...
Jarek and Shinnok ran to the crashsite, where Lars and Steven came out from the rubble.
"Steven! Are you okay?!" Jarek said, rushing to his aid.
"Yeah, just a bit of a rough landing." Steven said, rubbing his head.
"Dude, that wasn't funny, what you did up there. You could get yourself hurt like BAD!" Jarek said.
"Hey man, lay off the kid. He had no choice." Lars defended.
"And you, shut up. You're still in hot water with me." Jarek said.
"From what?! You assaulted ME!" Lars said.
"Because you're a perverted punk who exposed that poor girl!" Jarek said.
"It was only once, and we're cool now! You really need update on things that go on in Beach City!" Lars said.
"ENOUGH!" Shinnok said, silencing the friends.
They looked at him.
"You can bicker all you want, and be caught by whatever gems find you, or you can work together, and find a way out of here!" Shinnok said with gritted teeth.
"He's right. We need to leave already. There are gonna be scouts out here, looking for all of us, and Blue Diamond is gonna have me on her platter if she catches me." Jarek said.
(MEANWHILE...)
There were scout drones flying above the bridges, descending down to the grounds of Homeworld.
...
"Shit! Drones! That's just great, we gotta move!" Jarek said, running away.
"Doesn't this take you back, Jarek?" Shinnok asked, following.
"Take me back where? The Labyrinth?" Jarek asked.
"Yes, where all those drones were following you." Shinnok said.
"Yes, and no. If we get spotted by a drone, we can just destroy it." Jarek said.
"Yes. These aren't the same Gorgons you fought on Venus." Shinnok said.
"What are you guys talking about?!" Steven whispered.
"Nothing, I'll explain later." Jarek said.
"Surely he doesn't mean-" Lars began. but he tripped over a small rock.
(THUD!)
"Lars!" Steven whispered.
"Sorry!" Lars whispered.
"Dude, did you seriously trip over nothing?" Jarek said, weirded out.
"No! I swear!" Lars said.
"You goddamned idiot!" Jarek said.
Then a drone hovered over to their location, prompting him to aim and shoot the eye, making it explode.
"Simple, see?" Jarek said.
Then several more drones started to follow them.
"Go, I'll hold them off!" Jarek said, aiming his pistol at the drones, and shooting them in their eyes.
Jarek ran in the direction where Steven, Lars, and Shinnok were running.
"There's nothing but rocks here! There's nowhere to run!" Lars said.
"Hide over here!" Jarek said, running to a safe spot from the drones.
They hid behind the wall-like structure.
"Dude, those giant ladies were furious with you!" Lars said.
"They're the diamonds. They've been after my mom for 6,000 years, and now they're after me!" Steven said.
"Nobody told you to sell yourself out into being their prisoner, and a possible murder." Jarek reminded.
"Why would you even consider doing that?! Do you realize how much trouble you're in?!-We're in?!" Shinnok said.
"What's wrong with your magic? You should be at full power." Jarek said.
"I'm using a mimic. And I'm about to-" Shinnok suddenly faded away.
(Netherrealm)
Shinnok fell to his knees, struggling to keep his power raised. He coughed like an old man.
"You should save your strength, my lord." Quan Chi said.
"Get out!" Shinnok shouted, grunting.
Quan Chi calmly left the room.
When he entered the other room, he went to Ibarra, who appeared to be really worried.
"Is there something wrong with him?" She asked.
"He'll be fine." Quan Chi said.
(Homeworld)
"This can't possibly get any worse! Shinnok is gone, and now we're being chased by robots!" Jarek said.
"Yeah, I'm pretty scared right now! What are we gonna do?! What's gonna happen?!" Lars said, cowering near a rock.
"We're gonna run, and we're gonna be okay!" Steven said.
"Lars, why'd you have to be kidnapped?" Jarek said.
"I don't know, you tell me!" Lars retorted.
"This doesn't look too good. I wish there was a way out of here." Jarek said, actually hoping this would work.
Nothing happened.
A drone spotted them, and casted its beam at him.
Jarek grabbed the beam, and shot it back at it.
The drone exploded, into several pieces.
"Whoa! Nice one!" Lars said.
"Don't get too used to it, jackass!" Jarek said back.
"Hey!" Lars said.
"Quickly! Down here!" A voice said, coming from an underground passageway.
The three went to it, but Lars stopped Steven.
"Wait! What if it's a trap?" Lars said, halting Steven.
"Stop being a bitch and come on!" Jarek said, jumping in.
Steven followed, with Lars making an offended expression, and then following.
Jarek stopped, and examined the gem.
"That was close, huh?" Lars said.
"Yeah, but who-" Steven began.
"Don't worry!"
"You're safe now! We're not gonna hurt you!"
"thank you! Whoever... you... " Lars began.
The gem emitted her glow, which was red. She appeared to be a Rutile gem, but with an odd appearance. She was two gems in one. Two torsos part of one pair of legs.
"Aaah!" Lars said, screaming in fear at the sight of the freakish-like gem.
(A/N - I don't think the Rutile Twins look like freaks, it's just part of the story text, so chill.)
"Uhh!" The Rutile Twins said, backing away in slight embarassment.
"It's okay, Lars. (At Rutile Twins) Thank you for saving us." Steven said.
"How bizzare! What are they? They certainly don't look like Gems we've seen before." The Rutile Twins said to each other.
Then the sound of the drones was heard from above.
"We can hug later, let's go!" Jarek said, running ahead in the cave.
The Rutile Twins, Steven, and Lars followed him.
They made their way to a bridge, that was in a really large kindergarten that appeared to be abandoned.
Umm... excuse me, where are you talking us?" Steven asked.
"Somewhere.. long forgotten. Where only those who don't belong.. belong." The right Rutile Twin said.
"Wow.. sounds like kinda place. You don't happen to have any fast food joints around here, would you?" Lars said.
"Dude, hold on a second." Jarek said, looking through his inventory phone.
"What, do you have anything to eat?" Lars asked.
"That depends, are you willing to eat granola?" Jarek said.
Lars shuddered.
"Ugh, yes." He said.
Jarek took out two granola bars, and handed them to Steven and Lars.
"Thanks, got any water?" Lars asked.
Jarek dispensed two water bottles.
"What are those?" The left Rutile Twin asked.
"Consumables that humans need to ingest in order to survive." Jarek said.
"Oh, what does that mean?" The Right Rutile Twin asked, curious.
"Humans need nutrients in order to live, and the items I gave them will provide that for them." Jarek explained.
"Oh, that makes sense." The left Rutile Twin said.
Steven finished chugged down his water bottle, being replenished by its quantities.
"Thanks a lot, Jarek." Steven said.
"Yeah, thanks a bunch." Lars said.
"Don't mention it." Jarek said.
They went forward.
Soon, they came across the sight of a large, broken down siege engine that looked abandoned.
"Holy crud. The Siege Engine... " Jarek said, seeing the out-of-commission mechanism leaning over an edge of a large kindergarten.
"That's the siege engine that used to be piloted by some strange creatures." The left Rutile Twin said.
"Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday, but why is it here?" Jarek said, confused.
"Wait, you were there when they used it?!" The right Rutile Twin said, shocked.
"Yeah, well... my codified likeness utility program was. He defeated them with a team of other programs and triumphed against the machines." Jarek said.
"Oh, what was he like?" The left Rutile Twin asked.
"He looked exactly like me." Jarek said.
"Oh." The right Rutile Twin said.
"So.. where are we going?" Lars asked.
"To a safe place." The left Rutile Twin said.
"Where to though? It just seems like a really long bridge." Jarek said.
"You'll see." The left Rutile Twin said.
So the Rutile Twins led them to a safe area, where there were many cubby holes where amethyst gems had emerged from (apparently).
"We're back! Here we are! It's okay to come out!" The Rutile Twins called out.
"Oh, thank goodness! I hope you weren't followed!" Rhodonite said, coming out of a hiding spot.
Then she saw the three friends.
"AaH! You were followed!" Rhodonite panicked.
"Uh, hi. Don't worry, I'm not a threat or anything." Steven said nervously.
"It's okay, Rhodonite. Relax. We brought them here." The Rutile Twins assured.
"I can see you are a fusion." Jarek said, examining Rhodonite.
"Yeah?" Rhodonite said, weirded out by him.
"What?" Jarek said.
"Uhh, can we trust these.. things?" Rhodonite asked.
"Sure. I think so." The left Rutile Twin said.
"Everyone! A wondrous prediction has come before me! The twins of Rutile will bring one, no.. two.. no.. three strangers to our current place of hiding!" Padparadscha said, coming out a hiding place.
"We know, Padparadscha, your prediction already happened." Rhodonite said.
"They were being chased by those terrible robonoids." The left Rutile Twin said.
"Don't tell me you tried to fight those things!" Rhodonite said.
"I did, they didn't." Jarek said.
"Eep! Do you know what you've done?! You've doomed us all! They're gonna come for us for sure! And now we're all gonna be in pieces!" Rhodonite said.
"Sheesh, chill the fuck out!" Jarek said, activating his revenant form, which made a burst of flames emit around him.
"Oh my goodness! One of the strangers is about to turn evil!" Padparadscha said.
Everyone looked at her.
"(Revenant reverb) Excuse me. I didn't mean to snap like that. But there were no drones coming after us when we entered the cave. We're perfectly safe here. At least I hope so, I'm sure we are." Jarek said.
"Ohh, Rutile! Why would you bring a mean stranger in here?!" Rhodonite said.
"I didn't know he was this way." The left Rutile Twin said.
"You should be nicer to them." The right Rutile Twin said.
"I'm sorry, what are your names?" Jarek asked.
"Err.. my name is Rhodonite. I'm a fusion of a pearl and a ruby?" Rhodonite said, nervous.
"How'd you two meet?" Jarek asked.
"More importantly, why are you in here with us?! You're a diamond!" Rhodonite said, pointing at his gemstone.
"I'm on your side. The diamonds are trying to kill me too. Well.. except for Blue. I'm just as much of a fugitive as you all are." Jarek said.
"That... is... correct."
He looked over at a giant worm-like gem.
"Aaaah!" Lars said, freaking out.
"They... don't... look... like... gems." Fluorite the fusion said.
"Whoa, you're enormous.. " Jarek said.
"We all said that when we first met her." Rhodonite said.
"Uh huh." Jarek said.
"Um.. hi? I'm Steven and this is Lars." Steven introduced.
"You're... Steven? It.. is... so nice... to meet you." Fluorite said, smiling at him. Her four other eyes opened.
Then they heard whirring in the background.
"Everyone, hide! Quickly!" Jarek said, running to a safe spot.
"Oh no! They found us!" Rhodonite said.
"Oh no, what are we gonna do, Steven?! We're gonna be killed for sure!" Lars panicked, paralyzed in fear.
"It'll be okay, Lars! I'm scared too!" Steven said, hiding behind a boulder with him.
"I'm trembling! I didn't have what it took to show up at the party, I didn't have what it took to save Sadie! Then, and this time! I can't do it! I can't put up with this anymore!" Lars said.
"Being scared is natural, Lars! I was always scared too, through my entire time of being an Ace! But I came through, you can too! What have I always said? You can't stay stationary forever!" Jarek said.
Then three drones came in, with their scanning beams activated and shining brightly.
Jarek took out his Golden Gun, and checked for any ammo in his phone.
There were three clips left.
"Oh wow, I did have ammo left." Jarek said, then he reloaded.
A drone hovered over to him, blindly. It only hovered over to him due to sounds.
"Jarek!" Steven whispered.
Then a drone headed right for Steven, and Lars and scanned them.
"No!" Lars said, shielding him with his body.
"Lars?!" Steven whispered.
"Shh! (To self) Don't be afraid... don't be afraid... " Lars said as the laser went down his body, doing a full inspection of him.
The drone deactivated its laser and hovered away.
"Hah! Aha!" Lars said as he laughed nervously.
Jarek punched the glass lens of the laser beam on the drone, and threw it to the endless pit that led off-map.
The drone hovered over to the Rutile Twins, who were hiding in a cubby.
"Omae wa mou shindeiru." Jarek said, before firing the shot.
The bullet pierced through the shell of the robonoid and made it explode.
Jarek put his weapon away, and looked at the Rutile Twins, who were shocked, speechless.
"Oh my gosh! That thing worked!" The right Rutile Twin said.
"He's gonna save us!" Padparadscha said.
"I just did." Jarek said, walking over to her, and lifting her up.
"Oh! He's gonna hold me!" She said.
He set her down and moved her bangs away from her face, and saw her one eye.
She blinked twice, having a blank expression.
"You shouldn't hide your face from everyone." Jarek said.
"Uh huh?" Padparadscha said.
"Dude, where'd you get that golden gun?" Lars asked.
"It's a very long story, one that I may never tell, due to the severity of this situation!" Jarek said, seeing more drones coming in, in a greater number. (x 6)
They hid in different hiding spots this time.
Jarek aimed his Golden Gun for the drone heading for Steven, and Lars.
Lars grabbed club shaped rock, and swung at the drone, hitting it several times.
The drone went wild, flying in different directions, until one other drone noticed and shot its attack beam at it, destroying it.
[GUNSHOT!]
The drone that attacked exploded, then Jarek downed two other ones.
[EXPLOSION!] x 2
Then a drone chased Fluorite, scanning her.
Steven summoned his shield, and threw it at the flying mechanism.
The drone felt that, and headed straight for him.
"Yah!" Lars said, jumping up and landing on the drone.
The drone made little rattle noises, symboling its alertness.
Lars began hitting it with his club repeatedly, until it flew crazily.
He then impaled the lens, causing the robonoid to activate its immediate self destruct sequence.
[GUNSHOT!]
"Lars! Move!" Jarek said, aiming for the drone.
It exploded, throwing Lars to a nearby rock spike.
He collided with the back of his head with enough force, to suspend the activity in his brain, killing him.
He landed on the ground, unconscious.
"(Gasp!)" Steven said.
"Lars!" Jarek said, before shooting the last drone that was fleeing.
"No no no no no no no no!" Steven said, running to his fallen friend.
The gems covered their mouths, recognizing this as a friend being dead.
"Don't just stand there! Help him!" Jarek said to them.
"There's nothing we can do.. I'm sorry." The left Rutile Twin said.
Jarek growled, and ran to Lars, whom Steven was checking for a pulse.
Steven gasped in sadness when he didn't feel a heartbeat from him.
"Shirt! Open his shirt!" Jarek said, holding the defibrillators in his hands.
Steven lifted his shirt quickly.
"3.. 2.. CLEAR!" Jarek said, shocking Lars once.
Lars didn't awaken.
"Fuck. 3... 2... CLEAR!" Jarek said, shocking him again.
Lars still didn't respond.
Jarek shook his head, realizing he was unable to revive him.
"Fuck." He said.
"No... Lars... " Steven said, with tears in his eyes.
"Steven, I'm sorry I couldn't.. " Jarek said.
Steven didn't respond, he started crying while holding Lars in his arms.
"... " Jarek didn't speak. He knew he could resurrect him, but only as an undead person, not as living.
Steven's tears fell onto Lars' skin, which then emitted a pink glow, and spread through his whole body with a bright light.
He stopped crying, and looked at what was happening to Lars. His skin turned pink, and then his hair turned bright pink.
Once his transformation finished, he groaned in pain and moved.
"Oh my goodness." Steven said.
"Whoa.. " Jarek said, slight amazed.
Lars opened his eyes.
"Steven?.. what... what happened?" He said.
Steven was too shocked to speak, he was sad, but happy, and shocked at the same time.
"Oh my, something incredible is going to happen to Lars!" Padparadscha said, happily.
"I have to go... I have to find a way outta here.. " Jarek said, before fleeing.
"Jarek, don't go! It's too dangerous out there!" Steven said.
"(Fading) I'll be fine. I can't die anymore." Jarek said.
"What the?! Why am I pink?! I'm pink!" Lars said.
(Overworld)
Jarek came out of the hole, and saw Blue Zircon, and Green Zircon fleeing from the drones as well.
He growled at seeing Green Zircon, so he teleported through flames, right to where she was heading.
She gasped when she saw him.
Jarek punched her, and then threw her to the drones, knocking them down.
"Move!" Jarek said to Blue Zircon.
"Aah!" She said, running away from him now.
Jarek summoned his orange scythe, and blasted Green Zircon with negative hamón, causing her light based form to emit negative energy. She yelled, and then exploded, taking the drones with her.
"(POOF!)
Her gemstone laid there.
Jarek then teleported to Blue Zircon, who was hiding behind a pillar.
"Aaah! What do you want from me?!" She said.
"You were there in the trial tower, defending Steven.." Jarek said.
"Y-Y-Yeah?!" She said, afraid.
Jarek backed away, putting his scythe back in his gemstone.
"Calm down, I'm going to hurt you. But I want you to come with me. It is not safe here." Jarek said.
"You're... Orange Diamond?" She said, seeing his gemstone.
"Yes, I assume you both have met already?" Jarek said.
"She came to me, asking for help to get back to earth, but I didn't know what to do. You're the one. You're the one she was trying to find!" Blue Zircon said.
"Yes, and?" Jarek said.
"What are you going to do now? Now that you two are fused back together?" She said, worried.
"You're going to come with me. Earth is a safe place, where the diamonds won't be able to find you." Jarek said.
"But!.. (Sigh) okay, I will. I hate my job here. I thought I was gonna be shattered for sure!" Blue Zircon said.
"Come on." Jarek said, walking to the hole he came from.
(Alternate Route Taken)
Jarek didn't go through the correct path that led to the Off colors' hideout, he went the other way and saw a very large gap.
"Can you trust me?" He asked.
"Why?" She asked.
"I'm gonna glide across, and I need you to hold on tight, if you don't want to fall that is." Jarek said.
"Umm... yes?" She said.
Jarek lowered himself to the floor.
"Climb on." He said.
She shuddered, realizing she was gonna have to hold onto him as if he were close to him. She reluctantly complied.
Jarek stood, and then jumped off, gliding across the very large gap.
"How are you able to do this?!" She said, alarmed.
"A gift, from a very special friend." Jarek said.
Once he made it to the other side of the gap, which was on a kindergarten that was unstable.
"Oh shit.. this whole place is unstable!" Jarek said, running forward, Blue Zircon following.
"What do you mean?! Isn't this the safe place you were taking me to?!" She said.
"I think I took the wrong way." Jarek said.
"What?! You've doomed us both!" She said.
Then he saw an abandoned portal that was the shape of a ring, like a circle.
"That plate right there, stand on it. Maybe this thing works." Jarek said.
"A-Are you sure?!" She said, worried.
"Just do it." Jarek said.
She gulped, and complied, standing on a large plate that was connected to the portal.
Then the plate activated, bringing power to the portal.
"Let's go in. I saw one in the safe place too, it's likely gonna take us there." Jarek said.
"Okay." She said, following.
The two entered the portal.
(UNKNOWN TIME ; Homeworld)
Jarek and Blue Zircon appeared, in a room that appeared to be guarded by a pink Topaz.
"Whoa.. " Jarek said, examining her.
"Where are we?" She said.
The portal deactivated.
"Fuck." Jarek said.
(I'm the worst at these things sometimes...)
