Consequences

30 - Six Against Thousands

The Crystal Gems had woken extra early that morning. It was going to be the most hectic morning of their lives. No one left the temple without their common sense yelling at them to turn around.

Peridot carried with her many daggers and swords, which she could strategically use to attack multiple gems at once, with precise movements of her powers.

Lapis was gaining any ounce of strength she could muster. Her plan was to turn the ocean into an army. One that matched Homeworld's own. She'd be in control of the biggest distraction the Crystal gems would give Homeworld, so that they had time to do what they needed to.

Pearl carried two swords sheathed on a belt around her waist. They were both graceful and long, battleworn yet prepared. The handles were broken in to fit Pearl's hand exactly from the many years of use.

Garnet carried no weapons except herself, but she was as prepared as ever. She held onto Steven's hand with her own, finding comfort in the fact that he was next to her.

Amethyst stood close to the rest of the team. She felt stronger when she could work with other people. She didn't have a material weapon either, but she didn't want one. She was completely comfortable with her whip, especially since she could use Bismuth's upgrade.

Steven was nervous, but he was ready. He wanted a chance to prove he could help this planet. Not just hurt it. He could fix everything, if his planned worked. Steven's grip tightened on his sword, once held by Rose Quartz, his mother.

The Crystal Gems were relieved to find there were no Homeworld gems patrolling Steven's house as there had been before. The beach was empty too, but the sand was indented with the footprints of many.

The gems followed the footprints right up to the steps of the boardwalk. The shops looked as if they had been moved through by quite a lot of people, and the gems could only hope that Homeworld hadn't damaged any property.

It didn't matter anyway. If property wasn't already damaged, it was going to be soon enough.

The gems walked down the boardwalk hurriedly, still unaware of the exact time Homeworld would be sending another army.

The gems found the building they were looking for. It was a small, random little shop in funland. It was a gift shop, hosting many random little trinkets and neat things you could buy.

"Okay," Steven said. "I remember the sifting thing was... right there!" he ran over to a wooden gutter, still flowing with water. It ran along the wall and drained out of the wall.

The 'Miner's Corner' was a cheap thing where you could buy a bag of sand and sift out the gems in them. Steven grabbed and passed out a bunch of the bags of sand, and gave a few to each gem.

After about half an hour, the gems had sifted out what they needed. They each had a handful of the specific gem time they had needed. Pearl put the little pieces of gems back in the empty bags, and stored them in her gem. They were definitely going to need them later.

Once the Crystal Gems were done gathering the materials for their plan, they hurried back out of Funland, towards the beach.

Knowing the sand was going to be completely taken up by warriors, the Crystal Gems jumped onto and stood atop a building. They had the perfect view of their surroundings from there. There would be no sneak attacks.

Everyone shuffled their feet nervously, waiting for the Homeworld Gems to arrive.

Yellow Diamond's large warship; 3 dimensional diamond in shape. It glinted in the large morning sun, which was somewhat obscured by the overcast clouds. The gems talked, offering each other encouragement. Pearl kept relaying the plan, just to make sure everyone got the point the fifty second time around.