Chapter Eight: Freefall Finale
In the Hangar of the Triton…
The Crystal Gems and their human (and half-human) charges huddled together as the Omnidroid and his army of robots surrounded them. There were the Sentinels, the Gremlins, a pair of Heavy Sentries, and several new robot forms. One of them was nearly twice as tall as the Sentinels and carried several guns and missile launchers on two legs. They would later learn that this robot was called the Enforcement Droid-309!(1) Next up was a floating disk shape drone, with razor blades spinning around it. This one was called the Edge Trimmer!
Truthfully, it was more the number of droids that concerned the Crystal Gems as they were outnumbered nearly twenty to one. The real problem was OMNI who was full repaired from his previous fights. Meanwhile, all of the other Crystal Gems had exhausted themselves in the previous fights. In the end Garnet and Pearl decided on a rather desperate move…they would fuse into Sardonyx!
As they performed the dance, the others made their best efforts to hold off the robots. Lapis used what water she brought with her to short out any robots she could, especially the Gremlins. Peridot got a work out for her metal control causing the robots to shot wide and hit each other. Steven and Connie stuck to their Sword-Shield combo, while Amethyst was the heaviest hitter with her Spin Dash attack and using her whip to send the bots right into each other.
In the end all that was left were six Edge Trimmers, the two Heavy Sentries, and an ED-309. Just then, the Heavy Sentries changed to Anti-Infantry Mode, activating the anti-Gem field, causing the Gems to shimmer and cringe in pain. The Edge Trimmers attempted to slice-and-dice only to be blocked and destroyed by the team work of Steven and Connie. One of the Edge Trimmers spun out of control directly into the exposed globe of one of the Heavy Sentries, causing a severe overload and explosion.
This decreased the pain the Gems were feeling allow them to at least stand shakily to their feet. The remaining two bots slowly came forward…only for the Heavy Sentry to be smashed by a massive Warhammer! "Well, that deals with the static, not to deal with the critic!" declared Sardonyx. With that, Sardonyx leapt at OMNI, leaving the rest of the group to deal with ED…
The ED-309 activate its laser-sights and whenever they fell on a Gem, it opened fired with MAC-10 machine guns. The Gems were able to dodge out of the way (Amethyst while carrying Connie and Steven) however. The ED followed with a salvo of missiles trailing after the Gems. Lapis used her water to crush the missiles after her, while Peridot used her metal control to cause the rest of the missiles to collide with each other. Amethyst dropped the kids and Spin-Dashed straight into the Enforcement Droid, causing it to stumble back before righting itself and aiming right at Amethyst…
Sardonyx had just swung her Warhammer at OMNI, only to be intercepted by one of his claws. The Warhammer then turned into a Drill Head, shredding the claw holding it. OMNI retreated backwards, before the nanites repaired the damage done to it. The claw created a metallic membrane between the individual talons with sparks of electricity between the talons in the dish. Sardonyx, seeing where this was heading, jumped out of the way in time to avoid the storm of electricity shooting out of the makeshift dish!
"Certainly need to be carefully playing Poker with you. Always an Ace up your sleeve!" declared Sardonyx before dodging another blast of electricity.
"War is about winning! 'Honor!' 'Playing fair!' Childish notions!" exclaimed OMNI, his frustration at the Fusion's survival showing. Two of his claws spun like drills before flying at Sardonyx, who was able to deftly maneuver between the strikes. With the skill of an acrobat and the flair of a showman, Sardonyx avoided each of OMNI's strikes, whether by drill-claw or lightning burst. The strikes became more frantic, either showing OMNI's frustration…or fear.
Despite the damage suffered from Sardonyx's strike, the ED-309 continued to harass the group of Gems and children left behind. Seemingly having an endless supply of missiles and bullets, the ED kept attacking while the Gems' kept dodging and Steven protected Connie behind his shield. Finally, Lapis froze a puddle of water into ice at the ED's feet causing the machine to slip over on itself. Suddenly, two Edge Trimmers launched from the back of the ED and spun towards Steven!
The Edge Trimmers' blades slide across Steven's shield, until they finally caused it to collapse. Collapsing, Steven had to be held up by Connie as the Edge Trimmers moved in for the kill…
ROAR!
A massive wave of sound struck the Edge Trimmers sending them spinning into the floor, destroying them. Turning around, Steven and Connie saw…"LION!" Yes, there was the lovable pink Lion, standing triumphant having defeated the Edge Trimmers. With a leap, Lion Pounced on the ED-309, still struggling to get up, and tore into it. Only a few seconds later, all that was left was OMNI…
"Looks like your cast has been cancelled!" quipped Sardonyx before swinging her Warhammer at OMNI who again caught it.
"I've always been the all-star! The others are just bit-parts!" answered OMNI before Swinging Sardonyx into a wall and shooting a full barrage from his head-based MAG guns. However, the rest of the Gems hit him while he was distracted, with Amethyst tying up to of his legs with her whip and Lapis flash freezing his other legs. This distract OMNI long enough for Sardonyx to give him a final blow to the 'head'. The blow was stronger enough to push the 'head' right through his body, pushing out the reactor and the second head.
"It doesn't matter!" exclaimed the head of OMNI, still functioning as his body fell over, "You lost befooore yooouuu eveeen staaaaarrrrrtttteeeee-" With a finally flicker, the visor light dimmed signaling OMNI's deactivation…before a new voice chimed in!
"Auto-destruct will commence in thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight…" chime a female voice on the intercom. Sardonyx swiftly defused into Pearl and Garnet, while Peridot took out her tablet and looked for nearby escape pods. Verbal communication was seen as a waste of time so the minute Peridot found the pods, see pointed to near the front of the ship. The Crystal Gems and children rushed to the escape pods…only to find that they had already been launched!
As the countdown ticked to its end, the all gathered in a group hug as Steven's Gem glowed bright:
"Five, four, three, two,-"
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. Hope you're not upset about the cliffhanger! Just the epilogue left to go! Read and Review!
1 Based off the reboot version of ED-209 of Robocop fame.