Steven walked onto the warp pad, the Japers stepping on just in time as it activated, the trio of gems appearing on Mask Island with a flash. They followed him as he walked briskly toward the beach.

"First things first, you don't answer to Yellow or Blue anymore," Steven informed them.

"Of course, my Diamond," they replied in unison.

"My name is Steven."

"Yes, my Steven." They said in unison again.

Sighing, he said, "I'll deal with that later. What weapons do you have? If you're going to try to fight for me, I need to know what you're working with."

The bigger Jasper answered quickly, "A helmet my... Steven, and I don't know what Skinny has, I doubt she can fight. You should switch her out with another Jas-,"

"Quiet or I'll switch you out," Steven cut in. "Now, Skinny, was it? What's your weapon?"

"It's a spear," she told him, quietly.

"Pearl had a spear, it's an elegant weapon, and from what I remember, fitting."

She smiled at the praise, "Thank you, my Steven,"

"Drop the my, it's just Steven. It's basically my identifier, if that helps you understand,"

"Yes, Steven." Skinny said.

"Better, now, you answer to me, correct? You're not going to tattle on me to the other Diamonds?"

"We're loyal," the big Jasper piped in. "We mourned you during and after the war, we won't risk losing you again."

"For now, that will have to do. I'll teach you how to rebel later," he said, sitting down on the warm sand.

"Whatever you did for Pink doesn't apply to me, don't touch the humans. Don't colonize or build your life-sucking Kindergartens. If you see anyone attempting this, stop them, even if they're Diamonds."

The two of them blinked owlishly, turning to each other, and then back.

"My Diamond?"

"Steven?" They asked him, confused.

"The life on this planet is protected by me, any loss of it due to Gem kind is to be taken as a personal attack on me. Do you understand?"

They nodded their understanding together.

Happy with this, Steven continued, "Good, I won't need you guarding me, but moving around will be easier with the Diamonds assured of my safety. That'll be your main purpose for now, to keep the others off of my back. I'm used to a great deal of freedom in my day-to-day life now, and I refuse to give that up."

They nodded again, stars in their eyes at the thought of helping their lost Diamond. He rested his chin on his palm, thinking, "The green ship, what is it doing?"

"Checking on the Cluster's progress at the Alpha Kindergarten," Jasper responded.

"The big purple one?"

"Yes, that one." She affirmed.

"Good, lets go greet them. I want a look around that ship."

He stood again, the gems following him back onto the warp pad, and then back to the beach by the temple. Both Diamond ships were gone, and the Amethysts were loading into a smaller ship resting on the sand.

"Amethysts, I need a ride to the Kindergarten," he called out, landing in the sand near them. All of them stumbled over themselves to salute.

"You don't need to do that." The teen said, waving it off.

"Will I fit?" He asked, looking at the ship they were loading into.

"Of course," one of them said, only to get elbowed.

"Stop that," Steven admonished the other gem who had elbowed her. "I need to get to the Kindergarten right away, so let's go."

They shuffled in, and he walked behind them, finding the ship bigger on the inside than he had expected. The gems looked at the big Jasper expectantly, no one taking the pilot seat.

"Are you their pilot?" He asked her.

"I'm the highest ranking Quartz, piloting always falls to me." She said smugly. He looked to the small Carnelian.

"Want to try?" She nodded, stars in her eyes, as she ran to the chair. Steven gave the glaring Jasper a warning side eye as the door slammed shut and the ship lifted into the air.

"So, what are your numbers?" He asked the Quartzes gathered, who sounded off.

"I'm 8XL!" A dark purple Amethyst shouted, her wild hair bouncing around.

"I'm 8XN." Another lighter Amethyst said, her gem gleaming from her forehead.

"Where's 8XM?" Steven asked, already having an idea.

"She never emerged." 8XL answered, sounding sad.

"Close to the ground?" He guessed.

"Yeah, did she finally emerge?!" One of them asked excitedly.

"A while ago, and she was amazing," he told them, eyes softening. "She was even shorter than your Carnelian. Fought with a whip."

"A disgrace." Jasper muttered under her breath.

Steven turned towards her, slamming his hand into the wall beside her head, denting the metal. He leaned over to look her in the eyes with his own, which were now blazing.

"I don't know what it's like on Homeworld, but there's nothing wrong with a gem being different. Understand?" He stated, more than asking, voice dangerous.

She nodded, her orange eyes wide. All of the other gems looked on, shocked, and Carnelian and Skinny smiled to themselves. Steven pulled away, feeling the ship touching down, and watched the door open. He pulled away from Jasper and walked out to see the green hand next to a Diamond shaped hole.

"I'm gonna go to the ship's control center, someone grab the pilot and bring her to me." He commanded, stepping out of the ship and walking towards the hand.

The teen leaped up onto the palm, a bubble forming around him and pulling him inside the ship. He pressed his hand against the bubble, pink spreading as he took control of it, directing it towards the control center of the ship. The bubble disappeared, leaving him in a windowed room with a chair and an interface like the one he saw on the last ship.

He walked to the seat, sliding it back as he sat in it, and pressed his hands into the glowing screens that appeared. His eyes lit up, lines of information visible on them, and he looked through the information available about Earth, glad to finally have information that wasn't second-hand accounts and wall glyphs.


"Unhand me, you clods!" He heard a voice screech, pulling his hands free.

"I recognize that voice, you're the Red Eye pilot," Steven said, and she froze up in the approaching Quartzes' hands.

"The Peridot you requested, my Diamond."

"I'm surprised they didn't shatter you, from what I've gathered, blasting a Diamond with a Red Eye would be looked down upon." Their grips tightened and the big Jasper's helmet appeared.

"Permission to shatter her, my Diamond?" Jasper bit out, and Peridot let out a startled eep.

"No, let her go," he commanded and they looked at him questioningly. "Look at her, she's terrified. Drop her."

They finally complied, Skinny summoning her spear as they dropped her, ready to shatter her at the slightest wrong move. The green gem caught herself, her limb enhancers landing heavily against the ship.

"So, they gave you a new ship for blasting me?" He asked her, looking around.

"N-no, my Diamond," She said, straightening up and saluting him.

"They gave me command of this ship as a reward for finding you and making sure they got the footage."

"So, what is it that you do? I know what the Jaspers are supposed to be, strong and beautiful, but what purpose are you forced to serve?" The aforementioned gems blushed and Peridot gulped.

"I-I am a technician and a certified Kindergartener."

"A Kindergartener... so it's safe for me to assume you know everything about gems and how they're made?" She nodded her affirmative and he grinned.

"Then you'll be useful, I myself have only a vague idea of how gem creation occurs, and, as a certified Kindergartener, I'm sure you could help me understand the… let's say, finer points of the process."

"Y-yes, my diamond," she agreed.

"Good, I was told you were here to check on the Cluster's progress. How long do we have to neutralize it?"

"Given the progress of the smaller fusion experiments, we have a few months at most."

"Smaller experiments?! You forced more shattered gems together other than the Cluster?" He asked, holding back his anger.

"N-not me, my Diamond. I hadn't even emerged yet!" She shouted quickly.

"So, you're young," Steven deduced. "How young?"

"Only 300, my Diamond,"

"So young for a gem, yet far older than me."

"F-forgive me, my Diamond, but you emerged in Era One. I don't understand."

"The first Pink Diamond emerged in Era One, I," he paused. "'Emerged' seventeen Earth years ago."

"Seventeen?!" Peridot all but screeched. "That's so new, you must be joking!"

"Watch it." Jasper warned the green gem.

"I like her, she's got spirit," Steven grins.

Peridot's cheeks tinged a dark green at the statement.

"You Homeworld gems aren't used to compliments, are you? No, I suppose you wouldn't be. Did you get your information before I had you brought here?"

"Yes, my Diamond, I managed to download it all before these clods grabbed me." Peridot said, directing the insult to the two Jaspers.

"Perfect. Now, how many gem fusions were made, and how many managed to emerge?" He asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"None have emerged yet my Diamond, and there were 49 fusions put into place before the final cluster was created,"

"49? The Amethysts will have their hands full, but I suppose catching and bubbling them as they emerge will keep them out of trouble. If they're anything like my Amethyst, it'll do the planet good to keep them occupied."

"You aren't wrong, my Diamond. That's why one of the first things we build on new colonies is a sky arena- to keep the Quartzes from breaking things."

"Ours was destroyed," Steven told her, frowning briefly. "Best not to look into it, Jasper can you go get the Quartzes?"

"Of course, my diamond." She said, saluting once more, giving the Peridot one last glare before turning and stalking down the hall.

Steven watched her get farther away before turning to the other Jasper, "You can put your spear away, Skinny, even if she wanted to, there's not much she can do to harm me,"

She looked at him with a worried expression, reluctant to follow through on the suggestion.

"I'm apparently from the strongest class of gems, Skinny, do you really think I need to be protected?"

"You're right, a Peridot couldn't even touch you." She conceded as her spear disappeared and Peridot let out a relieved breath.

"See, much better. Now, on to other matters. I want you to pour over those files and give me a list of all of the gem artifacts left on world. If I have to leave this planet, it'll only be once all of the corrupted gems and dangerous gem tech has been taken care of. You can help me make this process faster."

"We live to serve you," she saluted again. "My Diamond, I'll do whatever I can to help you return to Homeworld."

"I know you will, you gems are so predictable." He teased, distantly hearing footsteps.

"Best behaviour!" The teen heard the big, buff cheeto puff yell.

"Speaking of predictable," he turned, seeing the Quartzes. "I have a task for you, if I suddenly have an army I'm not going to let it go to waste."

They looked at each other, not having had a proper job in thousands of years.

"There are fusion experiments throughout the Kindergarten, gems shattered during the war and forcibly fused together. We're going to find them and bubble them all, and Peridot here will be able to tell us where they are." They all turned to her and she looked to Steven for guidance, who only raised an eyebrow.

"I doubt technicians are usually able to lead groups, but I trust that you'll be able to start this without me."

"Yes, my Diamond." Peridot said, holding back her retort, her fingers shifting into a screen that displayed a schematic of the Kindergarten.

Steven walked back to the captain's chair and reconnected with the ship, ready to get started.