Chapter 26 - Outmatched
Pearl went in the direction of one of the gem monsters, and Steven, Connie, and Jasper went in pursuit of the second gem monster, the one that was more orange in color.
Steven was looking around and admiring the trees. Jasper couldn't help but do the same. She hadn't had much chance to observe the scenery that the Earth had the last time she was on the planet, and hadn't had much time to do that since she returned.
"Okay," Connie said, stopping at a footprint that was left in the snow, evidently by the gem monster the trio was following, "We just have to follow these tracks and we'll be able to find them."
The three continued to follow the footprints, when Connie asked Steven a question that had also been on Jasper's mind.
"So these corrupted gems are kind of like wild animals, right? Just a bundle of fight or flight reflexes and survival instincts?"
"Well, they're like that now," Steven answered, "But before they got corrupted they used to be normal gems, like Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet… They had thoughts, and feelings… friends... "
Steven frowned, "I don't really know how the corruption works… it's like they're sick. They don't remember who they used to be… maybe they don't even know how to look like themselves anymore."
Jasper paused. ...So that's it…
"Whoa, Steven, are you okay?" Connie asked, and Jasper snapped out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Steven answered, and the three noticed it had started to get windy and began to snow.
"Maybe we should take shelter from this blizzard," Connie said, "Like… under that tree! I can make some vitamin-C rich tea from the pine needles. That way we won't get scurvy."
"Like a pirate!" Steven said, and although Jasper didn't know what scurvy was, nor what a pirate was, she followed the two under the tree.
Jasper left Connie and Steven to figure out how to make the tea, and soon after she heard Connie say that it was ready.
"Jasper, do you want to try some?" Connie asked, and Jasper shrugged.
"I don't see why not," Jasper said, accepting the cup of tea that Connie was offering. The three took a sip and all grimaced in disgust. Jasper hadn't had food that tasted bad until now.
"How is it?" Connie asked.
"It's… bad," Steven answered, and Connie laughed.
"It's not about tasting good," Connie said, "It's about survival, Steven."
"For me it's about tasting good," Jasper mumbled, and Steven and Connie laughed.
Their laughter was interrupted by a familiar sounding growl. The three scrambled out from under the tree before the gem monster took a swipe at the tree and knocked it cleanly over. Connie unsheathed her sword while Steven summoned his shield. Jasper was standing between the two, slightly behind them, as they all looked up at the corrupted gem.
The gem monster noticed the sword and attacked. Steven let out a yell and a pink bubble surrounded them. Jasper wasn't aware of how might fight experience the two had, but evidently it wasn't much. Jasper didn't want to admit she was likely somewhat rusty, but there was something about the gem monster that intimidated her, when she figured it out, looking at the gem on the monster's chest.
"That's… that's a Jasper…" Jasper mumbled.
The bubble popped, sending Steven to the left, Connie to the right, and Jasper backwards.
"Steven! Jasper!" Connie yelled, and Jasper scrambled up to stop the monster from charging at any of the other two, grabbing the corrupted gem by the horns and struggling with it.
Still as strong as a Jasper, too! She thought, and then felt herself being lifted from the ground.
The next thing she knew, she had been thrown and felt her body hit a tree, falling into the snow. She slowly got up and found that the corrupted jasper was charging at her, again. She dove out of the way, did a somersault, and turned to see where the monster was and what it was doing. Steven and Connie had gotten up, to Jasper's relief, but she saw something else coming.
"Steven? Connie? I can't seem to find the other gem monster…" Jasper heard the walkie talkie say as she saw the other gem monster charge towards her. She managed to grab the blue one by the horns again, and made sure to plant herself firmly on the ground to make sure she wasn't thrown again.
"P-Pearl! They're both here!" Jasper heard Steven say, followed by a commotion on the walkie talkies Jasper couldn't afford to focus on. She could hear the other gem monster charging, and lifted the one she had in her grip off the ground and swung it at the other, knocking the two back but failing to destabilize their forms.
Still just as sturdy, too… Jasper frowned, watching the two corrupted gems get up and communicate with one another. Jasper summoned her helmet and charged with a spin dash, separating the two monsters and drawing their focus.
"Steven, Connie!" Jasper yelled, "Now's your chance!"
Jasper couldn't tell if the two had heard her, as she found herself between two gem monsters and a wall. She couldn't see very many escape routes as one monster charged at her. She rolled under the legs of the gem monster and dove to the side to avoid being trampled on, only to be met by the second gem monster barrelling right into her.
Darn, I felt that. Jasper grimaced, I really am getting rusty.
Jasper felt the horns of the monster dig into her and realized she was about to get slammed into a wall if she didn't act fast. Grabbing the gem monster by the horns and trying to position herself correctly, she tried to slow the corrupted gem down. In response, she found herself being thrown upwards, unable to get her feet on the ground. She saw one of the two monsters jump up to grab her, and Jasper assumed, slam her to the ground. There wasn't much she could do to prevent exactly that from happening.
Jasper felt herself hit the ground, and then felt nothing as everything went white.