Chapter 47: Divided We Fall
"THEY'VE FOUND US!"
Ruby rushed outside, watching the Amedot ship hover closer. The hazy skies helped the aircraft blend in, but it was still visible to anyone on the ground. The red leader glared at the flying ship, knowing what's to come that day. She'd seen warnings and signs of hell coming in, and this one was the most twisted by far... Her own friends were on that ship, preparing to rain down the ammunition to a rebellion's defeat. Ruby didn't need a second to wonder if she was going to let that happen.
However, she did think of reasons to what took them so long to get here. They planned to attack on Steven's birthday, and they did not just suddenly stumble into their base that very day. The main idea out of the list of probable reasons was that they already knew, and that they have just been working on their ability to take them down quicker. One thought of thinking what was there to improve on to exploit their weaknesses was... Pearl's Gem destabilizers.
"Damn it," Ruby cursed. She clenched her fist, a gauntlet shimmering into reality. She turned to her rebellion of one hundred and sixty-three individuals. She couldn't think of fighting them now, not while the enemy had the upper hand. They had to retreat. "GEMS! The enemy has discovered us! And their powers are too great for us to handle! They have weapons that can easily poof Gems! So, what we need to do now, is to retreat!"
The air vibrated, and from a few feet away, popped in two essential Gems, Kyanite and Steven. As soon as Ruby spotted the cyan Gem, she went for her, a plan forming in her mind.
"Kyanite," Ruby said, getting her attention. Kyanite looked at her, and Ruby placed her hand on her shoulder, before trying to look for a certain speedster. She couldn't find her, so she yelled, "EMERALD!"
The bright speedster appeared at her command, trails of her green energy leading to the opposite end of the vine barrier. The speedster waited for Ruby's orders, shifting her weight a lot.
"Alright, Kyanite, I need you to create a portal here to another location." Ruby told her, leaving Kyanite confused as to where her portal would end up. Ruby made a sign, meaning to wait for further instructions. She turned to the speedster. "Emerald, you're the one bringing Kyanite to that location. You're fast enough to travel to another continent, you should know some place good for another refuge. Temporarily. I'll have to think of a way to disrupt... the Gem tracker, which they've managed to rebuilt."
"Yeah, of course," Emerald replied, turning to Kyanite. "Tell me when you're ready."
Kyanite glanced at Steven behind her, who held the box of doughnuts. He gave her a thumbs up for encouragement, which she smiled lightly in response. The cyan Gem went back to work, focusing on this point of space. She felt the proper dimensions lining up, and promptly punched a hole into it, stapling her bookmark on reality.
"Alright," Kyanite stated, nodding her head. "We're good to go."
Emerald responded with a "Hmph", hailed Kyanite over her shoulders, mock-saluted to Ruby, and zipped off in the opposite direction at tremendous speeds. All done in a moment. Her energy trail, disclosing her direction, faded away in seconds flat.
A sonic boom was made when Emerald started, and it was directed at Ruby. They all knew that the speedster's suit enabled her to lose the explosive noise, but to do it on purpose was a whole level of evil.
Ruby frowned as she fixed her hearing, turning back to check on the aircraft's position, and turning back again to contemplate at the ground and think of something to do while waiting for Kyanite's portal to open up.
Steven went out to watch the Amedot ship hover closer, its innocent look back then, now looked dangerous and menacing. It was the harbinger of a battle between Gems, and Steven dreaded that. The demigem firmly pressed his lips together, trying to keep himself from frowning too hard. Lapis had left earlier to do another one of her therapy sessions. Steven had watched her once, and only saw hurricanes and storms over the seven seas after that.
From above, Black Pearl hopped to Steven's side, her yellow eyes observing the demigem.
"I can sense your tension rising. Might I suggest a back rub from yours truly?" the Gem-cyborg asked, showing him her hands, retracting and straightening her fingers to give it some allure. Steven giggled at her attempt to make him relax. "Is that an affirmative?"
"I don't need it right now," he said. He grimaced as he felt a hundred Gems from camp starting to cower. All their negative emotions were being soaked up like a sponge.
"Your body's tension is being erratic. It dropped then rose to seventy percent tense. That is dangerous for a never-before-documented hybrid like you. We don't know what levels you can reach, and if this is your breaking point already. It is safer to give a back rub now before it can escalate any further." Black Pearl informed, planting her hands on his shoulders.
Steven sighed, "No..."
"But, master, it is recommended..."
"Please, Black Pearl, just... don't."
"Witty reply: whatever you say." Black Pearl replied, bringing her hands off him. "Continuation to witty reply: don't come complaining to me if you feel you need a back rub in the next twenty minutes."
Steven turned to stare at the Amedot ship.
"I can sense Howlite's energy," Black Pearl informed. "She's battle ready."
The demigem frowned, "They didn't come to discuss..."
"They came here to start a war." Black Pearl finished.
Steven heard some chattering from behind them. He turned and saw a squad of rubies, all helping each other away from the entrance. He observed them carefully, watching as they all stood together and gazed warily at the battleship. They turned to each other, all nodding in comprehension.
"We'll make Leaderuby proud!" a ruby exclaimed, turning to her comrades. "Alright, rubies! You know the drill!"
"Megaruby formation!" they all cheered, putting their hands up.
"Uh..." Steven turned to Black Pearl. "Do you know what's a Megaruby formation?"
Black Pearl didn't move from her spot. "From my estimates, they will fuse. From how many rubies there are, my calculations say that they will all turn into a giant ruby, scaling to a thousand feet in height. That's three hundred meters. Or point two miles."
Steven was amazed by what the fusion could be. "Could it backfire? Because, you know, fusions..." he asked worriedly. They had a run-in with fusions a while back, and how they had a different ideology than its parent fusees.
"Rubies are soldiers on the battlefield with a one-track mind. They won't lose their motives of battle, or their sense of camaraderie." Black Pearl replied. "However, such a form is hard to maneuver. Air resistance and the new mass will confuse their balance."
The ruby squad got onto one another, from many on the bottom to support their weight, till the top only had one ruby, forming a pyramid. They easily morphed into light, all their gemstones flying around the white polymorph to configure their shape. The fusion's physical form grew tenfold, becoming taller than Rose's statue or the vine barrier by far. The giant completed its shapeshifting, giving itself its simplistic white silhouette, before colors exploded from its energy. The giant fusion was whole, standing at an impressive one thousand foot stature.
Steven stared wide-eyed at the giant ruby. He had no idea how big it was prior to her transformation. He could say for sure he was but the size of a grape compared to her. He couldn't even say he was taller than her foot. In fact, her foot alone was the size of a mansion.
Megaruby started walking towards the Amedot ship. Dirt clung to her feet like it had its own orbit of gravity. Every step she took, her feet sunk into the dirt, her weight being too much for the ground itself. The lands shook, alerting our Ruby on the event. The red warrior quickly ran out of the entrance, immediately stopping to gasp at the sight, before fear settled in her mind.
"No! They don't have permission for that thing!" Ruby muttered under her breath, before seeing that the two hybrids were watching all along. They heard her gasp and looked at her. "Why didn't you stop them!?" she yelled.
"Pearl and the others were gonna attack. Black Pearl confirmed that they were battle ready, which meant they were only here to start attacking." Steven replied. "We weren't going to talk to them anyways. It's pointless."
"This act just hastened it!" Ruby stated, pointing at the humungous fusion and the aircraft. "They're gonna see it as a confirmation to start attacking! And when they start attacking, that's the point we lose!"
Black Pearl stood in front of Steven. "Don't yell at my master."
"We were supposed to wait for Kyanite to open a portal. And then we leave without ever damaging anyone! That was the plan..." Ruby sighed, "Oh, Rose, if there's a realm where you can be seeing this... help us."
Steven raised a brow at that, tempted to point at himself.
Meanwhile, Megaruby reached up, her mansion-sized hands cupping against the Amedot ship, successfully catching it and halting the aircraft entirely.
In the ship, the Revolution Gems were standing in the cockpit, looking out the glass screen to the hazy landscape. Pearl and Amethyst were piloting the ship, both working on two parts of controls. Moonstone and Jade were on guard duty of the main deck, leaning against pillars or masts. Sapphire, Howlite, Pyrite, Hematite and Helios were stationed in the same room as the pilots, seated in state-of-the-art aircraft seats.
"Holy shit..." both Howlite and Pyrite muttered under their breaths.
"A fusion!" Hematite noticed, stating out his observation.
"A fusion at that size... Gem destabilizers have a small chance of working on her... She's too big for them to take effect. If only we could fuse..." Pearl informed, glancing at her teammates. Sapphire just glanced at Gems suspiciously at the word fusion.
"But... we can't do a fusion. There's too much risk!" Hematite said.
Pearl rolled her eyes. "I know."
"We don't need a fusion," chuckled Amethyst, ripping herself out of the her seatbelt. "Amedot, accommodate Pearl's needs!"
"Yes, Commander Amethyst."
Pearl yelled after her. "Amethyst, wait!"
Amethyst didn't wait. She barged through doors and climbed stairs onto the ship's deck. Moonstone and Jade clung to the pillars, watching Amethyst run haphazardly into their problem. She hopped over to the bow of the ship and saw the head of the giant ruby, who had her innocent eyes set on the ship. The aircraft tilted with the gigantic fusion's strength, bringing its rear end into the sky. With an anxious breath, Amethyst slid to the front of the ship's bow, muttering under her breath.
"I got this... I got this... I am the boss!" Amethyst kept repeating, her feet planted firmly on the edge of the bowsprit. She closed her eyes, imagining her own energy explode. She had never done this before... but there was always a first time.
The violet Gem leaped at Megaruby.
"...I GOT THIS!" she screamed, exhilarated. "I'M..." she grunted, "...THE BOSS!"
Megaruby didn't know why the little Amethyst jumped at her. It was as if she was trying to get herself killed. But, as the violet Gem sailed through the air, her physical form started growing erratic.
Pearl felt her metaphorical heart leap out of her chest as she watched Amethyst plummet to her death, only for her sense of logic to jump out instead. Pearl couldn't believe it, but Amethyst did something spectacular.
The purple Gem kicked Megaruby square in the jaw, somehow hitting the giant with enough power to bring her down. Megaruby let go of the Amedot ship, taking a slow step back, her balance lost. Amethyst's mass grew tenfold, matching that of the the ginormous fusion. Megaruby fell over the vine barrier, thankful it was strong enough to catch her whole weight, as Amethyst lost her balance as well. The violet Gem fell to earthly soil, making dust clouds pile up, her clashing with the ground had been enough to shake mountains and clear forests.
Howlite stared at the colossal damage on the ground. As of now, Amethyst was exactly the same size as Megaruby.
"Is... Did she... Is this really happening right now?" the silver Gem asked, looking to her colleagues, all of whom were staring wide-eyed at the scene.
"Yes... Amethyst is a giant." Pearl informed, watching the one thousand feet tall Amethyst get on one knee, supporting her enormous structure.
"Oh yeah! Crisis averted!" Pyrite cheered.
Megaruby stood on both feet, her balance regained already. She made a grab for Amethyst's foot, concentrating all her power, and started heaving Amethyst up. The violet Gem yelped as she felt herself flying. Even through the massive drag force acting on both titans, Megaruby was still able to bring about enough kinetic energy to start swinging Amethyst around. The giant let go of the other, letting the shapeshifter fly over hills and plateaus, barely grazing them with her flock of hair. Amethyst shifted back into her normal size, losing the air resistance that held back her fall, and instantly zooming into trees, breaking them in half.
At least she didn't cause another earthquake again.
Megaruby went back to the Amedot ship, standing her ground. The giant brought her hands up to the ship again, before she felt some rumbling under her feet the more time passed. She turned, just in time to see Amethyst, fully formed again, dash at her. Both their movements were slow due to air resistance, making it seem like they were really in slow motion. Amethyst tackled Megaruby against a mountain, causing it to crack in the middle.
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT HURT." Amethyst said, her new vocal chords deepening her voice by several notes. It was almost unintelligible. "WOW... I SOUND FUNNY."
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?" Megaruby replied, raising a brow. The fusion's voice was much clearer, being made up of multiple magical beings instead of just one. "NEVER MIND. I JUST REALIZED YOU WON'T SPEAK ENGLISH PROPERLY BECAUSE YOU SEEMED TO BE SPEAKING IT JUST NOW. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND." Megaruby said, before letting her mouth hang open.
Amethyst saw light growing brighter from the back of her mouth. She immediately ducked, saving herself from gigantic fires that soaked up all the oxygen. Megaruby coughed smoke, wiping her mouth as she kicked Amethyst away. The fusion used the mountain behind her as a support of balance as she only had a leg to support herself when kicking Amethyst. The purple giant leaned forward, trying to balance herself from the kick to stop herself from falling.
Megaruby made a beeline for Amethyst, arching back a fist. Amethyst saw through it and quickly crawled to the side. Megaruby threw the punch unwittingly, letting her fist fly into the air and whack a hill.
"TOO SLOW!" Amethyst remarked, standing back up to her full height.
Megaruby understood her that time. She contemplated at her fist. "THAT'S NOT FAIR! I CAN'T BE SLOW IN BATTLE TOO."
Ruby gritted her teeth. It was starting. Pearl was gonna launch an attack. Sooner or later, would all be causing mass destruction. Amethyst was giving Megaruby a good fight, and Ruby was left to wonder if the fusion could even stand a chance. Then again, whatever trick Amethyst was pulling to turn herself giant wasn't possible for a Gem. A normal Gem, at least. But at what cost was Amethyst taking for doing this?
Steven felt conflicted about Amethyst, thinking that they had to take her down because she was with the other side, but he couldn't bring himself to wish her any harm. He didn't want that purple shapeshifter to attain any massive injuries or anything.
"Witty comment: this battle is as slow as two snails battling it out." Black Pearl stated.
Steven just realized something about Amethyst, and what she gave him last year. "Wait, Ruby, last year on Connie's birthday, Amethyst gave Connie and I my mom's laser cannon." he informed, also remembering where his gloves came from. He felt disgusted about them now.
Ruby groaned, "So what? You want to cause more destruction?" She straightened up a bit, considering the idea. "But yeah, the laser light cannon could be useful... Where'd ya put it?"
"Oh, uh..." His thoughts lingered over to Lion. "Darn..."
"What?" Ruby asked, noticing his discomfort.
"I put it in Lion." Steven told her. He had brought it in while bringing out his mom's stuff to inspect.
Still not comprehending, she asked, "What?"
"Lion! It's with Lion!" Steven repeated uneasily. "I didn't have any space anywhere to put it, but Lion's di-mane-sion had lots of free space, so I thought... why not?"
"I still don't get it." Ruby replied as she shook her head.
"How could you put a weapon into a lion? Did the lion eat it?" Black Pearl questioned, genuinely curious. "How could the weapon be qualified as important as you two express it to be if a mere carnivore can devour it?"
"No, it's a magic lion. It had my mom's stuff in it. So, it's my mom's lion." Steven said. "I don't know where he's at. I haven't checked up on him in... weeks! Where do you think does a lion like him spends his free time?"
"How am I supposed to know?" retorted Ruby bewilderedly.
"Ugh... that idea's useless then." Steven said, waving his hand to kill the thought.
"Well... at least we still have the vine barrier," Ruby grunted, her eyes locking with the ever trembling plant. She then turned to the demigem, eyes cold and calculative. "And you, Steven."
"Hm?"
"You could make a giant shield to block any attack they make, right?" Ruby asked, taking a step forward and glanced at the Amedot ship, which was carrying on its merry way.
"Uh. Yeah. I could." Steven answered.
"You sound nervous," Black Pearl noted. "This is going to be war. We need genuine confirmation. And if you can't do it, then it will endanger your well-being. I told you, you needed that back rub."
"No. It's just... it's been so long since I did that. Expanding my shield. Mostly I just... keep it at a small size." Steven informed, waving his dominant arm. He looked up at the Amedot ship, awaiting its next move.
And it delivered.
A rocket was fired at the vine barrier, simply to destroy their defenses. Ruby immediately reacted, firing the gauntlet she had at the incoming missile. BBRRRAAAMMMM! The two explosive projectiles met in the middle, exploding into a combustion of energy. Red painted everywhere from the intense radiation. The air reflected upon the explosion, picking up winds from the shock wave.
"Those maniacs. I can't believe them," Ruby grimaced, glaring at the ship.
Steven turned to Black Pearl for confirmation. She stated, "The trajectory of that missile was for the barrier. They only intended to destroy our defense, not to vaporize us. Though it would be efficient if they did so."
Ruby glanced at the tear in the dimensions. "What's taking them so long?" she muttered, thinking up a few possibilities. "I swear, if Emerald is a traitor. I'm going to murder her."
"Should we attack?" Steven asked.
"Hmph..." The red one contemplated at her fist, before it glowed white. She raised it, aiming at the ship, the temperature rising around her. Black Pearl took Steven in her arms and hopped back a considerable distance, right before a spark of electricity lit up in Ruby's closed fist. Ruby concentrated on that spark, imagining it widening into a lightning bolt. She eyeballed the ship, head tilting to accommodate aiming her hand directly at it. Black Pearl pressed her hands into Steven's ears.
She opened her hand, letting loose a billion volts.
BBBBRRRRUUUUUUMMMM! The deep thunder resonated within everyone, its clap heard from miles. Steven shook from the discharge, albeit being a distance away and not being hit with it. He was an easy conductor for the lightning to touch, but Ruby had concentrated it into a beam, focused on a single point, and struck the ship. The beam collided, its contents smashing against metal, and exploded into separate little crackles of electricity. Amedot absorbed the hit, white zigzags crackling all around the bow.
"That'll fry it," Ruby panted, turning to the two hybrids. "Don't worry. I know its insides. I worked on it myself... well, alongside of Peridot." Except, her plan didn't work. The ship was still moving. It had a shield around it to cancel out Ruby's lightning shot.
A few Gems exited the entrance to check on what was happening. The three noticed them.
"Get back," Ruby barked. "Your orders are to stay inside. We'll handle this."
"We want to fight too!" some of them said,
"I mean, look at that one!" another one exclaimed, pointing at Megaruby. "They get to participate in battle! Why can't we? Why can't we get the right to fight for ourselves! We've got no right to do any less than you."
"Yeah! We want to fight too. We want to protect what we stand for!" a blue archer exclaimed. It was Beryl, wearing an electronic headgear to increase her memory unit capacity, courtesy of Emerald the scientific speedster. It only helped her with small things, like names, teams. Without it, she would've never gotten here. She felt so much more whole and understanding than before, she wasn't confused anymore.
Standing beside her was Berry, trying to gently restrain her from coming out.
Steven could feel the determination leaking from them. They were all courageous for standing up for themselves, and he could genuinely feel that bravery without his authentic emotion sensory.
"Well, do you see yourself capable of doing what that giant fusion is doing right now?" Ruby demanded. They went silent. "See? No. We can't even risk fusing, and you all know how that could turn out. Those rubies are simple-minded enough to do so without harm. You guys, however, are so much more than that. I'd have to applaud you later, but really, I can't let my people aimlessly sacrifice themselves. You have no plan. Or I have no plan. And believe me, what we need is less..."
Ruby watched them point at the sky.
The Amedot ship opened up its sides, little carrier aircrafts flew out, holding up troops of Gems. Ruby worded a whole lot of curses. The carriers deployed flew around the vine barrier to the second entrance, where it was unguarded.
"...damage." Ruby finished, nettled. "S'alright. Steven, BP and I can still handle this. For now, we only have to wait for Kyanite to open the portal and we all flee. Understand?"
"Where's Lapis?!" one of the Gems cried.
"You need extra Gempower! There's no way you can hold off an entire army by yourselves!" another one retorted, letting Steven and Ruby glance at each other, remembering their experiences in fighting Gem armies.
"Ruby!" Black Pearl exclaimed, pointing at an aircraft that was flying to the other entrance. Nobody went into the middle, for the vine barrier started pouring on its defenses and covered up the hole. So, there was only one other vulnerable point they didn't have cover for. "The other side!"
"Ughhhh..." Ruby groaned. "Fine. You guys, the ones who want to fight. Since you're itching for a battle so much, you can protect us from the back. I wouldn't expect much action though, Rose's vines are strong as hell."
"Yes, Ruby!" the Gems saluted, and started dashing back to their camp to guard the opposite entrance.
The stronger Gems came in at the front, knowing that Steven and Ruby were guarding that position. So, better Gems were sent to incapacitate them. Jade, Hematite, Helios and Sapphire were sent to the battlefield, standing on one of the carrier platforms. The red warrior, the demigem and the cyborg all readied themselves against the Revolution Gems and their troops. The troop Gems had been armed with rifles, filled with Gem destabilizers.
"Black Pearl," Ruby called, without looking. "Are you resistant to Gem destabilizers?"
"I don't know what those are." the Gem cyborg replied, unsheathing metal claws from her fingertips. Steven glanced at them, feeling as though they weren't good enough of a weapon. But maybe she still had something up her sleeves. Metaphorically.
"It's their ammo. Whatever you do, don't get shot by them." Ruby warned.
Black Pearl's yellow eyes glowed. "I've registered their ammunition. The formula they've used is deadly to Gems. But I'm immune."
"Seriously?" Ruby grunted, "Only me?"
"They don't know I'm immune. I will use that to my advantage. Element of surprise." Black Pearl stated, as the carriers finally arrived on the battlefield.
Hematite stood forth first, observing their opponents.
"Thank you for not shooting us out of the sky." the bulky Gem said, expressing his gratitude. "That would have been—and I will quote Emerald on this—a dick move."
"Shit, that would've been good," Ruby murmured. "Too late for that now."
Black Pearl stepped forward. "And thank you for not shooting us while you had the higher ground."
"Drat, that would've been good..." said Helios, head perking up behind Sapphire and Jade. For a moment Ruby and Helios locked eyes, recognizing each other, before going back to the battle.
Steven realized he wasn't doing his job, since being so caught up with watching everyone, he forgot he was part of the show too. He promptly brought his shield out and expanded it to defend the other two Gems. Ruby and Black Pearl took slow steps back with Steven, closing off the entrance with the shield.
"Why didn't you do anything?" Jade asked the rocky brute.
"Was I supposed to? It was their turn." Hematite replied. "In addition, Rose's shield is impenetrable, so fighting that would be useless."
"You could, you know, shift the tectonic plates." the ninja stated.
"That would cause a lot of damage to the Earth. Earthquakes could happen in the country next to us. Volcanoes could form in the seabed or on an uncharted island." Hematite retorted.
"Hm. Fair enough." Jade said, before muttering, "You didn't care about that when you fought Onyx."
"The world was at stake. Either it got destroyed or earthquakes would just happen." he reasoned.
"There's no time for debate, guys! We have to chew through the vine barrier." Helios intervened. Since she seemed to be lacking in power by the others, they had given her a weapon (much to Amethyst, Sapphire and Moonstone's comfort), and it was tailored to her liking. The new gauntlets on her forearm lit up, the sonic blasters embedded into her gauntlets activating.
She directed her arms at the shield, a giant blast of sonics hitting the disc of energy. The sound rebounded, while also glitching the shield out. Steven watched as his own weapon get mildly cancelled out by vibrational frequencies. Its holographic representation shook, waving about, wobbling like a thin sheet of metal paper. Ruby prepared her gauntlet again, aiming for Helios more than anyone.
Up above, a loud boom could be heard in the skies. A trail of blue smashed into the Amedot, denting the metal plate. The blur flipped onto the aircraft.
Lapis Lazuli had arrived on the Amedot.
"Savage Gem to the rescue," she muttered, reminiscing the last time she fought an army. "Hah. What was I thinking saying that last time? So arrogant... I mean, I told myself that it would be such a Steven thing to do if I called myself "the strongest Gem on the planet"... Well, look who's being the naive one now."
She rubbed her water hand, grimacing as she couldn't feel it.
Who am I kidding? I'll still call myself the strongest Gem on the planet for the hell of it. I mean, it's not like Onyx is gonna come back solely because I'm proclaiming this title.
Lapis stalked over the ship, finding an old man standing against her way. It was Moonstone. The one who found all her pieces and ultimately saved her from death. She didn't really thank him for that.
"Move." Lapis ordered as a warning.
"I won't be the one fighting you, Lapis," the old, hunched man replied. "But try me and you will pay for it."
Lapis used her wing to slam Moonstone against a wall, only for it to splash around the Gem. She raised a brow at that, before Moonstone rushed in and took advantage of her vulnerable stance. He struck the core of her body, using the kinetic energy gained from the prior attack against Lazuli. Lapis doubled over in pain, the attack being so precise and dense in power, it felt like she got shot and what was left was a hole in her waist.
"You've never seen me fight before have you?" Moonstone inquired, brushing his goatee. "Yes, you were never around for that."
Lapis redoubled her efforts, replaying Pearl's actions in her mind. All of her techniques and skill, she would mirror them perfectly. Moonstone's moves were full of fluidity and power, it seemed like something Pearl had.
The ocean Gem rose up, grunting. "So, what... You're a good fighter?"
Moonstone snorted at that. "Yeah, you still don't understand."
Lapis charged in with a flying sweep kick, that Moonstone blocked. She continued with a barrage of well-placed punches and kicks into his excellent defenses, now that Moonstone had recognized it as Pearl's fighting style. Lapis was just hitting a brick wall now, there was no progress. She flew back, panting from mirroring actions she'd never done before, and putting all mental prowess and power into that.
"Okay. You are good." Lapis remarked, huffing.
"How were you able to mirror all of Pearl's moves?" Moonstone asked intriguingly. "Those were her exact moves... months ago. Did you train with her? Is that why she dislikes you so much?"
"No..." Lapis grunted, "...I've never trained with her."
"Hmm, then why..." Moonstone stopped, deciding to compliment instead. "...Well, you're a mysterious one."
Lapis grinned at that.
"But..." Moonstone walked up to her, with Lapis tensing up as he got nearer. He was doing a slow smack with an open hand, which Lapis thought to be really petty. Until his hand gently collided with her blocking arm.
Lapis went flying.
She struck the railings of the ship and tumbled in the air.
"...you still don't understand." Moonstone lamented.
Howlite opened the door, rushing to her teacher. "Moonstone! Are you alright?" she demanded, looking around for the ocean Gem.
"Hmm?" he raised a brow.
"I-I mean... You just fought Lapis Lazuli." Howlite stated. "Aren't you like... oh. She basically just used physical attacks the whole time, didn't she?"
"Yeah..." Moonstone knocked on his back and straightened himself, before going back to slouching. "It'll get repetitive if I keep going on, which in turn makes it boring. I'll be tired of that." He walked to the door, jabbing his thumb at the air behind him. "...You take over."
"Uhhh-hhmm... What?" Howlite asked.
Lapis Lazuli flew back, her position covering the sun's rays, making her appear as a shadow. She glared down at the aircraft, her eyes only finding Howlite on the ship. Lapis dropped onto the deck's floor and looked menacing to Howlite's eyes, but she didn't crack.
"So," Howlite started, stalling time to build up energy. "You're the strongest Gem on the planet, right?"
"Yes," Lapis narrowed her eyes at her.
"But what about Onyx?" Howlite asked.
"Is she gonna stop me, right here, right now, just because of this very discussion?" Lapis retorted.
Howlite responded by blasting her with white hot beams of energy.
Lapis was pushed back from the force, before making a water clone of herself to stand there, so she could sneakily evade from the silver Gem's sights. Lapis swooped under the ship, to fly back up on the other side. She was about to punch Howlite with a pillar of water, when the silver Gem noticed and started blasting her. Lapis dodged and weaved from her blasts, taunting her aim by sticking her tongue out immaturely.
And then a metal contraption flew at her without her knowledge, lodging around her arm. Lapis cried out, surprised at feeling the extra weight and pressure rise in her limb, only to find a metal clamp around it. She heaved it around, looking around for who shot this at her, when she heard the sound of a jet fly by the sky.
Small dots on the metal clamp blinked to life, activating itself, and started flying for the rocket sound. Lapis was tugged with it, soaring the air for the jet.
"GAAH!" she suddenly screamed, feeling as if her arm had been ripped out of its socket. Thankfully, it didn't. However, it still hurt like hell.
The ocean Gem fought against its powerful pull, but she realized that would only lead to her tearing her arm out, so she desperately tangled with the clamp, while flying at her own pace in the same direction in the jet so she wouldn't accidentally have her arm severed.
It electrocuted her.
"AaaAAAaghhHHHhh!" she shouted, still grunting against the pulling thing.
And then she found out what that jet sound was. It wasn't a jet. It was a man, with a jet pack. A very powerful one, with two propulsion engines on his back, carrying him to a destination. Lapis knew this man was Wild Card.
A few minutes ago...
"Lapis!" Steven exclaimed happily as he saw the blue trail hit the Amedot ship. "She came!"
Ruby snorted immaturely, "Uh, yeah, kid, she came."
Helios stopped to look up at the ship with her comrades.
"Aw, hell." Helios muttered. "Never mind. We've got a plan for her. Well, Pearl does. We have to keep hitting them."
"Why're you so determined to hit them?" Hematite asked.
"Do you want to fail now?" Helios retorted.
Suddenly, a green trail zipped around the Revolution troops, breaking their weapons in half. The green blur skidded to a halt, showing herself to the world, before running again. Emerald took Hematite first, carrying him miles away, and in a few seconds, they ended up in the Pacific ocean, where Emerald dumped him in. The speedster went back to the battlefield, still at a high acceleration, and punched Jade so hard, it made a shock wave that sent the ninja flying into the vine barrier. Jade was stunned, the vines swirling around her and swallowing her up into the barrier.
Emerald then did short work of the troops, hitting them individually and knocking them down, just like she did back when she infiltrated the Revolution base four months ago.
Helios was shocked to see everything go so poorly around her after she had jinxed it.
Sapphire, however, had hidden herself away from the speedster, knowing that this would happen. Even if she did warn them, it would do no good to a monster like Emerald. Even if she had taken off the speed demon title for the moment, she was still the Speed Demon. The icy Gem had one trick up her sleeve, and she was going to wait for the opportune moment.
The speedster zipped around Helios, before finally swinging a haymaker to her head, knocking her down. Emerald turned to Steven and the others, and sped her way over to them.
She knocked on the shield. "Uh, hello! Housekeeping!"
"What took so long?" Ruby asked, right after Steven let the shield down.
"There was a lot of reluctance from Kyanite about the location I picked." Emerald answered eerily.
"What did you pick?" Ruby inquired.
"The Kindergarten."
The name struck Ruby as a sensitive topic immediately, glancing at the giant Amethyst that was trading blows with Megaruby. The red warrior stared at the speedster with uncertainty, wondering why, out of all the places, would she pick the Kindergarten as the best place for a temporary base. Many Gems hated the Kindergarten for its purpose of draining the Earth's life force, and how twisted and disturbing the place was.
"Why?" Ruby asked.
"What's wrong with the Kindergarten?" Emerald replied innocently. However, Ruby knew that was an act, since Emerald was fully aware of what the Kindergarten held.
"What do you mean, what's wrong with the kindergarten?" Ruby repeated. "It's just... Black Pearl, you could do better explaining."
"It's a hellhole for Earth. But it's also Homeworld's greatest achievement here." Black Pearl stated simply.
"What's wrong with you people? That's all in the past. We can use that place to our advantage! We can make more Gems—"
"NO!" Ruby shouted, putting her foot down on the subject. "Are you insane!?"
While they were bickering, Sapphire used this time to concentrate. She had foreseen herself doing this. She had learned how to do it for the past months. And she had knowledge over the time-space continuum, just like Kyanite had.
She focused on time. On its flow. The reality of its perception. She imagined the whole world stopping, all reality breaking down, crumbling to a stop. Time itself would freeze over... just for this moment. When she returned to the world, everything had been drained of color. Everything was in a gradient of black and white, except for her.
Sapphire stepped out of her hiding spot, looking around. She saw Megaruby and Amethyst posing punches. Lapis had halted in her flight, as white balls of energy were hovering around her. The four Rebelling Gems were conversing. Ruby was getting angry, Black Pearl was neutral, and Emerald was oddly frozen in place. Steven stepped out of it to watch Lapis.
Everything stopped.
Time had frozen.
Sapphire had successfully frozen time.
Of course, time was a delicate thing. Sapphire knew that. But after watching so many futures, she decided that it was meant to be. Her ability to see through the future and freeze over the temperature led to a fusion of these two terms. She froze time.
Sapphire only needed to do one thing to defuse Emerald.
The blue Gem went over to the speedster, who was stuck in place, unmoving. She raised her fist, brass knuckles forming over them, its edge sharpening. Her fist moved from the top of Emerald's back, down to her side, making a deep cut into the suit that would mess up the speed demon. Emerald would have to slow down, all of her potential speed lost because of this.
After that, Sapphire leaped over to the vine barrier, where Jade was last seen. The icy Gem picked her up, breaking all science with magic, and brought her free from the vines. Sapphire brought Jade back to her hiding spot, trying to figure out how to bring back the consciousness of the Gem troops.
But Sapphire's time ran out.
Immediately all time went back to working order, her control over it melted away. Sapphire began to feel the aftereffects of her time freeze. She became dizzy, her thoughts and movements became slow and numbing. It was like she was freezing over to compensate for what she did to the whole universe.
Jade noticed she was freed from the vine barrier, and found Sapphire next to her, sweating profusely and seeming agonized.
Emerald felt her suit rip from the back. "I'm not insa..." she stopped midway, noticing an off feeling. "...something happened."
Ruby raised a brow from that random comment.
Black Pearl already observed the change. "Your suit has been torn. There's a rip on your back."
"WHAT?" Emerald cried out, looking back, to see a slit from the back of her neck to her side. "When did... that's impossible." she grunted menacingly, the glowing white eyes on her mask deepened.
Jade overheard Emerald and glanced at Sapphire, who was trying to nod at her. But her physical failure just led her to twitch. The ninja pulled out a sword from her back, speeding her way over to Helios and picking her up. The newcomer shook her off rudely, wanting to do it herself.
Emerald glanced over at Jade. She muttered curses under her breath, before speeding off against Jade. The ninja, also having impeccable speed, matched Emerald, along with having much more skill, she was able to get the upper hand quickly. The two left trails of green along the battlefield, racing across Amethyst's and Megaruby's feet, and over mountains.
Some of the more determined Gem troops got up and huddled together, trying to think of a plan. Ruby shot her gauntlet at them, and they all scattered before the explosion.
Steven just kept watching Lapis fly around the white pellets, before a projectile went for her. The demigem watched as Lapis was caught and heard her scream. The sound of a jet was made overhead, and Lapis followed reluctantly.
Steven turned to Black Pearl, who was aware of everything. "What happened there?"
"Lapis Lazuli got trapped by a metal clamp," Black Pearl stated, her gemstone lighting up a hologram to show a zoomed-in look at Lapis struggling with the metal inhibitor. "She's being pulled by thrusters on the side of the contraption, which is following the sound of that jet."
"I'm going after her." Steven informed solemnly, starting to run for the trail.
"But we need you here," Black Pearl said, halting the demigem in his tracks. "Howlite had fought Lapis Lazuli on the ship. There are still more opponents to hold against."
Ruby had been listening in on them. "Well..."
Steven and Black Pearl turned to her.
"They know Lapis can change the tide of the battle, which is why instead of battling here, they decided to bring Lapis away," Ruby told them. "Steven... go get her back. You're immune to any of our weaknesses, which I think they're gonna use against Lapis." Ruby's eyes wandered dangerously across the battlefield, thinking of Helios. She grunted lowly, "We can handle these guys."
"Witty remark: make it quick," Black Pearl told him. "By my calculations, we have about a..." she looked around, spotting only Helios as their last contender, with a few Gem troops. But contemplating back at the ship, and Emerald's loss of speed, she finally made her calculations. "...thirty-five percent chance at winning without you and Lapis. You two are "game changers". You're vital to us."
Steven nodded at the cyborg, before running off at top speed. With a leap, he overcame a mountain, almost tripping on the edge, but he got there.
Lapis tangled with Wild Card, the two zipping away from the fight, both trying to gain control of flight. But Wild Card's rocket boosters were too powerful to change direction, and with Lapis in a tight vice hold, he brought her to another country in a matter of minutes.
Wild Card's jetpack ran out of fuel and they glided through the air, eventually landing painfully on the ground. They tumbled about, both taking damage in the fall. The assassin's unusual jetpack broke apart, metal absorbing the brunt of the impact and shattering itself.
Lapis got up quicker, able to stop herself from spinning out of control. Wild Card, however, just kept at it for a good twenty feet, before stopping himself.
"So, you've brought me out here to dig your grave. How quaint." said Lapis, also noticing the metal clamp around her arm seemed to be void of energy. She easily tore it into pieces, her frustration against it was unfathomable.
Wild Card just heaved himself up, reaching to a pouch on his belt, digging into its contents and pulling out a tiny smoke pellet. He triggered it, and tossed it at the space between him and Lapis. The pellet exploded into gray wisps of smoke, before clouding the place into a haze.
"Pfft, smoke," Lapis mocked, narrowing her eyes with a playful smirk.
The ocean Gem flew through the smoke and put her hands on Wild Card, suddenly feeling worse. Her skin was burning.
"Not smoke," Wild Card replied. "It's laced with the one compound your kind is weak against."
"Ugh... Gemmm deestabilizerrrsss. Even the nammme...'s stupid..." Lapis choked, stumbling backwards and forcing herself to move forward. Backwards was the gas, and she didn't want to get even further to that. But Wild Card kicked her into the cloud. Her already off-balance caused her to fall and writhe in agony of the smoke. She cut herself off from breathing, shutting her mouth and cupping her face with her water hand, turning it into ice.
Lapis worked through the pain, her blue skin glowing yellow. She got herself back up, eyes shutting from the tremendous surges of the smoke in her body, and the tiny explosions going off on her skin. The ocean Gem stepped forth, spreading her water wings out and washing the particles off her skin. She drank in the water, using it to cleanse her insides of any contamination, before vomiting it out.
Lapis panted, now free of any pain. She glared at Wild Card, who was taken aback by this.
"What's your next move, smart guy?" Lapis asked, turning her water wings into icicle shards, pointing them at the assassin.
"You can't kill me," Wild Card said, "Or rather, you won't."
Intrigued, Lapis played his little game. "And why is that?"
"Because..." He placed a hand on his mask, removing it from his familiar face. Lapis' eyes widened at him, before settling into confusion. "...of this."
"Uhh... what?" Lapis asked, "Does your face mean something? Is something supposed to happen? I know, you're someone significant, if you made your reveal dramatic like that, but who are you... exactly?"
Greg sighed, "You really don't know who I am?"
"Well... Is your plan, like, plastic surgery to make you look like Steven? Because... that didn't work."
"I'm the kid's father!" he exclaimed.
Lapis soon fell into a state of shock. Sure, that was impossible, but nobody had ever claimed to do so before, so this was new. But she recounted all her memories of Steven's father and only knew that he was dead... But Pearl's memories told a different story. How could she have been so blind? This was Greg Universe! It only took a little digging into the Knight's memories to know this, and Lapis berated herself for such little work needed to be done to solve this conundrum.
"...oh." Lapis looked up at Wild Card. "Oh, no... You're him?!"
"Yes, I'm him! And yes, I have a grave. And yeah, I'm also legally dead!" Greg retorted.
"That means... This whole time... You were..." Lapis stammered, contemplating at the ground. She stared right back at him. "You're alive?"
"Why're you reacting like that? You've "died", too." Greg stated.
"But, it's just... you're human..." Lapis said.
"Did you see me die?"
Lapis thought of that, before realizing her mistake. "...no."
"Well, how are you supposed to judge on that criteria!" Greg shouted.
Lapis pushed her hand into her hair, holding her head. "This makes... a whole lotta changes."
Greg didn't see how him being alive made any difference. "Oh, yeah, sure... Lots of change." He reached into a pouch and collected a few pellets. Lapis immediately reacted, slamming into him with her water wings. Greg let go of the pellets, not before activating them. And they went boom.
Ruby already knew who Helios was. She wasn't a low soldier as most thought. In fact, she was older than all of them. And had more expertise than most of them. Her red and black color scheming gave off a good hint that already made Ruby suspicious at first glance. And her eyes just gave it away.
"Bloodstone," the red warrior grunted, gritting her teeth at the sight of her still being alive. Black Pearl was able to register who Bloodstone was, so she took an interest in what's happening. After all, Bloodstone was the teacher to Gems under Pink Diamond.
"Huh, so you do recognize me," Helios replied, starting to smirk sinisterly. "I have to say, your friends are either pretty ignorant, or they're downright stupid for not remembering me, if you were able to conceive the answer in a matter of minutes when they didn't even suspect it! I'm most disappointed in Moonstone, but eh, he's an old fart."
"How the hell do you keep coming back?" Ruby demanded, standing her ground. She created a gauntlet again, ready to fight against this monster.
"Why the hell should I tell you?" mocked Helios, snarling. "I made a promise, kid... Do you remember it?"
"Oh, stars," Ruby shook with "frustration", already having this talk months ago. "It's happening again."
Black Pearl noticed something about Ruby. "Your fear levels have elevated."
"I keep my promises!" Helios activated her sonic gauntlets, raising them up. "I'm going to be the one to end you! I am the one thing you cannot stop!"
Ruby had a sense of déjà vu, and she already knew why. Bloodstone had just shown to her that she was capable of coming back, even though she shattered her months ago. What if this just keeps happening, and at the worst of times? What if Bloodstone really was the one thing she couldn't stop? No! There had to be a way.
Ruby shot her rocket gauntlet at Bloodstone, who used her sonic weaponry to glitch it so it only became light. The energy left to target Bloodstone was then absorbed by her.
The warrior couldn't help but gasp a "Huh?", as she watched her missile turn into energy, before getting sucked in by Helios' bare hands.
"You learned new tricks, Ruby." Bloostone replied, clenching her fist. "But I can learn new tricks too."
And then, Bloodstone brought her arm up, and Ruby's gauntlet formed over her forearm. The energy from Ruby she absorbed had been reused into a weapon of Ruby's. Lapis might've done the same thing, but those were water constructs. This one that Bloodstone had was the real deal.
"Complimentary comments: impressive," Black Pearl said, starting to applaud the stone's act. After three robotic claps, Black Pearl returned to her stiff behavior. "But if that is all, then I'm afraid to say that you're at a loss. We're still going to—"
BRRRRRROOOOOOMMMMMM!
Megaruby fell onto a mountain, turning it into a landslide. Amethyst brought out her whip and swung it at Megaruby, catching her by the neck. The purple giant then spun back, swinging her whip the other way, causing Megaruby to go flying in the air. The fusion smashed against another mountain, inciting another massive shake to the Earth.
BBBRRAAAAMMMMMMMMM!
Black Pearl solemnly turned to Ruby. "We might lose this. And not in the route of a thirty-five percent chance."
"You mean, we're gonna lose this colossally?" Ruby asked worriedly, looking back to the vine barrier that's picking up the Gem troops they didn't see. Black Pearl nodded at her. The ground shook again and the land tilted. Helios' side of the ground began to sink. Then it stopped, lowland forming by the giants' battle. Bloodstone started charging at Ruby.
VIEUUMM! The portal opened and Kyanite popped out, looking sheepish.
"Uh, hey, Ruby," Kyanite muttered, "Our destination is the Kindergarten..."
Ruby got tackled by Bloodstone, getting the two in the air for a second, which shifted their balance and made them stumble down the slope.
Kyanite looked to Black Pearl, who responded, "Emerald told us."
As Ruby tumbled around the straight floor, she noticed Sapphire had been hiding against a rock and was holding herself like she had seen a ghost. If her expression showed that, then that means she lost. Her side lost. And Ruby's side won, which fueled her confidence. But, what if it was something else she was scared about? Like losing a loved one—
Focus, Ruby! the warrior grumbled. So, she can steal my energy. Big deal. Well, she can't absorb physical attacks!
Bloodstone smacked her in the head with her gauntlet, knocking her out with a swift chop.
"Too slow, kid," Bloodstone announced, standing over Ruby's downed body.
After reading that Ruby's vitals have gone down, Black Pearl decided to jump in since it would be what her master wanted her to do. The cyborg glided into the air, arms outstretched over her head, to scratch the traitor with her metal claws. Bloodstone noticed her in time to block with the gauntlet, only for it to be sliced open into five pieces with a slash by the pearl hybrid.
"That seems useful," Bloodstone remarked, immediately snatching Black Pearl by the throat. She grinned sinisterly. "Give that ability to me."
For a while, nothing happened.
Bloodstone's smile faded. Still, nothing happened.
"Your technique is only available to you if the entity you want to absorb does not have genetic material that is already tampered with." Black Pearl informed, gripping the red one's wrist and digging her claws into it. "I, unfortunately, am a hybrid of a pearl with advanced technology of five millennia ago."
"HraAGH!" Bloodstone threw the pearl away, but she attached herself to the monster by stabbing her claws in its arm. Black Pearl clung on, and started to climb by swiping her claws against her red skin, but "Helios" blasted her with sonics. Black Pearl stumbled back, stunned for a moment, before getting kicked in the side of her head. Black Pearl recovered, cartwheeling from the momentum of the kick, and landed behind Bloodstone. The cyborg charged at the small of her back, using her technological implants to boost her efficiency.
WHAM! Black Pearl elbowed Bloodstone's back, before being elbowed in the head by the latter. The cyborg stumbled yet again, but her units recovered faster this time. However, Bloodstone slammed her forearm into her and added a spartan kick by the end. Black Pearl backflipped with the momentum, somersaulting in the air, and landed gracefully.
Black Pearl's scanners picked up rising levels of energy from Bloodstone. But what was surprising was that it wasn't Bloodstone's own energy, except from other Gems.
"Howlite's energy rising. Moonstone: energy rising. Pearl: energy rising. Unidentified golden energy signature rising. Sapphire's energy rising. Amethyst's energy rising. Hematite's energy rising. Jade's energy rising. Ruby's energy rising. Emerald's energy rising." Black Pearl's scanners stated, all identified within Bloodstone. "Steven's energy rising."
"Are you still confident you can take me on?" Bloodstone asked, forming a white spear, a whip, a pink shield, a pair of brass knuckles, a crimson gauntlet, a shoulder piece, a baton and a ninja star. She raised them all up, fusing them into a weapon of its own.
A unified shield, capable of recreating all weapons in one go. It flashed colors of the Gem energies it had, ranging from silver, blackish red, gray, white, pink, red, gold, jade green, emerald green, sapphire blue and violet.
And Bloodstone held it.
Black Pearl's scanners went off the charts, so she deactivated that program in her head and focused on the mission. When, suddenly...
Bloodstone was instantly covered in ice.
There was no reason behind it, as far as Black Pearl was concerned. She could process her own vision to see shots of Emerald frozen in the air as she ran. But she could not find any evidence to show that anyone had done this. Except, Sapphire appeared out of nowhere just as the ice came out of nowhere. The icy Gem looked exhausted and mentally drained, but a couple quick breaths brought her back to an average performance.
Sapphire turned to Kyanite. "Portal her out of here, now!" she shouted.
Kyanite blinked, snapping back into reality, and did as she was told. The cyan Gem looked out into the sky, before contemplating back at the ice block, pushing her hands against it. The dimensions came intact, but there was something off about it. Something wasn't right. She couldn't access her own ability because there was an interference. There were holes in the reality of time that Kyanite found, and she couldn't do anything about it.
"I-I can't," Kyanite stuttered, feeling disappointed in herself again. And this time, it was to someone she had complete trust in, and she couldn't do it for her. "One of the dimensions is broken. Time has some holes in it."
Sapphire panted, knowing it was her fault. She clenched her fists hard, frustrated with herself. "Can you still make, at least, a portal—to trap her in?"
"Well, it wouldn't really... trap," Kyanite replied.
BBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!
The giants' fight shook the ground so much, the ice began to crack around Bloodstone. Sapphire tensed, already thinking of her choices. What should she do? Neither she, or the others, have the power to beat this kind of energy... except for... the answer.
The unified shield started to shake violently, colors flashing.
A/N: NEXT CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER
Man, how will I ever top this when we get to the Cluster or the Diamonds? Eh, I'll find a way. I'm sorry this was... late? I was supposed to put this up yesterday, but... I... slept. So, I was supposed to finish it today, but my bro and I found an unopened Plants vs Zombies game in our cupboard! So, we downloaded it and finished the whole game in... six hours? Yeah, that took up time. Anyway, at least this chapter is out, right?
Lapis and Greg's interaction was more comical than I expected. It was not supposed to be comical, but it was. It's stupid.
To David Blackwood: Yeah, Peridot will come back. Someday. Sooner or later. Also, character faves aren't a chapter thing. They're "long term", or something like that.
To a guest: hi... again?
EDIT: jesus christ, it's bismuth rainbowhead! good thing i had no plan to implement her or else the au would have another difference from the show.
Breaking News: Divided the Gems on Earth will Fall. Or, you could say Amethyst and Megaruby fell a lot. Actually, a lot of Gems fell a lot this chapter.
Next Chapter's Title: "Song of Ice and Fire"
Character Faves:
Lapis Lazuli, Peridot: 2
Amber (why would you pick her), Amethyst, Kyanite, Ruby, Sapphire: 1
