"Can I look yet?" Connie asked, her hands covering her eyes.
Steven smiled, taking out a DVD. "Okay…"
Connie uncovered her eyes. "Oh! Thanks Steven! What a funny cover!" She laughed, looking at crying food.
"It's my favorite series!" Steven explained. "It's these tons of best friends, that are all food! They protect their home, the fridge, from humans, so they can't get eaten! That's why they're crying all the time! They're fearing
for their lives!" Steven cried.
Connie blinked. "I… I thought it was a comedy… and a kid's show."
"It is!" Steven cried. "Here, I'll read the description." He flipped it over. "In a world where it's eat, or run, the Crying Breakfast Friends, Pear, Spoon, Strawberry, Biscuit and many more must protect themselves,
their home, and thier children from the rumbling of-"
A sudden shake filled the air and led Connie to look up at the sky with worry. Steven grinned. "This is so cool! Thanks random quake! You're making this more believable!"
Connie slowly turned back.
"As I was saying, the rumbling of the evil human's stomach! Together, they will laugh, and mostly cry, discovering the secrets of the fridge before-"
Suddenly, something massive came out from the sand! It was a massive robonoid, like the ones Pearl had, but bigger.
The older Crystal Temps ran out.
"What was that?!" Lapis cried.
Connie watched it grow legs and yelled, "It's a massive robonoid!"
"Whoa." Steven whispered under his breath.
The robot went towards them but Jasper leapt out and held it back with her bare hands. "Lapis! Peri!"
Lapis and Peridot gave war cries as they swiftly leapt onto the roboniod with all their strength.
When the smoke cleared, Connie had made a bubble around her and Steven. She looked at Steven who was grinning.
"Are… you okay?" Connie asked.
"I love hanging out at your place." He whispered.
"Do you think-" Connie started, looking at Peridot.
"it's one of Pearl's machines? Clearly." Peridot huffed. "Hm, it's very big this time."
"And very gooey…" Lapis said, wiping the goo off her.
Peridot frowned. "Lapis, be careful. We still don't know what these robots are."
The gem gave a small nod. "I'm just going to clean off." Water came from the ocean and went around her, washing her off.
"Lapis! I needed to analyze that!" Peridot cried.
Lapis blushed. "Oh."
"You'll pay for this!" Peridot screeched, running after her.
"Pearl. Is that the Gem you told me about? The bad one that's trying to come to Earth?" Steven asked, watching Lapis fly where Peri couldn't get her.
Connie nodded. "Yeah. We stopped her before but, I guess she can still shoot stuff here from space…."
She walked over to Jasper and bit her lip. "What do you think it was here to do?"
Jasper crossed her arms. "We killed it. That's all that matters." She kicked parts aside.
Connie gave a nod.
Lapis suddenly landed beside Jasper and hugged her. "Jasper, save me from Peridot!"
Peridot ran up to her but Jasper grabbed her collar and pulled her into a firm choke hold that fazed into a hug.
Greg was in the van when Connie called. Steven was practicing his ukulele outside so his father took the cellphone out to him. "It's Connie Universe." Greg gave a chuckle. "What a cool last name."
Steven grinned and dropped the instrument immediately. He took the phone and answered. "Hi, Connie! What's up? Have you watched more of Crying Breakfast Friends?!"
Connie nodded excitedly. "Yes! And-"
Steven interrupted, so excited. "YES! Isn't it so good?! Where are you at?"
Connie grinned. "I finished season one you gave me, and I'm now on… season 5."
Steven gave a cry. "Don't say any-!"
"Dinner! Dinner came BACK. I didn't see that coming! And the way Strawberry's life was on the line, and Potatos took her, and then Pear had to save her by giving himself up to Dinner,that was so heart wrenching!" Connie cried.
"I haven't seen Season 5…" Steven whispered blankly.
Connie nearly dropped the phone while the warp pad activated.
The gems warped in.
Lapis suddenly gave a shake. "Whoa. One of those robonoid entered the ocean at… Mask Island."
"Steven, I'm sorry, I gotta go, I'll call you back!" Connie cried, running to the warp.
They warped to the island.
"It's looking for the warp…" Peridot growled.
"Kill it!" Jasper yelled.
The gems gave a war cry as they destroyed it.
"What are these things trying to do?" Connie cried.
"For once, none of us know." Peridot sighed.
"It's not trying to do anything now!" Jasper growled, snapping a piece over her knees.
Steven and Connie were talking over the phone again.
"Now that you've got caught up, who's your favorite character? Mine's Strawberry." Connie said.
"Mine's Pear! He reminds me of myself." Steven replied.
Connie's smiled faded slowly when she rembered something. "Steven, I can't keep this from you, I binged the whole season six. I have a problem."
"CONNIE! NO!" Steven cried, falling back.
There was a sudden rumbling. Connie glanced up.
"Another marble thingy?" Steven assumed weakly.
"Yeah." Connie sighed, seeing the gems warp in.
Lapis gave a yawn. "Oh, this is the fitfh one this week! This needs to stop! They won't give in!"
"None have gone to the desert yet! Let's check there!" Jasper said. They warped away
"Talk later!" Connie cried. She dropped the phone and ran.
Connie warped to the desert and saw Peridot was screeching as she slammed her metal pole in the robot while Lapis had frozen it in water. Lapis and Jasper were sitting on the ground, watching Peri take out her anger. The gem transformed the into
a different weapon each time, trying to break it. "Clod! Clod! Clod! Stop! Coming! Here! CLOD!"
"You're doing great, Peri." Lapis sighed.
Connie ran up and called. "Guys?"
They turned. She gave a sigh. "How many more of these things are you gonna have to fight?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Peridot suddenly sobbed, sliding off.
"That's okay - We'll have to learn." Connie smiled weakly. "I have you guys to tell me about tell me about Gem stuff, Steven can tell me about not spoiling people, and Dad tells me his weird Dad jokes."
Lapis gave a groan. "But nobody knows what these things are here to do…."
Connie blinked in surprise, realizing something. "Well - it probably does." She pointed to the things.
"It's clear, Connie's lost her mind! We're gonna die!" Peridot cried.
"We could follow it and see where it goes." Connie continued.
"But, that's so dangerous…" Lapis said before Peridot popped up beside her. "Who knows what could go wrong?"
"We can't keep fighting these things forever." Jasper sighed. Then she looked up. "Well, we can...but I don't want to. Let's do it Connie's way."
"Yes!" Connie cried.
Lapis started shaking uncontrollably until Jasper grabbed her arm and gave a reassuring smile. "You're safe. We gotta do this."
Lapis nodded and flew on the thing while the rest leapt on.
The water unfroze, letting it go.
"Okay, little guy, let's go!" Connie said. The thing started and the Temps held on tight. It went to the warp pad and warped away with them still on.
When the flashes of light disappeared, Connie saw she was in a bare, dry place. It was all rocks, and there were holes upon holes. "What is this place?" She whispered.
"The Prime Kindergarten…" Peridot breathed.
Connie glanced at Jasper and whispered, "You were made here?"
Jasper shook her head. "I was made at the Beta Kindergarten, it's much smaller than this…"
"This site has been damaged enough by the Gems that were incubated here 6,000 years ago… It's up to something bad." Peridot murmured.
"We don't even know what it's doing here. Can't we just... see where it wants to go?" Connie pleaded.
Peridot glanced at Jasper.
"Connie's way." Jasper said stubbornly.
The robonoid suddenly leapt off the warp pad.
"What does this clod want?" Peridot groaned.
Connie smiled. "It probably wants to see where Jasper was almost made!"
"It should mind its own business." Jasper muttered.
"I… don't like this, Connie." Lapis whispered, worried.
"Lazuli is correct." Peridot said. "We should leave."
"But-" The machine stopped and Connie glanced down. "Huh?"
"Something's happening." Jasper whispered. She grabbed the rest of the Temps and leapt off.
The Plug Robonoid suddenly opened a triangular shape in the ground. It made the shape and went in the hole. Connie's eyes were diamonds as she giggled excitedly. She looked at the gems and grinned. "See? Come on! Something cool could be down
there!" Connie ran and leapt in the hole, after the elevator. The others gave a cry and leapt in after the girl.
They landed on the platform where Connie already stood.
Peridot traced her finger over a white line on the wall. "What is this place?"
They slowly got off and the triangle lifted up. It's bottom gave a single drip and it made a small robonoid.
Connie saw a platform that looked similar to one she had seen before… She had put her hand on one, activating a secret armory Lion had taken her and Steven to. Before she could see the symbol, the robonoid crawled on it and formed a hand, activating
/the room and a screen. The monitor made static noises but suddenly, they saw Pearl's face, looking as elegant, yet stubborn as always.
The Temps gasped and Jasper grabbed Connie. They all hid behind a flight of stairs before Pearl could see them.
Pearl glanced around. "Hm, the Plug Robonoid has successfully landed on Planet Earth and entered Prime Kindergarten Control Room in Facet Five. Now, I will see how this Kindergarten is."
"It's Pearl…" Lapis choked in a whisper.
"Is she trying to re-activate the Kindergarten? Clod! All we've worked for… Every human we protected… it'll be for nothing! Doesn't she know it'll destroy all life on Earth?!" Peridot cried in a hush.
"Maybe we can convince her to stop?" Connie asked tentatively.
"Shh!" Jasper cried, seeming panicked. "Kid, don't you realize, we're facing an enemy we don't know with technology we don't understand. This isn't the time to be asking questions!"
"Yes it is! What am I to do? Sit here and just hypothesize?!" Connie asked.
"Stop making up words!" Jasper cried.
"But-" Peridot attempted.
"Ok - here's the plan:" Jasper said, turning to them. "We can't let her see us, so we wait for an opening. When she's distracted, we destroy the power source on the far wall. Connie stays here!" Lapis and Peridot nodded in approval.
They turned back to see Connie gone. They saw her creeping up the steps with Pearl's screen turned. They whisper-shouted her name.
"Now accounting for all operational Injectors, if there even is some on this hunk of dirt." Pearl snarked.
Suddenly, two spots on the floor began to glow white, and two large green hand constructs emerged from them. The hands activated a pair of panels on the ceiling which caused cylinders to come down.
"Hm… I could make some improvements on these." Pearl muttered. "But I suppose that is a work for a Peridot."
"She is really good a technology." Connie whispered under her breath.
The screen froze, hearing Connie's whisper. The operation canceled and the screen turned to face Connie. Pearl was startled and fell back slightly. "What are you?!"
"Um… I'm Connie." Connie said, brushing off her dress.
"Connie…. You are… a Connie?" Pearl whispered.
"Yes…" Connie said, hands behind her back nervously.
"Hm… Are there any more Connies around here?" Pearl asked, narrowing her eyes.
Connie smiled nervously. "Just me."
"Oh. Interesting." Pearl seemed to be writing these things down on the screen beside her, researching this 'new species'. "Have Connies taken over the dominant race of human beings?"
"Oh! No!" Connie giggled. "There's lots of humans, there's my dad, Steven, Lars and Sadie, the mailman, Onion... I think... lots of people."
Pearl wrote this information down as well. "Very interesting…"
Connie watched the screen turn away from her and said, "Now, can I ask you a question? Why are you here?"
Pearl seemed to give a sigh. "I would love to study more on you and your species, but I'm afraid I have work to do." Suddenly, the hand she was controlling went into a fist. "Good bye."
Connie gave a cry as it was about to crash her. Jasper suddenly leapt in front off her and grabbed the hand, forced to act. She threw it away, leading Pearl to turn.
Pearl gave a gasp seeing Jasper's gem shine. "A GEM?! This is impossible!"
Lapis flew up and went in front of Connie protectively while Peridot held her pole in warning.
"There's more!" Pearl whispered in shock. "But the Red Eye didn't report the presence of any Gems on this planet!"
"That's because we destroyed it!" Peridot growled.
"You what? But the records say that Gems were wiped out on Earth…" Pearl's eyes widened. "...wait a minute... you're the ones that have been destroying my Plug Robonoids... are you the reason the Homeworld Warp is down again? Is
THIS your bizarre icon?" She showed the sign Connie had made. "Ugh, why do you keep delaying my mission?!"
Peridot gave a growl and stepped up. "Because we are the Crystal Temps!"
Lapis nodded and walked up. Water came from her gem and she rose it high above her. "Yes! We're still alive, and we're still the guardians of this planet and all its living creatures!"
"The Crystal Temps?" Pearl whispered, cocking her head. "What are you attempting to do, that's not pointless?"
They gave a war cry and started attacking the hands. Pearl gave a groan of annoyance.
Jasper and Peridot smashed one together.
"Stop! How dare you? I'm doing this one way or another. You're just... making it... really... difficult!" Pearl screeched.
"Lapis, now!" Jasper yelled.
Lapis flew up. She had a dark look in her eyes as all the water, a lot of water came from her back. She gave a yell as the water slammed a fist into the hand, knocking it into the control panel.
"I'm reporting this!" Pearl hissed and the screen went black.
Lapis looked shocked and landed on the ground. "T-That's it… They're coming."
Connie tried to ask who but the Temps stared at her, clearly disappointed.
"Okay... I, I might have gone a little too far this time." Connie sighed.
"Well, Connie, you weren't completely wrong. We learned something new because of your decisions."
Connie beamed.
"But don't ever do that again, or I will… very lightly punch you."
Okay, School is starting up soon guys, at least for me. Despite how quickly I've been pulling these off, because I need to study and still have some free time from writing, I'm going to have to... make a schedule. (Someone throws a tomato) WHOA! Calm it bucko! I'm going to start doing these about once a week every Saturday. Yes, I know it's not Saturday today, you'll just have to wait a bit longer for this next one.