Opening Files: Crystal Gems
The Crystal Gems, also referred to as the Rebels, are a group of Gems established by Rose Quartz who, unlike the rest of their kind, seek to protect the Earth instead of exploiting it and are the self-proclaimed guardians of humanity. Over 6,000 years ago Homeworld Gems planned to use Kindergartens to create new Gems on Earth while they were colonizing the planet. As Gems were pumped out of the Prime Kindergarten, Rose Quartz discovered that the process of creating new Gems was very invasive and damaging to the planet, since Gems drained the life force out of the surrounding area in order to grow. Rose Quartz's empathy towards the Earth and beliefs on the Kindergarten's injustice instigated her to defect from her fellow Gems; she truly cared for every form of life on the planet.
Rose Quartz formed the group known as the Crystal Gems, for Gems who agreed with her beliefs. Another reason that Rose formed the Crystal Gems was because she disagreed with how Homeworld's society ran; she believed that Gems shouldn't have to do what the Diamonds wanted them to do, but instead choose their own lives and fate. Many battles were fought and took place in different locations all over Earth, such as the Ancient Sky Arena, the Cloud Arena, and the Strawberry Battlefield. Rose was able to keep her army in contention with Homeworld's superior army because of her healing abilities.
The war was fought not just between Gems but also the inhabitants of the planet such as Humans and Grimm. Working with her Human allies Rose and the Crystal Gems learned how to avoid and even fight the Grimm, relying on special armor created by a Bismuth Gem who outfitted the entire rebel army with weapons to fight against Homeworld and the Grimm. Around 5,000 years ago Rose is believed to have shattered Pink Diamond. The Crystal Gems continue to fight against Homeworld's ever-growing army, due to the newly created Beta Kindergarten.
Over 4,500 years ago Earth was no longer seen as a viable colony to Homeworld. With one final effort to wipe out the Crystal Gems, the Diamonds unleashed the Corrupting Light, corrupting any Gems exposed to the blast. Rose was able to protect herself, Garnet, and Pearl from becoming corrupted with her shield. It was also around this time that the source of the Grimm is sealed again and the remaining Grimm fall into dormancy.
The use of Aura falls into mythology for reasons unknown, becoming completely forgotten until the Time of Awakening. The remaining Crystal Gems used their abilities to defend Earth from countless threats. As Rose wished, the Crystal Gems contained the Corrupted Gems in bubbles. Rose made it the Crystal Gems' mission to one day figure out how to cure Corrupted Gems.
The Crystal Gems also met and recruited Amethyst, who popped out of the Prime Kindergarten too late to fight in the Rebellion. After falling in love with Greg Universe, Rose, a great admirer of humanity, gave up her physical form to give birth to a half-human child, Steven Universe. The other remaining Crystal Gems, currently composed of by Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl have taken it upon themselves to raise him alongside Greg and teach him how to use his powers. With Homeworld gaining new interest in Earth, Steven and the Crystal Gems continue to protect humanity and contain Corrupted Gems.
Close File
Xxx
"Rebellion, revolution, resistance, defiance. All these concepts exist around the same idea of fighting against a perceived enemy, threat or tyranny. Of course they are all judged by how they act. Property destruction could get you labelled as mere vandals while attacks that result in the deaths of innocent people will have people calling you terrorists." TOM closed the 'Crystal Gems' file. "History is full of such examples of a small band of people, labelling themselves as freedom fighters against tyranny and wishing to hopefully change corrupt systems for the better. It's a noble goal but you have to be careful of what goal you have in mind. Too many times leaders have allowed themselves to walk down the same path of corruption of their enemies, becoming extreme in their methods and making so many wrong choices that you end becoming the very evil you have been fighting to destroy. Always stay true to your ideals and if you believe anything you want is worth whatever risk it might have you better be ready to give it all you got."
Xxx
The cleanup of Beach City after Vilgax's attack was actually less strenuous than rebuilding after Malachite's attack or currently rebuilding Steven's house that was right in front of the Gem Temple. The hero named Major Glory had assisted in repairing the town while the Gems worked the rest of the day and night to rebuild the house.
"Three attacks in the last couple of weeks. Man, we're on a roll here." Amethyst commented, throwing away a large piece of wood.
"Amethyst, this is serious!" Pearl scolded, picking up remains of Steven's toys. "We were attacked by Homeworld and barely got away thanks to Steven. Then the Gem Fusion created by Jasper and Lapis nearly destroyed the entire town and now this." She stopped and looked at Garnet who finished bringing in enough supplies to rebuild the outer deck. "That Chimera Sui Generis…That was Vilgax wasn't it?"
Garnet nodded. "The intergalactic terrorist, Vilgax. He was on Earth over two hundred years ago, according to Rose but he never knew that Gems were on this planet."
"Wait, we know this guy?" Amethyst asked.
"Amethyst, don't you remember the briefings the Plumbers shared with us?" Pearl asked, rubbing her head. "That human, Tennyson, who Rose spoke with. He supplied her with a list of all known extraterrestrial threats at the time and originally thought we were because Vilgax had come here. But I thought Vilgax was confirmed destroyed."
"Evidently not." Garnet simply said. "The Plumbers at the time informed us that Vilgax had already destroyed Gem colonies and was given a Kill-On-Sight order by the Diamonds and he also destroyed the Petrosapien homeworld."
"The only species Homeworld ever respected, even though they stood against the way Homeworld would colonize planets." Pearl remarked grimly. "It's bad enough Homeworld knows of us but if they knew Vilgax was still alive and on this planet…"
"They would send a full battalion and Malachite and Peridot would be the least of our problems." Garnet finished.
"Yikes." Was all Amethyst could say. "Well, good thing we don't have to worry about him anymore."
"Don't be so sure." Garnet replied darkly. "If Vilgax is still alive and he knows that Gems are still on the planet along with the boy who carries the Omnitrix we will see him again. And if he finds out about Steven…"
"What do we do?" Pearl asked.
"We speak to Tennyson."
Xxx
Each of the Crystal Gems had been reacting to previous events in their own way.
Garnet was stoic as usual, remaining every bit as the leader she had become since Rose gave up her physical form. However, on the inside she was just as conflicted as Pearl and Amethyst looked. Homeworld's return brought about a familiar fear they would try to colonize the planet again and what might happen if they found out about Steven but even that had paled in comparison to what she had discovered in the Kindergarten.
Gem shards forced to fuse.
Such an act was crime against nature, a crime against love in Garnet's eyes and she had only pulled herself together when her Future Vision showed her that Steven would be in danger. Then there was the battles against Malachite and Vilgax that attracted much unwanted attention on Beach City. Huntsmen had gathered, protecting the city from incoming Grimm.
'Are we going to talk about this?' The Ruby half asked, sounding frustrated in Garnet's mindscape. 'Fusion, Sapphire! FUSION!'
'There is nothing we can do aside from track down Peridot and the human that was with her.' The Sapphire half responded.
'And then what?! Bubble them both?! We can't bubble humans and bubbling is too nice in Peridot's case! Look what she did!' Ruby shouted.
'We don't know it was her.' Sapphire pointed out.
'SHE KNEW! SHE KNEW WHAT THEY WERE! THAT MEANS SHE'S WORSE THAN JASPER!' Ruby raged. 'SHE SHOULD BE SHATTERED AND FUSED! SEE HOW SHE LIKES IT!'
'You don't mean that.'
'I KNOW I DON'T!'
Both halves remained quiet as Garnet continued walking, giving no impression to anyone as to what might be happening inside her.
Pearl on the other hand was considering a different set of events.
'Everything is spiraling out of control. Homeworld, Malachite, Seraphinite, Peridot and now this Vilgax? And all the Huntsmen that have been popping up.' Pearl thought anxiously. 'We've been hidden for thousands of years and now suddenly we're fighting in battles that we haven't had to fight since the Rebellion. This is why we hid in the first place after Homeworld fled. We couldn't fight against the Grimm anymore with so few of us left.'
Despite how she acted Pearl knew how powerful the species on Earth truly were. She had seen them fight in the Rebellion against both the Grimm and Homeworld and it still amazed her that an organic species that could actually fight Gems existed. Given the nature of the Grimm she supposed it was no surprise that the rest of the planet's inhabitants would have evolved to fight against them, becoming their natural competition.
It was also what made her slightly fear them.
Humans, Faunus and Mobians, three species that could challenge and defeat Gems.
And the Grimm, a species made of a strange substance that actually killed Gems on contact.
'Bismuth forged special armor to protect us from the Grimm during the Rebellion before she was lost. When the war was over we hid ourselves away, only traveling out to find and bubble corrupted Gems.' Pearl recalled sadly. 'Rose is gone, Homeworld is returning, Seraphinite is permanently bonded to a human and for the first time in centuries we've come in contact with Huntsmen. How long before another war starts?'
Meanwhile Amethyst was focused on everything that is happened like Garnet and Pearl but her thoughts were a little more personal.
(Flashback)
"Is Rose really that desperate for troops? That she'd keep a defect like you?" Jasper asked, condescendingly.
Amethyst managed to stand back up. "Rose said... I'm perfect... the way I am!"
"Then she had low standards!"
Enraged, Amethyst charged at Jasper with her spin dash.
"You could've been me!" Jasper kicked Amethyst into the air, and as she fell back past Jasper the two stared into each other's eyes, Jasper staring confidently into Amethyst's shocked and wide eyes. "And what are you instead?"
Amethyst slammed into the ground and looked back at Jasper.
"Just a joke." Jasper head-butted Amethyst, destroying her form and knocking her gem into the air.
(End Flashback)
Amethyst gritted her teeth, the sting of Jasper humiliating and defeating coming back to her now that they've had a moment's rest. Jasper's words plus her own self-loathing towards her own origins struck a blow to Amethyst and she couldn't stop thinking about it no matter how hard she tried or how many battles she was in.
'I was useless against Jasper, we couldn't do a thing against Malachite and that Vilgax creep whooped us like it wasn't even a big deal. We're the Crystal Gems and we've been getting our stones kicked all over the place. Is it because of me? Is it because…' Amethyst held up a fist and clenched it. 'I'm not like Jasper?'
"Grimm have been all over the country side, in larger numbers than I've seen in a long time. It must have been the negative emotions, likely from Malachite and Vilgax that attracted them." Amethyst shook her head at the sound of Pearl's voice. "Beach City has too few trained fighters. We might end up having to defend this city from Grimm."
"We still have Bismuth's armor. It worked during the Rebellion." Garnet replied, relieved to hear a distraction. "With the armor Grimm are not more dangerous than Corrupted Gems."
"And what will Tennyson say when we speak to him?" Pearl asked as the Gems entered town. "They agreed to leave us and any Gem related problems alone on the condition we would handle them. Vilgax's attack might put doubt in our abilities."
"And what is so bad about that?" Amethyst mumbled, making them stop.
"Amethyst…" Pearl looked surprised.
"We've had our stones kicked not one but three times. Jasper, Malachite and now Vilgax. We're the Crystal Gems and we haven't saved the day once in a whole week. We had help…From people of this planet." Amethyst kicked a small pebble. "The people Rose wanted to protect, even if it meant protecting those Grimm that like to kill us. She disappears and look how we do without her."
"Amethyst, what are you getting at?" Pearl questioned, seeing something was wrong with the smaller Gem.
"Nothing." Amethyst turned away. "I'm going to the wrestling hall."
"Amethyst-" Pearl tried to call her back but Garnet stopped the pale Gem with a hand on her shoulder. "Garnet?"
"Give her time." Garnet simply said.
Pearl looked back at Amethyst as she walked away; wondering what had gotten into her.
Xxx
Steven was completely out of it, sleeping peacefully in Greg's van while his house was being rebuilt.
Greg was sitting outside, playing his guitar and looking up at the night sky. Needless to say it had been a long day and he was just glad Steven made it through alive, again.
He looked over the Rustbucket, remembering how Vilgax had been after Steven's friend, Ben Tennyson over some alien watch that let him transform into other aliens.
And he thought life with Gems was crazy.
His musings were cut off as Max stepped out of the Rustbucket and at the same time Garnet and Pearl appeared, walking up to the two vehicles.
'Oh boy.' Greg thought as Max met the Gems. 'This can't be good.'
"We need to talk." Garnet started.
Xxx
Johnny Bravo was a man who enjoyed many of the good things in life.
Bikini Babes.
TV.
Bikini Babes.
Pops' food.
Bikini Babes.
Mr. Keven's hair gel.
Bikini Babes.
The unconditional love of his Mama.
Bikini Babes…
"Wait, I already got Bikini Babes like five times now. Where am I going with this?" Johnny stopped and wondered.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A man sailed over Johnny's head as he was thinking.
"I like a lot of things." Johnny had a hand on his chin. "We established what I like. Now what were the words about me that I was trying to say?"
"And another take down by Purple Puma!" A voice amplified by a microphone announced in the building Johnny was standing next to.
"Were they going to list a few more things I like? Like…Oh, Bikini Babes magazine!" Johnny snapped his fingers. "That's got to be it!"
"And here comes the next challenger!"
"I like all these things so these words are obviously pointing out all the things I like!" Johnny continued, completely oblivious to the sounds of fighting inside the building.
"Oh! What a strike! He's going to be feeling that tomorrow!"
"So maybe it's about me discovering how happy I am with myself." Johnny rubbed his chin. "Me, learning that I am happy…Would like a nice hot chick though. That would make me like ten times happy."
"Three, two, one! You're out! Purple Puma wins again!" The microphone voice announced followed by cheering.
"Mama always said there is a girl out there that I can count on, one girl that I can be me with no matter what, one girl that would never make me feel crummy." Johnny contemplated. "I wonder who that could be?"
"Will anyone else challenge the Purple Puma?"
Johnny stopped and looked at the building. "The Purple what now?"
"Do we have a challenger?"
Johnny kicked open the door. "Hey, can you keep it down? I am doing one of those things where you're kinda talking to yourself but not really talking out loud, more like it's talking in your head or seeing words in your head when you are not really seeing them."
"Isn't that thinking?" A person in the audience who happened to be closest to Johnny could not help but ask.
"Right, that thing. I got one of those thinks in my head and I can't hear or see them with this noise." Johnny said before a light shined down on him.
"Looks like we have a challenger!"
"A say-what now?" Johnny asked.
"A new challenger has entered and is throwing his hat in the ring!"
"Hey! I don't wear hats, ever! It messes with my hair and I work hard to keep this style right!" Johnny pointed to his hair. "I mean, I've seen a lot nice, cool looking hats but I never put them on. Not my thing."
"He means you're challenging the Purple Puma to wrestling, idiot!" Someone else in the audience shouted.
"Wrestling? Like on TV?" Johnny asked before someone grabbed him and pulled him towards the ring. "Hey, watch the hair!"
"Just get in there, idiot!" The man shouted and threw Johnny into the ring.
Johnny landed in the middle of the ring with a loud slamming sound. "Oof!"
"And here's our challenger!"
Johnny stood up, rubbing his face and looked around and the crowd cheered. "Where am I again? Is this fake like on TV?"
"Standing in the center is our challenger, the blond peacock!"
"I am not a peacock!" Johnny snapped.
"And on the other side, our reigning champion, Purple Puma!"
"Okay for real, what even is a pu-" Johnny paused as he was grabbed and swung up into the air. "-MAAAAAAAAA-"
CRASH!
Johnny groaned and looked up at his assailant. "Hey…dun I know you?" He mumbled as the world spun. "All eight of you?"
Standing over him was an incredibly muscular and purple skinned individual clad in a set of black wrestling tights and a purple mask over their upper face. Their hair, both on their head and on their chest, was like that of a lion's mane, but in the latter rested a single purple gem.
"C'mon!" The Purple Puma growled, slamming his…or her hands together-it was hard to tell based on the stark difference in signals Johnny got from his appearance and voice. "Get up!"
"Whoa now, I'm a lover, not a fighter!" Johnny said, but then flipped backwards as the Puma slammed one fist down where he'd been laying.
"No love in the ring!" Puma growled and charged again, forcing Johnny to dodge out of the way.
"Seriously mister, I'm warning you now!" Johnny pointed at Puma. "I'm training to be a Hunstman and I'm a black belt in karate so you'd better cool it or Johnny's gonna have to put the hurt on you!"
"Hah! Give it your best shot!" Puma growled, motioning for Johnny to come forward.
"Fine!" Johnny suddenly grabbed his own shirt and ripped it away…revealing that he was now wearing a karate gi.
"Uh…how'd you hide that under your clothes?" Puma asked as Johnny struck an aggressive stance. "Is that a semblance?"
"No talk!" Johnny declared. "I gave you a chance, now its butt kickin' time, pal!"
Leaping forward, Johnny gave a warrior's cry as he aimed a flying kick…which then turned into a high pitched scream as Puma grasped his leg and swung him around, letting him fly into the ropes on the side which stretched out before flinging him back towards his foe, who clotheslined him in mid-flight.
Johnny groaned as he laid on his back again. "That could'a gone better…"
"Johhhhhnyyyyy….!"
"Huh…?" Johnny looked up to see clouds parting, revealing the visage of his mother cast in a heavenly glow. "Mama…? What are you doing here?"
"Johhhhnyyyy…you have to get uuuuup…." His mama called out, unnecessarily elongating every word.
"Uh, mama, why are you talking like that-"
"You're getting your butt kicked by a purple lion and having a hallucination and that is what you want to know?!" She shook her head. "Look, Johnny, do you remember what Pops said about attacking directly?"
"That…if I can't beat them head on I've got to outsmart them!" Johnny realized. "But…how am I gonna do that?"
"I don't know, I'm a concussion induced hallucination! Think, Johnny!" Mama declared before flicking her fingers against his forehead. "Thiiiink…"
When Johnny blinked he was back on the floor of the ring with Puma raising one leg to stomp down on him. "Whoa, boy!" He rolled aside as Puma stomped downwards.
"Come on, give me a real fight!" The masked fighter demanded.
"Right, gotta think, gotta…" Johnny glanced towards the ropes and recalled how they had stretched. "…got it."
With a plan, however poorly conceived, in mind, Johnny charged right for Puma again. As the larger fighter reared back one fist and let fly with a haymaker which Johnny slid under, coming to his feet behind Puma, who spun around while swinging another fist up. Johnny leaned back and grabbed onto the oversized fist, allowing it to pick him up off his feet and fling him into the air. For a moment Johnny waved his arms around wildly, but landed on his feet on the far side of the ring.
Realizing he'd landed safely, Johnny smirked at Puma and slapped himself on the rump once. "Awwww, that all you got? Come and get it!"
Growling, Puma got down on all fours and sorted while digging one foot into the ring. As the masked fighter charged across the ring, Johnny moved to meet them…and leapt out of the way at the last moment, causing Puma to slam into the ropes which stretched, the posts straining not to snap at their bases before Puma was finally flung back towards the middle of the ring…where Johnny was waiting with a perfectly executed roundhouse kick right to the face that sent Puma flying head over heels out of the ring.
Silence fell over the room as many jaws dropped.
"…I…did it?" Johnny held his arms up. "I did it, mama! I did it! I actually thought! I THOUGHT!"
The room broke into cheers around him as people surged into the ring to heft Johnny onto their shoulders, lifting the blonde up as he looked around. "Mama? Oh, right, concussion." He held a hand to his head. "Oh man, good thing the doctor said that stuff doesn't bother me."
Once upon a time, a doctor had actually examined Johnny after he'd received several concussions over the course of a single day and concluded that Johnny was in no danger of losing brain function…what little there was. On the bright side he would be alright, on the downside Johnny's existence was submitted as proof that humanity was doomed as a species.
For the next little while Johnny Bravo ended up having his nachos and drinks paid for. As he finished scarfing down on another bowl which left his lower face coated in cheese he found a familiar sight sitting across from him…
"AH!" Johnny dropped the nachos and held his arms out towards Puma. "Don't hurt me! I didn't mean to take your belt! Or send you flying! Or win!"
"Huh?" Puma looked down. "Oh! Right, forgot to change. Hold on."
A glow surrounded Puma, who shrank down into a more familiar form…
"Huh? You?!" Johnny recognized Amethyst from the battle against Vilgax. "Right, you can change into that! Of course!" He sighed in relief. "Oh man, that was a close one."
"No kidding!" Amethyst chuckled and set her championship belt on the table between them. "But hey, I'm not mad you beat me. Heck, this is the first loss I've had in the ring and I never expected a human, even a Huntsman in training, to get the drop on me. Props, man!"
"Oh, yeah, thanks to my training with Pops…and my mama." Johnny chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "You're pretty good in the ring too. If it weren't my Semblance I'd probably be down and out."
"So you do know your Semblance then?" Amethyst asked, pulling her chair forward.
"Oh yeah, I can…well…basically I can take big hits, things that would knock anyone else out or worse." Johnny explained. "Doesn't mean I'm invincible. That Vilgax guy punted me out so far they sent the Coast Guard to grab me and boy where they surprised to see me swimming all the way back to the beach. It's just that I heal quickly, I don't break as easy and it's a lot harder to do any reeeeal bad damage. You dig?"
"I dig." Amethyst nodded and snatched a nacho for herself. "So, you train with a guy called Pops?"
"That's what we call him." Johnny nodded. "He owns a diner in GrimmFall and he's been teaching me and my nerdy friend Carl for a while now."
"Ex-hunter?"
"Yep!" Johnny shifted his nacho bowl closer so Amethyst could grab more. "And a real killer with a bread pin."
"Pffft, nice!" Amethyst snickered. "So, GrimmFall…always wanted to pop in there one of these days. What's it like over there?"
"Oh, there's always action over there. I mean, you can't go a day without seeing some famous Hunters taking down Grimm and baddies." Johnny started talking as he and Amethyst shared nachos, actually each other's company.
The first friendship in a long journey for the two.
Xxx
Name: Johnny Bravo
Aura: Yellow with black outlines
Weapon: Evil-Buster
Description: A gauntlet with a gun meant for firing Dust shells and can transform into a hammer for Johnny to smash enemies with.
Semblance: Too Pretty to Die
Description: Despite the name he chose Johnny Bravo's Semblance basically enhances his body to be more durable, allowing him to shrug off attacks that would heavily injure a normal person and accelerate the natural healing process beyond that of a natural human.