Chapter Six: Incompatible..?

Mesa Heights

???, Earth

Bloodstone's gem stopped glowing the second she got hold of Opal's hand. "Why is this so frustrating?!"

Opal took her hand back. "I don't know. Everyone that fuses with me does it quickly. We've been dancing for two minutes, and I don't even want to know how long we've been at it overall. Are you sure you can fuse?"

"Of course I can. Do you really think I would be an Era Two?"

"Well, you said you were in space for, what, a few thousand years?"

"Uh… I'm not sure if it really was that long, but it felt like it."

"I don't know what to say to that."

Orange Diamond Moon Colony

Io, Jupiter

The door opened and Axinite stepped through accompanied by two Biggs Jaspers. "I assume you know why I came to you."

The Diamond, although much of a coward, was visibly frustrated. "I do."

"A single army isn't enough for me." The megalomaniac licked her lips. A small victory was almost in her hands.

"So you want a Prism?"

"A custom one, yes."

"And why exactly do I have to do it?"

"Our Bismuths are working on more important matters."

Orange Diamond sighed. "Custom? What do you want?"

"I want it to create regular Gems. Not just monsters made out of light -- real Gems. It will be fine if they have to disappear after some time."

"Do you have Brown Diamond's permission?"

Axinite stifled a laugh. "Of course."

"Then I will need the payment right now." Orange Diamond held her hand out.

Axinite placed a pouch in her massive hand. The Diamond took a peek inside.

There were numerous Gem shards inside. They gleamed in the light.

Orange Diamond stood. "What type of sick joke is this?"

Axinite didn't try to not laugh this time. "It's not a joke. Those are real. And you will accept them unless you want to meet the same pitiful demise. I won't feel sorry as I watch you burn. If I can shatter her, you know I'm capable of doing it again." Axinite had her drill to Orange Diamond's gem, which was slightly below her right knee. "I know you don't want that."

"...I will do it."

"Nice to see that you changed your mind. But just know that doing so much as telling anyone will bring about the same results."

Mesa Heights

???, Earth

"This is too hard!"

"Maybe if you would try to get in sync..!"

"I am!"

"Then do it better!"

Serendibite closed the door behind him. "You're acting like an old married couple."

Both replied in unison. "Shut up!"

The two looked at each other.

"At least we can agree on one thing!"

"Don't shut up!"

"Guys, calm down. You can try again tomorrow. It's pretty late."

Bloodstone opened the door. "Who's to say tomorrow will be better?"

"Have some faith. As an old friend told me, things can change with time."

"Or maybe a Bloodstone and a Black Opal aren't compatible."

"That's not possible. Opal is an Era One and you're an Era Three. That's basically the same. And besides, I've seen those two types fuse before."

"It wasn't fun being Fire Opal."

"Noted."

Strawberry Battlefield

Norway, Earth

"Here we are."

The first Gem stepped off the ship, careful with the giant strawberries nearby.

This Gem was wearing a vest. The sides were dark purple and a diamond of the same color was on his chest. A blue-green gemstone was embedded just below the diamond. His skin was the same color with streaks of teal on his face and arms. His hair and eyes, too, were almost the same, but were darker. He wore gloves similar to the ones Diamonds wore and his gray pants were tucked neatly into his darker boots.

Two more Gems came down. One was "male" and the other was "female."

The "male" one had pale blue skin. He was covering his gem with an eyepatch over his left, but his right eye was a deep blue and sparkled like the ocean. His hair was very light -- white, almost -- and it covered some of his eye. There was no diamond symbol on him. He wore a thin white jacket and black pants. He wore black and red sneakers and was perhaps the most "human" of the three Gems.

The "female" one was a beauty. Like the first, her skin had streaks of purple and somewhat of a dark green, but the rest of her skin was teal, again, like the first Gem. She wore her long hair down now -- she hasn't previously. It was the same as the streaks on her skin. She, too, had a purple diamond on her chest. She wore a dark blue skirt and dark purple stockings that went up just below her knees.

"Fluorite."

She looked up at the first Gem. "What?"

"Can you confirm our location?"

"I don't need to look at a screen to know that that Spessartine was stupid enough to take us close to them. That IS where we are going, right? To those friends of yours?"

The Gem spaced out.

"Paraiba?"

The Gem -- Paraiba -- snapped out of it. "Sorry, yes. Yes, that's where we're going. Try to send them a signal. And, Aragonite?"

"Yeah?"

"We don't have to worry about staying undercover. Well, I mean, unless you want to."

"I don't like being exposed."

"Okay, then. Let's do this!"

Fluorite watched bitterly.