"Oh hohohoho, look at the way they run, My Diamond!" Gold Pearl exclaimed as the ship neared closer and closer to its destination.
"Yes, it appears they are a lot less confident about shattering Diamonds nowadays." Blue Diamond said simply, watching as Yellow's ship soared past the temple and towards the designated spot for the Cluster and slammed onto the ground repeatedly, destroying the terrain near it and causing the Cluster to emerge into a giant hand.
"Nicely done, My Diamo-" Gold Pearl's praise was cut short by a yelp when the Cluster immediately rounded on Yellow, clutching its fist and throwing a punch at Yellow Diamond's ship, sending it flying backwards before approaching Steven and Crystal Gems, who were on the porch of their base.
Gold Pearl scoffed. "Those traitors have even tainted the Cluster. Is everything on this planet busted?!" she said, glaring at the Cluster as it gave the Crystal Gems a thumbs-up. "Those clods even have their own salute." she murmured, scoffing and crossing her arms.
"It appears so." Blue Diamond said simply, her eyes harrowed as she landed her ship. "You remember your mission, I presume?" she asked, staring down at the gem, who nodded. "Of course, My Diamond. It would be an honor to fight by your side. By the end of the night this ground will be littered with gem shards, save for those you wish to be involved in the creation of Era 3."
Blue Diamond nodded curtly. "And if that order is not fulfilled?" she said, her eyes boring into her underling's.
Gold Pearl gulped. "Then White Diamond will not be happy. With any of us. We will all be shattered - or worse." she said, shuttering.
Blue Diamond nodded, turning back to the door. "I'm glad you understand the stakes. Now. Let's get this over with." she said, opening the door and looked through, she and Gold Pearl taking a moment to observe the scene in front of them.
"This…is her army?" Gold Pearl said, shocked. "A Bismuth, a fusion, a Pearl, a Peridot, a human, a defective Amethyst, and…" the gem's eyes widened when she laid eyes on a Pearl that looked a foot shorter than average with a teal complexion and purple mohawk. "The defective Pearl." the gem scoffed, absolutely disgusted that they were made of the same material, with only minor alterations being to result in the far better version such as herself.
"This should be relatively simple, My Diamond." Gold Pearl said with a smirk, glancing reassuringly at the gem.
"For our sake? I hope you're right." Blue Diamond murmured, motioning for the gem to follow her as she stepped onto the Beach.
"Rose Quartz. So you escaped Homeworld and crawled back here." Blue Diamond said, raising her veil, crying in grief. "This is Pink's world! How dare you use it as your hiding place! Come! Answer for what you've done!" she exclaimed.
"This is bad! This is bad! This is bad! This is bad!" the Peridot said, the air whipping violently around them.
"Come on, you rocks! Let's put her in a bubble!" Bismuth exclaimed, glaring at Blue Diamond as she shapeshifted her hand into a hammer. Gold Pearl's eyes flashed. "I'd like to see you pathetic traitors try!" she said, summoning her own weapon and emerging from her Diamond's shadow, taking a defensive stance, unfazed as the Pearls, Amethyst, and fusion summoned their own weapons.
"Wait, there's no reason to fight." Rose exclaimed adjusting her bowtie. "Let me talk to them." he said, rushing from the porch and starting to approach Blue Diamond, immediately taking a step back when the gem raised her weapon, her eyes glimmering with hatred but not daring to attack until she was given the order to do so.
"Blue Diamond! Please listen to me! I didn't shatter Pink Diamond! Pink Diamond's right here. It's pretty interesting when you think about it-"
"Enough!" Blue Diamond snarled, charging an energy blast and hurling it at Rose, knocking her back and into the arms of - Gold Pearl's eyes widened.
"I'd step back if I were you, Defect. Pearls don't belong in a fight." she said with a smirk.
The defect looked unfazed at the jab, leveling her weapon at the gem. "So why are you here?"
Gold Pearl snickered. "Because I'm better than you." she said simply, her form flickering slightly and revealing her true form for a split second, relishing in the split second of fear she saw flash across the gem's face before she and Rose sank to their knees as Blue Diamond emitted her sadness aura, leaving only Gold Pearl and the human unaffected.
"You cannot fathom how much I've mourned, what thousands of years of grief has done to me!" the gem yelled, glaring as the human whistled and came charging forward on top of a bright pink Lion, launching over Gold Pearl and at Blue Diamond, who easily caught the human.
"Man, you really managed to find yourself into a crew that's perfect for you, huh defect?" Gold Pearl scoffed, using the hilt of her weapon to tilt the gem's head up to look her in the eye. "Absolutely fucking pathetic."
"Freshwater? You know this gem?" Rose asked, wiping her tears and glancing at the defect, who shook her head.
"No. But I know all about you." Gold Pearl spat, disgusted. "It's hard to believe a gem so…revolting shares so much in common with a gem of such high class as myself." she said, smirking at the way the defect's eyes widened in understanding.
"Get away from her!" Gold Pearl's head snapped around, surprised to see a far better made Pearl had barely managed to pick herself up, using her weapon as a way to support herself as she glared at the gem.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt her. At least not yet. I, unlike others, know how to follow orders." she said, smirking and lowering her weapon as Blue Diamond emitted a stronger sadness wave that sent the Pearl sinking to her knees and the Cluster to cry in a unison of voices from Blue Diamond's aura as a splintering sound came from above and the remnants of Rose's sword fell from above. "Like I said. Pathetic." Gold Pearl said, shaking her head and watching with a smile as the Cluster started to falter against Yellow Diamond's ship.
"You deserve this! All of you!" Blue Diamond yelled, looking down when she heard a loud yell from below amongst the whimpering of the gems who had shattered her Pink.
"Blue Diamond! I am the will of two Gems that care for each other. To protect each other from any threat. No matter how vast or how cruel. You couldn't stop me 5,750 years ago, and you can't stop me now." a fusion Gold Pearl had seen from earlier said, stomping confidently up to Blue Diamond, who held up a hand to stop Gold Pearl.
"No, let her approach. I haven't seen this gem in thousands of years. The confidence of a Ruby and Sapphire fusing together and striding up to me after disrupting my court amuses me." she said with a small smile, rolling her eyes as the fusion clung onto and punched her cloak. "This is supposed to be MY DAY!"
Blue Diamond rolled her eyes. "And you expect to keep it that way and defeat me by…clinging to my feet?"
The fusion shook her eyes, surprising Blue Diamond by looking up with a smirk of her own. "I just needed to keep you from taking three steps to the right."
Looking up, Gold Pearl's jaw dropped when the gems looked up, finding a Lapis Lazuli flying in the sky together with the Barn, smirking and flinging the barn onto her Diamond, the sadness aura fading immediately.
Gold Pearl's cocky nature immediately fell, the gem rushing forward to the barn, fire in her eyes as she started helping the gem through some of the rubble, cursing under her breath amongst the sounds of the gems premature celebration.
"At least one of the gems that came in contact with this planet hasn't turned traitor?!" Blue Diamond snarled, emitting her blue pathokinesis aura again, causing everyone including the human to sink to their knees, in tears. Everyone except -
"What…?" Gold Pearl said in disbelief, she and her Diamond in shock as the Lapis Lazuli stood, unaffected.
The Lapis Lazuli shrugged, wiping a single tear from her eye. "I've felt worse." she said simply, using her hydrokinesis powers to chain Blue Diamond's and Gold Pearl's hands with water shackles, effectively ceasing her abilities again.
"Knock her off this beach!" The Lapis Lazuli ordered, the gems around her nodding and summoning their weapons.
"Now's our chance! With all our strength together, we can take them down!" the fusion said, locking eyes with Gold Pearl, who was still struggling, her eyes wide in shock.
"That's right!" the Defect said, standing tall and holding their weapon high, which glittered in the evening light. "This is our home, our planet, our friends and family! We... are the Crystal Gems!"
Gold Pearl's shock finally subsided as her cocky smirk returned, her Diamond's echoing her thoughts. "Pathetic! You are nothing!" Her Diamond yelled, blasting away her and her underling's shackles and summoning a huge energy blast, Gold Pearl finally taking this as her signal to rush forward, weapon glittering in the light as she pounced on the closest gem - the defect.
Blue Diamond began firing a massive laser barrage onto the Crystal Gems. Quick on her feet, Rose quickly summoned a giant version of her shield to protect everyone from the laser blast.
"Did you really have to do this on my engagement and Garnet's wedding?" the defect said, almost boredly as their weapon clashed against Gold Pearl's, both gems doing their best to duck and weave away from Blue Diamond's attacks as the rest of the gems took on Blue Diamond.
Gold Pearl scoffed. "A wedding? An engagement? God damn you gems are backwards. Gems of different types getting married, a defective Pearl getting engaged and deciding to marry a perfect one? That's hilarious." she said, swiftly aiming a punch at Freshwater, who barely managed to dodge out of the way and send her own attack back at the gem, who perried it, both gems trying to throw each other off balance.
"Maybe you think so. But at the end of the day, I can say someone loves me."
Gold Pearl snickered. "Does she? Or is she just desperate?" she asked, her eyes glittering.
The defect's eyes narrowed. "Shut up."
Gold Pearl giggled. "Oh, so you've thought about it!" she said giddily, relishing in the gem's fury as she tried and failed to slash her across the face. "Don't tell me you haven't. I mean, come on, a Pearl runs away with a Rose Quartz, and that gem then decides to disappear into whatever the hell that is." she said, her eyes flickering over to Rose. "Rose was a lot more clever than whatever he is. I've read the reports, and that thing ain't Rose. So then, what's a lone Pearl to do? She's hurt. She's depressed. She needs someone to fill the void and make her feel better. So then you come along."
The gem snickered, finally managing to land a kick on the defect right in her abdomen, causing the gem to double over and let out a whoosh of air, stumbling back. "A pathetic, worthless, piece of earth dust that should have never existed." she spat, accenting each of her insults with a swing of the scythe that Freshwater barely managed to duck and weave out of the way of.
"Finally! A member of her crew that was lower than her. Worse than her. I bet that made her feel great to know she finally wasn't the lowest on the totem pole anymore. Have you ever thought that maybe that gem doesn't love you? She pities you, and enjoys the fact that for once, she isn't in a Pearl role because finally someone is listening to her for a change." Gold Pearl said, raising her scythe and rolling her eyes when the gem's weapon met hers and she did her best to push back against the blade, forcing herself back to an upright position, both gems at a stalemate.
"Of…course I've thought about it. I still think about it." The gem said, locking eyes with Gold Pearl. "But I know that that's not true. Pearl treats me better than any gem ever has."
Gold Pearl snickered."Not that you deserve it after you tried to turn on them, too."
The gem flinched but nodded. "Of course I don't deserve it. I don't deserve friendship with the gems, let alone the love one of them has shown me. But here's the thing - they forgave me. I don't care what the Diamonds say about me, because at the end of the day, they love me, and decided that they would forgive me if I changed." the gem's eyes narrowed as she shoved forward, causing the gem to stumble backwards, the defect taking the advantage to sweep one of the gem's legs from under her and send her crashing to the ground.
"Believe it or not, you can to. You don't have to listen to the Diamonds." she said, leveling her weapon at the gem to make sure she didn't try anything, a small smirk on her face as her eyes flickered upward, a small smirk on her face as she watched the Cluster lift up the Yellow Diamond's ship and slammed it towards towards the ground, wrecking Yellow Diamond's ship down onto Blue's ship, Blue Diamond immediately being crushed underneath it, bits of debris flying everywhere.
"Did we do it?" Connie asked tensely as the The Cluster grunted and approached Steven, its form beginning to destabilize as it unfused, only pausing to give Steven a thumbs up before retreating to the Earth's core.
Gold Pearl sneered, glaring up at the defect. "And what? You're suggesting I join you?"
Freshwater pursed her lips. "Only if you want to. I was a lot like you when I first got here - don't look at me like that. It's true. I hated the gems. I hated myself. But I changed for the better, and you can too." she said, grinning and lowering her weapon. "Hell, you don't even have to listen to me if you don't want to. We can just stop the fighting right here and now. You can join the Crystal Gems, or even find your own crew if you want." the defect said, turning her attention back to the gem and tossing her weapon to the side with a small smile, offering the gem her hand.
"I'm Freshwater, by the way." she said with a smile. "Shattering isn't really my thing. It's caused more problems than it's solved."
Gold Pearl stared up at Freshwater in shock for a moment before carefully taking the gem's hand, allowing her to hoist her to her feet. "I'm Gold Pearl, but you can call me Goldy."
Freshwater grinned, turning to the others, holding Gold Pearl's hand in one hand. "Hey guys! It's okay! We've got a new member of the team. Her name's Goldy!" she said, smiling as her fiance started making her way across the beach to join her, her smile faltering when she saw the look of horror that crossed Pearl's face. As she exclaimed, "Freshwater, look out!"
The gem in question turned around just in time to see Gold Pearl's scythe rushing forward, Freshwater barely having time to let out a gasp of shock before she was roughly shoved out of the way and into the sand, a loud poof sound emitting above her.
"Sorry, Defect." Gold Pearl said giddily, her eyes sparkling with glee as Pearl's gemstone clattered to the ground at Gold Pearl's feet, the gem immediately stepping up to press solidly onto the gem, her smug smirk growing to a full-blown shit-eating grin at the look of fury that immediately lit up in Freshwater's eyes.
"Rebellion isn't really my thin-" Gold Pearl's insult was cut short when Freshwater let out a battle cry wrecked with fury and guilt that could even be heard above the sound of the clanging of Yellow Diamond's fistsagainst the hull of her ship as she finally managed to burst through, immediately rushing over to her blue counterpart and lifting the ship, both gem's furious gazes turning to one of shock as Freshwater launched herself at the gem, hitting her so hard that the gem flew back twenty feet and landed against the giant hand in the sand, letting out a loud grunt of pain. Breathing heavily, Freshwater slowly bent down and picked up the gemstone, her heart leaping into her chest when she saw a crack going right down the middle.
Sensing the Diamonds were about to retaliate, Rose ran forward, waving her arms and shouting to get the gem's attention. "Stop! Don't do this! Listen to me! I'm the one you're missing! I'm Pink Diamond!"
Yellow Diamond's face contorted into a look of pure shock at Rose's statement before quickly shifting to one of pure rage as she charged towards the gem who had caused so much pain and misery, quickly raising one of her feet and coming down hard onto his shield, plunging her into the ground to the horror of her teammates.
Freshwater's hands shook with fury as she carefully bubbled her fiance's gemstone and placed it gingerly in a nearby tree, feeling grief and fury consume her as she turned back to the battle, her eyes meeting Gold Pearl's only for a second before her own voice joined the cacophony of battle cries around her as war broke out around her.
Still itching for a fight, Gold Pearl ran towards the defect, her eyes glittering as she raised her scythe - before immediately shifting to being wide with confusion when they met only air. Spinning around in confusion, weapon at the ready, Gold Pearl's state of confusion shifted to one of shock when she saw the form of a smoky, ice white being with a single multi-colored gemstone on their eye rushing forward, a brilliant icy white Falchion blade expertly whooshing through the air..
"Wh…what the hell?" Gold Pearl grunted in shock, barely managing to duck out of the way, hissing as she failed to successfully perry one of the being's attacks, the weapon grazing her arm sending a scorching pain up and down her arm. Hissing in pain, the gem shook her head twirled her scythe, forcing the entity to take a few steps back.
"Enough of this!" Gold Pearl snarled, her frustration only growing as she swung her scythe again and met only air.
Whipping around, Gold Pearl's eyes narrowed when she saw the entity staring back at her with a deadpan expression, waiting for her move. "What the hell are you?" the gem demanded. The entity grinned, Gold Pearl for once feeling fear shoot down her spine as the creature spoke, black smoke billowing out of their mouth.
"I'm you. But better."
Gold Pearl jumped, going slack jawed when she heard the defect's voice, the shock that clutched her form being her downfall as the being rushed forward, weapon raised and poised to -
"Please! The fighting has to stop!" the being froze and immediately stumbled backwards, looking around in confusion and shock as the air filled with a bright pink hue, all attention going to its source -
"S…Steven?" the being murmured, flickering back and forth between Freshwater's and the wispy cloudy figure as looked skyward where Steven was floating in midair.
"We aren't enemies; we're family. Please listen to me. I need you to know... WHO I AM!" Rose yelled, shooting blasts of pink energy towards an astonished Yellow and Blue Diamond, who were back to back.
"That's…Impossible!" Blue Diamond whispered, holding up the signal for the members of her court to stop fighting.
"This…This aura…" Yellow Diamond whispered, Gold Pearl staring in shock as she lowered her weapon hesitantly and glaring at Freshwater, who let out a relieved sigh as her form finally solidified into her usual blue skinned, pink haired self.
"What in the name of Homeworld…" Gold Pearl whispered as Freshwater exhaustedly made her way over to where she had placed Pearl's gemstone and cradled the bubble in her hands, watching as Blue and Yellow Diamond held their hands out and Rose floated down onto them, gem glowing brightly and enveloping the area in white light.
Relieved that the fighting had ended, Freshwater sank to her knees against the tree and allowed the exhaustion creeping onto her body to overcome her, the gem immediately falling into a deep sleep.