"So!" Greg said, staring at the new, second child he had managed to acquire. They were at The Greatest Diner In the World now, Ruby and Sapphire at least... Marginally more willing to talk with eachother.. "Do you know where your parents are?" Reggies shrugged. "I know they think I'm in moonrise state." Ruby narrowed her eyes. "That's halfway across the country." "It wasn't ME who misled them, it was FASET." He took a bite from his waffle stack, grabbing it and just chomping down, heedless of messy syrup in a way that was horrifically reminiscent of Amethyst.
Steven looked at Reggie beside him. "Facet?" He nodded. "FASET industries. Weird mad science... Thing. They... Tricked my parents. I was sick, something terminal and really really rare- I don't even know what. The guy pitching it said it was some miracle cure that'd fix me forever, and my parents... Well, I thought it sounded shady. But like- I'm just a kid now, do you think they'd take my word for it back then? Suffice it to say, it took me a while to escape."
"What'd they... Do, to you?" Greg asked, carefully. "I... Would prefer to not discuss that." He said, looking down. Steven picked up the slack, though. "Did you get any cool superpowers out of the deal?" Reggie blanked. He looked at his hands, and then nodded. "... Yeah, a bit. Not much, though." He had sparks in him. Just a few, barely reserved from his escape, but with the healing... Something? He had plenty to spare. "Just... Brace yourself, I can get weird during this."
He pulled on two sparks. Just two, that was barely anything. And still- It rushed in. Numbers, data, designs, knowledge he'd never known, battles he'd never thought, friends he'd never had, highs and lows and joys and sorrows from something else, as the sparks of Light just pulsed through him, into his hands, letting out a quiet, tinny, broken Song out as it happened. They glowed, ever so slightly, iridescent and shining. His fingernails warped, growing longer and sharper, into claws. He finally pushed back the haze of who-am-i, and looked at his hands. Perfect. "Mreow, hah. I can't do this often, since- Whatever it is that fuels these powers, I also need it to stay, healthy."
Ruby, Saphhire and Greg weren't quite listening though. Because that was Gemsong they'd heard, during the change. Broken, incomprehensible Gemsong, but still just barely recognizable as such. That was... That just was, wasn't it? Whatever happened to Reggie involved gems somehow, that much was certain. Greg was the first to speak up. "Hey, uh, I need to talk to-" "Me!" Ruby interrupted. "Me as well." Sapphire continued. "I was hoping one of you would stay to be the adult in the room but, okay! Steven, Reggie, please don't do anything that'd get you arrested! Or get a bill thrown my way!" Steven and Reggie both nodded, as the adults left the diner.
"Greg. You heard the Gemsong." Greg nodded. "Yeah. I did. Is that a... A problem? Is this Reggie kid secretly a corrupted gem? A regular gem? A homeworld gem?" He was out of his depth here, sighing. Sapphire shook her head, though. "It was too broken for that. Too... Fragmented. But 'FASET Labs' is something we should look into once we're back at the temple." Ruby sighed. "This road trip really is getting sidetracked. We need to talk to Pearl about what she did. And- WE, you and me, still need to have that talk!" Sapphire took a second, but nodded. "That is reasonable. Your business here is concluded, so we should head back when we can."
Greg nodded. "Alright. Let's let Steven and Reggie finish up, and then we can... Start handling this, I guess?" The two nodded. "Ruby and I are going to have our... Discussion." "Alrighty! I'll let Steven and the new kid know." Greg walked back into The Diner, and took a seat back at the table. As it stood, Reggie was telling a story of some sort. "-And then- Agent whatsisname just, tries to use some weird zappy net? But for once I had plenty of juice, and so- So I just, changed? Changed, that's the word I guess. Anyways I got all thin and slinky and slipped through the net." Steven had stars in his eyes at the story. "Sorry to interrupt the socializing, but we're headed back to beach city soon."
Reggie nodded. "I gotcha, I'll get ready to part ways." Greg shook his head. "No, no, I mean- If there's no family around that'll object, you can actually come with us. We're actually kinda used to weird ge- er, Weird, powers. Ruby and Sapphire aren't exactly normal." Reggie opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again... "... I know Sapphire is blue and Ruby is red but what else is weird about them?" Greg sighed. "Whoo boy... This is gonna take some explaining. Tell you what, get ready to leave and we'll explain on the road."
The van was working just fine. Greg and Steven were in the front, Garnet and Reggie in the back. As they drove down the road, van Gently rumbling, eventually Steven fell asleep. Reggie was nowhere near as relaxed, nervously looking out the windows, into the cab, everywhere. "So- Uh. Where exactly ARE Ruby and Sapphire? I don't- I don't know what sorta weird they have going on, but- uh-" He was starting to panic. He was in an enclosed space, a MOVING enclosed space, with people he just met yesterday who COULD just be part of FASET, why did he even-
"They are me. I am them." Garnet said, snapping Reggie out of it. "Whah?" He looked confused. "Ruby and Sapphire, by Fusing, create me. I am a conversation between them." That sounded strangely familiar. "... Is it nice?" Garnet smirked. "Absolutely. You're worried." He blanched a bit. "I- NO, it's just-" "It's fine. It's alright to be scared. You are safe though, we aren't going to hurt you." Reggie nodded. "I... Get that. I just- Wasn't thinking when I just said, 'sure, people I never met, I'll happily go with you to another state, my family probably thinks I'm dead after all, so whatsit matter?'"
Garnet frowned a bit. "It was hasty of you. And perhaps hasty of us as well. But it'll be alright. I can tell." Reggie nodded. "So, if you're... Ruby, and also Sapphire... Greg said they also were weird like me?" Garnet nodded. "Ruby's strong, and her inner fire can heat her up enough to-" "Evaporate a pool?" She chuckled. "Yes, that, but also to melt down a door, or burn someone who tries to hurt her. Sapphires ice is as solid as her will, and as clear as her Future Vision." Reggie was paying attention now. "Future vision? Like- You can just know what's gonna happen?"
Garnet nodded. "Mhm. It's like... A river, a winding, branching river. I hold the map, I steer the ship. Less likely possibilities can creep up on me though, but that's VERY rare-" "MONSTER!" Greg suddenly yelled, turning the wheel to dodge some THING that Reggie only caught a glimpsee of. The van turned almost too sharply, but then the creature smacked it in the side- Sending spikes into the wall by Reggie, and flipping the van over.
"Oh no- Steven? Garnet? Reggie? You okay?" Greg asked, looking into the back as he unbuckled himself and Steven. "Everyone, out of the van! Reggie, don't try to do any kid hero stuff, Steven and Garnet can handle this!" "I'M ENTIRELY FINE TO SIT THIS OUT, THANKS!" Reggie shouted, clumsily rolling out of the van. "Augh that hurts- Taking cover, taking cover!" He dived behind a rock, peering over it as he watched the battle begin.
The monster was some sort of reptilian thing- Blue and white and way too many spikes and teeth. It was hissing, snapping, even as Garnet summoned her gauntlets and Steven summoned some sort of shield. "I'm gonna keep the new kid safe!" Steven shouted, backing up. Garnet nodded, taking the first strike. The blow rang out with a crack in the air, the lizard gem stumbling back before lashing out with a spiked tail, stabbing at Garnet. She dodged just in time, but the tail then whipped right back to slap Garnet to the side.
It hissed, charging towards Steven. The kid just, threw his shield at it, hitting it right in the face, stunning it just long enough for Garnet to jump on it and punch it into the ground. Reggie was moving, trying to slowly move to where Greg was, looking at the fight. "I- What IS that thing?!" He asked, pulling up his sleeves. Greg looked at him. "It's a corrupted gem, they show up sometimes! I don't remember the exact details- Why are you rolling your sleeves up? Are you going to jump into there?!" Reggie shook his head.
"I need- I need more light- To run, get away, heal maybe? I'm burning through my reserves and I don't want to run out in the middle of the night and drop dead, y'know!" It was hard to keep up- The panic was making him run hot- Body glowing and tense, ready to shift and change, or even just support his strength- The murmur of designs and tactics and layouts getting to be constant. "Gah! I don't- I don't know what to do!"
He hadn't been paying attention, but the fight was turning. Even as his body started to... Go grey, almost, and his breathing started to hitch, the lizard-gem slammed Garnet and Steven to the side, and just charged... Reggie! He couldn't dodge, could hardly move- But he got one lucky break, he could at least grab on. He rode around atop the thing, barely able to hold on lest he fall and get trampled, when he... Felt something from it.
Steven was going to charge in to help, but Garnet stopped him. "Wait, something's happening." She was right- Obviously, but the corrupted gem was slowing, seeming to get less... Solid? Fizzing out, glitching, stumbling- Until about half a minute of draining later, it... Didn't even poof, it just popped, gemstone, and Reggie falling to the ground- The latter glowing like a flashlight and staring at his hands. "I-I don't- I... What-" The stress of the situation finally got to him. He pitched forward into the grass.
Garnet approached, slowly. This was... A problem.