Just after Greg was abducted, everyone warped back to the temple.
"Hello everyone. We're so sorry about earlier…" Pearl started.
"Forget that for now! Greg's been abducted!" Hiyoko stated. "We gotta catch up with his captor!"
"What?!" Pearl asked in shock.
"Who?" Amethyst inquired.
"Blue Diamond." Garnet said.
"Blue DIamond?! O-O-On Earth?!" Pearl panicked.
"From your reaction, it sounds like she's one of the bigshots of the Gem race." Hope said.
"Y-Yes, Blue Diamond is one of the four leaders of our race who have authority over all colonies in the system." Pearl said.
"I don't care if she's the goddess of sadness! We gotta get Greg back!" Moltar said.
"And we will. The tracker we put on Greg puts him somewhere on the outer portion of our galaxy. By my calculations, it would take our ships...around six Earth hours to reach his location." Double D said, looking at a technical readout displayed on a floating device.
"Let me see that." Pearl said looking at the coordinates and gasping. "No, this is… it can't still be active."
"What's wrong Pearl? Where's Greg at?" Hope asked.
"Somewhere we thought was long decommissioned. Ever since…" Pearl trailed off.
"Of course! Pink Diamonds insidious Human Zoo." Garnet realized, freezing everyone who was human.
"I'm sorry...WHAT?!" Ibuki asked.
"During her reign on Earth, Pink Diamond stole humans from their families as trophies of her conquest." Garnet said.
"You gotta be kidding." Amethyst said.
"Oh no. It was very serious. When I still served…" Pearl paused for a moment, trying to find the word. "...Homeworld, I saw it myself. A private menagerie deep in space. Humans in captivity. We were never able to rescue them. We had no way to get to them after the war. But, that was over 5,000 years ago." Pearl said.
"Well, sounds like it's still there." Lancer said.
"That's just really messed up, man." Zephyr said. "But then again, we are talking alien warlords here. Of course they'd have something screwed up like that."
"Of course they do!" Ed butted in. "Aliens have different senses of right and wrong our human minds can not comprehend!"
"Er...present company excluded, of course." Double D added quickly.
"Alright, if this zoo is where Blue Diamond is taking Greg, then that's where we're going." Mark said.
"You can go in your ships, but we have to make sure we remain separate." Garnet said. "We'll be taking a ship commandeered by Rubies who came to earth before we participated in the UFT. We will meet you at the location of the human zoo."
"Got it. See you in the great beyond." Hope said.
It was a bit later that the ships took off into space heading for the Human zoo.
"Man… I still can't believe how twisted the Diamonds are. And yet Blue Diamond seemed so… different than I pictured her to be as the leader of the enemy the Crystal Gems were fighting against. Or at least one of the leaders." Hope said.
"I feel ya, dude." ZS said. "I wouldn't call her "nice", but when she was talking before, she sounded...really, really sorry."
"Then again, she was mourning someone who kept humans as animals in a space zoo, so...ball's still out in my park." Emo said.
"All things considered though, she didn't seem like someone who would want to be against us and the rest of the alliance." Krillin mentioned. "I get Jasper's reasoning for being with the New Universal Villains, but the Diamonds don't seem interested in getting involved."
"Well, they don't even know Jasper's alive, much less what she's doing." Scarlet said. "For all they know, she's MIA."
"As far as enemies go, the Diamonds aren't much of a threat. I hope not at least." Hope said. "We'll just keep an eye on their activity and see if they know about the other universes. If not, we can leave them alone."
"What do you think about all this, Mark? About these Diamonds?" Mahiru asked.
"...To be honest...I don't know." Mark admitted. "Blue seemed hurt, sadded by Pink's shattering, but...did you see Pearl's reaction when Garnet said she was on Earth? She was terrified. If Blue could scare Gems who fought against them in a war, and if there are three more Diamonds with the same level of power as her...well, I hope we don't have to face them."
"You know, there's something about this that doesn't make sense at all. If a Diamond is really the most powerful being among the Gem race…. How can it be possible for her to be defeated by someone lower in rank than her?" Hope asked.
"Guess Steven's mom got lucky." Eddy guessed.
"No, it's not just that...something is eating at me… but I'm sure we'll figure it out." Hope replied.
"Right. We have a father to save. Lets get Greg's family back." Zephyr said.
"Yeah, family…" HOpe said. "Hey, Mark. We don't know about each others families, right? What're your parents like?"
"Well…" Mark said, suddenly looking embarrassed. "My mom's...ugh, how do I put this...she's an angel who...doesn't act like an angel. She's crass, she's sarcastic, and...I'd rather not say anything else with younger members here. Meanwhile, my birth father died when I was five, but I met my step dad the day I reunited with my mom. He's pretty cool, and they both really care about each other." he explained. "My relationship with them is...complicated though."
"Heh… that actually sounds a whole lot better than my family and what I went through." Hope said.
"...Somehow, I doubt that." Mark whispered, looking away.
"Wanna bet? Imagine most of your life raised in a Mafia family. Not as a subordinate, but one of three sons to the leader. My family, the Ginova's, were mostly based on the subjects of modern literature. Then your mother helps you get away from the family so you can become a hero, and in the process… she's killed." Hope said. "And then you spend most of your career knowing that the shadow of your family still looms over you, and when they resurface, you find them taking orders from your sister, possessed by an Evil Color God."
"...I used to hate her." Mark said. "My mom, she...she liked to...well, her name is literally "Panty", so that should give you an idea. Anyway, I tracked her down when I was eight, but when I saw her, she was...with a guy. I just...couldn't stand the thought of my mom, an ANGEL no less, doing stuff like that. Then, during the Tenkaichi Budōkai, I ran into her again. We got paired up in the final round. I got her on the ground, and...I started punching her. Again, and again, and again...I just didn't stop. I almost killed her, Joanh...I wanted to. I still hate myself for that."
"We can only hold our emotions back for so long before they're just let out, right?" Hope said. " You're right, your past is complicated. But I wanna thank you for sharing this info. It will help me get to know you better… maybe even help me heal you. Because what you're feeling… I think it's similar to what Blue Diamond was doing, and something tells me you don't want to end up like she did." Hope said.
"I don't think it's that simple, Hope...but thanks." Mark said, smiling.
"Look alive! We're coming up on the human Zoo!" Nekomaru announced.
"Showtime." Hope said.
"Right. Hang on Greg...we're coming for you." Mark added.
