amazement didn't last long, as the octopus launched its attack. It was no surprise that the new shield had done its job. When the attack hit, a shock wave burst from the shield knocking all six combatants off their feet. In the octopus' case, out of the air.
As the dust settled, the pink glow faded the disc hovering in the air for a moment. Gwendolyn's symbol disappeared after a couple moments, turning into white sparkles. Being the first to recover, Garnet looked up the octopus which now laid in the sand with its eyes closed. She was concerned. Not by what had just happened, but what had come before it. Still, there was a more pressing matter to attend to.
Garnet got up launching herself forward punching the octopus. From where she had connected her fist with the creature, the opposite end of its body bulged out like a squeezed balloon. It made one last, low pitched squeal before it exploded in a burst of smoke; complete with a 'poof' noise. As the cloud went up something came soaring out into the air.
Gwendolyn took note of the speck in the sky and with telekinesis, she gestured. From the speck's flight path it halted making a bee-line to the right much to the others astonishment. It hovered in her hands as Gwendolyn raised an eyebrow.
It was some sort of crystal that was, according to her senses, radiating mana. But something felt off... Looking closer, Gwendolyn realized the stone had been damaged. Unable to help herself, she closed her eyes and opened them making them glow to get a more detailed look at the crystal. Hopefully, she could fix the damage.
Sadly she realized she couldn't, not even knowing how it looked. She turned towards the others. They looked at her with warily. Gwendolyn blinked as she looked at the four of them and then back at the crystal in her grip. The glow faded from her eyes as she said, "Huh."
She gave a start as she realized why the others might be staring at her. She was a stranger. They didn't know anything about her. She could do what was probably bizarre if amazing things and for all they knew she might be an enemy. Tossing the crystal to Amethyst, who caught it, Gwendolyn said, "My name's Gwendolyn Tennyson. Don't worry, I'm not here to harm you."
The four exchanged looks and it was the little boy who broke the silence. "I say we trust her. I mean she could have attacked us along with the octopus thing. Besides..." He flashed a hesitant smile her way which she confidently returned. "She looks pretty nice."
He walked up to Gwendolyn and held out his hand, "Nice to meet you, Gwendolyn. I'm Steven Universe."
She took it, smiling. "Nice to meet all of you." She looked at them all still smiling getting mixed reactions.
Garnet and Amethyst were indifferent, but Pearl still seemed hesitant. She looked back at Steven and said, "I think I know what happened to me, so I'd like to talk to you all about some stuff. If that's ok? You guys probably want to do the same to me." She added in that last part taking note of their questioning looks. "Do you have someplace private we can all talk?"
Steven shrugged as a small frown appeared on his face, "The Temple is a good place." Getting no sign of refusal from the others, Steven turned and led the way.
They approached the cliff Gwendolyn had been on earlier rounding the corner. She couldn't stop herself from analyzing the statue of a four armed woman that was carved into the side of the wall. There was even a modern house built into it.
Following along, they climbed up and into the house. Gwendolyn rose an eyebrow at the way the house appeared. It was half modern and then the way it just went into crystalline temple motif. She was intrigued at the magic she sensed in the stone. It almost feels like computer circuitry, she thought to herself as she saw the others grouped together on the couch.
She smiled as she began to speak, "Ok, so have any of you heard of the Plumbers? And I don't mean maintenance workers."
"Well," he said with a small frown, "If they're a band, I could ask my dad. He might know them?"
"Do you know of Ben 10?" Gwendolyn asked still assessing everything.
"Ben who?" Amethyst blinked.
From where she was sitting, Pearl spoke, "I'm sorry, but none of those things strike my memory."
"I figured this was the case," Gwendolyn let out an exasperated sigh, "So I AM on another Earth."
Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven blinked, but Garnet merely raised an eyebrow. As Gwendolyn sat down on the couch she asked, "You're from another reality?'
"Yes," Gwendolyn nodded, "A parallel universe with its own Earth. In my universe humans know about Aliens and they even live with us. We have a countless variety scattered all across the different planets in the universe. Plumbers are an organization that acts as an intergalactic police force. I was a serving officer of this organization."
Pearl scrutinized her at this, "How do you have magical abilities of your own, then?"
"I am human," Gwendolyn smiled, "but my powers come down to me through my family tree. My grandmother, Verdona, is an alien called an Anodite. Anodite's are free spirits composed of pure mana. Anodites will do as they will, even creating false bodies to use as they see fit." She explained taking note of the way the four exchanged looks.
"Mana is the life energy that all living things have and it's what the system of magic works off of in my universe. The first method is just manipulating mana. An example of this is creating force fields to attack, defend, or use as platforms to get around on. The other method is by using true names. Names are power, and by knowing a true name you can have power over it and guide it as needed."
Garnet, who had been staring blankly at the wall ahead taking this all in, looked at her suddenly. Sharply she asked "Then why are you here?" She had a sudden foreboding and was hoping that it didn't mean trouble.
Gwendolyn sighed. "Telling you the whole story would take forever. I'll try and give you guys the short version. For about two periods of time with a break between them, I've worked with my cousin who is a big time superhero in my world. With the help of a transformation device called the Omnitrix, he's known as Ben 10. If I was on my Earth I knew you would have heard of him. Anyways, when I finished high school and with the help of a special program, I got into an Ivy League college called Friedkin University. Little did I realize the place had a magical nature and problems of its own. The situation forced me to have my own superhero persona which I had back when I was 10 years old. It was when I ran into magic the first few times. I called myself Lucky Girl. I went on with my life as best as I could. Despite certain problems…" She trailed off thinking of Darkstar, Charmcaster, and the Rooters incident.
"Sorry. Anyways, my magic continued to improve with the help of an old enemy named Hex who became an ally as well as my favorite teacher. When one of the founding figures of the magical arts, Bezel, came into the picture I got even better. A while ago a group of magic users called the Casting Council, a group that manages magic throughout my universe and all its realms, reached out to me. A mutated demon going by Thought Twister was on the loose and they needed my help in catching it. I chased it down at a mystic crossroads and there was an accident. Next thing I knew, I was here."
"So, you know my basic story." She said taking a breath and then asked them. "Do you mind telling me yours? Given what I've seen and what happened earlier," she said referring to when she and Steven had mixed magics. "I may be better off knowing how stuff is here before I trip over my own feet."
Garnet stared at her a moment before she nodded. "Agreed."
Pearl fiddled with clasped fingers before saying, "It is only fair, I suppose."
Amethyst shrugged, "Meh."
Steven nodded.
"We are a type of alien called Gems," Garnet said. "We come in many different types and have special abilities that vary."
Gwendolyn looked her over, then at Amethyst and Pearl. Particularly at their gems on their forehead and torso and back to Garnet again. "I take it you don't have real physical forms? Considering what I'm sensing from the Gems integrated into your person?"
There was a moment of silence before Garnet nodded. "Correct. Our bodies are only an illusion. They are forms we take to interact with the physical world and we can regenerate as needed. Provided our gems aren't severely damaged in any way…"
At that moment, Gwendolyn realized what the stone she had handled earlier had once been and what had happened to it…. She sighed., "So, what are you doing here? I doubt this is your home world."
Pearl exchanged a look with Garnet while Amethyst stared at the ceiling. Steven frowned as he answered, "The Gems and I are here to protect the planet."
Gwendolyn looked at them reading between the tension. "You're here to stop your kind from doing as they please with the Earth." It wasn't a question but a statement of fact, though she was less than happy about it.
Garnet sighed as the others jumped in surprise, "Yes. Our kind was here well over a thousand years ago before our leader, Rose Quartz, took a stand and we drove them off. We've been here protecting the planet ever since."
Gwendolyn smiled and looked around, "Is she here? May I meet her?"
Steven looked at Gwendolyn with a sad smile as Amethyst shook her head. Garnet frowned as she stared at the floor and Pearl looked towards a painting above the front door. She followed Pearl's gaze staring at the painting. She saw a woman with large pink hair styled in curls and dressed in a white dress with pink ruffles. On her belly her dress had a star shaped hole with a pink gem set where the belly button would be.
It was Pearl who said in a small voice, "That's… not possible."
Gwendolyn looked at the painting and back to Pearl before Steven diverted her attention. The thirteen year old boy said, "When my dad, a human, met my mom, they had me. But... She had to give up her physical form to bring me into the world." Steven raised his t-shirt a little showing his pink gem. The same one Rose had in the painting where his belly button would be.
She smiled at Steven, "You're a hybrid then. That must be difficult for you." She placed a hand on his knee and Steven smiled at her. For some reason this irritated Pearl a bit.
Pearl got Gwendolyn to retract her hand when she asked, "Gwendolyn, do you think the Plumbers would be able to help us?"
The sorceress blinked at the Gem. "I could appeal to them, but I'm not exactly sure if they would or not.
Pearl frowned at her with this comment. Gwendolyn looked at her awkwardly which the other three noticed. There was dead silence for a few minutes before it broke, a brief surge of questions bursting forth like a dam.
"So you have lots of aliens on your Earth, right? Is the food any good?"
"You're a superhero right? And your cousin's one too? That is SO COOL!"
Gwendolyn tried fielding the questions from Amethyst and Steven. It went on like this for two minutes before Garnet cut them off. "ENOUGH!"
The group of four looked at Garnet.
"None of that matters right now. Our priority should be helping Gwendolyn track down Thought Twister and helping her get back to her own reality." The three traded embarrassed looks while Gwendolyn looked on, more than a little bewildered.
Getting some equilibrium back she said, "That may take a while. The demon's good at hiding. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Garnet let out a breath tensing and with a shout cried, "PERIDOT!" The group stared blankly at her unaware of the seagull outside.
Its eyes glowed dark orange as it watched and listened to everything as it flapped its wings in the air.
From afar, Thought Twister dismissed its puppet with a gesture. The seagull dropped from the air with a screech as the demon wondered how it would be best to handle this…