Amethyst crossed her arms with a tired expression as she surveyed the area. "Come on, girls, if we already defeated the Wind Slug Gem, what else are we doing here?" she thought as she swung on a branch, her feet dangling in the air with obvious boredom.
"Come on, Amethyst, if Garnet told us to stay, it was for a reason, right, Garnet?" Pearl said calmly. Amethyst stood focused, letting the wind flow around her as she farmed aura.
"That's how you farm it, right, Steven?" Garnet said, turning her gaze to the boy.
"Of course," Steven replied with a confident smile, "although it has a side effect. You'll get brutally beaten after farming so much aura."
Garnet looked at him, confused, not understanding what he meant.
"And why didn't you tell me about that effect?" she asked seriously.
"To know if this effect also applies to gems, it's a hypothesis." Every hypothesis needs to be tested, you know? Steven would say with a scientific air.
Garnet would look at him, a bead of sweat trickling down her temple, and without saying anything else, she would continue farming her aura. "What an aurora," Steven would think proudly, puffing out his chest as if he had just discovered something important.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Steven would say, emerging from his brief moment of schizophrenia. Garnet would remain focused, and with a pose worthy of JoJo, she would shake her glasses and say, "We're waiting for something to happen."
A few seconds would pass in which neither of them would say anything.
"Incredible information," Steven would think with an expressionless face. "Honestly, you should have said something wiser, -100 aura, Garnet. Keep this up and you'll lose everything you've gained," he would add mockingly. Then he would turn to look at Pearl and Amethyst with a mischievous smile. "So, girls, ladies or what?"
"Why not?" Amethyst would say, calmly climbing down from the tree. Pearl would pull out the checkers board, and the three of them would start playing while Garnet continued farming aura as if nothing was amiss.
Twelve hours would literally pass, during which Steven and Amethyst would be brutally defeated by Pearl, who boasted with a crazed grin about being up 200 to 0. "She seems like a third-rate villain," Steven thought, defeated.
The boy was in such a pathetic position that anyone could see how devastated he felt from so many defeats, and Amethyst simply played along, both of them lying in a hole they had dug to dramatize their defeat.
"Don't exaggerate," Pearl said, trying to stifle a laugh at the ridiculous scene.
"We won't get up," Amethyst said with exaggerated firmness, "we'll stay here until the Dragon Warrior comes."
Steven would gaze calmly at the starry sky. "What beautiful stars," he thought with a serene smile, completely unaware that Amethyst and Pearl were already starting to fight beside him.
Garnet sat down beside him after standing the whole time. "They're pretty, aren't they?" she said after a few seconds of silence.
"Of course, if you have an imagination like mine, you'll see things no one else can," Steven replied confidently, pointing at himself with his thumb.
"Oh, really?" Garnet asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Absolutely," Steven said, pointing to a cluster of stars. "Look at those, they resemble an Egyptian pyramid with a Mayan settlement inside."
Garnet just watched him silently, her expression a mixture of confusion and resignation.
"Oh, come on," Steven insisted, pointing to another group of stars. "This one's easy, it looks like a lion."
Garnet looked up and nodded slowly in a robotic tone. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say."
"Okay, point to one," Steven said, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.
Garnet would look at the sky at random and point in any direction. That one, that one has the shape of a banana.
"Banana?" Steven thought, his eyes blank.
"Banana," Garnet repeated, completely confident. Steven looked back at the stars, trying to figure out what she was seeing, but not even in his wildest imagination could he picture anything like that.
"If that makes you happy," he thought, letting out a small, nervous laugh, a bead of sweat trickling down his temple.
He glanced over at Pearl and Amethyst. The latter had transformed into Pearl, and they were both laughing and joking nonstop. Steven smiled calmly, enjoying the moment as he looked back at the stars.
"Awesome," he said, a little louder than usual, making Garnet look at him curiously.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I think the lack of sleep is getting to me," Steven said, blinking a few times. "I'm seeing a star that looks like it's falling this way."
Garnet stood up immediately, her expression turning serious as she looked up at the sky. And indeed, a light was descending at great speed.
"That's not a star," she said gravely.
Pearl and Amethyst stopped their fight and looked up, noticing how the supposed star crashed in the distance, raising a huge column of smoke.
"Amethyst, Apache helicopter mode!" Steven ordered, standing up.
"Yes, sir," she replied, transforming into a helicopter with a confident smile.
The four of them soared into the sky, gliding through the air as Steven watched the dense cloud of smoke from above. "That's a little too well aimed, don't you think?" he thought aloud.
"This is weird," Pearl said worriedly. "In all the years we've been here, nothing like this has ever happened."
The four of them landed near the crater and peered into the meteorite with a mixture of tension and curiosity.
"Do you think it's an alien?" I thought, hand on my chin. "If so, I want to name it Raul." Amethyst would climb onto my shoulders and be happy. "Now, if it's an alien, it's Raul, Raul the Meteor Alien." Amethyst and Steven would be talking about how the meteorite would now be called Raul.
"Do you think it's an alien?" I thought, hand on my chin. "If so, I want to name it Raul." Amethyst climbed onto my shoulders laughing and raised her arms as if celebrating. "Now, if it's an alien, it'll be Raul, Raul the Meteor Alien." She and Steven started talking excitedly about how the meteorite now had a name.
"Garnet," Pearl said in a more serious tone, "do you think it's from there?" Garnet remained silent for a few seconds before answering. "Probably." At that moment, a noise was heard within the smoke. Amethyst and Steven became serious, looking toward the dense gray cloud that covered the crater.
The smoke began to dissipate slowly, and when it was completely gone, we all had the same expression: blank stares.
"A green ball?" Amethyst said, astonished. "We can play basketball." Steven looked at her curiously. "She seems familiar..." he thought, bringing his hand to his chin.
"Pearl," Garnet said, summoning her gauntlets. "Understood," Pearl replied firmly. They both positioned themselves to the north and south of the object. "It's small..." Amethyst commented, scratching the back of her neck, as Steven walked toward the ball without saying a word.
"It could be dangerous," Garnet warned in a stern voice. She and Pearl aimed their weapons. Steven kept advancing without flinching, which made the girls even more tense. "Steven, stay still, don't move, it's dangerous," Pearl said, a little scared.
"Relax, Raúl is peaceful," she commented as she lifted the green ball to get a better look. "Interesting," she added, resting her hand on her chin. Noticing that nothing was happening, the girls cautiously approached.
"That was dangerous," Garnet muttered, slapping me on the back of the neck. And with her gauntlet, it really hurt. "Ow," I groaned, scratching my head before dropping the sphere. It hit the ground with a thud.
I looked down, and the girls did the same. The ball began to tremble gently. "Damn, he got nervous," I thought with a giggle, while the others remained on high alert.
Suddenly, some top pieces detached, forming strange legs. The ball began to spin on its axis until it was upright. Before the girls could attack, silence fell over the place, and we all held our breath, anticipating what was about to happen.
It turned around, observing its surroundings with curiosity, until its gaze settled on the portal in the distance. It walked calmly, as if it weren't surrounded by four gems who could effortlessly turn it into mush. Before any of them could try to attack it, Garnet raised a hand in front of the girls to stop them.
Pearl looked at her, confused, wondering what she was doing. Garnet remained silent, observing the creature intently before telling them to let it go and follow it. Steven, who was still staring at the round, green creature, nodded after a few seconds and started running after it along with the others.
Amethyst, somewhat confused, noticed that the creature was heading toward the portal, while Pearl, without hesitation, positioned herself in front of the luminous door. The creature, however, moved with agonizing slowness. "That's it, creature, you can do it. You should arrive here when I'm already dead of old age," I thought with feigned enthusiasm as time passed and each second felt like an eternity.
Finally, the creature arrived. Amethyst, already bored, muttered something in annoyance just as the portal activated. At that moment, a column of light enveloped us all. During the journey, Steven had the brilliant idea of wondering what he would see on the other side of the portal. And of course, without considering the consequences, she placed a bubble over her head and, before the pale faces of the three gems, poked her head through the light.
As I looked around, I noticed something unsettling. "Obviously, we're not the only ones." Amethyst, who didn't need oxygen, did the same and looked around with me, completely confused. The other girls imitated her, and their expressions were no less surprised. "Awesome," I murmured, my voice distorted by the bubble.
Upon exiting, we reached an area filled with portals. Pearl, with her hands over her mouth, looked horrified, as if that structure had destroyed her entire family. Garnet kept her fists clenched, containing a silent fury. Suddenly, the portal behind us began to flicker like an intergalactic disco, shining intermittently for several seconds, until the sphere's brothers appeared.
"They're little Rauls," Amethyst thought with amusement. I simply watched, one hand on my chin, trying to process what I was seeing. Garnet remained serious, motionless, and Pearl waited for an order that never came.
Confused, Pearl asked if we weren't going to destroy them, but Garnet merely adjusted her glasses for several seconds before calmly replying that we should let them do what they had to do.
We were all in shock, except for Steven. Although things were different from the story he remembered, he knew it was a change. The four gems watched intently what the Raúls were doing—""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The little beings surrounded the largest portal, the one in the center, and began what looked like an invocation. I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my forehead.
Out of nowhere, they all swarmed toward the portal, surrounding it like lice in a hair. The girls watched them, confused, as the little spheres pulled out something that looked like a straw. At first glance, it seemed harmless, until it started spraying a liquid of dubious origin. In a matter of seconds, the portal was completely covered, and after a brief flash, poof, it was as good as new.
Steven watched this with a mixture of amazement and amusement, taking a few steps back. "That's crazy," he thought while the gems were still trying to process what they had just seen.
Pearl, her eyes wide, began to babble. She was completely Terrified. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She shook her head in despair, muttering in disbelief and horror that they had repaired the portal. Amethyst, meanwhile, remained Amethyst; she watched the scene with a half-smile, not fully understanding but enjoying the chaos. Garnet remained serious, her glasses reflecting the light from the newly restored portal. Before she could say anything, the small robots gathered and emitted a signal, as if alerting someone else.
Many light-years away, on the Homeworld, a Peridot walked while manipulating her fingers, which rearranged themselves into a kind of touchscreen. On it, she could see the progress of her current mission, labeled "Cluster." It kept her gem on edge; it was a difficult job, even for someone like her. If she weren't one of the best—if not the best Peridot, in her own words, of course—she would have been vaporized by now.
As she walked through the metallic corridors, proudly waving to Her superiors—a notification flashed in the corner of her screen. Peridot noticed it immediately and, with a wild grin, sprinted off. The Rubies nearby instantly moved out of the way, knowing how dangerous it was to get in the way of an excited Peridot.
"She's crazy," commented one Ruby, her gem on her cheek.
"Totally," replied another, her gem on her leg, looking in the direction her companion had disappeared. "What if we go see if we can find the legendary Jasper?"
"Absolutely," said the other, her eyes sparkling with excitement, before they both took off as well.
Meanwhile, Peridot arrived at the nearest portal. A Pearl in charge of security gave her the routine inspection, checking that she wasn't carrying anything out of the ordinary. Peridot, impatient, already had her tools ready. When she was finally given passage, she adopted a serious expression and, with a brilliant flash, vanished into the portal's radiance.
Returning to our protagonists, the three were fighting when a sound stopped them in their tracks. A chill ran through their bodies. It was the sound of the portal in the distance, one they knew all too well. Years of experience had taught them to fear those kinds of vibrations.
In an instant, Garnet, the fastest of the group, reacted immediately. She grabbed Pearl and Amethyst by the arm and, with a kick, sent Steven flying out of harm's way. The poor guy almost fell into the water, but Garnet caught him just in time. Steven was left with a dejected chibi expression, a bump on his head the size of a ball, as he glared at her.
"Just tell me to jump in, I was already at the corner," he thought irritably.
Garnet, without looking at him, simply muttered firmly for them to be quiet. She made all four of them focus their gaze on the slowly approaching portal. A few seconds passed that felt like hours until the glow began to fade.
...
...
...
Suddenly, a tall figure emerged from the portal. Her body was slender, a deep green that, though seemingly out of place, looked perfectly balanced on her. She wore strange glasses and an inverted triangular gem embedded in her forehead. Her hands and feet appeared to be made of advanced technology, almost robotic.
The newcomer observed the place with curiosity, as if she didn't understand why the Diamonds had chosen this location millennia ago, especially Pink Diamond. She walked slowly, examining everything with a mixture of awe and disappointment, until she murmured something the Gems could hear.
"This place seems very old. It's a miracle the portal still works. If I could bring some of Bismuth's tools, it would be more efficient."
She quickly jotted something down on her finger screen and then checked the other portals. On the same interface, she activated a signal, and the Rauls, who had been motionless, began to move. The Crystal Gems paled as they watched the small beings begin repairing the portals surrounding them.
"Oh my God," Pearl thought, watching the newly arrived Gem work with precision. Amethyst, scratching her head, asked who she was. Garnet replied in a serious voice that they didn't know, that she was a new Gem, probably from Homeworld. Her gaze shifted to Steven, who was still rubbing the bump on his head. Garnet felt a pang of remorse, though she quickly hid it, focusing again on the green Gem whose ally or enemy status they couldn't discern.
The stranger watched with satisfaction as the portals were restored and, with a smile, tapped her screen to send a message. "Command report, this is Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG."
Amethyst tilted her head. "Her name is Peridot," she thought curiously. Pearl stared at her, confused, wondering what kind of gem could have a name like that. Garnet, meanwhile, remained silent; her future vision showed her nothing of the sort. Steven, watching the scene, thought in amazement, "Wow... this is new."
The green gem, now identified as Peridot, approached the main portal and began taking pictures with her screen. "I need proof of this. Otherwise, the same thing will happen to me as before," she muttered with a hint of fear. She took pictures of everything: the ground, the portals, even the Rauls. But suddenly, one of them tripped and hit her foot. Peridot narrowed her eyes in disdain.
"How pathetic. You're only good for repairing portals. Disgusting. If you weren't my ticket to a Diamond prize, I'd give you a useless Ruby."
Garnet heard that and was about to lunge at her, but Pearl and Amethyst stopped her with effort.
Then there was a sharp sound, like something breaking. The four of them turned to look at the place where Raul had been... or at least what was left of him.
Amethyst looked at him silently, her voice barely audible. "Raul... seconds."
Steven just stared at her with a blank expression, his face completely blank.
Disgusting, Peridot thought disdainfully. From her waistband, she pulled a small device and held it up with a smug smile. A phrase that chilled the air was displayed on its screen: "Goodbye, pathetic planet... or rather, until the end of your days." She let out a deranged laugh that echoed throughout the area as her body was enveloped by the portal's glow, disappearing in seconds.
When the light faded, the device she had left behind began to emit a short beep, and suddenly, the robots deactivated one by one, falling like lifeless dolls. It was as if they had never existed.
...
...
...
Silence filled the air as the four of us slowly climbed onto the platform. Pearl, her voice trembling, was the first to speak. She stammered that Homeworld had Earth in its sights. Amethyst repeated those words in a low voice, more serious than usual.
In the last few days, they had talked about it a lot. They knew that Homeworld had begun to show interest in Earth thanks to Pearl's research and, in part, to Garnet's information. Garnet, her fists clenched, walked among the portals, checking that they were still working.
Meanwhile, Steven approached the central portal. Around him, everything was a strange scene: Pearl in an emotional breakdown, Amethyst trying to prevent her from shattering, and Garnet seething with something she couldn't express. Steven sighed. "Definitely just another day," he thought, and the three gems looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation.
"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "They stress over nothing."
He summoned his shield, which grew to nearly eight meters in diameter. With a mischievous grin, she tossed it into the air, stepped away from the main portal, and with a simple gesture, caused the shield to descend with force, shattering the portal into a thousand pieces.
The Gems gasped. Garnet had considered doing exactly that, but Steven had beaten her to it. The boy grinned and muttered, "That Gem can take my d—" though he didn't get to finish, because Pearl quickly covered his mouth.
"Speak up, kid," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek that no one could tell if it was from happiness, fear, or pure trauma.
Inspired by Steven, Amethyst transformed into a giant, muscular version of herself, beginning to destroy all the portals except the one that led them back home. Garnet soon followed suit, furiously smashing every structure she encountered.
Pearl, on the other hand, stayed by my side, looking at me serenely. She told me that everything was going to be alright. "Are you talking about me or yourself?" I thought, raising an eyebrow. "Both," she replied without hesitation. "Nah, it's fair," I added as we watched the others continue to destroy the place.
"Okay, okay," I said, walking away from Pearl. "I'm off. You guys have to investigate a green gem that looks like Christmas upside down, so bye." I raised a hand in farewell.
"Where are you going?" Pearl asked, concerned.
"To Connie's," I replied before disappearing in the flashes of a portal.
Silence reigned once more. The three gems stared in astonishment at the spot where Steven had been standing seconds before.
"He doesn't seem worried, does he?" Amethyst commented with a half-smile.
"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. Who knows what's going through his head?" Pearl replied in frustration. Garnet adjusted her glasses, made a fist, and, in a firm voice, declared:
"We need to get ready."
End of Chapter 25.