Lamp Entertainment presents…

Flying. Soaring high up in the air. Unrestrained. Free.

Lonely Heart felt the wind against their face, the power in their wings. How could Lapis Lazuli not fly all the time, spend every minute of her life up in the sky? Did she not feel the same things as Lonely Heart did? This sense of freedom and weightlessness as they rose high up into the sky… it was a fantastic, intoxicating experience.

Even the weight of Peridot clinging to their arms was a comfort. It was foreign and new and exciting. To feel things, weight, and touch.

If Lonely Heart could, they'd go on like this forever. Drift through the sky forever with Peridot, carrying her wherever the wind took them. But they couldn't. They had to stay and keep pretending… keep telling the lie.

It was all a lie. These wings, this face, the power… even their voice wasn't their own. It was all a lie, something they stole from someone else. None of it was true. It was little more than a dream.

Still, what a beautiful dream. Lonely Heart didn't want it to end. Ever.

Chapter 17: Evil Ways, Act 3

You got me runnin' and hidin' all over town
You got me sneakin' and a-peepin' and runnin' you down

Onboard the Roaming Eye

After leaving Empire City, Moonstone set a course, not for Beach City, but for someplace in Korea. She neglected to mention why and Hayato had little luck trying to find out with Under Pressure. It seemed his stand would only tell him basic facts or things that had already happened to a person, not their thoughts or what they intended to do.

The ship set down in Korea. Moonstone and Titanium excited alone and ordered Ruby and Peridot not to follow. They didn't bother telling what they were going to do… but Hayato could make an educated guess. From the notes his stand created on Moonstone, he'd been able to gather that she wanted Josuke to revive someone called Pink Diamond. And in order to do that, they'd need to get her body… or maybe just the pieces of her gem? Hayato was still a bit unsure exactly how gems worked. Some of the notes implied that a gem's consciousness was contained solely within their gem.

As bizarre as that concept was, it did raise the question; could Crazy Diamond revive this Pink Diamond? Josuke couldn't call back the souls from the afterlife, that much Hayato knew… but if the soul remained within the shards of a gem, fragmented but still present in parts… could it be put back together again?

Fascinating questions to be sure, though Hayato would be happy enough if he never found out the answer. Despite being named after the least threatening color imaginable, he had a gut feeling that this Pink Diamond could only mean trouble. Apparently, she tried to conquer the Earth many thousands of years ago?

…you know, what does it say about the rest of his life when the revelation of aliens invading the planet many millennia ago didn't phase Hayato at this point?

Regardless… whatever Moonstone and Titanium were actually doing, they sure took their sweet time getting it done. They didn't return for several hours, long enough for Hayato to get bored and take a nap… though he was interrupted a few times by Ruby and Peridot prodding at him and wondering if he had died. As it turns out, these ancient, technologically superior space aliens did not know what sleep was.

When Moonstone and Titanium finally did return, both of them looked like absolute crap. Moonstone especially, her cape full of mud stains. It looked like she had fallen over and landed on her back a few times. Which, admittedly, was pretty funny to imagine, though the rest of her visage didn't inspire much laughter. It looked like she'd been crying. Her eyes were red and lines of dried-up tears ran down her cheeks.

What truly amazed Hayato, however, was that it looked like Titanium had been crying too. Which… was not an image he could imagine. She just… didn't seem like the kind of person who would cry over anything. She was more likely to punch a rock in two before she shed a single tear.

What had really transpired during those few hours was not something Hayato would ever learn and that was for the best. Moonstone and Titanium were likely to kill him if he ever found out.

Titanium wasted no time in marching back to her usual corner and staring down on an oddly interesting spot on the floor.

"Ahem…" Moonstone cleared her throat. "Peridot, set a course to Beach City."

"Of course," Peridot said and flipped a few switches. She must have already prepared the autopilot or something because the ship took off without her manning the controls. The ship was silent, aside from a few beeps from the computer while Peridot gathered her courage to as Moonstone something. "So, um… Did.. did you get…?"

"Yes," Moonstone said flatly.

"…can I look at them?"

"No."

"O-okay…" Peridot said, looking both disappointed and embarrassed that she even asked.

The rest of the journey was spent in supremely awkward, yet mercifully short silence. It only took the ship a few minutes to arrive at its destination. It hovered above high above Beach City, clouds drifting by beneath it. Moonstone commanded Peridot to land the ship a few kilometers outside of Beach City, on the front lawn of some large and luxurious villa.

"Should we really land so close to a human settlement like this?" Titanium asked. In some ways, she was doing what she had done for the entire time Hayato had been there; questioning Moonstone's every command. On the other hand, something was… different. It was like she was actually curious instead of annoyed at her leader's orders.

"We need to get foods for our human guest," Moonstone said. "Humans need to 'eat' every few hours or they die."

Titanium snorted and Moonstone glared at her.

"Inconvenient, I know," Moonstone said. "Optimally, we'd remain above Beach City in stealth mode and gather information until I can formulate a plan of attack. However, we can not risk Hayato's safety at this stage. A hostage that's already dead is not much use as leverage, now is it?"

"I suppose not," Titanium said and shrugged.

Hayato was indeed really hungry… and thirsty. His mouth felt like a desert. Also, he really, really needed to go to the bathroom. Still… he wasn't exactly thrilled at the thought of robbing some innocent strangers of their food.

"Good. Titanium," Moonstone said. "You will accompany me and Hayato, just in case we meet some humans that might… not take kindly to our visit."

Oh yeah, and there was also the fact that Moonstone and Titanium might be willing to hurt people to get what they wanted. So far, they hadn't gone out of their way to hurt anyone… but Moonstone had also been awfully unconcerned when Ruby blew up that restaurant. She also kidnapped Hayato and kept him captive with only a flimsy understanding of human needs, so there was that too.

"Um… my Moonstone?" Peridot spoke up before they could leave.

"Yes?" Moonstone said. Her voice was had lost the confrontational edge from before, but Peridot still looked hesitant to address her.

"I, uh… I've been able to take control of several satellites in orbit around Earth. I have a visual of our targets."

Moonstone glanced at the satellite live feed of Beach City.

"Good, see if you can find the Crystal Gems," she said. "In the meantime, me and…"

"I have," Peridot said. "I have a visual of the Crystal Gems, and, ah… I-I think you should come see this."

xxXXxx

Beach City…

Santana emerged from the forest, walking quickly through the little town.

A few stray thoughts tried to remind him of the event that had transpired only a couple of minutes prior, but he pushed them aside. They did not matter right now. He had to keep focused on his goal and how to achieve it. Right now, he had to get back to the Crystal Gems' temple before they did. Once Kiki was defeated and her ability nullified, the gems trapped within Vidalia's art studio would be released. After that, they would either go investigate don't Fear & The Reaper's snowstorm in the distance, or they would head back to the temple.

With any luck, Kiki would still be left unconscious on the beach. She was far too powerful for him to not repossess. Her ability alone had been enough to incapacitate almost every Crystal Gem. Even Santana wasn't sure how Steven and the pink beast managed to defeat her.

Speaking of Steven and the lion, once they had recovered, they too were likely to return to the temple. Santana wasn't sure how the lion's portals worked, but it had taken a few minutes for it and Steven to appear, so it might not be able to move instantaneously between places. Still, the beast was powerful… He'd be a fool to underestimate it or Steven Universe again.

Santana hurried his steps while he thought of how he could rework his plan. His attempts to force open the door into the temple's inner sanctums had remained fruitless. He might be able to break it open with Evil Ways, but he didn't dare to try. There were mystical energies behind the door, magical powers, and alien science he didn't understand. Breaking open the door or destroying it could have disastrous results. No, he would have to force one of the Crystal Gems to open it for him. Assuming that he managed to repossess Kiki… he could wait for everyone to return and ambush them. Perhaps he could call over some of his remaining servants… If he only knew where Lonely Heart was right now, Lapis Lazuli's power over water could be usefu-

"HEY!"

He froze in place at the sudden shout. While he was occupied with planning his next move… he hadn't noticed…

"Yeah, you in the coat! Who are you!?" The gems must've…

"It's a beautiful sunny day," another voice said. A deep man's voice. "A beautiful, sunny, and warm day. Who in their right mind would ever dress in several layers of thick clothes…? Unless…"

He turned his head, just enough to get a glimpse and confirm that the worst possible outcome had indeed occurred.

Santana swore in a language long dead and forgotten.

It wasn't just the three Crystal Gems, but the four stand users as well. He could feel that several of his fleshbuds had been destroyed… but he had been too preoccupied to notice before now.

"Unless the touch of sunlight burns your skin and turns you into stone," Garnet said lowly. Her hands lit up and a pair of gauntlets formed on them. The other gems summoned their weapons and the stand users brought forward their stands.

Santana did the one thing he could do in this situation. He put his legs on his back and ran for his life.

What was it JoJo called it? The Joestar Family's Secret Technique? That was one way to put it, but Santana was not going to lie to himself or anyone else. This was not a tactical retreat, a feint to buy him some time.

"He's running away! Get him!"

He was running for his life. Santana was confident in his abilities, but not even he was arrogant enough to think he could take on four stand users and three gems at the same time and win. Even if against all odds, he was able to defeat all of them at once, the damage to his clothes would leave him exposed to the sunlight. So as much as he hated it, his only option was to run.

All of his servants were too far away to help him now. Even Sour Cream with his portals would be unable to reach him fast enough and he hadn't left any open portals within the city for him to use. However… there was another escape route. At the time, even he thought it was overly paranoid to leave it open, but evidently, you could never be too careful.

While its primary function was to show the location of everyone within Beach City, Barb's She's Not There could transport objects as long as they had a postal address on them. Santana had written the address to Kevin's house on his arm and there was a piece of She's Not There placed within Barb and Sadie's house. It was relatively close-by. Two minutes. No longer.

The gems and stand users wasted no time before they gave chase. He could hear the sound of their feet and feel the mass of people moving towards him in the air. Three of them in particular, the gems, took the lead and were gaining on him.

Something hit him in the back, some form of projectile. It penetrated his clothes and stung like sunlight on his skin.

"Stop, you fiend!" one of the gems shouted. As if she could talk him into surrender. As if anything on the world could ever make him give up. As if he wouldn't fight until the last drop of life drained from his body.

Santana summoned forth Evil Ways behind him. He couldn't see through the stand's eyes, but he didn't need precision, he needed overwhelming speed and strength. Evil Ways punched the air behind him, its fist moving as swift as the wind itself. Even the superior senses of a pillar man would not be able to fully follow the volley of attacks. A few more projectiles were fired at him and were met by Evil Ways' furious fists easily swatting them away like annoying flies.

He was nearing his target…

While the projectiles of light were still coming, the big gem Garnet and the short gem Amethyst were both approaching him quickly. Garnet had her gauntlets ready to crush and Amethyst was rolling on the ground in the shape of a ball, ready to shred him to pieces. They were coming from the sides, ready to catch him in a pincer maneuver. Meanwhile, the third gem, Pearl, continued to fire her projectiles. It was a simple but effective strategy. Or rather, it would have been.

Right as they launched their attack, Santana jumped high up into the air. He landed on a rooftop and watched with amusement as the two gems crashed into each other. Alas, this stunt only bought him one or two seconds before the gems continued their pursuit, jumping up on the rooftop with as much ease as he had, if not more. Surprisingly enough, one of the humans, the tiny one, followed them up there too. It was strange, he floated up like he was lighter than air itself.

Before he had time to jump down to the street on the other side of the house they were standing on, Garnet raised her gauntlets and aimed them at him. They shot from her arms like small missiles. Evil Ways blocked them, but the force was enough to knock Santana off the roof before the explosion sent him flying.

He landed hard on the street, rolling several meters before he came to a stop. Several more holes were ripped in his already tattered clothes. The sun's poisonous rays stabbed his skin as if to mock him for his failures while he was still lying down. And yet he laughed. Even through the pain and humiliation he couldn't help but laugh.

The explosion was powerful enough to throw him halfway down the street. Exactly where he wanted to go. Garnet had unwittingly helped him reach his escape!

xxXXxx

Josuke rounded the corner of the building, Jotaro and Okuyasu mere centimeters behind him. That bastard Santana had just jumped over a building! And then the three weird women jumped after him like it was nothing! As if to rub salts in his wounds, Koichi was able to use his new ability to pursue them as well. Meanwhile, those poor souls who couldn't leap tall buildings in a single bound had to take the long way around.

What a fucking day. It just kept getting weirder and worse. Snowstorms, flying cars, Jotaro nearly dying, voodoo dolls, and strangely colored women. Was there no end to this madness?

Josuke caught a glimpse of Garnet and the short purple one whose name escaped him at the moment enter a house about halfway down the street. His heart skipped a beat when he realized what might be going on and he somehow managed to run even faster than he already was.

If Santana didn't think he could outrun them, he might try to take a hostage. And if someone got hurt… they would need his Crazy Diamond!

The thought of an innocent bystander getting hurt put another piece of coal on the fire burning within him. He reached the house in what felt like no time at all and he almost ran past it, that's how fast he was going.

He dashed into the house like a storm, expecting to be met by blood and carnage… but instead, he was met by inviting home, free from all forms of foul evil. The only thing telling him something was wrong was the shouts coming from another room… but those were not shouts of struggle, but of disbelief and confusion.

"He disappeared! Garnet, I saw it, he was right here and then he just… disappeared!"

He followed the sounds into the kitchen, where Garnet, Pearl, and… short purple (he wanted to say her name was Amethyst, but he wasn't sure) were standing. There was no sign of Santana.

"What's going on?" he asked, trying (and failing) to hide his heavy breathing. The room was spinning a little around him. Maybe he pushed himself just a tad bit too hard. The thing they don't tell you about adrenaline is that once it wears off, all the pain and exhaustion returns. All of it. At once.

"He disappeared!" short purple exclaimed. She waved at the table. It was empty, aside from some strange object. A box? "It was so weird! It was like he shriveled up and crawled into a crack in the air!"

"What, into this thing?" he said, walking up to the table and tapping on the strange object.

"The… what?" Amethyst said, somehow looking even more confused than before. Her eyes looked at a point slightly beyond where Josuke was pointing… which was when it clicked inside his head. Ah. Of course.

Three loud pairs of feet entered the house and they too found their way into the kitchen.

"Oi, Josuke!" Okuyasu yelled. "Where is he? Where's the pillar guy?"

"Gone," Josuke said. He tapped the thing on the table again. "Squeezed his way into this thing, apparently."

The thing in question was a long brick-shaped box with a large slot on one side. By Josuke's estimates, the box was about thirty by ten by ten centimeters. The slot was slightly smaller. When he looked closer at it, it was pretty obvious it was a stand. The surface was too smooth to be natural and didn't resemble any material he had ever seen before. In fact, the thing it resembled the most was water. Like a block of liquid water that had been solidified. Not frozen to ice, but solidified while looking as if it was still flowing.

Jotaro walked up to examine it as well. He tapped it with his fingers before he tried to lift it up. It didn't work. He summoned Star Platinum to try and pick it up. Naturally, Josuke expected the box to move easily. After all, when Star Platinum told you to move, you moved. Everyone knew that… aside from this box. Star Platinum pulled at it with both hands, yet the thing didn't budge. Josuke even tried to help with Crazy Diamond, but the damn box would not move even one millimeter out of place.

A small part of Josuke's brain could acknowledge and appreciate how weird it must've looked to the three women who couldn't see stands. He and Jotaro just stood there, staring at the table and grunting a little while absolutely nothing happened.

Jotaro was not one to give up so easily, however. He leaned down and shone a light into the slot with the lamp in his phone. And what was revealed in the light was… nothing. The insides looked pretty much identical to the outside. He even tried to slide one of Star Platinum's fingers into the box. Nothing. The fingers touched the backside of the box without producing any results whatsoever.

Finally, he had to give up.

"There's a small stand on the table," he explained to the three strange women. "A rectangular box with a large slot on it. As far as I can tell, there's nothing inside of it. My best guess is that it's some kind of teleportation stand. It's most likely stationary and bound to this place since Santana had to run here specifically and neither me nor Josuke can move it from the table."

Couldn't Santana have created it though?" Koichi said. "Maybe he just had to get some distance between himself and us before he could create it and teleport away? After all, we didn't see him use his stand ability other than to block those laser beams Mrs. Pearl shot at him."

"Perhaps," Garnet muttered. "But if all he needed was distance, then why did he run in here? There was already a considerable distance between us, so why waste time running in here unless this thing…" she waved towards the table and actually came pretty close to pointing at it. "… was already here? Me and Amethyst almost had him."

"Maybe his ability doesn't work if it's in direct sunlight, or maybe he can only use it indoors?" Koichi suggested.

That was stretching it a bit, but Josuke wouldn't be surprised if that really was the case. He had encountered a few stands with weirder rules than that.

"Yes, maybe…" Garnet said. She then extended her arms to the side and grabbed something stuck on the fridge with a magnet without even looking. "Or maybe not." She held up a photograph of a woman Josuke didn't recognize… and girl he did recognize. "Barb and Sadie Miller have both been infected by Santana's fleshbuds and are under his control," Garnet continued. "If this is their house, there's a possibility this stand belongs to one of them and that is was placed here as some sort of security measure."

Josuke nodded.

"In that case, it must be hers," he said and pointed at the older woman (Barb?). "I met the other one in the forest and defeated her. This thing here isn't her stand." He paused to recall what she had told him. "And, ah… did you say her name was Sadie Miller? Not Killer?"

"Yeah, Sadie Killer is her stage name," short purple (it was Amethyst, right?). "She's in a band. It's got this kinda horror theme going, with some punk vibes thrown in."

"I knew that wasn't her real name," Josuke whispered to himself.

"Regardless of who its master is, it doesn't seem like we can gather much more information from it," Jotaro said. "It left no traces or hints of where Santana went. Or at least none that we can track. So for now, the best we ca-"

He was interrupted by a phone ringing. Josuke looked toward the source of the sound… Pearl. The rock on her forehead was glowing and ringing like a phone.

What?

"Oh, s-sorry," she said hastily. She held out her hands in front of the rock. There was a flash of bright white light, and suddenly, she was holding the ringing phone in her hands.

Again. What?

No, but seriously, what the hell? These women couldn't see stands, but they could shoot lasers, launch their fists like rockets, spin dash like Sonic, and summon phones from nowhere? What was going on!?

"Hello, it is Pearl of the Crystal Gems?" she answered. "Hi Steven! Are you guys doing ok-"

She interrupted herself. What little color her face had drained and was replaced by an unhealthy shade of green.

"HE WHAT!?" she yelled, causing everyone in the house to nearly jump out of their own skins.

"Wh-what?" short purple asked, worry all over her face. She tugged at the sash around Pearl's waist, which might've been the only thing keeping her from falling over. "What happened, are they okay?"

Even Garnet, who was about as easy to read as Jotaro was visibly worried.

"S-Santana," Pearl stammered. "H-he w-was… he was at the temple! He attacked Steven and the others while we were gone!"

xxXXxx

Outside Beach City, Kevin's house…

Santana exploded out of a small mailbox, shattering and crushing it to pieces. He landed on the ground in an undignified pile and stayed there while his bones solidified again. He felt a slight discomfort throughout his body after crawling through that narrow opening. But that feeling was nothing compared to the seething, bubbling, boiling rage within him.

All of his traps failed! All of them! He had been patient, waited, and planned carefully. He had avoided falling into the trap of arrogance and overconfidence. He set up multiple contingencies just in case. And yet he still failed!? Now the Crystal Gems were free, the stand user had arrived, Santana had lost some of his most powerful servants and he was no closer to obtaining the Aja.

He was about to let out a frustrated scream of rage when something made him stop and jump back up on his feet. In his angry state, he hadn't immediately noticed it, but there were several smells and sounds that shouldn't be there. Several people approaching him. Judging by the smell they were… gems?

A group of four gems and one small human child were approaching him. Although, as they got closer, Santana could've sworn he sensed a sixth presence among them, but there was no one there.

In addition to the gems and the human child, there was also a large red metal object parked on the lawn that hadn't been there before. A… spaceship? Was that what his human servants had called the machines capable of traveling through the empty depths of space?

The group was led by a blue gem. She looked somewhat similar to Lapis Lazuli, but with white

stripes in her hair and with a long cape covering most of her body. Right next to her walked a tall gem with metallic grey skin and rainbow hair. Her gem was placed in her left eye, briefly making Santana wonder if she could see through her gem, or if she had a blind spot on her left side. Behind them walked a scared-looking human boy. His hands were shaking and nervous droplets of sweat rolled down his face. Two more gems walked behind him, almost having to push him forward, though they didn't look too confident either. One looked identical to the green gem called Peridot, but with her gem placed on her chest and she had strange machines attached to her arms and legs. The last gem was short and red with a cubical hair similar to Garnet.

"Say, Hayato…" the blue gem slowly, addressing the small boy. "Is that normal? Do people on this planet regularly burst out of small boxes?"

"No," the boy said quietly.

"Then how peculiar…" the blue gem said. "Hello there!" she called out and waved at him.

"Who are you?" Santana asked, skipping any and all formalities. "Are you Crystal Gems?"

"Most certainly not!" the blue gem said. "You see, we are actual-"

"Do you intend to fight me?" Santana interrupted her. It might seem odd that he asked who they were, only to interrupt the answer. In truth, he didn't care so much about who they were as he did their alignment and whether they were a threat or not. All other questions, and he had plenty of them, were second priority.

He summoned Evil Ways by his side to see if any of the gems could see it. None of them reacted in any way he could see, though the small boy flinched… then again, he might just have been scared. Santana had noticed he had that effect on humans.

"No, not at all," the blue gem. She smiled and held up her hands to show that they were empty. When she did, her cape opened up for a brief moment, revealing her gem placed on her stomach. "Well, I mean, at least not as long as you don't start anythi-"

"Then leave." Santana did not have the time, nor the patience to deal with this. He had an idea of who these gems were. He had been told about another faction of gems, the Homeworld, which was in conflict with the Crystal Gems. Not long ago, a few Homeworld gems had come to abduct several humans from Beach City. Considering the small and scared human boy they brought with them, this might be a second attempt. Perhaps they thought of Santana as an interesting specimen. Or perhaps it was an unrelated operation with different goals. That didn't matter. What mattered was that it didn't interfere with Santana's plans to obtain the Aja. He couldn't afford to let five unknown and unpredictable players onto the board. "This is my territory now."

"Ah, I'm afraid we can't do that," the blue gem said. "You see, our mission is of utmost import-"

"I don't care," Santana said. "Leave. Once my goals are fulfilled, you can return. Until then… stay out of my way." He projected all the strength and confidence he could into his voice. Though internally, he was much less self-assured than he wanted it to seem. He didn't know of these gems' abilities and he was still a bit tired after his battle against Joseph. He might be able to defeat them with some help, however…

He sent a signal to the fleshbuds in the heads of Yellow Tail and Ronaldo inside the house. Yellow Tail could neutralize one of the gems while Ronaldo created a distraction.

The blue gem's eyes twitched. She raised her hand and waved at the tall grey gem.

"Titanium, would you…?" She gestured towards him.

What now? Did she wish to test his abilities? Very well then, he'd give them a taste of his power. Hopefully, it'd be enough to get the message through.

Titanium rolled her eye but obeyed her leader. Her gem glowed and she pulled a sword out of it.

She dashed forward, moving at speed even Santana would have trouble keeping up with. His stand on the other hand…

Evil Ways intercepted her sword swing, breaking it in half. She only had time to look shocked before Evil Ways sent her away with a swift kick to the chest. She skidded along the ground, dragging up two trails in the grass, but she remained on her feet. She threw the broken sword to the side and started summoning another one… only to stop.

Something was happening on her chest. The area where Evil Ways had kicked her lit up for a few seconds. When the light faded away, the blue marking on her suit was replaced by a pink one.

The blue gem watched with great fascination.

"That's enough for now Titanium," she said before turning back to Santana. "That was your stand, I assume? Very impressive. Few people can push around Titanium like that." The grey gem herself scoffed as she threw away her sword and walked back up to the blue gem's side. She kept her eye locked on Santana. "You are obviously a person of some power…"

"Obviously," Santana said. "And I will use that power to destroy you if you don't leave within the next minute." Yellow Tail and Ronaldo stood ready, hiding just behind the front door a few meters away. He summoned Barb as well. Her stand might not possess any destructive power, but he had figured out one use for it in combat. All he needed was think the thought, and they'd come to assist him with getting rid of these nuisances. Yellow Tail's stand was already aiming at Titanium. She was the biggest threat and had to be neutralized quickly. She barely flinched when Evil Ways kicked her.

The blue gem and finally decided to drop all pretenses and the pretend politeness.

"Listen here, earthling," she said, sounding almost as tired of him as he was of her. "My name is Moonstone. We are here on a very important mission with two objectives. I believe you may possess information we need to accomplish these objectives. The first is to apprehend the Crystal Gems. The second is to find a human by the name Josuke Higashikata."

Oh? Now, this was interesting. For one thing, it appeared that his theory on these gems being from Homeworld was true. Trying to apprehend the Crystal Gems made sense in that case. The part that didn't make any sense to him was their second objective, to find Josuke Higashikata. Of course, the ability to repair any broken object or heal any wound was very ability. There could be a number of things they needed him to repair. But… how did she know of his identity? More importantly, what made her think he knew anything about Josuke? He mentioned the Crystal Gems by name, but not Josuke Higashikata, or any of the other stand users.

"Now, I happen to know that the Crystal Gems and four humans chased you through the small city called Beach City not five minutes ago," Moonstone continued. She waved in the general direction of Beach City in the distance. "My question is 'why?' The Crystal Gems are sworn to protect the life of this planet. And as far as I can tell, you are part of that life, right? So why would they chase you?"

How did she know? That was less than five minutes ago and the ship was already here. If it had been hovering in the sky and observed the events and then followed him here, he would've been able to sense it landing.

Although… did it matter? Her information was still limited, that much he could tell. That's why she was asking him these questions. She was playing up what little information she did have, but in reality, Santana was the one with the true advantage.

He considered his options. His servants were still ready to attack at a moment's notice. He could fight this group of intruding gems off. That he was fairly confident of. Moonstone was clearly underestimating him. She might not even realize he wasn't human.

Or… he could play along with her games, at least for a little while longer. See where she was going with all of this. Squeeze any useful information out of her. Maybe he could even get some use out of them to deal with the Crystal Gems themselves…

"I attacked them. They retaliated," he said. "My turn. How did you obtain this information and how did you find me so fast?"

"I am a very lucky gem," Moonstone said and shrugged. "We happened to land here a few minutes ago. A pure coincidence that we ran into you. As for how we were able to see the chase…" She pointed up in the sky. "We managed to use some of the humans' satellites to get a view of Beach City. Again, by pure coincidence and luck, we saw you. Now say, why did you attack the Crystal Gems? What could you possibly have to gain from that?"

Of course. Humanity had managed to pierce the heavens and place machines in orbit around the planet. Some of those machines could look down upon the surface. The rest of it was just chance. Or it might be the red string of fate. Time would have to tell which it was.

"They have something I need," Santana said. "Why do you need Josuke Higashikata?"

"I need him to fix something," Moonstone said. She smiled slyly as if he had accidentally revealed a great secret. "I assume you're familiar with Josuke Higashikata and the power he possesses? The way you referred to him seems to imply that you do. Could it be… could it be that he was actually part of the group of humans chasing you alongside the Crystal Gems? We haven't been able to identify all the humans just yet, but I did recognize Jotaro Kujo among them, and he is a known associate of Josuke Higashikata. Am I right?"

"Yes," Santana said. Clever. She was able to tell he knew who Josuke just by his phrasing. Maybe she wasn't as stupid as he first assumed. On the other hand, it was possible for a person to be both smart and dumb at the same time. Again, time would tell.

"And it appears to me that you have managed to get both the Crystal Gems and a group of stand users, including Josuke Higashikata, against you."

"True," Santana admitted. He could already see where this was going.

"Well then!" Moonstone said. "It appears to me that our goals overlap. We need to detain the Crystal Gems, which would help you obtain whatever it is you want from them. We also need to employ the services of Josuke Higashikata, which… might not be entirely voluntary." Santana glanced at the scared boy, who was trying to hide behind Moonstone's cape. "And that might keep the human stand users from pursuing you as well."

That all sounded good enough, but it wasn't entirely accurate. Santana needed to get the Aja from the Crystal Gems, he didn't need to capture or apprehend them. Nor did he need Josuke Higashikata alive.

There was another problem, which took greater precedence in his mind though. These gems might be useful against the Crystal Gems. They would know more about gems and their weaknesses than he did. However, he had no way of controlling them. Their inorganic bodies rendered fleshbuds useless and Lonely Heart could only possess one person at a time.

"You propose an alliance?" Santana asked.

"Correct," Moonstone said. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all."

However… if he denied her proposal and was unable to stop them from leaving… at best, she'd just attempt to pursue her own goals, which might interfere with his. At worst, she'd actively attempt to sabotage his operations. Either scenario was bad for him.

"On one condition," Santana said. He didn't like this at all, but it was the best option for now. With this "alliance" between them, he'd at least be able to keep a close eye on them. "My own goal will remain as my biggest priority at all times. My only desire is to retrieve one object from the Crystal Gems. After that, I do not care for them or the stand users. I can modify my plans to assist you with your goals, but I will not let my objective be jeopardized for any reason."

Moonstone stood silent for a few moments, thinking. Her companions sported a range of expressions, ranging from confusion, to nervousness to utter disbelief that any of this was happening.

"Would you mind telling me what exactly what it is you're after?" she said after a while.

"A gemstone called the Aja," Santana said. As soon as he said that word, Titanium's eye became wide in shock and she glanced down at Moonstone.

"An Aja, you say?" the blue gem said and smiled widely. "Well, if that's the case… I think we might be able to work something out…"

This concludes JoJo and the Crystal Gems Part 2: Battle Gem

To be continued… in Part 3: Homeworld Crusaders


AUTHOR'S NOTES

Villain team-up! I'm sure only good things will come from this!

The next chapter is…. going to take awhile.

Several reasons. I'll be working more from now on than I have for a few months, so I'll have less time to write. And while I have most of the story planned out all the way to the ending. there are still a few things that need to be ironed out. I gotta create a few new stands, individual chapter have to be planned, etc. Oh, and I also have to write the chapter itself, don't forget that part. And by every indication, the next chapter will be pretty long…

So… the next chapter might not be out for a month or so… and that's me being very optimistic. I can't know for sure when it will be done, but I will try to publish it on a Friday. That's all I can say for now I'm afraid.

Oh, but please, don't despair my dear reader! For I'm sure the next chapter is going to be worth the wait! You see, it is time for the Crystal Gems and the Duwang Gang to properly introduce themselves to one another…

I'll see you next time, and until then… take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!