After a happy reunion between Steven and Amethyst, there was a lot to sort out. For one, their supposed allies seemed rather bothered that Ruby had poofed their friend. Amethyst couldn't blame them, but she also found herself a lot more worried about whether these gems were friend or foe with Steven's safety in the mix.
In the end, both sides- one side currently consisting only of Amethyst- decided to defer to the boy who rode in on the pink Lion, as long as Amethyst released Aquamarine.
Steven, more diplomatic than he thinks, is a good choice of leader. He doesn't have any idea what he's doing, but Amethyst knows he'll listen to her, and eventually to Ruby and Pearl when she finds them. The other gems know nothing except that he has the gem of Rose Quartz and that his Lion is pink, which has been a bit of a prohibited color since some things went down thousands of years ago. That seems to be enough to gain their trust.
The leader of their side, a chalcedony who fought for Homeworld in the war for Earth and has since secretly defected to spread word of the rebellion, seems to assure the others in her trust of Steven, and soon, all eyes and ears are on him.
"Thanks for offering to help," Steven says, nervously, "I'd really just like to find my family. Pearl, and, uhm, Ruby."
"You call the pearl your family?"
Steven's eye shifts to the pearl at the back of the group, who has shrunk in on herself upon asking the question, arms twisted in her lap and posture slumped so her shoulders are by her ears.
"Yeah!" Steven says, still not used to the idea that Pearl would be thought of as anything but amazing by anyone, "I love her."
A few gems nod, respect clear on their faces, but others have not gotten over all of their prejudices upon joining the rebellion, and frown at the words of the strange new gem they are expected to now listen to.
"Is this all of you?" Steven asks, looking out over the 12 gems seated before him.
"We have other members," Chalcedony replies, "but some of them are wary to join the fight so early into it. Others are merely elsewhere in the station. Be assured, there are many of us."
Amethyst worries that 'many of us' doesn't figure fractions of the whole. There's bound to be way more of the opposition, and unlike Amethyst, these gems want to fight, not just to leave.
She voices her thoughts, receiving dirty looks that tell her she's not wrong.
"It's important to stand up for what you believe," Steven says, holding out a hand to Amethyst to take the bubbled gem from her, "but it's also important to know when to bail."
Steven pushes the bubble into Lion's mane, keeping it with Spodumene for now. Amethyst bubbles the one from her shirt and passes it to him as well.
"I was just going to go home. If you need my help, I can help you, but if you would like to come home with me, that's ok too."
A good half of the gems seem to consider this option, and a quiet murmur fills the room.
"What about the gems here who need to be saved?" Chalcedony asks.
Steven nods, saying nothing. Amethyst can tell this is a big decision for him. She knows what her answer is. She's going home, and she's going to take Steven with her, these gems be damned.
The red spinel guarding the hall pops her head into the room.
"The ruby has returned successfully with the pearl. I spotted them in the hall below, on this side."
Steven's excitement is palpable, and Amethyst can see the room building up energy as he bounds over happily to wrap the two entering gems in a hug.
Pearl hisses, bracing herself on Ruby's head, but doesn't remove Steven's arm from her leg. He pulls away from her himself as his arm comes back wet with blood.
"It's ok," she reassures, "It's not that deep."
Pearl drops into a sitting position, pulling Steven onto her lap, and wrapping him into a tight embrace. She smiles over at Amethyst, casting a wary eye over the congregated gems before her.
Chalcedony bows her head respectfully at Pearl. After a moment, all but a few stubborn gems follow suit; the other pearl has taken a low bow, leaning onto her legs with her arms stretched on the floor in front of her.
Pearl laughs, anxiously, glancing over to her three friends to see positive expressions on all of their faces. Steven bows his head too, giggling softly.
It's a good moment, until all hell breaks loose.
The first indication that homeworld gems have arrived is the cloud of smoke coming from what used to be the red spinel in the doorway. The sound of her gem clattering to the floor is followed by a sharp crack as the citrine stomps hard upon it. The gem, cracked but still together, slides across the floor. Steven scrabbles off Pearl's lap, pouncing upon it, and holds it to his chest, bracing himself for the follow-up kick.
Chalcedony stops it, swinging her weapons, a set of small double axes, under the gem's leg and sweeping upwards, knocking the citrine onto her back. Ruby pounces on Amethyst, swinging her into hasty dance steps that gather them both into a cloud of light. Shape begins to form, but the two anxious gems have too much turmoil in one self, and the unstable fusion drops apart before it can form.
Pearl scoops Steven off the floor, passing him to Amethyst to keep safe. She turns quickly to counter a blow from a blue gem, but her weakened leg merely sends her to the floor. Ruby leaps upon the gem, wrapping an arm around her neck while one of their allies stabs her.
Amethyst, hesitant to hit anyone who might be an ally, takes a defensive stance, shuffling Steven towards the grate. He holds the bubbled Spinel, sad to see that his healing spit is still ineffective, and unable to push it into the snarling Lion's mane at this time.
The other pearl steps into the brawl, unsure how to fight, but ready to pull Pearl out of harm's way when she can. She hooks thin arms under Pearl's shoulders, helping her to her feet.
"Go with Steven," Pearl instructs, as Ruby grabs at her from the other side.
"Fuse with me," she says, "I'm too small, too- urgh."
Pearl nods. They've fused before, during the war, for fun and practice, as well as for battle. They quickly step around one another, Pearl spinning backwards and dropping all of her weight into Ruby's arms.
Ruby and Pearl disappear into light, gems swirling around inside. Gems on both sides lose their focus for a moment, staring at the cross fusion of gems. Chalcedony, having seen it before, pointedly ignores it, utilizing the distraction to deal another killing blow.
The other pearl, attempting to help Steven, does as he is doing, kicking gems, regardless of alignment, over the the boy, to bubble and place into the pink animal's fur.
The light ceases with a flash, and Pearl and Ruby are gone. Cuprite, taller, thin but muscular, huffs in their places. Her head brushes the ceiling, rounded afro framing her square face. She's red, bordering on magenta, Steven observes, eyes wide.
His distraction is long enough for him to get kicked into the wall by an opposing gem, who has just got done crushing a rebel into retreating.
Cuprite's head swings to the left at Steven's pained cry, and her fist, still covered in Ruby's gauntlets, comes down hard on the gem. She grabs her tight, until smoke fills the cracks between her fingers and a triangular blue gem falls to the ground.
"Don't mess with angry super-mom," Amethyst mutters, scooping Steven up and hauling him back to safety.
The report on the hallways under the grate have come back, and it's been deemed safe to go numbers, aside from the Crystal Gems, are down to 6, but they send 2 strong gems first, followed by Lion, Steven and Amethyst, the pearl, and the rest of the rebels. Chalcedony stays a moment to make sure Cuprite can handle herself, cutting down any gems who make it past.
"They didn't expect us all here at once," Cuprite says, "so they probably spread their resources."
She poofs the final gem, turning to Chalcedony.
"They'll realize when these don't report back," Chalcedony nods, "we should move. Rose Quartz'... human plans to head back to Earth for now. I didn't want to do it, but we may be fighting a losing battle otherwise."
Pearl and Ruby phase apart, back into their separate selves. Ruby lands firmly, but Pearl's leg sends her crashing to the ground.
"You okay, Pearl? We can stay fused, if you need to..."
"We need to fit through the grate," she says, allowing Chalcedony to lift her to her feet and support her.
The light purple gem is a bit stout, well padded, and carries the slight gem easily. Pearl's feet brush over the floor in imitation of steps, but they both know it wouldn't make much of a difference if she just lifted her legs.
Ruby drops in first, holding her arms up in case either of the other two slip after landing. Pearl does lift her feet at this point, allowing Chalcedony to carry her for the drop, before setting her on her feet once more.
They meet up with Steven and the others some way down the corridor. Ruby, aware that Pearl is not quite comfortable being carried by a past battlefield enemy and relative stranger, scoops her up herself, muttering that she's too slow. Pearl, forced to bring her knees to her chest so her feet don't sweep across the floor, sits stiffly in Ruby's hold until she's put down in front of the other gems.
"We're going back to earth, with the Crystal Gems," Chalcedony announces, "any objections?"
There clearly are, but none strong enough to bring forth a raised hand. It's clear that losing over half their forces in such a short amount of time shook the rebels.
"Nice," Amethyst sighs, relieved.