Lamp Entertainment presents…
Chapter 22: The Sleepwalker
Homeworld…
December 23rd
A scream echoed across all of Homeworld. Countless gems were frozen in place, stunned silent and still. The scram, the roar, the sound… it felt them with terror, with dread, with fear.
Yellow and Blue Diamond had been walking towards White's tower when they heard it. It stunned them too when they heard it. They, better than any other gem, could feel it.
They both clutched their heads from the pain.
"N-no…!" Blue whimpered. "T-this kind of power…"
"It's her…" Yellow mumbled. Her normally so radiant skin turning as pale as the winter sun. "Something's wrong with White!"
They started running toward the tower as fast as they could. Even as the scream stopped, they could still feel the psychic energy emanating from the tower. Seething, boiling, burning.
KA-BOOM!
The front of the tower exploded, raining debris and dust on Yellow and Blue. But even though the thick dust, they saw it. Two dots glowing hot red.
As the dust settled, she came into view. White Diamond. Except she was no longer white.
Her eyes glowed hot like two red giant stars. Her skin was scorching red and her entire body was surrounded by a fiery aura. Her face was contorted into a terrible grimace of pure, seething anger. Waves of wrath washed over them like heat from a raging wildfire.
For a few excruciating long moments, they stood there, the three Diamonds. None of them moved. Yellow and Blue's eyes could see, but their minds could not process what it was they saw.
Slowly, White raised her gaze, looking towards the large field in the distance with all the parked spaceships. The Human Cruise Ship was still hovering over the field.
The red light in her eyes intensified until it shone brighter than a star. Two beams of energy shot from her eyes headed right for the Cruise Ship!
"No!" Yellow yelled and jumped in front of the beams. She summoned lightning in her hand to block the beams. The clash of yellow electricity and red light exploded in a bright flash that pushed Yellow backward.
"White!" Blue bellowed. "What are you doing!? What is wrong with you!?"
But White didn't answer. She slowly started walking toward the field in the distance, her feet cracking the ground beneath them with every step she took. Blue tried to grab White's shoulder, but White pushed her aside. Blue staggered and fell to the ground, nearly crushing a building.
"Blue!" Yellow yelled. She rushed towards White and grabbed her wrists, struggling to keep her from moving. "Calm her down!"
Blue nodded and summoned a few of her euphoric clouds. She sent them towards White. Whatever was wrong with her, whatever the cause of this outburst was, perhaps it could be calmed down with some joy.
But the clouds didn't even touch White. The fiery aura around her seemed to boil and disintegrate them into nothing.
White roared and threw Yellow to the side like she was nothing more than a doll. Yellow landed on a building, the structure nearly collapsing underneath her weight. The gems that had been hiding inside were forced outside before they were crushed.
Once again, White turned her attention towards the Cruise Ship in the distance. Her eyes started glowing with power once more…
"No!" Blue yelled. For the first time in two years, she allowed all of the sorrow she had felt throughout her life to spread outwards again. The air was darkened by her aura of indiscriminate grief and gems started crying all around her.
The aura clashed against White's fiery aura, and for a moment, it looked like the fire was being swept away. White staggered and the light in her eyes flickered… but it was only for a moment. The fire around White rebounded, stronger than ever. Blue could feel the heat of wrath pushing against her flood of grief.
White slowly turned around. Her eyes shone with bright light and beams of energy shot from them, hitting the ground in front of Blue. The ground exploded, leaving a large crater and pushing Blue away. The explosion broke her concentration and her aura faded away.
She landed on the ground in front of a small group of gems standing paralyzed with fear. Chunks of debris fell like a furious hailstorm around them. Blue reached out and shielded the gems from the falling debris with her hand.
"R-run," she said. "Get away…"
She heard Yellow let out a scream and quickly hurried back up on her feet. Yellow had grabbed White from behind, holding her in a tight bear hug.
"Blue!" Yellow yelled. "Something's wrong! Quick!"
She didn't need to say more. Blue understood what she meant. Someone… someone or something was doing this to White.
She hurried up to them and grabbed White's shoulders. The fiery aura burned her hands, but she held on. She looked right into White's red glowing eyes. They were blank, filled only with the red hatred and wrath. Blue closed her eyes and slammed her forehead against White's.
White's hard gem dug into Blue's skin, but she ignored the pain. She had to look deeper… follow the trail of psychic energy emanating from within White's mind… find the one behind it…
For a moment, the physical world seemed to fade into nothing around Blue. The sound of screaming and fire around her was muted. The light became darkness. The feeling of her hands burning was numbed.
Then something hit her. A massive force of pure psychic energy cascaded from White and pushed away both Blue and Yellow, nearly sending them flying through the air.
"I-impossible…" Yellow mumbled, clutching her head. "It… it can't be…"
"You felt it too?" Blue said. She bit her lip and tried to will the pain out of her mind.
The aura that was affecting White… the thing that was fueling her rampage… Blue recognized it. She recognized the color immediately.
Steven!
White was also clutching her head. She suddenly let out a roar. She was sounding less and less like herself and more like a monster. A monster born from poison and fire, darkness and hatred.
She turned once again towards the Cruise Ship in the distance. Her eyes glowed with destructive energy… but the second before she fired, something small and pink came flying through the air. The gem's fist enlarged and hit White Diamond in the jaw. The punch didn't do much to actually hurt the Diamond, but it threw her aim off. The beams of energy sailed past the Cruise Ship harmlessly.
Spinel landed on the ground.
"Well, ain't this just typical!" she said while bouncing towards Blue on her springy legs. "I leave you guys alone for five minutes and this is what happens!"
Despite her best efforts to hide it, it was clear to see and hear that Spinel was just as confused and terrified as anyone else.
The empty red eyes of White followed the tiny pink gem on the ground for a moment, but she soon turned her attention back towards the Cruise Ship once again.
Blue struggled back up on her feet again. She summoned an orb of energy in her hand and threw it towards White. The ball hit White in the shoulder and made her stumble.
"Spinel," Blue said grimly, while cupping her hands. A ball of concentrated energy appeared in her palms as White slowly turned back towards her. "We don't know what's going on, but Steven has something to do with this. Go to Earth. Find him, stop this. Me and Yellow will keep White busy."
"B-but…" Spinel started saying something, but she was interrupted.
Blue roared and let loose a large wave of blue energy from her hands. At the same time, White blasted red hot energy from her eyes. The two beams clashed with each other, the two Diamonds struggling to overpower the other. Slowly but surely, White's red beam pushed Blue's back.
"GO!" Yellow yelled, and flung a lighting bolt at White. The lighting was far from enough to poof White, but it was enough to break her concentration. Blue's beam hit White in the chest and made her fly backward.
Spinel bit her lower lip hard enough to make her bleed had she been a human. She afforded herself one last glance towards her three giant friends locked in combat. Then she started running. She had to find a warp pad. Fast.
Behind her, she could hear the sounds of battle like a mighty thunderstorm. Crackling electricity, humming energy, and fiery explosions erupting every few seconds. The ground shook with every step the Diamonds took and she could feel the ancient bedrock beneath her feet beginning to crack.
In front of her were crowds of gems, some of them running as fast as they could away from the battle, others frozen in place with fear. There were screams, sobs, and cries of terror filling the air alongside smoke, dust, and despair.
As much as she wanted to help everyone, Spinel couldn't stop. She had to get to Earth… Blue said Steven had something to do with this…
She formed her legs into coils and jumped high up into the air. From on high, she could see the beams of warp pads activating all around. They were all surrounded by large crowds of gems desperately trying to flee. But there was one warp pad that wasn't used right now, the one over by the old palace.
Spinel hurried, bouncing as fast as she could over to that warp pad. It took her less than a minute, but it felt like an hour. Finally, she reached the warp pad. She barely had time to land on it before she activated it and she was engulfed by the bright light.
xxXXxx
Earth…
The galaxy warp pad in Steven's personal base and greenhouse activated with a soft chime and light that illuminated the dark dome. Spinel emerged from it, panting heavily. The contrast between Earth and Homeworld was astounding, almost disorienting. On Homeworld, everything was chaos. On Earth, everything was calm. It was in the middle of the night and there was a soft snowfall outside.
Spinel ran from the greenhouse down to Steven's room. She tore open the door, breaking the lock in the process.
There she found Steven, lying in his bed. He was glowing bright pink and his face was contorted in a weird grimace.
Someone was standing next to him, whispering something in his ear. The figure, clad in a black robe and hood startled and looked up when Spinel burst into the room.
The Winter Shadow glanced at Spinel for less than a second before she turned and tried to run away. Tried.
Spinel extended her arm and enlarged her hand. She grabbed the Winter Shadow before she had the time to make it down the stairs. She reeled in her catch and looked into the crude holes that made up the Winter Shadow's eyes.
"Go ahead," Spinel growled and squeezed the figure. Hard. "Just try and escape. See what happens."
The Winter Shadow hissed but stayed still.
Spinel walked over to Steven where he was laying in his bed. He was still glowing with pink light and he was mumbling something in his sleep. He looked distressed and sweat was pouring from his forehead. Spinel grabbed his shoulder and shook him.
"Come on Steven, wake up!" she said. Steven groaned, and frowned, but his eyes remained shut. "Oh… sorry," Spinel muttered and slapped Steven hard.
Steven's eyes opened, and for a moment, they too glowed pink. He sat up with a scream, panting heavily. The light around his body started fading away and he looked around, confused. He rubbed his head.
"S-Spinel…?" he mumbled. "What are… why… Ow!" He closed his eyes and held his head tight between his hands. "My head…" he groaned. "I had the worst nightmare…"
"I'm afraid it was a bit more than just a nightmare," Spinel said.
Steven opened one of his eyes and glanced at Spinel. He noticed the figure she was holding in her enlarged hand.
"What the f-"
xxXXxx
Homeworld…
White roared and pushed Blue aside. Yellow jumped in front of Blue, her hands crackling with lightning. She punched White in the face, the electricity causing her skin to ripple and glitch, but no more. White grabbed Yellow's hand and her eyes started glowing with red energy…
"No!" Blue cried, trying to reach Yellow to pull her out of the way…
But then… the light started fading from White's eyes. Slowly, the intensity lowered and the red disappeared. Her eyes returned to their normal color. The fiery aura around her extinguished and the red on her face faded. The expression on her face changed from angry, to confused, to horrified.
Her lips quivered and she fell to her knees. Large tears started rolling down her cheeks. She buried her face in her head and sobbed.
Yellow and Blue walked over to her and silently embraced her while she cried.
xxXXxx
Earth…
All the commotion had disturbed the Crystal Gems, who were all now gathered in Steven's bedroom. Spinel quite hastily (and poorly) explained who the mysterious black-clad stranger was and what she was doing there.
After several long minutes of confusion, they heard something large approaching in the distance. The Diamonds appeared outside of the beach house. They had used the galaxy warp in Little Homeworld to get there.
The three Diamonds were all still covered in dust and scruffs from the battle. White was still crying and her face was deep blue with sadness. Blue and Yellow on the other hand… Well, let's just say, you did not want two Diamonds to look at you like they were staring at the Winter Shadow at that moment.
"So…" Blue Diamond said slowly. "The Winter Shadow." She nodded towards Spinel, who was still holding the figure in black. "Let's see who it really is."
Spinel dumped the Winter Shadow on the floor and grabbed the top of her hood. With one swift motion, she pulled the disguise right of the Winter Shadow!
The Diamonds, the Crystal Gems, and Spinel all gasped. Steven raised his finger and pointed at the gem.
"You!"
xxXXxx
Homeworld…
A trio of Rubies was making their way through a large apartment complex underneath the surface of Homeworld. This was in fact the same apartment complex where a certain Peridot N07-H3R lived. They were even on the same floor. But the Rubies didn't know that, of course. They were there to see someone else.
The leader of the little group made sure to check and double-check the number on the door at least three times before she started knocking. Last time, they had ended up knocking on the wrong door, and the Jasper living there didn't appreciate it very much.
"Hey!" she yelled while banging on the door. "Na-I mean, Ruby! Are you home!?"
No answer. The Ruby continued to bang on the door for a couple of minutes before she gave up and turned to her friends.
"I don't think she's home," Doc said defeatedly.
"You're just not knocking hard enough!" Army said and cracked her knuckles. "Let me at it!"
"No!" Doc said. "Remember what happened last time I let you knock?"
"…yes," Army muttered angrily.
"No?" Leggy said confusedly.
The last time Doc let Army "knock," she ended up breaking the door down. The Topaz in that apartment was… less than happy about that.
Doc sighed and started walking away from there, her friends following her lead.
"Stupid Navy," Army said. "She never wants to meet with us anymore. And Eyeball ran away…"
"Hey!" Doc said sharply and punched Army on the arm. "They don't like it when we call them by those names, so you shouldn't. And Ruby isn't stupid. She's just.. busy," Doc's voice faltered for a bit, sounding very unconvinced. "I mean, working at that Disarmament Unit is a lot of work I've heard…"
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Army muttered. "And Ey-I mean Ruby?"
Doc shrugged.
"I don't know what she's up to," she admitted. "She said she had some 'unfinished business' with Steven Universe, whatever that means… but hey, at least she got that cute Aquamarine! You guys saw her, right? She was hot!"
"But Aquamarines aren't hot?" Leggy said perplexedly.
"Nono," Doc said quickly. "I meant like… hot as in pretty! That Aquamarine was pretty!"
"No she wasn't," Army scoffed. "You just have poor taste in gems."
"Whatever," Doc said and waved the conversation away before it could turn into an argument. "I just hope Ruby liked the Christmas gift we left for her last time…"
The once quintet, now trio continued to walk away from the apartment complex and out on the snow-covered surface of Homeworld. They talked about what they should do for Christmas and other important stuff.
Unbeknownst to them, their old friend had found the gift they left for her last time. The remnants of the gift, wrapped in colorful paper and signed by all three of them now lied on the floor of the cold, abandoned apartment. Burned to ashes.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Fun Fact: Sometimes while writing, I'll listen to some music that fits the mood I'm trying to write. So if I'm writing something sad, I'll listen to sad music. While writing most of this chapter, I ended up listing to Godzilla by Blue Öyster Cult and the Godzilla theme music from the 1954 movie on repeat.
The fight against White was initially supposed to last longer and be a lot flashier. But in the end, I didn't feel like it fit the mood and what I was going for.
The Tragedy of the Winter Shadow concludes tomorrow.