CHAPTER 17: JET

"D-do you think I could have my own room in the temple?" Peridot asked as Pearl slightly smiled.

"Of course…" She answered as they walked towards the temple's door.

"There's… only one more thing…" Peridot said as she crossed the entrance of the temple.

"What is it?" Pearl asked as she kept walking… that until Peridot spoke again.

"Do you know that black gem who attacked us at the facility?" Peridot asked as Pearl's eyes widened.

The next morning:

"Now that we have the shard thingy, what's next?" Amethyst asked as she leaned on the counter.

"We'll have to build a machine capable to take us near to the Cluster…" Peridot answered as she stepped forwards and backwards, trying to come up with an idea.

"Oh! We could build something like… uhm… a drill thing?" Steven said as he hopped up from the couch.
"That… might actually work!" Pearl said as she ruffled Steven's hair.

"In order to build something like that… we'll need more than what we can buy at a simple store…" Garnet said as she crossed her arms.

"Well… my dad's barn has a lot of things in it! We could use what we find there to build it!" Steven said as he raised his fists in the air.

"Uhm… that could actually work… but I doubt we'll be able to find a drill head in the barn Steven…" Pearl said as Peirdot came nearer.

"We could always go to the Kindergarten and retrieve one from an injector…" Peridot said as all of the gems looked at each other.

"Alright… but I don't think you'll be able to take it on your own… Amethyst? Do you think you can help?" Garnet asked shifting her gaze to the purple gem.

"Yeah… why not…" Amethyst said as she began to walk towards the warp pad.

"Oh! I want to help too! Please Garnet, can I go?" Steven asked as he grasped the leader's leg.

"Mmmmh… alright… but if anything goes wrong… you'll have to come back here immediately…" Garnet said as Pearl came near to her.

"Garnet… are you sure it's a good idea to let Steven go with them? Yellow Diamond might be waiting for us to split apart…" Pearl said as she looked at Steven who was already on the warp pad alongside Amethyst and Peridot.

"Trust me, there are no chances that she'll attack them in the Kindergarten…" Garnet said as she kept her eyes fixed on them until they disappeared into the beam of light.

At the Kindergarten:

"Now… let's just find one that isn't broken and let's leave this place…" Amethyst said as she began to look around for an injector.

"I think that one is still in good conditions…" Peridot said as she pointed at a machine in the distance.

As they began to walk towards the machine, Steven began to feel like someone was watching them. He turned around many times but there was no one there, still, he could say that there was someone else at the Kindergarten. His doubts became reality as he briefly noticed a shadow behind them.

"Guys!" Steven yelled as both Amethyst and Peridot quickly turned around, whip in hand and blaster ready to fire… but there was nothing behind them.

"Gosh… Steven you freaked me out!" Amehtyst grunted as she made her whip disappear.

"There was someone following us!" Steven said as he kept looking around.

"You got scared from your own shadow?" Amethyst said snickering.

"As you can see… there's nothing that is following us Steven… let's retrieve that drill head…" Peridot said turning around and walking towards the injector.

"Amehtyst… I need you to cut the-" Peridot was cut off by Amethyst summoning her whip and cutting the drill head with a single hit.

"Impressive…" Peridot whispered as she looked at the purple gem.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Amethyst said as she walked towards the drill head.

"Even if you are a defective quartz… you still have an impressive strength…" Peridot said nonchalantly.

"What?" Amethyst muttered as she turned around towards the green gem.

"I said that your strength is impressive since you are a defective quartz…" Peridot repeated.

"Defective?" Amethyst asked nervously.

"Well… yes… you should be taller… quartzes are usually born twice your size… and-" Peridot said before Amethyst cut her off.

"Are you saying that I'm wrong?!" Amethyst shouted angrily, even if all of the ones that loved her didn't care about how she was, it still hurt her when someone told her that the way she was, was wrong.

"N-no! W-well technically speaking… but I-" Peridot tried to speak as she slowly realized her mistake.

"You know… I don't care… let's just bring back the thing and-" Amethyst stopped talking as she turned around.

"What is it?" Peridot asked in confusion… but she understood why Amethyst became so silent… Steven was not behind them.

Somewhere in the Kindergarten:

"Ouch… my head…" Steven grunted as he began to stand up from the ground, only to be pushed onto it again, a hand grasping his shirt.

As Steven raised his gaze he tried to remember what happened, he was following Amethyst and Peridot when, suddenly, he heard something behind him and everything went black, now, the gem who saved him at the facility was towering over him.

"Y-you… w-what have you d-done t-to Rose?!" The gem yelled angrily.

"Wha-what?" Steven said in disbelief.

"Y-you are w-with those gems w-who tried to attack me… I-I thought y-you took this form only t-to trick them and made them believe you weren't R-Rose… but you were w-with them… w-what have y-you done to her?! Why do you have h-her gem?!" The gem said as she raised her fist in the air.

"P-please don't hurt me! I didn't do anything to Rose! I was going to tell you who I am but then you ran away… I'm Steven… Steven Universe and Rose Quartz was my mom…" Steven said as the gem lowered her fist and assumed an astonished expression.

"W-what? B-but… you are… how…" The gem muttered in confusion.

"My mom fell in love with my dad who is human… but… to give me birth she had to give up her physical form…" Steven explained as the gem let him go and sat down in front of him.

"H-how?" She asked as Steven scratched the back of his head.

"Ehm… I'm not completely sure… but… hey! You know her! And you even wanted to protect her! Are you… a Crystal Gem?" Steven asked as the gem looked at the bright yellow star on her outfit.

"I… I am…" She answered as Steven got up.

"What's your name?" Steven asked as the gem raised her gaze.

"I… I don't know… I don't remember many things… just… fragments… I… ugh!" The gem exclaimed in pain as she clutched her chest.

"Are you alright?" Steven asked as he slowly moved her hand away… revealing a cracked gem.

"M-my gem… it is cracked…" She whispered as Steven's eyes widened.

"D-don't worry! I got this!" Steven said as he spat on his hands.

"W-what are you doing?" The gem asked, confused by the young boy's actions.

"You'll see!" Steven said as he placed his hand on her gem.

Suddenly, the gem began to glow and in a matter of seconds, the cracks on it disappeared, leaving the gem with a baffled expression on her face.

"You… healed me…" She said as she touched her gem.

"Of course! You are a Crystal Gem! We are on the same side!" Steven said happily as the gem slightly smiled, this creature may not be Rose, but surely it must have come from her.

"I'm… sorry if I hit you…" The gem said as she lowered her gaze.

"Don't worry about it, I've been hit a lot…" Steven said chuckling.

"Steven!" A voice called in the distance.

"Amethyst and Peridot must be worried sick about me…" Steven said as he could see the gem becoming uneasy.

"Don't worry, they won't hurt you, I'll protect you…" He said as he took her hand.

"Thank you… Steven…" The gem said as she stood up, she may be scared, she may not remember who she was, and Rose may not be there to help her, but there was someone as caring and compassionate as her there to help her.

"You're welcome… ehm… h-how should I call you?" Steven said as she looked at her gem for moment before raising her gaze.

"Jet…" The gem replied as Steven smiled warmly.