Hey, guys. Ellis here.

Sorry, it took awhile. I was trying to piece this one together nicely. But, I surprised myself on this one.

There is a song in here, but I wrote it. I hope you enjoy it.

Part 8 adventure!

"Do we really have to do this?" Penelope asked, staring at the warp pad, "For all I know, it could be broken!"

She never had any need for the pad nor did she think it was safe for someone like her. Yeah, it would be nice to use it. But, Gems were the only ones to operate it! What if something went wrong while she was being teleported?

"I used it to get back, so I know that both pads are definitely not broken. I've seen humans get transport on these and they came out intact, too. You'll be fine! I know what I'm doing!" Jasper said, waiting for her to finally get on the pad, "Quit making excuses and let's go already! They'll be gone if we don't hurry it up!"

Penelope let out a dreadful sigh and put on the rest of her winter gear before grabbing her bag. She really hoped that Jasper was right about the warp pad. She walked onto the pad with Jasper and stood very close to her. She was nervous about first warp trip.

"It'll be fine as long as you keep inside the warp. You can hold on to me if it makes you feel better." Jasper instructed.

Penelope simply nodded as she reached for Jasper's hand. She was as ready as she'll get at this point. She ended up putting her arm in a death grip as a pillar of light shot them both into a space warp. She didn't even realised that she had closed her eyes until Jasper said something.

"You can let go now, Pinky, we're here." Jasper said in a flat tone.

Her eyes popped open to see that they have indeed arrived at their destination. She, slowly, let go of Jasper as she took in the snowy landscape of the wilderness. She never been this far out before, but it was all beautiful despite it being pink from the rose-tinted snow goggles. She really couldn't imagine any corruptions wandering this place. She shook her head, she was here on a mission!

She turned to Jasper, "So, where do we start?"

"Well, I know they shouldn't be too far from here. So, pick a direction and we'll go from there." Jasper instructed, calmly.

She was high alert in case something tried to ambush them. But, Penelope was confident that they'll be fine, despite the frozen weather. Thank goodness, she'd brought some snacks since they might be here all day hunting. Picking a random direction, they started walking. They spent about an hour searching, till Penelope tripped on a large tree root and found some corruptions tracks.

She giggled, "Looks like the 'trip' was worth it. I think I found its tracks!"

Jasper crouched down to take a look, "So, you did. Good work, sister." She patted Penelope's head.

They both got up and followed the tracks to two sleeping monstrous forms in a cave. Jasper signaled her to pull back for a bit and to be quiet doing it.

Now, Penelope found early on that Jasper was not very good at sneaking. When Jasper woke her up trying to get a small snack consisting of strawberries, she was trying not to make a sound when she was really making a bunch of ruckus with her large form. She says that Jaspers are not made to be that dexterous. But Penelope disagreed, telling the brute Gem that she can be the most dexterous Jasper if she wanted to and she was willing to teach her the basics if she was willing to learn. Jasper was skeptical about it, so Penelope turned her own words against her saying that she bet Jaspers NEVER back down from a challenge. She pounced on it like a cat to a canary. She spent an hour with Jasper on it for the first three days after her training, and, secretly, caught her practicing in the middle of the night.

Now, she was making soft crunches in the snow, but it wasn't enough to wake up the corruptions. Penelope called it progress. Once in a safe distance, Jasper spoke, "Okay, here's how we're going to do it: I'm going to sneak in and attack one of them. You stay out here to get the other if it escapes. Got it?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Penelope chirped, ready to go. Since she had been in a real fight with these corruptions, she felt confident in her combat experience. "I got this!"

Jasper chuckled, "Don't get too cocky, Pinky."

Penelope got into position and watched as Jasper snuck back into the cave. It was quiet for a moment before a loud roar came be heard from the cave. Penelope was one guard cause in the next instant both corruptions came charging out of the cave towards her. Penelope's eyes widened as she dove out of way. She watched them escape before turning her attention back towards the cave.

"Auntie!" she called out, racing towards the cave as she saw Jasper walked out slowly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She groaned, "I've been through a lot worse. Did you at least get one of them?"

"No," She said, quietly, "I didn't expect both of them to come out. I let them escape. I'm sorry."

Jasper sighed, "It's okay. We both messed up on this one. I messed up and tripped over a stupid Earth pebble, and then got trampled on." Penelope laughed at that one, "Hey, I just need work on my stealth more!"

"I'm sorry, but that is a little too funny." She calmed down a hair, "But, I let them both escape, so we're even! I'm glad you're okay, though. I'm also thrilled that you accepted a lost and learned from it!" This put stars in her eyes and got her pumped up, "If this mission is successful, I'll make strawberry shortcake for dessert tomorrow!"

"What's strawberry shortcake?" Jasper asked, interested in something involving her beloved strawberries.

"You'll like it. It's basically sponge cake, strawberries, and whip cream together in a delicious sweet treat. I usually make it around strawberry season cause that's when my strawberries are perfectly ripe."

Jasper's eyes widen in surprise, "You grow strawberries? I never saw them in your garden."

"That's because mine grow in the Spring. It's Autumn now, so you won't see them till after Winter next year. Now there are Summer and Late Summer varieties, but I haven't got my hands on them yet and some grow in very specific conditions."

"So, they're like Gems!" Jasper made the connect.

Penelope pondered the similarities, "There are some slight differences, but yes, the two are the same in that respect."

She smiled over the knowledge that the two of them shared. She loved having someone to talk to about stuff like this. Jasper was pretty smart in her own respect, but Penelope loved that she absorbed information like a sponge. She hoped it will help Jasper come to understand Earth a bit better and not hate it because of what it had done to Pink Diamond.

Penelope frowned a the thought of Pink Diamond. She had never seen nor heard about the Gem before in her life, but something about her sounded familiar. She just can't seem to placed what it was. That fact seemed to bother her a lot more than she intended that she, unconsciously, laid her gloved hand on her gem. "Who are you?" She whispered to herself.

"You say something, sister?" Jasper asked, curiously.

Penelope snapped out of it, "Sorry, I spaced there a bit. Shall we keep moving? I don't think they've gotten too far ahead of us."

Jasper grinned, pounding her fist into her hand, "Let's go get them!"

They race off, following the tracks till they split off into two different directions.

"Looks like we're splitting up." Jasper muttered, glaring down at the tracks.

Penelope reached into her bag and took out a set of old walkie talkies and hand one to Jasper, "Take this, then. It's for communicating when we're apart. I set it up to where all you have to do is press this button and talk into it. Then, let go of it so I can talk. Got it?"

Jasper looked at it funny but took it none of the less. "Alright, be careful out there, sister. And don't forget to eat and stay warm! You're a fragile gem!" She turned and went in one direction. She sighed and took the other. About five minutes into the trek, she started humming to keep away the loneliness. That is until she heard something growl nearby. She summoned her gauntlets and scanned the area.

"Come on. I know you're around here somewhere." She muttered to herself, waiting. Nothing.

She lowered her guard a hair, but she still kept her gauntlets on. She started to walk slower, then began humming after a minute. As soon as she did, she heard another growl. She stopped humming and waited. Nothing again. She started to notice a pattern and began to hum again. More growling. So, it was attracted to her humming? It was the only lead she had, though. Might as well try it.

She sighed. It's been a long time since she last sung. But, if it brings the corruption out of hiding. It was a little song; one that she sang whenever she was alone. Well, at least, no one else was around. She took a deep breath and sang,

"What can I do,

To make you see,

that I'm just like you, too?

Is it me?

Was I just not meant to be?

Or it just because I'm different?

All I want is to be loved

So, won't you just love me for me.

Oh, please.

Just be my friend.

All I want,

is your kind smile,

Like the sun on a rainy day.

I will do anything for you.

If you do the same for me, too.

I will always be there for you.

So, please, just be my friend."

As she sang, she heard the constant growls slowly turn into a moans of pain. She ended her song only to hear something big collapse behind her. She did a 180 and gasped at the sight. There in the snow laid a Gem in pain. She was muscular like Jasper. In fact, she would say that they were almost the same Gem when she saw her face. The only difference was that this one was different in color, but, definitely, a Jasper. She looked in she was in pain with part of her body still corrupted. She despond her gauntlets and slowly moved closer to the gem.

"Um, are you ok?" She asked, hesitantly.

The gem lifted her face up to her, "Who are you? Friend or enemy?!"

"I... I'm Penelope. I'm not going to hurt you! Are you from the war? It's been over for about 5,000 years." Penelope said, hands up in surrender.

Her face softened, "The war... Did we win?"

"I... I don't know. I haven't been around for very long." Penelope admitted, "I can see that you're a Jasper. Who are you?"

"Friends call me Biggs. I'm with the Crystal Gems." Biggs stared at her, "You don't look like any Gem that I've met."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Penelope stated, dryly. She stared at Biggs' corrupted parts in sympathy, "You sure you're okay?"

Biggs took notice of her problem and moved to sit up. She winced as she did. Then, she laughed, dryly, "Those cowardly Homeworld clods used corruption on us, huh? That was a low blow, even for them."

Penelope was shocked, "So, corruption... is a Gem disease..."

Biggs chuckled, darkly, "Yeah, that's a good way to put it. So, I wouldn't get too close if I were you."

Penelope was speechless as she started to cry. "Why... Who would do something like this?" She sobbed.

Biggs gave her a serious look, "The Diamonds. Those dirty rulers will stop at nothing to destroy us; destroy Earth."

Penelope was shocked at this revelation. "But, the War's over now and the planet's still here! So, they must have given up, right?" She asked, hopeful that that was the case.

Biggs laughed, coldly, "Sister, you may have not fought in the war and, honestly, I hope you never have to. But, the Diamonds never give up. They'll finish what they started, I promise you that. They always do."

Penelope bowed her head in sadness, "All things should not have to end in war."

Biggs smiled at her sympathetically, "It's the price we have to pay for freedom, sister. Sometimes, I wonder if it's even worth it. But, if the planet is still standing, then we must have done something right. And I'm fine with that."

"There should have been another way. You all shouldn't have to suffer from this for it."

Biggs looked startled before she burst out laughing, "You really are a strange Gem! But, I like you for it! If Rose is still around, she would love to meet you!"

Penelope stared, "Rose. I keep hearing her name, but who is she?"

Biggs stared at her with wide eyes, "You don't know who Rose is?!"

"I heard that she was the leader of the Crystal Gems, but that's all I know. But, I want to know what kind of Gem she was."

"Hm, well, I can tell you that Rose certainly was different. She told us all that we were perfect just the way we are and that we can be whatever we want to be. She's was the reason we all wanted to fight. This planet was going to be our start for that reason. We were all going to coexist here. She didn't believe in shattering Gems. She wanted a shatterless war, but Homeworld doesn't play nice. Many of our comrades were shattered." She let out a shaky laugh, "When Homeworld retreated, I kept thinking, 'we did it! We won!'. But... I should have known better. We all saw a great light and hear this song. That was... the last thing I can remember." She started to laugh hysterically now. Penelope was shocked by her predicament that she noticed that the corruption was coming back.

"Biggs, please! Calm down! You'll get corrupted again!" She plead to the large Gem.

She kept laughing, "It's too late for me, sister! I'm already gone! But, I thank you for this. Please, one last favour? Bubble me while I'm still myself. That's all I ask."

Penelope cried a little as she stood and summoned her gauntlet, "Biggs, I'm glad that we met. I swear on my gem that if I find a way to cure this, you'll be one of the first."

Biggs grinned, "Don't make promises you can't keep, sister."

"Then, don't give up so easily. I thought Jaspers never give up." She retorted, still crying as she readied her strike.

Biggs laughed, "You're right, maybe I shouldn't. Thanks, Penelope."

"No, thank you, Biggs." She hit her and poofed Biggs. Penelope sighed as she desponded her gauntlet. She bended down to pick up the orange gem left behind. She bubbled it.

"Till we meet again, Biggs." she told the bubbled, then sent it home before calling Jasper.

"Auntie? Come in, Auntie. It's me, Pinky. Do you read me? I caught the monster. Over."

So, what are your thoughts on this? I would love to hear them.

According to Bismuth, there was a Biggs Jasper in the Crystal Gems. And one of the monsters from Gem Hunt does resemble Biggs (I checked this.). So, it might actually be the same Biggs that Bismuth mentioned. But, I turned her into an OC for this purpose.

Laters,

Ellis Alpha