"The van!" Greg rubbed the sides, looking unhappily at the shattered windows. "Ah man, I just got them replaced."
Peridot was staring at the ocean, their eyes widening in fear. "Human, there are more important things to worry about than your vehicle!"
"What?" The human looked over towards the beach, where a large mane of white hair was rising out of the water. The centipeedle snarled. "Ooh, right. Everybody in the van; Malachite doesn't like going much beyond the coast!"
That was when the centipeedle suddenly darted forwards, foaming at the mouth and growling like a feral animal.
"Wait!" Peridot called, but they had already disappeared. Acting on instinct they bolted after them, ignoring Greg's shouts to come back.
The diamond communicator was still in their hand. They probably should have given it to Greg before they ran, but it was too late now.
Peridot turned and sprinted down a street that headed straight towards the beach. The centipeedle could be seen ahead, jumping over cars and weaving between debris like an acrobat. The green Gem was considerably slower, but they kept on as best they could.
Rounding the corner into the sand, Peridot was just in time to see the centipeedle jump up on the doughnut building, staring up into what was admittedly the scariest looking Gem they had ever seen in their life. They were a bright aquamarine, towering over the beach with four thick hands that acted like legs and wild quartz hair. They had two eyes and a gemstone that acted as a nose.
So this was Malachite. Peridot glanced back at the centipeedle before ducking back down the street and making their way to the doughnut building from the back.
"Hahaha! So this was the creature I saw!" A powerful, echoing voice began speaking. "Strange. You're a Gem, but not like those Crystal ones."
Peridot came up to the back of the doughnut building, where they spied a ladder.
"Nor are you like the fusion experiments. What are you, just some Earthling freak?"
The green Gem reached the top of the building, where they saw the centipeedle looking up at Malachite. The fusion was still so much bigger, but they had leaned down a little to taunt the furious challenger.
"No matter." The waves on the beach began to bubble, and two massive watery hands rose up and began advancing. I've already taken my fair share of freakish prisoners. You're next!"
Peridot reached to grab the centipeedle but their companion jumped off the building, jaws aiming for the yellow Diamond insignia in between the fusion's second set of arms.
They didn't make it. With a horrid laugh, Malachite snatched the centipeedle out of the air with one of their watery hands like an irritating bug. They flipped the corrupt Gem up and caught them again, causing the fierce growling to morph into a more timid whimpering.
"Another one?" Peridot looked up and saw the second set of eyes was trained on them. "Wait... I know you. Peridot!"
The green Gem jumped. "What? How do you know me?"
A second watery hand descended on them. "That's not important. You'll make a good prisoner, and that's all that matters!"
The hand cast a shadow on the green Gem, and they saw only one option available to them. They jumped.
For one terrifying second in the air, Peridot saw themselves smashing their face into the pavement. This jolt of fear prompted them to flail madly in the air, and as a result they painfully belly flopped onto the back of the water hand holding the centipeedle.
"Huh?" The fusion blinked their eyes. Peridot saw their opportunity and crawled to the edge where the centipeedle's head stuck out, raising the diamond communicator high up above their head.
"Now, I'm going to get you free... Nya!" They stuck one of the antennae between the centipeedle and the hand and began pulling. After a second there was a snap and they were thrown backwards, only to find a broken point where the antenna used to be.
"Hahahaha!" Malachite brought the hand closer to their gloating face. "You really thought you could do something with that useless little contraption? You're even more ridiculous than I remembered!"
"It's not useless!" Peridot tried again with the other antenna and achieved the same result: failure. "Nyeh... look, it's not designed for this purpose."
Malachite began moving backwards. "Are you really going to sit there and let me carry you into the ocean? This is priceless, how much you care about this little freak. But it's still futile: unless you plan to cut that puny thing's head off, you can't break my grip!"
The small Gem looked to their damaged communication device, where the two rods of metal had broken into sharp points. This gave them an idea. A very, very horrible one, but perhaps it was the only action they could take that might turn this situation around.
They crawled up to the centipeedle's position once more. Malachite took notice, and started taunting them.
"Oh, come on. What are you going to try this time?"
Peridot raised the communication device above their head.
"Watch out. Don't want to hurt your little friend with that device of yours."
The green Gem took no notice. After a final moment of indecision, they brought down the device and plunged the point of a broken antenna right through the centipeedle's neck, just behind the gemstone.
An awful, piercing cry of agony accompanied this act. They twisted the antenna, and the centipeedle poofed, leaving behind a circular green gemstone which Peridot quickly caught. They looked over to Malachite, who appeared to be utterly frozen in shock.
"What!" They echoed, their four eyes wide as saucers. The green Gem looked down and saw Greg's van was parked at the nearest street.
Malachite shook themselves, and a terrible frown creased their face. Unwilling to find out what the fusion would do to them now having witnessed that, they leapt off the back of the water hand, trying and failing to land on their feet.
"That was... disgusting!" A great roaring started up, so Peridot gathered the centipeedle's gemstone and the communicator, stood up, and took off running. A second later, the water hand slapped down on where they had just been, sending sand flying in all directions.
Peridot reached the van, where Greg was waiting with an open back door. They dove into the vehicle, clutching their two possessions and screaming at the top of their lungs: "Drive-drive-drive-drive-drive!"
"On it!" Greg took off down the ruined streets, the back door slamming shut as they gained speed. The small Gem felt the seat vibrate and peeked out the back window.
"Nnnnyyyyaaaa... drive faster! She's catching up with us!"
Greg floored the accelerator. "This isn't exactly a racecar-"
"Drive, you clod!"
"Come back here, you Gem killer!" Malachite screamed. For a big fusion, their four hands didn't lend them a lot of speed. "I'll get you one day, I swear! You'll all be my prisoners! Just you wait!"
Peridot shivered, and climbed into the front seat. There they sat, staring down at the centipeedle's gemstone. They slowly tilted it, watching the shine change with an unreadable expression.
Several minutes elapsed where Greg looked over, opened their mouth, then thought better of it and continued driving. They passed a sign that read 'Leaving so soon? Don't forget to visit Beach City again!'
Then they cleared their throat. Peridot looked up at the noise, and narrowed their eyes suspiciously.
"What was that sound for, human?"
"I just wanted to say, I saw what you did." Greg kept his eyes on the road. The Gem tensed. "I think you did the right thing, even if you don't feel like it was. If you want to talk about it-"
Peridot snorted and turned away. "I did what was necessary. There is no reason to further discuss this issue."
"That's okay, but I'm here if you change your mind. It's a good two hours to the Maheswaran's."
The brooding Gem did not respond. They stared silently out of the window, gently clasping the centipeedle's gemstone in their hands.