By the time Steven jolted awake, the ground had started to shake and crack. The ground right by Steven's futon was starting to rip open and the black board falls on top of Steven. Steven screams and I run over and pull him up, leading him to the ladder that Peridot was standing on top of. "If you're done just lying there, maybe it's about time that we stop the world from ending! Where are the others!?" Peridot yelled in a panic.
"They're stuck on Mask Island. We have to drill without them!" Steven yelled back and I climbed into the cockpit of the drill.
"Ugh! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS THE MEANING OF TEAMWORK?! Okay, Steven, are you ready to drill down into the planet to depths never before reached by your species to stop the Cluster before it forms and save your world!?" Peridot asked Steven, grabbing his shoulders.
"I don't know!" Steven yelled in fear, moving his arms away from Peridot.
"Don't say that! Say "we'll do it together and it's gonna be great!"" Peridot said and made the motion of clutching her fists together towards her chest and spreading them out.
"We're gonna do it together and it's gonna be great!" Steven yelled back dramatically, though it was obvious that he was still nervous.
"LIAR!" Peridot yelled back and the ground by the ladder started to break apart. I grabbed the two of them and pulled them into the cockpit. I was smashed to the side while Peridot sat in the middle and Steven on her right.
"Ready or not, we have a mission." Peridot said confidently and started up the drill, and began digging into the ground. "Increasing speed!" The drill rapidly dug down and all around the drill was a very dark and ominous sight.
"Alright. Bracing for impact." Steven said firmly.
"You realize the core is very far down in the Earth don't you?" I asked him.
"It's actually two more hours to the cluster." Peridot explained, adding on to my statement.
"Oh. Wish I'd brought some tunes." Steven said and Peridot turned on the elevator music.
"Uh, thanks." Steven said. We remained silent for what seemed like forever, watching the open window as we dug deeper and deeper.
"It's kinda... freaky down here, huh?" Steven asked.
"Yeah…" I agreed.
"I don't see what's the problem with it." Peridot said.
"It's just dark, and cramped…" Steven tried to stretch out but it was no use. "Ngah, I can't even, gah, stretch out." The compartment shook for a moment and we looked around nervously.
"I'm surprised there was enough space for the three of us." I said and looked over at Peridot. "How was everyone else supposed to fit in here?"
"I don't know, they'd shrink or something. We didn't have a lot of time to plan." Peridot said quickly, embarrassment in her voice.
"So... what is the plan?" Steven asked.
"We have a drill. We're going to drill." Peridot said firmly. "Get ready-" The ground around us started to turn a bright red color. "we're about to penetrate the asthenosphere!" Steven and I pushed ourselves towards Peridot as lava came down from around the cockpit.
"Lava!" I yelled fearfully.
"We're fine." Peridot said and shook us off of her. "Lava is what comes out of volcanoes. That's superheated peridotite." she explained happily.
"Peridot...ite?" Steven asked,
"Yeah. It's made of the same stuff as Peridots." She said, a wistful look in her eyes as she watched the peridotite.
"You were made on Homeworld, right?" Steven asked, though the answer was obvious.
"Mmhmm." Peridot said, her expression changed from wistfulness to something more complicated.
"What was it like?" Steven asked.
" didn't exist. Then I did." She explained firmly, as though it should be obvious. "I don't have memories of it, just feelings." She looked down at the controls, her face sad. "I know I can never go back to Homeworld, but it's hard. Not to have some feelings for where you came from." There was a tear in her eye.
"Of course." I said and patted her on the back. I smiled. "Homeworld can't be all that bad, after all that's where you, Sapphire, Ruby, Pearl and Lapis came from. I can't be made at the Diamonds for that."
She sent me a thankful smile. "Thanks, it's nice not to hear all bad things about Homeworld." She paused for a moment. "Where are you from? I noticed on the Moon Base that although Steven was floating because of his body's inability to gravity shift, you seemed perfectly fine."
"I don't know." I explained and ran my hand through my hair. "I remember growing up, being a baby and all those things, but sometimes I can't tell what I am. Not to mention how different I feel from everyone else. I joined the Gems because I was running away from my circumstances… I was tired of feeling different and non-human at the orphanage, a place where young humans are raised due to their lack of parents and or guardians, but now…" I pause looking away from Steven. "I feel more different and un-human… un-gem than ever."
"I didn't know you felt that way." Peridot said.
"I don't like voicing it, I can't help but feel guilty about something when I explain my feelings. Sometimes I think it's my fault I'm this way. Or something bigger than me that's at fault." I say, I was about to explain more but I felt voices calling out to me.
'Help… Please… Form… Form…' Hundreds of voices called and I clutched my head in pain.
"They're coming…" I said and pulled my knees closer to me and closed my eyes. There was banging on the compartment. Both Peridot and Steven gasp.
"A Gem mutant!" Steven yelled in fear.
"They must've buried some prototypes with the Cluster." Peridot said and more banging came from outside the compartment. The voices only seemed to increase the deeper we went down.
"They're all over us! They're attacking the drill! What do we do?" Steven asked in fear.
"Make it stop…" I said in pain. There was a high pitched sound and I heard two voices scream in pain.
"Pearl didn't think it was necessary, but I never leave home without a blast cannon." Peridot explained and they continued to shoot the mutants away, my headache only seemed to grow with each blast.
"Something doesn't feel right about this." Steven said.
"Then use the D-pad." Steven said.
"No, it's just… These things. We can't just leave their gems out there. They're going to form again later. If I could just bubble them, then, they'd be safe." Steven said.
"C'mon! We've gotta help them." Steven said.
"There is no helping them. They're too broken. The beings who used to be in those shards are so shattered, they don't know who they are, or what's happening around them. They just seek out other gems, looking for the missing pieces of themselves. Trying to make themselves whole." Peridot said and another mutant cried in pain. "These early experiments only combine two or three shards. The cluster will be a billion times bigger. An inseparable fusion capable of destroying worlds, starting with this one."
"I feel like dying!" I yelled in pain. "They won't stop!" The cockpit started to shake and I opened my eyes, watching as we hit deeper rock.
"We're hitting some denser rock! This is it!" Peridot yelled and the drill pierced through the ceiling and made a medium sized hole. Peridot stopped the drill and moved it upwards, so that we could look around with the mobile binoculars with a flashlight attached to it.
"Recovery depth achieved. Target found." Peridot said and I looked up in horror.
"Is that…" Steven asks.
"The Cluster." Peridot said, her eyes narrowing. There were millions of gem shards all together, with hundreds of different colors illuminating off of it, it was both the most beautiful and most terrifying thing I had ever seen in my whole life. A tremor started and all of us shouted in alarm.
"What's happening?!" Steven asked and white hands began to ripple and surround the surface of the Cluster. I covered my ears as the voices became louder and louder. My ears started to ring and my headache was so horrible that it felt like my skull was being ripped open. I couldn't hear Steven or Peridot, only the voices, and once they started drilling, the voices only worsened. I opened my eyes and slammed my arms down to the seat in frustration.
"SUHA!" I heard them scream and I could feel myself falling, I opened my eyes and saw that I was heading right towards the Cluster, the white arms formed around me and I felt myself slip away.
"My name is Ruby/ Emerald/ Amethyst/ Citrine/ Sapphire/ Nephrite/ Pearl/ Jasper/ Agate/ Topaz/ Aquamarine/ Topaz/ Lapis Lazuli/ Jade/ Bismuth/ Obsidian/ Larimar/ Serpentine/ Beryl/ Zircon/ Spinel…" The names seemed to continue on and on.
"I was a soldier/ warrior/ pilot/ servant/ manager/ retriever/ protector/ escort/ superior/ fusion/ counsel/ toy/ guard/ shatter/ guard/ builder/ commander/ Homeworld Gem/ Earth Gem/ Crystal Gem…."
"I was destroyed/ shattered/ collected/ experimented/ fused/ ripped/ broken/ smashed/ exploded/ imploded/ splintered/ cracked/ fractured/ fragmented/ crushed/ scotched/ burned/ along the way…"
"We don't want to form." They said together. "Don't shatter us any more than we already are." There was a pink light and I opened my eyes, I could see something pink floating, the rest of the gem shards above. I moved over and grabbed the arm, only to see it change into Steven's arm instead, I blinked in confusion and rubbed my eyes.
"Suha?" Steven asked. "Is that you?"
"Of course it's me." I told him and smiled. "Did you fall in here to?"
"No, I don't think so at least." Then he paused and gave me a big hug, I could feel tears running down my back. "I… We... You fell… and there was a flash of light and you were gone." I thought… you were…"
"I'm here now." I told him.
"Must... Have to... Want to... Need to... Have to…" The voices said and we released our hug. I noticed they were much quieter now that Steven was here. "Want to... Need to... Want to…" A gem floats past Steven and a small broken voice whispers as the glow pulsated.
"...want to...need to…" The shard said.
"You… want to? Want to what?" Steven asked and I covered my ears as a strong white light enveloped us and the voices cried out in unison.
"FORM!" The Cluster yelled together and Steven screamed, covering his ears.
"Please! Stop!" Steven yelled and the light subsided and the voices calmed themselves. I looked around and could feel my consciousness fading again. Steven grabbed onto my arm and I noticed it was starting to glow dark black in color and fade. "Suha! No please! Don't leave me here!"
"Sorry…" I said and held onto his hand. I noticed his form changed, I guessed I was having a hallucination. I was holding onto a pink shoulder and felt a strange sense of familiarity hit me. I felt myself smile. "P…" And all of my energy disappeared and I closed my eyes.
"Don't leave us... " The Cluster pleaded to me. "Please… Don't go…" I then drifted off.