S2-23
Questionable 'containment'
As William was meditating atop the Beach City lighthouse, he sensed that something wasn't right. When he got down to the Temple house, he noticed that Steven was gone! "Steven? Steven, where'd you go?!"
One of the Scout Drones entered the house. "I have detected a Warp Pad activation. Destination: Galaxy Warp."
With that, William gathered the other Gems, bringing them to the Galaxy Warp.
"Steven, there you are!" William ran over to the boy's side, his green gemstone glowing white with a healing aura. "Are you OK?" "I'm fine, William."
"PERIDOT!" Garnet yelled. Peridot was there. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Morlax jumped in, wielding an ancient piece of Emerald weaponry. He found an Emerald pulse rifle! The weapon released a stream of pure energy, being fed directly from his gemstone. "Engage!" The Emerald adventurer called out.
As Peridot tried to fly away, Amethyst got her with her whip. The Homeworld Gem shot electricity through the whip, only for Garnet to grab it. "Sorry, Peridot! Not this time!" With the shock redirected back at Peridot, Garnet slammed her down.
Vilo proceeded to flank Peridot, pulling back the string of her crossbow. "Wait, wait! You- you need me! I'm... the only one who knows ABOUT THE-" Before Peridot could finish, William jagged his sword through her back. Peridot's physical form was destroyed, leaving various mechanical objects to fall on the ground. "What in the...?!" Pearl was flabbergasted. "Ugh... Gross. There's pieces of her everywhere." Amethyst looked as if she was about to barf.
"No, she's right here. Garnet, care to do the honors?" William tossed Peridot's gemstone to Garnet, who bubbled and sent it to the Temple as Pearl examined the devices. "These weren't actually parts of her body? Fascinating."
William gathered the pieces, then stored them in his gemstone to analyze back at the Freedom Shield.
"Garnet, I think she was trying to tell us something." Steven said, concerned. "Just the desperate lies of a Gem who's been caught. No need to worry about her anymore." Garnet reassured him. "C'mon, Steven. It's finally over... Thank the stars." Pearl was definitely relieved. "Let's head home. I'm... ~yawn~ tired." Morlax had bags under his eyes. That Emerald pulse rifle really drew a lot of energy right out of him.
After dropping off the limb augments at the Freedom Shield, William returned to the Temple and got himself a glass of milk and a Devil Dog cream cake. As he was chewing up his second bite, the Temple door opened. "Stop! They're gonna see you!" Steven's voice called. Out from the Temple came... a very small Peridot. "FREEDOM!" She slowly turned around, seeing the gems that were now staring at her.
William put his Devil Dog and glass of milk down on the coffee table, swallowed the bite he had in his mouth, and formed his Plasma Buster, causing Peridot to run straight into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. "You may have won the war, but the battle isn't over, Crystal Clods!"
"I think we tell her that's the bathroom." Pearl suggested. "It's not like she's gonna know what that is." William had a point there. "Peridot, open this door!" Garnet yelled. The sound of the toilet flushing could be heard. "If you're trying to flush yourself down the toilet, it won't work. I've tried." Amethyst stated. "Ew." William was genuinely disgusted.
"How did she get out? We bubbled her." Pearl was right about that. "Maybe we needed a bigger bubble." Amethyst was being ridiculous. "My bubbles are just fine." Garnet replied.
"I did it..." Everyone turned to look at Steven. "Steven, why would you do that?!" Pearl questioned the child. "She knows something, something she's scared of!" "Homegirl knows we're just gonna beat her into a green pancake." Amethyst replied. "No, not us, something called 'the Cluster'." Steven explained. "'Cluster'? Huh. Interesting." Garnet was intrigued.
"What else did she say, Steven?" "That's all I got, William." Just then, Peridot yelled out again. "That's right, you dirt bombs! You have no idea what's coming!"
"I'm tired of playing these games. If we can't fight her, then we'll talk. Peridot!" Garnet called into the bathroom. From outside, they could hear Peridot having fallen off of something. "No more fighting. Let's just have a civil conversation." "I'd NEVER negotiate with a FILTHY WAR MACHINE!" In response, Garnet formed her gauntlets. "OK, let's pulverize her rear end." "Wait!" Steven stood in the way. "Yeah! Destroy me again, and have fun trying to talk to me when I'm in a bubble!" Peridot's psychological integrity seemed to be becoming questionable.
"I really hate to say it, but if she has information, she's more valuable to us like... this." Pearl stated. "This is going to be difficult." No doubt about that, William.
"HOT HOT HOT!" Peridot accidentally turned on the hot water. "The other knob is for cold!" Steven called to Peridot. "Steven, do you still have that piece of one of Peridot's augmentations?" William asked. "Oh, you mean that foot from one of her limb enhancers? Sure thing." Steven went up to his room, grabbed the foot, and brought it back down. "Thank you, Steven. I should be able to analyze the full set now."
William brought the foot back to the Freedom Shield, reattached it to the rest of the leg, and got to work on a full-scale analysis of the salvaged tech.
Meanwhile, Peridot refused to leave Steven's bathroom, which caused minor, yet bizarre, problems for the hybrid.
Well, that one took quite a bit to figure out.
Amethyst, no dumping Peridot's limb enhancers in the ocean! William may have a use for them yet.
See you next time, guys.
