And now for the consequences I built up so much last time! Yay, payoff!
When the rest of the Crystal Gems reformed, they awoke to the last sight they could have imagined; Steven and Topaz politely talking on the beach with seemingly no sign of the massive battle that had just taken place save for a cage full of frozen Homeworld troops still stuck by the cliff and numerous gem destabilizers laying all around them.
"Hey guys!" he greeted the resurrected gems as they bafflingly stared at Topaz who was doing her best to look embarrassed and nonthreatening despite her hulking stature.
"Steven, what happened? Where's Aquamarine?" inquired Pearl as she placed her hands on his shoulders. The boy merely glanced over to the spot where the shards of the former gem commander rested on the sand. The others, even the likes of Garnet and Adamite, looked stunned.
"Well…I guess that ends that," shrugged Lapis, having no idea what to say. They could already tell Topaz was the one responsible, but the whole ordeal still left them drained. Peridot simply went inside and shut off the force field and soon all of the Crystal Gems save for Topaz, who continued to twiddle her thumbs on the beach, as well as Adamite and Cinnabar filed into the beach house.
What felt like hours to Steven passed as he recollected everything that happened after Aquamarine's surprise attack left all of them poofed. He could hardly make out any fine details, but he remembered beating every single gem by himself. Somehow he took down a small platoon of around twenty soldiers singlehandedly. Amethyst, naturally, was the first to give her thoughts.
"That. Was. FREAKING AWESOME!" She proceeded to tackle-hug him in her exuberance. The others soon followed.
"I knew you packed a punch, but not that much!" boasted Bismuth as she ruffled his hair.
"You showed those ruddy muddy clods whose boss!" cheered Peridot.
Pearl could only look on, clearly trying to hold back tears though if they listened closely they could hear her saying how proud his mother would be. Lapis also hugged him, jokingly adding how he saved her again. The only one not getting into the celebration, however, was Steven himself as he felt oddly uncomfortable. Garnet, observant as usual, walked up to him last and rested her hands on his shoulder.
"Steven, I want you to know this is not something you should be ashamed of. You tried talking, but you knew that wasn't working. You did what you had to, and I am so proud of you for it. You really aren't that silly little boy who would beg to get brought along to missions anymore. You're a real Crystal Gem who fought to save his home and his family. Never forget that today you were a hero. Sometimes the hero has to get violent, but that doesn't change that you did it for a great cause."
Steven was left literally starry-eyed by her words and finally put on a smile as he felt relief, warmth and a twinge of satisfaction out of his job well-done. Finding his old jubilance again, he walked outside to find the other three gems sitting outside on the beach. Cinnabar was entertaining herself by passing a fireball between her fingers, Adamite was simply staring at the ocean and Topaz seemed lost on what to do her with freedom as she was just awkwardly poking the sand.
"Hey!" he greeted from the porch, "Aren't you going to come in?"
Adamite looked back, a touch surprised at his openness. "Are you not worried about us in your dwelling after our altercation? We caused severe damage to your base."
"But it's all fixed now!" he rebutted, "Besides, you two really helped us back there. As far as I'm concerned, that's enough to make you Crystal Gems too!"
Cinnabar happily stood up and ran straight up the stars, leaving a literal trail of smoke in her wake. Topaz, although relieved, still seemed apprehensive as she followed behind the scarlet arsonist. Adamite stayed right where she was and simply stared at him, wondering how he could trust her so plainly. Then she merely closed her eyes and gave a rare smile.
"It seems you really are full of surprises."
She then made her way indoors where she already found her comrade of so many years chatting with Lapis by the fire pit.
Eventually the new Crystal Gems, now sitting at nine members strong, all gathered together to celebrate their victory over Homeworld. Steven brought out juice boxes with his usual playfulness even though no one in their party outside of him needed liquids. Nevertheless, Cinnabar tried drinking for herself and seemed to enjoy which greatly pleased Amethyst.
"Great, finally someone I can chow down with," remarked the purple scrapper, "I can stop trying to convince Pearl after all this time."
"Excuse me if I find the act of putting foreign substances in my body uncomfortable," refuted the gem in question, "I would rather pass the time with something more engaging like laundry or crossword puzzles."
"Boy, and I thought Peri and I could get dull," joked Lapis, much to the amusement of Amethyst and Bismuth. The slender gem merely pouted, but their merriment was broken up by Adamite.
"While it is fascinating to observe your… unique relationships, there is still a serious quandary weighing on my mind; who was aboard that fighter that attacked the enemy fleet in orbit?"
"No clue," responded Bismuth, "But I sure am glad for their help. We'd probably be rubble if it weren't for them."
"I suppose you make a logical point. Since they were an asset in your skirmish, perhaps their identity is irrelevant."
"I wouldn't say that," suggested Garnet, causing many eyebrows to be raised in response.
"What, do you have some grand prediction of who they are? Are they going to save us from certain shattering again?" jested Peridot with her usual swagger, only to be rendered speechless as the very ship in question landed on the beach right in front of their house. Topaz looked absolutely stunned while the rest of the group looked knowingly outside.
"Nope. They'll show up soon," was all Garnet said before she, along with most of the other gems followed her outside to greet their allies. Peridot was left hanging her head in shame besides a fully stupefied Topaz who was babbling incoherently in confusion.
"Darn future vision," the green gem mumbled as she trudged outside. Topaz followed suit, not wanting to be alone in the house.
Soon the entirety of the new Crystal Gems crowded out on their patio to find a large yellow craft of obvious gem design deploying its landing gear. Before long a panel slip up revealing an odd gem that seemed to be conjoined twins. A single pair of red legs diverged into two bodies sporting a single arm and identical faces which both lit up when they caught sight of Steven.
"Steven, it's you!" spoke up the left head.
"We've finally made it!" finished the right head. Steven was already running down the stairs to hug them with a humongous grin on his face.
"Rutile! You're okay!" he cheered as he reached them and wrapped his arms around their waist. The twins were soon joined by another colorful figure; a pink and purple figure with gems on her collar and navel. She was also demonstrating clear anxiety as both of her pairs of arms were clamped together.
"Oh my, that was quite a commotion," she fretted to no one in particular, "I hope we finally put some distance between us and-"
Before she could ramble further, Steven called her name and embraced her as well. Rhodonite instantly brightened up seeing Steven and wrapped her lower arms around him.
"What a nice place…" drawled on the next figure from the ship. A massive caterpillar like gem which, unbeknownst to the majority of the Crystal Gems, had six components. Steven merely ran up to her with the same joyful expression and hugged her face.
"Fluorite! I can't believe you're here! You made it!"
"Well, that last shake up got a bit dicey. Those enemy fighters really knew their stuff," replied the actual captain of the ship. Much to the absolute astonishment of Steven and his friends it was none other than Lars. Now decked out in a red and black ensemble and practically glowing with confidence, he hardly resembled the awkward standoffish teenager who was abducted months ago. The fact that his skin and hair were now a fluorescent pink were actually some of the least drastic changes.
"Steven, how do you know all these gems? How'd your friend get a hold of this ship?! HOW IS HE STILL ALIVE?!" shouted Pearl as her brain practically short-circuited in light of so much new information. Lars, attempting to assuage the situation, moved forward to explain only to forget the gap between the opening of the ship and the ground. He fell flat on his face on the sand, prompting the last member of the Off-Colors to emerge.
"Watch your step, Captain Lars!" warned Padparadscha, the petite sapphire with the same dutiful tone as always.
"Thanks Pap…" muffled Lars begrudgingly before Steven helped him up. The tension seemed to drop at his comical fall. The five entered the temple along with the rest of the gems, all of them glad to have their arduous journey to Earth finally behind them.
You almost had to feel sorry for the Violet Agate Facet-6R4C Cut-3XA. She had the unenviable task of reporting her absolute disaster of a mission to Yellow Diamond herself. Standing in front of the colossal matriarch who was clearly getting more and more upset with every dour detail she spoke, Violet could practically feel her chances of leaving with her life, let alone her rank, dwindle away with each word. After too many agonizing moments to count, the briefing was over and Yellow let out a long sigh.
"So let me get this straight. Your commanding officer, a personal member of Blue Diamond's court, was shattered by Rose Quartz herself. You not only failed to bring arrest her, but you also lost almost one hundred soldiers to the enemy force despite having superior numbers and firepower. Almost every ship in your brigade was destroyed by a stolen gem craft, which has been pursued for some time now. And on top of that, at least one of your officers turned traitor and is now assisting the rebellion. Is that correct?"
"Y-y-yes my Diamond," stuttered the agate, "W-we caught all of this on s-surveillance once we escaped the enemy craft, but we had practically n-n-no survivors of the a-attack. I-I assumed you would rather p-preserve any remaining resources and information rather than make a b-b-blind attack."
The yellow matriarch then rose from her throne. Her posture was as perfect as always, but now the air radiated with pure, hardly contained fury. Violet could have sworn she saw sparks of energy bounce off her skin. She dare not shut her eyes out of fear of agitating her Diamond further, but she wished she did not have to see her own death.
"That will be all, agate."
Violet could hardly believe it, but she silently thanked every star she could think of and left after a typical salute. As she practically ran out of Yellow's personal chamber, Yellow Pearl could still feel the loathing rippling out of Yellow. And she had no choice but to stay in the same room as her in preparation from her next order. Before she could even ask what to do next, her communicator went off. She checked the caller and immediately began shaking in horror.
"M-m-m-m-My Diamond, y-y-y-you have someone who wants to speak to you."
"Refuse it, Pearl. I'm in no mood to talk," rebutted Yellow as she returned to her throne and began trying to calm herself down. She did not get very far before her Pearl, now quivering like never before, walked up to her.
"I-I-I hate to i-i-impose, My Diamond, but I think you r-r-r-really need to-"
"What part of refuse don't you understand?!" shouted Yellow, her usual placid expression gone, "I don't care what some uppity zircon has to complain about! Unless it's a serious emergency, I don't want to hear it! Who's so important that they need my immediate attention?!"
"White Diamond…" squeaked out her pearl in the meekest voice she could muster. Her Diamond, for a rare moment, was utterly lost for words.
"S-Should I still refuse the call now?"
"REFUSE HER AND YOU'LL BE SHATTERED!" erupted Yellow sending a bolt of energy to her feet in panic. Yellow Pearl leapt into the air to avoid the bolt, giving her master some valuable time to recompose herself.
"I'm sorry, Pearl. Go and handle any minor complaints that come in while I converse with White."
While she would normally be thrilled to essentially be given the reins by her boss, and stupefied to actually get an apology from her, Yellow Pearl was far too shaken to feel any gratitude and merely left with a typical salute after giving up the prism-shaped communicator and accepting the call. That left the fearless matriarch by herself gingerly holding the tiny prism as if her life depended on it. In seconds a large screen appeared before her showing the face of the supreme matriarch of Homeworld.
"Hello, Yellow. So glad you could join us," greeted White with an unusually jovial tone. Yellow knew not to put her guard down, however, as she could still tell something was amiss. A second smaller screen soon appeared showing Blue Diamond. She was taking the meeting even worse than the more obstinate Yellow as she was already close to panicking. White, as usual, paid their discomfort no mind.
"I have recently learned that you two sent a small fleet to the planet of the fallen rebellion. According to your report, you were aiming to capture Rose Quartz, the gem responsible for shattering Pink Diamond, but even with your superior firepower and numbers you lost spectacularly. Is that correct?"
Blue was already beginning to shake as she struggled to hold back her tears. Yellow, already fearing the inevitable punishment, looked her superior in the eyes and held back the scream that was building in her throat long enough to answer.
"Yes White, that is correct. I have just been briefed of the outcome by one of the survivors of the expedition."
"Interesting…" commented White with that same smile, before her tone became harsher, "And yet there are a few details that I need to understand. Blue, was the gem in charge of this mission a high-ranking member of your court?"
"Y-y-yes White," responded the morose matriarch, "Aquamarine Facet-5W1E Cut-4XF. She was the responsible for apprehending Rose Quartz on an earlier mission, so she seemed to be the ideal candidate."
"Really? Because I understand she outright abandoned the battle to interrogate two innocuous gems. How does such a prominent gem make such an illogical and foolish mistake? I would expect such a paltry mistake from a common agate, but it was an aquamarine! And this is a major blunder for you too Blue. It is inexcusable to have such an incompetent gem in your court. Do you need some mentoring on how to properly select gems for your court, Blue?"
"N-n-n-no thank you, White. That is unnecessary and it would d-distract you from your duties," choked Blue in scarcely-contained horror. Even Yellow had to repress a shudder at the thought of being personally reeducated by White Diamond. The pale sovereign did not acknowledge their fear, but was assured that she gotten her point across. She then dropped her smile and all her usual cheery demeanor.
"From what I have seen, you two have rushed in headlong to this endeavor with no forethought. You have wasted our resources on a pointless vendetta that was resolved eons ago. If the rebellion somehow survived our final solution, then they should be easily dispatched of. And yet here you two are, Diamonds, the unstoppable force behind a universal campaign, wallowing in failure. I let the trial debacle slide since that was a private affair, but now your abrupt attack has left a small hole in our forces. One that will most certainly be noticed. It is a hole that reminds us not only does the rebellion still exist, it thrives. How long will it be before they start spreading their influence to colonized planets and leading a full-scale revolution?"
"But White, it wasn't even ten gems! We should have demolished them in an instant!"
"DID I ASK FOR YOUR INPUT, YELLOW?!" shrieked the ivory queen, her flawless composure cracking for an instant. Demure as she might be to most, she was still the head of a multi-galaxy spanning empire with millennia of experience wiping out any and all obstacles that prevented her further conquest.
"Besides, there's a flaw in your argument: If Rose Quartz and her group are so insignificant, how did they overpower a small fleet and almost a hundred troops?"
Yellow had to admit, with enormous shame, her superior had a point. Said superior thankfully readopted her graceful poise and spoke with a far gentler, but still commanding tone.
"The only positive consequence of this disaster is that it has enlightened me to an urgent matter: You two have become woefully incompetent. You have let emotions completely rule your judgment, and that is why you sent such a significant force without doing any form of proper investigation to gather information on Rose or how she has persisted for so long. You simply received a vague tip from an unknown entity and placed all your efforts into what, for all you know, could have been misinformation made to sabotage you. It is clear that now we have to retaliate. I cannot let such a disgrace to our empire go unpunished, but this time I will be personally overseeing the efforts."
Hearing that White would be directly involved with external affairs for the first time in even they did not know how long, the other two were deeply concerned. They dared not raise her anger again, but their expressions spoke for them.
"I see you are still letting your sentiments for Pink Diamond rule your judgments. This is exactly why I must get involved. Do either of you have any objections?"
"I-I-I want to avenge her…" whispered Blue, mustering all her courage as she did so, "I want t-to be the one who brings that g-gem in-"
"Really? After all this time you still weep and mourn her? You are supposed to be an incorruptible leader. Yet here you are sobbing like a frightened peon. Perhaps I should also oversee all your colonies if you are so unbalanced."
"No!" shouted Yellow, coming to her comrade's aid before she could hang herself with her words, "Blue has always been the sentimental one. You know this, White. She is more than capable of managing her colonies, but she has never fully gotten over Pink's shattering. She just needs more time."
Blue actually looked flustered from the comfort, but White was unamused.
"How considerate of you, Yellow. You claim to follow my example, yet here you are coddling her weakness and ensuring she will never move past this moping. I shall prepare to deal with the rebellion myself, but before I go I want you both to contemplate this question. If Pink Diamond was as wonderful as you claim, someone who needs so much time to be missed, how did a single gem shatter her? Frankly, logic would dictate she would hardly be missed if she really is that pathetic. I'll let you both consider this and I expect an answer when I speak to you again. That will be all."
White Diamond then shut off her communicator leaving Yellow and Blue to ponder the question she left them with. Or at least Blue would be if she were not silently boiling in misery and anger. Yellow, in a rare speechless moment, simply watched her fellow Diamond sob as she herself felt the need to cry without Blue's influence for the first time in ages.
Lars and the Off-Colors have arrived! Yay! Topaz can finally be a Crystal Gem! Yay! Adamite and Cinnbar are good guys now! Yay!
Downside to all this: White Diamond gets involved. How will her influence change things up? Find out next time!
Thank you all so much for reading! Please free free to leave a review!