"Oh," Stevonnie murmured as she nimbly jumped out of the robot. The other Gems followed suit, landing around her. The enormous robot remained motionless, not making a sound. Amethyst watched it curiously, placing a hand on her chin and wondering if it had been broken. Then she burst out laughing and joked that it was probably because Pearl was too heavy. Pearl blushed instantly, indignant at the comment, and demanded to know what she meant. Amethyst, laughing, transformed into an exact copy of Pearl and began posing as if she were on a catwalk, exaggerating her movements while saying that she looked better that way.
Garnet, maintaining her usual composure, asked them to calm down. She adjusted her glasses precisely and took a few steps back, noticing that something strange was happening. Stevonnie, without thinking twice, imitated her and stepped back as well, not fully understanding why she was doing it, but trusting her instincts.
The robot began to tremble slightly, as if suffering an internal collapse. Pearl and Amethyst watched it intently as the tremor intensified, sounding like the prelude to an explosion. In response, everyone summoned their weapons; Stevonnie deployed her protective bubble and kept it small to conserve energy, ready to react to anything.
A few tense seconds passed before the trembling ceased. The green sphere glowed intensely and began to transform, taking on a new form that caught everyone's attention. Before their eyes, the structure reconfigured itself into a pyramid with sharp edges. The gems exchanged glances of confusion and caution, remaining vigilant.
The pyramid slowly descended until it clicked into place with a precise, mechanical sound, almost as if everything had been calculated down to the millimeter. Stevonnie observed the scene and commented that it looked like a platform. Garnet nodded, carefully circling the structure, noticing how it blended seamlessly with the surface.
Amethyst, perched on Stevonnie's shoulders, asked if the platform could take them to an area with rare gems. Pearl replied that it probably could, though she admitted the technology seemed strange and advanced even to her. Stevonnie, without further ado, suggested they simply get on.
With a firm step, the fusion was the first to step onto the platform. Seeing that nothing dangerous was happening, the others followed suit. As soon as all four were on, the ground trembled again and the structure began to descend gently.
Stevonnie, anticipating the sudden movement, took Amethyst's arm to steady her as she pouted. The green light that enveloped them intensified as they descended, and the air began to feel heavy, as if they were entering an ancient area, hidden for millennia beneath the surface.
They would descend slowly until they reached a strange chamber, a place that seemed suspended between solid and liquid. She was surrounded by tubes that pulsed faintly with a greenish light, translucent yet solid, as if refusing to commit to their true nature. Stevonnie looked around in bewilderment; this place was unlike anything they had ever seen before. The moment they stepped off the platform, it began to move on its own, advancing with unsettling speed toward the center of the room.
Pearl frowned, unable to comprehend what was happening. She felt strangely unsettled to see such a structure so intact after so many millennia, right under her nose. Although, considering there were only three Gems on the entire Earth, it wasn't so surprising that something had slipped through the net. Even so, her dramatic flair was undeniable.
The green sphere stopped abruptly and emitted a whirring sound. Suddenly, a small portion of its surface detached, taking the form of a tiny luminous ball that hovered a few inches above the floor. Stevonnie, with a barely contained smile, muttered that it looked like mitosis, and had to suppress her laughter when the others looked at her as if she had just said the most inappropriate thing possible in such a situation.
The small sphere moved to a hand-shaped metal structure, very similar to the one where Rose kept her weapons. With a jump, the sphere landed on the palm, and an intense glow filled the room. The air vibrated, energy gathered, and suddenly, a huge screen began to materialize in the center. Stevonnie reacted instantly; she grabbed Amethyst and Pearl by the arms and pulled them behind a column, while Garnet, who had anticipated something like this, was already hidden in the shadows.
For a few seconds, there was total silence. They could hear their own hearts beating. Then, a voice echoed through the machinery.
Finally, a tired female voice said, "This is Peridot, voice command 123155. I'm in Earth's Kindergarten."
The image on the screen showed a green gem with an irritated expression, her tone heavy with frustration. She explained that, after multiple malfunctions in her robonoids and an unknown interference with the portal, she was forced to operate from Homeworld. Her voice trembled slightly with anger, though she tried to maintain her composure.
Stevonnie watched silently, immediately recognizing the figure. It was Peridot.
"It's her," she thought in surprise. Pearl swallowed nervously, muttering that she didn't understand why she kept insisting on such risky missions. Amethyst, barely peeking out from behind the column, commented that she seemed on the verge of collapse, but was still amused by the green gem's irritable tone. Garnet, on the other hand, remained completely serious, her gaze fixed on the screen, calculating possible outcomes.
Then, a dim light flickered on right behind them.
"Huh?" Peridot murmured, turning quickly. Her old but efficient sensors detected movement. Her expression shifted to alert.
"Is someone here?" she asked in a threatening tone.
The four of them froze. Pearl put her hands to her face, silently hysterical. Amethyst mimicked her, whispering that they couldn't let themselves be discovered. Garnet closed her eyes, searching for a future where this would all end well, but she found none.
And in the midst of that deadly tension, a voice broke the silence.
"Hey!" Stevonnie shouted, leaping from her hiding place and landing right in the center of the room.
Everyone froze.
Peridot's eyes widened in confusion.
"A creature..." she murmured, zooming the camera in on Stevonnie's tall, shimmering figure.
Stevonnie smiled nervously, waving. "Hey, babe," she said in her most casual tone. "How are you? Are you the boss here?"
Peridot tilted her head, trying to analyze her.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Stevonnie's imagination went into overdrive. Come on, think, something quick.
Then she gave herself a thumbs-up, proud of her idea.
You know, I took care of this place, she said with a confident smile, proudly tapping her finger to her chest.
You took care of this place? Peridot repeated, visibly confused as mechanical hands emerged from the walls and began operating again.
Of course, Stevonnie replied with an even wider grin. Or do you think this place is kept so clean and tidy for no reason?
Peridot watched her silently, blinking slowly. Something about her tone sounded so convincing and absurd at the same time that, for a moment, she didn't know whether to believe her or not.
Stevonnie didn't miss a beat and continued her act. "Oh, come on, girls, do you think this floor cleans itself?" she said with just the right amount of smugness, pointing to one of the pipes that had initially caught her attention. "When I first got here, this place was a mess. One of those pipes was broken, but since I'm so clever, I fixed it for whoever came next." She placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin with theatrical pride.
Peridot frowned, puzzled. Dirty? A broken power pipe? The questions were piling up faster than the answers.
"Identify yourself, organic creature," Peridot ordered, tilting her head with barely contained hostility. Stevonnie swallowed, and a whirlwind of ideas swirled in her head, vying for the right word. I can't say who I am, she thought. I know, it had to be something simple, memorable. "I'm Pepe," she replied then with absolute seriousness, placing a hand on her forehead as if announcing her real name.
The room fell silent for an eerie moment, until Amethyst burst into laughter. Her laugh echoed, long and uncontrolled. "Ha, ha, ha, ha," it filled the room, and for a second Stevonnie, Pearl, and Garnet stared at her as if she'd just ruined everything.
Peridot turned the screen toward the source of the noise, confused. "Gems?" she asked, blinking. "Impossible... unless they're—" she checked her reports on the screen—"the rebels." Her expression changed instantly; hostile mode activated.
"You're the ones who ruined my plans. Because of you, my Diamond almost shattered me," Peridot accused, inadvertently revealing a tone that tightened the air. Stevonnie tensed; she saw Peridot transform and for a moment thought the gem was calling for a Ruby, but she shook her head as if she'd come up with another idea.
"I'll destroy you," Peridot spat furiously. The girls reflexively summoned weapons. Peridot, in a fit of rage, ordered the mechanical hands in the room to attack. "Die, die!" she screamed as she launched the mechanized gauntlets, which, although not weapons of war by design, were terribly difficult to dodge. "Because of you, I lost the chance to win great prizes. Now I'll only have... rebel prizes."
Amethyst lunged forward with a scream, dodged a blow from the hammer-glove, and cursed under her breath; "Pearl's going to kill me if these hands don't," she thought, panicking at what she had improvised. Pearl took a deep breath, furious that Amethyst always managed to ruin things at the worst possible moments. Stevonnie, for her part, tried to maintain her composure: "We didn't have to laugh," she scolded herself internally, but the laughter had erupted, and now they had to leave with dignity.
Garnet didn't play at improvising. She knew how to stay calm; She understood there were reasons and circumstances behind all of this.
Stevonnie ran along the walls, agile and swift. "I'm fast, I'm quick, I'm McQueen," she told herself aloud as the mechanical hand pursued her like a debt she'd owed for three years. "Follow me, bitch," she joked nervously, executed a necessary backflip, and with a perfect gesture, clambered onto the hand.
She summoned her shield and began striking the surface of the hand with it. "Not that hard," she thought aloud jokingly, and immediately turned serious, realizing how inappropriate her comment was. She regained her focus and, with a calculated leap, dodged another attack.
Amethyst shouted Stevonnie's name to get her attention and announced her own plan: "Indian-style attack!" she exclaimed before launching into an improvised tactic. As she fell to the ground, Stevonnie positioned her shield perfectly; a sharp, metallic crack resonated. Amethyst ran straight to the control panel in the room, determined to deactivate the machinery. Peridot, furious, could only manage to say in frustration, "I'll inform the Diamonds."
And then, a sound like an explosion rippled through the entire area. The echo vibrated in the tubes, and the screen flickered. No one had time to breathe. The mechanical alarm blared in a single, terrifying instant.
Silence fell over the room like a ton of bricks. The four gems remained mute, each lost in their own thoughts.
"The Diamonds," Pearl whispered, her voice trembling with fear. Amethyst, who had emerged from the energy chamber, also showed concern. She had never met them in person, and from the stories she'd heard, she knew they weren't exactly friendly. "What do we do?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"I don't know," Garnet replied after several seconds. "My future vision... no, it doesn't show me anything. No favorable future."
Stevonnie remained silent in front of the screen. Slowly, she turned to the girls, who were beginning to panic, a perfectly understandable reaction. "At least they didn't see our true forms," Stevonnie thought, a shiver running down her spine. Surrounding those nearby, the fusion began to emit a soft glow and separated into Steven and Connie.
That flash caught the attention of the three gems; for a moment, they didn't know how to react.
Steven looked at them calmly, standing behind Connie, who tensed at the sight of so many eyes. Then Steven placed his hand on his own shoulder, feeling the weight of responsibility, and said calmly, "Girls, how many of us are in the room?"
A long silence followed, until Pearl, confused, replied, "Are there five of us?"
"Exactly," Steven said with a smile meant to convey confidence. "We must stick together. Now that you know this, and you have this 'information,' we must prepare. If Homeworld comes, we'll give them a beating." His confident and serene voice eased the somber atmosphere and calmed the group's nerves.
"Let's go," Steven said as he hoisted Connie over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "I don't like this place aesthetically," he added seriously.
The girls watched him silently as he walked away with Connie still in his arms, who simply accepted her fate without protest.
"She's like Rose," Pearl murmured, looking at the others. "Definitely," Garnet replied with a slight smile. Amethyst didn't say anything. Her expression said it all. She felt bad, guilty, horribly guilty. After all, it was their laughter that had given them away. She walked wordlessly in the direction Steven had gone.
"Do you think she's okay?" Pearl asked worriedly, watching Amethyst walk away. She hadn't even realized Pearl cared so much about her. "I don't know," Garnet replied. "Let's hope she sorts things out before Homeworld arrives." With that, she started following Amethyst.
Pearl sighed, looked around, and ended up walking behind them all.
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"Goodbye, Connie," Steven said with a smile. "Goodbye, Miss Maheswaran," as the car slowly drove away. Steven watched the vehicle disappear into the distance, and when he was sure no one was looking, he started walking toward his house. The waves lapped gently against the rocks, but he paid them no mind. His gaze remained fixed straight ahead, absent, walking on autopilot.
When he arrived, he looked out the window. The house was empty. The girls, though in better spirits, weren't in the mood to spend time with him. Especially not now, with the threat of Homeworld looming over them. He locked the door, walked to the portal, and without thinking twice, stepped through.
A sound echoed in the night. It was a place filled with flowers and fruit, one Steven knew all too well. He walked slowly, step by step. One calm step, two calm steps, three, six, eight, fifteen, forty. His pace quickened with each breath. If anyone had seen him then, they would have noticed the tears streaming down his face.
I can't.
I can't, I don't want to, I can't.
I can't, I don't want to, I can't.
Please, I don't want to.
He repeated those words over and over, running through what had once been a battlefield, now covered in life and color. But in his heart, everything was still gray. Why did this have to happen? It wasn't supposed to happen again. He wasn't supposed to blame Amethyst, he knew, but the thought haunted him.
Everything was supposed to be different. But nothing had changed. Everything, absolutely everything, was the same.
Steven fell to his knees, his hands digging into the earth, weeping into the flower-covered ground. Why? he thought between sobs. He was supposed to make this better. He could have prevented it. But no, he'd let his guard down.
I'm useless, he murmured, his voice breaking. I can't protect my friends. I'm not strong enough.
He brought his hand to his gem and squeezed it tightly, the physical pain trying to drown out the other, the emotional one. Tell me, Mother... what can I do? Tell me something, damn it.
His words mingled with his sobs, punctuated by gasps, snot, and despair. He could barely understand what he was saying, but deep down he was only asking for one thing: an answer, a sign, something to tell him what to do.
Finally, he let his face fall to the ground and lay there, weeping silently.
Steven didn't notice how a faint pink glow traced his arm, gently illuminating it for a few seconds before vanishing without a trace. That ephemeral presence went unnoticed, as if it had never existed.
"What can I do?" he murmured to the air, not expecting an answer. His gaze drifted to the night sky, among the thousands of stars twinkling above him. One in particular caught his attention, a star that, for some reason, reminded him of the Ruby that had been destroyed right before his eyes. "My God," he whispered, his voice breaking as tears began to fall again. "Why am I so sensitive?" he thought helplessly, seeing how that light in the sky seemed to be watching him, judging him, blaming him for not having saved her.
"What did you want me to do?" he screamed, his voice thick with rage. "How could I save you? I'm light-years away! It was just my soul, my conscience... I don't even know what part of me was there. It was just me, a useless thing. You think I could save you? From a damn Diamond? Do you really think so?"
His voice echoed through the air, but the star remained motionless, bright, indifferent.
"I couldn't," he said finally, almost in a whisper. "But... I would try. Even if it was on impulse, even if I had no chance at all, I would try. Because that's what I do, isn't it? I try to save everyone with a smile. I would do it because it's the right thing to do, I would do it so you wouldn't suffer anymore. Although now, well... I think you've finally found your rest."
The wind blew softly through the flowers.
"Thank you," came a voice suddenly, distant and soft, almost like an echo in his mind. "You tried, and that's what counts. You thought about it, and that counts too. Rest, Steven."
Steven stood motionless, staring up at the sky. The star he had seen was gone. Only the usual constellations remained, adorning the heavens.
"Ha... ha... ha... hahaha... hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" he began to laugh through his tears. "That was it... the guilt. All this time I've been carrying that damn guilt. Thank you, Ruby." Thank you for reminding me of the obvious. Thank you for... thank you, thank you, thank you, she sobbed, letting the tears flow freely. I don't deserve this pity, but I'll accept it. I'll make it mine. I'll use it as my strength.
From now on, I'll train harder. If I want to protect them, I must. I won't allow some damned Jasper or any gem that comes along to destroy us. I'll face her, and if necessary... I'll defeat her.
He was silent for a moment and sighed. Well, not that long, he said softly after realizing what he had just said.
He looked toward the mountain and lay down on the grass. I'll stay here for a while... just a little while longer, he murmured, his eyes slowly closing.
Before falling asleep, he thought he saw a constellation among the stars that looked like an old man giving him the "OK" sign.
I need to sleep, he said almost inaudibly, and collapsed, exhausted, falling into a deep sleep.
He slept for hours, many hours, so many that the Gems began to worry about him.
End of Chapter 29.