"But how could you say that?!" Percy yelled, his face red with anger.
"Because you've been spending too much time with Maribelle," Pierre retorted, his expression calm, but his clenched fists, betraying his true emotions. "She's filled your head with lies."
"What are you suggesting? That everything I know is false?!"
"Humans are so incredible," Pearl said, shaking her head at the television. "Who could possibly think that telling such audacious lies was a good idea?"
"You got me," Spinel replied casually. "Maribelle's just got some issues to work out."
Steven shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Spinel spoke. Even though his eyes were trained on the TV, his every sense was focused on Spinel. At least, as much as he could without looking obvious. But she hadn't done anything. The invitation she extended to Pearl and himself seemed genuine. They just ... watched watched some Camp Pining Hearts. Spinel had even allowed Lapis, Pearl, and Steven to have the couch to themselves while Spinel sat on the wood floor of the loft.
As if she was deliberately trying to put Steven at ease.
Spinel knew that he was free. He already thought she might, but her behavior now confirmed it. Which was kind of odd, since she acted largely the same as before. She was still all smiles, trying to exchange quips with Pearl,Lapis, and even Steven himself.
But there was something a bit different now, just below the surface. A slight edge to the way she spoke. Not to mention her gaze kept shooting back to the lower level of the barn and the machine that sat on the table. Even from up here, with the TV on, Steven could still hear the whirring sound as it continued its work, fueled by Peridot's gem.
But the most telling thing was how Spinel had been treating Steven. She spoke to him, engaged with him as much as he would allow , but at the same time she seemed to be giving Steven a wide berth. Yet despite that, every time he looked over at her, he could see her eyes quickly flicking away from him. She was watching him, closely. And he was doing he same to her.
"It just, there's no advantage to be gained. Lies are always found out in the end," Pearl said, crossing her legs.
Spinel shrugged, saying nothing.
Steven glanced down at his lap, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back up and saw Lapis giving him a small smile.
"You okay, Steven?"
It had been Lapis's most repeated phrase that afternoon. Every time Steven's eyes drifted away from the television screen, Lapis would always ask that. And Steven's answer was always the same.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Lapis."
Lapis pursed her lips as she gave Steven's shoulder a firm squeeze. "Are you sure?"
Steven nodded. "Just… It's been a long day."
"I know what you mean," Lapis sighed. Her eyes drifted to the ground floor of the barn before quickly looking back at Steven. "Just hang in there a bit longer, Steven. We'll all see Peridot again soon."
"Yeah…" Steven looked back at the TV silently.
"What are you two talking about?" Pearl asked as Steven cringed internally.
"About today," Lapis answered simply, giving Steven's shoulder another short squeeze before letting go. "It's been an eventful day for all of us."
"Yes, it has," Pearl agreed. "In fact, I'm surprised Amethyst isn't here. She seemed hit hard by the whole affair as well." She paused, before continuing, "Where did you say she was going, Steven?"
Before Steven could even begin to think of a believable story, his cell phone rang. The simple five note melody told him it was Connie. Steven could feel jaw tighten as the ringtone continued to play.
Spinel asked, "That's Connie's tones, right Steven? You should probably answer that."
"Uh, yeah. I am," Steven answered as he stood from the couch and hurriedly fished the phone out of his pocket. He swiped the green "answer" circle on the screen and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Steven? Hey… It's me. Connie."
All at once, Steven felt a significant weight off his chest. He casually stepped off the loft and slowly floated to the ground, landing gently on his feet.
"Hey, Connie," Steven said as he walked out of the barn, not daring to steal another look at Peridot's gem within the machine. "I guess Amethyst found you?" he added in a whisper.
"Yeah, she did."
"And? Did… did you find anything?" Steven asked.
The moment long pause before Connie answered felt like an eternity, but eventually she said, "We think so. Though it's not much of a lead."
Steven looked over his shoulder at the loft. Pearl and Lapis were still on the couch, watching television. He couldn't see Spinel.
"Where are you?" Steven asked.
"The temple," Connie answered. "We just got back."
Steven nodded to himself. "Alright. I'm coming. Just hang on and I'll be there in a minute." He looked over his shoulder one more time before he exited the barn and began to make his way to the warp pad.
"Alright, Steven. And…" Connie trailed off.
"Connie? What is it?"
"Nothing. Just… I'll see you in a little bit," Connie said.
"Okay. See you in a bit," Steven answered. He waited and heard Connie end the call before he did the same.
The light disappeared from the warp pad, revealing the house before Steven. But before he could orientate himself, he felt a firm hug wrap around him.
"Steven! You-... You're alright," Connie said as she buried her face into his shoulder.
"Of course I am," Steven replied, hugging Connie back and feeling the scabbard strapped to her back. "You just talked to me on the phone."
"I know," Connie replied as she broke away. "But… Well, it just feels better to see you face to face." She smiled at him sweetly.
"Uh, if you two are done, don't we have work to do?" Amethyst cut in, flashing Connie a knowing grin. Connie chuckled as she stepped off the warp pad, Steven following behind her.
"So, you and Amethyst found something?" Steven asked as they walked to the kitchen island. The yellow notebook was lying on top of it.
"Yeah, we did," Amethyst responded. "Well, kinda anyway."
"What do you mean?" Steven asked.
"The last entry in the notebook..." Connie quickly went over what she and Amethyst had discovered about the RNBW location described in the last pages of the notebook.
The explanation didn't take long and when finished, Steven simply said, "So… that's it?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Amethyst said. "Hopefully there's some kind of clue about Spinel at this place. If not…" Amethyst shrugged. "We always have my 'punch her until she cries' plan."
"Right…" Steven sighed. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He had hoped that the notebook would be the key to finally expose Spinel's plans, but instead it was just as Lapis had described. A simple list of locations and facilities that Homeworld had built on Earth. A useful list and one that needed to be handed over to the Gems when all this was over, but it wasn't that helpful in the current situation.
Connie seemed to see Steven's crestfallen look. "The timing between the two events was too coincidental. I'm sure once we go there and check it out, we'll find… something linking to Spinel."
She had a small, determined smile on, one that Steven then matched. "Yeah," he said nodding. "I'm sure we will too." He gave Connie and Amethyst a once over look before saying, "Are you ready?" They both nodded. "Okay," he said turning back towards the warp pad. "Let's go."
"Wait," Connie said. Steven turned back around and saw that she was holding her hand out. "Why don't we… let Stevonnie handle this?" she asked, her cheeks beginning to flush with awkward embarrassment. "I mean… That way, if there's anymore weird mind manipulation, then they'd be immune."
"That's a great idea, Connie," Steven said. "And I-..." he trailed off, glancing away.
"What? What's wrong, Steven?"
Steven shook his head. "Nothing. Just… nothing." He took Connie's hand into his own. "Are you ready?"
Connie nodded and the pair began to dance together, not unlike they did that sunset drenched evening on the beach. The only difference being that this dance was much shorter, Steven's gem starting to glow only a few seconds or so into their dance.
Steven closed his eyes, allowing the familiar sensation of fusion overtake him…
...and Stevonnie opened their's, a large grin plastered across their face as the sensation began to ebb away from their body.
"Hey, DT," Amethyst greeted.
"Hey, Amethyst," Stevonnie returned. They quickly checked over Rose's sword and scabbard, ensuring that it was still firmly strapped to their back. After, they looked back at Amethyst and asked simply, "Ready, Ame?"
"As much as I can be," Amethyst said as she began to walk towards the warp pad.
Stevonnie followed her, only to stop in their tracks as a quiet thought echoed in their mind.
"After everything that's happened, it's… nice to know that you're still here, Connie."
It was Steven's thought, the one that he had decided not to share. Stevonnie grinned broadly as they felt their face warm with the shared embarrassment over Steven's sweet thought for Connie.
"Was that your plan all along, Steven?" they said under their breath. "Let me relay that thought for you?"
"Yo! DT! Ya ready, or what?" Amethyst called from the warp pad.
"Yeah, I'm coming Amethyst," Stevonnie said looking over towards her. With one last internal grin, Stevonnie joined Amethyst on the warp pad and after a moment, the two were engulfed by a column of light and whisked away.
"Are you sure you're not staying around, Pearl?" Lapis asked as she walked with Pearl to the barn's entrance.
"I'm afraid so. As… interesting as the television show was, I want to see where Steven went." She folded her arms across her chest as she looked past the barn's open doors. "After that phone call, he left here in quite the hurry. I hope everything's okay with Connie…"
"If it wasn't, he'd tell us, wouldn't he?" Lapis asked, unsure of the answer herself.
"I would hope so. But he can sometimes act without thinking everything through." She let out a short chuckle. "He's been spending too much time with Amethyst."
Lapis smiled lightly back. "Maybe." She sighed softly. "Keep us informed, all right Pearl?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Spinel. She stood in front of the table, facing the the machine that still sat on it.
"I will," Pearl nodded. "And maybe you should try and talk to Spinel. After Steven left, she got very moody. She's probably worried about him too."
"Yeah. Probably," Lapis agreed. "I'll try and talk to her, but you know how that is. If she doesn't want to, she won't."
"True, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try," Pearl said, nodding again at Lapis. "I'll tell you when I know something."
"Okay. Good luck."
"You too." Pearl began to walk off in the direction of the warp pad. Lapis watched her for a moment before turning and joining Spinel at the the table.
"Hey, Spinel," Lapis said, as light and casually as she could. However, Spinel said nothing in return. So Lapis decided to try a different tactic. "How's the process going?"
"Better than expected," Spinel answered. "If the readings are accurate, then it should be done before the day is out."
"That's great news," Lapis said. "I didn't know things were going that well."
"Yeah. Peridot's a real genius." Lapis saw Spinel's eyes glance at the machine that held Peridot's Gem firmly in place. The large amount of energy that now coursed through it caused it to glow dimly.
"So Peridot will be reformed soon then?"
"Hopefully. Though, to be frank, once the storage cube is open, it doesn't really matter," Spinel shrugged.
"What… what do you mean, Spinel?"
"Don't worry about it. Listen…" Spinel laid a heavy hand on Lapis's shoulder. "I need you to do me a favor, Lapis…"
Stevonnie touched down on the smooth face of the warp pad, chilling the bottoms of their feet.
"Hey, Amethyst? Can you remind me to talk to Pearl or Mom or Dad… or Dad about getting a pair of shoes or something?"
"Bare feet ain't doing it for ya anymore?" Amethyst asked as she stepped off the warp pad.
"Not when I'm off the beach…" Stevonnie began to looking around, taking in their environment. It looked like the warp pad had taken them to the foothills of some mountain. They asked, "Is this site near the warp pad?"
"Yeah. It's not to far off," Amethyst answered. "Just a little over this way." Amethyst said, pointing down a vaguely defined path. "There's a cave a little ways down that ya can't miss."
"Alright," Stevonnie nodded. "I'll take the lead." They began walking down the path.
"Woah woah woah," Amethyst sputtered, quickly getting alongside Stevonnie. "Why are you in the lead? I'm the senior Crystal Gem."
"True, but I've got the shield, the bubble, and built immunity to mind altercations," They said with a smirk. "So I get to be in the lead."
"Ahh, pfft…" Amethyst waved off. "Who made you leader?"
"Amethyst…"
"Fine, fine…" Amethyst shrugged. "Just know that if you get hit with like, super mind control? I'm gonna punch ya real hard."
Stevonnie laughed, "Well, good to know that you're keeping a rational head, Ame."
They continued to walk along the path, Stevonnie glancing around them trying to discern where they were. A breeze blew past them, prompting Stevonnie to try and pull Steven's star shirt down as far as possible.
"I should have brought my 'Universal Experience' shirt…" they mumbled to themselves.
"Wassat?" Amethyst asked.
"Nothing. Just making more mental notes," Stevonnie answered. "How much farther?"
"Not much. Should be just through here." Amethyst pointed to an outcropping of rocks. "Just past them."
The pair walked by the rocks and, hidden just out of view by them, was an opening in the side of the smooth mountain face. It was perfectly squared, each of the edges looking as if they had just been carved yesterday.
"Ah, yeah. This is G's work, alright."
Stevonnie was about to ask Amethyst what she meant, but the remnants of what had once been a door answered the question for them. The slab of metal was in two parts with both of their center edges looking like they had been melted and then torn apart.
"Garnet doesn't really mess around, does she?"
"Nope. When she's on a mission, ya can't slow her down," Amethyst answered.
Stevonnie walked closer to the door halves. They brushed some dust and debris off of one of the halves. There were two letters of the Gem Language written on either half in bold lettering.
"Well, we're in the right place, at least," Stevonnie said. They turned from the doors towards the entrance itself, past which was draped heavily in shadow.
What could be in there? Answers? Or…
They gulped as they shook their head. There was only one way to find out.
"Seems kinda dark inside," Amethyst noted, sticking her head past the entrance. "Can ya light your gem, dude?"
"Yeah, I think so. Just let me…" Stevonnie closed their eyes and focused the energy in their gem. "Ah. There." They reopened their eyes to see a bright beam of light shooting down the hall, illuminating it.
"Awesome, dude," Amethyst said, landing a slightly-too-rough friendly slap on the small of their back. "After you."
"Right," Stevonnie replied as they rubbed the stinging spot. "Stay close, but stay behind me." They took their first tentative steps past the entranceway.
"Yeah, yeah. I know," Amethyst said in such a way that Stevonnie could hear her rolling her eyes.
The pair moved slowly down the hall, both trying to look in every direction at once. Both the floor and walls were made of some kind of metal that wasn't doing much to help their already chilled feet.
As they continued down the hall, every now and then, they would come across a shut door. There would be some lettering on it, but no handle or any other apparent way to open it. Amethyst would pull and push at it for a while, but every time it proved to be in vain.
"Geez, what's the point of putting doors that you can't open?" Amethyst asked as she struggled with her fourth immovable door.
"I don't know," Stevonnie sighed. "If Garnet went through here, she would have been able to get at least one of these doors open, right?"
"Probably." Amethyst gave the door one last push before sighing with frustration and letting up. "I mean, you saw the door out front. Garnet usually doesn't really care about subtlety."
"So… since these doors are still on their hinges, then that means that Garnet didn't open any of them?"
"I dunno, dude," Amethyst shrugged. "I know as much as you do."
Stevonnie said nothing in return. They only frowned at their bare, cold feet as they tried to wrack their mind on what they should do next.
We keep pushing forward, right? I mean, this is the only lead we have… But what if this lead doesn't go anywhere? What if this was just an unrelated mission Garnet went on but didn't get to finish before Spinel appeared? What if-
Stevonnie caught something in the corner of their eye. They turned and looked down the hallway, the glow from their gem lighting up the area.
"What? Something up, DT?"
"I'm not sure," they answered. "I thought I… Wait, hold on…" Again they closed their eyes, focusing the energy within their gem. But this time, instead of light appearing, it disappeared, wrapping the two of them in darkness. Stevonnie then reopened their eyes and immediately saw what had grabbed their eye before.
"Is… that a light?" Amethyst asked as she leaned forward.
"Yeah, it is," Stevonnie nodded. In the distance down the hall, there was just the faintest amount of light peeking out in the distance. "I think we might have found where Garnet went when she was here…" They took a step towards the light, but then stopped. With ease, they raised their arm and summoned their shield to their side. It's soft glow illuminated a small area around them. "Alright," they said. "Let's go."
The two of them walked carefully down the hall, watching each of their steps. Stevonnie's eyes kept scanning the distance but, other than the distant light, they couldn't see much of anything. So they kept their gaze focused, towards the light. And slowly, the light grew larger and larger. Finally, they came upon an open doorway, through which dim light was shining through. Stevonnie stood at the side of the door, feeling extremely nervous at peeking inside the room.
"Okay," they said, trying their best to sound calm. "I'll go in first. Make sure there's nothing dangerous."
"Alright, dude. I got'cha back."
Stevonnie hesitated for just a moment before they forced their legs to move and carry them slowly to the doorway. They raised their shield in front of them and braced themselves as they got their first look into the room and…
"Well? See anything?"
"No. It's empty," Stevonnie said, dismissing their shield.
With their nerves beginning to settle a little, Stevonnie stepped into the room with Amethyst right behind them. The room was large and filled almost wall to wall with so many different machines and devices. Some were were unsettlingly familiar. Harsh, geometric shaped machines loomed on every side of the room, their dull lights silently fading in and out. Stevonnie felt their teeth clenched as they remembered what this reminded them of.
It looked just like the archival room that held the Pyramid.
"Geez, dude. Looks like a fight took place in here."
Getting a better look, Stevonnie had to agree. It looked like almost every machine was in some state of disrepair. And not from neglect, but from getting caught up in… someone's fury. Dents and craters were marked all over many of them. Stevonnie noted that they seemed to be about the size of a fist. They shook their head. "It doesn't look like a fight. It looks like someone just came in here and started breaking things."
"Ya thinking Spinel?"
"Maybe… But why would she just destroy all this?"
"I dunno. Why would she brainwash us?"
"Well, that's what we've come here to find out," Stevonnie said determinedly.
Amethyst nodded. "Right, dude. Plan?"
"Let's… split up, I guess. Search the room and see if we find anything."
"Got'cha." Amethyst nodded again. "I'll yell if I find anything." She turned and left Stevonnie to themself.
Stevonnie began to wander among a cluster of broken machines. Like so much else in the room, they looked like they had been purposefully destroyed. Stevonnie frowned at the wrecked machine, trying to look over them for clues, but coming away with nothing of note.
They moved away from the wrecks and came upon a set of flipped and overturned tables. Various electronic and mechanical parts were tossed around on the floor around them. Some of the parts looked like they had been taken a step forward and were thrown and shattered against a nearby wall. Stevonnie leaned down and began to shift through the parts but again, they came away with nothing helpful. Nothing, that is, until they glimpsed what at first looked like the tablet that Steven had given Peridot. But upon picking it up and examining it closer Stevonnie saw that…
No, this really does look just like Peridot's tablet.
The design was a little bit different, but for the most part it looked just like a regular tablet. Albeit, the screen was a little cracked.
"Hmm… I wonder if there's an 'on' button…"
As Stevonnie turned the device over in their hands looking for a way to power it on, they saw something sticking out of a nearby pile.
"What is…" they reached over and pulled what at first seemed like a strangely familiar rod. But once they had pulled it free from the pile, they saw why it had looked familiar. What had been poking out was in fact the handle of Gem Destabilizer Rod.
Stevonnie carefully placed the tablet back on the ground as they looked the rod over. It was two pronged, but it didn't have the pale orb suspended between them. Not only that, but the rods Steven had seen before had been a sort of brown, brass type of color. But this one was instead a dull grey. It was also a bit bigger, being quite a bit longer than the other rods.
"Maybe it's some kind of prototype?" Stevonnie asked themselves as they looked over the rod. "This is a lab…"
"Hey! Stevonnie! Over here! Quick!"
Amethyst's voice quickly brought Stevonnie out of their musing. They laid the rod back down on the pile and made their way towards where Amethyst's voice had come from. They moved passed and around several machines of varying sizes, all looking like they had seen better days. When finally Amethyst was in view, Stevonnie could see that she was standing next to a large cylinder container of some sort. In it was some sort of pale pink liquid floating within that was-
Stevonnie gasped at the realization.
"Yeah. Call me crazy, but I think I may have just found someone important," Amethyst said glancing again at the cylinder.
They didn't say anything in return. Their entire attention was focused on the cylinder's contents. Floating within the pink liquid were two perfectly round gems, one red and one blue.
"Ruby! Sapphire!" Stevonnie gasped. They looked over at Amethyst, who seemed surprisingly composed in comparison to themself. "We need to get them out of there." Stevonnie turned to a nearby console, but dismayed when they saw that it, like most everything else in the room, had been smashed beyond repair.
"Hang on, dude. I got this." Before Stevonnie could ask Amethyst what she meant, the gem reared her arm back and then sharply elbowed the glass cylinder. The glass shattered, leaving a large hole that the liquid now poured out of. Luckily though, Stevonnie was able to catch Ruby and Sapphire's gems before they hit the ground.
Stevonnie looked at the two gems in their hands and started to ask Amethyst if they'd be able to reform, but before they could both gems began to glow with an inner light. Realizing what was happening, Stevonnie held both gems out and away from themselves. The gem's glow intensified and after a few moments, they floated a few inches above Stevonnie's hands before their glow began to extend beyond the gem itself and then form the familiar shape of the two gems.
The gems began to gently drift back down to the ground as the light began to recede and reveal two forms, one lithe and elegant, draped in a dress that dragged against the ground and the other was thick and solid, a distinct headband wrapped around their head.
The light then completely disappeared, leaving Ruby and Sapphire standing with their backs to Stevonnie and Amethyst.
"Sapphire!" Ruby cried, quickly grabbing the hand that held Sapphire's gem. "Are you alright?" Ruby scanned her gem closely, running her fingers over it's every facet.
Sapphire put her hand on Ruby's and squeezed. "I'm fine, Ruby. Are you?"
"Of course," Ruby replied. "It'll take more than that to scratch the mightiest ruby who popped out of the ground."
Sapphire chuckled softly. "I would hope so. Otherwise, I may have pinned myself to the wrong one, then."
"Ruby? Sapphire?"
The sound of Stevonnie's voice caused both Gems to jump slightly, as they realized that they weren't alone. They slowly turned around, Ruby's eyes growing large as two saucers. Sapphire brushed her bangs away from her eye.
"Stevonnie… Amethyst…" she said softly as her hair fell back into place. "Where's Pearl?"
Stevonnie and Amethyst exchanged sideways looks before Stevonnie slowly answered, "Last Steven saw, she was at the barn."
Silence held for a second before Ruby asked simply:
"Where is Spinel?"
Stevonnie told the majority of the story, Amethyst only piping in to tell about her and Peridot's first encounter with Spinel, as well as add some details about when she and Connie looked over the notebook. Ruby and Sapphire said nothing during the explanation. They only nodded along and exchanged the occasional glance towards each other.
"-and after that, we came straight here and… well, found you," Stevonnie said, finishing up the tale. "When we left, the storage cube hadn't been opened yet. Though…" They closed their eyes. "I can't remember how long Peridot estimated it would take to open." They reopened their eyes only to cast their gaze to the side. "That was only this morning, but it already feels like… a lot longer…" Stevonnie felt a hand wrap gently around their wrist. They looked back over and saw Sapphire next to them.
"You've done spectacularly already." She spoke with a soft edge to her voice.
"Yeah. Without what you guys have done, Sapphire and I would still be trapped in that goo," Ruby said.
"Heh, well don't give me too much of the praise," Amethyst shrugged. "Most of this was Steven and Connie."
"You've all done spectacularly," Sapphire said again. "You've acted as a team, facing a trial. I would not wish on anyone."
"Sapphire's right," Ruby nodded. "I mean… since we kinda dropped the ball…"
"What do you mean?" Stevonnie asked.
Sapphire and Ruby looked at one another before Sapphire said simply, "I think it would be best if Garnet explained."
"Yeah, probably," Ruby agreed.
They both walked over to each other. Ruby grabbed Sapphire's hand and they both leaned in close to one another, their foreheads resting on each other. Both of their forms were engulfed by by a bright light before they melded together, forming a larger whole. The glow once again receded, revealing a figure that was only slightly taller than Stevonnie themself. Like Ruby and Sapphire, her back was facing them, but before she turned she quickly waved her hand in front of her face, a trail of sparkles following her hand.
She turned, and Stevonnie instantly found themselves overwhelmed.
"G-Garnet…" Stevonnie barely gasped out. They took and unsteady step towards her, before collapsing into her arms.
"It's alright," Garnet soothed. "I'm okay."
"I-... I know, but when no one else-... Steven was so worried… I… was so worried…"
"I know. But you have done well." She gently pull Stevonnie away from herself. A small smile broke across her face. "You've used your strength, what Steven and Connie have themselves, as well as what they draw from one another, to come this far." Her smile grew wider. "I am extremely proud of you."
"Wow…" Stevonnie said quietly. "I… thank you, Garnet."
"No thanks is needed," Garnet replied. Her proud smile grew to a playful smirk as she looked over at Amethyst. "Ah, and hello, Amethyst."
"Hey, G," Amethyst replied casually. "Glad ya back."
"Likewise." She held her arms open at Amethyst.
"What are you doing, dude?"
"Waiting for your hug, of course," Garnet said with a playful smirk.
"Ehh… I'll save mine for when we've stopped Spinel," Amethyst replied.
"Right. Spinel," Stevonnie said. They paused for a moment, trying to decided how best to say this, before finally saying simply, "Why did you come here, Garnet?"
"For a mission," Garnet replied simply. "I discovered this lab's location a few weeks back from the information Peridot had pieced together from the database in the archive room. The one that held the pyramid."
Stevonnie nodded.
"After several… unsuccessful attempts to get in, I opted for a more direct approach. Ruby and Sapphire rapidly heated and cooled the door and then I tore it down."
"Yeah. We saw your handiwork on the way in," Amethyst said.
Garnet continued, "I explored the hall, but the only open door was at the very end."
"This one?" Stevonnie asked.
"No. This was further down than where we are now. It was the room that held the generator for the entire facility. I was able to jump start it, but as soon as I did, I heard some kind of crashing or explosion coming from down the hall. I ran into this room and at first saw nothing, but then this… strange Gem I didn't recognize jumped me."
"Spinel," Stevonnie said solemnly.
Garnet nodded. "I summoned my gauntlets to try and fight her off, but she used this… odd looking Disruptor Rod on me."
"Odd like, it's longer than the others we've seen and it's strangely colored?" Stevonnie asked.
"Yes. But this wasn't a melee weapon. It shot out some sort of beam. I wasn't expecting it and it caught me off guard. And the rods effects were same as the others we've seen. It diffused me and then poofed Ruby and Sapphire." She crossed her arms across her chest. "And then the next thing I know, I'm getting rescued by you and Amethyst."
"Hmpf," Amethyst snorted. "Sounds pretty familiar. Spinel getting the jump on ya before you even know what's up."
"Yeah," Stevonnie nodded. "Is that all the happened, Garnet?"
"The important parts."
"I see…" they sighed as they shook their head. "So you don't know what Spinel wants?"
"No, I'm afraid not, Stevonnie," Garnet replied.
"Great…" they murmured as they clamped their eyes shut. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Garnet. I'm really glad that we found you, but we still don't know what-..." Stevonnie's eyes shot open as they suddenly remembered something.
"Uh, DT? What's up?"
Stevonnie didn't answer, only quickly turning around, before breaking into a run. In just a short while, they were back to the group of overturned desks and pile of objects. They began to quickly scan over the area, trying to find what they had sat down.
Come on, come on… it has to be- Yes! There it is!
Their gaze stopped on top of the tablet that was still laying right where they had left it, next to the Disruptor Rod. Stevonnie bent over and plucked both of them from the pile.
"Stevonnie!"
They heard Garnet call from behind. They turned and saw that both Amethyst and Garnet jogging over towards them.
"Stevonnie," Garnet said again as she approached. She glanced at what they were holding. "You found something."
Stevonnie nodded. "Yeah. I was looking at this before Amethyst found your gems." They held out the rod. "Also, is this what Spinel attacked you with?"
Garnet took the rod from Stevonnie and looked it over briefly before nodding, "Yes, this is it." She then took one end of the rod in either hand and deftly snapped it in two, as if it were just a twig. "Whoops. My hand slipped."
"Geez, Garnet. Holding much of a grudge?" Amethyst asked.
"Of course not. I told you, my hand slipped." She looked down at the pieces of the rod at her feet. "Besides, one less of those things in the world, the better."
"Yesh, I suppose so," Stevonnie agreed. "But what I was really looking at was this." They indicated towards the tablet. "But I couldn't find a way to turn it on…" Garnet lifted the device out of their hand and, after holding on to it for only a moment, it's screen sprang to life with several lines of Gem language characters scrolling across it.
"There we go," Garnet said simply.
"How'd you do that?" Stevonnie asked.
"Gem technology," Garnet answered simply. "It's designed to react to the subtle energy given off of a Gem's projection."
"Oh… So that's why I couldn't turn it on." Stevonnie looked down at their hand. They then turned to look at the tablet. "Does it say anything useful?"
"Hmm… Most of the entries are corrupted," Garnet said as she flicked her finger across the screen. "Whatever cracked the screen must have also damaged its memory banks."
"Yeah, when Spinel tossed it or whatever," Amethyst said.
Stevonnie nodded. "But why would she damage all this equipment though?"
Garnet said nothing, only continuing to go through the device, her finger tapping the screen to go from entry to entry. Stevonnie had started going through the rest of the bits in the pile, when finally Garnet said, "Okay, I found something."
Stevonnie quickly returned to Garnet's side and looked at the screen, though it was still filled with unintelligible characters. "What does it say, Garnet?"
"Well… apparently this was a lab that was used before the Rebellion," Garnet began. "The scientists here were studying corruption."
"Ya mean like, the corruption that happens to gems?" Amethyst asked as she leaned over to try and get a better look at the tablet.
"It seems so," Garnet answered. "The lab was abandoned when the Rebellion was drawing to close." She tapped the screen, bringing up a new list of characters. "They were planning on evacuating… hmm… more broken entries." Garnet flicked her finger across the screen, quickly going through more entries.
"Well?" Stevonnie asked expectantly.
Garnet slowly shook her head. "There's not much more left. Just some scattered references to a storage cube…"
"Well… That kinda answers a question, I guess," Amethyst shrugged. "The cube at the barn must'a come from here."
"I was thinking the same thing," Stevonnie said. "But what's in it…" They sighed. "Anything else, Garnet?"
"Just references to an 'Experiment 626'."
"Experiment 626?" Stevonnie repeated. "What's that?"
"I'm not sure. It seems like it was the main experiment for this lab, but… there aren't many details listed."
"Experiment 626… What could…" Stevonnie trailed off as they desperately tried to piece together what information they had. They scrunched their eyes shut as they went over all the details.
A lab, evacuation, the cube, 626… Wait-!
"That's it!" Stevonnie cried as inspiration struck them.
"What's it, dude?"
"The cube and the experiment," Stevonnie said, trying not to trip over their words. "You said that they tried to evacuate… something, right Garnet?"
"Yes."
"It was the cube. Because inside is Experiment 626."
"How do ya figure?" Amethyst asked.
"Because that's why Spinel was sent here. To retrieve it," Stevonnie explained. "That's why she came to this lab, to get the cube."
"Huh… Yeah, that kinda makes sense," Amethyst said. "But then why is she trying to open it here? Why not wait until she's back on Homeworld?"
"I don't think that matters," Garnet cut in. "Regardless of her reasons, Spinel is a threat. To us and the entire planet."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Stevonnie conceded. "But I still want to know why she's doing all this."
"Eh, you'll have a chance when I've got her pinned to the ground," Amethyst said.
"Yeah…" Stevonnie sighed. "It has to do with Experiment 626 somehow, though. Why else would she come to this lab?"
"We'll find out soon, I think," Garnet said. "Are we ready to head back?"
Stevonnie nodded. "But before we confront Spinel, we should try and get Pearl. One of us needs to fuse with her." A small smile spread on their face. "Then we'll be back together. The Crystal Gems, reformed."
Garnet matched their smile. "That we will. Let's move out." Garnet began walking towards the exit, Amethyst following behind her. Stevonnie came next and, as they were exiting the room, they cast one last look behind them, at the destroyed and trashed room behind them.
"It's almost over Spinel…" They whispered quietly under their breath. "And this time… I'm not alone."
They turned and followed their two teammates back through the hallway that led outside.
