Chapter 13: An Environmental Situation
Princess Lapis was doubled over in excruciating pain when a dark shape overshadowed her and her friends.
"What in the world is that?" Rhodonite asked, shivering in fright.
Everyone swam up to the surface to investigate this strange blob. When they got there, the mermaids and humans saw that it was a large plume of black ooze.
"Eww, that's disgusting!" Peridot remarked.
"It's pollution." Lapis said softly, a look of terror spreading across her face.
"It almost looks like an oil spill." Steven hypothesized, examining the black gunk.
"But, there aren't any oil rigs around for miles." Sunstone told him.
"Unless a boat came by and dropped a canister of oil here." Ruby guessed.
"We didn't hear any boats coming and there were certainly no canisters on the sea floor." Pearl replied.
"Then, where did it come from?" Sapphire asked. "It's not like the oil appeared out of thin air."
"Gee, I've seen oil spills on the news." said Connie. "But, they never looked as bad as this."
"Yeah, but with the Oceanic Heart being damaged; the greatness of the pollution is magnified by itself." Lapis told her.
"It's not important how the oil spill got here." Stevonnie verified. "What is important is that we need to get rid of it before any creatures get sick from it."
"I agree." the young princess said, approaching the pollution.
"Be careful." Opal warned, grabbing her shoulder. "That stuff is extremely toxic to mermaids."
"It's toxic to everyone." Lapis replied. "That's why we need to handle the situation before it gets worse. Fortunately, my mom taught me to use my magic to cleanse pollution."
Just as she was about to work her magic, the oil began to ascend and tried to the young princess's wrist. However, she retracted it just in time. The oil kept rising until it looked like some legless, gooey monster.
"Yikes!" Jamie interjected. "Pollution never fought back before."
"Must be enchanted somehow." Smoky Quartz thought aloud.
"Emerald." Lapis gasped upon realization. "I bet she created this pollution with her magic."
"My, aren't you a clever princess?" Emerald commented from behind, startling the blue girl.
"Why are you doing this?" the blue princess demanded. "Get rid of this right now. It's bad for the environment!"
"It's not going to go away until it's done it's job." the evil green mermaid stated.
"What job?" Lapis questioned.
"Why, catching you of course." Emerald answered. "As soon as your friends are taken care of, there will be no one else left standing in the way of your capture. Once that greasy oil comes in contact with your skin, it'll zap you of your energy; leaving you weak and defenseless as I bring you back to Jasper. You will be ours, all ours!"
"It'll take more than some monstrosity made of industrial sludge to stop me." the blue girl told her bravely.
"But, can you say the same for your friends?" the corrupt mermaid asked, smirking.
Lapis turned around to see that the oil monster was about to descend on Jamie, much to her horror.
"Jamie, get back!" she cried out to her boyfriend. "Don't let it touch you!"
Swimming as fast as a dolphin, the princess grabbed Jamie's arm and pulled him out of harm's way just in the nick of time.
"Oh and by the way, Big Black and Sticky over there has a partner." Emerald added as she was preparing to make her leave. "And it knows how to take out the trash."
"What does she mean by that?" asked Connie.
"TRASH MONSTER!" Steven exclaimed, pointing at the collection of debris that was forming into a creature similar to the oil monster.
Everyone turned and looked at the new monster that towered over them full of horror. Just then, it raised one of its hands and brought it down towards Lapis.
"Lapis, look out!" cried Jamie.
The blue princess tried to swim out of the way, but she couldn't get away from the garbage hand as it grabbed her tail and lifted her out of the water. The monster then opened its gaping maw and brought the squirming mermaid to it.
"It's gonna eat her!" Rhodonite hollered.
"Not gonna happen!" Lapis proclaimed as she unleashed a blue blast of magic at the monster.
The creature fell apart and dropped it's captive back into the water, providing the blue girl plenty of time to regroup with her friends. Meanwhile, the trash rebuilt itself back together and joined the oil monster.
"They're going to attack again." Pearl said. "What do we do?"
After thinking quickly, Lapis asked; "Iris, can you stop time or anything in it like your mom?"
"I don't know." the young pink mermaid admitted. "I've never tried."
"Well, try it now!" Amethyst urged her impatiently.
Summoning all the magical power inside of her, Iris unleashed her power on the monsters and hoped for the best.
Everybody looked as the pollution monsters preparing to lunge at them. They were expecting the monsters to be frozen in time, but instead something unusual occurred. The two monsters were starting to move backwards.
"What's happening?" Stevonnie questioned.
"It's like they're going in reverse." Steven remarked.
"Wow!" Iris gasped as looked at what she was doing. "I may not be able to stop time like Mom, but turning back time is just as good."
"Hang on." Peridot spoke. "Since Iris has the ability to turn back time, if she uses her magic long enough on the monsters-"
"We could turn back time to the moment before the trash and oil were enchanted by Emerald's magic." Lapis said, catching on with the idea. "That'll the make the pollution so much easier to get rid of."
"Okay, but I need to concentrate." Iris stated. "So I can't have any distractions."
"Once the dark magic is removed, Sardonyx; why don't you get rid of the litter while I handle the oil." Lapis issued.
"It would be my pleasure, darling." the vermilion mermaid said.
It didn't take too long for the monsters to turn back into their original states before Emerald enchanted them.
"Go on, Lapis." Jamie encouraged his girlfriend. "Do your thing."
Focusing her power on the oil plume, Lapis used her cleansing magic to nullify the pollutant particles until the water was clear as crystal again.
Meanwhile, Sardonyx summoned her magic to raise the garbage out of the water and in the blink of an eye; the litter was gone.
From afar, Emerald watched all the events unfolding with a disdained look on her face.
"Whew, no more oil." Lapis sighed with relief.
"And I took care of the trash." added Sardonyx.
"Where did it go?" Padparadscha asked.
"To the nearest recycling center on the mainland." the vermilion mermaid answered.
"Ugh, this isn't over; princess!" Emerald swore as she made her escorts. "Not even by a longshot!"
"Now that was a close one." Smoky Quartz commented.
"I'll say." agreed Connie. "It's just horrible to live with the fact that there are humans who are careless enough to just dump trash or oil like that into the sea without even the slightest bit of conscience."
"Yeah, but the more humans we inform of the problem; the less pollution we'll have to dump into in the ocean." Lapis ensured her. "Now let's get out of here before Emerald tries something else to jeopardize our quest."
Everyone quickly dove back under the waves and continued on the path to one of their key destinations. After all, the Manta Ruins were still a long ways away.