And now for the climax...of this story arc. (Cue Bayonetta Music!)
Time seemed to stop for the Crystal Gems under the roaming eyes. The two ships surrounded the group on both sides, airborne and gazing down on the six. While most of the group was ready for a fight, Lapis was struggling just to remain calm. This was part of her worst fears coming to pass right in front of her. The tension was finally broken when a high-pitched voice began barking from one of the eyes, although it sounded noticeably forced.
"Attention Rose Quartz! We have been directly ordered by Homeworld to bring you into custody for your transgressions against the Diamonds! Surrender peacefully or you and your comrades will be forced to cooperate." All of the gems recognized the voice a ruby, but something felt noticeably off about her voice.
"Are… are you reading from some kind of script?" asked Peridot.
"...That's…classified," the ruby responded after a VERY uncomfortable pause. It is a shame that they did not get to see said ruby hurriedly scrolling through dozens of text prompts that Homeworld enforces them to use in these high-level missions. It may have even made Lapis smile in the midst of being terrified for her very existence.
Steven stepped forward, feeling rather responsible for this meeting. "I've promised these Gems I'm not leaving Earth again. So you can just take your ships off this planet now!"
After a few more seconds of scrolling, the captain of the other ship took over in a much more natural tone. "Very well, then. Since you have denied your one peaceful opportunity to cooperate, we will have to use force!" At least this one did not sound she was reading from a prompt…
The invading rubies quickly followed through on their threat as the ships shut the blinding light off, landed, and each dispensed six eager looking rubies. Though each of them was shorter than Steven, all twelve of them had a murderous gleam in their vision spheres aimed right at the young boy. They summoned their respective weapons of knives, gauntlets, and one even wearing a set of brass knuckles on both of her hands. The main Crystal Gems all brought out their respective weapons, Steven sticking with his usual shield (just because he could summon the other weapons did not mean he could properly use them) and Peridot stood her ground while Lapis was paralyzed with fear. The only thing stopping her from flying away at this moment was her inability to feel anything but numbing terror on every inch of her body.
The rubies tried to circle them, but Steven just bolted through them with his shield to break their formation. With them distracted, the other Gems sans Lapis took the opportunity and advanced, each taking multiple of the diminutive adversaries. Peridot had to contend with two at once, but quickly managed to pull a several metal tools from the barn floor with her metal powers.
"Alright, you little clods," she exclaimed, levitating half a dozen pieces of hardware, "Which one of you wants to get hammered?" It is only a shame Peridot did not know enough of Earth slang to realize her choice of words.
The rubies scoffed at first, but quickly regretted making light of this threat as the tools bombarded them. Every time the tiny troops tried to smack the pieces into oblivion with their gauntlets, Peridot shifted them around to prepare another attack. She had managed to create a literal swarm of tools and was keeping the two preoccupied. Lapis was definitely impressed, at least as much as she could be given her emotional turmoil, but still took the opportunity to run to the safety of the barn while the battle spread around the countryside.
Steven was being pursued by a pair of rubies. Unlike that behemoth from the arctic, he knew tripping these two up would be a taller order. His speed may have been great, but his stamina and nerves were not holding out. He then turned on a dime and flung his shield directly at his pursuers, but they both ducked underneath it. Right as the two charged at his, knives at the ready, he conjured a bubble shield causing the duo to rebound. With them stopped in their tracks Steven stood tall, dispersed the protective sphere around him, and brought forth a new shield, ready to stand his ground since talking was clearly out of the question.
Each of the main Crystal Gems had three of the buggers to contend with, but all of them found ways to handle being outnumbered. Pearl was using her superior agility and flexibility to make hitting her a fruitless exercise, only made worse by the rubies' remarkably short temper. Amethyst was literally running circles around them with her spin dash and tying them up with her whip. In spite of the obvious danger in front of her, she was still smiling at seeing the little nuisances getting flung into each other like bowling pins and screaming for her to stand down. As if. Garnet, naturally, was owning her confrontation with her future vision. She knew every strike the rubies would make before they could move, and silently countered every maneuver they pulled. She even saw the three trying to fuse together to boost their odds, but Garnet simply charged right at their formation sending the trio flying in different directions.
As the chaos reigned outside the barn, Lapis Lazuli was holding a quivering Pumpkin, both terrified by all the commotion and the prospect of a small Homeworld invasion. The gem inside was in a mix between terror that her worst fear was playing out right before her eyes and kicking herself for wasting so much time here when she could have been flying away from this oncoming madness.
"Why did I agree to spend so much time here?! I should have flown away when I had the chance!" She could only scold herself and watch the scattered brawls go on in the dead of night, praying that the Homeworld Gems would retreat or just surrender though the latter felt as likely to her as Steven committing arson for laughs. She wished there was some way she could help, but she could barely move an inch. She found herself looking at the floor, where she spotted one of Peridot's papers she worked on while she was gone…
Minutes passed as the rubies relentlessly fought the assembled Crystal Gems, all growing more desperate since their superior numbers were failing to the rebels' tactics and unorthodox fighting methods. Their tenacity was beginning to prevail, however, as they started using pattern recognition to gain an advantage over their opponents. Rubies may have highly underdeveloped intelligence, but they were all soldiers designed with the ability to whittle down opponents.
Steven, already drowsy from how late it was, was quickly losing steam as the two rubies continued to attack him. His mostly defensive style may have surprised them at first, but they were now pushing down on him with constant attacks and breaking through his guard. The adrenaline of the fight could only carry him so far and finally his defenses fell and one of the Gems landed a brutal hit to his face leaving him on the ground with a sore jaw.
"Steven!" yelled Garnet, briefly forgetting her opponents. Unfortunately, this gave the rubies enough time to pile on to each other and fuse into a singular gem that stood ten feet tall with three gems adorning her body. Garnet had no choice but to face the bigger threat and hope Steven could catch a second wind or someone could lend him a hand. Pearl and Amethyst were also distraught seeing their friend fall and rushed over letting their combatants follow. Soon a total of eight rubies surrounded the two desperate Gems, each of them fired up to defend Steven no matter what.
Peridot was actually still on top of her opponents, but was showing notable strain from using her abilities for a prolonged period of time. She kept inventing new patterns to throw off her foes, grabbing new tools to throw into the mix and throwing the occasional cutting remark to keep her foes too angry to develop a plan. She was counting on the other Gems intervening once they finished their respective brawls, but analyzing the circle of Gems on one side of her and Garnet squaring off against a grunt larger than her on the other put the situation into her perspective. With no backup coming anytime soon, Peridot needed to come up with a new plan. This would have to wait, however, since in the midst of her brainstorming the two finally knocked away her screwdrivers and hammers and socked her in the face at the same time.
"OW! My vision spheres!" she cried, realizing her plan would now involve a lot more direct combat which has never been her strong suit.
"You may have some new abilities because of this planet, but that won't save you or the other rebels! Now you can come quietly or we'll force you!"
The scientific gem knew she would never survive back on Homeworld as a full-blown traitor and affiliate to the only group to ever defy the Diamonds. So that left her with only one option; get on all fours and run away in the opposite direction while screaming at the top of her metaphorical lungs.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed as she scampered for her life, the two rubies completely unsure of what to make of her scene.
"Should we… chase after her? She stopped attacking us after all," asked one of the rubies.
"Nah, we're here for Rose Quartz, remember?" reminded her comrade, "Let's go help the others and then we'll get the peridot."
As the red menaces joined their allies in the fray against the other rebels, Peridot ran into the barn only to bump right into an irate Lapis, who was somehow managing to look ready to cower in a corner and slap someone senseless at the same time.
"Peridot, what is this?!" she asked, holding up a paper her barn-mate had written during her time away.
"It is the first page of a personal account of my emotions regarding your plan to evacuate Earth. I compiled it along with several essays detailing possible locations for refuge unlikely to be on Homeworld's radar, several charts and diagrams I made beforehand to fully determine my sentiments to make an informed decision, and a handful of crossword puzzles which I did to relieve stress. Why are you bringing this up now?!" she asked, clearly wondering where Lapis' priorities were.
"I read through this account and the gist of the thing is you're not leaving?! When were you going to mention this?"
"How about AFTER we're not being invaded by a gang of Homeworld grunts?!" she yelled, disbelieving how this was coming up NOW of all times.
The aquatic gem stared at the fight ahead. Despite being outnumbered twelve to four, the Crystal Gems were still holding their own. Steven had even caught his second wind and was acting as crowd control with his shield.
"The other Gems have it handled, but I need to know this. Are you staying on Earth or not?"
Peridot saw the answer Lapis wanted in her expression, she desperately did not want to be alone in space with no one but Pumpkin for company. As she remembered the battle behind her, however, she could not bring herself to be dishonest.
"Lapis, I've officially been a Crystal Gem for months now. I cannot just abandon the cause I've signed up for after all this time. This is my home and if Homeworld wants to create problems here, then it is my responsibility to stop them. I am sorry for this, Lapis Lazuli, but I refuse to go with you."
Heartbroken could not even describe how Lapis felt hearing those last words. Here she was thinking she at least had one gem behind her. She knew Steven and the others would stay, this was their home for years now, but she thought Peridot was in the same position as her; a refugee looking to lay low in case Homeworld came around. It seems all this time had changed her, however, and now Lapis was the only one not willing to engage in such an uphill battle.
Without another word Lapis took out her wings and soared into the air, summoning all the water from the lake to surround and lift the barn behind her. She shut her eyes, hoping to drown out the fight still dragging on beneath her and to avoid looking back. Instead it only made it easier for her to hear Peridot, screaming as loud as possible from dozens of feet below her.
"Fine! Just go then! If you're so willing to abandon everyone who cares about you then leave! I spent hundreds of years on Homeworld, Lapis! I know this isn't an easy conflict to win! For all I know it may be impossible, but my sentiments are with Earth for however long I can keep this world safe from them!"
Lapis hovered in midair, the barn trailing a few feet below her on a floating ring of water. The fighting on the ground had ceased as they noticed the now airborne barn. Even the rubies stood still, utterly stupefied by what was going on. The flying gem tightened her fists as all the anxiety in her came to the surface.
"I already told you I don't want to get caught in another war!" she screamed, water now pouring from her eyes. "Every time something like this comes along, I just get used for someone else's benefit! I'm tired of all the chaos! You think I'm happy doing this?! I love this planet, even after all the pain I've been through! But I hate being the victim even more… That's all I've been for so long."
Steven wanted to leap into the air to comfort his ailing friend. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl all had words stuck in their throats, all of them wanting to say something, anything, to calm her down. Peridot, however, had her own retort for Lapis.
"THAT IS THE DUMBEST REASONING YOU COULD POSSIBLY HAVE, YOU CLOD! You honestly think you're helpless?! Is that some kind of joke, because if so your humor is beyond comprehension! I'm not sure if you are aware of your own abilities because by all accounts you are FAR more dangerous than almost anything Homeworld can throw at you! You possess the ability to control any and all water, which makes up the majority of this entire world! You created a tower stretching farther than the atmosphere with almost no effort! You restrained an immensely powerful fusion by yourself and kept it contained for months! You're holding several tons in the air right now without even trying! How STUPID can you possibly be in this situation? Lapis, you shouldn't be scared of Homeworld. Homeworld should be scared of you!"
Lapis Lazuli's mouth could have reached the ground had her form physically allowed it. Her entire body went slack, and her wings flapping were the only sign she had not lost consciousness. Peridot's scolding words sunk into her brain and the fearful haze crowding her thoughts began to clear, but the green firebrand was not done.
"Let me make one matter clear. I understand your previous incapacitations were all caused by circumstances outside your control. From what I've heard, you were ambushed by an overzealous Crystal Gem and then put in the mirror. When you protested your case on Homeworld, no one listened to your pleas out of stubbornness. When you first returned to Homeworld, you were brought along as an informant against your will. With the entire Malachite incident, you chose to act as you did out of a selfless desire to stop Jasper and only broke after months of unrelenting mental anguish. But now is a different set of circumstances. In those instances, it was someone else making you the victim. Here it is squarely you, Lapis. I in no way blame you for the past, Lapis. That would be so illogical that the only proper reaction to that theory would be to repeatedly slam my head into the nearest hard surface until that pain was greater than that stupefying idiocy on display. I will blame you for this one, however. Now you are assuming you are the victim when, as you are proving right now, you have little reason to fear Homeworld could harm you. So, are you going to force yourself into the same role you claim to despise so much? Or are you going to change your position to something more your liking?" Peridot crossed her arms and stared above her, waiting for the decision.
The Crystal Gems and the Homeworld rubies were all silent under the moonlight and the growing shadow of the lifted barn as the flying Lapis was lost in thought. The more Peridot's words sunk into her system, the harder it was to feel anything other than her own turmoil. The fear of Homeworld's wrath was still yelling at her to leave only now it was met by protests that demanded her to take action. After everything she had been through today, all the emotional growth and regression that the past several hours had delivered, Lapis Lazuli made her final decision. She raised her hands, signaling the barn to fly above her. Everyone's eyes were glued as she stayed motionless, eyes closed and arms outstretched. Her face was the picture of stoicism, devoid of all emotion. Then she flung her arms towards the ground and-
A thunderous crash rang out. The barn and the watery platform supporting it slammed straight into the rubies' ships, destroying them under a mountain of assembled junk and several thousand gallons of liquid. The entire assembly was floored, jaws reaching for the dirt and hands slack. The only one unaffected by the air of bafflement was Peridot, who bore her typical smug smile that followed when her theories proved correct.
With their transportation and only means of contacting reinforcements gone, the assembled rubies felt all the fire fade. They were completely stranded here. At the very least there were no more protocol to study as one of the rubies, one of the pilots of the now demolished vessels, acted in a rather undignified manner.
"EVERYONE RUN AWAY!" The circle of rubies broke apart in a frenzy, forgetting their weapons and fearing that the same gem was going to pulverize them too. The Crystal Gems, after recovering from the shock, used their panic to their advantage and quickly began pursuing them. Each of them darted off, poofing their frenetic opponents with ease as they made a hasty getaway. Some may call it dishonorable to attack an opponent who laid down their weapons, but the group was not going to press their chances considering what happened the last time a group of these undersized soldiers were left to their own devices. One by one the rubies were shield-bashed, speared, whipped or punched back into their respective gems and bubbled by one of the four, who were all relieved that this nighttime skirmish was finally over.
Lapis Lazuli, despite being the hero of the hour, was still flying with a disoriented expression as if even she was not aware of her actions. She slowly descended back to Earth, her expression never changing as what she had done sunk in. The other Gems, however, were kind enough to remind her.
"Lapis, that was incredible! You saved us!" cheered Steven, holding a pair of pink bubbles containing rubies.
"I must say, that was rather unorthodox but highly effective. With no way to reach Homeworld, they completely panicked. We greatly appreciate the help," added Pearl, holding three rubies in translucent white orbs.
Amethyst and Garnet both beamed at her, each holding three rubies of their own. Peridot merely walked over to her companion, noticing the rather distant expression she had, and patted her on the back regardless.
"Lapis, do you know what this means?"
"…It means I have to wear a star somewhere, right?"
The others all laughed at her response, but also realized that the gem was going to need some time to adapt to this change. As for Lapis herself, she was one part giddy to have assisted all the Gems she had come to appreciate this day and anxious that now Homeworld really would put a target on her back.
And with all that said done, Lapis and Peridot stay on Earth this time! Which means of course I get the blatant excuse to write more of two of my favorite characters being hilarious. Come back next time where the new Crystal Gems settle in.
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave a review!