-I own nothing from Steven Universe, except for my OCs.-
Two sets of red, mechanical eyes glowed from the darkness. Emerging from the dark were two golems of metal and cables.
"This is insane! Tourmaline wouldn't attack us!" Pearl said.
"Well to be fair, Pearl, we are here to search for and 'acquire' anything useful down here?" Amethyst pointed out.
"Yes, I realize that, thank you Amethyst," Pearl deadpanned.
"Gems, get ready!" Garnet called out, and all summoned their various weapons, Lapis even summoning her liquid wings. Steven, not wanting to feel left out, ended up posing heroically.
The two golems must have seen this as an act of aggression, as a set of glowing, piercing red eyes appeared on their heads, both looking straight at Lapis. Almost as one, they launched themselves towards her with arms cocked at the ready...
... Only to be barely halted by Garnet quickly jumping between and holding them back. Lapis and the other gems were surprised not only by this quick attack, but also from Garnet being quick to respond.
"Garnet!" Pearl cried out, and leaped out to help her, Amethyst right behind. The purple gem jumped along side the metal construct and lashing out her whip, wrapped it entirely and securely around its waist. She then began to pull hard.
While Amethyst did that, Pearl quickly slashed at cables that fed along the machine's arm that was locked against Garnet's. The cuts were quick and precise, but barely enough to actually sever them. Still, the machine must have sensed this intention, and broke off its deadlock with the crimson gem. Free from that burden, Garnet nodded in appreciation to Pearl, and refocused on her foe.
Meanwhile, with the other machine, Hiddenite quickly jumped in and punched the other deadlocked arm away from Garnet with two well-placed punches. The attack was barely enough to stagger the machine away from them. Seemingly unfazed, it turned back to counterattack, only to be hit with jabs from the blunt ends of Kunzite's tonfas.
"I'll make short work of its extremities!" Kunzite cried out, raised the energy-bladed ends above her head, and brought them down into its arm. However, instead of being sliced, the blades pressed hard against the metal with a light whine.
"Or not..." Hiddenite said.
"Their alloy must resist my energy blades!" Kunzite said.
"So you can't cut them?!" Kunzite shook her head, and Hiddenite raised her fists back at the machine, "Then we can still punch them really hard!" With a great leap, she jumped forward into the air, about head-level with the golem, prepared to punch it hard in its face. Suddenly, one of it's clawed hands shot forward and grabbed her in mid-air, surprising her sister, Lapis, and Steven. The green gem's legs flailed helplessly as she tried to pry the iron-gripped fingers apart.
"Hiddenite!" Kunzite called out. She tried to charge forward, but the machine quickly saw her coming and brought its arm down in an attempt to crush her. The pink gem knew she couldn't move out of the way fast enough, so she desperately crossed her tonfa blades across each other. The force of the impact still came strong, but somehow she held strong against the arm that threatened to crush her.
At this point Steven and Lapis watched in suspense.
"Come on guys! You got this! Show these... big, metal guys who's boss!"
"Steven! Surprise, but your words of encouragement aren't really helping!" Amethyst called out, still pull-straining her whip against her targeted golem.
"She's right... Lapis!" Steven turned to his blue friend, "We've got to help them! What can we do?"
"I, uh... I'll try and do this!" With the motion of thrusting her shoulder forward, Lapis willed her liquid wing to shape into a massive fist, and crash it into the metal machine in front of her. Unfortunately, just like with Garnet, it barely skidded backwards on its feet a few inches.
"Oh come on, THAT did nothing?!" Hiddenite called out from the golem's fist. Actually it did. The force of the impact was enough to draw its attention to its attacker. The glowing red eyes now looked directly at a surprised Lapis.
Suddenly, a panel directly on its front chest slid down to reveal something... threatening. Lapis and Steven's eyes widened as what looked like a chest-cannon slowly popped out and pointed right at her. Pearl must have seen this happen, as Steven heard her voice cry out,
"Steven! Look out!"
Steven was aware, but he looked back and forth between the cannon, and his friend Lapis whom it pointed right at. Instincts kicking in, he quickly side-stepped right in front of her, left arm stuck out defensively before him.
"Steven? No! What are you-"
"I'm not gonna let you hurt my friend!" He said. The golem's reply was a quick charging of its cannon, causing Steven to clench his eyes and wait...
But rather than hit an arm, the sound that reached Steven's, and all ears present, was a massive, resounding thud. It echoed and bounced off the circular walls in a deep wavelength. It caused Steven to open his eyes to see what had caused it at least.
He saw pink in front of his arm. Looking closer, it was a circle of pink. No, it was the shield! His mother's shield that he had tried so hard to summon!
"Rose's shield...!" Pearl exclaimed.
"No... HIS shield," Garnet said.
NEW DATA ACQUIRED. ENVIRONMENT RE-SCAN COMMENCING.
The computer's monotone voice drew their attention again, and to the relief of the gem sisters especially, the golems ceased all movement.
"They've... they've stopped!" Kunzite said, as once again the red scanning laser covered the entire area from top to bottom. Taking this opportunity, Hiddenite pushed hard against the metallic fingers that now were not constraining her anymore. With a grunt, she widened them just enough for her to slip through them and drop to the ground. Kunzite as well gave a quick upward shove to free herself as well, and helped her sister to her feet.
"Thanks," Hiddenite said.
Garnet also took advantage of this and pushed back hard against the golem who locked fists with hers and, combined with Amethyst pulling against it with her whip, sent it crashing to the ground, just missing the purple gem. Amethyst leaped out of the way just in time and flashed her a flustered look.
"Come on, Garnet! Are you TRYING to crush me?"
"What? You got out of its way, didn't you?"
"Oh-ho, very funny!"
ENVIRONMENT RE-SCAN COMPLETE. RESULTS: ROSE QUARTZ IDENTIFIED.
"Rose... you mean Mom?" Steven asked.
UPDATE: ROSE QUARTZ PRESENT. COMMENCING CONTINGENCY PLAN SIX-ZERO-THETA.
"Steven! Stay near us! That machine recognized you... or Rose's gem; either way, it wants something with you now!" One look back at the now non-moving metal golems gave Steven as much suspicion as Pearl and the others had then. He quickly ran back to them, huddled in a tight group, watching and waiting for what the console before them would do next.
On board the main screen, something reappeared on it; something small, light purple, and rod-shaped.
"That's it!" Steven pointed out, "That was what I saw before it ran away from me!"
"That little thing?" Amethyst said, skeptically, "What is it anyway?"
"Wait a minute..." Pearl said, looking closer at it, then widening her eyes in shock, "By Geode... it, it can't be!"
"What can't be?" Lapis asked.
"That thing is a gem!" she cried, "But not just any gem-" Before Pearl could finish, a quick ray of light purple light, similar to the red scanner from earlier, projected something before them; a three-dimensional humanoid image about Lapis' height. The figure stood at first hands together and head bowed slightly, then spread its hands and looked up at the group.
"What is this... why have I been- wait a minute, Pearl? Garnet!?" the image spoke with a small computerized tinge in its voice.
"Is that really you... Tourmaline?" Pearl asked.
"So it IS you! By Geode I never thought I'd see you two again!" Pearl and Garnet stepped forward away from the group, the eyes of the others following them, and stood right before the image of the gem from their past. Garnet raised her hand up to rest it on her shoulder, but was confused when her hand passed through nothing.
"Don't bother, Garnet. My form is no longer corporeal," Tourmaline explained, turning her head towards the console that projected her, "I'm truly one with it now."
"You're gem is inside a computer now?" Steven said, stepping forward, "That's like when I found Lapis' gem inside a mirror!"
"Steven..." Pearl started.
"Hmmm? Who is this?" Tourmaline stepped forward to the boy, "A human?"
"The name's Steven! Steven Universe; pleased to meet you!" The boy enthusiastically stuck out his hand. The image of Tourmaline looked back and forth between the hand, and his gem fellows, confused.
"Steven, she's a hologram, remember?" Amethyst asked. An embarrassing blush crept his face as he brought his hand back.
"Oh right, yeah."
"Bringing humans down here, Pearl? You yourself would tell ME how dangerous this is," Tourmaline said.
"Steven is one of us," Pearl said, "Sometimes I may not... 'entirely' agree, but he has a right to join us on our missions."
"That's right! I'm a Crystal Gem, too! Wanna see proof?" Without waiting for permission, Steven lifted up his shirt tail enough to reveal his gem. It shimmered a little against the light that Tourmaline's hologram provided. The image itself appeared to pull her head in for a closer look. From the clearer look up close, Steven could barely see basic outline of the face of Tourmaline, including her eyes which suddenly widened.
"That's... impossible! He has..."
"That's right, Rose Quartz's gem is now with Steven," Garnet replied.
"What do you mean 'with Steven?' Where is Rose now, I must ask her this myself!"
"Tourmaline!" Pearl cut in, "I'm sorry, but Rose is... no longer with us. She has given up her own form to give birth to Steven, her son." The image of Tourmaline looked away, downcast.
"I... I see," she said, "Well... thank you for telling me this. I suppose that's the most news I've heard in a long time. It actually makes sense now; I programmed Contingency plan Six-Zero-Theta to activate if Rose ever came to visit me. It seems it has worked, in a way." She looked back down at Steven, "A pleasure to meet you, Steven Universe, son of Rose Quartz."
"Just Steven, and the pleasure's all mine," Steven replied, "But, how do you know my mom?"
"Ah well, you see, many gems know Rose Quartz, especially those who were her allies. Her friends who not only took to her philosophies, but were also willing to fight and die at her side until the end. I was proud to count myself among them." Tourmaline's image looked up now at the other gems, "And I see some of us still remain, Garnet and Pearl?"
"Until the end," Garnet said with a smile while Pearl nodded. Tourmaline smiled as well, then looked upon the other gems.
"And you... aren't you Lapis Lazuli?"
"Sorry, I don't think I know you," Lapis said modestly.
"Perhaps we rarely interacted with each other on Crystarra... And you must be Amethyst, an Earth-native gem warrior."
"Yeah, that's me, in the gem," Amethyst said, crossing her arms over her chest, "But really, this is awfully polite talk from someone who's guard-bots tried to kill us a few minutes ago!" The mentioning of the metal guardians immediately brought everyone's gaze back upon them, somehow having forgotten they were still motionless.
"My security system; I hope they didn't cause you too much trouble," Tourmaline said, "Oh what am I saying? Of course they couldn't stop a gem like Garnet here!"
"Well I'm sorry but, one grabbed me and nearly crushed me in its grip!" Hiddenite cut in, "That was not a very pleasant experience!"
"Hmmm? You two gems are not familiar to me. Who are you?"
"We are Kunzite and Hiddenite," Kunzite introduced, "And we are not of Rose Quartz's faction, or even native to this planet for that matter. We were 'founded' by these gems here, and have been with them ever since."
"I'm sorry, but, the way you spoke just now," Tourmaline suddenly said, "It's just that, it reminded me of someone..."
"How does someone speaking a certain way remind you of something?"
"I'm not entirely certain myself, just that..." Tourmaline's image looked back and forth between the gem sisters, "Tell me, who is your fusion?"
"Our... what?" Hiddenite asked.
"When you two join in mind, body, and power, who do you become?"
"What does their fusion have to do with anything?" Pearl asked.
"At the moment, nothing, Pearl," Tourmaline said, "simply suspicions."
"I... had no idea of such a concept," Kunzite said, "But no, I can't quite say who this 'fusion' would be."
"Well... I think I may have a solution," Tourmaline said. She then turned her head back to the console, and without needing any further motion or action, another scanner emerged from the dashboard, "With this type of scanner, memories long hidden or forgotten would be brought to the surface. I could help you remember."
"A memory-scanner? Have I seen that before...?" Steven said to himself.
"I'm not sure of this. Can we really trust you to do this, especially after the 'welcome' your machines here gave us?" Hiddenite asked. Kunzite gave a quick glance to her sister, but still nodded in agreement,
"That is true, Tourmaline."
"Please, have no fear this time," Tourmaline said, "That was simply a security measure for dealing with intruders. You can rest assured my sentries will cause no more harm to anyone. As for the scan, that's all it essentially is; a revelations scan. You'll lose nothing from it, but possibly gain much..." The sisters looked at each other, and with a light smile from Kunzite, Hiddenite agreed as well,
"Alright, let's do it."
"Good, just step closer to the scanner." Garnet and Pearl stepped aside, so that now the sisters stood before the scanner.
"Wait a sec." The gems turned to Steven when he spoke up, "I think you should do that scanner thingie to me too. I've got some memories in the back of my mind recently I'd like to know about."
"Steven," Pearl tried to said, though thinking about what this could mean for Steven did give her second thought, "Are you sure that's what you want?"
"Yeah, I mean, no says you HAVE to do this," Amethyst added.
"But I want to!" Steven replied, "I think I have a right to my own memories... I mean, they may not be MINE, but they're in my head regardless. And besides, you'll be right here in case anything goes wrong, right?"
"Wouldn't dream of leaving you," a smiling Garnet caught the others' attention. With a nod, Steven walked up and stood next to the sisters.
"This is indeed unexpected," Tourmaline said, "The memory scanner has never had a human test subject before. Even I'm not certain what could happen."
"I think we trust you enough to not let anything bad happen, Tourmaline," Garnet said.
"Very well then. Brace yourself, you three; this will be bright-"
The scanner activated, and almost immediately, the three were blinded by the brightest white light they'd ever seen. Behind them, however, the other gems stood just out of the directional range that the light beam faced. The other three instinctively almost brought their hands up to shield their faces, but during that small window of time, everything had already happened...
I see her in the small ravine, Sand-tiger poised to attack...
I see a woman with the whitest dress and pinkest, bounciest hair I've ever seen...
Her name is Spodumene...
Her name is Rose Quartz...
Garnet and Pearl would be delighted to meet her...!
What if they don't care for me? Well, Rose cares for me...
You are special... in your own way...
I promise, Rose, I'll repay you for your kindness... somehow...
This is what the Diamond Authority is? This can't go on... not to this planet... not to the humans...
Rose... There must be something I could do from here...
Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst... we are the Crystal GEMS!
This should keep them occupied... Now then, to use the Orb... Goodbye Rose, and good luck...
The light vanished, leaving the three to violently readjust eyesight to the more darker setting. Steven's look had traces of dizziness, but Hiddenite and Kunzite's eyes were widened as they looked at each other.
"Kunzite?"
"Hiddenite?"
"No... Spodumene!"
-Alright, I must have made a mistake, or lied in the previous chapter. Looks like this will be a three parter, rather than two. I thought I could get it resolved in this one chapter, but what I came up with seemed to stretch the span over my normal chapter length. I promise though, the resolution will come in part three, so stay tuned!-