Amethyst's plan falls apart as she approaches the hallway leading to Ruby's cell. It's got four gems guarding the door now, instead of one. She has no way of knowing how many gems lie behind the door, by the cells. Additionally, she's been shapeshifting for a while, and it's starting to tire her out.
She veers to the left, so she can inspect the situation without it seeming like that is her destination. Fortunately for her, loud yelling behind her turns all their gazes.
She looks, but sees nothing of what distracted the gems. Whatever it was, they're standing there with their mouths open.
Taking a risk, she approaches them.
"What are you waiting for?" Amethyst snaps, "Go!"
"I don't know where it-" one of the gems protests.
"Go!" She repeats, "All of you now, quickly!"
Three look at each other before following orders.
The fourth, the round gem who was guarding the door last time, does not.
"Wait," she mutters, "you're the runt-"
Amethyst grabs the gem, shoving her to the side and throwing the door open.
She slams it in the gem's face as she shrinks back to her normal size, booking it towards Ruby's cell. On the way, Amethyst slams her hand against the panels on the wall, releasing the two gems held within.
They serve as a good distraction for a moment, which Amethyst's short, slow legs need, but soon both meet the bad end of a destabilizer.
Amethyst summons her whip, skidding to a stop and snapping it at the gem pursuing her. It collects the weapon, which she throws into the next hallway; no time for precision.
Amethyst runs down Ruby's hallway, sighing with relief as she sees her cell, at the end.
Before she can reach it, the round, green gem slams into her from behind. Amethyst's head collides painfully with the wall.
Ruby shouts, cheering her on.
She's not winning.
The green gem didn't pause to grab her destabilizer, but judging by the expert punches Amethyst is receiving, she didn't need it.
Amethyst's head snaps back into the wall once more, and the gem reaches at her side, where her gem lay, to summon her weapon.
"AMETHYST LET ME OUT," Ruby roars, hopping, "I CAN TAKE HER."
She's seeing spots, but she can hear Ruby just fine. Grabbing her whip, she snaps it several times at the panel, hoping for the best.
Amethyst brings her arm up to block the summoned dagger. Strength outmatched, her arm struggles to hold, and the blade comes steadily towards her face.
Suddenly, the gem is hauled off of her.
She swings at Ruby, punching the smaller gem hard. Ruby, too mad to feel anything, shrugs off the blow, jutting a very hot arm at the round gem's midsection. It melts right through, eliciting an agonized yell in the second before she poofs.
Ruby's molten hand reaches towards the vulnerable gem. Amethyst grabs a fistful of her hair, dragging Ruby back a step.
"Woah, what are you doing?"
Ruby moves to bat Amethyst off, but pauses. Her limbs are still too hot.
She raises her eyebrows, waving a hand towards the green gem, and allowing Amethyst to bubble it. She's not sure what will happen if she sends the bubble, so she lets it go, opting to leave it in the hallway.
"What's happening?" Ruby asks, narrowing her eyes at Amethyst.
"I don't know, but it's spooked the hell out of a lot of gems here. My money's on P. You wanna look?"
"Yeah," Ruby huffs, "I got some lookin' to do."
...
Lion's breathing heavily. Steven pets his fur reassuringly. It's pretty clear that the constant jumps are tiring him out. They're going mostly blind, so the past three locations they've warped into have needed a swift exit out of. Now, they're in an empty space, at least.
It's creepy, this dark hallway they've found themselves in, but it's less frightening than the gem filled foyers they came from.
"Do you think Spodumene will know where to find our friends?" Steven whispers.
Lion ignores him.
"Can I check?" He asks, reaching towards the lion's mane.
It doesn't give, and Steven accepts that Lion doesn't want him to get her.
"Do you have any food?" He whispers, reaching again.
His fingers close around a juicebox. Dropping it on his lap, he goes again, finding his box of cookies that he'd stored in there a couple weeks ago.
Tearing open the package, he eats. They'll lie low until Lion's ready to go again.
Steven hopes it's soon.