Greetings and Happy Holidays, dear readers, and welcome back to Bayley's Universe. Whoa. Sure seems like a lot happened last time, didn't it? What was it that Mia saw? And even bigger WOAH to what Sasha found out. So, what's going to happen after last chapter's craziness? Read on to find out, my dolls, and I hope you all enjoy. =)

(Just as a heads-up...Things get pretty intense and fighty this chapter. Wondering what I mean by this? Read on to find out. ...*slowly presses Play on my music player to play some of the Parasyte OST*)

"Mia, stay here, OK? I need to go see what that is" before taking off in the same direction Lana and Nia went. She knew she should've listened to what Bayley said, …but she soon found herself following after the brunette yelling "Bayley, wait!" Doing her best to keep up with the brunette, the blue-haired teen soon found-

"Holy crap!" Mia couldn't help but shout at what she was seeing.

This had to be a dream. It just had to be! There was just no way she was watching Sasha and Shayna using weird weapons to fight what looked like some kind of giant spider. And yet, here she stood. Watching in total shock as two of her classmates used a whip and very strong punches to reduce this hulking beast to just a weird looking rock, looking boxy in shape and almost a pale orange in color, that fell to the ground. Watching as Sasha did something that put it into what looked like a bubble before turning and talking to the brunette like nothing happened. Then seeing the two start to fight each other. And then seeing them both somehow just take flight. It took Bayley shaking her and calling her name to help bring her out of her slight daze.

Seeing that what she did seemed to help, Bayley asked "Mia? Mia? Mia?! What's wrong? Is everything okay?!"

She was still trying to process all of what she had just saw as …well, she didn't even know where to begin with all of that. All she could do was stand in awe of everything she had just seen. 'S-S-S-Sasha and Sh-Sh-Sh-Shayna…. What are they?'

…

She wasn't expecting this. Sasha had a feeling that maybe this human had a good bit of strength. …She just didn't think it'd be anything like this. Falling to her knees as she coughed from the impact, all Sasha could do was listen to the sound of crunching leaves before she heard the brunette let out a scoff of a laugh and said "Guess your reflexes couldn't help you out there." Turning to look at the brunette as she tried to stand up, her jaw almost dropped in disbelief at what she was now seeing: Covering Shayna's left fist and upper arm was a gauntlet almost like the ones that Roman could summon and use. Finally managing to find her words, Sasha asked "Y-You're a Crystal Gem?"

Hearing the magenta-haired teen say this, Shayna couldn't help but grin and say "Aww, that's a cute name you have for me. I have been called a gem by many, but I think that's because of my sparkling personality."

"N-No no," the magenta-haired teen said with a cough as she stood mostly upright. Pointing at the covering on the brunette's arm, she said "That. On your arm. That weapon doesn't look human. It looks like something worn and used by a Ruby."

Flinching a bit at the younger teen saying this, Shayna almost opened her mouth to say something when crunching leaves got her attention. Quickly turning to look to her right, the brunette soon saw what looked like a giant spider heading her way. Taking off her backpack and throwing it to the side, Shayna smirked before summoning her other gauntlet and said "Oh yeah. Haven't had to deal with any of you pains in my ass in a while. Looks like I get to do some spider crushing today" before dashing forward. Taking to the air with a leap, Shayna then came back down, fists at the ready as, with a yell, she delivered a couple of punches to the incoming creature. Dashing back to her previous position, she scoffed again before saying "Stubborn fella, aren't you? Well, try and shake this off!" and charging forward again in a similar manner as with her first attack. And again, she went back to her prior spot before taking notice this time that it seemed like her attacks weren't having much effect on this creature. 'Damn it! Am I really that out of it that I can't fight this thing? …No. I can stop it. I can beat it! I am not going to let this damn beast hurt Tamina or Mia or anyone else!' she thought. Readying herself to strike out again, she was stopped by a whip studded with what looked like small purple gemstones as it came flying past her before making contact with that beast, striking it across its face, drawing a screech of pain. Seeing the whip withdrawn, this time it was Shayna's turn to be surprised as she saw that the owner of the weapon was none other than the new kid Sasha Ambrose. Doing her best to keep the surprise off her face, all the brunette could do was laugh and say "Damn. And here I was thinking I was one of the only ones here like this."

While Sasha wanted to say something in response to that, she just shook her head and said "Guess you weren't in the end."

A scoff of a laugh escaping her, Shayna then remembered that there was a beast that needed to be dealt with. "Well, new kid, you seem like you have a good hand with that. Want to help me squish this creepy crawler?"

A laugh escaping her, Sasha readied herself as she said "Sure. Anything to keep this thing from getting into the city."

Liking the sound of that, Shayna shared a quick look with Sasha before, after a nod of the other girl's head, she charged forward and struck out with a slight flurry of punches, hits that seemed to be helping with keeping this beast at bay. Couple in Sasha's attacks with her whip and how they dodged out of the way of the beast's attacks in the forms of strikes from its legs and a stray web getting shot out, it was surprising the brunette just how well they were working as a team. 'Huh. Never would've guessed the new kid was like me and the others. Guess it wasn't a total load when people say you learn something new every day at school,' she thought. Having gotten back to her initial position with Sasha nearby, she breathed in and out as she looked ahead and saw that the beast looked to be getting weary, as its movements had slowed, it could barely stand, and a series of low growls could be heard spilling from its maw. "Looks like it's almost done for. Ready to take it down?" Getting a nod in response, for the last time, Shayna charged in with Sasha following behind her. Taking to the air with one last leap, she flew back down, delivering two thunderous punches to its back and heading back to her spot with Sasha delivering the final blows and lashes with her whip as, a low screech escaping it, the Gem spider exploded in a cloud of pale orange smoke, a cuboid Gem falling to the ground. Working at catching her breath, Shayna watched as Sasha put that Gem in what looked like a bubble. And all she could do was scoff at that. "And just what exactly does doing that help? Can't think of any way we can save those creatures once they get to that point of no return."

Ignoring this, Sasha picked up the now bubbled Gem before taking it over to where her backpack was. Turning back to look at Shayna, Sasha asked the question that seemed to be at the front of her thoughts. "So. You're a Crystal Gem?"

"Yep. And a damn strong one at that," the brunette said with a smirk as she flexed her muscles as a way of showing off one of her gauntlets. "And you, I'm guessing you're some kind of …whip user?"

"You could say that," the magenta-haired Gem simply said in response. A question that had been prodding at her thoughts for the most of the day now, Sasha then asked "So, is it true?"

"Is what true?" the brunette asked, feeling slightly confused.

"Mia told me during Lunch that you punched her in the stomach. Now I ask again. Is that true?" the magenta-haired Gem asked, her grip on the handle of her whip slightly tightening.

For what seemed to be a first time thing, Shayna was speechless. She didn't know how to respond to this because, if she could be honest with herself, she knew Sasha was right. But before she could open her mouth to say something, she suddenly felt a sharp slap to her face. Blinking, she saw that the source of that sudden blow came from her recent fighting partner. Not quite sure what to say, all she could do in response was strike back with a slap of her own to the new kid.

Sasha had a feeling that was going to happen. But, instead of doing what was on her mind, she struck out with another slap with a bit more force, something that made the brunette stagger back a bit.

And before either girl knew it, a sudden brawl broke out with Shayna throwing the first actual punch. Doing her best to match Shayna's blows and dodge when she could, Sasha found herself having what felt like a fairly even fight, as it seemed like they were matching each other with each hit they threw. Every kick, every slap, every punch, they just seemed to keep meeting each other strike for strike, blow for blow. Catching an incoming punch, Sasha managed to find an opening and a way to flip the brunette, sending her flying into a nearby tree, something that left a fairly deep dent in the trunk. Getting back to her feet, Sasha dashed over to where Shayna was. Which proved to be a mistake as, the next thing she knew, Shayna rose to her feet and, with a curled fist, struck upward, sending Sasha practically flying skyward. Not wanting to lose this fight, Shayna took flight as she met the other girl in the sky.

"Not bad, new kid, not bad," Shayna said, lightly panting. "Didn't think you had fight like this in you."

"I'm not much of a fighter. I was only doing this for Mia," Sasha responded, panting coming from her. Trying to find the right words to say, the magenta-haired Gem said "Shayna, look. I'm not sure why you did what you did. But, that wasn't nice. You could've hurt Mia very badly, and I don't think that's-" That was all she could say before having to dodge out of the way of an incoming attack from the brunette. "Shayna, listen to me! Mia's just a human! Now, I don't know why you did what you did to her, but I'm just trying to tell you that it wasn't right. Just hear me out here, please. You need to apologize to Mia for what you did to her. That's what friends do, after all."

"Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up!" Shayna all but shouted at Sasha. "Look, damn it, yes, I know what I did was wrong, but it …it's not that simple! I can't apologize! I can't look weak. …They'd never take me back if they knew I looked weak to someone beneath me," the brunette said in a surprisingly meek voice, noticeably trembling a bit.

"'They'? Who is this 'they' you speak of?" Sasha asked, feeling confused.

Before Shayna could say anything or even think to try attacking again, voices calling up to her caught her attention.

"Shayna!"

"Shayna! Are you okay up there? What happened here?!"

Looking down to see where the voices calling her came from, Shayna just let out a scoff. "Figures you two would've found me sooner or later. What? Didn't want to head home without me?" She was expecting Lana to start giving her a mother hen talk, so it surprised her when she didn't hear the blonde say anything. Flying down to where her friends were, the brunette, waving her hand in front of the blonde's face, asked "Yo, Lan, what's up? You at home in there?" Following her and Nia's gazes upward, she saw they were staring at Sasha. Feeling as though she should explain herself, Shayna said "Oh yeah. New kid-uhh, Sasha's like us. She has Gem powers too."

"Whoa, really?" Lana asked, surprised by this bit of news. "W-When'd you find that out? And, more to the point, how'd you find that out?"

A laugh escaping her, Shayna said "Would you believe it was because of some Gem spider that just came out of nowhere? If I didn't get Sasha to come with me out here, chances are that ugly creepy crawler probably would've made it into the city."

"Huh. That would explain why I felt those energy spikes earlier. Must've been you two taking care of that thing," Nia reasoned out. Giving the slightly shorter brunette a thumbs-up and a slight grin, the taller brunette said "Nice work."

"Yeah, what Nia said," Lana said, feeling a bit excited. Not stopping what she did next, the blonde clapped a bit before giving Shayna a hug while she said "Oh, I'm so proud of you! You actually worked well with someone besides me and Nia. This is so great!"

Hearing Lana say this and the slight snickering coming from Nia, Shayna couldn't help the slight warmth she felt start to climb her cheeks as she said "I-I-It was no big deal really. I just decided to team up with Sasha so that we could stop that thing from getting into the city. Would've been bad if it got to Tamina."

All while this was going on, Sasha made her descent and, landing on the ground, made her way over to where her backpack and the bubbled Gem were. Casting a glance over to the trio of her upperclassmen, the magenta-haired Gem couldn't help the soft laugh that rumbled in her chest. 'Guess Shayna does have friends of her own. How nice.' Keeping a firm hold on the Gem, Sasha cautiously approached the trio. Clearing her throat, the magenta-haired Gem asked "So, Shayna. Want to introduce me to your friends here?" with a slight smirk.

Shayna was almost set to say something a bit snappy, to try to break out of Lana's hug when the sounds of crunching leaves could quickly be heard coming her way. Managing to shake out of Lana's hold, the brunette summoned her gauntlets, with Nia summoning her hammer and Sasha summoning her whip. The trio then stood in wait of whatever it was that was coming their way when all of a sudden, -

"SASHA!" a relieved voice could be heard saying before almost tackling the magenta-haired Gem in a hug that almost knocked her down.

*presses Pause on my music player* WhoaK now! Sure looks like a lot happened this chapter. It would appear that Mia's seen that two of her classmates aren't entirely normal, something that seems to have the poor girl BEYOND shook. Moving on to Sasha and Shayna, ...huh. They made for a pretty good Gem beast fighting team. And then, hence what made me play what I felt was pretty fitting music, we get to their fight. WOAH they really seemed to be almost evenly matched. One fight later, Shayna finds herself joined by Lana and Nia, who seem both surprised by Shayna teaming with someone else and happy about said team-up (which seemed to embarrass Shayna a bit...*snickers a bit*). But, now, what's this? Someone tackling Sasha in a hug? *snickers a bit* I wonder who it could be. Any guesses as to who this (not really) mystery hugger is? They shall be revealed...next time. Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)

(Now, I know I didn't mention this, but Shayna mentioned a 'they'. Hmm... I wonder what she meant by that.)

(Stay safe, warm, and healthy out there, lovelies. *sends love and positive vibes out to you all*)