Steven Vs The Beast
Steven was in quite the predicament. A very angry Collector, whose body had morphed into something that looked like the result of a dragon and a wolf getting a little too frisky, was trying to shatter him. Steven had managed to make a bubble shield before the great being leaped upon him. However, the bubble shattered upon the next hit. Steven ran as fast as he could, with the roaring beast not far behind.
Stevens mind was racing, trying to think of a way to subdue the enraged Collector.
"C'mon Steven! Think!" Yet nothing came to mind as he narrowly dodged another bite from the Collector. "There's gotta be something around here to help me, it's my gem world!" As his eyes slowly scanned the endless pink horizon, a realization struck him.
"That's it! We're in my gem world!" Taking a deep breath, the young hybrid turned around to face the Collector. It was snarling, its gem still shaking violently in its body. When it saw that its had stopped moving, it let out a thundering roar and leapt towards him opening its jaws wide. Stevens face screwed up in concentration as he desperately reached out with his mind to make what he intended.
Please work! Please work!
Suddenly, giant pink wall appeared in front of the Collector and it smashed right into it.
"Yes!" Steven cried, pumping a fist into the air. But when he heard the Collectors enraged howls, he remembered what he was running from. Steven bolted away as the Collector got steady on its feet once more. "Gotta," Steven said between breaths, "Find a way to get rid of it," The creature was once more upon him. Steven summoned another wall, by this time the Collector was ready for it. It's body briefly deformed into a blob, which in turn slipped around the edge of the wall, before reforming back into dragon/wolf/giant murderous monster. "Okay, that didn't work. Let's try this!" Concentrating once more, the young hybrid thought of another thing to protect him. Three pink lions appeared in a flash, snarling at the beast that was now sprinting at Steven. The pink creatures moved to intercept the maddened Collector.
One stayed in the sights of the Collector, taunting it with a roar. The purple beast growled and leapt to tackle the offending lion. Mid-way however, the plan was interrupted by the other two lions who had waited on the sides for the trap to spring. They dragged the Collector down, and the third lion joined in fight. Steven took the time to begin running, while thinking of a way to get rid of the Collector. "There has to be a way, I just need more time!" The hybrid mumbled to himself. A pained howl caught his attention, and Steven turned to see one of the pink lions being flung into the air. His eyes widened when he saw that was the only lion left standing. The Collector leapt after it, and slashed its neck with wickedly curved claws. The lion shattered in to pieces, and the beast turned its gaze back to Steven.
"Oh crap!"
Steven ran as fast he could, but he could hear the hungry snarls gaining on him. He began randomly summoning walls in hopes of slowing the rampaging beast. Yet, the Collector evaded with ease, its eyes never leaving Steven. The hybrid turned and saw that the Collector was just few yards from him. Conjuring one last wall behind, he tried to run even faster. The angry beast was so close, it would not let its prey slip away again. Channeling all its energy, it charged straight ahead and broke down the pink wall. Steven heard sound of shattering stone, and turned to see the Collector lunging at him, jaw open and claws outstretched. Pink fragments surrounded it, results of the beasts' powerful charge. Covering his face with his arms, Steven prepared to be mauled by the great being.
Yet no bite came, no rending claws tore at his gem. Slowly, Steven lowers his arms to see what had happened and he gasped at he saw. A pink spear had formed, and it pierced the Collectors gem, the stone was now cracked in several places. Bolts of energy lanced out from it, and the Collector struggled to release itself from its impalement. Letting out frustrated growls, it clawed and bit, tried to transform into something else. But the spear would not give way. The cracks in the gen deepened and the bolts began to be spat out faster, and seemed to grow larger. Steven noticed this, and tried to warn the angry Collector.
"Stop! You're cracking!" He shouted, but the shape-shifting gem ignored him. It let out one last howl, and tried to pry away from the spear with all its strength.
It succeeded.
A sickening crack was heard and fragments flew everywhere as the Collectors gem shattered, falling from the spear. The energy was now arcing erratically, and it stretched all across the pink domain. The Collectors torn body, which was now forming in to random shapes and animals, began to glow white. The result of seeing way too many action movies, Steven sensed a massive explosion was about to happen and summoned a bubble shield. His premonition was proven right as the now glowing parts of the Collectors torn body flowed together to form a tiny ball of blinding light, before rapidly expanding outwards. Energy bolts passed through Stevens shield, and latched onto him. His pink form began fizzling, and he felt a massive surge of energy flow through himself. The bright light reached his eyes, and for a moment all Steven could see was white. When the light went away, the hybrids eyes were filled with surprise. The once pink landscape was now darker, almost red. White lines of burning light crisscrossed on the floor. Besides that, there was no evidence that the previous struggle had ever happened. Stevens collapsed on to his behind, letting out a breath.
"What just happened?" The hybrid asked himself.
"Jeez, how much does this weigh?" Moaned Lapis, who was currently trying to drag the disabled assassin to the barn with Peridot. Lapis had still wanted to smash it into little pieces, but the two agreed that if they were to have a chance of freeing Steven, they would need to salvage the robot. Still, it was severely damaged with a giant hole in its body. Broken and bent metal debris occasionally fell off the broken body.
"Most likely a few hundred pounds. Still, that's remarkably light for a robonoid of its capability," Answered Peridot, who was gazing at the smooth metal orb that imprisoned her friend. While the technology of the assassin was above that of Authority tech, she was certain she could reverse-engineer some of it to aid them. She was the Great and Impressive Peridot after all.
After the pair arrived at the barn, Lapis let the body fall to the wooden floor with a thud. "Careful!" Peridot hissed, "We don't know if everything's stable!" Lapis just crossed her arms and stared at the assassin with hatred burning in her eyes. The smaller gen next to her took a more inquisitive look at the body. It was skeletal, allowing for extreme flexibility. She did not determine a use for the tail, but thought of some scenarios where it might come in handy. There was no visible mouth, just a smooth plate where one would be, and that made sense. Logically, if someone wanted to make a war machine, a mouth would just be an unnecessary weakness. It had violet optics, and its hands had four fingers, each long and ended in a sharp point. Then there was its arsenal, the two weird blasters it carried, the strange disk, and its hidden blades. Peridot grabbed the arm and tried to see if she could see where the blades were stored, but everything so expertly crafted she couldn't see any obvious spots. What the green gem did notice however, was the strange marking on its forearm.
"Lapis, look at this," Peridot showed the blue gem the marking, "Do you know what this means?" Lapis looked at her with confusion.
"That it liked dragons?" Peridot resisted the urge to face palm.
"No! Robonoids don't care about aesthetic, they can't. They don't have feelings," She turned to look at the symbol of violet dragon once more, "There are only two possibilities where this could happen. One, someone modified it's A.I, giving it true intelligence. Or two, which is the most likely, is that this robonoid is part of a group that is sentient and they wanted to make sure others knew that this was theirs," Lapis raised an eye brow.
"You got all that from an image of a dragon?" Peridot grinned, pride evident in her stance.
"Well, when you're as intelligent as me, the little details can give the bigger answers," Lapis chuckled.
"So why didn't this 'intelligence' allow you to win a couple nights ago? You know, the one where me, you, Steven, and Amethyst all played Scrabble?" The green gem visibly stiffened, and a scowl came over her face.
"I thought we agreed to not talk about that night," Peridot mumbled under her breath. Lapis shrugged, but a smirk could be seen on her face.
"Guess I missed that part," her face turned back into a scowl as she looked at the symbol, "So there's more of them?"
"It would seem so," Peridots eyes quickly darted to the barn doors, "They could quite possibly be searching for it now as we speak," Lapis clenched her hands tightly.
They can send as many as they like, they're not laying a single finger on Steven. The blue gems fierce loyalty and love to the young human was unbreakable and now that Steven was trapped, Lapis would do whatever it took to protect him while Peridot freed him. However, extra help would be a relief, as the idea of fighting off an alien armada by herself didn't sound too appealing. This caused a much more urgent thought to come up.
"Uh, Peridot?" She asked. The green gem had buried herself in a mound of junk looking for her tools. Upon hearing her name, Peridots head poked out with several cogs stuck in her hair.
"Yes Lazuli?"
"What are we gonna tell the gems?" The green gems first reaction was to stumble backward in shock, losing her footing in the mess and falling deeper into the pile.
"Do you want to be shattered?!" Peridot hissed once she dug herself out of the mess. Lapis looked away.
"I may not like them, but this is Steven we're talking about. If they find out we kept the fact he was poofed from them," the blue gem sighed, "I don't know. It's just doesn't seem right," Peridot tried to think of something to say of that.
"How about this," She eventually said, "We'll tell them when the time comes!"
Lapis looked at her.
"When the time comes?" She said skeptically, "When exactly is that?" Peridot gathered the tools she had managed to find in the pile.
"When we see them again. When the gems come to the barn, we'll them about it. For now," She sat her tools down next to the assassin, "Let's just focus on working. I'll try and get some parts out of this... thing, and you keep watch," Lapis mulled her thoughts around, before agreeing to it.
"I'll stay on the silo," She said. Walking toward the doors, she opened then and immediately backpedaled. There, walking in the corn field toward the barn, were the Crystal Gems. Lapis hastily moved to Peridots side and whispered.
"They're here!" Peridot fumbled with her cutting tool, before dropping it.
"Of course! Why not?! Just show up out of nowhere, at the worst time," Lapis glanced back.
"So, how are gonna explain this?" The green gem looked at her incredulously.
"I don't know!"
"What do you mean you don't know?" Lapis snapped back, "You always have a plan!"
"When I have time to develop one, I do!"
"Well, get to planning!" Lapis glanced back at the doors. "They're going to be here any second!"
Peridot began pacing as she thought of a way to tell the gems. "I don't know how to tell them!" She said, frustrated.
"Tell us what?" Lapis and Peridot both turned abruptly at the three gems who now stood in the door way.
"Peridot has something she wants to say. While she does that, I need to keep watch on the silo!" Lapis said quickly, before flying past the gems and leaving Peridot alone with them.
"Keep watch? Is something coming?" Pearl asked, concern in her voice.
"Hey Peri, what's this thingy?" Amethyst said, the shirt gem having found the assassin laying on the floor.
"Uhhh," Everything was going wrong so much faster than usual, it was stunning to Peridot. Garnets smooth voice knocked her out of her stupor.
"Peridot, what's going on?" The green gem sighed.
This planet just keeps trying to shatter me in the stupidest ways possible, she thought.
Zeckron looked at the data display by his flight controls, showing the ships current energy level. He couldn't wait for the Spire to be repaired so that the portal network could be reactivated. Flying to places was extremely slow and tedious, with so many things to monitor. However, this situation required a personal touch. The commander turned to the other side of the cockpit, and tapped a few holographic buttons. A display came to life, showing his personal mission data logs. The memory of when Zeckron first heard of this development played in the back of his mind.
"Lord Zeckron, an Oracle has returned from the search bearing news," an engineer next to him relayed. Zeckron was currently monitoring the status of the Vault, and helping with restoration operations. After entering a few more lines of code into a computer he was working on, he turned to walk toward the hangar.
"Finish this program while I attend to this matter," Zeckron commanded, and the engineer complied. Upon reaching the large hangar, the commander drones saw dozens of pilot and maintenance drones bustling all over. Then he spotted the slim frame of the Oracle, violet light shining brightly from the exposed parts of the advanced drone. This lack of armor did effect the drones combat efficiency, as their mastery of matter manipulation was second only to the commanders. Armor would simply slow them down. When the Oracle saw Zeckron approaching, it clasped its metal hands behind its back.
"Ah, Lord Zeckron! Oracle Six," the slim drone bowed its head, "I've come with news of our search for the Marked,"
"Report," Zeckron stated simply. He did not have time for frivolous small talk.
"We have found the Marked," Six began, "And we have managed to secure it inside a stasis orb," Zeckron glanced around the hangar.
"If that is true, where is it? And why has the rest of your team not joined you?" Six was quiet for a moment, seeming to contemplate its words before speaking.
"My report is not entirely positive, my Lord," Another pause, "While it is true that one of our Apex units managed to secure the Marked, the unit was comprised whilst sending its mission report,"
"By what?"' Zeckron asked, "These 'humans' still use solid ammunition. How would one take on an Apex?"
"It wasn't a h-human my lord," Oracle grew extremely nervous, these emotions part of the small amount of true intelligence it did possess.
"Then what was it?" The commander drone demanded.
"It was gems, my lord," Nothing was said after that.
Zeckron shook his head clear of the memory.
Gems... He thought them all shattered or corrupted during their rebellion here long ago. Yet, somehow a Lapis Lazuli and Peridot have managed to survive all these years and disabled an Apex drone. Zeckron had to commend them for their tact and resourcefulness. However, they stand in the way of progress, and therefore must be dealt with. Triarch and Duron were not pleased with Zeckrons decision to deal with it alone. The argument was inevitable.
"What?!" Exclaimed Triarch, "We find out the Mark has gem allies, and that those allies can defeat an Apex, yet you want to do this alone?"
"I'm stronger than an Apex, Triarch," Zeckron replied, "And, this scenario needs a neutral perspective,"
"Yes, an over-eager drone with a lust to battle would not be wise in this situation," Duron said, not bothering to hide the smugness in his voice.
"And a drone whose loyalty and sympathies are in question is not suitable either," Zeckron snapped, growing tired of the, frankly, childish rivalry between his two fellow commanders. "I'm going now, so it is up to you two to keep everything in order here," Zeckron turned toward the door of the room to leave, "Can you handle that?"
"Yes, I believe we can set aside our differences for now," Duron replied. Triarch simply nodded, and said nothing.
"Excellent," Zeckron said, and left his fellow commanders alone in the room. He could hear the shouting begin once he was half way down the hall. The commander drones shook his head, and made way to his ship.
The noise of a ping coming from the hologram he pulled up dragged Zeckron back from his recollection. He was now at the camp the Apex units had set up. Tapping a few buttons, Zeckron gently set the ship down, quickly exited the craft. The snow was coming down hard, and the white flakes were beginning to stick his body. The commander drone picked up the sound of several more ships setting down near his. Multiple Soldier drones, as well as some Revenant drones, piled out of them. Zeckron hoped he could get the orb without fighting, but brought along a small force just in case things didn't go smoothly.
Recalling that Oracle Six said that he already sent out Apex units to search for a trail to follow to the gems, Zeckron went to tend to his troops. Nothing to do now but wait for information and make sure each unit is at optimal functionality. And when the trail is discovered, Zeckron will take the orb from the gems.
One way or another.
The clearing was quiet. The few animals who hadn't gone to sleep for the winter were already tucked away in their homes. The small flutter of an owls' wings echoed in the cold night air. Moonlight made the snow sparkle, and the wind howled softly though the branches of the trees that ringed the clearing. One could describe the scene as serene. Of course, one would also have to ignore the small glinting bits of twisted and cold metal that dotted the ground. The otherwise peaceful ambience of the forest was interrupted by the sharp crunch of snow. A skeletal, metal hand reached down and gently picked up one the pieces of metal. Violet optics surveyed the area, and saw that metal bits made a trail, leading out of the clearing and into the forest.
The Apex unit sent a quick bust of data to the camp to update them, and disappeared in a shimmer. The tranquility of the clearing returned, but if one would listened carefully, they could hear the slight rustling of trees branches. If they looked closely, they would see small amounts of snow quietly drop from the branches as they were slightly rustled.
One could say that a creature was on the hunt.
Hello all, Scion here! I'm extremely sorry for the late upload, as family and vacation don't tend to mix together well. But enough of that, there is something I'd like to thank you for. When I checked back in, I saw that this story broke a thousand views! Thank you to everyone who has been following and keeping tabs on this story. Hopefully I can get back to a routine soon. Once again, thank you all so much!
Also, I have added chapter titles, in case you didn't notice.