Okay, this took a lot to pull off with school starting back up for me last week, but here it is! I hope you enjoy!
It did not take long for the Crystal Gems to assemble. Topaz immediately pulled back with her crew when she realized the scale of the invasion and the rest were called in thanks to their communicators. With everyone together under their forcefield, they could make a proper strategy in relative peace.
"Okay, we're dealing with a massive force here," said Garnet as she stood in front of a globe, "The best we can figure, we have about twenty major cities under attack."
"We have a way to counter this: Alexandrite," said Pearl, "With all of our additional abilities, she can be in twelve different places at once and can run at immense speeds to effectively react to nearby crises."
"The biggest issue is going to be collateral damage," added Garnet, "With them seemingly out to cause havoc, there will be a great deal of destruction already so we must try to not add to the carnage."
"While the three of us do this, we have jobs for the rest of you. Topaz, you and your crew need to fly to the best of your ability and take out any fighters that try coming near Beach City."
"Alright then," assured the yellow gems, separated and holding hands for the moment while their crew stood behind them. They were both aware this would be the most perilous mission they had yet, but they would rather be alone than let their new sanctuary be destroyed along with the accepting family they all shared.
"Peridot and Bismuth, you need to disable as many warp pads on Earth as you can. Peri's the most familiar with the technology and she'll need some backup in case you run into any resistance."
The two looked at each other resolutely. Bismuth changed one of her hands into an axe while Peridot flexed her fingers can made the metal plates coating them hover around, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
"Cinnabar, Greg and Connie are going to be the ground forces to keep an eye on Beach City. The three of you are capable and we need to assure that no one tries to ambush our home base."
As nervous as the two humans looked, they both refused to back down. Cinnabar, as much as she would not admit it, had a slight thrill at the thought of facing off with so many foes. It was the same part of her mind that was enamored with the destruction her pyrokinesis could wreak, but the rest of her was focused on her mission. Much to everyone's surprise, Lion actually walked and nuzzled Connie's face. It was clear that not only was he getting involved, he was sticking to guard duty.
"That leaves Lapis, Adamite and Steven…" said Pearl, "You three are going to have the most difficult task: Stopping the Cluster."
"What?!" gaped Lapis while her partners remained silent, "How does that tie into this?"
"That satellite you brought back," answered Adamite, "It was clearly equipped for geothermal scanning and I highly doubt The Diamonds are just looking to find what the Earth's core is made of."
"And since Steven already did bond with the Cluster before thanks to astral projection…" said Garnet before the boy himself finished.
"You want me to do it again."
"Exactly. Lapis and Adamite are going to protect you while your down in the Earth in case anyone wises up to what we're doing. Homeworld isn't one to cause wanton destruction for fun so my guess is they're using the invasion as one huge distraction."
The tension in the room multiplied hearing this. A full-scale takeover was one issue, but hearing that the massive superweapon that nearly made the entire world explode was going be set off again? That put them all on edge even more although knowing Steven had pulled this off before helped put some of them at ease.
"Everyone," said Pearl, "Be sure to keep in touch with your communicators. This is a mission we have no choice but to complete."
"You got that right!" said Amethyst, "Let's send these suckers packing!"
"We're not gonna let them take our home again!" said both Topazes in unison as they fused without a second thought. Her crew all started to move behind her into the Sun Incinerator.
"I'll have that network down before you can even blink!" assured Peridot, "Give me five minutes and I'll have the perfect thing for it!"
"Don't worry, we'll keep Steven safe," guaranteed Lapis, "I know the two of us can do it." Adamite only nodded with her usual serious resolution.
"We can handle the town for you," said Connie, "Mr. Universe and I might not be gems, but we're far from helpless!"
The rest of the room was silent as they all exchanged looks. As tempting as it was to hug or give some final gesture, they wanted to avoid that finality. The last thing they needed was to make it sound like they would never see each other again.
It was not long that Topaz flew away with her crew in their ship, Peridot and Bismuth warped off into the unknown, and the original three Crystal Gems headed outside to fuse and prepare their move. That left the team that would be staying in town and Steven with his newly appointed bodyguards.
"Kid, promise me you'll be back as soon as you can," said Greg from within his suit, "I know you won't be doing any of the fighting for a change but still…"
"Dad, Connie… You're the ones who need to be careful. I don't want to lose it again if something happens."
"It's not going to!" promised Cinnabar defiantly, "Lion and I will do everything we can to protect them and this town!"
"Just be sure you protect yourself," asked Lapis, "You're just as valuable too, Cinnabar."
"Indeed," said Adamite, "I'd hate to have our time reunited after so long cut short by those overbearing soldiers serving their slave driver."
"Don't you two worry, I'll be back to char your butts before you know it!"
"Alright… We'll be off now."
And with that, Steven's group warped out leaving the makeshift home team to protect the town as best as they could along with Topaz's air support. As Connie and her team ventured out of the force field, they wondered just what to do with all the people. How could you evacuate anyone with the entire planet under siege?
As soon as Alexandrite was formed, she split into twelve copies and took off at max speed. Half of them headed east blazing a trail across the Atlantic to stop the attacks going on in the other hemisphere while the three headed west to handle the few attacks in their own country and one in Australia while the remaining three headed south to reach South America where three attacks were in progress in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
A handful of Homeworld ships tried to stop the fusion, but they were all swiftly dealt with. Some were shot out of the air by a rapid-fire burst of her light arrows. Others were engulfed in massive swaths of fire from her hands and mouth. An especially unlucky few were frozen solid. It turned out that Garnet's new cryokinesis powers also spread to the fusion's mouth so now she had ice breath. A sardonic voice somewhere in the fusion's mind had to laugh that at least something good was going to come out of this.
When many of them arrived at their destination, the city was already in chaos. Enemy gems were running rampant through the streets smashing anything that caught their eye. There were already signs of buildings being leveled and a few scuffles going on between the alien invaders and the national military. While they did manage to shatter a few footsoldiers with their heavier artillery, they were quickly overwhelmed. How could they win when a single Topaz could flip over a tank and any support or reinforcements were blown up by the waiting spaceships above?
Once Alexandrite was on the scene, though, the atmosphere slowly changed. The panicked civilians naturally ran from the forty-foot tall multi-armed monstrosity at first until they saw her start fighting back. Leaping from one street to another, demolishing ships and grabbing people into her hands to place them into relative safety, it was clear who was the hero. Nobody knew where she came from, but soon news stations in every corner of the globe were showing her heroics. Alexandrite never had her name given, but soon millions of people across the world were cheering for her as their savior especially as it was soon clear that there was twelve of them all fighting to protect various cities.
While the public was celebrating, though, Alexandrite was pushing herself to the limit. The sheer amount of the things to juggle was driving her mad. Having to protect civilians and not demolish large swaths of city while also squashing gems on the ground and avoiding ships in the air was making all three of her components grateful for their unlocked powers. If they tried doing this only one of them and far less firepower, they would have actually contemplated surrender at this point. Thankfully, they had more of a fighting chance now but even then it was clear this would be an uphill battle.
And not helping the issue was that the entire time, there was a chance the planet would detonate from the Cluster at any moment.
"Alright, here we are," said Steven as he, Lapis and Adamite approached the makeshift lake that was next to the wreckage of the barn. Once they arrived at its edge, Lapis pulled out all of the water and prepared to use it to defend the area in case of an attack. Once the hole was dry, Adamite jumped right in and crashed into the bottom. The shockwave quickly broke the plug Peridot made months ago and soon they were now standing in front of a hole miles deep leading directly to the Cluster.
"Oh boy… That's a long way down."
"At least it should be faster than drilling your way down," commented Lapis, trying to be the optimist.
"You shouldn't worry," said Adamite, "We will not let up our guard for a second. Between our abilities, we will stop any Homeworld stragglers that come around here."
"Thanks, guys," said Steven. As he stood at the edge of the hole, he felt his heart rate increase. Even if he knew he could float, he remembered how long the trip in Peridot's drill was. It could take him several minutes to reach it even with no major obstructions in the way.
"Good luck," said both the elementals in unison, much to their own surprise. As they both blushed at that, Adamite's cheeks turning yellow to contrast Lapis' blue, Steven gave them both a hug to say farewell by taking one last deep breath and stepping into the darkness.
"Do you think anything will get in his way?" asked Lapis once he was out of sight.
"Doubtful. I used the jump I made to get a seismic reading of the hole and I couldn't sense any protrusions or even lava flows. The Cluster is a straight shot down this hole."
"Connect to Garnet," said Lapis into her communicator, remembering Peridot's instructions on how they worked with fusions. All three communicators were now on one body so addressing any of the three names would work.
"There's some damage here," the fusion immediately relayed over the sounds of explosions and rushing wind, "But Homeworld's actually starting to fall back here in Angelopolis. How's Steven?"
"He's on his way. Adamite and I are ready to stand guard until he's back."
"Excellent. Check in with the others and then let me know any updates."
"Gotcha. Over and out."
Back in Beach City, all was uncannily quiet. The citizens were all locked up in their homes as everyone quickly caught wind of the planetary invasion. Their only solace was seeing the face of Alexandrite valiantly fighting back, making many of them feel a sense of comfort that the Crystal Gems were still watching out for them.
Outside of their homes, a two-fold patrol was looking over the town. In the skies above the town was Captain Topaz who kept a constant eye on the horizon for any oncoming Homeworld ships. As she scanned, part of her mind drifted back to Aquamarine and how she once participated in an invasion herself only on a much smaller scale. The only comfort here was that she was now on the right side of the conflict.
Back on the ground, Lion was roaming through the deserted streets with Connie on his back as they were focused on finding any ground troops that somehow found their way into the city. Given how Homeworld has repeatedly tried to attack Beach City for the crime of being the home of the Crystal Gems, there was nothing wrong with acting cautiously in case they would try to demolish the town along with several major cities.
Cinnabar and Greg a slightly slower approach as they walked in a rough circle around the town's perimeter. Going from the house, they each went in an opposite direction to cover more ground. The gem covered one half with her fire-enhanced speed while the human skated around the other half ready to fire at any incoming gems.
"Greg? Anything on your side?" said Cinnabar through the father's communicator.
"Negative. Anything for you?"
"Nope. I never thought I'd say this, but I don't wanna to burn anything today…"
"Ditto," he chuckled, "We'll save the fireworks for when this is all done."
"Can I ask you something about Steven?"
"Shoot."
"Was he always like this? You've known him a lot longer…"
"His whole life, in fact. And yeah, Steven's never had a mean or aggressive bone in his body. I'm pretty sure if you tried the exact same thing on him when he was a little kid, he'd be more nervous but he'd still wanna be your friend."
He heard Cinnabar give a small laugh through his device as he kept moving. "Parenting is hard, isn't it?"
"Huh? What makes you ask that?"
"Humans start out totally different when they're first made, right? Steven said a few things about when he was a 'little kid.'"
"Yeah, we go through a lot of changes as we get older. Now Steven's a bit of an exception since he hasn't changed that much in a long time, but the principle is the same. In a few years or more, he may look totally different."
"That's neat, but it sounds like a ton of work."
"Yeah, can't deny that. Being a dad is a full-time job even when you have helpers like the Crystal Gems and-"
Their chat was suddenly stopped when he spotted several figures running at him from a long distance. He knew it was too many to be any of the team coming and he had not heard anything from the others so only one possibility came to his mind and promptly made his stomach turn.
"We've got Homeworld goons!" he panicked to Cinnabar, "At least ten of them have spotted me!"
"What?! Okay then… I'll call the others and we'll be there to help you ASAP. I'll message you when we're all together so shoot into the sky so we can find you."
"Roger that!" Greg then summoned two blasters and readied himself for a scuffle while a thought appeared in the back of his mind - where had these gems come from?
"Alright, almost there…" muttered Peridot as she attached her latest gadget to the Galaxy Warp. The device was what appeared to be a CD made of solid crystal that blinked various colors as Peridot controlled it from her tablet. Bismuth merely stood guard as she did it, watching the central pad in case anyone decided to stop them.
"So, that thing can just shut off the warp capabilities?" asked Bismuth, wanting to be sure she knew the plan. Homeworld's more modern tech tended to make her head spin.
"More or less. With this, I can regulate the pad and through it I should be able to shut them all down as well. The Diamonds already have a full brigade of gems in warships, but being able to send in reinforcements through these would increase their options for attack and escape exponentially."
"Bismuth, come in!" said Cinnabar's voice from her communicator, "We have an emergency!"
"What is it?"
"Homeworld gems have made it into town! Greg's fighting with a few of them right now!"
"WHAT?! How?! The warp pad protector is still in place and-" said Peridot before she suddenly froze.
"-And what?" finished Bismuth.
"I… It's shut off."
"It's WHAT?!" shouted Cinnabar from the other end of the line.
"It… updates itself every few weeks. Every other Friday… And when it does that, it shuts itself off for about fifteen minutes to refresh its memory banks of all recorded activity and stores it in my tablet."
"Cinnabar, get back to the house!" said Bismuth into her device, "Check and see if Peri's right."
"Aye aye!" she said before clicking off. While Bismuth was keeping a lid on her temper, Peridot was trying her best to work on her newer device instead of finding the nearest dark cave and curling up into a ball for several days.
"A-almost there," she stuttered as she kept working, causing Bismuth to notice how she was shaking.
"Peri, breathe," said the larger gem, "Everyone makes design flaws and-"
"YOU THINK THAT MAKES IT BETTER?!" shouted Peridot at the top of her lungs. Once she put in one final set of button commands, her device blinked on and off a few times before going quiet. Satisfied that her work was done, Peridot put her tablet back in her gem and proceeded to slump onto the ground where Bismuth immediately tried picking her up.
"Come on, Peri, don't give up so fast. If you wanna hear mistakes, your talking to the right gem for it! You could almost say it's my…"
"Bismuth?" finished the other gem, clearly not amused.
"I was gonna say talent. Bad puns have a time and place. But anyways, moping around here isn't gonna help. You're an inventor, right?"
"I thought I was…"
"And that means you fix things, right? Do things always get fixed right away?"
"No… But-"
"Don't go there! Trust me, you do that and all you get is a few thousand years in a bubble and we definitely don't have the time for that!"
While Peridot was still silent, she did at least stand up on her own once Bismuth put her down.
"Our mission here is done. We need to get back to the temple and help there."
"Peri… You gonna be alright."
"I don't need sympathy now. I need to solve problems and there's nothing more to do here."
Seeing that the miniature scientist was not going to budge, Bismuth decided to just go along with it and warped home with her partner in tow. When the two arrived, their worst fears were realized. The protector around their pad was smashed to pieces and the force field was down outside. As if to add insult to injury, the inside had been completely ransacked with the floors covered in debris and the door torn off its hinges.
"So… What do you wanna fix first?" said Bismuth.
"Rearranging the face of anyone stupid enough to come here."
"Agreed."
While Bismuth and Peridot were gone, a horde of Homeworld gems managed to make it through the warp pad and into the streets of Beach City. With no bubble to stop them from escaping this time, on top of the news of a global invasion that was preoccupying the bulk of their protectors, the citizens of Beach City had many responses. Some tried fleeing to the nearest safe town, others hunkered in their houses and refused to leave and a bold few were trying to find supplies and other essentials in case this somehow turned into a war of attrition between the two forces.
Far above in the sky, the Sun Incinerator was flying in laps around the town limits and lamenting their situation.
"Can't we do anything?" asked Rutile, "I'm not the most experienced, but with my power I could help the people."
"I know but…" said Captain Topaz, "We can't risk using any of the ship's weaponry here without damaging a good chunk of the town and I need you all in case we get ambushed."
"Y-Yeah…" said Rhodonite, "I get that same feeling, but it doesn't help this sinking feeling."
"True," agreed Padparadscha, "And I know I'm only useful from here."
As difficult as it was, Topaz stayed in her chair lest she give in to her own impulses to dive into the city and start bashing the clods rampaging through her new home with her maces. She still had an example to set.
Down on the ground, Connie was running through the streets with Lion by her side. Now in her crystalline form, the girl could easily keep up with her feline companion even at top speed. As they ran, they encountered many rogue gems trying to cause general havoc and a few even trying to abduct people again. Apparently some of them were leftovers from Silver Agate's crusade and decided to get some payback for the last failed mission.
All of them, however, found themselves the victims of a two-front assault. Lion would grab their attention by tackling them before being swiftly cut down by Connie with a crystal blade out of her endless supply. The only exception was when she found a rowdy jasper trying to pull someone out of their burning store. Connie bashed her head in with her hand changed into a hammer until she was begging to be poofed.
While the person she rescued thanked her over and over again, Connie still had a sense of dread bubbling in her gut. Now that she finally had a quiet moment, Connie changed her legs back to normal and pulled her phone out of her pants pocket before changing her lower half back to crystal. She then changed her hand back to flesh to press the buttons without any danger of damaging the device.
Once it was dialed, it took less than five seconds for Dr. Maheswaran to answer. "CONNIE! Oh, thank goodness you're okay…"
"Yeah, there's been a few run-ins with gems, but nothing too bad," assured the younger girl, "How are you and dad?"
"Well, we're still here but we're not moving. Doug was feeling a little overwhelmed, so he went upstairs to rest."
"Can I still talk to him?"
"Of course, I'm sure he'd like it no matter how groggy he is." Connie then heard her mother climb up the stairs of her house to reach the bedroom door only for her to stop when she got to the bedroom door.
"What the…" grumbled Priyanka, the sound of a doorknob clicking in the background, "It's locked!"
Soon the doctor changed to knocking on the door, calling out Doug's name but apparently getting no answer as she started banging on it.
"Doug, are you alright?" called the mother, now sounding panicked, "Honey, say something, anything! Do I need my first aid kit?"
"Wait, I can fix it!" said Connie, "Give me a minute to get home!" She then hung up much to her mother's confusion. Rather than run home, Connie called Lion and had him open a portal back home and in an instant they were both on the Maheswaran household's front lawn. In the blink of an eye, Connie ran up the stairs and literally ripped the door off its hinges.
Priyanka and Connie both wasted no time going inside only to find that the bedroom was completely empty. A quick look around the room showed that his security uniform, cellphone and pistol were gone and the window to the bedroom was open.
"Oh no…" paled Priyanka.
"Mom, what's happening? Where's Dad?!"
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out…" Priyanka then walked outside to find the car was thankfully still there. While this did put her at ease somewhat, her hand was still shaking as she dialed her husband's number.
"Honey," said Doug immediately once he picked up, "I know this seems bad but-"
"IT IS!" exploded Priyanka, "What on Earth do you think you're doing in the middle of a WORLDWIDE ALIEN INVASION?!"
"Because I'm supposed to protect people, you know?! I feel like garbage just sitting at home with so many people at risk…"
"And you think that makes this OKAY?!"
"No… I know you're gonna strap me to an operating table when I get back."
"You're darn right about that! CONNIE!"
"Connie's there?!" gasped Doug.
"She's with Steven's Lion and they came to get you! Now you explain your stupidity to your daughter…"
"Mom?" asked Connie, quickly seeing how her mother's rage was at an all-time high. The doctor just handed her the phone and stomped back inside.
"Dad, are you okay? You're not captured again, right?!"
"Connie… I'm really sorry I have to do this…"
"Do what?!"
"I know it's silly and nonsensical, but I just can't stand by in something like this. I spent a few years training to handle situations like this and-"
"Okay, let me stop you. One: You're a guard, not a police officer or a soldier. Two: You know these aren't normal criminals you're dealing with. Three: You know that what you're doing is INCREDIBLY STUPID!"
"Look, I told myself that I wouldn't actually fight any gems I ran into. So far, I haven't run into anything serious. I promise I'll come home right now, okay?"
"Yes, do that! Actually, no, stay right there because Lion can bring you back in a portal in ten seconds! Where exactly are you?"
"I'm right in front of-" was all she heard before a series of yells and a crashing sound in the background cut him off.
"Dad?!"
"Connie, I'm in trouble!" he said over his own running footsteps, "I'm heading towards the boardwalk!"
"On it! Just find somewhere to hide!"
Once she cut the connection, she turned around and found Lion was already behind her. It did not take them long to appear in front of the Beach City Boardwalk and rush in to find a handful of gems trashing the rides for kicks. As soon as stepped into view, several of said gems immediately turned their eyes on her.
"What the heck is that thing?!" gawked one of them.
"A Crystal Gem, that's what!" replied Connie, shifting her arms into two giant blades as she charged ahead. The first gem would have retorted, but she was slashed into poofing before she could get a word out. Two others tried taking her head on, but they were quickly met with being one being smacked hundreds of feet into the ocean with the flat of a blade-arm and the other getting a blade to the gut before she could do anything.
Once the area was clear, Connie scanned for the most likely place for her father to be. Thanks to growing up with parents who were obsessed with her safety for the longest time, her father told her a few tip to handling emergency situations. The arcade might be an option, but he could easily get cornered in an small indoor space especially since more gems could show up at any moment. Being surrounded on so many sides with water, she wondered if he just risked jumping off the pier. Then her eyes turned to the Ferris wheel where her father was running by with two gems close on his tail.
"DAD!" she shouted as she ran full speed towards him. Just as an amethyst grabbed him by the shoulder, Connie tackled her out of the way and gave the other one an upper-cut that sent her flying out of sight. Once the gems were gone, Doug wasted no time embracing his daughter.
"Connie!"
"Dad, thank goodness you're okay!" she hugged back, "But Mom's probably gonna kill you when we get back…"
"Yeah, we can all chalk this up to me being an overly-idealistic old man. Now come on, let's get home so I can get my punishment over with…"
They did not get far, however, before another problem showed up. Four topazes leapt down to stop them from the beach.
"We're not letting you go anywhere," one of them said, "Especially after dispatching our comrades so easily."
"Dad, run!" said Connie as she readied herself for another fight. Her father wasted no time arguing, but soon found he was cut off by one of the gems. He was half-tempted to use his gun before Lion ended up saving him by tackling the blocking gem and pinning her down under him.
With a clear chance to run, Doug turned and ran as Connie was struggling with two topazes. She was holding both of the bulkier gems off as they both had her locked in place stopping their maces with her hammer arms. He then saw the third one planning to rush her while she was stuck and his paternal instincts flared up. He readied his gun and took the proper stance before turning the safety off and firing right at the gem. The bullet landed and made her flinch, making her focus on him.
"Dad, don't!" Connie urged as the now miffed topaz started charging at him instead, "Just get out of here!"
Doug got the message now as he sent one last loving look to his daughter before taking off and running down the pier towards the exit. Spurred on to protect him, Connie managed to get the two gems off her by causing two massive spikes to suddenly protrude from her sides. Neither topaz was poofed, but it was enough to get out of their grip. Connie ran straight after the topaz pursuing her father and saw that she had already nearly caught up with him.
She poured on the speed, her crystal legs making holes in the boardwalk's wood with the force she was using, and nearly caught up with them in a few seconds before something stopped her. The jasper she flung over the ocean from before sprang up from underneath the pier right in front of her!"
"Did you think gems can't swim, you little freak?!" she growled as she grabbed Connie by the shoulders and returned the favor by chucking her into the sea. While she did not fly nearly as far as the alien, only going a few dozen feet beyond the far edge of the boardwalk, she quickly found another problem. She was sinking like a rock beneath the waves.
She opened her eyes and found her lungs already struggling to get in air thanks to being blindsided. She tried moving her arms and legs to reach the surface, but nothing was happening! She realized the problem was her crystal body and changed back to normal, but she was already losing consciousness.
She only barely recognized that someone was reaching their hand out to rescue her. Before she knew it, she was being pulled to the surface and only saw who it was when she got some air into her lungs.
It was her father, but now battered and bruised all over and clearly struggling to keep himself afloat.
"Dad, what happened to you?! How did you-"
"Connie…" he wheezed, sounding like he was in unbearable pain, "I'm sorry… I won't… See you again…"
"WHAT?! Dad, stop talking like that! We'll get you home, Mom can keep you stable in the hospital, then Steven will come back and-"
"No Connie… I made a deal with them… The gems… They threw me out here… To save you…"
"Why did you do that?!"
"You were drowning… Your body… It's like solid rock…"
"I know but-"
"Connie, I knew… when I took my job… my life could be in danger… I… Accepted this…"
"WELL I DON'T!" cried Connie as tears mixed into the ocean, "Now come on, just paddle a little bit and-"
"One of those gems… She threw me like a stone… Against the water…"
"That means…"
"Yeah… Pretty sure… I have massive… Internal bleeding… And I… Inhaled water… Reaching you…"
"DAD! Please… Don't do this… Don't die!"
"Too late… Connie… I love you… Tell your mother… She was right… She's always right…"
"Dad, don't close your eyes!" Connie started paddling furiously to reach the shore, but she was over sixty feet away from the shoreline with waves pushing her in every direction while she also tried to carry a fully-grown adult man on her back in her human form.
"Connie…" Doug said in a whisper, his eyes closed, "Keep the world… Safe… You… deserve a… great life…"
"We're gonna make it, I swear! Just a few more minutes and-"
She was cut off when a sudden wave of water hit her in the face and blew her further away from the beach. In the backlash, her soaked hands ended up slipping off of her father's body and he fell off her shoulders and sank like a rock.
"DAD, NO!" she squealed, half-tempted to dive down there and rescue him before a bulky yellow arm grabbed hers.
"Will you shut up already?!" shouted the topaz bobbing in the waves, "I chucked that thing out here so he'd fish you up. I didn't say you get waste my time chatting out here!"
"Dad…"
"Well, looks like your 'Dad' is broken so you'll just have to get another one. Now you better come with me or I'll make you suffer, got it?"
Connie was completely spaced out as the topaz easily pushed through the waves with her in tow until she finally touched land again. Her body seemed to recognize the terra firma before her brain did as she crumpled to her knees immediately much to her captor's displeasure.
"Oh come on now! What's the hold up?"
"Dad…" she muttered, eyes completely overflowing, "He's… I…"
"I told you, get over it! I don't know how organics work, but if a gem breaks, you just get another one so get a grip!"
"You… threw him…"
"Are you that slow?! I already told you that!"
The topaz then tried to pry Connie onto her feet, but suddenly her arm turned to crystal. The gem tried with both hands, but found her new prisoner would not budge. Soon her three teammates arrived as Connie's body was crystallizing right in front of them.
"What's the hold up?" asked one of the newer ones, "Grab the thing and let's go!"
"I'm trying, you clod!" argued the other one back, "But it's like she's changing her density! I can't make her move!"
"Fine, one of us will fuse with you to make it easier… Weakling."
"You think it's so easy? You try it!"
"Fine!"
The other topaz moved up just as the last part of Connie's skin changed to green crystal. The second she touched Connie's body, her spine arched upwards and she was on her knees.
"What the…?" muttered the gem before Connie moved to her feet.
"Oh sure, now you move on your own…" grumbled the only wet topaz in the group.
"See? It's not so hard! You just have to show these useless little things who's boss and-"
"Useless?"
"Huh? Who said that?"
"You think…" said Connie, her voice so quiet it was almost overshadowed by the waves, "He's useless?"
"Are you talking back to me?"
"You… My father… He's…"
"One more word out of you, organic, and I'll…"
The topaz was suddenly silenced when a five-foot long jagged blade made of crystal burst from Connie's stomach and impaled her. She gasped in shock for a moment before poofing right in front of the otherwise unmoving girl. The other three gems backed away in horror.
"What in the galaxy?!"
"How did she do that?!"
"Guys, don't just stand there!" said the topaz from the ocean, "We need to put her down now before-"
"YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH!" roared Connie as the massive protrusion shot back into her just as quickly as it arrived, "MY FATHER'S DEAD THANKS TO YOU!"
Connie then rushed forward as a set of crystalline claws erupted from each of her knuckles, slashing the other two topazes to oblivion leaving only the one responsible for Doug's death tripping over herself trying to run away.
She only got thirty feet away before Connie pounced on her, tackling her to the ground much like Lion had earlier and going to town on her with her claws. Even after the gem poofed, she kept swinging and slicing like a madwoman screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs. She did not even realized she sliced clean through her gemstone over a dozen times until Cinnabar happened to stumble across her frenzy.
"Connie?!" said the firebending gem, "Connie, what are you doing?!"
Cinnabar then grabbed Connie by the arms and just managed to stop her at the cost of nearly being sliced herself. Once she finally stopped screaming, Connie just looked down at the gem shards in front of her.
"C-Connie…? What happened here?"
The girl could not answer as she fell flat on her face, sobbing into the sand until Cinnabar picked her up. Even she had enough sense to realize that Connie needed to be somewhere away from the battle for a while.
As grim of a note as this is to end on, it must be done. There's much more to cover with such a massive invasion. How will Alexandrite fare against the bulk of Homeworld's forces? Does Yellow Diamond have any other surprises planned? And how will Steven potentially stop the Cluster again? All this and more will be waiting for next time!
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave any questions or comments in a review!