AN: Please Review if you enjoy the chapter.
Act 2
Chapter 5: Marble Madness
Sitting on the beach in front of the Crystal Temple, Isaac stared at the person standing in front of him with a look of wonder. "Whoa…"
The person standing in front of him had the appearance of a tall young woman who was the same height as Isaac. She had an average/athletic build consisting of a slim figure with some chubby and stocky features, curly black hair that reached to her thighs, and slightly dark skin.
"So, what do you think?" They asked with a giant smile on their lips.
"Steven...Connie...this is amazing!" Isaac exclaimed with a huge grin on his face.
"I know, right? It's amazing!" said the fusion of Steven and his friend Connie as they struck a heroic pose. "Together, we are Stevonnie!"
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Stevonnie," Isaac said with a polite bow. The two laughed together before Stevonnie broke up and turned back into Steven and Connie. Isaac looked at his brother's crush with a curious smile. "So, you really came over to show me Stevonnie?"
"Oh, no! I've got something even more exciting!" Connie said with an excited grin on her face. She sat down on the sand and started digging through her backpack. Steven and Isaac waited before she pulled out a book titled. "Unfamiliar Familiar" from "The Spirit Morph Saga."
Steven gasped when he saw it. "BOOOOKS!" he yelled with stars in his eyes. "Whoa, cool cover!"
"It's my favorite series!" Connie said with a big smile before gushing all about it. "It's about this girl named Lisa and she's a witch! - I mean, she doesn't know she's a witch at first, and she has a familiar, which is sorta like this spirit companion that everyone in the world has. And hers is a talking falcon named Archimicarus! Anyways she goes on this quest to find her father after he's kidnapped by the mysterious one-eyed man."
Isaac raised an eyebrow and said, "So, it's like the Golden Compass."
Connie paused for a moment to register what he said. "What? No, it's completely different from His Dark Materials," She said, "Lisa's a witch."
"...So it's like the Golden Compass and Harry Potter combined," said Isaac.
"Whoa, that sounds awesome!" Steven said, not getting that it was a joke.
"Here! Lemme get you started!" Connie took the book from Steven and opened it. "Ahem. 'Chapter One: The Morning Thief. Lisa awoke with a start, the echoes of her dreams still dancing in her mind, the low rumble of thunder murmured through the quiet house-'"
Her story was suddenly interrupted when a distant rumbling noise was then heard. This shocked Steven and Connie a bit, as Isaac stood up slowly and looked around for anything that could have caused it.
"Wooah, this is a really good book!" The young demigem said, stars in his eyes.
"Uh... okay." Connie frowned but continued to read. "'The house was deathly still. The only sound Lisa could hear was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. The hairs on her neck tingled when suddenly-'"
She was cut off again when something large suddenly fell from the sky and plunged into the sea near them. Creating a column of water that shot high into the air.
"What the-" Steven said, before he, Isaac, and Connie got splashed by water. The sudden impact also brought the Gems bursting out of the Beach House to see what was happening.
"What was that?" Amethyst asked.
With his gem glowing, Isaac summoned his sword and stood in front of the kids to defend them. Then, rolling onto the beach from the sea was a flask robonoid. But this was ten times bigger than the first ones. It was as big as Garnet and grew taller when it extended its legs.
"It's one of the Marble Robots," Steven exclaimed.
"What," asked Connie.
"Stand back!" Isaac yelled, getting into an attack stance. He held his katana with both hands on the handle and held the sword over his head.
The robonoid started advancing towards the three of them, but Isaac quickly took it out. Moving at incredible speeds, he ran past the robonoid and slid into it from the side. Cutting the robot in half, before it was destroyed in a large explosion that forced Steven to summon his bubble shield to protect himself and Connie.
Steven dispelled his bubble and looked at his friend. "You okay?"
"I love hanging out at your place!" Connie remarked with an amazed smile.
Pearl and the rest of the Gems quickly jumped over to where they were. The white Gem looked around through the smoke, looking for Isaac. "Isaac!? Isaac, are you okay?!" She called out with great concern.
When the dust cleared, Isaac was standing a few feet away from her, covered head to toe in the green goo that was within the robot. Dispelling his sword, he whipped away some of the goo from his eyes as his crush rushed over to him.
"Isaac! Are you alright?" Pearl asked worried as she grabbed his covered head, not concerned about getting some on herself. "Is the goo affecting you in any way? Do you feel normal?"
"Pearl, I'm fine, really," said Isaac as he took her hands in his. The two smiled at one another, before realizing just how close they were and how they were holding each other's hands. They quickly pulled away, with Pearl forming a blue blush on her face. Isaac's blush was covered by the goo on him.
Steven and Connie walked over to the two of them. "Pearl, do you think this was-"
"One of Citrine and Peridot's Machines? Yes I think so," said Pearl, getting back to the situation at hand as she flicked the goo off her hands. "Only... we've never seen one this big before."
"Or this gooey!" Amethyst laughed as she rolled around in a puddle of goo.
"Amethyst, we need to be careful we don't know what this stuff is," warned Pearl as Isaac tried whipping the goo off himself. Amethyst snickered and got a mischievous look on her face. One that Pearl was quick to catch onto. "Oh no! Don't you DARE get that stuff on me!"
"Aw come on, Pearl. You didn't mind Isaac getting goo on you," said Amethyst with a mischievous grin.
Pearl blushed again while backing away. "W-Well…"
"So...GOOP HUG!" Amethyst shouted, spreading her arms out wide. Pearl freaked out and ran away as the purple Gem started chasing her around the beach. "Come here, Pearl! I love you, Pearl!"
"NO! Get away! Let go of me!" Pearl shouted.
Isaac chuckled as he watched them. That is, until Connie asked, "Peridot and Citrine? Are they those Gems you told me about? The one that's trying to come to Earth?"
"Yeah, they are," Isaac said, having gotten half of the goo of himself.
"We stopped her before but, I guess she can still shoot stuff here from space," said Steven.
Isaac looked over at Garnet, who crouched down to pick up one of the scraps from the destroyed robonoid. The blonde walked over to her and asked, "So... what do you think it was here to do?"
"You destroyed it. That's all that matters," remarked the Gem leader, tossing aside the broken piece.
Isaac looked at his hand, which was covered in goo. He stared at it doubtfully as he rubbed the substance between his fingers.
"GOOP HUG!" Isaac snapped out of his thoughts when Amethyst suddenly rushed in and gave Garnet a hug, covering her in goo too.
Pearl approached, covered in goo as well and looking unimpressed. Isaac smirked and sighed playfully. "Come here, you." He pulled Pearl into an embrace. Pearl blushed when he did this, but secretly liked the hug.
"Okay, that's enough," said Pearl, pulling away before she started walking away towards the temple. "I've got to go clean myself off before the stains set in."
The other Gems followed her, leaving a gooey Isaac with Steven and Connie. The young man smiled as he watched Pearl. Sighing dreamily, which was picked up by Connie. While hanging out with Steven, the intelligent girl had noticed some things about Isaac. Mainly when he was around or talking about Pearl. He always seemed so happy and the two talked to one another a lot. And then there were the blushing and staring at each other that stood out to her.
"Isaac, can I ask you a question?" She asked, with a small smile forming.
"Sure, what's up?" Isaac responded, turning back towards her.
"Are you in love with Pearl?" She asked with a hopeful grin on her face.
Steven gasped and placed his hands on his face. "WHAAAA?!"
Isaac blushed bright red on his cheeks. "W-What?! No! I-I'm not!" He said loudly with embarrassment.
"Aww~ You're blushing! You totally like Pearl!" Steven gushed.
Seeing that the jig was up and that Steven now knew, Isaac groaned in annoyance and embarrassment before he said loudly, "Alright, alright! I've got a huge crush on Pearl, okay?!" He threw his hands up before explaining. "I can't really help it! She's beautiful, smart, elegant, and funny in her own way."
"You should totally ask her on a date!" Connie suggested.
"That's a great idea!" Steven said, cheerfully.
"Yeah, but how would I even know how to do that?" Isaac asked, rubbing the back of his head with the goo still covering it. When he noticed this, he rubbed his hand on his pants. "Pearl may not even know what a date is, or she may not even like me that way and say no."
"Well, that's the worst she could do, right?" Steven asked, shrugging his shoulders.
Yeah, that would be for Isaac. He'll think more about it once he's washed off all the goo on him.
The next day, Isaac was sitting in his bed, thinking of ways to ask Pearl on a date. It was time to stop screwing around and just act on his feelings. He wrote down all of his ideas on a notepad. Every line of dialogue he could come up with to express his feelings to her was written down so he could tell the white Gem.
And so far, he has had no such luck. Isaac sighed and laid back on his bed in frustration. Needing something to cool himself and help him concentrate, he sat up and started heading towards the kitchen.
As he walked down the stairs, he noticed Steven reading one of the books that Connie gave him. "Hey, buddy, how's it going?" He asked, entering the kitchen and pulling out a soda. "Are you enjoying that book?"
"Yeah, but I'm in the middle of one of them, and I'm really confused…" Steven closed the book and looked at it. "They keep talking about this Plinkman guy who died... Am I supposed to know who he is?"
Isaac walked over and Steven handed him the book. He looked at it and saw it was the fourth book of the Spirit Morph Saga. "Wait, you're on the fourth book and you don't know who one of the characters is?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Wait, that's the fourth book?" Steven asked, confused.
"Wha-Yeah! You're reading these in order, right?"
"There's an order?" Steven exclaimed, shocked. "Aww man, I just started with the one with the coolest cover."
Isaac zoned out with a blank expression on his face. Trying to process what the living hell he just heard. That was when another distant rumbling noise is heard, shaking the house all around them.
"What the-?" Isaac said before the Gems rushed out from the Temple Gate.
"Something entered the atmosphere," Garnet informed them before they exited the house and moved onto the porch with Isaac.
"Up there!" Amethyst yelled, pointing upwards. They looked up and saw a shooting object in the sky heading in a far off direction.
"It's another one of those things!" Pearl exclaimed as it fell behind a grew of large clouds, before there was a big flash of light from behind them.
"It landed on Mask Island! Come on!" Garnet ordered and they all took off towards the warp pad with Steven.
The Crystal Gems warped to Mask Island. It didn't take long for them to spot the robonoid wandering towards them.
"Is it... looking for a warp?" Pearl asked out loud, wondering what its intentions were.
"We have to stop it!" Garnet exclaimed, before she and the other Gems charged towards the robonoid and destroyed it, spilling green goo everywhere. Some of it spilled all over Isaac and Steven.
"Yeesh! What are these things trying to do?" Steven asked.
"You know, that's a good question," said Isaac, whipping some of the goo off his face.
"We're not... really... that sure…" Pearl admitted, looking uncertain.
"It's not trying to do anything now." Garnet answered firmly on the subject.
And so it continued for the next several days. Every day it was another robonoid, each one popping up in a different location on earth where a warp pad was. They were able to intercept them with Garnet's future vision, but it was starting to wear down the Gems, especially since it seemed as though there was no end in sight.
As he waited for yet another robot to come down, Isaac stood in front of Crystal Temple's door. Deciding that he needed help with how to ask Pearl on a date, Isaac knew that he had to talk to one of the other two Gems. More specifically, he needed to talk to Garnet. Amethyst wouldn't be much help.
As he looked at the star on the door, Isaac was a little confused. How was he supposed to know which door he was knocking on? If he knocked, who would answer? Taking a chance, Isaac reached out and prepared to knock…
...until the door opened, with Garnet standing on the other side. "You wanted to talk about Pearl?"
"How did you know?" Isaac asked with wonder. Garnet lowered her shades just to show her third eye and wink it at him. "...Right. Uh, can we...talk inside where it's more private?"
Garnet nodded and allowed him inside. The door closed behind them as they walked over to the lava pit. The two sat down together on the edge of the pit, where Isaac could feel the heat coming off of it.
"So, you wanted to talk about Pearl?" Garnet asked.
Isaac sighed before inhaling and explaining to the Gem leader his intentions. "I...want to ask Pearl on a date. I'm not sure when it all started, but for a long time now, I've been having these feelings for Pearl. Feelings that I never had for another girl. She's kind, beautiful, graceful, strong, and smart. She's like no other person I've ever met and...well, I want her to know how I feel and hope that she feels the same about me."
Garnet stared at him. Isaac stared back at her, wondering just what she was thinking behind those visors.
"That's it?" she asked.
"What do you mean, 'that's it?'?" Isaac asked incredulously. "I just spilled my guts about how I feel about Pearl!"
The red Gem chuckled a bit. "I know. I'm just asking because this seems like something you should be saying to Pearl."
"Well, yeah, but I came to you because I want to know...well how would I go about it? How should I ask her on a date?" Isaac asked. The leader placed a hand on his shoulder in an almost motherly way.
"Just tell her who you feel and then ask her," said Garnet with a kind smile. "I'm sure Pearl would say yes."
"You do?"
"It's pretty obvious that she likes you too, Isaac," Garnet said, much to Isaac's amazement.
"Pearl...likes me too?" He asked, a grin forming on his face. "That's...That's great! Then all I'd have to do is go to her and ask!" Isaac jumped to his feet and was about to head out of the Temple when Garnet stopped him.
"Just be prepared for if she said no."
Isaac stopped before he could step on the first step and turned back towards Garnet. "What do you mean?" He asked, confused since she said Pearl liked him too.
Garnet sighed and leaned back a bit. "Pearl has...a lot of baggage when it comes to love. She's fallen in love before, and hasn't been able to let go, even when that person found their own kind of love."
Isaac nodded, feeling sympathy for Pearl. "Oh."
"Which is why I hope that you'll be able to give her the love she deserves," said Garnet, giving Isaac a smile. Isaac has proven time and time again that he was a great man. She had more than enough confidence that he would succeed in bringing Pearl that love, even if she didn't see it through her future vision.
Isaac smiled with determination. "I promise-"
The Temple suddenly shook violently. Isaac and Garnet ran out of the Temple together, before they were joined by Amethyst and Pearl.
Beyond frustration, Amethyst stretched her face in anger. "GRRRRRRRR! What is with these things? This is like the FIFTH one this week!" She exclaimed, pulling at her hair.
"Where is it, Garnet?" Isaac asked.
"We'll find it in the Desert!" Garnet exclaimed.
"Steven, come on!" Isaac called out to the boy, who was on the couch on the phone.
"Connie, talk later!" Steven said into it before tossing his phone aside. "Wait you guys, wait for me!"
The Gems, already annoyed, warp ahead towards the Desert without Steven or Isaac. The blonde waited for the young boy to get on the pad with him, before they quickly warped away on their own too and caught up.
Arriving mere seconds after the Gems, Isaac and Steven warped in the Desert and found the girls already attacking another large robonoid in desperation. Garnet tried to push against the robonoid as Amethyst had her whip wrapped around it and tried to pull it back. Pearl was sitting atop it and was stabbing it with her spear repeatedly with no effect.
"STOP! COMING! HERE! YOU! STUPID! BALLS!" Isaac's crush shouted, stabbing the spear down with each word.
"Yeah! Let it out! Get CRAZY!" Amethyst hollered, tugging on the robonoid and pulling back to keep it in place.
Isaac and Steven ran in, as the young boy flailed his arms around. "Guys, guys, guys! Stop!" He cried, getting the Gems to pause and look at him. "How many more of these things are you gonna have to fight?"
"WE DON'T KNOW!" Pearl shouted, beyond stressed. "They just keep COMING and COMING and we don't even know what they ARE! We don't know ANYTHING!"
Steven and Isaac stared at her after she was done ranting. "That's okay," said Steven with a smile. "I don't know anything all the time, it's like my whole life. But I have you guys to tell me about Gem stuff, Connie can explain what familiars are, Dad tells me weird dad stuff, and Isaac is teaching me about other important things."
"But nobody knows what these things are here to do," Pearl said, unsurely.
Having stayed out of the conversation for the moment, Isaac walked up to the robonoid and looked at it. "Actually, I've got an idea," he told the others. "But you have to hear me out on it."
Pearl breathed a sigh of relief. "If it ends this madness, I'll try anything." She said, "What's the plan?"
"Okay, so all week we've been fighting these things and destroying them, right? Never giving them the chance to get to where they need to go and accomplish their mission, whatever that may be. And every time we do, they just send another one," explained Isaac, as the Gems and Steven nodded in confirmation. "So...let's just where this bot wants to go?"
"...What?" the white Gem asked, dumbfounded.
"Hey, Isaac, that's a great idea!" Steven exclaimed with a big smile. "We could follow it and see where it goes."
"Exactly! So, what do you girls say?" Isaac asked the Gems.
"I say YOU NUTS!" Amethyst yelled in disbelief.
"Who knows what could go wrong?" Pearl said as well.
"Look, it's the only option we have!" Isaac said adamantly. "If we keep fighting them, we're never going to get to the bottom of this."
"Isaac's right," said Garnet, still pressed up against the robonoid. "We can't keep fighting these things forever- Well, we can, but I don't want to... Let's do it Isaac's way."
"Yeah! Let's follow the funky flow," Steven happily said, waving his arms around.
"We're dead," Amethyst remarked dryly.
With no other choice, the Gems let loose of the robonoid and hop atop of it the robonoid. With room for just one more person, Isaac picked up Steven and handed him up to Garnet. Isaac was going to have to follow the robot on foot.
"Are you sure you'll be okay following us?" Pearl asked, worried about the demigem falling behind. "You can take my place…"
"Pearl, I'll be fine. Honest," said Isaac with an assured smile. He turned to Steven and nodded.
Steven nodded back and gave the robonoid a solid pat. "Alright big guy, Mush!"
All of a sudden, the large machine jerked up, jostling the Crystal Gems riding atop it. Once it was stable, it slowly made its way towards the warp pad. Isaac ran after it, easily keeping up with the robot. As soon as it stepped onto the warp pad, Isaac squeezed onto it as well, before being warped away along with the Gems and Steven.
Upon arriving at the robonoid's intended destination, the entire group let out a collective gasp in horror.
"Kindergarten…" Garnet muttered. Indeed, the robonoid had taken them to the Kindergarten.
"Oh, why here?" Pearl asked with great concern. "This site has been damaged enough by the Gems that were incubated here 6,000 years ago! That's it! It's confirmed. These things are up to no good!" The white Gem summoned her spear from her gem and prepared to destroy the robonoid.
"Wait! Pearl, stop!" Isaac yelled, flailing his hands up at Pearl. "We don't even know what it's doing here? We've got to know if we're going to get to the bottom of this."
As she stared at him, Pearl was in a bit of a dilemma. She didn't like the idea of letting this thing fulfill its mission, however, Pearl trusted Isaac. She knew he wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for a good reason. Without any further agreement, Pearl sighed exasperatedly and the spear slowly retracted back into her gem.
Isaac turned back to the Kindergarten. He didn't want to be here at all either, especially after the horrific vision he saw. But they couldn't stop now. They had to know what the robonoids were here for. "Alright, forward!"
As if on his command, the robonoid jumped off the warp pad and down to ground level before walking off. Isaac jumped down as well and quickly caught up to them, as the spherical robot advanced at a slow pace, with the Crystal Gems still riding on it.
"What does it want here?" Pearl asked in an anxious whisper.
"Maybe it just wants to see where Amethyst was made," suggested Steven.
"Maybe it should mind its own business," Amethyst remarked bitterly.
"I don't like this at all…" Pearl muttered, looking around at the ominous walls on both sides of them.
"Yeah, me neither," said Isaac, keeping an eye out for anything that might attack.
"Aw, come on, can't you feel this guy's funky flow? He's a funk master," said Steven, patting the robonoid with a small smile.
"...I can't believe we're doing this," Pearl said.
The conversation was interrupted when the robonoid suddenly stopped. This confused everyone.
"Why'd you stop, li'l buddy?" Steven asked the robot, running his hands over its smooth green surface.
"Something's happening," Garnet said.
"Garnet, get them off, now!" Isaac exclaimed, stepping back from the robonoid.
Wasting no time, Garnet grabbed Steven and the Crystal Gems jumped off the robonoid. As she did so, the robonoid retracted its legs into its body and hovered above the ground. It then opened a pyramid-shaped hole in the ground, before seemingly morphing into a pyramid. The Crystal Gems watched in astonishment as it lowered itself down and fit into the hole.
"Yesss!" Steven said happily with starry eyes. The robonoid begins to descend into the ground like an elevator, leaving a hole open for them to follow it down to where it went. "See? Isaac was right... Let's go!"
"Wait, Steven!" Isaac tried to stop him, but Steven jumped right into the hole. "Damnit!" He jumped in after him, sliding down towards the boy as he too slid down towards the robonoid. The Gems were absolutely shocked over what the boys were doing. However, they quickly rushed in after them.
Isaac landed on the robonoid right next to Steven before the Gems quickly followed suit. "Hey, guys! Going down?" Steven asked with a joking smirk. However, no one was laughing and they were all looking at their surroundings. "... Are you okay?
"Pearl, what is all of this?" Isaac asked the white Gem.
"I...I don't know," she said, grabbing his hand in a moment of uncertainty and fright. Isaac held her hand in a firm hold while noticing thick green wires lining the walls of the hole.
"Those look like power cables," he said, pointing at the wires.
Whatever he was about to say next was cut short when the robonoid stopped at the bottom of a large, green hexagonal shape room. In the back of the room was a large gemstone, which was likely the power source.
At first, everything was dark, until a short bridge extended and connected the robonoid with the room. The robot then seemed to turn on the room, with the edges of the room glowing neon yellow and tinted green. A hand pedestal with a yellow diamond insignia on the palm rose up in the middle of the room.
Isaac then heard a kind of squishing sound from under them. Stepping over the edge, he watched as the pyramid robonoid dropped another, smaller robonoid from the tip. It landed on the ground, before sprouting legs and steadily climbed into the room.
The robonoid walked over to the pedestal and crawled up it. It took Isaac by surprise and placed itself on the control panel like a hand. This was enough to activate the hand pedestal, activating the room. Several screens lit up with a center monitor screen, displaying static for a brief moment.
And then it displayed none other than Peridot on-screen.
The Crystal Gems, startled by Peridot's image, gasped in alarm. "Get down, now!" Isaac whispered. Still holding Pearl's hand, he quickly jumped off the platform with her as Garnet grabbed Steven and did the same with Amethyst following them. Luckily the green Gem didn't notice them.
Signaling for them to stay low, Isaac slowly peeked over the edge to see what Peridot was doing.
"Established Gem Projection Link with control room," reported Peridot, her fingers forming another small screen on her end. "Plug Robonoid has successfully landed on Planet Earth and entered Prime Kindergarten Control Room in Facet Five. Will proceed to perform status check of Kindergarten."
"Guys!" Isaac whispered as he quickly got back down. He was about to say something when Pearl got his attention.
She was blushing brightly while looking at their hands, which were still clasped together in a firm hold. Realizing this, Isaac and Pearl quickly let go of each other and turned away with visible blushes.
"Isaac, come on! What's going on?" Amethyst whispered impatiently.
"R-Right." Isaac shook his head and got back on track. "She said that this is a control room and that she was checking on the Kindergarten."
Pearl gasped in alarm and whispered. "Is she trying to re-activate the Kindergarten? Doesn't she know it'll destroy all life on Earth?!"
"Why don't we ask her?" Steven suggested.
"Shh!" Garnet shushed him. "Steven, we're facing an enemy we don't know with technology we don't understand. This isn't the time to be asking questions."
"Really sounds like it is…" Steven muttered, pouting.
Garnet turned to her teammates. "Ok - here's the plan: We can't let her see us, so we wait for an opening. When she's distracted, we destroy the power source on the far wall. Steven stays here!"
Isaac, Pearl, and Amethyst nod in approval. However, when the blonde looked at the young Gem, his eyes widened in alarm. "Uh, girls."
The Gems turned to look at Steven, who had vanished from their sight. They looked up to see him scaling the nearby wires and approaching Peridot's screen.
"Steven!" the Gems whisper-shouted. Isaac quickly jumped onto the room and ran over to Steven.
"Now accounting for all operational Injectors," Peridot said, before two large green hand constructs emerged from the floor beside the young Gem. "Checking for aberrations in perimeter." The hands activated a pair of panels on the wall screens, which caused cylinders to eject from the ceiling.
Isaac rushed over and grabbed Steven by his arm, surprising the young boy. "Steven, we've got to go!" He whispered harshly.
"Ugh, this Gem Tech is simply archaic." Peridot sneered dryly as she continued her work.
"I don't know, I think it looks pretty cool," Steven said brightly, making Isaac's entire body freeze up.
For a moment, there was silence. Peridot's monitor abruptly and quickly canceled all she was doing and turned to face Steven in surprise. Her eyes widened with alarm and confusion as she looked at the two demigems.
"Hi! I'm Steven, and this is Isaac!" The young Gem greeted warmly. Isaac sighed in exasperation and facepalmed.
Peridot remained silent for a moment, before she looked at her small screen with annoyed confusion. "There appears to be an infestation of 'Stevens' and 'Isaacs' in the Kindergarten." She said in a crossed tone.
"Uh...what?" Isaac asked flatly.
"Daw, We're not so bad once you get to know me!" Steven quipped.
"Steven, shut up and let me do the talking," Isaac whispered to him, covering his mouth with his hand.
Peridot glared at the duo, raising her eyebrow as she looked over them. "... And how many more Stevens and Isaacs are present in this area?"
"Uh, none. We're the only ones," Isaac lied, not revealing that the Gems were still hiding out.
"Nee-ah, that's a relief," Peridot remarked. "So tell me - Have Stevens and Isaacs replaced humans as the dominant species on Earth?"
"What?" Isaac asked, confused. "No, we are humans!"
"Oh, really?" Peridot asked in a bored tone.
"Yeah, we're half-humans. But still mostly humans. We're just called Isaac and Steven to differentiate us from the many other humans on Earth." Isaac explained.
Yeah. There are lots of humans! There's my dad, Connie, Lars and Sadie, the mailman, Onion... I think. ...Lots of people!" Steven exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Hmm…" The green Gem mused, rolling her eyes. "I'm surprised that your species managed to survive this long, even if for a brief moment."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Isaac asked, growing suspicious by that comment. "And just what exactly are you doing on Earth? I thought Homeworld abandoned the Earth."
"Hm, just picking up where we left off…" she said. Peridot's monitor faced away from Isaac and Steven, returning to her work.
Isaac didn't have the opportunity to ask her to elaborate, however, as a hand constructs raised above the two demigems and formed a fist.
"Look out!" Isaac pushed Steven away from him and summoned his sword. When the fist came down to crush him. Isaac slashed at it, cutting it in half and destroying it.
This made Peridot turn her monitor around as she let out a sharp, startled gasp when she saw the sword. "You...How did you do that?!" She exclaimed in disbelief.
"Like I said," Isaac held up his right hand and showed his gemstone to her, "I'm a half-human."
"A...A fusion? With a human and a Gem?!" Peridot exclaimed, seemingly disguised by that.
"Something like that." Isaac shrugged, getting into a fighting stance.
"How revolting. It's best if I destroy you now," Peridot said, as the second hand prepared to attack.
"You're not touching Isaac!" Pearl lunged out and threw her spear at the hand. The spear stabled into the palm of the hand, as the white Gem landed next to Isaac.
"A Gem?!" Peridot exclaimed, shocked by Pearl's appearance. That's when Amethyst and Garnet jumped up as well. All of them with their weapons out and ready. "AH! MORE?" Peridot fearfully looked at her screen. "But the Red Eye didn't report the presence of any Gems on this planet!"
"That's because we destroyed it!" Pearl informed, materializing her spear back into her hands. All sense of fear was replaced by boldness.
"You what? But the records say that Gems were wiped out on earth…Wait a minute…" Peridot started to piece it together and glared at the group. "You're the ones that have been destroying my Plug Robonoids... Are you the reason the Homeworld Warp is down again? Is THIS your bizarre icon?!" She demanded, showing them the Crying Breakfast Friends sticker. "UHROOH! Why do you keep destroying my THINGS?!"
"Because we are the Crystal Gems!" Pearl proclaimed fiercely, pointing her spear at the green Gem on the monitor. "We're still alive, and we're still the guardians of this planet and all its living creatures!"
Peridot looked at them in blank confusion, having no idea what the Pearl was talking about. "The Crystal Gems?"
With fierce battle cries, the Gems started attacking Peridot's hand construct, while Steven and Isaac watched in astonishment. They lashed and beat the hand, much to the frustration of Peridot. "Stop!" she shouted hotly. "How dare you? I'm doing this one way or another. You're just... making it... really... difficult!"
Once they destroyed the hand, Garnet turned towards Isaac. "Isaac, now!"
"Right!" Isaac used his ability to change the katana into a giant hammer. The son of Onyx swung it around before letting it go. Throwing it towards the control room's power source, where it smashed into the crystal and shattered it.
"I'm reporting this!" Peridot yelled.
"Good!" Isaac back at her, pointing at the monitor. "And when you do, tell your superiors that this planet is off-limits and to never come back!"
Peridot growled in anger before her screen transmission disappeared and the control room went dark. With the power shut off, the link between here and Homeworld was severed.
"Is it over?" Amethyst asked her teammate tentatively. The Gems looked at each other silently.
"Yeah, for now…" Isaac said. They all then walked over to Steven and stared at him, unamused by his actions.
"Okay... I- I might have gone a little too far this time," Steven admitted with a sigh.
"A little?" Isaac asked, his hands on his fists. "You put yourself in danger and blew our cover!"
"...Okay, a lot," Steven corrected himself. "But you wanted to know what Peridot was doing, and we were able to find out."
Isaac sighed exasperatedly, facing palming before Garnet's hand rested on his shoulder. "Well, Steven wasn't completely wrong. We learned something new because of your decisions, Isaac," she said with a smile.
Isaac smiled back as Steven cheered. "Alright!"
"But yeah, this was a pretty bad idea."
"Aw man…"
Later that night, after the Crystal Gems returned home from the Kindergarten, Isaac was laying in his bed sleeping. Steven was sleeping in his bed and the Gems had already retired to their rooms in the Temple. All but one. As he lay there, Isaac had the distinct feeling of being watched.
"I know you're watching me, Pearl," he said, surprising the white Gem, who quickly covered her mouth to suppress her gasp.
"How did you…" Pearl trailed off before asking him. Of course, he'd know, she told him. Isaac sat up as she sat on her knees with an embarrassed expression. "I...I'm sorry, I'll leave."
She stood up before Isaac quickly did so too and grabbed her hand. "Hey, ah, Pearl," Isaac said in a whisper so that he didn't wake up Steven. "Do you...mind if we talk?"
This request surprised Pearl and she started to become a little nervous. She nodded and followed Isaac down the stairs and walked out onto the porch with him. When Isaac closed the door, Pearl turned to him.
"Is...Is there something wrong?" she asked, concerned for what her dear friend had to say.
"No, no. Everything's good," Isaac quickly reassured her. "I mean, we saved the day again. But, honestly, I didn't know how to ask you this, so…"
Pearl stood in front of him, waiting for him to start talking. As he looked at her, Isaac thought she looked even more beautiful with the light on the moon behind her. Illuminating her form. Taking in a deep breath, Isaac started to speak. It was now or never.
"Pearl. For the past few months that I've been living in Beach City with all of you, and it's been an absolute blast," he said with a sincere smile. "I've learned so much and had so much fun with Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and especially you, Pearl."
Pearl was a little surprised by that comment. She giggled with a timid look, blushing a little. "Thank you, Isaac. You're sweet."
"But I really do mean it, Pearl. You're an amazing person. You're really smart, graceful, brave, and strong. Not to mention very...very pretty. Beautiful, I'd say," Isaac said, glowing a blush that was matched by Pearl, whose eyes widened by his words. "You're someone really special to me, Pearl. Everything's really crazy right now, and I have no idea what the future is going to hold, but it would be...amazing if you continued to be in it, so…" He paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath. There was no going back. Isaac had to see this through.
"What I'm asking is...Pearl, do you want to go out with me?"
"W-What?!" Pearl's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly as her blue blush grew even larger than ever.
"I'd like to go out with you. Like on a date," Isaac explained, trying not to sound nervous, but failing. What was wrong with him? He fought monsters and saved the world, but couldn't even ask a girl on a date? "It can just be just one date if you want!"
"Oh! Isaac...I'm...I'm flattered. Truly, I am…" Pearl tried to think of what she'd say next. She was so conflicted with what she wanted to say and what she wanted to do. But while her head kept saying that she shouldn't, her heart was saying something else.
However, as he waited for a response, Isaac's hope started to dwindle. Remembering what Garnet had told him earlier, Isaac sighed sadly and said, "I-I'm sorry. It's okay if you say-"
"Yes."
Isaac stopped and looked at her with wide eyes. Pearl averted her eyes for a moment as she brightly blushed. She gave him a timid smile.
"I...I'd like to go on a date with you."
Stars started to grow in Isaac's eyes and a big smile formed on his face.
AN: And I'm back with another update for Gem of War. And this time, we're finally gotten to a major moment in Isaac and Pearl's relationship!
At the beginning of the chapter, we see Stevonnie for the first time in all their glory. Isaac is of course amazed that Steven and Connie were able to fuse together, as he wasn't there for when they did the first time (Isaac's Island). He's also the one that destroys the first Plug Robonoid, as he is the one that's closest to it.
After that, we see Isaac trying to figure out how to ask out Pearl, before going to Garnet for advice. Even though Isaac doesn't know about Ruby and Sapphire, it would make sense for him to go to her for advice. Garnet is the wisest one in the group and has known Pearl for a long time.
Even though she tells Isaac to be ready if Pearls rejects him, Garnet is totally an Isaac x Pearl shipper lol.
The rest of the chapter pretty much plays out like in the episode, before ending things off with Isaac asking Pearl on a date and her saying yes! This is a moment I've been wanting to do for a while now and I'm happy to see it happen. So, how do you all think the date will go? Good or bad? As for the sex scene, I'm going through with it when we get to Rose's Scabbard. Isaac and Pearl being adults allow for me to have more mature romantic moments between them.
Also, for those of you wondering if they're going too fast, just remember that in the Owl House, Luz and Amity got together a quarter of a way through season 2. Luz had only been on the Boiling Isle for a shorter amount of time than Isaac had been in Beach City, and she was able to get a girlfriend.
I'll try and work on the next chapter, but I'll also be working on the next one for "The Seventh Son."
Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you have any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.
Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.