Chapter Four: Questions

"Who was that?!" Amethyst yelled, looking at Pearl. "Why was he a GUY?!"

"Why are you looking at me?!" Pearl asked. "How should I know?!"

"'Cause you're a Pearl!"

"NOT ALL PEARLS KNOW EACH OTHER!"

"EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!" Steven yelled, turning a light shade of pink. The others became silent, and Steven took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Garnet, can you use your future vision to find him?"

"No," she told him, standing up. She put away her gauntlets and adjusted her visor; her face still showed some frustration and fear. "The Pearl isn't showing up in any of my visions. That Pearl is a complete unknown to me, so it's harder to see what she will, HE, will do, or what will happen!"

Steven sighed in frustration. His pink glow dissipated as he took another deep breath. His eyes were still adjusting from the Pearl's lightshow.

"Steven, what's going on?!" Lars asked. He held the Poofed Gems in the bag he had brought the Pearl in. "That guy almost KILLED all of us! Plus, he took my sword!"

"I don't know," Steven replied. He took the bag and looked at the Gems inside; none of them were damaged. He looked up at Lars. "Whoever that was, was strong. REALLY strong."

"Yeah, no kidding," Amethyst said. "Not to mention the fact that he escaped! We have to find that guy!"

"WWhhhattt hhapppeeennnneedd?" Everyone looked over to see Fluorite crawling out of the Sun Incinerator, which had somehow avoided major damage, merely having a few dents and dings.

"Fluorite!" Lars and the Twins yelled. They ran over to her, relieved she was okay.

"IIII hhheeaarrdd fffiiigghhtting, sssooo IIII aaaccttiivvvattteed tttthhhee sssshhhiellds," Fluorite explained. "IIIttt ddrrrraaaiinneed mmmoosstt ooff tthhhe ppoower, bbuutttt thhhe ssshhip ppullllllllled thhrrrrroouugh."

"We're just glad you're okay," the Rutiles told her.

A pillar of light appeared over the remains of the beach house and disappeared, an explosion following a second later.

"Was that the Warp Pad?" Lapis asked.

"Fluorite will exit the ship unharmed!" Padparascha exclaimed. "And the Male Pearl will escape to Homeworld!"

"Crew, stay with the ship!" Lars ordered.

Steven handed the bag containing the Gems to the Rutiles. "And keep an eye on these guys!"

Steven and the others hurried over to the remains of the beach house, jumping and flying over the broken wood. He noticed some of the sand had turned to glass during the battle. As they neared the warp pad, he could see that the warp pad was now destroyed, shattered into pieces, bits of rubble scattered everywhere.

"The Pearl!" Garnet yelled in frustration. "How did I not see this coming?!"

"Padparascha said he's on Gem Homeworld," Lars said. "We can use the Warp in Little Homeworld!"

"No, we can't," Pearl told him. "Steven's Warp Pad was the only one with a direct link to Gem Homeworld. The one in Little Homeworld can only be travelled to, not from."

"How long will it take to fix the Warp Pad?" Steven asked.

"A few weeks at least," Lapis said, still holding Peridot's Gem in her hand. She held her Gem in both her hands to look at it, caressing it with a thumb.

"Well, that's just great!" Lars yelled sarcastically, kicking a piece of rubble. He groaned in frustration. "We can take my ship, then. But it'll take a few days to reach Gem Homeworld."

They hurried back to the ship, finding the Rutile Twins talking to Fluorite.

"Get ready for take-off!" Lars told them. "We're heading back to Gem Homeworld!"

"We can't," the Rutiles told him.

"The shields took a serious hit," the Left Twin told him.

"Drained a lot of energy from the ship," the Right Twin said. "We won't be space worthy for at least a couple days."

"Ahgh! You've gotta be kidding me!" Lars yelled, kicking some of the sand in frustration.

"If nothing else, this'll give us time to recuperate and collect our thoughts," Garnet said. "We can take your ship to Little Homeworld for now. The Gems there can help move things along."

"We'll bring it there then," Lars said in a defeated tone. "Crew, back on the ship! After we drop it off, we can figure out what to do next."

"Meet us at my dad's house after you drop it off," Steven told him. "He'll want to know what's going on."

"Right," Lars said, turning around to walk up the ramp. "See you there."

—

Steven and the others had arrived at his father's house a little before six. They were in the living room, sitting on the couches, all except Lapis, who sat in a corner, holding Peridot's Gem.

Lars had dropped off the Sun Incinerator at Little Homeworld, leaving it with a Peridot who lived and worked in a garage. He had what remained of his crew stay with the ship, to help them in the repairs, since they knew the ship inside and out. Steven's father was in the kitchen making coffee.

Connie had arrived a few minutes earlier. When Steven first called her, she was annoyed, since she was still in class, but when he told her what had happened, she immediately left and teleported over with Lion. Luckily, Lion was never far from her. She also picked up her mother, just to be sure Steven wasn't hurt.

"Does anything hurt?" Dr. Maheswaran asked. She inspected Steven as he sat on a couch, flashing a light in his eyes, checking his body for injuries. Connie sat next to him, holding his hand.

"I'm fine," he told her, squinting away from the light a little. "I didn't even fight him."

"Better to be safe." She put the flashlight down and started to touch his arms, looking for any damage. Steven winced in pain when she went to his bicep. She gave him a stern look. "What happened to not even fighting him?"

"I felt something hit my shield when I put it up." Steven grunted when she pressed down on his arm, closing his right eye and clenching his teeth slightly. "I guess it was harder than I thought."

Steven looked over at Lapis, who was caressing Peridot's Gem. She refused to let anyone else hold her. Bismuth's was next to Garnet, who held Cat Steven on her lap as she pet her back. The small feline had luckily come out unharmed. The Gems that made up Rhodonite, a Ruby and Pearl, lay next to Lars.

"Why was he a GUY?" Lars asked. He was sitting against the arm of one of the couches. "I thought all Gems were girls!"

"It COULD be an evolutionary miracle," Dr. Maheswaran told him. She stopped to look at the pink young man.

"Coffee's ready!" Greg came into the living room holding a tray with seven different colored cups. He put the tray on the table in front of the couches, handing each one to the humans, and one to Amethyst and Garnet.

"You drink coffee?" Lars asked Garnet. "I thought only Amethyst ate stuff."

"I like coffee," Garnet replied, taking a sip. "It helps calm me down."

"Thank you, Greg," Dr. Maheswaran said. She took a sip before looking back at Lars. "As I was saying. For a species that's normally single gendered to suddenly have an opposite gendered counterpart is extremely rare."

"What does that MEAN?!" Lars asked, putting his cup on the table. "I don't understand doctor stuff!"

"It means he was an accident," Connie told him. She took a sip of her coffee. "That might've been why he was Shattered in the first place; if Off Colored or defective Gems were Shattered, then a MALE Gem would DEFINITELY suffer the same fate."

"Sounds like he would've been a perfect fit for my crew, then," Lars said with a small laugh. He picked up his cup and took a big drink.

"That makes sense," Pearl said to Connie. "Except that Gems are made with Injectors, which make us exclusively female, at least by human standards. And Pearls were only made at The Reef, which was far more detailed than your standard Kindergarten, so an 'Evolutionary Miracle', as Priyanka calls it, is EXTREMELY unlikely."

"Why?" Steven asked. He took a sip of his coffee, gave a small wince, and placed his cup back on the table. Too much sugar. "Why only girls, I mean?"

Pearl summoned a hologram through her Gem, projecting it in the middle of the room so everyone could see. An image of White Diamond appeared, coming out of a massive rock.

"White Diamond was born on Homeworld as a natural Gem. Centuries later, she used her powers to create Blue and Yellow Diamond. They then used their powers to create other Gems. They eventually invented the Injectors and used them to create millions of other Gems en masse. Pink Diamond was actually born using an Injector later on; a happy accident, if there ever was one." The image changed to include the other Diamonds and a plethora of Gems behind and beneath them.

"That doesn't explain why it's only girls!" Lars complained.

"I'm getting to that," Pearl told him, annoyed at being interrupted. The hologram changed to the male and female symbols. "The Diamonds had no other reference for life at the time, so they used themselves as templates. They were female, so to them, only females existed." A cancel symbol appeared over the male symbol, followed by a buzzing sound effect. "Ergo, no male Diamonds, no male Gems."

"You can make sound effects with your Gem?" Lars asked.

"Uhh... yes," Pearl said, clearly caught off guard by the sudden off-topic question.

"I actually wrote a book about Gems," Dr. Maheswaran said. "Pearl helped me write it. I can get you a copy if you'd like to-"

"No, no!" Lars told her, waving his free hand. "I think I get the gist of it now."

"Whether he was an evolutionary miracle or not doesn't matter," Garnet said. "If Sugilite hadn't gotten there when she did, then everyone there would have been killed!"

The room went silent for a moment.

"What exactly did you see?" Steven asked.

"I saw him Poof them." She pointed to the Poofed Gems. "Then I saw you try and reason with him. He would have KILLED you and Lars, Poof the others, then SHATTER the Gems!"

"Maybe he was scared?" Lapis said from the corner. She stood, looking up from Peridot's Gem. "When Steven freed me from the mirror, I was scared and angry. I attacked you. I even stole Earth's Ocean to try and get home. Unlike me though, that Pearl had no one to talk to, nothing to see or hear, so he must've been even more terrified. I'm not saying I condone what he did, but I can understand it."

"He didn't look scared," Steven told her. "In fact, he looked... calm."

"What about what Padparascha said?" Lars asked. "I know her visions are kind of worthless 99% of the time, but that other 1% is usually right on the nose."

"Has she ever had a vision like that?" Amethyst asked. Her cup sat empty on the table, having been drank immediately after receiving it. "Like, where she freaks out like that?"

"Not that I've ever seen," Lars replied. "She's usually so calm."

"Padparascha has a very unique Future-Vision," Garnet said. "She may only see them after they've already happened, but she also seems to see things in far more detail. Therefore, we have to take her vision with the utmost seriousness!"

"What about YOUR Future-Vision, Garnet?" Amethyst asked. "Is it back to normal?"

"Like I said on the beach, that Pearl is a complete unknown to me, so it's harder to see what will happen." Garnet grunted in frustration. "I can see him on Homeworld, that's it."

"Once Lars's ship is up and running again, we'll go to Homeworld," Steven said. "Even if we can't find him, we can at least tell the Diamonds about him. Maybe they'll even know something about him, seeing as how old he is."

"I'll stay here," Lapis told him. "Someone should be here when Peridot and Bismuth wake up."

"If everything's settled here, I'm gonna go see my folks," Lars said. He downed the rest of the coffee, put the cup on the tray, and straightened himself. "I'll stay with them until we leave. I'll stock up on supplies for the trip, too; we'll probably be gone at least a week, and Gems don't exactly have a wide selection of clothes and food. See ya at takeoff. Thanks for the coffee, Mr. Universe." He walked over to the front door and opened it.

"Oh! Pick up some Sugar Shock Shut Down!" Amethyst yelled.

"Sure, no problem," Lars said, walking out of the house and closing the door.

Amethyst ran over to the door and opened it up again. "And some Nut-Dogs!"

"I'll put it on the list!" Lars yelled back.

"And Protes Bars!" Amethyst yelled.

"Amethyst!" Garnet scolded. "We can buy our own food for the trip."

"Right. Sorry." Amethyst shut the door and walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Pearl.

"We should get some rest," Steven said. He looked at his dad. "Mind if I use the spare room?"

"Of course!" Greg told him loudly. "You know you don't need to ask!"

"I'll stay, too," Connie said.

"I presume you'll be sleeping on the couch, yes?" Dr. Maheswaran asked a little suspiciously.

"Yes, Mom; 'on the couch'," Connie repeated sarcastically, rolling her eyes back.

"Don't worry Priya," Greg assured her. "I promise, there won't be any hanky-panky, not while I'm around."

"Please stop talking," Steven said, covering his face in embarrassment.

"No, please don't!" Amethyst said with a laugh.

"Good," Dr. Maheswaran said. "I'll be heading out now. I've got work tomorrow, and I need a good night's sleep. Goodbye, everyone. Steven, I'll stop by after work tomorrow to check on you."

"Thank you, Dr. Maheswaran," Steven said.

"How many times have I told you, call me Priya," she told him. "Saying 'Dr. Maheswaran' is too much of a mouthful."

"Thank you, Priya," Steven corrected.

"You're welcome, Steven." Priya walked to the door and opened it. She stopped at the frame when she remembered she hadn't driven there. She turned to look at Connie. "Connie, take me home on the pink lion, please. You should pick up your toothbrush and a change of clothes, anyway."

"Yeah, sure." Connie stood up and walked to the door. She turned to look at Steven. "I'll be back in about an hour."

"Take your time," Steven told her. "Maybe pack that new swimsuit?"

"It's made for swimming, not space travel, Steven," Connie laughed, passing the doorframe and closing the door almost all the way. "It's kind of in the name." She closed the door.

After they left, Steven went to the spare room, while the Gems stayed in the living room. He could hear the phone ringing from downstairs. He looked at the clock on the bedside table; 7:07 p.m.. A knock sounded from the door.

"Steven?" Greg's voice came from the other side.

"Come in!" Steven yelled.

Greg entered the room, phone in hand.

"It's Mayor Nanefua," Greg told him. "She wants to talk to you."

"How'd she know I was back in town?" Steven asked, sitting up from the bed. Greg handed him the phone.

"She saw Sugilite rushing towards the beach house," he told him. "Along with everyone else in town. Said she crushed some cars on her way there?"

"Whoa, really?"

"Yeah. She asked if it was something serious, if she should get everyone to the shelters. I told her things were good for now, but she wants to hear it from you."

"Thanks." Steven put the phone to his ear. "Mayor Nanefua?"

"Hello, Steven," Mayor Nanefua said calmly. It was clearly a little forced. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

"And the Gems?"

"They're good."

"Good." Her tone shifted to a much sterner one. "Now, would you kindly tell me why a giant Gem, Sugilite I think your father called her, ran through town wielding a massive weapon, while screaming bloody murder?"

"There was a small problem with a Gem I restored," Steven told her, standing up off the bed and stretching a bit. He winced a little. "I got attacked and she hurried over to help. Good thing she did, too."

"Was she really so dangerous that a giant Gem had to run through the town?"

"Yeah. He beat Sugilite, blinded us with a light, then used my warp pad to escape to Gem Homeworld."

"Well, as long as your safe," Mayor Nanefua replied with a sigh. "Now, I need you to be honest with me; do I need to prepare the shelters?"

"It wouldn't hurt," Steven replied. "Another Gem, Padparascha, gave us a pretty ominous prophecy about the Pearl. For now everything is fine, but it's better to be safe."

"Thank you, Steven. I want you to come by my office tomorrow at noon; I need you to tell me everything in greater detail."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be there."

"Good. Get some rest, Steven." She hung up the phone.

"Where are you gonna be?" Greg asked.

"Mayor Nanefua wants to meet tomorrow," Steven told him. "Wants more details on what happened."

"Did she by any chance mention how many cars Sugilite crushed?"

"Seven." Garnet walked into the room. "Sugilite crushed seven cars on her way to Steven. Including Vidalia's station wagon."

"I better get my checkbook," Greg sighed. As he left, he said to himself, "I wonder why Vidalia didn't call to yell at me yet."

"I'm surprised you crushed so many cars," Steven told Garnet. "I'm surprised you stepped on any, actually."

"I couldn't afford to waste any time," Garnet replied. "I avoided stepping on any of the people; I consider that a win."

"Well, thanks for hurrying. I might not be here if it wasn't for you."

"You definitely wouldn't be here," Garnet stressed. "I'd never had such intense visions before. I normally see hundreds of futures at a time, each with a different end. This time, I saw only one ending to all of them; all of us were destined to die!"

"Seriously?" Steven asked, fear in his voice.

"Yes, seriously. That Pearl was strong enough to come out the victor in every conceivable future. While I could make it in time to fight him, I was only able to stall him. I fully expected for all of us to die there. The only reason we survived, THE ONLY REASON!, is because he left."

Steven gulped in fear. He didn't realize he and the others had been in so much danger. Only one thing confused him; if the Pearl was that strong, then why did he run away?

Here's a sneak peek for chapter five.

Priya looked to the cabinets and grabbed the empty bottle of liquid soap, holding it out to Steven.

"Steven, do me a favor and Bubble this."

"Uh.. sure," Steven said, confused by her request. He grabbed the empty bottle with both hands and summoned a Bubble. He held it up for Priya to see. She looked at it, removed a pen from her breast pocket, and poked it. It popped without much pressure.

"What the-?" Steven half-yelled, surprised by his Bubble popping so easily. He bent over to pick up the bottle, his muscles hurting at the sudden movement, and Bubbled it again. Priya once again poked it with her pen, this time requiring a little more force to pop it, the bottle falling to the floor. "What's wrong with my Bubbles?!"

"What's going on?!" Connie asked, rising up from her seat. "Mom, what happened?!"