New Mission

Chapter 6: Battle of A Lifetime

On Earth, the Crystal Gems were preparing to take down the invaders. "I can't believe Homeworld's sending more ships to Earth! This is our planet, not theirs!" Peridot told her teammates. "I know! Can't they just leave us alone?" Lapis asked. "Brace yourselves, Gems. That ship is going to crash & it's headed right for the temple," Garnet said as she adjusted her shades.
"Should we fuse? Smoky Quartz could use their yo-yo to-"
"No, we don't need fusion yet. We just need to wait," Garnet told Steven. "B-but, each time Homeworld sends a ship to Earth, the Gems on it are more powerful than the last!" Peridot said to Garnet. "There are only 3 Gems on this ship, and it's getting very hectic." The Gems nodded.
  

  Back on the ship, the three Gems were screaming in terror, thinking their lives were going to end. "If we die, I want you to know that I like you, too, Coral! And I wish I had told you sooner! And I'm so sorry I hurt you, Jade!!" Topaz cried. "I want you guys to know that I'm sorry you guys got stuck with such an irresponsible leader!" Jade told her friends. "I'm sorry I caused all this to happen, Jade! I'm the one who made you upset and this is all my fault!" Coral said. They held onto each other for dear life until the ship crash-landed on the beach.

"W-we're, alive?" Topaz asked when he realized that he and his friends had survived. "Yeah, but the ship is another story," Jade said as they looked over the wreckage. "They're Homeworld's finest now? Geez, Yellow Diamond's really been struggling since the Rubies got lost," Peridot said to her friends when she saw the three Homeworld Gems. "The rebels! Guys, this is what we were training for!!" Jade called to her friends. "Right!" Topaz said to his leader. "Wait, why don't we talk to them first? Maybe they'll willingly hand over the Gem we need," Coral told her friends. Jade sighed. "Fine... Crystal Gems, we are the Gems sent by Yellow Diamond to capture the rebel Peridot. This is Pink Coral, Blue Topaz, & I am Jade, their leader," she said as she tried to walk over to the Crystal Gems, but tripped over some debris. "Bwahahaha!!! You're their leader?! You're ridiculous!" Peridot laughed. Jade growled. "Just board our ship so we can take you to Homeworld, & no one has to get hurt," Coral said. "Not gonna happen," Amethyst said as she pulled out her whip. "We're not boarding what's left of your ship," Garnet told them. "Yeah! Leave our planet alone!" Steven yelled as he summoned his shield. "You wanna fight? Fine, we'll fight! Guys, we need Zircon!" Jade told her teammates. They danced & fused into Zircon once more. "I told you Steven was right when he said we needed fusion!" Peridot yelled at Garnet. "I never said he was wrong. I said we didn't need to fuse at the time. It wasn't necessary," Garnet replied. "Give us the Peridot before we shatter you!" Zircon yelled. "Never!" Steven said as he saw Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl fuse. "You'll never take our Peridot!" Alexandrite yelled to Zircon. "I'm scared, Steven!" Peridot cried as she hid behind her friend. "Don't worry, Peri. We won't let those jerks take you," Lapis said to her. "Wow, thanks."
"Steven! Get Lapis & Peridot out of here!" Alexandrite called to Steven. "Okay! C'mon, guys! Let's go to the barn!" Steven said as he took their hands. "Okay!" They said as they ran to the warp pad.

    They warped to the barn & ran inside. "Wh-why do those guys want me?!" Peridot asked as she sat down next to the collection of "meep-morps" she and Lapis had made and shivered. "I don't know, but they're not taking you," Lapis told her friend and hugged her. "Thanks, Lapis." Steven began pacing around the barn. "Are you okay, Steven?" Peridot asked. "No! Why can't Yellow Diamond understand that Homeworld Gems aren't welcome here?! We've defeated or redeemed every Gem she's sent here! I-I wish I could just... shatter her like Mom did to Pink Diamond!!" He yelled. Lapis & Peridot were shocked. "Y-you wanna shatter Yellow Diamond...?" Peridot asked. "Yes! She wants to kill my species & destroy my planet just to get her stupid Cluster!" Steven cried as tears ran down his cheeks.

    At the temple, Alexandrite was struggling to beat Zircon. "Just give up! You've lost!!" Zircon yelled as they punched Alexandrite in the face. "Even if we did give up, you have no way of getting us back to Homeworld! You've demolished your ship!" Alexandrite said as she stumbled backward. Zircon's eyes widened when they were reminded that their ship was gone. "W-we'll find another way back! We're Yellow Diamond's smartest Gems!" Zircon howled. They grabbed Alexandrite by her top pair of arms and threw her into the sea. Alexandrite began to glow & split apart but held herself together. "Ha! You call yourself a powerful fusion? You can hardly stay together! I can't believe you're all that's left of the rebellion," Zircon mocked. "At least what's left of the rebellion has a leader who doesn't trip over her own feet!" Alexandrite said as she got back up from being thrown. "We don't have to fight. We can just unfuse and talk this out like civilized Gems!" She told her opponent. "What would you know about being civilized?! You can't even stay loyal to your creators! You just care about this worthless planet!" Zircon's voice began splitting into 3. "You're falling out of sync. You won't last much longer if you keep that up." Zircon growled at Alexandrite. "Be quiet, you clods!" They said in Topaz's voice. Alexandrite walked over to the other fusion, grabbed them by the throat, and lifted them up. "This is our planet, & Homeworld Gems are not allowed here. This is not a Gem controlled planet- it's a Gem protected planet." Then, she tightened her grip on them. "I'm giving you two choices-Either leave this planet & never return, or join us & help protect it." Zircon struggled to wriggle free from Alexandrite's grip, but to no avail. Alexandrite was much taller than Zircon, & had access to more weapons since she was a fusion of four Gems, unlike Zircon's three. "If we agree to j-join you, will you let g-go of us?" They managed to choke out. Alexandrite nodded. "Okay, but wh-why should we join y-you?"
"Well, do you really think Yellow Diamond cares about you? She'll probably just think you failed your mission & have you replaced. You're not important to Homeworld, but you could be important to Earth," Alexandrite said, her second mouth forming a small grin. "Join us, & you'll have people who care about you." Zircon tried to resist but felt a second hand on their legs. They saw through Alexandrite's shades & 4 of her eyes narrowed. "J-Jade did say sh-she wanted to protect th-the Earth," Zircon said in Coral's voice. "Sh-shut up!" They said with Jade's.
"So, you were considering abandoning your mission? Good choice. Peridot disobeyed Yellow Diamond, now she's a Crystal Gem- You could be one, too."
"N-never! We'll never join y-you! I-" Alexandrite tightened her grip on Zircon's neck. "Actually, I've changed my mind. If you don't join us, you will be poofed, bubbled, & sent to the Burning Room," she said & raised Zircon higher. "B-Burning Room?!" Zircon freaked out.