After freeing Bismuth from their bubble the Crystal Gems sat them down on the couch and proceeded to tell them all that has happened; not just in recent times but all throughout the years that they'd been bubbled. The Quartz, the cluster, the corrupted gems, even Pink diamonds shattering. All of it was relevant and as each new story was told to them they seemed to understand more and more just how dire times had gotten.
When others finally finished unloading all of the baggage of recent years they all sat in silence. Breathing quickly and somewhat nervously about where they'd go from there. Bismuth sat with wide eyes for a moment, seeming to process all of this before they finally spoke.
"Wow... I can't believe I missed all of that." They said. Upon hearing their words Garnet turned away from them.
"Trust me, it wasn't a time you'd want to be apart of." They said in a rather somber tone. Bismuth however grabbed their hand and gave a reassuring smile.
"Fighting for freedom and beating back gems from Home-World? I wouldn't have missed that for the stars." Garnet smiled at their words. As Steven watched this all unfold he was more than relieved to know that everything was finally beginning to work out.
"Well, with that all out of the way what are we gonna do about this new gem?" Bismuth said, rising to their feet. They began to stretch. "It's been a while since I've fought a gem from Home-World, it should be a piece of cake with all three of us!" They exclaimed. Garnet however shifted uncomfortably in their seat.
"Actually, as of late, I haven't been able to see us catching her." Garnet said. Bismuth darted their eyes over to meet Garnet's visor.
"What? What do you mean?" They asked.
"It's like she's not here, but I know that she hasn't gone to Home-World. There are multiple outcomes that involve her ship and us colliding." They replied.
"Well that's a Bismystery! Any idea where the ship is now?" Bismuth asked. Steven being one of the few to chuckle at their joke.
"No. We believe that it's currently in use." They said.
"In use for what?" Bismuth asked.
"We still don't know. We just know that whatever they want, it must be on Earth considering that they're still here." Garnet said.
"Then are we going to search for them?"
"We've tried that already. We've been searching for weeks and still haven't found any signs of the ship." Pearl stated.
"Then what are we going to do? We can't just sit here and let them take what they want from Earth." Bismuth said.
"We were running out of ideas ourselves. But maybe with you here we can all brainstorm ideas together!" Pearl said excitedly. Bismuth smiled at them.
"I like that! Let's all put out heads together for this one!" Bismuth said.
"Wait! Before we do all of that. Can Bismuth meet Lapis and Peridot?" Steven quickly asked, staring straight towards Garnet.
"Steven, I know that must sound exciting but this is very important." Garnet calmly replied.
"Oh come on! They never got to meet Peridot and Lapis before! Annd I bet that Peridot could really help with the whole brainstorming thing." Steven added, as he put on his most convincing smile. Garnet took a moment to think about it. After that they turned their attention to Bismuth.
"How do you feel about meeting two other gems?" They asked.
"Two more Crystal Gems!? That sounds pretty amazing, I'd love to." Bismuth said excitedly. Garnet turned back towards Steven and gently smiled.
"Looks like you're gonna get your wish." They said. After which Steven's eyes lit up as he smiled from ear to ear.
"Whoo-hoo!" He shouted as launched towards the sky in joy. Upon gently landing he quickly pointed towards the warp pad. "To the barn!" He shouted, giddily.
Garnet simply shook their head, continuing to smile as they and the other gems followed Steven onto the crystal structure.
"Is everybody on?" He asked.
"Yes!" The rest of the gems said in return.
"Alright then!" He said before he then outstretched his arms and all of them collectively entered the warp stream.
As they flew through Bismuth looked around at the continuous patterns flowing past them. A smile stretched across their face as they admired the beauty of the constant lights which passed by.
The light eventually stopped and before they knew it the Crystal Gems had arrived at the barn.
"Woah." Bismuth said as they made their way towards the large structure with a rather large vehicle in it. "Is this another base?" They asked. Garnet shook their head as they continued walking.
"It's more of a home." They replied. Eventually the reached the barn and that's when they'd all been spotted.
"Steven!" Peridot shouted as they then ran out from the barn's entrance, arm's wide for a hug. Bismuth reflexively grabbed Steven and pushed them behind themselves before morphing their hand into a hammer.
"Home-World gems! Don't worry I got this one!" They said as they brought their hammer to the skies and prepared to smash Peridot to pieces.
"Eeep!" Peridot squealed as they then instantly went into a defensive stance.
"Bismuth stop!" Garnet shouted, as they did however Bismuth was grabbed and flung incredibly high into air by a large hand made from water. The gems broke out into a panic as they then turned their attention to Lapis, who'd now been hovering near the barn's ceiling, a look of irritation on their face.
"Lapis stop! Bismuth's on our side!" Steven said.
"Bis who?" Lapis replied, raising a brow. Their confusion was interrupted however as Bismuth hurled back down to the Earth, Lapis in their sights. They raised their hammer, accelerating through the air and just before they could connect they were once more stopped and imprisoned within a bubble of water. Lapis stared with an agitated look as Bismuth struggled to break free.
"Ok, who is this?" Lapis asked as they lowered themselves down to ground level.
"Uh hehe. That's Bismuth." Steven said as he began to scratch the back of his had anxiously.
"Bismuth?!" They said before rearing their heads back towards the struggling gem. They narrowed their eyes, instantly recognizing the multi-colored hair that Bismuth had donned proudly.
"That's the gem that poofed me!" Lapis shouted in fury as they then clenched their hand into a fist and shrunk the bubble around Bismuth to dangerous levels.
"Wait Lapis!" Steven cried, however his cries fell upon deaf ears.
"Lapis, stop now!" Garnet shouted but once more their words weren't heeded.
"You caused all of this." Lapis muttered as they began to rise above the ground, they saw red as they looked at Bismuth and continued to shrink the bubbled, tighter and tighter around Bismuth. As they did so Bismuth soon stopped struggling and began to cry out in pain. Lapis felt a small amount of satisfaction as they saw the air being expelled from their captive.
"Lapis stop!" Peridot cried out. Those words rang through Lapis' ears and for a moment they let go of Bismuth. However just as soon as they did, they caught themselves and continued to hold Bismuth in their liquid prison. Lapis then turned to Peridot who had a panicked expression on their face. The rest of the gems aside from Steven had their weapons already pulled out.
"Lapis you have to stop this, look at what it's doing to our friends!" They said.
"Friends? The only friends I have here are you and Steven! The rest of the Crystal Gems left me in a mirror! They wanted to bubble me!" Lapis shouted, their bubble tightening even further as they did, something that was actually beginning to shrink Bismuth's form.
"Er-uh, while that may be true. But they also helped save the Earth!" Peridot said, sweat streaming down their face.
"It doesn't matter. This gem poofed me. They're the reason I got put in the mirror in the first place. And I'm tired of letting the people who hurt me get away with it!" Lapis said in a silent yet enraged tone. They then turned back towards Bismuth and prepared to utterly crush their form.
"Lapis please stop! Even if all of that happened. Even if Bismuth was the one who poofed you, that was a long time ago. She didn't know what she was doing! Bismuth was bubbled too, they know what it's like to be put in that situation... Please don't make her suffer anymore!" Steven said, tears beginning to stream down his face.
As his words echoed through Lapis' heart, they could feel their resolve breaking. Lapis' fingers began to shake and tremble as tears fell from their face as well. That's when Bismuth took advantage. Abruptly they broke free of the prison, spraying water everywhere and with blinding speed, they then flew through the air and struck Lapis with their hammer. Sending them hurtling down to the Earth.
The blow was hard enough to send Lapis through the dirt, leaving a deep trail in the ground. After landing Bismuth then closed in on Lapis and prepared to finish the job. Just as they raised their hammer however Garnet then quickly ran in front of them and outstretched their arms.
"Bismuth, stop right now!" Garnet shouted.
"They're Home-World gems!" Bismuth shouted back.
"So were we! But we're not anymore! Just like them!" Garnet retorted. With that Bismuth's eyes widened, they took a couple of steps back and shifted their weapon back into their hand. They then looked over at Lapis who looked to be in pain
"Oh... I-I'm sorry, I didn't know." Bismuth said.
"You need to be more patient than that, just because you see the insignia of the diamonds, doesn't mean you immediately have to attack." Garnet scolded.
"If they're not following the diamonds then why do they still bear the insignia in the first place?" Bismuth questioned. Garnet was at a loss for words, they then turned back towards Lapis who'd still been struggling to rise up from their injuries.
"Lapis!" Peridot shouted, running over to the still and pain-filled Lapis. Upon reaching them, they grabbed their hand. "Are you ok? Do you need help?" Peridot asked.
"N-no... Don't worry, it's just a few scratches." Lapis said, as they then rose to their feet with a still worried Peridot gazing upon them.
"Anyway, what are you guys doing here?" Lapis stated coldly, still holding a bruised arm.
"Steven, wanted you two to meet Bismuth... We figured it would go better than this." Garnet said, looking down.
"I thought Sapphires were supposed to have future vision? What's wrong, not feeling up to it these days?" Lapis asked with sarcasm.
"Lapis! Please, try to calm down." Peridot pleaded. Lapis then looked down at them and upon seeing their big and worried eyes their expression immediately softened. Lapis let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry. I guess we got off on the wrong foot." Lapis said. Bismuth nodded before attempting a friendly smile.
"Yeah I guess we kind of did. I'm sorry about what I did back then. Whatever happened must've been pretty bad." Bismuth said.
"You wouldn't know the half of it." Lapis muttered somberly. Just as they began to look away however Bismuth outstretched their hand and brought their attention back to them.
"I'm Bismuth. It's always nice to meet a new face and Crystal Gem." They said warmly. Lapis looked down at Peridot who also smiled at them before nodding lightly. A small smile tugged at their lips as they then turned their gaze back towards Bismuth and shook their hand.
"Likewise." Lapis said, attempting to hide their contempt with a smile.
"And you too. The name's Bismuth." Bismuth said as they crouched down and extended a hand out to Peridot.
"Nice to meet ya. I'm Peridot Facet-2F5- Ow!" Peridot yelled as Lapis elbowed their shoulder.
"Oh right. Just Peridot." Peridot stated after shaking Bismuth's hand.
"Rigght." Bismuth said as they then stood back up and turned towards the barn once more. "Lovely place you got there, mind if I go inside?" They asked.
"Not at all! In fact it's always pretty interesting to invite newcomers!" Peridot said excitedly as Lapis continued to blankly stare out into the distance.
Steven could feel butterflies doing summer salts in his stomach as he watched the gems interact. His anxiety was quelled somewhat by Garnet who then gently placed a hand on his shoulder. As he looked up at them they gave a warm and comforting smile.
"Don't worry Steven, this'll work out." Garnet said as they all then followed Bismuth and the never-ending ball of energy that is Peridot, into the barn.
As they entered however the Crystal Gems were met with a surprise that left them rather awestruck. There'd been burnt mechanical pieces nearly everywhere and boards that had been filled to the brim with calculations and drawings of specific machine parts. However what sat in front of them, on a small wooden table, had been a machine the likes of which none of them had ever come into contact with before.
"Oh right! I forgot about that!" Peridot said.
"Woah." Bismuth said as they walked closer to the machine. "What is this little doohickey?" They asked.
"Be careful! That machine is incredibly valuable." Peridot stated.
"What do you mean? What's it do?" Steven asked.
"Oh well after you told me about the Quartz-"
"You told her about Quartz!" Pearl interrupted in disbelief. Steven darted his eyes towards them and held his hands up in fear.
"You never said I couldn't tell her!" He said.
"Yeah, I mean after all; we're all friends and Crystal Gems here. Right?" Lapis said in agitation. An aura of unease filled the room.
"Lapis is right." Garnet said, cutting through the tension. "We're all Crystal Gems, they both have a right to know. Peridot, what is this machine supposed to do?" Garnet asked.
"I'm glad you asked!" Peridot said as they then ran over to the small machine. It'd been around the size of their head and had a rectangular shape to it with most of the metal and wires surrounding this large ball of light that was to the left of it. Near the top right had also been a small red dial that looked like it could turn to match different settings.
"This machine, is meant to evolve, all of gem kind! Well.. I mean the good ones anyway." They explained.
"How's it supposed to do that?" Steven asked.
"Well, to put it bluntly, it will make an explosion that's strong enough to completely rip off the outer part of a gem! This will leave mainly important components used for functioning and such. Afterwards there are tiny pieces of bots that will fly through the blast and attach themselves to these components and effectively re-purpose them so that they can be used solely to manipulate as well as produce our own matter and energy. This will be through us being able to come into contact with different types of matter and energy and replicate them just like our light forms. As time goes on the bots will continue to drain energy from our own infinite power sources! After a while they'll evolve and with them our own components, until eventually we'll be able to manipulate and create nearly anything. It'll be the perfect way to fight against Home-world!" Peridot exclaimed. Much to their displeasure however, their words were met with silence.
"An... Explosion?" Steven questioned nervously.
"Well uh yeah, I wanted to make sure that this could effect multiple gems an-"
"Peridot are you sure that this will work? Not only that but how will gems like Steven be effected?" Pearl questioned.
"Oh well uh, there's a smallish chance that it won't and in regards to Steven well... I don't know." Peridot said bluntly.
"This sounds very sketchy." Bismuth said.
"But it's a perfect way to fight against Home-World!" Peridot said.
"How? Organic lifeforms have never been able to stand against gems." Garnet said.
"Well that was true in the past, b-but look at Steven! He was able to stand against gem destabilizers. The same one's that poofed you, a fusion!" Peridot exclaimed.
"But Peridot... I don't know how I feel about gems, manipulating other lifeforms to get what they want." Steven said.
"It doesn't have to be lifeforms from this planet, it can be from another place." Peridot defended once more.
"This sounds very risky. We don't know if it'll work, not only that but the methods may prove to be rather harmful. We should try to use another way." Garnet said.
"No! Peridot and I are doing this whether you like it or not! This is a good way to fight against Home-World." Lapis said.
"Lapis. I understand that you may be in a rather upset state after seeing Bismuth. But right now we have to think rationally, as a unit. This isn't the time for rash decisions." Garnet calmly stated. Lapis looked at them with a rather bitter gaze, however they did reluctantly nod in agreement.
"Garnet, even with that being said, Lapis and I are going to do this. It's something that we believe can at least help, I know that you can at least see that." Peridot said. Garnet nodded.
"I can. The machine that you're using however sounds dangerous, if you are going to use it make sure to be safe and destroy it when you're done. If that fell into the hands of Home-World or any other gem, it could be rather dangerous." They said.
"I... Wait do you guys here that?" Peridot asked. All of the gems then collectively then listened as they heard what sounded like a heavy wind coming their way. Upon exiting the building they all stared in shock at the large and imposing ship hovering above them.
"T-that's..." Steven began
"Aquamarine's ship." Garnet finished.
"Not for long." Lapis calmly stated as a large hand of water rose above the barn. Just as it did however the ship did something that the rest of the gems didn't see coming.
It reared backwards before accelerating towards all of them.
"Everybody spread out!" Garnet shouted as they then grabbed Steven and they and the rest of the gems ran in all directions before the ship collided with the ground and made an explosion. It'd been vast and incredibly destructive, even managing to completely vaporize a part of the barn.
Pieces of the barn flew in all directions and as the dust settled Steven and Garnet had both been inside of his bubble, protected from most of the rubble. The rest of the gems groaned and coughed as they rose from the remains of a large chunk of the barn.
"Ugh. What just happened?" Amethyst asked as they rubbed their head.
"Amethyst watch out!" Steven shouted as a large black figure launched from the rubble far too fast for Amethyst' reflexes. Before anyone could do anything the figure struck Amethyst with blinding speed and instantly they were poofed.
"Amethyst no!" Steven cried, his bubble dissipating as Garnet put him down. Amethyst' gem had been in the hand of another rather tall humanoid figure that had shiny black and metallic skin; the likes of which had circuit like patterns which glowed a darkened pink light. It turned to face Steven and shivers were sent down his spine as he saw a familiar pink gem embedded in the humanoids head ,like a large singular eye, and in a shattered state with light that shined through like it was a pupil.
"Quartz..." Was all he could say.