"Sorry I'm late, guys!" Johnathon said sheepishly, putting his guitar case down and grabbing a music stand. "Don't worry about it kiddo! Just make sure it doesn't happen the night of your first concert." Greg said, ruffling Johnathon's pink hair. "You know about that?" Johnathon said, looking up at the man, surprised. Greg nodded. "Steven was showing me some of your fliers." He said, holding one up. "They're nice, but you'll probably need an advertising committee to help distribute better quality ones." He said, grimacing at the rips and tears in the current flyer.
"Not to worry, small human!" Peridot said excitedly, looking up from her spot at a rectangular table. "We've already got you covered!" she beamed, holding up a picture of a bright purple guitar with fireworks going off in the background. "I drew the pictures, Lapis colored them, and Jet wrote the words. It was a team effort!" the green gem beamed, high-fiving her blue barnmate.
Jet nodded. "Yeah, making meep-morps is fun." She said, looking up at Johnathon with a smile. "I'm also glad that you found something to entertain yourself with since we moved to Beach City. I was kinda worried we'd have trouble fitting in."
Johnathon nodded. "Yeah, I was kind of worried too. But I've got H11 and D13 by my side, so it really isn't that bad." He said, smiling at the siblings who were chasing each other around the inside of the Car Wash.
"I was thinking that we could start off simple. You're learning really quickly, but if you want to perform and sing at the same time, we'll need a more basic tune." Greg said, bringing Johnathon a stool. "If the teens of Beach City can't teach D13 and H11, then I can hire someone to do that." Johnathon bit his lower lip, guilt washing over his face. "But you've already done so much for us. Letting me, D13, and H11 live with you, paying for the damages for Kevin's car."
Mr. Universe shrugged. "At this point, I've got more money than I know what to do with. Don't worry about financial stuff." He said, putting a hand on Johnathon's shoulder. "You're a kid, and if you want to make money doing something you love so be it. But don't worry about financial stuff. While you're living with me, I've got you covered."
Jet couldn't help but smile as she watched Greg and Johnathon interact. At first she had been hesitant about letting Johnathon go live with him in his van with D13 and H11, as the original plan was for him to live with her, B9, Lapis, and Peridot in the barn. But after the rising tension that radiated from the area whenever B9 and Jet were around had almost spilled into a fight, she had decided that maybe it was for the best. After all, Greg was a great guy, and Johnathon appeared to thrive under him, so what was the harm?
The friendship between Steven and the pink haired boy was also something that she was grateful for. In fact, the relationship between Steven and the trio of humans from the zoo had definitely eased the shift from zoo to Earth a lot smoother, with Steven becoming a sort of leader for the trio, teaching them everything about Beach City and doing his best to keep the kids out of trouble. They were around his age, but weren't familiar with Earth customs. As for Y6 and J10, they spent most of their time at the Maheshwaren residence as Greg was worried about the van being cramped. Jet had only met them once, but they seemed like lovely people, especially their daughter Connie who seemed just as eager as Steven was to teach them the concepts of Earth.
Things were different now, but a god different. A better different.
She just hoped that B9 would come around to realize that.
…..
"So you found the Off-Colors?"
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Freshwater whispered, rolling her eyes at the Hessonite's words. The gem snorted, rolling her eyes. "How was I supposed to know that there was a secret catacomb of twists and turns in the Kindergarten?" she said, raising an eyebrow. Freshwater's eyes flashed for a moment, smirking at the tiny flinch she saw the orange gem flinch. She hadn't interacted with many gems, but her experience with the Hessonite so far had been irritating to say the least. The gem appeared to have a high superiority complex, every now and then forgetting that despite the fact tht she was a Pearl, she had more power than any gem on Homeworld.
"Anyhow," Freshwater continued, letting Hessonite's snide remark go now that she had re-asserted her dominance over the larger gem on the other side of the line. "I'll be sending you my location. Find a way to get down here before White decides to shatter your worthless gem for being of little assistance to me." She said coldly before shutting off the Diamond line and heading back to the small safe haven the Off-Colors were residing in.
Looking around, Freshwater let out a small sigh of relief when she saw that the Off-Colors were sleeping soundly in the holes they had burst from, light snores filling the area. Freshwater approached one of the holes in the Kindergarten cautiously, her curiosity piqued as she took mental screenshots of the place.
"Freshwater is back!"
Freshwater leapt into the air with a small yelp when she heard a small voice. Looking down and clutching her chest, she was surprised to see the orange Sapphire from earlier. The gem looked at the exit hole Freshwater had been gazing at before returning her gaze to the gem with a sad smile. "I predict that you are missing your exit hole." She said.
Freshwater frowned as she tore her eyes from the hole. "No." she said flatly. "I was trying to understand why you guys are so attached to your exit holes." She elaborated. Padparatcha shrugged. "It's home." She said simply. Confusion was etched in Freshwater's face. "It's wher you come from." She elaborated.
"Not all the time." Freshwater jumped again at the sound of Flourite's slow and calm voice behind them. "For some gems, Home is about the people around you who make you feel safe. Loved." She said, a small smile pulling at the edge of her lips.
Freshwater frowned and nodded. She understood the concept, but not the practice of the thing. The idea of becoming attached to a place because that was where you emerged from sounded foreign to her. Even more foreign was the idea of a person taking that place and being an idea of home. In fact, Freshwater couldn't even remember when she had popped out, or even where. Before she had assumed it had been Homeworld, but now that she saw the current state of the place she wasn't so sure.
Shaking her head, Freshwater put her hands behind her head and lay on the ground, trying to clear her mind as Padparatcha and Flourite talked quietly nearby. Closing her eyes, the gem spent what felt like an eternity trying to get to sleep, but she couldn't stop thinking about Flourite and Padparatcha's words. Home. A concept that made sense on paper, but she just….didn't know what hers would be. If she knew where her home was maybe she would be able to relate somehow, but she didn't, and for some reason that bothered her. It wasn't that she wanted to return to whatever Home was for her, as that would mean turning her back on the Diamonds. She just wanted to understand.
After what felt like another eternity, Freshwater stood and started to make her way deeper into the Kindergarten. Maybe she could find some other Off-Color gems on this planet? After all she hadn't been in the Kindergarten long before she ran into these gems. Maybe there were more hiding away somewhere?
Walking through the Kindergarten alone left Freshwater with a lot of time to think, something she wasn't used to nor did she enjoy. She often tapped at her visor to pull up her screens of reports, praying that White would have given her another mission by now. Hell she would have even settled for a mission from Yellow and Blue. Those missions were usually simpler tasks like cleaning and washing, but it was something to do. The gem started to turn to head back. She doubted that Hessonite had located her by now, figured that the Off-Colors were probably awake by now and that her lengthy disappearance would raise suspicion. Just as she turned around, however, she noticed something perculiar.
Freshwater knew little to nothing about exit holes, but she was fairly certain that these gems were all Pearls. Outlining a side view of a gem, the indent had a small form, tall slim legs, and large pointy nose, a combination she only ever saw in Pearls. Frowning, Freshwater decided to continue looking, snapping shapshot after snapshot of the area as she approached them. Stroking her chin, Freshwater couldn't help but note the extremely large quantity of Pearls in the exit holes compared to the extremely few number of Pearls on Homeworld. Only the best of the best, and even Hessonite herself did not have a Pearl.
So why was she now staring at what looked to be a wall with hundreds of indentations of Pearls carved into its core?
…
Amethyst looked up from her spot on the couch when she heard the temple door open. "Oh, heya P!" she said, grinning at the lithe gem as she rubbed sleep from her eyes and made her way over to the refrigerator. "Good morning Amethyst." The gem said tiredly. Amethyst frowned. Ever since Pearl had gotten back from her little escapade in space, she had been acting different. The purple gem had begun slacking around the house, trying to get a rise out of her, but every time she had left the house in disarray, she had come back to find the area cleaner than when she had left it. What really worried Amethyst, though, was that she had never even gotten scolded for it. Bismuth had tried to talk to her about it, and Garnet had tried to coax stories from the gem as well, but none of them had had any luck. The gem just didn't want to talk about it.
"You wanna play videogames?" Amethyst asked, hopping up and beginning to make her way to Steven's bed. "We can play that racing game we played when Connie slept over! You know the one you almost won at?" Pearl rolled her eyes but a small smile ghosted her face. "You mean before you hit me with that blue durian?" Amethyst nodded excitedly, starting to hook up the console. "Yeah! Crying Breakfast Friends Racers." She said, holding up the DVD. Pearl laughed lightly. That had been ages ago. They had even gotten Freshwater to play a few rounds with them, effectively separating her from her Pearl responsibilities for a few hours.
Amethyst's face fell when she sensed Pearl's sudden shift in mood. "Everything is different now." The gem muttered under her breath. "Not really. The controls are still the same." Amethyst said, trying to keep the mood upbeat, but Pearl didn't appear to have heard her. "Steven should be home in a few hours. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to play the racing game with you." The gem said, getting two cups from the cupboard before picking up the tea kettle and pouring some into each glass. "I know, but I really wanted to play with you." Amethyst said, putting the controller down. "Ever since you've got back, you've been acting different. Steven's worried about you, Garnet's worried about you." She looked away, pushing her hair out of her face. "I'm worried about you." She muttered, crossing her arms as she came to stand in front of the kitchen counter, Pearl's back to her.
For a moment, Pearl didn't say anything, pretending to busy herself with the tea that she had already poured. When she sensed that the purple gem hadn't left, though, she finally turned to face her. "I'm worried about Freshwater." She whispered, looking outside as if the short light blue Pearl was going to burst through it at any moment. Amethyst's eyes narrowed. "She wasn't worried about us when she almost turned us in to the Diamonds." Pearl stiffened, but didn't say anything, avoiding the purple gem's gaze as she made her way over to the gem door. She was too tired for this.
Amethyst sighed, exasperated. "Man, this is just like Rose." Pearl immediately went rigid when she heard the gem speak. Amethyst immediately halted as well when the words fell out of her mouth, equally surprised at her own words. Now she'd done it.
Pearl looked over her shoulder, and if looks could kill, the purple gem would be dead on the spot. Rather than lashing out, getting angry, and letting her emotions get the better of her, however, she simply locked eyes with the gem and whispered, "Don't" in a deadpan voice before turning and making her way to the gem door, opening it.
Amethyst growled, frustrated as Pearl stepped inside. "Don't what?" she snapped, going to the door as it closed in her face. "Don't speak the truth?" by now, Pearl was already in her room, staring at the fountains around her anddoing her best to ignore the raging gem on the other side to no avail.
"You think she cared about us? Cared about you?" Amethyst snapped, banging on the temple door. "She didn't. She only exists to fill out orders." She snarled. "Just like any perfect Pearl would."
…
"Hey B9. B9 you've gotta see this."
B9 grumbled something in her sleep as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. She and Bismuth ahd been working all day, and she had decided to take a small catnap before they headed back to the temple like they always did. "Hm. What is it Bis?" she asked, lifting her head, immediately waking up when she saw a devilish glint in the gem's eyes. "Oh, not much." Bismuth said, a small glint in her eye as she held something behind her back. B9 snorted. "Yeah right." She said. I know that look. The last time I saw that look on your face you were telling me about that poisonous blade you made all that time ago." She said, standing and trying to peer around Bismuth's shoulder.
The taller gem snickered. "Fair enough. Anyway, you gotta see this thing." She said, gesturing for B9 to follow her. "I was working on a weapon for Steven." She explained, bending down and shapeshifting her hand into a cross shape before placing it into an indentation in the ground. "He has Rose's sword right now. My best work, if I do say so myself." Bismuth said with a small laugh as the floor began to lower, B9 grabbing onto her teacher's arm instinctively. "It can cut through a gem's physical form in an instant." Bismuth explained as the ground lowered and came to a halt. "Destroying the body. But not the gem."
"A fair fight." B9 said, looking up at Bismuth, who nodded. "Exactly. But not this baby though!" she said with a mad grin. "Homeworld decided they don't want to fight fare anymore." She explained, a dark shadow passing over her face. "Homeworld hit us where it counts, but we can do everything they can do. And better." She said, going over and picking up a black object and turning to B9, an evil glint in her eye. "And that's what we're going to teach them." Bismuth said strapped the weapon to her arm and whirled around, showing the item off.
B9's eyes widened as she got a good look at the weapon. It was a bulky thing, a weapon she was sure Steven would have trouble holding, a long intimidating, razor sharp point on the edge of it. "I call it a breaking point." She said, determined. "Watch this." She said, putting her foot on a spot in the ground and watching as lava poured from the ceiling and into a rock-like figure, which immediately sprung to life.
B9 instinctively huddled closer to Bismuth, mentally cursing herself for leaving her weapon up above. "Listen up you Homeworld upper crusts!" Bismuth bellowed, raising her arm as a small clicking noise filled the air. "We are," she said, putting it to one of the dummy's chest "the Crystal Gems!" As soon as the word "Gems" was uttered, the small lever of the weapon reared back and shot forwards, the razor sharp point at the end going right into the gem.
B9 watched, frozen as the hole in the middle started to crack before completely falling apart, chunks of the entity falling at her feet. "So, what do you think?" B9 asked, blowing off the whisps of smoke protruding from the point.
"You…shattered it." B9 said, looking down at the small chunks of earth at her feet. "That's right! One shot from this baby will shatter any gem in the galaxy in the blink of an eye." Bismuth said, her malicious grin only broadening. Bismuth continued, but B9 wasn't listening, her eyes locked onto the rocks at her feet. Stooping, she picked one up, her hands shaking slightly.
"Shattering a gem." She whispered, her hands shaking as the clumps of rock changed again, making her flinch. "Destroys their form forever." She said, looking up at Bismuth, who nodded. "Exactly! That way they can't retake this planet when they're reduced to no more than shards."
"You can't do that." B9 whispered, shaking her head and dropping the piece of rock she had been holding. "It's not about what I can do. It's about what we have to do. Homeworld has been governing under an iron fist for far too long, and it's time to take them down a knotch." She said, taking B9's hand and starting to strap it onto the smaller gem. "It's time for us to take them down a notch." She said, walking over to another entity and activating it. "Why don't you give it a shot." She said, a glint in her eye.
B9 felt like she might be sick. These Crystal Gems. Shattering a Diamond, and now wanting to shatter another? The madness had been too much the first time, so she couldn't imagine what another Diamond Shattering would do to Homeworld. B9 opened her mouth to voice her concerns, but immediately reeled in shock when she saw the rock entity start to change form before her eyes.
Rather than the black earthly form, the figure standing in front of her was a bright fiery orange with icy blue eyes and red hair staring down at her. "No, no, no, no, no. Not now." B9 said, stepping back as her former leader regarded her with an icy glare. This was a hallucination. Buck was dead. She thought, putting a hand over her eyes and turning, her heart pounding in her chest. Ever since she had come to Earth, the gem had been haunting her dreams and even materializing in front of her in the form of hallucinations.
Opening her eyes and looking down, B9 stared at the breaking point before letting out a cry of fury and tearing it off her arm, hurling it to the ground and rounding on Bismuth. "Seriously? You can not be searious right now." B9 snapped, her eyes ablaze as she looked Bismuth in the eye. "After everything I told you about Buck, you think I would be okay with shattering someone?" she said, angry tears spilling out of her eyes. Bismuth looked slightly taken aback. "Homeworld is the enemy, B9. This is nothing like that."
B9 shook her head, her eyes flickering behind her. Luckily, the hallucinated form of her leader had gone, but her anger remained. "Homeworld is not my enemy." She snarled, kicking the breaking point away. "And shattering gems isn't going to make them any less of yours."
Bismuth's eyes widened before a sneer crossed her face. "What do you mean Homeworld isn't your enemy?" she asked seriously. B9 flinched at the sudden edge in the Bismuth's voice but held her ground. "I mean that I'm not a Crystal Gem." She spat the words Crystal and Gem out like saying them left a bad taste in her mouth. "I've never been one, and I never will be one. I will never fight for a bunch of shatterers."
"Watch your mouth B9." The Bismuth said coolly. "I'm rather fond of you, and always have been. But you're sounding a lot like you're still rooting for Homeworld in all of this. Anyway, don't act like Homeworld hasn't shattered many gems in their day. They're just as bad as us. Worse even." Bismuth said, a fire in her eyes.
B9 laughed without humor. "You Crystal Gems don't know what it's like." She whispered, shaking her head. "You don't get it. You at least have something left of Rose in the form of Steven. But when a gem is shattered, that's it. They don't come back." She said, angrily wiping tears from her eyes. "They're gone, and they leave you with a pile of regret for things that you logically shouldn't be regretful for." She muttered, raising her gaze. "Regret and, if you're anything like me, visions. Hallucinations." She muttered, locking eyes with her leader who was standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed. She never truly went away for B9. She was always lingering just outside of her line of sight, and was only front and center when the grief was too much to bear.
"Yellow and Blue Diamond didn't want this war." She muttered. "They seem like ruthless dictators, but that's what grief can do to a person. You realize they're gone, and it just eats you up inside. You get angry. Ruthless. Unempathetic. Like me." She said, her voice shaking. "If you want to shatter another Diamond and lapse yourself into another war, then so be it. But I won't be helping you." She said, her eyes boring into Bismuth's.
The taller gem listened to B9's words, growing more and more frustrated. Why didn't she see that this weapon could be the solution to all of their problems? That if they got rid of the Diamonds, they wouldn't have to worry about being sought out and killed. She sounded a lot like Rose.
Bismuth grit her teeth at the realization. "That sounds a lot like something Rose would say." B9's eyes flashed. "Don't you dare compare me to that pathetic shatterer." She snarled, standing her ground. "I'm nothing like her. I've done things I wish I could take back. Hurt gems that I claimed to love. But I would never shatter anyone." She spat. "Well it's a good thing I don't need your approval then, isn't it?" Bismuth said, raising an eyebrow, her cold gaze not faltering.
"Your opinion isn't needed here, B9. You aren't a Crystal Gem. I thought you could be, but you've shown me that's not the case." The gem said coolly. B9 barked a laugh in response. "I'm glad. I wouldn't want you to see me as a Crystal Gem anyway. Because I'm not one. Nor will I ever be." She said, turning her back on her former teacher.
After a moment, B9 heard a low chuckle behind her, sending a chill running down her spine. "Rookie mistake, B9." The taller gem said, grabbing the gem by the back of the shirt and lifting her off the ground easily, turning her o face her. "Never turn our back on an opponent." She said, gripping B9's uniform in her hand before easily throwing her into the nearest wall like a ragdoll.
B9 gasped and cried out as she collided with the wall, her head pinging off of the side of it and sending her crashing to the ground, her head swimming. The more powerful Bismuth stood over her shorter less experienced counterpart, looking down on her with pity in her eyes. "You sit here for a moment. I'm going to see what Garnet has to say about our newest traitor." B9 tried to push herself up, but the room was slowly darkening and she simply fell back down weakly, the room quickly darkening around her, unconsciousness providing a break from the throbbing pain in her head as she slipped under.