Earthquakes resonated throughout the ground, and vibrations massaged the moving feet of the Crystal Blades. Ruby was able to make it close enough to the edge to see that the city was slowly ascending, and they were closed in. They were like insects in a bowl, and they couldn't get out. Ruby's head throbbed with fury, the fires of a thousand suns burning within her soul. She was a furnace that held the power of supernovas, only confined to a smaller, weaker form. She punched the containment walls, it shocking her back, leaving a numbing sting in her arm. She barely flinched at the sensation.
"Great!" She exclaimed. "GREAT! What's next, huh?" Sapphire came up to her, wanting to comfort her or calm her down, yet her guilt about Pearl overtook her actions, freezing her in place behind her commander. Bismuth arrived not long after, annoyed with their containment. Something caught her attention, and she looked over to see Peridot's ship rising up and over the rim of the walls. She rolled her eyes.
"Here comes the Peridot." Bismuth stated, pointing to the ship that began to lower itself into the city's center. Ruby looked at it as well, finally having something she could channel her anger towards.
"Let's get a move on," Ruby said through gritted teeth. She and Sapphire ran towards it, while Bismuth watched angrily, before reluctantly following suit. Her legs were getting tired.
They arrived in a matter of minutes, seeing the craft on top of a building (one of the few that still had a roof). Ruby was about to run up to it, but Bismuth shouted out "Wait!" Ruby halted, turned around, and looked at Bismuth to display her rage.
"It could be another trick. We should search the area first," Bismuth said.
"Unless that's exactly what the Peridot wants us to think so we'll have our backs to her." Sapphire suggested.
"Fine, princess. Use your bullshit to look into the future. See what happens there."
"Both possibilities exist equally," Sapphire calmly replied. "I'm not sure which one will come to pass for us." Ruby screamed in exasperation.
"Fine! Bismuth! Search! Sapphire, you're with me!" Ruby barked. Sapphire did just that, and Bismuth shook her head, looking around. Ruby found that the window to the cockpit was an opaque, glowing green. The smooth surface of it didn't allow for an easy grip, and it couldn't easily be pried open. Ruby tried her best, though, attempting to wedge her fingers into the seam and pull it, before giving up and punching the window in the center. Neither of these proved to be very effective.
"Nothin' down here!" Bismuth reported.
"Commander," Sapphire said, "if the Peridot was in the pod, I'm sure she would have shot at us by now. Or found some way to deter us from the pod."
"Unless that's exactly what the Peridot wants us to think!" Ruby said, mockingly using Sapphire's words against her. Sapphire flinched, realizing her flaw, and clenched her fists tightly, causing the tips of her fingers to go numb. She turned away from Ruby, who began whaling on the window in a desperate attempt to break it. As the wetness dried from her eyelid, Sapphire saw a distant, green figure moving up the road towards the humans. They had been tricked!
"Command-" Sapphire uttered.
"Quiet! I'm busy!" Ruby said, shutting her up. Sapphire's emotions, which had already been a constantly filling, boiling pot, spilled out as she addressed Ruby again.
"THE PERIDOT IS OVER THERE!" Sapphire blurted. Ruby stopped her efforts, looking at Sapphire with bewilderment. She caught a glimpse of the invading Gem, though, and slowly walked past Sapphire, glaring at her. Ruby leapt off of the edge, jogging towards their enemy.
Despite the worrisome earthquakes, Greg, Smiley, and Kofi were sent back into the tunnel and see how they might rebuild or continue their stay. Meanwhile, the rest of the group were left outside as Connie and Ronaldo guarded the entryway. Well, half of it. The tunnel had been split in half by the green barrier Connie looked at Ronaldo after a bit, and he remained as still as a statue, vigilantly holding his shotgun. Annoyed with the silence and lack of wind, Connie decided to fill the silence with small talk.
"So," she began, "what made you decide to become, like, a soldier."
"The Fryman family has a history in military," Ronaldo stated, pausing. "Granted, most of them were cooks, but I've decided to go back to my roots in times of crisis. Besides, it feels like my true purpose at the moment."
"Right. Yeah." They stood in silence once more. Ronaldo's eyes never moved from their aimless gaze. "Where'd you get that gun from?"
"I used to go hunting with my dad up in Woodbrook. He let me keep it once I turned eighteen, and I started hunting lizards with it. I simply felt a bond with it."
"There...aren't any lizards in Woodbrook." Ronaldo then looked at her, before rolling his eyes. At least his concentration was broken momentarily. More silence, this one lasted for about two minutes.
"I hear that you and that Lars guy have a history. That true?"
"You hear this from whom?" Ronaldo inquired, passively.
"I think it was Jenny. Maybe Sadie. Definitely a girl."
"If anyone, it was S. Miller." He looked at the ground briefly, his brow furrowed just a bit. "That witch," he muttered to himself, before stiffening up again. "Barriga and I were friends as adolescents. It ended as quick as it started."
"I can tell you two have some major differences. Surprised the word was even true," Connie said, looking off to the distance. She noticed Peridot's ship miles away at the edge of town. Though she wouldn't admit it, her heart took a nosedive and her nerves chilled themselves. "Enemy at the perimeter." Ronaldo readied his weapon, scanning the surrounding area. "3 o' clock." He turned accordingly, seeing the ship slowly sweeping the streets, before landing on top of a building.
"Hardly a threat right now," he stated, "but remain cautious." Connie nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her. His post had now been moved from right outside the entrance to the side of the hill, keeping a firm eye on the ship. They heard footsteps from within the tunnel, getting progressively louder. Everyone then started flooding out, carrying bags and boxes with much struggle. They were making progress, at any rate. Greg, who was carrying two cardboard boxes in either arm, then walked up to Connie, following her gaze.
"Oh, boy," Greg said.
"It landed on the roof a little over a minute ago. I didn't see anything exit it, so I think we should be safe," Connie reported.
"Yeah," Greg replied, "unless it's a time bomb." This possibility struck Connie like lightning. If its explosion was big enough to reach them, and they were at the edge of the containment area, they would have no way to escape it.
"Then what should we do?" Connie asked, hiding the shakiness in her voice. Greg, too, was stiff with fear, but had to hold strong if they were going to survive. Try to, at least. He looked to the figures below. He saw that the small, red one, had just hopped off the roof with the ship, and slowly began to run towards them, the other two following not long after. Weird, Greg thought. I doubt they'd be coming up here to help us out… Greg's thoughts were quickly interrupted when some of the people up ahead started screaming bloody murder. Everyone's attention was reasserted, and they saw what the problem was. Onion, who had dropped his boxes, frantically ran back to the group, carrying Jamie's hat. Behind him was a pile of dust and a fast approaching, bright green Invader. Everybody, Greg included, began to panic. "THE HILL!" Greg shouted, "RUN INTO TOWN! QUICKLY!" As everyone frantically rushed down the hill, Greg ran over to Onion, his face petrified with the look of terror. As Greg tried to pick the little bugger up, a flash of green light turned the poor boy into a cloud of dust. Greg looked at the Invader, who switched to another floating cylinder, almost like a revolver, before taking aim once more. Greg dodged, tumbling down the hill and hitting the back or side of his head a few times. As he reached a stopping point, he was dizzy and his vision was fuzzy. He tried to look back at the Invader, it being nothing more than a green blob atop the hill. It then disappeared and he heard some yelling up there. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling great warmth from it. He looked at his hand, seeing large amounts of bright red coating it. Great. He turned towards the town again, stumbling down the hill clumsily. Two figures then ran up to him, and he took a delayed defensive stance. Everything felt dreamlike, or like he wasn't even in reality at all. Voices in his head told him to stand down. Voices that sounded familiar. Were they even in his head? His legs suddenly felt weak, and he began to feel tremendously nauseous, before finally collapsing on the ground.
Ruby had tackled Peridot, allowing one of the humans more time to escape. A few lasers were shot, though they had no real aim and missed Ruby every time. Bismuth soon came over to help her out, kicking Peridot in the side as hard as she could, narrowly missing Ruby. Peridot rolled over a few feet before hitting the barrier. Ruby got up, catching her breath.
"Careful, Bismuth. You wouldn't wanna hit me, would you?" Ruby warned. Bismuth side eyed her, carrying on. Peridot got up without much coordination, but was able to confront Bismuth as she approached. Peridot shot out an array of laser beams, moving two on each side as a sweeping grid. Bismuth was able to duck in time, and Ruby leapt into the air, stomping on Peridot's face as she landed and slightly cracking her visor. A small swarm of Peridot's fingers hit Ruby out of the air, beginning to shoot at her and Bismuth.
"Quite impressive," Peridot said, "that you needed all that effort just to crack my visor." She was about to walk towards them, but almost fell forward when she found her feet were stuck to the ground, frozen in ice. Sapphire then floated around in front of her, and punched her in the face, causing her to fall back.
"Nice one, Snowflake!" Bismuth said, the firing lasers ceasing. Peridot, a bit dazed, remained determined, and commanded the orbs, via holographic screen, to triangulate on their location. Ruby tried to grab Peridot's fingers, but they immediately heated up and burned her hand. Ruby held on for about ten seconds, before taking her hand back and inspecting her damaged appendage. Bismuth then punched Peridot in the face, cracking the visor a bit more and knocking her out. Sapphire saw the fast-approaching orbs, and motioned for the others to move out. Ruby looked curiously at the tunnel, though, remaining stationary.
"Pick up the Peridot. We'll take her back to the lighthouse for questioning," Ruby commanded Bismuth.
"But what about her fingers?" Bismuth asked, tearing Peridot off the ground. "She might just laser her way out." Ruby looked at Peridot's unconscious body, which was draped over Bismuth's right shoulder.
"We'll have to try and get 'em off before she wakes up, then." The orbs continued getting closer, though at a relatively slow rate. A few bolts were shot at them randomly, but it was nothing too concerning. Ruby walked into the tunnel, which was illuminated by the green wall that divided it. It was admittedly disconcerting to be inside of a tunnel and see the world beyond as it slowly shrank below the rising chunk of land they were on. There was a crack in the ceiling that had been plugged with a cup of some sort. She wandered into the main station after a little while, which was also divided by the wall, and saw that the rubble that had once been there had begun to collapse, and the floor was being covered in dust and debris. There were cracks that had spread out from the orb's burrowing holes, and Ruby could see that the hole itself went down a few miles. It would be of no use. Continuing to explore this abandoned hideout, Ruby found a few planks of wood, some old train parts, and a crate containing about three pistols; old ones. Could be useful, she thought, picking up the crate and carrying it out the tunnel. On her way out, she stepped on an old, dirtied teddy bear.