Here's chapter three! This one might be boring because there isn't any action but you might find the information provided to be of interest.
"Are you ok, Sapphy?!"
"Yes Ruby, I'm ok. How about you, are you ok?"
"Who cares! Are you sure you are fine?!"
"Yes, I'm sure." Sapphire took one of Ruby's large hands in her own tiny ones to comfort her. "And I care about you."
After Ruby had sucker-punched the robot into a deep sea grave, she had hurried over to check on the recovering Sapphire, practically forgetting about the other injured Gems and Greg. Fortunately for them, the children and Peridot to over on making sure they were fine.
"Dad! Are you ok?" Steven wrapped his arms around Greg and gave his father a hug, not caring he was dripping wet from his swim in the ocean.
"Yeah, I'm fine." reassured Greg, hugging his son. He turned to where Connie was helping Pearl up. "What about you guys? You got it worse than me."
"We are fine, Greg." It was a bit difficult to be convinced, though, especially when she was leaning on Connie for support.
"Are you sure?" questioned Steven worriedly, noticing that Pearl's white skin had a few dark blue bruises marring it. "Maybe I should try my healing spit?" he offered even though there was no guaranteed it would work.
"That won't be necessary, Steven. These bruises will heal quicker than on any human." Steven looked unsure but he accepted it.
Peridot was checking Lapis and Amethyst over, deeming them to be not seriously harmed.
"Ruby, for the last time I'm fine," Sapphire was actually starting to lose her patience with Ruby.
"But Sapphire!"
"Ruby, you should probably direct that concern to the others since they were more affected than us."
Ruby blinked and looked at the others, shame and guilt coloring her expression. When separated, she always focused solely on Sapphire as if no one else existed but them, completely ignoring her friends. Despite only interacting with them as Garnet most of the time, Ruby and Sapphire cared for them all, especially Steven.
"Um, you guys are ok, right?" asked Ruby nervously, walking up to them.
"We're fine, Ruby. Thank you for your concern." said Pearl. "What about you and Sapphire?"
"We're fine, Pearl." answered Sapphire. "Though, the experience was less than pleasant."
"Yeah, it was worse than when Jasper hit us with the Destabilizer." Ruby shuddered. Sapphire hugged her comfortingly and Ruby returned the embrace. Their forms melded into light as they fused and Garnet stood once again before them.
"CONNIE!"
Connie looked up in surprise as her parents sprinted down the beach toward them, panic evident on their faces.
"Mom? Dad?"
Dr. Maheswaran dropped to her knees before her daughter and hugged her tightly. "You're alright! What happened here? It looks like a warzone here!" she asked frantically as her husband joined the hug. The description wasn't too wrong despite the exaggeration. Apart from the crater the pod made, hey were deep furrows and upturned sand on the battle area.
"We were attacked by a dangerous robotic unit designed to shatter renegade Gems sent here by order of the governing authority of our former Homeworld."
Doug and Priyanka had looks of shock and terror on their faces as Priyanka subconsciously tightened her grip on her daughter.
"Uh, maybe we should go back to the house and explain them everything," suggested Greg, not entirely happy at Peridot's tactless explanation.
"I agree," nodded Garnet and silently walked back to the temple with the other Gems following her. Steven stayed back a bit to help Connie snap her parents out of their terrified stupor and they all followed the Gems back to the temple.
With Jasper
Jasper followed Unit XJ17 far away from the rocky shore to a small forested area. The killing unit guided the warrior through the thick woods until they came upon a medium-sized clearing and became still, waiting. A few moments later, something covered he moonlight, blanketing the clearing in shadows. The black patella ship descended from the skies and touched down on the clearing coming to a complete stop.
Once the ship was still, Unit XJ17 advanced again with Jasper trailing behind. They stood on side of the ship, the GLD Unit then lifting a hand and pressed it to the ship's hull. The section it had touched glowed and a door opened up to allow them in.
They passed various corridors filled with cells not unlike the ones that the Hand Ship had and arrived to the control room. Black Spinel was sitting on her chair, facing away from them as they entered, her gaze fixed on the screen before her. She was once again playing the battle between the Crystal Gems and Unit XJ10, studying every detail thoroughly.
Once the video had finished and the screen vanished, Black Spinel addressed the others. "Unit XJ17, you may leave to await future orders." The robot silently obeyed, leaving the two Gems alone.
Black Spinel lifted herself from her chair and turned to face Jasper. The shadows no longer obscured her form, allowing Jasper to see her full appearance. She was seven feet tall with a large chest and curvy hips. Her skin was pitch black with her hair being as dark as space, reaching just below her neck and styled in a spiky style. She wore a dark gray full body suit, just a few shades lighter than her skin, with pale gray gloves that reached her elbows and knee-length boots. Draped over her shoulders was a black hooded cape with the cowl lowered and a clasp shaped like a yellow diamond. Her Gem was oval-shaped with various facets and was visible thanks to a hole on the right side of her chest.
Her eyes glinted with a golden light as she gazed at Jasper with serious look on her face. A moment later, the corners of her mouth twitched upwards into a small smirk.
"Jasper," she greeted.
"Black Spinel," the warrior nodded back. "You were replaying the battle the whole way here?"
"Indeed I have," she confirmed. "You must agree that the situation is unprecedented so it is of great intrigue to me. Studying the battle in detail may give me information on how this hybrid creature thinks and allow me to create the best strategy to capture it."
"I don't know why you waste time coming up with a strategy when you can just send a squad of your Units to capture it." Jasper believed that would work. They only defeated the Unit because they got lucky so they certainly stood no chance against more than one.
"Hmm, perhaps I could do that," Spinel appeared to be considering. "But if I may remind you something, we are not facing an ordinary renegade. This creature is a mystery to us and we do not know its abilities. The simple fact that it possesses Rose Quartz's Gem suggests that it has her powers and there's no need to remind you how powerful she was. There's also the possibility that the creature has abilities unknown to us so it would be unwise of us to go into battle without knowing the enemy's weakness."
Jasper growled I annoyance but knew Spinel had a point. It would be disastrous to charge in without any Intel on this thing. He had made the mistake of underestimating it once and she had ended trapped as a horrid fusion under the ocean by Lazuli.
She sighed in defeat and looked at Spinel firmly. "What do you suggest we do?"
Spinel smirked as Jasper started to see her way. "First, you will tell me everything about your encounters with these Gems and then I'll do some investigating on my own."
Back at the Temple
Priyanka nd Doug weren't sure what to expect from this 'Temple' where Steven and his family lived. The huge, multi-armed woman carved into the mountain came close to their minds but not the small, wooden house built just below it. The inside was fairly normal except for the crystal platform and the odd door on the back. Later, once they had returned home, Connie would tell them that the whole house was in reality Steven's 'room' while the Gems lived inside the Temple (except for Peridot and Lapis who lived in a barn owned by Greg).
At the moment, Priyanka, Doug and Connie were sitting on the couch with Steven next to Connie and the other Gems standing before them. Pearl had served them some tea to help them relax, also taking a cup for herself. The Gems proceeded to relate how a pod had crashed their beach party and what Peridot described as a robot designed to kill Gems came out, attacked them and soundly defeated all the Gems minus Peridot. It was only a stroke of luck that the robot had hesitated in attacking Steven, allowing the children to fight back until help arrived.
"There's the possibility that the Unit might return," explained Peridot, drawing everyone's attention. "They possess a self a self-repairing application but it is related to the amount of damage sustained. The damage it sustained could have been enough to deactivate the function but that isn't certain. And even if that particular Unit is down, the additional ibooms/i indicate that more than one was sent."
"Then Connie shouldn't come here anymore, at least until this had been dealt with," declared Doug.
"I also think she will be safer away from here." Priyanka didn't really want to separate Connie from Steven but this appeared to be a more dangerous situation than a few rampant Gem experiments.
"But-" began Steven but Connie beat him to it.
"No way!" Connie stated loudly, quickly getting up from the couch to stand in front of her parents. "I am Steven's knight and I'm not letting him fight these things alone." Her words were firm and resolute, making them realize that she wasn't giving them an option. One way or another, she will come back to Steven's side, weather they wanted it or not.
"Yeah, and I can protect her!" added Steven proudly. "Connie and I are a team and we are much stronger together.
"Either way, she wouldn't be safe," added Peridot, seriously. "All the Units are connected to each other by a data network that's also linked to whoever sent them. If one is defeated the others receive the battle data and learn from it."
"Besides, if the Gem who sent them has the data of our fight then they might know about Connie and will likely make her a target." Pearl reasoned, adding her own two cents. "At least with us she has a chance of fighting back."
"Sigh, I can't argue with that," sighed Priyanka and she hugged Connie. "Just promise me that you'll be careful, honey."
"I will, Mom," Connie hugged her back.
"You better make sure nothing bad happens to her, Steven," warned Doug fiercely, fixing his gaze on the Universe boy.
"I promise," said Steven with serious face, nodding.
After finishing their tea, the Maheswarans left, promising to bring Connie tomorrow. After they left, Steven yawned signifying he was tired and went to take a shower. Soon afterwards he was decked out in his pajamas and snoring away on his bed. Greg decided to crash on the couch for tonight while Amethyst went to her room with Peridot and Lapis in tow, Garnet having convinced them to stay in the beach house for their safety. Once they had left, Pearl turned to Garnet, worry in her features."
"Garnet, if what Peridot says is true, then a Homeworld Gem must either be on near Earth or on the planet itself. Can you see anything?"
"I have been trying for a while but for some reason my future vision is blurry," she answered, concentrating hard to see any glimpses but failing. She frowned. "I don't like it. Only certain powerful Gems could hide themselves from my vision and if one of them if here then I fear we are in greater danger."
Fear and worry threatened to swallow Pearl and she desperately tried to hold it back as to not appear weak. But it was useless as she couldn't stop the terror coursing through her mind and heart. If Garnet was correct then a Gem whose power could almost compare to the Diamonds was after them; Gem even more powerful than Lapis or Jasper, the kind only Rose Quartz could have a chance to defeat. But Rose was gone and Steven hadn't even awakened all of his powers.
'What if these robots manage to kill us? What if who sent the robots came themselves? What if instead of killing Steven, they decide to experiment on him?'
"Pearl!"
Garnet's voice snapped Pearl out of her dark images and she looked up to see her image reflected on her friend's shades. Pearl was surprised to see tears on her cheeks and gasped when Garnet pulled her into a hug. She stood frozen for a second then gave in, burying her face in Garnet's chest, weeping.
"Shhh is alright, I'm here," said the fusion soothingly. "We'll come through."
"How?" sobbed Pearl. "We don't even know what we are up against!"
"True but we need to have faith in ourselves and in Steven. He is far stronger than any of us realize, so are the others. We must believe in them."
The words didn't completely relieve Pearl's anguish but she was a bit more calm and hopeful, especially since she was in Garnet's arms.
The next morning
After breakfast, Garnet gathered everyone around to discuss how to tackle the situation. It was decided that no one was to go out alone and at least one Gem will be with Steven at all times. Pearl suggested going to Rose's Armory for any useful weaponry and bringing out the Light Cannons with Peridot saying she could make adjustments for easier mobility.
"It might be also a good idea to retrieve that blaster I installed on the drill, it could be useful."
Mr. Maheswaran came over to drop Connie off before heading for work and everyone was shocked to see a handgun strapped to his hip.
"Y-You own a GUN!?" was all Greg could say as he stared with wide eyes.
"I belong to a gun owner club and go from time to time to brush up on my aim," Doug explained seriously. "I mostly keep it locked up but Priyanka and I decided to keep it at hand for protection."
"I am not sure that would work." said Lapis, skeptically. "Your weapon seems too primitive to go against something so advanced."
"What do you think Peridot?" asked Pearl. "You're more familiar with these GLD Units than the rest of us."
"In theory, any weapon could disable them depending on where they hit. I suggest aiming at the back of their heads to damage their processing units or the chest to their power source."
Mr. Maheswaran took the advice to heart and knelt to hug Connie goodbye, telling her to be careful. Then he stood up and walked out the door to go to work. Once gone, Steven told Connie about their plans.
"I'll help anyway I can," she declared firmly.
"Good, then you can come with us and Steven to get stuff from Rose's Armory," she indicated herself and Pearl. "Lapis and Amethyst can go to the barn with Peridot to help dismantle the blaster from the drill."
Everyone nodded at the leader's orders and the AmeLapiDot trio warped to the barn. Before the others could hop on the warp pad, though, a portal opened and out strode Lion.
"Lion!" exclaimed Steven, running to hug his friend. "Where were you? You missed the beach party!"
"His presence could have been useful in fighting that thing," said Pearl annoyed as she frowned and crossed her arms.
"Well, he's here now and he can help us fight the robots," said Garnet, placing a calming hand on Pearl's shoulder.
"Oh, I know! He can warp us to Mom's armory so that we don't have to climb that mountain," Steven then addressed Lion. "Lion, can you please warp us to the cave where Mom has her weapons? There may be a bunch of dangerous robots out there and we need some stuff to defend ourselves."
Lion looked at Steven expressionlessly for a few moments then roared up a portal. The Gems and children climbed on his back and the pink beast hoped through, the portal vanishing a second later.
Rose's Armory
Inside the cave, another portal appeared out of thin air and out flew Lion, skidding a distance across the wet floor before coming to a stop. Garnet, Pearl, Steven and Connie hopped off and headed towards the circular platform with the pink hand pedestal on the center. Amethyst had decided to stay back to help Peridot and Lapis upgrade Peridot's laser.
"I haven't been here since that Robot Shooting Thing attacked us," commented Connie.
The group stood before the hand pedestal and Garnet motioned for Steven to place his hand on the pedestal. The boy complied and the whole platform lit up, the weapons and armor rising up from below.
"Steven, turn your hand slightly clockwise," instructed Pearl. "There's a lower level where Rose stored her most powerful weapons."
Steven nodded and turned his hand a bit to the right. A section of the floor glowed then vanished, revealing a staircase going down and the quartet descended various feet into the mountain
Connie and Steven gasped in amazement as they entered a fairly large chamber. Various crystals lit up the space, showing a number of crystalline cases that stored weapons within them. Some of the weapons were easy to identify like swords, axes and bows but a lot of them were like nothing the children had seen before.
"Wow, Mom sure had a lot of weapons," Steven said a little uneasy. Though he knew his mother had been a warrior Gem and had fought wars, he still found shocking that a Gem as kind and loving as she was described had such a large arsenal of weapons at her disposal.
"Steven, your mother truly believed peace was the best answer," said Garnet, likely picking up on Steven's uneasiness. "But even she knew that violence sometimes was inevitable."
Steven looked at his mentor figure in surprise but he nodded seriously, understanding what she was saying.
Connie was in awe, turning around in circles to take in everything in the weapons' vault. She felt like she was at a museum gazing at an exhibit about ancient fantastical weapons. Considering how long ago the Rebellion happened, she wasn't far off.
The girl suddenly paused and turned toward one of the display cases on the far wall. Moving as if in a trance, Connie walked over to the case and stood before it, gazing at what it contained. Inside were various armor sets consisting of breastplates and armbands, each a different size and color. Their most striking feature was that they sparkled slightly, as if made of crystals.
Pearl noticed her student gazing into the case and her eyes slightly widened in surprise when she realized what was inside. Shaking off her shock, the knight went to stand next to her pupil who didn't take her eyes of from the armor.
"What is this armor made of?" asked Connie. "It doesn't look like any metal I know."
"That's because there not made of anything found on Earth," explained Pearl. "It's made using crystalinite, a material not native of this galaxy."
The others came over as Pearl continued her explanation. "Crystalinite is virtually indestructible and we use it to construct things like weapons or ships. Your mother's sword, her Light Cannons and the Crystal Heart are made of crystalinite."
"I didn't know Gems used armor," said Steven, looking back and forth between the armor and his guardians. "You guys never use any."
"Gem soldiers don't need armor because our bodies are fairly resistant to damage." explained Garnet. "But the rebellion consisted mostly of non-warrior Gems so when the war began to worsen, Rose had armor made of crystalinite be made and given to those who would need the protection. It proved to be useful as we could store it inside our Gems and summon it like our weapons. Some of us began calling it Crystal Armor and it stuck."
Connie kept gazing at the Crystal Armor as she processed their history in her mind. She remained silent for a few more seconds before finally taking her gaze of the armor and asked her teacher. "Could I wear a set?"
The question surprised everyone present, except Garnet since she had seen the possibility, albeit it had been small. Recovering her voice, Pearl addressed the girl. "I suppose you can, I mean, nothing about should harm you."
Smiling, Connie turned back to the cabinet, her eyes shifting from one set of armor to the next, excited at the prospect of wearing magical armor like the heroes she read about. Her gaze then feel on a set colored dark blue, seemingly of her size. Connie couldn't explain it, but she felt drawn to it, as if something was calling to her.
"What about that one?"
When Pearl looked at the armor Connie indicated, her face shifted first to surprise then sadness. "That one belonged to Coral." She said quietly. "She was my student back during the war."
Connie tore her gaze away from the armor to look at Pearl in surprise. Steven was also shocked while Garnet remained impassive, knowing the story. None of them spoke as Pearl continued.
"She wasn't very strong or powerful and she tended to get anxious around big crowds but she was smart, brave and determined, always eager to prove herself. In fact, you and her were very similar, Connie." She smiled briefly as she remembered but it didn't last long. "She got shattered during the war and I couldn't do anything about it." Pearl weep silently as Garnet came over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder with Steven and Connie hugging her.
Eventually, Pearl calmed down and gave them a grateful look. She then reached into the cabinet and took out Coral's armor, kneeling before Connie as she presented it to the girl.
"I think Coral would have wanted her armor to be worn by another skilled swordfighter."
Connie was once again surprised, this time because her teacher was willing to give her something that had belonged to her former apprentice. But as her gaze meet Pearl's, she saw pride and faith reflected in them and realized that Pearl believed in her being worthy of it.
"It would be an honor."
This chapter was longer originally but I decided to leave the rest for chapter four. At least we now know what Black Spinel looks like (I'll be making a picture of her soon). Connie's dad owning a gun was an idea I had for a while since he's supposed to be a security guard. I came up with the crystalinite because I always thought that Rose's sword was made of something not from Earth and the Crystal Armor as I call it was something I had in my mind for a while. Coral is a Gem I came up at the moment because I needed an owner for the armor Connie got and I thought making her Pearl's former apprentice was a cool backstory. Anyway, chapter four might be up soon so in the meantime read, review favorite and follow!