"Well, here we are!" Steven gestured to the Kindergarten with his free hand.
Peridot gripped Steven's hand tighter in anticipation. "Okay, great! Let's go!" She took off, dragging Steven with her.
Twoie's eyes widened as Peridot started walking towards the edge of the cliff. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He quickly grabbed them both around their waists.
"What's the big idea?" Peridot shouted as she tried to squirm out of his hold. Twoie jumped from the warp and floated down to the ground.
"Sorry, Peridot. You were about to walk right off the cliff." Peridot huffed in embarrassment but grumbled out a 'thanks' at his quick reaction. Once they landed safely, Twoie let Peridot lead the way.
As the trio trekked through the cliffs, they passed the time with some small talk. "This place just gets worse every time I come here," Steven remarked while looking around.
Peridot's shoulders slumped slightly in agreement. "I know. It's been so poorly managed. It must've been in way better shape when you first emerged."
Steven tilted his head, questioningly at her. "Emerged?"
She nodded. "Yeah, you and Twoie must be some kind of quartz, right? You both must've been made here." Twoie coughed lightly.
"Peridot. Steven and I are not like other gems. We are also half-human. You know, organic?"
She raised her eyebrows at them. "You're some sort of hybrid? How is that possible?"
Steven was surprised to see how uncomfortable Twoie seemed. "W-well," Steven quickly interjected. "The answer for that is a story I like to call the Ballad of Rose and Greg." Twoie sighed in relief as Peridot announced her lack of interest, and they all continued to the control room.
"Are you sure this is safe? Last time I was here, there were a bunch of fusion monsters…" Peridot's eyes lit up when she saw the entrance to the control hub. "Yes. I was checking their progress." Steven and Peridot slid down first. Twoie decided to wait a couple of seconds so that they could move out of the way. He could hear Peridot's voice echoing through the tunnel. "When it became clear that earth was-." Once it was too faint to hear, Twoie slid down the entrance as well. He looked around at the various green wires as he went. It had been so long since he'd last been here. He felt strange being back. "-riments. A gem geo-weapon." Peridot started walking again when she saw Twoie had arrived.
"Did you help?" Steven looked at her nervously. He really hoped she didn't. He sighed in relief when she shook her head.
"Negative. I wasn't lucky enough to be around for that, but I read over a few hundred years of reports! Nyeh-heh-heh." Twoie sighed as he followed them. He forgot how much Peridot valued Homeworld's plans for the colonization of the earth. Hearing her disappointment at her lack of involvement sent a shiver down his spine.
"This is where you need to be, right?" Steven asked as he looked around.
The room was dark, but the greenish glow from the computer and the wires illuminated it enough to see. "Yes. I'm going to have to remove this panel and do a bit of work to restore power to this room so… Can I have my hand back now?"
His grip loosened, and Peridot slipped her hand out. "Okay, but stay where we can see you." Steven light-heartedly reminded her.
Peridot wordlessly pressed an invisible switch that formed into a panel. She tugged on it experimentally before taking a deep breath and turning to Twoie. "Alright! Even if you are only a half-quartz, this shouldn't exceed the limitations of your strength. I am in need of your assistance. Please lift the cover off so I can access the wires."
Twoie couldn't decide whether he should be offended or not, so he just stepped forward and pulled the cover off in one quick motion. Peridot crowed in delight as she moved one wire, and the room became illuminated. "It's not perfect, but it'll do for now."
Everyone made their way over to the control stand. Peridot placed her hands on the top of the stand but scowled when she realized she was too short. "Twoie, I require your assistance again. Please adjust your position so that you are propped up on your hands and knees perpendicular to the stand."
Twoie raised a brow at her suggestion. "Can't I just carry you?"
She pouted. "That's satisfactory as well, I guess. Whatever it's only for a moment so I can adjust the stand's height." Twoie lifted her long enough for her to place her hand on the panel. It shrunk down to a comfortable height. Peridot stepped up to it and pulled up many pictures of gems on the screen. "These are the early attempts at artificial fusion."
Steven looked at the many images with a trace of fear. "That's a lot of gem shards."
The green gem input several commands, changing the images to a geographic 3D image of the earth. "We were growing them here at this very sight, but these were just prototypes for the final product. A singular, giant artificial fusion comprised of millions of gem shards. The Cluster."
Steven shifted close to Twoie and clung to his side in apprehension. "You're saying there's a giant mutant gem the size of the earth under us right now?" Twoie laid his hand on Steven's hair in the hopes of comforting him.
Peridot dashed any chance of that with her lack of tact. "Oh, no. When it forms, it'll be much much bigger than the earth. Right now, it lies dormant incubating in the earth's core, but when it emerges and takes its physical form, it will destroy the planet."
Steven squeaked when the image of the earth burst into several pieces. "It's alright, Steven. Peridot knows how to stop it, and she's gonna help us. The earth isn't going to be destroyed." Steven's grip didn't relax, nor did the tension in his body.
"Exactly. The prototypes are already emerging. The Cluster is next, and if we can't get off this planet, we've got to stop the Cluster. I thought it'd be impossible, but now we have a chance." Peridot looked proudly at the screen. There was no way the plan would fail. Her incredible intellect would assure their victory as long as everyone involved followed her orders precisely.
Steven's voice rose in pitch. "What is it?"
She flashed them a determined grin. "It's you two!" She ran back to the entrance of the control room. Twoie pried Steven's fingers from his shirt even though Steven whimpered in protest. The young man immediately hefted Steven onto his back once he was free from the scared kid. A quick glance at Steven let him know the kid was calming down as Twoie followed Peridot back to the entrance. Since Steven was being piggybacked, he picked Peridot up and managed to float all of them out of the control room and back to the Kindergarten.
They began their trek back to the warp, with Steven still riding on Twoie's back. The youngest had a contemplative frown on his face as Peridot spoke up again. "Now that you two are filled in, we can get to work!"
Steven held a hand up. "Uuh. How are we supposed to help?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Between the two of you, you have all of the information we need about the earth and its erratic behavior. Put that together with my knowledge of the Cluster, and we might just be able to stop it."
Steven patted Twoie twice on the shoulder to get him to stop walking. He jumped off of Twoie's back and ran over to Peridot. "No, Peridot. You don't get it! Just because I know how clouds work doesn't mean I know how to stop a giant mutant in the center of the earth. Besides, the main reason I know most of those things about clouds and rain is that my dad told me. Twoie just elaborated on it."
She paused before turning to face the brothers. "What do you mean by that?"
Steven stared at the ground. "I used to be really scared on thunderstorms, just like you. Then Dad explained how rain and all that stuff works, then I wasn't scared of rain anymore…" He nervously rubbed his arm.
A small glimpse at her expression was all he needed to see that she had simply brushed his concern off. "Well, I'm sure you have other knowledge about how this planet works. You told me yourself that Twoie is your instructor."
Okay, she had a point, but still! Even if he didn't want to, he knew that they would need the Crystal Gems' help if they were to stop the Cluster. "Sure, but none of its going to help us. If we wanna stop this Cluster thing, then we need help from the Crystal Gems." No one noticed Twoie flinch at his words.
Peridot scowled at him. "I said I don't need them!" Twoie stepped between them with his hands out. She interjected before he could say anything. "Let's just warp me back to the bathroom or whatever you called it, and we can take care of this. If it looks really bad, then we can just ask this 'Dad' for help, right?"
A loud piercing shriek halted Steven's retort. Peridot jumped and ran behind Steven for protection. "What was that?"
Twoie and Steven spotted the gem mutants at the same time. "There!" Steven bubbled himself and Peridot while Twoie summoned his shield. When the beast landed in front of them, Twoie rammed against it, shoving it back several feet. The mutant quickly recovered and grabbed the edges of the shield. Twoie strained to keep it in place as more mutants landed beside them.
"Do something!" Peridot screamed as they were quickly surrounded by the remaining mutants. Twoie summoned another shield and flung it at a mutant that was getting too close to the bubble, making it move back.
Steven knew he was panicking. His eyes darted to each mutant, and he frantically thought of what to do next. "I am doing something!" He saw a humanoid one raise its fists at them. He barely backed up in time to dodge the blow.
"Something useful!" The mutant recoiled when a pink shield struck it on the side of its head.
Both turned to see Twoie had knocked down the other large gem and had bubbled his fists. He shoved another mutant out of the way to make a path for Steven and Peridot. "Run!"
Steven dropped the bubble to fling a shield at a small mutant consisting of a hand and foot. "No way! I'm not leaving you alone! You just got hurt protecting me; I won't let you do it again!" He had to raise the bubble again as two gems came at them from the sides. The resulting thud against the bubble rang in his ears, but he expanded the bubble and threw them off.
Twoie bit his lip. He didn't want to risk Steven's safety, but he couldn't afford to-. His thought process cut off as the large multi-armed mutant grabbed him, pinning his arms against his side.
"Twoie!" Peridot and Steven shouted as the monster tightened its hold on him. The kid encased them in another bubble and pulled Peridot along as he charged the creature. "Let go of my brother!"
They slammed into the mutant's side, sending Twoie to the ground and poofing the mutant. "Thanks!" The young man quickly got to his feet.
"Steven, Twoie!" Their eyes widened in surprise as the Crystal Gems appeared suddenly and joined the fight. Pearl quickly poofed two of the small mutants with her spear, while Amethyst handled a third by constricting it. Garnet finished off the humanoid one with a well-timed lightning fist. "Are you dudes, okay?" Amethyst raced over to them and started circling the group while scanning for injuries. Twoie shifted uncomfortably as the other two gems made their way over as well.
"We're fine, Amethyst. I'm glad you guys showed up!" Steven exclaimed tiredly. Even though he was still annoyed at the gems, he was relieved that they had arrived to help. Peridot eyed them warily as their eyes turned to her.
"I'm glad to see you are fine as well, Peridot," Garnet spoke softly. She knew they did not have her trust, and the fusion willed herself to not do anything that would scare her in front of Twoie or Steven. No matter how much she distrusted the Homeworld gem.
The green gem only looked more suspicious at her words. "I told you, Peridot. We need their help." Her eyes flickered between her companions and the Gems. No one looked threatening to her.
She summoned up her courage and stepped forward. If any of the Gems saw Twoie and Steven tense, they didn't mention it. "I am grateful for your assistance. While I am sure we could've handled it ourselves, it was… thoughtful of you to assist anyway."
Amethyst folded her arms behind her head. "Thanks! And uh, sorry about all that stuff from before." Peridot blinked at her apology. Maybe she could trust them after all. The technician took a deep breath.
"I've made up my mind. I have something to tell you about the Cluster."