Ten looked over the kitchen counter towards the loft where Steven lay curled under his blanket. "Is it corruption?" she asked, concern clear in her voice.

The others exchanged looks. Ten had shown an immediate and powerful distaste for the idea of corruption, bordering on fear, since she had first laid eyes on the corrupted gem that had pulled itself out of the ocean some days before. Corruption was something new to her, but whether it was a Rose Quartz's innate affinity for living things or a warrior's natural wariness, she had taken no time in recognizing it as something abhorrent.

"No," assured Pearl, "it's not corruption. Steven is just sick."

"Sick?"

"He is organic after all. Surely you've handled sick animals before?"

"Once or twice. Humans can get sick? More importantly, human-gem hybrids can get sick?"

"Evidently. He doesn't get sick often. Chalk it up to being a young and healthy boy."

Ten stared at the lump on the bed, turning as it tried to sleep. "And we're sure it's not corruption?"

"I think it unlikely Steven can become corrupted," said Garnet. "His human half would prevent that, or at least slow it down enough where he can heal himself."

"And it's not contagious, right?"

"We've been handling corrupted gems for thousands of years, so if it is, it's not very. Besides, Steven is getting closer to being able to cure it completely with his powers. Or so we hope."

"Huh." Ten looked around for something, grabbing a nearby dish and smashing it on the counter.

"What are you doing?!" cried Pearl.

"Trying to test my healing powers," Ten said. She licked her hand and smeared the spit on the plate.

"You and Steven, I swear," Pearl said, exasperated. "Can't you tear a piece of cloth or something?"

Ten poked at the bits of shattered plate and grunted in defeat. "Guess I can't do it."

"Rose used her tears, not her spit," offered Garnet. "Steven is unique in that."

"Oh, well, I've shed enough of those to know they don't do squat for me. See?" Her eyes immediately began tearing up. She tilted her head and blinked rapidly, knocking loose a single drop onto the plate. As she expected, nothing happened.

"What, you can just cry on command?" said Amethyst from the fridge.

"Plenty of memories to choose from," said Ten, and left it at that.

"Anyway," said Amethyst, giving Ten an sidelong look before turning away, "what's the mission today? Hunting Jasper? Hunting Emeralds? Hunting some other gem I don't know about?"

"Eh, number three is the closest," said Garnet. "We've got cluster gems on the loose that need to be taken care of. They're a few miles south of the primary kindergarten, so they probably escaped from there at some point. We need to clear them out, bubble them up, and check again to make sure the kindergarten is clean."

"Again?" Amethyst sighed. "How do we keep missing these guys?"

"Well, judging by the size of the Cluster—" Pearl began.

"Yeah, yeah, I know how," Amethyst interrupted. "I just want to know how, y'know?"

Pearl looked confused. "Apparently I don't know."

"Can I come too," asked Ten, then added, half in jest, "or am I still on probation?"

"Hmm," said Garnet. "Give me a moment to see." She turned away and stared off at nothing.

"Ooh, she's doing that future-vision stuff again!" said Ten, excited. "That's Sapphire, right?" Pearl nodded. "I wish I could do that. Could you imagine how awesome that would be in battle?"

"It's pretty awesome," said Garnet. She looked at Ten. "I don't think you should come along."

"Aw, still?" Her shoulders sank. "Why this time?"

"The same as every time," said Garnet, annoyance creeping into her voice, "you go too far and one of the cluster gems gets shattered. In the heat of battle you forget that some of those who were corrupted or clustered are old friends and allies of ours. Casualties, even accidental ones, are unacceptable."

Ten huffed. "Be straight with me, Garnet: what would you say the chances of me shattering one of those gems is, all possible futures considered?"

Garnet frowned a moment, but fell silent as she thought. "Looking at all possible futures is ludicrous, but if I only consider the most likely ones, I'd guess somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five percent."

Ten's eyes went wide. "Twenty-five percent?! You're going to make me stay back over that? That's practically nothing. Although," she admitted, "it is lower than I expected."

"Even fifteen percent is astronomically high compared to our standard chances. With me, Pearl, and Amethyst together, no reasonably likely futures hold any shatterings. And before you ask," said Garnet, sensing Ten's next argument, "yes, there are always potential futures where a shattering occurs, but over five thousand years, I can count the instances where those have come to pass on a single hand."

"You've got to give me a chance eventually," said Ten, frustration mounting in her voice. "I can't sit around here forever. I want to help. I want to be a Crystal Gem."

"We should consider giving her a chance," said Pearl.

"And what if she loses focus? What if someone is shattered? What if, one day, Steven or someone else can cure this corruption and we know exactly who is missing and can trace their final moments back to this exact event?" Garnet's fists balled up, her own frustration becoming apparent as well. "Losing even one more gem that we don't have to is a tragedy that we can easily avoid."

"And when will that percentage be low enough for you?" asked Ten.

"Maybe in a few years. Maybe never."

"Never?!"

"Garnet," Pearl implored, "ever since the corruption appeared, there have only been a handful of us. We don't have the strength to withstand any serious attack on Earth, and now that the Diamond Authority knows about our existence and continued defiance, we can expect one to come sometime soon. We need all the help we can get."

"But what if something goes wrong?" asked Garnet. Her voice startled Pearl, filled as it was with an uncertainty that was so rare for Garnet.

Amethyst spoke up. "And what are we going to do? Just NOT make use of Ten? I mean, like her or not, she's made for fighting. If worse comes to worst, we're going to want her fighting with us, whether against the Emeralds or against Homeworld. Either way, if you don't get that leash on her and get her trained, she's gonna wind up shattering somebody."

"Thanks for the support," said Ten, "but can you not talk about me like I'm an animal that needs training?"

Amethyst shrugged. "You're borderline."

"See?" said Pearl. "Even Amethyst supports the idea… in her own way. If we don't start integrating her into the team before the next conflict arises, we might find that it's too late."

Garnet sighed. "Even Amethyst?" She fell to thinking once more, and the others could tell she was peering into the future again. Finally she looked at Ten. "Alright, you can come—"

"Yes!" Ten pumped her arm in victory.

"—on one condition."

"Anything! Just name it."

"You need to give me your word that you won't shatter a single gem, corrupted or otherwise."

"Of course!" Ten said instantly.

Garnet held up a hand. "I wasn't finished. You give your word that you won't shatter any gems. If you do, you will forfeit your chances at being Crystal Gem and agree to leave the Earth immediately, understanding that you are not and never will be welcome back."

All of the other gems reacted with shock. "Yo, Garnet, isn't that a little harsh?" asked Amethyst.

"She is an ally, and mistakes happen," said Pearl. "You and I both have made that exact mistake before."

"I'm well aware," said Garnet, "but those are my terms. Take it or leave it."

Ten's brow furrowed. She looked between the three of them, then her eyes wandered around the room as she lost herself in thought, putting serious consideration into her decision. She rocked her head as if using it to weigh her choices. "I could wait a little longer," she thought aloud, "but how long will it take? I've spent more than five-thousand years coming here; what's a few more to save myself from getting exiled?" She shook her head. "But what does it matter if I'm not ready to fight? If I'm going to be here, then the last thing I want to be is useless." She struggled for a moment longer, then turned to Garnet. "Okay," she said, deathly serious. "I accept your condition."

"Dang," said Garnet, less than pleased. "That was about fifty-fifty. Looks like I gambled and lost."

"You don't strike me as the gambling type," said Ten, trying to keep the tone light.

"And now you know why." Garnet took a calming breath. "I won't go back on my word. Make sure you do the same."

"I will." She gave Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl each a separate, stony look, solidifying without a word how seriously she took this pledge.

"In that case," said Garnet, turning toward the warp pad, "we've got a mission to complete."

The kindergarten was quiet. The Crystal Gems did a quick sweep of the area, including the underground control center, but didn't find any corrupted gems. Agreeing that the area was clear, Garnet led them southwards to where she knew the cluster gems to be.

Pearl sidled up to Garnet. Ten was walking a short distance ahead so she kept her voice low. "Are you sure exiling Ten as punishment is the wisest idea? Even if she does shatter someone, we both know it won't have been on purpose."

"She needs to learn control. If she shatters even a single gem, I will consider it the same as killing one of my friends because, for all I know, it is."

Pearl bit back her frustration. "We can't just bring ourselves back to square one, Garnet. Ten gives us more of a fighting chance against whatever Homeworld might throw at us. She could almost certainly defeat Jaspar one-on-one."

"And if Homeworld comes, they won't send a single Jasper. They will attack in force. One gem isn't going to make a difference, even one as powerful and as skilled as Ten is." Garnet looked at the ground as they walked. "We've protected this planet for a long time, Pearl, and I don't intend to stop any time soon, but we both know that if the Diamonds wanted to take it back today, we couldn't stop them. We had millions of comrades before and the rebellion still lasted for hundreds of years and ended in the Diamonds choosing to withdraw, not being forced to. If anything, sending Ten away would probably save her life."

"Jeez, Garnet," said Amethyst from her other side, "I didn't know you could be such a pessimist."

"On the contrary, I find it a realistic possibility. It's one far enough in the future that it passes over the horizon of time, but I don't need future vision to see the obvious: we've angered the Diamonds more than once, and that's more times than they can allow, either as a point of pride or as an unacceptable challenge to their authority. No, I have no love for the Diamonds, but they are smart. They will crush us because they need to maintain order."

"So we're just waiting for doomsday?" asked Amethyst, agitated. "How long have you been sitting on that one?"

"Since Lapis first flew back to Homeworld."

Pearl fidgeted with her sash. "There must be something we can do. We've protected Earth for too long to just let the Diamonds take it back."

"We'll need either a brilliant plan, or a miracle." The other two responded to that with silence. Garnet sighed. "If only Steven could cure the corruption, we would have an entire army to defend the planet with—the same army we had before. But we can't put that kind of pressure on him. He lost his healing powers for months last time he got upset over them. Another delay like that, and he won't be ready in time. Earth's survival will almost certainly rest upon his curing the corruption." With morbid humor, she added, "If it even can be cured."

"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?" said Pearl.

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't part of why I've been pushing Steven so hard to master his unique abilities." She lowered her head. "I'm sorry. This wasn't something I wanted to weigh you down with yet."

"No, it's fine," said Amethyst. "I think Pearl and I both kind of understood that at some level."

"Even if we wouldn't admit it to ourselves," Pearl agreed.

"So I hope you understand why Ten cannot be allowed to agitate Steven. Had she come any earlier or later, I might have been more lenient on her, but she has picked the absolute worst time to land on Earth. If it is between Ten and the Earth, I'll pick the Earth without hesitation." With a nod, she added, "Just like Rose would."

"Like Rose would," the others parroted in agreement, and no more was said as they made their way south.

"These things are gross," said Ten, looking over the cliff at the group of corrupted gems below.

"This is new," observed Pearl. "I've never seen corrupted gems and cluster gems mixed together. It's almost like they're moving in a pack." The sixty or so gems below stumbled around in a blind, careless mass. "Why aren't the cluster gems attacking the corrupted gems?"

"Yeah, that is weird. They usually get all hands-y when we run into them," said Amethyst. "Maybe they're smart enough to know that they don't want any part of that corruption?"

"Well, it's not like they're going to tell us," said Garnet. She turned to Ten. "Time to prove yourself. Make sure you keep your word and we won't have a problem."

"Sure thing, boss," said Ten. "If there is one thing I'm good at, it's following orders."

"Alright then." She turned to the other two. "You know what to do. Let's go."

The four of them leapt from the cliff, directly into the midst of the gathered gems below. Each landed on a different gem, poofing them immediately, then followed with an attack at another nearby gem. Before the corrupted and cluster gems had time to react, ten of them had their physical forms destroyed.

Screeches and howls erupted from the corrupted gems while the clusters moaned, and they all charged. It was simple enough for the Crystal Gems, each being highly skilled in combat and working to ensure the safety of their comrades, to run roughshod over even this large a number of guileless, mindless foes. The corrupted gems attacked wildly and were dangerous, but did not work together at all, often crashing into and stumbling over one another in their attempts to attack, leaving them easy targets for the Crystal Gems. The clusters were weak but at least had some semblance of intelligence, even if it was only used to avoid colliding as they fought.

The Crystal Gems aimed for the largest corrupted gems in the initial attack and were quickly cleaning up the weaker ones. Pearl slashed at a roughly man-shaped cluster, cleaving it down the middle, then spun and flipped over a charging bull-like corrupted gem, firing a bolt of energy from her spear down into its back as it passed went, causing it to howl in pain and careen into another corrupted gem.

Amethyst made use of her whips, grabbing a distant gem as it neared Pearl from behind. While she was sure Pearl knew it was there and could handle it, that was no reason to let her have all the fun. Amethyst grabbed another with a second whip, then swung them both together, using them like a giant flail to attack other gems. When they sufficiently battered, she swung her arms in a crossing motion, flinging the two captive gems into one another, poofing them both.

Garnet didn't waste any time being showy. After landing, she dashed towards the biggest cluster gem she could see and punched it right in what she assumed was the face, then grabbed it around the legs, pulled it off balance, and slammed it into the cliff face, leaving its gem to fall to the ground as she raced towards a pair of corrupted gems and slammed them into one another, then punched through both of them.

While all of the Crystal Gems made short work of their foes, Ten fought slowly and deliberately. While she could do just as much damage just as quickly, Garnet's threat hung over her and gave her pause. As such, she moved from foe to foe and examined their body as she kept them at bay, making sure she knew exactly where their gem was and the weakest point of defense. Once she felt sure she knew what she was dealing with, the fight rarely lasted another second as she closed the distance, performed a single, accurate cut, and moved on before she had even heard the telltale puff of air that told her the target was destroyed.

"This is easier than I thought it would be," Ten yelled over the sounds of battle as she slashed upwards and took the head off of a bear-like corrupted gem.

"It's not always this easy," Amethyst yelled back. "These guys are just stupid and weak. Some are a lot more dangerous." She wrapped her whip around another cluster gem and snapped it around, sending it flying towards the last group of cluster gems. It slammed into them, sending all six of them sprawling to the ground. "Maybe we'll get a bigger challenge on your next mission."

"Next mission?" said Ten with a grin. "I like the sound of that."

Pearl was about to join in the conversation when she was distracted by a bright light. "What in the world is that?" she said, spinning and striking another gem in the gut.

"Oh no," said Garnet, looking toward the writing pile of cluster gems. Their bodies were shining and melding into one another, their gems rising and twirling in the air in a twisting mass of light.

"Are they fusing?!" Pearl shouted.

"Are they supposed to do that?" asked Ten.

"They've never fused before," said Amethyst. "This is bad. With that many gems, that thing is gonna be tough."

"I got it," said Garnet, leaping past all of the corrupted gems in her way and heading toward the growing tower of light. She was halfway there when the fusion's form solidified. It was massive; while it had no head, it had eleven arms, six legs and three separate torsos fused at both the top and the bottom, looking like a piece of cloth that had been shredded by an animal's claw. It lashed out and made what could only be called a roar, though it had no visible mouth with which to scream.

Garnet leapt up and landed a punch right in the middle of one of the torsos, then leapt off of that torso to the next, striking that one as well. She pinballed between the torsos, landing devastating punches as she went, and the creature shrieked in pain and anger. Its arms swarmed over its body, and while Garnet was able to escape several of them, there were too many to evade them all. She jumped clear of the monster fusion, nearly making it free when a massive fist struck her in the back, causing her to land ungracefully in a heap.

"Garnet!" Pearl called out. Garnet rolled to her feet, staggering back a step.

"I'll keep it distracted. Clear the rest of these corrupted gems, then form Opal and help me out." With that, she leapt forward again, striking the creature around the legs and dancing back as it lashed out with its arms.

"Let's make this quick, Pearl," said Amethyst. She gave Pearl a look. "Vine dance?"

Pearl smiled. "It's been a while." She raised her arms up, Amethyst's whip snapping out and wrapping around Pearl's middle. Amethyst cracked her whip and Pearl went flying towards the nearest corrupted gem. It barely had time to react before Pearl's spear sank deep into its body. Even as it was poofing, Pearl was being pulled away by the whip towards her next target. Like a bullet, she ricocheted between targets at lightning speed, dispatching them quickly before moving to the next. After little more than a minute, they had knocked out a dozen opponents, leaving only the last two that Ten was engaging.

"That'll do," said Amethyst, swinging Pearl around. Pearl landed on her feet, skidding to a halt. "Now get over here." She placed both hands on her whip and yanked, pulling Pearl toward her. She opened her arms and Pearl hers and they met with a crash of flesh and a flash of light. Their bodies fused, leaving Opal crouching in the spot where they had been.

"Cool," said Ten in wonder as she dispatched the last two corrupted gems. She ran toward the towering cluster fusion as Opal pulled her spear and whip and combined them into her bow.

"Stand clear, Garnet," said Opal, taking aim at the monster Garnet was fighting. Opal examined the creature, her eyes darting from gem to gem: two were on the torso on the right, near the top and middle, one was on the left torso near one of the shoulders, one was on the center torso in the middle, and one was on the knee of one of the legs. No matter how she looked, however, she couldn't spot the sixth gem.

"Garnet, I can't find the sixth gem. I can't fire or I might end up hitting it."

"Alright, give me a minute." She sped around the creature, trying to examine its legs, but it was hard to make sense of all of the movement. She was fairly certain there was no more gems among the legs besides the one. She looked up at the canopy of arms above her and knew it would be an issue trying to examine all of them.

"Ten," she called out. "I need your help trying to find this sixth gem."

"Do you need me running distraction or helping you search?"

"Both, preferably."

"You got it." Ten jumped up on the flat mass where the three torsos met, hoping the gem would be up there hidden from view below, but it was not. She only spent a moment looking, then dashed off towards the arms as hands started crawling all over the place, grasping for her.

"Should I help look as well?" asked Opal.

"Just get ready to fire as soon as we give the word. We'll need to bring this thing down fast." She jumped up in between two of the torsos, squeezing her way between and pushing them apart to search for gems while the hands were distracted. "Ew," she muttered. "It's moist in here."

This is stupid, Ten thought to herself. And dangerous. We're trying so hard not to shatter a gem that's already been shattered and reconstructed. What does saving this thing even do? They need to just recognize that even if this thing was their friend, it isn't anymore and they shouldn't feel bad about killing it.

But what about One? a voice floated in her head.

What? She was surprised, only her years of fighting keeping her from stumbling and her discipline keeping her searching. Emerald?!

No, Ten, it's Steven! said the voice. Sorry I scared you. I was sleeping and thought I'd check up on you guys. Wow, that guy looks big.

Steven? Thank goodness. But how are you talking to me?

I dunno. It's just a thing I can do, although usually it's dreams or taking control of people's bodies. I'm not used to just watching.

Ten dodged to the side as two hands clapped together where she was standing. She jumped into the crook of an elbow, slicing it there to agitate and distract it. What were you saying about One?

Oh yeah! Remember when Emerald had control of you and One could have shattered you but she didn't?

Of course I remember. That's not the same, though. I wasn't a cluster gem.

No, but One still looked at the Emerald-controlled you and knew that her friend was in there somewhere. That's what Garnet and Pearl feel when they look at these clusters: they see their friends in every one of these creatures.

But they don't know! It could just be any random gem in there.

Well what if someone took that bag of One's shards you wear and turned them into clusters then let them loose. Would you just willy-nilly destroy clusters knowing any one of them might be a piece of One?

Ten was silent a moment. I see your point, she thought at him. I'll try to be careful.

Thanks, Steven said in her head. And look out! He added quickly. Ten turned in time to see a hand heading her way. She jumped, but it closed around her leg and dragged her down. Ah! Te—

—and then Steven's voice was gone as hundreds of miles away he jerked awake.

Another hand reached out and gripped Ten around the middle, hoisting her up and pinning her body, though her sword arm was still free. She struggled, but it was futile trying to break the powerful grip of the gigantic hand.

"Garnet," Opal warned. "Ten's got her hands full over there. Or the other way around. That's not funny, Amethyst. Says you."

"I'm on it," said Garnet, leaping up the creature and drawing closer to Ten.

Ten watched her approach, kicking her feet the few inches she had against the palm of the hand holding her. Though in incredible danger, she felt calm; she had been in situations as dangerous as this before, and Three and Eleven had met their deaths just as calmly, knowing as she did that they were playing their part to protect their comrades as well as they could. If she was going to go, she wanted to go like Eleven, spitting defiantly in this things face, but this thing didn't even have a face. She looked down at the thing holding her. All this thing had was…

…a gem. There, in the webbing between the thumb and forefinger, pressed tightly against the knuckle, and hidden from view unless the fingers were splayed. It jutted out, yellow and jagged, a short distance away from her.

She raised her voice and her sword at the same time. "I found the gem!" she shouted, stabbing downwards.

"Ten, don't!" cried Opal, but Ten didn't strike the gem. Her blade sank into the webbing on the hand, cutting easily through the gem's flesh, turning the webbing into a ragged strip, causing the monster to howl in rage. Then she stabbed again, cutting a second time and completely severing the webbing and the gem with it.

With the gem removed, the fusion destabilized. With a deafening blast of air, the bodies separated. They were still in the air when Opal released her arrow. It split and struck each of the cluster gems before they could land and fuse again, and each of their bodies broke down. After the smoke cleared there was nothing left but the sixty scattered gems and four Crystal Gems.

Ten pushed herself off the ground, a little worse for wear, but overall alright. The jagged yellow gem had landed next to her and she picked it up, examining it. There were also pieces of red and green in there, all crammed together and fused at the base. When Garnet approached, she handed it over.

"For a second, I thought you were going to destroy the gem," Garnet said.

Ten gave her a sheepish smile. "I wouldn't want to hurt one of your friends by accident, would I?"

Garnet nodded and smiled. "Right." She bubbled the yellow gem and sent it off to the temple. "You did well. I'm glad we don't have to send you off."

Ten laughed, so relieved to have passed the test that a single tear came to her eye. "I'm glad too."

"Your first mission is a success. Let's finish bubbling these gems, then go home and tell Steven. He'll be thrilled."

The four gems sent the last of the clustered and corrupted gems away in their Rose Quartz bubbles. Emerald slid her fingers along her view screen, causing it to zoom and focus on each of their faces.

"Looks like you were right," she said. "Put enough of their targets together and they come running right where we want them."

"Predictable," said the other Emerald, peering over her partner's shoulder to look at the screen. "The Pearl, the Amethyst, and the leader the report states calls itself 'Garnet.' But what have we here?" She pointed to Ten. "Both the Lapis Lazuli's and the Jasper's reports indicated that Rose Quartz was no more and only a gem-organic hybrid existed. But here we have a Rose Quartz. Interesting. Do you think their reports in error?"

"Unlikely," said the first Emerald. "Their stories were far too specific and matched too closely for that. I'd say this is a heretofore unknown gem. Is it a newcomer? Or was it here the whole time, remaining hidden?"

"Irrelevant," said the second. "We came here for a singular purpose, but it looks like the mission parameters have expanded. Under Red Diamond's extermination order, we cannot allow that Rose Quartz to exist. We need to accomplish our primary mission first, however. I assume you have already activated the tracking plug?"

"Naturally," said the first with a cold smile. "They're about to lead us right to their command center. From there, it is simple reconnaissance, planning, and execution."

"Agreed." The second Emerald tapped her communicator. "Ship, this is Emerald."

"Yes, Emerald, what is it?" responded the pilot.

"The secondary targets have been confirmed and an additional target verified. Tracking is bringing us en route to the primary target."

"Shall I update the mission logs for you?"

"Yes. And when you're finished, release the Onyxes. Emerald out."