Act 3
Chapter 1: The Terror Below
It had taken a few days for the Gems to clear the beach of the debris and wreckage of the Homeworld Warship. Not much has happened after that. They were able to find Peridot's escape pod in the fields outside of town. Now they knew that she was still on earth. There was a loose Corrupted Gem that went on a rampage in the Temple, which they were able to capture.
But while Isaac was able to continue doing the things he used to with the Gems, it was clear there was some resentment towards them from the hybrid. This resentment stemmed from what he learned about his mother when Citrine, Jasper, and Peridot came to earth and attacked. The Crystal Gems have been lying to him. They lied to him about his mother and have been hiding the fact that she was a Homeworld General, and not a Crystal Gem like they've been telling him and Steven.
They haven't even tried to explain themselves to him, which didn't help Isaac's frustration. But what could they tell him that he didn't already find out from Citrine? Now Isaac was sitting with them in the living room because Garnet had called a meeting. However, as the meeting was going on, Isaac, Steven, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst are then seen folding Steven's t-shirts together.
"We need to track down Peridot and Citrine," Garnet addressed the others as they folded shirts. Her voice was steady, firm, and authoritative. "We found Peridot's pod. We know she's out there somewhere, and will likely meet up with Citrine. They came to Earth with a job to do, and odds are, they're still gonna try to do it. That's why I've gathered you here."
"I thought it was so you can help me fold all this laundary!" Steven noted, nodding to the giant pile of unfolded t-shirts that they were all sitting around.
"Seriously, Steven, how many of these do you have," Isaac asked, tossing one t-shirt on his head.
"Mm-mm." He shrugged, unsure of the exact number, as he folded the one thrown at him.
"The chore wheel idea you had fell apart fast, Isaac," Garnet said.
"Then who's been doing all the work around here?" Isaac asked with a scowl, picking up a shirt and folding it.
"Wasn't me," Amethyst vouched, reclining back while reading a magazine. During the corrupted Gem's rampage in the Temple, Amethyst had gotten poofed…more than once. On the last one, Isaac decided to let her come back out on her own.
When she reformed, the colors of Amethyst's tank top and leggings were reversed. Now her tank top was now black with two small slots on each side towards the bottom, and her leggings were mauve with black stars on the knees. She fixed her right shoulder strap, keeping it on her shoulder rather than off. This was a feature Pearl told Isaac she was happy to see changed. Her boots were still white.
Isaac and The Crystal Gems turned to look at the chore wheel pasted on the refrigerator. Everyone, including him, had a chore to do around the house. Isaac's chore was to cook and clean the kitchen. However, everyone's names were struck out and replaced with Pearl's name, written in her handwriting. Taking over all the chores of the house.
"You know, if you want help you can always ask me," Isaac said, looking at his girlfriend with a knowing smirk.
"I know. I just really enjoy doing all of those things," the white Gem said with a proud smile.
"It's better if we do them together," Garnet said, giving Amethyst a particularly critical glance.
Seeing this, the purple Gem begrudgingly sat up and helped out. "Humans should just stop wearing clothes," Amethyst groaned. "Be a lot funnier."
"I'm pretty sure people wouldn't like me walking around with my thing hanging around," Isaac said.
"I certainly wouldn't like it," Pearl grumbled, folding a shirt.
"That's right! We are civil-i-fied part human, thank you very much. Clothing is a must," Steven said. He looked at the laundry pile. There were so many of his shirts that it would take a while for them to take care of. He then got an idea when he glanced over at Garnet. "Hmm... This is a lot. I bet this folding would go faster if Ruby and Sapphire were here!"
"I'm sure they'd be glad to see you, Steven. But I am not unfusing for laundry," the Gem leader remarked with a small amused smirk.
"Aww…." Steven sighed in disappointment. Isaac ruffled his hair, making the young boy laugh and push his hand away.
Pearl smiled, seeing the two being so brotherly to one another. However, there was a more pressing matter at hand, and so she steered the conversation back to it. "Garnet, you don't think Peridot and Citrine would come looking for us, do you?" She asked, nervously looking at Isaac. "I mean, they know about…"
"What? That my mother was the general of Homeworld?" Isaac asked, glaring at her and Garnet.
Pearl looked away from him, still feeling ashamed of her involvement in keeping her boyfriend in the dark. Garnet was silent for a moment, before she responded. "We weren't her priority," she told the team. "She was sent here to do something in the Kindergarten."
"You can't say the same for Citrine," Isaac said sarcastically. "However, when I was looking for you guys on the ship, I heard Peridot. She said that they were checking up on something called 'The Cluster'. Does that ring any bells?"
"It's the first time I'm hearing about it," Garnet said.
Pearl suddenly became anxious. "Do you think she's still going to try to reactivate it?" She asked the leader of the Crystal Gems.
"Mmm…" Garnet nodded as her expression darkened. "If she gets it back up and running, the Injectors will turn back on."
"In-jec-tors? What're those?" Steven asked, curious.
"You've already seen them. Well, you've seen them disabled," Pearl said with a remorseful sigh. To give the boy and her lover a visual demonstration, she projected a hologram from her gem. Isaac and Steven watched as she showed one of the many massive bacteriophages, drill-like machines that dotted the Kindergarten. They watched as it reactivated and started drilling into the ground, planting something deep into the earth. "If Peridot reactivates them, they'll pick up right where they left off, planting Gems in the crust of the Earth, where they'll incubate and suck the life right out of the ground. We can't let Peridot restart Gem production here, if we do, the entire planet will become…"
"A lifeless husk," Garnet finished.
Now seeing the dangers of leaving Peridot to her own devices, Isaac knew they had the find her before she could do anything to turn them back on. "Is there any way to permanently deactivate them?" He asked.
"We did when the war ended, but we can't risk taking chances," Garnet said to him, standing to rise. She paused, though, when she noticed the worried looks on the faces of both the hybrids and her teammates as they all feared what could happen. "Don't worry, we'll stop her." The Gem leader smiled confidently. Garnet then approached the Warp Pad. "C'mon, Crystal Gems."
"Coming!" Pearl chimed, hopping to her feet as she hurriedly followed Garnet. Steven did the same, and rushed excitedly to the Warp Pad.
"As long as we don't have to fold anything," Amethyst remarked, gladly leaving the pile of laundry behind and summoning her whip, following the others. Isaac sighed and followed after them. If they have a chance to stop Peridot, then he'll come along with them. Even if it meant going back to that haunting place.
The Kindergarten was the same as when Isaac last saw it. A dark and foreboding wound in the earth that echoed every sound that was made in it. The hollowed-out walls were just as lifeless and solemn as they were. Isaac imagined that this place was once a beautiful valley with trees and plants. Now it was just a place of death. The only things left behind were the dead machines of the war he was a part of in his past life. As the Crystal Gems ventured through the Kindergarten, Pearl projected a beam of light to illuminate the path. They used this light to see in the darkness, however. However, the search was looking to be rather fruitless, as there was no sign that anyone was there. No less the green Gem or Citrine. It was as silent and still as it had been for centuries.
"Well, nothing looks activated," Pearl said, walking up to one of the injectors. Her gemstone shining light onto the drill as she ran her finger across it. Picking up a large layer of dust. "In fact, i-it doesn't look like anything's budged since the last time we were here."
"You're right," Garnet said, her hands on her hips as she looked around. "But just because Peridot hasn't been here yet, it doesn't mean she won't come."
"Hm!" Steven nodded in terse agreement.
"Let's do a thorough check of the perimeter," Garnet told the others authoritatively. "That way, we can monitor any future entry."
"Sounds easy enough," Isaac said, before walking off to investigate his own sector of the Kindergarten.
As he went off on his, looking around the Kindergarten, for any suspicious activity that would be going on. He started to become on edge as he passed by more of the injectors. In his mind, Isaac was worried that they would turn back. But then he thought about what Peridot said on the ship. Was the Cluster thing all of these injectors? Was that what she was here to check on? Isaac then worried about what the green Gem was doing at the moment. She's been trapped on the planet for some time now, left completely to her own devices. Was she close to completing her goals, whatever they may be?
"If I was a green alien rock menace that's trying to destroy the earth, where would I go?" He asked himself. Fortunately, he wouldn't have to wait long for his answer.
"Log date 6-5-2." Isaac gasped and summoned his sword in a reverse grip when he overheard the unmistakable voice of his target. He looked around, trying to find out where she was. That's when Peridot rose from the underground elevator that was activated by the large Plug Robonoid a while back. She was fiddling with her finger screen, and even though she was facing him, the green Gem didn't seem to notice him. She just continued with her report. "This is Peridot, updating status. Still stuck on this miserable planet with no escort... The fusion experiments are developing properly. A few have even emerged early-"
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Uh, hello?"
Peridot cut herself off with a shriek of shock that echoed in the valley as she looked up from her screen and looked at Isaac with a startled expression. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Unsure of how to react to their unexpected and awkward encounter. Peridot was the first to speak when she looked around nervously. "Are the other ones with you?" She whispered anxiously.
"...Maybe," Isaac said.
Peridot let out a frustrated groan and dissipated her finger screen. "Of course! Why not…" She facepalmed
"Look, just do us all a favor, and just give up. You've got nowhere else to go and no backup," Isaac said, getting in a fighting stance.
"I've got a better idea," Peridot told him, pointing a finger up. Then, she suddenly transformed her hand into its blaster form. "This!"
She fired at Isaac at point blank with a ball of plasma, hitting him in the chest and sending him a few feet away and landing on the ground.
"Ha!"
However, Isaac sat up, groaning in pain from being hit by the ball of energy. His shirt had a large hole torn into it, destroying the star logo on it, and left a burn mark on him. The injury healed itself as Isaac looked up and glared at Peridot with a growl.
"Oh crud," Peridot said, now scared.
"Peridot!" the green Gem gasped in fear when she heard Garnet's firm voice shouting. He looked across the Kindergarten and saw the Gems and Steven running at her.
"There she is!" Pearl exclaimed, her spear already in her hands.
"Hi, there!" Steven happily waved at Peridot as he and the Crystal Gems charged forth.
Seeing the Gems coming after her with their weapons out, Peridot gasped before she turned and ran away. Isaac jumped back on his feet and joined the Gems as they started pursuing her.
"Nowhere to go!" Amethyst called out to the green Gem.
"You're cornered!" Pearl added.
This turned out to be true as the Crystal Gems chased Peridot right into a high and impassable wall of the canyon. However, without even stopping, and with a snide grin, Peridot began scaling and running up the wall. Isaac reached the wall first and looked up at Peridot in shock. "What the hell?" He asked in shock. "How's she doing that?!"
"Yeah, I can't do that!" Steven pouted.
"Neither can she!" Pearl exclaimed, hurling her spear upwards at the green Gem.
Seeing the spear coming at her, Peridot ducked her head out of the spear's path, and it shot past her. She looked back down at the Crystal Gems and grinned smugly. "Ha! Missed!"
However, she was proven wrong when Pearl's spear hit the leg of an Injector stuck near the top of the wall before it dissipated. For a moment, it seemed like nothing happened, until the Injector came loose and began to collapse off the wall. Peridot looked up and freaked out when she saw the falling Injector coming right at her. She turned and tried to flee, but the Injector hit her in the back. The Crystal Gems watched as Peridot screamed before her, and the machine crashed into the ground.
"Good work, Pearl!" Isaac exclaimed, kissing her on the cheek. Pearl blushed at his affection.
"Oh, well, it was nothing," she said bashfully.
"Look alive, you two," Garnet said, summoning her gauntlets.
"Do you think she's hurt?" Steven asked, somewhat concerned.
Surprising, Peridot was unharmed as she emerged from the rubble. The moment she was found out, she quickly pulled herself up and fled again.
Seeing this, Amethyst laughed in excitement. "Nope!"
She lashed her whip out and tethered the fleeing Peridot with her weapon. Coiling around her torso and pinning her arms to her side. With the Gem captured, Isaac and the others ran at her. Knowing she had to get out of there quickly, Peridot wiggled one of her fingers out of the whip and pressed it down on it. All of a sudden, she generated an electrical current with her fingertip and electrified the entire whip.
Seeing the current coming down towards her, Amethyst dropped her whip quickly. "Who-o-oa! Hot whip!" She shouted.
Peridot was released from the weapon and took off again. Pearl and Steven joined Amethyst as she ran after her. "You Crystal Clods! Go ahead! Wreck this place! See if I care. I already got what I needed!"
"Get back here!" Pearl yelled, summoning another spear and throwing it at her.
Seeing the weapon coming at her, Peridot quickly threw her hand up and turned her fingers into helicopter blades. She lifted herself from the ground and into the air, dodging the spear. She curled up into a ball and flew away, all while the two Gems and young demi-gem pursuing her were again shocked by her technological abilities. Peridot started to chuckle to herself before it gradually turned into maniacal laughter as she flew off.
"Aw, man, I really can't do that!" Steven pouted as he, Pearl, and Amethyst continued chasing her.
"I'm gonna fucking up her good!" Amethyst growled, leading the charge after her.
"I'll help!" Pearl said, not correcting or scolding the purple Gem.
"Yeah!" Steven cheered, as the three of them rounded a corner in the canyon. Pursuing Peridot deep into the Kindergarten.
Isaac, wanting to get payback, eagerly started running after them to put an end to the green Gem's plans. However, before he could get too far, Garnet called out to him.
"Isaac, wait!" she called calmly, standing near the fallen Injector.
Isaac stopped and turned back to her. "Wait? For what!? Peridot's getting away!"
"Pearl and the others will handle it," Garnet said, walking up to him. She turned and looked at the destroyed machine. "Right now, we've got bigger concerns."
"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked, dissipating his sword.
"If Peridot's mission was to reactivate the Kindergarten, the injectors would be on. Look," she said, nodding to the walls. Isaac turned his head up towards the injectors, which were all as still and silent as ever. "They're not."
Now Isaac was starting to understand what she was getting at. He thought for a moment before remembering when he found it. "Peridot said something about experiments when she came out of the underground control room," he said, looking around for the green platform she used to get out of it.
"Then let's see what she was actually doing," she said, nodding. The Gem leader walked over to the collapsed Injector and lifted it up. Revealing the elevator platform that Peridot ascended on.
"Oh!" Isaac said as the Gem leader threw the wreckage away. He looked at her with an impressed expression. "Look at you, being brains and brawn. The whole package."
"Thank you!" she said, and the two high-fived.
Together, they stepped onto the platform. "Is it because you're a fusion?" Isaac asked, curious.
"I have to keep some of my secrets," Garnet said, meaning it as a joke.
However, the moment she said that, Isaac felt only bitterness and resentment. "Yeah, of course, you do," he said, looking away from Garnet with a scowl. Garnet's smile faded as the elevator sank into the ground.
Together, they descended into the underground control room on the slanted path. Passing by the dark and uninviting walls and floors, along with the green piping on both sides. As they descended, the Gem leader looked to Isaac, who stood on the other side with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "Isaac, dwelling on what happened wouldn't help your frustration," she said, her manner as level-headed as ever while trying to talk with the young man.
"Right, and not talking about it will?" He asked her, frustrated that she would try and play what she did off. "Is that what you want to do? Fine, then let's not talk about it. You clearly don't."
"It is not an easy subject to talk about. Not for me or Pearl," Garnet claimed.
"It was wrong. You've all been lying to me. About my mother!" Isaac said loudly, shaking his head. "I thought I was able to fit in with you all. That you all accepted me as one of your own."
"We didn't lie to you, Isaac. Everything that we've told you up to this point was true. There are just some things we didn't want to tell you about her. Just as there are some things we don't tell Steven."
"Well, how is that not the same as lying?" Isaac snapped. "Of all the things to tell me, you could have told me at least the important things about her."
"And we do trust you, Isaac," Garnet acknowledged, walking up to her friend and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I grant that mistakes were made. We knew that it would come up, and you would want answers, but it was only for your own good. I made the decision to have everyone keep quiet. I did it because I didn't think we'd be doing all this again."
"And whose decision was it, Garnet?" Isaac asked, shrugging her hand on his shoulder to turn and glare at her. "Ruby or Sapphire?"
"That's not fair," Garnet said, quickly and offended.
"Neither is lying."
The two teammates stared at each other, with the blonde-haired man glaring up at the taller Gem. Her eyes remained behind her shades as she stayed silent for a moment. "Let's focus on the mission," Garnet said, though she knew it wasn't what Isaac wanted to hear. And by the annoyed look on his face, she was right. "I promise, when this is over, I'll explain everything."
Isaac mused for a moment when she said that. Wanting to say something that would make her understand how much she and the others hurt him. So, he did, using the best example he knew how to give. "How would you feel if Rose lied to you?"
"It's not the same." The Gem leader adamantly insisted.
"It's precisely the same. Think about how Pearl must've felt. Rose was your leader and your mentor, right? Just like how you're mine. Besides Pearl, my girlfriend, you're the one I trust the most. You trusted Rose enough to follow her in the rebellion. How well would you sleep knowing she lied to you."
Garnet remained silent for a moment. "Not very well, I imagine," she said. "Luckily, that isn't true… and never will be."
The two remained silent until they arrived at the bottom. However, it wasn't like how they last saw it. The Kindergarten Prime Control Room was completely devoid of light. It was dark and empty, with its central crystal busted in. Cutting off the power to the chamber. However, it wasn't just the damage done to the place that was noticeable. Several dirt pillars were standing erected throughout the room. As tall as the two Crystal Gems, they were hanging from the ceiling and standing on the floor. Some of the pillars were cracked open.
Isaac didn't need to see his gemstone to see it was glowing. Something about the atmosphere created by the scene was deeply unsettling, and he knew something was wrong going on. Very wrong.
"This place was creepy before, but this…," Isaac said as he and Garnet summoned their weapons.
"Yes. There's something going on." Garnet agreed as they both walked into the control room.
Isaac looked at the broken crystal that he destroyed. "What was Peridot doing here if there was no power?"
"It looks like she pulled these out of the walls," Garnet said, glancing up at the pillars of dirt that were hanging from the ceiling above her. "Something's strange."
Suddenly she heard a soft sound coming from one of the dirt pillars on the far side of the room. Stoic as ever, Garnet approached it to investigate. This got Isaac's attention. "Garnet?" He called over to her.
Worried, Isaac ran up to Garnet and stood next to her. Keeping his guard up as they scanned the pillar. Still saying nothing, Garnet reached out and touched the dirt pillar. However, this caused it to begin shaking violently. Isaac and Garnet slowly back off, his blade pointed at the pillar in a tight grip.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," he said, glaring anxiously at the pillar.
The Gem leader did not respond. Her body tensed as she bawled her gauntlet hands into tight fights. The pillar's shaking did not subside. Instead, it got worse. Growing more rapidly and more aggressive by the second.
All of a sudden, something fell from the ceiling behind the pair and landed right behind the pair. Frightened, Isaac whirled around and slashed his sword across. However, he didn't hit anything. Isaac and Garnet looked around to see what had made the sound, before looking down.
That's when they saw it.
The thing was an amalgam of a blue hand and a red foot that awkwardly fused together as one living thing. It wiggled its fingers and toes around aimlessly as Isaac stared at it with wide eyes. Garnet then picks up the strange creature.
"What…is that?" Isaac asked. However, the second after he said that, he heard more creatures coming from up above. Garnet and Isaac looked up. At first, nothing happened, until several more similar creatures began coming out from the pillars and falling from the ceiling. All of them were just like the first one. A mixture of limbs fused together. Hands mixed with feet, arms connected to legs, legs linked together at the knees, and several more combinations of disjointed, multi-colored body parts.
When they landed on the ground, they were still, before pulling themselves together and began moving towards the frightened pair of Crystal Gems.
"Garnet, what the fuck is going on?" Isaac exclaimed fearfully as he held his sword out in front of him defensively. "What are these things?! AAHHH!" Isaac screamed when the creature in Garnet's hand pounced onto his face. Grabbing him before he used his katana to stab it. The malformed creature poofed as a Gem would, and Isaac quickly grabbed something that fell in front of his face.
"What is it?" Garnet asked.
Isaac opened his hand to reveal what it was: a pair of broken blue and pink gemstone shards welded together. Somehow, they were mashed together into an uneven, unnatural shape that was unlike anything Isaac had seen.
"What the hell? They're…gem shards stuck together," he said, anxiously frowning at his finding.
Garnet grunted in disgust and horror, before she swatted the welded gem shards out of Isaac's hands and on the floor. It landed in front of the limb cluster creatures. Seeing them all, Isaac's eyes widened when he realized what they were.
"These limbs were all part of broken Gems," Isaac stated with growing horror towards the situation that was at hand. "But they've been...fused together?"
This information caused Garnet to gasp in horror. This was beyond any horror that she's experienced. This was a nightmare.
"Garnet?" Isaac asked, but she didn't respond. Staring only at the creatures crawling towards her as the usually unshakable and courageous Gem leader trembled in absolute terror. "Garnet, snap out of it!"
But he wasn't able to get her out of her panicked state. However, The shaking dirt pillar from before did. As all of the smaller shard creatures approached the two, the pillar let out a sickening crack as it tore itself clean across.
Isaac gasped and turned to it. Just in time to see the dirt pillar suddenly burst open in an explosion. Isaac covered his eyes to protect himself from the blast before he noticed a bright light pouring from the top of the broken pillar. He lowered his hand and saw that the light was coming from a large cluster of Gems that was made up of four shards. It floated up, rising higher and higher into the air. The light intensified before four white light silhouettes of four distinct Gems appeared, fused together at the waists in a mess of trapped limbs and bodies. Together, they let out a horrific scream of pain and despair as they desperately tried to pull themselves away from the fusion, but failed. With a final scream, the fusion glitched out and lost their forms completely as they fused against their wills. From there, the silhouette's shape started to change again. This time taking on the form of what looked like a giant hand, but the "fingers" consisted of other hands. It shrieked as it took its form, becoming a hulking monster of multi-colored limbs that were conjoined together with a raggedy gray cloth around it.
Isaac and Garnet stared at the monster in total horror. Garnet was the most horrified. Petrified and transfixed, the Gem leader stared at the monster as it landed on the ground and started crawling towards her and her friend.
But as Garnetwas rooted on the spot in fear, breathing agitatedly, Isaac jumped into action.
"Back out!" Isaac yelled, rushing in and slashing across the monster's "palm". It shrieked in pain and recoil. However, it didn't deter it in the least. It roared and swatted at him. The demi-gem jumped back from it, dodging its arm before rushing at it again to attack. But when he jumped into the air to cut it down, the arms of the creature shot out and grabbed his arms. "Hey! Let go!"
Isaac kicked his legs around, but the monster's grip was incredibly stronger. Then he was suddenly thrown into the side wall. Isaac yelled in pain when he cracked the surface of the wall before landing on the ground.
After shaking his head to clear it, before seeing the monster approaching him. Before he could prepare himself to attack, the arms of the monster grabbed onto his head, neck, right arm, and side. As he was being strangled, Isaac struggled to get out of the monster's grip as he was lifted into the air.
"G-Garnet!" He gasped out, pleading with the Gem leader to save him. However, as she stood there in petrified horror, Garnet stared at the monster as the smaller creatures started grabbing onto and climbing up her body. With his free hand, Isaac grabbed the arm choking him, and used his super strength to crush its wrist. It howled in pain before Isaac pulled it off his neck, where it left purple marks. "Please, Garnet, snap out of it! Ah!"
Isaac was pulled from the wall and thrown into the other one across the room. He fell to the ground in pain, before looking up to see the monster charging at him. Isaac growled in fury and summoned his katana. He yelled and ran at the monster, continuing the fight against the abomination.
An abomination that Garnet knew personally. As she watched Isaac fight against the monster, she was still trapped in her state of horror as the creature crawled all over her body. One of them got up to her face and roughly shoved its hand into her face, knocking Garnet's visor off. Looking back at Isaac and the monster, her eyes opened, revealing her terrified and traumatized face. Hardly noticing Isaac's struggle against the beast. She then started tearing up and speaking. Her once strong and stoic voice was completely shaken and broken.
"T-These were Crystal Gems…" she choked up, tears streaming down her face as the mutant pressed its hand against her face. "S-Shattered into pieces. They were buried together. They were forced together... They were forced to fuse!"
Upon hearing this, Isaac was completely shocked. These things were the broken, shattered remains of her friends? Comrades that she knew and fought with? They were merged into their nightmarish forms with no chance of breaking free. Driven only pure instincts. It was cruel, and Isaac could help but think of a horrible thought.
Did his mother shatter these Gems? Did she lead to them being these things? However, he didn't have time to contempt the idea when he was once again being choked by the monster. Held up high into the air, Isaac felt his lungs fighting for air as he tried to pry the arms off him.
"T-This is wrong! Uh, uh, I'm sorry. Aauugghhh!" Garnet let out a loud, agonized shout as she began to separate in her overwhelming trauma. With both her halves in absolute despair and disarray, she started to slit down the middle, causing a hole to form in her midsection.
Upon seeing this, Isaac's eyes widened with fear. Fear of losing his friend. And that fear led to furious anger. He glared at the monster with righteous fury as it formed abnormal, oversized eyes around its clustered gem.
Then, his arms started to turn black as his body started to heat up to incredible levels of heat. As he activated Hellfire, he grabbed onto the arms of the cluster monster. It screamed and thrashed with pain and agony as it tried to let go of him. But Isaac wouldn't let it, crushing down on its large arm so hard that he would have been feeling bone right now. The monster tried to get him to let go by slamming him repeatedly to the ground, but Isaac didn't let go.
Eventually, he let go. Floating in the air, he curled himself into a ball as he built up all the energy in his body. And then…
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Isaac yelled with all the rage inside him as he released an extremely powerful blast of fire from his body that knocked everyone and everything back. Destroying the pillars all around him and poofing every one of the creatures into clouds of smoke.
Garnet was sent flying back into the wall on the far side of the room as pillars fell and crashed on the ground, releasing their prisoned clustered Gems. However, they didn't form into monsters. Finally snapping out of her distraught state, Garnet quickly reformed herself. The gap in her body closed, and she was restored. Back to normal, she looked at the state of the room.
All the pillars that had emerged from around the room were destroyed, and all the clustered Gems were lying on the ground with a small line of smoke coming off them from the superheated blast. As for Isaac, he was on his hands and knees, panting from exhaustion as the fire on his body dissipated.
As he panted, Isaac looked up and saw the gemstone he fought in front of him and quickly bubbled it. Grabbing it, he stood back up on shaky legs and examined it. Hearing footsteps, Isaac turned to see Garnet approaching him. "Thanks for the help!" He yelled at her, angry that she was practically useless. However, his anger turned to concern when the Gem leader's expression couldn't seem to control itself. One eye on the right glared at it, while the one on the left looked sad. "Garnet?"
"So this is what Homeworld thinks of fusion!" Garnet suddenly growled with Ruby's ferocity as she glared at the cluster gem in the bubble.
"We couldn't have known they would do this…" she then said in the soft, sad voice of Sapphire.
"This is where they've been. All the ones we couldn't find. They've been here the whole time!"
"Rose couldn't have known."
"This is punishment for the rebellion!"
"It's not our fault!"
"Garnet!" Isaac yelled upon hearing his friend beginning to sob and sent the cluster gem into the Burning Room. The hybrid was unsettled to see Garnet in such a vulnerable state of mind.
Garnet looked at Isaac before Ruby's side glared at him. "This…This is all your fault!" She screamed, forming her gauntlet to attack him. However, she was held back when Gauntlet's left arm grabbed the right one.
"Please, don't! It wasn't her fault!" Sapphire pleaded from within Gauntlet, tears rolling down her face.
"But she could have been the one to have shattered them! She could have been the reason they're here!"
"She's just as much a victim as we are!"
Isaac stared at his friend struggling with two halves. He walked up to her and stretched his arms out. "If you believe that, Garnet, take your shot."
Garnet was silent for a moment as she breathed heavily. Realizing what she was about to do, her eyes widened, and her mouth parted open in surprise as Isaac stared at her impassively. Waiting for her to take her anger out of him. He didn't blame her if she did. But no. She didn't. It wasn't far to him. She lowered her arms to her side and started to regain her composure.
With her two sides as one again, Garnet looked at Isaac with a soft, remorseful expression. Stuttering, she said, "I-Isaac…"
"Yo!" Before she could talk to Isaac, they were interrupted when Amethyst called out to them, entering the control room behind Pearl and Steven. "We're back."
Garnet resummoned her visor as Isaac turned around to them. "What happened to Peridot?" He asked, still shaken.
"We lost her. Her fingers were too fast for us," Pearl reported regretfully.
"Whoa!" Steven gasped in astonishment upon noticing one of the fused gem shards on the ground. Curious, he picked it up and looked at it as Pearl and Amethyst gathered around him. "What is this? Is it a cool kind of Gem?"
"I-I never seen a gemstone shaped like that," Pearl remarked, examining the clustered Gem.
"Put them down!" Garnet suddenly shouted, using a harsh tone that she rarely ever used on Steven.
"Uh! Wha…" Steven looked startled at his guardian, still holding the gem.
"Now!" She shouted, making Steven quickly throw the cluster away. Alarmed by her fierce manners just as much as the other two Gems and Isaac were. However, he understood where this was coming from. "We need to find and bubble all of them," Garnet commanded the others coldly, glaring at the shards. "We can't let any escape."
Even though the horrific event that happened in the Kindergarten was over, Isaac was still rattled by everything that he'd seen in the control room. When they returned, Garnet locked herself in her room, leaving Isaac to explain what transpired to the others. They were just as horrified as he was, Pearl and Amethyst more so. That night, Isaac didn't sleep well. Even as he held Pearl in his arms in bed, he couldn't stop thinking about what he saw, and what Garnet said.
To get his mind off the subject, he decided to do his own laundry. That's why Isaac warped onto the intact hand of the temple statue. For reasons beyond his understanding, the Gems had both the clothes washer and clothes set up on it. He set his basket down next to the running dryer before noticing the Gem leader was there, leaning against the thumb of the hand.
"Oh. What are you doing here?" He greeted her with a curious look.
"Still damp." Garnet nodded to the clothes dryer, which was still drying the laundry.
Isaac chuckled and walked over to the fingers of the hand. "You know, of all the things I've seen here, that still confuses me," he admitted, sitting down with his back against the fingers. "How are you guys able to run a washer and dryer all the way up here? Do you use a special plumbing system or something?
Garnet smiled and waved her hand in a joking manner. "Magic."
Isaac laughed warmly at Garnet's antics. However, the humor quickly died out when he noticed her frowning again. Her arms were crossed and her expression unreadable. "Are you... alright?"
"I wish you hadn't seen that…" Garnet answered, her tone steady, yet remorseful.
"Well, I don't exactly blame you," Isaac said, shrugging. "Sometimes we freeze up…"
"Not just for that. For what you saw Homeworld do…" the Gem leader paused. "And I shouldn't have tried to blame you for it."
Isaac frowned at this before looking out at the sea. "I get it. You were mad, and they were your friends. It's like you said, mom could have shattered them, leading to that…"
"Onyx wasn't the one that did that. She would never have supported what Homeworld did," Garnet said, her expression darkening as she looked down. "Taking the shards and parts of fallen Gems and combining them. Those Gems weren't asked permission. Fusion is a choice, those Gems weren't given a choice. It isn't right; it isn't fusion!"
Isaac remained silent as he listened to the Gem leader's resurgent anger over the matter. Now he understood exactly where her anger came from. As a fusion herself, the concept was deeply important to her because it was everything she was. To see Homeworld twist and corrupt it filled her with a fury she couldn't describe.
"I guess I see now why you lied to me about mom," Isaac said, looking down sadly. He went over to the edge of the hand and sat down. Garnet glanced over at the hybrid, her expression softening. She walked away from the thumb and sat next to him.
"We didn't lie to you when we said that your mother was our friend, Isaac," she began, gaining Isaac's attention as she continued to explain what he wanted to know. "However, what we told you is only half the story. Before she became one of the greatest of the Crystal Gem, she was the greatest threats the rebellion ever faced. An unstoppable force of power that no one, not even Rose, could stand against. A tactical genius that could turn the tide of a battle. Even when her allegiance changed, she stayed the same. Ruby served under Onyx when she was only a captain, and even then, she placed her soldiers' lives over her own. She was the best sword fighter in the galaxy. A cunning warrior, and a good friend."
"So, what happened?" Isaac asked, wondering why Onyx would turn on Homeworld
"The Diamonds betrayed your mom, and tried to have her executed," Garnet said, her expression as stoic as usual. "They feared Onyx's growing popularity with the people, and they hated her defiance. When they did, Rose rescued her. For a while, Onyx was lost, until she found herself fighting for Earth. To free it of Homeworld."
"But, I still don't get why you didn't tell me in the beginning," Isaac said, looking down. "What, did Rose not want me to know?"
"It wasn't just her. It was your mother." Garnet explained, much to the shock of Isaac. Seeing his confusion and how troubled he was, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "A mother wants to shield her child from the evils of the world. It is their nature. Onyx was always deeply ashamed of the many things she did as Homeworld's general, and she didn't want you to be burdened by her past actions. If you were ever to have come to the Temple, she asked us to keep her secret for as long as we could. Knowing that the truth could never be hidden forever, she wanted us to tell you when you were ready. We didn't lie to you, Isaac. We were only doing what she would have wanted. To protect you."
"But isn't it better I know the truth? Wouldn't you want to know?" Isaac asked. "I'm not a child, like Steven. I can handle it."
"Do you feel better now that you know?" She asked. Isaac tried to say something, but the reality was he didn't know what to feel. "There are things we don't even know. Secrets that have been kept from us, as you saw with Pearl and Rose. Maybe you're right. Maybe you needed to know, but you are changed now."
"That's all you have to say? That I'm changed?" Isaac asked, a little upset at the comment.
"What we did, we didn't have a choice. Rose told us not to tell you. She wanted for you to live as a human—"
"Don't. Don't do that. Don't use Rose to make excuses," he told her.
The two sat in silence for a moment, with Isaac taking in what he was just told. However, he was snapped out of his thoughts when the dryer buzzed. Isaac stood up and walked over to the dryer. As he took the laundry out of it, he looked back at Garnet, who continued to sit alone.
As he folded his clothes, Isaac glanced away for a moment before sighing. "I've been thinking of trying fusion with Pearl," he said, smiling at Garnet. This certainly got the Gem leader's attention, who looked back at him. "I know it's weird, but I've seen Steven fuse with Connie, and, well, I've always wanted to know what it was like being a fusion?"
Garnet stared at him before smiling. "You could ask them."
"Yeah, but I wanted to ask an expert," Isaac said with a shrug. "You're fused all the time, right? Do you forget who you used to be? Does your strength come from Ruby, and your smarts come from Sapphire?"
Garnet smiled at Isaac before standing up and walking to him. "It's all of both. When two Gems combine, you become something that's greater than the sum of your parts," she said, glancing down at the gemstones on her palms. "When you fuse, you don't feel like two people; you feel like one being. And your old names might as well be names for your left arm, and your right."
Isaac folded another shirt before asking, "When you split up, is it like the person that you became disappeared?"
"I embody my- I mean, Ruby and Sapphire's love," Garnet assured him. "I'll always exist in them, even if I split apart. But the strength of that love keeps me together, so I can stay Garnet for a very long time."
"I wonder if I'll be able to feel that with Pearl, if I can fuse with her," Isaac said, before looking concerned. "Can a human like me fuse with a Gem?"
Garney let out a small chuckle at this. "I'm sure you can. You two are a great pair," she said, making Isaac blush. However, it made him happy to see his leader back, regardless of the horrors they both saw the previous day. Garnet wasn't going anywhere. She would still be there to guide him on his journey, as the ultimate proclamation of Ruby and Sapphire's love for one another. And one day, Isaac hopes to have that same proclamation with Pearl. Something that not even Homeworld could destroy.
"Thanks for telling me," Isaac said, smiling at her.
"No problem. If you do succeed in fusing with Pearl, come see me. I'd like to see who you become," Garnet said, walking onto the warp pad.
"I don't just mean fusion," Isaac explained. "Thank you for telling me the truth."
Garnet was silent for a moment, before smiling. "You're welcome, Isaac." And with that, she warped away.
AN: And here we have the first chapter of Act 3. It just felt better to go with this episode first as it sets up the conflicts that will be going forward. Finding and capturing Peridot, Isaac's struggles with his past life, and the Clustered Gem experiments. They were all here. I skipped over Sworn to the Sword, but I'll be doing that next. This was the chapter I wanted to get to first. Rewatching the episode, I can easily say that the cluster Gem emerging and reforming was one of the most disturbing things the show has even given us. Just the screams of those poor Gems made a cold chill go up my spine.
Thank you very much for reading, Gem of War will return.