"How much longer until those things do their work?" Bismuth asked. She, Ruby, and Sapphire stood near the edge of the city, looking at the lime-colored barrier surrounding them. Ruby was still very angry, but she was attempting to keep herself calm and reserved.

"I...don't know. I…" Ruby mumbled, before screaming in frustration.

"Maybe if we try going over the rims of them?" Sapphire suggested. "That ship might still be able to work."

"But, according to Pearl, it could only be piloted by a Peridot."

"Who even sends two ships when there's only one pilot?" Bismuth wondered.

"It's a Recon Peridot. If she finds her targets, she's gotta have a way to fish them out. And we fell for it!" Ruby hit herself in the head.

"Well, standing around and whining about it won't get us anything but wasted time." Bismuth said. Ruby looked at her with a fiery rage, and Sapphire clenched her teeth, holding out her hand in a weak effort to prevent anything. Ruby kept this glare, before walking back to the beach.

"She's right." Ruby said. Bismuth smiled, happy with this interaction. She and Sapphire followed Ruby through the barren streets. As they did, Sapphire noticed their numbers.

"Where are the other two?" Sapphire asked. Bismuth looked behind them, seeing this as well.

"Hm. I know Pearl was on the beach. Not too sure about the Runt. Could've sworn she was behind us." They continued their journey back to the beach, with Sapphire keeping an eye out for Amethyst. Just in case.

Pearl was stuck on the other side of the neon curtain containing the city. She had tried once to break through it with her spear, yet it was refracted each time. The holes that the orbs had created upon impact had quickly filled with sand, and any sort of resistance or damage she attempted would be futile. She berated herself for being so weak and useless, which gave her motivation to keep going. She looked to the lighthouse, knowing it would be of no use, yet staring at it longingly. Suddenly, the sounds of grunts and groans were heard from behind her. She twirled around, ready to attack, yet found it to be Amethyst with a few scrapes and bruises. Pearl calmed down, while also feeling great indignation for their disposition.

"Why?" Pearl asked herself, "Why did it have to be you?" Amethyst fell to her knees in front of Pearl, seemingly bowing to her in tremendous agony.

"I'm sorry, Pearl. I...I just didn't want to die." Amethyst managed to say. Pearl groaned in annoyance.

"Where were you? I'd thought you were with the rest of them."

"I...was. But, I ran off. I...tumbled down a hill...and fell on some rocks. Then...the sh-shield appeared, and-"

"Goodness, this'll take all day," Pearl said. She readied her spear above Amethyst's head. "Don't keep me waiting." Amethyst saw this, and would usually react in fear, yet she also knew it would be a short-term solution to her pain. Pearl brought down her blade, and Amethyst poofed in a cloud of smoke and dust. Her purple gem fell to the sand below, nesting in it comfortably. Pearl stood there valiantly, awaiting her return. A green glow began to emanate from beneath the surface of the water, and Pearl refocused on this phenomenon. She knew of many strange things that could happen on Earth, and this could easily be bioluminescent algae. Yet it kept getting brighter. And closer. Pearl readied her weapon, aiming it at the water and awaiting some sort of sea monster. She glanced back at the lifeless gemstone behind her. Come on, Runt, Pearl thought. Now's not a good time! The glowing became even brighter, and Pearl could just barely see the source of it. It was a triangle. A bright, glowing green triangle that was slowly getting closer to the surface. Pearl gripped her spear even tighter, getting into a defensive stance and training her spear directly at the triangle. The top of Peridot's hair poked up through the surface like the fin of a shark, and the rest of her head soon followed. Her gemstone was emitting the eerie glow, and a cone of light was cast upon the beach in front of her. It didn't take long for Peridot to notice them. Pearl lunged at her, no longer waiting for Amethyst to reform, and was knocked out of the air by a blast from Peridot's fingers. Peridot then saw the gemstone on the beach, rushing over to pick it up. Her foot was then pinned down by Pearl's spear, and she forcefully halted mid-stride. Peridot looked back, and was knocked to the ground by an incoming punch from Pearl. Pearl then kicked Amethyst's gemstone away from them, causing it to bounce over in that direction. Peridot pulled the spear out of her foot, noticing a rather concerning hole where it had impacted, but was then knocked back yet again as Pearl gracefully kicked her in the chest with both legs, grabbing her spear in the process. Pearl then stood on top of Peridot, the spear trained at her throat.

"Finally," Peridot grunted. "Face-to-face."

"Let's hope you'll keep yours." Pearl said with confidence. Peridot began to laugh uncontrollably, confusing her captor.

"'Let's hope you'll keep yours?' Could you come up with a more pathetic threat?" Peridot asked in disbelief. "For all your years of experience and fighting, you sure are clueless on intimidation." Pearl stared back at her with disdain. They both heard a harmonic noise from behind, and saw a white glow. Amethyst had reformed, which made Pearl unconsciously sink the spear a bit deeper towards Peridot's neck.

"It's about time, Runt!" Pearl shouted.

"I'm sorr-" Amethyst began.

"No! No no; sorry isn't going to cut it this time!" Pearl looked back at Peridot. Though her mouth remained covered by the mask, Pearl could tell that she was grinning in amusement.

"You really are terrible at this." Peridot said.

"At what? Holding you captive for the time being?" Peridot thought about it for a moment, choosing her words.

"Yes and no," was the reply. "You're fine at holding me captive. It's keeping me that way that's the problem." Ten beams of hot, green light shot out from Peridot's fingers in a grid, aimed at Pearl's legs. Her reflexes were quick, however, and she was able to jump over them, which gave Peridot enough time to escape. Her fingers quickly gravitated back to her arms, and Pearl landed elegantly in front of her.

"Even so," Pearl said, menacing, "you won't be getting past us." She raised her spear up, aiming it directly at Peridot.

"Don't need to." Peridot said, nonchalant. The ground began to shake violently around them, and the two opposers looked around in confusion. They saw the wall behind them begin to crack the surrounding ground, and it seemed to raise ever so slightly. Meanwhile, Peridot's pod emerged from the water, and its owner entered soon after. Pearl, her attention refocused, attempted to hit the pod and incapacitate it with her spear. It merely bounced off of the hull, plummeting back towards the water like a missile. The pod then ascended quite fast, moving up over the rim of the holographic wall. Pearl looked on, anger boiling in her body. She glared at Amethyst.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Pearl snapped. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING?! No thanks to you she's now even closer to WINNING!" Amethyst was on the verge of tears, and covered her face with her hair, curling up into a ball on the ground. She began to hyperventilate, shake, and sweat, suffering a panic attack right in front of a furious Pearl. Pearl watched this happen, hearing her pitiful whimpers and gasps in attempts to calm down, feeling genuinely sorrowful before focusing on the task at hand. The large selection of land continued to rise with great force. Flows of dirt, rocks, and miscellaneous debris rained down upon the growing crater below. Pearl, taking a great risk, slid down into it, moving underneath the giant, ascending mass of land. There was still an extensive neon-green blanket of impenetrable energy spanning underneath it, making it difficult to find some piece of bare rock. The space became narrower, only slowly growing into a comfortable size. Rocks popped and tumbled around her, and a deep rumbling vibrated the Earth like a bell. After a few more minutes of hurried movements, Pearl finally found it. Despite the dim lighting, Pearl could still see that there was a relatively small patch of open space. It was a dark, crude circle in the center of the bright green, and it felt very cold and hard. "RUNT!" Pearl called, her voice reverberating throughout the cavernous area. Amethyst did not respond, likely too far away to hear or say anything. Pearl sighed in frustration, before rushing back towards the wide rim of light, finding her trek back to be much easier than before. Pebbles tapped her on the shoulders and a few small rocks hit her in the back of the head. It left a prominent yet weak aching pain that faded away quickly. She was hardly even aware of its existence; her mind was too focused on her objective. Sunlight poured onto her face, kissing it with a warmth that was oddly chilling to her form. "Runt!" Pearl called again. This time, Amethyst bolted over as soon as she was summoned. She refused to look Pearl in the eyes. "I think I've figured it out. Do you think you can drill a hole upwards?" Amethyst shrugged. Though she was about to scream, Pearl took a deep breath. "Shrugs won't cut it. I need yes or no."

"Yes. I can try." Amethyst replied weakly. Pearl sighed, motioning for her to come along. Once they returned to the bare spot, they found it to be a little too out of reach. Pearl gave Amethyst a boost, and Amethyst shifted into a drill, which moved upwards before falling back down, clumsily. Pearl punched the hard, cold ground beneath her in frustration, before trying something out to help. She summoned her spear, and ordered Amethyst to summon her whip. As the rock continued rising, they both knew it wouldn't be long before boosting was a futile maneuver. She tied Amethyst's whip to the end of her spear, and aimed it at the spot like a harpoon. Throwing it with great force and accuracy, the spear firmly lodged itself in the bedrock. The whip, like a rope, began to slowly unfurl, now a small tail to the massive chunk of rock and dirt. Pearl took a small moment to congratulate herself for her quick thinking, and even patted Amethyst on the back, though Amethyst cringed in fear of being hurt. Pearl, guiltily recoiling her hand, refocused. It was a good job, but that rope won't last forever.

"Grab on." Pearl said, doing so herself. Amethyst remained obedient.