"Oh no! Oh no no no! Garnet is gonna kills us!" shouted Amethyst as she started freaking out and running around in circles "I mean, Pearl I can handle but Garnet is gonna be sooo mad!"

As Amethyst ran in circles like a headless chicken, Connie moved to the opening of the cave and looked over the ledge. Since they had come in through Jet's shadow, Connie had no idea of just how high up they were, but it seemed like Jet had made her humble abode near the top of one of the Kindergarten's tallest cliffs. Down below Connie could barely make out the silhouettes of Garnet and Pearl leaving the warp pad.

"Yeah, I see them too." she confirmed and turned back to face Steven "What should we do?"

The boy looked from Connie to the rambling Amethyst and then to Jet, who seemed rather calm despite how on edge the rest of them were. He opened his mouth to speak but Amethyst got in the way.

"We stay hidden in here! They will never find us and we can just go back when things cool down!" said the purple gem and Steven simply stared at her like she had gone mad "What!? Garnet told me to watch you and I brought you right to Jet, she's really gonna kill me."

"We'll go down and tell them the truth." Steven stated with clear intent in his eyes.

"What!?" Amethyst shouted.

"Pearl looks like she's on edge." Connie said from the entrance as she saw the figure of the thin gem running around frantically while Garnet walked around as calmly as ever.

"See!? There's no talking to Pearl! She's going all bonk in the head from just remembering what you did!" Amethyst's finger pointed up at Jet who seemed to ignore her and instead turned to Steven.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Amethyst is right. Those two won't be happy even if tell them the truth." Jet spoke with her usual cold and distant tone "Just tell them I kidnapped you three again, they'll be far more inclined to believe that."

"No! If I do that, they won't ever accept you!" Steven shouted, surprising Jet for a moment, before she returned to her detached demeanor.

"Indeed, but I have no need for their approval." she paused and forced a malevolent grin "It might actually be best that they keep thinking of me as this big evil gem. That way they'll be on their toes and maybe this time they'll be able to actually kick Homeworld gems out of this planet."

While Amethyst didn't exactly like both her tone and words, she was too busy worrying about Garnet and Pearl to actually come up with one of her usual crass retorts. Steven, on the other hand, didn't seem too pleased with Jet's acting.

"But you're not evil!" he shouted at the top of his lung without even noticing.

"Hmm…guys? I think they're looking this way…" Connie called out meekly, taking a few steps from the ledge and back inside.

Amethyst quickly rushed to the ledge, sliding across the ground and peeking down at the two other gems. Her eyes went wide when she saw the two climbing up the cliff with long leaps. Meanwhile, Jet grabbed Steven's hand and moved closer to Connie.

"I have an idea, Steven would you please make your bubble around Connie and yourself?" she said as she grabbed Connie's hand and placed it on Steven's "Trust me, OK?" she spoke while looking the boy straight in the eye but he hesitated.

Connie's hand squeezed his tightly and Steven's eyes wandered to her. The young girl seemed to be smiling and nodding. She didn't know what Jet had in mind but she knew Steven trusted the gem and that he should keep doing so. Soon Steven's pink bubble surrounded the both of them and Jet's hand moved to the top of it while her shadow enlarged and covered not just the sphere but also the distracted Amethyst.

"Listen Steven, you shouldn't care what others think about you. The only thing that matters is what you think about yourself." Jet did not wear her cold and distant mask as she spoke to the boy but rather the same nurturing and gentle expression she showed only him "As long as you know who and what you are, the rest doesn't matter." she gave Steven a smile she so desperately tried to make happy, but Steven saw the complete opposite "Goodbye."

With a word of farewell, Jet pushed the bubble down into the shadows. As she did, Jet caught a glimpse of Steven placing his hands on the bubble and shouting something but the moment the bubble was submerged there was only silence. The shadow gem then turned toward Amethyst and stopped next to her.

"If those two ever get hurt, I'll make sure to come back and make you three suffer immensely." she spoke to the gem who looked up confused.

"What are you gonna do?" the purple crystal gem asked.

"Change of plans, I'll be giving Homeworld some hell for a while." Jet never once looked down at Amethyst, instead keeping her eyes to the sky.

The purple gem opened her mouth to speak, but Jet lowered her hand and the shadows quickly swallowed her. At the same time as Amethyst was engulfed in darkness, Garnet appeared on the ledge. The shadow gem took a step back and watched as Pearl jumped up and landed next to Garnet. Both gems already had their weapons out and looked ready for battle.

"Jet! Where are Steven and Amethyst?" Garnet asked with a stern tone.

"Where are they, I know I heard Steven!" Pearl screamed frantically.

"You should really learn to be careful, anyone that knows how to work those warp pads could easily warp into Steven's room." Jet noted with a blank expression "Then again, that purple runt put up a good fight…"

Pearl was the first to charge, her spear aimed toward Jet's chest in hopes of plunging it straight through and forcing her enemy to retreat back into her gem. Instead, Jet stepped to the side and grabbed Pearl's weapon, pushing further forward and ruining Pearl's balance completely. As Pearl stumbled forward, Garnet had also initiated a direct assault and swung her powerful fist at the other gem. Jet quickly grabbed Pearl by her collar and pulled her back, taking advantage of her shot balance and placing the gem between her and the armored fist. Garnet's attack immediately stopped, a mere inch from hitting Pearl but Jet wasn't done. The black gem's hand shot toward Garnet from behind Pearl and the fusion immediately remembered the last time she had been touched by Jet and jumped back. Seeing Garnet retreat, Jet pushed Pearl forward and away from her.

"I see that the same trick won't work twice. Very good Garnet." Jet said with a cold stare "Pearl, you're letting your emotions get the better of you…shame."

"What did you do to them!?" Pearl shouted angrily, before a sudden realization came upon her and her expression changed into one of horror "You didn't…" her hand moved up to her mouth.

"Not yet…they are stuck in my shadow right now." Jet responded "I believe we can solve this amicably. I propose a trade."

"Who would bargain with you…you monster!" Pearl screamed, however Garnet stepped in front of her.

"Speak." she calmly said, not taking her eyes off Jet.

"My only goal is the destruction of Homeworld, I believe that would somewhat match your overall objectives of protecting this planet." Jet showed no emotion as she spoke and kept eye contact with Garnet "I'll be leaving this planet and heading toward Homeworld, I've absorbed enough gems already and one of them seems to have an amazing flight capability. It should be enough." the shadows twisted and shifted up her back and eventually formed a pair of folded jet black wings.

The Crystal Gems were shocked by the sudden appearance of Jet's wings but did not move.

"I'll be taking my leave without any further hassle, the children will be released the moment I'm gone." she cocked her head "Is that acceptable?" she asked and waited for their response.

Pearl opened her mouth to speak but Garnet spoke up first "Yes." she said and took a step back, pushing Pearl along.

"But Garnet! We don't kno—" Pearl began but the fusion stopped her with a whisper.

"I've seen it with future vision, she does keep her promise." she turned to Jet and watched as the gem casually walked to the ledge and opened her wings.

"…" Jet said nothing to the two gems before jumping off the ledge, instead giving them a short glance.

Pearl and Garnet watched as Jet plunged toward the ground at high speed, seemingly unable to fly. As her face was about to reach the cold, hard floor, she sunk into the shadows and soon after emerged from them, shooting into the sky with her wings wide open. The dark gem flew up with speeds matching her descent and soon became a fading dot in the distance to the two gems.

Moments after Jet vanished from view, Steven, Connie and Amethyst were projected out of the large shadows inside Jet's cave. As soon as they emerged, Steven's bubble came undone and released the two kids inside. Pearl made a mad dash for Steven while Garnet grabbed Amethyst's arm and helped her stand. Steven looked confused at Pearl as the bird beak nosed gem hugged both him and Connie tightly.

"Oh I was so worried!" she screeched "Are you two alright? Did she hurt you!?" she asked, pulling away just enough to get a better look at the children.

"Hurt? No!" said Steven as he frantically looked around "Where's Jet!?"

Pearl looked back at Garnet with a worried expression, but the fusion seemed calm "Jet flew away to Homeworld. She's gone." at these words, Amethyst raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the sky.

The young boy felt tears swell up in his eyes "What? But she said…I don't…" he felt Connie's hand grip his and he looked toward her. The young girl was smiling at him, giving him a nod though a single tear seemed to peek out of her left eye.

"It's alright now, she won't be bothering us any longer." Pearl said with a reassuring tone that made Steven force down the urge to yell out that she was wrong about Jet. Instead he broke down in tears.

It took them a few minutes to calm Steven down, especially because Pearl and Garnet had a hard time understanding why he was really crying. In the end they chalked it up to his kindness and sincerity even toward enemies as well as feeling relieved for being alright after what they assumed was a traumatic experience at the hands of Jet. The five of them moved back to the warp pad and soon they left the Kindergarten.

Not far from the warp pad, as the light from it faded away, something began to emerge from a shadow. Jet stood up with her eyes focused on the warp pad. Her eyes gave off a mix of worry, pain and sadness but soon she steeled herself, clenching one fist while waving her other hand. Her wings seemed to melt into the shadows, much like the illusionary monster that Steven and Connie had fought before. Jet took a deep breath and then turned her back to the pad.

"Now then, let's find these Homeworld gems." said the shadow gem as she walked off.

((Alright guys, this marks the end of the first part of From the Shadows. Thank you all for reading and reviewing so far, it really means a lot to me that people are actually reading and (hopefully) enjoying something I've written…you all have no idea how much it really has meant to me.

I do not plan on giving up this story but I really do need a small break (I've been positing daily and its wearing on me), plus I need a little more time to plot out the next part of the story. Not to mention that I'm waiting for Stevenbomb 3.0 to see how the show's plot evolves and what parts I can incorporate into my story.

That said, I'll be returning to this story before the end of the month for sure so stay tuned and again, thank you for reading.))