Chapter 27: Rogue Time


It was August.

Pearl was surveying the land of Kronos Quad.

It had been a year (eleven months if you want to be precise) since the Ambergeddon incident, and since then, people have been working hard to rid of the debris and deserted buildings. The place was a literal graveyard, millions of people had died here.

Then again, everything died everywhere. What's the difference with this one? She thought.

They could still salvage this place. And in honor of the deaths of millions, the land could be renamed to something similar to Kronos Quad.

The Revolution had turned into a not-so secret society nowadays, with experts already disclosing information about the organization. Pearl could work more freely now, no need to worry about secrecy and the restrictions. The Revolution was now part of the public, an uproar of advanced world military. She knew the day would someday come, but not this soon.

Gems were known worldwide now. People have been speculating and hunting them down for Kronos Quad. Killing, murdering, literally illegal stuff. But the humans found a loophole that Gems were not humans, so they did not have civil rights. And they exploited that reason to hunt Gems down. Pearl knew she had to intervene in this human conflict with the Gems. But, she didn't know with what approach.

Rose would know. She always knew the right path.

All Pearl could think about was the Gem Registry she was working on. It could help manage which Gems are authorized in the public and publicly give them civil rights, which were only six Gems because that's the amount of good Gems in the world. Pearl, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Steven, and... Lapis. The Rogue Nation couldn't be trusted enough for the registry, as they were the ones responsible for Kronos Quad and Dexterity Castle.

Well, Amber was the one responsible, and she's already caught. Her punishment was not as severe as Pearl would like it to be, feeling as if justice wasn't served.

Pearl's top priority was to experiment with Amber's Gemstone to find a way to take down Gems in an easier way. A Gem destabilizer, she named the weapon in the works. It would input a code into the Gems that would get them to poof after being hit with it, something she had witnessed firsthand when Amber corrupted her. After that device is perfected, she would capture all of the Rogue Nation herself, whether or not the Crystal Gems like it or not. It wasn't like she's with them anymore. She had her own turf.

It felt weird, to talk about the Crystal Gems, and at the same time, remember that she was no longer a part of them. This feeling of isolation was new. She had everything to herself now. However, she wasn't a lone wolf as she was working with the Revolution.

"What do I do now?" Pearl asked.

She had been a Gem servant to White Diamond, taught in the ways by Moonstone, followed Rose Quartz through the galaxy, and ended up working for an organization on a little blue planet called Earth. Even with her experience and skill, she still couldn't figure out how to save the world with its human unpredictability. Humanity seemed lost in this world, and the Revolution, as its name implies, is tasked with helping it grow again.

But Pearl worked in the class of soldiers, extraterrestrials (the only one), diplomacy and scientists. She was widely believed to be the best knight on Earth, but she was not as great as they say she was. She was not the strongest Gem, she was not the best alien, nor was she good in keeping relationships between people, and her level of intellect wasn't as high as Peridot's. She was all-around, balanced, as Greg said.

And "balanced" was not what Pearl wanted.

She wanted to be more. To prove to herself and everyone that she wasn't just a simple Pearl.

She was the Pearl. The one and only.

"Uh, commander Pearl?" a meekly voice called to her.

Pearl glanced at the Revolution soldier, who had a badge that states he was a leader of the squad. She remembered who this man was. His name was Mikey, and he was the one to bring back the Crystal Gems and Team Gem Squad after their encounter with Amber on Kronos Quad, the very soil they were standing on.

"I don't remember being promoted to a commander." Pearl replied cheekily. She even thought it was funny being considered that. She didn't feel like she deserved that title.

"Well, I didn't know what to call you." Mikey said.

"Just, Pearl."

"Yes, Pearl." Mikey saluted, "Commander Samson wanted you to report back to base."

"Alright. I'll do that." Pearl was about to leave, until she stayed to find something out. "I want to ask something."

He gulped nervously. "...what is it?"

"What do you think of me?" she asked.

"Well..." the squad leader tried to find the right words, because he didn't want to get into trouble. He also didn't want to say anything unoriginal, because he thought that wouldn't be fun. "...you're my first candidate if Commander Samson ever resigns."

Pearl chuckled, thinking that the mere idea of her being a leader was amusing.

"You think I can be a leader to a whole organization?"

"Well, I'm a leader to a squad, and you're so much better than me, so..." Mikey ended it with a shrug.

Pearl's eyes narrowed at the idea, taking it seriously this time.


Wild Card.

That was his codename.

A soldier that had overcome all odds in his life. That wasn't really what the words "wild card" defined. It meant that he had unpredictable and uncertain outcomes. He could either fail or win completely.

But to the Revolution, his name only meant victory. Their final card in the deck. The last ditch-effort. The saving grace. The ace in the hole.

For some reason, they chose him as their hero, and not Pearl. She could do everything he could, and even better. Maybe, they wanted someone more human. But, he had wiped out most of his humanity long ago. He was close to Pearl's level of humanity, which was... not that high.

Today, he was training with three of the top martial artists in the world. He knew their moves, watched them fight, and in this very sparring match with them, he was prepared to face all of their different styles of combat. Very unique to their own, not one of them had similar techniques. Even with the difference, he accounted everything.

He beat all of them without breaking a sweat.

Of course, he had to find a way to use all of his advantages. Using his own momentum and the opponent's momentum to bring out the most of his neutralizing attacks. Probably sprained someone's ankle, dislocated another's shoulder and bruised that one guy's eye... but they were trying to do the same thing.

That one fighter tried to punch him between the eyes, and that really dumb attack left him open to more counters and as a result, got himself flipped in the air for a few feet and landing sharply on his back.

As he left the training room, he encountered Pearl waiting for him, who had her arms crossed.

"Hm?" was his greeting.

"I saw you out there. Getting better." Pearl remarked, kicking herself off the wall. She stepped towards him. "You defeated three of our best hand-to-hand fighters. Impressive. You didn't look like you were even being serious."

"It was practice." he responded

"They went all out." she mentioned confidently.

Greg stopped himself for a second, thinking.

"What's with the flattery?" he asked.

"Nothing," she answered, smiling a bit. "Just checking up on an old friend."

His eyelids drooped, not convinced with the reason. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're happy... to see me?" he asked cautiously.

"No, of course not. I'm happy to see that Rose isn't with you." she answered nonchalantly. That innocent smile she had seemed creepy now.

Greg's eyes widened a bit. "I didn't expect... that. Are you okay?"

She ignored him, turning around and walking away. "Meeting with Commander Samson in five."

She left him in the hallway.

Greg returned to his thoughts.

"You didn't answer." he muttered in contempt, frowning.


It was the same meeting room they used eleven months ago, when Pearl discussed with the smartest Gem from Homeworld, Peridot; the strongest Gem that was trapped in a mirror for centuries, Lapis; and the normal Commander Samson about the safekeeping of Amber's separated Gemstone.

Now, this meeting room was used by Pearl, Wild Card and Commander Samson. Difference this time was Greg replacing Peridot and Lapis.

"I've called the two of you in for a very important reason." Jacob announced.

"Important enough that he ordered me to fetch you when I came here alone." Pearl added.

Wild Card started to focus more on the talk, which was seeming to head for something big, something serious. Something that would threaten the world, could be impossibly dangerous to stop, and only he and Pearl together will be able to solve this.

"There is evidence of a human hunter we were tracking down." Jacob informed, "And this human hunter is a Gem."

That's it? Wild Card heaved a sigh, which he didn't know if it was either from relief or disappointment. "So, there's only one human hunter?"

"Yes. Shockingly, just the one. Killed tens of people, who were mostly viewed from others as murderers, rapists and drug sellers." Jacob said.

"So, this evil human hunter... she kills bad people for sport." Greg leaned on his arm on the table. "What are we supposed to do? That's practically what we do. But she does it for free." He contemplated at what he just said. "And, I also work for free but that's not the point."

"It's been reported that this singular Gem has been hunting humans for the past year. And yes, she kills bad people. However, she also kills good people. People who were probably mistakened for committing crimes. She's also made a reputation for all Gems on the public society. All of these malicious intents and killing led people to believe Gems are all evil murdering psychopaths. She's like a vigilante; nobody knows of her or what she wants. The government is telling me she could be a danger to humanity. Then, when the news hit of the human hunter today, people are more willing to hunt Gems down because of her."

Pearl concentrated and scowled at the table.

"What does she look like?" Pearl asked inquisitively.

"She took form of a female, scheme of colors are based on cyan, and she wields a dagger. We've only gotten a few pictures over the month, and they're mostly blurs. We were able to enhance the picture and discovered what she looked like." Jacob Samson clicked a button on a small black device he was holding.

A crisp clear image of Kyanite was shown on the screen. Pearl recognized the hunter.

"Looks like you know her." he said, noting her expression.

"Her name is Kyanite." the white knight informed, frowning in disappointment. "We used to take care of her back then."

"Take care of her? Like, Amethyst?" Wild Card asked, reminiscing the old times for a bit before focusing on the topic.

"Yes. Except, Kyanite was made during the war, and not after. She's... not stable. And her guardians are dead to what I remember." Pearl thought. But, Onyx isn't dead though... Obsidian was. Technically, they're both dead... like in a sense of how Greg is dead. But not really. Wherever Kyanite is, she's started a human hunting spree for a reason. And now, she's a threat to the Revolution; she's a threat I would have to take out. This is going to be tricky...

"I see you're focusing on how to beat her." Greg said, noting her interested expression and that fire in her eyes. Pearl snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at him. "What, does she have some other set of abilities that we don't know of?"

"Yes... Teleportation." she stated, causing Greg and Jacob to tense.

"Yikes." Commander Samson breathed in with his teeth shut, making a hissing sound. "She could escape... at any given moment?"

"Back in the day, she couldn't control it and worked hard to improve on that ability." Pearl rubbed the sides of her head. "I never knew what she was capable of... she never displayed any efficiency either. She was always taken care of by these other Gems."

"But you said you took care of her." Jacob Samson replied.

"Yes. I was referring to the Crystal Gems." There was a strain her voice. "We were larger in numbers millennia ago. We had a pair of powerful Gems, named Onyx and Obsidian. Telepathy and telekinesis were their respective abilities. And they took care of Kyanite, who had teleportation."

"A family of Tele." Wild Card joked.

"Telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation." Jacob noted. "Good thing we're only dealing with one of them."

"Yeah... the unexperienced one." Pearl stated.

She shuddered at the thought of facing one of the older ones. Onyx and Obsidian were the powerhouses of the Crystal Gems and were even more powerful as Jet. Garnet didn't even compare to Jet's godlike power. It was a good thing they were on their side, until... Obsidian died.

"Are we going to have to kill Kyanite?" the white knight demanded.

"No, the least you can do is capture her. Unless, either of you vote to kill her. Because with power like that, she could be a useful ally... or a dangerous enemy." Jacob said.

Greg and Pearl glanced at each other.

"Anyway, this is all I've called you in here for. I can't stay for long because I'm the commander of a whole not-so secret society. I'm a busy man." he stated.


They all called the meeting off, and the two agents walked down the hallways with each other. The two had nothing to do, as they weren't assigned any task lately. All they were asked for by Jacob was to know who this Gem was and that's it, hunting down Kyanite would take some time on the database before they really could go out on patrol.

So, they were just casually heading around the complicated structure of the Revolution base. As they were walking, Pearl had something on her mind to say to Wild Card.

"Have you ever planned on... visiting Steven? Telling him that you're alive?" Pearl asked worriedly, and suddenly breaking the silence. "The boy could use a father in these peaceful times."

"I'm afraid of doing that." Greg admitted, seemingly not surprised with the unexpected question.

"Because you don't know how to talk to him?" Pearl guessed, glancing at him.

"Because I don't want him to see me like this... to see his father as a murderer." he corrected, "He already thinks I'm dead. If I reveal myself to him, he probably won't take it well. He saw my grave, he wouldn't even believe me with my bad reputation. I guess... I'll just have to continue doing what he thinks of me."

Pearl sighed depressingly, seeing how much of a broken man he had become. Not wanting to see his son, his legacy, and the only family he had left? That had to be a hard choice for him. She couldn't believe this was the same goofball that she fought over Rose with... now here she was, consoling him.

"Anyway..." Greg shifted the topic to something he wanted to discuss. It was something heavy to deal with and a burden he had to carry around. He just wanted to talk about it. "I've been thinking about those emergency plans against Lapis Lazuli."

"What about it?" the Gem asked.

"Are you sure that you can't defeat her yourself?" he responded unsurely. "Why am I the only definitive candidate?"

Pearl closed her eyes. "Are you saying you don't want your revenge?"

"I'm saying that you're much more better at this job than me. You're a Gem; you're faster, stronger and more durable than me. Yet, you swallowed your pride to let me get to her instead. Why?" he asked.

"She hates all Gems. She may not look like it, but she does." Pearl informed, sighing. "And her rage alone is an overpowering asset she uses to defeat her opponents. She calls upon her anger to manipulate entire oceans and her water weapons. She won't crank up the difficulty to eleven with humans. She has no conflict with you. She'll underestimate you even. By then, you'll already take your shot."

"I guess so..." He looked down, heart pounding nervously about a plan that wasn't going to be engaged soon. It seemed like Lapis wasn't going to need any restraining in the near future, so the plan wasn't going to be in use for some time. He continued, "Instead of sending a Gem to fight the most powerful being on the planet, you send a man. Sounds like an underdog story."

"Little to no chance of winning? I thought you'd like it." Pearl joked.

"Still, it's Lapis Lazuli." Greg slowly said, to make sure she grasped the situation. "The strongest Gem on Earth..."

"And you're Greg Universe." Pearl rebutted. "The strongest human on Earth."

"Not the strongest, but yeah, let's go with that."

"SECURITY BREACHED!" the speakers blared, echoing through the halls. Red light flickered throughout the hallway. "INTRUDER ALERT! REQUESTING AGENT PEARL AND WILD CARD! ALL OTHER ELITE AGENTS ALSO REQUESTED! INTRUDER ALERT!"


Pearl and Wild Card rushed to see what was the commotion about.

It was a big commotion.

The hangar that housed jets and the sorts were now housing around sixty Gems. The Rogue Nation had appeared, peacefully. So far, they had not attempted a violent approach or shown any sign of aggression. They had really come for peace.

Pearl surveyed the sea of Gems, different colors distracting her vision. She pulled out a spear, just as Wild Card stood protectively behind her with a random heavy rifle raised.

"We are not here to hurt you." the leader of this small part of the Rogue Nation said, stepping forth and kneeling on the ground. It was Hematite, the rocky Gem with the holographic shoulder plate and a liking for lava and the ground. "We are simply here to negotiate a conciliation. We do not intend to harm anyone."

"You... You're one of the three Gems that attacked us in the temple." Pearl insisted.

"I am Hematite. And I truly apologize for the mess I have created" he admitted shamefully. "I claim full responsibility for the Rogue Nation."

Pearl lowered her spear. "A noble action. Taking the blame yourself for the whole country. But you know if you stay here any longer, we're going to capture you and jail all of you in Gem-inhibited cells."

"It doesn't have to come to that." another Gem said, taking a step beside Hematite. This Gem was a white old man, who had spiky upturned hair, and a bushy mustache and beard for some reason. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, khaki pants and slip-on shoes. He leaned forward with his back arched like a grandpa.

Pearl's eyes brightened with fascination. "T-Teacher? Moonstone?"

The ancient Gem smirked, "Ah, Pearl of Rose Quartz. I remember you. You were the most loyal Gem I have ever taught."

Pearl just stood there agape, her fingers opening up and letting her spear fall to the floor with a clang. She remembered that soothing old geezer's voice, and the same teacher she had that was fond of looking wise. For some inane reason, he chose to look like an old senile man.

Pearl cried and rushed towards Moonstone like a kid. This world influenced her too much. "Teacher! It's... It's been so long! I thought you were dead!" she cried, noticing how tall she was compared to him when she tried to hug him.

Moonstone waved it away, even chuckling like an old veteran. "No worries. I'm here. Had to go through some trials with White Diamond back on Homeworld five millenia ago. I was supposed to keep Yellow Diamond in check, but I guess even an expert like me wasn't enough for raw power like the Diamonds. Surely enough, I'm back. Here on Earth. Feels strange to suddenly time travel into the future."

Greg's muscles relaxed as the conflict in the hangar seemed to be peacefully resolved.

"It reminds me of that time Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond battled in space and resulted in some gravitational anomaly that sped them a couple years into the future." Moonstone said, "Those were the most incredibly confusing times in the wars." He blinked, nodding his head. "Oh, right. Pearl, we don't want to do any harm to humanity. We want to help, rebuild or find a way of redemption for what we had caused. Do you think you can find a way to allow this and let these Gems redeem themselves?"

"Absolutely!" she gushed. Greg's head perked up at hearing this.

Moonstone was confused. "Don't you need to... go to great lengths just to accept us as this organization's allies?"

"Don't worry! I'm a leading agent in this organization and work in the highest levels of authority!" Pearl exclaimed proudly. "I'm sure I could do something."

"This Pearl just went from wanting to kill us to accepting us in a blink of an eye." a shiny golden Gem remarked, her arms crossed and a naive expression present on her face. She had hair going in all directions except for the middle spot of her scalp. She had a baggy red jumpsuit, and orange boots. She was as tall as Pearl.

"Quiet, Pyrite." a glassy white Gem said. She was standing beside the golden Pyrite, with a serious expression on her face, and a mean scowl that matched her spiky elevated hair. Her attire was mostly gray and black shades of Roman armor that had a chestplate, gauntlets, and boots. There was a layer of gray under her armor that expanded like spandex that covered everything except her head. She wasn't as tall as Pyrite or Pearl, only being a foot shorter than them.

A green Gem standing beside them didn't say anything, but her presence on the front row meant she, like these two Gems, have something significant in their roles. This green Gem had a cloth that covered her mouth so she didn't have to show her acid spit, and her white hair ran down to her back. Her black attire had bits of green here and there, all symmetrical and perfect. From her stance, Pearl could tell she resembled that of a ninja without the head cover.

"Those two are Pyrite and Howlite. The silent one is Jade. They are certainly capable." Moonstone told Pearl, "The silver and gold duo also cause quite the trouble with the excessive pride they have."

Pearl nodded to her former teacher's words. "I could get permission to authorize your stay here." she informed.

Hematite rose from kneeling on the ground for the past couple of minutes. "We have sixty-two Gems, are you sure you have enough room to give everyone a cell?"

"You're really serious about jailing yourself..." Pearl remarked. "But yes. We have a hangar big enough to have all of you here, of course the Revolution would have enough apartments for all of you. They have them for agents who don't have a residence, just like me. And soon, just like you."

Greg approached Pearl's side. "Are you sure about this? Sixty-two Gems? How can we trust this many?"

"It's my teacher we're talking about." the white knight whispered back. "He doesn't lie."


The Crystal Temple...

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"Yep."

"Where did you even find her?"

"Remember that time we found Lion a few weeks back?"

"That was two months ago."

"Yeah! While we were dimension-hopping, I saw something slip past us."

"And it was... her. Kyanite." Connie guessed, "The same Gem that tried to protect us from Peridot that one time in winter."

"Yup." he nodded confidently, "I decided to find her using Lion again, and this time, instead of her doing her thing... like, teleporting to someplace... she was in her Gem form."

"She got poofed?" she asked, brows knitting in concern.

"That's a fact, but, I'm worried about what poofed her." Steven said, "Gems poof when they're badly wounded and sent into their Gems to regenerate. I think she teleported into the ripples of dimensions just before she poofed as a last effort to save herself."

"The moment she comes back, she'll think she's in that space between dimensions." Connie placed her hand over the Gem wand on her belt, making sure she had something with her if the situation needed it. Also, they had no clue what to call the dimension Lion's Roar brought them to, and it was used very little, so naming it wasn't a priority. "What's she gonna do in a reflex if she sees she isn't there?"

Steven eyed cautiously at Connie's hand on her lightning wand, before focusing on the cyan Gem on the pillow.

"She's not going to do anything that drastic, Connie." he reassured, hoping he could convince himself too. "If anything happens, we'll just... talk it out."

"If she doesn't talk?"

"She'll have to..." he urged.

"What if she teleports away?"

"If she could do that all the time, why doesn't she just stay in that dimension all the time instead of wander off on Earth?"

Connie thought about it.

"It's because she can't." the demigem said confidently. "She's just like me when I first used my powers... sometimes, it just doesn't work."

"How are you so sure about that?"

"Just trust me, Connie." he said, smiling. She relaxed upon him saying that, and let go of the wand.

Just then, the Gem shimmered and the physical body of Kyanite spawned out of it, landing on the cushion. She had the same fice-pointed star cloak as she did back then, and her parted glossy blue hair was still intact. Her skin looked whiter, and whatever cyan hue she had was replaced with the color of the sky. All in all, she was the same, save for a few color changes.

Kyanite's teal eyes dilated as she focused on her surroundings, and her first instinct was to run. However, she stopped herself in time when she recognized the two humans she "saved" long ago. She did not find Peridot around.

"It's okay." Steven reassured, his voice strong. Beside him, Connie was watching her curiously. "You're alright. You've just regenerated from your Gem. We found you in another dimension."

Kyanite stared back at them, mute. Her breathing elevated.

"RRRrOssse Quu-Artz." she slurred, pointing out Steven's Gem powers. She was ashamed of her broken voice and wanted to keep quiet. She needed to fix herself.

"Oh, she's my mom." he answered sheepishly.

Kyanite contemplated at this information. She felt so out of place. She didn't want to be here, confronted by two human children. But she was. She just wanted to vanish.

She kept herself mute.

Connie looked over at Steven expectantly. There wasn't anything they could do anymore, not with a shy Gem. And this was all very awkward, with none of them knowing what to do. They were all huddled around, doing exactly nothing for the moment.

Steven pondered a bit. "What were you doing in that dimension?

Kyanite opened her mouth, before shutting it close.

Connie and Steven looked at each other, wondering if that actually meant anything.

It donned on Kyanite that the boy interrogating her was a Gem. A human Gem.

"Whheeere iis Oon-yxx? Wherre is my ffamily?" Kyanite demanded, quickly standing up. She narrowed her eyes at the two, baring her fangs. They're not in control of the situation, she is! That's what Onyx told her to do, always be in control.

Steven and Connie stepped back, with the latter getting a grip on her weapon. Steven put an arm before her, stoppin her from doing any reckless action. He wanted to resolve this with peace, not violence.

"TtelllL mEe!" her broken voice cried, lifting Steven up by the collar.

Connie reacted quickly, pulling out her wand and casting out lightning. KRA-KOOMM! The bolt struck Kyanite in the chest, and flung her into a wall. Cracks spread through the Crystal cavern, the ceiling rumbled, sharp rocks shaking off and fallling to the floor. Kyanite growled at the burning sensation at her Gem, which was located on her chest, where Connie also struck her.

In a blink of an eye, Kyanite roared like an animal, and charged at Connie. Her eyes shrunk from insanity, a rise of angry energy pouring throughout her physical form. She swiped at her, and the human dodged, while throwing lightning at her again.

The Gem snarled, her bare feet crushing the ground below her as she rocketed off the ground to avoid the attack. Kyanite held onto the ceiling, her fingers shapeshifting into claws and piercing the stalactite.

"CONNIE!" Steven shouted, "Stop that!"

Connie kept the Wand in her grip, staring up at Kyanite. She had been a little trigger-happy with all the power she had inhabited, like her new abilities and the Gem Wand. She just felt like needing a reason to show this off to Steven, but it didn't feel satisfying when Steven was telling her to stop.

"HHuuu-manns are badd." Kyanite said, gritting her teeth. "ON-yyx tolld me. Can't trrrusst themm. Onn-lyy Gemmmss."

Steven stared up at the grayish-blue Gem, who started crawling around the ceiling to get the better of them. He stood close to Connie, and activated his shield.

"I... wwil ex-terrrminate alll hu-mmans. Ffor Onn-yx annd Obbsidiaan." Kyanite slurred.

"Onyx and Obsidian are Crystal Gems!" the demigem exclaimed, "The Crystal Gems protect the Earth!"

"Nnnott huu-manss." Her lips curled into a sadistic smirk. It would've been a lovely smile if not for her crazy eyes.

Steven felt sweat roll down his face, this was all going so wrong. The Gem he thought he would be friends with was going to enjoy killing them. She looked like she could go on even if they combined their attacks. She was scary crazy.

"Steven?" Connie called, her voice shaky. She was confident before, but all of that drained away when Kyanite seemed to be skilled enough to take both of them down. "What's the plan?"

"I-I don't know!" he nervously replied.

The temperature dropped around them. They could feel their stomachs plummet as Kyanite pulled out her weapon, a dagger, from under her five-pointed star cape, since one of the trails covered her Gem.

Kyanite leaped at them in a fury.

Steven raised his shield, covering both him and Connie. WHAM! Kyanite landed on the shield, flailing her dagger wildly in the air.

SCHTINK! Chunks of ice sprouted from the ground, sharp tips glaring up at Kyanite. Said Gem kicked herself off the shield and slid on the cavern grounds, confused at the cooling temperature and the rising ice shards.

"Are you doing this?" Steven whispered.

Connie shook her head.

Sapphire stepped into the scene, shouting "KYANITE!" sharply.

"Ssaphirre." Kyanite slurred, turning her head to face her. There was some recognition on her face, and her eyes started to become less crazy. "Ggarnett?"

"Garnet's gone. I'm just Sapphire." the icy Gem stated. Steven and Connie backed away and watched it play out itself, sighing in relief that Sapphire had come to their rescue.

"Rrrubyy?" she asked, "She'ss deead?"

"No. We're separated." she answered, inwardly hurting at the voice of Kyanite.

"Onnnyx? Oobsidiannn?"

Sapphire waited for a moment, letting the feeling sink. She counted silently, until she thought it would be the best time to say it.

"They're gone."

Kyanite shook her head, saliva dripping from her mouth. "No... NO!"

Sapphire stepped towards Kyanite, who was slightly taller than her, but she was hunched over like a beast so Sapphire seemed taller.

"T-TTHEY C-CAN'T BBEE!" Kyanite shouted, her spirits breaking. Tears were coming down her face, and her throat was holding back sobs. "Theey're sttrong! Theyy can't diee!"

Sapphire placed her hands on her shoulders, rubbing them comfortingly. Kyanite broke down in front of her, the only thing she could hold on to for sanity was dead. What else did she have in life? She'd been killing humans for the past year. And to her, it was to uphold Onyx's words and the thrill just gave her a certain rush. She had dealt with Amber using her as a torture slave, corrupting and uncorrupting into a dog, that she didn't know what to feel anymore.

Everything's jumbled up for her.

Kyanite held on to Sapphire for support, the only Crystal Gem she could trust for obvious reasons. Because she already knew. Sapphire was looked into futures, everyone relied on her for great success.

"Nno. Thhhey're stiill aalivve. I caann feell iit." Kyanite said, her teeth gritting in psychopathic bloodlust. Her shaking legs stood strong, and she set herself away from Sapphire. "Innn myy bboones. Theeyy'rre sttill hherrre."

In a few moments, Kyanite went from warrior to cripple, as she toppled over the ground. Still, she was determined. The Gem clenched her fist as blood started coughing out of her mouth from her concentration. She started phasing in and out of existence, trying hard to use her energy to teleport away from here.

"Kyanite. Stop." Sapphire ordered, crouching over her. "You're not focusing."

The insane Gem thrashed her fists at her, but they didn't connect since she was on the ground, overworking herself. Kyanite couldn't get a clear mind, since all she could think of was revenge. Pain. Agony. Death. Humans. Torture. Amber. Corruption. Kill. Find. Teleport. All her thoughts swirling into one big concoction of a headache.

Kyanite took her dagger, and thrusted it into herself, setting all her attention into pain. She grunted and wheezed in pain, finally being able to throw out all her other thoughts.

Sapphire was unfazed by the action, but the kids were. They looked away.

"Kyanite." the icy Gem clasped her hand around the other's wrist. "Stop. You're going to kill yourself."

Kyanite shut her eyes, unable to argue with that. She groaned, her stomach burning with the wound she inflicted on herself. White blood puddled around her. All that useful energy left her body, but she needed to find Onyx and Obsidian. They weren't dead yet! She had to find them!

"They're gone." Sapphire said coldly, trying to drive the idea into the younger Gem's head. It was a hard pill to swallow, and this Gem was stubborn back in the past, using Onyx and Obsidian as her scapegoat. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

Kyanite stopped struggling, but kept breathing hard.

They're dead. Kyanite thought. I'm useless.

The blue Gem's grip on the dagger loosened.

I'm so sorry...

Mommy. Daddy.

Kyanite's form shimmered, and she went back into her Gemstone to regenerate.

Sapphire sighed, pulling herself up to stand. She looked down at her blood-stained outfit and then over at the horrified children.

"You two. We are going to have a talk."


A/N: This was a hard pickle to cut. Okay, that phrase was weird, I don't know what came over me typing that. Keeping it anyway.

And ughhhhh, I've been seeing weird parallels between Gems and gods lately. Because I've been reading Kane Chronicles: Serpent's Shadow (haven't read the first two, just skipped to the last one because it was sitting around in the class library.) and I'm a fan of Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus. (Basically Rick Riordan stuff) It's now hard to not see the similarities in abilities and what they represent. I can see so much potential...

Makes me wanna... write another fanfic AU with Gems acting as gods for the past five thousand years, and the adventures of their offspring demigems. I don't know why, but I've already titled it Demigem Legends: The Kill Code. I even have this joke plot about Steven and some other OC demigems going on a journey across Kindergartens (birthplace of gods), Homeworld (hell) and Earth to find this "Kill Code" to fight off the Cluster that's going to wake.

If anyone is interested with this idea, all you can do is just beg me to write the first chapter, thank you very much. (It would take time off Steven Lazuli.) If you wanna write it yourself, go ahead, it's fanfiction, nothing's stopping you. There's probably already a fic about that lurking around and I just haven't been looking for it correctly.

ANYWAYS, back to this chapter, I was stressing out because I wanted to get this in a day early and I was holding off writing some parts because PROCRASTINATION! Also, because I have a habit of not focusing on the thing I'm supposed to focus. Like, the other chapters? Last chapter had a title about magic, and magic lasted about fifteen percent of the chapter.

Okay, next chapter will be the start of a war with the Crystal Gems, Team Gem Squad and Kyanite... AGAINST the Bloodstone Rogue Nation!

Meaning, not Hematite, Moonstone, Jade, Howlite and Pyrite. They're Revolution now, no longer Rogue Nation. And the Revolution have their own problems.


Breaking News: This chapter is filled with Rogue Nation. And it's probably the first time in months since there was any major event with the Rogue Nation. So, Rogue Time!

Next Chapter's Title: "An Intricate G.A.M.E"

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