//------------------------------// // Giant Woman // Story: Gems of Power // by WezzaHD //------------------------------// They all stood wide- eyed at the sight of Sugilite. All the while, she stomped towards the castle, getting closer and closer. The Homeworld Gems saw that her colour scheme had changed as well. Instead of having burgundy skin, it had been turned into a dull grey. Her clothes were also red and black as she glared at them with red and black eyes. "Twilight." Jasper began, never taking her eyes off of Sugilite. "Find the Crystal Heart and get it to the city centre and do it quickly." "But what about that thing?" The lavender unicorn asked. "We'll handle it." Lapis added. "Peridot." She turned to face the green gem. "Go with Twilight, we still don't know where Pearl is." Peridot nodded as she walked over to Twilight. "Sombra isn't just giving them more power anymore." Jasper said. "He's became part of the fusion. This isn't going to be easy." Sombra grinned in Sugilite's body. He had become extremely powerful, and now he would take back control of the Crystal Empire, and the other gems. However, he was drawn from his thoughts as a light appeared below him. At first, six hands emerged from it, then a body and a face. "Malachite." He growled, while the green fusion responded with a glare from all four of its eyes. "Alright then, let us fight." Sugilite slammed her right fist into Malachite's face then summoned the gauntlet in her right hand to deliver a more powerful blow. Malachite however, summoned her helmet and blocked the strike before grabbing Sugilite by the shoulders and giving her three huge headbutts. Sugilite broke from the grasp and gave Malachite a powerful punch in the face with her gauntlet. Before she could retaliate, she found a mace hit her in the face. She then used the water to create shackles around Sugilite's legs, tripping her. Before she could slam her arms down, a shield made from dark magic protected Sugilite, who got up and gave Malachite an uppercut with her dark gauntlet, hitting with three times as much power as before. Malachite tried to block but she was grabbed by Sugilite’s lower arms and thrown across the street after the punch. The mace was swung once again, but this time the block was successful. Malachite grabbed ahold of the weapon and gave it a yank, pulling Sugilite towards her. The controlled fusion stumbled and once it was and closes enough, the four- eyed gem jumped forward with her helmet and made a blow on Sugilite’s chest. A large beam of dark magic was shot from her middle eye, which she was forced to take so the buildings and citizens inside them wouldn't be destroyed. "Damn." She growled, getting ready for another blow. Peridot was waiting at the top of the stairs; she looked around to see if anyone was coming when she heard footsteps. She turned and saw Pearl standing at the door. She readied her blaster while Pearl just stood there. Her opponent's gem lit up as Peridot was blinded by the light. When it died down, the green gem was completely surrounded by dozens upon dozens of hologram Pearls. They all immediately charged at her as she fired smaller shots. However, many dodged and she was forced on the defensive as she tried to dodge many of their attacks. She was cut numerous times as well as bruised and bumped. Her attacks only got a few as they all kept dodging and then relentlessly slashing at her with their spears. This went on for ages as began to get sluggish. She was backed up against a window she panted, one of the hologram Pearls shot a blast from their spear blowing her out of the window where she fell to the ground. She landed on her back so as to not crack her gem but it still took everything she had to keep her physical form intact. She rolled onto her front just in time to see Malachite disappear back into Lapis and Jasper while Sugilite released a monstrous cackle. She was surrounded by crystal debris and cracks in the path. She saw two small items in front of her that the found herself drawn to. She dragged herself towards them with her arms to get a closer look. One was a corkscrew-shaped draconic trinket made of a blue metal, an odd gemstone embedded in the dragon’s head, and the other was a small, sky blue pendant shaped like a small oval, wrapped in a silver band. The pendant seemed to have an inscribing on the back, and Peridot took a moment to scan the words. “I raise my blade in honour of you, the Displaced of the Multiverse. Place this amulet around your neck and call for Ace, and my blade will pierce the hearts of your foes!” She held it in her hand, she would’ve dismissed it as some family heirloom that some crystal pony had lost while they were running away but she could feel a certain energy radiating off of it. The other trinket seemed to somehow speak directly into her mind when she grabbed it, the voice sounding distinctly female. “For those of you in need, whether it’s in a fight or you just need some advice, I am here. Merely hold this trinket and call my name and I will be there. I am Zinnia. I am a Draconid. I am the Delta Guardian!” She was still struggling to keep her form together; she didn’t have time to question what was going on. “Help us… please…” Two portals opened in the air in front of the wounded Gem, completely black save for the small stars she could see within. From these portals, two people appeared a man and a woman. The man fell from his portal as though hopping off a ledge, dropping to one knee when he landed with a short sword strapped to his belt. Snow clung to his simple crimson chestpiece,the only armour he wore, as well as his simple, dark blue jeans and black hiking boots. He glanced up for a moment before pulling out a golden visor, placing it on his face to protect his slate-grey eyes from the powerful winds that caused his shoulder-length black hair to whip about chaotically, three vertical white streaks still clear. The woman, on the other hand, fell out of the portal as though she had just pulled herself out of bed, shown by the fact that she wore nothing but a silken purple bra with dark blue lace and matching panties. She flopped to the snow-covered floor, not even bothering to stand up as she began to pull the rest of her clothes on - a pair of black hot pants and a red sleeveless shirt with black markings forming a large, hollow triangle, with a smaller, solid triangle splitting the larger one’s base, both pointing upwards. A pair of red sneakers were pulled on after simple white socks, and a beige-coloured cloak covered everything else once pinned around her neck. She too had black hair, though hers had no highlights and was cut shorter, reaching just past her ears. Crimson eyes found Peridot’s prone form, their owner quickly rushing over with the aid of her purple wings to check on the Gem. “Oh my God, are you okay!?” the woman cried, gaining the man’s attention. He promptly rushed to Peridot’s other side, searching the surrounding area for her attacker. “I’m fi- argh!” She found that her right leg didn’t seem to be working properly. “I have... to get… back up there.” She looked up at the window she had fallen from high up from the castle. She also noticed Sombra- Sugilite getting closer to said castle. “Oh, no,” the man snapped, glaring down at Peridot. “You’re not going back into a fight when you've been hurt this bad. Hold on.” He closed his eyes for a moment, one hand on his sword, before a golden light encompassed the blade, transforming it into a pair of fingerless white gloves with golden lines running over them, meeting in a small circle on each palm. “There’s no time, dammit!” She protested. “The condition of my physical form is irrelevant right now. He’s already getting closer to the tower!” “Hold still,” the man ordered, placing his palms on either side of Peridot’s head. The golden light appeared in both of his hands before seeming to flow over the Gem, her eyes going wide as she felt her injuries healing themselves, if only a little bit. “Woah,” the woman breathed, staring wide-eyed at the man. “That was pretty cool.” She paused, squinting at him slightly. “Y’know, you look familiar…” She was interrupted from her thoughts as the huge footsteps got closer. Looking up, her face paled as she caught first sight of the mace-wielding behemoth moving towards them. “What the hell is that!?” “It’s Sugilite!” Peridot glared at the giant. “And if either of you have anything that can defeat her that’d be great since our last defence just split back into two!” “I need weaknesses, now!” the man barked, eyes fixed on Sugilite. “What’s she from, how did they stop her before, that sort of thing!” “Well I’d say try to get both of her halves out of sync, but they’re currently both being controlled.” “Wait, controlled?” the woman asked, gritting her teeth as Peridot nodded. “Damnit, more mind control! I’ll tear the bastard out myself!” she added, flaring her wings and rocketing off towards Sugilite. “Damn,” the man muttered, looking up and seeing a hologram Pearl stood in the opening she had blasted Peridot through. “Friend of yours?” he asked, helping the green gem to her feet. “She’s just one of them.” Peridot sighed. She activated her helicopter fingers and flew up. The man held his hands together, a sky blue light covering his gloved, pulling them together and lengthening them to form a katana, following after her by simply walking up what appeared to be an invisible staircase, sweeping the air in front of him as he went. “I’m Ace by the way.” “My name is Peridot.” “What can we expect from her?” He pointed at the holo- Pearl. “You can expect more of her; lots more.” As they reached the top of the window, they saw fifty or so more with their spears pointed out the shattered window. “Unregistered combatant detected.” The one in front of the window said. “Looks like fun,” the man said with a grin, lifting his sword. “Right buddy?” “Right, Ace. We shall bring them a swift end!” a voice cried, echoing in Peridot’s ears. “Who said that?” Peridot looked around. “Oh, right. Peridot, meet my sword of multiple names. Right now, he’s Kaze no Ran’na. There’s a spirit bound to it.” “... Not even gonna ask.” She rubbed her temple with her floating fingers. “You wanted weaknesses? Fine, these holograms are fragile as hell but very agile and expert sword fighters.” They jumped through the window and hit the Pearl in front, knocking her down. She nearly faded away, and was about to get up when Ace impaled her with his sword, quickly spinning around and flinging her into the remaining holograms, sending a small cyclone after her. The rest rushed the two. One jumped off of the wall and tried to get Ace from above, but he merely ducked, swinging his sword up and behind and slicing the hologram’s head off, causing it to disappear. “That’s just creepy,” he said, turning to the remaining copies. “How many did you say there were?” “Around fifty.” “Fantastic.” Zinnia slowed to a stop as she approached the massive, red and grey fusion above. She glared at it for a moment before closing her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Okay,” she muttered. “Need to be careful. She’s probably a Displaced of some kind, so I can’t hurt her too much.” Zinnia sighed, bringing her hands together. “Focus Energy.” “And who might you be? I’ve never seen anything quite like you before.” She could hear a deep male voice, but also hints of a female one that sounded oddly like Nicki Minaj. Zinnia looked up, recoiling when she saw the massive grey face of the possessed Sugilite. “Oh, I’m just a visitor,” she replied calmly, going so far as to yawn. “Gotta say, it’s been pretty boring so far.” “Well, if you don’t move out of my way I can make things… exciting. Although, I don’t think you want the type of exciting that I possess.” “Well that depends,” Zinnia flew a little closer, looking the Sombra-Gem in the eye with a lidded gaze. “Are you talking about the type of exciting that happens in the bedroom? ‘Cuz I wouldn’t mind exploring all of you.” She paused, flying back a bit. “Then again, you’ve been destroying this pretty little place, and I don’t think that’s very nice.” She smirked at the monolith, crossing her arms. “So no, I won’t move. Instead, I’ll do this. Dragon Wall!!!!” With that, Zinnia created hundreds of clones using Double Team before having them all use Dragon Breath at once, the wall of draconic flames engulfing Sugilite in a cloud of purple fury. The fusion didn’t even have time to block as she was bombarded with nothing but pure destructive energy. She stumbled back a considerable distance before regaining her composure. “Do you really think that will stop me?!” She roared, with the female voice sounding slightly louder than before. “Nothing can! Not Lapis or Jasper and certainly not you!” She gestured towards the two gems lying on the ground behind her. Her one visible eye lit up, causing Zinnia to become trapped in a levitation spell. She was thrown into a building, which Sugilite then brought her fist down on. “Ha! Nopony can stand against me now!” the Gem bellowed, beginning to walk away while laughing. Zinnia crouched down, having brought up a Protect just before Sugilite had collapsed the building on her. “Okay, gotta stay positive…” she muttered, even as she ground her teeth together. “He thinks I’m out now, so I’ve got some surprise.... dammit!” She cried, punching the nearest piece of debris, which shattered instantly. “Well, may as well get back out there.” Zinnia shot out of what remained of the building’s ceiling before calling out to Sugilite. “Hey ugly!” she cried, reaching into her pocket with one hand. When Sugilite turned around, staring at her in shock, she smirked and pulled out her iPod. “Get a load ‘a my Swagger!” With a tap of the screen, electronic music started playing, with a man simply stating how frequently he shuffled. Zinnia began to walk in place to the music, sometimes moonwalking, sometimes full-on breakdancing. “... What are you doing?” Sombra- Sugilite asked as the music continued while Zinnia kept dancing. “... Stop it.” She ignored the giant and kept dancing. “Is that music? It annoys me, stop that infernal device!” Once again, the gem was ignored. “I said STOP IT!” The Nicki Minaj voice roared, while the male voice went quieter. She stomped on the ground in anger and annoyance before aimlessly walking around with no clear intent of where she was going. “Where the hell am I?! Where’s that piece of shit Sombra?! What’s all this junk?!” “Sugilite!” Zinnia cried, gaining the gem’s attention. “I don’t know how long we’ve got, but Sombra’s in your head! You need to fight him!” She flew closer to Sugilite’s face, her hand glowing orange. “I’m sorry about this!” she yelled before swinging her fist, punching Sugilite in the nose and knocking her over. “What, you want some? Sombra can wait, I’ll destroy you you little brat!” She bellowed as she got up. Lapis and Jasper woke up, clenching their heads as they tried to remember what had just happened. “Sombra… Sugilite… The Heart!!” Jasper’s eyes widened. They saw Sugilite in the distance, she appeared to be yelling at someone. They quickly rushed towards the scene and got a full view of what was happening. Sugilite was advancing over what appeared to be… a human! They went faster and Lapis grabbed her, saving her from the impending fist that slammed into the ground where she once stood. “How are you here? How is this even possible?” Jasper was just a confused as Lapis. “Not now!” Zinnia cried, quickly erecting a Protect as Sugilite threw another punch at them. “Peridot said something about splitting Sugilite up, How do we do that!?” “We need to get Her two halves to disagree about something, and it needs to be something big enough to make Sugilite come undone.” They looked back at her, she was about to swing her mace but she threw her head back and cringed, Sombra’s voice was becoming more present once again. “Whatever you did, it’s wearing off!” Jasper warned. “Look, I can get Sombra to back down for a bit,” Zinnia said, flaring her wings. “But you two need to figure out how to get her split! And don’t watch!” With that, Zinnia shot into the air, gaining Sugilite’s attention as she played another song, dancing erratically along to it. Sombra-Sugilite stared at her for a moment before roaring in confused rage. “Stop playing those dumb songs before I smash you into pieces!” She ran towards Zinnia. “... So, you got anything?” Jasper asked. “Absolutely nothing.” Lapis tapped her chin. “... Wait.” Jasper got an idea. “What was strong enough to poof Sugilite in the show?” “What?” “Her own mace!” Jasper pointed to the object the burgundy gem was pulling towards Zinnia. Lapis grabbed the mace while Jasper ran in front of Sugilite below Zinnia. “Sugilite!” The gem looked down. “What?” “Uuh, let’s think.” Jasper tapped her chin like Lapis did before getting an idea. “I’ve got it! What’s your favourite hobby?” “Seriously!?” Zinnia cried. “This is your plan!? You’re hitting on her!?” “That’s a dumb question; it’s obviously relaxing/ fighting monsters.” Two more voices spoke. “I mean, uh, it’s…” Sugilite began to shudder. Soon, a giant water hand made from the snow emerged from the snow behind her holding the mace and slammed it on her head. She erupted into smoke and disappeared, two other gems in her place were falling to the ground. Ace grunted, pushing back against a strike from a holo-Pearl with his katana. He quickly dropped to his knees, slashing through the hologram’s abdomen and watching it dissolve. The final three ran towards them, but Peridot let out a large blast catching one while Ace slashed the other two. There were no more holograms left. They panted as they were alone in the room. “... Twilight!” Peridot gasped. “The original has to be with Twilight! She’s down those stairs!” She pointed at the stairs in the centre of the room. “Right!” Ace replied, racing for the stairs as his sword glowed green, morphing into a forest green whip with red thorns. He flicked his wrist, causing the whip to wrap around a rail in the lowering stairwell, which he then used to swing all the way down. Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike were at the top of the castle. They backed away from the real Pearl who was towering over them. There were also four lasers pointed at her while Pearl advanced. Twilight backed away, her hooves touching the area around the Heart which she tried to grab. Pearl stopped for a moment as she gasped. Her colour scheme changed like Sugilite’s had done so her skin was now shades of grey with black hair along with red clothes. Sombra had lost Sugilite, he couldn’t lose Pearl. He had to grab the Crystal Heart and go. “The Heart, now!” Sombra- Pearl snapped. When Twilight failed to comply, Sombra-Pearl growled in annoyance, raising her spear to strike the mare down. When she tried to do so, however, she found her spear torn from her grip, turning to find it clatter to the ground at Ace’s feet. “I don’t think so, missy,” the man said, placing his foot on the blade of the spear. With a powerful yank, the spear’s handle split in two. “There’s plenty more where that came from.” She pulled out another spear from her gem as she dashed towards Twilight, but was smacked away quickly by Ace. She growled as Ace stood between her and the Heart. “The other one already did enough, I’m not going to let you ruin all of my hard work!” She yelled as she ran up to Ace, attempting to slash at him. Ace grabbed further down his whip with the other hand, raising it and pulling it tight to block the attack before wrapping what he could around Sombra-Pearl’s wrist and leaping away. The gem just stared at her wrist for a moment before crying out, Ace having swung her into the nearest pillar. She emerged with a jump attack, throwing Ace on the defensive as he dodged a flurry of strikes. However, one of them got him as the spear made its mark on his stomach. He jumped back and didn’t notice the shadow engulf him before it was too late. Sombra- Pearl went to deliver the final blow but found herself immobilized. “I got you!” Peridot grinned as she held the gem in her tractor beam. “Keep her there!” Ace cried, abandoning the whip for the gloves, using their golden light to free himself from the shadows ensnaring him. When he saw the shadows retreat as if they were afraid of the light, a hopeful smile rose on his face. “I have an idea!” “Well do it quick!” Peridot grunted, straining against Sombra-Pearl’s attempts to free herself. Ace moved towards the trapped gem, golden light shining from his gloves, growing brighter and brighter as he approached before, eventually, he reached out, placing a hand on the back of Pearl’s head and the other over her gem, keeping her still. The light seemed to spread through her body as she let out an agonised scream, shining from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, and causing her skin to brighten once more, her clothes returning to their normal colours. Sombra emerged, but Spike had the heart and he was escaping. Peridot was frozen in fear as she was in the presence of the king once again. He glared back at her as he summoned a bunch of black crystals to follow. Shining Armour and Cadence noticed Spike and Shining threw Cadence to catch him. Spike landed safely on the floor while Cadence guided the Crystal Heart back to its original place. “It’s over, Sombra!” Ace shouted, taking the shadow king’s attention away from Peridot. “The Heart is in place, and soon enough you’ll be ejected from the empire, probably destroyed by the goodness within.” It was true; the Crystal Ponies were getting happier at the return of the true Crystal Heart. “I won’t go, not now, not ever!” He growled. He tried to lash out at the two, but found cracks on his body. “I told you. The Heart’s powering up, and you’re right in the epicentre of the blast.” "Grrr." He turned his attention back to Peridot. "I'll see you soon, Peri." His body finally broke into pieces, leaving only a mist that dissolved in the air. The crystal ponies down below were happier than they had been in years. They didn't care about the broken buildings right now, they were just happy that they no longer had to deal with Sombra. Peridot sank to her knees as she took a deep breath and laughed. She was free, Lapis was free, Jasper was free, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl were free. Speaking of which, Pearl was currently groaning on the floor. Peridot and Ace picked her up. "We should probably regroup with our friends." "Yeah." Ace replied. “Say, who was that other girl you summoned?” “I don’t know.” Peridot shrugged. “She looked like Zinnia from the Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire remakes. Why do you ask?” “She just…” he paused, running a hand through his hair. “She seemed… familiar.” “Well we can get back and ask them.” Lapis, Jasper and Zinnia were resting under a crashed building while the rest of the crystal ponies were admiring the heart. Ruby, Sapphire and Amethyst were placed carefully on the ground while the three displaced waited for either the remaining gems to wake up or for Ace and Peridot to return. “So…” Lapis began. “Uuh, how did you get here?” Zinnia looked up from the slice of Crystal Berry Pie she had somehow gotten her hands on, the juices staining her mouth blue. “Green dorito head summoned me. She was dying, or something, and asked for help.” “You mean Peridot?” Jasper asked. “Wait, dying? Was her gem cracked?!” “Gem?” She paused, shoving what remained of her pie in her mouth before swallowing. “What gem?” “Like this.” Jasper pointed to her crystalline nose while Lapis turned around and showed her back. “Gems are the core of our beings; they allow us to shape our physical form, which is our bodies. They’re like holograms… with mass.” “And what a mass it is…” the woman muttered, her eyes roaming over both Jasper and Lapis before she realised something. “Wait, was hers in her forehead?” “Yeah, it was.” Lapis piped up. “If our gems are broken, then we’ll die. It’s pretty much the only thing that can kill us, though I think we can still be poisoned, I can’t remember the details. If our physical forms are damaged, they revert back into our gems and it can take weeks to properly reform. We’re completely vulnerable when that happens. If we wanted to keep our form together when it was damaged, it’d take a huge effort.” “That explained why she seemed so tired…” Zinnia frowned, staring at the cave wall in thought. “I’m… pretty sure her gem was okay. Seemed smooth enough.” “That’s a huge relief.” Jasper sighed. “Considering we don’t exactly have any healing tears or spit with us.” “I’m… not going to ask… but she did summon another guy. He had some kind of shape-changing sword that he used to heal her, so… yeah.” “He sounds like a nice guy, I’d love to meet him.” Lapis commented as she looked up into the sky. The blizzards were no more and were instead replaced with lush grass as well as a shining sun. “This’ll take a lot of effort to rebuild.” She sighed. “Which means we’ll probably be here longer, which is annoying since the crystal ponies can’t stand us… not that I blame them though.” “Hey, far as I can tell you guys are sorry for whatever you did. And with how scared you seemed to be of that Sombra guy - yeah, I noticed that,” she added, eyeing Jasper as she fidgeted. “I’d wager he used his mind control on you at one point or another. Just apologise and take it slow, I’m sure they’ll warm up to you.” “He had seemed so kind when we first met him.” Lapis let out another sigh. “He took us in when no one else would, he even gave us jobs. We were ‘protecting’ the Empire. Soon, we began to see through it. That’s when he used full- on manipulation. I don’t know what we did at that time, but we’re grateful for these guys saving us from it.” She looked down at the three gems. “Yeah, about that…” Zinnia glanced at each of the gemstones that had been placed around the area. “This whole thing seems familiar, so I need to ask. Does the name ‘Steven’ mean anything to you?” “Yeah, it’s the name of the show our forms are based off of; ‘Steven Universe’.” Jasper explained. “Well, where I came from, I was in a mental asylum - don’t ask,” she said quickly, holding up a hand to stop any questions. “One of the others was this tubby guy who was thrown in because… well, he thought his mom and sisters were sentient gemstones from space.” She gave the two gems a pointed look, leaning forward. “I bet his name was Ronaldo.” Jasper snickered under her breath before clearing her throat. “Well, ‘sentient gemstones from space’ does sum up the main cast of that show. It was about a little kid who was a half- human and half ‘sentient gemstone’. We somehow got turned into the villains from that show. And then there are these guys.” She gestured to the gems on the ground “They became the heroes from the show. I’m pretty sure they all used to be human like us as well.” “Well, long story short, you’re Displaced.” All three turned to see Peridot and Ace walking up to them. “You probably bought something from some shady guy, or were gifted something bought from a shady guy, or something like that, and were sent to Equestria.” “Well, Jasper got her gem as a present from her parents, Peri got hers for her mum’s birthday and I bought mine on a bad day.” Lapis gave a brief description of how they got their items. “Something just made us drawn to the items he was selling.” “Yeah… Mine was different.” Everyone turned to see Zinnia staring into space with a dopey grin on her face. “Not… going to ask,” Ace sighed. “Look, I know this’ll seem weird, but you seem really familiar.” He held out a hand, and Zinnia took it hers, shaking. “I’m Ace, have we met before?” Zinnia stared at him for a moment, awestruck. “...Ace?” she asked, tears forming in her eyes. “Ace… it’s me… Zoey…” They stood there, staring at each other for a time, before Ace pulled Zinnia in a tight hug, knocking his visor off as tears streamed down his face. “Quick question…” Peridot walked up in front of them. “What’s going on? Do you two know each other, or something?” Ace looked up at the green gem, a massive smile on his face. “Peridot,” he said before turning to the other two. “Other… people, this,” he grasped Zinnia’s shoulder, giving it a little shake, making her giggle. “This is my sister.” “And he,” Zinnia added, giving Ace a playful punch. “Is the reason I was in the asylum I told you about.” “Wait, you two are siblings?” Lapis asked and the two nodded happily. “Oh my god, I’m so happy for you two! Get closer together right now!” She pushed them closer together with her wings. “You might want to let go of them, Lapis.” Peridot said with concern in her voice. “Right, sorry.” She smiled it off as she let the two go, allowing them to catch their breath. “Not…” Zinnia wheezed with a hand on her chest. “Not a problem.” “Wait,” Ace shouted suddenly, causing the others to jump. “We live in different universes now!” He added, starting to panic. “And what are the chances that we get each other’s tokens! Oh, sweet Luna! I can’t lose you again!” “I can actually fix that,” the woman said with a smirk, turning to the Gems. “Who has our tokens? The anklet and… what was yours?” “An amulet.” “You mean these?” Peridot asked, holding the two trinkets up. Zinnia thanked the gem, taking them and standing in the centre of their little camp. “Now, don’t freak out,” she said before closing her eyes, a white glow enveloping her. “Double Team!” At her words, Zinnia created a single copy of herself, the copy walking calmly walking over to Ace and handing him the two token copies before fading away. The original Zinnia then swapped then took the copy of Ace’s token, handing the originals back to Peridot. “...Well,” Ace breathed, a small smile on his face. “That’s certainly something for the reunions.” “Tokens?” Peridot cocked her head at the man holding the ankle bracelet. Zinnia picked it up once more. “You send it out into the Void, and some special energy makes an infinite number of copies and throws them randomly across the Displaced section of the Multiverse.” “Okay.” Peridot, Lapis and Jasper gathered around. They each poured their energy into one spot and created their token. It resembled the triforce, but the triangles were light green, tangerine and indigo. There was also a yellow triangle placed in the middle of the other three. It was the same size as Peridot’s wrist (if she had one, that is). “To those who fight for power! For knowledge! For freedom! The Homeworld Gems will come to your aid! Call upon us so we can fight or we can chat, it’s up to you.” The symbol shot off into the multiverse, two of them landing in the hands of Zinnia and Ace. “Wow, so… What now?” Peridot asked, before the gems behind them began to glow, Pearl groaning from her position on the floor. “Wha… where are we?” She looked around, seeing Zinnia, Ace and the homeworld gems. Behind her, there were two gasps as Ruby and Sapphire saw that they were exactly that; Ruby and Sapphire. They calmed down when they saw each other on opposite ends of the room. Jasper snickered once again as they ran towards each other. Sapphire running reminded them about a song about another small blue character going fast. “Huh,” Zinnia stated, watching as the tiny red and blue gems smashed into each other, performing a rushed dance before turning into a white light and merging together, becoming a single, much taller gem with deep burgundy skin and a large, boxed afro wearing a red-and-black jumpsuit. “Neat.” “Yeah.” The box- head replied. “Get up, Amethyst.” “Ugh, do we have to? She’s probably listening to that dumb music again.” “Would you have prefered Nicki Minaj?” “If we were fused, I might say yes.” “Uh, sorry about all that back there,” Zinnia said, slightly ashamed. “I was trying to use a Pokemon move, Swagger, and that’s just how my instincts told me to.” She paused, fishing the iPod out of her pocket. “I can access anything that’s on YouTube, though. I could give you something else to say sorry.” “Wait, how can you get YouTube?” Ace asked. “Interdimensional WiFi, a gift from... “ Zinnia paused, blushing furiously. “A friend…” Meanwhile, Peridot was letting the word ‘WiFi’ sink in as she stood completely still for a few moments. “...WiFi.” At that moment, she could only think of three words to describe how she currently felt. “Gimme, gimme, gimme!” She lunged for the device. “Woah there!” Zinnia cried, leaping away. “What’s up with her?” she asked, looking to Jasper and Lapis for answer as she took to the air. “Peri used to love going on the internet…” Lapis paused for a moment. “And she hasn’t been near it for over 1,000 years.” “To be honest,” Ace said with a sigh. “I’d probably be the same way.” “You’re not helping, y’know!” Zinnia shrieked as she dodged Peridot’s now-airborne attempts to grab the device in her hand. “How do I get her to stop!?” “We’ll tell you once we have an answer.” Jasper rubbed the back of her head sheepishly while Lapis averted her eyes snickering. “You won’t escape me, floating iPod!” Zinnia growled in frustration, narrowing her eyes at the green gem. “Enough!” she Roared, throwing the gem back with her voice. “Look! Do you have any kind of computer, and I will give you the God damn password!!!” “Yeah, couldn’t you do that one thing with your fingers?” Jasper questioned, having had her fun watching Peridot’s struggle, but decided to elaborate when Zinnia eyed her curiously. “Yeah, you could make a screen with your fingers or something. There were lots of things that Peridot could do with her fingers.” She inwardly slapped herself at the wording of the last part of the sentence. “Amazingly,” Zinnia deadpanned. “I’m too upset to make a dirty joke. Hodgepodge is probably slapping himself stupid right now.” She sighed, bringing the iPod up and swiping the screen repeatedly. “Just do the finger thing and I’ll find the password for you. It should work for you.” While Jasper sighed in relief, Peridot, having composed herself, made a screen with four of the fingers on her left hand while the remaining finger was used to operate the screen. She looked up as Zinnia snorted, seeing the draconid with a hand over her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter. “That cheered me up.” At the confused looks she received, she chuckled again, putting the device in her pocket. “The person who gave me the iPod set the password herself,” she giggled before leaning closer to Peridot, whispering in her ear. After a moment, Peridot’s mint-green cheeks turned a bright crimson, and she quickly tapped the password into her screen. “Well I guess it doesn’t matter.” Peridot cleared her throat and tried to clear her mind. “She’s getting one hell of an internet bill. Even more so now for that password.” “She told me I could share if I wanted,” Zinnia said with a smile. “So it shouldn’t be too big of a deal. I mean, she’s an inter-dimensional being with God-like powers, so she probably has, like, unlimited free WiFi or something.” “Well, let it be known that I tried.” The gem declared before opening a bunch of tabs, “How does this work anyway? What’s the internet like 1,000 years into the future? I wonder what Youtube’s design is like… Oh God no.” She closed the tab quickly. “What’s up?” Ace asked, raising a brow at the gem’s reaction. “What has been seen cannot be unseen.” Peridot whispered. “The hell did you open?” Zinnia muttered, leaning round to try and see the screen. “Some kinda super kinky porn?” “She probably just saw Youtube with a new design or some crap like that.” Jasper rolled her eyes. “Whatever it is, I bet it’s not that…” Moments later, Jasper was repeatedly banging her head on a wall nearby. “Dammit, you’re gonna have to get used to it sooner or later!” Zinnia shouted, Ace just stood shaking his head at the gems. “You don’t understand!” Peridot grabbed him by the shirt and shook him with her one free hand. “Right now, I’m just glad that gems don’t need to sleep!” “I agree with Ace; it can’t be that bad.” Pearl spoke behind them. She had been up for a while and was just watching them bicker. “I’ll even take a look myself, I’m sure you two are just…” She stood there; her eyes were locked on the screen for a while, with no movement. She poofed. Her gem fell to the ground before Lapis picked it up and stared at the screen. “Wait no!” Jasper warned. “Don’t look at it dire-” “Neat.” Lapis shrugged and sat down. “Finally! “ Zinnia sighed. “Someone who’s not afraid of a new design!” She pointed at the pearl in Lapis’ hands. “And she is a wuss.” “Who’s in charge of Youtube now?” Jasper stopped baging her head to ask a question. “Google, I think,” Ace said, placing a hand on his chin in thought. “They ripped off Facebook, too.” “Whatever you do,” Zinnia chimed in, looking Jasper directly in the eye. “Don’t let Peridot go on GooglePlus.” “You will all submit to your new God!” A voice from the screen roared. “Uuh, who’s in charge of Google at his point?” “I never really cared enough to find out,” Ace said. “Me neither,” Zinnia agreed, nodding sagely. “But now to the matter at hand, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?!?!” “I’m guessing that’s whose in charge of Google now.” Lapis speculated. “If not, I have no idea.” Zinnia stared at the floating, green-tinted screen. “That’s never happened to mine...” “You will all rue the day you defied Goo-” The voice was cut off as Peridot fooled around with the coding. “Well I shouldn’t be hearing that voice anymore.” Peridot sighed happily. “And with that,” Ace said, stretching. “Is there anything else you guys need any help with? I wouldn’t mind a little more time away from home. I’m dealing with both Rarity and Twilight trying to make me some armour.” He paused, knocking on the breastplate he wore. “It took three days to design this thing, then another week to make it. Not to mention the enchantments!” “I’d be okay with staying too, but not for too long,” Zinnia agreed. “I was in the middle of something when you summoned me and I’d very much like to get back to it.” “Uuh, I don’t think so, unless you want to help clear everything up.” Peridot reasoned. “Although.” Garnet appeared behind them. “Perhaps you could tell us a bit about ‘displaced’.” 20 minutes later, Garnet, Amethyst and the forcibly reformed Pearl were in the process of making their token. They made a white star with gems on all points except the top. “We are the Crystal Gems. Call upon us to fight beside you!” With that, their token shot off into the multiverse. “I think that’s about it.” Lapis shrugged, as she finished moving the piece of debris out of the street. “So how do we make you two go back to your own universes?” “You just need to say ‘our contract is complete’,” Zinnia said, bending down and grabbing the copies of the Crystal Gem’s that had fallen in front of her and handing one to Ace. “That’s what’s worked for me so far.” “Me too,” Ace added. “We’ll have to keep in touch, I’d love to get to know you guys more.” “Yeah,” Zinnia sighed, “These weren't exactly the best conditions to meet. And I’d love to find out what else Peri’s fingers can do…” She looked to the green gem with half-lidded eyes, waggling her eyebrows at her and causing her to blush. “Theeere it is.” Jasper commented. “Well, I do hope that we meet again.” Lapis added. “And… I’m glad that you found your brother.” She smiled sadly. “Yeah…” Zinnia replied as Ace wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Me too.” “Okay, here we go…” Peridot took a deep breath. ”Thank you so much for everything you two have done and our contract is complete.” Ace and Zinnia turned to each other, smiling sadly. Below Zinnia, a black dragon head rose, stars dotting it’s scales as it closed its jaws around her before bursting into a pile of pink stardust. Ace, however, seemed to collapse in on himself, the air around him distorting as he condensed into a multi-hued light that then shot skywards, disappearing into the atmosphere. Now, it was just the Crystal Gems and the Homeworld Gems. They stood together in the still much wrecked city. They had won, Sombra had lost, and they had a lot of catching up to do… After they met up with Princess Cadence and helped clean up, of course. With that, they left for the castle.