Chapter 6: The Warp Pad Needs Fixing
"So what happened with the warp pad while I was gone?" Garnet asks, studying the warp pad.
"It somehow activated on its own," Pearl explains. "It was making this hissing noise and it then it screamed 'Rose' before shutting off. The mind louse appeared when the light shut off."
"Aside from the voice, that's basically what happened at the Galaxy Warp. Is it still working, Amethyst?"
"Barely," she replies, trying to activate it. Amethyst tightly shuts her eyes and concentrates. The light of the warp pad slowly rises. After a couple seconds, it fully envelops Amethyst and she's gone. She comes back another couple seconds later, completely covered in water. "I swallowed a crab," she laughs, burping after.
"So the warp pad is working," Pearl says, rubbing her chin, "but there seems to only be enough energy for the warp pad to transport one person at a time."
"What does that mean," Steven asks from the kitchen, making himself a bag of popcorn.
"That means exactly what I said, Steven," Pearl responds.
"You know, I've been wondering… how do the warp pads work?" The microwave dings. Steven takes the bag out the machine, but it's too hot and he drops it. He blows on his hands, cooling them off.
"The warp pads work on a quid pro quo basis," Pearl explains, looking at Steven pick up the popcorn bag. "We give them energy from our Gems to give it the energy it needs to transport us. It's pretty complex magic, and it seems like something is blocking the energy transfer, like an interference."
"That's so cool," Steven exclaims, picking up his popcorn, "so why is there something interfering with it?"
"We don't know, but we'll have to check the central control warp pad on Earth."
"Isn't that the Galaxy Warp?" Amethyst asks.
Pearl's eye twitches, wondering how she doesn't know where the control center is. But she exhales, letting out a long, cooling sigh. She can't freak out like she would usually do. "No, Amethyst, we've explained this several times in the past. The central control pad is a jungle in the southern hemisphere. We've been there many times in the past."
"Then let's go!" Amethyst warps herself. Pearl sighs and steps on the warp pad. She warps herself as well.
"Let's go, Steven," Garnet says, standing on the warp pad. She has enough energy to transfer both of them.
"Oh, let me pack a bag!" He runs up to his room, takes his cheeseburger backpack, and stuff it with various miscellaneous items and a large can of bug spray. "Alright, let's go." Garnet fixes her shades and they warp.
The jungle is full of plants, trees, and wildlife. The loud cries of the animals reverberate and echo through the vast forest. Garnet and Steven appear on the previously vine-covered warp pad. Amethyst is messing with an anthill while Pearl scans the jungle.
"It's this way," Pearl says. Her nose pointing north.
"Are you sure?" Garnet asks.
"Yes, I'm sure. I won't get us lost like last time."
"Alright, then let's go. Lead the way."
"Gladly." Pearl walks ahead, Steven following behind her, then Amethyst and finally Garnet. Pearl summons her spear to cut down the weeds and tall grass that stands before them.
Hours pass and Steven's getting tired. They're walking along the ledge of a mountain. "Peeaarrlll, how much farther," Steven whines, falling behind the group. "I'm tiirreeed."
"Yeah, me too," Amethyst says, slumped over. "Why couldn't we build it closer to the control center?"
"Because if enemies attacked us, they could warp here and shut off our only transportation system," Pearl explains. "I swear we've explained this to you before."
"Yeah, well I forgot. I'll be sure to remember next time." That answer almost sounds sarcastic. It makes Pearl want to argue, but she doesn't, remembering their agreement.
"We're almost there so just keep going." There's a rumbling sound above. The Gems and Steven look up. An avalanche of rocks and boulders are travelling downward to the group. Garnet summons her gauntlets. She jumps up, starting to punch at the rocks, but to no avail. There's too many of them to break them all into smaller pieces.
"STEVEN!" Pearl screams, jumping over to him as he's about to be crushed by one of the falling boulders. Pearl steps in front of him and takes out her spear. With a flash of expert movements, she slices the rock into pieces. One of the smaller pieces ricochets off Pearl's gem. Pearl rubs it, feeling the crack.
"Pearl!" Steven moves in front of her, stretching out his arms. He summons his defensive bubble. It envelops him and Pearl. A giant rock was hiding behind the one Pearl destroyed, but she didn't see it. The giant rock knocks them off the ledge, leaving Garnet and Amethyst to fight of the rockslide. Steven and Pearl roll down the slope of the mountain, and upon impact with landing, the bubble pops. Steven rubs his head and looks at Pearl in horror. A pointed branch has gone through her gut. Breaking the branch, she picks herself up. She's in terrible pain, but she doesn't want to show it to Steven. Her Gem is cracked and she's badly injured, desperately needing to retreat to her Gem, but she also needs to protect Steven. In fact, she doesn't even know if she can retreat to her gem. It's been cracked and that's incredibly dangerous. He's just a kid, and can barely summon his weapon. He'll die out here if she leaves him. It's never been done before, but she's going to have to fight off the need to go into her gem. She needs to find Garnet and Amethyst as soon as possible. But where are they?
They've been separated.