Tammo, Amethyst and Pearl stood out on the lawn, looking at the ship buried in the earth.

Amethyst cracked her knuckles. "Okay, let's not waste any time." In a flash, she turned into a bulldozer and started digging. She drove around the ship in a circle, throwing up piles of dirt everywhere.

Gurrbowl the mole passed by, carrying a tray with a big earthenware jug and beakers of mint leaf and rosehip cordial from the cellars in her big paws. She was bringing refreshments for the animals building the wall. She paused to stare at the spectacle Amethyst presented. "Gurt seasons. Oi thought us moles were gudd diggers, but this takes ee cake!"

Amethyst worked all day. The hole got deeper and deeper. But by sundown, the ship was still only three quarters uncovered, and there was still no sign of a door.

"Hey guys, it's getting dark," she yelled up to her friends. "I think I'm gonna have to quit for the day."

Tammo sighed. "So close, and yet so far."

"Well, it can't be much farther now," Pearl said. "We'll get a fresh start in the morning and we should be able to finish then."

The hole was now so deep Amethyst couldn't climb out of it. So, she turned herself into a helicopter and flew back up to the surface. Then she, Tammo, and Pearl walked back inside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night, Ruby met with Sapphire outside the kindergarten again. Sapphire explained how the situation had worsened. "Now he's putting his own sweat into the Injectors, trying to create a new Gem-rat hybrid species!"

Ruby was aghast. "Why didn't you stop him?"

Sapphire shrugged helplessly. "I'm outnumbered a thousand to one in there. What could I do?"

"Great," said Ruby. "Just great."

Sapphire tried to be more positive. "It may not be so bad. Maybe it won't even work. Maybe adding the rat DNA will prevent the Gems from being born at all. Plus, he's only planted one Injector into the ground so far. He's saving the others back, waiting to see what'll happen with this first one."

Ruby started rubbing her hands together. "Fine. Then we'll sneak in there and smash all the rest of the Injectors before he can use them!"

"That just might work," Sapphire said. "Anyway, I can't think of a better plan. So, let's do it!"

Together, they tiptoed into the kindergarten. There was no sign of movement. All the vermin were sleeping inside their tents. The Injector Damug and Peridot had installed that morning had already submerged itself in the ground.

Ruby and Sapphire sneaked over to the nearest Injector, which was lying on its side. Ruby raised a foot and stomped on it. There was a smashing sound.

Suddenly Peridot appeared beside them. "Sapphire, what are you doing? And who's this red clod?" But she had already realized what they were doing. A dark look came over her face. "You're trying to wreck the Injectors, aren't you? You traitors!" She shouted an alarm. "Alarm, alarm! Alert, alert! Treason! Sabotage!"

Sapphire threw an arm around Peridot and clamped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. The vermin had heard, and they came pouring out of their tents, surrounding the Gems.

Damug Warfang had rushed outside without bothering to put his clothes. He was clad only in a pair of polka dotted underpants. Ruby could not help snickering, despite the dire situation.

Damug snarled, "So, you think I'm funny, do you? Well, you'll be laughing out the other side of your face before long!"

Ruby turned to Sapphire. "Come on, Sapphy. We better fuse!"

They joined hands and merged back into Garnet. Damug recognized her at once. "You're one of the Crystal Gems! This was all a trick! Well, you won't be tricking anyone else, ever again!" He slashed at Garnet with his sword, but Garnet knocked the sword out of his paw. Damug lashed out with his claws, scratching Garnet's face and knocking off her glasses. She responded with a punch that sent him flying.

Damug got back up and recovered his sword. He rushed at Garnet, but she dodged him. Garnet began to sing:

"Go ahead and try and hit me if you're able.

Can't you see that my relationship is stable?

I can see you hate the way we intermingle,

But I think you're just mad cause you're single!"

She gracefully evaded all his attacks as he tried to stab her with the sword. All the while, she kept singing, which seemed to enrage Damug further.

"But I am even more than the two of them.

Everything they care about is what I am.

I am their fury,

I am their patience,

I am a conversation!"

Garnet slammed both of her fists into Damug's head, felling him to the ground. She leaped over his body and made a run for it, smashing her way through the crowd of vermin.

"I am made, o-o-o-o-of, lo-o-o-o-ove, lo-o-o-o-ove, and it's stronger than you!" she sang as she vanished into the night.

Damug jumped back to his feet again and seized Peridot, shaking her. "Bunglin' idiot! This is your doing, isn't it? You were in league with the Crystal Gems all along!"

"No, I had nothing to do with this!" Peridot cried. "I'm the one who shouted the alarm when I saw those two smashing the Injectors! I'm on your side, I swear!"

"Liar! I'll shatter you where you stand…" Suddenly a loud noise from behind made Damug turn around, dropping Peridot. The Gem he'd planted earlier was emerging from the ground!

She was the same shade of purple as Amethyst, and she had an amethyst stone on her left paw, but otherwise she looked like a typical Mossflower rat. Damug walked up to her and clutched her shoulders in delight.

"Oh, look at you," he said. "Welcome to Earth!"

The creature blinked at him. "That is the first and nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"You look just like a pentagram between a rat and an Amethyst," Damug said. "So, I'm going to call you… Ramethyst!"

"Are you… my commander?" the Ramethyst asked.

Damug grinned. "That's exactly what I am."

"Okay. What are my orders?"

"Your first order…" Damug jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Peridot, cowering on the ground. "Is to kill her!"

"What?" Peridot shrieked. "But I told you, sire, I'm not a traitor!"

"Doesn't matter," said Damug. "You've served your purpose anyhow. Now that I know how to make my own Gems, I don't need your help anymore."

Ramethyst produced a whip out of nowhere, just like the one the real Amethyst had. She advanced toward Peridot, whip raised, but Peridot screamed and leaped into the air, launching herself at the canyon wall. When her limb enhancers hit the stone, they stuck there. Peridot started pulling herself up the canyon wall step by step, climbing like a lizard. Remethyst didn't have limb enhancers so she couldn't follow. Some of the vermin fired slingstones and arrows at Peridot but they all missed. Eventually, Peridot reached the top of the wall. She ran away, disappearing into Mossflower. Damug cursed.

"You want me to follow her, boss?" Ramethyst asked.

"No," said Damug. "Stay by my side. She might have gotten away, but it makes no difference. Once I finish building my army, I'll triumph with or without her!"