Hello, guys! Sorry I haven't updated my other story. I've fallen deeper into the mysterious abyss of Ocarina of Time, because I've never had a childhood. I'll try to do it more often. No back to business. Nobody left any input on what they think should happen at Connie's house, so I left it to my partner's opinion. Please, I want you to have a form of control over how this story goes. So leave suggestions to what you think should happen. Anyway, no flaming or trolling. I don't own Steven Universe or its characters, ideas, ect. Constructive criticism is welcomed also. Read and enjoy!

God bless, JPLegends

CHAPTER THREE: LAYING AMBUSH

Steven usually had a hyper, positive outlook on every situation. But now, he was as serious as ever. How could he be happy when he knew that there was death and destruction everywhere? And now seven billion lives are riding on his victory. Looking back, he wondered how the people in Beach City were treated. Were they being held prisoner? Were they being executed? If they died, Steven would do everything in his power to make sure they went down as martyrs.

They finally arrived in the suburban area where Connie lives after what seemed like an eternity of silence, and surprisingly, it was still intact. The lights were off but the transformers were functional. At this point, everyone knew what Earth was going through. They were hiding. Greg's van halted outside of complex 425: the Maheswaran residence. Greg, Steven and the gems leaped out of the van and ran for Connie's house. Steven banged at the door, saying "Connie, It's Steven!" Mr. Maheswaren opened the door and looked at them. He stood aside, letting them in. He closed and locked the door behind them.

Steven was suddenly hit by something when his head was exploring. He looked to see Connie hugging him. She then pulled back, saying "Steven, thank God you're okay! How bad is it in Beach City?"

"Bad," Steven said, tears welling in his eyes. "The temple's destroyed. We got out by the skin of our teeth." Connie put her hands on her mouth. They, minus Connie's parents, knew that the day would come. They just hadn't expect it to come so quickly. And they certainly hadn't expected the scale.

"Why haven't they attacked us?" Dr. Maheswaran asks, a worried look in her eye.

"They're focusing on the bigger cities first," Pearl says, producing a hologram of Earth, with an 'x' where the gems have attacked to their knowledge. "London, Moscow, Tokyo and Chicago have already gone dark. And that's just the ones I know of. Because they've attacked Beach City, they've started moving on to smaller areas."

"They're blasting away everything that moves," Amethyst says, looking away, her fists balled. "All of Beach City is held captive."

"Why?" Mr. Maheswaran says, suddenly furious.

"We'll explain later," Steven says. "For now we need to…"

"Quiet!" Garnet barks. They start hearing distant sounds of mechanical pods, metal scraping ground. Then there is a number of footsteps, and another unidentifiable sound. Then Garnet yells "TAKE COVER!" kicking a table as a flurry of lasers start blasting and carving their way in the home. Steven, Greg, the gems and the Maheswarans take cover behind the table, which is already turning to shambles.

Steven vaults over the table and focuses on the time Connie almost got stabbed by a Holo-Pearl in her training. The feeling of protection goes straight to his gem, which forms a massive pink shield, which deflects the lasers from the table. Twenty seconds pass with Steven's shield up, until the barrage of lasers halts. Steven collapses his shield, and falls to his knees, panting. "Garnet, they're armed," Steven says. "How many are there?"

"Seven or eight." Garnet responds. Steven looks over his shoulder to see Connie sobbing, Dr. Maheswaran shivering and Mr. Maheswaran paralyzed with fear. They weren't cut out for this, and neither was Greg. He was hyperventilating. He needed to find a way to get them out of the house safely.

"Connie, Dad, Mr. and Dr. Maheswarn; listen carefully," Steven said. "Go upstairs and don't make a sound. Find a way out of the house and get into Greg's van as soon as you hear fighting. Once you are there, stay inside and don't move. Now go! Hurry!" The four bolted up the stairs and the gems joined him in front of the table.

"Noble move, shrimp," Amethyst said, proudly. "What's our plan?"

"Come outside and surrender, Rose Quartz," A metallic voice booms. "I am Gem Lieutenant Obsidian. I'd like you to know who killed you at the end of tonight. Come out or we go in!" None of the team moved. Instead, they summoned their weapons. They were ready to fight. There was a cackle and then the door exploded. Through the black cloud, they saw six gem soldiers, Peridot and a large soldier in green armor and a black cape, a large chunk of obsidian on his solar plexus. Peridot had her hand canon armed, the soldiers had their pistols, and Obsidian had a large trident-like weapon.

Steven and his team wasted no time. Garnet went in for Obsidian, Pearl bolted for Peridot, and Steven and Amethyst attacked the soldiers. There was a flurry of lasers going everywhere, Steven's shield only covered by the team's nimbleness and agility. Steven managed to poof two soldiers, Amethyst three, when Garnet went flying into a wall. Amethyst poofed the last soldier when Steven's attention was averted to Obsidian about to impale a stunned Garnet. Steven then threw the shield at Obsidian's head, knocking off the helmet.

"You noble little man," Obsidian said, closing in on Steven. "I like your attitude! You've got guts! Too bad I've got to smash them to pieces." Obsidian had purple-grey skin, with black sclera, purple iris and a black pupil for his eyes. His hair was close-cropped and grey. Steven looked around. Pearl was occupied with Peridot and Amethyst was trying to get Garnet on her feet. He was on his own. He summoned another shield and blocked Obsidian's trident thrust. He managed to swerve around Obsidian's attack, which was difficult, seeing as Steven only went up to Obsidian's ab region. Steven managed to step behind the tall warrior and hit the back of his knee. Obsidian dropped, which allowed Steven to crash his shield to the back of Obsidian's head. The warrior roared in response and pushed the boy back.

Obsidian closed in on the winded Steven, rage glistening in his eyes. But before he could do anything, Obsidian went flying all of the sudden when a massive leg crashed into his body. Steven saw the huge fusion Sugilite grinning with bloodlust. She then turned to Peridot and did the same as she did to Obsidian. Sugilite then unfused, to form Garnet and Amethyst. "They're only unconscious," Garnet said. "We need to go. Quickly!" They raced out of the house, past gem pods and to Greg's van. Inside were the Maheswarans and Greg, just as Steven told them to be.

Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl crawled in the back with the Maheswarans and Steven got in the front with Greg. "Go, Dad," Steven said, urgently. "Hurry!" Greg turned on the van and they raced out of the neighborhood, leaving 425 in shambles.

. . .

Steven, Greg, the gems and the Maheswarans were shaken by what had just gone down. And it was only followed by them going into a forest, where a warp pad was placed conveniently. They warped (with Mr. and Dr. Maheswaran stunned) to the Cliffside of Rose's Armory, which was three miles away. Thanks to Connie's helpful information saying that lions can hear for five miles, Steven bellowed "LION, WE'RE HERE!" And a pink portal appeared, Lion jumping through. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl jumped onto Lion's back, as Steven, Greg and the Maheswarans stayed in the pocket dimension within Lion's mane, with Steven's instructions to hold their breath and jump headfirst into the pink grass to get out after a few seconds. They were soon in the armory, the only safe place left.

"What is going on," Mr. Maheswaran roared. "Why are we here? What's invading Earth? What do you have to do with it?" He pointed to Steven and the gems.

"Connie, can you help Dad explain everything to them," Steven asked. "We have work to do." Connie nodded and started from the beginning: Steven. As this was going on, Steven walked up to the pillar and put his hand on it, summoning all the weapons. The gems looked around, all of them frustrated.

"These will never do," Pearl cried. "Their technology is too strong. We need actual weapons that can fight them. We need their technology! We need an inside source."

"What inside source is there," Amethyst asks. "Lapis is still stuck at the bottom of the sea. And even if we find her, she won't know anything. And Jasper is not going to talk."

"We need to focus at one thing at a time," Garnet says. "Our weapons work well against the gems, we don't need to worry about that now. Our priority right now is a form of fighting force."

"We don't have anything!" Amethyst yells.

"Yes we do," Garnet says, calmly. "We have four gem warriors, two experienced human soldiers, a medic and a driver." Steven knew that wasn't enough. The 'four gem warriors' couldn't win a war on their own. The 'Two experienced human fighters', Connie and Mr. Maheswaran, were weaker than they were, and Mr. Maheswaran might be reluctant to help. It was the same situation with the 'medic', Dr. Maheswaran. She is a very experienced doctor and surgeon, but the chances of her helping them are low. And the 'driver', Greg, only has a van.

"I know Connie and Dad will want to help," Steven says. "But what about Connie's parents?" He looked over, and as Connie explained, the parents looked more and more angry and shocked.

"They don't have a choice," Garnet says. "Right now, we're their best chance of survival."

"We still don't have any soldiers to fight a fight," Pearl says. "What do we do about that?"

"We free the populous of Beach City." Garnet says. Seven words could never sound more suicidal. Their best chance is Beach City, though. Defeated, they go back over to the others, who had finished talking.

"Boy," Connie's mother says to Steven. "I should file a restraining order on you."

"Please, Mom," Connie says. "Do you know how many times he's saved my life?"

"And do you know how many times she's saved mine," Steven asks. "You should be proud of her. Look, we need your help. Connie's a smart person and we need a plan…"

"You need a miracle," Connie's father interrupts. "What makes you think we'll help you after what Connie's told us?"

"You have no choice," Garnet says. "Earth is dead, and you won't last ten minutes out there without help. If you care about Earth, your daughter, then you'll help us fight."

The two looked at each other and sighed in defeat. "What do you want?" Mr. Maheswaran said.

"Beach City's population." Garnet says.

"You're insane!" Dr. Maheswaran barks.

"We need a way to fight, Doctor," Pearl says. "Beach City is our step forward in victory. And we need to escape with its population."

"You need guns," Mr. Maheswaran says. "And you don't have them."

"We don't need them," Pearl says. "Garnet, Amethyst and I will fight them enough for a distraction. And as their forces ae occupied, Steven and Connie sneak in with Lion and help them escape."

"Why Connie?" Dr. Maheswaran barks, putting an arm around Connie.

"Steven's weapon is defensive," Pearl explains. "We need someone with offensive capabilities to go with him. And I trained Connie in swordsmanship. She's mastered it."

"Or we could cause less of a ruckus," Connie suggests. "Sneak to the prisoners, take out the guards in the area and sneak them out. There's a chance all of us make it out alive instead of me and Steven."

"It would make it more difficult to escape," Pearl said. "It's a higher risk of losing the prisoners."

"We don't have time to debate anyways," Garnet says. "We'll decide on the way there. You two should stay here. Don't worry, the armory is a mystery to the gems. This is the safest place on Earth right now." And with that, they leave, going to free Beach City.

Wow, that was a long one. So, do they go with the aggressive rout or the stealthy rout? Based on your decision, there will be a certain amount of prisoners free. I don't own Steven Universe or its characters, ideas, ect. No flaming or trolling although constructive criticism is welcomed. I await your decision. See you next chapter, which will be on Wednesday. See you then.

God bless, JPLegends.