S2-21
Cry for Help

While William was helping Lapis with a few accommodations to help her feel at home on Earth, the Freedom Shield detected a strange signal. "Emerald William, Lapis Lazuli, I am picking up an irregular broadcast. Displaying now."
A holographic video screen fizzled in, showing nothing but static at first, until it suddenly displayed Peridot. "This is Peridot, transmitting on all frequencies from abandoned crystal system colony planet Earth in an attempt to contact Yellow Diamond. My mission has been compromised. The whereabouts of my escort are unknown, my informant has most likely sided with the remaining rebels, and I am now stranded! SEND HELP! PLEASE!" The transmittion was playing on a loop.
At that point, a certain Fusion arrived. "William, Lapis, I know where Peridot's broadcasting from."

Later that day, the Freedom Shield arrived at the co-ordinates to the ancient Gem Communication Hub, which was now back in working order. "Crystal Gems, prepare to disembark."
Once the Freedom Shield landed, the Gems headed out to examine the structure. "Just as I feared." Garnet looked on, observing the semi-repaired communications antenna. "Peridot somehow managed to repair the Communication Hub. Well, some of it." There were, indeed, large chunks of the structure laying on the ground, beyond repair.

"If it's back up, maybe we could apply the same solution as last time?" William pinched the top of the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Steven, no. You don't want a repeat of last time, do you? Tell him, Garnet." "Last time was a complete and total disaster. Last time we fused, Sugilite went berserk, out of control. Because of her, we can't warp here anymore."
"Garnet, I have a plan to rectify that." One of the Flask Robonoids held onboard the Freedom Shield crawled out, having been successfully reprogrammed by the ship's AI.
Garnet and William formed their gauntlets and removed the rubble from the destroyed Warp Pad, allowing the reprogrammed Robonoid to repair it.
With that job done, the Robonoid went back onboard and back into storage. "Freedom Shield, using a reprogrammed Robonoid to fix the Warp Pad here was very helpful." Garnet commented, adjusting her signature shades.

"As you were saying, Garnet?" "Oh, right, thanks for reminding me, William." Garnet turned to Amethyst, resuming her speech. "I can be brash, Amethyst can be reckless, and we can both get carried away. As it stands, Sugilite is benched. We need to be careful. It's Pearl's turn this time. Let's fuse."
At this, Pearl looked as if she was about to cry. "Don't cry, Pearl. Let's bring it down." "I'm with you."

While Pearl and Garnet initiated their Fusion dance, William, Vilo, and Blith examined the Communication Hub to determine the most effective way of getting rid of it for good.
Behind them, a pillar of light replaced Pearl and Garnet, seemingly turned into a vanishing curtain, and revealed a new Fusion. "Gooooood evening, everybody! This is the lovely Sardonyx, coming to you live from the soon-to-be-former Communication Hub! How's everyone doin' tonight?"

Steven whooped in utter excitement. "AWESOME!" "Oh my stars! If it isn't Steven Universe! We finally meet. So, what do you think?" Sardonyx bent down, allowing Steven to jump on two of her four hands, followed by William. "Oh, and William, the shining hope of the Emeralds, and operator of the Freedom Shield starship! Was I worth the wait?" Sardonyx's torso did a full rotation on the waist. She was... unusual, to say the least. "What am I talking about? Of course I was!"
"You're so articulated! Awesome!" Steven said with starry eyes. "Your flexibility is quite intriguing." William stated. "Well, aren't you the sweetest little charmer, Steven! I could literally squish you right now! It would be effortless." Steven was laughing as Sardonyx lightly squeezed him between her two upper hands. "Sorry, I'm just... so excited to be here. You see, I haven't exactly been myself lately." Sardonyx just told a pun! William slightly snickered with a smirk while Steven was flat-out laughing.

Sardonyx then put Steven and William back on the ground.
"For my first trick..." She summoned Pearl's spear as one of her lower arms tapped her shoulder. She pretended to be distracted before throwing the spear into the sky, summoning Garnet's gauntlets, and combining them with the falling lance to create a large mallet.

Steven was really excited right now. "Are you gonna smash it up with your war hammer?" "Hm... 'Smash' is the word that one would use to describe what... a certain someone would do." Sardonyx was referring to Sugilite, much to Amethyst's displeasure.
"The proper words used to describe me are..." Sardonyx then went to work, using her war hammer to basically dismantle the Communication Hub piece by piece. "Specific! Intelligent! Accurate! Faultless! Elegant. Controlled! Surgical! Graceful! Aaand... POWERFUL!" Just before delivering the final impact, Sardonyx seemingly stopped in the air. "But yes, occasionally, I am known... to smash." With a light tap, the pillar at the top fell through the rest of the structure, disrupting the broadcast.

With the job done, Sardonyx unformed her war hammer. "Just remember, everybody, if you ever have need of the lovely Sardonyx, let Pearl and Garnet know, I'll literally be there in a flash."
Before Sardonyx could unfuse, William formed his spear. "Hold this." Sardonyx held the spear, watching as William formed two gauntlets, replicating Sardonyx's war hammer. "Thank you, Sardonyx. It's been a pleasure." "Likewise, William."

Just like that, Sardonyx was gone, with Pearl and Garnet in her place. "Well done, you two... uh... three. The Homeworld Communication Hub on Earth has been destroyed. Now to seal away the pieces and make sure Peridot can't use it anymore." At that point, all the pieces of the Communication Hub were seemingly sucked into William's gemstone, like dust into a vacuum cleaner.

That night, William was finishing up with a tubular sort of establishment under the ocean beyond Beach City's shoreline. Almost the entire structure was made of wooden tubes about 17cm thick, while there was a large chamber in the center of the construct. It wasn't very deep underwater, so the depth pressure, or lack thereof, wasn't an issue.
William had been looking for online resources, and he found one that seemed very interesting. An early access game by an American game developer known as Unknown Worlds.
Lapis seemed to find the place very intriguing, and William said that she could add details here and there to make herself feel more at home.
Within the structure, a communications terminal was provided any time she needed to talk to any of the Gems while staying inside.

William then decided to check on the grow beds.
His plants were growing quite nicely.

No need to lie to Garnet, Pearl. Not now, not ever.
Fortunately, Peridot can't send the broadcast with the Communication Hub because WILLIAM FREAKING CONTAINED THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE IN HIS GEMSTONE POCKET DIMENSION!
I'd ask how large it is, but it's got the storage space of a freaking TARDIS.

This chapter was written, start to finish, in three hours, and in one go. Don't expect that to happen again any time soon.

See you next time.