Hey, I'm sorry I haven't been able to send chapters out at my usual rate. Something happened that I don't want to talk about and then it was mixed with Thanksgiving. It's been very busy. Anyway, I don't own Steven Universe or its characters, ideas, ect. Leave a review on what you think will improve the story. And also, there is a choice that YOU have to make in this chapter. And what you choose will alter the story for better or worse. So choose wisely. Anyway, see you later.

God bless, JPLegends

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Higher Priority

"What was that," Steven yelled out, as the flaming remains of the ship fall onto the mountains. "That was awesome! Who was she? She looked like-Pearl? Do you know who she is?" Steven turned to Pearl, who looked both shocked and in awe. She looked at Steven and shook her head. The boy frowned in disappointment. Who was the gem? She looks extremely powerful. She could be an asset to the Crystal Gems. Where did she run off to? It makes no sense. Soren and Amethyst appeared, walking up the mountain. Soren looked tense, and also excited. "Soren, did you know who that gem was?" Steven asked. Soren looked at him, and smiled. Wait, Soren is smiling. Okay, the world is officially ending.

"A Pearl," He said, looking at everyone with a fire in his eyes. "A genetically modified Pearl. With the ability to control Plasma!" Pearl widened her eyes in shock.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. She looked disgusted.

"A gem project," Soren said, pulling up a profile from his gauntlet. "A genetic project was made to make gem super soldiers about one hundred years ago. It was created from a spliced version of Pearl and Agate, and was experimented on to create a perfectly stable forced fusion," Steven saw Garnet shiver for a second. "It was successful. And was continued to be upgraded for an even more powerful gem. As the years went on, the experiments continued with even more gems. Each one was not as successfully spliced as this one." Suddenly, a light bulb flared within Steven's head. The other Gem Experiments, the ones that Garnet and him discovered at Facet Five. They were the failed experiments to follow up this one. It all made sense now.

"It wiped out the ship in one fell swoop," Soren continued. "Imagine how powerful we could be with her on our side," Soren took a more serious persona after taking a deep breath. "We need to recruit her. ASAP. Let's get moving."

"What," Pearl asks, sounding shocked. "We need to go invade Tokyo! The Skywatcher has to have come out of Tokyo to investigate! At least by now, it has! We need to be able to catch the gems off guard! We need this foothold in Japan! And there are innocent human lives being held hostage there! We can't just leave them behind!" Soren looked at her, looking surprised. Steven looked at both of them, worried there was going to be a fight. But instead Soren just looked at her then talked.

"Having this gem is a coup," Soren argued. "Imagine our chances of winning the war with her on our side. Right now, she's a wild card. We cannot afford the gems capturing her. By then, our strongest potential weapon in the war will be lost!"

"If we go after that gem, our chances of going to Tokyo undetected will be lost!" Pearl argued. The tension was high between the two, and Steven thought both points in the argument were valid. But there was one problem.

"Can't we go attack Tokyo and find the gem at the same time?" Steven asked.

"No, we can't," Garnet said. "Our military strength is too low. If we send half of our troops to Tokyo, it'll be much too little to even stand a chance against the gems. And you saw how powerful that gem is. If the persuasion goes south, we won't have enough man power to take her out. And the gems alone won't take her out. Remember what happened when we first met Lapis?" Steven couldn't argue with that. But this was such a predicament. Would they sacrifice saving lives for a powerful weapon, or sacrifice a powerful weapon to save potentially thirty-two million lives? You do one, and the possibility is you will not be able to do the other one at all.

"What do you think, Garnet?" Steven asked.

"We need to go to Tokyo," the gem said. "We won't have a foothold in this war if we go after the gem. And a gem that powerful? Going after her is suicide. The only thing we can do about her is hope she targets the right people." Amethyst looks at Garnet with disbelief.

"Garnet, we need this gem on our side," She says. "We could have the chance to infiltrate the Skywatcher with her on our side, and maybe Tokyo!"

"Amethyst, don't argue with me." Garnet says, calmly as usual. Steven saw a rift in the gems before him. What would they do? Soren grunted and pulled out the hologram of the map of the Himalayas, with the Skywatcher nearby their position.

"Well, we don't have time to discuss this," Soren said. "The Skywatcher is nearby and if we don't get moving, we'll die trying to escape. You need to trust me!" At this point, Pearl snapped.

"NO ONE TRUSTS YOU, SOREN," She yells. "You're a homeworld gem that turned on the homeworld! You might turn on us!"

"What are you talking about," Soren yelled. "I fed you information! I killed a gem! I saved Steven's life! I have every right to be trusted!"

"You nearly killed Steven," Pearl yelled. "You act you want to work with us! Garnet, meanwhile, was nearly shattered and you just threw her gems!"

"I trusted you to catch them!"

"Liar!"

"Argh!" Soren pulled out his swords and lunged at Pearl. At the same time, Pearl pulled out her pear and took up a fighting stance. Before anything could happen, Steven and Connie jumped in the way. Steven used his shield to block Soren's strike and Connie held Pearl at her sword's point. There was tension for at least a minute. And then, Pearl laughed.

"Haha," She said. "I proved it! He can't be trusted! He attacked me!" Steven grunted and spun around. Pearl took a step back at the sudden movement.

"Pearl, you provoked him!" He yelled.

"But he…"

"No, don't argue with me! You took the argument too far! And Soren! You need to watch your temper!"

"But…" Soren said this time.

"NO! There is a war happening! There is a giant six-fingered hand coming to kill us! This is not the time to turn against each other! I choose where we go! And we're going to…"

Fill in the blank. Leave a vote, and think about this! Have fun! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

God bless, JPLegends