Opening File: Seraphinite Gemstone
Seraphinite is the trade name given to a variety of clinochlore, which belongs to the chlorite group. The name seraphinite comes from the Greek word "seraphim", which refers to a celestial being with three pairs of wings. This could be due to the silvery feather-like chatoyant fibres that can be seen in seraphinite. These fibres are a result of mica inclusions. Seraphinite is typically dark-green to grey, with contrasting silver feathery fibres that shimmer as the stone is turned in the light.
Seraphinite lacks the hardness required of a jewellery gemstone, so it is mainly a collector's stone. In 1789, clinochlore was given the name "chlorite" by German geologist, Abraham Gottlob Werner. This name came from the Greek word, "chloros" meaning "green", in reference to its colour. In 1851, it was more specifically named "clinochlore", (from "chloros") due to its green hue and the oblique optic axes of the crystals (from the Greek word, "klino", meaning "incline").
Seraphinite is sometimes referred to as "the angel stone" or "angel's wing stone" and is said to possess a great deal of spiritual energy that brings the physical self into harmony with the emotional self. Many years ago, seraphinite was worn as an amulet to prevent snake bites. Seraphinite is thought to encourage the flow of energy in the body and release blockages. It is also considered to be helpful in encouraging positive energy, harmony and balance.
Physically, seraphinite is associated with healthy cells and is beneficial for the blood, heart and lungs. Additionally, some believe that seraphinite aids detoxification, stimulates the metabolism, encourages weight loss and releases muscular tension. In traditional Hindu belief systems, seraphinite is linked to Anahata or the heart chakra, which governs decision making, the emotions and love. In feng shui, seraphinite is believed to bring wood energy, which is associated with new developments, health and vitality.
Xxx
"The thing about magic is that anything can be seen as magic. A few fancy lights, a smoke screen or something like that. So why do we make up stories about it? Is it because we want to believe magic or something close to it or is it because the stories are perhaps the closest thing to magic we're going to make." TOM said, closing the 'Seraphinite' file. "Or maybe the magic is not something that we see before us but is something inside us. I know its metaphorical stuff and all that but considering the things we see and do would it really be so surprising?"
Xxx
Calico 'Callie' Briggs slipped down the hallway of the city hall and entered an empty room, taking out a special tablet. As Deputy Mayor of GrimmFall she had a lot of connections but kept some secrets, even from her boss. Though she honestly suspect that Mayor Sebben knew considering the power and influence he wielded. Phil Ken Sebben was the one who started the Silver Age of the Hunstmen after all and he had a deep knowledge of the world in both history and its current situations.
As a Mobian Callie Briggs knew the troubles the world was facing, especially in places where support for the terrorist organization Satyra was strong. Callie Briggs supported the Satyra in absolutely no form at all, knowing that their brutal methods only made things worse for everyone, including Humans, Faunus and Mobians. That was why she went into politics, seeking to work alongside Phil Ken Sebben and his group as he had managed to gain great support across the world. She earned his attention and even learned some of the secrets he knew that would be dangerous in the wrong hands once she had gained his respect.
The two of them were able to flawlessly run GrimmFall and the Nevernest Academy while protecting them and the world from the kind of threats not many people know about.
And she was about to call on one of her best method of keeping the world safe.
"Yes, Miss Briggs?" A male voice answered her tablet.
"SWAT Kats, there's a developing situation on the eastern coast, near a small town called Beach City. Mayor Sebben is alerting all available Huntsmen and Enforcers to go there immediately." Briggs spoke urgently. "I need you down there as well. This threat severely alarmed Mayor Sebben and he believes the entire country is in danger."
"We're on it, Miss Briggs." The male on the other hand complied before hanging up.
Briggs closed her tablet, sighing as she leaned against the wall. "Be careful."
Though she had no idea who her 'friends' on the other end of that call were she still saw them as friends and people to count on when times became difficult and worried for them when they were in danger.
In the kind of world they all lives in you needed as many friends as you could find.
Xxx
"You hear that?"
Across the room which appeared the interior of a garage a Cat Mobian that was skinny and average in size with rusty red fur nodded as he glanced at his tablet. "Yeah. I am checking all the channels and she's not kidding about the alert. Mayor Sebben's sending an alert in all directions on every Hunter channel I can find. I've zeroed in on this Beach City and from what I see it's too small to have anything other than a few trained Hunters that are likely only Class II to III."
"What could be all the way out there?" The first person who was a Cat Mobian also but unlike his friend was more muscular and heavy with yellow fur. "Last I checked most small towns out along the east coast were isolate and usually hidden."
The two of them were dressed in repairmen clothing and the scattered equipment around the room suggested they were mechanics.
"I can access the global network on the way there. At best speed we could make it there in an hour." The red furred Mobian said, standing up.
"All right. Let's suit up." The yellow furred Mobian replied.
The two of them rushed into a secret room at the back of the shop, sliding down a beam into a basement that housed an even larger workshop with more advanced equipment. The two tossed aside their repairmen outfits and slipped on blue pilot suits with red lining. They slipped on black masks with white eyes over their heads followed by blue and red helmets. Once they were ready they dashed over to a three-engine, two-seat fighter jet, most likely based off of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, painted black and red.
This was no mere jet as it had been built by the two in the very junkyard they worked in to better handle dangerous missions and was known as the Turbokat.
The yellow furred one slipped into the pilot seat while the red furred one slipped into the gunner seat as the jet was lowered down into a secret tunnel served as its launch point.
"Launching!" The pilot said, igniting the engines.
The Turbokat rocketed down the tunnel, blasting out of the end and taking off into the sky.
"T-Bone, I've downloaded the coordinates to Beach City into the nav." The gunner pilot said as the Turbokat flew over GrimmFall.
"Thanks, Razor. Now hang on." T-Bone said, pointing in Beach City's direction. "We have more than enough Dust to make a trip there and back. Any word on what's going on over there?"
Razor looked at his screen. "Bringing up all available Hunter channels…I am not getting a whole lot but Phil Ken Sebben is still sending out a high alert and Hunters are responding. We're not going to be the only ones showing up there."
"A Hunter party." T-Bone chuckled. "Those things always go well. Must be some sort of surprise Grimm invasion or something like that."
"You never know, bud. You never know." Razor said, mirroring T-Bone's cocky smile. "Still, we better be ready. It's not every day that Phil Ken Sebben is the one to send out a high alert. If something's got him worried its big trouble."
T-Bone agreed and put a little power into the engines, trying to shorten the journey to Beach City.
Xxx
Scotty Blake had been sitting at a table Lime Ricky's getting a refreshment during the tournament that his apprentice had signed up for. He knew she was strong now but she still had a temper hindering her and that would make things difficult. Still, Scotty Blake was not one to hold hands all the time since young ones needed to learn the hard way how things went. He used the same teachings on his daughters and niece and he expected Fanny to handle it all the same.
"Scotch?"
Scotty Blake barely blinked as the man sat down in front of him. "What'd you be wanting?"
Professor Paradox smiled as he sipped from his tea. "We have problem."
"When is there not?" Scotty rolled his eyes.
"I mean a more immediate one, involving our Fallen friend." Paradox clarified.
"Oh?" Scotty placed his scotch on the table. "Is he going after the Elementals now? I heard one of his clowns was skulking around here and I know the Candy Elemental is here. I ended up fighting a weird piñata only there was nothing sweet on the inside."
"Fortunately he is not after the Candy or the other Elementals, yet." Paradox sighed. "But the main reason one of his followers was here is why I am here. A creature is approaching a small town on the eastern coast, created by a fusion of three powerful beings. Two Gems and a Human/Spirit hybrid that have created a monster the likes of which no one has ever seen before."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "Why doesn't anything surprise me anymore?"
"It gets worse. If something isn't done the entire town will be wiped out and the creature will continue across the land, eventually reaching here. There are Hunters moving to stop it but they will not make it in time and you have something they don't." Paradox continued.
"And that is?"
Paradox smirked. "Celtic magic."
Scotty glanced at his sword, releasing what the time-walker meant. "I can handle Spirits and Gems but a fusion of them? That's a tall order, even for me."
"It'll get even taller when Sammael decides to add the beast to his collection. His eyes are set on what will happen in Beach City." Paradox's features were now dark. "And what he sees will determine the fates of several others caught in his web."
Scotty scowled. "I really wish you'd be more direct like the Guardian."
"His job is simple compared to mine." Paradox managed a small smile. "You of all people know the effects of changes made to the time stream. In one time line the Ultimate Evil rose up to dominate this world and many others while in another the evil was destroyed before it could ever truly spread. Unfortunately the evil's attempts to survive create an alternate timeline, one which is hard to predict since many know how to hide themselves from beings like me."
"And people get called in as time's janitors." Scotty rolled his eyes. "So if you are right, only I can handle a beast like that."
"That's the gist of it."
"Fine." Scotty finished his drink and dropped a few dollar bills on the table. "I was getting bored anyways."
He unsheathed his sword and held it up, watching as the magical runes appeared on the blade before slashing the air in front of him. A vortex of blue and white swirling energy appeared before him and he stepped into it, vanishing a second later.
Paradox merely took another sip of his tea. "Show off."
Xxx
Dani Phantom was not sure what to make of anything at this point.
She thought back to the events that had led up to her right now traversing a desert with a superhuman carrying two unconscious girls with all of them being from other dimensions. After Danny had finally stabilized her Dani had gone off to travel the world to places unknown. Of course she made sure to listen about what was going in Amity Park, eager to know how Danny was doing and through that she had heard about the massive asteroid known as the Dis-asteroid that was coming to Earth and that Vlad had blackmailed the entire world into giving him a billion dollars and complete control of the planet after he seemingly made Danny quit ghost hunting with those 'Master's Blasters' goons of his. Unfortunately or rather very fortunately, depending on your point of view Vlad had failed and was left in outer space.
Dani had been so happy to hear about that.
Vlad was gone for good and he would never come after her again.
She joined with the ghosts to help turn the Earth intangible so the Dis-asteroid would pass through it unharmed. She quietly slipped away after that, giving Danny the credit he had long deserved.
That was the last thing she remembered before waking in a lab…With Vlad.
Only Vlad wasn't responsible for her being there, that time.
It was someone else.
That red haired man with the strange markings on his skin and strange but frightening powers was the one responsible.
Dani suppressed a shudder at remembering the man who managed to take her, Vlad and the rest of the group on and he was actually beating them in addition to making it look so easy. It was surprising that they had all managed to escape; only now she was in another dimension.
A dimension with Vlad somewhere out there.
And no Danny to help her.
That was about as bad as when she had been on the run from Vlad, traveling all over the world and staying out of the spotlight so no one would know about her and Vlad wouldn't be able to find her. The last thing Danny needed was everyone finding out he had a clone, a defective clone made by his arch-enemy. But now she was in another dimension and Danny had no clue about it.
She briefly wondered if he even thought of her at all.
He probably was too busy celebrating his new lifestyle as a worldwide celebrity and hero with his friends and family. It's not like he any reason to believe she was in danger, especially since she was always 'flying off dramatically'.
'I can't rely on Danny to help me now. If I am lucky Vlad just headed back out into space where he belongs.' Dani thought. 'It's not like he knew he was in another dimension either. Knowing him he just took off like the coward he is, thinking that Danny and all the ghost hunters would be hot on his tail and hopefully that's the last I'll ever see of him.'
Possibly wishful thinking but she was struggling to find something to be optimistic about. She could be in awe of the fact that she was in another dimension. She could be glad she's not alone now but two of the people she was traveling were knocked following two confrontations: first the strange man in that lab and then that guy with the tribal markings all over his body. She remembered smelling something off when the man unleashed some sort of wind blast at them and after he was gone Artemis collapsed.
'I think that whatever he used had some sort of knock-out gas in it or something like it. My ghost half would have protected me from any kind of poison.' Dani glanced at Superboy. 'So what kind of super power does he have that kept him safe?'
"It's getting dark. We need to set up camp." Connor spoke, still carrying Raven and Artemis on his shoulders.
Dani shook her head and nodded. "Right."
As the two stopped to set up camp as best as they could a pair of glowing eyes spied them from the darkness.
"All too easy." The figure whispered. "Underneath the darkened skies let the dark forest rise."
Xxx
He had followed the two as they made their journey and watched as they set up camp but even as they went to sleep he sensed a great danger.
Something was near.
And it was extremely dangerous.
Xxx
Up at the beach house the Crystal Gems rushed onto the deck to see Malachite approaching the beach.
"Malachite!" Pearl exclaimed in shock. "It's coming this way!"
"Lapis Lazuli must have lost control. Crystal Gems, we must fuse!" Garnet said immediately.
Pearl and Amethyst nodded and the three jumped over the railing, landing onto beach before beginning the dance ritual that led to the fusion of all three Crystal Gems: Alexandrite.
Alexandrite was a massive fusion with bright magenta skin and six arms. Her eyes were covered by a dark-indigo visor. Instead of a third eye, like Garnet had, she had an alexandrite gemstone, representing the location of Pearl's gemstone, with three dark-indigo oval-shaped lenses surrounding it. Alexandrite's primary face had a structure similar to Pearl's and plump lips like Amethyst and Garnet. Alexandrite's thick, turquoise hair was a collision of all the Crystal Gems' hairstyles.
The length and wildness of her hair resembled Amethyst's, the top tuft of her hair was styled to a point to resemble Pearl's, the fullness of her hair resembled Ruby's, and the color resembled Sapphire's. Her lowest arms were located on her waist, featuring gloves that cut off at her elbows instead of covering the entirety of the two arms. Her clothing was a combination of all three Crystal Gems: a dark teal leotard like Garnet's with an enlarged dark magenta sash like Pearl's. Her leggings were dark indigo with lilac four-pointed star cutouts, resembling Amethyst's.
"Malachite!" Alexandrite roared, earning the attention of the approaching fusion.
Malachite grinned, her eyes flashing red as she landed on the beach. "Crystal Gems."
"We don't have to fight! You're outnumbered." Alexandrite stated, noticing that Malachite looked different from before.
Malachite was literally glowing, her eyes glowing red and her hair seemed to be made of pure azure flames.
Malachite raised two water fists. "I may be outnumbered, but you're out of your depth! I can't wait to tear you Gems apart!"
Alexandrite roared, and she and Malachite started to fight.
"Lapis!" Steven cried out, trying to stop the fighting but Greg pulled him back.
"Steven, get back!" Greg said, picking his son up and backing away from the beach.
"But dad-" Steven protested but stopped as he watched Malachite shoot up into the air and fly back down, summoning Jasper's crash helmet as she slammed right into Alexandrite.
Malachite pinned Alexandrite against cliff. "You know, you're right."
Alexandrite attempted to breathe fire, but Malachite punched Alexandrite. Seph jumped back, raising his hand, the gem in his chest glowing as he slashed through the air with his hand and the giant wave approaching the beach was bisected, prevented from harming Beach City.
"There really is something more to this fusion thing. It's not just a cheap trick." Malachite threw Alexandrite who screamed before splashing into the ocean. "You've really shown me a whole new world of possibilities."
Alexandrite began to unfuse, glowing for a moment before stopping and retaining her form. "Keep it together."
"Allow me to thank you." Malachite forms a pair of water hands that closed around Alexandrite and froze themselves. "Sorry, but there's only room for one abomination on this measly planet."
Alexandrite struggled but the strength of the hands gripping her was too strong, even for a fusion like her.
"Lapis stop!" Steven struggled out of his father's arms. "I've got to help her!"
"There's nothing you can do, kiddo. It's too big." Greg said, trying to hold Steven.
"Leave this to me." The two stopped and watched as Seph slowly approached the fusion. "Stay back, you two."
"It's been centuries since I've done this in an actual fight anyways." Seph smirked as he closed his eyes and the Gem on his chest glowed bright enough to light up the entire beach.
Steven and Greg watched with widened eyes as not one, not two, but three wings emerged from Seph's back and flapped almost immediately, kicking enough dust to resemble a miniature sand storm. The wings were silver with dark green streaks coloring the tips at the end with two wings on the right side of Seph's back smaller than the large one on the left side.
"Wow…Those are wings…" Steven whispered in awe at Seph's transformation.
"I forgot about those." Greg admitted.
Seph opened his eyes, now glowing bright green. "Here we go."
And just as he finished that sentence he shot at Malachite, kicking up a dusty trail as he slammed into the fusion, knocking her face first into the water. Malachite grunted as she got up and pushed Seph back and tried to punch him but Seph spread his wings out and shot up into the air before Malachite's fist came within two inches of his face. Malachite quickly curled up into a ball and shot after Seph. The two them resembled shooting stars clashing across the sky above Beach City.
"Wow…" Steven whispered.
Seph landed on the beach and jumped back as Malachite slammed into the ground where he had landed. Malachite leapt out of the crater she made and aimed at Seph, firing a purple energy beam.
"That's new." Seph whispered as he dodged the blast. "I don't remember Gems like you two having powers like that."
"Hey!" A giant flail wrapped around Malachite and hit her in the face.
"Don't forget about me!" Alexandrite pulled in Malachite, punched her, and smacked her into the air with Sardonyx's hammer.
Malachite righted herself in the air, and she gasped as Alexandrite prepared to shoot her with Opal's bow and arrow.
"You two should spend some time apart." Alexandrite fired the arrow, which turns into a shape of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl holding hands before seemingly hitting Malachite…
And passing right through her.
"What?!" Alexandrite exclaimed.
Seph narrowed his eyes. "That's new."
Malachite Plasmius let out bellowing laugh. "You can't harm me! No one can harm me!"
She held out up a hand and a spiral of water blasted under Alexandrite up into the air, forcing her to defuse and dumped the three Crystal Gems back on the beach.
"Guys!" Steven shouted, running over to them as Malachite landed in front of them.
"Not anymore." Malachite brought a hand/foot up to finish them off.
Just before she could smash the unconscious Crystal Gems to pieces a light shot forward, kicking her in the face. The light faded, revealing Seph who flew back and spread his wings out, releasing energy feathers that hit Malachite and exploded. Seph watched the smoke for a moment, waiting to see if his opponent was truly down.
He soon found his answer when Malachite shot through the smoke and managed to grab onto him. "Ha! Got you now!"
"Seph!" Steven cried out.
"Do you?" Seph asked, his eyes glowing brighter.
His Gem glowed again, channeling power through his human body and released the energy in the form of a shockwave that blasted Malachite away, sending her crashing and tumbling across the beach.
"He's free!" Steven cheered.
"Is it over?" Greg asked.
The answer came as Malchite stood back up, looking more angry than hurt as she glared at Seph with absolute hate. "You…Seraphinite. One of Rose Quartz's band of traitors. So you are still alive too huh? And you changed into an ugly human too."
"Traitor? That's a funny word." Seph chuckled. "The fact that you, a thug of the ruling cast on the Gem home world considers people like me or Rose traitors even though we were never loyal to your tyranny in the beginning is funny. Last I checked you can't betray what you are enslaved to."
Malachite roared. "How dare you?! You stand there, spouting out all that rubbish about the tyranny of the ruling cast when you are the ones who destroyed Pink Diamond?!"
"Do not pin that blame on me. I wasn't there for that and I highly doubt Rose actually destroyed Pink Diamond." Seph coolly retorted. "Your masters were the ones guilty of destroying innocent Gems and people." And in the end you ran with your tail between your legs back to the home world to lick your wounds and face the penalty for failure."
"And now we're back, stronger than ever. We are regaining all the strength we had before we lost the war. And when the home world realizes that we never made it back they'll send a whole battalion here to wipe you out." Malachite said with a manic grin on her face. "And I'll be there to watch it. You and the Crystal Gems are relics of a bygone age that are simply waiting to be crushed."
"Funny, I seem to recall several Gems saying that during the war centuries ago. I've learned that one of problems with the ruling cast of the Gem home world is…they have more power than brains when it comes to trying to rule the universe. It was that lack of brains that led their humiliation centuries ago and apparently it's done the same thing here." Seph looked around the beach, seeing the remains of the Gem ship. "I can only guess what Yellow Diamond will think when she finds out that the so called relics you captured escaped and crashed the ship sent to capture them on your watch. Tell me; is the penalty for failure still the same? Since you are still standing I can only imagine you shifted the blame onto someone else to save your own skin, or rather Gem."
Malachite growled, a look of animalistic fury appearing in her eyes. "You…I will make you SUFFER!"
The last word came out a scream along with a stream of black shockwaves that slammed into Seph, sending him flying down the beach and slamming into the ground, very hard and kicking up sand everywhere. Both Steven and Greg had covered their ears from the powerful scream that nearly blew their eardrums out. Malachite grunted as she knelt down, seemingly exhausted from the attack but stood up a second later.
The Crystal Gems stood back up, three of them looking weary as they spotted Malachite approaching.
"What was that?" Amethyst grumbled.
"I don't know but something is wrong, terribly wrong." Garnet said, staring Malachite down. "She phased through our attack. That's not possible."
"We still have to stop her." Pearl summoned her spear.
Malachite grunted as she stared down at the Gems. "Back for round 2? Fine by me. I'm going to enjoy shattering you Gems until there is nothing left."
Malachite raised a hand/foot to stop them but just before she could a missile slammed into her chest, exploding on impact and knocking the giant fusion onto her back.
"Where did that come from?" Amethyst looked up, spotting a black and red colored jet shooting through the sky. "We've got company!"
"That can't be from around here." Pearl remarked, staring up at the jet. "Beach City is too far away from any military installation."
"They're not the only ones." Garnet brought a hand to her glasses. "We're going to have company and lots of it soon."