Chapter 1

This story has an unfortunately typical start. It was a sickeningly peaceful day in Beach City. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, and there was a pleasant breeze. The gems were relaxing at their house by the beach. Pearl was cleaning, Amethyst was being lazy, and Garnet was punching rocks, or something. At least, that's what I assume they were doing. I don't really know what their hobbies are, other then feeling a sense of heroic entitlement and beating up other gems.

Then there was the tiny gem, Steven. The little human-gem hybrid was with his little human friend, Connie. They were laughing, playing, and being nauseatingly happy with each other's existence. Puppy love. Quite frankly, I don't know how the other gems could stand it.

As they were playing, the girl's stomach began to growl.

"Oh, sorry," she said, "I must be hungry."

"I'm always hungry!" Steven replied.

That's when they decided to get donuts. They informed the other gems of their plan, and they were off.

Now, this might seem like an insignificant part of the story, but trust me. It's important.

This left the rest of the gems by themselves. They were none the wiser to the fact that I was about to come in, and turn their peaceful little worlds on their heads.

They didn't know that I was a close distance away, too far into my scheme for them to effectively stop it.

It was Pearl who would be the first to notice it. This isn't a surprise, seeing as she's the most observant of the gems. She noticed when she went outside. Although she couldn't sense the exact reason, she knew something was off.

She cautiously poked her head back inside the house.

"Does something seem a little...off to you?" she asked the other two gems. Amethyst and Garnet looked to each other and shrugged.

"Things seem fine to me," Amethyst said, "Come on, P. It's a nice day. Don't be paranoid."

But Garnet didn't say anything. With a more serious expression then usual, she followed Pearl outside. It was quiet. She let out a small grunt.

"Best to be safe," she said. Amethyst sighed, and joined the rest of the team.

And thus, the cavalry was out to get me.

"We'll split up," Garnet commanded, "We'll search, and meet back here in an hour. Got it?"

The team nodded, and went their separate ways.

The Crystal Gems were at a disadvantage in this situation. They didn't quite know what it was they were looking for. The only information they were going off of, was that something wasn't feeling quite right.

It would be Pearl who found me. She had a greater perception of the energy I was omitting. I don't know why she could sense it better then her comrades. Perhaps it was her obsessive attention to detail, or maybe it was our...history (though that is a story for another day). Whatever it was, she found me.

I was lurking on one of the bluffs overlooking the city. It was a gorgeous view, I had a clear view at the entire town. On top of that, I was just close enough where my spell could be effectively cast. I sat on the edge, concentrating my energy. Within the hour, Beach City would be mine.

I suppose an explanation of my plan may help explain what I was doing. You see, I like to think of myself as a scientist. I like to push the limits of what gem magic is capable of doing. This is what got me in trouble with the other Crystal Gems. Rose Quartz often found my experiments cruel. She liked to throw around other words. Savage, barbaric, sadistic. Perhaps her favorite word for it was unethical. Our conflict was the simple result of our conflicting principles.

Unfortunately, despite my knowledge, Rose and her team managed to beat me. Multiple times. But like any good scientist, I learned. I became more clever. I made sure I was hidden for every experiment, making myself untraceable. I stayed like this for hundreds of years.

In that time, the things I learned became invaluable. I became stronger. More cunning. More powerful.

But I needed a place to test my power. And so I did what anyone with a score to settle would do. What better way to flaunt my power, then to test it against my old enemies?

Pearl would approach me in my concentration. I wasn't alerted to her presence, until her very audible gasp.

I turned my head to see who had found me. I wasn't expecting to see her, not this early. It took me off guard, but I wasn't about to let her see that.

"Hello, Pearl," I greeted, emphasizing her name. Pearl's feature's flared. She summoned her weapon. She glared at me with pure hatred.

Like I said, there was a colorful history between us.

But that was the end of our conversation. Before I had time to properly react, Pearl raised her lance and charged at me. My eyes widened. I had seconds to react. If I knew Pearl, I knew she didn't aim for injury.

I quickly stood up and summoned my sword. I blocked her hit, and the battle had begun.

We began to exchanged blows, weapon upon weapon, both of us looking for the proper opening. I was getting visibly frustrated. I couldn't let her ruin my plans, this soon.

But as her weapon hit mine, her blows becoming dangerously close to damaging me, and idea struck. If I couldn't best her in combat, perhaps I could simply bend her to my will.

She raised her weapon, preparing another strike. Instead of moving to counter it, I ducked. I planted my sword in the earth, and I began to run away. She stumbled a bit, not expecting her foe to suddenly become a coward.

I ran fast, and I ran hard. As far as she was concerned, I'd given up. How little did she know, my movements were only a distraction. I'll give her credit on one thing, she was quick to chase me. As she chased me, when I felt the moment was right, I covertly snapped my fingers. Pearl didn't notice.

It was then that I pretended to trip. I fell to the ground, and looked behind me. Pearl loomed over me, hatred in her eyes. She raised her lance, ready to impale me.

"Can't we just sit and talk things out?" I asked.

"No," she responded.

"Are you sure?" I asked. She moved for the kill, but was stopped. Something had grabbed her.

While she was chasing me, I was concentrating on the magic in my sword. I was transforming it, into a clone of myself. The battle was now two vs. one.

"What?" She yelled. I pushed myself up, and walked over to her. I took the weapon out of her hands, and threw it on the ground. The clone grabbed her by the shoulders, and pushed her to eh ground.I smiled, and snapped my fingers.

The form of my clone changed again, this time to a rope. It wrapped itself around her wrists. She struggled against it, but it was no use. I laughed, crouching down. I pulled her by the shoulders, and held her up to my level. She looked at me again, but this time, there was no hatred in her eyes. Only fear. She knew what I was capable of, when I had the upper hand.

I debated talking to her. It was tempting to make some small talk, some condescending remark about her situation. However, Pearl was crafty. Doing that led the risk of her escaping, and I couldn't have that.

With my left hand, I grabbed her gently by the neck. Not enough to suffocate her, of course, just enough to show her who was boss. She tried to act brave, but I could feel her shaking. With my other hand, I placed it over her gem.

"What are you..." But her sentence was cut short, as I released my magic into her gem.

She screamed a deafening scream, but it couldn't help her. However, her scream soon ceased, as the process only took a short minute. As it was done, she fell to the ground. I released her, and stood back up. I snapped my fingers, and her bindings disappeared.

"Pearl," I asked. Her eyes opened, and she looked at me. Not with anger of fear, but obedience. She stood up, and bowed to me. I smiled.

I had gained myself a puppet.

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