Opening Move
Lapis immediately tried fighting back against the intruder only to have her efforts met with a large, metallic foot slamming onto the back of her leg. It was incredibly painful, her cries of pain muffled by the hand over her mouth. "I can't panic now," she thought to herself. "I needed to think of something. Fast."
"This was easier than I thought," said the intruder. Lapis couldn't see them, but she knew a Peridot when she heard one. "I can shatter you and be back before she takes care of the girl." The grinding of metal drowned out the sounds of Lapis' struggle. What it was she couldn't tell, but if it's to shatter her then she won't wait to find out. Her eyes darted around the room looking for something, anything, to help her get out of this. Then, she felt it. Something pointy and sharp aimed right at her gem.
"I WON'T GO LIKE THIS!" Lapis tried screaming through the metallic hand tightly clutching her face. This can't be how it ends. Ambushed in her own home… She refuses to let it end like this! That's when she notices the water she spilled on the ground in front of her. It was slowly making its way backwards, some of it already behind her. That's it. That's her way out.
A click signaled that the weapon was armed. "Hope you're ready, Lapis Lazuli." The Peridot pulls the trigger and the weapon fires, but at the last second Lapis uses her powers to send a concentrated beam of water upwards which causes the intruder's arm to be knocked up. The drill-like bit lunges forward and penetrates the back of her head. A guaranteed shattering was reduced to a painful poofing. Still sucks, but at least she's not dead.
The Peridot watched her gem fall to the ground. "Dammit! Whatever. I can crush the gem under my foot." Standing over Lapis' gem is Peridot. Specifically, Cut-20A. Her star-shaped hair is partially hidden beneath a visor made to help her see in low light conditions such as this. The limb enhancers she's sporting are heavily modified versions of the safe variant that the Peridot we know built and gave her two days ago. They're bulky and hiding lots beneath the surface. "Not as dignified of a shattering as I'd like. That's forty-eight hours of my life wasted." The heavy boot of her limb enhancer hung over the small blue gem. All it would take is one stomp and Lapis Lazuli would be no more… but a knock at the door spares her life.
"YO LAPIS! YOU ALRIGHT IN THERE?" Amethyst shouts as she pounds on the door. "WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?"
"Damn it all! The one variable I didn't account for." 20A knows she needs to hide and fast. If Amethyst busted in and saw her then she'll surely be captured and interrogated. The pounding gets more intense the longer Amethyst doesn't get an answer. "Where… Where can I hide?" 20A frantically looks around for an answer, and one comes to her in the shape of a door. A door to the bedroom just out of the way enough to be mostly unnoticed. She wastes no time flinging the door open and shutting it quietly. Using her visor, she makes her way to a corner just in case they do come looking in here.
Outside, Pearl forces the door open. Light floods the home, illuminating the largely pristine and untouched main room except for the spilled water and lone gem laying on the ground. "OH MY GOD!" Pearl shouts and she rushes in. She immediately picks up Lapis' gem and starts inspecting it for any damage. "I don't see anything, but I still think we should get her to Steven immediately just in case."
Amethyst rushed in behind her, whip in hand, and scanning the area for any sign of the person responsible. "You go ahead. I'm gonna snoop around and see if I can find the asshole who did this."
20A grew anxious. She's not confident enough in her abilities to take on a wild card like Amethyst in a one on one fight. Truth is she probably couldn't even if she was confident. There's still much about these limb enhancers that have yet to be tested and ironed out. "Don't be absurd," Pearl shouts. "We can't be running head first into any fights until we know who it is we're up against." 20A breathes a sigh of relief.
"But now could be our best chance! If we leave, they'll get away!" Amethyst spotted the door. A room conveniently closed off… If they were hiding then they had to be hiding there. The purple gem walks over to the door and grabs the handle. 20A slinks further into the corner, raising her arm up ready to defend herself the moment they step in.
"Amethyst! We can't risk anyone else getting poofed or, stars forbid, shattered!" Pearl grabbed Amethyst's shoulder. The smaller gem wanted to disobey and take the fight to them, but she knew Pearl was right. There's no knowing who could be waiting for them and what they were capable of. Best to minimize damage rather than risk more.
"Fine. But if this comes back to bite us in the ass then I'm going to blame you," she says backing away from the door. The pair make their exit back to the warp pad.
20A waits a few minutes to see if anyone else arrives, then leaves once she's confident that she's completely safe. She steps out of the room cautiously, glancing around for anyone waiting to take her by surprise. When no one comes, she deems it safe enough to put away the metal monstrosities around her limbs. With a press of a button, they open up to allow her out and with another press they condense into four thick, heavy rods. Sure, they looked large and suspicious but no one would ever suspect them to be powerful weapons. "Too close for comfort…" 20A says quietly to herself, storing the metal rods inside her gem.
Back at home, Steven had finished explaining what had happened to Bismuth and Peridot. Neither of them were quite sure how to feel about it. "I knew Lapis could be a tad pushy from… experience, but I didn't know she'd go that far." Peridot said.
Steven had more right to criticize her for what she did than anyone in the room, but he still tried defending her. "She stopped when I told her to. That's gotta count for something."
Bismuth puts a large hand on his shoulder. "I'm not saying she's a bad gem, but this isn't something you can wave off as a little mistake. You have to be honest with her about how it made you feel and establish some healthy boundaries." Steven put his hand over her's as a way of showing he understands what she's saying. So many complicated emotions are swirling around inside him that he has no way of expressing. He's frustrated and worried over Lapis, angry at himself for lashing out at Connie, and so much more. The best he can do is take a breath.
Their moment is interrupted when the warp pad activates, bringing with it Pearl and Amethyst holding a small blue gem in the shape of a tear drop. Steven's on his feet and walking to them before they can utter a word. "What happened? Is that Lapis? IS SHE OKAY?" He breaks out into a full-on sprint the moment he realizes that's her gem in Pearl's hands.
Pearl carefully hands him the gem, "I think so. She was poofed in her own home and we don't know by who." Steven doesn't find any cracks or scratches, but he still gives it a healing kiss as a precaution.
"We need to go back," Bismuth says rising up. "I bet whoever did it is still lurking around. We can catch 'em still!"
Peridot was already up and ready to go fight for her best friend. "THE CLODS RESPONSIBLE WILL FEEL THE WRATH OF PERIDOT! I SWEAR IT!"
Pearl and Amethyst beckoned them over to the warp pad, but Pearl stopped Steven from joining them. "You stay here with Lapis' gem. We can't risk her getting shattered if a fight breaks out. If anyone comes here to finish the job I'm more than sure you can handle it, but still call Garnet back here just in case." All four of the gems were on the warp pad ready to go as Steven took a couple steps back.
"I got this," he said confidently, holding the gem close to his heart. A bright flash lit the room for a split second, then they were gone. "I need to keep you somewhere safe." Steven goes to pocket the gem, but the vibration of his phone grabs his attention. He reads the notification, his heart sinking seeing the text. It's from Connie.
"SOS. AT HOME. SOS."
When it rains, it pours, and right now it is absolutely pouring. Steven doesn't even think twice about running out the door to go help Connie. A large, pink lion greets him with a lick as he tries running down the stairs. "Lion! I don't have time for- Lion?" Thank the gods above for this stroke of luck. Steven hastily climbs on top of Lion and shouts, "We need to get to Connie's, now! It's urgent!" Lion understands and shouts open a portal that takes them clear over to Connie's house within moments. He jumps off and almost rushes in blindly, but then he remembers the gem in his pocket.
"I can't take Lapis in like this…" Steven gets the idea to simply leave her in Lion's mane. She'll be safe in there since no one except him could get in. Perfect! He climbs into the mane and runs up the hill to the acacia tree where he gently places Lapis Lazuli on the soft ground. To make sure she knows he'll be back for her, Steven leaves his pink letterman jacket over the gem. He steels himself for what's to come as he leaves the mane and rushes towards the door.
When he goes to open it, it doesn't budge. "C'mon! Open!" Try as he might, it just will not open. Steven doesn't have time for this. He taps into his diamond strength to kick the door in which flings it wide open. Running inside, he suddenly finds himself submerged and unable to breathe. It takes considerable effort to backpedal enough to escape where he only ends up falling onto the ground. "What in the…"
The living room was full of water. Looking inside was like looking into an aquarium without the protective glass between him and the depths just ahead. "Oh great. This just keeps getting better." Steven summons a protective bubble around him, then rolls inside Connie's home. The water is pretty much still which makes it easy to roll around the bubble. He looks around the living room, seeing furniture and decor floating in the water and thick sheets of ice blocking any entrance into the kitchen or up the stairs. "Dammit. Where's Connie?"
"In the kitchen." Steven swung around to see a Lapis Lazuli sitting on the couch. Her gem was located on her chest and her hair was in a ponytail that was currently floating in the water. The dress she wore was a lighter shade of blue than the other Lapis gems he's seen with a long slit on one side that left her right leg exposed. "She's being taken care of. I'm just here to slow you down." She wasn't even paying attention to him. Her eyes were focused on the TV somehow still working underwater. "Oh wait, I was supposed to use our ridiculous code names. I'm Angel, despite my best efforts."
"Let me through!" Steven prepares to roll the bubble into the ice ahead, but is stopped as a sudden force pushes him back. Angel used her powers to keep him away from the ice with minimal effort.
"You're already getting on my nerves," she says with a groan. Angel stands up from the couch, finally looking at him for the first time since he got here. "At least you ain't hard on the eyes." That still doesn't stop her from summoning more ice to seal off the only exit.
Steven, annoyed beyond belief at this point, isn't entertaining this shit for a second. "Yeah, no. I'm shutting that down now." He taps into his diamond powers to summon a barrier and sends it hurling towards Angel in hopes of poofing her fast. Unfortunately, she uses the water currents to throw herself out of the way which only causes the barrier to crash through the wall. The neighbor's aren't going to like that one.
Angel retaliates by summoning water hands to crash into the bubble from four sides. They each are applying heavy force that'll pop the bubble soon if Steven doesn't act quick. "You organics can't breathe underwater, and your movements will be slowed under all this pressure. Things I don't have to worry about." Steven can feel the bubble starting to give. "I wasn't supposed to kill you, but I don't think Leader will mind one less roadblock."
Steven can't take this anymore. His best friend is going through god-knows-what just beyond that ice wall and he's stuck here mere feet away. "THAT'S IT! SCREW THIS!" His body begins to grow in size and turn pink. The bubble hardens too much for the hands to compete with. "SCREW YOUR TRAP!" Steven inhales deeply. He's never willingly tapped into his mother's destructive powers since the Jasper incident so he's scared he might go overboard, but now isn't the time to be holding back. "AND SCREW YOU!"
The shout is so loud that it's volume penetrates the water with ease, being heard by Connie and her parents in the kitchen. The ensuing shockwave rips through the bubble and pops it on its destructive path. Angel is sent flying backwards into a wall, causing her to lose focus and let the water falter enough to allow Steven to move just quick enough.
"HOLD ON, CONNIE!" He summons his shield and creates spikes on the front of it. One leap forward was all it took to close the gap between him and the ice wall. The shield makes contact, cracking it first hit. Angel attempts to stop him, but she's too late. By the time she comes to, the last hit lands on the ice wall shattering it into pieces.
The water floods in behind Steven like a wave, but he doesn't so much as budge an inch from the force. His irate gaze is focused forward on a tall, blue-tinted gem standing menacingly in front of Connie and her parents. Connie's standing firm, sword in hand trying to protect her parents from this gem. Luckily, they all look fine. "Steven! You made it!" Connie shouts.
"So the son of Pink finally arrives," the gem said with false politeness. "What an honour it is to finally meet face-to-face." That voice… That sounds like one of the voices Steven heard in that dream. She starts to slowly turn towards him. Something about her scares him. Something that triggers the same fear response that once guided our ancestors; that made them naturally scared of the unknown.
"W-Who are you?" Steven asks, his voice getting shaky.
Unfeeling eyes glare down at the boy, a shallow smile forcing its way on the gem's thin face. "I can't blame you for not remembering. Last we spoke you weren't conscious. Allow me to introduce myself, Steven Universe." The gem speaks in such a way that it captivates everyone. They wish to run, but something binds them in place. "I am Moonstone. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."