Hey guys, welcome back again to Crystal's End. Gosh, I'm getting so close to the end. I don't want it to end because then I won't know what to do with my life anymore, so it might be awhile before the next chapter comes out. Expect it in 5-7 days. Anyway, I'm really proud of this one and had fun writing it, and proofread it twice for maximum quality! And sorry for the cliffhanger ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Enjoy!
Chapter 14
At first, the mission went smoothly. The Gems, along with Steven, walked around the Kindergarten, searching for injectors that were powered on (although the odds of one actually being on were one in a thousand) and searching the area for gem mutants. This was the reason they had brought Steven- his bubble would come in handy in the event that they did encounter a mutant. Garnet was very on edge, and usually, when a monster appeared she would let Pearl and Amethyst do the dirty work. Steven remembered the first time they had discovered the mutants, and Garnet had been horrified. It was the one chink in her armor that, if hit, could make Garnet fall apart. They only ran into a few monsters, most of which were just some combined hands or feet- no real threat. They were easy to handle- just poof and bubble, poof and bubble, over and over again.
However, throughout the whole mission, Steven couldn't shake a nagging feeling that something was wrong. He thought of Peridot and how they had left her alone at the barn. What if she went missing again? There was an odd aura about the day, but Steven couldn't exactly place it. It also didn't take long to realize that Garnet shared the uneasy feeling. A few times throughout the mission, Garnet would suddenly stop, clutch her head, and groan loudly. When Pearl inquired what the problem was with a worried tone, Garnet assured her that it was just her future vision- it acted up at times when there were many negative outcomes in the near future. This, of course, did not ease Pearl's feelings in the slightest, because she was now paranoid at the prospect of something terrible happening.
The Gems continued on with their mission, with Garnet and Steven attempting to ignore their bad feelings. However, the notion was suddenly encouraged as the Gems noticed the sky begin to turn a shade of green. It happened gradually, so they naturally assumed they were just seeing things. However, as it became more and more apparent, there was no denying that something was wrong.
Steven was the first to mention it. "Guys? What's going on with the sky?" Pearl was the first to respond, and she naturally attempted to make a best-case scenario explanation. "I'm not sure, Steven. But it's probably one of Earth's strange events called a solar eclipse. The sun is probably being overlapped by the moon, and it's creating an odd color in the sky!" It was obvious by her voice that Pearl was trying to convince herself of this as well as Steven. Suddenly, an ominous wind began sweeping through the Kindergarten, whirling around the four at unnaturally high speeds. Garnet gave Pearl a look. "I don't think it's an eclipse…"
Steven and Amethyst exchanged nervous glances. Their eyes drifted to a collapsed wall to the right, with a clear view of the entire sky. Silently agreeing, they dashed in that direction and stopped in front of the wall. What they saw made their jaws drop. Amethyst quickly glanced back and shouted over the winds to Pearl and Garnet, "Guys, it's definitely NOT an eclipse… come quickly!"
Pearl and Garnet dashed over to the wall, where Steven was paralyzed in shock, and Amethyst was trembling in anxiety. After one quick glance, the two taller gem's moods suddenly shifted to match Steven and Amethysts' exactly.
What they saw was a large, green spaceship in the shape of a hand, pointing directly at the Kindergarten and hurtling towards the Earth. Each Gem had a different reaction, but all went into full panic. Pearl, screeching like a bird, ran in circles yelling, "They're coming back! Again! What do we do?!" Garnet summoned her gauntlets, gritting her teeth. "They're coming for us! They know we're in the Kindergarten!" Amethyst, with her hair whipping around her face from the strong winds, held her hands on her head in a stressed manner. She cried, "Do we warp back? How are we gonna take them on?!" Steven, the entire time, was watching the ship grow larger and larger in a state of numb horror.
However, he was snapped back to the present as Garnet grabbed him and held him under her arm like a football. "No, there's no time to warp back! The pad is too far away! We need to get deeper into the Kindergarten!" And with that, Garnet took off, still carrying Steven, with Pearl and Amethyst hurrying after her. Steven thought of the warp pad, on the other side of the Kindergarten, out of reach and unable to save them.
And then Steven remembered that Peridot was still at the barn.
His eyes widened. He suddenly began yelling at Garnet, "Wait, stop! We need to go back!" Garnet kept running but turned her head to face Steven, her teeth gritted in what was as close as Garnet got to terrified expression. "Steven, we can't go back! We need to keep going! Why do you…?"
Steven kept yelling. "Peridot is still at the barn! We need to go back for her, she can't protect herself! Please, Garnet!"
Garnet kept running. "Steven, there's no time! I'm sorry, we just can't." Steven began punching and kicking at Garnet's side in an attempt to get her to release him. Tears poured down his face. "Garnet, listen to me! We have to! Let me go!"
Garnet stopped for a moment and held Steven in front of her face. "Steven," she said in a stony voice, "If Peridot stays at the barn, and then she'll be away from us when the Homeworld Gems arrive. She'll be safer there. You want to protect her- so do it by leaving her there. Please understand, Steven." Steven stopped struggling as her words sank in. He sadly nodded, and with that, the decision was made. Pearl, who had stopped after Garnet but could not hear what was happening, yelled over the wind, "Garnet! Is everything okay?" Garnet tucked Steven under her arm again. "Yes! Keep going!" she called back.
Yellow Diamond smiled as the ship lowered upon the Kindergarten, as this would be the moment when all of her anticipation would pay off. She quickly shot out an order. "Soldiers- move out from the fingertips and attack the traitors. Do not destroy their forms- just disarm and apprehend them." As the Peridots, Rose Quartzes, and Amethysts filed out of the control room, Yellow Diamond turned to Peridot, standing expectantly at her side. "Peridot, you wait here with me. We will join them for the grand finale."
Peridot saluted. "Of course, My Diamond." And along with Yellow Diamond, Peridot watched through the main window as each soldier filed out of the ship and charged at the Crystal Gems.
It was too late. The Gems froze as a large shadow fell over them. The ship was here. Suddenly, Garnet rushed over to the wall, where a gem's exit hole was standing." She quickly threw Steven in, and as he hit the back wall she said, "Steven, we'll handle this. Stay in here, and don't come out. No matter what." She said the last part in a cold, authoritative tone, emphasizing that she was serious. Before Steven could respond, Garnet ran back over to Pearl and Amethyst. He crept back up to the front of the hole so he could watch. He saw the Crystal Gems form a circle, their backs pressing against each other, as Pearl and Amethyst drew their weapons. The ship was now hovering right above the Kindergarten, and came to a slow landing in the open area that the Gems had just retreated from, disrupting the dirt and causing dust to fly everywhere in large clouds. The winds ceased as the ship landed. Steven and the Gems could only see the silhouettes of nearby objects through the dust.
Suddenly, each fingertip of the ship opened to create a large door, and the outlines of gem soldiers poured out of each hole. There weren't very many- which surprised Steven. He thought that Homeworld would send a lot of Gems if they were trying to get rid of them, especially after the last time they sent too small a number to destroy the Crystal Gems. He heard Garnet shout, "Gems, divide and conquer!" and the three silhouettes separated, fading out of Steven's vision until the dust settled.
Pearl ran at the soldiers entering from the left. They looked like larger gems, but there only appeared to be a few of them. Nothing I can't handle! Pearl thought determinedly. However, just as Pearl was about to get in range, the dust cleared, revealing multiple tall figures wearing white dresses, with long, curly pink hair. Pearl stopped dead in her tracks. "Rose…?" she breathed. But it only took her a moment to shake the feeling off. These Gems weren't her Rose- she could easily differentiate them by the dark, menacing expressions they wore. Regaining her battle instincts, Pearl ran at the one closest to her and jumped, ready to thrust her spear into its form. But suddenly, the Rose Quartz summoned a pink shield- with rose patterns etched into the large circle. The shield stopped the impact, throwing Pearl back and tossing the spear out of her hand. Pearl landed on her back, staring up at the Rose Quartz. She bore the same shield, the same defensive aura, the same appearance. Pearl began trembling, tears coming down her face in thick globs. "N-No… Rose…" she whimpered. Two other Rose Quartzes each grabbed one of her arms, raising her up. Pearl struggled, but it was no use. Her arms were twisted behind her back, and her wrists were cuffed together with a metallic yellow chain and wrist clamps that bore a resemblance to human handcuffs. Pearl was dragged away, back towards the ship, screaming and thrashing in a desperate escape attempt to escape that fell upon deaf ears.
Garnet had taken the soldiers emerging from the center. The dust cleared to reveal five Era 1 Peridots standing in a line, not even attacking. Garnet gave out a battle cry and charged the line. However, before she reached them, they all gave a smirk in perfect synchronization, almost like robots. Suddenly, a horde of Gem monsters erupted from the ground and attacked Garnet. She stood there, horrified, for a moment, but quickly realized that it was poof or be poofed. She drove a fist into each monster, screaming "I'm sorry!" with each blow and eruption of clouds as a monster was poofed. However, it seems like for every monster she poofed, two more emerged. They slowly began chanting the same words in a monotonous, eerie cry. Garnet… Help us…
Garnet began backing up in horror and stopped poofing the monsters. "I-I'm sorry!" she yelled. "I don't know how!" Garnet realized that she had not been paying attention to where she was backing up, and she backed right into the expectant hands of three of the peridots. Suddenly all of the monsters dissolved at once, and Garnet's hands were seized and bound in less than a second. The two Peridots who had still been in front of her approached as Garnet began struggling, and one kicked her legs out from under her in one swift motion. Garnet landed on her side and her breath escaped her lungs in a wince. She groaned in pain. The last remaining peridot put her hands on her hips. "Good work, team." She said, "I forgot how great it felt to use our hallucination powers."
Garnet suddenly understood what had happened- the peridots had made her hallucinate the gem monsters with their abilities to manipulate her brain waves. While she was distracted, three of them had snuck behind her and captured her. Like Pearl, Garnet was led back towards the ship.
Unfortunately, Amethyst had no better luck. She had taken the soldiers to the right, which happened to be the Amethysts. Amethyst could tell what they were even before the dust settled, due to their strongly built shape and messy, long hair. They leaped high into the air and landed in the formation of a loose, spread-out circle around Amethyst. They all towered over her, smiling menacingly. One of them said, "Look, the little runt thinks she can take us." The rest of them laughed. Amethyst was filled with anger, and yelled, "Well, have you ever seen a runt do THIS?" and she flung her whip at one of the other Amethysts. They grabbed the whip in their hands with seeming ease and used it to yank Amethyst toward them and kick her in the gut. She crashed to the ground and skidded along her side. "That all you got, defect?" the Amethyst mocked.
Amethyst rose shakily, her whip still in hand. Filled with anger, she irrationally used her spin attack and charged another Amethyst, blinded by rage. She managed to knock the quartz to the ground, but she was then seized by two more Amethysts, who proceeded to sock her in the gut multiple times. Amethyst fell to the ground again, moaning. She had dropped her whip, leaving her at the mercy of the other Amethysts. One picked her up by the collar of her tank top, dangling her above the ground. Amethyst blindly threw a few weak punches around, but none of them connected with a target. Before she knew it, her hands had been bound and she was led away as well.
Steven had been watching the fights in horror. How could they be losing? As he watched the Gems being dragged away, bound and beaten, he disobeyed Garnet's instruction and dashed out into the open, filled with anger and fear. "Guys!" He yelled.
But not even three seconds after he emerged from his hole, an Amethyst's foot collided with his side and he was thrown to the ground. He could hear Pearl screaming his name. The Amethyst ran over to Steven again and raised her fist, preparing to deliver a second blow. But Steven quickly stood as the fist came down, and it collided with his shield instead. Steven, with a determined expression, blocked blow after blow with his shield. Unfortunately, he could not hold out long against the sheer force of the blows. With each collision, he became weaker and weaker, which caused him to slightly let his guard down. However, it was enough of an opening for a second Amethyst to dash around and seize him from behind. His shield dissolved as he was raised off the ground, and his wrists were cuffed as well. Soon, he was led back to the rest of the Gems and dropped down on the ground, right next to Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst, whose shackles were all now each being held by an Amethyst, and they were forced to stand.
They were standing about 20 feet in front of the ship. All of the Homeworld soldiers were standing behind them, staring at the ship as if expecting something. The Crystal Gems were momentarily befuddled, but their question was answered mere moments after. In the palm of the ship's hand-like shape, a large platform rose up, revealing a large, yellow gem. They all gasped as Yellow Diamond became visible, standing tall and intimidatingly on the top of the ship. She walked along the top, eventually coming down on one finger and them stepping down onto the Earth's soil. She clapped her hands together in mock excitement. "Well, well, what do we have here? It seems like I've got you all just where I want you." Steven shivered at the sound of Yellow Diamond's booming voice, cold and sadistic. He gathered up his courage and shouted, "What are you doing on Earth? Don't you have other planets to go be a jerk on?"
Yellow Diamond gave a cold, heartless laugh. "Why, I'm here to destroy you, of course." She turned her head to the side, apparently looking at something behind her. "And I had some help."
Then a thin, green-colored gem stepped out from behind Yellow Diamond. She was obviously dwarfed by Yellow Diamond, but she was decently tall by usual standards. She was wearing a set of limb enhancers, standing with her arms behind her back and her legs locked together in an intimidating stance. Her yellow hair was fashioned in a triangular shape, and her narrowed eyes and straight-lined mouth were complemented by a yellow visor that covered half of her face. Steven's jaw dropped in shock and horror. The rest of the Gem's expressions were very similar.
"Peridot?!"