Chapter 19
Cry for Help
Jet just came inside the temple, a towel around his neck as he just finished his training for the day. It felt good for him to get into his daily regime once more. He went towards the refrigerator when he noticed the sound of crying. He raised an eyebrow and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and close the door.
"What are you guys watching?" He asked Amethyst and Steven, as the TV was audible were he was. He looked up to noticed that they were watching the crying breakfast show. Jet groaned upon seeing that and turned his head to take a slip from his drink.
"I don't get this cartoon, man." Amethyst said, as the bacon and pear cried about ice cream that was dropped on the floor. "Why don't they just eat the ice cream off the floor? They don't have to cry about it." Jet nodded his head, agreeing with her. He was about to head into his room until he heard static from the TV. Jet walked over and climbed the latter to Steven's room and noticed that the show was gone.
"Aww." Steven groaned. "It did this yesterday too." Amethyst got up and walked towards the TV. She started to kick it, hoping that it would fix the problem.
"How about now?" She asked as she kept kicking it. She stopped when the TV started to make a strange noise and she backed away from it.
"It never done that before." Steven said, sitting up to observe the TV. The TV's static disappeared and it was replaced with an image of Peridot. Amethyst, Steven and Jet let out a gasp. Pearl and Garnet walked into the room and wondered what the commotion was about.
"Yo." Jet said, mentioning to the two. "You ladies might want to see this." Pearl and Garnet looked at each other then made their way towards the latter and towards the TV. They let out a gasp when they saw Peridot on the TV as well.
"This is Peridot transmitting on all frequencies from abandon crystal system colony planet Earth." Peridot said. "To Yellow Diamond, my mission had been compromised. My escorts and my informant are gone and I am now stranded! Please, send help! This is Peridot transmit-" The message went on to repeat itself. Steven just got off the phone with someone, as the gems start to chatter among themselves.
"Connie says it on her TV, too." Steven said.
"But where can Peridot be broadcasting a signal that strong?" Pearl asked.
"There's only one place." Garnet said. Jet raised his hand.
"Before we go..." Jet started. "Can I take a quick shower? I just got done training a few minutes ago and I'm sure I smell."
"Make sure to make it quick." Garnet said and Jet took off towards his room to grab some clean clothes (which was his new attire) and towards the bathroom.
The group had to use Lion to get to their desired location. The group could barely fit on Lion, as Steven had to hide in Lion's mane to make the trip mildly comfortable. Lion's legs gave out, unable to hold the combined weight of the 3 and half gems on his back. Steven's head popped out of Lion's mane and he took a deep breath. Jet figured that he couldn't breathe while his was inside of Lion (which he couldn't wrap his mind around).
"Lion, are you OK?" Steven asked as he climbed out of Lion. Lion grunted as a response.
"It's as I feared..." Garnet said, looking ahead.
"Whoa!" Jet said, looking ahead as well. The place they were in was a location they had been before. This is the place where Jet first witness the fusion of Garnet and Amethyst. Currently in front of him was a glowing communication tower that was shooting some sort of light into the night time sky.
"Looks like Peridot somehow repaired the communication hub." Pearl said as the group started to walk towards it. "Well, at least some of it." She paused to look at the scattered bits of rock and debris scattered about.
"So, we just got to wreck it up again, right?" Steven asked, looking up at it. His attention then shifted to Amethyst. "You guys should form Sugilite." Jet eyebrows twitched at that. He remembered how Sugilite went on a rampage and how she broke his arm in the process.
"Yeah... well." Amethyst started. "It's up to Garnet. What do you say? Shall we mash it up?" Garnet didn't respond at first, her attention focused on the tower in front of her.
"No." She finally responded.
"But, don't we need to be huge like last time?" Amethyst said.
"Last time was a disaster." Garnet said, shifting her attention to Amethyst. "Last time we fuse, Sugilite went berserk. It's because of her, we can't even warp here anymore." She took of her visor. "I can be rash, you can be reckless, and we can both get carried away. So..." She placed her visor back on her face. "For the time being, Sugilite is benched." Amethyst looked down at the ground upon hearing that. Jet couldn't help but feel bad for her.
"What we need now is to careful." She continued, taking a glance at Pearl. Pearl looked at her in surprise. Garnet placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "It's you and me, Pearl... let's fuse." Pearl looked as though she was about to cry. "Don't cry Pearl." Garnet noticed Pearl tearing up. "Come on, let's do this." Garnet started to walk towards an area with more space with Pearl right behind her.
"Woo-hoo!" Steven cheered as he followed them. "Fusion, Fusion, Fusion!"
"Wonder what kind of warrior they'll turn out to be?" Jet said, following as well with a little electricity flowing out of him. He was excited and he hoped that whatever fusion being that Garnet and Pearl formed wouldn't go on a rampage, he wouldn't want to hurt their form after seeing it. Pearl bowed and Garnet held her hands up, with her gems stones glowing.
"Ready?" She asked. Pearl started to stretch her limbs.
"Hang on." She said. "It's been such a long time." Her gem started to glow as well. Amethyst slowly joined Steven and Jet. She folded her arms and looked forward.
The two started to dance and Jet found their dancing to be less erotic but erotic nonetheless. The two finished their dancing with Garnet throwing Pearl into the air and Pearl landing towards Garnet with Garnet catching her. When she did, the both was engulfed in light. A giant figure formed around a pink light.
"Good evening everybody!" The figure greeted, dispersing the light like a curtain. She had 4 arms and 4 eyes and she was wearing a tuxedo. She had on white gloves and her hair was shaped in the form of a triangle. She had a visor on her face and her skin was that of mild brown. She was smiling at them and Jet noticed that she had a gap between her front teeth. Her gems are located on her forehead and hands. She made her way towards them. "This is the lovely Sardonyx coming to you live from the soon to be former communication hub. How are ya doing tonight?"
"Great." Amethyst said with fake enthusiasm
"Hungry." Jet yelled out, his stomach roaring in the process.
"Giant woman!" Steven yelled with stars in his eyes. Sardonyx held out her hands and Steven climbed on them.
"Oh, my stars!" She said, lifting him up to her face. "Well, if it isn't Steven Universe. We finally meet! So... was I worth the wait? What am I saying? Of course I was! " She started to laugh to herself. Jet let a sweat drop form on his face and he scratched his head.
'Well... she's different.' Jet thought, as he continued to study Sardonyx.
"I'm just so excited to be here!" She continued. "You see, I haven't exactly been myself lately." She started to laugh once more and Steven joined in.
"Fusion joke." Steven said towards Jet and Amethyst. Jet let a small smile form on his face and Amethyst let out a groan. Sardonyx placed Steven back on the ground in his original position.
"And jokes aren't the only thing I've got." She said. She drew a spear from her hand then one of her other hand tapped her shoulder, causing her to look back. She tossed the spear in the air (while still looking back) then summoned gauntlets. She smashed the gauntlets into the spear, combining them to make some sort of Warhammer for herself. Jet whistled, impressed by the sheer size of it.
"Are you going smash stuff with your Warhammer?" Steven asked. Sardonyx placed a finger on her chin.
"Hmm..." She said. "Smash is the word one would use to describe what someone might do." Jet glanced over at Amethyst to see her deadpan at that. She jumped in the air towards the communication hub. "The proper words used to describe yours truly are..." She smashed one of the pillars from the communication hub. "Specific..." She smashed another pillar. "Intelligent... Accurate...Faultless... Elegant..." She winked at Jet when she said 'elegant', causing him to form a light blush on his face. She continued to smash up the tower. "Controlled... Graceful... and Powerful!" She lunged up in the air and just before she was about to hit the top of the tower she stopped. "But yes occasionally, I am known to smash."
She finished by lightly tapping the top of the tower, causing the main pillar to collapse and deactivating the tower in the process. She landed on her feet and spin her War-hammer away, causing it to disperse into little butterfly like particles of light. Lion was trying to catch some of them with his teeth.
"Now, just remember everyone..." She started. "If you ever had need of the lovely Sardonyx, let Pearl and Garnet know, I'll be there in a flash... literally." And with that she poof back into Garnet and Pearl, who was staring at one another in amazement. Pearl jumped into Garnet's arms and Garnet swung her around, the two giggling in the process. Steven ran up to them and Jet wasn't that far behind.
"You guys were amazing!" Steven said, hugging both of them.
"I'm impressed." Jet said, folding his arms and smiling a bit.
"We were?" Pearl said, blushing a bit. "That's good!"
"We were awesome!" Garnet said, pumping her fist in the air.
"Why don't we do that more often?" Pearl asked.
It was the next day and the sun was setting over the temple. Jet had just finished mediating for the time being and he headed to the refrigerator to quench his thirst. He passed by Steven's room and once again, Steven was watching the Crying Breakfast Friends show. Jet was getting use to him watching it, so it didn't bother him as much anymore. It was still annoying but not as much.
"Why Pear? Why did you lie to me?" He heard one of the characters say.
"I didn't mean to!" He heard another character say. He grunted and took a slip from the water bottle he had in his hand.
"Aw, Pear." Steven said, eyes glued on the TV. "I'd forgive her, would you?" He asked Garnet, who was watching the show with him. Garnet grunted as a response. Soon after, the door to the gem door opened and Amethyst came out. She was heading towards the refrigerator and Steven noticed her.
"Hey, Amethyst." He said. "You're missing Crying Breakfast Friends."
"That's OK. I'm fine." She said, as she opened the fridge door.
"But it's a really good one so far." Steven said.
"Not really." Garnet said.
"Don't worry, I'm recording it for later." Steven said. Jet was thankful that he had his own TV in his room. He would go nuts if he had to watch Crying Breakfast Friends as a source of entertainment. Suddenly, the sound of static could be heard all throughout the temple.
"It's the signal again!" Steven said, noticing the change on his Television.
"Peridot!" Garnet shouted. Pearl made her way inside the temple, she must've heard the signal as well. "Pearl, the signal is back!"
"Again?" Pearl said, with a raised eyebrow.
"We need to get back out there!" Garnet said, hopping down from Steven's bedroom.
"Right!" Pearl said then she focused her attention on Steven. "Steven, where's Lion? Amethyst, get your head out of the fridge..." Amethyst quickly grabbed a piece of watermelon and swallowed it.
"Let's go guys!" Garnet yelled. Jet and the others were able to find Lion (he was lying down by the door) and they once again made their location to the communication hub.
"She works fast." Jet said, looking at the repaired communication hub. Garnet and Pearl once again was about to fuse. Steven stood there with stars in his eyes anticipating the event. Jet and Amethyst stood there with their arms folded. Jet glanced at Amethyst and she met his glance and looked away. Jet gave a worried look at her suggestion but then focused his attention at the duo in front of him.
"I hope you're ready." Garnet said.
"You know I am." Pearl said and the two begun their fusion dance. Sardonyx once again appeared from a light that dispersed as a curtain.
"What's this?" She asked. "An encore performance?" She leaned down to where the others were. "Just couldn't get enough of me, could you?" She started to laugh to herself. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let the show begin!" She jumped up in the air and Amethyst walked off. Steven noticed and started to follow her. Jet noticed and looked back at her. What could he say to her at this moment? He wasn't a good motivator at least he didn't think so. Still, it pained him to see that Amethyst seemed a bit of disarray of the fusion of Pearl and Garnet. Sardonyx made quick work of the tower and the communication hub was once again deactivated.
The crew made their way home via Lion and Pearl and Garnet went to their rooms for the evening. Jet made his way to his room and was about to turn in for the night until he heard a knock on his door. He got up and Amethyst was stand there, her head turned to the side as if she was bothered by something.
"Can I come in?" She asked, her voice softer than usual.
"Sure." Jet said, letting her in. Amethyst walked past Jet to look at his room. She found it to be average compare to her room but she still liked it. She took a sit on Jet's bed and Jet sat right next to her.
"So..." Jet said. "What's bothering you? The Amethyst I know is more upbeat." Amethyst shot him a mean look then she took a deep breath.
"Sorry..." Jet said noticing her menacing gaze.
"No, I'm the one that should be sorry." Amethyst said. Jet remained quite as she started to speak. "I thought that me and Garnet was the duo who would always fuse but lately, she been fusing with Pearl and..." She took another deep breath. "I'm just being selfish..." Jet placed his hand under his chin, as if he was in deep thought. Amethyst noticed and started to think that he wasn't listening to her.
"I got an idea." Jet said, startling her a bit. "So, what if we catch Peridot in the act? Maybe, that'll give Garnet a reason for you two to fuse again." Amethyst eyes lit up upon hearing this.
"You think that'll work?" Amethyst asked.
"It should." Jet said. "I don't see why not?" Amethyst smiled and brought Jet into a kiss, surprising him a bit. He broke the kiss and smiled at her. "Whoa. What was that for?"
"Just because." Amethyst said, hopping of Jet's bed. "Now, let's go. We need Lion and Steven for this." She made her way towards the door and it opened for her. Jet got up and followed behind her. Even though he was getting sleepy, he figured he'd help get Amethyst out of the sour mood she was in. It really did not suit her.
Steven, Jet, Amethyst and Lion teleport to the communication area once more in hopes of catching Peridot in the act. The communication hub was still deactivated and the gang decided to hide behind some boulders for their chance to arrive. Jet sat on the ground and crossed his legs, he figured since he would have to wait for who know how long, he'd might as well get some mediation in.
"Peridot's been back here twice... so the odds are, she'll come back again, right?" He heard Steven say. "Then, blam! That's when we'll get her!"
"Yeah!" Amethyst said, slamming her fist together.
"This was a great idea, Jet." Steven said, looking in his direction. His focused then shifted back to Amethyst.
"Garnet's gonna be so impressed."
"And then she'll think I'm cool again!" Amethyst said, pumping her fist in the air. Steven peered through the telescope he brought with him and scouted the area. Jet had his eyes closed and only answered question directed towards him with and nod or a shake of his head. He really couldn't respond any more than that because he didn't want to break his full concentration.
The crew waited for what seemed like hours to catch Peridot in the act. Lion fell asleep during the waiting and Jet still had his eyes closed, a little electricity forming around him. Steven and Amethyst looked at each other and took a couple of steps back. They knew what he was doing and they didn't want to get zapped in the process.
"I don't think she's coming." Amethyst said, looking down at the ground and hugging her knees. Jet heard that and dispersed the electricity that was gathered around him. He opened his eyes to look at her. Jet eyes then shifted elsewhere.
"I sense something." He said, looking around. A green object zoomed right past them, alerting them in the process.
"It's Peridot's escape pod." Steven said, looking through the telescope. The pod zoomed right towards the communication hub and since they were a good distance away, he needed it. "She fixed it somehow?"
"But I thought we had it?" Amethyst asked. Jet remembered the gems telling him that story during the time he was gone.
"Did she steal it from the temple?" Steven asked.
"That would be suicide." Jet said, standing up and folded his arms. Jet looked towards the communication hub and couldn't make anything out. He sighed and closed his eyes then opened them again. They were a solid grey, which allowed him to see at a far distance.
"It looks like she's fixing the hub again." Jet reported, noticing the pod lifting pillars and putting them in place again. The pod stopped on top of the tower once the pillars where back in place and a figure popped out. Jet eyes widen upon noticing who the figure was.
"What's she doing up there?" Steven asked, looking through his telescope. "Enhanced! H-Hey Peridot kinda look like..."
"It's Pearl." Jet said, as he continued to look up.
"What? Let me see!" Amethyst said, gently pushing Steven to the side to get a look for herself. Pearl was standing there as to make sure everything was in order. Amethyst took her face way from the telescope. "Oh-no." As soon as she said that, the communication hub reactivated. It's light shining the night sky. Jet continued to look up, a little puzzled at why Pearl would do such a thing.
It was the next day and Jet didn't sleep as well as he wanting to. Last night was a bit taxing for him and his mind kept wondering why Pearl would fix the hub. He had a couple of theories buzzing around in his head but most of them were bizarre. It was mid-day and Jet stomach growled at him, telling him that it wanted food and it wanted it now. Jet got out of bed and made his way towards the door. It opened and the first thing Jet noticed was that Steven and Amethyst were gathered around his TV. Jet figured that they were watching that Crying Breakfast show but he heard no sound coming from it. Jet went towards the fridge and placed an apple on the table. Before he decided to eat, he should get ready for the day. That didn't take long, Jet was refreshed and ready for anything. He grabbed his apple and climbed the later to Steven's room.
"Hi, Jet." Steven greeted.
"Yo." Jet said. He noticed that the TV screen was blank. "What's going on here?"
"Me and Amethyst was just talking about what we've seen last night." Steven said. "But I was wondering, why would Pearl rebuild the hub? Maybe she's trying to study how it works?"
"I don't think she would go that far for that." Jet said, sitting on the floor next to them. He took a bite out of his apple. "Would she?"
"No." Amethyst said.
"Maybe she's trying to get us more channels?" Steven said, as he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. There was nothing but static being broadcast at the time. Pearl suddenly appeared behind them and leaned closer to the TV.
"This is not good." She said.
"What's wrong?" Steven asked.
"It's Peridot." Pearl said, causing Amethyst and Steven to look at one another. "She must've fixed the communication hub again." The gem door activated and Garnet stepped through.
"Garnet!" Pearl said, grabbing her attention. "It's the hub again!"
"She's evading my future vision." Garnet said, adjusting her visor. "No matter how many times I try, I can't see us finding Peridot. Tch... come on team." She started to walk off with Pearl not that far behind her.
"So..." Jet whispered to Steven and Amethyst. "Should I tell her or do we wait this one out?"
The gems were at the communication hub once again and Garnet was looking up at the tower. Pearl was close by and she too, looked up. Jet, Steven, Amethyst and Lion were only a few inches behind them.
"I can't believe Peridot is giving us so much trouble." She said, with Jet raising an eyebrow at her statement. "But it hardly matters, right Garnet? We can disable this tower as many times as we need to together. Okay, I'm ready if you are..."
"I know what she's doing." Amethyst said.
"You do?" Both Jet and Steven asked.
"Stop!" Amethyst said, causing Garnet and Pearl to freeze their motions. Garnet was holding onto Pearl, as the duo looked at Amethyst.
"Is something the matter, Amethyst?" Pearl asked.
"Y-You... you... shouldn't..." Amethyst was having a hard time trying to speak.
"Pearl, we saw you..." Jet said, folding his arms.
"What?" Pearl said, looking at him slightly confused.
"You need to tell Garnet it was you." Steven said.
"I don't understand." Garnet said, as Pearl gritted her teeth.
"I'm sorry." She muttered. "It's just so much fun being Sardonyx with you." Garnet got the idea of what was going on, as she dropped Pearl on the ground.
"That's why I couldn't see us finding Peridot." Garnet said, looking at Pearl in surprise.
"Wait..." Pearl said, getting off the ground. "Let me explain..."
"You've been fixing the hub!?" Garnet nearly shouted, taking a few steps towards Pearl.
"It really was Peridot..." Pearl said, taking a few step back. "T-The first time..."
"You tricked me." Garnet said, through gritted teeth.
"No, no, no, no." Pearl said as she continued to step backwards. "We just needed a reason to fuse. I just wanted to share a few more victories with you."
"Those weren't victories..." Garnet said.
"Wait, Garnet!" Amethyst said, getting her attention. Amethyst made her way towards her. "You know, we are so much weaker than you. Fusion with you is like our one chance to feel...stronger..."
"Don't defend her!" Garnet shouted, causing Amethyst to take a few steps back. "Peridot is out there somewhere and Pearl's been distracting us with... nothing!" Steven and Jet looked at each other then back at the situation in front of them.
"Garnet..." Pearl said, near the verge of crying.
"That's enough!" Garnet shouted. "Amethyst, fuse with me!"
"But..." Amethyst started.
"Let's just get this over with." Garnet said, her fist clenched in anger. The two started their danced and suddenly the area was blinded by a dark red light. Sugilite appeared and she glared at them and then focused her attention towards the tower. She drew her fist back and punched the tower, breaking it apart with ease. The tower was destroyed this time with Pearl looking on in horror at what she's done.
