Superman/Steven Universe:
The Shield of Hope
Chapter 2:
Gem Kindergarten, same time as Metropolis fire
The Kindergarten was quiet and desolate, it gave off a depressing and mysterious vibe forever covered in a mysterious fog. An expansive canyon filled with holes along the face and broken gem technology that looked like drills littering the walls and grounds of the canyon. On a raised plateau sat a warp pad surrounded by strange purple gems, light erupted from the pad and four figures emerged as the light dimmed. Our heroes stepped off the pad and looked out towards the desolate place
"So where are those dumb marbles, I'm ready to smash" Amethyst said excitedly as they walked through the canyon.
"There is definitely something here, but I don't think it's the marble robots" Garnet said scanning the area as they walked
"Then it's a gem monster" Pearl said slightly worried by the fact they walked into a situation that even Garnet wasn't sure about.
"No, it's not a corrupted gem, it's something… I just don't know what" Garnet said concerned,
"Whatever it is we can take it right" Steven said in a cheerful tone, his optimism was contagious
"Yeah we can" Garnet said ruffling his hair.
"But were not going to find it this way, gems split up" Garnet said in a commanding tone
"Yeah Split up" Steven said as he prepared to run off in a random direction, Pearl grabbed him before he could take off
"Oh no, if there's some kind of unknown evil here the last thing we need is for you to go off on your own, you'll stay with me" Pearl said like a stern mother.
Steven simply nodded and each the gems went their own way, Pearl and Steven walked through the canyon for a few minutes, Steven being vigilant while humming happy tune. Pearl stayed alert looking and listening for any disturbances, the sound of tumbling rocks caught both their attention. Pearls gem glowed as she reached for it and from the gem emerged a pearlescent spear, she spun it in her hands and brought it to rest near her chest
"Steven wait here, I'll investigate that sound" Pearl whispered.
"What if you're in trouble" Steven asked concerned for her Safety
"I'll send out a signal for the others to find me, I just need you to get somewhere safe" Pearl said as she ran towards the sound.
Steven was worried about Pearl but he knew he has dealt with worse, even with that she would need help so he decided to find Garnet and Amethyst himself and bring them to her. He began to run down the path they came up when he stopped suddenly, he heard something it was low, coming from the opposite direction he was going, and a different path from what Pearl took. He turned the direction of the sound considering his options, should he try to find Garnet and Amethyst or even just go get Pearl? His thoughts were halted when the sounds became louder and he realized that they were voices, people were here in the grade school. He began to walk towards the voices the closer he got the louder they became, after two minutes he came to a large opening in the canyon and what he saw shocked him.
He saw what he could only describe as a large military operation like from Dogcopter 3, there were men in black and green suits wearing gas masks and armor holding guns, people in white hazmat suits with weird devices, what looked like construction equipment, computers and other science stuff. Steven couldn't even imagine what purposes they were here for, in multiple large helicopters. Steven ducked behind a large boulder peeking from behind to get a good look at the scene. They appeared to be studying the gem devices, known as injectors, some of the scientist were scanning them, while others were completely disassembled them with various people looking over the pieces in giant white tents. Steven then saw one off the scientist in a heated discussion with a solider. Steven wanted to hear more about what this all was, so when he was sure no one was looking he ran closer hiding behind and under various equipment and vehicles letting people pass before moving closer. He finally came to within distance hiding underneath a crane and was able to hearing the conversation.
"But were not done here yet, there's so much more data to gather" the scientist said clearly upset.
"We got orders from the boss were pulling out, he thinks that they won't be distracted for much longer. We take what we have back to HQ, no objections" the solider said sternly not caring for what the scientist had to say in the slightest.
The scientist gave a defeated sigh
"Okay we've already sent the data back to HQ, we'll begin clean up and load the last injector for transport" the scientist said to the solider
He gave a signal to the other scientists and they stopped what they were doing and began to pack up various equipment
"The cleanup will take 30 minutes" said the scientist
"You got 15" the solider said sternly jabbing his fingering into the scientist chest before walking off.
Steven couldn't believe what he was hearing, he could tell that they weren't associated with Peridot they were just human, but who on Earth would want gem technology? Steven didn't have any time to ponder this any further someone had grabbed his leg from under the crane, he let out a yelp as he was being pulled he squirmed and tried grabbing on to the earth but it wasn't enough. He was soon lifted by his leg four feet above the ground and was face to face with one of the masked soldiers,
"Sergeant we have an intruder" the soldier yelled as he dropped Steven making him land on the back of his head.
Steven groaned as rubbed the back of his head getting into a sitting position, a shadow covered Steven he turned around to see the masked soldier who was giving orders to the scientist, Steven couldn't see under his mask but he knew that this soldier was not happy. Steven let out a nervous chuckle
"H-hi….sooo….what bring you guys out here" Steven said scared for his life
The soldier leaned in closer to Steven his breathing heard through his mask
"Shit, it's the kid" the soldier said in a disappointed tone.
The soldier who found Steven stepped back in surprise
"This…. is the kid…. Oh god, that means" the soldier said grimly
"They're not far behind" the lead soldier said seriously.
The soldier put two fingers to his ear and began talking through an earpiece
"This is the Sergeant, tell those scientist to forget the equipment and get on those copters were going to a code red cleanup operation, and make sure you get that last drill on the chopper, EVERYONE WE ARE LEAVING!" the Sergeant said through his earpiece the last part being yelled to anyone who could hear him.
"Sergeant, what about the kid" the soldier said gesturing to Steven who was still sitting on the ground knowing that running wasn't really an option when you're surrounded by soldiers with guns
The Sergeant looked at Steven coldly through his mask
"Hold him down" he said coldly.
The soldier nodded and grabbed Steven and Steven began to panic he kicked and screamed in the soldiers grip
"GARNET, AMETHYST, PEARL, ANYONE HELP" Steven yelled hoping that they would hear
Stevens eyes widened in terror as he saw the lead soldier walk up to him with a syringe full of a clear liquid Steven was on the verge of tears as he plead for the soldier to stop.
"Don't worry kid, you're about to take a nice nap, and when you wake up this all would've been a bad dream" the Sergeant said sinisterly as he held the needle up squeezing it allowing for some liquid to drip out.
But, before he could even get close to Steven a whoosh was heard throughout the canyon and the needle was destroyed in his hand all he held now was the bottom part, the sergeant turned around and saw a spear embedded into the ground behind him
"You release my baby this instant or so help me" Pearl voice rang out as she ran towards Steven visibly very angry.
"Dammit they're here, drop the kid we are moving to Code Black clean up, load the last injector, get anything you can carry, and everyone is to evacuate immediately" the Sergeant yelled to everyone who immediately began picking up various equipment and running towards the helicopter which had started up.
The soldier dropped Steven and joined the others, as soon as Steven hit the ground he got right back up and ran to Pearl, the two met and immediately hugged Steven burying his face into Pearls chest slightly sobbing in relief that Pearl had saved him.
"Steven what happened, who are these people, what were they going to do to you" Pearl asked frantically
"Pearl" Garnet yelled as she and Amethyst arrived on the scene running towards them
"Whoa what's going on over here" Amethyst said amazed as she looked around the area seeing the various equipment and people running about.
"I don't know one of them was holding Steven, and another had a needle I just panicked" Pearl said not as frantic as before
Steven feeling he was safe with his family finally arriving, spoke up
"These guys are taking the injectors"
All the gems were caught off guard by what Steven just said
"What why would they…who are they" Pearl said surprised and then slightly worried.
"Why don't we ask them" Amethyst said bluntly as a scientist ran past her trying to get to the helicopter
She easily grabbed him by the suit and brought his face to hers
"Hey pal do you mind telling us what you and your buddies are doing here" Amethyst asked kindly but the scientist was clearly terrified and said nothing.
Suddenly a gunshot rang out through the canyon and a bullet hit the ground near her making her jump and letting go of the man allowing him to run away, Garnet grabbed Steven and hid him behind her as all the gems got into defensive stances in front of them a line of soldiers stood all their guns trained on them.
"Suppressing fire soldiers, they will not interfere with this operation, and the boy must not be harmed" The Sergeant yelled to the lined up soldiers
As soon as the order was given the soldiers began to fire upon the Crystal Gems, the gems Steven in tow leapt out of the way and took cover behind some rocks. Steven and Garnet hid behind one rock while Pearl and Amethyst hid behind a rock across from them as bullets barraged the stones they hid behind.
"Garnet what should we do we can't hurt them" Pearl yelled through the gunfire
Garnet took a moment to think deeply
"Steven Stay low, Gems disarm and defend push them back, we won't let those helicopters leave" Garnet yelled back to the two they both nodded.
The Gems launched over the rocks they hid behind the gunfire attempting to follow them they landed behind the soldiers, before the soldiers could turn Amethyst used her whip to knock three guns out of the hands of three soldiers. The other soldier took aim on Amethyst and fired. Pearl jumped in front of Amethyst and spun her Spear so fast a circular blue blur was in front of her deflecting the bullets, once the soldiers ran out of ammo Pearl advanced and knocked the gun out of one of the soldier's hands. The other soldier began to attack one of them trying to hit her with the butt of his gun she easily ducked the attack and gracefully lifted her leg kicking the gun into the air without even looking at the soldier. Soon four other soldiers were moving to Pearl and attempted to attack her with punches and kicks she easily dodged and parried each attack her movements like a ballerina graceful and precise. All four attempted to attack at once, but she ducked the four punches meant for her head she then extended her leg and swept the four soldier off their feet. As the soldiers hit the ground Pearl leapt gracefully into the air giving another twirl ready to take on another batch.
Amethyst was still disarming soldiers and defending herself when they tried to attack. Physically Amethyst moves weren't graceful like Pearls. They were more erratic and forceful, Amethyst didn't want to hurt these people, but that didn't stop her from having a little fun as she dodged their attacks teasing, them as they missed. One soldier tried to kick her but she caught his leg, giving him a sinister smile before lifting him up and tossing him on some other soldiers, she then turned to face another group, smiling as she leapt into the air and began to spin forming into a ball and rushing at them in a purple streak. Some soldiers jumped out of the way while other tried to shoot her. Right before she reached them she leapt again catching them by surprise and landing right behind them.
"Made ya look" , Amethyst said happily as she whipped their butts causing them to yelp and jump, happy with her little joke she began to fight off more of the soldiers.
Garnet stood her ground proud and tall as she used her gauntlets to deflect the bullets fired at her. Once the firing stopped Garnet's Gauntlets began to glow and electricity sparked from them, she slammed both her fists together and an electric charge sparked from them going through the soldier's guns and causing them to explode. Garnet's gauntlets disappeared and revealed her regular hands as the soldiers rushed her, one soldier landed a punch right on Garnet's chest. She did not flinch from the soldier's hit and he stood there in shock that she just took his punch. Garnet lightly put her hand on his chest and shoved him a few feet away. Garnet's moves were that of a seasoned warrior as she blocked the various attack she even blocked their attacks when she wasn't even looking at them. A soldier attempted to attack her from behind with a simple lean and an extended leg she dodged the attack and tripped the soldier making him fall on to two other soldiers. Garnet turned to admire her work giving a light smile. She didn't see the soldier coming from behind her with his gun raised, giving out a primal roar the soldier swung the gun like a bat and hit Garnet over the head. The gun broke like a plastic toy over Garnet's head shattering into multiple pieces leaving the soldier only with the small piece in his hand. Garnet slowly turned her head to look at the soldier even with her sunglasses he could feel the annoyance emanating from her and he did not wish to turn that into anger. He raised his hands in a please don't hurt me kind of way before slowly going to his knees and touching the ground with is forehead
"Smart"
Garnet said giving him a nod walking over him to face the next group.
Steven watched his family fight in awe, he was happy that they weren't hurting the soldiers and was amazed by their skill how he wished to be like them. Steven suddenly heard a loud whirring sound, he looked past the gems to see that the helicopters were starting and going to take off
"Garnet the helicopters are starting up" Steven yelled to Garnet pointing to the helicopters.
Garnet held a soldier up by his arm and turned to face the helicopters, she focused on the helicopters tossing the struggling soldier on top of a charging group of soldiers. Garnet brought both her arms together focusing on the rotors of the helicopters
"Just enough power to destroy the rotors and not hurt any of the people inside, we have to learn why they're here" Garnet thought as she prepared to use her rocket punch.
Before she could fire, she heard a strange sound coming from her right side, it sound like energy charging up she turned to see the Sergeant holding a strange gun.
The gun was a two handed cannon he held at his side, the front had a weird speaker on it, and a green electric energy could be seen through the wires on the gun
"Howdy" the sergeant said with cocky glee.
When he pulled the trigger the wires glowed bright green, the speakers sparked with green electricity, and from the speaker a sound was emitted a powerful sound the waves could be seen in the air and it hit Garnet like a semi-truck. She was sent flying through the air and hit the wall of the canyon hard, as she landed on the ground her body glitches like a broken computer screen and from her face she was clearly in a lot of pain. Steven and the other gems gasped at what just happened Amethyst was first to act leaping towards the sergeant, another pull of the trigger and Amethyst was launched through one of the tents crashing into one of the machines. Pearl was next attempting to charge while his back was turned, but the sergeant spun around lightning quick and pulled the trigger sending Pearl to the rock Steven hid behind. Steven immediately ran to Pearl's glitching form worried for his mother figure Pearl groaned in pain as Steven held her head. Steven saw all the soldiers and the sergeant board the helicopters he knew he couldn't do anything to stop them, but he could help the gems
"Pearl are you okay" he asked worried for her
"It hurts, but I'll live go check on Amethyst" Pearl said as she slowly got back to her feet
Steven did just that and ran to the tent. Garnet picked herself off the ground and shook the dizziness from her head she looked up to see that the helicopters were already above the canyon, she knew she could not use her Rocket punch on them now since they were too high up and the crash could injure or even kill the people on board so she decided to let them go and check on the others.
"What going on, I should have seen him coming, I should have seen all of this coming, it's like my future vision is being blocked"
Garnet thought as she ran to the others.
On board the helicopter the sergeant looked down on the research facility they left behind, he then pulled a small device from his pocket and pushed the button on the side of it making a small beeping noise. Back at the abandon site Amethyst with some help from Steven pulled herself off of the computer
"Ooowww… what just hit me?" Amethyst asked rubbing the back of her head
"The same thing that hit us" Garnet said holding Pearl as she too walked into the tent.
"It was so bizarre…that noise it shook me right in the core of my gem, I almost lost my form" Pearl said as Garnet lowered, he allowing her to stand on her feet
"Well whatever it was, and whoever they were they got away" Garnet said in an annoyed tone.
Steven frown a bit seeing that his friends were so down over this whole thing,
"Hey it's not that bad we know that they were taking the injectors for something and they left all their equipment maybe something on one of these computers can tell us where they went, like this one" Steven said optimistically as he slapped his hand on one of the very large computers.
Suddenly the screen of the computer turned red and began to flicker while also giving a very loud siren sound, then a similar red light and sound began to emit from all the computers and construction equipment. Garnet didn't need her future vision to know that this was bad
"Everyone get away from the computers" Garnet yelled as she grabbed all of them and ran out the tent
As Garnet exited the tent she saw all the red lights coming from the machines even some came from the earth itself. The beeping got faster and Garnet with her family still in her grip made a beeline for the opening they all came through, then the beeping stopped and explosions erupted through the entire facility. Garnet ran as fast as she could but a giant ball of fire chased after her and was getting closer, Steven turned his head and his eyes widened as he saw the explosion getting closer and closer and finally it over took them.
From the air the explosion could be seen, easily going higher than the canyon walls, and could be seen from miles people on the train passing by the area were in shock of the giant ball of fire coming from nowhere. Once the fire settled and the smoke cleared everything that was once there was gone all the scientific equipment, tents, and construction machines were all reduced to nothing only tiny scraps of metal littered the scorched and blackened earth. Miraculously, the only bit of earth that wasn't touched was the opening Garnet attempted to run through, Garnet and the gems breathed heavily as they looked upon what stopped the explosion from burning them alive. A giant pink shield with a spiral thorn design completely covered the opening, Steven stood in front of the gems with his arms stretched out, gem glowing a bright and brilliant pink, a strained look on his face and sweat dripping from his face. Steven dropped his arms dispelling the shield and flopped face first to the ground, the gems ran to him worried about him but as they got closer they heard snoring and all gave a relieved sigh realizing he was just asleep.
"Man Greg was right, this kid is going to kill us if he keeps pulling stunts like these" Amethyst said jokingly with a hint of worry in it
Garnet picked up Steven gently and began walking away from the site
"Gems back to the temple, we'll put Steven to bed and then discuss what just happened here" Garnet said seriously
The Gems nodded and followed suit all of them unaware of what the future holds for them.
Back up in the Helicopter the sergeant saw the explosion and gave a relieved sigh since they were able to escape, then a soldier came up to him holding a phone
"Sergeant… it's him he wants to know what happened" the soldier said grimly.
The soldier took an annoyed breath and removed his mask revealing his Caucasian skin, blonde hair and moustache he picked up the phone and began to talk to the person on it.
"Yes sir this is Sergeant John Corben…. Yes, we had to destroy the facility they found us sir… Yes the device was on they must've came here on their own free will and we had to follow protocol" Corben said in a strong militant tone.
Metropolis
In a building that stood in the center the entire city and was probably the tallest there, on the top floor of this building stood a man looking out upon the city through the window of his office. The man was covered in shadows his green eyes shining through the dark, he spoke in a calm and collected manner
"I understood why this had to happen Sergeant Corben and it's not a setback in the slightest we got all the data we need and you are inbound with the machines, the reason I made this call was to confirm what I heard was the boy with them… Indeed, you don't need to worry we already have satellite confirmation that the child used his ability to protect him and the others from the explosion, I just ask that next time you try to be a bit more careful next time Sergeant we still need the boy for our future endeavors… I'm glad you understand Sergeant please come directly to me once you return" the man said as hanged up the phone.
The man stood up from his desk and walked into the light revealing his light brown skin and bald head, a women in a limo drivers uniform walked into the room
"So what's your next move Lex" she asked curious for his answer.
He took a minute to ponder the question and his current situation
"Mercy send a message out to the press we'll be having our presentation earlier than expected, tell the scientist to put the finishing touches on them they need to be presentable. Tell the other research site to hurry it up we need what's in there to move forward, and once they have found it send it and one of the devices to my private lab. I'm going to continue work on my special project" Luthor said in a low commanding tone
The woman gave a small bow then walked out the room Leaving Luthor to look over his city.