Chereads / Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe) / Chapter 113 - Chapter 103: Star Skipping Across the Universe

Chapter 113 - Chapter 103: Star Skipping Across the Universe

Summary:

Skipping with no worries

Spinel grinned as she listened to the boy speak. "And after that, Lilith proceeded to kick Kikimora like a ball!" He exclaimed excitedly. "She fell down that crater like twenty times, and it never stopped being funny. Moral of the story, life is better when you can kick your enemies into pits."

"I never had enemies, so I never thought of it that way." She laughed. Spinel was not one to complain..like at all, but the game Pink had her playing was SUPER boring. She was so lonely, so….empty…, and it was really starting to drive her a little crazy. But this guy, he had so much to say. Just hearing him talk about his life was soooo much fun! "The Boiling Isles sounds like an amazing place."

"It's the most amazing. Everyday, something new happens, there's no telling what it's going to be, and I embrace it every single day." He smiled.

Spinel gave a wistful look at the stars. "I can't believe Titans grew life. Such a weird thing."

The kid blinked. "You know about Titans?"

Spinel shrugged. "Kinda. Pink said that Yellow complained about them all the time. Called them Devils or something because they messed with their colonies, so they worked with moon people or something to banish them somewhere, I don't know the details." It was one of those weird stories Pink only remembered because she was bored.

"… Well I came from another dimension, so I guess they banished them to the Demon Realm." The kid stated. "And now I realized I possess knowledge about life that takes most people decades to learn…weird how reality works."

"Super weird." She agreed. "So, what else does the Boiling Isles have?" So many fun stories.

"So many things I can barely name. Boiling water for one, grass as red as blood, eyeballs planted in every corner, demon's of every size and shape that really stretch the imagination. Ghosts that roam the streets, painbows that bring both beauty and destruction, and the music…oh the music is on another level." He smiled. "When you sing or play an instrument there, you become one with your song, everything you have on the inside, you can extend and express to others. The louder you play, the more..at one you feel with the Island…it's pure…serenity."

"Wow…" Her eyes widened. "It sounds…beautiful.."

"It is…And I'm doing everything in my power to return to that." He said a bit solemnly. "There's so many memories I've had over there…so many games…so much fun…and even through the worst of times, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

She patted him on the back. "Then I wish you the best kido. Good luck." A fun kid like that deserved it….even if she would end up alone again for a while.

The kid paused. "You know…hearing about fun places is one thing…seeing fun places is another." The boy said. "I bet I would have so much more fun if you came with me."

"That does sound great.." It sounded like the best thing to ever happen to her in the last six thousand years. "But I need to keep playing, I told you that already. I need to be here for when Pink comes back."

"But it's been six thousand years." He said.

"Yeah, that's nothing to us gems." She forced out a chuckle. "I've been around for a good fifty thousand at least."

"So much existential dread." The kid groaned, before snapping his fingers. "..Why don't we put the game on pause?"

"On pause?" She questioned. "People can do that?"

"Of course, friends do it all the time." He said. "There's a universal rule where you can build up pause time. Every minute you play equals one second, and if you been playing for six thousand years, you have like…a trillion seconds, maybe more."

"I guess I do." She nodded. "Hmm … but what if she comes back and I'm gone?"

"Then we leave a note." He said. "We tell her you've taken a break, and by the laws of the game, she's obligated to wait for you if she comes. You get to explore, and you won't lose the game, because the game is on pause."

"I see …" Spinel nodded. "Alright then, the pause is on!" She shouted, drawing in the dirt. "Now I can go out and have fun…maybe I'll run into Pink again and catch up!" So many discussions they missed. 

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" 

"Alright!" She lifted her leg….and fell to the ground. "Heh…guess I've really planted myself in a mess." Spinel joked, realizing just how attached her feet were to the vines growing around her. "Oh, can you go grab my rejuvenator?" She pointed to the side.

"Why's it called a rejuvenator?" He asked, grabbing the small object.

"Because it's supposed to reset rebellious gems back to their basic functions, removing any problematic memories…but to me, it's just a really cool and fun looking knife." She smirked, opening up the weapons and cutting away the leaves. "Ahh, feels like old times."

"Laser scythe…..that's sooo coool." The boy's eyes sparkled.

"I know right!?" Spinel spun around with it. "I make this look so awesome!"

"You and I are going to be great friends." Friends…that sounds so great to hear. "Alright, first off we need to start looking for the rest of my friends…only problem is that we all got separated from the warp stream, and I have no idea where they could be.

"Oh, if we can't use the warp pad, we could take the injector!" She shouted. "It's pretty old, but there should be something on it that can detect stream tracking or something." She shifted her fingers into a horn, and blew.

After the ground shook for a minute, it came by. "...You have..your OWN ship!?"

"It's an injector, but it has spaceship parts." She corrected. "It's meant to kill all organic life on a planet in case they get too rowdy, but Pink thought that was boring and just gave it to me."

"...Okay…I'm just going to…sit on that for a minute." He nodded, before shaking his head. "I just realized…I've never asked your name through all the talking."

"I'm Spinel! I make people happy and laugh." She grinned. "So turn that frown-" She held him by the leg. "Upside down."

"Heh. Very theatrical." He smirked, before hopping off her like and doing multiple flips in the air. "And I am the Boiling Isles most wanted, Lucci Clawthorne! Pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss Spinel." He did a little bow to her.

Oh this was gonna be a blast. She should've taken this pause thing years ago!

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Gus stared at the flames. The object which gave them life and strength. "Cook! Feed us!" He shouted to the dancing flame people. Their gods, their great providers that without, they would've fallen to the depths of darkness long ago.

"We feed you in return. Circle of life!" Luz gave the flames wood, as they danced even higher. "Heya!" The flame people rejoice, singing praises to those up high. "And with this sacrifice, may the hunt be blessed, may every step we take be sheltered and cared for, as we raise!" She put on her fur coat, skinned from the red wolf. "I now call upon the spirit of the space wolf, and claim its powers as my own!"

"Let its power flow through us, and give us a blessed hunt!" Gus shouted, placing a bird skull on his face. "We will survive with the power of nature, with our instincts, and with our ancestors!" May the gods bless them before the sun rises once more.

"Tonight we hunt…tonight we feast…and tonight…we devour anything that gets in our pa-"

"What the hell is going on here?" The voice of their distant past came forth, as they turned to their familiar companion.

"Lucci!" Gus cheered. "I didn't know you landed on the planet too."

"I didn't, I landed in some weird space garden. I just flew here on a ship about five minutes ago."

"Ship …" Luz trailed off, before snapping her fingers. "Right, I forgot those existed."

"Want some bird meat?" Gus offered.

"What the…what the heck have you guys going?" Lucci looked at them. "You have a hut….cave paintings…why are you clothed in dead animals?"

"It's our way of bonding with nature. We killed the beast, and thus we take their place, circle of life and all that." Gus chipperly answered.

"… You were only stranded for an hour or two!" Lucci shouted. "How did you already devolve into tribalism!?"

"I thought you were aware of how fast I lose it." Luz noted. "Isn't that right Steve?" She asked the companion they found along the way.

"… That's a skull you're using as a hand puppet."

"Steve does his best!" Gus defended. "It's not his fault life gave him obstacles to overcome!"

"...How am I the sane one here?" Lucci grumbled, rubbing his face as he shook his head. "Whatever. Grab whatever you want and prepare to leave. Spinel has a way to track where everyone else warped.

"Oh, seems you made a new friend too." Luz smiled. "Then let us track our friends and return to our village, feasting on the flesh of our prey!"

"...I need to slap sense into you two." Lucci sighed, cupping his hands and yelling. "Spinel! I have two people who can use some cheering up!" 

"Then my time has come!" Another voice shouted as what looked like a pink spring crashed down in front of them, before bouncing again to land gracefully on Gus's head. " Don't be sad, don't meek, life is always such a treat, you will always feel swell!" It jumped on top of Luz's head as it played with its own hands like a harmonica. " Life is always perfect with your best friend, Spinel!"

"....huh?" Gus suddenly felt a weird wave of common sense wash over himself.

"Gah, Gem!" Luz shouted with fear, pulling out her sword. "Why am I holding a skull!?" She tossed away a wolf head as she swung at the pink lady with the sword.

"Oooh, are we playing the knife throwing game? Pink played that game all the time with me! I move around and she tries to poof me! That was the best!" The bouncy gem hopped around, stretching her body in crazy ways like she was a living rubber toy.

"She knew Pink!" Luz shouted. "Lucci, go for the eyes, I'll deal the final blow!"

"Luz, no, stop, you're still acting crazy!" Lucci grabbed the girl by the arms before she could swing again. "She's who I met at the garden I landed on. She's how I was able to find you guys."

"… So she's not like Bismuth, or the Crystal Gems, and she's not liable to destroy us?"

"Only if you're an enemy of Pink, my best buddy." The stretchy gem laughed.

"Wait, but isn't Pink Lucci's M-" Gus tried to say, only for Lucci to cover his mouth.

"Hehehe, funny.." Lucci laughed, before turning to them, whispering. "Full disclosure, she was abandoned for six thousand years because my womb donor was a cruel prick that forgot about her. This is my way of helping her."

"Ah …" That was horrifying . "So … should we find the others?"

"Yeah. Willow, Amity, Boscha." Lucci nodded. "Or do I need Spinel to give you guy's another reality check to jog up your memories?"

"No, we're good." Luz sighed. "Wait, you forgot about Hunter."

"No I didn't." 

Gus gave him a look. "We're going back for Hunter."

"Dang it, you just had to remember them." 

"I can make them forget with the rejuvenator!" Spinel shouted, twirling a freaking laser scythe! "I'm not sure how well it works on organics, but something interesting should happen either way.

"...Out of all the gems you had to bond with…this is the first one you choose to befriend?" Luz raised an eyebrow.

"She's the first one that sees me for me and not Steven or my womb donor."

"Who cares about parents, you are who you are." Spinel grinned. "Now let's go back to the searching game! Winner take all!"

"... Collector Mindset?" Gus asked.

"A little bit…actually funny story…titan's come from here..and to gems, THEY were the devils." Lucci explained.

"This is a random time to get a lore bombshell." Luz grumbled. "We'll deal with that later. We got friends to find!"

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Amity carefully waited in the trees, carefully setting the bait out once she was done. "Okay Hunter, I need you to act as hurt as possible."

"HELP ME! MY BODY IS IN AGONY! I WANT TO CUT OFF MY ARMS BECAUSE THEY HURT TO EXIST!"

"Nailing it."

"I'M NOT FAKING AT ALL! THEY'RE BENT IN ALL THE WRONG WAYS! SOMEONE, PLEASE DO SOMETHING!" Overselling it a little, but it was believable. She had to be thorough in the physical aspect, so she couldn't hold back. He used to be the golden guard, so he probably felt worse.

"All we have to do now is wait." She stared at the walls as Hunter screamed. "... And wait … and wait-"

"NOBODY'S COMING DAMN IT!" He shouted. "YOU BROKE MY ARMS FOR NO GOOD REASON!"

"It was for a good reason, to break out of here." She explained. "It just didn't happen to work, so we have to rely on plan b."

"WHY DIDN'T WE START WITH PLAN B!?"

"Because you shot down the fire idea. This one's a slight extension of it." She used her goo to slice apart a tree, splitting it into logs of wood. "I'm not just going to set a fire, I'm going to spread it all over the forest and make the human's run in terror, thus creating emotional pain."

"Meow." It was a fair plan.

"Friends, why are you sitting around?" They turned to see Wy Six walking to them. "Didn't you hear the voice? It's time for the Choosening!"

"Oh … no, we didn't hear about a … Choosening." Amity lied.

"Can't … move." Hunter cried.

"Then l'll move for you!" Wy-six pulled Hunter to his feet and began walking.

"Everything's creaking…everything is moving into the wrong place…" Hunter whined.

"Uh…what exactly happens…in a choosening?" Amity asked

"The voice tells you who is chosen." Wy Six explained. "It is a magical moment one will never forget." They were led into a large circle area, everyone wearing giddy smiles.

"J-5…you are with Wy-10. You have been chosen together."

"Yay!" Two of the humans ran forward … and kissed.

"... Hey." Hunter spoke, suddenly looking like he was able to ignore the pain in his body. "When your chosen, is it … for life?"

"No. Every year the voice chooses a couple of people, and then after little people are made, they get choosned with other people, and so on and so forth."

Every part of Amity was screaming in existential terror unknown to Witch kind. "So you..you guys…just have sex whenever this random voice tells you to with whatever random stranger on the spot, and your…just…OKAY WITH IT!?"

"I don't know what this sex is, but we are happy to be choosened with whoever we get choosened with. It's great." Wy-6 waved off.

"That, that's not love though!" She shouted.

"Oh don't be silly. We love everyone." Jay Twelve spoke up. "We care for everyone, so we get to love everyone."

"But love is when you….chosen for yourself!" Amity shouted.

They all stared at her with confusion. "You can … Chosen for yourself?"

"Yes, that's what's great about love! You decide who you give it to! No one else! If someone else chooses you, then you can never know it's real!?"

Wy Six looked at her curiously. "Then … I chosen you, Amy-Ty!"

"WHAAAT!?" Amity exclaimed. "But, but we just..I'm not…" There was SO many things wrong with this scenario. Age somehow being the least of them.

"You have very nice smile and you know so many things. You awesome!" The girl said.

"Can I chosen her too?"

"Me too!"

"I love her hair."

Oh no…Amity hadn't been teleported to a zoo…she was teleported into what Luz would call 'a bad harem anime'. "NO! NO! Don't even think about it! I already have a chosen…Just..no! No on all levels!"

"What …" They began to cry. "So … we can't …"

"What is this feeling?" Another asked, falling to the ground.

"This …" Jay Twelve looked around. "This is HURT!"

"... You know … I think I prefer the broken bones." Hunter spoke. "Is it too late to beat them up?"

"I think we've caused enough damage." Amity grabbed Hunter. "Now let's get out of here before they discover anger and try to kill us!"

They began running, and as they did, they noticed a door opening…a door flooding in with gems. Ones that looked like giant versions of Amethysts.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Hunter groaned. "What did that lecture say about Amethyst?"

"They're bulky strong types meant for fighting wars…we just hopped out of the fire and into a frying pan." Amity slapped her face. "Think you can fight for a bit?"

"Again…YOU BROKE MY ARMS!"

"Just get over it, Lucci and Boscha do." She complained. Some people were just too soft.

========================================================================

Lapis laughed as she prepared another tidal wave. "Man, this is fun. Usually all we have to do is throw water on people until they stop moving." It was nice to make fun shapes while they carved, but after a while it lacked inspiration. "It's rare for us to meet a species or a people that fights back this hard."

"Trust me, after I'm done, you people will wish your species never existed!" The girl shooting fire everywhere shot herself as she evaporated a whole in the watery wall, shooting herself past it. "Out of all the elemental fighter's I've fought, you barely rank in the top ten!"

"Oh, is that so?" Her partner, Lazuli, asked with a smirk. "Allow me to rectify that." They formed water into ice blades, spinning her fingers around until they spun like razor blades, and launched them in quick succession. 

"Buzzsaws, how original." The one controlling plants aimed a tree to shoot branches, smashing the weapons into ice. "You're not going to get us that easily, we're nothing like you've ever seen before!"

"I admit, you're weird and strong, but I heard organics need to eat to keep up their stamina." Lazuli grinned. "How long do you think you two've got?"

"I mean we can give them a break." Lapis suggested. "We do have another year or two of cutting up rocks, and this seems like enough fun to keep going for a week."

"But I was hoping to get done early. I wanted to take a dip at volcanious nine for a nice steam session." Lazuli complained

"Dip in what now?" The fire girl asked.

"Oh it's great. Magma is just what a gem needs to get comfy." Lapis smiled. "I'd invite you out, but I know organics are too soft for that kind of heat."

"... Hey Boscha, I'm starting to think they're not taking us seriously." The plant girl closed her fists.

"I get that feeling too….they don't respect us." The three eyed organic growled. "I think they need to be taught a lesson…a very…. very painful lesson about understating us."

"Coming from you, that's the mother of all ironic statements…but it's one I completely agree with." The plant girl's eyes began to grow green.

"Aww, what's the matter. Realize how weak you two are?" Lazuli smirked.

"No…just remembering when it comes to fighting gems…. there's no holding back." With that…the ground seemed to explode with massive thick vines that covered both the ground and the air, leaving very little room for actuallying flying around…or moving for that matter.

"Haven't you learned that you can't beat me with weak plants?" Lazuli asked, draining the water from the fauna….though it didn't seem to be useful, as the plants kept batting them around. "Huh?!"

"You kill plant life…I give plant's life. When I'm in control…there is nothing….I mean nothing that will harm them!" The plant girl tied them both together and threw them high in the air, where the fire one was coming down on them like an asteroid.

"Hey, don't you dare forget about me!" The three eyed organic spun around in a tornado fashion, lighting up the air around them and turning their water wings into steam faster than they could turn it back into water. "I'm still going to be your worst nightmare!"

KAABOOOOOOMM

The two of them were sent hurtling down into the ground, creating a crater that sunk then deep into the crust….hard. "...Ow…" Lazuli said.

"That was…" 

"How was that you no good-" The three eyed girl came down on them, ready to aim fire on them again as the plant girl looked ready to send a whole tree right through their heads.

Lapis jumped out of the crater. "WOHO! That was a blast!"

"Gotta say…you really surprised us. That's the most fun I've had in the last two hundred years." Lazuli snickered. "I thought all organics sucked, but you two are alright."

"So…you're not going to destroy the planet now?" The plant girl asked.

"No, we still are. It's what we love to do." Lazuli explained. "Even if we didn't, we'd still have to, otherwise we're defective and we get shattered."

"Now we just smile as we do it." Lapis continued. "Thanks for the good time you two, it's been ages since my body's been worked like that." She began raising water. "You two can fly out of here…if you can, we're going to flood the whole planet, but if you escape, give us a call. I hear there's this star that sells this thing called milkshakes, sounds like fun to try.""

"Step off!" An injector crashed down next to them, as a bunch of organics and a Spinel jumped out. "Boscha!" Some boy called out.

"Lucci!" The fire girl shouted.

"Willow!" A dark boy and girl called out.

"Luz!" Plant girl shouted.

"Spinel!" The gem shouted, making everyone stare at her. "What, I thought we were introducing ourselves."

"Lucci, Luz, Gus, how did you find us, and what's with the ship?" Plant girl asked.

"Long story we can tell later. These girls giving you trouble?" The curly haired boy asked.

"Nah, they can leave. We'll just go back to killing the planet." Lazuli waved off.

"...Is this a situation where we intervene?" The short boy asked.

"I want to, there's these little animal buds that are just so adorable. Look." The plant girl picked up one of the wildlife. "See, so precious."

"Just cute enough for me to step in." The dark skinned girl waved a sword. "Alright, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"Oh, I'm so scared. How do you honestly think a sword can-"

"Lazuli." Lapis spoke with horror, seeing the design. "That sword … Rose …"

Her partner looked confused, before realization hit her eyes. "No … the Diamonds razed Earth. The Crystal Gems should be dead and destroyed. The sword shouldn't have …"

"Don't care what you think, this sword is capable of cutting through anything…even your gems." The girl growled. "So if you feel lucky, why don't you be my target practice.

"AAAHHH!!" They began flying away. They had to warn someone, Rose Quartz was still alive!

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Holly Blue smiled at the serene silence that overtook the area. Between the rowdy amethysts and the noisy humans, it was times like this she could appreciate her job as someone with trusted authority from Blue Diamond herself.

Sure, it wasn't the most glamorous position, stuck coddling a bunch of worthless organics. But if there was a grotesque beauty her Diamond saw, then she would relent. Besides, it was also honoring their gone but not forgotten Pink Diamond. Who could ask for more?

Her main problem was dealing with those troublesome Quartz's. Practically all Earth made gems had an aura of mischievousness and misconduct. In any other position, they would all be considered off-colored, but Blue Diamond wanted them secured, so as an Agate, she would put the fear of white Diamond into them.

And for the most part, it worked. Any visiting gem rarely saw them acting out of line. The perfect, crystal like, beauty of their serene environment. That's what would-

BOOM CRASH

She was taken out of her serenity as she was sent toppling forwards, landing on her face in an undignified manner. "What…in the name of the stars is going on!? You Amethyst's better not be igniting the oxygen tanks again!"

The sounds of explosions rang out as the Amethysts ran around in a panic. Growling, she marched over to the surveillance room, glaring at some Peridots. "What is going on!?" Holly Blue shouted.

"… Should I start with the injector crashing in, or two unknown organics breaking out of the zoo?"

"WhAaaT!?"

"Please refrain from raising your vocal volume, it's making it hard to concentrate." The round headed peridot grumbled.

"What is going on in the zoo, and what injector!?" Holly Blue Agate 

"The screens display two humans with pointed hearing sensors somehow generating enough heat to ignite the air, along with some organic manipulation to move the wood they rest on." The square headed one pointed. "That combined with the zoo inhabitants being emotionally distressed has made rounding up each of the humans rather difficult." 

"As for the injector…we are very baffled. It's an outdated era one bio poison injector." The round headed peridot continued. "It crashed into the zoo entrance rather unexpectedly, the pilot from the looks of it being a Spinel."

"As if this station needed more off-colored gems." Holly blue moaned. The report alone was going to be a pain. "Prepare the sleeping gas to calm down the organics, and send the amethysts to the docking bay. The sooner we deal with this rogue spinel, the better."

"Understood, Holly Blue." The circle Peridot nodded.

"I swear, I'm the only gem around here with common sense. This place would fall apart without me." She groaned as she left them to it. It wasn't like she trusted those Earthling gems to deal with this mess after all.

"Why on Titan did we let the crazy gem drive!!?" A voice she did not recognize shouted as she made her way to the docking bay.

"It's her ship and none of us have any idea how to drive it?" Another voice she did not recognize responded. "Not to mention we're on a time table to find Amity before she possibly dies."

"You forgot Hunter again."

"No I didn't."

She turned the corner, seeing multiple Amethysts struggling against some organics … pathetic.

"So many Amethysts, good thing Vee isn't here, she'd probably be freaking out over this." A human with a sword commented as she sliced through one of the amethyst's forms, easily poofing them. "Aha, yes! Sword lessons are finally paying off!" She'd have to get that examined later.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad the human's here!" A three eyed organic shouted, igniting the air. "How are they more durable than that water chick!?"

"They're gems made for combat, they're probably born with a high endurance!" An organic with spectacle modifiers exclaimed as she whacked a carnelian with something wooden. "I hate fighting in space! There's no plants anywhere!"

"How do you think I feel! I'm doing everything to stop us from being flattened or-" An Amethyst whip wrapped around the leg of the dark organic. "Snatched."

"Aha, caught one-" The gloating couldn't even be completed as an organic with several scars across their face pushed them into a wall.

"Hunter!" The bespectacled organic shouted. "What happened to your arms!? Did they torture you here!?"

"I'll complain after we survive!" He shouted. "How did you guys get here!?"

"The injector of course." The Spinel smiled, before an Amethyst was thrown into the crumbling machine that was set on fire. "Boo, that was one of my favorite toys!"

"Tell me she's not a friendly gem, I can see the crazy in her eyes." A purple maned organic winced.

"It's a long story." And with that statement from the curly organic, Holly Blue's patience was gone. "We need to leave before-" She sent her whip forward, wrapping around his leg. "What the-"

ZAP

If there was one thing that made Agates feared … it was their ability to cause painof the highest caliber. "GAAH!"

She dragged the organic over, before slamming her fist into them … causing them to fly and the wall and crack it. Holly Blue clicked her tongue at the event. "You had the decency to survive and cause structural damage? Why couldn't you have just burst apart, it's much easier to clean the mess."

"Because….I wouldn't have the chance…to knock you upside the head." The organic formed a bubble around its fists, and uppercut her before she could even blink, sending her into a ceiling. "That caught me off guard, I'll give you that, but you're nowhere as ruthless as Bismuth."

"A … A Bismuth!?" She snarled, sending forth her whip at his face. "How DARE you insult an Agate as such!"

The whip never even touched his face as a shield appeared in front of it…a shield with a rose insignia . "Me, Lucifer Clawthorne, who doesn't give two flying hells about you or your kind."

"A … A …" Her body felt nothing but fear. "ROSE QUARTZ SURVIVED?!"

"And just like that, you're on my forever shit list." The traitor sent her shield at her, knocking Holly Blue across the room, where she was pressed against the wall by the sword human's blade..the blade with a rose design.  

"Don't kill me, for the love of stars don't kill me!" She whimpered. It was pathetic, but what else was she supposed to do?"

"Look here, miss blue and annoying, we've had a long day and we really, reallywant to get the hell out of here." The human with the diamond shattering sword pressed against her head."Point us to a Galaxy Warp, and we don't shatter you. Do nothing..and well.."

"Down the hall, to the left, you can't miss it!" She exclaimed.

"Good girl." The psycho with a sword smirked as she thankfully retracted her blade. "You heard the gem, let's get going."

"Did we win, did we win the searching game!?" The Spinel exclaimed

"Yes, now we just gotta get to the finish line!" Rose shouted. "Come on!"

"Traitor! How can you side with Rose Quartz, even after what she did to P-"

"And it's time for you to go nightly-night." A circular blade was sent at her neck, before everything went dark. She was going to get demoted for this, if not shattered.

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Pearl starred in rage at the Galaxy Warp, hoping with her entire being that the children would eventually come back. A few hours ago, they received a text from Connie that they had gone to the Galaxy Warp, and there was an accident. The gems arrived and listened to the entire story. Afterwards, Garnet simply told Amethyst and Lapis to take the kids home, her fist trembling as she repeated the order more thoroughly when questioned. Now all that was left was for the two of them to wait until either the children returned … or a Homeworlder came through.

"I can't believe it, after I thoroughly explained in detail the whys of not doing this!" Pearl expressed her displeasure. "How can he turn his back on us like this!"

"You're still treating him like Steven; like the child we thought we raised." Garnet told her. "He isn't that boy. He's someone else completely, and we hold very little, if at all, sway over his decisions."

"That shouldn't matter when all he does is make terrible ones!" She exclaimed. "You don't let a human walk into an open flame because they think they can take it!"

"Pearl, he grew up in the Boiling Isles. That exact situation happens all the time there." Garnet said. "He grew up a witch and lives as a witch. It's already too late to tell him otherwise."

"The Boiling Isles was a chaotic landscape of a location. The mere fact it runs around without any logic is-" The warp pad began to glow, causing both of them to stare in expectant silence.

Until the children came back through, along with … Spinel?! "We're home!" Luz shouted. "Oh how surprisingly I missed you, Earth!"

"Yay...we're still stuck in this rock." Boscha complained with a monotone voice.

Before Pearl could get a word in edgewise to reprimand them for their stupidity, Garnet walked up to the group. "Move."

"Not much of a welcoming committee, are you?" Ste-Lucifer snidded. 

Garnet raised her fists over her head, forming gauntlets larger than the fusion's own body. "Move, Now."

"How many people do you need to piss off today?" Hunter asked as they moved out of the way.

"Don't act like I was the only one, the rest of you did that all on your own."

Garnet proceeded to slam her hands down, smashing the Galaxy Warp, raising them back up and smashing it again. After a third strike, she dismissed her weapon, placed her fingers into the ground, and tossed the object from the ground up, straight into the ocean.

"Guess that rules out any second tests." Willow noted.

Pearl glared at the witches. "Do you have ANY idea what you've done!?"

"I do, we took a chance to find a way home, and it didn't work." Ste-Lucci growled. "So we're going to go back to the drawing board and try again, and again, and again until we're back on the Boiling Isles."

Garnet stared at him. "You also let the entire gem race with fighters stronger and smarter than Lapis and Bismuth that earth isn't dead." She stated. "A race that will stop at nothing to completely rid the planet of all life as we know it."

"So it's not ideal.." UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY! "..But I still don't regret it. I made a friend and got her out of a bad situation, so today is a win for me." 

Garnet began tremblings. "This … isn't …"

"Yeah, yeah, bad news, whatever, we'll deal with it.."

"This isn't your planet to endanger!" Everyone froze at the outburst from the gem. "You want to get home, fine. You want nothing to do with earth, we can live with it. But you put billions of lives in danger with that! From Luz's Mother, to Connie, to Vee! All in danger because you couldn't listen to a simple warning!" Pearl could see faint traces of glowing coming off from the gem.

The boy flinched, looking like the slightest microbe of guilt had finally breached his skull, though before he could say something, Luz stepped up. "It's not just his fault. We came up with the idea together."

"Yeah, we could've shot down the idea at any time, but we chose not to." Willow stepped forward.

"We're constantly getting in over our heads with these situations, no one here can deny that." Amity joined in next, as did the rest of the group. "We knew there were risks, and we're going to live with them. We'll take them as they come, and face them head on."

Garnet looked over the group, before walking to a warp pad. "Go home and rest. You'll probably need it." And with that, she vanished, leaving the atmosphere thick with tension in her wake.

Everyone was silent for a minute. "So….this is earth huh?" Spinel looked around, twisting her head like a corkscrew. "A Lot more blue than I thought."

"Yeah … we thought the same thing too." Willow spoke. "... She had a point, let's head home for the day."

"Yeah.." Lucifer sighed, looking at Spinel. "Guess we need to find a place for you to stay.."

"Whataya talking about, second best friend; I'm staying with you!" Spinel squeaked.

"Sure … but please know different genders can't sleep together." Luz spoke, exhaustion in her voice.

"Different what now?" Spinel asked. "If it's space you're worried about, I got a solution!" She jumped in the air, and shifted her shape ever so slightly, before using her arms and legs to clamp to Lucifer like a backpack. "Travel pack Spinel at your service!"

"... I'm getting an ax." Boscha stated. 

"By the stars, what is my life now?" Pearl rubbed her head in frustration, knowing their lives have only become even more complicated.