(a/n: Hey everyone, here's a fresh new chapter for you! Hope you enjoy it and stay safe out there. Big thanks to Lucius Walker for all the help with this chapter!)

Part 16: Killer Gems from Outer Space (Part 1)

[Rikki]

The director of ODIN stood alone in the observation room once more, gazing up at the enormous monitor displaying the alien craft drawing closer to Earth. A week had passed since their listening post on Pluto picked up its signal, which fortunately gave them enough time to plan and prepare for its arrival. The agents and the Plutonian military stood down, as ordered. The unidentified object passed them by without a second thought, which confirmed that Earth was their intended target.

After reviewing the message the alien stone received a week ago, Rikki theorized that the message was intended for one person: a boy named Steven Universe. It made sense. The boy was at the center of a number of peculiar situations, such as the disappearance of Earth's oceans for starters, which was perpetrated by a familiar looking blue alien. The more she looked at it, the more Rikki found that some of the more recent odd occurrences led back to Steven and that Podunk town, Beach City. Rikki thought about Beach City and remembered that she visited the place once, a long time ago when things were very different. She always sensed something strange about that town, but now she is beginning to think that it might have more significance than she originally anticipated. The director's belief was soon confirmed when the unidentified object, later confirmed to be a spacecraft, was projected to land at Beach City, as opposed to Washington D.C. or the other dozen or so juicy targets that would be more likely to be attacked.

A frown formed on Rikki's face.

"What are you really after?" she questioned softly.

Although the plan was to let them come, the organization went through the usual protocols for any close contact situations. They hailed the incoming ship on all frequencies, demanding identification and issuing warnings aimed at those who hope to invade their system. No response, not even a, "Screw you, pal."

Some suggestions were thrown around, trying to theorize why the ship was silent, but Rikki had it down to two: Either their communications were fried or these assholes considered them not worth a response. Usually it was the latter.

"Director," a low, gravelly voice spoke behind her.

"Solomon." Rikki acknowledged, without looking away from the monitor. "Report."

"All flights within the area have been diverted or grounded, pending a…military exercise. General Steel has been alerted of the situation. His men are prepared and waiting." The man reported, appearing at her side.

Rikki's eyes flicked sideways to her subordinate and, possibly, one of her closest friends. The man was tall and slender, clad in a long black trench coat that made him almost blend into the shadows. His face was long, grim, and gaunt, framed by long, milky white hair that reached his shoulders. Atop his head sat a wide brimmed slouch hat, which made the agent look like a ghostly Puritan, freshly arisen from the grave.

While most agents dressed to blend in or to fit the standards of the organization, Solomon was an exception. The man had fought the strange and the unnatural for as long as Rikki had, maybe even longer, which gave the man some leeway in ODIN's bureaucracy.

Solomon gazed up at the monitor through his amber-lensed sunglasses, a deep frown etched into his marble features.

Rikki nodded, satisfied.

"Good." She said plainly. "How'd he take it?"

"About as well as you'd expect."

The director snorted, imagining the general's craggy face turning purple with outrage and panic.

"If the good general plays nice, I might throw him a bone when we're done."

"He won't like that." Solomon pointed out.

Rikki shrugged. "And I don't care. He can cry about it to the President and to the Council, but they'll back me on this one. The man lost every right to complain ever since he botched that job in Sherman."

In the corner of her eye, Rikki noticed the albino agent's thin lips forming a tight line. She knew that he wanted to say more, but he chose to remain silent, because they both knew what he was going to say. Everything would go smoothly if they worked together, they were all on the same team.

Normally, she'd agree. However, the director had tried playing nice with the general in the past, on multiple occasions. It wasn't her fault that the general had burnt out what little goodwill she had with his stupid antics and his "my way or the highway" attitude. Rikki knew that she'd catch hell for it, but both she and Solomon knew that it was for the best.

ODIN was Earth's first and last line of defense against the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. While it was true that they needed an equal measure of both tact and crazy, General Steel is not the type of crazy they needed.

General Julius Steel was everything that ODIN didn't look for in its operatives and allies: bullheaded, loud and arrogant. That's not to say the man is an idiot, in fact, he's smarter than most would assume. He was also more courageous than any other current military leader on Earth, save for maybe General Treister, but that's because Treister is certifiably insane.

Perhaps, with a lot of time and a superhuman amount of patience, the director and the general might've found common ground and worked together as equals. Realistically though, the moon would turn to cheese before that ever happened. So for now, the two would have to be content with their territorial frequent pissing matches as they awkwardly coordinate an effective enough response to alien incursions, like they always do.

Of all his faults, General Steel's biggest flaws were that he's as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face, and was even more stubborn than a mule. When he thinks he's right, he's going to hold the course until either he or his opposition gives.

Rikki shook her head at the memory of the mess he made in regard to an alien encounter in Illinois. Blood and broken bodies flashed across her memory, the faint smell of burning metal and oil returned, but Rikki quickly shoved those memories aside. The battle hardened old warhorse proudly and foolishly declared the day won and the enemy vanquished. Technically, the general was correct, but Rikki, along with Solomon, the Council, and the President knew the awful, bloody truth: It was by far the most disastrous containment operation ever conducted.

Rikki scowled as the memories came slinking back into her mind. She told the man to secure the perimeter and keep the enemy contained, but he went off all half-cocked in an attempt to deal with the threat his own way and to snatch some glory on the side. All he ended up with was a lot of lost lives and injuries.

It's still debatable as to who caused more damage, the enemy or the general. Rikki was reminded of two things that day. The first was the reason why ODIN was created in the first place. The second was the reason why General Julius Steel was so infamous. There was a reason why he was called "Ol' Blood and Guts."

After a length of silence, Rikki glanced sideways to her friend.

"How are the evacuation efforts going?" The director asked, wishing to move on to the matter at hand.

"It's well underway. So far we've kept it quiet, like you wanted. We've evacuated the citizens of at least four towns within the designated engagement zone, including Edison, Clover, Blackwood, and Wake Town. One of our recon units has reported that the situation in Ocean Town remains the same, no intrusions or containment breaches."

Rikki nodded. So far, so good. They needed to keep this whole thing quiet, just in case Beach City was compromised and was in league with the spacecraft. It may seem callous to exclude and suspect an entire town but in Rikki's line of work, it doesn't hurt to be suspicious and to make calculated risks.

The director took a deep breath and watched the unidentified spacecraft's approach, which was slowly but steadily getting closer.

On the outside she seemed perfectly calm and prepared, but on the inside she was excited. She knew that her subordinates and her colleges were questioning her reasoning for allowing this alien ship to reach Earth when they already have defensive measures in place all over the solar system that could've taken care of them days ago. Partially, it was out of boredom, but she wouldn't admit it out loud.

More importantly, however, Rikki wanted to know what these aliens wanted. Sure, they could just blow them to hell before they passed Jupiter, but that wouldn't solve anything. They wouldn't know why they were there in the first place or what they were after. If anything, it could make things worse. If they destroyed this ship, these unknown aliens would probably send another vessel, possibly an entire armada. Though Rikki had beefed up the Earth's defenses and helped make it a veritable fortress, even she wasn't confident in taking on an invasion fleet head on, unless she knew what she was getting into. That's how she survived all these years: by playing it smart, by carefully picking her battles and by having allies like Solomon at her back.

[Alert: unidentified spacecraft has entered Earth's atmosphere!] An automated voice cried over the base wide PA system.

"Dropped out of light speed in our upper atmosphere," Solomon noted, sounding slightly impressed. "Clever."

"Or stupid." Rikki murmured. Appearing in real space so close to a planet was risky, for numerous reasons. But the director had to admit, these aliens know what they're doing.

A small alert appeared on the screen, indicating that the craft was scanning the planet's surface. Possibly trying to sniff out any potential dangers. After a few moments, the ship ceased scanning and resumed its approach, gradually lowering itself towards Earth's surface. Rikki smiled.

Perfect, she thought.

"So, what are we looking at?" Solomon asked, putting his pale, claw like hands behind his back. With a gesture, Rikki summoned a holographic keyboard and typed in a command. The map displaying the Earth and blinking dots was replaced by live satellite footage. Though it was still somewhat blurry, the camera displayed their opponent.

"Curious." Solomon said, tilting his head to one side.

"That's one way of putting it." Rikki agreed. The spacecraft in question was an enormous green fist, descending from the stars like a punch from a vengeful god. The director guessed that the shape of the craft was probably chosen for a psychological purpose, to intimidate enemies and scare them into submission, especially primitive civilizations. Or perhaps it was a cultural thing?

Whatever the reason, Rikki didn't care. They were now on her turf and were probably thinking that they were the top dogs in this fight.

Unfortunately, they were in for a rude awakening.

Rikki looked to Solomon. "Have the Night Ravens ready," the director said with a smile. "And prep the Trident. It's time to roll out the red carpet."

Solomon nodded, and silently withdrew from the observation room as the satellite footage showed the alien fist growing closer to Beach City.

[Greg]

The sun was going down in Beach City. The sky was an orange, almost peach like color, streaked by thin wispy clouds. The air was calm and the shops of Beach Citywalk slowly closed down for the day as Greg Universe and his son made their way toward Citywalk Fries.

Everything seemed normal.

Despite this sense of ease and normalcy, Greg felt this sense of worry building in his gut. Although it's been a relatively uneventful week for him, the former musician's mind kept replaying Lapis Lazuli's warning, over and over again.

No matter what he did, Greg's thoughts returned to her warning, conjuring up the worst possible scenarios of what was coming. Images of destruction and death filled his head until it made him sick.

In the past, the musician had faith that Garnet and the others could handle any Gem related problem. However, as the days passed since they received the message, Greg's confidence wavered, as did the Gems.

The few times he'd been over to the house, Greg saw Pearl and Garnet off to one side, having a hushed conversation, with Amethyst solemnly coming and going, carrying boxes full of items. Just yesterday, he saw them bring out the laser light cannons and positioned them around the house. As his fears went into overdrive, the former musician remembered Rick's words very clearly.

"You need to take Steven and go. Get him as far away from here as possible. No matter what, you both need to get out of Beach City."

At first he didn't believe or really understand what the scientist meant, but after seeing how worried the Gems were, it struck Greg like a speeding truck: This is a fight where the Gems might lose, and if they lose, Steven's life could be in danger. The musician didn't have much but what little valuables he had lying around, he packed them into his van. Just in case.

Though he tended to look on the more optimistic side of things, Greg thought it prudent to take the old man's words to heart and be prepared. Which is why he was out here, going for fries with his son. Not only was he trying to spend more time with his son, the musician also hoped to talk to Steven about all this Gem stuff.

Greg and Steven reached Citywalk Fries. The boy slammed his fist on the counter.

"Give me the-" Steven began calling out his order, but stopped as Peedee placed a bag of steaming hot fries in front of him. "Oh, thanks."

"Eh, I saw you guys coming." Peedee said with a shrug.

Greg glanced about and saw that the tween's father and brother were not visibly present behind the counter or elsewhere in the store.

"Are you closing up all by yourself?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, it's just me tonight." Peedee said proudly, a smile spread on his face.

"Wow, that's a lot of responsibility for a kid your age." Greg noted with a smile. "Your dad must really trust you."

"Please don't patronize me, sir." Peedee deadpanned.

Steven grabbed the bag of fries and thanked Peedee. The two departed and began making their way back to the house.

"So, like I was saying," Steven said, easily picking up the story from where he left off, "Peridot's been shooting huge robots here from space. And when you smash them, they explode into goo."

"That sounds scary." Greg said slowly as he watched Steven scoop a handful of fries into his mouth. The former musician paused, trying to find the right words for what he was going to ask Steven. "You know, I'm not sure if…do you ever feel like this Gem stuff is too much for you?"

Steven looked up at his dad, confusion written on his face. "What do you-?"

Before Steven could finish asking his question, a deafening explosion roared across the skies, one so loud and powerful enough to rattle the earth beneath their feet, shattering every window and pane of glass within Beach City. Anyone who happened to be out and about, barely managed to maintain their footing amidst the rumbling ground. After a few seconds, the sound and the quaking ceased.

Greg glanced back toward the citywalk and saw Peedee and various other store owners and employees poking their heads out through shattered windows and opened doors, trying to discover the origin of the sound.

In the renewed stillness and silence, he heard people chattering and asking each other and themselves as to what could've been the source of the sound. A crowd began to form on the beach.

"What the hey was that?!" Greg asked in alarm, shaken by what had happened. He looked over to Steven and helped him off the ground.

"You okay, Steven?" Greg asked. Steven nodded, though his eyes seemed focused on something in the sky. "Steven?"

Steven pointed up at a portion of sky, high above the ocean and the breaking clouds.

"Is that a hand?" Steven asked.

Greg's gaze followed his son's finger until he saw something large, dark and green. He felt his mouth go dry.

It was a gigantic hand and it was pointed directly at Beach City.

[Rick]

Rick stood on the front porch of Steven's house, looking up at the giant green hand in the sky, pointing an enormous green finger at him. Down on the beach beneath him, Pearl stood there, observing the hand with a telescope, as Garnet brought forth one of the laser light cannons they stashed close to the house. He didn't need to be a genius to put two and two together, in fact, Rick had anticipated this day.

From the frantic preparations and the terror on the Gems' faces, Rick knew that the giant green hand in the sky was from their Homeworld. The scientist figured that they'd send something but wasn't really expecting this.

A giant metal hand; not exactly the scariest thing in the galaxy, but it would certainly do the trick on an unprepared and primitive enemy.

The scientist withdrew a pair of high tech binoculars from his coat pocket and used them to get a better look at the recent addition to Earth's sky. Upon closer inspection, Rick was rather impressed by the make of the alien craft. The hand was enormous and had an unnatural green tint to it, which gave off an ominous vibe that would certainly unnerve the natives of Beach City.

The scientist noticed a network of thin white glowing "veins" running across its glossy, metallic surface, all seamless and natural looking. All in all, not bad in terms of style and flair, but there was room for improvement.

Rick lowered his binoculars and leaned against the railing. He had figured that their angry response to his virus and the Gems' own act of defiance would come, but when it did, the deafening explosion came as a complete surprise. It tore him from the hottest, craziest dream he's had in years and shattered every bit of glass in Steven's house.

Rick had half a mind to blow that damn thing up himself, but he knew better. This was it; this was his chance to get the hell out of Dodge without Steven or the Gems knowing or worrying about him or Gary. Footsteps sounded behind him and Gary appeared next to him, looking up at the giant green hand in the sky.

"That's it?" The blond asked, nodding to the starship looming over the horizon.

"Yep." The scientist said with a nod. "Got everything?"

"Just a couple of boxes back at the lab, but other than that…" Gary fell silent, his gaze fixed on the Gem ship.

Rick nodded and drummed the railing, excitedly. "Alright then! T-Time to hit the road." The scientist stepped away and moved toward the stairs.

"Uh, I, uh, Rick…"

Rick paused, throwing a look to Gary. "What?"

"I-I think that we should maybe wait a little bit before we leave."

"What do you mean?"

Gary nodded at the hand shaped craft hanging there in the sky, still, silent and ominous. "From what I can remember," the blond said, in a soft, serious voice, "that ship is roughly the equivalent of a Late Era Taydenite scout ship."

Rick's brow rose. "And?"

"And if it is exactly the same in make and model, then it's armor and weapons are well beyond the capabilities of the Crystal Gems' light cannons." Gary revealed.

The mad scientist frowned at Gary's words and glanced over the side of the railing. Down on the beach, Pearl was still at her telescope, watching the giant hand. Meanwhile, Garnet and Amethyst were hastily configuring the light cannon behind her, adjusting and leveling it at the gradually approaching starship.

Although Rick didn't really care about what was going on, he couldn't help but feel something in his gut that agreed with what Gary was saying. The scientist closed his eyes, took a deep breath and forced those feelings down like a bad bit of lunch.

Rick looked back to Gary.

"I think they got it." The scientist said nonchalantly, waving a dismissive hand.

Gary's brows knitted together and he seemed ready to argue against Rick, but he said nothing. After a few moments, the blond shook his head.

"I hope you're right." Was all he could say.

"Hey!" The familiar voice of Greg Universe sounded as he and Steven arrived, panting and sweating from running all the way back to the house.

Rick nodded at the gems and the two Universes. "Come on, we don't want to miss this."

Rick and Gary hurried down the stairs and joined Greg, Steven, and the Gems down on the beach.

"Did you guys see that thing in the sky?" Steven asked.

"Kind of hard to miss." Rick quipped.

"It's a ship." Pearl said, looking worriedly up at the hand. "We have to assume it's Peridot"

"I'd say that's a good bet." Rick said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Lapis said she was coming." Garnet said solemnly. "With advanced weapons and reinforcements."

"It's happening." Greg murmured, his face growing pale. Rick studied the car wash owner's face. For a moment, the scientist could've sworn that he saw a sense of realization appear on it, almost as if he knew more than he let on.

"I wanna see!" Steven said, stepping up to the telescope. He peered through the telescope and studied the hand ship. "Whoa."

The scientist couldn't help but be disappointed and annoyed by the reactions the Gems were giving to this situation. They knew that this threat was coming, and when it presented itself in such an obvious manner, they just sat around second guessing themselves.

To be fair to the Gems, without Lapis's warning, they wouldn't have known of this incoming attack. If they just shot first and asked questions later, they probably would've caused an intergalactic incident. Hell, Rick's done that a few times in the past. But still, they had confirmation and forewarning. They should've done more to prepare for this day. Hell, the town was still filled with highly vulnerable civilians and they barely had the light cannons ready to go.

Rick shook his head in both dismay and in an attempt to rid himself of these thoughts. This was not his problem. Pretty soon, all of this will be nothing more than a funny memory.

"Ready the light cannons!" Garnet ordered.

Amethyst wasted no time in doing as Garnet had commanded. The purple gem raced up the stairs to the porch of Steven's house and pushed one of the light cannons into position.

Pearl brought out a remote and with the push of a button, the Quartzine Trio from Rose's armory emerged from beneath the house and slid into place. Soon enough, all five cannons were set and aimed directly at the steadily approaching hand ship.

Seeing as how the blast from even one of these weapons was immense, the Gems made sure to put enough distance between the cannons and themselves before they were activated.

"Steven," Garnet said, nodding to the half gem, "Light them up."

The young Gem nodded solemnly, before speaking into his walkie talkie, knowing that the other end was taped to the bottom of the porch, in close range of all five light cannons. "If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs."

As soon as Steven uttered this phrase, all of the light cannons reacted accordingly. Their barrels opened as their tips began to glow with growing power. In unison, all five cannons fired. Their pink, radiant beams roared from the weapons, dancing and spiraling around each other like a drill as they rocketed toward the hand ship in a powerful concentrated beam of light.

However, as the beam neared the ship, the ship suddenly shifted from its pointing position, uncurling its fingers and meeting the beam with an open palm. The moment the blast hit the ship's smooth, shiny surface, it broke apart and dissipated completely. Once the beam was gone, they saw that there was not even a scratch or crack on the ship.

The hand resumed its original form and proceeded its descent, as if nothing had occurred. Neither Rick or Gary needed the telescope in Garnet's hand to confirm the words she uttered next: "No affect"

"What now?" Greg asked, worry apparent on his face.

Garnet lowered the telescope from her eye and looked at him, Steven, then to Rick and Gary.

"We'll have to take them head on." Garnet answered plainly, setting aside the telescope. "The whole town may be in danger"

Rick rolled his eyes. Uh, doy! The scientist mentally chastised her, but managed to bite his tongue. He kept his arms folded and his expression as blank as possible.

"I better make a call." Steven said, fishing his phone from his pocket.

Everyone's attention was focused on the boy. He flicked through his contact info and landed on a rather unflattering picture of Mayor Dewey.

"Time for some political favors!" The boy said as he pressed "Dial."

After a few seconds of silent patience, Steven spoke.

"Mayor Dewey, it's me, Steven Universe."

Rick barely picked up the mayor's voice coming out of the other end. Judging from the tone of his voice, the scientist knew that the career politician was on the verge of shitting himself. Then again, there was a whole list of things that made him nervous and uncomfortable.

"Mayor Dewey, the whole town is in danger." Steven informed the mayor. "We have to evacuate the city."

As the half-gem tried to rouse the mayor into action, Rick and Gary stared up at the looming hand ship, it's massive index finger aimed right at them.

"Mayor Dewey's on it." Steven informed everyone.

"Good." Pearl said with a nod. "Then we should all prepare. We don't have much time."

With that, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst rushed off toward Steven's house and the temple. Greg followed their cue and ran, heading back into town. Rick nudged Gary and the two turned and started trailing after Greg, but were stopped by Steven.

"Hey!"

The two turned and saw Steven standing at the foot of the stairs to his house, a curious look on his face.

"You guys coming?" The half-gem asked, jerking his head toward the house.

Gary opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. Rick quickly stepped in for him.

"We-We got to go get some stuff at the U-Stor." Rick lied with a smile. "Some weapons and stuff that could be useful."

Steven looked at the scientist for a moment, a frown formed on his face as if he were pondering the scientist's words. Rick was pretty good at reading people's expressions and gauging what they're going to do. It's how he's won his share of dangerous poker games and bluffed his way through a number of bad scrapes. Here, Rick could see that the boy was nowhere near the neighborhood of suspicion. From out of the corner of his eye, Gary seemed to be sweaty and fidgety, practically waving a bunch of red flags and screaming to the boy that indicated that he was not okay.

Fortunately, Steven appeared to be oblivious of their true intentions. After a few seconds, the half-gem nodded, accepting the old man's excuse.

"Okay, but hurry back." Steven said. "We could really use your help."

"Sure, no pro*urp*blem." Rick belched, saluting the young boy.

Steven raced up the stairs and disappeared into his house.

When he was out of sight, Rick grabbed Gary's arm and pulled him along. Rounding the cliffs, putting a wall of rock between them and the starship, the scientist pulled out his portal gun. He opened a portal on the cliff face. The swirling golden vortex opened with a soft whoosh, which was hidden by the crashing of waves, and shoved Gary into it.

Rick sighed, rubbing his face and made a mental note in teaching Gary some essential skills in bluffing when they reach their new destination.

Before stepping into the portal, Rick poked his head out from behind the cliff. The giant hand ship proceeded as usual, only the giant finger aimed at them almost appeared to have taken on a more accusatory vibe.

The mad scientist scoffed at the idea and dismissed it as he retreated through the portal.

[Gary]

Gary heaved the heavy box full of assorted lab equipment into the back of Rick's car, putting it beside the various boxes and bags that were hastily packed earlier that day. The blond closed the trunk, before turning around. He saw Rick standing at the mouth of the now empty storage locker, peering up at the sky. It had been only a few minutes, but the sky seemed to have gotten darker, taking on an almost greenish hue.

Rick stood there, taking a sip from his flask and watching the distant shape of the hand ship. In the distance, Gary could hear Mayor Dewey's voice over loudspeaker, echoing in the distance.

"Eva-cuate! Eva-cuate!"

"All packed." Gary said, walking over to Rick.

"Go*urp*od." Rick burped, pocketing his flask and stepped away from the storage locker entrance. "Let's do this shit. If we hurry, we can get a Plorp Special in Frell before they run out."

The blond teenager nodded, but he remained rooted to the spot.

Gary peered outside and saw a steady stream of traffic on the street pass the U-Stor. Whether in cars, on bikes, or on foot, people did whatever they could to leave Beach City. Cars trundled by, packed with frightened and worried Beach City citizens, along with their loved ones and all their earthly goods that they could pack in the very short time frame. In the distance, the blond could make out the giant hand ship. It looked bigger and closer than it did minutes ago.

An queasy feeling bubbled in Gary's gut. For the past week or so, he was all in on leaving Beach City, for his own sake and Steven's. However, with Lapis's warning, seeing the ship and the odds of the Crystal Gems' survival, Gary's resolve quickly crumbled. There was no way that the Gems could take on this ship, let alone its crew. He was well aware of how strong they were. But from personal experience, and from the slowly degrading library of alien knowledge in his head, Gary knew that no matter how tough you were, there's always someone or something that's tougher than you are.

From the way they looked and the way they spoke of Homeworld, the Gems seemed convinced that this is their Alamo, their last stand. If that were to happen, then what happens to this Earth?

Deep down, Gary already knew the answer.

After what felt like an eternity of deliberating with himself, Gary eventually came to his decision.

The blond turned on his heel and marched over to Rick's car, threw open the trunk and began rummaging around for the item he needed.

Rick was sitting in the front passenger seat, his feet propped up on the dashboard as he reclined back and nursed his flask.

"Hey!" The mad scientist called. "Come on, lets go!"

"Just wait for me!" Gary called back. "I got one more thing to take care of!"

After pushing aside another box, he uncovered what he was searching for: a standard issued Federation plasma rifle. He grabbed it and slammed the trunk shut. Rick seemed to notice that something was up. The scientist sat up and looked at one of the rearview mirrors.

Gary jammed the fuel cell into the appropriate slot in the rifle and cocked it. The energy weapon hummed to life, amber colored lights blinked to life along the long, slender silver barrel. Though he hadn't used one, every scrap of knowledge relating to this type of weapon, along with hundreds of thousands of others were embedded into his mind, which was a major plus in this situation.

Before Gary could set off for Steven's house, Rick scrambled out of the car and stepped in front of the blond.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rick exclaimed. "W-Where the hell are you going?!"

"Back to the house." Gary answered firmly. "The Gems need our help."

"No they don't!"

"Come on, Rick! You know that they're going to get their asses handed to them! We have to do something."

"We don't." Rick sniffed. "This is their problem and I can assure you that they have it well in hand."

"They don't have a snowball's chance!"

"Y-You don't know that!" The mad scientist snapped. He placed his hands on Gary's shoulders and he gazed deeply into the teen's sky-blue eyes. "Th-They could pull off a serious Hail Mary move and blow those assholes out of the water. G-Garnet co*urp*uld kick their asses and-and Pearl could hack their ship and scramble their systems or some shit. You-you-you just gotta have faith in them, Gary! The power of belief and-and in friendship! You know, all that stuff Steven goes on about."

Gary gave Rick a strange look.

"What? No, Steven's never said anything like that. That was an old rerun of Sally Quazar. You know, the one show with the girl with the alien parents and fighting all sorts of monsters and dealing with everyday emotional problems and growing up. Besides, when were you such a believer in stuff like faith and friendship?"

"I have always been a big believer in friendship and faith and, uh, stuff. Besides, it wasn't Sally Quazar, it was Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. That shit teaches you real life lessons."

Gary shook his head.

"Look, whatever." He said, glancing back toward the exit. "With the gear we got, we can just pop in and take care of them, even out the score a little, and slip away before anyone notices."

Gary moved to leave, but Rick kept a firm grip on the blond's shoulders.

"No." Rick said firmly. "We're not going back. We're done here."

Gary looked at the mad scientist, a mixture of confusion and frustration on his face.

"Why are you so hellbent on leaving?" Gary demanded. "If you wanted to, you can take care of that ship of theirs like it was nothing and not be seen. It's almost as if…"

The blond stopped speaking, his eyes widened as the realization and horror settled in.

Gary looked up at Rick in disbelief.

"You asshole." The blond breathed. "You absolute asshole."

"Yeah, yeah." Rick said, rolling his eyes. "Water is wet, sky is blue, and the Earth is round, tell me something I don't know. Now let's go."

Rick tugged Gary along, but the teen tore away from the old man's grip and leveled the plasma rifle at the man he called "friend." The scientist scowled at the teenager, but didn't seem at all surprised or upset. Gary scowled back, his grip on the weapon tightened.

"This was your big plan?" The blond growled. "Leaving your friends to die in a one-sided slaughter!"

"Yep." Rick said blithely. "And you went along with it, you agreed to leave with me."

"Yeah, when I thought that they stood a chance, but now…" Gary trailed off, and struggled to find words but failed. He stared Rick down, with the scientist simply standing there, a calm, unrelenting scowl fixed on his face, giving off an all knowing, patronizing grandparent. Gary hated that.

The blond noticed that one of Rick's hands was a little too close to where he had his weapon holstered. He leveled the plasma rifle at the man, and gave him a look that warned him of what would happen if he tried to draw his gun. Rick sighed, and rolled his eyes.

After a few tense minutes of their standoff, glaring at each other, Gary spoke.

"I'm going back there." The blond said grimly. "Leave or stay, I don't care. I'm not going to abandon them."

"You'll die." Rick said emotionlessly.

"Maybe. But at least I won't be alone, and I'll die fighting beside those I care about."

Gary backed away from Rick, his weapon still aimed at the old man. When he reached the exit, he turned and hurried away from the open storage locker. The blond teenager slung the rifle to his back by the leather strap attached to it and picked up the pace.

Racing down the street, Gary dodged frantic people on bicycles and mopeds weaving their way through the slow and steady flow of traffic. He jumped and slid across the hood of one car that blocked his path.

As he made his way toward Beach Citywalk and the beach, a white escalade roared around the corner of a nearby building, tinted windows rolled down and blasting explicit rap music. A familiar redhead was leaning out of the window behind the driver's, firing a golden glock into the air.

"End of days, bitches!" Ed hollard at the top of his lungs. "WHOOO!"

Gary stopped and watched as the escalade zoomed by. He could briefly make out the voices of Liz and an older woman yelling at him to get back inside and roll up the window. The redhead obeyed, and the escalade joined the exodus from town with the rest of Beach City's population. Part of him worried about the two redheads and wanted to go with them, to escape and get away from this alien attack. But the blond shook his head, and reminded himself as to why he was there.

He turned and ran the rest of the way back to Steven's house, as the air began to be filled with the loud, unearthly hum of a starship's engine, as the giant green hand neared its destination.

[Steven]

Steven clung to Lion as they galloped back toward Beach City at top speed. The half-gem hoped desperately that they'd make it in time to help Garnet and the others.

After getting changed and readying himself to face the gem ship, Steven learned that the gems were sending him away from Beach City with his dad. At first the half-gem assumed that his father was joining the evacuation but when he saw that both he and Pearl already had his cheeseburger backpack all ready to go, it clicked. Disappointed, Steven protested. He wanted to help the Gems and Rick fend off the Homeworld gems, or at least talk to them. Ultimately, he was overruled.

For a time, Steven went along with it. The gems assured Steven that they'll be fine and that they can handle it. When Rick and Gary's names came up, Steven told them that they were getting some weapons to help out. Garnet just gave him a somber look and Pearl stammered that neither have returned yet. A sinking feeling developed in Steven. Why weren't they there? Did they get lost? Or did they..? Steven shook his head, ridding his mind of the thought. He was confident that they'd be there. After that, Steven and his dad left.

After leaving Beach City, Steven got second thoughts and decided to race back and help his fellow Crystal Gems with Lion's help.

Steven was snapped out of his thoughts as Lion crested the hill. From this vantage point, Beach City was laid out below them like a map. Judging from the lack of lights and activity in the streets, it looked like everyone got out on time, which was fortunate. The green hand ship was now at equal height with the cliff and the lighthouse above his home, its index finger aimed squarely at his house. Steven felt his heart pick up speed as it went from a slow and anxious pace to a near panicked and frantic rhythm.

Lion didn't stop at the top of the hill. Without warning, the pink lion unleashed a powerful roar and with it a burst of light pink energy. The energy swirled and formed a portal, through which Lion and Steven hurtled through.

In the blink of an eye, the hillside view of Beach city vanished, and Lion and Steven skidded to a halt on the beach in front of his home, directly in the hand ship's path. Steven blinked and saw that Garnet and Opal were standing before the starship, brave and defiant. The sky and the sea seemed to glow an eerie, unnatural green, matching the hand.

Beneath the fear and anxiety, Steven felt a sense of relief. He made it just in time.

Opal summoned her bow and drew back the bowstring. Energy gathered around the bow and bowstring, forming a long energy arrow. The towering four-armed fusion took aim at the ship above.

"Fire!" Garnet barked.

Opal released the arrow. The arrow rocketed toward the hand ship. Mid flight, the arrow broke apart forming hundreds of identical energy arrows. The arrows hit their mark, but much like the laser light cannons, they merely glanced off the smooth, metallic hull of the ship. The hand ship continued on its path, unaffected.

Opal and Garnet stared up at the ship, stunned.

Steven scrambled off of Lion. "Stay here," he told the fuzzy pink animal. "If something happens, Dad will need a new son."

Steven took off, running as quickly as he could to join his guardians.

The hand ship was nearly there. It began to pick up speed, hurtling toward them like a meteor. The ground beneath them began to quake at its approach. Undaunted, Steven hurried on.

Up ahead, Opal and Garnet both took a deep breath and steeled themselves for the coming battle. Though they were both terrified, neither moved to retreat. This was their home, and they were going to defend it with everything they had. Despite their fear, the two took solace in one thing.

"At least Steven is safe" Garnet said, voicing the one thing that kept them going.

"Hey guys!" Steven called out to them as if it were an ordinary day at the beach.

The two fusions whipped around and saw the half-gem running up to them.

"Steven!" Garnet exclaimed.

Opal groaned, before she began to glow brightly, unable to hold herself together any longer. Amethyst and Pearl reappeared on the sandy ground, disoriented and terrified.

"You came back!" Amethyst squeaked.

"What are you doing?" Pearl cried, her eyes wide with fear. "Get out of here!"

"But-" Steven began but Garnet cut him off.

"It's too late!" Garnet shouted over the now deafening droning and rumbling of the approaching hand ship. "Stay behind us!"

The Crystal Gems summoned their weapons and formed a wall in front of Steven, who gazed up at the starship in awe. The hand was now very, very close. At this distance, the ship easily dwarfed Steven's house, the lighthouse, and just about any other structure in Beach City. For a brief moment, Steven felt uncertain about his decision to come back. The half-gem shook his head, and readied himself for what was coming.

The giant, emerald ship slowed to a stop. The hand suddenly flipped around, uncurling its index finger first, before the rest of the fingers followed suit, slamming onto the beach.

The hand, now laying outstretched onto the beach as if asking for something from them, stopped moving, leaving the Crystal Gems to stare in wonder and horror as they waited for something to happen.

After a few, tense moments, a large green orb sprouted from the center of the palm. Pearl tightened her grip on her spear as she and the rest of the Crystal Gems glared at the unknown adversary. Steven felt his heart skip a beat as the index finger crashed onto the sand, allowing the orb to roll down the finger. The orb promptly melted away, revealing two gems - one familiar, the other a stranger.

Steven jumped a little as he watched the same, green gem from before appear at the edge of the giant finger, looking down at them with disdain.

"That's them alright." Peridot reported to someone next to her. "They're the ones who keep breaking my machines."

A series of loud, deep thuds could be heard as the large, lumbering gem stepped into view beside Peridot. This new gem looked very intimidating. She was massive, taller than even Garnet by a head, and had muscles to spare. Beneath the overpowering green light of the ship, Steven could tell that this gem was orange with dark stripes on her skin, and had long, pale hair that ran loose and wild down her back. A short cape hung from her broad shoulders, and her outfit was a simple sleeveless bodysuit with a light yellow diamond symbol on her chest, identical to the one on Peridot's uniform.

The large gem glowered down at the Crystal Gems, who were already on alert against this new foe. The new gem's sharp and angry features grew more intense as she focused on her would-be enemies.

"This is it?" The new gem grumbled, sounding very annoyed.

"Jasper!" Peridot complained. "They keep interfering with my work!"

"Ugh." The new gem Jasper sighed and rolled her eyes. She walked closer to the edge of the finger. "Looks like another waste of my time."

Jasper looked back and grabbed someone from behind her, yanking her into view. The third gem pulled herself free from Jasper's grasp and glared up at her. She looked down and her gaze met Steven's. Her eyes widened in shock. Steven felt a lump in his throat. The third gem was Lapis Lazuli, the one who warned them of the impending attack.

"This is their base?" Jasper asked, bored and wanting to be done, and jabbed a finger at the beach beneath them.

The blue gem stiffened and looked away from Steven and from Jasper.

"Yes, it is." She answered reluctantly.

The Crystal Gems brandished their weapons.

"You need to leave this planet, immediately!" Garnet demanded fiercely.

"Yeah, piss off!" Amethyst snarled, gripping her whip tightly.

Steven glanced at Amethyst. He only heard Rick use that phrase, and Amethyst was the second person/gem that willingly hung around the old man long enough to pick up a few things from him, including curses and rude phrases.

"This is not a Gem-controlled planet!" Pearl added fretfully, trying and failing to hide her fear with anger.

Jasper and Peridot ignored their orders and threats, jumping down from the finger, dragging Lapis along. The three landed softly on the sand, ready to meet the defending gems head on.

"And you didn't see Rose Quartz?" The orange Gem asked Lapis coldly.

Lapis shook her head, looking fearfully up at Jasper.

"Oh, what a shame. I'd hoped to meet her. I was looking forward to beating her into the ground!"

Steven couldn't help but cringe in fear upon hearing this. He was surprised at how gleefully Jasper could talk about hurting his own mother in such a way.

"But this is all that's left of her army? Some lost, defective Pearl? A puny, overcooked runt? And this shameless display?" Jasper paused, a slight confusion washed across her annoyed expression. Her cold, hard gaze focused on Steven. "What is that?"

The Crystal Gems tensed up, shifting into fighting stances and trying to shield Steven from Jasper's gaze.

"It calls itself a 'Steven.'" Peridot answered, a scowl forming on her face.

"He's just a human!" Lapis added frantically, looking up at Jasper fearfully. "He's not a threat."

"I know what a human is," Jasper growled with annoyance. She folded her arms across her muscular chest. "I can't believe I was pulled off of Gelth for this. Could've been crushing those puny Coalition and Holy Order troops, but here I am on some backwater planet dealing with some pests. I don't see why you need me here. Couldn't you blow them up with the ship?"

"We could, but after the-uh-incident with the Kindergarten and our systems on Homeworld, we must be cautious," Peridot said slowly. "Our systems could become compromised again."

"Oh, right." Jasper said sarcastically. "You're afraid that your 'advanced human' is going to show up and magically infect our systems. Oooh, so scary!"

"This is serious, Jasper!" The green gem snapped, rounding on the large Gem. "We cannot afford to underestimate the one called 'Rick', he could be a threat."

Jasper snorted "A human? A threat? Give me a break. The Colvorians were more of a threat and those things practically threw their lives away in battle."

Steven felt a chill down his spine, remembering Connie's teacher who became a half human, half alien bee. The alien queen had told him that her people and her world were ravaged by invaders. If what Jasper said was true, then she was certainly more terrifying and dangerous than he originally anticipated. A part of Steven began to wish that Rick and Gary were here.

Peridot gritted her teeth and looked ready to argue with Jasper but the orange Gem fixed her with a look that screamed, "I don't care, I'm done with this job." The green gem growled, but regained her composure.

"Fine." She sniffed, bringing up a small holographic screen with a gesture. As she worked away on the screen, the ship rose from the ground in response. The hand rose high up in the air, its fingers curling up into the shape of a hand gun. The ship began to drone loudly, filling the air with a sound that made Steven's teeth rattle in his head as a bright light began to form around the index finger. The ground began to rumble and vibrate, and it became pretty clear what the ship was doing: charging up its devastating weapon for an attack. Garnet glanced back towards Steven.

"Steven, get out of here!" She shouted over the building noise.

"No!" Steven shouted back.

"I won't let you risk your life!"

"But this is my home!" Steven cried, tears starting to form in his eyes from the stress and tension of the moment. "And you're all my family!"

Beneath the deafening droning of the ship and the energy cannon, Peridot observed the cannon's progress. A small chime sounded from her screen.

"Firing." The green gem said flatly. The light at the end of the ship's finger was at its brightest, and with just a tap of Peridot's screen, it unleashed its full might on the Crystal Gems.

The Gems were currently looking at Steven in shock. They were deeply worried about his safety, but were ultimately touched by his resolve to stay by their side. A radiant pink glow began to spill from Steven's gem, one that spread wider and further as the ship's attack hurtled toward them.

"I'm-I'm a Crystal Gem too!" Steven shouted, courageously rushing forward, past the Gems, and meeting the blast head-on. The Gems were too shocked to do anything. The explosion was immense, kicking up a lot of sand and dust and rocking the ground where the Gems and Steven stood.

Jasper, at this point, had turned to watch the light show but, when the dust settled and everything went quiet, her eyes widened in disbelief. Steven and the Gems were still alive. But what shocked the warrior more than the fact that the human and the defective Gems survived, was the fact that they were protected by a massive, familiar pink shield.

"That shield!" Jasper gasped, visibly shocked. "That symbol!"

Steven, with gritted teeth, had his hands up and had projected a pink shield in front of him and his guardians. With the threat now gone, along with whatever energy he mustered up, the shield glowed brightly and folded into nothing. Steven sank to his knees, exhausted. His head throbbed and buzzed.

"You!" Jasper barked in angry disbelief. "You have the power of Rose Quartz!"

"Now do you believe me?!" Peridot snapped, glaring over her shoulder at Jasper.

"Fire a barrage!" The large gem ordered, sounding frenzied and outraged. "Widespread! Now!"

Peridot jumped to comply, fumbling with her screen for a moment before swiping her finger across it. In response, another laser blast fired from the ship, cutting a line across the ground that nearly hit Steven. Fortunately, Garnet shoved the boy out of the way just in time. Amethyst and Pearl, on the other hand, weren't as lucky to get out of its path. The residual explosion knocked them back and threw up more dust from the ground.

Steven was on the ground, dazed and disoriented. He didn't have a moment to recover as he saw Jasper standing over him, tall, powerful and menacing.

"Rose, why do you look like that?" the orange Gem asked, disdain clear in her voice "Why are you so weak?"

"Don't hurt him!" Lapis interjected, rushing to Jasper's side, hoping that she could protect the half-Gem.

"You knew about this!" Jasper accused, glaring down at her. "And you didn't say anything?!"

"I-it wasn't relevant to the mission!" Lapis protested, shaking her head.

"Forget about the mission!"

"What?!" Peridot exclaimed, appearing at Jasper's other side.

"I said, forget it!" Jasper growled, her attention returned to Steven. She glared daggers at the boy on the ground, which made his blood run cold. "Yellow Diamond needs to see this...thing."

Steven felt the hairs on the back of his neck jump to attention at the mention of the name. He started crawling away from the orange gem, too petrified with fear and drained of energy to pick himself up and run. His heart hammered away in his chest and his head still swam from the force of the explosion from the second cannon blast and from creating the shield for the first one. Steven had to get away; he had to escape. A cold terror began to fill him. The look in Jasper's eyes...he'd never seen anyone look at him like that. It was violent, hateful. It was a look that clearly conveyed the orange Gem's intent to kill.

Jasper stepped forward, quickly catching up to Steven in a few steps. She moved to grab the half-gem but before she could, an explosion sounded behind Steven.

Glancing back, he saw Garnet emerge from the sand, gauntlets at the ready and a cold, furious look on her face.

Peridot and Lapis were both caught by surprise, but Jasper was every bit as ready as Garnet. A cold and savage grin appeared on her face.

"Good!" Jasper cackled as she summoned her weapon. Light gathered around her head and formed a thick, sturdy war helmet. Before Steven even knew what was happening, Garnet soared over him and hurled a gauntleted fist at Jasper. The orange gem met the Crystal Gems' leader's attack with her helmet. The force of their collision knocked Steven, Peridot, and Lapis back a little.

Steven pushed himself up and saw Garnet slide backwards to his side, nearly falling over but she maintained her footing.

"Steven, run!" Garnet shouted fiercely, before charging back into the fray.

Jasper's grin deepened upon seeing Garnet's resolve. She pulled out a long, thin, metallic fork-like object. She tapped the button on the hilt, causing crackling yellow energy to dance between the fork's prongs.

"Priming Gem destabilizer." She remarked, not paying Lapis or Peridot any mind as they backed away from Jasper and the weapon, knowing what it was for and what she intended to do with it.

Garnet, meanwhile, didn't have such knowledge as she pounced at Jasper, ready to deliver another blow. Jasper eagerly lunged forward to meet her. Instead of receiving another headbutt or punch as she predicted, Garnet's eyes widened as Jasper's new weapon was plunged into her chest. The electrified tip of the destabilizer was buried inside Garnet's chest up to the hilt, freezing her in midair as it caused her entire body to light up in its blinding yellow glow.

Steven's eyes widened in horror as thin, almost circuitry like lines slowly crawled over Garnet's entire form. As the lines spread all along her body, her limbs began to fall apart, almost as if they'd been cut clean from her joints. Garnet began to fall backwards toward Steven, her form breaking apart more and more by the second. Time seemed to slow at a slug's pace as Garnet looked up at the half-gem, her shades gone and agony written on her face as she gave him a glance that seemed apologetic for failing to protect him.

Before Steven could process what had happened, Garnet was gone. Her form dissipated in a bright flash, the two gemstones in her palms fell into the sand, one red and one blue. A faint imprint of Garnet's scattered form was etched into the sand.

Steven was stunned. His body trembled as he stared at Garnet's gemstones lying there in the sand where her body was a moment ago. His fear only increased as the Gem who defeated her with a single blow stepped up to him.

"I was there, you know." Jasper began, looming over Steven's trembling form, meeting his frightened gaze with bitter scowl. "At the first war for this garbage planet. I fought against your armies, respected your tactics. But this?!" She scoffed, roughly grabbing Steven by his shirt and hoisting him up, despite his struggling. "This is sick!"

"Unhand him!" Pearl shouted as she and Amethyst rushed forward, weapons in hand in an attempt to rescue the half-gem.

"I don't get what you're planning, Rose," Jasper hissed, still holding Steven at face level with her as he struggled uselessly to free himself from her grip. "But look! Your base is taken. Your armies are ruined! You have failed!"

Jasper's helmet disappeared and as she was about to ram her head against his, a streak of bright orange energy zipped past Steven's ear and struck the orange gem on the cheek.

"Gah!" Jasper roared in pain, her free hand going to her face. Her grip on Steven loosened enough for him to pull himself free. He fell to the ground and he scrambled away, just as a hail of orange streaks of light began to rain down on Jasper.

Peridot and Lapis immediately crouched low, looking about for the origins of this new attack.

The orange gem staggered back, shielding her face and growling. Between the fingers of her hand, one of Jasper's eyes darted about until it zeroed in on Steven. She moved to retrieve him once more but was driven back by another burst of orange energy blasts.

Steven continued crawling away, keeping low from the attacks and trying to recover his strength. The half-gem looked and saw, positioned at a higher position, closer to the house, was Gary. He was lying on his belly with a futuristic looking rifle, firing short, steady bursts at Jasper.

The blond teen spotted Steven and shouted, "Come on!" He waved the boy over frantically, eager to try to get him out of this dangerous situation.

Summoning whatever energy he had, Steven pushed himself up and got to his feet. He wobbled a little and forced himself to run but could only manage a stumbling, awkward trot.

Behind him, Steven heard Jasper roar. A large shape blurred past him, barreling him over and rocketed toward Gary, kicking up sand and dirt in her wake. Steven tried to shout a warning, but Jasper was already on the teen.

The orange gem grabbed the barrel of Gary's rifle and crushed it in her hand, gritting her teeth and ignoring the pain of the burning plasma of the weapon as Gary tried to fire off a few more shots. She tore the now useless weapon from the teen's grip and held it up to inspect it.

"Well, what do we have here?" Jasper hissed, sounding both pissed and intrigued. "A standard issue Coalition plasma rifle. A little advanced for a human. Usually you meat bags prefer projectile weapons, like sticks, rocks, dung. Don't tell me that the Coalition is that desperate. Allying and arming a bunch of backwards apes?"

"Not really." Gary replied coolly, picking himself up off the ground, brushing off some sand and dirt. "Stole it from them, if you can believe me."

Jasper cocked an eyebrow. "I see. So, you're this 'Rick' human that I've been hearing Peridot screech endlessly about."

"You kidding?" Gary snorted. He spat on the ground by Jasper's feet, causing her to scowl in disgust. "I wouldn't be caught dead being that slimy bag of bones. I'm much better looking."

Steven watched in fear as Jasper stood in front of Gary. She was taller than him by a significant margin and had him at her mercy. The half-gem cursed himself and tried to hurry, but couldn't. He was still drained from the ship's first cannon blast.

Behind Steven, Peridot and Lapis watched Jasper confront the new human. The green gem grumbled, having hoped that it was Rick. That way she could've gotten her revenge on him. Lapis, however, stood there, frozen in place. The human that Jasper was confronting looked eerily familiar. She struggled to remember where she may have seen him before. The more she stared at the human, the more she felt a sense of familiarity. A warm sensation filled her cheeks and it slowly dawned on her.

"No…" Lapis breathed. Old memories floated to the surface in her mind. How is he here?! Lapis thought. He can't be here. It...It wasn't real!

After a few quiet and tense moments, Jasper snorted and growled at Gary.

"What're you going to do now, human? You're unarmed and you're puny."

"Well, like you said, our preferred weapons are sticks, rocks and dung" Gary said, sounding unusually calm and playful. "And since I'm all out of sticks and rocks, I can whip up some dung if you want but you'll need to give me a minute and maybe some reading material."

The orange gem's face twisted into a look of disgust. Without warning, Jasper raised her fist and brought it down like a hammer. Steven felt his heart jump.

"No!" Lapis cried.

Though the orange gem's fist made contact with the spot Gary stood, Gary was no longer there. He had jumped a short distance backwards, and he brought up a hand. In his hand was something shiny and silver. The teen squeezed it, and the ruined rifle in Jasper's other hand detonated, swallowing the orange gem in a ball of orange fire and smoke.

Peridot and Lapis gasped, shocked by what had happened, while Steven was relieved to see that Gary was alive. The blond teen ran toward Steven.

"Steven!" Some familiar voices cried out.

The half-gem turned and saw Pearl and Amethyst rush to his side. Hope began to fill the half-gem. Although Garnet was gone, maybe they can still win. Maybe everything will be okay.

Pearl threw her arms around the boy, and quickly looked him over.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, worried.

"I'm fine." Steven said. "Gary saved me."

"No problem." The blond said, finally reaching the group. "But we can't stay here. I don't think a little fuel cell explosion is going to stop Hulk Hogan over there." He jabbed a thumb back over his shoulder towards the burning fireball, which was roaring in agony as the burning form of Jasper tried to swat the flames out.

"He's right." Amethyst agreed, sounding frantic. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

"But what about Peridot and Lapis?" Steven asked, glancing over to the two gems, who stood in the shadow of the hand ship, staring dumbfounded at the fireball that was the burning form of Jasper.

"We'll deal with them later!" Gary snapped. "But right now, you're the one that Jumbo Orange Crush over there is gunning for. We gotta get you out of here!"

Pearl and Amethyst nodded in agreement. Steven nodded slowly, though he looked toward the spot where Garnet's gems lay.

Gary followed Steven's gaze. He sighed in annoyance, but he looked at Steven.

"Don't worry." the blond told him, "We won't leave her behind. Go, now!"

Pearl, scooping Steven up in her arms, took off running with Amethyst close behind. Over Pearl's shoulders, the half-gem saw Gary make a beeline for Garnet's gems.

As quickly as hope had reformed in Steven, it was snatched away just as quickly. A horrible, almost animalistic roar echoed across the beach as Jasper, covered in scattered flames and orange, oozing plasma that dripped off her form, charged at the blond teen. Murder and unrestrained rage carved on her face.

"Look out!" Steven cried out.

Gary, hearing Steven's warning, saw Jasper. Despite her size, she moved like a freight train. In a matter of seconds, the orange gem was on the teen.

Jasper let out a bloodcurdling roar as she grabbed for Gary, who dove out of the way in time as the orange gem sailed past him. She landed in the sand, burying herself partially in the ground, but quickly recovered. She spun around and charged again like a raging bull.

Gary waited for her and managed to sidestep her but Jasper was able to course correct and lunge at the teen, grabbing him by the arm. The blond's eyes widened in shock and pain as the orange gem grinned and squeezed, a loud sickening crunch sounded in response.

Steven's jaw dropped and the color in Lapis's face drained.

Before Gary could make a sound or attempt to free himself, Jasper's massive hand clamped down on the teen's face as she lifted him up. She began whipping him around.

"No!" Steven screamed. He wriggled free from Pearl's grasp and, with renewed energy and adrenaline, rushed to save Gary.

As he got close, Jasper noticed Steven in the corner of her vision. She grinned and slammed Gary into the ground with one hand like a dirty ragdoll.

"Wait! Stop!" Steven begged, his voice hoarse and filled with fear.

Jasper turned her head towards Steven, causing the half-gem to skid to a halt. Parts of her body were blackened, patches of her suit and her hair were burned away. Her cape was gone, reduced to ashes now. Globs of hot plasma still clung to her body like leeches, glowing brightly. The orange gem looked at Steven with hate and disgust.

"Please don't hurt him." Steven pleaded.

The orange gem regarded him coldly and said nothing.

Steven could hear Gary's ragged breath but couldn't see him because of Jasper.

"Steven!" Pearl shouted from behind him.

The white gem and Amethyst were running to assist him.

After a few moments of silence passed, Jasper scoffed at Steven.

"Weak," the orange gem murmured disdainfully.

Before he could react, Jasper cocked back a fist and launched a powerful, rage filled punch towards Gary. The force of the punch caused an explosion of sand and dust, obscuring the half-gem's vision. Despite not being able to see, Steven could hear a loud crunch reach his ears, sounding like an egg being crushed.

The half-gem's heart stopped. Steven felt as though the wind got knocked out of him as he struggled to process what had just happened. As his mind began to spin, a large orange hand grabbed him by the shirt and hoisted him off the ground.

He blinked and found himself gazing into Jasper's eyes. The orange gem rammed her head into Steven's. There was an explosion of pain, and everything went black.

[Rick]

Rick sat in the drivers seat of his car, staring at the back wall of the storage locker. Gary's words were rattling in his mind, an annoying gnat in his head that wouldn't go away. His hands were on the wheel, but the engine was off. For the past several minutes, the scientist sat like this, considering his situation.

No matter what he did to convince himself to leave, Rick couldn't bring himself to start the car and fly off into the sunset toward a life of luxury and riches with the Gem tech he swiped.

You absolute asshole, Gary had said to him, at least I won't be alone, and I'll die fighting beside those I care about.

"Shut up." Rick growled to the imaginary Gary in his head that was scolding him. But imaginary Gary won't let up.

That's your big plan! The Gary in his head accused. Leaving your friends to die in a one-sided slaughter!

The scientist scowled deeply. Sure, it was an underhanded plan, even for him, but it was for the best. Both he and Gary were still fugitives of the Federation, having escaped one of the most secure prisons in the galaxy, maybe in the universe. The Federation were pretty relentless, from petty criminals and dissenters to high value targets like himself and Gary. In fact, they had a sterling record at each of their prisons, until Rick decided that he had enough of their bullshit.

While Rick was good at running and hiding and the Federation's portal tech was primitive compared to his own, they don't give up too easily. If one wasn't careful, they'll get you with your pants down.

Just like they did at Birdperson's wedding.

Rick's hands tightened around the steering wheel at the memory of how his friend was betrayed and gunned down by that two-faced bitch, Tammy. He should've seen the signs, he should've been suspicious, but Rick could've sworn that she was clean. Not a single red flag came up. Hell, just looking at her and spending five minutes with her, she came off as a stereotypical teenage girl from Earth. She practically blended into the background. That's what worried Rick.

While he was doing time behind bars, the mad scientist had heard rumors of a secret division within the Federation's Security Bureau, a group that dealt in covert operations, espionage and all sorts of dark and twisted things, like research into portal technology.

Few are aware of their existence, and even fewer dared to speak their name, except for Eddie, a slender green alien who was considered a crackpot. He'd mumble and jabber on about "them" and how "they" are coming for him at random times of the day. Nobody believed him, except for Rick. Tammy was living proof. He also remembered how, in the middle of the night, the scientist spied a trio of figures in black coats gliding past his cell. He remained very still and pretended to sleep as he listened to them dragging Eddie out of his cell. The scientist shivered, remembering the peculiar alien's shrill, frightened screams for help and how they were abruptly silenced. Even Rick's cold dead heart felt a pang of sympathy for the poor guy. The next morning, Eddie was gone and nobody seemed to notice or care.

The Federation was clumsy as hell when it came to espionage. They usually liked to throw their weight around to get what they want, so deep cover agents like Tammy were new and unexpected. With Rick's position on their shit list, it was likely that they'd deploy some of those assets to bring him back in. While he didn't give a shit about the Gems or their problems, it was better that they did fall here and now by the hand of a known enemy than be taken alive by an unknown one for just being in the same universe as him and Gary.

Which is why they had to leave now, before the Federation picked up their scent. After some further internal debating and wrestling with his options, Rick let out a loud groan.

"Shiiiiiit!" Rick sighed, pulling the key out of the car's ignition and throwing open the door. He went to the trunk and nearly ripped it open. He grabbed a higher caliber plasma rifle than the one Gary took, and began sifting around the crowded trunk for the right tools. Rick shook his head and silently questioned why he was going back for them.

A very small part of him suggested that he was going back to save them because he cared for them. Rick snorted aloud. The scientist reasoned that he was going back because he had a few minutes and that he wanted to prove Gary wrong. He was not going to die alone and friendless. The little blond douchebag. He was so much like Beth when she was younger, except maybe less bitchy.

As Rick rummaged around in his trunk, he had an unusual sensation wash through him. The hairs on his neck and arm rose, and he felt like something incredibly evil was close. The scientist made no sudden movements. He didn't want to alert whatever it was to the fact that he was aware of their presence.

Rick continued to sift through the trunk, pretending to be searching for something, until his hands landed on a small but powerful anti-matter pistol. He grabbed it and slid his finger to the trigger. Taking a deep breath, Rick readied himself. He felt the presence draw closer and closer. When he felt that this presence was close enough, Rick spun around and took aim but something crushingly powerful force seized his wrist and twisted it abruptly.

Rick gritted his teeth and with another abrupt twist, followed by popping of bones, the gun slipped from his grip. The scientist tried to attack his unseen assailant but felt something solid wrap around his throat and squeeze tightly. Ordinarily, the nano-mesh fiber in his throat would kick in and throw any attacker off of him, but it didn't. Instead, a current of blue-white energy crackled and surged up and down Rick's body. The scientist twitched and convulsed until the energy faded.

Rick's head was swimming and he felt something in his skull fizzle and click. His arm became heavy and went limp. He tried to move it but it didn't respond. The scientist felt his energy slowly leaving him, his consciousness beginning to fade as well. It took a second for him to realize what's going on. The invisible attacker knew his defenses, like the nano mesh fiber and his cybernetic implants. They weren't exactly his first line of defense, but they were handy little tools that kept his foes off balance. If they knew about them and were disabling them, that could only mean one thing.

A surge of panic sent Rick into overdrive. Kicking, punching and clawing, the scientist struggled to break free. He felt his attacks hit and glance off of something solid, something metallic, but gained nothing.

Without warning, the scientist was hoisted off his feet and carried over to the bare, concrete wall of the back of the storage locker. The invisible force repeatedly slammed the mad scientist against the wall. Red and black filled his vision, accompanied by twinkling pinpricks of light. Lungs burning, Rick struggled to stay conscious and to use whatever strength he had to break free from his enemies grip. Whatever hope he had, faded when the empty air in front of him shimmered and an armored figure with a visored helmet rippled into existence.

When he spied the black insignia of the Federation, the scientist's eyes widened.

A Fixer. He heard rumors about them, and he was certain that one was on their trail, but he was taken aback by how quickly it got the drop on him.

But how did it...

Guys like us are meant to be alone, a familiar voice echoed in Rick's head. Emotional ties, they make us...vulnerable. Rick scowled.

Now that was a voice he hadn't heard in a long time. The man's face popped into his head, the face of one of his few remaining friends, and quickly vanished.

Rick didn't have much time to ponder on the memory or it's meaning, or even why he thought of his old friend, as the world around him sank into darkness.

(a/n: well, there you have it! Big thanks to Lucius Walker for everything, again. Until next time, everyone stay safe and have a great day!)