"Antenna." Peridot held out a hand as they sat on a chair by the counter. The centipeedle fished through a collection of spare parts and picked up the desired component with the tip of its jaws.
They gave it to Peridot, who stuck it in place. "Gold."
With a happy grunt, they scampered over and dribbled some of the melted substance on the base of the antenna.
"Duct tape." The green Gem stuck their hand in their companion's white mane and drew out a half full/empty roll. It pulled at little on the hair as it came away, earning a pained yelp. "I'm sorry."
Peridot covered their face with a makeshift welding mask and ripped off a healthy chunk of duct tape, placing it carefully over the hot gold. A dark smoke began to trail in wisps away from the site but the two remained calm, having seen this happen before with no adverse results.
After a second, the smoking stopped. The green Gem pulled the mask away from their face, frowning down at the contraption they had created.
It looked disappointingly primitive. Bits of gold and duct tape stuck out every which way and the screen they had borrowed from Steven's mobile device had been cracked. The audio speaker collected from a music player was taped very off centre, and the entire thing smelled that bit burnt.
Still, if they had designed it properly it should still work. Peridot picked it up with two hands and fiddled with the buttons. After a second the screen turned a bright white, much to their excitement. Then they leaned forwards and spoke:
"This is Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, performing a test on the Diamond Communicator prototype. Do you hear me?"
For a second, nothing happened. And then the nearby home phone on the kitchen counter clicked into life:
"This is Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, performing a test on the Diamond Communicator prototype. Do you hear me?" After it delivered the message, it continued playing a static noise.
Peridot's eyes widened, and they looked to the centipeedle. "We did it, didn't we?"
The centipeedle yelped excitedly, scratching at the counter.
"We did it, didn't we?" The phone parroted.
"Nya, shut up for now!" The green Gem hit the off button on the communicator and the static stopped at once. "I can't believe we actually did it. Technically speaking, we're nearly done with this whole project. All I need is the radio wave enhancer chip, and I can contact Yellow Diamond to stop the Cluster!"
Then the smile was wiped off their face.
"All I need is the radio wave enhancer chip, and I can contact Yellow Diamond to stop the Cluster... But how?!" They looked through the broken house to the ocean; that monster had stopped laughing, but they had made their presence well known. "I could go get my limb enhancers in my escape pod, but that that thing is still out there."
They shuddered at the thought of those chilling laughs. Before they could continue, the centipeedle turned and began walking out of the house.
"What are you doing, you clod?!" Peridot raced to stop them. "Don't you remember what happened the last time we went outside? The ocean? The human skull? Your ridiculous game of throwing and returning? It's pure madness out there!"
The centipeedle slipped between their legs and jumped down into the sand, before turning and gazing back up at the house. Peridot pulled at their hair, wildly gesticulating for their companion to return before something bad happened.
The green Gem painfully watched them turn around and pad down the beach, almost out of sight. Indecision gripped Peridot for a couple of agonising seconds before they quickly turned and grabbed the communicator, calling 'wait for me!' as they struggled to catch up.
By the time they had reached the centipeedle, they were nearing the doughnut store. Peridot stared at it for a good few seconds, fascinated by the design.
"What is that giant torus doing on the top of the structure?" They wondered out loud. "And why are the windows shattered? Is that some sort of strange human fashion?"
Judging by the other buildings, it was.
Another thing they found strange as they entered the town was the complete lack of people. The two crossed streets littered with shards of glass and the occasional car accident, houses with doors left wide open, all the signs of life without actual life itself. Even with the green Gem's limited knowledge of humans and their behaviour, they knew this to be abnomal.
Eventually they reached a building with a large concrete entrance leading up to an L-shaped building. It had two closed garage doors and a greyed out neon logo of an elephant and the words 'It's A Wash'. Parked in front was a rather colourful van with the word 'UNIVERSE' readable from a distance.
Peridot frowned. "That vehicle looks... familiar. We should investigate further."
The two plainly walked up to the van, inspecting the sides with focused curiosity.
"'Mr Universe'." The green Gem read, looking to the centipeedle. "'Mr' is an honorific in the Earthen language for an adult male, and I do remember Steven's full name to include 'Universe'. I remember now, at Steven's birthday: this man called Greg, Steven's dad, showed up in this van!"
Rather pleased at this detective work, they put their hands on their hips and allowed a satisfied silence to hang for a couple seconds – just long enough to hear a loud snore coming from inside the vehicle.
Peridot jumped and let out a squeak, which they quickly covered up with their own hand. Standing on the metal step attached to the van's front door, they peered in the window and discovered Greg sleeping behind the wheel.
As soon as the green Gem saw this, the man stirred from their sleep, looking around their surroundings confusedly. They ducked down, looking to the centipeedle.
"Run." They hissed, and took one step off the van. The step was much longer than they expected, causing them to grab onto the side of the van for safety. They still fell and faceplanted on the concrete, getting up just in time to see the van door swing open.
The man got out of their vehicle and stared down at Peridot and the centipeedle. "What the-"
"Run!" Peridot squeaked, fearing capture. However, their little legs made it easy for Greg to catch up and grab them by the shoulder.
"Let me go, you human!" They hissed. The centipeedle turned and started growling, saliva running freely down their jaw and dissolving the pavement beneath.
"Whoa, hold on a minute!" Greg kneeled on the concrete, still holding the green Gem's shoulder. "You're Peridot, right? I thought the Crystal Gems put you in the temple after you tried to contact Yellow Diamond."
Peridot groaned and - seeing no other option - turned around to face the human. "...Yes. What's it to you, Earthling? Are you going to take me to the Crystal Gems and bubble me again?"
"No, no!" The human quickly reassured them. "I mean, I would've taken you to them, but they're all gone."
The centipeedle stopped growling, but Peridot was still suspicious. "What are you talking about? Are they on a mission? Is Steven with them?"
"Not exactly." Greg scratched their head. "Steven's safe at Connie's. It's... Well, it's a long story."
Peridot crossed their arms, glaring silently at the human as a sign to start.
Greg sighed and cleared their throat. "Well, I was at my car wash when all of a sudden this giant water hand appeared out of the sea. I didn't want to get involved, but I did drive down to see if the Gems were okay."
"That sounds exceedingly stupid."
"Hey, as long as I have the van I'm pretty safe! Anyway, they were losing pretty badly against this Malachite. I saw Pearl get caught by one of the giant hands and pulled down to I dunno where..." The human stopped to shudder. "Scary stuff."
The green Gem leaned forwards. "Continue."
"Well, the monster left Steven alone and started attacking the town. It was dragging people off into the sea like crazy, so I grabbed my son and went around offering a ride outta here to people. I drove for ages away from Beach City, and when we watched the news we found out Malachite had been doing that to all the coastal cities."
Peridot raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you return?"
"Well, NORAD's tracking Malachite. She suddenly started heading back this way so they did some smart math and saw she was coming directly towards Beach City. I just wanted to make sure there weren't any survivors... but I think I was a little too tired from the journey." Greg looked over at Peridot and took their hand off the Gem's shoulder. "Did you see anybody else 'round town?"
"No, I did not." The centipeedle groaned, letting their guard down, and Greg looked as though they wanted to ask about it. "Tell me, human. How do we know if this Malachite is coming?"
Greg opened his mouth, but that was when a low, ear splitting roar shook the town. The human covered their ears, and next to them the van's windows shattered.
It was coming from the ocean.