Rhodonite, Padparadscha and the Rutile twins wait by the largest warp pad on Homeworld. Yellow Diamond will be joining them soon, so that the moment the Earth warp is repaired they can all warp through. Then they and Steven can talk to the Crystal Gems while Yellow heads to the Kindergarten to access the computers and check the condition of the Cluster and their bubble. After that they'll bring a few corrupted gems and Steven's leg ship back to Homeworld, where they'll begin work on healing the corruption. Rhodonite can't wait to meet the fusion, Garnet. She sounds amazing based on the stories her diamond has shared with them.
Padparadscha gasps, drawing Rhodonite and Rutile's attention.
"Oh my! I predict the warp will be fixed but Steven will be unable to send a message to tell us!"
Rhodonite and Rutile's eyes widen in shock. Rhodonite checks her messages, nothing from her diamond. If the warp is fixed he should've contacted them right away.
Wait.
Padparadscha said "unable".
"Rutile, message Yellow Diamond. Something happened. The warp is repaired, I'm going through now to assist our diamond." Determination wins out over her usual fear and uncertainty. She refuses to let something happen to her diamond. Not again.
"Follow as soon as Yellow Diamond arrives."
"Yes, Rhodonite!"
"You got it!" The twins reply, tablet already open and message sent. They give Rhodonite something Steven taught them called a "Thumbs Up" to show their agreement and understanding.
Rhodonite hops onto the warp pad and thinks of the Earth Galaxy Warp. It activates with a chime and she's gone.
In the stream Rhodonite has a moment of panic. What if he was attacked by one of those corrupted gems he told her about? He said the hub was surrounded by water, what if he slipped and fell into the water and drowned? His half human physiology can't breathe underwater! No. Stop. Working yourself up into a panic isn't going to do anyone any good. You're a fusion, you're never alone, you can do this! For your diamond! For Steven!
The light from the warp stream vanishes, leaving her standing atop the large pad staring directly at… The fusion Steven told her about! Excitement fills her, meeting another fusion already!
Something's wrong though. Where's Steven?
Rhodonite glances around until all four eyes settle on her diamond, scraped and bruised, picking himself out of some rubble. In a manner of seconds she takes all this in, along with the drawn weapons and fighting stances.
They hurt her diamond! No wonder he hadn't called her when the pad was repaired.
With an angry yell, Rhodonite leaps from the warp pad, twisting midair to slam her closed fists down onto the fusion. The moment her feet touch the ground she throws a vicious kick to the stomach of the Amethyst next to her.
"Amethyst!" Garnet cries out as she holds back the large fists of the fusion that warped in. Her smaller arms are poised defensively, protecting her gems which would ordinarily be vulnerable during close combat. This fusion has been trained, and well… But Homeworld despises cross gem fusion, and this fusion is clearly a Ruby and a Pearl.
Garnet attempts to ask what is going on, but the new fusion shoves her gauntleted hands away, then follows up with a fierce kick to her chest, throwing her up and into the ocean.
Bismuth is confused beyond all belief. First Steven betrays them by repairing the Homeworld warp, then Pearl becomes practically catatonic. Barely responding to a thing she says, almost as if she's been poofed without poofing! Then a fusion comes through the repaired warp! Not an army of Homeworld soldiers but a single cross gem fusion! Homeworld hates fusions! It's outlawed! Punishable by shattering!
She's simply too stunned to move or react when the fusion runs up to her, using her momentum to shove Bismuth away from Pearl and Steven. Thanks to her large build she only slides a few feet, instead of being thrown bodily into the ocean like Garnet. The moment her momentum stops she shifts an arm into a hammer, ready to fight, though she pauses when the fusion disregards Pearl entirely and runs to Steven's side.
"My Steven! Are you alright?" She cries out as she helps pull Steven up from the half sitting position he'd been in.
The fusion helping Steven up in front of her snaps Pearl out of her stupor. Steven knew who Rose was; Homeworld knew, and the range of horrific possibilities there had Pearl frozen. What she hadn't thought possible in any of the scenarios her mind came up with was that a fusion would show up, coming from Homeworld directly. It shouldn't be possible given the knowledge she and the other Crystal Gems have of Homeworld and its history.
Pearl stands straight, Bismuth marching up behind her to ask if she understands what's going on, when the warp pad activates again. Amethyst is helping Garnet pull herself back onto the small island, the two straightening at the light and bell-like chime from the Homeworld warp. The light clears revealing none other than Yellow Diamond herself, standing straight and regal, simply oozing power.
Yellow. Diamond.
Yellow was finishing up some work in her office when Yellow Pearl rushed to her desk, leaping up onto the surface in an incredibly uncharacteristic manner for the proud and proper gem.
"My diamond! Urgent message from Steven Diamond's Rutile twins!" She saluted her diamond and continued to the message without waiting for confirmation from Yellow that she had her attention. "Padparadscha had a vision of the warp being repaired with no message from Steven Diamond as had been planned. Rhodonite is warping to Earth immediately, please come as soon as possible."
Something happened. She knew she should've, at the very least, had Rhodonite or someone go with Steven when he was "rescued" or better yet, simply detained the Crystal Gems until Steven could speak with them. Instead she allowed him to convince her this plan was best. That the Crystal Gems would never hurt him, that this way his legs could be recovered, warp to Earth restored, she could check the status of the bubbled Cluster, and they could return with a few bubbled corruptions to begin efforts in restoring them. It sounded perfect, efficient, and relatively simple. She didn't even request a Sapphire to check the likelihood of this plan succeeding in the future!
Yellow marched her way to the galaxy warps, not even waiting for Yellow Pearl to close the screens she'd left up, and barely giving other gems enough time to move out of her way as she practically ran to the Earthbound warp pad. The Rutile twins were waiting for her, the moment she came into view they hopped onto the pad primed and ready to activate it the second Yellow stepped onto the large pad.
The stream carries the three off, Rutile silent, eyes steely. If a message had come through stating a false alarm or any additional information the twins would have told her. Instead they clearly received nothing, and have prepared themselves for the worst. Yellow does the same in the weightlessness of the stream. Hope for the best, like Steven, but prepare for the worst, like she usually does. A part of her takes a moment to be amazed at how much she's changed in this last, nearly, year. Taking solace in the presence and strength of an off color gem and using that to bolster her own. Herself in the past would never have done such a thing, believing that to be lowering herself, and would have simply shattered the twins for existing. Steven changed her, and Homeworld so much, she can't imagine being without his influence, can't imagine going back to the way things were. Not Era 2 or Era 1.
The stream clears, her feet touching fresh clean crystal. Her steely yellow eyes rapidly take in the situation around her. Steven and Rhodonite standing together off to the side; a pearl and a bismuth, hand shifted into a weapon, a short distance from them; across from the warp are a fusion and an amethyst, wet from the ocean and weapons out. She doesn't bother to waste her time and risk these gems attacking or using Steven as a hostage. She raises a single finger and, with the slightest force of will, releases an energy blast, destabilizing the four offenders.
The twins immediately run to bubble the five gems, making sure none get lost in the sea raging around them.
"Steven, what happened?" Yellow crouches to pick Steven up, holding out her hand which he happily climbs onto, rubbing his head gently.
"I made a mistake. The gems came looking for me here, panicked when they saw what I was doing and tried to destroy the warp and robonoids. I was able to protect it long enough for the repairs to finish. By then, though, I think Bismuth thought I was betraying them, especially since I'd talked to Pearl, found out she knew about Mom by the way, and Pearl panicked, and I was angry, so she knocked me away." Steven sighs before continuing. It's usually best to be totally up front, especially with Yellow, if he wants to avoid misunderstandings.
"She knocked me into that pillar, it was already mostly broken before I hit it. Promise!" He clarifies when he sees the rage building behind Yellow's eyes. "I was stunned, is all. Then Rhodonite showed up, knocked them all around a bit, then you and the twins showed up."
"You should've seen it though! Rhodonite was like an anime hero, showing up just in time and totally kicking butt! She was amazing!"
Rhodonite blushes fiercely from where she and Rutile stand with the bubbled gems. Yellow raises an eyebrow in confusion but takes Steven's enthusiasm as indication that he's uninjured, which she's incredibly grateful for.
Reforming is always a rush, literally and figuratively, for Amethyst. She's never been one to sit around in her gem putting together a new look or resting. She picks out what feels right, in this case jean shorts with stars on the legs and a black tank top with a rip in the chest to fully show off her gem. She refuses to hide it anymore, she's going to proudly show it off from now on, show Homeworld that she's perfect as she is while kicking their butts for what they did to Steven.
Actually reforming gives her the kind of rush humans get from a roller coaster, or maybe bungee jumping. It's like falling from an incredible height, her stomach where her heart should be and her heart in her throat, everything jumbled until suddenly righting itself, everything where it belongs in a flash of light. Then she is; she exists, floating for a moment before flopping down onto her face, the pinkish stone floor below her cool to the touch.
Amethyst launches up from the floor, ready for a fight or to bust herself out of some sort of awful pink colored Homeworld prison or something. Instead she's in a large room, with pink walls, but colorful tapestries and carpets and even some real comfy looking furniture. It takes her a moment to recognize the space in the bright light, but it's the room they rescued Steven from before! Great, now they're the prisoners in Pink Diamonds old palace. Just great.
Looking around some more, a glint in the light catches her eye. On a table near where she fell, lie four other gems, each perched on their own pillow. The others! Amethyst carefully examines each gem, checking for any cracks. Finding them all intact she sits herself on the chair nearby, completely confused.
Why aren't they bubbled?
Why are they all in the same room?
Don't they know that once they all reform they'll bust out, like, right away?
Why is the gem at the door staring at her?
…
Wait a second…
With a yelp Amethyst tumbles from the chair and onto the floor, her whip half drawn as she glares at the… Pearl?
A dark pink colored pearl stares at her disapprovingly. She doesn't move an inch as Amethyst stares back at her. The two engage in a silent staring contest for several seconds until a light giggling draws both their attention to the balcony.
Another pearl stands in the doorway, partially hidden by the curtains, one hand over her mouth as she giggles. Amethyst isn't too pleased about being laughed at, but she puts away her whip and blushes anyway. Two pearls guarding them. Either these pearls are up there in skill with her Pearl or Homeworld is really underestimating the strength of the Crystal Gems.
Amethyst can't hide her curiosity though, and stares between the two pearls. She's never seen another pearl before, let alone two.
The pearl by the balcony has a much cheerier disposition compared to Grumpy over by the door. She's also pink, but more like a bubblegum pink with two buns on either side of her head and a large crack on her form, covering half her face and making her most likely blind in one eye. Amethyst is about to ask her what's so gosh dang funny when a glow from two of the gems in the table fills the room.
First of the two to reform is Ruby who bursts out of her light fully formed, lands on a single knee and stands prepared for a fight, much like Amethyst had done, but more gracefully. The next to reform is Bismuth who lands exactly like Amethyst, flat on her face on the cool floor. Both gems jump up ready for a fight.
"Whu-huh?" Ruby so eloquently states in confusion.
"Couldn't have said it better myself." Amethyst mutters as she closes the short distance between her and the two.
Bismuth looks down at her after a moment of scanning the room, "What do we know?"
Amethyst shrugs, "We're in that room we rescued Steven from, all of us together, being guarded by two pearls. Other than that? No clue."
Ruby runs to the pillow cradling Sapphire checking her over for cracks much like Amethyst had done a few moments prior. A few moments of quiet from the three prisoners, then Sapphire's gem begins to glow as she, to, reforms. Sapphire floats for a moment after fully reforming before simply crashing into the waiting arms of Ruby.
With tears of joy, and plenty of kisses, making the other gems in the room blush, the room is engulfed in light. With a burst, the light vanishes, leaving Garnet in the place of Ruby and Sapphire, her form more colorful than before, her visor now shaped like half a star. She grins to herself for a moment before taking stock of her surroundings and the two strange pearls guarding them, and the room they're currently being kept in.
"Yo Garnet!" Amethyst calls before hugging her leg in joy.
Once again light fills the room as Pearl begins to reform. Ordinarily everyone would be so happy to have Pearl back, but after what happened at the Galaxy Warp, Garnet, Amethyst and Bismuth are concerned. With another burst of light Pearl forms, her shorts now blue leggings and, the most notable change, a new seafoam colored jacket over a slightly darker shirt. After reforming Pearl looks around the room, notes the two other pearls and, in defeated exhaustion, sinks into one of the nearby chairs.
"Yo Pearl!" Amethyst walks up to her. "What happened back there? You totally froze up on us!"
Pearl just shakes her head, unable to give voice to her thoughts just yet.
Huffing in annoyance she turns to Garnet and Bismuth, "Now what?"
"You could stop acting like we're not here for starters!" The grumpy pearl speaks up, a frustrated frown on her face.
The Crystal Gems turn to her in surprise. From what they understand of Homeworld there's no way that kind of attitude from a pearl would be considered acceptable.
She blushes at the shocked scrutiny she's on the receiving end of, but she refuses to lower her gaze, not for the gems who, technically, kidnapped Steven.
"Oh don't mind her." The cheery pink one waves a hand dismissively while giggling. "She's just mad you kidnapped Steven."
Dark Pink Pearl huffs in annoyance. She knows Peony is just as upset as she is. They were only told what was going to happen shortly before the Crystal Gems showed up, causing them no end of worry for Steven's wellbeing. She makes a mental note to take Peony to Steven and talk about it. She won't hold it in just to make Steven feel better like Peony is prone to doing at the expense of her own health. Plus she knows Steven would want to know how they feel and make amends for it.
"Anyways! Now that you're all reformed we can take you to see him! You got poofed, as Steven says, by Yellow Diamond herself, so it took quite awhile for you to reform. He's been so worried!" Cheery Pearl states that overly cheery smile never leaves her face. "Where-?"
"He's in the main ballroom." Grumpy Pearl interrupts, putting away a screen they hadn't noticed her pull out. "Everyone's there."
"Oh dear. Everyone?"
Grumpy Pearl nods.
"Well we'd better get going then!" Cheery ushers them out the door with Grumpy following behind.
As the two pearls lead the group through the massively pink halls decorated with fabric banners they hadn't taken the time to notice before, Cheery yammers on happily.
"These halls were so bare aside from a few murals before Steven came along. He insisted the constant pink color was hurting his eyes so asked for more decor. Myself and a few others along with the pebbles happily did as requested, despite his insistence that it wasn't an order." She practically bounces in joy, the complete opposite in mannerisms from the other pearl.
"Guys," Amethyst whispers, "why are we just following them? Shouldn't we get outta here?"
"I wouldn't do that." Cheery pipes up. Apparently she has very good hearing.
She stopped walking, the look on her face giving the group pause. She still had that bubbly smile on her face, but now there was steel underneath. Her hand hovered over the gem in her stomach. She looked as though she simultaneously wanted them to give her an excuse to rip them apart, and was disappointed that they'd consider trying to run off. All with that smile still plastered on her cracked face. Something the grumpy pearl said occurs to them all. Something about her being just as upset as Grumpy but still being all bubbly…
The air in the hall seems to grow colder, the lights dimmer. Grumpy may have an attitude, but this pearl… She's downright dangerous. Could even give Pearl's title as The Terrifying Renegade a run for its money with how scary she is.
Pearl steps forward, hands raised in placation. "We're not going to run off."
"Good!" Cheery states, the steel suddenly gone from her face and voice.
She turns and once again leads them down the hall. Amethyst, Garnet and even Bismuth occasionally glance at Pearl. Though they ultimately agree running off wouldn't do any good since Homeworld would come after them and they still need answers from Steven, Pearl speaking up for them all felt wrong somehow. She knows something and isn't telling them, which frustrates the group immensely.
Pearl avoids their glances as best she can. She knows Steven knows the truth, but she's not sure if she can say it out loud just yet, and given the circumstances right now, she needs to keep her wits about her without worrying about her hands going out of her control to cover her mouth.
The rest of the walk is quiet, Peony opting to keep a closer eye on the Crystal Gems instead of showing off the wonderful changes her Steven has made to the palace. Her choice to quiet down seems to please Dark Pink Pearl, she's been severely on edge ever since Steven asked them to watch the poofed rebels.
As they neared the end of the hall voices could be heard coming from a massive archway. They stared at the opening, occasionally getting a glance of a gem running by. The Crystal Gems have no idea what to expect once they cross the threshold; could be soldiers training, maybe a trial for their crimes? Maybe they've already had the trial and the group is walking to their punishment, whatever that may be. Whatever it could've been, the Crystal Gems never expected…
A party?