Shattered Hearts (Steven Universe)

Chapter 20

Garnet spoke first, her gauntlets summoned. She was clearly ready to fight. "Peridot, we're here to-" Pearl cut her off suddenly, as if she had something to prove. "And you'll never get away with this!" Peridot shook her head. Ben had taken this conversation as an opportunity to move away from the area, crouching behind a rock formation. The green gem cast a look of disdain at him before speaking. "Don't you gems have anything better to do than annoy me?" The kindergarten gem, Amethyst, quickly replied, looking eager to attack her as well. "Nope! We're gonna-" The white gem cut in again. "Prepare to be annoyed!" Peridot rolled her eyes. It was too late for that. She groaned and then brought her hands forward, turning them into a laser shooting weapon. "Ugh, I don't have time for this!" She aimed her weapon at her enemies as the beam of light inside of it grew. "This planet has an expiration date, and I'm not gonna stick around to find out when!"

Ben poked his head out from behind the rock, his eyes taking in the comedic exchange between the gems. Suddenly, Peridot created a laser gun with her hands. He saw the glow that came from it, and knew what she was going to do. He took a breath, and emerged from his hiding place, ignoring the fear that made his legs shake beneath him. "Peri, no! Don't hurt them!" The Crystal Gems spotted him, looking extremely confused as well as shocked. To the human's horror, Garnet spoke first at his arrival on the scene. "Why are you here, human?" The boy couldn't help but stammer. "I, uh-" Peridot piped up then. Ben didn't like the wild look in her eyes.

"He's mine, you clods! I've taken him hostage from his home, and I'll destroy him unless you leave me be!" Peridot turned the laser towards the boy's head. Ben's eyes went wide, and he backed away, almost falling off of the island. "Whoa, Peridot, what are you doing?" "What must be done." The light between her fingers became bigger. "You've weakened me. I told you to leave me alone, but you didn't listen. Now I can get rid of you once and for all." Ben's expression was terrified now. "No, Peri, it doesn't have to be this way! You don't have to do this! Did you forget what I told you about Earth? This isn't right, or fair! Don't do it!" Peridot trembled, her arms shaky. "I have to." She fired, but Ben ducked, and the laser beam headed straight for the pillar behind the other gems. The pillar was struck by the green blast of light, and a large portion of it fell towards the group, about to crush them. Steven stepped forward in a courageous way, and a pink shield appeared out of nowhere, growing to accommodate the size of the tall pillar. Pearl cast an angry glance at the green gem, causing her to chuckle nervously.

The white gem that Ben recognized as Pearl raced towards her, her white crystalline spear drawn in front of her. Ben watched the assault with narrowed eyes. Garnet had been right. What had he been doing, trusting an alien like her? If she'd aimed in the right place, she would've blasted off his head. This was unforgivable, but yet he couldn't bring himself to leave. He wanted vengeance for himself, and the others she had most likely hurt. He stood up, but then shrank back down when Peridot caught Pearl in one of her green tractor beams. She froze in a fighting stance as the green gem held her up. "Ha! Sorry," she crowed, "but you're going the wrong way!" Peridot then threw the white gem back at her companions, causing the pink shield to vanish and drop the pillar onto Garnet. The gem caught the fallen pillar with her gauntlets and struggled to hold it up. At this point, Ben had had quite enough. "Go home, kid!" Garnet shouted. "This isn't your fight!" Ben shook his head, and clenched his fists. "Yes, it is!" He let the purple gem have a try, and when her attack didn't hit her, he ran out and tried to follow her movements. "You missed!" Peridot yelled. Ben snuck up from behind and tackled her, holding her down. The green gem shrieked and turned to look at him. "Let me go, you idiot!" "No!" he cried. "You've gone too far this time! You said you'd change, but you lied!" A hurt look briefly crossed Peridot's face, but then was replaced with anger. "You know why I did this!" she spat. "Yellow Diamond would kill me for all I've done! I had no choice!" She used her beam to toss him away from her, and he hit the ground, but wasn't hurt from the fall. He gritted his teeth and held back some vicious words. She was going easy on him now, but he still couldn't ignore the pain from her betrayal. He'd get her back for this.