Summary:
We're getting too use to breaking out of prison
"Alright, places people, we gotta make this believable." Amethyst could barely hold in her laughter as the other Amethysts got into place. "You gotta look as mean and threatening as possible, throw in a few snarls for good measure, and laugh at their expense whenever you can."
"Finally, something other than a stoic frown." 8XJ laughed. "This is gonna be awesome."
"8XL, make sure to get my arms and neck, make it seem like I've got no counter and you can poof me at your leisure, some of them can get real violent when there's no hostage."
"I've got ya, don't worry."
"They're coming!" 8XG called out, everyone moving into position, sharp grins on their faces for the joke to come.
The door opened as 8XB and 8XF tossed the three-oh, four of them onto the ground. So that's where Moon went. "She seemed super attached, so I brought the woman along with the trouble makers." 8XF snickered. "Welded make and all that."
"Great, out of the fire and into the lava." Steven groaned. "Look, if we apologize, will you-"
"Zip it squirt." 8XL called out, moving from behind the crowd with Amethyst in tow. "I got your pal to spill."
"Amethyst!" Star called out to them as they were grabbed by the arms from behind and pinned to their needs. "Oh you dirty pieces of purple space mud!"
"Steven, Star, guys, it's so horrible, these Amethysts ganged up on me and…and…" She took one look at their terrified faces and couldn't hold it in anymore. "And it's been great!" She finally laughed out loud.
Everyone laughed out, some falling to the floor in histeria. "Your, your faces!" 8XH cackled. "Oh it was awesome!"
"… I don't think I was prepared for today." Moon muttered.
"Sorry, sorry, we had to." Amethyst ran over and helped them up.
"Right, had to scare us." Star grumbled.
"I'd honestly be surprised she didn't do something like this." Greg rolled his eyes.
"Guys, everyone's from earth!" She shows them off. "We got 8XF, 8XS, oh, and 8XL!" She jumped on top of the gem. "Tell them, tell them!"
"She's 8XM, I was the gem right over her. We waited years but she didn't pop." 8XL laughed. "I see she became a shortie cause she took her sweet time getting her looks together."
"Like there's a problem with being short." Carnelian smirked as she tossed her in the air. "Now I can be taller than someone else for once!"
Amethyst laughed, turning to her stupefied people. "Check it out, they have people from the Beta Kindergarten too! They even have Skinny!"
"Aka, the best Kindergarten." The slim looking Jasper waved her hands off dismissively. "Back in my day, we had everything the Prime didn't have. Bright sunny skies, all the sand you can play with, and the ground smooth enough to slide on effortlessly."
"Ten seconds of meeting you and you're already a hundred times better than the last Jasper we've met." Steven said, still looking flummoxed by what he was saying. "Looks like you've been having a better time than us today."
"Ah, don't be like that Ste-man, you got your dad out of there, and you got your mom back too, double win!" She ruffled his hair. "Besides nearly dying, today has been a win!"
"Speaking of … will one of you please explain the situation?" Moon asked with bafflement.
"Steven's been having dreams of a pink box, so after learning it was gem related we went to the crystal gems, who refused to give us an answer and just said to stay away." Star started.
"So you went instead of listening to them." That lady came to the conclusion fast.
"They were super vague about it, and that usually means there's something we do need to know about." Steven continued on. "We traveled to Korea, saw that Blue Diamond was there to mourn Pink Diamond, and Dad talked to her, which led to him getting kidnapped by her to be in the human zoo."
"So we went on a rescue mission and found you …" Star blinked. "Wait, what were you doing here?"
"I'm going to be honest, everything after fighting Meteora is hazy …" The woman looked dazed. "I think we pissed off a unicorn …"
"Oh, you met our daughter." Steven said. "We made her after we restored the Magic realm…and now I realized calling her our daughter has more icky implications than I initially realized."
"Wait, magic, like Mewni?" 8XL blinked.
"Please don't tell." Amethyst pleaded.
"Hey, anything for Facet." She got patted on the back. "And it'll probably piss Holly Blue off royally, and we're always done for that."
"Oh I already like your family." Star smiled. "I can just imagine the look on her face when-" The door opened, Holly Blue standing there, not even looking at them.
"I'll just be a moment." Every organ scrambled behind her more big and buff, well, sisters, as she guided them out of the way. "What are you lazy, off colored excuses for Quartz's doing!? Blue Diamond has just arrived, and you're standing here doing nothing!?" SHIT!
"Even you hideous Betas should be doing everything you can to make sure this goes smoothly!" She shouted, grabbing Carnelian and slamming her into a wall. "Now get moving or so help me I will bubble you all for a week!"
They all began scrambling out, Amethyst making sure to cover the others. "Go, don't get caught, we'll meet up at the ship." She whispered to the organics. Not exactly how she wanted to have her own family reunion to end.
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With the zoo being such a big facility that no one outside of the gems had any idea of how to navigate, Star and her family had no choice but to duck and cover into the nearest opened door room, which would've been fine if it didn't immediately shut on them the moment they all entered. "Hey!" She pounded on the door, but no luck. "Great, we're trapped again."
"Don't worry, I'm a master of gem technology." Steven smirked, placing his hand on the pad … as nothing happened. "Well that's new."
"Well, as troubling as this is, it is a slight comfort to know you both still have a tendency to get in over your heads. It tells me not too much has changed since I disappeared." Mom said with a slight smile, blinking her eyes rapidly. "My mind feels like it was just taken out of a room full of sugar and rainbows."
"Yeah, the Realm of Magic will … do that to … ya …" Star trailed off, gazing at the ceiling. "Guys, do you see this too, or is my vision just blurry?" She gestured to the … hundreds of pink, bubbled gems.
"I see them too, and I feel more creeped out than the gem temple room of them." Steven answered.
"You're telling me. They all look like Rose's." Mr. Universe looked uneasy and sweaty. "I think I prefer being mauled by the zoomen than staying here."
"All of them, bubbled for just being the same type." Star murmured as she looked at one that was floating past her. She didn't think there'd be anybody that would surpass Mewni in terms of prejudice, but here she was now. "I mean it's just … so petty …" Star felt woozy. "I'm drained …"
"I'm crying." Steven spoke with fear.. "No, no, no, no, she's coming, she's coming!"
"Who's coming?" Mom asked as she started to look dazed as well. It was taking all the effort in her system to stay stable and standing as the doors open, revealing the very threat that started this whole mess to begin with. Blue diamond, with the hood of her cloak over her head, crying out rivers of tears as she got on her knees, looking at the bubbled gems mournfully and nostalgically.
"Oh Pink … Why did you have to go …" she cried out. "You didn't have to start your colony so soon, what was wrong with waiting ten thousand more years?"
"That's one of the Diamonds?" Mom asked, her head starting to spin as she clung to the pillar they were hiding behind. "I didn't expect one of them to be so…emotional."
"Quiet, that Pearl has … good hearing." Star muttered out. "We need to … move to the big door … it's-" The door opened once more as-Star's body stopped functioning. She could still breath but it took effort, her arms and legs unresponsive as she fell into her brother's arms as their mom fell into Mr. Universe's. She could see Steven scratching himself out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh, you have to be kidding me." Yellow Diamond…YELLOW FREAKING DIAMOND walked through the door, her pearl following suit as well. "I thought you finally stopped coming back here Blue. You finally leave, yet the moment I have my back turned, you come running back."
"I have to remind myself what I'm working for …" She called out. "This place was her's … they were her's …"
"A Rose Quartz shattered Pink! We should be shattering them, not keeping them in bubbles!" And somehow it got worse. Star was very glad she was unable to move, or she would have had trouble restraining herself. "What is it going to take for you to finally come back to reality, Blue?!"
"Why can't you let me grieve!?" Blue shouted, she could feel Steven clutching her tighter as the group slowly moved.
"You've had six thousand years to grieve!!" Yellow yelled out back. "We were even making progress! You were looking into magic wells and stopped going to earth. But according to a report, you brought a human here!"
"You're the one that wants to blow up her planet, I simply seek to preserve her memories for as long as possible." Blue turned her head and kept herself hidden within her cloak.
"I want us to stop focusing on her." Yellow walked by their current pillar, the group tensing. "You always drag Pink into every conversation and you barely do your job anymore. Do you know what White will do to you?"
"She hasn't left her own head in thousands of years, if she wanted anything, she would send her own Pearl to summon me." The blue matriarch kept turning away. "I just want a little peace of mind, is that too much to ask for?"
The giant gem sighed. "This is just running in circles. Pearl, sing for her."
"Yes my Diamond!" The yellow Pearl smiled, before turning to her partner and poking their arm.
"Oh, right." The blue one looked zoned out, but cleared their throat.
"Aah haa haa, aah haa haa..,Aah ha aah ha, aah haa haa…" The two colorful Pearls began harmonizing with one another, instantly getting in sync with one another. " Aah haa haa, aah haa haa….Aah haa haa haa haa haa haa haa haaaaa."
"Why would you want to be here?" Taking her out of her drained state for just a second, Star was surprised to hear Yellow Diamond start singing. "What do you ever see here…That doesn't make you feel worse than you do….?" Her voice kept that authoritative and commanding tone, sounding more like a command of orders than a song. "And tell me, what's the use of feeling, Blue?"
Blue continued to keep the hood of her cloak up, doing her best to ignore her fellow diamond. " Why would you want to employ her subjects that destroyed her? Why keep up her silly zoo…Oh, tell me what's the use of feeling, Blue?" With the Diamond's constantly walking all over the place, her family had to scramble to kept themselves hidden from view, which was difficult with her feeling as heavy as a sandbag and Steven losing focus with the tears in his eyes. Mom seemed to be powering through, even if she needed Mr Universe to help push her along every now and then.
"An army has a use, they can go and fight a war. A Sapphire has a use, she can tell you what it's for." Yellow sang on, looking back to theDiamond. Pearls. "An Agate terrifies, a Lapis terraforms. Where's their Diamond when they need her, Blue? You've got to be a leader, Blue!"She leaned down, looking seriously into the leader's eyes.
"Yes, of course, we still love her, and we're always thinking of her. But now there's nothing we can do." She hit the high note pretty well, even if they were inches away from being found out. " So tell me, What's the use of feeling? What's the use of feeling? What's the use of feeling, Blue?"
"Ohh…How can you stand to be here with it all…" Yellow's expression actually started to get softer as she picked up the Pearls, who continued to sing in the background.
"Here with it all." The little gems repeated after her, looking content and happy as they posed in her hand.
"Drowning in all this regret…Wouldn't you rather forget her?" Forgetting about all of life's problems, that sounded like a dream. There were times she was tempted to use that memory erasing spell on herself about Marco, or on Steven to make him forget the trauma of living.
"Ohh… Won't it be grand to get rid of it all?" Yellow asked, a small smile on her face.
"Rid of it all." The two Pearls echoed, leaning against each other.
"Let's make a plan of attack." With a simple wave of a hand, Yellow made all the rose quartz bubbles move forward slightly, one of which brushed against her head and hair. " Start looking forward and stop looking back….!"
They practically tripped over themselves as they rushed to hide another pillar, the gigantic size of both of them actually becoming her family's advantage, as they were too small to be noticed running to the otherside of the room behind another column.
"Ohh. Yes, of course, we still love her." Her voice quieted down, moving closer to Blue. " And we're always thinking of her." Their hands held tight. "Don't you know I miss her too?" Pain was visible on her face, the pain of loss and regret.
"But tell me…What's the use of feeling….What's the use of feeling…What's the use of feeling.,.,!" The giant yellow gem actually reeled back as she hunched over, both of the Pearls looking with great concern and worry for the agony swelling in her mind.
"Hmm hmm hmm, hmm hmm hmm" She was just … trying to forget it all. Repressing the fact that she lost someone important … that she lost family. "Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmmmmm" Blue moved over, placing a hand onto the fellow Matriarch's back, the two standing in silence as they could do nothing but observe painfully from behind a pillar.
She looked at her brother, the tears still coming out in giant globs, but there was a knowing look between the two of them, both siblings realizing just how….understandable these supposed galactic and merciless tyrants really were.
The door opened, the group moving once more as Holly Blue walked in. "That will be all." She spoke, looking at their Pearl like she was a lesser being, the door closing. She could idly see Ruby sending her a wink as they walked in. "Oh my Diamond, my illustrious, radiant, clarific, Diamond ….s." It was so satisfying to see the shock on that bitch's face, she almost forgot how dangerous the situation at hand was. "Two Diamonds! How I am graced to be in your presence!"
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Sapphire wondered just how on earth, or any form of reality, could she handle being around these diamond butt kissers all day before she met Rose. In fact, how could she have ever BEEN one of these poor, ignorant and self-absorbed upper crust before the war? Just five minutes with this snob almost made her want to scream into the void and crack her own gem if it meant not having to listen to another word from Holly Blue ever again.
Of course, now all her pent up anger was replaced with an ungodly amount of fear. And who wouldn't, when you were faced with your old Diamond, someone who had enough power to destroy you in the blink of an eye, and if they felt it worthy enough, remember your cut.
She wished she at least had Ruby's hand to hold, but she was even denied that much due to said Diamond's prescience. If they made one wrong move, if they managed spark some form of memory from six thousand years ago, their might not even be dust left from their remains when they were done shattering them.
"What do you need?" Blue asked with a head tilt, curiosity evident.
"Well my Diamonds, my illustrious, radiant, sparkl-"
"Get on with it." It seemed Yellow Diamond shared her distaste for butt kissers, so that was a relief.
"I thought you'd be…pleased to know that your Sapphire has completed the task of acquiring new humans for the zoo."
"I never ordered any Saphire to complete such a task." Blue Diamond said with suspicion, and a slight rise in anger.
Ruby from behind her quickly used her powers to melt away the ice forming beneath them from the rising nervousness. "I…foresaw that you'd be in need of acquiring more…specimens…to help keep the human population of the zoo…preserved.
Blue Diamond stared at her, Sapphire trembling along with Ruby and the humans and … was that Moon? The sheer bafflement of that calmed her down just a tad. "It's true." Blue spoke, looking down as they all relaxed in relief. "Time is so short with the Cluster on it's way."
"If it means that much to you, I suppose it wouldn't do us any harm to collect a few more." Yellow rolled her eyes. Sapphire filed that under 'shit to look out for later' as the Diamond clapped her hands. "That will be all." They … they did it. [Getting seen, but saved by Amethyst and Pearl]. She could see them walk out, even if they were, it would work! They were safe!!
They slowly made their way out of the room, keeping the door open just long enough to slip the organics out, hiding them behind the tall Amethyst as Holly Blue sighed. "Did you see that!" She shouted in excitement. "Two Diamonds! Oh some gems never have the honor of witnessing that other than the old times of Era One!"
Everyone behind her just kept frozen as Amethyst hid them from plain view, stopping everytime Holly paused to express her excitement. "And Yellow Diamond! Such power and confidence radiating off of her! I love serving under Blue, but I wouldn't be complaining if I had been made for her~."
Moon and Star took a second to look at each other and shared a look of a gagging reflex before silently snickering. It was nice to see them bonding, even if they were soon to be caught. "And here I thought I got stuck at a dead end position, stuck watching some worthless organics who, quite frankly, don't even have the right to exist. But it's moments like these that make it all worth it."
Steven glanced at the ship they were nearing, snickering about ruining her job probably, before they began to move. "I mean, two Diamonds! Full of authority! And White would have made it perfect …" Holly Blue paused. "Quite frankly I don't know if she'd ever show up, always staying within the head." And now he looked curious as he was dragged along, that was going to be fun. "I swear, nothing can ruin this spectacular day-" She stopped, gazing at the humans being pushed by a tiny Amethyst.
"... Full disclosure, never say those things until after the day passes. Trust me, you'll thank me for the advice later." Steven offered without any remorse. Eh, they already went off script about the moment they came here, now seemed like the perfect time for everything to go off the rails.
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"What … is … THE MEANING OF THIS!!?" Holly Blue shouted, gazing at the escaping organics.
"Well we're escaping. I felt that was obvious." The small female babbled with a shrug. "Were you damaged in the gem to need an explanation of that?"
"Ohhh, just be lucky my Diamond requires you to be alive." Holly Blue groaned as she reached for the back of her head, pulling her whip out from her gem.
"Holly Blue, I can explain…" The Sapphire was a humble gem to attempt to make up for this facility's lackluster performance.
"No need. It's obvious what happened." She answered. "The Amethysts are incompetent off colors that can't even keep an eye on four mesely organics. I'll have to punish them for this later." She threw her coil at the tall round one.
The Ruby that had accompanied the Sapphire sent the smaller gem a strange look, before having the gall to grab ahold of her superior and…what in the name of the stars were they doing fusing!?!?
They grabbed a hold of her whip, staring at her. "You shouldn't have done that." The fusion spoke at her coldly.
"You..you traitors, all of you!" She sent a spike of electricity into her whip. Even if the abomination was strong, this attack ought to..
The older female human snapped the cord in half…using a glowing blue sword like weapon formed out of her arms. "Nice to see my Magic's still functioning after all this time."
"Magic … Mewmans …" She growled. "Do you really think i'm going to let you get away no-" From the corner of her eye the Pear, the small Amethyst, the small female with rainbow claws, and a Pink humanoid rushed at her at once. "Oh come on-"
They proceed to beat her senseless, barely able to get an attack out on one before another interrupted. "This is for every single comment you've given today, you clod!" The tiny Amethyst had the gall to insult her, tying her up in a whip.
"What are you just standing around for, do something!" She screamed at the Quartz soldiers just laughing around.
"Bye!" "Have a safe trip!" "Remember to write!" Her supposed help waved the enemy off as they entered the ship.
"Famethyst for life!" The off color laughed, making dramatic motions and a lip gesture.
"You're all traitors!" She shouted. "I'll report all of you to the Diamonds, they'll shatter you all for your insolence!"
"Oh, so you want to explain to the Diamonds how you let two humans, two mewmans, and three off color gems escape this esteemed facility that was under your care?" The Pearl smirked, leaning down at her. "By all means, go ahead … see if you're lucky enough to be bubbled." Holy gulped, knowing that there wasn't a single side to the story where it wouldn't show a huge level of incompetence on her part.
"Man, rebel Pearl is savage!" The small Mewman laughed. "So if you want to protect your own butt, I suggest you'd stay quiet about this for the rest of your life, doesn't that sound good to you, Holly Blue?"
"That will be all." The smaller 'male' human clapped their hands in a similar manner the diamonds had to her earlier as the door of their ship closed, and she had no choice but to stare at the fleeing ship aghast, stuck complying with the enemy.
"Look on the bright side." The sole Jasper there patted her back. "We don't have to make an excuse for a stolen ship."
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"We did it!" Steven shouted out after everyone came back from yet another blackout. "We survived!"
"We got your dad back!" Star cheered as she picked Steven up in the air. "Even better, we got our Mom back!" She quickly scooped the two adults into a hug.
"Yes, that's also a thing." Pearl looked surprised. "Just how exactly did Moon end up in the zoo?"
"It's all a blur. You'd have better luck explaining how I ended up in space." Mom said, shaking her head.
"I admit, I would have never, ever foreseen events playing out like this." Garnet shook her head and adjusted her visor. "While I don't like the recklessness, I suppose you ignoring my warning did lead somewhere good in the end."
"Yep." Steven smiled. "Got my family back and learned a lot."
"And I snagged a Rose Quartz bubble!" Every single Gem stared at her in a mix of shock and terror. "... What? Don't tell me it was bad."
"Not bad per say …" Garnet adjusted her glasses. "I just … can't see a future where it won't be awkward for any time shorter than a month."
"Let's wait until we get back to earth before we open that can of worms." Steven shook uneasily, before focusing on his dad. "Sorry you got dragged into this mess like this."
"It worked out in the end, and it was a surprisingly relaxing prison." The man shrugged.
"Yeah..about that." Steven looked to his dad seriously. "You'd said back there that you'd want to choosen other people…are you dating anyone?"
"… Hey Pearl, how long-"
"A week till we get home. We didn't have the time to scissor the ship back to Earth." She pulled out a pair of gray scissors. "We could do it now if-"
Crack
The scissors cracked, breaking apart as they fell to the floor, crumbling to dust. "… Was that happening to our bodies?" Star asked hesitantly.
"I told you just how dangerous the diamonds are when magic gets involved." Pearl said with a slight hesitation, tossing the busted scissors aside. "On a more serious note we should definitely get you two to a doctor when this is over … maybe that Noceda woman Greg's been seeing?"
"Wait, you are dating Luz's mom!?" Steven's voice was getting scratchy from all the yelling today.
"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Dad asked with a minor glare.
"What, I can't afford to be petty once in a while?"