While the majority of the group find out the status of the human zoo, the duo at the beach house make their own harrowing discovery.
...
"Hey guys...how's it going?" asked Steven as he attempted to avoid the fact that he had been caught red handed.
"Steven...what are you doing here?" asked Garnet
"Oh you know...just doing a bit of house cleaning." he said with a nervous smile.
"You know that's not what we meant Steven." said a somewhat annoyed Bismuth
"(sigh), I know. I'm taking the bubbles with me to Black Diamond."
As he said this, a large grey diamond wall was summoned between him and the the duo. Steven picked up the two bubbles next to the warp pad and prepared to warp away, but before he did, he looked to the duo once more, who were currently attempting to break past the barrier.
"Sorry guys...it was a necessary step for Black. Stay safe guys...please."
With that said, he warped away, leaving the two powerhouses alone once more. When he left, the barrier dropped, allowing the two gems to roam about freely once more.
"He couldn't have...right Garnet. There's no way."
"Only one way to make sure."
The two moved to the temple door, willing it to open to the burning room. Once in the room that usually held any and everything sent back via bubble, the room was now empty.
"No...all those gems. There had to be at least a hundred or so here." Bismuth exclaimed.
"All those bubbles...all those gems from Alpha, the one from Beta, the attack on both Little Homeworld and Homeworld...it was all part of his plan."
"How can you be sure? There's no way he could have known everything would lead up to this."
"Not unless he made sure it did. He's had Steven with him this whole time. I'm sure he's had him tell about our strengths, weaknesses, and our most likely courses of action. There's no way he couldn't have known...not for all this to happen."
With this said and their fears confirmed, the two began to move back to the main warp pad. As they moved back though, Bismuth had something on her mind.
"Garnet...I understand Black most likely planned this out...but how didn't you see this coming? Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning your ability, it's just unusual is all."
"Before Steven fell to Black Diamond, predicting him was a challenge all on it's own. He's unpredictable, which makes future vision hazy for me. Every since we found Steven on the moon base, it's only gotten harder to predict. Not only is Black Diamond also unpredictable, but when he sends out others to do his work, my vision tries to see the actions that person would take rather than the ones Black is having them take. To many outcomes are made because of this, and I've been having a difficult time telling which parts of future vision are potentially true and which are just what would happen without Black's control."
Still deep in discussion, the two arrived back at the warp pad.
"Take our warp here as an example. Before we left, I tried to do a quick glance to make sure we wouldn't be running into trouble, unlikely as it was. But I never saw that the warp pad was already in use, which diverted us to the nearest pad to our original destination. Bismuth...no matter how I try to look at it, the future is still uncertain for both parties, and even if it were clear for me to see, future vision has been proven wrong before, so even then, we wouldn't be able to say for sure how anything would turn out."
"Oh boy...things just can't be simple huh?"
"They never were. All we can do is keep moving on the best course available to us and hope it works out."
Now on the warp pad, the two took a final glance at the home and warped away to Homeworld.
-Meanwhile on Homeworld-
The group, who were still waiting on Garnet and Bismuths return, had brought out a communicator. Bringing up a big screen so that everyone could see, Blue Diamond activated the device. After a few moments, Holly spoke up.
"This is odd, even for the gems on the facility. They weren't always around the communicator, but we usually had someone nearby in case someone called."
As the group began to fear the worst, someone finally picked up. Coming up on the screen was the skinny Jasper from the Famethyst group.
"Hello, is this thing working?"
"We hear you Skinny." Amethyst replied.
"Oh thank the diamonds. I've been trying to contact anyone for awhile now."
"Is the communicator working fine up there?" asked Pearl
"I think so? I'm not too sure. Seems to work well enough though if we're hearing each other."
Seeing the group's look of confusion, Holly elaborated for them. "The quartzes on the station were never too familiar with the technology. We usually left those devices to pearls, peridots, or any higher ranked gems."
With the explanation having been given, the group directed their attention back to Skinny. "What happened up there Skinny? Where is everyone?" Amethyst asked.
"Gone. A few cycles ago, we were attacked. We weren't sure how, but we got ambushed here. After they poofed Holly out of the blue, they began to go about and poof the rest of us. I ended up being the last gem standing, though they left me be."
"They probably left Skinny there to watch over the zoomans. They've learned how to take care of themselves for the most part, but they still need some supervision and assistance from time to time." Holly explained.
"Yes...that's my brother for you. Always the honorable one when it suits him. No doubt he'll try to play this in his favor later to persuade other gems to join him." White noted.
"Ignoring White's comment, Amethyst continued. "So speaking of which, how are the zoomans doing? Blacks not kidnapping them too right?"
"No, everyone is still unharmed and present here."
As the group sighed in relief, Holly looked to the jasper. "Listen Skinny, after I've helped everyone here, I'll make my way up to you. I don't believe I should be too long."
"That'd be awesome Holly. Watching over these guys alone is a bit of a chore after awhile."
With this, the group gave their farewells and ended the call.
"Well, at least we know the zoo is still safe and active, for the most part at least." Pearl said.
"Yes, though it is troublesome to know that Black would even go after them. Seems he's still building numbers up." Yellow noted.
"My sibling already lost to me once. I doubt he'd try to show up unprepared. He's probably trying to guarantee his victory."
"Well then, now that we know the status of the zoo, what will you all do from here?" Holly asked.
"Once Garnet and Bismuth get back, going to Beta would probably be our best bet. Having one less facility under his command might weaken his productivity, even if a little." Connie said.
"Yeah, speaking of which" Lapis said, as she pointed to the main entrance. As the group looked over, they saw that the two gems had returned."
"Welcome back you two." White said.
As the two gems rejoined the group, they noticed the grave look on both of their faces.
"Something happened, didn't it?" Amethyst guessed.
"Yeah...and it's not good for us." Bismuth noted.
With a quick explanation from the two, they caught the group back up to speed.
"All those gems...all that effort, just gone and for nothing." Pearl said.
"But why send Steven specifically?" asked Blue.
"Our temple was coded to members of the Crystal Gems. Unless access were given to another gem by someone who knew how to work the temple door, then only us few members could access it's rooms. They probably used Steven's access to gain entry to the burning room so they could take the bubbles." Pearl explained.
"Well, we know that Black has increased his numbers. But, we still have our next goal in mind right." Connie noted
"Yeah...Beta facility. We should get moving on that." Amethyst said.
"Right. Waiting around will only give Black more chances to prepare the facility or evacuate everything from it. I'm certain he knows that Holly knew of the base, he's probably going to be expecting us to go there sooner or later." Garnet explained. "Holly, would you mind taking us there?"
"Not at all. We shall depart at once."
With this, the group moved to the main warp pad while catching Garnet and Bismuth up on the human zoo. Once on the warp pad, they allowed Holly Blue to take them to the destination of the Beta Facility.
-Elsewhere-
Having just returned and deposited the bubbles, Steven made his way to Black Diamond. Now in front of the elder gem, they began to converse.
"Steven, good to see you back. I trust your mission was a success?"
"Yeah Black...the bubbles were all there, just like you said. They're all currently a few rooms down the way."
"Excellent, I'll have to make preparations to move up the timetable to convert them. With Alpha gone, and Beta currently retasked, we only have here left for storage. But, with this, we should be nearing our final step towards Homeworld's fall here shortly. Once a few more pieces fall into play, we can make our move. For now Steven, I need you to prepare yourself. Take the time to gather whatever you may need as our final assault is approaching. I've already instructed all the other troops plus Red and Earl to do the same. We'll need everyone's help for this. As long as everyone does their part to the letter, I believe that victory will be assured. Until then though, your dismissed my young Diamond. Just keep your communicator handy. Once we're ready, I'll send out a mass alert."
"Alright Black."
With this, Steven exited the room, leaving himself to ponder alone with his thoughts in the facility.
'The final assault huh...I hope you guys are ready...it won't be easy to beat this one'
...
Bis + Garn: What you got there?
(Standing near a couple bubbles), Stev: ...A smoothie.
Kinda upset I thought of that one after writing last chapter. Had I thought of it, the duo would have caught Steven holding the bubbles instead, setting up the meme perfectly. Oh well.
The final assault approaches, though what is it and how will it play out? Who knows? First though, we need to explore Beta facility and it's workings. Hopefully the gems can get something out of the trip right.
Thank you everyone for the continued support. Always nice to see people coming back. Hope Friday's going well for everyone so far. I hope to see everyone once more in chapter 28.
One Step Closer by Linkin Park