"W-where is everything?!"
If one word could describe the overall feeling of the situation, it would be confusing and scary. White Diamond had been and gone, and practically all of Steven's stuff had been taken away from the area, as Lars soon showed them. He didn't bring everyone along, but Jamie, Connie, Sadie, and Onion's Gang had come back around and saw exactly what was wrong. Thanks to their regaining of memory, they knew that there was a home for Steven Universe here. Or at least, there was supposed to be, but when they all saw just how little there really was left, they just couldn't believe it. Especially Connie.
"I told you, those White Diamond soldiers took all of it. something about confiscating or whatever," Lars reminded. They tried to find some sort of remain, but the only thing they had left was the door in the back, and even then there was little to actually go on.
"This can't be happening. Someone please tell me this isn't happening. I-I need a chair to sit down," Jamie said, on the brink of fainting. Luckily, Soup and Squash got him on the way down before he could end up falling.
"Ok, ok, everyone calm down. Look, we have to get them back."
"Get them back?" Sadie asked.
"Of course! guys, White Diamond has every single Crystal Gem AND Mane Six right now. I'm going to get them back, now who's with me," Connie said, and with what White Diamond did to them already, the decision came to a lot quicker, and with good results. Onion was up for it along with his gang, surely.
"Garbonzo," said Garbonzo in a serious tone.
"Ok, that fun and good, but what can we do? This is someone who can crush a house, literally!" Lars said.
"Lars, seriously! The Crystal Gems and Mane six had been doing so much for us: they kept monsters away, they've saved our planet multiple times, and they've helped build up Beach City when it got flooded out, remember?" Sadie said.
"Sadie's right: they've done so much for us, and now they need our help. It's our turn to go and save them," Connie stated, bringing her hand out. Lars felt unsure, but then the memory of Rutile and Spike in that bubble flashed through his head. Lars could feel a bit of anger rise in him, and determination that almost felt foreign for him. And he ended up being the first to bring his hand out.
"I'm in," Lars decided. A brave move on his part, much to their surprise.
"So am I," Sadie said, also bringing her hand in. So that was two. Eventually, Jamie came up and did the same thing.
"Me too. They won't take our Gems that easily," Jamie stated. Onion's Gang already agreed and brought their hands in as well. Well, that was that, and they all were more than ready to go off. This was a pretty good start, though one fact still presented itself.
"Great, but where do we go? They seemingly smashed up their Warp Pad, whatever that is," Jamie asked, looking to whatever remained of it on the ground. That was the only problem that they didn't fully think over, and with that gone, they had no quick access. Though, none of them were Gem enough to activate one anyway.
"Lars, did they say anything about the Warp Pad by the barn?" Connie asked.
"Um ... No, I don't think so. But how does that help, that only leads back to Equestria," Lars questioned.
"Equestria AND Homeworld. That Warp Pad can connect back to the Gem Homeworld, and if they're taken anywhere, it'll be there," Connie said, already getting a head start on heading off to the barn. It was something they had to get to quick, though it would be a long time til they would get to the barnhouse, and as such to the nearest working Warp Pad. But, before they could even get thirty feet away from the cave, they had one other visitor rushing in from the opposite side of the beach.
"Connie!" she called, making much of the group stop on seeing her run up. They were a bit surprised to see her, but Connie was more than pleased to see someone like her.
"C2!" Connie called in glee, rushing over to her. Connie the second was very glad to see Connie again, with what just happened and all, though the others were a bit surprised to see a second Connie suddenly show up.
"C2?" wondered Jamie.
"Connie, oh thank Celestia, a-are you alright? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," connie said. Connie II was especially happy for this.
"Good. I felt something wasn't right, and I tried to contact you, but for some reason I couldn't go through. I couldn't find you at home, and I thought something very bad happened to you," Connie II said.
"But something bad did happen," retorted Connie. "Steven, the Crystal Gems, the Mane Six, they're all captured!" Connie revealed. They probably could feel this fact being a common thing being brought up in future no doubt, though all the same it was still a shocker to Connie II to hear.
"Captured? By who?"
"White Diamond did, and she tried to brainwash all of us to forgetting the whole thing!" Sadie answered. Connie II pondered on that.
"So That's why I couldn't contact you. But looks like you can remember now," Connie II said in relief. Before they could keep talking, Squash grabbed Connie II by the arm, and tried to get the group moving. nice time to chat, but they got other things to do.
"Onion's right: I can hardly imagine what devastating things they must be going though. We have to go," Jamie stated, and much of the others in the end had to agree on it. Jamie had Lapis missing, Connie had Steven, and Lars had Rutile, just to name the specific Gems that they were the most worried over of the team. So, they kept on talking as they continued on their way.
"So how're you getting there?"
"Warp Pad, how else?" Connie answered. That made Connie II troubled.
"But the Warp Pad doesn't work!" she yelled. This made the entire group skid to a halt.
"What're you talking about?"
"As I was trying to find you, I tried using the Warp Pad but for some reason it didn't work. I tried over and over again, but nothing," Connie II said. Lars felt a curse under his breath at that answer, and he could probably take a wild guess at why that would be. Onion snapped his finger at the idea shot down, and Connie felt especially struck down for that being their only main way to get there.
"Well, now what do we do? We can't get to Homeworld without a Warp Pad to use," Connie tried to think of some solution, along with the others, but as they were trying to figure it out. It took a lot of memory use, but them, Lars suddenly got it.
"Wait a second. ... Didn't Steven go on about a magical Lion before?"
.......
Off along the outskirts of town, sleeping over by a tree, Lion was seemingly unaware of what danger had happened off over back in Beach city to his master. Well, a answer they really weren't expecting but it was probably the best shot they got for right now. A long run through town, and some time of searching, the group did eventually found Lion by said tree, and wasted little to no time in getting right over to him.
"This was your idea, Lars?" asked Jamie.
"Steven said he can make warps, so why not?" Lars shrugged, though it was a wild guess at this point. Connie, being more familiar with Lion, went over tot he big cat.
"Lion! Can you make us a special super warp for us?" Connie asked. This did wake Lion up, but the big cat didn't sound too interested in any of it, even if the humans were crowding him a little bit.
"Come on, Lion, we gotta do this to stop White Diamond! If we don't there's gonna be no more Earth!" Connie explained, but that really didn't seem to go through to the cat. Jamie decided to try.
"Come on, you valiant creature. Help us in our mission and give us the aid we need. It will be a great honor if you would to -" Lion gave a grunt to Jamie's dramatic performance mainly to shut him up. Well, royal talk wasn't gonna work.
"come on, Lion please? There will be no more home, no more fish, no more friends," Sadie said, but again it wasn't working. Sadie went for broke. "... no more naps?"
Lion's eyes shot open on that answer. That was a line that White Diamond had crossed. Lion got up onto his four paws, his mane shifting as if it was gaining power, and Lion's eyes grew shiny white like stars, before a mighty roar echoed from his determined and mighty being. A very amazing display from the pink animal.
"Guess it was naps," Sadie simply said.
~~~~~~
And soon enough, after getting everyone comfortable on Lion's back, the great big cat began to make his run down the hill. Connie, Lars, Sadie, Jamie, Connie II, and everyone in Onion's gang just managed to fit themselves onto Lion's back, and while normally Lion had a weight limit for this sort of thing, the big cat had a mission to do for the world, and they weren't as much weight anyway. Everyone riding Lion kept a good grip just to be sure none of them would fall off of the big cat in his run. Eventually, as Lion got some pretty good speed, Lion gave a mighty roar, and soon they all were through a warp stream in one of Lion's mighty jumps. The whole group looked in shock at the warp stream, but they were more concerned with keeping a firm grip on Lion's back more than anything, not wanting any of them to fall off during the flight. As they kept going, Lion made more roars, and the group kept going faster, and faster, and faster!
"Go Lion, go!" Connie managed to say as they went. They all kept their heads down, and Lion stayed focused forward until the end of their warpstream presented itself. Once they got through, Lion had to skid to a stop, his claws digging into the earth. However, their actual stop was made when Lion slammed into what turned out to be a wall. A rough landing, but at least no one was lost in that flight. It wasn't until after they stopped though that Lion collapsed onto the ground, tired from the strain, and making everyone get off of him.
Looking around, the group of Humans had found themselves in a rather isolated area, but an opening to a far more brighter area quickly caught their attention, seeing that they were far higher up than they thought they were. Looking out to a dropoff of the Gem buildings, and seeing a futuristic city with a palace off far away and in their sights.
This group had made it to Homeworld.
"This is Homeworld? It's so ... huge," Sadie managed to say.
"Such a amazing expanse. Oh, where art thou, my dear Lazuli?" Jamie wondered. If this place was where they were going to be looking, they got a LOT to check, and it seemed that getting to the main palace was going to be enough of a challenge.
"I think we got another problem," Connie II then said, looking down. It wasn't the exact edge of the cliff she was looking at, but more of what was on the otherside to a nearby road. turned out, some patrols were set up around the homeworld city, and much to their trouble, some more Gem soldiers seemingly were going around. Guess White Diamond was putting them on edge as well, and the human group backed up to stay out of sight from the troops.
"Oh great, now what do we do with a bunch of Gem troops running around?" Connie asked.
"Nevermind that, how the heck do we get down from here?" Lars asked, looking down the cliff.
"Well ... maybe it's not that deep?" Sadie asked. Squash was already on it, and grabbing a stone, threw it off the cliff. Sadie, Squash, Lars, and Connie listened and waited to hear the impact. Five seconds ... ten ... twenty ... thirty ...
"You'd think it would've hit by now," Lars groaned.
"Garbonzo," groaned Garbonzo, hand to forehead.
But that didn't mean that it was completely ignored. The stone tossed down struck it, and floating up, the humans suddenly found themselves in their first bit of trouble: a small, tan, cone-shaped robot. The base consists of a hemispherical shape with a red pattern that serves as the front of the robot. And this robot on patrol as well caught the sight of these figures in their spot.
"Eh, hey Lion, up for another favor?" Lars asked. Unfortunately, Lion was too exhausted to do much about the moving object.
"Run for it!" Sadie said.
"Wait! If we stand perfectly still it won't see us. I saw it in a movie once!" Lars said. That was completely stupid, but what have they got to lose here? Plus, they had nowhere to go, so they all stood completely still, as this strange robot hovered in place for a minute. If they can juke this robot, then that would be swell, but then a sort of beam escaped from the robot's head. It didn't hurt, but it turned out to be a scanner, and it slowly went up and down the entire group. Once the scan completed, it simply floated there, and with a *bing*, the light turned from red to blue.
"That sounds good!" Lars said hopefully.
He said as the robot charged up an attack on them.
"I beg to differ! Duck!" Jamie said, and the whole group jumped aside, narrowly avoiding what appeared to be a white light beam. It missed them all, Lion included, and once it hit the back of the platform wall, it made a might explosion, sending dust and debris. The explosion woke up Lion with a startle, and everyone was just glad that they weren't blown up.
"I think that movie... was about dinosaurs," Lars admitted in a groan. When the debris cleared, they actually saw another pathway. Onion took his chance, and immediately made a bolt for it, wasting no time in jumping right out and across! They were freaked out, but turned out they actually saw a part of another, much closer path, albeit farther down. It wasn't a exact path to take, but with an angry robot right behind them, options were limited. Onion encouraged them to jump with a strong whistle, and while much of the group was unsure, Onion's gang didn't hesitate, and each one of them made the jump. Soup almost stumbled back, but Pinto actually grabbed her hand to pull her up. This was a scary situation.
"Come on, guys!" Connie said.
"Connie, I-I seem to be paralyzed with fear - Whoa!"
"Hang on, Jamie, I'll fix it!" Sadie said, actually grabbing him by the arm and starting to run with him. Soon, they quickly made their jump across, Lion the only one still behind the group. The robot didn't seem too interested in Lion, and kept its focus onto the human group, floating over fairly easily over their gap. The group thought of going, and did go back a bit, but Soup actually stuck back.
"Come on ,kid!" called Sadie. However, with this thing chasing them, Soup wasn't going to go through that kind of trouble, and looked and saw some stones on the ground. Soup gave her own whistle, and understanding the call, Squash lifted his hat, and actually was armed with a tomato, which he tossed over to her. Soup got herself armed up with a slingshot she hat under her pot, limed up the tomato, and shot it square into the robot! The splattered tomato on the robot made it start to malfunction, and try to blast it off of itself.
*boom*
Well, that was that. All Soup did was turn around to them and shrugged, though seeing the surprisingly calm look on her face, especially with some splattered tomato on her, made everyone feel ... well, uncomfortable. Except for the Onion gang, of course.
"... So ... that happened," Lars said, Soup catching up to them.
"Yeah. Indeed it did uh ... happen," Jamie replied. Seeing the thing gone now, Lion hopped down and trotted over to them, just about when they regained themselves and started to walk again.
"Well, Connie, where do we go from here?" asked Connie II. Out of all of them, Connie was the only one who'd been here before, so it only made sense for her to try and navigate a little bit. However, one visit doesn't completely solidify an entire city, especially since her first visit involved running away from White Diamond soldiers. They weren't trapped, but they still had to get around and figure out where they were first before going off to any other location. However, this place didn't look familiar to her at all in the slightest, so simply answering was out of question. Still, there was one particular Gem she could try to meet with.
"We go to Blue Diamond, I guess," Connie decided.
.......
And after some explaining to the others, that's what they did, and fairly quick too as such an explosion would surely send some guard running whatever the case may be. This surely was a big problem in and of itself: here they were in a world none of them practically had been in before, and already they had killer robots looking for them. So, with that in mind, their traveling through this Homeworld city became a very big, and dangerous game of hide and seek. Even if they were outside, they still had to get to their next destination, somehow without setting off patrol. With their rag tag human team, not to mention a large lion, that surely sounded easier on paper. Still, if there was anyone on Homeworld they know they can trust, it would be Blue Diamond, or at least trust enough so she won't throw them in jail on sight.
The process to make up tracks to get to said palace did take a bit of time, with each minute adding another minute to whatever torture or punishment the Crystal Gems and ponies could be going through by White. Eventually though, they found themselves along the borderline sight of the palace.
"Ok, I know you've hanged out with the Gems, and know way more about this stuff than we do, but ... you sure you know what you're doing?" Lars asked.
"Well without knowing where they are, it's the best shot we have," Connie replied, which was true. Connie looked left and right for a bit before giving the signal for the others to follow out into the open. They got the front of the palace just fine, but then there was the matter of getting in. Right to the front door they went, though a little bit hesitant to be going right up front to the Diamond Authority, but as Connie tried to get someone to answer the door, no one seemed to answer it for them. And the longer they were in the open, the more danger and risk they were in. However, the door itself actually opened itself, as if someone forgot to lock it (which was unheard of in a place like this). As it opened, they actually began to see what looked like a blue light, or faint blue aura begin to go out, getting Connie
"Whoa, back up, back up!" Sadie said.
"Connie, you ok?" Connie II asked in worry. Looking to her, Connie didn't appear hurt, but her eyes were suddenly swelling up in tears.
"No, I don't think so. I don't feel hurt."
"Don't feel hurt?! You're baling your eyes out!" Lars pointed out. Connie felt her right cheek, feeling a decent stream of water come down from her eyes. Apart from that though, Connie didn't feel any different, and when she stepped out of the aura, the tears suddenly stopped, like turning off a faucet. Maybe this was a security system? Squash stepped into the aura itself to check it, finding that he too began to cry, only to step out and have it stop.
"Doesn't look like it hurts. Looks like just a emotional aura. I think it's okay, guys," Connie II replied, testing it with her hand.
"As long as my eyes don't flood out," Lars commented, just before the group started to slip on inside.
Just moments after each one of them got in, the aura effected them to a powerful degree, and each one began to give the aura their own brand of Earth tears. If this wasn't from the aura itself, then it would be a very depressing moment to them all, though as they kept looking, and with Connie leading them on, the effect of the aura was leading them closer to the source, and faint whimpers were beginning to be heard down the halls. Eventually, one door was found, and the aura looked so thick it appeared to be seeping out from under the door. Looked like they found the source of it.
"Are we really doing this?" Sadie asked, worried on what could be on the otherside of said door.
"It's worth a try. Here it goes," Connie said, doing the honors and actually knocking on the door. The weeping actually paused for a brief moment, whoever inside hearing them loud and clear. It took a bit, but the door did eventually open up, yet it was Blue Pearl who answered it, a stream of tears down her own face from her single eye. She didn't recognize many of them, but Connie she can recognize right away.
"C-Connie?"
"Is Blue Diamond in there?" Connie asked, trying to wipe some tears from her eyes.
"She doesn't wish to be disturbed," Blue Pearl replied, not sounding too happy herself either, be it from the aura or not.
"Y-You don't understand, there's a major problem right now, and -" before Connie could finish, Onion decided that if they are gonna see Blue Diamond, then they might as well see Blue Diamond, regardless. Almost nonchalantly, Onion slipped passed Blue Pearl and right into the room before Blue Pearl could stop him, and Jamie rushed and tried to get him, only for them both to end up in sight of the Diamond in there.
Or rather, two. In the private quarters of Blue's room, Jamie and Onion found not only Blue Diamond in there, but Yellow Diamond as well! Blue Diamond was down on her knees, very depressed with her own tears coming down her face as Yellow Diamond was trying her absolute best to comfort her, the aura effecting her vision spheres just like everyone else in the aura.
"Why, Onion?" Lars quietly hissed. Jamie gulped on seeing the set of giants in front of him, and both after a bit turning to him. Jamie had to get himself together.
"Y-You're ... You're excellency," Jamie managed to say, going into a bow of respect, hopefully not insulting them for not doing so. He saw Lapis do it before as they were together, so all he could do was try to mimic it. However, the word "excellency" may not be the best choice.
"And who are you?" Yellow asked, annoyed that any guests would just come up. Onion actually had the nerve to push Jamie forward so he could speak to them, though it honestly didn't make the situation any better. Jamie cleared his throat.
"I-I'm Jamie. H-Human of Earth, you're excellency," Jamie said, keeping his gaze down. Yellow Diamond was in no mood to deal with him, or anyone else for that matter.
"We've got more than enough trouble right now to deal with humans," Yellow Diamond firmly made clear, and while it scared a good number of them, Blue then spoke.
"Yellow, please don't be mad at him," Blue quietly stated.
"Don't worry about it, Blue. and as for you," she added while looking to Jamie, "go and bother someone else."
"I know it looks bad to you, b-but if you'll let me explain -"
"Pearl, get them out of here! We don't have time right now," Yellow Diamond suddenly instructed, getting bugged. Yellow Pearl, who was at the moment trying to comfort Blue Diamond, went away from her, and grabbed Jamie and Onion by their arms, pulling them to the door. Blue Diamond was the closest they'll get, and Jamie was losing his chance to help the others out.
"N-No, wait a minute, just let me explain! W-We need help, the Crystal Gems, t-they had been taken!" Jamie finally got out, but it may already be too late. Blue Diamond suddenly grew surprised, a gasp escaping her.
"There's no time to deal with it right now. Bad as it is, we have our own problems," Yellow said, getting annoyed.
"B-but you're excellency, we -" Jamie suddenly shouted, straining to stay in there. All of a sudden, Blue Diamond reached out, and Grabbed Jamie off the ground, and into the palm of her hand, much to the surprise of the others. Jamie wasn't hurt, but found himself standing on Blue Diamond's hand, looking eye to eye with Blue Diamond herself, the Gem's eyes still glossy from the tears.
"Did you say that the Crystal Gems ... were taken? Human?" Blue asked. Jamie gave a sigh, calming himself down as best he could despite his tears, before nodding his yes.
"Y-Yes, they've been taken. Gone. Plucked off of Earth like crystal flowers, and off to the stars by White Diamond for crimes of war. I'm sorry we had to interrupt you this way, but if we are to help them, we need help. For our mission to succeed, we need to know their location," Jamie said, a flair of his "drama zone" coming up during that (some reason it was easier to talk that way). The mention of White Diamond made the situation clear as crystal, and just as precarious, Blue Diamond looking in dismay.
"Oh dear... not again."
"Again?" Jamie asked, a little surprised, as Blue Diamond gently brought him back down to ground level. Blue Diamond was quiet at first, but she did start to explain.
"So many Gems had been going missing as of late. ... Tell me. Is there ... any of them left?" Blue asked. Calmer now, and the aura actually fading a bit and less tears coming out of them all.
"I'm afraid the capture was fully successful ... none of them are left," Jamie said, feeling guilty for saying that. It was strange though, both Jamie and Blue Diamond thought of Lapis at the moment, worried, and thinking about what other trauma she could be going through. Yellow glanced off to the door, seeing the other humans looking in from the safety of the door. Well, she might as well at this point, and Yellow Diamond walked over, and opened the door wide, making them tumble in. At first she was a bit bugged, but looked intrigued when she saw Connie amongst them.
"Connie? ... You do have a bit of nerve to return after the stunt you pulled," Yellow said, as they all got up.
"He told you why, your Clarity. Very sorry for just -" Connie said meekly.
"No, don't be. ... Now I know where my missing Gems are."
"You do?! Well, where?" Lars asked. Yellow Diamond glared at him for missing two words, but it flew over Lars's head.
"What?" Lars asked, shrugging before Connie nudged him.
"You're supposed to say "your Clarity"," whispered Connie. Either way though, Blue Diamond was willing to talk to them still, and didn't want anyone getting hurt here. With their reaction to their last visit, it was actually something she expected to happen the minute Jamie brought up White Diamond in his explanation.
"You're not thinking ..."
"Yellow. They don't deserve it," Blue simply said. Yellow felt a little uneasy, but she did eventually stay quiet for Blue Diamond to talk. It had been enough of an emotional run since Pink Diamond started. Well, with everyone in there, they all went up together, and waited for Blue Diamond to explain herself, now the aura gone and everyone's eyes can be saved of more crying.
"If it was White Diamond who took them, the only place they'll be would be in her own space station. ... But getting there's going to be difficult," Blue Diamond informed.
"How come?" Sadie asked.
"The Warp Pads on White Diamond's station only activate if close to a planet. And it's impossible to say where she would be right now."
"Isn't there some way to find them? I mean, you got all your futuristic gadgets and gizmos, don't you have some tracking device, or something?" Lars asked, hesitantly. Blue Diamond thought it over, but then she took a look over to Yellow Diamond. Blue Diamond was a ruler, but technology was more Yellow's department.
"Please, Yellow?" Blue asked. Yellow felt unsure, but eventually she sighed and began to comply.
"If you have to know, our kind has easily invented and used tracking devices over the millennium. Unfortunately, none of them could work on White Diamond's space station. ... (murmuring) for some reason."
"There's got to be some way to get there. They're heroes to us all, and they could be going through anything at this moment," Jamie said, as if they needed another reminder. Yellow needed little time to think of something.
"... Are any of you experienced in piloting a ship?"
.......
Next thing they knew, it was from the palace, and off into what appeared to be a docking station for Homeworld. blue diamond had one similar to this, but this one was Yellow Diamond's docking station, which actually mirrored the one White Diamond used, albeit a little smaller in size, with a multitude of ships inside being attended to by a number of Peridots. Who'd of guessed that they would end up in here for their attempt to go? Still, if Warp Pads weren't going to work, then this was the next best thing, so long as it can actually get them to the right place. The Diamonds went on inside with the group of rescuers, many of the Peridots humbled upon seeing the Diamonds come in, making their respected insignias with their hands. A typical respectable gesture to the diamonds, but they were in a bit of a hurry right now, so they didn't worry over it too much. What they did think over though is what ship they should do.
"So we're flying a ship there?"
"With little idea on where her location is, it would be the best option as of now. We may not have tracking devices to pit her location, but we do have scanners on these ships that could be useful."
"Isn't that the same thing?" Sadie then asked.
"... Let's find which one you should take," Yellow simply answered. The Peridots overheard this no doubt, and they quickly got themselves down and tried to make the ships they were working on presentable to the Diamond as she looked around the options. Many of the ships around them looked varied in option, be it the flying saucer model, or one of those space ships one would find on those old Atari games. Either way, the human group had little to no idea on which one to actually pick out of them.
"Let's see. Well, we need a very fast ship, and probably one that can't be seen. So any of your ships have a warpspeed, or a cloaking device?" Lars wondered, trying his best to think on it.
"How'd you know that?" Blue Pearl asked.
"I've seen them on sci-fi movies before, I know these things too," Lars insisted. As they were looking around, Jamie turned and he and Connie II took sight of one particular ship.
"What about that one?" Connie II asked. The group stopped and looked to the ship in question. The ship itself had a Atari-like style to it, shaped like a triangle or hexagonal, and colored in a shining gold. Two wings came out from the back sides of the ship, and it ended in a sharp point. At the moment, the ship was on hover mode, and being maintained by a set of green Peridot, these two a bit more of a darker green than their Peridot. The humans went over there first, as the Diamonds went on and followed.
"The Sun Incinerator. Well, it's not a cloaking ship, but it is the fastest ship I currently have on option with its nova thrusters. If you're worried about time, then this will do," Blue Diamond said. The humans looked it over a little bit, but considering their goal, they had little time to actually get things decided, so they had to take it.
"Thank you very much," Connie said, as they began to go off inside. The interior of the ship appeared circular, with the ceiling made out of a glass with the Great Diamond Authority insignia on it. The walls were green, with green diamond shapes covering the entire circular shape of the interior. At the front of the ship looked to be control panels, and two staircases going down to a lower floor where the ship's engines were stored. It was a pretty straightforward idea.
"You don't suppose an auto-pilot is installed in this ship, do you?" Lars asked, as the group could see the diamonds off outside of the ship from the ship's windows.
"Once you program them into the controls, they should guide you on from there. They should be, as you earthlings say, straightforward," Yellow Diamond said. Connie and Connie II went over to said controls, and as it turned out, the controls themselves looked no different from their IPhone touch screens. Indeed, a very nice little bit of convenience again, but exactly what did what was still up to debate. Blue Diamond actually gave them some bit of honor, by gently pushing them off to the launching dock, giving them plenty of space to get the ship moving off the right direction.
"Ok, well ... put it in," Lars said.
"Ok, let me see," Connie wondered. The gang nearby tried to figure it out themselves, but then Garbonzo started to figure something out.
"Garbonzo!" he said in realization, snap of the fingers, as he went right up to them himself. Connie and Connie II moved aside to let him work it out, little Pinto looking over his shoulders and wanting to see them himself. Garbonzo and Pinto went through the screens and what information they had, and eventually figured it out on the exact info gathered in it. It turned out, pre-saved data from previous travels had been programed into the ships system, one name being the White Diamond Space Station!
"This is becoming too easy," Connie shrugged.
"Don't count your eggs before they hatch," Connie II said, Soup and Squash nodding in agreement nearby.
"Ok, now how do we begin our voyage?" Jamie wondered, trying to figure out these controls himself. Garbonzo though was on the verge of figuring out their little problem, and as the Diamonds watched, the ship began to lift off into the sky. It was a little bit iffy, but the positioning system started to work out what track to take, and actually aimed them in the right trajectory, much to their delight. Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond watched on, and after some bit of starting up, the Sun Incinerator began to come to life, and the thrusters started them off on their way from Homeworld, and into the final frontier. Next stop: the White Diamond Space Station.
~~~~~~
Well, they were off and on their way, and for the next half an hour, it was mainly just a simple flight off towards the Space Station. Well, they kept at the controls as best they could, much of it being tracked by Garbonzo, Connie the Second, and Connie, as the rest were waiting for their drop off. Lion was the only one actually sleeping on the flight up. It was all fun and good, but the rate they were trying to reach said ship wasn't exactly a good thing for them. They wanted to get there as soon as possible, and simple thrusters weren't going to cut the mustard.
"Can't this go any faster?" asked Connie.
"We're trying to find that out," Connie II replied, trying to make sense of this.
"Wait. didn't one of those Diamonds say something about Nova Thrusters?" Sadie asked.
"Wait, oh yeah, she did! Try and bring them up," Lars said. Garbonzo managed to find them, and found that they were actually weren't even going. The thrusters they had on weren't nova power, apparently.
"Eh, wait, I don't know. We don't know how fast this can actually get, and if it's too fast for us ... well, we might be pancakes with how much G forces it can use," Connie II realized, making some of them troubled. It could be a move that would get them more hurt than anything, but after a little bit, it was Jamie who went forward.
"If I am to be a pancake, then bring on the syrup!" Jamie decided, and before anyone could get a word in otherwise, he activated it.
If that was a good move or not was something they had to figure later, as the Sun Incinerator began to adjust itself inside and out to get the nova engines ready for warp speed. The normal thrusters behind the ship retracted, and were replaced with what looked like odd propellers, which began to glow. The ship began to move forward again, but in the sudden adjustment, the entire ship began to thrust forward at breakneck speed! No Sonic Rainboom could match this speed, and almost seconds after that, everyone felt all the G forces slam into them. They tried to stay still, but those standing were suddenly pulled right to the back wall, slamming into it! Connie and Jamie just managed to stay in their places, Jamie grabbing hold of the control seat as best he could, as Connie found herself almost glued to her seat. Garbonzo was flung back off his seat to the back with the others, Pinto in front of him so he wasn't crushed under him.
"Too fast! Too fast!" yelled Lars.
"DO SOMETHING!" shouted Sadie.
"I'm trying!" Connie strained, trying to even reach the controls again, but the forces were far more than they can handle. Stars, galaxies, and plants zoomed by them in complete blurs, but one good thing (and only good thing), was that they were making record time as the screen showed the ship closing in on the Space Station. Bad news was they couldn't stop!
"Connie?!" Jamie yelled, his body being pulled back with only his hands gripping the seat.
"I can't reach it!" Connie replied.
"WHAT?! We're gonna crash at this rate!" Lars shouted, and at the rate they were going, that wasn't too far from the truth. Connie had to try, but simply lifting her arm was like lifting a ton of cement, and just as hard to move on her own, but as they were flying, suddenly a floating meteor suddenly whacked the ship, making Jamie and Connie tumble off and fall right to the back wall! This was bad: now no one had control, and every second passed by with them closing in on the White Diamond Space Station!
"W-What do we do?!" gasped Connie.
"G-Garbonzo!" strained Garbonzo. They all were bracing for the crash, but then Sadie got an idea.
"Lion, give me a boost up!" Sadie yelled. With their lives on the line, they had no time to argue, so Lion grabbed her and moved her so she was in front of him, and the big cat gave a mighty roar! The G forces were strong, but Lion's roar was just powerful enough to move Sadie from the back wall to the control seat, Sadie grabbing hold of it. And just in time before Lion stopped roaring.
"Thanks," Sadie called, before gathering her strength to pull herself from the ground, and into the seat. She just managed to sit down, but found herself glued to the seat like Connie was. Her teeth grinding together, and using every ounce of strength she could muster, she brought her hand up forward, and with a touch of her straining fingers, click the same screen Jamie did. Upon that very click, the warp-speed suddenly stopped, and they gained control again. Those on the back wall stayed stuck to it for a moment before they fell onto the ground. Sadie never felt so relieved, a huge breath escaping her as she slumped in the same seat.
"Glad that's over," Sadie sighed, feeling weak, but glad to be alive still.
"C-C2!" Connie gasped. The others looked over to her, and found Connie was right by Connie II, but for the doppelganger, something didn't look right. Her eyes looked very dilated, almost completely white, and she simply laid there on the wall as if passed out, but what freaked her out more was her body was actually flickering out!
"C2, come on wake up! Snap out of it!" Connie said, trying to wake her up. Connie II needed a minute before her eyes started to come to, and her body to fully solidify. Connie II felt very dizzy, and shook herself back to her senses.
"Yeah, no, I'm fine now."
"Y-you sure, you're body, it ..."
"Oh that. My body just was too slow for the warp speed, that's all," Connie II replied.
"... Don't wanna know," Lars replied. now was not a good time to really question anything. As they all were coming to, Jamie then felt Onion whack him square in the head.
"Ok, yeah, I deserved that. Sorry," Jamie said meekly.
Well, after that little bit, they took a moment to look out from the frontal window. With the world now far slower when compared to warp drive, the group could now get a proper grip on what they got to deal with, and off just ahead, they can see their main goal. The Space Station was right ahead of them!
"We're coming guys."
The sun incinerator was like a spec compared to the Space Station, and they tried their best to figure out a way of entry. What kind of navigation can they use now? Sure, they found it, but Connie could barely remember what door they used, or what docking station to actually enter the place. If White Diamond was smart, she probably won't use the same station twice, so they really had to figure this out, and figure it out fast. Who knows how long it'll be before they could enter this place again, and who knows what the others were going through inside? The sun Incinerator was kind of stuck in an orbiting system for just a bit, going around the sides of the Space Station for a bit, but eventually something began to look familiar.
"Garbonzo, get the ship in there," Connie said, pointing to one part of the station. Looking on, they all could make out a familiar looking transparent glass, and if Connie remembered right, the glass was how they got in. Good call on her part: the ship slid on into the hole. However, this wasn't exactly the same hanger they were in last time. This room was another docking station, sure, but this one wasn't as inviting, and had an upper level for the door. After some fiddling with the controls, the ship landed on the ground, albeit a bit roughly. Well, they were in, now what do they do? Opening the hatch, they cautiously stepped out into the space station. However, one thing that did come bad was a few more guards lined up, yet none of them saw them yet.
"K, we're in. Now where do we do?" Lars asked.
"Here, give me a second, I got an idea," Connie II advised. The group took a step over back into the ship, and Connie II began to work out some of her magic tricks. After some working with her fingers, and a few flashes, the group suddenly found themselves in a rather ... different appearance. To put it simply, each one of them were different colors:
Lars was colored green with lime green hair.
Sadie had yellow skin and sun hair.
Jamie had a color of grey to his skin with silver hair.
Connie and Connie II had orange skin and red hair.
Garbonzo and Pinto were both colored red in hair and skin.
Soup had a more yellowish-tan to her skin.
Squash was colored turquoise.
Onion ... remained unchanged.
Regardless of color, the group had a bit of an outfit disguise as well, them all wearing Homeworld outfits and suits, all matching each-other as a typical Homeworld Gem citizen. They all took a minute to check eachother, and seeing what Connie II had did.
"Not what I had in mind, but this will work," Lars sighed. What else could they do? Well, after that was taken care of, they began to exit out. The guards up top took note of them down below as they started to head forward towards their only access inside. They didn't stop until one of the guards stood in their way. A set of Carnethysts were on guard here, not a set of Jasmiths.
"Halt. State your business," one of the Carnethysts demanded firmly. However, their focus was actually more on Lars than anything, making Sadie and Connie back up. Guess Lars's height made their assumption as him in charge, which was both troublesome and weird.
"Eh w-we're here to uh ... to uh ..." Lars's mind was on a blank now that he was on the spot. However, Jamie got up his nerves, and stepped over in front of Lars.
"Do not go on and assault my crew like that." He stated firmly, sounding like a strong authority figure.
"Sounds like he's in charge," one of the Carnethysts noted. Still, that didn't truly get them to back off.
"I don't recognize you ... who are you?" she asked.
"Who am I? I am uh ... Grey Emerald uh, Facet, 7X12 Cut uh ... B27. I'm under report of the Diamonds, and arrived strictly on business with the superior," Jamie explained. Acting wasn't the best in lying, but the group had him as the best actor they got, but the Carnethyst looked rather confused.
"What? Grey Emerald? I've never heard of you."
Time to pull how the drama bomb, Jamie style.
"Excuse me? I'll have you know I've been a captain ever since you were but a pebble! What an insult to such a high ranking Gem such as myself. Wait until White Diamond hears of this. I've heard she's been looking for new shards."
That last part sealed the deal, the Carnethyst gulping in worry.
"W-Wait, don't do that! I'm very sorry, I-I didn't recognize you. Please, go right in," she said, stepping aside to let them through. Jamie, keeping up the leader appearance, went on passed, and the rest of the group went on to follow him. If they can keep from avoiding an alarm, then that would be great. The group kept their calm faces on, though one Carnethyst was a little confused seeing Pinto, but for the sake of avoiding some shards available, she didn't try to question it.
Well, the group was in now, and they kept a professional look until the minute they turned the corner, all of them relieved as ever to have that happen.
"I can't believe that worked," Lars sighed in relief.
"All those months of acting paid off," Jamie stated. Connie found a sense of Deja Vu, and even some nostalgia looking down these halls, but none of that nostalgia was anything good, as they began to move on. The halls were empty, and as futuristic and metallic as they were during Connie's last visit here.
"Garbonzo?" Garbonzo asked, just for Onion to shrug. Squash pulled on Connie's shoulder, and for some reason Connie understood.
"I'm not sure, really. I've only been here once before," Connie admitted. Not an entirely good answer to their situation.
"Well, we better figure it out soon before these guys start to get smart," Lars brought up. They practically were in the belly of the beast, and if they get caught now, it will be all over for them. Them and their friends. And so, they have to figure out where to go from here without running into anymore of the Gems. A lie like that can only go so far, and it'll only be a matter of time before someone would catch on. Onion glanced off and noticed something up on the wall, making him stop. If they didn't want to be noticed by any of the Gems in here, then this was just their little ticket, and Onion gave a good whistle to get their attention to it.
A vent.
.......
In such a large Space Station, this wasn't the only thing going on here. In fact, as a bunch of troublemakers were going on through, another was actually on the run from a Jasmith and Carnethyst, racing down the halls and trying her absolute hardest to not get recaptured. She was terrified, and trying her best, and eventually, the Jasmith and Carnethyst stopped once they lost sight of her. The Carnethyst, groaning, got to a earpiece communicator.
"We lost her."
"Well find her then! And get her back into her cell before she can get out of the Station!" their advisors warned, before both of them went on down the hall. Unaware to them both, their little runaway was up and off the floor, hands and legs pushing against the walls and keeping her off the floor on the corner of the ceiling. She felt glad that they were gone, but she also knew she can't jump back down.
*thump**thump*
"Huh?"
Looking up, the little Gem found that she was right by a vent opening, and hearing the thumps and steps made her feel uneasy, if not curious. But she wasn't going down without a fight, no sir, no way, no how. She continued hearing the steps come closer and closer to her. Feeling the edge, she gunned for it: jumping right through the grate, and right onto another White Diamond Gem.
"I won't be shattered by anyone, you hear me?!" she shrieked, bringing out the big guns and her Gem weapon: spiked knuckles.
"No, no, no, wait, I'm not - mmmph!" she covered her assailant's mouth so he wouldn't keep blabbering on. When she looked, there was a LOT more than she expected. Sure they were smaller than Jasmiths and Carnethysts, but she wasn't taking any chances. Luckily for the one pinned down, one of them grabbed the attacking Gem by her arm to keep her back.
"I-I know it looks bad to you, but if you'll let us explain -" said another figure.
"You're not shattering me - whoa!" suddenly, a smaller one grabbed her head, and placed her ear on his chest. As she calmed down, and listened to a particular noise that no normal Gem could ever have.
The sound of a heartbeat.
"... OH. You're all just a bunch of humans. And here I thought little ol' me was in trouble, hehe."
"Get off me!" Lars demanded, before tossing her off of him, the Gem landing on her square head. The Gem was still a little confused, but at least she can reassure that she wasn't gonna be shattered by these humans (somewhat).
"Geesh, you're like a smaller, more annoying version of Garnet," Lars groaned. That got ruby a bit surprised actually.
"You know Garnet?!" she gasped, pointing to Lars although she was still upside down.
"Yeah, do you?" asked Sadie.
"Of course I do. I'm one of her dearest friends. Where is that fusion friend of mine anyway?" she asked, sounding a bit childish about it as if it was just some gossip. Whoever this little Gem was clearly didn't see the danger of the situation, as Connie, Jamie, and Connie II glanced down to be sure no guards saw her come in.
"Don't know, probably locked up in some cell somewhere with the rest of the Crystal Gems," Connie said. The Gem peeked over Lars's shoulders, and looked down with them.
"Oh no, that's terrible. We have to help them!" she said, though they were kinda taken by surprise by her answer, as she slid off of Lars's back with Lars straightening up.
"Wait a minute. You're not with them?" Lars asked.
"Nope," she simply answered with a smile.
"AND you want to help us get home?"
"I'll fly you out of here myself, just stick with me!" she insisted, almost in a sort of sing-along tone to her last bit of statement. The group really weren't sure about this exactly, but then again, she wasn't exactly wearing the White Diamond outfit, nor appeared to be any hybrid of sorts, so perhaps they could. ... Maybe? ...
"Eh, hey, can you give us a minute, miss ..."
"Ruby Facet-7K2 Cut-67A. You can call me Navy if you want. My buddy Steven likes calling me that," she answered innocently. Well, this was strange, but they consulted together, leaving Navy in the company of the gang for a moment. Onion simply stared at Navy with suspicious eyes, Navy feeling a little bit confused, but not too threatened by the cute little human. Not too long after, they got back to her.
"Ok, Navy, you can come along," Lars said. Navy was sure pleased.
"Horray! Lead the way friend," she said with a grin. A bit odd, but they just went on anyway. However, as Navy followed, Sadie had the honor of staying over with Onion.
"Can you and your gang keep an eye on her?" Sadie whispered. Onion gave his response with a little salute. They've all just met the Gem, and like her, they weren't taking much of chances here, especially now. Navy kept her position over by Jamie in their crawl through the vents, Connie getting overly curious and decided to go up to her.
"So, are you from White Diamond's troops, or no?"
"Nope. They were going to punish my little ol' Ruby squad, all for nothin," Navy replied.
"Really?"
"Yep. But now I got a great team to help me!"
"Slow down there, Navy. We're letting you come, but we're trying to get the others out first. If we find them on the way, then we'll get them out ok?" Connie II promised.
"Why can't you get mine first?"
"I didn't say we weren't getting them, one thing at a time," Connie insisted. Before they could continue another step, Lars actually stopped himself. The abrupt stop made Sadie bump into Lars, which made Navy bump into her. They stopped at a crossroads in the ventral system, branching off in two ways.
"What's wrong up there?" asked Navy.
"Will you be quiet for a second? I think I hear something," Lars said, slowly moving off down away from the group into the other vent. They all stayed silent for a moment to let Lars hear, Lars focusing on what the sound could be. It was very faint, but Lars just managed to catch it.
"HELP! LARS! SOMEONE HELP!"
"Rutile!" Lars gasped, starting to go down the vent after the sound. The others started to follow him, and turned out the noise was coming off from another ventilation grate.
Lars found this grate after two turns off the path, and while vision was a bit iffy when looking through the ventilation grate, what he can make out made him freak out to put it lightly. The room was rather small, about the size of an operation room, and to an extent that was probably what this was. And as Lars had feared, the Rutile twins were inside the room, just getting themselves forced down onto a table, strapped arms and legs so they couldn't move, and being strapped down by none other than Pearlis.
"Oh, will you stop struggling, please? You're more trouble than you're worth this way, you know," Pearlis groaned.
"N-No stop, we don't want to be split!" right Rutile exclaimed.
"We're fine as we are, really!" left Rutile added, equally terrified. Pearlis just rolled her eyes.
"Is that what the rest of the Rutiles said when they ran off, screaming for their lives? Just stay still, you'll only hurt for a moment."
"WE'LL DIE!" the Rutiles yelled.
"I'm surprised you two were alive as long as you have. Don't know why my Diamond changed her mind on leaving you behind, but well, she always is such a resourceful sort," Pearlis said, as she started to reach for the operating tools. Lars couldn't believe his ears, but felt a bit torn. Yes, he wanted to help her, but he also wanted to keep the group out of trouble. Pearlis sure looked like an important figure after all, and at this point the others caught up, and saw the same situation.
"R-Rutile. I gotta get in there!" Lars thought, trying to open the grate to get in, but it was locked up tight. Despite the attempts, Pearls had already begun to start on the process, and took a drill to Rutile's stone! The whirring began, and both twins screeched in horror more than pain, worried that their stone was going to shatter at any moment. Unfortunately for Pearlis, the stone stayed in tact, and still stuck together. Though, the drill did leave a slight crack in it.
"This'll be tougher than I thought. Oh well, nothing some acidic laser testing won't fix." Like it was called fixing!
"What's she doing to her?" Sadie quietly asked.
"Don't mind the details, just get this open for me," Lars replied. He already failed before, he didn't want her to fall twice. The right Rutile could glance over at the grate from the position, and once she saw what was going on, both sides of her stayed very quiet. Pearlis didn't seem to notice it though, yet what she did notice was a missing piece of equipment.
"Clod, where is that thing?" Pearlis groaned. And it was at this point that the grate finally got loose, and it slowly began to be moved. Lars looked on in, both twins able to see who it was, yet Lars gave them a gesture to be quiet, finger to his lips. Looking over to Pearlis, he could also see a door opened up to outside. What the plan was, was as simple as it was precarious.
"I gotta be brave. Stop being scared," Lars thought, before he gathered his nerves and actually dropped inside. Pearlis appeared too busy finding the piece to notice Lars in there, and he silently began to take baby steps towards her. Closer and closer he got, his heart racing and breath quickening. If she turned around now, it was done. Pretty soon, he was literally inches away from her, his arms raised, and ready to attack her. However, there was only one little detail he forgot to count on.
his shadow.
Suddenly, Pearlis spun around, and grabbed Lars by both arms, and next thing Lars knew, he was face to face with what he thought was Pearl.
"And what do you think you're doing?" Pearlis asked. she heard him fall, and now she saw the grate open. This was bad, and Lars was now backed in a corner by Pearlis. Now what's he supposed to do? Well, there was no reason to hide anymore, and Lars brought up his foot to kick Pearlis square in the stomach, yet that didn't do much of anything, and all it did was make Pearlis smirk, as she carried Lars over to the Rutile twins.
"L-Lars?!" gasped left Rutile.
"Lars? Is that who you are? One of our Jasmiths did mention a minor inconvenience at that "lighthouse". Though if you want to see your twins one more time, then you got your chance," Pearlis said, proceeding to bind his hands down. The group had to act now:
"HIYAA!" Pearlis turned, only to find Connie's foot in her face. Lars's kicks were tough sure, but since this one was closer to her gemstone, Pearlis backed up. Pearlis's moment of power was quickly dashed, especially when she realized that she had moved outside of the room, and for Garbonzo and Jamie to shut and lock the door from the inside! Pearlis tried to open it, but no luck to them.
"Garbonzo!" Garbonzo laughed, sticking out his tongue at her. Pearlis looked through the glass of the door, just to find the group now inside and not only getting Lars free, but the twins as well. Now she was getting upset.
"You rebels! Open up! I don't know how you all got in here, but you won't win!"
"There wasn't any guards set up at the front gate," Lars commented.
"There were fifteen Jasmith guards!!"
"Oh? Really? We didn't see em'," Lars replied smugly, helping the twins up into the ventilation shaft.
"I'm reporting this!" Pearlis replied angrily, before bolting off out of sight. Now they really have to get moving, and get moving fast. They did a bit of a scramble, but they did manage to get themselves into the vent again, and get out of there before any guards would show up. Well, they got one Gem out, but they still had twenty four more to find and save. If the treatment the Rutile twins had gotten were of any indication, then the others wouldn't last too long.
"Did you find the others?" the right Rutile asked.
"Not yet, I don't know where they are. But I bet they're gonna be hunting for us now," Lars figured. But now, he didn't care, so long as they're going to be safe, that was just fine with him. Navy felt very freaked out on the Rutile twins, but lucky for the group, Soup got that covered when she placed her pot over her face as she screamed. Only when Navy stopped did Soup remove it and continued on.
"Will you not?"
"B-But, but she -"
"She is fine," Lars said, making sure that was put very clearly to the Gem. The others found it almost foreign that he would act like this, but then again he was the only one who wasn't brainwashed, so something can still happen during that time. Lars and Sadie looked over to the twins, who thanks to their now cracked gemstone was beginning to act up, her body glitchly slightly. As if being two Gems in one wasn't enough of a challenge, now she had glitching to deal with, making the twins tumble a little whenever her hands start to glitch out.
"Ok, maybe not fine," Lars admitted.
"You ok? How're you holding up?" Sadie asked.
"Bad."
"Not good."
The twins began to feel unstable, and Sadie and Lars stood beside them as support as they continued on into the vents. No one was leaving anyone behind. Sadie took a minute to look over to Lars, who looked more determined than before. Was this the same Lars she met yesterday at the Donut shop? Eventually, Connie II stopped at the front, seeing that they were stuck in another crossroads, this time the path splitting into three different sections: two branching straight as one curved in an S shape to the right.
"Mane. Now which way?" Connie II wondered, trying to figure that out. Navy went over to her side.
"In a turn of events like this, best thing we can do is send a scout down each path and see where they end up," Navy suggested. That suggestion though only got her bumped forward by Onion. Guess he found their volunteer.
"Good idea, Navy. See what's down them and come right back to us," Sadie said. Yeah, not what she had in mind, but with her already bumped down one of the vents, she just started going on ahead a bit.
"Well this isn't very fare," Navy grumbled.
"Your call, therefore you go," Lars stated. And so Navy did, starting with the straight path. It took her a few minutes, but as she was doing that, Soup began to wonder about the other paths just a little bit more than the rest were, and Jamie turned and caught her going off down the S tunnel.
"Where're you going?" Jamie asked, but she didn't stop.
For Soup, she took it on herself and checked out what the next path was about. While most of the vents so far had been decently lit up with the lights from Homeworld rooms seeping in, this one was a bit darker, and Soup had a bit more trouble seeing the further she went in, it getting a bit darker due to lack of light. Soup found herself over in a dark tunnel, barely able to see much of anything. However, while she couldn't see much of anything, she could feel around a lot better, and as she kept going, she then felt the unmistakable feeling of yet another ventilation grate under her hands.
Interesting.
Soup took a look in there, but however, this room just was a little too dark to make out from up in her position. However, fate kinda had different plans, and as she moved over the grate to continue on, her weight started to make the grate slightly unstable, and creak under her. Before Soup realized it, the grate suddenly broke, a gasp running through her mouth as she fell with a thud! Lucky the fall wasn't too long, Soup landing on her pot helmet, yet now she was too far down to get back to the vent. On the bright side, she can have a better look around on the room she fell into. She landed on what looked like a metal floor, holed on the bottom, and rather wide. Soup tried to get back up, but it wasn't any good, no matter how many times she jumped, and reached. It was too dark to make out any details, but Soup figured that this was some sort of storage in this Space Station. It didn't sound like anyone was in there either, so stealth could be put on hold for the moment. With her slingshot, Soup grabbed her pot and started to bang on it like a drum to get the group's attention. It was just loud enough for the rest to hear her, and Onion's gang almost immediately began to head off down the other vent just as Navy got back.
"What's going on?"
"Guess they found out where to go, come on," Connie replied.
Soup needed little time to wait, as she saw Jamie and Onion first, looking down from the vent and seeing her wave up to them. however, she instead waved for them to come down, believing she found something interesting. Jamie was unsure, but Onion didn't hesitate and jumped down to her, landing on his feet.
"What'd you find?" the twins called, but neither of them answered.
"Eh, they can't talk," Lars quietly said. With the rest of the Onion gang going down as well, they had no other option than to join them down there. However, none of them could really see all that well, but the only light they could get was from another door down on the bottom floor, and that only went in about twenty feet so that didn't help out too much either way.
"Can anyone see where we're at?" Sadie asked.
"Garbonzo," Garbonzo replied gravely. They tried to think, but then Connie remembered something with Rutile.
"Rutile? Didn't you make your gemstone glow when we first met you? See if you can do it again," Connie suggested. The twins looked to eachother, but with their gemstone slightly cracked, they weren't sure if it'll work.
"Well. Ok, we'll try," both Rutiles replied, as they tried to make their gemstone glow for them as a light. However, there was actually some bit of spark leaking out of the stone as they did that, and it flickered like a weak flashlight, and probably offered just as much light. During the flickering, they did get a bit of sight of where they were on a height level however, and right next to them was a set of stairs going down about four levels to the bottom floor. Well, they managed to get down there long enough as the twins' light could manage, before the Rutile twins got too tired. Having a cracked gemstone surely made some tasks more difficult than needed to be.
"Thanks," Lars simply said.
"Well, we're on the bottom floor, but we still don't know where we are. anyone have any idea at all?" Connie asked, now not having the slightest clue on where they are.
"I wish we can say we do, but ..." right Rutile started.
"We're very new to the Space Station ourselves. Sorry," left Rutile finished.
"Okay, Navy how about you? Do you know where our location is?" asked Jamie.
"Nope," Navy simply replied, shrugging. As they were talking, Sadie then noticed some wording on a nearby create, which she went on over to investigate along with Onion. The box was colored silver, and hard as the metal under their feet. In the dim light, the two started to make out some words engraved onto it, like words on a shipping container.
Chamber 77
Looking at a few more nearby, they all were saying similar numbers on them, each one at least having "Chamber 77" somewhere on them, suggesting that they were either in the same place, or in just another storage room. Either way, it gave them at least some idea on where they are.
"I think we're in one of the chambers in this place. Number seventy seven," Sadie answered, showing the group the crates she and Onion found. It didn't prove too much, but they had some idea anyway, and that was better than no idea at all.
"Chamber 77, huh? ... Well, we got a vantage point, so maybe we can work with that," Jamie concluded.
"But where is Chamber 77? We could be on the otherside of the Space Station right now," Lars asked. Connie and Connie II both tried to figure out some clue, but then the two took note of something over in the back. Something big. They weren't sure exactly what was in there, too dark, but there was still an engraving onto it that they can just make out.
Facet-2 cut-1X3
.......
"Enjoy your trip?"
*BAM*
~~~~~~
A rather quick turn of events of one were to admit. It all happened so fast, too fast for much of them to work with or comprehend, but it was quickly lights out for a majority of the group. Who's to say just how long they were stuck that way. The first one to become a bit conscious, albeit with a bit of a groan, was Lars, only because a bright light was glowing not too far away.
"Oh! What a turn of events," gasped Navy, once reforming. And she wasn't alone in this place: the human group was stuck in there too, the first one to fully be awake being Connie and the Rutile twins.
"Is he okay?" the twins asked, scared, as Connie placed her hand on Lars's chest.
"His heart's still beating, but he's unconscious."
"Hmm ... didn't Steven mention something like this before?" right Rutile wondered. There was plenty of time between their first visit and now, and Steven did take his time to get some new things taught to them. Suddenly, Navy raised her hand.
"I thought he did. About mouth-to-mouth, I think? Did he say it'll bring someone back?" left Rutile wondered.
"Oh! I'll do it!" Navy said.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Lars suddenly said, sitting up fast so none of that could happen. He wasn't tired anymore, though the rush up did get him a headache, whoever finding them giving him a good knockout hit. Not all of them were knocked out though, as he started to see the others close by and waiting for him to wake up. Once he was fully up though, he took in the sight of where the group had actually ended up, and it turned out to be a sort of cell. Strange light blocked their exit, and this was accompanied by lines of metal bars for some extra measure. Whelp, they were caught.
"Oh great," groaned Lars, as he was helped up by Navy. Almost immediately, Onion tried to go over to the bars and get themselves out of said cage, but on contact with said bars, they suddenly began to heat up, to the point when Onion's hands started to burn! Onion quickly backed up and shook his hands like crazy, as if he just touched a hot pan, seeing his hands slightly burnt. That just made Onion upset above all else.
"Well isn't this just wonderful?! The second we're dumped in that 77 place, we get caught. NOW what're we gonna do?!" Lars yelled.
"No, calm down Lars," right Rutile said.
"It's nobody's fault," added left Rutile.
"So what're you in here for?"
The whole group stopped on this voice, it sounding very familiar to them in some sort of way. It took a bit in the light for them to figure out on who was talking to them, looking to the back and seeing a silhouette of someone else within the confines with them. The shape did hold a striking resemblance of sorts.
"Amethyst?" asked Connie.
"Eh, no, Onyx," the figure answered, walking out into the limelight and showing herself. It wasn't exactly who they've expected it to be, and when Connie saw who this really was she looked a bit more puzzled.
"Wait. Onyx? As in White Diamond Onyx?"
"Yep, that's me. Or, was me," Onyx said, though she did not sound very happy about what was going on.
"What happened to you?" Jamie asked. Onyx stretched a bit.
"Let's just say that White Diamond really doesn't want anyone peeping in on Chamber 77. You all saw what was in there too?" Onyx asked.
"Eh, kinda. There was something in there labeled "Facet-2 Cut-1X3"."
"Facet-3? Hmm ... never heard of that one before."
"Hold on a minute," Jamie said, as he was thinking, "So, Onyx, you were indeed a member of White Diamond's court, but were removed just for seeing what's inside Chamber 77."
"That's what I just said," Onyx replied. Jamie got his thinking cap on for a bit, and suddenly found a unique hypothesis in that sort of action.
"You don't think there's something ... important, in there, do you? Something White Diamond is trying to remain concealed from the public?" Jamie figured, scratching his head.
"You really think that's it?" Sadie wondered.
"Well, no matter what it is, we can't do anything in here -" Connie II then was cut off when Onion actually nudged her, smiling for whatever reason. Since he couldn't really talk though, it was just simply weird.
"Huh?" Connie II only got nudged again, this time followed up by a wink from Onion, still smiling.
"Well, what is it?"
Onion then turned over to Squash, who was smiling himself in his usual way. Once given a nod by Onion, Squash then lifted up his cap, only to show what looked like a gem inside! A white gemstone, shaped like a small diamond. They were a bit surprised on this, but it was the Gems who were even more so.
"WAIT. How the stars did you get one of those?" Onyx gasped, as Navy took it and looked it over in amazement.
"It's just some other gemstone, so?" Lars shrugged.
"Just a gemstone? Buddy, that's a Diamond Communicator!" Onyx answered. Now the group understood this, and just in time as Navy actually went right on to activate it. Soon the communicator got up a diamond screen for the diamond line, and when they saw the yellow in it, they knew immediately who this was calling up. Talk about their luck!
"You have reached the Yellow Diamond control room," said a familiar Pearl's voice, showing Yellow Pearl on the other end. Better than any White Diamond troops showing up on screen.
"Ruby Facet-7K2 Cut-67A, happily reporting in," Navy answered, doing a signature Diamond symbol. Yellow Pearl looked a little confused on this name, but more on "it-couldn't-be" rather than "who-are-you". Before she could continue, a voice off-screen spoke.
"Who is it?"
"I-It's Ruby Facet-7K2 Cut-67A. One of the Ruby Squad members that had gone missing," Yellow Pearl reported. The screen was suddenly grabbed and lifted up, and showed not only Yellow Diamond, but Blue Diamond as well, just for them to see the human team there.
"Blue Diamond, good to see you."
"It's you! But ... but how'd you manage to make this call?" Blue Diamond asked in bewilderment. Some of them glanced over to Squash, who simply replied with a wink. Connie couldn't help but smile as she turned to the screen herself.
"We had a little help, Blue Diamond. We managed to get into White Diamond's Space Station, and managed to find a few of our friends on the way."
"You look caught though," Yellow noted.
"Eh ... We are. B-But we're working on getting out. And anyway, there's something I think we should tell you," Connie replied.
"Well we're listening."
"As we're going through the ship, we ended up stumbling onto something. A place called "Chamber 77". Does that sound familiar to either of you?" Connie II asked. Both Diamonds looked to eachother.
"I've seen it on my last visit, but White wouldn't let me in there," Yellow admitted.
"I knew it!" Jamie exclaimed.
"Knew what?"
"Your Clarities, we've ended up in that chamber. We found a Gem who saw inside herself and White actually imprisoned her too just for seeing in there," Jamie explained, showing them Onyx inside. The two Diamonds recognized Onyx as apart of White Diamond's court, and found this interesting.
"What else did you see in there?" Blue asked.
"Well not very much. We did see something labeled in the back of the chamber. I don't know exactly what it is, but it looked important."
"And what was it labeled?"
"... Facet-2 Cut-1X3." That answer made Blue Diamond's eyes wide, and she even took a step back on such an answer. Yellow too looked a bit intrigued by that answer, and both Diamonds consulted together. Blue went off screen and Yellow looked right to them all.
"Excellent work on the report. You continue your task. Now if you excuse us, Blue Diamond and I have a little meeting to plan," Yellow instructed. Once that was made, the communication was cut, and the communicator grew dormant. Message given.
"Well, they know now."
"But there's still a problem on getting out of this cage," Lars reminded, pointing to their only exit.
"Tough luck trying: one touch on that and you're light will be completely fizzled out," Onyx warned, and considering Onion had already tried to pull on the bars, that was probably not too far from the truth. However, Onion didn't touch the odd screen behind the bars, but they weren't ready to do any sort of testing on it just yet.
"Come on, there's got to be a way out of here. ... You there, can I have your slingshot?" Lars asked. But Soup wasn't as willing, and backed up a bit, keeping it close to her.
"It'll just be a second," Lars insisted, but Soup was persistent, and shook her head. However, Onyx wasn't one for waiting, and yanked it out of Soup's hands. Soup tried to get it back, and tackled Onyx to get it, only for the slingshot to be thrown into the air and straight to the bars! Soup closed her eyes, waiting for it to fizzle out as it slid right through the screen and between the bars. ... And nothing happened to it. They calmed down, Connie being the first to reach over to it. She recoiled quickly on feeling the screen in between the bars, but Connie found that they weren't hurting her, though it did make her veins look like lit-wires with her arm in it. Carefully, and her whole body tingling, she held her breath and slid right between the bars. She felt a bit hot from the threatening bars, but she did eventually slip through, albeit a little bit shaky from the strange screen.
"Huh?" Navy went over and tried it, but the second she touched it, her hand glitched like crazy and forced her to stay back.
"Here hang on, I got it," Connie said, trying to bring her arms through so they could make an opening for them. It wasn't easy with trying to avoid getting burned by the bars, but eventually a slight opening was made for them to go through. One by one, they've managed to slip through, but the only one who couldn't do that was the Rutile Twins, too big and finding it too difficult to work with in their state.
"Don't worry, we'll get you out, I promise," Lars said, him trying to make the opening taller for her. However, the twins just couldn't make the connection. The twins were stuck.
"Darn it. Onyx, know how to open this thing?" Lars asked. Looking over though, Connie II was backing up a bit until she was a good ten feet away.
"Eh ... how many friends were you trying to get out?"
"Why?" Connie asked.
"Here comes Connie!" shouted a voice. A voice a bit too familiar. Everyone else went on to back up, and looked to where Connie II was looking, and sure enough, there they all were! Groups of three to four, each in a good amount of cells around, looking almost like a beehive in a way. Well, good news was they found em. But, how to proceed?
"Eh ... oh boy."
~~~~~~
Well, as this was going on, White Diamond herself continued on with her own pursuits. With the Crystal Gems and the Mane six in her custody, she felt pretty content with herself, taking time to look through some of her screens on some of the project updates.
"Very nice. And you informed me that the humans had been caught and apprehended as well, Pearlis?" White Diamond said at one point, looking down to her hybrid Gem.
"I've seen them go in there myself, My Diamond. And even if they get out, there's the tiring trouble of trying to get the others out, which will give our soldiers plenty of time to arrive and put them back in," Pearlis figured.
"Very good," White replied. White Diamond continued checking in on the experiments and projects going on, but as she was, she glanced back to Pearlis, who actually appeared to be a little bit preoccupied.
"I do hold some apologies over what happened towards Onyx. but it was her own fault for peering in."
"I-I know, I know, but ... eh, I-if you don't mind me saying, but ..." Pearlis got quiet when White raised her hand.
"Everything will be alright, Pearlis, I've told you this. Needn't you worry your head."
"... I do hope so."
Before their conversation could go any further, White Diamond began to get a signal from Homeworld, a Yellow gemstone appearing on screen, blinking. White Diamond knew what this was about, and motioned her hand for Pearlis to go before she answered. She expected Yellow Diamond, but she didn't expect Blue Diamond to be there as well.
"Ah. Yellow, Blue. How unexpected."
"Blue and I would like a word with you, White," Yellow stated firmly. White would expect such.
"Well, you have one now. What is it?" before Yellow could say what, Blue Diamond went on and cut to the point.
"What do you know of Chamber 77?!"
"... Pardon me?"
"Chamber no.77. Facet-2 cut-1X3. Any of this sounding familiar to you?" Blue asked angrily. White felt herself cringe on that answer, feeling slightly annoyed that they found that out sooner than she expected. Still, White Diamond just sighed.
"That was supposed to be a surprise present. I'd like to thanks those humans for ruining it for everyone," White said, figuring that was how they would know.
"A ... present?"
"Pink Diamond, naturally."
"WHAT?!" both Diamonds gasped.
"You heard me. I know how some of you are feeling about Pink Diamond's unfortunate passing, so I've been taking my time to gather up the pieces, and to put it in simpler terms "build her back together"."
"But you can't revive a shattered Gem, that's impossible."
"It worked on Rupee, didn't it? And in a way, Rose Quartz is still alive, but in a different way. I'm sure if a runt of the cluster Crystal Gem could figure it out, then so can I. Is there something wrong with bringing her back?" White asked. Blue and Yellow were still a bit unsure about the whole thing either way.
"We're gonna come by, anyway. Just to be sure." Yellow said.
"Now, don't bother yourselves with -"
"This isn't a request. We'll be there soon."
"Yellow -" before she could finish, the screen was cut short, and connection was gone. White was expecting this more of Blue Diamond than Yellow Diamond, and found herself trying to figure out what to do with that chamber of hers. Sure, Yellow Diamond had already been given a taste of what's done back there, but that chamber was not one to be taken lightly, especially with what she was trying to do. Groaning, she went to another screen, which appeared to be some sort of list. ...
"... Well. This could be beneficial after all."
.......
Well, for Blue and Yellow Diamond, travel time from there to White Diamond's Space Station was a bit slower than the sun Incinerator, but they did eventually make it there with little retaliation from the local troops. White Diamond wasn't with them here, and in an odd way it was probably preferred for the two at this point. Yellow alone knew the way to the testing chambers. It was a silent and long walk, but eventually after some searching. And next thing they knew. They were standing right at the door, the 77 number planted right on it.
"Ready?" Yellow asked. All Blue did was nod, and with a sigh, both Diamonds opened up the doors. ...
Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond just stared on into the interior of the chamber, both their eyes good and wide, and taking in each and every detail that Chamber 77 had to offer to them. This was the chamber that only White Diamond herself had common access to, and this was the chamber that had every single answer in it to this whole mystery. Quietly, both Diamonds ventured inside, Yellow closing the door behind her to be sure, and they both got a good look around.
Silent. Cold. Lifeless. These words just scraped the surface in this test chamber. There wasn't much light in there, mainly because when it came to containment cells, there was hardly any if at all. Each step the Diamonds made as they went through echoed through the silent chamber, only met with the sounds of silence. Well, almost silence. There was some sort of odd items here and there as they looked around along the walls and corners, hearing to the very back of the chamber as to not miss anything in there. Blue Diamond looked to one wall, and she got the first taste of what was in here. Along one part, she noticed that some data plans were left out, one of which showed a humanoid shape onto it. Blue went closer and picked it up, showing that these plans were a bit more complex than she realized, showing the anatomy of a Gem basically, and once more the figure looked oddly familiar to her.
Yellow Diamond looked off to another area as they walked on, and found something even more troubling than just some picture plans. It was enough to make her stop and move over for a better look. This time it was some testing tubes: each one here with a organic heart in it, one of which was still beating as if the creature it was taken out of was still alive somewhere. The testing controls for these were left a bit untouched for the most part, though there was a odd detail to it. By one of the hearts, there was some more data plans with a similar outline from what Blue Diamond had found.
"What are these doing in here?" Yellow silently wondered. Her eyes drifted off to just behind the tubes, and saw another little display for both Diamonds to see, and it made Blue gasp slightly. A skeleton. One with wires attached to it, and a screen nearby showing the interior of the skeletal bone in the form of DNA spirals.
"Oh my," Blue gasped.
Then came the very back. Both Diamonds, Blue still carrying the plans, moved over to the back of the chamber, and found a large containment cell, though it was too dark to see exactly what was in there, or who, if anyone at all. There was some controls for the chamber nearby, but they were turned off for the moment as no one was there to control them. The cell itself was huge, big enough to fit both Diamonds inside fairly comfortably, but none of them were willing to test that kind of suggestion.
"Do you want to do it?" asked Blue meekly. Yellow could tell that Blue Diamond was getting scared.
"I might as well," Yellow sighed. They made it this far, time to find that final piece of this crazy puzzle. Yellow Diamond felt a bit reluctant to continue further, but as she said, they'll never figure this whole thing out if they don't.
She activated the controls.
The lights went on.
Blue felt faint on what she saw next, her and Yellow both. The cell revealed a fellow Gem inside. Silent. Still. And not reacting very well to the noises. She looked tall too, tall as they were to be exact, though a little smaller possibly. The cell was liquefied, the Gem suspended in some form of liquid, whatever it was. They saw her Gemstone: a scrambled mess, cracked like an egg, and one hit away from being shattered completely. In fact, it didn't even looked connected at all, it was so shattered up. Her eyes were wide open, glazed and staring off to nothing, as if she too was paralyzed in place by whatever sight she was seeing before her. The gemstone, the face, the colors. Seconds was all it took for them to recognize who it truly was that was inside that cell.
As if by some unseen force, or perhaps it was for turning on the machine itself, the screen walls that kept it altogether, slid open. Liquid spilt onto the floors in front of their feet, all drained down through the floor. As for the Gem, the mess felt the weight of the world, and collapsed onto the ground in a heap. Her body laid limp, only the occasional glitch springing up time and time again, as both Diamonds stepped back in sheer horror. The body did nothing, but her limbs started to move in such a limp, and groggy way, reanimating herself back to life. Moans gurgled from her soul, as she was barely able to get to her feet, her hair draped down over her face and a singular eye of a tortured soul staring back to the two Diamonds.
"Oh my stars," Yellow gasped. Blue couldn't even say anything, yet her eyes were locked in place. The gem reached a hand out to them, her voice strained, and sobbing. She was confused. Scared. And the only Diamonds there didn't know what to do. Blue and Yellow started to move back to the door, the Gem trying to follow after them, but a light chain began to activate and pulled her back hard! Yellow Diamond had to drag Blue Diamond out of there, neither really knowing what to do for her. They heard one more gasp from that Gem before the doors closed behind Yellow and Blue diamond. They both were shaken, and something else started to grow in them. ...
"... That ... that was her ..."