Chapter 7
A Drastic Discovery: Obsidian Revealed!
I own Nothing
As we last left off, our group of gems have stowed away on top of a determined Robonoid, prepared to watch where it might lead them. However, they were all surprised that it's destination landed them back at the birthplace of thousands of gems, including Amethyst and Obsidian, Kindergarten. As the creature shuffles to its unknown location, the group grows ever weary of their surrounds and their current mission. "What does it want here?" Pearl wondered, scoping out the dimly lit caverns with a concerned tone.
Steven looked to Pearl, rather unsure as to why she seemed so on edge. "Maybe it want's to see where Amethyst and Obsidian were made." He said, hoping that it could ease hers and the group's collective nerves.
"Maybe it should mind its own business," Amethyst huffed, but even with her harsh tone and attitude, it was easy to read that even she didn't want to be here right now.
"I don't like this at all," Pearl stated, her eyes widening with every step the Robonoid took, taking them deeper and deeper into the heart of the Kindergarten.
"But-" Steven tried to reason with her on this, hoping to come up with something that could help his friends continue on with this mission, but he wasn't allowed to finish.
"I'm kinda with Pearl on this one," Amethyst voiced,
"Ah, come on, can't you guys feel his funky flow?" Steven taps the orb, feeling it's smooth exterior. "He's a funk master,"
Pearl watched Steven tap the orb as if it were his pet and found it to be less than reassuring, "...I can't believe we're doing this."
The orb stopped dead in its tracks, causing its passengers to lurch forward from the sudden stop. "Hmmm, why did you stop, little buddy?" Steven asked, but was given no response from the robot.
"Something's happening," Garnet said and, without warning, snatching up Steven as she and the Crystal gems jumped from the back of the machine just in the nick of time. Once the Crystal Gems were clear of the walking orb, it retracted its legs and zapped the floor with a green energy that opened a square-like hole, then the marble creature transformed into a pyramid type shape before burrowing through the ground, leaving a clear path to follow.
"Yessssss," Steven cheered as the group edged closer to the opening, peering down towards the descending platform. "See, I knew we'd find something cool, let's go!" And just like that, the boy jumped down after the platform, quickly followed by the crystal gems - each member unaware of what was to come or, more specifically, who was coming straight for them.
- 1 mile out -
"Shit, shit, shit! Of course, they would lead me here!" Obsidian nearly screamed as he grew closer to his destination, quickly followed by the line of robinoids steadily growing closer to his position. As Naruto grew ever closer to the edge of his old home, Kindergarten, he couldn't help but think of what put him in this predicament in the first place. Once he had destroyed his beloved old ship, The Comet, he saw a robonoid touched down not too far from his location, leading him to run from his position…..only to find out that the robonoid wasn't the only one in the near vicinity. Apparently, his little disposal of his ship wasn't as stealthy as he believed, leading to the remaining robonoids to converge onto his area, leading to him being surrounded by about 4 of these orb-like creatures, all locked onto his unique signature. He went to attack, hoping to slice through these expendable playing with ease…..but something was different about these ones, far different from the first group of robonoids that came to earth.
Then, as he went to attack, he realized what made these so different than the others. The harder, more dark toned exoskeleton and the reinforced legs, the scanners redesigned to scan for gems - it wouldn't take a scientist to realize what these were. During his time with both Peridot and Jasper, he always wondered why Peridot's robonoids were merely used for reconnaissance and even gave her ideas on how she could change them without doing much drastic mechanical work.
He never thought he'd see the day that she actually took his advice to heart!
Now, as he punched the robonoid, the exoskeleton opened up, snatching up his hand before it snapped shut around his wrist, allowing the odd goo that rested within the machine to coat his hand - but something was different, instead of the synthetic substance sliding off his hand like water off a smooth stone...it began to harden around it, locking his hand in place. He struggled to break free but was unpleasantly surprised to find out that this hardened substance was very sturdy, and to make matters worse, as he continued to fumble around with his recently trapped hand, The robanoids began to surround him - leaving him very few options.
With the Robanoids bearing down on him, he went for the option that he knows the best and summoned his weapon of choice before going in for a slice, but was surprised when his blade barely scratched the surface of this creature - he attacked again but was given the same results. With the remaining droids growing even closer to his position, he had few options to take, so with a harsh battle cry, he gripped his scythe tightly and went for another slice as a red aura now rose from his weapon. The blade sliced partially through the machine, enough to shut it down, giving him the opportunity to pull his arm from the gaping hole of the mechanical creature.
Now here he is, running with one hand sealed shut by the goo while the 3 of the remaining robanoids followed in hot pursuit, and all of this madness was aimed squarely towards the last place he wanted to be, Kindergarten. He had very little ground to maneuver with, every step he took drew him closer to the edge of the cliff, so, with little hesitation, he jumped; plummeting towards the tight caverns of Kindergarten. Once he reached the bottom, he tucked and rolled to a stop before he looked up, hoping that maybe, just maybe, the height of the drop would deter them from following - unfortunately, fate was not on his side today.
The orbs jumped from their position on top of the mountainside and began to spin their legs, allowing them to slowly levitate down towards the ground. He grew visibly worried at this and took off in the opposite direction, unaware of the square hole mere feet from him - so you could imagine what happened next. He plummeted down the unforeseen hole, leading him to tumble and fall to the very bottom where he landed with a heavy THUMP!
"Ow….w-when the hell did that hole get there? I don't remember a hole there, do you? No, no I don't….so why was there a hole there?" He asked himself in a daze, feeling the hefty toll the drop took on him. He slowly began to rise, his body limp as all hell, only to stop when he heard something - something he wasn't expecting to hear at the bottom of a hole.
"Obsidian!" Amethyst's voice, it was calling out to him, almost as if….she was right next to him. He looked to his side to see not just Amethyst but Pearl and Garnet, each sporting their own confused look while Amethyst looked surprised and elated to see him literally drop out of nowhere.
"Amethyst? W-What are you-"
"Wait, Obsidian!" A chill went down Naruto's spine as a familiar voice rocked him to his very core, "Y-You're here! I found you! I finally found you!"
"No…." Naruto's voice shook with fear; that voice, that voice! "This can't…..this can't be happening,"
"I-I can't believe it! We've finally found you after all these cycles trying to hunt you down, I've finally caught you!" With a hesitant turn, Naruto came face to face with a massive projection of none other than Peridot, a face that he wished to never see for the rest of his life.
But, something Peridot said caught his attention, "wait….w-we?"
"Jasper is going to be very pleased to know I found you," Peridot chirped with glee as she fiddled with something off screen, possibly sending a personal message to the muscular gem herself, "this is a very fortuitous day! I've finally been able to get to the inner mechanics of the Kindergarten, and now this."
"Hey, you're Peridot right?" The dire mood that was radiating within the Kindergarten HQ was put on hold as another unforeseen creature made himself known. After slipping out of the watchful eyes of his guardians, Steven made himself known before the floating hologram by the name of Peridot.
"Hmm?" Peridot hummed, taking in the image of this peculiar creature with a keen eye. "...What exactly are you? Obsidian, do you know what this thing is?"
Naruto's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull when he noticed who Peridot was talking about. "Steven, what are you doing? Get out of there!" He ordered,
"But why? We're all wondering what all this stuff is, and if the other's aren't going to ask any questions, then I will." Steven defended his right to be there, unaware of how worried both Naruto and the Gems were for the naive young boy.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Steven. This isn't the time to start asking questions, this is the time to run!" Naruto was prepared to jump from his perch, but Peridot caught his attention.
"Oh no you don't," Peridot smirked as, once again, Peridot began fiddling with something neither Obsidian nor the Gems could see. "My newly improved robanoids are on their way as we speak, they'll keep you nice and immobile until we arrive on this dirt ball of a planet. Then, we'll make sure you pay for everything you did to us, you traitor!"
"Hey, what do you mean by new and improved?" Steven asked, still oblivious to what is to come.
"Steven, get out of there, she's unstable, there's no telling what she'll do!" Naruto practically yelled,
Naruto's words didn't seem to sit well with the lime-green gem. "U-Unstable?!...How dare you say something like that to me, you….you treacherous clod!" Peridot barked, her usual smug visage now replaced with untold rage that is aimed squarely towards Jasper's favorite property. Who was this traitor to call her unstable?
"Hey, that's not nice; you shouldn't talk to Naruto lik-" Steven tried to defend his blonde friend, but was silenced swiftly by Peridot's enraged voice.
"Silence you useless creature, this is none of your business!" And with that, Peridot brings down her robotic hand straight onto Steven. "Steven!" The Gems cried, prepared to rush to stop the falling hand but weren't fast enough. With a devastating crash, the hand landed square on the ground, cracking it on impact.
Peridot snickered at her handy work, "there, now that the little pest is gone, Obsidian, I think it's time w-" she began to say, but when she looked to find her target, she was shocked to see he was nowhere to be found. "...Obsidian? Where'd he go? Ah! Don't tell me I lost him again, Jasper will kill me if I have to tell her I let him slip through my fingers!" Unbenounced to Peridot, Naruto was closer to her than she thought. Throwing caution to the wind, Obsidian dove to protect his young student and plucked him out of the way from danger, saving him just in time for Peridot's robotic fist to come crashing down against the ground.
As the dust began to settle the scene started to become clearer, Naruto was seen holding onto Steven in his arms as Steven clung to him for dear life, his young life flashing before his eyes. "H-Hey, are you alright?" Obsidian whispered, hoping to keep their position a secret from the watchful eye of Peridot.
"Y-Yeah, that was….a close one," Steven answered, slightly trembling from the sheer adrenaline pumping through him.
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the situation they were in, "you're telling me, if I didn't move sooner you would have been a Steven Pancake,"
"That sounds amazing and delicious!" Steven answered with a snicker of his own,
"There you are, you traitor! You had me worried for a second there!" Peridot's robotic hand reared back before delivering a harsh backhand to the treacherous gem who pulled Steven close to protect him from what was to come. However, the devastating hit didn't connect to him as planned thanks to Steven, who produced a bubble to protect both he and Obsidian from harm. The hand connected, sending the orb smashing into the adjacent wall; the bubble gave them the protection that they needed but that didn't mean the attack didn't shake the young gem a bit who quickly dispelled his protection after such a nasty hit, leaving both he and his friend open for another attack. "Arg, you're starting to aggravate me! Stop defending yourself and accept your fate!" She started for another swing, but her right robotic hand was bound in place by some quick thinking from the gems; both Amethyst and Garnet held the fist back with Amethyst's whip.
"What the?! More gems? I thought all of the gems on this planet were destroyed, none of my robanoids nor the red eye have sent back any information about still active gems on this-...wait, were you the ones who have been destroying my robanoids?!" Peridot began to extrapolate as the discovery of more crystal gems began to bring up more and more questions that she needed to be answered.
"Yes, we have, along with your red eye machine!" Pearl stated sternly, almost as if she was proud for making Peridot's job much, much harder.
Peridot's face scrunched up into a harsh scowl, "ARG! Why did you destroy my things? Why must you interfere with things you don't understand! You….CLODS!"
"Because we are the crystal gems, we're still alive and still the guardians of this planet and all it's living creatures!" Pearl proclaimed with her spear in hand,
"...The crystal gems?" The Gems sprang into action, Pearl using her spear as a projectile aimed squarely at the trapped arm, hoping to penetrate it, but to no avail; the spear merely bouncing off the hand's outer casing harmlessly. Peridot quickly took the offensive, pulling harshly on her bound robotic hand, sending both Amethyst and Garnet flying into the wall both Obsidian and Steven leaned against. Garnet hopped to her feet, activated her gauntlets, and jumped back into the fray while Amethyst, who landed next to Obsidian, grabbed onto him with a shout of absolute glee.
"Obsidian, we found you!" But her glee seemed to turn sour quite fast as she clocked the poor gem across his face, "where the heck were you!? Do you know how worried I was for you? How much time and effort we put in to try to find you?"
"Amethyst, I don't think this is the right time-" Naruto began, but Amethyst wasn't having it.
Amethyst grabbed him by his clothing, bringing his face mere inches from her own. "It's the perfect time! Now, start talking, I want an explanation for all of-"
"Stop ignoring me!"
"Lookout!" Steven produces a pink sphere around them, blocking the blindsided attack from Peridot's backhand. Though the attack was blocked, it didn't stop the pink orb from bouncing around the room, before finding it's way into the awaiting group of gems of Garnet and Pearl, knocking them to the ground as well and releasing their grip over the other remaining hand.
"T-Thanks, Steven." Obsidian mumbles as he tries to catch his bearings from being used as the world's largest bouncy ball. His recovery time was short-lived, however, as Peridot once again goes on the offensive, bring her flat robotic palm down on top of the splayed out gems. Naruto was the first to react, jumping to his feet to hopefully take the brunt of the attack and keeping the others safe. He planted himself into the ground and raised his hands high, catching the attack with all of its might which sent him to one knee. Next to help was Garnet, who also added her own brand of strength to keep this mechanical hand from crushing her friends. "P-Pearl!" Naruto grunted, catching the gem's attention. "That cluster of gems in that cubby on the farthest wall, that's the power source to this room. Hit it!"
"You fools! Do you not realize that you're trying to protect nothing more than a traitor and a liar?! How long do you think he'll keep up his charade before he turns on you like he did us? We were just like you three, we trusted him, we believed in him, but then he stabbed us in the back, showing his true colors to us all!" Peridot brings her other robotic fist down on her suspended one, bring it harder downwards towards the gems. Steven and Amethyst joined Obsidian and Garnet, each gem struggling to keep the hands at bay "Well, I can't expect much critical thinking from a bunch of clods such as yourselves!"
"Pearl, any time would be nice right about now!" Amethyst moaned, her body trembling from the force these robotic hands were putting out.
"I'm trying to line up the shot, we only have one chance at this!" Pearl retorted, keeping her keen eyes on the price as she hoists up her spear.
"Well, can you please line it up faster, if this keeps up I don't think I'll be getting that growth spurt anytime soon," Steven grunted under the heavy pressure the hands were placing on him.
"Alright...now!" Pearl lobbed her spear dead set on the target at hand, piercing the cluster of gems on the other side of the room, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
"W-W-What d-d-d-d-d-did you j-j-just d-do?" Peridot's hysterical yelling was rather hard to comprehend thanks to the screen that projected her was short circuiting. "Y-Y-Y-You'll r-regr-r-r-ret this, y-y-y-you Clods!" The robotic limbs Peridot controlled went limp as the screen blacked out; allowing Obsidian and Garnet to push the hands off of the group, allowing them to fall harmlessly down to the ground.
Obsidian sighed, "well, that was a little too close for comfor-" but his cheeky comment was cut short when another harsh fist collided with his ribcage. "Ouch, jeez, Amethyst, can you please use your words!"
"Start talking, right now!" Amethyst demanded, her expression leaving little room for interpretation, she was livid.
"...Look, I'm sorry, Amethyst; I never meant to put you in this position or any of you for that matter." Naruto apologized, "I should have done what I did a long time ago,"
That didn't sit well with Amethyst, "you mean abandon me? You left me behind yet again so you can do what? Make yourself a target?"
"No, to prevent this world from becoming a target." Naruto fired back, "For the past two weeks I've been destroying every ounce of my presence here on this planet so those damn robonoids couldn't find anything to report back to Peridot. I had just finished getting rid of my final piece of evidence but none of that matters because now that they know I'm here nothing will prevent them from coming here and reeking havoc."
Before their back and forth could continue, Garnet stepped in to divulge something that seemed to be overlooked by the both of them. "Regardless, we believe that they would have found their way here either way."
"What do you mean?" Questioned Naruto,
"We followed one of the robonoids to this place, while we scooped out the situation we heard Peridot speaking about 'resetting the Kindergarten'." Garnet began to explain, catching Naruto by surprise. "I think they were planning on coming where with or without knowing you were here."
"...Of course they'd come here as well, how could I be so blind?" Naruto moaned, annoyed with how single-minded he'd been thinking this whole time. "Yellow Diamond wouldn't have allowed them to come here solely to find me, that'd be a waste of resources. She must need this Kindergarten operational, she's losing more loyal subjects, more soldiers to fight against the rebellion."
"What's a Yellow Diamond?" Steven wondered,
"Yellow Diamond is a Homeworld Gem and a member of the Great Diamond Authority that rules over the Gem race." Naruto began to explain, his visage visibly shifting as he talked about this mysterious new gem. "She's cold and ruthless, finding the life of other creatures and their planets meaningless unless they could give her useable resources, but worst of all, she's ruthlessly efficient. The only reason I stand here today instead of being crushed into a thousand shards is because Peridot and Jasper argued a case against me being destroyed, they told Yellow Diamond I was a far more valuable alive than dead."
"She sounds...terrible," Steven shivered at such a cold individual,
Naruto nodded at Steven's quick assessment, "she was one of the many reasons I saw the errors of my way,"
A rumble shook the underground chasm they stood in, "Ummm, what was that?"
"Her robanoids are here to try and finish the job," Obsidian announced as he looked to the opening, prepared for their arrival. "We need to be ready for a battle,"
"When you left us behind, we cleaned house with these things. This will be a piece of cake," Amethyst fired back, still rather heated on the subject of Obsidian's departure.
"These aren't the same ones that you've fought, they're new and improved." Naruto retorted, "they have harder exterior shells and their lubricant inside themselves can harden around anything, immobilizing you in seconds."
The room went silent as this new piece of information, "well….that does sound to be a bit….different. So, what do you suggest our plan of attack should be?" Pearl asked,
Naruto remained silent, his face contorting in thought as the gems wait for his rational and helpful response. "...Ummm, give me a minute,"
"We don't have a minute!" Amethyst replied as the rumbling of the rolling Robanoids grow ever louder as they make their way down the pipeline.
"Well, let's make one cause I don't have a plan." He retorted, closing his eyes tight so he could close himself off from the world just to give himself a few more seconds of peace and thought. "I guess just hit them hard and don't get any of that stuff on you."
"Great plan, Obsidian, just one and a million." Pearl sighed before she spotted Steven taking up rank right next to her, prepared to fight alongside his fellow gems the best he can. "Steven, go find a place to hide and don't let them catch you. We'll handle things from here."
"I can help, I'll play defense," Steven said proudly, ready to do as much as he could to keep them safe. Pearl wasn't too sure about this, he wasn't ready yet to face something like this - but she knew that he wouldn't listen to her, he's always been stubborn just like his mother; no matter how much Pearl wished to just protect Rose, she'd never let her - always putting herself in harm's way….they're too important to-
"I think Pearl's right, Steven." Surprisingly, the voice of reason was Obsidian, how knelt next to Steven with his hand resting on his shoulder, a stern yet warm smile played on his lips. "I've got this one, but don't worry, you'll have you time to shine soon enough, I promise."
"A-Alright, but be careful you guys," and with that, Steven ducked into the alcove the gems hid in not moments ago as the sound of fastly moving objects echoed down the tunnel and without a seconds delay, three dark gray orbs took their place in the Kindergarten HQ. As their predecessors, the legs of these creatures slide from their body and hover to their side, allowing them to stand up proudly towards the gems, who at this point, have produced their own weapons, prepared for battle.
"Crystal Gems, attack," and with that, the group fired off into a heated confrontation with the Gems charging forward towards their enemies while the robanoids rushed onwards, picking up tremendous speed in doing so. The crystal group was forced to dodge quickly to one side or the other to prevent the orbs from running them down outright. Amethyst was the first to her feet and she quickly went on the offensive, soon followed by Obsidian who wished to watch his friend's back. Without a single wasted motion, Amethyst tucked in her legs and began to spin - mimicking the mode of transportation the orbs were taking at the time - and spun towards her target, cracking against a Robonoid's outer shell with a rather disturbing crunch.
The orb unscathed, Amethyst abandoned her first plan of attack, rubbing her skull where a sizable knot began to grow, "Jeez," she began, hissing at her own touch. "You weren't kidding, these things are hard, I guess using my head wasn't my best idea."
"I'm thinking using any part of your body wouldn't be a sound idea," He produced his hand as evidence, the hardened lubricant from earlier still holding strong, "if you had actually done some damage to its outer layer, your head would have been stuck to it. I think, for now, we should stick with our weapons,"
"Great idea," Amethyst smirked, producing two of her whips before she started to spin in place like a top, slowly building up speed until she was practically like a mini-purple hurricane. "I've been dying to do this!" She proclaimed before she took off towards her target, unleashing her hail of whip cracks against its outer shell, leaving nothing but scraps. "Oh come on!" She exclaimed before the orb decided to take on its own version of offense. As the lilac gem went into for another strike, the orb's surface opened up, prepared to swoop up Amethyst thanks to her own produced momentum. Thankfully, Obsidian noticed it before it was too late and tackled her out of harm's way.
"Wait, it can open itself up too? Why didn't you tell us that little piece of information?" Amethyst questioned, bewildered and annoyed at this new development. If it weren't for Obsidian, she'd be trapped in that blasted thing for who knows how long; she was grateful for what he did but she wasn't prepared to show it.
"It slipped my mind, alright?" Obsidian answered rather curtly, finding her attitude at this point to be rather misplaced. He knew what he did was wrong, and Amethyst had every right to be mad at him, but now was not the time to do so. "Look, right now we need to focus. I don't think your whips are gonna do much damage to its outer shell,"
"Well, right now that's all I've got, so I think I'm just gonna have to rely on my number one method." She stated before pulling out another set of whips before charging headstrong at the orb. "Beat the ever lovin' crap out of it with all I've got,"
"Wait, Amethyst!" He yelled out, but it was too late, she was already assaulting the rotund automaton with reckless abandoned. Naruto sighed at this display, though, he'd be lying if he wasn't impressed by her determination. "I know I messed up but she could at least listen to me," and with that, Naruto too jumped into the fray, adding his own style of speed and strength to this two on one battle.
While the bickering duo dealt with their Robonoid, the rest of the Crystal Gems were also waging war against these machines, so more so than others. Garnet, at this point, was making the most headway against these mechanical orbs, her gauntlets and brute strength were perfect at smacking the orb around with ease, but even her edge was soon taken away by the critical thinking of these orbs. So far the orb Garnet has been taking on has done nothing more than become a glorified punching bag, getting hit before bouncing back for another round; Garnet's hits were doing absolutely nothing to the exterior of this machine. It was disheartening to see but she wasn't prepared to give up just yet; she wound back for a devastating punch, prepared to end this robonoids existence once and for all, unaware that she just played right into the robonoid's hands. Just as she swung, the robonoid opened up, snatching up her entire arm right up to her elbow before quickly solidifying the solution within; locking her left arm in place.
Garnet gritted her teeth, trying in vain to pull her arm from the sneaky little droid. Frustrated, she raised her free gauntlet high, prepared to crack this thing wide open with one well-placed shot; oh, how wrong she was. Once again, the attack ended with her hand locked within the liquid innards of this advanced automaton, and soon the remaining liquid in the machine hardened as well, making the machine nothing more than dead weight for Garnet to lift against. The robonoid landed with a heavy thud, bringing Garnet to a knee. This thing, it was incredibly dense, Garnet was surprised by its heftiness; she went to go to lift it with her immense strength but found it quite difficult….difficult, but not impossible.
"I won't…" Garnet began, pushing up with her legs as she starts to deadlift this possibly 100-ton piece of dead weight. "Let you…" She continued as, slowly but surely, the orb started to lift; Garnet's teeth gritted at the sear weight this thing contained, it could be one of the heaviest things she's ever had to lift. "Beat me!" And with one loud grunt, the orb was off, lifted high into the air by none other than the Crystal Gem's powerhouse; but the orb's air time was short lived as Garnet brought it crashing down onto the Kindergarten ground, cracking the very flooring the Gem's stood on, not to mention the tremors it sent out through the Kindergarten HQ.
However, her first assault wasn't enough, merely scraping the surface of the orb but this did not dishearten her, in fact, if pushed her to go forward. She lifted the orb again before bringing it down once again against the harsh floor, and then again, and again, and again until the ground had a hefty dent in it while the orb held a nice long crack on its surface. Garnet was growing weary, even a gem could feel the fatigue when it comes to something so strenuous, but she couldn't give up just yet, she was so close; she could see the ooze dripping from the back of the robonoid - one more, just one more. Garnet's feet dug once more into the floor where, if you looked closely, you would be able to see their indents in the flooring. With one last grunt, Garnet swung this mighty orb sideways, colliding it with an incoming robonoid, smashing the one that bounded her and cracking the one chasing both Amethyst and Obsidian; dousing the area in the odd liquidy solution. As Garnet grinned, seeing her handy work, she looked at her arms to see that she might have freed herself of the weight that robonoid bestowed on her, but she wasn't free from her prison. The solution was still solid as a rock around her arms right up to the elbow, leaving her arms immobile; she couldn't even activate her gauntlets, whatever this stuff was, it wasn't something Garnet's ever came across.
While Garnet's tactic took out one robonoid and knocked down the second one, the third one was still fully operational and hot on the tail of one gem, in particular, Pearl. So far Pearl has been able to use her agility and grace to easily dodge the attacks of her opponent, while also taking a few moments to land a couple of swipes and thrusts on the outer shell of the automaton which allowed Pearl to come to the same realization as each of her teammates; these things can't be destroyed by their traditional means. Each spear thrown clashed off the orb's surface with ease and each thrust pinged against the exterior of the machine, nothing Pearl tried seemed to be working and all she could really do was keep the robonoid focused on her while the others try and find a way to deal with their own.
The robonoid once again finds itself smashing into one of the adjacent walls, it attacks gracefully side swiped by its target; however, it's target won't be so lucky. As Pearl rolled out of the way, Garnet finished her devastating attack against her own robonoid, sending a lot of that solution airborne to coat several areas of the Kindergarten HQ, one of those areas being right were Pearl rolled onto. Right,when her back touched the awaiting lubricant, she was bound to the floor; locked into her position as her opponent readies himself for its counter attack.
Pearl goes to seat up but finds this stuff to be very adessive, keeping her sealed to the floor with little give, leaving her in a rather undesirable situation. The robonoid pried himself from the devout he made in the wall and lines himself up perfectly with the new position Pearl is occupying before it takes in its limbs and starts to spin in place, building up speed for its final strike. "Garnet, Amethyst - I could really use some help right now!" Pearl called out as she looked to find her team, but was surprised to see what has happened.
Garnet's arms were completely sealed while Amethyst, who seemed very much annoyed with her current position, was also sealed but not by her arms or legs, but by her long flowing hair right onto the back of Garnet. And if their impromptu fuse wasn't bad enough, the cracked but still functioning robonoid Garnet used to free herself was back up and prepared for another round, leaving both Garnet and Amethyst a bit preoccupied at the moment. "Pearl!" Amethyst called out, quickly spotting her friend and the position she was in. She tried to get over to her, but her connection with Garnet by way of her hair wasn't helping, along with the still functioning robonoid blocking their path that made things extra difficult to get through.
"Hang on, Pearl, we'll get to you," Garnet said trying to keep a level head as she tried to figure out how to go about this, but right now she couldn't think clearly, so much was happening, she couldn't keep focused on just one thing. Time was not on the Gem's side as the robonoid placed before Pearl wasn't going to wait for them to find a way out of this predicament; after it had built up enough speed, the droid was off, heading dead straight towards Pearl.
"Pearl, keep your head down!" Obsidian yelled, ducking under the robonoid keeping Garnet and Amethyst at bay, summoning a level of speed none of the gems have yet to see until today. In a flash Naruto's scythe was in his free hand, glowing a steamy red hue as he made his way swiftly towards her position. As the Robonoid drew closer so did Naruto as he leaps over Pearl's glued body and, with one final battle cry, sent out a projectile wave of energy and heat from the slash of his scythe, slicing through its target like butter. The two halves of the robonoid spun out harmlessly in different directions while the goo within it merely splattered mere inches away from Obsidian's feet.
Though Naruto's assault was successful he knew he wasn't done, as they still had one last orb remaining that Amethyst and Garnet at this moment were ill-equipped to handle. So, with an intake of air, Naruto replicated his previous move, releasing a ripple of heat and energy aimed straight at the robonoid, slicing it in half diagonally, causing it to fall over and it's content to spill out all over the floor.
Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he turned to meet the gem he just saved, the same humorous grin still playing on his features, "it's been a long time since I've been able to do that." He said, rotating his shoulders as to loosen them up. "Need a hand?"
Pearl seemed shocked beyond belief, not only has Obsidian just presented to everyone some new abilities but he also saved her, her; the gem who's been nothing but suspicious and snappish to him since the moment they've met. Something didn't seem right, why would he do that? Why would he help her when no one else could? If he was in the same position, she couldn't really say she'd be jumping at the chance to save him from his fate...maybe she was wrong about him, maybe just a little. "...I-I guess you could say that," she said letting a chuckle escape her lips.
"Well, if that's the case, then I'm gonna have to ask you to lean forward." And so she did, as far as she could before Naruto took his scythe, super heated the tip, slipped it under her and, without a moment to spare, Pearl was freed from her spot. Naruto dispelled his weapon before offering his hand to her, which she took without hesitation, a welcomed change from how she might have acted a week or two.
"Your scythe, it can cut through that stuff?" She asked, looking back towards where she was held hostage, but was confused when she saw a piece of flooring missing from the floor of the Kindergarten HQ.
Naruto chuckled sheepishly, "nope, I don't really think anything can cut through it. I just cut the floor so you could stand up, it's still kinda glued to you back."
"WHAT?!" She yelped aggressively as she looked backward to see a piece of the floor peeking over her shoulder as it set firmly on her back. She grumbled, "aw, well that's just great, now I have a nice chunk of flooring glu-...ummm, Obsidian, you can let go of my hand now." As she mentioned their connection, even Naruto had forgotten he still had a firm grip on her hand and, if Pearl hadn't mentioned it, he'd probably have held onto it for a bit more. I guess he wanted to possibly hold onto this moment for a bit longer, this was the first time since he'd met Pearl that she'd actually treated him like a normal gem instead of a threat or an outsider, it was a sweet moment...but he just had to make it weird by holding onto her hand for a bit too long.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, sure." Naruto went to let go, releasing his five digits around Pearl's hand but when he tried to pull away he found that he was unable to do so. He tried again, this time with a bit more force, but it ended just the same as the first one - their palms still connected together. "...Uuuuh, hey Pearl?"
"Yeah?" She asked, a bit of concern playing on her features.
"...Okay, so, I'm gonna tell you something you may not like, but you gotta promise me you won't get mad at me." He murmured, his shoulders slouching and his head hanging low, almost as if he wished he could shrink away right about now.
Pearl was a bit slow on her response, "...Why?" She finally asked,
Naruto sighed, preparing himself for what was to come. "I think one of us, I'm not going to put the blame on either one of us, but I think one of us….had some of that substance on our hands….soooo, we're kinda stuck together until we find a wa-" his calming words fell on deaf ears seeing as Pearl really didn't care about what he had to say next, all that stuck with her was "we're stuck together".
"WHAAAAAAAAAT! No, no, no, no! There must be a mistake," Pearl pleaded as she tried to pry apart their hands as well, but found it just as hopeless as trying to free herself from the floor mere moments ago. "This can't be happening!" Pearl moaned, "out of all the people to be stuck to, why did it have to be you."
"Well, I'm glad Pearl showed me a few minutes of respect before going back to her usual ways." Naruto bitterly thought, Naruto's hopes of becoming friends with Pearl after today now slowly losing its probability. "It's okay, it's okay. We'll figure out a way to get this stuff off of us, I'm sure of it."
"Oh? And why are you so sure about it?" Pearl asked rather snappishly,
"Well, Peridot designed this substance to subdue us and other gems for easier transport, right?" Pearl begrudgingly nods. "So, it stands to reason that there's also a way to release us, we just need to find a way to do that."
"Obsidian is right, we need to think critically. If we start to panic nothing will get done," Garnet stated, walking to their side with Amethyst fumbling behind, still having a bit of trouble learning how to keep up with Garnet's longer gate.
"So we're stuck like this until we can find something that might unstick us?" Garnet nods, "perfect, just perfect."
Before they could continue their conversation, Steven jumps from his hiding spot and runs to meet them, a gleaming grin firmly etched into his face. "That was amazing, you guys!" He yelled joyously as he latched onto Obsidian's thigh. "I'd never seen you four work so perfectly together, that was incredible! Especially you, Naruto, what was that thing you did?! You just swung your scythe and BAM those robanoids were cut clean in half!"
Naruto chuckles and Steven's overabundance of enthusiasm, it really seemed to bring a smile to his face no matter the circumstances. "How about I explain on the way back home," and so, with their battle won, the Crystal Gems head home for the night, ready for a well-deserved rest or so they thought.
- Steven's Beach House: 2 Hours later -
"Okay, so Peanut butter doesn't work. Neither does Chocolate syrup, dish detergent, or egg yolks….hmm, let's try some yogurt this time." Steven rambles as he fumbles through the fridge for the greek yogurt he always pushes to the back. Now, why would Steven be needing peanut butter, chocolate syrup, dish detergent, egg yolk, and yogurt? Well, seeing as Steven was unable to help during the fight today, he was determined to help them find a way to get unstuck from their current situation, no matter how long it takes! So, for the past 2 hours Steven's been slathering the Crystal Gems with different products in hope of finally separating them from one another…..and I think you can guess how that's been going.
Each and every member of the Gems has at least one body part completely covered in the disgusting combination of peanut butter, chocolate syrup, dish detergent, and egg yolk, leaving that body part covered in a nasty looking sheen as if it was glossy. "U-Ummm, Steven, I love your enthusiasm, but I don't think picking things out of the kitchen is the way to go about this," Obsidian stated kindly, glad to see how enthusiastic the boy was to help, but also had a strong desire to make him stop helping. "We have to think about what Peridot would use, something that is readily available on the home world."
"Well, you two seemed to be close, what do you think she would us?" Pearl quipped, also unhappy with the amount of...unusual items on her hand and back.
Naruto began to think once more, hoping, this time, something would come to him. "...Something simple, a basic element that I'm just not getting." His eyes shut tight as a thought came to him, it was faint, almost nonexistent, but it's there….well, it was there. "hmm…...I've got nothing, this is the first time I've ever seen her create something like this. I thought her intellect leant her more towards robotics, not something synthetic."
"Well, if you can't think of anything, let's keep looking," Steven said, Obsidian's previous statement completely forgotten in Steven's desire to help. "OOOH! Let's try toothpaste, it get's rid of plaque, I bet it can get rid of this gunk. Be right back," with that, Steven rushed out of the room, heading straight for his bathroom to russle up some toothpaste, leaving the gems to their thoughts.
Naruto sighed as he rested his head against the back of the couch, "at this rate, this is going to take us forever," Obsidian then noticed the downcasted expression on his little blue friend. She hasn't said a word since they came home, all she's done is merely sit there, silently taking in the conversations around her with a frown etched into her usually cheerful features. Naruto knew what he needed to do, he needed to say something, anything to apologize for what he did to her, "Amethyst," She looked up but barely, almost if wondering if what he was about to say worth her time, "I don't think I can say this enough to you, but I'm sorry, I just….I just thought what I was doing was best for this world that you and your team have sacrificed so much for to keep safe."
The room ran silent, everyone's eyes were on Amethyst as they waited with baited breath as to what she was going to respond with. However, in typical Amethyst fashion, Naruto was met with a sucker punch into his ribs, "that wasn't your decision to make!" She barked venomously, "did you not think that we could have helped you? Did it not even cross your mind to ask us for help or just….clue us into what you were about to do? No, you ran away. You thought you needed to do this on your own, but I've got news for you pal, you're not alone anymore," She soon found her head leaning against his shoulder, a single tear breaking free. So much worrying, so much stress - all this and more was built up the moment she thought she had lost Naruto, and now that he's back, she couldn't help but let it out, "get use to it."
Naruto places his head atop hers, a small smile gracing his features. "...Your right, I should."
"You're darn right I am, you're a crystal gem now so you better start acting like it." The same cheeky smirk appears on Amethyst's features.
"...A-A crystal...Gem?" He asked, almost as if what he just heard wasn't real. He turned to his little friend, who was sporting a glowing grin, "You mean…"
"We discussed it and you've proved yourself to be a good addition to the Crystal Gems….." Garnet answered him, her usual neutral face cracking a smirk of her own, a rare affair but it felt right for this moment. "Well, you had until you pulled this stunt. Now, we're not entirely sure we should-"
"What?! Naruto's gonna be a Crystal Gem? That's awesome!" Steven said excitingly, in one hand his toothpaste and another some toilet cleaner fluid that he thought might help; but at this moment in time, dissolving the glue that held the crystal gems together was the last thing on his mind right now. "Why didn't you guys tell me?!"
Pearl giggled, "Steven, you're not the best at keeping secrets."
"What are you talking about? I'm great at keeping secrets, you didn't know that Amethyst was stolen your battle axe for the fourth time in a row, now did you?" The room fell silent as Pearl turned her gaze towards Amethyst who was suspiciously shifting in her seat almost as if she was guilty of something. "...U-Ummm, I mean…..Wow, Naruto's our newest member! We should celebrate!"
"Actually, before we celebrate, I need to talk to Obsidian...alone," Pearl spoke up, her tone conveying nothing to Naruto or the rest of the gems.
"What about?" Amethyst asked, a bit suspicious of Pearl's sudden desire to be all alone and personal with her Obsidian. It's not enough that Pearl is the one who get's to hold hands with Naruto for an undisclosed amount of time, but now she wants some alone time with him? This doesn't seem to sit too well with Amethyst, but, she needed to play it cool - she needed to assess the situation.
"It's….personal," Pearl responded rather blankly, giving none of them anything to go off of.
"...Ummmm-" Amethyst began, but it was cut rather short by another one's response.
"Go ahead, but don't be too long, you know how Steven get's when he's excited," Garnet stated, allowing the two to head outside, leaving the two remaining gems to discuss.
"Garnet, are you sure you want to leave them alone like that?" Amethyst wondered, "...maybe we should follow them just in cas-"
"If Obsidian is going to be a part of the team we're going to have to trust him with his team members, that includes Pearl," Garnet explained, placing a stern hand on the little gem's shoulder, keeping her firmly placed on the couch next to her. "Whatever Pearl needed to talk about, I trust her to treat Obsidian like a proper team member would, you should do the same."
"I hope you're right, Garnet."
"So, what exactly did you need to talk to me abou-"
"Did you know that we thought about making you a part of our team long before now," said Pearl, leaning against the railing while she stared off into the distance, watching the waves ripple through the ocean. "The discussion started the first week or two after we found you . Amethyst and Steven were all for it, but I and Garnet thought it was too soon to make such a decision. We've discussed it countless times after that, it was always brought up by either Steven or Amethyst and each time it was brought up I never really saw why they were so adamant for you to become one of us. I only started questioning my own paranoia when I saw that Garnet was even considering it. I was so confused, why, what have you done to prove yourself to my friends, I just didn't see it….until today." "Not only did you try to protect our planet from another homeworld invasion, but you also fought to protect me and my friends; someone who's willing to do that is worthy of being called a Crystal Gem,"
"Pearl, that means a lot coming from you. Thank you," He squeezes his conjoined hand against hers, "I promise that I will protect you four and this world with my life, and that's my promise of a lifetime, Dattebayo!"
"Well, I'll hold you to that, Obsidian," Pearl said with a rather sweet smile, it was strange to see but….oddly, it was a treat to see. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Pearl pulled him in close, her face dangerously close to Naruto's, "If you ever hurt Amethyst like that again, I will end you myself, am I understood?"
"Y-Yeah," Obsidian answered nervously thanks to the close proximity to Pearl's face and the threat she just delivered.
"Good. Now, let's head in, the other's must be waiting for us."
Naruto, now being led by Pearl, was prepared to head in; happiness and a bit of fear stirring around in his very core, but something stopped him cold. Something caught his attention with a simple whiff of the air, it….it was salty? Now, why would that stop him dead in his tracks? He's been living near the beach for months now, the salty sea air is just something you grow accustomed to . However, this salty air tied into Naruto's thoughts mere minutes ago - the word that he couldn't quite catch….it was-
"Salt!" Naruto thought as he looked to the ocean, the waves heaving on and off the beach in a rhythmic fashion. Without a second of hesitation, Naruto dived over the balcony, bringing Pearl along for the ride as he rushes the water without delay.
"Obsidian! Where are you going?!" Pearl yelled, not too keen on being dragged behind a mad man dashing towards the ocean.
"It's the answer I've been looking for, Pearl," Naruto explained, his direction never wavering from the massive body of water in front of him. "Its Sodium, salt water has Sodium! That's the answer."
"What are you talking about? What does Sodium have to do with-" Without warning, Naruto jumped head first into the ocean with reckless abandonment with Pearl an unwilling tag along in all of this. After a few seconds submerged under the water, Obsidian emerges from the deep blue sea with a both of his hands-free of the lubricant that bounded them seconds earlier. "Wow! Hahaha, I found it!"
"What the hell here you thinking?! You gave me a freaking heart attack!" Pearl shouted as she surfaced from under the water, this little dip did nothing to change her disposition.
"I'm sorry, I really am, but look!" He presented his two hands, completely devoid of the strange liquid that bounded him to her. "It was Sodium, well, more specifically, the base chemical that forms Sodium. The ocean had the right amount of Sodium to made the lubricant unstable enough to be pulled apart."
"...No way, how did you know that?" She looked to her own hand as if seeing Naruto's detached from her's wasn't enough evidence. As she continued to examine her hand, she couldn't help but feel something was….off, it was missing something….what could it be? "The warmth of Obsidian's hand." she thought before she immediately banished that thought from her mind. How could that thought even appear in her mind? She's despised this gem for months now, how could she possibly think of something like this? "M-Maybe it was just because I-I was used to his hand there….yeah, that's why my hand feels weird."
"The minerals we mine from the core of our planet and others are rich in the components that make up Sodium, which is then used in countless experiments and solutions. I guess you could say that it was a really lucky educated guess," Naruto explained, ecstatic about
"Well, I guess we're lucky for your lucky guess," she chuckled, "I'll go get the others, they'll be ecstatic! Good work, Obsidian!"
"Thank you," He replied, a small smile gracing his features as the events of today replayed in his mind. So much has happened, some good, some bad, some straight down the middle, but if he had to say what made this day all worth it - it'd have to be becoming a crystal gem. "Finally, I feel like I belong again. I feel…..like I'm home and I'll make sure I protect it with every ounce of my being, even from the likes of you….Jasper." And with that said, Naruto heads back to shore, prepared to spend the night celebrating with his teammates…..unaware of the danger just around the bend, heading on a direct course for planet earth.
Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all liked it! Please review and if you have any question please feel free to PM me anytime, I'll make sure to get back to you.
Alucard1959 OUT!
