Chapter 31: Day 1: Part 1!

As those who were going to search for Lincoln assembled outside the castle. Clyde spoke up. "Alright, everyone. I have a plan, so listen carefully. Since this world is big, I suggest we split into three different groups so that we can cover more ground like that."

Team 1: Clyde, Ronnie Anne, Leni, Luan, Lana, Leggy, Milo, and Chris.

Team 2: Sinbad, Zoe, Phil, Holly Blue, Emerald, and Roger.

Team 3 was a group of the Emperor's guards.

Hekapoo then used her scissors to create three portals to three separate locations.

"Alright, everyone. Good luck finding the guy." The other dimensional woman said, twirling the scissors in her hand.

Leni and Sindbad clasp hands in a sign of respect.

"Good luck finding Lincoln, mister, um?" Leni said.

"Sinbad, and you too." Sinbad said, introducing himself to the blonde.

Leggy then spoke up. "Alright, let's find one of our own."

With that, the three groups ran through the three magical portals.

Once they were gone, Jasper began to walk away from everyone, much to Dan's confusion.

"What's going on with her?" He thought to himself.

Eclipsa looked at Dan with a raised eyebrow. "Dan, are you okay?"

"I've noticed that something's up with Jasper?" Dan answered, not taking his eyes off the retreating Quartz.

"You crushing on her?" The Mewni queen said playfully.

Dan blushed a bit but kept his composure as he cast a glare at her. "Not that kind of noticing!"

"You noticed too?" Elise said, cutting into their conversation. "You don't think she's gonna..."

"I don't know but we better stop her just in case." Dan said before looking at Elise. "Elise, I know that we've had our differences, but if you truly want to earn my forgiveness, I suggest you don't mess this up for the three of us."

Elise had to resist the urge to roll her eyes as she nodded as the three began to follow Jasper, but from a distance.

Unknown to everyone, the people of Zeenu weren't the only ones to hear Zing and Drek's message.

In an open field filled with moose snake hybrids, the body of Foster lied on the ground in an unconscious state. Suddenly, in a 360 twist, his neck suddenly snapped back around, causing his eyes to open up as he let out a gasp of air.

"Wha... Huh? Where?" Foster began as he sprung up. "What..." He began to look around. "Where the hell am I?"

Suddenly remembering the earpiece that he had, the alien frantically tried to turn it on as he finally managed to do so, patching in to Zing as he was giving his ultimatum speech to the planet's people.

"Inhabitants of the planet Zeenu." The alien began, his voice booming, possibly so much that the entire planet could hear him.

"Sire's alive!" Foster said in joy as he continued to listen to the speech.

"I apologize for disrupting your day, but what me and my partner in crime have to is very important. So I suggest you all listen, and listen well."

"Partner?" Foster said in confusion. "Must be that benefactor he mentioned.

"These are the Exiles, a group of remarkable individuals who were banished from their homes due to rather personal reasons. Reasons that I refuse to go into as that's their business and irrelevant right now."

"At least he's being considerate of their origins." The alien subordinate said to himself.

"Dan Mandell, Chris Pearson, Milo Murphy and the rest of his family, Eclipsa, Globgor and their kid Meteora, Jasper,"

Foster could feel the anger present in the former Emperor's voice as he announced the last two names.

"Roger, and last but least, their apparent superior and tactician, Lincoln Loud. This group ruined everything for me, so I figured 'Hey, why not return the favor? As I have just captured some friends of theirs. Now despite my my blatant animosity towards the group as a whole, I only wish to capture Roger and Lincoln as they both ruined my life, the rest while powerful in their own right, they haven't done as much to me as those two did so they're not on my list. So if you see either of them, I suggest you hand them over to us. If you do, neither you or your planet will be harmed. "Of course if you refuse well...Drek, why don't you do the honors?"

"But, of course." Foster heard Zing address his benefactor. "Please watch the demonstration."

Although Foster couldn't see the demonstration, he could only imagine what was happening as he heard the sound of a planet getting blown to bits.

After 10 seconds of silence following the explosion from an unknown source he heard his superior continue. "You all have until the end of the week to bring those two inferior beings to us, which is three days from now. Of course my associate's soldiers will also search for them as well but the deadline still remains. Refuse and what happen to that planet will happen to this one."

The flamboyant alien could only imagine what planet he was referring to as he continued to overhear the announcement.

"Oh yeah! Earth's going to get it!" Foster heard the planet's name.

"So that's what he's targeting?" Foster thought to himself.

"So, Roger, Lincoln. If you want to be "heroes" and save your world, I suggest you turn yourselves in before the deadline is up. Remember Zeenu, 3 days or Earth goes bye-bye. See you then."

After hearing the transmission, Foster pressed his earpiece again.

"Hello, sire? This is Foster, over."

"Foster, you're alive?!" Zing said in shock on the other line. "Oh, this is such good news, when the ship crashed, I thought for sure that you had perished in the explosion."

"Well it's a good thing that I wasn't, Roger snapped my neck without even realizing that if he wanted to kill me, he should've shot me straight through the head." Foster revealed.

"Let's hope that our enemies don't get their hands on that information." Zing said.

"Same." Foster agreed. "So anyway, I overheard your speech to the planet and your partner so where are you? I'm coming to you now." Foster said as he began to walk forward.

"No need. I already have your location." The former emperor said. "Teleporting you to the ship now."

Seconds later, Foster was teleported away from the field.

After the ship crashed, Bluebird was just flying above the clouds with a conflicted look on her face, They were pissed. Not only did they not have the chance to kill Lincoln and his friends, but Topaz betrayed them, Holly and Emerald too and even the rest of the Rubies as well. On top of all the betrayals, she found herself in a new, strange and unfamiliar land thanks to that magic user's spell.

She just didn't know what to do now.

Just then, the Aquamarine side of the fusion remembered something.

The communication device that was planted on the side of her face to compensate for the lack of ears. Pressing a button on the device, she tapped into the frequency of Zing's communication.

After a few seconds, they overheard Zing giving his speech.

They heard that Zing was giving the Inhabitants of Zeenu three days to turn over Lincoln and Roger and that if they refused, he was going to turn his sights to the human's home planet, the planet Earth and destroy it with the assistance of his benefactor and his weapons.

"So, we just have to find Lincoln and bring him to Zing?" The Ruby side of the fusion began with a devilish smile. "Sounds easy enough."

"If only it were that easy." The Aquamarine side of the fusion said. "We have no idea where he is, and this planet is huge, so it's going to take a while to search for the white haired brat."

"Maybe we don't have to waste a bit of time." Eyeball said. "We can use your wings to scout the planet at super speed."

"That sounds like a magnificent idea." Aquamarine said. "I'll contact Zing and let him know of what we're doing."

Using her wings, the fusion flew at the speed of a missile launch. As they did, Aquamarine contacted Zing and informed him of the situation, Zing was surprised to see that they were alive. At first, Zing wanted to transport the the fusion to his Drek's ship, but the fusion explained that they overheard his speech and decided to look for Lincoln as well. Zing appreciated this and decided to leave them to it, though he wanted to get updated on their search when they had progress.

If they find Lincoln and bring him in, they would be indirectly responsible for saving the Earth, a former Gem colony that their former superiors had wanted to scatter the remains of all across the star-maps ever since the war.

Just thinking that caused them to nearly defused from the sheer irony, which was not lost on them.

Meanwhile on Earth...

In Royal Woods, the mob and the police was still outside the Loud House, refusing to leave until the titular family answered their questions. If things continued like this, they might try to camp out there.

In the house, Luna was in her room tuning her guitar as she had a conflicted look on her face. She was thinking over everything that happened over the past few weeks. From Lincoln being declared as bad luck and getting kicked out of their house, to Leni going off on her and the rest of their family for their callous behavior towards this, to Lisa cloning Lincoln, to Leni wanting to call the police and now to the point where it all went to hell when Leni, Lana, Lucy, and Luan, with the assistance of Lincoln's friends Clyde and Ronnie and Lori's boyfriend, Bobby, ratted them out to everyone at Lynn's game.

Having to rush home at breakneck speed didn't give Luna the time to process everything as the urgency of the situation was alarming. Now that she was home, she now had the time, she began to think over a lot of things, and most of them were about her brother.

Before this whole bad luck debacle began, Lincoln was always there for her and the rest of her sisters, whether they forced him to be there against his will or when Lincoln willingly volunteered to support his sisters. Now that she thought about it, she did remember Lori saying that this family supports each other, if that was the case, when have they supported Lincoln without being bribed into supporting him or when they thought that he wanted their support without asking him first?

That was a tough question to answer if the musician was being honest with herself.

As she continued to tune her guitar, various memories of her only brother flashed through her mind like a tidal wave. To meeting him when Mom and Dad brought him home when he was first born, teaching him how to play an instrument for the first time when he was 5 because he saw her playing one and was curious, to when he was 7 and saw her scare off a bunch of bullies who were tormenting him alongside, Lori, Leni and Lynn, to the time she made his first concert unforgettable and even when they formed a family band, and while she was doing it for her own self gain of wanting to see Mick Swagger (her idol who became more or less the reasoning for her ill intention moments) the little dude did enjoy the idea of playing in a band with his big rocking sister and his large family.

Each memory caused the musician's eyes to well up with tears as she analyzed the many times that she spent with Lincoln, she realized that as much as Lincoln sometimes took advantage of his family, be it her, one of her sisters or the whole family in general for his own personal gain, his family would often chew him out for it, but then again, whenever she, her sisters or the rest of his family did the same, they rarely, if at all, get called out for their selfish nature and disregard for others and continue to do it without even realizing it. So why did she and the rest of their sisters call out Lincoln for being inconsiderate yet they get off scot-free when they do it?

Was it because they were girls and he was a boy?

God, she hoped not.

Was it because their parents were more lenient to them rather then her only bro?

If that was the case, she would need to confront her parents when she got the chance just in case.

Or was it something else?

If that was the case, then what was it?

Just then, the rock star's eyes went wide with a sudden burst of realization.

She was nothing more then a hypocrite and she hadn't realized it until now due to everything else that was currently happening right now.

If only then was it?

If only there was a way to track Lincoln from wherever he was in space and try to contact him.

Just then her eyes widened with realization.

Wait a second...

Track.

Luna let out a gasp of realization. "Lisa!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Luna placed her guitar back into the case before zipping it up. With that done, she bolted out of the room with breakneck speed.

In Langley Falls, Stan had come home to his empty house as he waited the rest of the day for at least one of his family members to come home. Sadly, those the day had passed and none of them have returned home. So the man of the house did what he said he would do to Greg and Terry, which was call the police.

Which is what he did after he woke up in his empty bed as he called them and waited for them to arrive. It has been thirty minutes and they still hadn't arrived at his house yet, so he distracted himself by going into his study and reading one of his books.

As he was doing so, the memory of his last conversation with his family before they went missing ran through his mind. Him scoffing his family for missing Roger and the ensuing argument between them all due to Stan claiming that what they did to Roger wasn't wrong and that they had to protect themselves at the expense of Roger's safety despite having taken him in after Roger saved Stan's life during the alien's escape from Area 51 all those years ago.

The Area 51 Incident.

Stan remembered that day for as it was almost as the change his life forever as the day his Dad left. He remembered it like it was yesterday.

It was 2001 as Stan and his three co-workers from the CIA consisting of Dick, Hooper, and Jackson were in the back of a big black truck on their way towards the facility that handles the unknown as the four men were discussing their daily lives when suddenly, a monitor then turned on.

It was their boss, Deputy Director Bullock.

"Gentleman, here is your mission in case some of you were not listening before." said the bald man. "We have received an SOS from Area 51. An unknown assailant that crashed on our planet a while back and was detained in Area 51 has somehow managed to get loose."

"Has it escaped from the facility, sir?" Jackson asked in concern.

"So far, it hasn't." Bullock replied. "But with the multiple security measures that Area 51 has, escaping from there is next to impossible. Though with the alien's intelligence, it might just find a way to escape."

"Okay, well if that is true, why are we going there?" Dick questioned.

"In the event that the alien finds a way to escape, it's up to the four of you to prevent it from escaping." The Deputy Director instructed. "But do not kill it as it still needs to be tested."

"What happens if it does escape, sir?" Hooper asked.

"Well, if it does, we're going to have to form a branch that is dedicated to hunting down creatures like that and interrogate anyone who crosses paths with the creature and either erase their memories of their encounter with it or kill them in order a public wide panic, which even one you feel like doing." Bullock said with a determined look on his face. "And punish whoever has the idiocy to harbor it out of self-proclaimed compassion for one who doesn't deserve it."

Then Bullock ended the transmission.

"You guys ready to stop an alien?" Stan said as he readied his pistol.

"YEAH!" the other three cheered as they were ready to kick some extra-terrestrial ass as they also pumped their guns.

And the rest was history.

Just remembering that day made tears stream down Stan's face and onto the pages of the book he was reading, causing the words to get smudged a bit. That day was considered special to the big chin man's mind.

After all, if Stan never attempted to take Roger into custody, the two would've died that day.

Various memories of the space man ran through the CIA agent's mind as he felt more tears coming up.

The time the two were high as they were attempting to clear Jeff's innocence for illegal marijuana possession when they found that his father was the real culprit and attempted to have the stoner take the fall for it.

The time they went to war... at seeing who was better at running a restaurant.

The time they tried to win the game show: "Best Buddies!" to win money for a critically injured Francine's operation... which they lost by the way, but that's irrelevant as it worked out in the end.

Their trip to Atlantic City after Stan got rejected by his so-called best friend Bobo in general.

The time Roger drove him and Francine to a horse theater.

The time they rescued the Senator's daughter named Cookie from hostile drug dealers when Roger sold her to them to save his own skin.

The time Stan saved Roger from getting run over by a truck.

The time they switched places to see whose life was harder.

The time they got stranded on an island and managed to get off it with Stan using Roger as a raft while he paddled.

The time the two were competing in a play to see who was the better actor... and their friendship became stronger for it after they were arrested for public indecency.

The time Roger helped Stan change his routine when Francine had the hots for a street racer... and shenanigans involving street racing, 50 grand and a gang of armed skinheads ensued due to it.

The time Stan helped a dejected Roger become a police officer after he revealed that he was tired of being weak after the space man and Francine got mugged.

And the clincher...

The time when Roger nearly killed himself when he was trying to make up for what he did to him, only to reveal that he's not mean by choice cause it's not in their nature as his species needs to let their meanness nature out. Otherwise, it'll turn to bile and poison them until they die from it. He also revealed that in spite

While Roger was a jerk at times, if not a downright sociopath, there were moments of genuine kindness from him as well to balance himself out.

And Stan never realized it until now.

"What have I done?" Stan said as he wiped away his tears, the page of the book he was reading now practically drenched in them. "I've done the exact same thing that I would've scolded Roger or even the rest of my family for! Now they're gone all because of me!"

As Stan looked at a picture of his family through his tear stained eyes, he made a decision.

"I got to make this right, but the question is, how can I?" Stan asked himself.

However, before he could think of something, he heard a series of knocks at the door.

Stan let out a sigh of frustration as he got up from his chair and walked out of the room as he thought to himself. "Okay, I'll think of a plan after I talk to whoever's at the door."

Getting to the door and opening it, the CIA agent saw that it was two police officers, a mixed duo of a African American one with a trimmed mustache and a Caucasian one with a bit of muscle on him.

"Mr. Smith?" asked the white cop.

"Yeah." Stan confirmed.

"I'm Officer Martin and this is my partner, Officer John." The Caucasian officer introduced himself and his partner. "We've received a call from you. Said something about your family apparently going missing?"

"Yeah, that was me." Stan said, before gesturing to them inside. "Would you like to come in officers?"

"We'd liked that." John smiled.

As Stan led the two inside, he thought to himself. "I hope this doesn't take too long."

In Beach City, Garnet was in the Burning Room, mediating, Ever since Jasper was sent away by her, Pearl and Lapis Lazuli, her future vision has been going off the charts she has been having a multitude of possible futures. Not just ones of what was happening in space but alternate timeline divergences in the future. One where Jasper bands with a group of rogue Gems and come to Earth for some payback. Another one where Jasper ends up shattering herself due to no longer having someone to serve and refused to submit to weak peace. And even one where Jasper decides to start wars on other planets just to participate in them just to feel satisfied by doing what she was made for.

In her mind, Ruby and Sapphire were having a conflicted discussion.

"It was the only way, Ruby." Sapphire said. "You haven't seen what I've seen."

"We've should've shattered her." Ruby said through gritted teeth, much to Sapphire's shock.

"Ruby, why would you say that?!" Sapphire demanded.

"Oh come on, Sapphire, are you that stuck in the future that you're not wanting to living in the present?!" Ruby said, rolling her eyes at her romantic partner. "I've known Gems like Jasper since my creation, and I know that you've seen it yourself too. As much as it pains me to say this, there was no changing her! Sending her into space only delayed the ass kicking that she'll give us when eventually comes back. And Steven and the others will know what happened when she does!"

Sapphire stood silent for a moment. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew that her soldier of a lover was right. For as long as she could remember, even before the rebellion happened or even before Steven was conceived, she has seen Gems of different types enjoy being what they were and refused to change their ways. Hell, even some of her fellow Sapphires enjoyed being seers for their superiors and didn't want to stop being that. Even when Era 3 became official, from one planet to another, she has seen Gems either go catatonic or as Steven has said at one point in video game terms "rage quit" at Steven's announcement of peace.

Despite that, Sapphire managed to come up with a response. "Even if we did shatter her, you know that the consequences could be disastrous."

"What are you talking about? It's just one gem." Ruby said. "What's so bad about that, especially if she doesn't want to change?"

"Well, for one, it's not what Rose-" Sapphire quickly corrected herself. "Sorry, I mean, it's not what Pink would've wanted."

"True." Ruby couldn't help but admit that she had a point. "But Pink's gone, Sapphy. This is Steven's era now, an Era in which Gems can do whatever they want and that includes us."

"That's true but it's not what the Crystal Gems stand for." The tiny blue gem pointed out. "Remember the whole debacle with Bismuth? You're suggesting that we should've done what she wanted during the war."

"Maybe, but the difference is that it's one gem, not the entirety of Homeworld." Ruby argued, undeterred. "And Steven doesn't have to know, and even if he does find out, it's not like he'll attack us over it. Call us out yeah, but not attack us over it. That's not his nature."

"Maybe." Sapphire said. "But if pacifistic people have their limits."

"True, but then again. Better that we should've shattered Jasper then Steven doing it, right?" Ruby said as she placed a hand on her lover's shoulder.

Sapphire didn't brush it off as she tried to think of something. But as much as she tried, she realized that there was no convincing her partner otherwise.

"If we did that, we would be no better than the Diamonds." Sapphire said, crossing her arms.

"Maybe, but hey, we're good at keeping secrets from the others, yeah?" Ruby said, leaning in to give her a kiss. "After all, we kept our fusion a secret from Steven until Peridot, Lapis and Jasper came and heck, you kept Blue Diamond's arrival from him and that ended up with Greg getting captured by her. I don't see how that's so bad since we're doing it to protect our friends and loved ones. After all, that's what Pink ended up doing."

"That's different and you know it!" Sapphire said as she shoved Ruby back. "Pink started an unavoidable war against her fellow Diamonds, faked her death which traumatized not just Blue and Yellow but also the Gems that were loyal to her and not her alter ego, indirectly caused the fusion experiments in the Kindergarten and the Cluster's creation that would've destroyed the Earth if Steven and Peridot didn't stop it in time and what's worse was that she forced Pearl to keep the truth of who she really was a secret." She then snarled at her partner. "And she did it all to escape her responsibilities like the coward she was. Now tell me, how was what she did protecting us?"

"Well we still would've continued to serve the Diamonds if Pink didn't start the Rebellion." Ruby shot back. "Not to mention, all human life would've been killed off and Steven wouldn't have even exist, would you have preferred that?"

"No!" Sapphire denied. "I am just saying that we shouldn't go doing what the Diamonds did, I can't believe you were even considering that!"

"I wasn't considering it, Sapphire." Ruby denied, a few seconds away from dissipating her physical form from the argument, but she managed to restrain herself from doing so. "It's just that the thought crossed my mind, that's all. But for someone that sees the future, you don't seem to care about telling us about them and intending to keep them secret like the hypocrite you are."

"I-" Sapphire attempted to say before Ruby cut her off by jabbing a finger to her chest.

"And don't you dare say that you're not being hypocritical either because we both know that you are!" Ruby demanded. "Like Diamond, like gem, huh?!"

Sapphire stepped back and stood silent for a bit. Was Ruby right after all? Was she being hypocritical and hadn't realized it? For so long, she had always assumed that she was doing what was best for the Crystal Gems and the safety of Earth because of her future vision. But now that her lover was calling her out on this, it was giving her time to think back on some her past actions now that all the context was out in hindsight.

Not looking into Pink Diamond's true motivations during the rebellion.

Not telling Steven that Blue Diamond was on Earth and in Korea grieving at Pink's palanquin all because that she was afraid of her.

Not even asking Bismuth about what happened to her when Steven released her from her bubble.

Heck, she didn't even stop Amethyst from taking Steven to her Kindergarten all because she believed that Pearl could get through to them... which she did, but that could've been prevented Garnet just stopped them from leaving the house.

Garnet split into her halves without a word. Once they were separated, Sapphire then used her gem to exit the room, not saying a word to Ruby as she could feel herself begin to tear up.

Ruby watched her go, she wanted to stop her, but felt that Sapphire needed some time to process what they've done just as much as she does.

With the blue gem gone, the soldier sat down as she then thought to herself. "Oh, stars above, please tell us that me, Sapphire, Lapis and Pearl that we did the right thing."

Outside the temple, Sapphire was thinking the same thing. "Even though what we did was wrong, it was for a good reason... right?"

To be continued...

While things on going down on Zeenu, conflicting emotions rain down some of the people back on Earth.

Are some of these people on the path towards bettering themselves or will they regress?

Will the three groups find Lincoln in time before Earth gets blown to smithereens?!

Speaking or Lincoln, who will find him first?

What is Jasper planning and will Dan, Eclipsa, and Elise find out before the three days are up?!

Find out next time on "The Exiles?!"