"But this is what you wanted. You begged us for a colony of your own."
It was true.
She had begged and wined for so long that eventually Blue and Yellow gave in and gave her a planet of her to colonize. But so much had changed since then. The wars between Gems, Earthlings, Drones and now the Asgardians had taken its toll on her.
"And now, all you want to do is be rid of it. First, there were too many organics, then their cities were too difficult to dismantle, the Grimm attacking, these Crystal Gems, the Accerlon Drones and now these Asgardians? We're tired of your excuses, Pink." Blue Diamond said, a rare look of annoyance appearing on her features. "We promised to end the fighting when the drones were destroyed but now we are contending with rebels, Asgardians, and you want us to simply surrender? This Rose Quartz can't hurt you. You can't be swayed by a few unruly gems and organics."
Pink Diamond tried to say something but Blue held up her hand.
"Enough!" Blue silenced her but then tried to cheer Pink up. "You must understand. You... are a Diamond. Everyone on this planet is looking to you. You don't even have to do anything. Just smile, and wave."
'Yeah, Pinkie.' A familiar voice said in her head as a triangle appeared behind Blue and Yellow. 'Just smile and wave. Be the little dolly everyone sees you as.'
"Show everyone you are unfazed by this little uprising. Your gems will fall into line, and these Crystal Gems will be no more. As long as you are there to rule, this colony will be completed." Blue stated as she stood up. "Our orders came from White herself and we cannot defy her."
'Like they did when they fused?' Bill Cipher whispered into Pink's ear. 'Go on. Let them know you know.'
Pink clenched her fists and suddenly blurted out. "Like you two did when you fused?!"
Both Blue and Yellow froze, looking completely shocked at what Pink had said.
"H…H-o…How did you know?" Yellow took a deep breath.
"I knew…I knew all along that you two fused when the Sky Arena fell." Pink said, feeling emboldened. "I also know that I only have this planet because you two convinced White it would make me act more responsible. How is trying to end the wars not responsible?"
'Yeah, give it to them!' Bill cheered.
"We didn't start these wars, Pink. Those rebels did, followed by the Drones and the Asgardians. You saw what the Drones did to your own Gems." Yellow reasoned. "We cannot stop the fighting until they have been found and destroyed."
"But we don't have to fight the Crystal Gems or the Asgardians. They just want to protect the Earth. Why not just let them have it?" Pink asked.
'Good one. Round one goes to Pinkie.' Bill laughed.
"If we allow one group of rebels to have their way it paves the way for more rebellions on our colonies and possibly even Homeworld. Is that what you want, Pink? More war." Yellow retorted. "We cannot break the rules for one planet. If we do we have do it for everyone."
"Maybe you should!" Pink shouted. "You lied to White about what happened at the Sky Arena!"
"Do you know what she would have done if we told her what had truly happened?" Blue asked. "We'd have been lucky enough to have just been bubbled for a few millennia. White would never accept what had happened and besides…" Blue looked away. "It was an accident."
'Yeah, like she had never heard that before.' Bill whispered.
"How many times have you heard that before, Blue?" Pink retorted and watched as Blue flinched. "We all got her to agree once. Maybe we can-"
"Enough!" Yellow barked, grasping Blue's shoulders. "White would never hear it. She'd sooner takeover the colony herself and finish what you started. Do you even know how hard it was to convince her to even give you a colony that was so far away from Homeworld?"
Pink's eyes widened. "What? I only have this planet because…" She then remembered what Blue and Yellow had said that day in the Sky Arena. "White allowed you to give it to me and because it is nowhere near Homeworld."
"White was growing tired of your antics, Pink. We knew it was only a matter of time before she did something so we fought with her for months, convincing her that maybe giving you a planet, placing you in charge would finally have you start acting as responsible as a Diamond. Every time you were making excuses we were forced to come up with our own excuses when we reported to White about the progress of your colony and we hoped and prayed that with each one she wouldn't grow tired and decide to take over the colony herself." Blue explained, taking a deep breath. "When the Grimm and the drones appeared we knew we could never convince her to leave the planet alone. She'd consider giving up a planet full of rich resources a galactic embarrassment."
"That's why Blue and I immediately started assisting with the rebels, the Grimm, the drones and the Asgardians. We knew it was a matter of time before White lost patience with yours and our excuses." Yellow chimed in.
'Well, look-y there.' Bill snickered. 'Big bad Diamond sisters covering for their little sister to the evil Diamond mother. How sweet.'
"So yes, we lied about what happened in the Sky Arena. Just as we tried to cover for you with White so many times, even if she refused to budge on almost all of the proposals we suggested to her." Blue continued, looking ashamed now. "Now she wants something from this planet. The energy reading that her court has been studying makes her believe something in the planet will make our Empire more powerful than anything in the universe."
"So we were left with no choice. It's either Earth…or you, Pink." Yellow sighed. "And we choose you above a single planet."
Pink could barely believe what she was hearing.
All this time she thought Blue and Yellow didn't care what she was saying but instead they had been covering for her with White this entire time. She knew that if White lost patience with her she would have taken over the colony herself but to hear Blue and Yellow stalling her…
They were stalling White Diamond for her!
"Yellow, Blue…" Pink walked forward, reaching out a hand to them.
Just as she came into contact with Blue, her hand was suddenly engulfed in a blue fire. "Wha-NO!"
"Pink, what is this-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Blue screamed as the fire spread into her body.
"BLUE!" Yellow grabbed onto Blue but the fire spread into her form as well and then what happened next was possibly the most horrifying moment of Pink Diamond's life.
The fire spread around Blue and Yellow and fused them together; forming the same fusion she had seen when the Sky Arena was attacked.
Green Diamond.
Only now their usual green colored skin and outfit had been changed to a sickly yellow color, their hair was even more pointed and triangular in shape and an extra eye had appeared on the forehead above the two pairs of eyes, all of them bright and slitted.
"NO!" Pink Diamond exclaimed in horror.
"MY DIAMOND!" Came the voices of Blue and Yellow Pearl, screaming in terror at what was happening to their Diamonds.
Before they could do anything they would blasted and forced back into their gemstones by green colored lightning.
Green Diamond let out a mad cackle, lowering their hand. "Oh yeah! Now this is more like it! Thanks a lot, Pinky. For a second I thought you weren't going to be able to pull it off."
"What have you done?!" Pink shouted, trembling in fear and anger.
"I carried out our deal. You heard them, they weren't going to let you quit so here was where I came in. With me running the show I can call off the whole colony…and have a bit of run while setting up a few personal little projects I have thinking about for a long time." Green Diamond, under the control of Bill Cipher chuckled.
"This is not what I wanted!" Pink shouted, summoning her sword and shield as Pearl rushed up next to her, pulling out her spear.
"Really? Like how the colony you begged and whined the others to give you for centuries wasn't what you wanted?" Green Diamond laughed again. "Like how becoming Rose Quartz and starting a big shattering war wasn't what you wanted? Lying to your rebel Gems, telling them they can be anything they want and never telling them they were following a Diamond the whole time while they thought they were rebelling against the Diamonds the whole time? Coming up with flimsy excuses time after time, is it any wonder Blue and Yellow got tired of listening to you?"
"I-I…I just wanted to protect the Earth! I just wanted them to listen to me! I wanted them to stop treating me like I was a child!" Pink shouted, trying to justify herself but found herself shaking under all the reminders of her mistakes.
"Right." Green Diamond rolled her eyes. "Listening to you, even though they knew you were nowhere near ready to have a colony of your own. They both knew you didn't care why they colonized other planets, you just wanted one so you could have a new playground with new toys. They knew you were lying to them with each excuse you made up but put up with it because they hoped you'd understand you can't just walk away from what you start but eventually they got tired of listening to you. I mean seriously, did you really think they'd believe you when you told them the weather got scary when it got too dark, flashed with electricity and dropped water on everyone?"
Green Diamond threw her head back and laughed. "Even for me, that was sad. I knew you Gems can be rather dim but I am pretty sure even the Diamonds are familiar with lightning and rain, especially these two." Green Diamond pointed to her two gemstones. "And after all they've done for you, tried to do for you. Risking their lives as they covered for you so many times, stalling Whitey, promising her they'd teach you how to be so…proper and respectable." Green Diamond chuckled mockingly. "And you always let them down, frustrated them, stressed them to the point they couldn't take it anymore. And what did you do? You started a whole backyard brawl on your own planet, shouting at the Diamonds to make them see and hear you…Just like a pouty child screaming attention. And you think you're not acting like a brat?"
Pink was shaking now, her grip on her sword faltering. "I…I didn't mean…"
"Don't listen to him, My Diamond!" Pearl exclaimed. "He's just trying to distract you."
"From what? What can she do against a fusion of Diamonds controlled by a handsome devil like myself?" Green Diamond gestured to herself. "I don't need a distraction but I do love it when I get to throw someone's dirty laundry right in their face. And best of all, you made the deal of your own free will. You chose to accept when I offered a way to 'make' your big sister Diamonds listen to you but like always you are never satisfied. Guess there's only one thing to do about it."
Green Diamond lashed out with her electrical glowing hand to grab Pink.
Xxx
"I am not sure I am ever going to be used to this."
Lapis felt cold which turned out to be something she did not like feeling. It didn't help that the clothing she had been wearing didn't cover much.
Not to mention that she was even going commando underneath her flowing skirt.
"Don't worry, Lapis. I know it seems weird but being human isn't that bad." Steven said, holding the former Gem's hand as he and his dad led through the Hall of Heroes. "I'll do whatever I can to help you feel comfortable as a human. Right, dad?"
"Oh, right." Greg chuckled nervously. "Uh…Maybe we should find a woman to talk about the…important stuff."
Lapis said nothing as Steven led her into the briefing room where he saw Capital G at the main computer.
"Hi everyone." Steven waved his hand, greeting them all happily. "This is my friend, Lapis. Uh…We kind of need help. Where are Garnet and Amethyst?"
"Um…Last I checked the purple one might be in Asgard." Capital G said, awkwardly rubbing his head.
"Asgard?" Steven and Lapis asked at the same time.
"Yep. The other one though…" Capital G pointed at the screen.
Steven looked at it and gasped in shock and happiness. "Pearl!"
"What's she doing with them?" Lapis pointed at the other two: Peridot and her human accomplice.
Xxx
"Look, when we get inside just let me do all the talking." Pearl started.
"Why should I?" Peridot asked hotly.
"Because it's the only way to make sure Garnet and Amethyst won't poof you on sight." Pearl answered with a glare. "Not that I would do much to stop them."
"You know, I think you were less annoying when you were chasing and fighting us." Peridot crossed her arms.
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I am sure the others will be more considerate."
The doors opened…
"PERIDOT!"
The green Gem's eyes went wide and she yelped as Garnet rushed out, charging straight at her with a fist reared back. "YIPE!"
Peridot immediately ducked and jumped away, evading Garnet who spun around and chased after her. "Is this what you call talking?!"
"Garnet, hold on a second." Pearl tried to say but it seemed Garnet was not in a mood to listen as she kept chasing after Peridot, running in circles around the courtyard. "Garnet?"
"Seriously?" Connie glared at Pearl. "We put our trust in you and you rebels can't keep discipline in your ranks. How did you even win the war?"
Pearl twitched in annoyance. "For one, we didn't have little humans like you questioning our methods back then."
"Oooh, goodie for you." Connie rolled her eyes. "So you ran all over the place, looking very mean."
'I'll give you 'mean' you little-'
"PEARL!"
Her spirits soared as she spotted Steven running out of the entrance to greet her. "STEVEN!"
Steven jumped up, landing in Pearl's arms and gave her big a hug which she happily returned. "I was so worried about you! When you disappeared I didn't know where you went! Where have you been?"
"Oh, out looking for Peridot." Pearl gestured to the green Gem who was still being chased by Garnet. "As you can see I found her."
"That's great!" Steven said, before looking over at Connie. "Oh…Hi, I'm Steven." He waved a hand at her. "What's your name?"
Connie frowned, keeping a safe distance from him and looked back over at chase still going on. "Are you going to allow this to continue?"
"Oh, sure." Steven walked out. "Hey Garnet! Calm down! Pearl found them for us!"
Garnet stopped running, fists still held up but looked over at Pearl with a stern face. "Why didn't you bubble her?"
Pearl flinched. "I…Something came up. Peridot has information that we need about Homeworld's plans regarding Earth."
Garnet lowered her fists. "What do you mean?"
"She means if you don't start listening to me we are all going to die, you big honking war machine." Peridot answered angrily. "And don't talk about me as if I am not here."
Garnet's lip trembled as she raised her fist, slightly scaring Peridot but lowered them again. "All right….What is this all about?"
"…The Cluster."
Xxx
Hey! What gives?!"
Gwen was tapping a button repeatedly on her laptop when without warning, the screen turned back on; however, it now had a green circuit-like pattern on it with a circle at the center.
"Sorry. You are a loser…"Upgrade's 'face' oozed out of the computer screen and got up into Gwen's face. "…and always will be!"
"AHH!"Gwen screamed, and then narrowed her eyes in anger. "BEN!"
Upgrade then oozed back into the computer as Gwen hit the table in frustration. On the other side of the Rustbucket Julie had been looking out the window when she heard the commotion and giggled slightly as she turned and watched Ben bug his cousin.
"Get out of my computer!" yelled Gwen.
"What? I'm just entertaining myself." The young Omnitrix bearer retorted.
Gwen hit the table repeatedly as she shouted, "This is my private property!" She paused to pick up the laptop and shook it angrily. "And you're getting your cooties all over it!"
Just then, the laptop grew a black and white design with green circuitry lines all over it, as well as a green keyboard, and sprouted three pointed legs, similar to an insect's.
"Ooh! What's this?" Ben pretended to gasp. "A diary!"
Not wanting Ben to read her diary, Gwen reached out to grab the insect-like laptop, but Ben jumped back-and-forth and continued to dodge her as he read. "'Dear Diary, my cousin Ben is such a-'"
"Doofus! Knock it off! "Gwen yelled.
"Uh…Ben?" Julie cut in quietly. "Isn't that a little too far?"
From the driver's seat of the RV, Max glanced back at Ben with a serious expression. "Ben now is not the time to go alien. Do you understand?"
Upgrade's head oozed out from the computer once again, followed by the rest of his blobby body. "I was just foolin' around."
"We can't afford to attract attention right now." Max stated.
Normally Max would just brush off these little quarrels but he had good reason to be nervous now. He looked down at his former Plumber badge that was flashing red, indicating that trouble was nearby.
Upgrade shrugged and countered, "What kind of attention could I attract in here?"
The Omnitrix dial on Upgrade's chest began to blink red, and in a similarly colored flash, Upgrade turned back into Ben.
Max returned his attention to the road and responded, "Never mind..."
Ben and Gwen then turn to each other with confused expressions, neither of them able to understand why their grandfather was being so serious while Julie was simply staring at Max.
Xxx
"The idiot brat switched on his Omnitrix and led us right to him."
Kraab even pointed down at the moving Rustbucket with his claw, to make sure everyone could see it. "Nice to see he's every bit as dimwitted as he was last time."
Six-six spoke his own native language and Kraab nodded in agreement. "I agree. Let's rush him and take him out before he even has a clue of what's going on."
"No." The voice of Princess Mira came from behind, stopping the two. "In case you both forgot, which wouldn't be too much of a surprise our orders are to wait until he is separated from them."
Kraab glared at Mira. "I don't see him here, barking orders."
"Which is why he left me in charge." Mira retorted. "To make sure no one decides to deviate away from the plan."
"And what is the plan?" Rojo could not help but ask.
BOOM!
The group watched smoke rose up from the nearby city, caused by a sudden explosion.
"That would be phase one of the plan." Mira answered.
Xxx
"What's going on here?"
After Ben's little fun with Gwen's laptop the kids had all calmed down and were being civil, or at least Ben was too busy reading a comic book to pester Gwen again.
That all changed when they saw smoke rising from the nearby city.
Max looked out the window, and then turned his attention back to the road. "I'm sure the local authorities have the situation well in hand…"
Suddenly, a large conflagration erupted into a gigantic mushroom cloud of smoke within the city.
"Looks like it's Hero Time." Ben smirked confidently.
As Ben activated the Omnitrix, Max turned back to him. "Ben, I don't think that's the best idea-"
"Time to turn up the Heatblast on these guys!" Ben exclaimed, ignoring his grandfather's concern.
When Ben found the icon for Heatblast, he slammed down the core. In a flash of green, he was replaced with the fiery humanoid known as Heatblast. Suddenly, the RV stopped and allowed for Heatblast to jump out the door.
"Seriously?" Gwen said once Ben was gone. "Can't he listen just for once?"
Julie looked out the window, watching as Ben flew straight into the carnage.
Xxx
"He's on his way now." Mira stated, watching the Pyronite flying to the city. "Good. Vilgax will take care of him."
"And what do we do?" Kraab asked.
Mira looked down at the Rustbucket. "…Stop anyone from interfering."
Xxx
When Heatblast reached the city he saw what was responsible for all the destruction. They were all drones, numbering in hundreds and randomly causing destruction wherever they went.
And he knew exactly whose drones they were.
"Vilgax's drones." Heatblast groaned. "Doesn't he ever quit?"
Deciding that was a stupid questions Heatblast immediately got to work, destroying any and all drones in the area and making it look so easy. In a matter of moments the drones were all destroyed, leaving Heatblast standing triumphantly in the middle of the street. At least before a bola-like device came from behind a cloud of smoke to his left, and pinned him to the wall of a building. The device was essentially six metal rods, connected by blue electricity.
"Wh-What?!" Heatblaste struggled to break free but his fire had not effect on the rods. "Oh man, I can't believe I fell for this old trick!"
"I can." A dark voice spoke, the owner stepping through the smoke.
"Vilgax…Wow, you got buffed." Was all Heatblast could say.
He wasn't wrong as Vilgax remained the same height but his shoulders were broader, his arm and leg muscles were twice as large and bulging now with pods in his arm and red veins surrounding the pods. His gladiator armor had been modified, now black and red and he wore a black breathing mask over his mouth meant to keep him hydrated.
"You thought you were done with me, boy." Vilgax growled as he approached the pinned Heatblast. "But I have returned and am much stronger now. Nothing will stop me from taking the Omnitrix this time."
"Well, you say that, but…" Heatblast melted the six metal rods, freeing himself.
Heatblast then leapt at Vilgax, igniting his hands in flames and slamming a large fireball into the latter's chest. He then punched Vilgax's massive leg numerous times…
Only to stop when he saw he wasn't making a dent in them.
Vilgax hadn't even been using his Aura to protect himself.
The tyrant leaned down, grabbed Heatblast and casually threw him, sending him incredibly far and crashing through several buildings before landing in the middle of the road, leaving a giant crater.
"Ugh…." Heatblast groaned as he sat up. "Okay, I really should have learned by now."
"Fortunately, you will not spend much more time learning." Vilgax's voice came from above as the tyrant landed right in front of the crater.
"I gotta slow him down!" Heatblast reared back his arms and head, charging his pyro kinetic powers, and released two powerful fire streams toward the street in front of him.
The intense heat from his flames melted the tar from the street into a thick, black liquid which, upon contact with Vilgax's legs, caused the beast of an alien to trip and fall face-first into it.
Vilgrax grunted and his Aura flared. "You think this will hold me?"
"Just long enough for me to escape." Heatblast retorted.
As if on cue, the Omnitrix dial on Heatblast's chest began to blink red, and in a similarly red flash, he reverted back into Ben.
"Oh come on!" Ben complained. "Of all the times you choose now!"
Vilgax grunted as he broke free of the tar holding him. "And now, victory is assured."
"Yeah, well…" Ben nervously looked back and forth. "Come on, where's that help?"
"If you expect help from you grandfather I would not hold my breath."
Ben tried to scurry away, but was grabbed by the back of his shirt by the huge alien. "Uh…I don't suppose you'd be willing to make some kind of deal."
"Hardly." Was all Vilgax said before contacting his base. 'Edwards, the Omnitrix is secured. What is the status of Tennyson?'
Xxx
Edwards watched as Team MSKR forced the Rustbucket off the road and caused it to crash. "Max Tennyson has been pinned down. Do you wish them captured or eliminated?"
"No. Let them be left to know what happened to the boy." Vilgax answered. "Open a bridge for me and MSKR now."
"Understood."
Xxx
Ben watched in slight awe as a portal appeared before him and Vilgax and let out a scream as he was thrown into it. Vilgax then followed the boy into the portal before it vanished, leaving no trace of the two having ever been there.
Xxx
Max groaned as he sat up, looking up to see the cracked windshield of the Rustbucket and knew that they had been attacked. "Gwen, Julie, are you both all right?"
"Define 'all right'." Gwen's voice came from behind.
When the Rustbucket was attacked both girls had been thrown about the back as Max was forced off the road. No one was hurt but they all felt a little sour from the crash.
"What happened?" Julie asked as she stood up.
"We were attacked." Max narrowed his eyes. "And I got a good idea by who."
Xxx
"This is an interesting development, we cannot deny."
"And yet we must make sure the Fire Elemental does not die."
"Or the master will be very mad."
"And that for us would be bad."
I and Am giggled as they watched the Rustbucket manage to get back on the road. It was almost time to make their move.