It had been a long day.
Long for Flint anyway. While everyone else was, as far as he knew, dealing with yet another friendship lesson upon Homeworld, he had been keeping himself busy with his own pursuits, and admittedly enjoying the peace and quiet. With well over twenty people going about the place in either the Temple, or the Barn, it was hard to find any actual silence unless it was away from either place.
For Flint, it was the latter option, and he was just getting his own activities finished with a particular area of the world, in this case in the form of some field study out within the Strawberry Battlefield. Been a while since the group had gone back to this place, the last time it being the main grounds for Chrysalis and her army. Typically he would be alone for this venture, but this time he had some company in the form of Rhodonite (the only other Gem around). And with the Warp Pad sounding off, both Gems returned back to the Temple. Flint and Rhodonite had gathered a few items already, with Rhodonite holding a ball chain mace whereas Flint was carrying a decently-sized Falchion sword. They also were bringing back a corrupted Gem, its gemstone inside of a bubble.
"Well, that was something. … So Rhodonite, how was your first corrupted Gem mission?" Flint asked, taking a few practice swings with the sword he had on him. Rhodonite was still shaking a bit in her boots from all that craziness.
"Why'd you ask me to come along again? I-I thought I was gonna get shattered out there," Rhodonite said. Flint took the bubbled corrupted Gem, and with a tap of his hand sent it off inside the temple.
"Well next time don't get a panic attack in the middle of a mission, ok? It would've gone smoother if you'd kept focused on the task," Flint stated, checking out the sword in his hand. Rhodonite got alarmed.
"Next time? OH NO, one time's enough for me thank you!" Rhodonite insisted, "I mean why should I keep throwing my neck out there if I don't have to? You guys got that done far better than I could."
"They're not here, remember? They're still at that Era 3 Festival thing. Anyway, didn't you want to try and not be so scared of everything anyway?" Flint pointed out. Rhodonite paused and actually flustered up. She DID promise she would try to be less scared, though it was a bit harder than it looked. Especially when it ended up in situations like this.
"W-Well … yeah. … But I don't wanna break doing that," Rhodonite murmured. Flint sighed, but with his mind on the subject of the others, he turned back to the permafusion.
"Speaking of the others, have you heard anything from them? I haven't heard much from them lately since they left for that friendship lesson."
"Um. No, I don't think so. You don't think something happened to them. …" Rhodonite's statement hung in the air before Flint answered begrudgingly.
"There better not be anything bad happening, or so help me. It's sketchy enough with White Diamond still there, and here they are playing party games."
"Wait, you're still against that?" Rhodonite questioned. Flint sat down for a moment.
"Not as much as before, but think: White Diamond is the same person that has experimented on Gems, Humans, and Ponies alike, conquered hundreds of planets -"
"OK, OK, you don't have to go through the whole thing, I get the point," Rhodonite cut in, not wanting to freak out any further. Flint sighed.
"Well anyway, let's just watch it ok? The others seemed a bit too willing, if you ask me."
"I know!" agreed Rhodonite, "I don't know what they're thinking. Off-Color or not, I'm not going near her until I KNOW she's changed. I mean what if this is really all just an act again?"
"I'm glad someone agrees with me," Flint stated, getting back up and feeling glad he wasn't alone here. "... But still. White did act so foreign when I saw her. It's so out of place."
"Foreign? How?"
"I found her cowering in her room, trying to hide that pink blush off her face for a start," Flint stated.
"...…. wha?"
"Yeah, I know."
Rhodonite tried to imagine it, but she couldn't really seem to get the right mindset about it. White Diamond cowering? Since when?! Flint decided to just switch the subject before they get too deep on it.
"Well, thanks for the help Rhodonite. I'm gonna go and see how the others are doing, maybe see if they'll come back," Flint decided, starting to head off towards the Warp Pad. It was a quicker method than simply walking there. Rhodonite turned to him.
"Is it gonna be enough?" she asked. Flint just paused briefly.
"We'll see." Flint simply said. He couldn't look on ahead into the future like any Sapphire, so at the end of the day he can only hope for the best. But they were never gonna figure that out by just staying in the temple. So, as Rhodonite stood there, Flint went over to the Warp Pad, before before he could activate it the Warp Pad went off on him, making him step back.
And someone suddenly shot out, knocking Flint onto the ground and making Rhodonite yelp.
"Gah! Pinkie, what did I tell you about - … Garnet?" Flint was taken aback by this "attack" and Garnet already had her visors missing, just to show she wasn't messing around and showing the actual trouble she had to him.
~~~~~~
For the rest of the group, things weren't looking up as much as they'd like. Many of those left standing could only make it over towards the Barn house before they had to settle down and regain their strength from Grogar's assault, be it either those poofed Gems still inside their gemstones or just getting themselves bandaged up and healed by Cadance's magic. Out of all of them, potentially, Cadance had the quickest recovery from the fight (aside from Amethyst of course), but she still had a bit of sore wings and ruffled feathers. Which is less than could be said for some of the others.
On the bright side, at least one healer was actually good enough to work, amongst a few others who didn't get injured. Only Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl kept aside from this, keeping close to the diamond gemstones. At the moment too, Cadance's next patient was Jasper, who rested along the side of the barn with her gemstone being tended to.
"Now hold still," Cadance said. Her horn glowed, and Jasper groaned and cringed as it touched the cracks on her gemstone. It wasn't exactly the perfect fix like it was for Rose's Fountain, but it did fill in the cracks in the gemstone just enough to keep Jasper stable.
"I did not see that coming. … Ugh, my nose," Jasper groaned, hand holding her gemstone and actually shivering a little. The foreign material used wasn't something she'll be getting used to anytime soon.
"We're still alive, so that's got to count for something - yow!" said Rainbow Dash, as she was being wrapped up by Jade with her front hoof.
"Sorry," Jade simply said. Nearby, AJ wrapped her own back hoof up in bandages, cutting off spare bandages before spitting it out.
"Well y'all, we know what that Grogar fella's capable of. And when the hay did he get an army? Thought you said he was just with that Budgerite and Bray," noted Applejack, looking over to Starlight, who was one of the more injured with her horn having a slight split in it thanks to Grogar's teeth.
"How was I supposed to know he had another bunch of aliens and Gems on his side? I only met the Ram ONE time," Starlight retorted, her hoof rubbing her sensitive horn. It was like touching a bum tooth, and gave her quite a headache.
"Alright, well the best thing we can do is not panic," insisted Rarity. Simple enough. Kinda.
"T-That's right everyone, don't panic," agreed Yellow Pearl. "Just because Twilight Sparkle is being taken captive, w-which leaves Equestria without a proper leader. And the fact that the Diamond Authority has been toppled in one day by this Grogar, and over half of the Royal court's now a bunch of corrupted monsters, w-which means that this planet is next, and it's completely finished - *slap*"
Fulgurite, who was still recovering a bit from her own regeneration, had to slap Yellow Pearl with her electric hair to get her back to her senses.
"Better?"
"Y-Yes … maybe."
"Alright already," Fulgurite said, "K, so before anyone else panics, anyone heard of Steven? I don't think he said anything since we got back here."
Steven. They all were a bit quiet about that for a moment or two on that one, before it was answered by Fluttershy.
"He's walking home. Oh … should we go talk to him?" Fluttershy replied.
"Give him some space first, flutters," suggested Amethyst. It was probably for the best, with what loss they did get on their side giving Steven probably the hardest blow of them all. It was quite a lot to process anyway, with or without the missing member of their party. As they were getting themselves healed up, a few others were getting back to the barn.
"Found him!"
"Garnet, good you're back," said Rainbow Dash.
Garnet brought back Flint sure, but also the Off-Colors found their way with them back to the barn themselves. Flint, Rhodonite, Fluorite, the Rutile twins, Tiger's Eye, and Padparadscha were all in toe behind Garnet, and upon arriving and seeing the situation they all needed a bit to process what they were looking all. Four Diamonds poofed, most of the Harmony Gems taken down, Steven and Connie missing, and them all looking a bit beat up as well.
"What … the …"
"O-Oh my!" Rhodonite gasped.
"What happened to you all?!" Padparadscha gasped. Surprisingly in time with the others. The Off-Colors were beginning to go in and seeing the situation a bit better, as Flint was just trying to not just say "I told you so" to any of them. … Or he WOULD say that if he didn't see the four diamonds off nearby still in their gemstones, White Diamond included. Someone had to explain what happened.
"Ok, who wants to tell them?" Spike asked.
"I'll do it," Pinkie said, hoof raised. She'd be giddier about it if she wasn't sore. Spike just gestured her to go on. Pinkie took a deep breath.
"We were playing around on Homeworld, and Twilight then comes in to teach everybody about friendship, but then she passes out so we try bringing her back, but she ended up captured by a nasty hornless unicorn and a bunch of meanie beasts, and then Grogar arrives and is suddenly SUPER DUPER powerful and nearly wipes all of us out, poofs the Diamond Authority, and turns most of the court into mean nasty corruptions, and now here we are."
…
"WHAT?! Wait. WHAT?!"
"She said that Grogar's taken over Homeworld: he defeated the diamond -"
"I know, I heard you the first time," Flint said sternly. He had to take a deep breath to calm down a bit. "Are all of you at least here? I know Twilight's gone, but where's Steven and Connie?"
"Steven's still here, he's just walking back home. And Connie's …" Garnet couldn't finish the sentence, but she didn't need to. Flint just gave a quick sigh of discomfort on that answer. How were they gonna explain this to her parents? Well, they didn't have time to go over that now, they needed to regroup and re-work their situation. Garnet went over to the front of the barn, placed so she could see everyone there.
"Alright Harmony Gems," Garnet said, "We've relaxed long enough, now it's time to work our way back to Grogar. I'm not having Era 3 start off with a takeover by this demonic ram."
"You and me both," agreed Jasper, "That goat thinks he can clobber me and get away with it, he's got another thing coming!"
"Wait a minute Jasper," Garnet said, "We can't just charge in at him."
"Why? HE charged in and it worked darn well for him," Fulgurite pointed out, equally ready to go back like Jasper.
"That's exactly why we can't! … As much as I want to."
"Pardon?" Rarity asked. Garnet recovered quick, as usual.
"Nothing. Look, we got a entire Royal Court corrupted right now, the Diamond Authority left poofed right over there, and Grogar has the right kind of magic to make a straight attack pointless. He'll wipe us out in seconds …"
"So what about a plan?" asked Amethyst. Garnet thought it over a short bit, considering her options.
"Alright, here's what we're gonna do! The first thing is figure out where Twilight has been taken to. After that, we'll go and heal the corrupted Gems Grogar has under his watch, and get them out along with Twilight. After that it's facing Grogar, and that'll be that."
It was a step-by-step process, but Garnet felt reassured that this would be the main method to go at it.
"That's a bit straightforward there," Flint said.
"Like all the best plans, it's simple to follow. Our main goal is to get Grogar out of power -"
"Garnet, wait a minute."
"Geesh, you NEVER like anyone else's plans, can't you just follow it for once?" Fulgurite said.
"Just hear me out," Flint insisted. So they did, and Flint took a step or so forward. "All of that is a nice plan and all, but if Grogar has THIS much power -" he presented the Diamonds as his example. "- he's not gonna just let us do this so easily and besides, what about those corrupted Gems? We don't even know how to heal them properly."
"You're not serious. We already have a method!" shouted Peridot. This got Flint's attention.
"Wait, you do?" Flint asked, surprised. Did they really discover the method behind corruption, and better yet a healing method? For a moment, he was giving them credit for not ignoring the main problem as Garnet went over to him, putting her hands on his shoulders and looking him eye to eye.
"Yes we do. Flint … We need Nephrite. She's the only one that can cure the corrupted Gems."
…
"Garnet, not again," Flint huffed, knocking her hands off of him. "We've talked about this hundreds of times already."
Garnet couldn't believe what she heard.
"Still? … Flint, this is different: Homeworld in serious danger, and Nephrite's the only one that can handle this before the entirety of Homeworld collapses."
"Garnet we've been over this," Flint retorted, "Nephrite's healing power is NOT a reassured fix. If she messes up once, there's no hope for any corrupted Gem she's working on."
"We don't have any other way, Flint!" Garnet insisted. Flint was not convinced.
"What do you think I've been working on these past few weeks? You deal with Grogar, I'll deal with the corruption," Flint said, turning to walk away. The others had about enough of this talk, Jasper being the first one to get up and get in his way alongside Amethyst and Starlight.
"There are hundreds that just became corrupted thanks to Grogar's attack Flint, how can you just turn your back on them? Just form Nephrite, and be done with it," ordered Jasper. Flint wasn't amused.
"Jasper, don't you start. I SAID I'm working on it," Flint restated, trying to walk by just for Jasper to step in his way again.
"There's nothing to work on! Dude, why can't you just bring Nephrite out and heal them already? If you do that we wouldn't be having this problem," Amethyst insisted, trying to put it in a way that he would get. But Flint didn't seemed convinced by any of it. Garnet was hearing all this and while she wasn't showing it, her anger was building.
"I'll give you two good reasons. One: Nephrite's healing comes with a chance they can NEVER be healed again! Two: even if she does decide to heal them and it works, Grogar will just go and corrupt them all over again! Get rid of Grogar first, and maybe I'll consider bringing Nephrite out if I don't find anything in time."
"Flint, you know we can't afford that. If we leave them alone longer than we should, they will tear Homeworld to pieces," Garnet sternly said.
"Don't be so dramatic, the Diamond Authority can handle them soon as they return, and the guards -"
"That's enough!" Garnet suddenly snapped. "Flint, I wouldn't have gotten you if we had any other option. You've had the answer to corruption for years, and even now you STILL refuse to use it! How can you stand there and say that?"
"I said no." And with that quick and firm statement, Flint pushed passed them and began his way back towards the Temple. At first none of them would go over to him, but they all were still feeling a slight bit of anger. Eventually though, one of them did end up getting in Flint's way again, this time again being Jasper.
"You selfish black beetle, you're one step away from ruining everything for all of us!" Jasper growled. "What's gotten into you?"
"I'm actually thinking, that's what's gotten into me," Flint stated, going passed her again.
"OH, RIGHT, thinking about how to avoid the subject!" retorted Jasper, "That's really why you won't do it is it? You already admitted you don't trust anyone here to watch over things, NOW you're saying you won't follow anyone either?!"
Flint spun around, giving Jasper a death glare. In his anger he wasn't thinking as straight, so ...
"What I'm saying is that if I make just one mistake, just like Pink Diamond did back as Rose Quartz, We'd all end up dead."
And then Flint stormed off, this time not giving any of them much time to go on and get him as he reached the Warp Pad. Nephrite was not going to come out, not if he could help it. As for Jasper ...
"... What? ……. WHAT?!"
…….
It took them less than a minute to get from the Barn House back to the Temple, which was where Flint would be going off to. They got there in record time, but Flint was just one step ahead of them, as the Beach House was simply empty.
"The hay - where'd he go?" Rainbow asked, frantically looking around. It wasn't until they heard the back Gem door shut up behind them that they knew where Flint had went to. Unfortunately, the door was already shut when they got to it, and strangely enough there was something keeping the door sealed. Amethyst was the first to try the door, but she couldn't even get her fingers in a good grip. It was no good.
"It's locked," Amethyst stated.
"These doors don't have locks on them Amethyst," said Pearl.
"That shows you how little you know," said a annoyed voice from the otherside of the Gem door. Pearl did try to get herself in through the form of her own gemstone, and while the gemstone on the door did glow, it refused to budge open. In fact, it gave a sort of "red-beeping light" on it, access being denied.
"Wha? What's this?! It's not supposed to lock us out," Pearl exclaimed in disbelief.
"I added a locking mechanism while you all were busy since someone decided to investigate my room. Emerald, I'm referring to you!"
Emerald turned his gaze away, giving off a nonchalance whistle. This only infuriated the others more, Garnet going right up to the door in question.
"Flint, open the door!" Garnet demanded, her fist hitting the Gem door with enough force to shake the Temple. This time though she wasn't met with any answer from Flint's part, who they could only assume was just handling what business he was talking about.
"I know you can hear me!"
Still no response. Garnet tried to force her way in, but that didn't do any good either. If anything it just cracked the wall rather than open the door. In the end, that door was not going to open unless Flint allowed it. Much to Garnet's dismay. …
"... K. I don't think he trusts us AT ALL," Pinkie said.
"What's your first clue? The fact he walked all over Jasper, or the fact he locked us out of the Temple?" Tiger's Eye asked. That was the least of the issue now.
"Well now what do we do?" Pearl asked, resting her hand on Garnet's shoulder. Garnet needed a moment to calm down after noticing Pearl's hands slightly hot thanks to Ruby's fuming from within. In the end, with Starlight's damaged horn, and none of them able to open the door with their own magic, the fusion had just one conclusion.
"He can't stay in there forever. …"
~~~~~~
Steven Universe's walk from the barn all the way back to Beach City gave him more than enough time to think about things as he continued going along through. The normally optimistic and cheery face of Steven wasn't all that much evident now, instead replaced by a Steven that was silent, and left to his own thoughts. He would be glad to be back home again after his latest experience, but with Grogar scarring him like that he just couldn't bring himself to be that excited about escaping him.
"How could this happen?" Steven thought, "And it started so fun too. Now all those Gems are corrupted … and now …"
Connie Maheswaran.
Steven felt a shiver run through his body on that fact. Those horrifying images of Connie's corruption had been plaguing his mind ever since he left Homeworld. Sure many of the others had been on his mind, but that was the one that stuck to him the most. His girlfriend, now a corrupted monster at the hooves of Grogar, going through who knows what back with Homeworld's new ruling king.
"I can't believe this, WHY did I have to leave her?" Steven thought aloud, actually giving himself a slap to the head. He even felt a tear come down from his face, and when he saw this he quickly wiped it away.
"No, Steven, don't start crying yourself all the way home. The other Gems are working with Nephrite, and when you get back, she'll be happy to help, a-and they'll cure her in no time at all! Yeah, you have nothing to worry about!" Steven told himself, trying to cheer up. He held a good smile for a moment or two, but the more he thought about it, the quicker that smile felt more forced on his face.
"... Please?"
"Yo Steven!"
Steven felt a bit startled by that noise. So pre-occupied in his mind he didn't even think of the fact that SOMEONE in town would probably recognize that he had come back to town. In this case, as apart of the late autumn run, Kiki Pizza was heading her way back from a good delivery, parking the delivery car nearby.
"Oh. Hi Kiki."
"Hey! Haven't seen ya in a while. How're things?" said Kiki. Steven paused a bit before clearing his throat.
"Oh it's going."
"Mmkay. And hey, glad I caught ya, got a little somethin for you."
"You do?" Steven asked. Kiki went to the trunk of the car, Steven standing there and waiting for whatever Kiki would have for him. Eventually Steven was soon met with a small-sized pizza box, and Kiki opened it up to show Steven what turned out to be a personalized pizza.
"Ta-da! Lars told us what you did out in space, so I thought I'd whip you up a celebration pizza. I got all your favorite toppings and made it just how you like it!" Kiki explained. Steven held the pizza box and looked into it for a bit. Boy did that pizza look good: a nice, freshly-made round pizza with the toppings made in such a way that spelled out "congrats" on the cheese. It sure smelt good, and it sure looked good, and for a moment Steven actually smiled ...
Have it your way. But remember, this is your decision.
"...…. Uh … Thanks, but … here."
Steven gave the pizza box back to Kiki, suddenly no longer feeling as good about this surprise. Kiki was puzzled.
"What's up, you don't like it?" Kiki asked, concerned a little. Steven looked down to his feet, Kiki now seeing Steven's sadder side.
"No, no it's great. But I … *sigh* I gotta go. I'll uh, see you later," Steven decided. Without another word, Steven turned and started walking down the street again. Kiki wasn't sure how to take this, but she was smart enough to know that it wasn't just the pizza making Steven feel down about things. She placed the pizza back into the car, and soon caught up with him.
"You alright, Steven? Looking a bit down in the eyes."
"It's fine, Kiki, really. I'll uh, I'll feel better when I get back home," Steven said, picking up the pace to keep ahead of Kiki. Kiki stopped and allowed him to go off further into town. She needed to get the car back to Fishstew Pizza anyway. Steven did stop briefly to look back and saw Kiki driving away back to Fishstew Pizza, leaving him all alone again. Only then did he say his thoughts.
"I don't deserve that pizza," Steven sighed. … only for his stomach to start growling.
"OK, maybe I should've taken it," Steven figured. Whelp, too late for it now. Besides, there were other places to go for a bite to eat in town, and with that in mind Steven started walking off again.
This kind of encounter kinda repeated itself as Steven Universe continued his walk through town. Some other friendly faces, happy to see him, would give their "hello's" and "how's it going's" and what have you, though while Steven kept a decent smile and wave, that was really all he did give. All the while, those words were still echoing in the back of his mind, and those images were still flashing in his head. It was gonna be a long time until he can come to terms with something like THAT …
"Ok, let's see … first thing I'm gonna do: see if Jade and Flint will form Nephrite for us. That's top -"
*growl*
"Er, second priority. Can't really be good at negotiation on an empty stomach," Steven figured. He could only provide enough nourishment with carnival food the last couple of days, and what the others brought back to him to balance that out.
"Got you covered."
Steven stopped again, but this time Steven was met with a recently-opened treat - a cookie cat ice cream sandwich to be precise. Steven's eyes lit up on his favorite dessert treat, and he looked over and saw that the one giving it to him was actually Buck Dewey.
"Uh. Thank. You," Steven said, caught off guard, but for the sake of his empty stomach he took the treat anyway. Such heavenly treats probably wouldn't be for him, but it was his hunger having taken the treat, not him. Steven took a bite of it as Buck started talking.
"See you're back in town, Star child," Buck said.
"Yeah, I guess I was gone for a while longer than I thought," Steven admitted, nibbling on his treat. "How's it going with your band?"
Buck thought about it a bit, glancing up to the sky.
"We've been reaching for the stars, Steven. Been busy with our own time of life lately, but our trail's still there for us to walk down. … And how're you going with that Era 3 festival?" Buck asked. Steven needed a minute, taken aback with Buck's cryptic talk, before taking another bite of the cookie cat. Should he tell him? Should he actually tell someone about the potentially war-happy Grogar now taking over an entire world a teleport away? The idea was worrying him, and he glanced to the now half-eaten Cookie Cat.
"Oh, it went great. Here, thanks for the Cookie Cat, I'm not hungry anymore. That's just the thing to get that growling off," Steven said, giving Buck back the Cookie Cat. Steven only took a few steps though before Buck spoke again.
"What happened at the festival? I'm curious," Buck said. Steven stopped briefly, and then tried to do a sort of fake cheerfulness.
"It was amazing! We got to introduce Homeworld to all sorts of things: a shooting gallery, an art contest, WAY more games than you can count, we even did this SUPER incredible fireworks show at the end! Man, wish you could've seen it, Buck, but I didn't have the time to … invite you …" Steven trailed off when he saw that Buck Dewey was silent again, just staring at him.
"... Funny."
"Huh?"
"It's funny, Steven. Sounded like the best time of your life. And yet …" and Buck Dewey took off his shades for this part, having that knowing look Garnet would usually have. "There's something keeping it from being the best time of your life. It's funny, don't you think?"
Steven groaned.
"Is it really that obvious? I-I tried to make it look good," Steven admitted, feeling shy about it.
"I'd say your acting did good so far. … Now, what actually happened over there, star child?" Buck asked. Steven was still wondering if he should tell anyone about this or not, let alone Buck Dewey, finding himself clamming up about the subject. All he got out was a small groan.
"Steven?" Buck inquired. Steven still felt clammed up about it. He couldn't bring himself to say it, so ...
"I goofed! I tried introducing the Quartzes to some of the cake's specialty cupcakes, only until AFTER realizing that none of them like cherry! … And one of them got mad, and kinda smashed the rest."
To be fare, that actually did happen, and yes it did bug Steven a little bit. Not the biggest problem, far from it, but it was something.
"...…. Sounded like a rough time," Buck simply said, putting his shades back on.
"Yeah," Steven sighed. Buck thought about it a little bit, but then got an idea.
"Tell you what. We were planning on going out for a movie tonight with the other kids. Been thinking about inviting you. You know, you being so busy and all, strong kid like you deserve a bit of a break. What do you say?"
"Strong? …" Steven thought. Steven felt a bit conflicted about this idea. On one hand, he had little time to even consider taking any break from anything given their situation, but on the other hand, what was already given to him was A LOT to take in as it is. It took some thought, but eventually he nodded.
"I guess so … can I check something back at my house first?"
"We won't be starting the movies until three. I don't see a problem with it. We'll meet up over by the warehouse," Buck decided, giving back the Cookie Cat. Steven smiled and winked, confirming the invitation as Buck Dewey strolled off on his own way. Steven sighed, and took another bite of the treat.
At least he can check up on things before heading off for the show.
…….
From there, Steven had an undisturbed walk from there over towards the Temple. The walk itself took a bit longer than expected, it being about late afternoon by the time he caught sight of the Beach House in front of him. As Steven neared the Beach House a bit more, he accidentally was getting his hopes up.
"Ok, please, please be working with us," Steven told himself. If he could at least see Nephrite there, or at least have news that it did agree to help them, then it was one big problem off of his shoulders.
It was too bad that the others at said Beach House weren't doing as good of a job as they did earlier. For hours now, they've been patient with Flint being within that room of his, and yet so far he didn't come out at all. He didn't even utter another word since they last "chat", which left them wondering if he was still even there at all. Not ALL of them stayed in the barn, but there were still some sticking around just in case Flint would rear his head.
By the time Steven did get back to the Beach House and opening the door, for the moment, the ones on watch were Garnet, Jade, Fluttershy and Amethyst simply … well, waiting. Nothing specific to pass the time for him, but they were still there. Amethyst kept herself busy with some video games as Fluttershy and Jade were watching her play, Garnet just sitting there on the couch, arms crossed and waiting.
"Hey Steven, you're back," called Jade.
"Hey," said Garnet.
"Hi guys," Steven said, walking in a bit towards Garnet, "Sorry I took so long. Was just catching up with some Beach City friends on the way back."
"Nothing wrong with that. Hey, wanna play? I need a player two up here," Amethyst offered, waving a spare controller. Steven smiled briefly.
"Sorry but I have somewhere to go. First thing's first," Steven said. And then he turned to Garnet. The fusion already knew what was coming, and she was still feeling a bit rough about that particular thing as her eyes underneath her shades glanced to the Gem door.
"Hey Garnet. Ok, please tell me -"
"No," Garnet stated, begrudgingly.
"Huh? No what?" Steven asked, though his tone was begging that it wouldn't be what he was thinking.
"You were going to ask if Nephrite would come and help us with the corrupted Gems on Homeworld. Unfortunately Flint said no," Garnet said, her voice actually in a bit of a growl on that last part. Steven's hope for a better future was quickly dashed.
"Why not?!" Steven gasped. The others decided to chime in, Amethyst pausing the game briefly.
"Flint's being a big jerk," Amethyst said, "He gave us this junk like "OH, if I make one mistake we'll all be dead!" and he locked the Gem door."
"He didn't come out since then either … and to think I actually looked up to that clod," Garnet groaned. Steven couldn't believe it. As if by pure impulse, Steven went passed them and right over to the Gem door to be sure they can even get in there. Unfortunately, Steven tried pushing on the door, trying to pry it open, but that didn't work.
"He locked us out of our own house. When were we able to do this?" Steven asked, bewildered actually.
"He installed a lock system into the door himself since Emerald's been in there. ONE. TIME."
"Seriously? Hang on."
Steven didn't have a clue what conversation they actually had with Flint, but he probably was better off not knowing if Flint got Garnet this riled up. Steven glanced over back to the door, and eventually he decided to go for broke. He went over, and knocked on the door.
"Flint, you in there? I want to ask you something. … Flint?"
No response. Steven tried to open up the door again, but it just wasn't budging open for anyone it seemed.
"Pretty please, Flint? It's been three hours already, we just want to talk. If you don't mind that is," Fluttershy said. Still nothing from the other side of the door. This was just frustrating Garnet and Amethyst. Steven then started to remember something.
"Jade, did you try talking to him? Maybe he'll listen to you," Steven suggested. Jade however was feeling troubled.
"I thought he would. But ever since Pink Diamond was revealed … well, I'm not so sure anymore," Jade admitted. It may have been a long time since that whole Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond thing was revealed with all that drama, but Flint's harsh words towards her still left a bit of a hole. Flint wasn't as willing to follow her as he used to be.
"Oh. Right, he yelled at you. But he forgave us, and we forgave him. Now he's on our side," Steven stated. Garnet grumbled, and simply sat back down. She knows Flint will come out eventually, but her future vision didn't tell her exactly when that'll be. The whole situation was just awful.
"Sooo … where did you say you were gonna go?" Amethyst asked, nudging Steven.
"Oh yeah! Buck Dewey invited me to watch a movie at three today," Steven remembered, "But ... maybe -"
"Got room for one more?" Amethyst cut in.
"Huh? But what about - … this?" Steven inquired, referring mostly to Garnet since Flint wasn't there to gesture to. Amethyst sighed.
"We all want this done, but we're not gonna get anywhere while Flint's locked up. So, why not just pass the time, catch that flick and we'll touch base with them later?" Amethyst offered. No reason for Steven to push onto more trouble after what happened. Steven came to a quicker answer this time after looking back to the door.
"Okay, let's go. That okay, Garnet?"
Garnet simply gave a thumbs up to them, not answering them exactly but enough to let it by. Amethyst and Steven both went off from there, waving goodbye. All Garnet did was just look back at the door. …
"Come out," she grumbled.
~~~~~~
A bit of a bittersweet note to leave the Beach House on, but Steven and Amethyst were off and on their way towards the abandoned warehouse. They haven't been at that place for quite some time, for Steven since his first Stevonnie fusion, and Amethyst from her pro-wrestling days with "Purple Puma". Still, the warehouse was plenty far away from the Temple, at the very least outside of town, so they decided a bit more of a fun route in flying. In this case, Amethyst shapeshifted a helicopter pole and propellers onto her back like a particular robotic flying dog, holding Steven by the arms. Steven meanwhile had gotten a few snacks with him, which he kept hooked on his leg since his arms couldn't hold onto it.
"So, Steve-O, did dewey fill you in on the flick? What's he got in mind?" Amethyst asked as they flew along. Steven thought about it a short bit.
"Uh … actually, he didn't tell me. It might be a horror movie, with Halloween coming up next week," Steven admitted. Amethyst smirked.
"I can figure it out for ya."
"You can? How?" Steven asked.
"That's easy: just tell your big sis who's coming to watch the movie. Different people like different things, and if I got who's going, I can narrow it down for ya."
"I don't think he told me that either. He just said "with the other kids"."
"... Whelp, I got nothin."
"I guess it's a surprise. But whatever it is, I got plenty of movie snacks so we wouldn't need to take a break."
Steven lifted up his foot, still holding onto Amethyst with one arm and using his other arm to fish out a few snacks, one of which was the classic chaaaps bag.
"Buck didn't say there would be snacks, so I came prepared."
"Yeah, my man!" Amethyst beamed. Odds were she would gobble up much of the stuff anyway, so Steven made sure to bring a lot. Steven got the snacks put away, and took a look on ahead of them.
"There it is!"
And not a minute too soon either, as the abandoned warehouse was soon up in their sights. Kicking up the speed, Amethyst started her approach right to the sight, making sure to get a good landing for her passenger as she got closer to the ground. They didn't need Steven banged up before the movie. After Steven got to ground, Amethyst landed nearby and the flying chopper blades disappeared.
And turned out, they weren't the first to arrive. There was plenty of space for the movie to be set up, a large white sheet hung up along the back with some comfy chairs set up, much like an actual theatre. As for who was there (aside from Buck Dewey of course), there was also Jenny, Sour Cream, Sadie, and Lars. A decent crowd, really, and Steven and Amethyst were just the two to complete it. Their arrival didn't go unnoticed for too long, the first seeing them coming in being Jenny.
"Hey Steven, Amethyst!" Sadie called, waving to them as the two came in.
"Hey, y'all. Like what you did with the place," replied Amethyst, checking out the warehouse.
"We were trying to get an actual theatre feel, y'know? I mean, why spend your hard earn cash on an actual theatre when you can just make your own movie theatre for free?" Jenny pointed out. Decent point, and while a bit mundane it did have the basic essentials for a movie theatre to have.
"Speaking of movie, what're we gonna be watching?" Steven asked. Before any of them could answer though, Amethyst stepped in.
"WAIT, wait, let me try and guess," Amethyst insisted.
"Alright. K, Amy, what's the movie gonna be?" Jenny asked, humored. Amethyst smiled, and then got her thinking cap on. She took a few steps back, looking over who actually showed for the movie in question. Lapis Lazuli might've been a bit better at this than she would be, given her memory, but it couldn't hurt to try. She even did onto of those "frame shots" with her hands, going over each person in the room.
"Ok, ok … don't tell me … AHA! I'm guessing "The Lurch"," Amethyst confirmed with confidence.
"Nope," said Buck. Amethyst's smile quickly stopped, realizing the little slip up. "... But that's ONE of the options."
"You got more?" Steven asked
"Sure we do, check it out," Sadie said, showing Steven and Amethyst the options they got for the movie.
The group had quite a selection of movies, about five more including The Lurch mentioned already. Many of these did however seem to fit the whole "horror film" idea, or at least a B-movie horror vibe with either the movie's signature monster on the cover, splattered blood, or somebody scared out of their mind. You know, the typical movie choices.
"Nice selection," Steven said.
"Thanks," replied Sadie, getting out one of the options, "K, how about this one? Evil Bear 2: Bearly Alive."
Sadie made sure to add a sort of dramatic tone to her voice when saying the title of the movie, which the boxart for it seemed to show the titled bear (looking like a particular Brittle Bear from way back when), one of the female lead characters running in terror, and the words "come scream with me tonight" lined along the bottom.
"OOOO, good class -" Lars's enthusiasm suddenly stopped after a quick thought, "Wait a minute. What year is it?"
Sadie checked the box.
"Dang it, 2011."
"Pass," Lars said, "It's boring. And that stupid fake C.G. bear! Hardly looks like it's really killing anybody."
"I should've checked the date. Alright, so not this one," Sadie sighed, placing the apparent remake aside for someone else to check out. Amethyst checked out the movie a little bit as they went through some of the other options.
"Oh, here's a good one: C.E.L.L.."
This film did catch some eyes, showing a more futuristic kind of movie with what looked like a person, numerous green neon lines, much like those lines one would see inside computer chips. Amethyst actually felt a shiver run through her, the look eerily familiar to a Gem Destabilizer striking a Gem, the figure even having an arm missing upon further look, and eyes behind a cloth as if blind.
"I think Peridot actually talked about this. Apparently this is very scary," Steven said, thinking back a bit. It wasn't that long ago, sometime before his birthday happened, and seeing this picture wasn't that easy to forget either. Amethyst quickly heard that name ring in her head.
"It never got the best reviews for being a horror film," commented Buck, looking to the movie in question.
"If it wasn't for "Motor Wars III"," added Lars. "But yeah, it's not as scary as Evil Bear."
"OH NO, not that trauma again, keep that AWAY!"
… And everyone turned to Amethyst, who was actually shaking.
"Trauma? Girl, you scared of this? The film's hardly a horror flick," Jenny asked, showing the movie again, only making Amethyst shiver on seeing it as the memories flowed back into her.
"You kidding me? I couldn't sleep for a week and a half after seeing that thing! Whoever made that film needs to get his stuff together," Amethyst insisted, her eyes open wide as the thoughts crept back into her head. An organic Human probably wouldn't understand, but the nightmares Amethyst got from the concepts in the imagery and "traumatic scenes" she was not willing to relive again. The others didn't get it, but suddenly Lars got it with a snap of his fingers.
"OH, wait, that's right, Gems are like AI aren't they? Sorry, maybe not this one," Lars said. While Amethyst had to draw the line at AI, she was just glad the film wasn't gonna be the choice for the afternoon movie.
"No C.E.L.L. huh? Hmm … Ok, what about ... this!" Sadie said.
Then she pulled out one particular movie that seemed to light up the room a bit. This film here seemed like a more medieval kind of movie, showing nothing but a distant copse on a black-and-white backdrop. The roots underneath the copse branch downward through to a monster's tentacles, which branched out from a human-like head of a crying girl. And the title of this film read "Eldritch Harvest".
Steven and Amethyst were kinda lost, but the others immediately grew interested.
"Whoa, where'd you get this one? I thought they had to remake this," Sour Cream asked, as Steven took a good look at the cover of said movie.
"Yeah, well, I got one of the issues before they got pulled, so this is the original copy of -" Sadie suddenly looked over to Steven, "Oohh wait. You sure this is ok Steven?"
… Steven honestly wasn't listening, his eyes examining the cover art of the movie for a bit more. That girl … that crying girl …
"Earth to star child," it only took some snaps of Buck's fingers for Steven to suddenly come back to reality, blinking once our twice before getting back to reality.
"Huh?"
"Dude, they're talking to you. This movie too much for ya or not?" Amethyst asked, catching him up to speed. Steven shook off the distraction and gave it to Sadie, giving his usual smile and charm.
"I can handle it! I'm 16 now, I can handle anything," Steven stated proudly. Despite the situation, Amethyst couldn't help but smile and almost snicker. Well the movie was all settled then.
"Alright then. Eldritch Harvest it is!"
Everyone got into position in the comfy seats on that note, with Sadie doing the main honor of getting the movie itself properly set up. It only took them at least about ten minutes before the movie was officially starting, everyone getting a good spot along the place. One little issue though: there was a reason that movies like this aren't shown during the day …
"Ok, it's way too bright," Steven said.
"We got you covered," Buck stated. All he had to do though was give a whistle, and Sour Cream (who was up by the big exit balcony), gave a thumbs up and pushed off one of the sandbags. Like a wave, a big sheet then stretched all across the back wall, soon covering up the backway in and making it just dark enough for them to better see the movie.
"Noice," Amethyst said. And soon, when Sour Cream and Sadie got into position, the movie soon started. As the main title went on, Buck briefly glanced over to Steven. Contemplating.
…
For the first twenty minutes, the film went on in a calm and collected pace, as most horror films typically do - establishing characters and some bit of backstory, so on so on, and at first nothing seemed out of the ordinary for those watching. Sure there were some rather freaky imagery, especially when explaining some bit on the harvest in the film, but nothing too scary so far. In fact, it was making Amethyst and Steven intrigued on a few things, even if it did look a little bit weird.
But after that first twenty minutes, the bets were starting to go off.
"So far, I'm game, but when does it get good?" Amethyst asked.
"Right around here," Lars replied.
"You sure -" Jenny got her hand over Amethyst's mouth to keep her quiet, giving her a shush just as the said scene started to shift.
The scene started with one of the main characters, namely the girl on the cover (Klail being her name) was going out nearby the titular tree. At this point in the movie, Klail's pet wether had just passed on, and here it showed Klail bringing her pet over towards the tree, and proceeding to dig a burial for her beloved pet. Nothing too weird yet, but Steven continued watching as the scene was playing out. Keep in mind, the female lead character looked very pale as she was digging this burial, even for the film being in color. In one shot, as she kissed her pet goodnight, and ducked down and placed her pet into the hole.
And then she stood back up.
Steven's eyes shot wide open.
"Huh?" Steven wasn't sure what happened exactly. The screen itself kinda flickered suddenly, and strangely, the pale girl … well, let's just say he didn't exactly see Klail for that two seconds until the screen changed back. Steven's confusion was now a little more noticeable. Steven rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and he didn't see anything else weird from there as the scene continued with her burying her wether, and walking away.
"OK … that was strange," Steven thought. But then again, it was a horror movie, and horror movies sometimes would throw its audience for a scary loop so he decided to just drop it. A few more scenes played on by, Steven trying to keep that odd glitch out of his mind, but his reaction to seeing Klail there wasn't entirely ignored either. Buck was at least remotely keeping an eye on him as the movie continued on, them giving a comment or two time to time.
Next scene was short, and no dialogue to give it much context yet: the cloudy sunset nearby the tree. Silence at first. The camera slowly began to move downward towards the ground. What was earlier a simple gravesite for a beloved wether was now an empty hole. Am empty hole with some footprints within the dirt, leading away from the scene, and a few stray roots not just outside it, as if something forcefully pulled them out that way. Steven started to build a cold sweat on sight of this, even moreso when the next shot was a little further away as the "corpse" was closing in away from the tree and towards Klail's home.
The screen was glitching again on him.
"A zombie? Really? I thought they were gonna make something more original, eh Steven? … Steven?" Amethyst only noticed now how worried Steven seemed to look, yet while that seemed okay given what they were watching, the eyes on him said something else was going on …
*bang!**bang!**bang!* … *baaaa*
"Huh? … Willian." Klail stated. That bleat was one that only she knew by the sound of it.
Everyone waited with baited breath, but for Steven, the screen was just getting too glitched for him to concentrate properly. It was enough to give him a headache, but everything the glitches happened, he kept on seeing someone else on the screen. Not Klail, nor Willian, even after Klail seemingly opened the door. To everyone else, they saw the background of the cloudy fields just passed the decerped-looking creature.
Steven only saw black. And the Ram to blame.
"G-Guys? Are you seeing this?" Steven asked.
Something was definitely wrong - no one was there anymore! In fact, everything wasn't there anymore, leaving only him and the scene playing out in front of him. His eyes tried to make sense of the whole situation, getting more and more freaked out with each second.
Steven? You okay?
You alright, buddy?
Steven could only see the Goat and Klail. Or rather, Connie and Grogar.
"Connie?!"
"Steven!" Connie shouted. She wore the exact same outfit as Klail in this situation, but Willian was slowly morphing into some demonic hybrid between a zombified ram and the demonic Grogar. Steven, panicking, tried to reach her but found he couldn't move.
"NO! Get away!" Steven shouted. But the demonic Grogar just smiled and laughed, bringing his hoof down on top of Connie. Connie screamed in pain as his hooves dug into her back.
"STOP! YOU'RE HURTING HER!" Steven shouted, tears starting to come from his pink eyes. Then the ram spoke.
Remember. This is your decision.
And then his hooves jabbed her back. Her blood-curdling screams snapped Steven into action.
"NOO!" Steven screeched, summoning his shield, and throwing it directly at him.
…
*SLICE*
The white sheet was sliced clean in two, the movie abruptly cutting short as it bounced off the wall and struck the projector. The gem shield bounced around several more time until it found its way outside, landing somewhere out in the ocean. Everyone jumped on this reaction, Amethyst immediately rushing to Steven.
"Dude, chill, it's just a movie! It's not real!" shouted Amethyst, holding Steven down as he kept his gaze locked onto the screen, even without the scene playing out. Then did everyone got a good look at his eyes.
"Whoa they've turned pink, man," Sour Cream said.
"You feeling alright, Steven?" asked Jenny, a bit more urgently this time as she held Steven by the shoulders. Steven looked ready to have a panic attack, his eyes pink as Pink Diamond for a few more seconds before he blinked. No Grogar. No Connie. Just a bunch of late teens wanting to watch a Halloween movie.
Oh boy.
"Uh … I … I-I need some air!" Steven said, before starting to rush away from everyone and right off outside.
What even happened back there? Did Grogar do that to him while he escaped Homeworld, or was it something else? Either way, seeing Connie get herself skewered in the back by Grogar just underlined that problem he had in the first place. Steven got himself outside, pushing passed the curtains to be greeted by the light of the late afternoon sun. His heart was racing, and his head was a bit scrambled by what was going on, and he took a breather along the warehouse outer wall.
"... Connie. … Oh Connie ...…. What am I doing?!" Steven's clenched hand hit the wall beside him. This was a mistake. …
"Ticked off at the wall?"
Steven turned back frantically, and found Buck standing there, along with the rest not too far away. Steven sighed.
"I'm sorry for wrecking movie day guys. Something just … happened," Steven said.
"Nevermind the movie Steven, we can get another projector," said Sadie, "Now what did happen?"
"I … I don't know. The movie started glitching out and everything kind got away from me. Did anyone else see glitching in the movie?"
"Oh boy," Amethyst sighed. Steven waited for a proper answer, but none of them said anything. That just confirmed that this was from Steven's head and not just some warped movie scene. Steven slumped as Buck and Amethyst went to his side.
"Steven. … You ready to tell us now?"
"Huh? Buck, I just said -"
"About the Era 3 Festival. What really happened."
"... You didn't believe the cupcakes at all, did you?"
"Come on, Steven," sighed Buck, removing his shades. Steven saw a Garnet effect with Buck doing this, and now Amethyst saw what was actually bothering him.
"What's he talking about?" Sadie asked Amethyst. But she knew that it was Steven who had to say it, not her, so she just shook her head and waited for Steven's word. Unfortunately, Steven felt a bit clammed up, a groan escaping his closed lips.
"Steven?" Buck said.
Still Steven kept quiet, though they could tell that he was feeling a bit more troubled.
"Steven," Buck said, this time more casually.
Steven looked ready to crack, but still kept quiet.
"Steven," Buck repeated, now more firm.
"OH, OK OK, I'll tell you. Just … promise me you won't freak out, or get too scared," Steven said, feebly. Buck nodded. Steven took a deep breath as the others listened to what he had to say. Steven took one more look at everyone before he finally started talking.
"... Ok. So. We had the Era 3 Festival, and at first everything was going great. Sure we had a few little bumps, but overall it was great the last few days. Lots of games, lots of fun experiences too. Even the Diamonds were having a lot of fun … even if they didn't join in too much. … But ..." Steven paused, only for the images to flash in his head again, making him tremble.
"Go on," Buck insisted. Steven took another breath, this time keeping his eyes closed.
"I goofed! For real this time! Twilight's worked herself so much she passes out, and now she's gone and taken away somewhere, and THEN a monster goat just storms into the Palace and takes down the diamonds, most of my friends, and corrupts the entire diamond Royal Court because I wouldn't join him! I made that happen! And I ran away and left them there! Now he's taken over Homeworld right now with the highest ranking Gems of Homeworld his slaves, Equestria doesn't have a ruler, and it's all my fault!!"
Steven's tears started to form up again for a moment or two. He didn't want to bring up Connie, not now, so he just summed it up. Buck contemplated what to do about this as the others went over to him.
"Dude, dude, hey, it's not your fault," insisted Lars.
"Yes it is!" Steven said while crying.
"No it's not! Steven, even if you did join that old goat, you think he'll just leave everyone alone after that?" Amethyst insisted, sitting by him.
"Well Maybe he would've!" Steven retorted, "But now that I didn't, there's a bunch of Gem monsters all over Homeworld!"
Buck stepped in next, sitting down by him after his contemplation. Steven waited to hear what he had to say, probably expecting a sort of Garnet-type speech to make him feel better -
"... Yep. It seems your fault."
... OK THEN.
"What?!" Steven gasped. No one expected THAT to come out of his mouth.
"Isn't that what you've been saying, Steven? Why so surprised?"
"W-Well, yes, but I thought you were gonna be trying to cheer me up, not shoot me down!"
"True that. Yet doesn't sound like you'll believe me, and it sounds like you don't even believe yourself, so ..." Buck shrugged. Steven paused, and simply looked back at his own feet. Buck was right on that mark.
"I don't even know."
"Well Steven, you can do one of two things: either sit here and mope, Crying Breakfast Friend style ... or stand up and try and fix this bunk. I'm not gonna tell you want to do, so ... what does your heart say?"
Silence. Buck may be just passed twenty by now, same with much of the others at this point, but he spoke as if he was the first person to walk on the planet. His open-minded attitude helped in that. Steven placed his hand not on his heart, but on his gem. He knew this whole movie idea was to make him feel better, but that wasn't exactly resolving any issues.
Grogar was still there, and no one's doing … well, anything. Not yet.
"Amethyst, we have to go back right away," Steven decided.
"Dude, I know you're game, but Grogar's gonna just pummel you if you just go in. … Gosh that sounds weird coming from me."
"Wha? No, no, back to the Temple," Steven corrected.
"Oh. Well, that case -" Amethyst took a few steps away from the others, shapeshifting back to her helicopter shape she had earlier, propeller ready and all. "- ready for take off, sir!"
Steven nodded, and turned back over to the others.
"Sorry to cut this short, but we got work to do. … Uh, before I go, you need a new sheet? For the movie I mean."
"We have another right here," said Buck, his thumb aimed at the sheet used for the open wall. "You go and handle what you have to do."
That was all Steven needed to hear. So, holding onto Amethyst's hands, both Gem and hybrid went off on their way back to the temple. It's go time, and they got a lot of work to do.
One thing first.
~~~~~~
"So, Steven, what's the plan now? I'm all ears," Amethyst asked as they were flying along back to the Temple. It took the two a bit longer to fly back to the Temple, now officially sunset by the time they ran aground by the Beach House.
"Well, before we do anything, we need to get everyone on board. It's not gonna work if some of us aren't taking this seriously at least," Steven explained.
"Got it captain. So, I'm gonna take a shot and say first thing's Flint right? He locked himself in the Temple, remember?"
"It's been all day, maybe we won't have to. Maybe the others talked him into coming out, and we all can figure out what to do together. What teamwork without a team?" Steven said, feeling enthusiastic. Amethyst smiled.
"THERE'S the Steven we've been missing," Amethyst said, giving her favorite little bro a fluff of the hair. Steven chuckled, but still kept himself focused. He and Amethyst went through the door and …
"Now Flint, we know you have your reasons, but perhaps if we can reach some form of an agreement -"
"Rarity, you can go on like this for the next year. As long as there's SOME answer for this Corruption problem out there, the answer's still no."
Another problem. There were some more there this time compared to earlier that afternoon, but the situation was still the same: Garnet, Rarity, Jade, Jasper, and Fluttershy were there now, and by the look of it they weren't getting anywhere still. And they were just frustrated over it as ever.
"They're still trying to talk to him," sighed Steven.
"Oh yeah," sighed Amethyst. Steven and Amethyst went over to the others by the door, who only noticed them coming in after a short bit.
"Hey guys."
"Oh, Steven, Amethyst. How'd your movie go?" Jade asked. Amethyst and Steven glanced at one another briefly. It wasn't exactly a good time for that subject.
"It went fine. But nevermind that, I want everyone together for a bit. Is Flint still in there?" Steven asked. A groan escaped Jasper's mouth.
"Yeah he's still in there, and he still won't come out, because he's still refusing to help!" Jasper stated, the last part with her glaring at the door. Steven shook his head.
"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it, we got Grogar to worry about right now. He's still on Homeworld, Twilight's still gone, the Diamonds - … well, i dunno if they're still in their stones or not, but we have to do something about that," Steven explained. Garnet went over to him next, and brought herself down to his level.
"Steven. I know we got a lot to deal with right now, but the corrupted Gems will suffer the longer we keep them like … well, this. I want to stop him same as you do, but we need -"
"Will you STOP saying that?"
Speak of the devil. Finally, Flint was out of his room for the moment, apparently tired of this conversation. He heard enough about Nephrite for one day.
"FINALLY!" Jasper sighed.
"About time you came out, Flint," Garnet stated, arms crossed. Flint actually ignored her and looked over to Steven.
"Don't get too excited, I only came out because I ran out of materials. Now Steven, there're other methods for handling this problem aside from Nephrite, don't let them tell you any different," Flint instructed. Steven heard Garnet growl a little bit, and Amethyst growing angry as well. Flint just straight up called them liars after all, and that didn't suit either of them.
"I'M NOT LYING," Garnet growled.
"Wait, wait, don't," Steven quickly said, getting in the way before a fight could break out. "Maybe we can work something out?"
"It's okay Steven," Flint said, "They're just upset because I gave it to them straight back at the barn."
"We're upset, Flint, because you just walked all over us back at the barn!" retorted Jasper, "I mean what even was that? "OH NO, if I make one mistake, we'll all die. WOE IS ME!"." Amethyst even threw in some fake tears, which just angered Flint.
"I did NOT say that!" Flint snapped.
"STOP!" Fluttershy insisted. He and Steven had to physically push them away from eachother this time before he spoke again.
"Look, let's just try and talk about it and come with a solution. Fighting won't fix the problem on Homeworld, right?" Fluttershy insisted. Amethyst begrudgingly put away her whip, but Flint then started to walk by them, only Garnet getting in the way of the door so he wouldn't walk off.
"There's nothing to discuss," insisted Flint. "They want Nephrite, I said no. What more is there to say?"
Steven, Jade, Amethyst, and Fluttershy nodded and tried their luck.
"Flint, we know you don't want to fuse, but think about it," Steven inquired, "We all want to cure the Corrupted Gems, and Nephrite is strong enough to do that. If you do this, everyone on Homeworld will be so happy -"
"Will you just shut up," Flint snapped, getting impatient with all this bunk, "No one's using Nephrite, no one's going to Homeworld right now, and that's an order."
… Did … did he just order them? Steven, despite himself, got in Flint's way at the door.
"Flint, can't you at least consider the idea? you're not being fair!" Steven insisted. Flint brought his hand to his forehead.
"I'm not considering anything like that, Steven. I'm NOT using Nephrite and that's final."
"But why not? You said everyone will die if you make a mistake, there's got to be something behind that isn't there?" Steven inquired. Flint didn't feel like answering a second time, so rather than humor him he kinda pushed Steven aside and stepped out of the Beach House. He had his items to get, and he can't do that with them constantly bugging him about Nephrite.
"Flint, why not?!" Steven insisted.
"Don't you all have Grogar to deal with?" Flint stated. Steven needed to step up. This brief stop was just what Steven needed to catch up, and next thing Flint knew Steven was gripping his leg.
"Steven!"
"Flint, just tell me why. You're hiding something!"
"Let go!" Flint demanded, trying to make Steven leg go of him. However, Steven's grip was pretty strong, and he wanted to know that much at least.
"We promised we'd all be more open to eachother!" Steven reminded.
"No, you promised that! NOW LET GO!" Flint exclaimed, resorting to shaking his leg to make Steven let go of him.
"B-b-b-b-b-but w-w-w-w-w-what's w-w-w-wrong?!" Steven asked while being shook up by Flint.
Flint had enough of this. Bringing his leg up high, and in a downward swing, Steven was flung off of him and back inside the Beach House! Garnet caught him coming in, but she was left stunned. Flint reached his limit.
"You really want me to be blunt, Steven?!"
"That's a bad way to put it but … sure?" Steven said.
Then he said it.
"Because I DON'T WANT TO!"
"We know you don't want to, but -"
"I don't have any reason, nor do I need one!" Flint revealed.
"Wait. What?!"
"As far as I'm concerned there's nothing on MY line to make Nephrite happen because you tell me to. I'm my own Gem, and my life is MINE to control, not you, or White, or Jade, or that fusion holding you right there. The Crystal Gems is about freedom and individuality without dictation, but wait a minute: YOU'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO THAT ALL DAY! Well you know what I AM making my own decisions starting now! And my decision is: I'M NOT FORMING NEPHRITE, and you can't make me. I will handle the problem how I WANT TO, and you will not change my mind!"
Now it was out. No one said anything at first, not believing what they have just heard. Jasper tried getting in, but Amethyst and Fluttershy made sure she didn't tear the place apart first, pushing her back. Steven was placed down, and Garnet took off her shades, looking Flint eye to eye with a shocked and angry look.
"I remember once before you wanted to quit the team. But we found out you were just scared over what'll actually happen. Did you mean that, or did you just lie so we'd leave you alone?" Garnet questioned, one side smoking while the other side was forming ice. Even Flint was feeling intimidated, but he answered anyway.
"Of course I meant that, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna just bend my back for you now! If you said all that just to keep me around for Nephrite, then YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S WRONG HERE, NOT ME!"
"THAT'S IT."
"Garnet no!" Jade yelped.
But it was too late. Reaching her breaking point, Garnet had Flint by the throat, and started shaking him violently. This would kill him if he needed to breathe, but it still hurt him. Flint thrashed around, giving Garnet a few kicks to the stomach and legs to try making her let go.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA hold on, let's just calm down for a minute," Amethyst yelled. Sure she was mad, but not enough to escalate this much (despite initial thoughts).
"Stay out of this," Garnet instructed firmly.
"STOP! Please, no one's going to win this way!" Steven pleaded, trying to stop the fight before it could get any worse, with Fluttershy and Jade's help, but in her anger she forced all three back away. One of Flint's kicks struck Garnet in the lower jaw, making her let go briefly just for Flint to tackle her to the ground. He gave Garnet a good few punches before Garnet recovered again, bringing both feet up and launching Flint off of her, him slamming in the ceiling strong enough to crack it. Upon landing on the ground, Garnet stomped on his back.
"You are NOT the leader, Flint, and never will be!"
Flint snapped, before suddenly forcing Garnet off and, much to their shock, aimed his gem pistol at her and fired! Garnet was launched clear out of the Beach House, landing off over further down the beach.
"Oh man, this is going bad," Amethyst said, worried. Flint charged up his pistol as Garnet got up.
"DUDE, calm down! We won't ask you to form Nephrite, okay?! just quit fighting!" Amethyst said, jumping in the way. All that got her was a swift kick to send her aside before a pair of arms suddenly grabbed Flint and threw him outside. Jasper was the one who caught her, but even she was left blind-sided by this assault.
"You okay?" Fluttershy asked, helping Amethyst up.
"Yeah, but I think we can agree that we've kinda pushed him too far," Amethyst said. Just for them to hear a big explosion outside from either Garnet's rocket arms or Flint's pistol.
"Yep. Agreed," Steven stated, scared.
By the time they got outside, Garnet and Flint were face to face, still trying to pummel eachother out on the beach. With her gauntlets at the ready, she met Flint head on and going in for a few swings of the gauntlets. Flint dodged the punching fairly well, and on the fifth one he actually grabbed Garnet's arm and forced off the gauntlets from her hands, removing her weapon of choice, and kicking her to the ground. Or he would've kicked her to the ground in she didn't jump, grab him by the shoulders, and threw him into the rock wall.
"It's no use, Flint, you can't beat me!"
"Why don't you both come out here and say that?"
"I. SAID. STOP!"
Steven jumped in between the fray, and got out his bubble shield, forcing Garnet and Flint off of eachother. Out of all the things lately this was the last thing they needed. Both Gems landed roughly on the beach, stunned that Steven would be this forceful in intervening. As for Steven, it was time to get this problem solved.
"GUYS, what do you think you're doing?! You're both better than this! Fighting with eachother's not going to solve anything, it's only gonna make things worse."
"The only one making things worse is him, Steven! He'd rather turn his back on his own team," accused Garnet.
"But Garnet -"
"Well pardon me for trying to avoid force-fusing!" Flint shot back.
"Flint -"
"I'M NOT resorting to that level, but Nephrite HAS to help."
"For not resorting to it, you're doing a GREAT JOB at using it!"
"YOU'RE BOTH WRONG!"
Garnet and Flint stopped yelling and looked to Steven, who … looked a bit freaked out himself. Let's just say those three words came out without thinking. Lucky for Steven though, both Garnet and Flint had said just about enough for him to actually work out what he had to say. And he started that, by turning to Garnet.
"Garnet, I know what you're trying to say, but even if she is the only option, you can't just "make it happen"! Fusion is between two Gems that care deeply about eachother, and love eachother. Ruby and Sapphire know that better than anyone - YOU know that better than anyone. I mean, Isn't that what you were telling the other Gems back on Homeworld? How can you say and teach all that, and then just turn around and do this?!"
"Steven. …" Garnet didn't say anything else, looking to both her hands at the idea. She WAS forcing Flint and Jade into something she KNEW can't be forced. And while Flint got off the ground and brushed himself off, Steven targeted him next.
"And Flint, I know what you're trying to say, but The Harmony Gems aren't just about "freedom and individuality", they're about love and acceptance! And you've been acting really mean to my friends, and I don't love that. I don't accept that. You keep saying you're helping in your own way, but the second it wasn't about you, you stopped caring. This isn't the Flint club about making Flint feel good. This is our whole life! Do you care about that or not?!"
Flint froze, trying to think of SOMETHING to say to defend himself. But in the end, his Flint stubbornness and Zircon cleverness confirmed it would only support what Steven was saying to him. He couldn't think correctly and he was actually starting to feel …….
Then he fell back.
*POOF*
"Flint!" Jade gasped. Well out of all the surprises today, this one was a good close second from taking the cake.
"Oooo. You Honest'd him so hard, he died," Amethyst commented, cringing a little bit. Sure he wasn't dead, but seeing the now dormant gemstone on the ground did indeed leave them a bit of pause for thought. Rarity quickly galloped over to Flint, levitating him up and checking him over from top to bottom.
"Well?" asked Jade. Rarity needed a minute, and eventually sighed.
"Don't worry, he's just poofed that's all. I don't see any scratches or cuts anywhere," Rarity confirmed. She would know, given her eye for items like this.
"Oh, good. He'll come back," Steven agreed.
"I guess I must've hit him a bit too hard," Garnet admitted gravely. But Jasper still had one more question for the day. …
"Well what do we do with the Black Beetle now?"
~~~~~~
Wait.
For the rest of the day and through the following night, with Flint stuck inside his gemstone now and no way to actually talk to him at this point, that was really all they could do for now. Whether he agreed to the terms of Nephrite or not. There wasn't much point in arguing with a gemstone. At the least, nighttime went undisturbed and Steven made sure to keep the gemstone with him so nothing would happen to Flint throughout the night, keeping him right next to his alarm clock. It was the least he could do. Aside from Steven, the others also kept a visual over the fallen Gemstone, though some like Rarity and Fluttershy had more matters to work out, so they couldn't stay around. Jade stayed up the longest to keep her eye on Flint.
Even so, that didn't mean she was awake the entire night. Despite not needing any sleep, Jade actually did begin to doze off after a while, leaving technically no one watching over Flint's gemstone for the rest of the night. With no one else watching, or even there for that matter, Flint's gemstone was free to do what it wished …
And eventually, as morning started to come around once more, Steven was the first to find out just what was going on. Steven yawned, and took one look over to the alarm …
"Huh? … O-Oh gosh. Did something move him? W-Where'd he go?" Steven asked, getting worried. He tried to check around where he last saw him; peeking under the bed sheets, in between the bed, wherever else but no sign of him. As he was trying to find where he went, he accidentally tossed a pillow aside, hitting Jade in the head. It was just enough to make her stir.
"Flint? Flint!"
"Steven?" Jade asked, moving the pillow off of her as the others started to stir a little bit from the noise.
"Jade, did you see where he went?" Steven asked.
"See who went?" Jade asked, trying to bring herself around. However, Steven didn't need to answer her, as she also saw that Flint wasn't there. Next to wake up was Garnet.
"Morning Gems."
"Guys, Flint's gone," Steven said, "Any of you see him?"
"GONE?" Garnet asked, no longer so sleepy as she jumped up. This did wake up Amethyst as she ended up falling onto the floor thanks to her quick reaction. Amethyst shook herself awake.
"What's the game, jack?" Amethyst yawned.
"Amethyst, wake up. Flint's not here," Garnet explained. Amethyst wasn't sleepy anymore, getting up and checking where she last saw Flint's gemstone. Nope. Not there anymore.
"Oh no, we all must've slept when he reformed," Jade said. "He might've went away after what happened yesterday."
"You don't think that, do you?" Steven asked worriedly. Luckily before a manhunt could be called out, one more of this group spoke up, whom was casually leaning over by the door of the bathroom. She made her position known with a clear of her throat, bringing their attention to her.
"Jasper. You've seen Flint?" asked Garnet.
"Eeyup," Jasper sighed. And then she knocked on the wooden walls of the bathroom.
*creak*
"... Flint?" Jade gasped.
"... So … how do I look? …"
It was indeed Flint. Flint had reformed over the night, but apparently he didn't feel ready to just wake them up right away. But it wasn't just seeing Flint that made the two feel a bit taken aback. More rather, what Flint's new form had to offer.
It wasn't foreign for the Harmony Gems to get new forms time and again. In fact, every time they poofed a new form would offer something new in some aspect. However, Flint's look was a big step. Sure, his previous form still had less armor than how they first found him, but this new form didn't have any armor at all. Armor-like pattern maybe, but no true armor. His full bodysuit he had before now no longer extended to his feet, giving both his arms and legs some breathing room, though his feet were still shoe'd. His shoulder pads were a silver color, and he had a new silver belt, connecting some rounded cloth that went down his hips. Each one had the Harmony Gem star on it, each one a valiant silver.
The heavy and concealing armor no longer appeared evident.
Steven and Jade went down to the lower floor, and met Flint face to face, looking over what they were seeing.
"Flint. … You look amazing," said Jade.
"And you FINALLY got your star!" Steven beamed. "Wow, it's shiny too."
"DANG, look at the knight in more drag. Loosening up?" Amethyst added.
Flint sighed.
"Well, I guess so. If I am apart of this team, I was bound to get a star sooner or later," Flint shrugged, his hand placing where the star was on him. As they were checking him out, Garnet went over to Jasper, who just filled her in.
"He reformed, but made me promise to wait until morning. He was … in a rough place."
"I know," Garnet sighed.
There was a … bit of an awkward moment between Garnet and Flint, but Steven gave at least one of them a push and brought them out to the center of the room. He simply "introduced" them in silence, and allowed them both to speak. The least they could do was talk about things.
"Flint? ... I -"
"Uh, Garnet. Please, me first," Flint said, though a bit more humble than usual. Garnet quieted and allowed him to talk.
"Garnet, look. I know I could be … selfish, a lot of times. What I want to do, how I wanna do it, when I want to. But … yeah, Steven's right. I've been treating the Harmony Gems more like just "The Flint Club" to make me feel better when I should've been treating it better. … And …"
"And … what?" Amethyst asked, curious. Flint grunted.
"... I'm scared. I know I act like I got all my act together, and I have this "great leader" look sometimes. But the truth is I barely know what I'm doing! I don't have a bloody clue what's going to happen with what we do - what I do. I feel comfortable just handling something my way because at least I have some idea what'll happen next. I'm too scared …"
Flint paused briefly, but he gathered up courage with a clenched fist before sighing, looking to his feet with a sort of sorrow look.
"... Sometimes, I wish I was more like you. You get these "Future visions" of your thanks to Sapphire, so you got SOME bit of your act together. You can look ahead, think about what to do, and act on it. … All I got is some good guesses and a fancy spark pistol to do my decisions for me. … But I have to face it: I'm no better than you. And I should, at the least, try to be more like you. Considerate. Caring. … Calm. … You're all right. I'm just a selfish Black Beetle."
…
"You're wrong."
Finally Flint looked up to Garnet, who by this point also had a bit of a worried and concern look in her eyes, her shades already well off of her head.
"You're not the only one worried about the future all the time. When White Diamond took us all away. Our friends, our home, our memory ... I became lost. I had NO IDEA what to think then, and I tried my hardest to pretend like it was no big deal. But THEN, Pink Diamond was revealed to me! … I can't even tell you how shocked I was. Ruby and Sapphire broke up over how she deceived everyone! I came undone …"
Garnet rubbed away a tear from her eye, the tears from both sides of her.
"I'm not as amazing and perfect as you think, and in a way I really wish I was. … But I have weaknesses too. I try my hardest not to let them consume me, because I know the impact I have on everyone, and I struggle with that every day I stand here. But there're times I still fall. I STILL fail, I STILL get scared over what'll happen! … Like yesterday."
She placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Flint, I tried to make you and Jade form into Nephrite, because I was scared of what'll happen if I left all those Corrupted Gems alone on Homeworld. But I was wrong. It's not my place to decide something like that, especially with Gems as close as you and Jade had been. … And … I wanted to be more like you too."
Flint quietly placed his own hand on Garnet's hand, seeing a bigger picture of her than he thought. Everyone else didn't say a single word, letting this sink in for both of them. However, the silence was broken, not by Flint, Garnet, or the others, but instead by the Warp Pad. And standing there was Peridot and Emerald.
"Guys! Guys, come here, we -" Peridot quickly stopped herself when she saw the situation. "OH! … Sorry, y-you in the middle of something?"
"Yeah, we can pop back in a minute for you to finish up," added Emerald.
Flint and Garnet looked to eachother, and smiled.
"Everything's fine," said Flint. On hearing him speak, both green Gems saw his new form.
"WHOA, Flint look at you man! Liking the stars," said Emerald.
"Thanks. … So, what is it you were saying?"
"OH! It's the others! Everyone's back and reformed now, including the Diamonds!" Peridot revealed.
"Whoa, already?!" Amethyst gasped.
"I KNOW! Come on, everyone's waiting to see ya," Peridot replied, very eager for them to come along with her. That sure was a nice bit of morning news to hear, and they began to come along with her. Flint and Garnet went side by side, now having new respect for eachother. Steven couldn't help but smile, and Jade especially was pleased.
"Thank you, Steven," said Jade. Steven nodded.
Though, mentioning the corrupted Gems … it did remind Steven about Homeworld's situation. Grogar was still there. And they had to do something.
And it was good too that Jasper was right there, him thinking a bit over it still. Eventually, Steven went over and before Jasper could go, Steven tugged on her hand.
"Steven?" Jasper asked. Steven sighed.
"Jasper. I've been thinking lately since we got back from Homeworld, and … I want to ask you something."
"Hmm. Well, sure, what is it?" Jasper asked.
Steven took a deep breath.
"... I want you to teach me how to fight."