"Hey guys!" Bismuth calls as she enters the still-in-progress beach house.
Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet turn toward her as she walks up to them.
"Know where I can get some sand with high concentrations of silica and lime? The sand on the beach doesn't have the right proportions and I need it for new windows."
Pearl hums as she wipes some sawdust off the partially finished kitchen counter. "Well we could just go to the desert. Plenty of sand there, so there's bound to be an area with concentrations of what you need."
"We'll go with you! We haven't had an adventure just the four of us in ages!" Amethyst cheers, grabbing Garnet and Pearl and dragging them to the warp pad, desperate for a change of scenery.
"Amethyst, we just rescued Steven several days ago…" Pearl rolls her eyes, but allows Amethyst to pull her onto the warp. She was going to suggest she go with Bismuth anyway.
Garnet just hums and allows herself to be yanked by the smaller gem. She's been meditating on what Steven told her for several days, unable to find an answer to the questions Steven left her with. Maybe some fresh air would do her good as well.
"Where is Steven by the way?" Bismuth asks as she joins them on the warp.
"He went to visit Peri and Lapis." Amethyst answers with a shrug.
"He'll be there awhile." Garnet says with a small smile, her future vision showing him engrossed in that show Peridot and Lapis are obsessed with for quite some time.
The warp pad chimes as it activates, carrying the group away, leaving the beach house quiet.
The sounds of waves crashing against ancient stone and crystal creates a soothing rhythm on the otherwise quiet island. The sound of the only functioning warp pad activating breaks up the rhythm temporarily. A single figure steps off the pad, their footsteps unconsciously matching the rhythm of the waves as they make their way to the largest, and most severely destroyed warp pad.
Their shirt lifts away from their stomach as a glow emanates from it, as though a mysterious wind were coming from it. In the figures arms appear several small soccer ball sized, green orbs. They place the orbs on the ground, activating them. The orbs sprout four small legs and make their way to the large broken warp pad.
Viciously hot sunshine beats down on them the moment the warp stream clears. With a whoop Amethyst tumbles from the warp and into the hot sand below. She holds up a handful for Bismuth to inspect.
"How's this? As nice as it is to get out, it'd be even cooler if the stuff ya needed was right here."
"Hm, 'fraid not Deepcut." Bismuth declares after looking closely at the handful. "Too much crystalline residue from the warp, could make some real pretty lookin' crystal glass, but not the greatest for seeing through. Not to mention it'd be some real fragile stuff."
Amethyst drops the sand with a shrug and moves on. She's been eager to get out and stretch her legs, so to speak, so she's practically a crazy ball of energy running all over the desert and getting severely on Pearl's nerves. Pearl's nerves are already on edge, between Steven's attitude and her gut telling her there's no way rescuing him should have been that easy, she's ready to snap. Taking a deep breath she simply spreads out with the others to find what Bismuth needs. She's grateful to have her there with them. Bismuth has always had this kind of positive yet strong energy about her that's like a soothing balm to her own anxious energy. Something she's relying heavily on as Amethyst crashed around the desert, sometimes shapeshifted into a purple camel, sometimes just spindashing around.
Pearl nearly poofs when Amethyst, shifted into a large desert spider, comes rolling down a dune, then climbs up her leg. She kicks her off with a screech and would have angrily yelled and lectured Amethyst for wasting time and pointless shapeshifting, had it not been for the pleasant tone of Bismuth's laughter. The sound quickly cools her temper, and even she has to admit… it was a tiny bit funny. Amethyst grins at her, the mischievous gem's smile telling Pearl that easing her building tension was her goal. She smiles at Amethyst, grateful for her efforts and amazed by her empathy. The small quartz has come a long way from when they found her in the Kindergarten.
"Uuuuugh!" Amethyst groans, plopping down in the sand. "It's been hours! Are we done yet?"
"Amethyst don't complain. Everyone coming here was your idea." Pearl huffs, though if she thought about it, she's ready to go home as well, to her nice, clean, sand free room.
"Yeah I think we got enough for now. I'll have to remember this spot. I'm sure I'll need to come back for more eventually." Bismuth stands straight, storing away a large pile of sand in her gem.
"Where's Garnet?" Pearl asks, not seeing her nearby.
"Dunno. Wasn't my turn to watch her." Amethyst kicks at the sand, arms up behind her head.
"Amethyst!" Pearl scolds, Bismuth grins.
Rolling her eyes Amethyst shifts into a snake and slither/shuffles her way around a few dunes while Pearl and Bismuth begin the trek back to the warp. They'd wandered a fair distance away. Garnet had helped for a while, eventually leading them to the general area they found the sand with the correct composition in, before seemingly wandering off. She has been known to do that sometimes, her heightened general perception, outside of future vision, often leads to her going off on her own sometimes.
Pearl and Bismuth hadn't made it far before Amethyst came barreling over the dune, no longer shapeshifted, panic written across her face.
"Guys get over here. Now!" She yells, then turns back.
Pearl and Bismuth trade glances, then take off after Amethyst. Sand flies behind them, and Pearl summons her spear just in case. Over a few small dunes they spot Garnet, Amethyst next to her waving at them. Garnet stands, frozen in place, staring at something. The two rush to the top of the tall dune.
"Garnet, wh-aaat…" Pearl starts then, spotting it, she freezes, hands flying to her mouth.
In the distance near a small ruined structure, sitting cross legged, is a massive pink pair of legs.
"Pink Diamond's ship." Bismuth growls.
"But… How? Rose shattered her! And if there was a giant pair of pink legs here the whole time, I think we would've noticed!" Amethyst panics, confused.
Bismuth scowls, then turns to Garnet, "Where is Steven?"
All three gems turn to her in shock, knowing immediately what she's thinking. That Steven betrayed them. It can't be though! Pearl though, she knows it's worse, but can't say anything about it.
Garnet looks away, focusing for a moment. Her jaw tightens, an angry frown marring her face and she clenches her hands into fists. Without a word she marches quickly back to the warp, not waiting for the three others to follow. Pearl, hands over her mouth, follows in a panic. Bismuth marches angrily, shifting her hand into a mallet, and Amethyst follows last after one last confused glance at the pink legs.
Steven hums a tune to himself as he wanders around the galaxy warp. The repairs of the main Homeworld warp are going slow, only having been given four functioning flask robonoids. The rest were with various other gems performing repairs, with only these four to spare. Picking at the baggy athletic panda his dad gave him he can't wait for his clothes from Homeworld. The athletic pants are a huge improvement over the jeans, very comfortable and easy to move around in, but still nothing can compare to the custom made clothing from Peony.
Continuing to hum a tune to himself he practices a few leaps around the broken pillars to burn off some energy.
"Parkour!" He yells as he leaps from one broken pillar, landing his feet against the side of an intact one, kicking off at an angle and flipping over a pile of broken crystal, before landing on both feet and standing straight, arms out.
He continues to jump and leap and flip around, yelling "parkour" as he does and giggling at his own antics. This place may be incredibly broken, but right now it's the perfect jungle gym for a young energetic, growing diamond.
Growing bored quickly thanks to the too quiet atmosphere Steven decides to take a break and check the robonoids progress. Looking over the little metallic balls he hums, please. Just over half done.
Using his ear cuffs he sends messages to the diamonds, Peony and Rhodonite. Rhodonite especially was worried for Steven's safety when he told her and the others he'd be going back to Earth for a short while. She wanted to find a way to come with, just in case he needed backup. He assured her he'd be fine, that the gems wouldn't hurt him.
A chime sounding indicates he's gotten a reply. Rhodonite. Of course. He smiles fondly, he's truly begun to love the gems of his court. They're all like family to him at this point, though he knows that technically they're all subordinate to him. He can't wait for them and the gems to meet!
A chime from the warp draws him from his pleasant thoughts of soft giggles, loud guffaws, soft clothes, grins and friendly punches making his shoulders ache.
Strange, the galaxy warp shouldn't be finished yet. A glance shows the four robonoids still working diligently. Then where…?
A pair of blue-gray arms wrap around his middle, lifting him from the ground.
The light of the warp stream fades as the four gems land, looking around the Galaxy Warp Hub. They pause in shock, Pearl covering her mouth in horror. Steven is standing with his back to them, hands on his hips, body language pleased, as he watches several flask robonoids repair the Homeworld warp.
Bismuth, recovering from her shock the quickest, rushes forward, locking Steven tightly in her arms.
"Steven!" She growls as he struggles in her arms for a moment. He calms quickly though and tilts his head to look up at her.
"Hey Bismuth. What's up?" He asks, seeming innocent of the fact that he's actively helping Homeworld.
Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst rush to the two and Garnet asks, "What do you think you're doing?"
Steven shrugs as best he can in Bismuth's arm lock. "Fixing the Homeworld warp? It's taking a while though. I was only able to bring four robonoids." He sighs.
Bismuth and Garnet clench their jaws in anger, a slight tightening of Bismuth's arms makes Steven flinch and renew his struggling. Pearl appears horrified, and Amethyst looks lost.
"Homeworld's completely brainwashed him…" Amethyst whispers.
No words. Garnet has no words. She struggles just to hold herself together as one part of her rages at the betrayal and another pities Steven for what they did to him. She's not sure which is Ruby or Sapphire, but one glance has both her components resynchronized and her sense of self stabilizing as a single thought centers in her mind. Destroy the warp.
Garnet summons her gauntlets and steps forward. Amethyst summons her whip, Pearl her trident and they step forward to remove the robonoids and make room for Garnet to more easily destroy the warp.
"Guys! Stop!" Steven struggles harder, trying desperately to escape Bismuth's iron hold around him.
"It's for the best Steven. Homeworld can't be allowed back." Bismuth mutters, carefully tightening her hold, preventing his escape.
"Fine." Steven grumpily rolls his eyes.
Confused Bismuth raises an eyebrow at the young hybrid in her arms until she is forced to release him with a yelp. Steven concentrated carefully and formed an oblong bubble around himself, covered in spikes! The pressure of the expanding bubble and pain from the spikes forces Bismuth to release him, lest she be poofed.
The moment his feet touch rock Steven launches himself forward, summoning two large shields. He throws them both in front of Pearl and Amethyst, stopping them from attacking the robonoids, and leaps in front of Garnet as she thrusts her gauntleted fists at the warp pad. Garnet tries to stop when he leaps in front of her but her momentum carries her fists down, straight for Steven's head as he glares with fierce determination to protect the warp.
With a slam her gauntlets make contact, a gust of wind blowing droplets of water from the waves crashing against stone into the air like a fine mist. Garnet's mouth drops open in shock. Steven caught her fists in each hand with the ease of a teen catching a ball.
Standing straight, stance wide and ready, Steven shoves Garnet's fists away from him, making her skid a small distance. She stands in place, stunned. Steven could've been seriously hurt, but he wasn't. He's much stronger than they knew, she can now tell. Clearly he'd been holding back when he fought Bismuth, despite his panic at the time.
"Garnet please. Trust me." Steven says quietly. He goes to say more but Pearl interrupts, making his eyes flash in frustration.
"Steven please! We can't let Homeworld come back! You don't know what they'll do!"
Steven turns to Pearl, fury growing in his eyes, "I think I do know Pearl. I. Know."
In a panicked frenzy Pearl begins throwing spear after spear at the robonoids, each one being blocked effortlessly by Steven's shields. Bismuth tries to rush to Pearl's aid, but Garnet stops her with an outstretched arm.
"Garnet! Wh-"
"Wait." She says.
Confused and lost as to what to do, Amethyst joins Garnet and Bismuth, watching the back and forth of the spear and shield. She tangles and untangles her whip around her hands in her anxiousness.
"Steven PLEASE!" Pearl cries in pure anxious frustration. "You don't know Homeworld! Whatever they told you is a lie!"
"Really Pearl? You haven't been on Homeworld in thousands of years. I've been there for nearly a year." Steven sneers at her, anger growing. "A lot has changed."
He moves faster than any of them thought he could, grabbing Pearl's spear while it's still in her grasp.
"While I was there, Aquamarine and Eyeball kidnapped me from the pink palace." He leans closer to Pearl tilting his head to look up at her panicked face. "They pulled my gem out."
No.
No no.
No no no no!
He knows. Homeworld knows. Everything turns to static around her. Tears stream down her face. She collapses to the damp ground, spears all vanishing with a sparkle. She tries to speak, but words won't come to her. She glances up at Steven, he's glaring down at her, as if… her reaction answered a question. He tested her. She failed.
He did what a diamond would. She failed.
She failed.
Pearl's eyes lose focus as the world turns to static around her.
Steven glares down at Pearl. So he was right. She knew the whole time, and never tried to tell him. White's words to him about not blaming the gems when it's possible his mom ordered them not to tell crosses his mind, cooling his temper. He could have handled all this better, but they're here now. Can't change that, he'll just have to deal with the consequences.
Sighing he moves to step away from Pearl and back toward the warp. A large body slams into him, knocking him off his feet and throwing him against a broken pillar. He lays against the pillar stunned and unsure which way is up.
Bismuth glares at the spot she'd knocked Steven into. She doesn't understand what's going on, why Steven chose now to tell Pearl about his gem being removed, or why she's reacted the way she has, but he clearly wanted to hurt her and succeeded. Regardless she's not going to lose her friends again, she'll protect them, even from Steven.
Amethyst hovers next to Garnet, uncertain. She wants to just sit down and scream, begging someone to tell her what's going on. She chooses instead to default, like always, to Garnet. Looking to her for guidance.
"Garnet w-"
"It was a test." Garnet interrupts Amethyst. "That story about his gem. He told each of us, looking for a specific reaction. Some secret to do with Rose that I still can't see!" She clenches her fists, frustrated.
It clicks for Amethyst, Pearl knows whatever this secret is, and her hiding it has Steven very upset. Upset enough to betray them for Homeworld though? There's still something missing.
A sudden shine draws everyone's attention from the collapsed Steven.
The warp is fixed and someone is coming through.