Episode 21: Bismuth Part 1

At Heylin HQ, Chase and Wuya were at a table, discussing something. "So, let me get this straight. You plan on trying to convince Jack to return to us by telling him about Hannibal Roy's arrival and an increase in potential? I mean, it's not a bad plan…but I don't know if Jack would take up the offer. It's been 2 months since Jack's departure. Plus, with the shenanigans of Jasper and her departure, it makes me wonder if it's possible." Wuya said. "While I understand your concern, my main concern is to make sure either Jack is with us or not partnered with the Gems and Monks at this point in time." Chase said. "If that happens, we need to make some new moves to make sure that Jack would regret of joining with them if he did join them." Wuya softly nods.

"So, when is my benching done?" Wuya asked. "Well, I think that if we both fail, I'll reinsert you back into the lineup for the Wu Hunt. If, and I cannot stress this enough, IF either we one or both of us succeed, then you'll stay on the sideline for a bit longer." Chase said. Wuya was not happy but is now secret wants both of them to fail. "I wish you the best of luck, Chase." Wuya said. Chase nods as he finishes his tea and stands up. "I think it is time for me to start hunting down where Jack might be." Chase said. Wuya nods as she also finishes her tea and sees Chase off to find Jack. Wuya wants to make sure the Heylin are as strong if not stronger with more Heylin in the fold. It's up to Chase and Hannibal to make it successful. Otherwise, things might look dire.

Back at the Beach house, Steven was playing a game with the Gems and Monks watching over. "Keep it up, Steven!" Raimundo said. Steven tries to press some buttons but was unable to and lost the game. "Well, that stunk." Amethyst said. Steven then sees Lion chewing on one of his favorite shirts. "Lion! Drop that!" Steven said as he snatches the shirt away. "This is like the fourth time you chewed on this in the past 2 days. You know what… Lie down and I put it in your mane." Steven said as Lion grumbles and lies down. "Thank you." Steven said. He then hops into the mane. "My turn." Amethyst said as she began to play. Lion then gets one of Steven's pink shirt with a yellow star on it and began gnawing on it. "I guess he's teething or something like that." Raimundo said. Just then, Steven flops out. "I made a mistake!" Steven said. "Huh?" Pearl and Kimiko said. At the same, Amethyst got a game over. "Hold on, I can fix it." Steven said, leaping back into the mane. "Man, Steven looked like he saw a ghost in there." Clay said. "Yea, seems strange considering it's in Lion's mane." Raimundo added. "I think we should check." Pearl suggested as she stands up. The monks nod and all of them get up and head to Lion.

Just then, Steven got out, taking in a deep breath. "Yo, Steven, What's up?" Raimundo asked. "There's a gem inside Lion's mane!" Steven said. "Wait, a gem?" Pearl said. "Describe her." Garnet said. "One sec." Steven said as he checks back inside Lion's mane. They wait a bit as Steven quickly pulls out. "She's pretty big." Steven said. "Well, Garnet is big. No offense." Raimundo quips. "None taken." Garnet said in a calm tone. Steven peeks back and gets out quickly. "She has rainbow hair and tattoos." Steven added. Pearl was surprised to hear that. "Wait, Rainbow hair?" Pearl said. She and Garnet look at each other. "What about her gem, what does it look like?" Pearl said, pressing a bit more question. "I think it was… an innie?" Steven said, a little unsure. "I-it can't be…" Pearl said. "Steven, bring her out." Garnet said. Steven nods as he head back in. "So, wait, there was a gem inside Lion's mane this whole time?" Raimundo said. "Most apparently so." Omi added. "That's…interesting. I didn't expect another gem to be located somewhere close by to us." Kimiko said. "Well, see if she's an ally to us very soon." Clay said.

Just then, Steven brought out a gray Gem with rainbow hair. The Gem was shocked to see the sight of the gems as Garnet and Pearl are surprised to see the Gem. The Monks and Amethyst...well, not so much. "Wow, a total stranger." Amethyst said. Garnet dispels her visor, revealing her eyes that she is in disbelief. "Pearl…Garnet…" The gray gem said. "BISSS-MUUUTH!" Pearl said as she runs up and hugs the gem, very overjoyed. "You're back!" She said with some laughs. The Monks and Amethyst, along with Steven and Lion looked at each other in confusion. There were some playful banters between the gray gem, Pearl and Garnet, meaning that they knew each other. "Excuse me, Who are you?" Raimundo said. "Monks, Guys, This is Bismuth, one of the original Crystal Gems." Garnet said. "Oh, hey, new recruits!" Bismuth said. "Care to introduce yourselves?" she said with a big smile. "Sure. I'm Raimundo, the sporty/jokey one, Clay, the cowboy, Kimiko, the techie, and Omi, the most experience monk. We are the Xiaolin Monks." Raimundo said. Amethyst quickly introduced herself and now it was Steven's turn. "Name's Steven, you were in my Lion and now you are in my place." He said with a smile.

"Thanks for having me." Bismuth said as she shakes their hands. "Wow, I am surprised. Rose said she lost you at the battle of Ziggurat! She was worried sick!" Pearl said. Bismuth's smiles transform into worry. "Wait, where's Rose?" Bismuth said. "Well… I am Rose's son. I have her gem." Steven said as he lift his shirt up to reveal his gemstone. Bismuth looks at it. "So...do you know me at all? All the things we did?" Bismuth asked. "no...sorry." Steven said. "Sometimes, it's not easy to understand Rose's choices…but we have to stand by them." Pearl said. Bismuth chuckles a bit. "Rose is really something else. I mean… Look at this! She's really something else!" She said. "Besides, where is everyone else?" "Uhh…everyone else?" Raimundo said. "Yea, like Crazy Lace, Biggs, Snowflake?" Bismuth said. The Gems look a bit worried.

A bit later, all of them arrived at the battlefield. Bismuth was stunned from it. "No- No way! We were just here! How long was I out?" Bismuth said, flabbergasted. "It's been around 5300 years. We managed to defend earth but…" Pearl said as she trails off. "We are the only left?" Bismuth said. Pearl softly nods. "Man, to think that was around nearly 4000 years between this battle and the creation of the Shen Gong Wus." Raimundo said. "Shen gong Wu? What are those?" Bismuth said. "Oh, right…We'll tell you about those in a bit." Pearl said. Bismuth nods as she looks around the field. "What happened to the others?" Bismuth said. "Unfortunately, Homeworld's final attack wiped out all of the Crystal Gems that weren't us." Garnet said. "Rose was able to protect me and Garnet and by the look of it, she protected you as well." Pearl said. Bismuth nods as she looks around some more. "At least the Diamonds aren't a threat for the foreseeable future." Bismuth said. "Well…" Raimundo said with a sheepish response. "Homeworld still has eyes on this planet. Not only that, there's another threat on Earth that is trying to rule the world." Garnet said. "In order to explain it, we might need to bring in…well, a former ally of them, a guy named Jack Spicer." Pearl said. Bismuth rose her eyebrow.

A bit later, they arrived back to the beach house. Bismuth was getting the rundown on what the Shen Gong Wus are, who wants it, and how they work. Bismuth was understanding how they work and was impressed by the quality of the weapons. She even was impressed on how it was inspired by the Gems themselves. Bismuth gives a whistle as she examines the Sword of the Storm. "This was inspired by Rose's sword? This Dashi fellow must have been one interesting person." Bismuth said. "Oh, yes, he may no longer live on earth as he has passed on, but his impact still most feels for eons." Omi said. Bismuth nods as the door opens. It's Jack. Jack sees Bismuth, examining more of the Wus. "So...that's Bismuth from what I've been told?" Jack said. The monks nods as Bismuth sees Jack. "Ah, so you are Jack Spicer, I assume?" Bismuth said. "Yea, former Heylin." Jack said.

Jack would explain who the Heylin are and what their goals are. "Oh my goodness, and I thought the Diamonds were ruthless." Bismuth said. "Yea, and considering I was a former Heylin, I got some insight on what they might be planning on." Jack added. "That is true. Hey, how is your projects going, Jack?" Raimundo said, touching base on it. "Surprisingly decently. It's not fully ready and won't likely will be for a good while." Jack said. "I will say that they would be the biggest surprise you'll see in your life." "We'll see about that." Pearl said to herself. "Huh?" Raimundo said. "Uhhh...nothing, Rai." Pearl said as she laughs then covers her mouth. Bismuth stands up. "Well, I think we might need some extra fire power for you guys." Bismuth said. "What are you getting at, Bismuth?" Kimiko said. "Well, I figured I would assist the Gems in upgrades. For that, we need to head to the forge." Bismuth said. "Oh, yea, we hadn't shown Steven, Amethyst, or the Monks of the Forge." Pearl said. "Well, what are we waiting for? We should start heading to the forge!" Bismuth said as all them head to the warp pad and warp out… Sans Jack as he walks out the door to work on his projects more. Bismuth is looking like she is gelling with the Crystal Monks pretty well. Let's hope that stays that way.

End of Episode 21