era_two_triangle | Abandoned Crystal System Colony Planet Earth

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Abandoned Crystal System Colony Planet Earth - Friday, Fandom Time

It had all started with the Crystal Gems taking a break. A break! In building the drill! To save the planet! The work was so tantalizingly close to being done that Peridot had complained to Steven, vehemently. It had involved waving a little power drill in the air for emphasis. Which had, as most things around here seemed to do, inspired Steven to sing.

The difference is, this time, Peridot made an effort to understand why. And the whole thing had culminated in all four Crystal Gems sitting with their backs to the barn as Peridot showed off her take on the 'singing' that Steven had introduced her to.

"I guess we're already here,
I guess we already know.
We've all got something to fear,
We've all got nowhere to go.
I think you're all INSANE!
But I guess I am too...
Anybody would be
If they were stuck on Earth with you."

That one got a little grin from the trio of gems who were watching, and a cheer of triumph from Steven. None of them really noticed the portal that opened up nearby while Peridot was singing.

Tip	Peridot was singing. Tip would have bet money that Peridot didn't now what singing was, but there she was, apparently improvising a song verse and not doing a terrible job at it. Tip blinked as she stepped through the portal, then smiled, watching Peridot have this weird candid little moment. She'd learned so much so fast. It was really impressive! . . . Also there was the whole "Peridot shrunk" thing, but Tip had seen her missing one of her feet, so it didn't take long for her to realize that this was Peridot missing both her feet and also her weird floaty finger things. That was probably driving her absolutely bonkers.
Rufus	Rufus' lip curled in silent disgust at the fact that Peridot was singing. He didn't miss the fact that she'd lost a number of things (including height) but the singing was off-putting enough that he was going to ignore her. His gaze settled on Garnet instead. He should have just let them kidnap Peridot. She'd wound up here anyway. What a perfectly good waste of effort. At least Garnet had been amusing.
Jalian	Jalian blinked at the singing, and she wrinkled her nose. This didn't seem like an emergency. She eyed the other beings suspiciously, though, just in case Peridot still needed help; she had promised, after all.
Anakin	Anakin was less concerned about the singing and more about the lyrics, especially after his talk with Peridot a few weeks back. Something to fear, nowhere to go? Stuck on Earth? He had a bad feeling about this.
Peridot	Peridot was wearing a sheepish little smile at the accolades from the other Gems when she turned around to see the Fandomites standing there, listening. And then she blushed. A lot. Her face flushed blue. "Guys!" ... "You're here?" They were not Yellow Diamond, but she'd take it.
Jalian	"You said you needed help," Jalian answered, a touch of accusation in the explanation. Singing didn't seem like it needed help.
Peridot	Peridot hesitated for a moment, blinking a little more, and then looked between the group assembled. "My message reached you?" Well, they weren't Yellow Diamond, but still, she was touched. To the point of standing there awkwardly, looking between them.
Garnet	Behind her, Garnet smiled, just a little. Ah, the cavalry had arrived. "We were taking a break," she said in that calm, too-cool tone. "Peridot has been working hard to help us stop the Cluster." Which would mean nothing to everybody but exactly one of the newcomers, but Garnet was confident that they'd get to that.
Tip	"Well, we're here to help too then," Tip said. ". . . What's the Cluster?"
Anakin	"Sithspit," Anakin said eloquently, then gestured to Garnet. "Your world, your time to explain."
Garnet	Garnet looked faintly amused at being assigned the role of chief explainer of the situation, but shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. Not so much in spite of but because of Peridot's own indignant noise about it. Homeworld was where she'd come from, initially, but it was hardly her world now. This Earth, however... "A weapon," she said, simply. "Created by the Gem Homeworld out of the shards of Gems who were shattered in our rebellion to save the planet. One last ditch effort to destroy the world." She cast a glance Peridot's way. "An abomination." One that she felt at least partly guilty for, herself. After all, if Ruby and Sapphire hadn't fused, Homeworld might never have gotten the idea in the first place. "They're using the Gems of those fallen in battle, ours and theirs alike, to create one massive fusion. A Gem monster larger than the planet itself. And it's somewhere underneath us right now."
Rufus	"A giant zombie-gem monster," Rufus said flatly, summing it up. Great. There was nothing that could go wrong with that, right? "What are your preparations like for dealing with it?"
Peridot	"We made a drill!" ... That was it. That was the plan. Peridot still seemed pleased that they'd gotten that far.
Jalian	"Why did you need to make one?" Jalian asked, confused. Drills were everywhere.
Garnet	In reply, Garnet simply cleared her throat and gestured with one hand to the object that was propped up behind the gathered Fandomites. It was... large.
Jalian	That...was a very large drill, yes.
Anakin	"Somebody's feeling inadequate," Anakin muttered.
Peridot	Yeah, that would be Peridot. But look at her now. Could anybody really blame her for that?
Peridot	It was really a great, illuminating sort of conversation they were having, wasn't it? Of course Peridot, being the forward-thinking if not polite individual that was was, was gasping and perking up a little. "Oh, wait! I need to check on something!" And then she made a beeline for the drill. "She's come so far," Steven said to the group assembled, looking proud. "It seems like just yesterday she was trying to kill us." "No, no," Pearl corrected. "That was several weeks ago." Apparently the flow of time here was cranked up to fast-forward compared to Fandom's own at the moment. What else was new?
Tip	Tip wanted to follow after, but Rufus and Jalian were already doing it. She didn't want to crowd her. Also: "Did she try to push you guys off a roof?" she asked. Peridot said Tip was the experiment, but she couldn't really see Peridot as the lurking with a dagger type.
Garnet	"No," Garnet said, glancing at Tip with that ever-so-calm look on her face. "She tried to vaporize us with lasers and then crush us." Really, at this point, she almost - almost - sounded fond. It was easy for Garnet to not hold any hard feelings about it. After all, she'd destroyed Peridot's body by brutally crushing her torso in her hands, and all. It had been very cathartic.
Tip	"Where did she even get lasers?" Tip did not remember any lasers in Peridot's limb enhancers.
Garnet	"In her limb enhancers," Garnet replied easily. Because of course there had been lasers in her limb enhancers. "And in the derelict Gem colony ship she lured us into." Crafty little Gem.
Tip	Tip shook her head. "But when did she even do that? I just saw her this weekend. She and my friend bonded over being alien-fish out of space-water."
Garnet	Garnet looked at Tip in silence for a moment. Maybe she didn't understand the turn of phrase. Maybe she was trying to piece the rest of that mystery together. Maybe she just liked standing there quietly for a few beats too long before replying. "Would that be the weekend that saw friends and family visiting the island?" Friends, family, and the occasional looming space rocks?
Tip	"Well -- yeah. You were there." Tip and Garnet hadn't talked there, but Garnet was hard to miss.
Garnet	"I was," Garnet agreed. "Over a month ago." It had been a very eventful week. Apparently a full month's worth of eventful. "It helps if you think of time as a river," she noted. "Or a series of rivers. At certain points, they flow more quickly, or branch off into other rivers entirely. This timeline is flowing faster than that of the island, at the moment. Peridot has had plenty of time to shoot a few lasers."
Tip	"I guess that makes about as much sense as alternate earths do," Tip said. "Does that mean time travel is like swimming up or downstream?" She was going to have to tell J.Lo all about this later.
Garnet	"That would depend," Garnet deadpanned, "on how good you are at swimming." And on what ancient Gem artifacts you happened to be misusing at any given point in time for the express purpose of making snappy comebacks or building your own personal band out of alternate versions of yourself.
Tip	Or using the power of a moon-core powered death ray to go back and try to fix a mistake only to be the thing that actually ended up causing it in the first place! "Wait. Does this mean we might go back to school and end up having missed a month of classes?"
Garnet	"That is one possibility," Garnet agreed. And really, she would know. "Or you might go back to find that you've only been gone a matter of hours. Time can be slippery that way." Did Garnet know which it was? Probably. Was Garnet going to tell? Nah.
Tip	"That sucks," Tip said. "I mean, classes at Fandom aren't really very . . . traditional . . . but I still probably don't want to miss a month of them." And what about fall break? They were going to stay in a castle! Peridot better appreciate this.
Garnet	Garnet nodded her head faintly. "It isn't an easy thing to do," she acknowledged, "and what we're up against here is very dangerous. Are you certain this is where you want to be? There's still time to leave before the cluster tries to form."
Tip	Tip shook her head. "Peridot's my friend. If I can help, I'm going to do it."
Garnet	"Well," Garnet glanced up at the roar of the pink Lion that Steven was talking to. "Then we had better be on our way."
Rufus	As amusing as Peridot's failed attempts at killing people were (and they were amusing, deeply) Rufus drifted off after Peridot instead. It seemed more productive and he would like this trip to not be a total waste of his time. "What are you checking?" he asked, once he was close enough.
Jalian	Jalian was heading after Peridot, too; there was no telling what other dangers there might be around here. "Can I help?" she offered.
Peridot	"No, I'm fine," Peridot said, a little triangle vanishing into the cockpit of the drill for a moment before she peered her head out again. "I was just checking to see if we had coordinates. We still need the Cluster's exact coordinates in order to drill!" Spoiler: They did not have such a thing.
Rufus	Of course they didn't. Why make this easy on them? "And?" Rufus prompted.
Peridot	"And if we don't get them, we all die?" Peridot, that wasn't very reassuring, there.
Pearl	Fortunately, Pearl stepped forward to mediate. More or less. "There's a Diamond Base that may hold that information," she mused, "but getting there is going to be difficult."
Rufus	"You mean you'll die. I won't," Rufus pointed out. He couldn't resist. Because really. If death was the only outcome, he was taking a portal out of here. "Where would we have to get to in order to obtain the coordinates?" he asked Pearl.
Pearl	Pearl almost - almost looked apologetic. For a whole second. "It's not accessible by warp pad," she noted. "It's on--" She gestured upwards with one hand.
Steven	Steven gasped. "The moon!"
Pearl	"Yes, Steven. The moon." Because of course it was on the moon.
Jalian	Jalian frowned. "Is there a means of getting there?"
Steven & Lion	Never fear, all. Steven Universe had this situation handled. With a grin on his face, he ran over to the large, pink feline who was laying down nearby. "Come on, Lion, we gotta do this to stop the Cluster!" The lion didn't seem terribly impressed, cracking open one eye to look at Steven coolly. "If we don't there's gonna be no more Earth! No more fun times with your pals, no more Lion Lickers... no more naps?" Ah, that was what it took. Lion stood up and loosed a roar, his eyes glowing white. "Guess it was naps," Steven mused, shrugging. And then he gestured for everyone to climb aboard. The lion. Yes.
Rufus	Rufus made no move to go anywhere near the pink lion. "...There's no atmosphere out in space," he said, unimpressed. "How are we supposed to breathe?" He was willing to buy that the Gems didn't need to, but he did.
Pearl	"There ought to be adequate atmosphere within the walls of the base," Pearl said easily, even as she was shooed onto the lion's back courtesy of Steven. "Just so long as we stay inside, you'll all be fine."
Peridot	Peridot eyed Lion warily. And then was basically herded up into his mane, also courtesy of Steven. "This was not what I had in mind," she muttered, sourly. She expected to be sitting on the creature's head, but her bottom half, anything inside the mane, appeared to be... dangling into nothingness. She wasn't going to ask why or how.
Tip	Tip came over after talking to Garnet and climbed willingly enough onto Lion. She'd taken weirder forms of transportation. A hoverbutt, for instance. At least this one was larger than a dinner plate. "I'm assuming the magic pink lion knows where it's going, right?"
Jalian	Jalian frowned at the lion but climbed on. "How does it get us from here to there without our needing to breathe?"
Garnet	Garnet simply followed along a few steps behind, standing beside Lion in case anybody else needed help climbing aboard. "Magic." ... Probably.
Rufus	"That's not particularly reassuring," Rufus said, as he finally climbed on the lion. He had his PHS out and was recording. For reasons.

[OOC: MORE CANON... more or less. Getting into the It Could Have Been Great chunks of canon, and will be pushing all the way through to Gem Drill as we go. Preplayed with the fantabulous

sith_happened,

studyingfear,

intotheout, and

kenselvren, and there is plenty more to come, which will get dumped into the comments as I code it or liveplayed in here. After work. La.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lion	Once everybody had boarded Lion, he let out a mighty roar, and surged forward into a portal of his own devising. The world shifted into a blur of lights and motion, the speed they were moving at threatening to throw the Fandomites backwards off of the creature. He roared again and again, throwing out more portals just ahead of them. And then... the ride stopped, and Lion's feet planted on the smooth floor of a large, almost cathedral-like construct. They skidded for a fair distance, smacked into a wall, and then came to a stop.
Peridot	Peridot pried herself out of Lion's mane, grumbling all the while, then slipped and... basically planted her face on the floor, solidly. The Fandomites would likely find that gravity wasn't quite so possessive when it came to them. They were on the moon, after all.
Jalian	As they headed for the wall, Jalian leapt free of the lion - and ended up sailing across the room instead of landing a few feet away. She scrambled to get her feet planted in the direction she was heading, and managed to...well, she didn't exactly land there, either, but at least she was now headed upward and less in danger of splatting?
Anakin	Anakin, space-traveling show off that he was, landed without a problem. "Thank you," he said to Lion because, well, why not?
Lion	Lion gave a little whuff of acknowledgment, and then settled down to have a nap. He'd earned it, here.
Tip	Tip dismounted a bit more gingerly, but also without issue. Between spending time on Titan and having just done a class on a simulated moon, she had a decent handle on the much lighter gravity. Instead, she was boggling at the interior. "Um. Wow. I'm pretty sure my world's moon doesn't have this." If it did, the Boov probably would have tried to stay much closer to Earth when they gave up on their campaign of conquest.
Peridot	"Homeworld's colonization forces at work," Peridot said, shining a beam of light from the stone on her forehead. Like a tiny little flashlight! Very convenient, that way. She looked around thoughtfully, ignoring Steven bouncing around nearby, announcing that he was a Moon Boy. They had a job to do. But when she noticed one of the murals on the wall, she gasped and ran up to it, wide-eyed. "It's Blue Diamond!" She couldn't keep the excitement from her voice. "Wait, are they all here?" She looked around frantically, and then her expression lit up and she darted across the room again. "Aaah, there she is! Behold! Yellow Diamond! Isn't she magnificent?" Well, she was big, anyway. Or at least her mural was.

Rufus	Rufus had taken his sweet time getting away from the lion, since he didn't have any experience with lower gravity, but once he did move, he didn't have too many problems. Rufus was kind of annoying that way. "So only you are tiny?" Rufus teased. Deadpanned. It was hard to tell.
Peridot	Peridot... blushed. A lot. And stared up at the mural for a few moments more. "Well... no... there are plenty of Gems as diminutive as we Peridots are. I'm not much smaller than a Ruby, or a Sapphire..." She glanced at Garnet, who simply crossed her arms over her chest. And probably raised an eyebrow somewhere under that visor of hers. "The Diamonds, though? They're huge. They're the Gem matriarchs! Together they make up the Great Diamond Authority that governs Homeworld and all the outlying colonies! We live to serve them!" Garnet... cleared her throat. Seriously unimpressed. "I mean," Peridot laughed nervously, "we were all made to serve them, even though some of us... don't anymore..." She looked around desperately for a distraction, and actually managed to find one that was productive while she was at it. "Hey, I think that's a control service over there! Let's take a look." Lookit her scurry, lookit her go.
Rufus	"My," Rufus said, once he'd caught up to her in his own leisurely fashion, "it's almost like you're uncomfortable with your... situation." Rufus kept his voice even. Mostly because he didn't want his opinion clouding her reaction. And also because he thought it would be funnier that way. He looked at the control service station curiously.
Peridot	Who, Peridot? Uncomfortable? Naaah. Maybe. She was very small, and Garnet was large and intimidating and had already brutalized her body to the point of collapse once before. So she was throwing herself into studying that panel for all she was worth. "I think this is right. The material is different from the surrounding stone. I think if I just do this..." She moved her hands over the panel and it lit up, and then rose from the floor, lifting up to form a large spiral staircase. Lion made a little 'whuff' sound as the rising stairs knocked him away from his napping place. Peridot, meanwhile, gave an excited little giggle, and then started rushing up those steps. Curse Gem bodies and their ability to adapt to any gravity. "This is so incredible," she said, making her way up the stairs. "Only the most elite of the elite can enter these sanctums. We are literally walking in the very footsteps of the diamonds!" Steven looked around, impressed, before starting to follow along behind. "They must really like stairs."

Anakin snickered at Steven. "We should introduce them to the idea of the escalator."

That one actually got a glance from Peridot, who managed to break off her ramble about the glory of the Diamonds to blink curiously at Anakin.

"... To the what?"

Seriously. Escalators. They'd be huge someday.

"Moving stairs," Jalian said dismissively. "For lazy humans." Which was most of them in the current timeline, it seemed.

She had taken a few minutes and gotten more or less used to the decreased gravity. She jumped up and landed by Peridot. "Why does the difference in gravity not affect you? Do your feet stick to the ground?"

"They used to," Peridot muttered. "Before somebody lost my limb enhancers."

The other Gems were going to just ignore that remark.

"But no. We Gems are created for space travel and conquest. Our bodies naturally adapt to most environments we come across." She smirked a little bit. "We're the perfect space explorers."

And conquerors. That too.

"That is useful." Jalian grinned. "But now I'm faster." She took a small leap up, landing ten steps above Peridot.

The Gems	The trip back down to Earth on Lion's back was just as quick as the trip there had been, and Lion was quite happy to wander off and sleep until the end of time if he could get away with it. He'd earned his naps, after all. "How much longer 'til we can use the drill?" Amethyst wondered, looking up at Pearl. "Well," Pearl mused, "with the new coordinates we got from the moon base, it should be ready to go. But we really should perform a few tests first." That was about the point that Peridot stole herself - and the large gemstone that she'd been trying to hide behind her back - away into the barn. Steven, who had been eyeing her suspiciously ever since they decided it was time to leave the Moon Base, frowned and followed after her.
Rufus	She was a dreadful sneak, but Rufus was out of fucks to give for following her after he'd been on the moon thanks to a pink lion. He'd taken video on his PHS. It was to back up his story when Tseng inevitably pried it out of him. "What sort of tests need to be done?" he asked.
Pearl	Pearl glanced thoughtfully at the human boy. He seemed intelligent enough. Probably. She didn't imagine she'd overwhelm him too easily, at least. "Well," she said, her tone just a little on the lofty side, "mostly we'll need to run tests to make sure the drill can survive the trip. It wouldn't do to make it halfway through the Earth's mantle just to have it crack under the pressure, after all!" ... It was difficult to tell if that was intended to be clever wordplay or not.
Rufus	He was so terribly used to being condescended to. It was so very, very boring. "Of course," he said. "I would imagine that even for Gems surviving a mishap like that would be complicated. Especially with the impending end of the world." Rufus was still not quite sure why he hadn't just portalled out of here already. He didn't care about this world.
Pearl	It's because he liked Peridot, right? Right? Wasn't it? Or was he that intent on tormenting Tseng? "Well, yes," Pearl agreed, nodding her head. "The only one of us who can survive temperatures like that is Garnet, and even if our Gems weren't shattered in the inevitable explosion, nobody wants to be sent drifting out to space forever."

Jalian	Jalian followed Peridot, still keeping an eye on her, frowning at the attempt at sneaking. "What is that?"
Peridot	Did Peridot jump after realizing she'd been followed? Absolutely, she did! "Jalian! Steven!" She spun on her heel, getting up on her tiptoes to try to see if anybody else had come into the barn along with her. "Nothing! I don't have anything!" In her hand. Behind her back. At exactly that moment. Honest.
Tip	Being about twice Peridot's height now made it fairly simple for Tip to circle around enough to peek behind her back. "Did you steal something from the moon? Why are you hiding it?"
Peridot & Steven	"Because it's nothing special and definitely not important at all," Peridot said quickly, jumping another couple of feet for good measure at the sudden appearance of Gratuity appearing behind her. She spun on her heel to face Tip, which meant... mostly that it was right there for somebody else to snatch out of her hands. Like, say, a Steven. Who had grabbed a hammer from the tool pile. "Hmm," he said, holding both aloft. "Then why don't I just smash it!" "NO NO NO NO NO WAIT!" Sure thing, Peridot. Definitely nothing important at all.
Tip	"Okay, do gems just not have lying?" Tip asked. "Because you're really terrible at it."
Steven	Steven frowned a little. He had a pretty vivid memory of that one time that the other Gems had lied to him about a test he wanted to take. "No," he said, lowering the hammer slightly. "I think that's just Peridot."

Peridot	Peridot, for her part, just sighed. "All right, look. I have a plan. Allow me to explain... it's... a communicator. Meant for the express purpose of contacting the Diamonds back on Homeworld." It was possible that this plan did not sound as brilliant when said aloud to a bunch of people who were at least vaguely aware of how terrible the Diamonds were for Earth as it had sounded in her own head when she'd gotten the idea.
Tip	". . . The ones trying to blow up Earth using a giant mutant rock monster." Just to be clear.
Anakin	"Those, yes," Anakin said, looking loomy and unimpressed.
Peridot	Peridot was... still working on picking up on social cues. Like the way everybody was looking at her like she was about to do a very bad thing. "Yes, of course! I figured it out. The Crystal Clods keep trying to protect the earth, but they can't do anything right! I let myself get carried away, too... laughing, singing, building our little machine... but don't you see? None of that matters! All that matters is that I'm of use to Yellow Diamond! This planet can be of use to Yellow Diamond! I must contact her, to reveal what I've discovered!" ... Peridot didn't seem to comprehend that she sounded crazy, here. Or that she was waving the communicator in the air like she just didn't care.
Jalian	"How would that help?" Jalian asked. She caught Peridot's hand, not to take the communicator away (yet), but to avoid her hitting anybody with it.
Tip	"If they're the ones who put it there," Tip guessed. "Maybe they can take it back out?" It didn't sound super likely, but Peridot knew the other gems better than they ever could.
Steven	Steven couldn't take this anymore. He seemed to ball into himself more and more before his protest came out all in one outburst. "But the Diamonds are bad! They don't care about the earth! They wanted to hollow it out, and now they wanna blow it up with the Cluster!"
Peridot	"Yes," Peridot yelled, nodding emphatically, stopping the waving of her arms around mostly thanks to Jalian's intervention, "yes! That's the point!" Wait, which one was it, Peri?

Anakin	"No!" Anakin said. "Planet destroying is not a good thing." And he knew from planet destroying.
Peridot	Peridot made a disgruntled sound of frustration right about the same time Steven made a dive for the crystal in her hand, and since her arm was being held in place, there wasn't exactly anything she could do to stop him. "Why do I keep sticking my neck out for you? You're never gonna be on our side!" He clutched the thing close, and then made a break for the barn door. "Garnet! Amethyst! Pearl!" "Steven, no!" Peridot wriggled and squirmed, trying to free herself from Jalian's grip. "Don't get them! Steven! Release me!"
Tip	Tip thought about J.Lo and how mad he got when she always second guessed his plans. Maybe Peridot was onto something? Maybe the diamonds would help? She didn't know Steven as well; she didn't know if he was overreacting or not. So she ran after him and tackled him, sending the crystal flying. "Heyyyy!" he cried, and tried to scramble after it again. Tip sat on him. "Let's at least hear her out, okay?" Tip looked back at Peridot. "What's your actual plan?"
Peridot (et al)	Peridot's plan, apparently, was to pull herself free of Jalian and make a dive for the communicator, clutching it fiercely to her chest and turning to Steven with a hiss. The overall effect was a bit like that of a mildly irritated kitten, but she figured she got her point across. The fact that the Crystal Gems were appearing in the barn doorway in response to Steven's cries mostly just served to make Peridot growl again, this time in frustration, and then drop down to all fours to scamper out of the barn, blowing right by them as she went and earning a few confused looks from the trio as she did so. "Did she have--" A bemused Pearl asked, looking back over her shoulder. "Yep," Garnet agreed. And then she called her gauntlets to her. This was going well.
Jalian	Jalian scowled and stepped between the Gems and where Peridot had gone. "No. You won't be hurting her."
Steven	Peridot looked over her shoulder as she ran, giving a delighted little cackle. This was what friends were for, right? Steven didn't seem quite so thrilled, squirming and writhing under Tip. He probably could have picked her up and thrown her- he did have the partial strength of a Quartz, after all - but there were some things you just didn't do. "Peridot, I trusted you! I spend all that time bonding and hoping and caring about you!"

Peridot	Peridot could barely hear, rounding on her heel and holding up the communicator. "You don't get it either! This is your whole problem! Your emotions rule out reason!" She turned the top half of the crystal so that the yellow facet aligned with the yellow facet on the bottom, and then stepped back with a satisfied smile as the whole device began to glow, and then lifted into the air. "I will do what has to be done!" ... That would be the Gems, ducking quickly into the barn and out of sight as a hologram formed, revealing the somewhat distracted face of a yellow Pearl. "This is the Yellow Diamond control room," she said, sounding dryly unimpressed. "Who authorized you to make this call?" "No-one," Peridot replied, looking somewhat chagrined. "B-b-but this is an emergency!"
Tip	Tip noticed the other gems hiding away and did her best to stay out of the crystal's . . . camera? . . . range. While she blatantly listened in on the conversation. As you do.
Yellow Diamond	Peridot still looked as though she was sweating bullets as the Pearl on the other side of the call turned up her nose at her. "That's no excuse to use the direct Diamond communication channel--" "Pearl." The voice that came from offscreen was calm. Poised. Cold. "Yes, my Diamond?" "Why is there someone on the Diamond line?" "I don't know," the Pearl said, sounding... frightened? Frightened. "I was just about to tell her that-" "I'll take it from here." A giant hand came into view on the screen, re-angling the crystal on her own end so that it was directed toward her face. She didn't so much as look toward Peridot, however, her expression bored. Inconvenienced.
Peridot	"My diamond!" Peridot struck a pose that could only be a salute, crossing her arms over her chest and bending her hands back so that when her fingertips touched, the overall shape created a diamond. "Peridot, reporting in." "Which Peridot?" "F-Facet-2F5L, Cut-5XG." Peridot herself looked as though she was going to just faint at any moment, clearly nervous. "I'm sorry to contact you this way, but all other forms of communications have been destroyed and--"
Yellow Diamond	Yellow Diamond held up a hand, signalling for silence. She was looking at a monitor on her end of the call, frowning in annoyance. "This says you're behind schedule on your mission to..." A sudden spark of fierce interest flared up in her eyes, and she looked toward Peridot for the first time during the call. "How is... the Earth?" "It's..." Peridot grimaced a little. "Full of life?" "Organic life," Yellow Diamond replied, disgust dripping from every drawn out syllable. "And where is the Jasper I assigned you? And why aren't you calling from the ship?" "The ship was destroyed," Peridot said, wincing. "By whom?" The menace in Yellow Diamond's voice was thick and clear. If the ship had been destroyed on a mission to Earth...

Rufus	So, it turned out, Rufus was only mostly out of fucks to give, because when Peridot clambered out of the barn on all fours--Shiva's tits, she had no dignity at all--and summoned a... Well. That was one way to make a phone call. Rufus weighed the odds of being able to get close enough to hear and remain unnoticed with how long the Diamond was likely to let Peridot talk and, reluctantly, decided it was probably a lost cause. But he was watching. Peridot's expressions would still tell him something.
Peridot	By whom? Who destroyed the ship? Peridot looked around frantically for a second before replying. "I-I-I-It was destroyed by..." She stared at the barn for a few seconds. "No one! There was... an accident... while we were...landing?" Oof. That wasn't terribly convincing. Even Yellow Diamond raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I'll inform your manager of your incompetence. And what is the status of The Cluster?" "The Cluster..." Peridot chewed her lip, "will emerge shortly." "Good." Yellow Diamond's voice sounded pleased for the first time in the conversation. "We'll finally get some use out of that miserable planet... Thank you for your report, Peridot. There'll be a ship heading to your location to take you to your next assignment." Yellow Diamond reached to terminate the call. "Wait!" Okay. Okay okay okay, Peridot could do this. "I-I wouldn't have called just to waste your time with a report." "You already have," Yellow Diamond replied in a tone so dry that Peridot balked and cringed away from the screen. "No," she managed, "I mean... the reason I called... the real reason is... I believe we should terminate The Cluster."
Yellow Diamond	"... Why?" "The organic ecosystem creates resources unique to this world," Peridot explained quickly, "we can't sacrifice all that potential just for one geo-weapon! I'd like to tell you some plans I came up with to utilize a planet without disrupting the local-" "I've heard enough!" And now the Diamond's voice was coldly condescending, her words coming out clipped, pronouncing each syllable carefully. "I don't care about potential and resources." "What?!" Peridot was absolutely gobsmacked. With Homeworld as low on resources as it was, a statement like that made no sense at all. It... it was insanity. "I want my Cluster," Yellow Diamond said, "and I want that planet to die. Just make that happen." "No!" The word exploded out of Peridot's mouth almost before she was aware she was going to say it, and the second it had, she looked like she was going to be ill. Which would be a mean feat for a Gem, but special circumstances...

Jalian	Jalian scowled at the Diamond. She was tempted, very tempted, to march up there and have it out with her. But she couldn't exactly knife her, and Peridot seemed to have words covered for the moment, so... Jalian grumped and stayed where she was, poised to run out there if anything happened.
Yellow Diamond	Peridot looked faint. The Pearl on the other side of the line gasped. Yellow Diamond... Yellow Diamond looked like she was about to shatter somebody. "Are you questioning my authority?!" "I'm... questioning your objectivity!" Peridot fell into another diamond-shaped salute, sweat forming on her face. "My Diamond." "You," the screen's view shifted as Yellow Diamond stood, her Pearl shrinking out of the way to avoid being crushed underfoot, "are out of line." "I just think-" "I'm not interested in the puny thoughts of a Peridot!" "But-" "You," Yellow Diamond snarled, "have disrespected this channel and my time with your presence and you would do well to-" "But-" "Shut your mouth!" The sound came forth from the communicator so fiercely that Peridot clamped her mouth shut by reflex, shrinking away from the angry Diamond's reprimand. "You have failed at every stage of this mission. Your only chance to redeem yourself is to obey this simple order. You are to leave the Cluster to grow. It will tear apart the Earth, and I will take immense satisfaction in erasing that hideous rock off of our star maps. Is that clear?!"
Peridot	"I won't do it!" And once again, Peridot was raising her voice, going from an outburst to a full-on screaming tirade, zero to sixty. "I can tell you with certainty that there are things on this planet worth protecting!" "What," Yellow Diamond yelled back, "do you know about the Earth?" "Apparently more than YOU! You... CLOD!!" If looks could kill, the one that Yellow Diamond gave Peridot would have turned her gem into dust. The Crystal Gems clamped hands over their mouths to keep from gasping aloud, and Peridot fell into another hasty salute, eyes wide, before spitting out a quick, "Peridot, out!" She snatched the communicator, terminated the call, and stared with wide, horrified eyes at the crystal in her hand.

Jalian was still scowling at where the Diamond had been when she came out to see Peridot. "Idiot. Her, I mean." She nodded her head toward where the picture had been. "Will it make any difference?"

Peridot stared at the crystal in mute shock for another few seconds, distantly aware that she was being spoken to. It was Garnet, then, who stepped up to answer Jalian's question while the little green Gem processed what had just gone on.

"Yellow Diamond has a grudge against Earth," she explained, though she was looking pleased at what had just transpired. Look at Peridot, all grown up and telling off the elites. "It marks the site of the first real loss that Homeworld's empire ever experienced. She's made it personal."

"I can't believe I just did that," Peridot lamented, somehow managing to look more green than usual.

Peridot	Well... That night had been... long. Between a trip to the moon base and the skirmish to try to get the communication device back from Peridot, Steven, at least, decided that he needed to nap. The visitors from Fandom were welcome to do the same, if they needed to. After all, the drill was built, and coordinates had been programmed in. They were good to go whenev- Of course, that was about the moment the ground shook. Peridot had turned to Steven and the Gems at first, insisting that it was the cluster. Steven, who had apparently... just been possessing... a watermelon? Swore up and down that no, it was Malachite. Which led to a whole explanation of how Lapis had Jasper in a forced fusion somewhere and the Gems (and Steven) had run off to save the day. Or something. Peridot remained unconvinced. And rather than sit there waiting for the Gems' return, she was going to try again with the cavalry. "Did you feel that?"
Rufus	"I think corpses would've felt that," Rufus snarked. "Of course I felt that." And he didn't much like it either. He'd wanted to get some time to himself to look over what he'd learned about the situation. (But not sleep. Rufus never slept around strangers.)
Jalian	"Are earthquakes unusual in this place?" Jalian asked, unconcerned. Post-apocalyptic California had its share; they were just a thing that happened.
Peridot	"I have no idea," Peridot admitted, "but I would rather not take the risk." She climbed up onto a crate in front of a diagram she'd drawn out on a chalkboard, outlining what appeared to be seismic activity in varying degrees of severity. "This could be the start of the emergence of the Cluster. Stage 1: Slight tremors every quarter hour. Stage 2: Full scale earthquakes. Stage 3: the Earth is destroyed! We're running out of time. We need to drill right now!" ... She was still a bit anxious, here. Please excuse the hopping from foot to foot she was doing.
Rufus	"If we're only in stage one then we have a bit of time," Rufus pointed out. A beat. "Also, you look idiotic. Stop that."
Tip	Tip gave Rufus a rather eloquent look. Peridot was bright green with triangle hair. A little panic reaction wasn't even close to what made her look "ridiculous". "Do you know how to run the drill?" she asked. "Or do we need to wait for the . . . other people . . . to come back?" She was not calling them 'Crystal Gems'. That made them sound like something out of a book her mom would have gotten her from a school book fair when she was eight.
Peridot	"I helped design the drill," Peridot replied, and then... basically had to drop to all fours to climb back down off of the crates she'd been sitting on. "And then helped to build it as well. Of course I know how to operate the device." They could run around beating on unstable fusions all they wanted. There was an Earth to save.

Anakin	"So let's fix this instead of waiting for things to get worse." Anakin was giving you such a look, Rufus.
Jalian	"What is needed to fix it?" Jalian asked. "Do we drill straight through it, or are there explosives?"
Peridot	Peridot chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment, and then she shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted. "Explosives might be dangerous for us to set off from that far underground. The drill should be able to break apart the cluster, provided we aren't too late." It was kind of the best they had. She shifted her weight uneasily, and then shook it off. "Okay, everyone, are you ready to drill down into the planet to depths never before reached by your species to stop the Cluster before it forms and save this world?!" DIDN'T THAT SOUND GREAT?
Jalian	Jalian shrugged. "I must stop my own world's apocalypse. I cannot ignore this one." She would do what she could.
Tip	"If you built it, I'm sure it works," Tip said. She wasn't, but it was a nice thing to say. "And -- if we don't try it sounds like we're probably screwed anyway, so we might as well, right?" Pardon her language. And her pun.
Anakin	"This isn't the worst plan I've ever heard of and followed." That was not much of an endorsement, Anakin.
Rufus	Rufus was ignoring all the looks he'd gotten. Especially since judging her behaviour was better than judging her appearance. One she couldn't help. One she could. Which was the better thing to judge her for, honestly? And Rufus never gave a damn about what teachers thought of him anyway. "It is for me," he said, since this was the shoddiest plan he'd ever heard of and he had no problems letting them know that. "But I suppose it will suffice." For a bit of entertainment before they all died horribly. But that was why Rufus hadn't specified what it would suffice for.

Peridot	"Don't say that," Peridot said, pointing at Rufus and practically yelling. "Say we're gonna do it together and it's gonna be great!" Because, sure, that was going to happen. They were all gonna die. But at least they'd die trying.
Rufus	Rufus just looked at her. He'd rather die before saying something like that. And, oh look, dying was coming up rapidly! How convenient! The look was really more of a glower. He was here and he was willing to try. That was more than any other person in the entire multi-verse could expect from him. Deal with it.
Tip	Tip had always been a fan of going down fighting. Also, this was wasting time. "Well let's get going then," she said, heading purposefully for the drill. She'd figure out how to run it herself if she had to. She taught herself how to drive both a regular car and a flying one made by an alien with only the loosest idea of how a car was supposed to work; a giant drill ship couldn't be that hard.
Peridot	Under their feet, the Earth shook again, more violently this time. Peridot gave a little yelp and scurried up the ladder to climb into the drill's cockpit. "Ready or not, we have a mission." She frowned a little as she deposited herself into the driver's seat. ... It was a little cozy in here for five, wasn't it? Maybe it was for the best that the Crystal Gems were off fighting Malachite.
Rufus	Rufus climbed after her, resigned to getting this done no matter what other people thought. "... This is going to be a tight squeeze," he observed, sitting down and making himself as small as possible. Lovely.
Tip	"It can't be that bad," Tip said. Then got a look at it. It was that bad. "Hope everyone wore deodorant."
Anakin	Why did he have to be six feet tall? Why? Anakin jammed himself in as tightly as he could, knees up around his chin. "Cosy," he muttered.
Jalian	"Smaller than ghess'Rith's feathernest," Jalian muttered in silverspeech. She slid into the side of it, glad she was no bigger, and closed the hatch behind her. "I think we're ready."

Peridot	Peridot nodded, and then turned the drill on. It lurched downward, throwing up dirt as it bit into the ground below, rattling the poor Fandomites squished within. "Increasing speed," Peridot ground out, and then the drill was burrowing into the Earth like a rocket. A very big rocket. That was actually a drill. It grew dark, with the exception of the panels in the cockpit glowing a faint green.
Anakin	"Green is generally a good sign, right?" Anakin checked, trying to learn the setup of the panels. He was a pilot. It was what he did.
Peridot	Peridot just turned a glance and a smile back toward Anakin. "Would I have it any other way?" Your engineer had a bit of a bias. Still, the panels were fairly straightforward. There was a monitor that showed their position relative to the Cluster - there was still a long way to go - and there were rows of buttons, some numbered, some with words written on them in the Gem language. ... Plus there was a pair of N64 controllers. There was probably a reason for those.
Rufus	Rufus was leaning over his knees and peering at the buttons with clear interest. It was probably the most actively engaged in something anyone here had ever seen him. "What do the buttons do?" he asked. "And what are those?" The controllers.
Peridot	"They're all important," Peridot assured Rufus. "This row here is to deploy additional drill parts. These are for the periscope. And this one?" She hit one of the buttons. Elevator music began to play. "For the trip. As for the controllers? We use those for--" She paused as the ground shook around them, and then shook her head. "Get ready! We're about to penetrate the asthenosphere!" The darkness of the dirt and rock that had surrounded them gave way, suddenly, into a brilliant orange glow through the window as they passed through into a layer of molten rock. Fortunate, wasn't it, that the drill was built to withstand 360 gigapascals of pressure and temperatures of 9800 degrees?
Rufus	"Amazing," he said, watching the window. "Given where we are in the Earth's crust, that's peridotite, right? Super-heated." It looked an awful lot like lava, just saying. The elevator music made him wince a bit. But nothing was stopping him from getting all of this recorded.
Peridot	Peridot glanced at Rufus... again, as best as she was able. It was a squishy proposition, there inside the drill. But sometimes things came out of his mouth that impressed her, and this was one of those things. "Yeah," she confirmed, and then smiled faintly, almost fondly. "It's made of the same stuff as peridots."

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OOC!