While the repairs to the warp pad get finalized, the diamonds come face to face with an issue they wished to avoid.

...

Yellow had been going from gem to gem without much thought about it. Using her old powers, she continued poofing gems under Black Diamond's allegiance left and right. As she did this, she would also direct her focus where it was needed to move gems around to where they needed to be the most. As she looked over from a recent skirmish, she noticed that Blue was just as busy. With her powers, Yellow knew they were more difficult to control, but it was working out well enough as Blue had found her rhyme to where she could still take out gems in an effective manner while leaving the friendly ones unaffected enough that they could continue shortly after she powers wore off. Seeing that Blue wasn't having any issues, Yellow directed her attention back to the gems nearby, both friendly and unfriendly. Unbeknownst to her or Blue however, Black had sent off a trump card of his own to distract them. Approaching the two nearby was Steven, who had been tasked with taking out the two diamonds, or at the least, distract them until they could be taken care of. As Steven approached, he summoned and threw a grey shield at Yellow just as she was about to begin another round of lightning. As the object made it's mark on the side of Yellow's head, the giant gem looked over to see what had caused her the minor headache. As she noticed the young hybrid approaching, she set her sights on Steven. Now face to face (as much as a small gem boy and a giant towering gem could be anyway), the two readied themselves for battle.

"Hmph, so Black sent you to deal with us did he?" said Yellow.

"Afraid so Yellow. You guys are causing some issues for him and I'm one of the few capable of handling you two, much as I'd rather not.

"I see. Well Steven, before we begin, I will say that I am glad to see you currently unharmed. After I heard what Black did to you before your conversion, I was afraid that he may have done further testing or research on you.

"There was some here and there...but nothing compared to what I was put through then."

"Well, just know...though I will attempt to leave you as unharmed as possible, I will do what is necessary to unsure both Homeworld's freedom...and yours. If that means I need to incapacitate you for the time being...then so be it."

"I knew you'd have the least qualms about that. You were always the one willing to take the larger steps Blue and White would rather avoid after all. With that said though, don't think it'll be that easy Yellow. I'll at least try to keep your defeat and poofing as painless as possible also.

"Good to know that you at least still have your compassion for others." Yellow said with a huff.

With this, the two began their battle. Steven charged at Yellow as he summoned his bubble gloves while she moved to send off lighting towards the young hybrid.

While the two of them began their skirmish, Black looked on at the battlefield.

"Good, Steven's begun his engagement with Yellow. With her distracted, we can begin to try and gain the upper hand. Earl, put this message out over the comms. Tell our troops to try and push harder if possible and poof as many gems as we can here. Have the peridots keep an eye out as well for any engagements we can end quickly with more numbers. If we use this time to take out as many gems as we can and reduce their numbers, than we should be well prepared should Yellow somehow break the engagement with Steven, unlikely as that is."

"Yes, my diamond. I'll put that out now"

While Earl put out Black Diamond's message to the army, the latter of the two continued looking on, paying close attention to the battle between Steven and Yellow. As he looked on, something caught his eye as Steven struck Yellow with his bubble gloves. With a minor grunt of displeasure, the diamond continued watching the two duke it out.

Back at the battle with the two diamonds, Yellow had begun to take a noticeable toll from her fight with Steven. Although she was no stranger to combat, fighting someone of Steven's size who also packed the same amount of power (if not more) as herself and the other diamonds made things difficult to keep up with. Although she was able to land a few hits on the hybrid, he was able to either block the attacks in time with a shield or bubble or he was able to heal any greater deal of damage shortly after the blows were dealt. Although Yellow could tell Steven wasn't going all out as she had seen him at the full extent of his power, she could also figure that he wasn't taking it easy on her either. The battle continued on this way for sometime, with neither side giving any good openings for the other.

As the two continued going at it, Blue noticed them from afar. Though she was unable to assist at the moment, she made a mental note to keep on eye on it. If the battle between them would go south too quickly, she would have to interject herself into the fight. She was no expert fighter like Yellow, but her powers allowed her to make up for their weakness. Until the time came, if it ever did, that she would need to help Yellow however, she was forced to continue taking out gems from Black's army.

Unfortunately, the moment Blue was hoping wouldn't come came quicker than either she or Yellow believed it would. As Yellow threw out another set of electricity in an attempt to stun the boy, Steven dodged the attack and moved forward. Using his super speed, he moved himself above the towering gem. Now floating above her, he summoned a large barrier, one not unlike that used against Jasper before she was shattered. With this barrier however, as it was being made, Yellow noticed a look of discomfort and guilt show on Steven's face. While he initially planned on making barrier with spikes like he did in the past, something stopped him, making it to where his grey wall was made only of the diamond barriers without any additions to it. Before Yellow could have time to try and retreat, Steven sent the barrier towards the diamond. She tried to dissipate it with all the electricity she could muster, but it all merely bounced of the incoming barrier. Seeing that her powers were ineffective against the young diamonds', she braced for the inevitable impact. As the barrier struck it's target, it brought about a thing of dust in the immediate area. Once it had cleared, Steven found that Yellow still had a physical form and that she hadn't yet poofed, but the attack had staggered her and sent her to the ground. Now laying on her back, the diamond tried to recompose herself. Before she could have the chance to do so however, Steven intercepted and landed on her. Now standing mere inches from the diamond on Yellow's form, all she could do was look on.

"Sorry about this Yellow." Steven said as she moved to pull on the diamond in an attempt to poof her.

As Steven moved to poof Yellow, Blue noticed the sudden turn of events. Having focused a considerable amount of attention towards the two as the barrier was summoned, Blue had since been trying to move to help her fellow diamond. Reaching the two however had proved to be difficult as she was still being swarmed by gems. As she attempted to poof the attackers, she looked on. Knowing that she wouldn't make it in time, all she could do was continue to poof gems and watch on as Steven moved to poof Yellow.

As he set his grip on the diamond, he began to pull on it. As Yellow could begin to feel the hold on her form give away as she felt the urge to retreat into her gem to prevent further discomfort, she attempted to keep herself physical as long as she could in hopes that someone would stop the assault. As time passed, both her and Steven noticed that no help was available. As Steven tightened his grip and strengthened his pull, Yellow began to resign herself and admit defeat. Suddenly though, the warp pad the trio of diamonds had arrived on began to activate. As the light from the pad's use died down, Steven and the diamonds noticed a familiar set of gems arrive on the battlefield. Before he could make any thoughts about it or finish poofing Yellow, he found himself struck by a small thing of water. Although the sudden strike from the liquid wasn't enough to do any real damage, it did knock him off Yellow. As he and the other two diamonds looked on, they saw the Crystal Gems had finally arrived on the battlefield.

As Lapis retreated her water to the canteen, she and the rest of the Gems looked on at the battlefield. As Yellow regained her composure, she moved back towards the group.

"So you all finally decided to show up."

"Sorry for the delay. We had some technical issues." said Garnet

"It's fine. The timing couldn't have been better anyway. Another few seconds and I would have poofed."

"How do we look on the field?" asked Pearl

"Right now, White is staying behind to help direct gems while Blue and I are going about reducing Black's numbers. We were in a bit of a stalemate before I was engaged by Steven. Now I'd say Black holds the advantage. Me and Blue should be able to hold the line and continue reducing their numbers, but the biggest problems right now are Steven and Red, the latter of whom is still going about in the battlefield taking out our gems."

"Got it. Gems, assist the diamonds. This is where both Homeworld and the freedoms Steven fought to preserve make it's last stand. Bismuth, I need you with me. Everyone else, go about and help out wherever is necessary. Let's win this war!" commanded Garnet.

With that said, the Crystal Gems and Yellow Diamond all set themselves into the battlefield.

As the gems charged onto the battlefield, Black Diamond looked on from the opposite side of the kindergarten.

"Well now, this is an unpleasant turn of events."

"My diamond, I'm not sure how they were able to breach the trap at Beta. The walls there were set to withstand any blow they would deal for sometime. I'm even looking at the logs for it now, I can see that Beta is still standing and still has the trap activated."

"It's no matter Earl. Regardless of how they managed to free themselves, they're here now. Although I had hoped to avoid needing to move our forces about for them, seems we don't have much of a choice now." As Black said this, he reached for his ear piece. "Steven, Red, I need you both to focus your efforts on the Crystal Gems. Still poof any gems you can along the way, but your main priorities are of that group. The sooner they are dealt with, the better it is for us." After ending his message, the elder diamond looked to his pearl next. "Earl, I'm afraid I need you to join the fray as well. You will have the same orders. Help those two poof the Crystal Gems. Once that's done, you'll coordinate with them to take out the diamonds shortly thereafter."

"Understood my diamond. We'll see them dealt with here soon". With that said, the thin gem began moving into the battlefield, leaving Black Diamond alone, as he hoped that it was too late for the Gems to be able to make any large difference in their war effort.

...

'cue the scene where Thor shows up in Wakanda'. That's what I was aiming for initially when I planned out their arrival...shame that they can't really tell or make attacks on the battlefield from the warp stream, otherwise that's how that would have all played out. Regardless though, the Crystal Gems have appeared on the battlefield. Let's hope they can make a decent enough difference.

This chapter actually killed me a bit at first. Began writing it out and found that trying to make a skirmish between Yellow and Steven was actually difficult (for me at least). I would like to think though that Steven's size and his powers would prove to be difficult for any of the diamonds to handle in a 1v1 setting.

So something I've been noticing for sometime now...the length of this story is going far longer than I initially planned lol. I made a roadmap for myself back in chapter 17. Initially, I planned on the Gems joining the fight in chapter 27...and there's still a bit to come after that (well after this...since they've arrived now lol). I find it both weird and somewhat funny on my part at how quick things got derailed from the initial plan. Not to say I'm upset or anything, just surprised is all. Writing this out is enjoyable on my end and if that means it gains a couple more chapters than planned, then hey, who am I to complain.

Thank you all for the continued support and repeated visits. Happy Tuesday to everyone. Now go out, get your tacos, and I hope to see all you peeps again in chapter 35 where we see how the Gems help out on the battlefield.

Miracle by Shinedown