"You guys look like you had as much fun as we did." Lapis said boredly, staring at the sight before them. As soon as the ems had stepped off of the warp pad they were met with an exhausted Pearl and Garnet, who were talking a few feet away from a squadron of tied and furious Ruby guards. The fusion turned to ask what the gem meant, smiling when Amethyst tapped the top of Jasper's bubbled gemstone, sending it to the temple. "While I would love to take you all out to lunch to celebrate your victory, as you can see we have a situation." She said, gesturing to the Ruby guards.
As if on cue, one of the gems managed to cut through their restraints, the squadron letting out a battle cry and rushing towards them.
"Where is Jasper?!"
"She wasn't on Neptune!"
"What did you do to her?"
"If you did anything to her I swear I'll -"
The chaos was cut off as Lapis boredly lifted her hands and captured the gems in individual water bubbles. "Alright, time for a timeout."
"Why are the Rubies even back here?" Steven asked. "What do you mean back?" Jet asked, arching an eyebrow. "A few months ago they came to Earth on a mission, but we were able to trick them into leaving." Pearl explained. "I thought we would be done with them after they left, but apparently not."
"Let's release one and ask what they're up to." Garnet suggested.
"Oh! Can I pick?" Steven asked, eager and starry eyed.
"I don't see why not." Garnet said with a shrug.
Jet cringed as Steven stepped forward, stroking his chin as he tried to decide what gem he should choose. The Crystal Gems seemed awfully casual about having a squadron of gems show up on their planet out of the blue. "How are you guys so casual about this?" she asked, looking up at Lapis, who smirked. "They aren't exactly…smart. Steven came up with this idea to play baseball. The plan sucked but it somehow worked."
"Ooh, what about Leggy? The Ruby with the gem on her leg. I named them all based on the placement of their gems. We've got Leggy, Army, Navy, Eyeball, and Doc." Steven said, pointing to each gem in question. One by one, Steven picked the gems he wanted to question, the interrogation going nowhere until Doc was released, who automatically demanded where Jasper was and ranting about the dumb game they had been tricked into playing before being tricked into flying to Neptune and spending months looking there.
"We even looked on every other planet in this stupid solar system! And she wasn't the-" the Ruby's rant was cut off by a sharp "Hey!". Turning, all of the gems were shocked to see that Amethyst had shapeshifted into Jasper and was standing with her hands on her hips. "I'm right here." she said, blowing hair out of her face. The disguise was immediately well received and the Ruby guards eagerly circled around Amethyst, bombarding her with questions while the others stood, shocked. "Like I said." Lapis said, rolling her eyes. "Stupid."
"It's so noble that you want to stay on Earth to guard these prisoners!" Eyeball said, glaring at the other gems. Doc nodded her head, starry eyed. "We better let Yellow know, though. I'm sure she'll be pleased. C'mon, let's get to the moon so we can file our report and not waste anymore of Jasper's time."
"I gotta hold this all the way to the moon?! - I mean - Hold these. Hold these prisoners. They'll have to come with us, ya know. Can't leave 'em unsupervised." Doc nodded in agreement. "Very well. To the ship!" she said, excitedly pumping her fists into the air as the Rubies made their way to the ship.
"Are you insane?! There's no way you can hold that form to the moon and back." Pearl hissed. "I got this." Amethyst said, shaking her head. "Just play along, okay? That way we can get them to leave us alone." Garnet, Pearl, and Steven exchanged a look but nodded and boarded the ship as Amethyst turned to Lapis, Peridot, and Jet. "You guys wanna play prisoner too?"
Peridot and Lapis scoffed as Lapis shook her head. "Not really." Jet on the other hand, nodded. "You clods haven't written a report in ages. You're gonna need some help to avoid looking suspicious in front of them." she said, nodding towards the ship. Lapis looked shocked. "Are you sure? Last mission was pretty intense." Jet nodded. "If Amethyst is gonna hold that form until we get back we need to make writing the report go by as swiftly as possible. Anyway, I can probably spend the trip trying to figure out how I'm gonna explain what happened in the Beta Kindergarten to Johnathon." Amethyst grimaced. "Good idea."
The trip to the base was as uneventful as faking being a prisoner on a ship of Ruby guards could be, with Jet spending the time racking her brains about how she could explain B9's corruption to Jonathon when she herself didn't understand it. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by an escalating argument going on in the front of the ship.
"The rumors are just that, rookie! Rumors! Conspiracy theories that encometent gems like you make up in their spare time!" Eyeball said, crossing her arms. "You don't know that! Nobody knows that!" Leggy shot back. "Anyway, most stuff we know about the world was once a theory before someone proved it to be fact."
"Hey, hey, easy there." Amethyst said, picking up Eyeball and sitting in one of the chairs aboard the ship. "What seems to be the issue?" Eyeball scoffed. "Nothing. I just don't want no new recruits talking about silly rumors when they don't even know what mission they're on." Leggy frowned. "Hey, it's not my fault I forget things sometimes." she said, shoving her hands in her pockets. "I just think the theory is cool is all." Amethyst chuckled, the spat reminding her about spats she had seen Lapis and Peridot get into about their favorite TV shows. "Hey, we hae a few until we get to the moon. Humor me." she said, batting hr other leg. Doc raised an eyebrow hesitantly. "In front of the traitors? She whispered, glaring at the cCrystal Gems." Amethyst flinched. "Hey, I don't see why not. They can't exactly go anywhere do anything about it since I - erm. We are guarding them, right?" The "prisoners" in question rolled their eyes at this but remained speechless as Leggy eagerly hopped up on Leggy's lap.
"So, there are rumors going around about a Pearl. A defective one at that! Some say she was made for a high class gem like a Sapphire, others for a huge, demanding gem like an Agate - some even say they made her for a Diamond!" Leggy started. The Crystal gems froze and exchanged a look, wide-eyed as Leggy continued. Did they know about Freshwater?
"The suspicion the Diamonds being in need of a new Pearl and that the defect was supposed to be that really took off though!" Leggy continued. "Why would the Diamonds even need a Pearl since they already have one? Were their Pearls stepping out of line? Are the Diamonds not satisfied with the Pearls they already have in their possession? Nobody knows! Except of course the gems that were actually involved in attempting to create another Pearl for the Diamonds. But apparently all of their attempts were unsuccessful! Even when they managed to get something to come out of the ground, it was hideous! Defective! Could you imagine it! I almost pity it." Leggy said with a shudder.
"If she was so defective then why the hell did they not shatter it?" Eyeball said, rolling her eyes.
"They probably wanted to punish the gems who made it by having it serve them." Doc said with a snicker. "That, and having them work in the Zoo with the…humans." the Rubies shuddered at the mention of the weak creatures. "Why are you wasting Jasper's time?" Eyeball said, rolling her eyes. "Everyone knows about the Defective Pearl. The Diamonds got rid of her. End of story." she said, trying to shut down the rumor again.
"But we don't know that!" Leggy argued. "Some gems say the new Pearl the Diamonds have is the defect!" Leggy said, dramatically showing a hologram of the Diamond's newest Pearl, something that made the other Rubies groan.
Steven did his best not to gawk at the sight before him. That was the gem he had been seeing and trying to contact in his dreams. Brilliant white skin, a black visor that hid her eyes, and long, flowing pink hair. The only difference in the hologram she was donned in a frilly blue and white skirt with a yellow top that was equally frilly.
"Yes we do know that! Even when non-defective gems are summoned to a meeting with White Diamond, they either come back like her," Navy said, the gems shuddering at the memory of White Pearl, "or don't come back at all. What makes you think a defective Pearl could come out of that situation and be the new Pearl the Diamonds have?"
"What about the timing? One day a Pearl disappears, and short while later a new one pops up? Isn't that too much of a coincidence?" Leggy argued. Doc shook her head. "No. The Diamonds were probably tired of waiting and got a new one." Leggy groaned. "With what materials? We all know Homeworld is struggling with materials since these clods-" gesturing to the "prisoners" "keep getting in our way!" Army scoffed. "They probably used one of their better made colonies." Leggy sighed and crossed her arms. "Ok fine. What about the rumors that if you remove the visor you'll see a Pearl gemstone over her eye? The exact same color as the Defects?" Leggy smirked. "Just like you said. Rumors."
Leggy groaned as the gems continued to argue. "Let's let Jasper decide!" Doc exclaimed, causing the Rubies to immediately stop arguing and look up at Amethyst, starry eyed. "What do you think, Jasper?" Eyeball asked in anticipation. "It's circumstantial evidence at best, right? No way a Diamond would allow a defective gem even in their court - let alone all deciding to let them serve them all collectively. They've got to all be rumors, right?" Amethyst did her best to pick her jaw up off of the ground. Freshwater. On Homeworld? Serving the Diamonds? That had to be inaccurate. Rumors. Just like Eyeball had said. Glancing over at Steven, however, she saw the boy shake his head slightly. Something about the determination in his face made Amethyst believe him and make a mental note to ask him about it later. For now, though, the Rubies needed to be pacified since they were about to land on the Moon.
"I think circumstantial evidence is just that. Circumstantial." she said, putting Eyeball down. "But." she said, ruffling Leggy's hair when she saw the dejected look on the gem's face. "Within every rumor there's a little bit of truth." she said as the ship touched down on the moon.
The Crystal Gems did their best to shake off the shock of the Rubie's conversation as they made their way to the Moon Base. Garnet placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder, speaking in a low voice as the Rubies lead the way. Ever since the gem had gotten back from space, she had been clearly grieving the gem. Even if she didn't trust Freshwater, Garnet did trust Pearl and her judgment of character. If after everything that Freshwater had put them through Pearl grieved Freshwater the way she grieved Rose, she had to question her previous beliefs that Freshwater had only helped the gem out of oblig-
"No. Rose Quartz would never do that! Sure she had to fight, but she wouldn't shatter anyone!" GArnet was pulled from her thoughts at STeven's outburst, causing everything at the Moon Base to stop in its track everyone turned to look at Steven. After a beat of silence, however, Doc called up from up ahead, taking attention off of the boy, with the Rubies rushing up the stairs to check out what had happened. "You didn't tell him?" Jet asked, shocked, glancing from Garnet, to Amethyst, then to Pearl, who had covered her mouth and turned away from the gems. Before any of the gems could answer her, they heard a cry of "The communicator's broken! Crystal Gems!"
Exchanging a look, the gems rushed up the stairs and saw the destroyed panel, Eyeball furiously crossing her arms. "We'll have to take you back to Homeworld to file a report." Doc said, grinning at the idea of getting to spend more time with the Quartz soldier. "I can't! I can't go." Amethyst said, still doing her best to hold her form. When the Rubies started to question her, the gem put a hand on Eyeball's hair. "You know what, you know me. Go to Homeworld and file the report for me. I'm trusting you, soldier." Eyeball's eyes grew wide. "Wow. Of course!" she said, all of the other Rubies agreeing to the idea as they all piled into the ship.
As soon as the ship doors closed, Amethyst took a deep breath and returned to her normal form as the gems congratulating her. Steven, meanwhile, made his way the mural, staring up at it. Jet crossed her arms, deep in thought. Steven was a part of their crew. He was literally Rose Quartz. How could the gems not tell him that she had shattered Pink Diamond after so many years? If they could so easily hide this from one of their own, what else could they be hiding?
"Hey Jasper, do you and the prisoners need a ride back to Earth? I can sit on your lap if you wa-" the gems whipped around at the loud shriek emitting from Doc. "We've been tricked! AGAIN?!"
"I'm still Jasper!" Amethyst said in a desperately pathetic attempt to win the gem over as the other Rubies rushed to their leader's side with an exasperated "No way!"
"Tio be fair, I'm surprised it took you guys this long." Jet said, her grin falling when Doc and her companions fused into a large Ruby guard. "Hey rubies!" Steven called, getting the fusion's attention from his spot next to the exit hatch. "If you're gonna fight-" Jet's eyes widened. "Steven you idiot! Don't-" she started, rushing over to the boy's side. Too late. "Take it outside!" the boy snapped, slamming his hand down on the Diamond Insignia.
Jet managed to get to Steven's side and grab his hand, her eyes flickering to the door as the doors opened and the Ruby guard was sucked towards the door, managing to get stuck. "You can't get rid of us that easily!" They snarled. "Maybe not." STeven said with agrin, seeing Pearl and Garnet fuse, Amethyst atop Sardonyx's shoulder "But she can!" The Ruby guard turned just in time to see Sardonyx's hammer come down hard on their chest, instantly dismantling the fusion. The celebration was short lived, however, when Eyeball grabbed onto Steven, causing him and Jet to go flying towards the door, Jet desperately holding onto the doorframe as the wind did everything in its power to force them out.
"Jet! Steven! Hold on!" Sardonyx shouted, doing her best to go as fast as she could towards the door without being sucked out herself. "Yeah, I plan on it!" Jet said, looking back and trying to ignore the fact that she could hear Eyeball cursing them all, Steven trying to shake the gem off of his leg. "Grab onto this!" Amethyst yelled, summoning her whip and launching it at the gem. Jet nodded, just barely managing to accomplish the feat and almost dragging Amethyst out with them. Before Sardonyx could help pull the gems to safety, however, there was a loud SNAP and Steven, Jet, and Eyeball were sent whirling through space and away from the gems, a tiny purple dagger disintegrating in a flashing light when it hit the moon floor.