Chapter 8, crazy 8!

I don't own Steven Universe.


Chapter 8: Authority

Flint piloted silently on the bridge while they made their way to the kindergarten. Pink had gotten word from Peridot about something big and she and Blue Diamond had gone to her personal quarters to discuss. With the loss of the rubies and the absence of Peridot and Pearl the ship felt hollow. They had picked up Agate and her rubies but Blue had ordered them to wait in the cargo hold area until they arrived back on the colony's command center.

Amethyst was nearby, fiddling with something on the monitor. They hadn't really talked about their joining since it happened and the tension hung in the air.

Not that there was anything strictly against it mind you, it had been a quartz fusing with another quartz. However, that was a problem in itself. See, rubies fused together because they needed to, without the ability to summon a substantial weapon, like a quartz could, they relied on fusion to become bigger more formidable warriors. Using the tactics of fusion, of low class rubies of all things was something that was beneath them, a cheap gimmick that real gem warriors had no need of. But in a moment of weakness, of hopelessness and acceptance of fate… they had.

Amethyst finally gave a big sigh and stepped away from the console, the monitor in front of her going dark, and walked over to her grey-hued friend. Flint heard her approach, giving a little look over her shoulder before focusing back on the controls. The purple quartz rubbed the back of her head looking down to the floor and to her left, avoiding eye contact for a few moments before speaking up. "So… we… uh… we almost there?" she asked.

Flint knew that wasn't what she came over to talk about but played along anyways, not particularly eager to discuss the real issue either. "Yeah… we … should be there pretty soon."

"Good… good… that's great." Amethyst said slowly.

Silence

It was Flint's turn to sigh as she pressed the auto-pilot button and turned around to face Amethyst fully. "Alright, let's talk." She looked down at the floor for moment before looking up at Amethyst. "What happened back there, what we did… I mean I thought you and I were going to shatter but then we didn't shatter we… we…" she trailed off.

"…fused." Amethyst finished.

"Right…"

Silence again.

"Did… you like it?" Amethyst asked, tentatively.

Flint almost jerked at that question, looking to Amethyst in a shocked and confused way. But, the instant that question had entered her mind it brought her mind right back to that moment. She had felt… strange to say the least. It was like she was losing herself but not in a bad way, more like she was transforming into something greater and had to leave her old self behind.

But like it? Had she liked it?

The sensation had been different and strange… alien even… but… yes. It had been pleasurable, amazing if she had was being completely honest. To be that tall and that strong and powerful, even for only a brief time, had been incredible.

But it still wasn't done, not for them. She was sure neither of the Diamonds had seen them. Still, if any other quartzes found out about it… she had better stop this before it went any further.

"Look maybe it's better if we just… pretend it never happened." Flint said finally.

Amethyst looked taken aback by this. "What?"

Flint stepped up and away from the controls now only a foot away from Amethyst. "Look at us Amethyst. We're quartzes for crying out loud!" she said. "The elite fighting force of the Diamonds, not some little ruby punks who need fusion as a crutch!"

Amethyst's look of shock twisted to one of anger. "Is that all you have to say about it?!" she shouted. "That just because we're quartzes we shouldn't fuse if we feel like it?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Flint shouted back. "Fusing is for lesser gems! Not for us!"

Amethyst crossed her arms. "What are you so worried about? That others will find out? So what?! What is the big deal?!"

"You know what the big deal is." Flint replied with a scowl.

Amethyst shook her head. "Forget it. Just forget I said anything." With that she walked out of the room, leaving Flint alone. The grey-hued gem sighed looking down to the floor before taking auto-pilot off and turning her attention back to the controls.


Meanwhile…


Blue paced about, now back in her usual robes, as Pink sat in a chair watching as her sister circled herself like a hungry predator. "Unacceptable." Blue said for about the billionth time since they'd got aboard. Well not that word specifically, but usually it or one of its synonyms such as intolerable, deplorable, impossible, etc.

"Blue, you need to calm down." Pink said, a look of worry on her face.

"Calm down?!" Blue asked. "Something or someone has just come up and totally destroyed one of my colony's facilities! Then they wiped the surveillance footage to cover their tracks! Someone is challenging my authority here and I will not have it!" she said stomping hard on the floor, leaving a dent with the heel and causing some ice to form.

"Granted. But shouting isn't going to solve anything." Pink said. It was funny, when she was with one of her sisters usually she was the one throwing a fit, now here she was telling Blue to settle.

She wondered briefly if this was what it was like to be White Diamond.

Blue finally took a breath in a huff, crossing her arms and gripping them tightly.

"Look my Peridot found something useful. With some luck we'll be able to find something out." Pink said optimistically.

Blue just looked away, a scowl upon her features.

"And you know you shouldn't blame that Agate or those rubies either." Pink added.

Blue turned the scowl to her. "That is not your concern, sister, it's mine."

"It's not their fault." Pink argued.

"It is their fault." Blue countered. "They're soldiers Pink, it's what they do. If they can't do their job and fight what good are they?"

"And just what good would it have done for them to go out and get shattered?" Pink asked. "That thing took out an entire facility by itself, and most of the other gems you sent and you would still have had them try and fight it."

"Like I said, it's their job Pink, it's what they were made for," Blue replied.

Now it was Pink's turn to fold her arms. "They deserve better than to be punished for failing an impossible task."

Blue narrowed her eyes. "Sister, you are stepping way out of line. These are my soldiers. My gems. I will do with them as I see fit."

There was a silence between the two before Pink finally sighed and looked away. She stared up towards the ceiling, as if suddenly finding great interest in the little orb that hung there and gave the room its light. The intercom came over just then. "We are approaching the kindergarten docking bay, my Diamonds."


Within a few minutes Pink, Blue, Amethyst and Flint all got off the ship and made their way towards the great divide of the kindergarten. There they saw Pearl and Peridot sitting outside… next to the flaming command center of the kindergarten.

Blue Diamond looked up to the flaming structure then back down to them, her eyes narrowing, her teeth clenching. Pink looked to her sister with a look of dread, stars, not another tantrum. Blue let out a quick release of breath through her nose and asked. "What. Happened?"

Pearl spoke up. "My Diamond I-"

Blue Diamond turned her gaze to her. "I wasn't asking you serving girl. I'm asking the kindergartener."

Pearl seemed to shrink away as Peridot spoke, slowly and carefully. "You see, my Diamond." She said starting slowly. "We found this… machine and it was doing something to the kindergarten and then we got ahold of it and then… well… it exploded."

Blue looked back to the flaming structure and with a large inhale blew out a long breath that quelled the flames instantly, leaving only billowing smoke. She turned to Pink Diamond. "I do hope your gems have something more substantial to offer than a weak little story. Otherwise, I might have to punish them for ruining my kindergarten."

"I wouldn't say ruined, my Diamond. It's still mostly-" Peridot began but was silenced instantly by Blue's icy gaze which while not seen still ripped through Peridot's body like a cold wind.

Pink then spoke up. "So what did you find?" she asked.

The green gem produced a small metal casing from her person. "I got the hard drive from the machine that attacked us, it could have some useful information on it. And this was deep inside the exit holke we found." She said holding up the petri dish with the liquid inside.

"Tell me, how did it come to pass that yet another one of my facilities had to be destroyed?" Blue asked.

"When we disabled the machine and accessed its hard drive, there was a failsafe. It self-destructed." Peridot explained.

"If the machine exploded after the hard drive was removed I imagine you were in close proximity to this machine. How were you not caught in the resulting explosion?" Blue questioned.

"I… I honestly don't know, my Diamond." The green gem said truthfully. "One minute we were about to get caught in the explosion and the next we were out here." She said waving an arm to her surroundings. Pearl seemed to further look away and to the ground at the explanation of their escape and Blue was about to question her when Pink Diamond stepped up.

"The important thing is that you're safe." Pink diamond cut in, earning a glare form her sister. "And that you have important information about this incident of course."

Blue simply rolled her eyes at this and picked up the hard drive with one hand and the petri dish with another, holding them between her fingers. She then turned to her sister. "We should tell the others what has happened here." She held up the little device. "And have these looked at."


Later…


Blue Diamond entered the command center for the colony along with Pink and her crew. She had ordered Agate and the rubies away, to be summoned again at a later time. She looked down to a Chrysolite. "You." She ordered and the gem snapped to attention. "Take these and have them analyzed I want the data off this as soon as possible." She said handing the petri dish and the hard drive over as the chrysolite ran off with them.

Pink whispered to her sister. "Perhaps my Peridot should go with her, she could help."

"I hardly think that's necessary, but do as you wish." Blue replied.

Pink gave Peridot a nod and the green gem nodded back in understanding, running after the chrysolite.

"Let's go, it's time to call our sisters." Blue said as she and Pink stepped onto a platform and it began to rise until they found themselves in a high secluded room. Blue pressed the console in front of them and waited. Within moments Two voices asked the same question almost simultaneously. "This is the Yellow/White Diamond control room, on whose authority are you making this call?" Came the voices of the respective pearls.

"My own, you half-wits!" Blue snapped.

The pearls both seemed to jump at this, taken aback somewhat. The white pearl immediately answered back. "Connecting you now." She replied. The yellow pearl was a little apprehensive though. "Forgive me, my Diamonds. Yellow Diamond has requested to not be disturbed."

Blue turned her attention to her while White's screen went momentarily blank. "Listen to me, you insignificant little gem. You will connect me and you will connect me now." Blue ordered putting emphasis on the last word. The yellow pearl paled and did as she was told, looking incredibly weary as she did so.

As Yellow's screen went blank now Pink and Blue saw as their sister White appeared on screen. "Blue Diamond, and…" she turned her attention to their youngest sister. "…why am I not surprised?"

"Hey, White." Pink said as she waved a hand, White Raised a brow but her frown remained.

"So, what trouble have you gotten yourself into now?" White asked.

"What makes you say that?" Pink asked back.

"Let's call it a track record with you."

Pink rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "C'mon now that seems-"

"Oh my stars! We'll be at this all day!" Blue shouted from Pink's side, pushing her out of the way and taking the center of White's screen. "Look White, that corruption you said wasn't spreading, well it spread, it's here!" Blue shouted.

White held up a hand. "Calm yourself sister. Just-" Yellow's screen brightened just then and Yellow Diamond herself appeared, looking agitated, though if this was more than usual it was hard to tell.

"Blue Diamond. I hope this is important I was in the middle of-" Yellow stopped as she noticed PD behind her. "Pink? What are you doing there?"

White voice called in. "Yellow is that you?"

Yellow gave a further surprise look. "White? Yes, it's me."

White looked away from her screen for a moment. "Hang on." She seemed to be pressing a few buttons on screen when a light appeared to her side as did one to Yellow's side. "There now we can all see each other."

"Anyways!" Blue said attempting to get the conversation back on track. "Like I was saying we were under an attack."

"Attack? By whom?" Yellow asked.

"Corrupted gems." Pink cut in.

Yellow turned to her side, presumably where White's monitor was. "Told her about those, did you?"

"More like I had to find out on my own." Pink corrected, crossing her arms and frowning. "No thanks to any of you."

"At any rate there's more. This time we have proof that this wasn't an isolated incident." Blue continued.

"Oh?" Yellow Diamond said.

"There was an attack on one of this colony's power facilities. Something wiped the data there and destroyed it along with all the gems I had there." Blue explained.

"That something also sabotaged the kindergarten here." Pink continued. "My gems were able to subdue the saboteur and gain access to some important data."

"Who was this saboteur?" White asked.

"They claim it was some sort of machine." Blue replied. "They recovered a hard drive that we hope will contain some clues to what is going on."

"They also found some sort of strange liquid there." Pink added.

"So if you haven't any solid leads, then why have you contacted us?" Yellow asked.

"Because we're about to get a lead Yellow!" Blue exclaimed. "We're going to need forces to attack once we've determined where this corruption is coming from and who's causing it."

"It is a good plan, Yellow." White said, injecting her opinion. "if we can finally find out the cause of this corruption we can end it once and for all."

Yellow seemed to frown and shift her standing position but said nothing. Pink was about to speak up when Blue's communicator rung. "What is it?" she asked into the little device.

"My Diamonds, you are going to want to see this." Came the shrill reply of the chrysolite.

"Understood." Blue said into the mouth piece. "We'll send you the data as soon as we can. Blue Diamond, out." With that the two screens went blank.

"Come, let's see what secrets we've gained." Blue said leading her sister.


Blue and Pink entered a large monitor room where Pink's Peridot and Blue's Chrysolite were working.

Chrysolite turned and saluted at the presence of her Diamond, Peridot did the same with Pink. "My Diamonds you are going to really love this." The former said, a large grin on her face.

"I had better." Blue replied.

The yellow-green gem turned around and pressed a few buttons on the console behind her and the monitor flickered to life, streams of data showing on screen. "The hard drive that was recovered had been heavily encrypted but our systems have almost got it solved." She crossed her arms in a satisfied and smug way. "Any moment now all the data will be ours."


A great many lightyears away…


A figure watched many monitored with interest when suddenly an alert prompt displayed. "045? I thought that unit self-destructed… how did they get… well, no matter. Let's see how you deal with this." She began to type wildly and swiftly command after command into her console.


Chrysolite watched with glee as the data began to reveal itself, but then it stopped. The moniter froze and blinked for a second. The grin dissipated in a hurry as worry took hold. "Oh, no." she accessed the console in front of her and the monitor responded albeit slowly. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no." Peridot, on her end of the console, also began typing and grit her teeth as she observed the data on the board.

The Diamonds noticed their sudden and panicked movement. "What is happening?" Blue asked.

"Something's wrong, my Diamond. The data, there must have been something in it." Chrysolite explained as she continued typing away.

"What do you mean? What's happening?" Blue asked.

"This server is being remotely hacked by an outside signal!" Peridot continued as she herself tried her best to remedy the situation. "If this continues they'll have complete access to our systems here, we'll be at their mercy!"

"Shut it down!" Blue ordered.

"But, my Diamond, if we shut it down now all the data on the hard drive will be lost!" Chrysolite explained.

The screen began to change just then, data began to pour in. "We're doing it! We're gaining back control. Tracing the signal source now…"


The figure continued to type away and frowned, showing her teeth as she clenched them tightly. "They're going to be able to trace us right back here." She then accessed different commands. "Not if I can help it."


Chrysolite sighed with relief. "All systems are nominal. The data is being sent now."

"No, something's not right." Peridot said accessing more commands on the console. "It's not sending the signal to the mainframe anymore it's trying to…" She widened her eyes and looked sharply to the hard drive where it was imbedded in the computer. "We need to get that thing out now!"

"No!" Chrysolite argued. "We're so close to isolating the signal source!" The monitor now flashed to a sector of the galaxy and was slowly isolating the signal source on screen.

"If we keep this thing in it could take out this entire room!" Peridot argued back, now reaching for it only to be stopped by Blue's large outstretched hand.

The little green gem almost went limp at the touch of Blue Diamond's might grip on her relatively tiny arm.

"Only a few more seconds…" Chrysolite said as the signal became closer and closer and the hard drive began to glow with a red-orange hue. Blue eyed the screen hungrily. "Almost… almost…"

"Oh! Enough of this!" Pink said stepping up and knocking her sister aside. She yanked the hard drive out of the console and bubbled it before kicking it hard into the air above them. The pink ball slammed into the ceiling and broke through, continuing to rise until it exploded in the air above them.

Chrysolite looked to the screen unhappily, the trace had been incomplete. "An exact place cannot be determined from this data my Diamond, but it was isolated to a small sector of space."

Blue Diamond got from the floor stepping right up to her sister. "What do you think you are doing?!" she demanded.

"You mean besides saving what we already have as well as our own lives?!" Pink argued back.

"We could have put an end to this!" Blue shouted.

"Open your eyes Blue!" Pink shouted back. "If I hadn't acted just now this whole room would have been dust!"

Blue continued to glare at her sister but then turned back to Chrysolite. "Well?! Is that all?!"

Chrysolite shrunk back at this. "W-we were able to get some other useful data from the robonoid's hard drive. Several of its last orders, specifically relating to corruption."

"Those last orders also have to do with what I've found." Peridot said as she took out the white liquid. She stuck a finger on it and held it up, it began to drip. "This liquid… it's primordial gel."

Blue was practically stunned into silence as Pink looked to her. She had heard the term somewhere but couldn't remember where. 'That's impossible. The only place to get that is…"

"On Homeworld, yes my Diamond, I know." Peridot said gravely.

"What's the big deal?" Pink asked.

Blue looked to her with shock. "Sister, do you know so little? Primordial gel is what all gems come from! It's what allowed the first gems to be grown hundreds of thousands of years ago!"

Now it hit her, like a wave of knowledge the information came rushing back to her. The Primordial gel was what allowed gems to gain their physical form from normal stone. But in time, after much expanding, they had nearly run the Homeworld's supply dry so a synthesized gel was made. While it had a lower yield for what would be considered "perfect" gems, its supply was nearly inexhaustible. Now, Primordial gel was kept locked away, only to be used when the synthesized gel that was being made got too low in its primordial gel content.

"How can that be here?" Pink asked.

"I have no idea my Diamond, but that's not even the worst part." Peridot continued. "Someone has altered the structure of the primordial gel as well, it too has been corrupted."

"Explain." Blue ordered.

"Normally, my Diamond, unaltered primordial gel can create a perfect gem within a year, while the synthesized version takes several." She said, looking away from them and back to her finger, still dripping with the white ooze. "But this stuff can pop a gem in weeks, days and I suspect, within hours." She looked back to them. "But without the great time a gem needs to properly form they come out wrong, angry, and corrupted."

"Heresy. Who would dare to try and do this?" Blue asked aloud.

"We need to act fast, Blue. I'll get to Homeworld and ask White about this." Pink said.

"Very well, I'll send the data we collected to White and Yellow and investigate with Yellow this sector of space we managed to track this signal to." Blue replied.

"I'll meet with you as soon as I can." Pink said. "I wish you luck sister."

"And you, sister." Blue said as Pink left the room with Peridot.


Later…


Pink once again found herself in front of the Diamond's throne room doors and Pushed them open as Pearl followed behind. Instead of finding White at her throne she was standing in the middle, awaiting her youngest sister, her pearl by her side.

"Do you have it?" White asked. Pink held out the petri dish and showed the liquid, White narrowed her eyes. "I didn't want to believe this." She stood in the center and motioned for Pink and her pearl to join her.

The platform in the middle began to descend, slowly at first but picked up speed. Pink didn't even know that the platform in the middle moved like this. They reached the bottom and found a cave-like tunnel stretching out in front of them. White lead the way as they reached a large dome-like, rocky, room. Before them lying in a large crater-like pit was a bubbling ooze of white, the primordial gel. A single small pipe lead into the crater, and out through the roof of the cave. "This is the chamber where we keep the primordial gel." White explained. "A single tube is there to siphon it off when needed, but the only way it can be accessed is from my console."

Pink looked to the ooze in the pit and then to the dish she held in her hands. "Yes I can see it now, this is… duller and has something in it that that shouldn't have."

White moved closer to the crater and seemed to be eyeing the rim when her eyes widened. "No…" she said slowly. "No, this cannot be."

Pink stepped up and looked to White. "What is it?"

White got ever closer to the edge of the crater and looked down, narrowing her eyes. "Someone has taken the gel." White seemed to shake, her teeth gritting. "Someone has taken the gel…" she repeated slowly.

Pink could feel the animosity begin to ooze off of White and took an involuntary step backwards. "White?"

White looked past her sister and gazed squarely at pearl. "The only other one who could have known about this… was you." The pearl paled as White walked over to her, gazing down with intensity.

Pink quickly stepped between White and the pearl. "Sister, you can't seriously think your pearl could turn on you."

White turned her gaze to her sister. "There is no other explanation. She is the only one who could have known about this." She began to step to the side of Pink.

Pink stepped in her way again. "You don't think this bears more investigation? At least let her say something in her defense?"

White sighed. "Very well. I-" Her face dropped and Pink gave a look of confusion at the action. She turned around and watched as the pearl entered the lift and was out of sight. White looked to her sister again. "Seems she has decided to plead guilty."

The pearl ran fast, sprinting out of the spire and quickly entering a small ship. She accessed the pilot's controls and flew off into the sky. She quickly got to the communicator and entered a complicated series of commands into it. Within seconds a dark figure appeared on screen.

"Pearl?" She asked. "What are you doing? You know that-"

"Spinel! Listen! The Diamonds have found me out! There's no time to-"

An alert sounded through the ship and Pearl looked towards the warning signal. The ship's radar showed as an energy surge quickly closing in and Pearl's eyes widened as the beam over took her. The ship exploded into pieces and rained down from the sky.

White Diamond lowered her hand, still watching the cloud of smoke and debris in the sky as Pink and her own pearl looked on. "I believe it's time I took this matter into my own hands."


Spinel watched as the monitor in front of her went to static. She pressed a button and it went dark. She breathed deeply, calming her stirring emotions and entered a few more commands into the console. Three monitors lit up with faces. "Onyx, Zircon, Diopside, Pearl is gone."

"…I see." Said Onyx, a dark gem with short razor-cut hair.

Diopside, the green-hued gem with long, curled hair gritted her teeth with anger. "No! No… not another one… why?"

Zircon, a dark red gem with neck-length hair said nothing.

"There's more, the Diamonds are getting close to finding us." Spinel continued.

"Let them!" Diopside shouted. "The sooner I can get at them the sooner they can pay."

"That's enough Diopside." Onyx said in a calm, smooth voice. "Spinel, how close are they?"

"They'll be in our quadrant soon."

"Then let's be sure to give them a warm welcome." Onyx replied.

"Down with all of them!" Diopside said. "Down with the Diamonds!"


Done! So… sorry about the Dr. Claw ending in the last chapter also tweaked the fight, hope this one fairs a little better for you.