"Vexus, I hear you have fused with two of my soldiers without their permission," a giant yellow woman spoke with a smirk.
The green gem could hardly speak, quaking fearfully in her boots. Her collar was beginning to elicit warning shocks through her body. Vexus' teammates spoke up, "Yes, my Diamond," the red gem spoke with a glint in her eyes, "She used our collars against us time after time."
"Oh really?" the ruler spoke, narrowing her eyes, "Pearl, take off the collars of Pyroite and Tanzanite."
"Y-yes my Diamond," the pearl responded, rushing to undo the collars.
"As punishment, you are going to Earth to retrieve a certain peridot," Yellow Diamond spoke, "I am sure gems as capable as yourselves can bring her back to me."
The three gems spoke simultaneously, "Yes, our Diamond."
They were flown to Earth in Vexus' ship within the next few hours. Vexus was settling the ship to the ground as the two other gems decided to jump onto the ground.
"Wait, I haven't finis-" Vexus shouted but was interrupted by Tanzanite.
"Too bad, we want to gain Yellow Diamond's respect again right away!" she shouted back up to Vexus.
The green gem shook her head, landing the ship, making large footprints in the mud. Her partners laughed at her dirty boots while shame crept through her veins. She pushed the feeling away and became robot-like again, "Let's find this traitor."
Vexus led the way as she had the tracker, trying not to pay attention to the ruffians on her team.
"Hey! This is where we broke that small gem!" Pyroite chuckled.
Tanzanite smiled, "I wonder if she suffered?"
Vexus could not let herself think about Jade's horrifying death, she just wanted to get to her blue-eyed friend. The red gem discovered that her partner was scheming and whispered to Tanzanite, making her giggle. Pyroite ripped the blue collar off of Vexus' throat, causing scorch marks where it used to be. Her hands flew to her neck in pain, "Why did you do that Pyroite!"
"Because, we need your help Vexus," the tall green gem removed her hands from her neck slowly, "We want to be respected by Yellow Diamond, don't you?"
Tanzanite nodded to support her friend's point, batting her eye, "We really need you, could you help us?"
"I guess I could, but only for a little while," Vexus cautiously replied, unsure of this mild kindness, "Let's follow this, alright?"
When they were at the top of a small hill, the Homeworld gems looked over a busy city, filled with people. A glittering blue beach faced it that created a peaceful melody with each wave. The red gem nudged Vexus off the edge of the hill, causing her to roll down the hill. She picked herself up, holding back her anger and smiling to her partners.
"The hill is presumably safe!" she called as the two gems slid down it with grace.
Vexus brushed the dirt off and the three continued to walk through the city, trying to avoid the glances of the townspeople. The group climbed over another hill, seeing a large red building. Several gems were working on a drill from Homeworld.
"There she is! Without her limb enhancers too!" Pyroite laughed, "She is so weak right now, we just have to separate her from those other gems."
The tall green gem watched as the small green gem clamored for parts, using a primitive tool to twist screws into the drill. She felt pity, but remembered that this was the gem that did nothing as she was being tortured. When it was nighttime, the gems walked back to their home, taking a small boy with them. He seemed worried, but he was still keeping his spirits up. Vexus watched the small peridot disappear from view as her partners became restless.
"Come on let's get her! We have been waiting long enough and can take those other gems," Pyroite clambered to her feet, helping Tanzanite to hers.
"I agree we should break her gem!" Tanzanite grinned evilly, her eye glaring.
"We have to bring her back whole," Vexus said nervously.
The other two gems nodded as if they were disappointed. They snuck over to the unit that the gems were occupying and waited until three of the gems disappeared into a transportador. Two beings were left, a human boy and the peridot.
"Come on, we can take the human and the gem on our own," Pyroite smirked, getting ready.
Tanzanite batted her eye to Vexus, and the tall green gem rolled her eyes, "Fine."
The three of them charged into the house, Tanzanite with her obedient daggers, Vexus with her plasma gun, and Pyroite with her flames. Silence surrounded them, the two inhabitants had skillfully hid themselves from the intruders and it wasn't like they were a quiet bunch. Tanzanite's patience was wearing thin, "Come out wherever you are, small ones."
Peridot froze in fear when she saw Vexus, a gem who was controlled by Yellow Diamond. The small boy realized that they would be found eventually and told his friend that he would protect her until the gems got back. He rolled out from under the stairs.
"I am here," he said with fierce determination, summoning his shield.
"A shield? Isn't that from the infamous Rose Quartz?" Pyroite looked to Vexus, but the tall green gem shrugged.
"Why are you here," the boy asked seriously.
"We came to take a traitor home for punishment," Vexus said robotically.
"What she said" Pyroite smiled, "Can we fight them now, Vexus?"
"You can, but I want to bring the traitor back," she responded calmly.
Within seconds the boy was subdued, daggers threatening to puncture his skin. Peridot became worried for her friend and leaped from the shadows onto Tanzanite. She scratched the orange gem's eye and her gem, causing her to drop the daggers to the ground. The small boy hit Pyroite with his pink shield making her fall to the ground. Tanzanite pushed Peridot off of her shoulders and charged at the boy with full force, daggers lightly puncturing his skin.
"Steven!" Peridot cried and glared at the enemies, "Don't you dare hurt him."
Pyroite then restrained Peridot, "That all depends on what you do."
"What I do?" the small green gem asked as Steven was being stuck lightly with more and more daggers, limiting his movement and causing his shield to dissipate.
"Yes," Tanzanite said calmly, "You have to come with us to Yellow Diamond."
Peridot became fearful and looked to her friend who was shaking his head. Her shoulders became hot as Pyroite whispered, "Come on Peri, make your decision."
"Fine I will go with you, but let him go," Peridot negotiated, making Vexus hope that her partners would accept.
"Hm, perhaps," Tanzanite spoke with glinting eyes, "Do we want extra objects to bring to Yellow Diamond, Vexus?"
Peridot looked to the tall, robot-like gem, "Whatever you think would please her."
The small green gem was overwhelmed by anger and twisted out of Pyroite's grasp, running to her friend. She ripped out all ten of the daggers from his delicate skin, his eyes fearful for her future. Peridot blinked tears out of her eyes, wrapping her arms around him and whispered, "Go to the transportador Steven, get the gems' help."
Daggers flipped into the air, spiking into Peridot's back, eliciting groans, "RUN!"
Steven got up and ran to the transportador, teleporting away as he watched his friend smile at him. He wiped the coming tears out of his eyes as his skin was healing itself over.
Meanwhile, Peridot succumbed to the power of the daggers and poofed into her gem. The tall green gem decided to do a fake out so that she could stay on Earth to find her friend, going ahead and picking up the small green gem in her detached fingers. Her teammates nodded at her ability to be cold and made the trip back to their ship.
"How come you had to place it so far away?" Pyroite asked, shoving Vexus harshly.
"Just be glad you had a ride, let's leave the Rose Quartz incarnate there, it isn't worth it," Vexus replied, rolling her eyes.
Tanzanite was picked up and brought into the ship by Pyroite, laughing while Vexus trailed behind. Everything was going to her plan, as she closed the ship's opening. She went to her chair and sat down in it, feeling slightly guilty as she heard her two partners cuddling. Vexus lifted the ship into the air, flying it back to Homeworld within the span of a few hours. The tall green gem waited until her partners got out, quickly lifting the ship into the air and turning around, holding Peridot's gem for reassurance. Pyroite and Tanzanite immediately repeated Vexus' department to Yellow Diamond. The yellow leader ordered ships to attack the ship, speedily departing to reach the Earth. Vexus set Peridot's gem in a small compartment, as she needed both hands in order to make it out of this situation. She shot most of the Homeworld ships, sustaining minimum blows, getting closer to Earth with each wave of ships. The pale blue dot began to appear within her vision and Vexus sped her ship to maximum speed, the dot becoming bigger and bigger. She was star struck, as she had never seen the Earth like this before. Her ship became pelted by shots from at least twelve Homeworld ships.
"Better mess them up," Vexus said to herself, starting to smile.
She knew her ship was about to fail, but charged into the other ships, pulverizing them with her blasters. After the waves were defeated, Vexus saw the green lands on Earth, desperately wanting to go there. The green gem realized that she needed to stop the ships from coming for her so she quickly inputted several thousand coordinates throughout the galaxy and sent them to the other ships to look for her. They were titled with Yellow Diamond's signature opening so other gems were sure assume it was her sending them the coordinates. Vexus took a deep breath; she sensed her ship could explode upon impact as its landing gear was destroyed.
The green gem grabbed Peridot's gem out of the compartment, and set the ship's course for Earth. She held the gem in a protective position, watching as the Earth got closer and closer. Minutes later, the ship began to burst in flames, tumbling downwards, knocking the green gem around and finally smashing into the ground. Vexus' bruised form landed on the ground and poofed into her gem, her limb enhancers clattering to the ground. Her gem ended up facing Peridot's. The ship was completely destroyed; some battered parts still fuming with smoke.
A few hours later, Peridot began to form herself out of her gem. She was surprised to see a gem like hers lying on the ground. Her foot touched it lightly, it didn't move, it just rolled over to reveal a small crack. Peridot looked around her at the parts of the ship that had been destroyed and wondered what went on when she was in her gem. She noticed the limb enhancers and was tempted to put them on, but relished the feeling of walking on grass and dirt too much. The small green gem then carried the limb enhancers up a large hill, threw them over the cliff, listening for the thud at the bottom.
"Better safe than sorry," Peridot said not completely trusting the dormant gem.
She looked south and saw a coastline in the distance. The small green gem decided to go there, beginning to trudge down the hill. Peridot walked past the slightly battered gem, guiltily stopping in her tracks. She picked it up in her hand, continuing her pace. After a couple hours of walking, she sat down on a rock wiping her brow and studying the single crack on Vexus' gem.
"This was a gem that needed help, and I never helped her," Peridot talked to herself, not minding being alone, but also not favoring it either, "I wonder if Steven is looking for me."
Peridot continued to walk towards the coastline, following signs that pointed to Beach City, holding Vexus' gem. At last, she came out of her gem, unaware of where she was. Vexus looked around her and saw Peridot looking at her with a stick in her hand, "Uh are you okay?"
"Yes I am, Vexus," Peridot replied, rolling the name off her tongue with slight distaste, hiding the stick she had pulled out for defense.
"Where are my ship and limb enhancers?" Vexus asked searching for the objects in question, wondering what these limbs were doing naked.
"Were they my problem in the first place?" Peridot questioned, staring at the slight crack in Vexus' gem.
"Oh well, do you know where we are?" Vexus asked.
"Shouldn't you? You are the one who landed your ship here," Peridot was snappy, unsure of whether or not to trust this gem.
"I guess I should know, but I don't," Vexus looked to the ground desiring friendship.
"Well I have to go to my friends in Beach City," Peridot spoke calmly walking away.
"Wait," Vexus halted the shorter green gem, "Can I go with you?"
"I guess you can stay if you promise not to attack anyone," Peridot responded, liking the idea of a companion.
"Thanks Peridot," Vexus spoke, glitching out, but managing to stay whole not noticing the slight change.
She shook her head and the shorter green gem began to lead the way to Beach City. Peridot took a look at Vexus and even without her limb enhancers; the green gem was still slightly taller than Peridot. She had learned that gems come in different shapes and sizes, so it didn't bother her much. Peridot looked at the green gem's hair, it was gray, an odd color for a peridot's hair. She remembered this name from a bulletin board; it signified a long line of defects. Vexus looked at her, and she quickly looked away. The taller green gem wondered if she had done something but couldn't find it out. After a dozen miles of walking, Peridot's curiosity broke the silence as she sat down on a nearby rock, "How come your gem is on your chest and not your head?"
"Oh," Vexus acknowledged her, looking abashed and playing with her badge, "It's my defect, it turns my hair gray. The only reason I was kept was because I have a high intelligence level. My line was renamed Vexus by Yellow Diamond, not a very pretty name. How about you, how come you were kept when you have such strong emotions?"
"I didn't used to have these emotions, the friends I made here changed me completely in that regard," Peridot looked thoughtful, wanting the company of the Crystal Gems again.
"Why are there so many pieces of lumber with leaves attached? How come there are these little bright colored smelly things?" Vexus' curiosity got the better of her, "Also, how did I get these non-artificial limbs, they feel weird…"
"When you poofed, you lost your form which was attached to your limb enhancers. I kind of threw them off a cliff, but that doesn't matter!" Peridot struggled to assemble the answers to the taller gem's questions, reaching down to pick a scented piece of nature, "The smelly things are flowers."
"Are they weapons?" Vexus questioned.
Peridot put one in Vexus' hair, surprising her, "You tell me, I had to find out the hard way how valuable life is. We are surrounded by trees which produce the oxygen you are breathing right now."
"Oh," Vexus said, enjoying the pleasant conversation, "Then what's that?"
The taller green gem pointed off into the distance, Peridot trying to comprehend what it could be. A strange green animal came running up the hill. Peridot became worried, "Vexus we had better run."
"Why?" she responded.
"Just do it!" the smaller green gem shouted.
Peridot and Vexus climbed up a large rock and looked down, the green beast struggling to leap up to the two. It had a large red triangle looming on its forehead, its movements rushed and hasty.
"MY NAME IS EMERALD FEAR MY EVERY BREATH," the creature communicated wildly, damaging the minds of its listeners.
Vexus threw a rock onto its head, but it had little effect. The beast started to climb up the rock, "Oh I know this creature, it's a wolf!"
"Uh, what do you know about wolves?" Peridot asked questioning her temporary teammate's intelligence.
"Wolves are very dangerous animals, this one looks like it may have been a gem that went estranged," Vexus paused, "If we can get to it, then we can probably make it retreat into its gem!"
Peridot was astounded, but decided to put her faith in the taller gem as she climbed near the wolf. All of a sudden the beast jumped off the rock and sprinted away. Vexus climbed back up to Peridot, her braveness shocking her.
"Well then," she managed to say.
The two decided to move on, finding a randomly placed Kindergarten. They hiked down into it to check it out, for some odd reason, the ground seemed to sparkle. Vexus kneeled, realizing that it was covered with gem shards. Her and Peridot were shocked, but decided to keep going. A wall was carved with the names of some gems, but Vexus only paid attention to one, Azurite. She looked down at the gem shards, a single tear falling to the ground.
"My friend is broken…" she croaked after a long silence, acknowledging the disabled tracker labeled AZ.
"Oh," Peridot replied, slightly concerned.
Vexus glitched once again for a short moment, but it was enough to encourage her to speak up.
"Peridot, can you give me mercy, my gem is already cracked," Vexus pleaded, leaning against the rock wall, her yellow badge gleaming.
"I am so sorry, but I can't do that," Peridot frowned.
Vexus fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Peridot had never been in this situation before with another gem, but knelt to the ground. She placed her arms around Vexus and held her tight, halting the heaving. Let's get home soon, she thought, Vexus needs to be healed.