Connie ran through the empty frame of one of the walls of the barn and gasped in shock. The place was a mess, even more than Amethyst wanted it to be. The mountain of treasures had been thrown about all over, there was broken glass and cardboard scattered around the floor. There were singed holes throughout the whole place, clearly made by some sort of ray gun or bullets. The collection of tee-toops had been dismantled as well, the sword from one had been stabbed into the floor.
"Connie!" Peridot gasped, running to her and hugging her quickly. The other Temps and Amethyst came up as well, relieved she was alright.
"What happened here?!" Connie cried. "Who did this?!"
"We don't know. Thankfully, Amethyst, Melowlon, and I weren't here for the attack, otherwise I'm sure we would've been taken." Pearl explained. "This is clearly not the work of a human…"
"You mean…"
"Homeworld gems. No doubt about it." Jasper grunted, clenching her fist. "They were most likely looking for Pearl and Amethyst, but how they knew they lived here… I don't know."
Connie looked worriedly around the wreckage with the other gems, searching for clues. "Maybe it was 7XR? She could've made it back to Homeworld…"
"Maybe…" Jasper grunted, glancing around at the group. "Or maybe not…"
"Oh stars!" Pearl suddenly gasped.
The gems all formed their weapons and Amethyst slid protectively in front of Pearl. "What?! Where are they?!"
Pearl shook her head noiselessly and pointed down to the floor.
The sword had been stabbed straight in the center of a symbol, one Amethyst quickly recognized, making her pale slightly. "Shoot…"
"What is it?" Peridot asked, running up along with Connie and Jasper. Lapis quickly flew above to get the full view.
The symbol was a star, and inside that was a swirl pattern. It was the same symbol that was on Amethyst and Pearl's uniforms, the symbol of the Crystal Gems...
"R-Rose sent them here?!" Pearl asked with panic. "I thought she didn't want to deploy any one of the Crystal Gems until she was sure Yellow Diamond was to return!"
"P…." Amethyst whispered. "I think she's been trying to lure Yellow Diamond to her. That's why she kidnapped Doug, right?"
Doug hesitated, but then slowly nodded. "R-Right, that's precisely why, I'm sure."
Peridot narrowed her eyes.
"It's late." The man then sighed, noticing her. "Connie and I have to rest our bodies at some point, can't we figure this out after the sun rises?"
"But I'm not tired, how could I be?" Connie cried to him, clearly upset. "How could you be?! Aren't you worried?! You should call your coworkers or investigate-!"
"Maybe he's right, you do need a bit of sleep. Us gems can investigate this tonight." Lapis assured her.
"We'll tuck her in." Peridot suddenly said, seeing Doug trying to usher the girl away.
"Promise you'll wake me up if you find any leads?" Connie asked.
"Promise." Lapis giggled, ruffling her hair.
The girl was being tucked in. She hadn't been in a very long time, but it made her feel much better about going to bed.
"Don't worry about the Crystal Gems, Connie. We're going to take turns guarding the house until you wake up." Peridot told her, smoothing out her hair from her face.
"If any Crystal Gems show up, they'll regret it." Jasper growled, cracking her knuckles.
Connie laughed and nodded sleepily. "I wish I could help more. Can I please stay up?"
"No, young lady. You'll be useless if you aren't rested." Peridot told her strictly. She then kissed her forehead. "But I do love you."
"I love you more!" Lapis gave her a eskimo kiss like she always did when Connie was little.
"I beat all of these weaklings in the most love, my love is the biggest!" Jasper declared, squeezing Connie so tight she could barely breathe.
The girl smiled and let herself fall asleep as the Temps left her room.
"Time to wake up, sunshine!"
Connie awoke from a nightmare with a gasp. She turned and screamed in shock, seeing her father very close to her face. "Dad! You startled me!"
"Sorry!" Doug laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
Connie was about to speak when her phone suddenly rang.
"Connie, what did you and your sisters do?!" Mayor Dewey growled. "There are these strange symbols appearing all over town, reports of loud noises and lights, and people have gone missing over the last few days where these symbols have appeared!"
"I'm on my way!"
Connie and Doug had ran to town. Connie had brought her sword in case. The girl noticed Sour Cream hanging up posters and ran to him. "Sour Cream, have you seen anything-?"
She paused, seeing Onion's picture on a missing poster he hung up. "Oh no…Onion's one of the missing people?"
"Yeah.." Sour Cream sighed. "He's been gone a few days, my parents are worried sick, and to top it off, people have been blaming me for the wack light shows that's been going on at night. But, like, who would want to party in some lame neighborhoods?"
"Light shows?" Doug asked. "How interesting…"
"Yeah. Crazy greenish flashes kept happening near people's houses lately, apparently near Funland too." The teen muttered. "Some weird dj must be trying to upstage me, cause they keep leaving their calling card where the lights appeared."
"Sour Cream, where have these symbols been appearing exactly?"
Connie felt awful. Sour Cream had led her to Funland wne they had discovered the same symbol from before in the concrete made with some laser. There were also holes in the fence, made quite recently it seemed, as if to show they had been there and draw more attention. It was the same spot she had left Onion a few days before. They must've had taken him, and she hadn't believed him when he insisted it hadn't been him who was shooting at Steven and Sunshine. He really had been chased…
Connie also noticed her dad's car was still here for some reason. "Dad? Why isn't this fixed…?"
"They're out of supplies at the wash place." Doug shrugged. "But I'm sure they will restock soon."
Connie looked at the flat wheel and noticed there was a giant slash in it. "This wasn't poked by a nail, it was completely slashed!"
Doug bent down and gasped. "You're right! Who could've done that?!"
"Must've been the Homeworld gems… but why? It doesn't make much sense, if they wanted to stop our escape, they would've slashed Sunshine's tires too, wouldn't they?"
"I don't know anything about how you gems work…" The man sighed.
Connie went to the bookstore and peeked in to see it was empty. She found this strange since this was one of Lars and Sadie's mornings to open. She went to the rest of the boardwalk, asking every shop if they were missing anyone or had seen any lights nearby. That yielded no results. Neither did the Big Doughnut, that was closed as well.
She suddenly heard someone call her name and turned to see Lars' parents walk up to her.
"Hello, dear. Have you seen Lars?" His mother asked, looking incredibly worried. "He didn't even call, he always does and… Well, you're one of his friends, we were hoping you had seen him?"
"Lars didn't return home last night?" Connie asked in shock. "I'm sorry, I walked with him last night…!"
"And I told him to go home as well! For good reason." Doug told them, looking down at Connie.
The girl nodded and then frowned. "Dad, we need to walk around some more. I have an idea where to go next."
Just as she expected, the street she had left Lars on has been shot at by some laser and the symbol lay blasted into the ground. "Why are the Crystal Gems doing this?!" She whispered, feeling tears well up in her eyes.
"They must be leaving us a trail of some kind!" Doug said quickly, making her glance up.
"A-A trail?"
"Yes. They seem to be looking for specific victims…"
"My friends…" Connie realized.
"Say, if these gems are looking for your friends, I think I know who they'd be after next…" Doug told her.
Connie's eyes widened. "Steven!"
"Right. I'm getting worried, I haven't seen him today at all!"
"Greg moves the van pretty often, but I know all his spots!" Connie told him. She ran, praying Steven was safe. "Let's hurry!"
"Right behind you, Connie!"
Connie rapidly knocked on the van door and Greg answered. "Greg! Is Steven-?!"
"Connie?" Steven asked, poking his head out.
Connie gave a sigh in relief she didn't know she had held.
"Looks like you two need to talk." Greg said, looking between them. "Stu-ball, I'm heading to the wash!"
"Okay Dad, be there soon!" Steven called.
His dad drove off, leaving Connie, Doug, and Steven alone.
"What's-?"
Connie hugged him tight. "I'm so glad you're okay! Steven, everyone's been going missing, all my friends!"
"What?!" Steven cried in shock, pushing away to make sure he heard her right.
"It's the Crystal Gems, they've been putting an awful symbol where they took the humans." Doug explained. "We were worried you were next!"
"Well, I'm okay!" Steven smiled. "But I'll help you look for the others!"
"Where to look though…"
They ended up in the forest just on the outskirts of town. Connie had suggested it since it was the only place they hadn't checked.
Steven and Connie yelled for their friends to no avail.
"The Crystal Gems must be trying to send us a message, but I don't know what they want…" Connie sighed to Steven as they walked. "I mean, why just my friends? If they wanted to lure out my mother, wouldn't they have just tried to get the whole town?"
"Or send their army to come and fight her." Steven suggested.
"Right. It just doesn't make sense…" The girl agreed. She looked worriedly at the sky. "I have a bad feeling that they're just waiting to strike… maybe they-"
Doug came out of the trees, panting. "Find anything, you two?"
Connie shook her head.
"Nothing yet." Steven added on.
The man nodded. "Well, don't give up hope! Let's keep searching!"
Steven trailed off from the other two eventually, he had heard some running nearby. The lightness of it made him wonder if it was Onion and he went after it.
He walked through the forest, starting to feel quite uneasy, like he was being watched. Eventually though, he came upon a clearing. His heart skipped a beat and he gasped in horror.
"CONNIE!"
"Steven?!" Connie gasped, she immediately sprinted after the voice. "Steven, I'm coming!"
The girl came to the clearing and slid to a halt in shock next to Steven who still stared in horror.
Floating in gem bubbles were all of her missing friends: Onion, Sadie, Lars and Jamie were even in there as well. All of them were yelling for help but she quickly forgot them when she saw the farthest bubble and her blood went cold.
"D-Dad…?!"
The man yelled for his daughter, pounding of the wall of the bubble.
If he was here, then who…?
"I had such a good time playing detective with you, Connie!"
The girl turned in shock to see the doppelgänger of her father and glanced between the two. "Y-You…!"
"What's wrong? You act like we weren't having fun!"
Connie realized then that the voice sounded a lot like her father, but not exactly so. It had been rehearsed…
Her fake father smirked before shapeshifting back to her real form, a muscular gem with her gem on her chest was in the shape of a diamond, which she had shapeshifted a fake shirt over. She wasn't a diamond, Connie knew that, but was still incredibly threatened. The gem stretched, giving a loud yawn as the color palette of her father drained from her and returned back to her normal pinkish hue.
Connie realized all the signs far too late. Her 'father' had used such broad terms like wheel and supplies, this gem had cut the tire because she didn't know how to drive, and had known the Gems' plan before she had. She had been tricked, they all had…
"Everyone, something is not to go as our original plan! Zultanite shall accidentally let the Connie and Steven come to us!" Gasped a light voice. Out of the bushes came a little pink Sapphire who had shorter hair than Garnet's. Her gem was on her palm. "But do not worry! This could be in our favor!"
"It most certainly is." Said another voice that sounded familiar. A blue sapphire came out that had a long braid of white hair and her gem on her head. She smiled faintly. "This future may even be better…"
"Splendid job, Zultanite!" Cheered a Pearl that walked out along with the sapphire. Her gem sat on her chest.
They too wore the Crystal Gem symbol, just as Zultanite did.
"Y-You're all Crystal Gems?!" Steven cried in horror. "Let our friends go!"
Connie shook away her shock and confusion, remembering all her friends, her real father, and Steven were counting on her. She quickly took out her sword, pointing in at the one who had tricked her.
Suddenly though, the sword was jerked out of her hands. She gasped in shock, turning to where it had flew to.
Out from the treetops came two tall and elegant looking green gems. It took a moment for Connie to realize that they were Peridots, the height of them was towering compared to hers. They must've been Era 1s… Those two had their gems on their chest. One observed the sword with a faint smirk. "Yellow Diamond gave her sword to this little human? How stupid can she be?!"
Lastly, another Peridot that looked identical to her own came out. The only difference she had were robotic limbs that made her seem much taller than she really was.
"Now that I can finally see and don't have to rely on some defective Sapphire, I know exsactly where to aim!" Smirked the one with the limb enchanters.
The children had been too in shock to even speak but tensed when she pointed a finger to Connie. The blast came out at once but Steven quickly leaped in front of her, getting trapped in the beam instead.
"Steven!" Connie yelled, but she was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders, forced to watch him be bubbled.
"Thank you for all your help, little one." Laughed Zultanite, leaning down to the girl's ear as she watched helplessly. "I was so worried you and your guardians would find me out, so imagine how surprised I was when you so willingly 'reminded' me where the Pearl and Amethyst resided, and led me straight to the Steven we've been searching for…"
"No… No! Let me go!" Connie yelled, feeling tears come. She struggled to escape, making the gems around her laugh and the humans look at her with pity.
"Our plan was to have Zultanite keep up the little charade until you and the Steven met with the Amethyst and Pearl, then we'd capture you all in one go. But plans change." Sighed the Sapphire.
"It'll probably be much quicker this way!" Added one Peridot that Connie hated how it sounded exactly like her own.
The girl tried to wrench out of the iron grip Zultanite had her in, punching and kicking wildly when the gem suddenly grabbed her by the hair, lifting her up. The gem chuckled. "Those Temps and the traitors seem to care an awful lot about you, don't they? And I'm sure you miss them so much. Why don't we go see them, and see how far they'll go to protect you, far enough to give up their leader?"
"I wouldn't count on it!"
Jasper suddenly punched the gem in the back of the head, making her gasp in shock and drop the girl.
"Look out, Zultanite! The Crystal Temps have come to rescue their Connie!" Gasped the pink sapphire too late.
Peridot and Lapis landed, showing their powers.
"It's not worth the trouble." Said one of the tall Peridots, stopping the youngest from shooting at them.
"It just keeps getting better." The blue Sapphire smirked, snapping and making the humans disappear. "They'll go crawling back to Yellow Diamond."
"Temps, let's go!" Jasper yelled, putting Connie on Lapis' back along with Peridot. She grabbed onto Lapis' arms and they flew into the air, Lapis finally being strong enough.
"Don't forget!" Zultanite called after them, making Connie turn to her as they flew away. The gem shapeshifted into Steven who smirked wickedly up at her, the colors changing to his as well. "We're counting on you!"
Connie stared back in horror.
What were they to do?