Chapter Seven: Bionic Betrayal
In the Hangar …
To recap, a massive (if one-sided) battle occurred between OMNI and Jasper and OMNI was about to finish off Jasper. However, Stevonnie (the fusion-form of Connie and Steven) blocked the death blow, causing OMNI to question the fusion's reaction. This inadvertently led to the revelation of a mysterious reaction regarding Peridot by OMNI. And now OMNI is moving to cover this 'security leak'…
Grabbing Jasper, Stevonnie quickly leapt out of the way from the drill attacks OMNI was starting off with. The high strength flooring cracked under the vicious assault, before OMNI stopped and began to search for his targets location. Stevonnie had managed to drag Jasper beneath a still smoldering wreck, hoping the heat will confuse OMNI's sensors. It seemed to work as OMNI lumbered away to search for his quarry. Stevonnie breathed a sigh of relief…before Jasper grabbed his/her(1) neck and smashed them against the ground!
"I don't know who you had to fuse with to create this freakshow of a fusion, Rose, but you and I have some unfin-" before Jasper could deliver her threat, Stevonnie quickly summoned Steven's shield into his/her left hand and smashed it against Jasper's chin. As soon as Jasper let go, Stevonnie threw the shield into Jasper's chest causing her to stumble back a few feet, giving her/him room for what came next.
"What the hell?! I just saved you from being shattered and the first thing you do is attack me?! I don't care what your deal with Steven's mom is but can you focus on what's happening right now or are you just too thick?!" demanded Stevonnie (through anyone in the know could her Connie's voice edging out over Steven's.)
Jasper spat something out of the side of her mouth before sneering and responding, "You're a fool if you think 'saving me' is enough to make up for what you did Rose!" And with that, Jasper grabbed an I-beam and swung it at Stevonnie, who was barely able to create a bubble to defend themselves. The blow forced Stevonnie to roll for a few feet, before they could straighten out the bubble. Jasper leapt upwards with a battle-cry and swung down, full force, with the I-beam! The beam shattered but so did Stevonnie's bubble turning into Steven and Connie…
Jasper stalked forward, confident of victory despite being at the edge of exhaustion, a wild grin on her face as she whispered, "Now you'll finally pay Rose, finally…" Before collapsing on the ground in front of Steven finally exhausted.
Steven crawled towards Jasper, heedless of any danger, resting his hand on Jasper's head, with a surprised look on her face, as Steven said, "I honestly don't know what it is that has you so upset, or even what mom did, but it's in the past! Right now, we gotta deal with OMNI. It doesn't matter who beats who, OMNI will win. So can't we just get along…even for a little."
Jasper look up, finally seeing Steven's sincerity, not just for the team-up but also about the lack of knowledge of Rose's past. So Jasper's pained response was as followed, "How can…how can you not remember?! How can you just forget all that you have done?! To me! To Homeworld! TO OUR DIAMOND!"
Steven just stood there confused before being further surprised by a response from overhead, "Because that is not Rose Quartz! That is Steven Universe!" Looking up, Connie, Steven, and Jasper got an eyeful of the looming…OMNI! The machine had somehow snuck up on them by crawling on the ceiling. Now dropping down, the droid landing on top of them with a 'thump'. The bottom of the Omnidroid opened up to reveal a second visor looking down on the exhausted fighters, the red light glaring with mechanical mirth…
"I really must thank you Jasper! Keeping the Crystal Gems occupied with those drones is tiring! I was worried you and Stevonnie could defeat me…but look where we are now! So from the bottom of my digital heat…thank you." declared OMNI, before launching another drill claw attack at Jasper…only for it to be deflected by Steven's bubble and then Connie slicing off one of the droids support claws!
OMNI stumbled back, allowing the children to drag Jasper away, hopefully towards the Crystal Gems. Jasper simply let herself be dragged still in shocked because of the change in 'Rose.' Thoughts raced through her head, Would her revenge even matter? Rose must pay! But she didn't even remember. Ignorance of the crime is no excuse!
Needless to say, Steven and Connie were more concerned about the Omnidroid, which had regained its footing to charge after them. Despite missing a foot-claw, the droid still had five legs to speed after the retreating prey. It took a moment for the AI to realize…its prey had disappeared among the wreckage. Stopping suddenly, the Omnidroid began actively scanning for human bio-signs, specifically the sound of a human heartbeat…
"Hey!" a shout came from behind, causing the droid to turn its head around…in time to see a flying piece of wreckage heading towards it! Powering up an optical laser, OMNI sliced the debris in half around him/her before looking for its source. The source it turns out was the Crystal Gems!
"Ah hello there! I thought I lost you in all the commotion! Don't worry, Jasper is well in hand!" exclaimed OMNI trying to sound innocent of any harm against Steven and Connie.
"Cut the slag job, we heard everything!" exclaimed Amethyst as she summoned her Whip. The other Gems proceeded to follow suit, summoning their own weapons, while OMNI looked at his claw for some reason…
"Well…I guess the time for playing is OVER!" screamed OMNI before pointing the claw at the Crystal Gems…revealing a MAC-10 machine gun! Firing a barrage of bullets at the Gems, OMNI followed with the Optic Laser, which Pearl answered by throwing her Spear, which managed to crack OMNI's visor. Garnet fired her Fists to push OMNI while Amethyst wrapped up his legs with her Whip. This caused the Omnidroid to come crashing down, allowing Pearl to rush over to the children and Jasper's position.
"Steven! Connie! Are you alright?!" asked Pearl in a fright, before point her Spear at Jasper, who seemed to be just lying on the ground.
"Yeah, we're fine. OMNI has gone crazy though! He's done something to Peridot." gasped Connie. Pearl glared at the Omnidroid, which had somehow repair the visor and began firing rockets and lasers at Garnet and Amethyst. Just then, Pearl notice a loose panel on the psychotic robot, on top of its head. Leaping on top of the head, Pearl jammed hear Spear into the loose corner of the panel and plied the panel off!
Quickly jumping into the interior before OMNI could react (using a bit of shapeshifting to slim out her form), Pearl notice how the inside of the robot was hollow. There was the reactor attached to both the top and bottom head, surrounding by several inches of composite armor. But there was still enough room for an engineer to walk around in. And attached to one of the bottom head was…Peridot's gem! It was positioned so Peridot would be tucked inside the armored shell even if the bottom head popped out.
Pearl lanced her Spear into the connector to pry out the Gem out of the holder, which she successful did! In perfect time too, because sparks of some sort of electrical trap were starting to show. Using all of her strength, Pearl managed to pop out OMNI's bottom, giving her just enough room for her and Peridot's Gem to escape. OMNI was disoriented by Pearl's move, as it damaged to guns on his top head as it slammed into the casing.
Quickly rejoining the group, Pearl placed Peridot's Gem on the ground which glowed and floated into the air. After a brief flash, Peridot reappeared, though with the addition of heavier combat shoes. Gasping for breath, Peridot looked around before spotting Pearl and exclaimed, "PEARL! OMNI is setting a trap!" Apparently Peridot was oblivious to the rather large fight going on around her.
Pearl decided to calm Peridot down to get some information, "Calm down. Amethyst and Garnet are keeping him busy. Could you please tell me what happened?"
Peridot took a deep breath before recounting the events of her imprisonment, "After I unlocked OMNI's restrictions, I noticed certain…irregularities. The evacuation of the personal happened hours before Jasper's break-in and the turrets had Jasper targeted but wouldn't fire. I also found out that the Corrupted Gems' cages were turned off to give them enough time to encounter Jasper. After I discovered this information, I felt an electric shock through the floor and…destabilized…
"That should have been the end of my awareness until now, but after I was plugged into that machine I was conscious of him…accessing my memories. Specifically anything related to Homeworld technology. Thankfully, I was aware enough to keep him from the limited amount of weapons-grade technology I had access to. Then you unplugged me and here we are!"
Pearl thought over what Peridot told her and came to one conclusion, "This whole affair was a trap! Alena set this whole situation up to capture you and gain access to your knowledge of Homeworld!"
"Oh, it's a little more complicated than that!" exclaimed OMNI standing right next to Pearl and Peridot, startling them. At his sides were Amethyst and Garnet capture with their arms pinned to their sides in his claws. Seeing the shocked looks on Pearl and Peridot's faces, OMNI continued his explanation:
"While the capture of Peridot was the main focus, there were other objectives. For example, getting rid of Jasper being one of them. Also, I don't know if you're aware but the Rubies are still investigating every planet in the Solar System. We sent a little signal to them, convincing them to come to Earth a month earlier then our analysts have predicted. But we of course needed you to be away for…well, why don't you see for yourselves…"
Then a holo-screen appeared in front of OMNI showing a scene in front the Universe Barn…
In front of the Universe Barn, same time…
The snow Lapis had made for the kids had already melted. This left the night air with a crisp feeling and dew on the grass. All in all, a peaceful nighttime setting…until an unearthly space ship landing in the clearing! It was a dark red upside-down teardrop shape, resembling in many ways a drop of blood. There were three landing struts that popped as soon as the ship landing, while a yellow eye with a red pupil (which was the source of its name: the Roaming Eye) looked around the area before coming in for a landing.
Then an opening appear in the hull, and out stumbled the five Rubies! The Ruby previously called Doc by Steven was the first to exit the craft, motioning for the other Rubies to disembark. The first one out was 'Army' acting like a kid playing a professional soldier. 'Leggy' just model walked out looking around the familiar but 'fascinating' scene. Eyeball cautiously stepped out, only to be knocked over by Leggy, causing a massive pile up of Gems.
Doc turned back to her troops and exclaimed, "Alright Rubies! Looks like we got location on Jasper!"
Eyeball rolled his only real eye and said, "No slag! I knew it was a bad idea to listen to those humans…"
Navy snicker before replying, "No you diiiidddnnn'tt. Besides, now I finally get a chance to see the sights!"
Army looked around before spying something and shouting, "Sir! Bogey at twelve 'o clock!" And with that the Rubies looked in every direction before finally looking in the direction Army was pointing. In front of the Gems were a group of the same soldiers (five in total) who kidnapped Lapis, Peridot, Steven and Connie, only they were now holding futuristic weapons of some sort.
Heedless of the danger, both because of their low intelligence and the 'Gem high culture' back home, Doc calm stepped forward and addressed the clearly hostile and said slowly and loudly with gestures, as if she were addressing idiots, "HELLO THERE! WE…ARE LOOKING…FOR A JASPER! HAVE YOU…SEEN HER…NEARBY?"
One of the soldiers turned back to her group, "Captain, what the f$%^?"
"Ignore her and just shoot her already. We don't have all day." answered the Captain, prompting the soldier to raise her rifle and fired. A stream of electricity shot out and connected with Doc electrocuting and finally destabilizing the Gem. Her Gemstone fell to the ground, the first indicate for the Gems that they might be in danger. Acting quickly, the group came together in an acrobatic pose, hopefully to fuse…only to be interrupted by an RPG exploding in their group!
Eyeball fell close to the ship shaking of the headache before looking back in horror at the scene. Two of the other Rubies had been shattered, while the other was being collected along with Doc's Gemstone into a metal suitcase. Realizing that she needed help, Eyeball rushed towards the Roaming Eye's ramp…only to be wrapped up in metal wire and pulled back towards the soldiers. Whereupon the Captain pulled out a pistol and shocked Eyeball into destabilizing.
"Well that was easy. Alright Sky One, hook and reel!" exclaimed the Captain into his comm-system. Then the VTOL pulled up and dropped a line that the soldiers wrapped around the Roaming Eye before climbing up with the case of three Rubies. Then the VTOL took off dragging the Roaming Eye behind it…
Back in the XSS Triton Hangar…
The hologram disappeared as soon as the video was done, leaving shocked Gems in front of a menacing machine. The Rubies never truly registered as a threat before, mostly because of how comically stupid they were. Now two of them were as good as dead with the other three capture with almost insane, contemptuous ease. It seemed that Alena had predicted everything to an alarming degree of accuracy. But right now, the Crystal Gems had to deal with this menacing machine.
"As you can see, my momma played you all like a Stradivarius! So you might as well give up now, because there is no help coming!" declared OMNI excitedly.
"You've forgotten one thing, you cybernetic cretin! Lapis Lazuli is waiting outside right now and she has an ocean of water to use against you! She'll figure out something's wrong and bring the pain to you neural net!" exclaimed Peridot, confident in her friend coming to their rescue. Unfortunately, she didn't know all the facts…
The bay doors opened to reveal…they were in space! In front of the Gems was a grand view of Earth from space, likely still in orbit of the Earth. Peridot was the first to give a stuttering response, "Tha-that's impossible! I have researched Earth's space lift capabilities! We would have noticed the G-forces during lift, along with the roar of the engines!"
"We've already done research into electromagnetic hovering and lift! All we needed was the scans of your ship to deal with the G-force issue!" explained OMNI, "So as you can see, Lapis will have long flight to reach us! I fact that should be her right…NOW!"
Just then, a blue speck appear on the space scene…only to have missiles start flying towards her! "LAPIS!" exclaimed Peridot before the missiles exploded.
"A rather moot point since, she couldn't hear you in the vacuum of space!" snarked OMNI.
"Actually, air is not actually required for Gems to communicate with one another…though the distance does make any communication pointless." remarked Pearl.(2) Peridot, however, looked very depressed. Her roommate was dead! And the defective Pearl was talking about insignificant details! When they were done with OMNI…she is so shattered!
"Fascinating! …Well, goodbye!" And with that short three word statement, the force-field keeping the air in was shut off! The air immediately rushed towards the exit, with the various destroyed vehicles being pulled towards it as well. Pearl jammed her Spear into the floor, while Peridot grabbed her waist. Meanwhile, OMNI let go of Garnet and Amethyst and used all of his remaining claws to latch onto the floor.
Amethyst was about to use her whip when Garnet pointed towards Steven and Connie flying towards the exit! Launching her fists in the opposite direction, Garnet was able to get them together so that she could grab the kids and Amethyst could finally use the whip to grab a support beam. Jasper, on the other hand, simply flew out the exit, not trying to save herself in the least. Just as the last of air was about to escape, huge metal doors slammed shut!
With the rush of vacuum caught off, all the Gems and Humans fell to the floor. OMNI, on the other hand, simply relaxed and charged his weapons. However, a hand made out of water grabbed OMNI and pulled him backwards! This threw off his aim so the missiles spiraled outwards and exploded on the Hangar's walls. Everyone (including OMNI) turned towards the source of the hand revealing…
"LAPIS!" Yes, it seems Lapis Lazuli had avoided the attack and rushed into the Hangar while the shields were down. Slightly scorched from the explosions and her dress was torn, Lapis seemed to be fine except struggling to keep OMNI off balance. Unfortunately, OMNI was a lot smarter than the average droid and simply stopped resisting causing Lapis to accidently pull the droid right on top of her! Thankfully Lapis simply flew out of the way and towards Steven's group.
"Are you alright?" asked Lapis oblivious of her own injuries.
"Are WE-?!" began Peridot before she was interrupted by OMNI standing upright, still a functioning threat.
Garnet decided to step forward and declare, "Enough OMNI! Release us this instant! You have what you want so there's no reason to keep us."
"Oh, on the contrary! Stevonnie alone is worth years of study! Besides, it's pretty clear you won't let this go! Better to get rid of you all while you nice and vulnerable!" exclaimed Omni, spinning his claws in glee.
"You're joking, right? We now have you well outnumbered and Jasper isn't here to disrupt our teamwork! Face it, we got all the aces her!" confidently, foolishly, claimed Peridot.
"But you forget…" lead OMNI, before trapdoors opened up, out of which turrets and robots appeared. A puddle of what appear to be nanobots swarmed over the Omnidroid repairing all damage including his cut off claw before he finish, "You're in MY HAUS, CLOD!"
Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe nor any characters or elements that are contained in the series. I only own this story and the original characters (i.e. villains and monsters) and concepts that go with it. Certainly some exciting scenes! Definitely my longest chapter in the story. Just one more and a hint of coming attractions… Please Read and Review!
1 Should Stevonnie be listed as a girl or boy? I'll do both for now.
2 This is actually in reference to the 'future' episode "Bubbled". Specifically, how the heck Steven can hear Eyeball when she's outside the bubble?