And now, the Crystal Gems learn that they have the head honcho of the Diamonds after them. Fun times!
It took several minutes for the new pearl's words to sink in. All of the joy and warmth of their home was gone and replaced with pure dread. Steven, on the other hand, was stumped on something.
"Wait, who's White Diamond?" he asked, which caused White Pearl to literally look down at him with her eye. Her expression and stance, while never changing, gave off a disturbing amount of arrogance.
"White Diamond is the grand architect of the entire, glorious gem empire. She is responsible for conceiving and creating every one of us. She is also greatly displeased with the failure of Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond in capturing the traitorous Rose Quartz responsible for shattering Pink Diamond."
"If you want Rose, then you're out of luck," responded Garnet, "She's…no longer with us."
"Really? Because we have recorded footage of the battle. We clearly saw someone use Rose Quartz's shield with her unique insignia on it. So that means you either present her immediately or have lying to a personal delegate of White Diamond added to your charges."
Steven once again felt his temper flare up, a nasty side-effect of his recent repeated run-ins with Homeworld, and brandished the shield without any prompting.
"You were watching me," he remarked, "But I'm not Rose Quartz. I lied to Yellow and Blue in the trial. Happy?"
"So we'll have to add perjury to your crimes then," remarked White Pearl without missing a beat, "Very well then. Is that your admission of surrender, Rose?"
"Did you not just hear him, you freak?! He's not Rose so shut up and get out of our house already!" yelled Amethyst as she summoned her whip. The cracked envoy actually began to snicker at the threat.
"Oh my, it seems you've also been harboring defective gems! You're just trying to be the most wanted gem in the universe aren't you?" she asked Steven condescendingly before walking towards Amethyst, "And it seems she's been feeding you delusions about having any form of importance or value despite your flaws. Such abuse."
"I'LL SHOW YOU ABUSE, YOU-" she began to holler, but suddenly two more figures emerged from the warp stream. Two lithe gems dressed entirely in what appeared to be black jumpsuits with only their grey hands, feet, faces and a single white diamond emblem on their waist, making them appear as if shrouded in shadows. They were, shockingly, completely bald and had their faces stuck in a permanent scowl. Without making any audible footsteps they rushed right at Amethyst with two jet-black daggers in hand and struck her down. She could not even fight back before she was a helpless purple gemstone clattering on the floor.
"And now your defective quartz has seen what a proper gem can do thanks to my onyx bodyguards." One of the onyxes held Amethyst's gem in her hand and held her knife over it, a clear warning to the Crystal Gems that one false move would end their friend's life.
The others were struck speechless by how blisteringly fast the two black gems could move. If it were not for the black roundish stones on their bodies, they might have guessed they were some sort of literal killing machine.
"That's enough out of you! Put Amethyst down and leave our home now or you'll regret it!" commanded Garnet as she stood several heads over White Pearl. Even still the slightly damaged gem was not intimidated.
"Well, it seems you've been fused for so long you've suffered some sort of mental damage. That must explain such delusional behavior if you honestly think you have the power to be making any sort of command."
Garnet all but growled as she felt the desire to either freeze or burn the belligerent pearl only to be reminded of Amethyst still being held hostage.
"Now if we can act civilized from here on out, let us precede with the negotiations. Where would you prefer to conduct this business, Rose?" She then turned towards Steven, never changing her stance. Steven reluctantly put his shield away and led her to the porch outside. All gems on both sides followed him out with the onyx gems pushing their way out first. Even still Steven tried to keep a level head and gestured to a chair for White Pearl to sit in. Surprisingly she did so, though she apparently had to keep her arms outstretched at all times. Steven took the seat opposite of her as the congregation of Crystal Gems watched on. The onyx guards stood in front of all of them acting as a sort of buffer.
"Alright, if you want to talk then we can talk," started Steven, "What do you want?"
"I want only what White Diamond wants and she wants you arrested and shattered for the shattering of Pink Diamond."
"Why is she only getting involved now? She's angry with the other diamonds or something?"
"Correct. Yellow and Blue are too emotionally involved with the matter to make effective decisions. This is why, in her boundless wisdom, White has decided to take a personal interest in this endeavor. It is an honor to be the subject of her attention."
"Thanks…" Steven muttered to himself sarcastically, a sentiment that was shared by most of his family. "If we're going to talk, I want you to let Amethyst go first."
"You would honestly hold up negotiating your own safety to ensure the safety of a defective quartz?" asked White Pearl, actually managing to sound slightly shocked. Steven merely nodded and folded his arms, implying he would not go into any further discussion unless his demand was met. She eventually relented and had the onyx holding Amethyst's stone to place it on the ground so she could reform in her own time.
"There. Your servant is no longer in any imminent danger. Satisfied?"
"She's not me servant, she's my family! If you want to talk, you don't insult them anymore or you can just leave!"
"Oh my…You've gotten awfully sentimental after all this time. And here I thought you were a ruthless apostate dedicated to tearing down the Diamond Authority. Your edge has most definitely dulled over the ages, Rose Quartz!"
"And stop calling me that! My name is Steven!"
"Steven, don't let her rile you up. You need to keep a level head," advised Garnet from behind her guard. The boy heeded her words and took a deep breath.
"And Rose never wanted to destroy the diamonds, she just didn't want a colony on Earth. I'm not proud of what she did in the past, but it's done now." He could not help but glance down at his gemstone at the thought.
"Whatever rationalization you have made to justify your actions does not concern me. All I am concerned with is if you will return to Homeworld and face the consequences of your crimes in peace," responded the damaged diplomat. Steven may not have been a savvy strategist, but he knew enough to realize she just laid out her demands.
"And what if I say no?"
"Well then, White Diamond will have no choice but to obliterate you and your entire base. You and all of your insurgents will surely be shattered."
That instantly put everyone on eggshells. Some like Pearl and Bismuth steeled themselves, clearly ready for a fight. Others like Adamite and Lapis were stupefied by such a blatant and morbid threat. And still others like Topaz and the Off-Colors began shaking at the foreboding possibility of losing their lives.
"WHAT?! You can't do that!" shouted Steven in a panic, his heartbeat increasing. White Pearl looked as pleased as ever and actually chuckled as if she heard an entertaining joke.
"Well of course we can annihilate you, Rose! We have vastly superior technology, armies waiting at the ready to capture you, and an enormous list of charges you have to answer for!"
"You mean besides the Pink Diamond thing?! What else is there?!"
"Well, White did compile a list of all the crimes you and your associates have committed, so I will enlighten you. For a start there is the 248,309 gems shattered by rebel forces during your original rebellion."
Steven did a massive double-take at that number. He knew Rose had to make some sacrifices in her fight for Earth, but to hear that hundreds of thousands of gems died thanks to her was almost too much to take. He was not the only one aghast by the statistic, either. Just about everyone outside of Garnet, Pearl or Bismuth was some combination of appalled, blown away or disbelieving. Even Adamite looked gobsmacked, apparently hoping she misheard it. One glance at Pearl, though, told her all she needed to know.
"And that's not including Pink Diamond, mind you."
Steven, and most of the other gems, did not want to hear the rest but they held their breath for White Diamond's messenger to continue.
"Bringing in some more recent transgressions, there is the imprisonment of almost one hundred Homeworld soldiers and the shattering of one aquamarine."
That got Steven to look away in regret. He was doing better than Topaz, however, as she began shuddering profusely. One of the onyx guards noticed her anxiety and forcefully pulled her out to the front. White Pearl quickly understood the situation.
"Ah yes, this is the one responsible for that crime. Perhaps you would be willing to turn over such a recent acquisition if it meant potential freedom for your more valuable subordinates?"
Topaz suddenly went from terrified to outright overwrought as she outright broke apart over the suggestion. Now separated into two slightly smaller, near identical gems, the topaz with the right-facing gem ran off the porch and onto the sand in tears with her left-gemmed lover chasing after her begging for her to calm down.
Steven moved to stand up and go after them, but White Pearl was not having it.
"Are you leaving already? You haven't given me any concrete answer."
"I'm going to check up on my friend first! And no, I'd never sell her out just to save me!"
"No Steven, you need to focus on this. I can go talk to them if you want," offered Garnet which he graciously accepted. The black gems allowed her to pass through and before long she was jogging out of sight.
"Back on the topic of your more recent offenses, there is that escape from your trial. You commandeered personal property of Blue Diamond herself, damaging it and the building in the process. There is also the destruction of several sentry robonoids that, as I can now tell, you did to save several off-color gems for some unfathomable reason."
The foursome of former Homeworld refugees clearly did not take well to the comment. Even Padparadscha frowned at such a statement and had to hold back a remark about how the inquisitive pearl was being an offensive jerk, but bit her tongue. The others were also getting sick of the Homeworld gem's impudent attitude and Steven was no exception.
"But above all that, Rose, White Diamond wants you shattered because you are the biggest threat to our glorious empire. A single infinitesimal mistake that somehow undid so much of our work."
"She stopped one colony from being made! How does that make her any kind of a threat?!" shrieked Pearl, looking half ready to storm the table until one of the onyxes brought a dagger to her face. White Pearl resumed her speech.
"Your defective pearl raises a point there, Rose. Logic dictates that one failure out of thousands of successes warrants no intervention. But by that same margin, your failure is also an outlier. Never before have we witnessed a gem so defiant and so dangerous that she actually attacked her own diamond before. It was so unthinkable that even White was disturbed when she first heard the news. Hence why she along with the other two diamonds took such drastic action in ending your rebellion before it could become a large-scale epidemic."
"Epidemic? No offense to Rose Quartz herself, but I sincerely doubt she would topple your entire infrastructure," commented Peridot.
"Ah, but outliers are a troublesome matter. They defy all logic and throw off the rest of the data and as such are usually excluded. We did just that with the final solution to your original rebellion and, if you do not surrender, we will have to do the same with your current band before it gets out of hand."
That statement made the entire group fall silent. Any and all thoughts outside of dread were gone. Lapis, despite feeling a sickening chill in the air, spoke up.
"So that's it? You're just going to have the diamonds blast us all to oblivion without a fight?"
"Of course not, that would be a remarkable waste of time and resources for the Diamond Authority. We have other means to dispose of you."
While that spread a great sense of relief between them, it was still clear they were not out of the woods yet. Steven took a moment to breathe before speaking.
"So…If you're not going to do that stunt that corrupted the gems like last time, then what are you going to do?"
"First of all, even if I possessed the information of how White Diamond planned to retaliate, why would I share any of it with you? Giving away such information to our greatest enemy would be an incomprehensibly illogical move. And secondly, what do you mean by corruption?"
The Crystal Gems all looked puzzled, but for two different reasons. The longtime members of the group were perplexed at her lack of insight while the newer members were all perturbed by the very mention of corrupted gems.
While that was going on, Garnet eventually found the pair of panicked yellow gems sitting on the far end of the beach in walking distance of the Big Donut. The right-gemmed topaz was still bawling her eyes out while her left-gemmed partner tried to assuage her fear and guilt with sweet nothings in her ear. The taller fusion could not help but chuckle at their relationship. She decided to stay back and observe.
"Come on, Topaz, you don't need to cry anymore," assured the left-gemmed topaz, but her partner was having none of it.
"But Topaz, this is all MY fault! I got so angry that I shattered Aquamarine and now all those gems are in trouble!" She broke into a new round of blubbering. Her better half was not deterred.
"You weren't the only one who hated her, Topaz. I couldn't stand her as much as you and you know that."
"B-But now Steven and all those nice gems are in trouble because of it…I don't want to lose them or you!"
"Trust me, we were in trouble long before you got here," interjected Garnet much to the yellow duo's surprise. How they had missed the dark red, eight-foot tall fusion with the most peculiar afro ever coifed was beyond them, but they accepted her company.
"Is that pearl still there?" asked both of the topazes in unison causing Garnet to chuckle again.
"Yes, but Steven seems to keeping the situation under control and the others are there in case she tries something." She then turned to the right-gemmed half of the couple.
"Tell me why you're so upset."
"I-I just got carried away with Aquamarine s-so we shattered her so she couldn't come after us, b-but now White Diamond wants to hurt everyone and-"
"She's putting all the blame on herself," interrupted the left topaz, "Because she's always been the emotional one. It's much easier to stay composed when we're fused, but she just keeps kicking herself over this."
"You know, you two sound so much like Ruby and Sapphire it's almost scary. One who keeps her head down and the other wears her heart on her sleeve." The topazes were not sure how to take the compliment.
"Umm…thanks?" responded the left half.
"You're two different gems?" asked the right. Garnet held up their hands to reveal the two different, yet equally hued, stones. The pair could hardly believe it looking at her.
"I know it might seem weird or even wrong to you two, but it's true. Ruby and Sapphire decided long ago they weren't going to let Homeworld's rules keep them apart. I've been around for thousands of years and through all the turmoil I've always been grateful to still be together. But what you two need to know is that you're part of something bigger now. It isn't you two going up against the diamonds by yourself. I promise that as long as you are on Earth nothing will break you up unless you both decide to go your separate ways."
Both topazes said nothing, but shared a tearful glance at each other before hugging Garnet tightly and thanking her for the confidence boost. They wordlessly held hands and came together into their fused form, now able to look Garnet in the eye. The two then began their walk back to the house, wondering if the negotiations were going well in their absence.
The tension among the group seemed dissipate for the moment as everyone present was at a loss. Since White Pearl had no idea what corruption Steven was referring to, he naturally explained how the final strike of the Diamond Authority had essentially mutated many of the rebellion, and several Homeworld gems still on the planet, into feral beasts with little trace of their original selves. The pearl seemed actually surprised for the first time.
"Well, I must admit that was an unexpected side-effect of their assault the diamonds were not aware of. I will have to inform White Diamond of this in my briefing."
"So…what did you think I meant by corruption?" asked Steven out of innocent curiosity, unaware of the can of worms he just opened.
"I was under the assumption that you were referring to yourself, Rose Quartz. If there was any corrupting force affecting our empire, it would most certainly be you."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" questioned Pearl in a very flat, steely tone. She, along with most of the other observers, were already tensing their shoulders and balling their fists in anger with that one statement alone.
"That the real corruption to gems is from your appalling disregard for the proper place and position of gems."
As she continued, she actually lost her vapid smile as anger began to take hold. "White Diamond takes enormous care and consideration in the formation of every gem and how it fits into society. Your tactless approach of letting gems act however they wish is a disgrace to everything she and the other diamonds have worked for. Your original rebellion was proof of how flawed this system was, and yet it is clear you haven't changed your ways."
"Funny how flawed we were, and yet you're so threatened by us," blustered Bismuth.
"This attitude is exactly what I'm talking about! White Diamond designed the bismuth series to be approachable, efficient architects and yet you have warped this one into a defiant shell of her true self! You harbor broken and useless gems, forcing them to continue their existence instead of properly ending their torment."
"And by that, you mean shattering, right?!" asked Adamite, her usual incurious nature replaced with slowly-growing rage.
"And on top of that, you seem to be under the dangerous delusion you are somehow helping these corrupted gems! As if your scandalous, perverted ways are for the betterment of gem kind! Even after all this time, you maintain your arrogance and demented mentality! Your shattering might be the key to finally stopping such a perilous mindset. Now…I will ask you one last time. Will you see reason and surrender yourself to the Diamond Authority? Or will you prolong the inevitable by putting up a fight?"
Steven Universe merely sat there in response. He could not bear himself to speak or even look White Pearl in the eye out of fear for doing something reckless. Hatred bubbled in his stomach and even he felt his ringing as her tirade on why everything he believed in was wrong and disgusting. He could only imagine that this was how his mother on Homeworld so long ago. Before he could answer, however, someone else made their presence known.
"That's enough out of you!" shouted Greg as he stormed out of the window he had been watching out of the entire time. He marched right through the peanut gallery, shoved past the onyx guards and stood over White Pearl.
"All you've done since you got here is insult my son, attack our friends and talk about how wonderful and amazing your diamond is supposed to be. If your diamond is so smart, could she maybe figure out how to tone down your ego and actually listen for a change?! Why should he do anything you ask of him?! And if that's not enough reason, you are the most insufferable person I've ever met and you should've met my scumbag former manager who treats women like cattle and used me as his personal meal ticket! I honestly don't know what gems have for a brain, but all I've seen is that you're the defective one! You honestly think killing gems just because they don't come out exactly how you like is helping them? That's cruel AND insane! Rose may not have been perfect, but she's a million times better than you. Now I want you and your cronies off my property before any more trouble happens."
The cracked envoy was rendered speechless for a moment. She then turned to Steven and asked him a single question.
"You allow an organic life form in your base of operations?"
Steven nodded proudly, impressed at his father's valor. The others could not help but be impressed with his fortitude. White Pearl had a slightly different reaction.
She burst into a fit of hysterical laughter made all the more uncanny by her never changing her facial expression or pose.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh my word, that's the most outlandish thing I've seen all day! What, is it supposed to be your servant?! Or have you actually stooped so low as to form a bond with one of them?! AHAHAHAHAHAHA, OH MY WORD THAT IS HILARIOUS!"
Her cacophonous laughter was stopped, however, by the now thoroughly-fuming Pearl who charged through her guards so fast even they did a double-take and planted a punch right in her face. The blow was so hard it caused her to break right through the porch railings. She was launched clear over the Sun Incinerator and was finally forced to move her arms as she rolled haphazardly into the sand until she reached the shore. All she could do once she came to a stop was look up with a small frown on her face.
"That man happens to be a dear friend of mine. I don't appreciate you insulting him or anyone else I love," responded Pearl as she stood on the table. Steven's jaw had dropped and his eyes were filled with stars.
White Pearl was no doubt incensed, but she still could not move her face freely. Instead she let her hatred show in three little words.
"Shatter her. Now."
The onyx guards moved to shank her from behind with the same blinding speed as before only to have Steven catch them both with his shield just in time. For the first time since they came here, the shadowy gems looked alarmed as Steven glared up at them. White Pearl could scarcely believe that "Rose" could match the speed of two onyxes in that condensed form. Her incredulity only grew as Garnet and Topaz walked up to her, the former picking her up by her waist and carrying her under her arms.
"I think it's time you go," spoke the perma-fusion as she walked past the still stunned onyxes. She delivered a quick electric shock to both of them, forcing them back into their stones as passed. Topaz picked them both up and followed Garnet inside where she put the now shell-shocked pearl on the warp pad along with her poofed escorts.
"Tell White Diamond that the Crystal Gems don't surrender. We never give up without a fight and we aren't letting you anywhere near Steven again."
White Pearl merely stood up and resumed her usual pose despite the sand still coating her body and her hair buns being ruined. She kept the same small frown on her face, but it was apparent she was eager to see all of the rebellion get their dues. She silently beamed away as the rest of the group filed inside. Amethyst, who had reformed shortly after the negotiations began, looked almost as dismayed as the fleeing pearl.
"Garnet…does this mean-"
"Pretty much. We need to get ready for another Homeworld attack."
And once again, another battle is on the horizon. What is White Diamond's plan? How will the Crystal Gems prepare themselves? Will any more guest stars appear? Find out next time!
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave questions or comments in the review section!