Armageddon Chapter 1

Prologue: Failing Miseries

This was it...this is the end of us, the Crystal Gems. We are such a disgrace as our horrid eyes are forced to watch many enslaved innocent people being tortured or even taken away, yet there was nothing that could be done for them. As we passed, they would spat insults at us such as, "You dirty aliens didn't help us!", "Evil self-conscious brats...look what you've done!", toward even the worst; "Traitors! You turned your back on us!" The Crystal Gems are not traitors and we would do anything to help even the smallest creature in this world. Although right now, nothing could prove it otherwise.

Oh, how much we missed those glorious days of the four of us going on small tasks in other worlds and even saving Beach City from those crystal pests. We even missed seeing Steven learn from his mistakes as we saw him change from them. We just can't accept the fact that those carefree days are behind us, far out of our grasp. The Crystal Gems were completely hopeless, useless, and powerless. The only question that comes to our mind is, why? Why must it end this way?

XxxXxxXxxX

In a cold hard titanium cell, all that could be heard was punches thrown at the wall, sobbing, and arguing. A group of four, consisted of three women and a young boy, were held captive in the cell. The story of how they are frowned upon is a long explanation that should be untold momentarily. All that mattered to them was their disappointment, their gems, and Steven's health. The four of them were injured; Amethyst had multiple bloody cuts around her body as well as a cursed black amethyst gem, Garnet's gems were cracked as well as slowly shrinking, and Pearl's pearl was making her have intense headaches and hallucinations to the point where it would seem like she was losing her mind. The three women were completely powerless while their gems were malfunctioned.

The youngest gem was groaning in pain as his bruises were being examined by Pearl. She shook her head in sadness as her hands went along the red-purple bumpy patches. Steven was in the worst condition for his age. Blood mixed with tears trickled down his face, a swollen black right eye, and one loose tooth was presented from him as if the poor boy was half beaten to death. His appearance broke all of the other gems' hearts, but there was nothing that could be done for him.

"I will kill them! I will destroy them! No one should ever mess with us...especially Steven!" Shouted Garnet as she punched the wall with fury. The tall leader snickered in disgust as she knew that she was weak against the titanium walls and her weapon couldn't be activated. Since Garnet is a stoically type of person and hardly showed any emotions to those around her made it seem weird for her to lose her temper even if Pearl and Amethyst seen it before. Yet for Steven, it was a completely different side of Garnet he never saw which made him a bit fearful of her.

"Garnet..." Steven quietly said hoping it will calm her down, but it went unheard.

"Those damn idiots think they can get away with this!"

Another punch was thrown at the wall along with a strong kick. Garnet may have been bleeding at her knuckles, but she didn't care as she desired to have a fight with her enemies who brought hell upon earth. Under her broken shades, she shot a glare at everyone around her with her own three multicolored eyes. Her blood boiled with anger and her teeth were gritted. She seemed as if she could explode like a bomb.

Noticing this, Pearl decided to move Steven closer to her and stood at her guard while shielding him just in case Garnet does something. Pearl knew Garnet can lose her temper from hard times and knew that the red gem had to keep it under control because no one could help her. The leader had to calm down by herself. Amethyst though, was starting to get annoyed by her statements of revenge.

"Garnet, you're the one who needs to chill down right now. If you keep punching and kicking the wall, they'll come and take you away...or you're gonna doom us all." Amethyst tried to explain as it resulted in a step the angry gem took toward her and cracked her knuckles.

"Well then that's good. Take me away, see if I care. If I'm going to die today, then I want to die in battle with them, even if my gems are cracked. At least I die with dignity and bravery."

That being said, Garnet ignored Amethyst and started to punch the walls again making an even bigger noise as her fists banged against the cold metal. The short amethyst gem just shook her head and carefully leaned against the wall without having her cuts being stretched out even further.

Garnet's words were the same words a true hero would say, but it stung Steven as if it was a needle injected in his heart. A stream of tears fell from his eyes when Garnet mentioned the dreadful word that he feared the most; Death. The young boy looked up toward Pearl who still stood firm on the ground as a shield for him, and weakly tapped her shoulder.

"Yes Steven." Pearl answered while not turning around.

Steven deeply gulped, hesitating, while looking down at his feet and wanted to avoid her incoming stare when he asked the question that he had in mind.

"Are we going to die today? Cause I didn't say goodbye to my dad and my friends."

Steven closed his bruised eyes when he felt a pair of hands grip onto his shoulders and a pair of blue eyes stare directly upon him. He felt the emotions that ran throughout Pearl. From sadness toward complete shock then slight anger, this question worried the woman in every way.

"Don't say that Steven. Don't think of death right now. You have a bright future ahead of you. You are capable of possibly becoming the future leader of the Crystal Gems." Pearl gently said.

The slender woman took the child's hand and led him to the corner of the cell. That time, instead of feeling her warm soft hands, Steven felt cold wrinkling hands. He shivered under her touch, but what amused him the most was that instead of her snow white skin, Pearl was becoming a pale shade of eerie grey. However, he decided to shake it off, supposing she's ill.

Pearl sat down on the floor and motioned for Steven to come closer. She gave him a weak smile as he sat down beside her and rested his head on her shoulder. The pearl embedded woman wrapped her arm around his chest and kissed his forehead while staring at Garnet with hostility. At the time, the red gem was beginning to calm down as she plumped down on the floor with defeat, but her view under her cracked shaded eyes didn't leave her companions .

"What are we gonna do now? I'm starving, my cuts won't stop bleeding, and our gems won't activate." Amethyst spoke up. "I can't even move!"

"You know, we're all starving too. Just sit down and stay calm, Amethyst." Pearl answered back while rolling her eyes.

"But how? Are we just gonna wait till they decide to open up the door and let us out as if they're generous enough. I don't think sitting around will help with anything."

"Grrr...Just sit down! What do you want to do? Make a bigger fuss than there already was so they can come and kill us all?!" Snapped the tall gem as she brought Steven closer to her.

Amethyst glared at Pearl and shook her head at her stubbornness. Cautiously, the short girl took a seat down on the cold floor. Her long light purple hair covered her face as if it curtained her face while a tear streamed down her cheek. For the first time in her life, Amethyst felt the pain of what it is like losing a war. It brought a heavy weight on her heart since she's used to people praising them for their heroic actions and barely losing any battle. This time the tables turned toward her and her friends which brought shame.

Again, a few moments have passed and a deep silence was settled in the room. Garnet was leaning on the wall and observing her gems with frustration, Amethyst was playing with her hair tips, and Pearl was humming while Steven had his head rested on her rising chest. At that moment, there were many thoughts that occurred in the boy's mind that involved a plan to escape from their prison.

What if Garnet uses her strength to open the door while Amethyst changes into a giant monster to attack all of them? Pearl could also quietly destroy the black crystals that are controlling the Dark Gems. Yes! That's perfect...that is if Amethyst can still shape shift... and Garnet would've gotten us out by now...this isn't going to work out. Steven thought to himself and gave a loud disappointed grunt.

"What are you thinking about Steven?" Garnet unexpectedly asked which startled the boy and his guardian out of their thoughts. They both lifted up their heads.

"Uhh...I was thinking about a plan...a plan that will get us out of here." Steven cracked with a dry throat.

"Will it work?"

"No...We would need our powers." Steven said while shaking his head and looked down at the floor. He again heard Garnet punch the door that was tightly locked until it stopped with a hiss from her mouth and she held her hands closer to her.

"Are you still mad about us not getting out of here?" Steven spoke as he rubbed his black eye.

"Well...not for that reason. I'm mad because we failed everyone and our gems our useless." Said the tall gem as she walked toward Steven and Pearl. At first the boy was hesitant and Pearl pushed him behind her by remembering the cold glares Garnet gave them, until she reached over and ruffled Steven's hair in a playful way, taking a seat near them.

The leader deeply sighed, "Don't be scared young one. We must remain strong. Those bi-"

"Garnet!" Pearl spat, knowing the next foul word coming from the red gem's mouth.

"Those clones don't stand a chance against us. We're the Crystal Gems and nothing harms us." She finished.

"Yeah, but the world hates us...so…" The purple gem muttered, earning her a glare from Pearl and Garnet. She returned the glare and swung her hair around her, challenging them to respond.

"It's true! Nobody respects us anymore. We're a goner. Walk up to anyone without them cursing or spitting at you. They think we're evil and will never believe us!" She yelled.

"We've been framed Amethyst! I'm sure some humans have faith in us." Garnet harshly hissed to the younger gem.

"No they don't! They'd cared less if we died!"

"You just give up so easily, don't you?" Pearl joined in the argument. "A Crystal Gem is not a quitter!"

"Ugh, shut up with Rose's dumb saying. She's not here and is dead! Get over it!" Amethyst continued to yell. Her glaring eyes stared directly to them. Not even a single blink was made. However, deep inside her, the own words coming from her mouth were hurting her even more. She was just blindly spitting harsh words at them from her anger.

"How dare you disrespect Rose. She would tell us to keep our heads up and fight!" Garnet slowly rose from her spot on the floor and crept her way to the second youngest gem, her hands forming into fists. The last nerve was taken at the mention of Steven's deceased mother. She took Amethyst's collar and brought her to her eye level.

She cleared her throat and her three noticeable eyes widened, making Amethyst shiver. "Don't give up on saving the world! Say those words again and I'll be sure to make you wish that you never say those words again. You got it!"

The cut gem nodded her head quickly, before another punch could be thrown at her, injuring her more. She twitched as she felt a warmer hand take hers; Steven. He looked under Garnet's arms, still crying. What he didn't know was that he was gripping onto a stinging cut, making her wince, but the shine in his eyes calmed her down. Amethyst nodded and loosened her tense shoulders and weakly brought her unheld hand to the angry gem's head and patted her. Garnet growled under her palm, but wouldn't fight it. She dropped Amethyst to the ground then Steven rushed to her aid.

"Look guys, I understand. Those so called Dark Gems ruined us all. I see us as normal humans now without our powers. We're weak, but something can happen that can save us." Amethyst said with shaken words.

Adjusting her seat on the ground, Amethyst leaned on Steven and cried. Emptiness came to her and she was completely hopeless and shook to the core.

"I want to die with the three of you. I love you guys..." Steven whispered under his breath and sniffed, joining Amethyst's depressing mood.

From the other side of the cells' door was a shadowy figure, disgusted with the affection Steven gave to the gems. She angrily pounded against the door, scaring the Crystal Gems.

"SHUT UP! NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU ANYMORE!"

No one cares anymore.

XxxXxxXxxX

This is us. The Crystal Gems. Joining the misery and pain as the rest of civilians. We failed everyone and we lost everything. We're not ourselves anymore and we are slowly losing our heads.

Someone...please help us...

Sorry for the delay of this story. My excuse is because my dog is very sick and will have to stay at a nearby animal hospital. Hopefully, she'll be okay and cured. :)

Also, today was Rebecca Sugar's birthday so happy birthday Miss. Sugar! This fanfic goes out to her! Luv ya, Rebecca! :D

Next chapter for this story will focus on how everything came to be. Way in the beginning. That's when we start our story. (I am going to admit that I'm kind of unhappy with how this came out, but it's up to you guys to decide.)

Also, tomorrow or Friday morning, I will post news on the show's status with links and everything. Please check it out if you're concerned about the show.

Don't forget to Fav/Follow/Share/Review!

- Gem-Goddess (GG)