Chapter 13
The Return
Jet woken up with a start, his sense of dread has increased lately and he found himself unable to sleep properly because of it. He glanced out the window to noticed that it was around mid-afternoon. He had completely missed his chance to do some early morning training. He decided to get up for the day, lying in bed would do him no good. He got up and went to the bathroom to take care of business. Fifteen minutes later, Jet emerged from the bathroom and decided to get ready for the day. He dressed himself in his usual attire and headed out the door. The first thing he noticed was that Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl was on the beach (close to his house) and they were looking up at the sky. Jet raised an eyebrow and looked up as well.
"What the hell is that?" Jet said, looking up. It was faint but it looked like a giant, green hand heading towards them. Jet rushed over to the gems, hoping to get an explanation from them.
"Ah, Jet! Perfect timing." Pearl said, looking through the telescope that they had out. "We were just about to come and get you."
"Guys!" Steven said rushing over to them. "Do you see that thing in the sky?"
"It's a ship. We have to assume it's Peridot." Pearl said, looking up at the sky.
"Lapis told us that she'd be coming with advance weapons and reinforcements." Garnet said. "We should get the light cannons ready."
"I want to see." Steven said, walking over to where to the telescope is. Steven looked through it and noticed that the ship was inching slowly closer. "Whoa!" Garnet walked up to Steven and handed him a walkie-talkie.
"What's this for?" He asked.
"We've placed another one of those by the light cannons." Garnet said, looking at Pearl. ""Get them ready." Pearl nodded her head and flipped a switch she had in her hand. That switch brought the cannons into view and positioned them towards the ship.
"OK, Steven light 'em up." Garnet said.
"If every pork chop was perfect, then we wouldn't have hotdogs." Steven said, speaking into the walkie-talkie. Suddenly, the cannons started to glow and it shot a barrage of beams towards the ship. The ship extended its hand and the beams struck it. Unfortunately, this had no effect on the ship as it continued to make its descent towards Beach City.
"No effect." Garnet said, glancing through the telescope.
"What now?" Jet said, folding his arms.
"We'll have to take them head on." Garnet said. "The whole town might be in danger."
"I better make a call." Steven said, pulling out his phone and dialing a number. "Major Dewey, it's me! Yeah, Steven Universe... Major Dewey, the whole town's in danger. Yes... We have to evacuate the city. Yeah... okay. Bye, then."
"The major has agreed to tell the citizens to evacuate." Steven said.
The sky was getting darker as the ship was edging closer to the city. The citizens were preparing to evacuate as the major instructed them to. Greg had his van on the beach, packing it with luggage. Both Greg and Steven had on a jacket as it was getting chilly outside.
"That a great idea, dad. You should leave with the rest of-" Steven said, noticing his dad packing up the van. He stopped when he noticed that his cheeseburger backpack was on the ground. "Is that my luggage?"
"Umm... Who wants to tell him?" Greg said, sweat a little. Pearl looked at Amethyst, who blushed out of embarrassment.
"Hey!" Amethyst said, blush still intact. "I'm not good with this stuff!" She turned her head, still embarrassed. Pearl patted her head. Garnet sighed and walked over to were Steven was.
"Steven." Garnet said, handing Steven a microphone. "I know you think that we don't trust you. I know more often than not that we treat you like a human child, but the truth is that we rely on you. Your voice inspires us, binds us, remind us why we protect the planet. You must now be that voice... for them." She pointed at the city itself. "If anything happens, you need to be there to protect them... like your mother once did. It's your destiny."
"I won't disappoint you." Steven said with a stern look on his face.
"I know." Garnet said. Steven waved and got in the van. Garnet turned her attention to Jet. "It's not too late for you to leave either. You're half human, you still have your life to live."
"Nah." Jet said, putting his hands behind his head. Jet watched as the van took off. "If I'm gonna die, I rather die in battle. Since both my mother and father are gone, what else do I have to live for?"
"You can live for us." Amethyst said.
"Nah, that'll be too painful." Jet said. There was a moment of silence between the four of them before Garnet spoke up.
"Alright. Pull it together." She said, noticing the mood. "We have a planet to protect."
"So." Jet said. "Do anyone have a plan on how to bring that ship down?" Garnet looked as though she had something in mind.
"I do." Garnet said, looking a Pearl and Amethyst. "You two should fuse... and Jet..." Garnet paused, getting his attention. "Do you remember that charged attack you used on the Red Eye?"
"Yeah?" Jet said, wondering where she was going with this.
"Can you get that ready?" Garnet asked.
"I'll do even better!" Jet said, adjusting his coat to draw out 2 katanas. "I usually don't prefer using more than one but this is an emergency." He slammed both katanas on the ground and closed his eyes. He had to concentrate to draw power from the Earth itself. While he was doing this, Pearl and Amethyst fused into Opal. Opal drew out her weapon, aiming it at the ship. She charged her arrow, gathering energy around her. Her doing so, caused the wind to stir. After about 5 minutes, Jet felt his attack was ready. He looked at Garnet and nodded his head, signaling to her that he was all done.
"Fire!" Garnet said, as both Opal and Jet fire their attacks. Opal shot out a stream of arrows and Jet shot out 2 waves of purple energy in the X formation. Opal's attack reached the ship first, bombarding it with a stream of arrows. This seemed to have done nothing as the ship edged closer to them. Jet's attack hit the ship next, causing the ship to wobble, but nevertheless, maintained its course. Both Jet and Opal looked at each other in disbelief then back at the ship.
"Well, at least Steven is safe." Garnet said, looking at the both of them.
"Hey, guys!" Steven said, running up to the three of them. They looked at him in shock, wondering why was he back here with them. This shock apparently caused Opal to lose concentration and split her form, throwing Pearl and Amethyst apart.
"You came back!" Amethyst said.
"What are you doing?" Pearl asked, looking worried. "Get out of here!"
"But..." Steven started.
"Too late! Just stay behind us." Garnet said, as the ship was mere feet away from them. The hand hovered over the shoreline when it opened its palm, revealing a bubble-like orb. The gems held their guard, not knowing what to expect. The bubble made its way down to the index finger of the ship and when it did, it opened to reveal four figures.
"That's them alright." Peridot said, as she was the first figure to be seen. "They're the ones that keep breaking my machines." The other figures made their way into view. One of them was a woman with broad shoulders and long, white hair. Her gem was visible, as it was located where her nose should be. She was also wearing a cape and an outfit like Peridot's. She has orange-like skin and yellow eyes with markings over them.
The other figure was a man that was a little taller than the female, but he was also more built than what she was. He also was wearing a cape like she was. His garments were like the rest, except that he was wearing fingerless gloves and his color consisted of orange and red. He had spikey, white hair and he looked uninterested at what was going on at the moment, as he was looking around and digging in his ear. His gem was nowhere to be seen at the moment. He has bright-red like skin and his eyes are a bright orange.
"This is it?" The woman spoke, her voice showing no interest.
"Jasper, they kept interfering with my work!" Peridot said. Jasper let out a sigh and walked closer to get a better look at who she was dealing with.
"Looks like another waste of my time." Jasper said. "Hey, get over here!" She pulled on the four figure, which was Lapis. Lapis looked down at them and let out a silent gasp.
"Lapis!" Both Steven and Jet said at the same time.
"This is their base?" Jasper asked.
"Yes." Lapis said, turning her head to the side.
"You need to leave immediately." Garnet said, drawing her weapon out. The others followed suit.
"Yeah! Step off!" Amethyst shouted.
"This is not a gem controlled planet." Pearl said. The four of the jumped down from the finger and landed on the beach.
"Are either of these Rose Quartz?" Jasper asked, folding her arms. "Oh, what a shame. I was looking forward to beating her into the ground." Steven twitched at this. "But this is all that left of her army?" She looked at each of them. "Some lost defective Pearl, a puny overcooked runt, and this shameless display... who and what are those?" She pointed to Steven then Jet.
"Well, the small one call itself the Steven." Peridot said.
"Steven's just a human. He isn't a threat at all, he's not one of them." Lapis said.
"I know what a human is." Jasper said, then her attention shifted to Jet. "What about him?" Jet's eyes shifted from black to a fierce red. The man walked closer to where Jasper was.
"Interesting." He said.
"Topaz." Jasper said. "You know what he is?"
"I might have an idea." Topaz said. "Judging by his appearance and that fact that his eyes are changing color, he must be a Jett gemstone. His kind is rare on home world, don't cha know? His gem kind was almost wiped out."
"Whatever." Jasper said, turning around. "You don't need me for this. Just blast them with the ship."
"Fine." Peridot said, bringing up her finger screen. Topaz took a good look at Jet then turned around as well. Jet grunted at that gesture. The ship lifted off the Beach shores and pointed a finger at them. Peridot made a circle on the monitor and pressed it, which started the ship to charge power.
"Steven, get out of here!" Garnet said, looking back at him.
"No!" Steven said.
"This isn't up for debate!" Garnet shouted. "I won't let you risk your life!"
"But this is my home and you're all my family." Steven said, as his gem started to glow. Jet and the gems looked at him in surprise.
"Fire!" They heard Peridot say. The ship shout a powerful beam towards them.
"I'm... a crystal gem, too!" Steven said, jumping in front of the beam. There was an explosion and Jasper turned around to noticed that Steven had his shield up, he protected them from the blast.
"That shield!" Jasper said, her eyes widen. "That symbol! You... you have the power of Rose Quartz!" She was referring to Steven, as he collapsed on the ground.
"Now, you believe I need an escort?" Peridot asked.
"Peridot, fire a barrage... wide spread." Topaz said. Peridot did just that, making the ship shoot a continuous beam of energy towards the group. They dodge it, with Garnet grabbing Steven. The beam traveled and eventually reached and destroyed Jet's house.
"You bastards! That was my house!" Jet shouted in anger.
"Rose." Jasper said, walking up to Steven. "Why do you look like that? Why are you so weak?"
"Don't hurt him!" Lapis said, running up to Jasper.
"You knew about this?" Jasper asked.
"It didn't relate to the mission!" Lapis said with a worried look on her face.
"Forget about the mission..." Jasper said, ignoring her.
"What?" Peridot asked.
"Yellow Diamond needs to see this... thing." Jasper said.
"The Jett boy goes too." Topaz said. "I'm sure he'll be either killed or sold off at a high price."
"Deal." Jasper said, smiling at him. Before she could approach Steven, Garnet made her way towards Jasper, ready to strike.
"Good." Jasper said, equipping her weapon (which looked like some sort of war helmet). The two of their weapons collided, causing a mini shock wave that threw Steven back a little. Garnet slid back a little to where Steven was.
"Steven, run!" She said as she rushed back to Jasper.
"Gem Destabilizer!" Jasper said, pulling out a weapon that looked like a very long Taser. She charged at Garnet and struck her with it, causing a bolt of energy to surround Garnet's entire body. Garnet's body split in half before poofing into a pile of smoke. Two gemstones hit the ground by Steven's feet. Pearl and Amethyst let out a cry of shock and Jet gritted his teeth, his anger rising at an unbelievable rate. Steven looked at the stones then back at Jasper, as she made her way towards him once more.
"I was there, you know." Jasper said. "At the first war for this garbage planet. I fought against your armies, I respected your tactics. But, this..." She paused to grab Steven by the collar and lifted him into the air. "This is sick. I don't get what your planning, Rose but look... your base is taken, your armies are ruined, you have failed." And with that, she head-butted Steven, knocking him out cold. This was all that Jet could take, as he saw Pearl and Amethyst run towards Jasper.
"Stop!" He yelled, making them stop in their tracks. "She's mine! And Amethyst..." Jet looked at her. "I'm sorry for what you're about to see..." Amethyst raised an eyebrow but then gasped when she saw Jet's pupils disappear. Jet turned around and his teeth got sharper as well. He held on to his 2 kantanas and charged at Jasper.
"What?" Jasper said, as Jet was in her face. He struck down to see that Topaz was blocking his strike with his own weapon. Topaz looked back at Jasper.
"It's not wise to anger the Jett stone." Topaz said, holding Jet off with his weapon (which was a broad sword that looked like Cloud's buster sword, only slightly bigger). "Take care of the other two, I got this one." Jasper smiled and headed to where Amethyst and Pearl were.
"Stop!" Jet said, struggling to maintain what little sense he had left. His voice was deeper and sounded darker. "Your quarrels with me!"
"Actually," Topaz said. "It's with me now." Jet broke his sword's contact with Topaz and backed off a little.
"You're strong." Jet said, twitching a little. "But are you strong enough?"
"Oh, I am." Topaz said. "Much stronger than what she is. Oh, she finished with them already?" Jet turned his head to see that Pearl and Amethyst had been reduced to their gem forms and that Jasper was picking them up.
"Grrr..." Jet growled, losing all sense he had at the moment. He summoned electricity around his body and charged at Topaz. Topaz dodged Jet's incoming attack and kicked Jet so hard that he went airborne. Jet shook it off and charged at Topaz once more.
'He's being reckless.' Topaz thought, blocking Jet's attack again.
"What is Topaz doing?" Peridot asking.
"He's having fun." Jasper said, watching the fight. "I hate to admit it, but I wouldn't want to be that thing right now. Topaz is stronger than me. He was even offer a position within Yellow Diamond's court. He refused, saying that he'd rather be in battle than to be sitting around ordering others. He's lucky he's on her good side, no one talks to her like that and lives. This thing that he's fighting has no chance of winning..."
Topaz swung his massive sword at Jet, who dodged it. Jet dispersed both of his katanas and gathered electricity around him once more. Topaz smiled and started to do the same with Topaz dispersing his weapon as well. Jet yelled charging at him and the two clashed fists, one not getting the advantage over the other. Jet was getting tired and he felt his left arm go numb.
"Tch." Jet muttered and Topaz noticed his distress.
"You can't keep your anger going like that." Topaz said, causing Jet to look at him. "It's eating you alive. While that form you're in is powerful, it has consequences of using it for long periods of time. Just give up, we won't completely destroy you if you do." He gave a twisted smiled after saying that.
"You don't know me!" Jet yelled. Topaz sighed and charged his fist with fire.
"I'm doing toying with you. This ends now!" Topaz said, his patience wearing out. Topaz charged at Jet and Jet tried to summon his weapon. Topaz got to him before he had the chance to do so. "Game over, Jett stone." Topaz struck Jet in the face with his fire fist. Jet was sent flying back a few feet in the air and then hit the ground hard.
"That it! He's finished!" Topaz said, turning away and started to head back towards the ship. "Someone gather him up and let's leave this shell of a plan-" Topaz turn around and widen his eyes, Jet was still conscious, though barely standing. He was able to summon his weapon and use it to keep his balance.
"Oh? Still got some fight in ya? Though barely." Topaz said, folding his arms and walking slowly towards Jet.
"Told you...you don't...know me." Jet said, his eyes turning back to normal, as well as his voice.
"That maybe so." Topaz said, right in front of Jet. "But you don't have the energy to fight back." He lifted Jet by the neck. "Learn how to wield that power without eating yourself up and you might stand a chance. Until then, enjoy this defeat." When he said that, he lifted Jet higher into the air then proceeded to slam Jet's head hard into the ground, knocking him out.
"Harsh." Jasper said, before she started to laugh. Topaz dragged Jet's unconscious body towards the ship.
"Say whatever you want. I know you enjoyed the show. Now that the so called "threats" are eliminated, let's leave this stupid forsaken planet." Topaz said, throwing Jet's body on the ship. "Alright, let's set a course for home world."
