Hub City Hospital: Day…

Michelle sat by her son's bedside as the TV was turned to the news channel with one of many reporters on scene. "…I'm coming to you from what was Eitri Corp. which has collapsed in on itself. As you can see, the World Government has gotten the situation under control.

There is much they are not telling us at this time, but there were reports of the collapsing building being suspended mid collapse. Couple that with the fact that there are no casualties at this time, and you are left with many unknown answers. Answers we will seek…"

"Michelle." Tye stated from the doorway causing her to mute the channel. "I know what you must be going through; however, I am hoping to have a word with you."

"Right." Michelle stated. "What do you want?"

"Eye witness reports say the building glowed orange and was suspended mid-collapse." Tye informed. "To my knowledge, no tech we have, nor your late wife's ship, should be able to do that. That leads me to believe this was a power Philip inherited."

"Correct." Michelle admitted. "Almandine had a few powers, and one of them was Kinetic Absorption. It's an easier feat to achieve on the inanimate rather than the living. Hence keeping the building up yet being unable to fully quell the flames."eHenc

"I see." Tye nodded. "I'm sorry to have bothered you with this at such at time, but Leader Kellan must be informed of all aspects tied to this unfortunate situation. I'll get out of your hair and send men in a few days to see what more you can provide."

Tye turned to leave, but Michelle stood up looking rather firm. "Before you go, who was responsible for this? Who attacked the company I put my all into, the men who've stood by me, and most of all, my family? Who was it?"

"At this time, that is inconclusive." Tye didn't look at her. "That said, attacking the world's leader in technology is a crime no individual or minor group would try. Truthfully, there could be traitors within the World Government or Humanity's Defense deciding to move against us. Could even be a combination of the two for all we know now."

"Why would you insinuate anyone within the World Government has anything to do with this?" Michelle asked genuinely confused. "Wouldn't it serve you better to turn my attention fully on Humanity's Defense?"

"Michelle, despite how rocky your past is with the World Government, I can't afford to do anything that will drive away people I know I can trust." Tye sighed. "We're facing enemies on two fronts, foreign and domestic.

At a time when humanity should be united against the greater threat of Homeworld, we are divided. All I can do is my best to hold onto what is united." He looked back at her. "That's why I promise I will get to the bottom of this.

If anyone within the World Government had anything to do with this, they will be fully punished by the law for this transgression. If this is Humanity's Defense, then it is only one more reason to deal with them now rather than when it's too late."

"I see." Michelle nodded without showing her true appreciation for his words. "In the name of finding the truth, I can give you a list of people who have earned my highest level of trust. They can help you determine said truth."

"Send that list to me, and I'll seek their help." Tye walked out of the room. "Whoever did this today started a war they will not win."

Beach House: Day…

Peridot cleared her throat. "As it seems I have no other options, I have conceded to reveal some important information to you Crystal Gems."

She snapped her fingers giving Steven his cue. He shuffled into view wearing a cardboard box which only left his legs sticking out from the bottom. On the front towards the group was a crudely drawn picture of the Earth.

Peridot brought up her flyswatter. "This is the Earth. At the very center of the planet's core lies... the Cluster! Rotate." She instructs and Steven turns to the side revealing a bunch of colorful scratches. "This is the Cluster. A massive, artificial fusion composed of millions of gem shards."

Lapis had her arms crossed. "You expect anyone to believe you?"

"Lapis Lazuli, I have spent all my time on this planet trying to get off it." Peridot retorted. "Unlike you, I do not have a built-in way off. If you really don't want to hear me talk about this, then take me off planet. Anywhere, not even Homeworld, would work better than this planet."

"Lapis." Jason stated gently while standing and grabbing her hands. "I get Peridot is a sore subject for you, but she literally has no reason to be civil with any of us. If you don't even want to be on the same planet as her, I understand, but I must see this through."

Lapis knew she couldn't abandon Earth even though she was capable. The Gems of the Crystal Gems were better than she gave them credit for, Steven was her summer fun buddy, the earth was a beautiful place, and Jason.

Without him, the decision might be more conflicting. The water gem didn't think she'd be certain of herself, and maybe she would have left right now. With him thrown into the mix, his pure determination to protect Earth, meant she wouldn't be going anywhere.

Lapis sighed before smiling at him. "If you believe there's a chance that this Cluster exist, then I will to." She looked to the green gem. "Still don't trust her though."

"That's fine." Jason stated.

"If you need more confirmation, I don't see a future where the Cluster doesn't exist." Garnet voiced.

That did make the water gem feel even a bit better.

"If you are done, we have a dormant, thousands of years old gem waiting to take form under the surface of Earth." Peridot declared frustrated as the two of them sat back down. "Now!" She hit the box causing Steven to send a green, snake-like puppet through the box. "What is that!?"

"It's the Cluster." Steven declared through the sock puppet.

Peridot simply slapped the puppet with her swatter. "It does not look like that!" She turned to the others. "But it is real, and it can activate at any moment."

"What a cluster." Amethyst stated.

"That abomination must be stopped." Garnet declared.

"But how?" Pearl questioned. "We'll need to build some sort of machine to take us to the center of the Earth. It'll have to…"

"Hey!" Peridot almost swatted at Pearl for interrupting her. "I wasn't finished speaking! What we need is to build some sort of machine to take us to the center of the Earth. It'll need to withstand up to 360 gigapascals of pressure and temperatures of 9800 degrees."

While she explains, Amethyst is smiling at Pearl for getting cut off, but she glares back at the purple gem making her look back at Peridot.

"We mustn't waste time." Pearl stated. "We need to start finding parts for this machine immediately." She turned to Jason. "Would the World Army lend a hand?"

"As far as I know, they weren't developing many drills to the center of the planet, but they do have the technology to at least drill into the planet." Jason admitted. "They should also have the materials for it; however, I don't know if we should go throwing all our eggs into one basket.

I think we'd be best served contacting the World Army to make their own drill. We can make ours from materials in Steven's family's barn and anything I've collected since coming here. This way we have a backup plan just in case we fail."

"Sounds valid to me." Garnet stated.

Past Two Weeks

As the whole group, Lapis included since she didn't want to leave Jason with Peridot even if the others would be around, prepared to set off, Jason was filled in on just what he and Lapis had missed the past two weeks.

Steven got a better understanding of Onion. Then, there was a play that Jamie was a part of, and Pearl helped with due to her extensive knowledge of the town's history. Next, Steven and Connie dealt with some fusion monsters at the hospital after some paramedics mistook them for victims.

Steven also tried to help Sadie sing for Beach-a-Palooza, but things didn't go as planned. Finally, they told him about how they captured Peridot and what led up to her eventually helping them. After poofing and sending her to the lava room, Steven was curious about what Peridot said.

He released her revealing that her current form was her real form. The arms and legs she had before were her limb enhancers. After some confusion about her not knowing how the earth works, Steven showed her how everything went and that earned her trust.

Steven took Peridot to the Kindergarten where the green gem managed to find just enough left-over to reconstruct a temporary screen. She showed him what the Cluster was. In order for her to get to this point, the gems had to save her from some fusion monsters.

Present

"Hang on Jason." Amethyst grabbed the soldier's wrist to prevent him from leaving with the rest. "You guys go on because I have to talk to him about something."

"What!? Now!?" Peridot exclaimed. "We don't have time for …"

"See ya." Garnet simply stated as she picked up Peridot and left with Pearl, Steven, and Lapis.

Once they were gone, Jason turned to the purple gem. "Alright, what'd you need Amethyst?"

Hold on a sec!" She calls back while rushing into her room.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long because Amethyst came out of her room holding something which the soldier recognized. "Amethyst, these are…?"

"Yep!" Amethyst declared. "Peridot's full set of limb enhancers. Steven came around asking for her leg, but I just played dumb. Didn't want him giving it to Peridot, and everything seemed to work out with them anyways."

"This is perfect!" Jason declared. "Why do you have these? I'd have figured you guys would have trashed them, so she wouldn't get the chance to use them."

"Well, I figured if you were here, you would have stopped us from throwing away or breaking them. So, until you came back, I decided to hold onto them and give them to you." She looked at the pile in his arms. "Can you do something with them?"

Jason recalled everything he's seen her do with these. "Fighting, escaping, the transparent terminal, the blasters, stun arcs, helicopter transformation, and the ability to scale walls. I can couple all of that with the fact that this looks durable." Jason smiled. "I believe I can."

That would have to wait for later since there were more pressing matters to attend to. Jason dropped the limb enhancers off at his place. While there, he made the call to his father and filled him in on everything.

"There's a Cluster, comprised of countless gem shards, underneath the surface of Earth, and it'll end up decimating everything should it wake." Tye summarized.

"Yeah." Jason stated. "We'll be working with Peridot to come up with a drill that can get us down there. In the meantime, you should do the same."

"Two fronts to approach this from." Tye stated. "That's practical, and I assure you we're going to get right on it."

Barn

"All right." Pearl declared. "What we have here in the barn should be adequate for us to get started. First, I recommend we organize the component types and assemble a rough blueprint based off what we have available."

She concocts a plan as they walk over to the chalkboard. "Sorry Steven. It's a lovely drawing, but it won't look like this." Peridot picked up a piece of chalk and examined it. "And if there is something that we do need but don't have, Jason should be able to procure it, right?"

Jason merely nodded before Peridot gave the chalk to Pearl. Good, this is adequate. Thank you." She shooed Pearl off. "You can go now."

"Uh, what?" Pearl asked confused.

"Um, that will be all?" Peridot tries to shoo off Pearl again before leaning over to the hybrids. "How do you get her to leave?"

"Excuse me, I am not leaving." Pearl declared firmly.

"Yeah! She's got to stay here and help us build the drill thing, right?" Steven asked.

"I don't know anyone better to help." Jason agreed.

"No, you're confused." Peridot laughed. "A pearl can't build a thing like this."

"Why not?" Steven asked.

"Because pearls aren't for this! They're for standing around, looking nice, and holding your stuff for you, right?" Peridot explained while Pearl pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"That's enough!" She exclaimed. "If we're going to work together, you're going to have to listen to me."

"Listen to you?" Peridot mocked before looking to the hybrids. "Did you teach her to talk like this?"

"What are you talking about?" Steven asked

"She's a pearl." Peridot declared as though it was the most obvious truth in the world. "She's a made-to-order servant just like the hundreds of other pearls being flaunted around back on Homeworld."

"What you're talking about sounds like slavery." Jason was disgusted by the idea. "That's an idea Earth used hundreds of years ago to my knowledge, but people generally came around to concluding it was a barbaric practice. In your words, it's archaic."

"Sounds more like to me that humanity lost sight of how useful a practice it was." Peridot commented before looking to the white gem. "So, who do you belong to anyways?"

"Nobody!" Pearl exclaimed.

Peridot scoffed. "Then, what are you for?" Pearl recoils at the question. "Well, you can belong to me for now. Heh, A peridot with a pearl. What would they say back home?"

"Listen here, you tiny twerp!" Pearl stated angrily at the disrespect. "In case you've forgotten, you're on our turf now. I didn't fight a thousand-year war for this planet's independence to take orders from the likes of you!"

"Excuse me?" Peridot questioned. "I am a natural technician and a certified Kindergartener. I was made for this! You were made to take orders; not to give them!"

"Careful you two." Jason got between them. "We still need to build the drill, so can't you just try listening to each other?"

"No!" The two gems yelled.

"I'm as good at building things as you." Pearl declared firmly. "Better, even!"

"Name one thing you can engineer better! Go on!" Peridot returned.

"Robots." Steven muttered getting their attention. "You should build robots. "Giant robots! I see a race. A giant, robo-race! With prizes! Giant robo-prizes!"

"You mean like a competition?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah!" Steven exclaimed. "To see who's better at building stuff!"

"What are these robots you speak of?" Peridot asked.

"You would ask a question like that?" Jason asked incredulously. "What about your robonoids? Those are robots."

"Except giant robots are bigger, and you can ride them!" Steven adds.

He then stiffens his body and proceeds to do some robot movements with sounds.

"Building one of these robots will be easy!" Peridot boasts.

"Well, I can build one faster!" Pearl shouted before rushing into the barn.

"That's what you think!" Peridot joined her.

"I'm not even surprised it ended up like this." Jason commented plainly.

Not even a minute passes before the soldier heard some footsteps. He turned to see Garnet, Lapis, and Amethyst walking towards them.

"Yo Steven and Jason." Amethyst greeted. "How are the wonder nerds doing?"

Lapis spoke up. "Well, to me it looks like their building the drill."

"No, we're building robots now." Steven answered while not looking away from the building.

Amethyst looks confused while Garnet looks at the older Hybrid. "Explain."

"They're challenging each other's building intelligence, so they're building robots to see who's better." Jason replied.

Not even a moment later, a large mass moved out from inside the barn. It was a giant, tall robot with a big body, cone on the front, and long, lanky legs. The feet are tires making the machine move seamlessly with speed and ease.

The robot spins around in a very graceful set of moves before coming to a stop, and its pilot stands up. As obvious as it was, Pearl is the one that stands tall in her robot mech donning her space suit from when Steven and she tried to go to space.

"GIANT ROBOT!" Steven declared in awe.

"Pathetic." Peridot came out in a tiny, green robot which was slightly shorter and beefier than Pearl's. "Now, behold, my vision of ultimate power!" She starts thrusting her large, clawed appendages into the air before noticing Pearl. "Hey!"

"Mine's taller." Pearl happily declared. "I win."

"I think I really need to start applying my own knowledge." Jason was genuinely impressed by both. "I mean, I don't think I could do something this fast, but halving the time it takes me to build anything would be worthwhile. Trying my hands at robots could be cool."

Since meeting the gems, and after admitting he hadn't really partaken in many forms of media, Steven made it his mission to introduce the soldier to everything he could. Thinking back on that, giant robots were certainly an idea.

Later…

"Gentle-gems and -man, welcome to the first annual Robolympics!" Steven declared.

"Woo!"

"Popcorn!"

Garnet and Amethyst were certainly enthused while Lapis was interested in observing. "This competition will test our robo-engineers' skills of robo-construction and robo-piloting. Whoever wins will get to oversee building the Cluster-drill-machine-thing. Let the games begin!"

As the day progressed, Pearl and Peridot began competing on the various aspects of their machines. Balance: Pearl. Crushing: Peridot. Grace: Pearl. Jumping: Peridot. Speed: Trees since both crashed into it. Then, Steven had them go through various other categories.

Ballet, art, rock-paper-scissors, jumping jacks, tug-of-war, projectile strength, and so on. Steven declared art inconclusive as it is subjective. Ultimately, it came to the final test with both pilots' dead even. The winner would be decided by tossing trucks.

"Alright guys, this is the final event!" Steven announced.

"You got this, P!" Amethyst cheered.

"Take that Homeworld gem down." Lapis declared.

"Get it, girl!" Garnet too.

"Show her who's boss!" Jason cheered.

Pearl looked back at the four of them with a smirk while Peridot was frowning at not getting some herself.

"Ready. Set. Chuck!" Steven declared.

Both robots dashed forward, grabbed their trucks, and tossed them far off into the mountainous area. Everyone not in a robot shared a look.

"You both get a point on that one." The group then moved back to the board where Steven tallied up the points. "Looks like our final score is... a tie!" He officially declared. "Welp, that settles it. You both get to lead the project together!"

"No! This isn't over!" Peridot complained. "I demand we have a tiebreaker!"

"Let's just give it a rest!" Pearl exclaimed exasperated. "That's it. We tied. We're the same. Let's move on."

As Pearl begins driving away, Peridot reaches out and grabs her arm with her robot claws. "No! You're a pearl! You are beneath me! I'll always be better than you and nothing I've seen today will ever change that!"

Pearl looks angrily at the green gem. "Well, have you ever seen a pearl do this!?"

Pearl brought up her robot's foot and used it to kick Peridot's sending her flying back. Jason gaped at the action, Lapis was wide eyed, Steven and Garnet gasped, and Amethyst dropped her popcorn.

"So, you want to fight!?" Peridot challenged as she got back up. "Good. We should've done this from the beginning!"

With a laugh, she dashed forward and smacked Pearl's robot away sending her flying towards the group. Garnet grabbed Steven before both her and Amethyst jumped away. Lapis flew up while Jason dodge rolled out of the way. The chalkboard was sent rolling along the ground.

"Pearl!" Steven cried out.

"It's alright!" Pearl declared. "I've got this!"

"Be careful!" Steven yelled.

"Good luck!" Jason shouted.

"Kick her in the butt!" Amethyst declared.

"Kick her butt, Amethyst!" Lapis corrected.

Peridot rushed Pearl attempting to attack her while she's down, but she manages to turn her bot around blocking Peridot's attack. She then forces the two of them to lock hands.

"This is pointless! There's no way you're going to beat me!" Peridot exclaimed. "You're an accessory! Somebody's shiny toy! Where do you get off acting like your own gem!?" She rips off one of the arms. "You're just a pearl!"

"You know what, I am a pearl!" Pearl shouted before literally punching Peridot giving her free reign to get up. "What you're saying may be true, but it doesn't matter!" Her robot jumped high into the air. "I'm still going to kick your butt!"

She came back down to earth with her legs poised to strike. Unfortunately, Peridot was just a little faster. The second Pearl's leg got close; Peridot's clawed arm grabs the leg. She chuckles evilly and happily at the vulnerable position that she has Pearl in.

Peridot swung Pearl's robot into the ground repeatedly making the rest flinch at each impact. Jason immediately drew his pistol and aimed for the gem ready to stop her if she continued beyond this point; however, Peridot stands back from her defeated opponent.

"Victory is mine!" She laughed in glee. "Now I'm the one in charge! Praise me, praise…"

"Pearl, are you okay?" Steven asked as he helped her up.

"Ah, I'm alright." Pearl assured.

Amethyst quickly rushes forward and gives Pearl a hug. "Yeah, P! That was awesome!" She playfully punched the gem's arm. "You were hardcore!"

"Oh… really?" Pearl asked as she rubs the spot where she was punched.

"Oh yeah." Garnet stated while placing her hand on top of Pearl's head.

"No doubt." Lapis added.

"Definitely." Jason finished. "Right out of anime."

"Hey!" Peridot shouted angrily. "Why aren't you listening to me!? I won! I'm the natural leader here! She's just a common pearl!"

"You're wrong!" Steven declared. "If pearls are like you say they are, then Pearl isn't common at all! She trained herself to fight, she learned how to build things, and she works hard every day to be greater than she already is! That's not common; that's amazing!"

There is a moment of silence as everyone just stares in amazement and pride at Steven.

Jason rubbed the kid's head. "Never change Steven."

Steven gave his brother figure a big smile.

"Let's clean up this mess." Garnet declared.

With a nod, everyone started congregating to the robot parts.

"Pearl, you should come wrestling with me." Amethyst proposed.

"Uh… I dunno…" Pearl stated hesitantly.

"Well, can you at least give me the specs to your robot?" Jason inquired. "This robot business has me interested in making my own."

"I didn't write any plans down, but I suppose, if you give me some time, I can draw up the proper blueprints for my robot." Pearl offered.

"Thank you." Jason smiled. "That'd be awesome."

"B-b-but I won! What about the rules!?" Peridot demanded.

Garnet and Jason stopped, looked to one another, and looked back to her. "Welcome to Earth."

Philips thing was kept intentionally vague on purpose. As for the rest of this chapter, there's a reason this is a part I, and I'll leave it at that. Beyond that, Lapis is a little more confident in her status within the group and has become protective of Jason. I think that's understandable as even though the guy is capable, he does have the tendency to throw himself into situations and even almost died right in front of her.

To all Guests who asked if I was dead: Nope, I'm not dead. I just haven't posted on this sight because I got caught up on Fimfiction. If you like MLP and Yugioh, I got two stories over there. One's more original with Flash as a main character while the other takes place in Duel Monster with Sunset as a main character. If you like Dragon Ball and MLP, I got a story of Goten in Equestria.

Guest: Glad you like the direction I've taken Lapis.

mann3ify: Eh, might not end up touching that particularly plot thread. It all comes down to how I'm feeling.

Marbled Gold: Exactly. Lapis' seem to be defined by the people they view as important. As for Dawn as a character, I wanted to write her as believable rather than just some moustache twirling human villain for the story. It seems I've achieved that in your eyes. As for this creator your mentioned... I'm kicking around ideas at the moment. Nothing is concrete, but nothing has to be at this time. If/when I cover the creator, it'd likely be after the Diamonds are wrapped up as antagonist one way or another.