They had soared through space for over 12 hours.

Pearl was steering like before, starting to look tired.

Amethyst was still asleep on one of the chairs, snoring loudly.

Steven was sitting also on a chair, looking through his phone.

"What? No signal?! But I'm right next to a satellite!" He raised his voice in annoyance, looking out at the satellite outside the window.

When suddenly, the ship slowed down abruptly, jolting everyone onboard.

"Hey! What gives?!" Amethyst shouted, drawl hanging out her mouth.

"We're here." Pearl announced, standing up.

Steven and Amethyst walked up next to her and looked out the window.

And there indeed it was!

It looked like a station with a humongous dome on it.

Outside there was a floor enough to land at least twenty space-ships on it. Right now, there stood about seven ships parked.

Woah…" Everyone gasped in awe.

"Garnet's in there." Steven stated.

Outside the dome was a huge gate, with an amethyst soldier guarding outside.

"Is that another amethyst?" Steven asked.

"Ughh. What was I thinking?! We can't just walk in and out of the facility without anyone knowing!" Pearl face-palmed herself. "An ownerless pearl, a defective Amethyst and... you." She looked down at Steven.

"We need a plan. And that's now." Pearl demanded, gritting her teeth in thought.

They thought for a while.

"I got it!" Amethyst blurted out, snapping her fingers.

An Amethyst stood by the gate, guarding the entrance.

When suddenly, another Amethyst her size, a pearl and a human approached her.

"State your purpose." The guard demanded with a hiss.

"We have returned from our mission and would like to access the facility." Pearl answered politely.

"What mission?" The Amethyst hissed.

"The mission of bringing more exotic creatures to the facility." Pearl replied. "We have brought a rare creature called a 'human'." She pat Steven on the back to go forward, and he did nervously.

"Uh... hi... human words and stuff like that..." He mumbled quietly.

The Amethyst scoffed. "Sorry, but we don't need any more 'humans'." She laughed. "And Morganite doesn't allow any outsiders inside the facility." When suddenly, Amethyst leaned in uncomfortably close to the guard.

"Hey, pal. Do you have any idea who this is?" She asked, pointing towards the pale gem behind her. "This is Morganite's pearl."

"M-M-Morganite's Pearl?" The Amethyst stuttered nervously. "But I thought Morganite exiled her last pearl!"

"Oh yeah? Well this is her new, better pearl." Amethyst told her. "So if you don't let us in to that facility, we're gonna go personally to Morganite and tell her that you disrespected her pearl. What punishment would that lead to, you think?"

She looked at her sheepishly. Though, she didn't know the answer herself so she used her hand behind her back to tell the others she needed back up.

Pearl tensed in realization. "Bubbled!"

"That's right! You're gonna be bubbled and they'll throw away the key to the room." Amethyst continued. "So either you let us in or we'll give the message to Morganite right now!"

"Y-yes- of course." The amethyst stuttered and went back to press a screen on the wall.

The gates opened.

"Enjoy your visit, Morganite's Pearl." She said nervously, saluting them.

"Thank you." Pearl nodded as they walked pass them.

The Amethyst seemed to sigh out in relief.

The trio passed the gate, when a sudden feeling gushed through them all.

When they all entered the other side, they shivered uncomfortably.

And once the doors were closed, Amethyst turned back to normal with a loud sigh.

"Amethyst! You were great!" Steven cheered, hugging her.

"I'll say, you should join a theatre group sometime, Amethyst." Pearl hummed delighted.

"No thanks. One drama queen in the house is enough." Amethyst smiled tiredly and suddenly looked up. "Whoa..."

It was... HUGE. It... actually didn't look that different from a forest on earth. There were grass and flowers, trees, rocks, boulders. Everything.

"Wow..." Steven sighed in awe. "It's beautiful."

Pearl nodded. "Yes. But it's not harmless. Look." She nodded to the right. There was a big door at the wall. "It's an entrance door. They probably have constant monitoring of the whole place, and uses that door just in case." She whispered. "We need to be extra careful, blend in."

"Blend in. Right." Steven nodded with a hum. "Like a ninja."

"Yes. A ninja." Pearl muttered as she began walking.

And as they made their way through the forest, they came across many different creatures.

They were mostly animals from other planets, but also some humanistic figures and some gems here and there.

"What do you guys think this place is for?" Steven asked.

"No idea." Pearl shook her head.

They walked for a while until they had settled down by a few rocks by a small water-fall where some animals bathed and drank.

"We need to make up a plan for how we get out of here once we find Garnet." Pearl spoke as she sat down on a rock. "Amethyst's aren't that smart, but they'll soon find out there is no new 'Morganite's pearl."

"Rude." Amethyst muttered

When suddenly, a big shadow covered them. They looked up to see a muscular, blue gem with rainbow dreads and tattoos smiling down at them.

"Hi ya, newbies. What're you doing?" She asked as she sat down, resting her arms on her thighs.

Amethyst, Pearl and Steven looked at her. Amethyst gave her a stare you gave an enemy, Pearl looked uncertain and Steven confused but awed by the gem's appearance.

The gem and chuckled. "What? The guards got your tongue?" She joked.

The gems didn't respond.

"Name's Bismuth." The gem said. "You?"

The gem didn't reply. But Steven reached out a hand.

"Steven." Spoke shyly.

"Glad to meet ya, lil' meatball." Bismuth grinned and shook his hand. "Okay, enough with the small talk." She said, suddenly dead-serious. "I heard you guys talk. You're planning an escape. I want in."

"Escape? What escape?! I don't know what you're talking about!" Pearl began laughing hysterically. Drama queen or what?

"P, chill. chill." Amethyst hushed her.

Bismuth raised an eyebrow. "Well. I think I might have something that will refresh your memory." For a moment she sat up straighter and dug her hand inside her pocket. And then, her very large hand placed something on the ground.

Something very familiar.

The pair of visor they all had seen every single day over the past years

Amethyst, Pearl and Steven gasped and stood up.

"Garnet!" Steven gasped.

"What have you done with her?!" Pearl roared, clenching her teeth.

"Yeah! Talk, Innie or- HUH?!" Amethyst hissed before she reached her hand to summon her weapon. But it never appeared. Confused, she palpated her gem.

"Ah ah ah." Bismuth laughed with a sheepish smile. "Remember the gate earlier when you passed through the door? It's an Eraser. It locks all access to your gem. Just in case we get violent." She explained and grinned down at the small gem. "Not so tough anymore, huh tiny?"

Amethyst hissed angrily between gritted teeth.

"What do you want from us?!" Pearl shouted angrily.

"Let me and a couple of friends go with you, and I'll talk." Bismuth told them.

Steven just stared at her. And then, he looked back at his care-takers.

Pearl and Amethyst shared a glance, and then both nodded.

Pearl stepped forward, and reached her hand out. And she nodded determined.

Bismuth smiled sheepishly and shook it.

"Happy to do business with you, newbies." She chuckled. "So, about the plan-."

"Take us to Garnet first, then we'll talk about the plan." Pearl said sternly, fire in her eyes.

Bismuth got taken by surprise but then laughed. "A pearl making the orders? I though I'd seen everything." She laughed loudly. A belly-laugh. It ended with her drying a tear away from the corner of her eye. "I like you, skinny. Come along then, let's find your friend." She waved them to come along and started walking.

Pearl and Amethyst shared an un-certain glance, but obeyed and followed her.

They walked for about twenty minutes into the forest, and passed many odd creatures on their way.

Among them was a big cater-pillar looking fusion, a regular sized fusion, an orange sapphire and a red gem with split upper bodies.

"So, Bismuth." Amethyst began suspiciously, crossing her arms. "Been here long?"

"A couple thousand years." Bismuth shrugged. "I know this place like the back of my hand." She clenched her fist and grinned. "The rules are pretty simple here. Do you misbehave, you get one shot. Three shots and you're bubbled. Or worse." She nodded to some round marking on the walls. "Robonoids. They can detect everything gem. And destroy it."

The gems turned and saw the hidden robots in the wall.

Steven got a weird feeling his gut.

"Managed to save this little guy yesterday." From out of a pocket, Bismuth picked up a blue gem and held it in her hand.

Steven recognized it immediately. "Lapis…"

"Yeah. She told me she had just escaped somewhere and…. Life hit her hard when she came back to homeworld." Bismuth explained.

"So Lapis made it off earth." Pearl muttered.

"But she did not come far." Amethyst muttered.

"Yeah, that's life, you know..." Bismuth and put the gem back in her pocket.

They continued walking until they reached a glade.

And someone very familiar stood in the middle of it.

"Garnet!" They all cried and threw herself at her. Garnet did barely have time to react before she fell onto her back.

"You're okay!" Steven cried, tears of joy running down his eyes.

Bismuth stood where she was, laughing.

They sat up, all more or less tear-eyed.

"Garnet! We're sorry!" Pearl cried tear-eyed. "We saw Jasper poofing you and taking your gems. We tried to fight her but…." She looked down ashamed.

"I know." Garnet rest a hand of comfort on her shoulder. Her outfit had changed slightly. It was still a one-piece suit, but it had more of a purple hit to it and looked more like an overall.

Pearl smiled.

"Hey ya, newbies." They looked up at Bismuth grinning down at them, hands on her hips. "You trying to hug my pal to poofing?" She asked teasingly.

"Pal?" Steven asked, as confused as the others. He watched as Bismuth helped Garnet up to her feet.

"You okay? Had any more accidents?" She asked her, patting her back.

Garnet just grunted and playfully pushed her hand away. "No." She said.

"Wait, you know each-other?!" Steven blurted.

"Yup!" Bismuth grinned proudly. "We're escape-buds, aren't we power-couple?"

Garnet just chuckled as she adjusted her visor. "That's right."

"So wait, you didn't keep Garnet hostage?" Amethyst asked suspiciously.

Garnet seemed surprise at first and then crossed her arms "Bismuth…"

"Hey! They were planning an escape! I couldn't resist!" Bismuth laughed in defense. "Speaking of which. Any more ideas on the plan-front?" She asked.

"I have sensed that the second door opens during emergencies. If we could make up some sort of diversion that leaves the amethysts rushing inside the dome, we could escape through the door." Garnet explained, adjusting her visor.

"That's great!" Steven cheered.

"But there's one problem." Garnet cut in. "If we exit through that door, we'll not pass the Eraser and get access to our gemstones."

"Oh..."

"Which means we need to leave through the entrance." Pearl pointed put.

Garnet nodded.

"What if..." Pearl thought loudly, hand on her chin. "We need someone on the outside." She looked at the others.

The other immediately had the expression of hopelessness on their faces.

Except Bismuth. "I know what to do." She told them.

The gems looked at her in confusion.

"Meet me by the emergency-exit in twenty minutes!" She told them and ran off.

The gem and Steven shared a glance of confusion.

Twenty minutes later, they had gathered by the wall of the dome, where there wre four gems waiting for them by the wall.

One was tall and had patches here and there in colors from all colors from purple to orange and her hair was a short bob's hair-cut.

The second one was the same height as the other, only brown and had long, light-brown hair hanging behind her back.

The third one was bismuth.

And the third one was a bit shorter than the other three, had white skin and gray stripes and light-blue hair which hung over her shoulder in a braid. Though the confusing part was that she wasn't with them. She was outside the dome.

"Who are they?" Amethyst asked as she and the rest of the crystal gems had gathered around them.

Bismuth gestured to the two shorter gems beside her. "That's Biggs and Crazy Lace." They nodded with a smile. "And this is my girl." She then gestured towards the gem outside the dome, who smiled faintly and waved.

"She's outside the dome." Pearl stated the obvious in awe.

"Yeah, Snowflake kind of was the one who brought me to this place. She's a guard." Bismuth chuckled in embarassment, scratching the back of her head. "But from that moment, we felt we had a special connection. And we decided that one day, we'll get out of this place. Together." She smiled tear-eyed and put her hand against the glass of the dome.

The striped gem outside smiled and rest a hand against hers.

"Aww." Steven awwed lovingly.

Bismuth dried away the tears and turned back to the gems. "We have a plan. Tonight, we'll all go towards the entrance. Snowflake will be there and lock up the door so we can pass." She told them.

"We can use facility's escape pods. They're beneath the parking base." Biggs suggested, her voice raspy. "They load it everyday with 60 minutes interval."

"How long do we have left?" Crazy Laze asked.

Bismuth looked back from have asked Snowflake. "46 minutes."

"That's it!" Pearl clapped her hands together in delight.

"Awesome! I'm sick of this place!" Amethyst cheered.

While Bismuth and the rest discussed the plan, Steven heard Garnet beside him mutter:

"It's not a good idea."

"Huh?" Steven looked up at her.

"It's too easy of a plan. No facility of this size is gonna let their specimens go that easy." Garnet said, crossing her arms.

"Well, it's not too bad to try. Right?" Steven tried to cheer her up.

"I don't like it." Garnet muttered.

Steven was starting to get a weird feeling in his gut again.

Which worsened as Garnet turned around to walk away.

Amethyst noticed through the corner of her eyes. She turned around

"Garnet! What the heck are you going?!" Amethyst hissed in a whisper.

Garnet stopped and grit her teeth.

But then-

Continued to walk away.

"Garnet!" Amethyst shouted.

The gems heard her yelling and turned around in question.

"Huh?" Pearl hummed.

"Garnet bailed!" Amethyst shouted to them.

"What?!" Bismuth shouted back in surprise.

"Oh no she doesn't!" Pearl grabbed Amethyst by the sleeve and pulled her along the direction Garnet went.

Bismuth turned towards the gems inside and outside the dome. "We'll meet you guys by the entrance in forty-five minutes." She told them. The gems nodded and went their different directions.

Meanwhile, Amethyst and Pearl rushed after Garnet as she walked.

"Garnet! What the heck was that?!" Amethyst shouted in anger, standing before her.

"I left." Garnet muttered and began walking.

"No duh!" Amethyst shouted.

"What are you thinking?!" Pearl shouted as she ran along with her. "We have the perfect opportunity!"

"Stop when we're talking to you!" Amethyst scolded as she stood in front of her, stopping her.

"It..." Garnet began, gritting her teeth. "It's not the right timing." She said.

"What?!" Amethyst blurted angrily.

"What do you mean 'not the right timing'?!" Pearl blurted as well.

"I..." Garnet stuttered, trying to figure out something to say.

"Tell us the real deal." Amethyst crossed her arms.

"I..." Garnet stuttered until she looked down in defeat. "I'm... under surveillance." She honestly answered.

Again, the duo looked at her in complete confusion.

"You're what?" Amethyst asked.

Garnet didn't answer. She just kept on walking again.

Pearl followed her. "Garnet, please. You need to talk to us-." Their speaking faded in the distance, leaving Amethyst back in the glade.

When suddenly, a shadow covered her.

"Hey, look what we have here." She looked up, only to see two Amethysts standing above her, smirking down.

Pearl and Garnet heard the sound of someone shouting "HEY!"

"Huh?" They stopped in their tracks and turned back.

No Amethyst.

Pearl and Garnet shared a glance of worry.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the the dome, Bismuth and Steven was trying to look for the gems.

"This place is much bigger inside than the outside." Steven said as he walked through a buskage, moving some branches aside. "Where are we heading anyway?" He asked.

Bismuth smashed a branch aside with her hand as they passed through the wooden path. "We're heading towards the entrance." She answered him. "And hopefully we'll get out of here."

Steven jumped over a branch on the ground and followed her. "What exactly is 'here'?" He asked.

"It's mostly a facility that was gifted to Morganite for her to store her exotic or defect gems in. But we also have some criminals too." Bismuth explained as they walked. "It's perfectly programmed to stand for every creature's needs. Well, except the basement." She shrugged.

"What's there?" Steven asked.

Bismuth's face fell dark for a moment as she stopped. "Weird stuff…" She continued walking. "Me and your fusion-friend actually accidentally ended up there during one of our escape-attempts." She continued explaining. "Until those darn guards found out. Garnet ended up falling right into the pool." She frowned.

"Pool?" Steven asked.

"It's…." Bismuth began in thought. "Hard to explain when you haven't seen it yourself."

"Then, can you show me?" Steven asked.

"I don't know…" Bismuth stopped and looked skeptical. "I already got two shots and if I get one more, I'll end up in a bubble…"

"It will be quick! And it will be smooth too! We can do it like professionals!" Steven said excitedly, posing like a ninja. "Like ninjas!"

Bismuth laughed. "Hahaha. I like your spirit, little meatball!" She grinned and laid a hand on his back. "But seriously, though. What's a ninja?"
-

An Amethyst held a smaller, struggling amethyst in her arms, walking through the lushing climate of the dome to the opposite side of the dome.

What she didn't know was that two figures were following her, hiding behind the bushes.

The amethyst stopped by the dome-wall, and the two figures down crouched behind a big rock.

"What is she doing?" Pearl whispered.

"No idea." Garnet answered her lowly.

The amethyst pushed one small part of the wall, making it light up. She pressed it, until suddenly-

A door opened. An invisible door that appeared once she pressed the screen.

She walked inside.

Garnet waved for Pearl to come along, and she and Pearl ran after, barely making it inside before the door shut close heavily behind them and disappeared into the wall again.

They were met by darkness, not counting the light coming from the amethyst's gem further.

"I don't like this." Pearl whispered.

Garnet put a finger to her lips and hushed her, waving her to come along.

They began walking.

It was a very long, dark hallway ahead of them. They didn't see much, but the walls, floor and ceiling had a rather pink-ish hue to it.

They followed the Amethyst for a good hundred feet.

Pearl was feeling uncomfortable the whole way and ended up grabbing a hold of Garnet's upper arm for support.

The amethyst suddenly stopped a couple feet away from them pressed another screen on the wall.

Another door opened.

She passed the doorway, Amethyst struggling and shouting in her arm.

Garnet and Pearl hurried over, hiding behind the wall.

Garnet peaked out discretely to get a glimpse of the room.

There was another dome.

A way, way smaller transparent dome was placed in the middle of the gigantic room.

The room was octagonal shaped and had a deep red shade to it.

Garnet looked up. "Look."

Pearl looked up.

There were platforms attached to the walls, giving a good glance over the dome bellow them.

Standing on the the platforms were maybe a hundred gems, all in different types, sizes and colors.

A couple spotlights hanging from the ceiling light up brightly and they could see the whole scene much clearer and the gem on the platforms cheered even louder.

"It's a Kesshō Tatakai." Pearl practically gasped wide-eyed as she watched the amethyst carry their Amethyst to the dome. "A gem battle."

"Hey! Dude! Come on! Chill, will ya?!" Amethyst shouted frantically.

The amethyst carried her to the wall of the dome, opening an opening in the wall, delimited by a yellow electric field.

"Hey! Let me go! I said let me go!" Amethyst roared at them as she kicked her legs and struggled.

But the amethyst simply chuckled. "Those new fighters are always so spunky." She pressed a hand to the screen on the wall, and the electric field faded. "In you go!" She then threw the small gem inside and the field re-closed the entrance.

"No wait!" Amethyst yelled and touched the field, only to get a big blast on her hand. "AH!" She waved her hand violently, then blew on it as if it was on fire.

She turned around at the sound of the cheering crowd.

The dome looked to be way bigger than it seemed. The floor was practically white and the walls invisible. And there was a big door at the other side of the dome.

But there was one gem in the crowd who seemed to get chocked as she saw her.

When suddenly, a hatch in the roof lf the dome opened, and a plate rose from out of the dome.

She was quite tall, had pink skin and pink hair and a pink dress which floated behind her.

"Gems and pebbles and other organisms! Holy Agates and mighty Aquamarines! Welcome to... Kesshō Tatakai!" The gem spoke loudly, waving with one arm in the air.

The crowd cheered even louder.

"I am your host, Hessonite and I will now present to you the contestants of the night!" The hessonite spoke.

The spotlight moved to the small Amethyst, who had to cover her eyes with her arm to avoid the light.

"With us tonight, we have a new fellow to the dome. No other than the very gem who was reported disguised as a guard to access our facility this very morning!"

The crowd began immediately to show their discontent. "BUU!"

Amethyst laughed nervously.

"On our other side, we have a familiar face with us tonight. A beloved fighter who's been gone for decades to serve under our dear Morganite's command-!" The hessonite spoke.

The door on the other side of the tome started to slowly open as the spotlight moved to the other side

Amethyst stepped back.

Garnet and Pearl grit their teeth.

"Everyone! Give a warm welcome toooo..." The hessonite continued.

The over eight feet tall gem stepped inside, her long hair waving behind her and the spotlight reflecting onto the gem on her nose.

"Jaspeeeer!"

Amethyst's eyes widened.

The Jasper's stone-cold gaze turned into surprised anger as she saw her.

"You..."