Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 “The results are in!” Red Pearl said over the Homeworld News Network. Tonight was Homeworld’s first ever Election Night, and the polls had just closed. “And Homeworld’s first ever Prime Minister is… Zircon-7XE!”

At Blue Zircon’s campaign headquarters, her staff erupted into cheers and applause. Their longshot had paid off, and they were already drafting policy proposals, amendments, resolutions and more. Meanwhile, Blue Zircon herself sat in the corner, absent-mindedly staring forward as Gems congratulated her.

“What did I just get myself into?” she muttered, everything moving way too fast.

---

At Yellow Zircon’s campaign headquarters, Yellow Zircon was busy knocking furniture over in frustration.

“Where did I go wrong?!” she shouted. “I shook hands with Rubies , made small talk with Pearls, and even got the endorsement of that one annoying Spinel everyone seems to like!”

“In hindsight,” one of her advisors, a Sapphire, began, “Maybe that endorsement hurt you more than it helped.”

“You think?!” Yellow Zircon exclaimed, smashing a holoscreen to pieces. “I promised to return the empire to the glory days! Reclaim the majesty of Homeworld as it once was! But noooo, they all wanted some rock-tumbling nitwit who can’t even win a case! I successfully prosecuted thousands of cases since I emerged! What has she done?!”

“I would imagine your successful prosecuting career made Gems dislike you even more, considering the severe punishment of many of those trials,” the Sapphire interjected.

“ You’re fired!” Yellow Zircon shouted, the Sapphire leaving the room immediately. “I’ll show them. I’ll show them how incompetent that idiot really is, and they’ll all come flocking to me…”

“Hey,” an Amethyst said, knocking on the door, “Is this the Prime Minister inauguration party?”

“No!” Yellow Zircon shouted. The Amethyst shrugged and walked off. 

Yellow Zircon sighed and sat down.

“Note to self, do not narrate dastardly plans out loud.”

---

“Steven!” Connie said, hugging Steven as soon as he stepped out of the Dondai. “How was the drive? Was it too long? Do I need to get Peridot working on a plan to warp time and space between Jayhawk and you—”

Steven shut Connie up with a kiss. “Connie, I’m already gonna be living on campus, we’ll see each other, like, all the time!”

“I know, it’s just exciting! Steven Universe goes to school for the first time!”

“Hey, there was that time I went to school with you for a day.”

“Yeah but then you got banned from the premises.”

“True.”

“Anyway, did you decide on a major yet? I know you technically don’t have to decide for another two years, but it’s never too early!”

“I’m thinking something creative. Maybe English. Or Film! I did always like my TubeTube channel.”

“Sounds good! Do you need any help moving in, or has a year on the road given you a more minimalist attitude with material possessions?” Connie said with a chuckle.

“...Maybe a little bit,” Steven laughed. “C’mon, let’s get something to eat. You can show me that weird restaurant on campus where you eat everything with spoons.”

“Again, it’s because forks and knives got cut from the budget! They just made it the cafeteria’s gimmick because they didn’t want to admit it. When I run for Class President, I’m definitely going to change that.”

“Well then, you can practice your campaign speech to me on the way.”

---

“Jasper,” Peridot began, “I know Steven destroyed your little patch of land out in the woods, but you’ve spent long enough squatting on my couch!” 

Jasper laid on Peridot’s bright green futon, in her house in Little Homeworld, wrapped in a big puffy blanket. “Why not?!”

“Because we live in a society, Jasper! And in a society, people can’t lay on other people’s couches for twelve months when they said it would only be a week!”

“Gah!” Jasper exclaimed, throwing off the blanket. “I don’t have to listen to this! I’m leaving!”

“And stay out!” Peridot said, ferrokinesising a trash can to hit her in the doorway.

Out on the streets of Little Homeworld, Jasper marched around, aimlessly punching dirt. “None of this would have happened if it weren’t for that brat Steven! With his dumb ‘I’m  not Rose Quartz’ crap, and then his ‘I’m not Pink Diamond either’ crap, and then his ‘I’m leaving and also Homeworld’s a democracy so no one wants you’ crap!”

“I hate him too, you know,” Jasper heard an accented voice say from behind. She turned around and saw a small, winged figure floating in the alleyway. “And I know someone who can make this all better.”

“I’m listening,” Jasper said, approaching the figure, who now appeared to be a mish-mashed mix of blue and red.

“First, we might as well be acquainted,” the figure said, floating out of the darkness and giving a bow. “Bluebird, fusion of Eyeball and Aquamarine.”

“I hate fusion,” Jasper said, bluntly. 

“Oh yes,” Bluebird assured her, “So does my employer. Wouldn’t you prefer a return to the simpler days of the empire? When Pearls were Pearls and Quartzes were Quartzes?”

“...More than anything.”

“Then, dear Jasper,” Bluebird said with devilish smirk, “We have a job for you.”

Chapter Text

“Oh, Spinel?” Yellow Diamond asked as she sat in her office. “Did we get any invites to that Zircon’s inauguration party?”

“Nah,” Spinel said, hopping up onto her desk, “Besides, I dunno what a ‘Primo Minstrel’ does, but it’s probably boring.”

Yellow chuckled. “Probably, yes. Though we should have at least gotten an invitation. I suppose that’s one of the drawbacks of a ‘reduced, ceremonial role,’ as Steven put it.”

A chime came at the door. “Come in!” Yellow said.

Holly Blue Agate marched in, making the Diamond salute. “My Diamond, I have heard that you have...form altering abilities?”

“You have heard correctly! What would you like? To be made larger? Smaller?”

“Larger,” Holly Blue nodded, a smirk growing on her face. “As large as you.”

“My my, I don’t get many of those orders. One Diamond-sized Holly Blue, coming right up! Watch this, Spinel.”

Yellow hit Holly Blue with her powers, enlarging her to Diamond size. They looked at each other eye to eye, Yellow smiling with pleasure. “Now, how do you like that?” she asked. Holly Blue’s expression turned from gleeful to sinister.

“Oh, it is very satisfactory,” she said, reaching for her gem. “Very satisfactory, indeed.” Holly Blue summoned her weapon, swinging the whip at Yellow before she could even react. As the whip wrapped around her body, Yellow tried to channel her electrical abilities back through it, but it was too late. Yellow Diamond’s form dissipated, her gem falling to the floor.

“Ah jeez, ah jeez, ah jeez…” Spinel muttered, hopping off Yellow’s desk and running out of the room.

Holly Blue decreased back down to normal size, and encased Yellow’s gem in a bubble. She sent it away, pulling out a communicator. “The Spinel is on her way to warn the others. See to it that she’s dealt with.”

“With pleasure,” Emerald answered on the other end.

---

Spinel ran so fast her feet became a blur. She had no idea what was going on, why Holly Blue decided to poof Yellow Diamond, but she had to warn the other Diamonds before it was too late.

A squadron of Quartz guards rounded the corner in front of her, marching in formation. “Oh thank the stars,” Spinel said, running up to them. “Guys, you wouldn’t believe this! Some Agate decided to poof Yellow Diamond! We gotta stop her!”

“We know,” one of them said, summoning a weapon.

Spinel gulped. “Welp, I can see that you guys are no help. Off I go!” She shapeshifted her arms into helicopter blades and flew above the guards, making her way to Blue Diamond’s chamber.

“Blue! Blue!” Spinel called out as she stormed in. “Yellow’s been—”

To her shock, the water in Blue Diamond’s pool had been weaponized by a Lapis Lazuli. Some on Homeworld called her “Mean Lapis,” but Spinel had grown to call her “Curly,” due to her hair. Though that was the least of her problems now, with watery tendrils wrapping around Blue.

“Spinel…” Blue croaked out. “Get… Get to White…” Blue Diamond poofed, her gem falling into the water.

Curly Lapis turned towards Spinel, who bolted back down the corridor. She gestured to the water, and multiple water-copies of Spinel formed, charging after the gem.

---

“Ah Spinel,” White Diamond greeted, “I was just about to show… Oh, what was your name again?”

“Navy,” the little Ruby said, a precocious smile on her face.

“I was just about to show little Navy here my power! Now, shall we?”

“We shall!” Navy exclaimed.

As the lights of the room flashed, Spinel tried to get White’s attention. “No, no, no, don’t!” she cried out as White turned a bright red color, Navy’s smile copied onto her face.

“Don’t what?” Navy said, turning her head around creepily.

“Oh Stars…” Spinel said, backing away from the increasingly-menacing Ruby. She turned to the corridor, where quartz guards and water clones quickly marched towards her. “Welp, I know a losing fight when I see one! Peace!”

Spinel quickly shapeshifted into a drill, cutting through the floor and out of the chambers. She dropped through the ceiling of the floor below, shifting her feet back to normal. She got right back to running.

“Gotta warn that Zircon fella,” she muttered.

---

“Minister Zircon,” one of the Agates in charge of the remaining Homeworld defense force (which had been incredibly cut down since the Dismantling) said, “We’ve received multiple distress calls from our remaining bases in the city center.”

“Uh, what kind of distress calls?” Blue Zircon asked as she entered the new Homeworld Command Center. “I mean, what did they say?”

“They were having communications issues, so we didn’t get all of it, but we got ‘attack’ out of one, ‘mutiny’ out of another.”

“So…?” Blue Zircon asked,

“Prime Minister, we should mobilize the remaining Homeworld Guard. Recall the discharged Quartz soldiers.”

“No, no, we can’t do that! I ran on the platform of them keeping their freedom. I can’t just take that freedom away!”

“It would only be for a short while. Stars, you can put a definite time limit on their deployment if you want.”

“I suppose—”

Doc, a Ruby in Blue Zircon’s cabinet, ran in, sweating up a storm. “Prime...Minister...Zircon…”

“What is it?” Blue Zircon asked, equal amounts of sweat on her brow.

An electrified whip hit Doc, poofing her instantly. Holly Blue came marching in soon after, along with Curly, Navy and, finally, Yellow Zircon.

“My, my,” Yellow Zircon smirked, “How many days were you in office? Two? Three? How quickly was it for me to mobilize the masses against you?”

“You…” Blue Zircon stammered. “I won! The masses chose me!”

“Yes, but did they have loyal armies who were just begging for a chance to fight again? Or elites who were dissatisfied with the new order? I thought not,” Yellow Zircon mused. “Now, if you’ll come with us. We have a speech all planned out about how you’ll be ‘peacefully’ transferring power.”

“I…” Blue Zircon trailed off, backing away slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed some pink hands extend out of a metal grate in the floor. The pink hands then grabbed Blue Zircon’s feet and forced her through the grate.

“Gah!” Blue Zircon screamed as she fell through the access duct, falling into the arms of Spinel, inside a disused storage closet. “You?!”

“Yeah, I’m saving you! Those guys went and poofed the Diamonds and all, so I figured what with you being the provisional government and all…”

“Wait, what?!” Blue Zircon freaked. “They got the Diamonds?! Oh no, oh no, no, no, no…”

“Don’t worry, I got a ship waiting!”

“Hold on, didn’t you endorse my opponent?”

“...That may have been a failure on my part, but water under the bridge, eh?”

“I don’t—”

“She went this way!” they heard from up above.

“Well go down there and get her!”

“Let’s go!” Blue Zircon blurted out, grabbing Spinel and running.

This day wasn’t getting any easier.

Chapter Text

Peedee and Jeff were on their way to visit Steven and Connie, with Peedee behind the wheel. While the drive from Beach City was long, Jeff had the Crying Breakfast Friends soundtrack playing, so it wasn’t so bad. They were just nearing Jayhawk’s campus.

“Tears of sadness, tears of joy, they’ll be tears to the very end!” Jeff sang, smiling with excitement. “Food with feelings! Crying Breakfast Friends!”

“You and Steven are so similar, you know that?” Peedee remarked.

“Heh, we are,” Jeff chuckled. “Now what did—” Jeff was interrupted by a loud bang shattering the air around the car. 

“The Hell?!” Peedee exclaimed, slamming his feet on the brakes.

In front of them, a spaceship crashed along the side of the road. They recognized it as being a Homeworld vessel, red with a teardrop shape. Only one thought ran through the two boys’ minds in the next couple moments: Call Steven and Connie.

---

“So, when are Peedee and Jeff supposed to get here?” Connie said as she finished helping Steven move into his dorm. 

“Oh, lemme text Jeff and see where they are. Should be soon.” 

Suddenly, Steven’s phone rang. It was Jeff.

“Hey Jeff? I was just about to text you. Where are… Wait, what? Are you sure? Where? Okay, don’t touch it, we’ll be right there.”

“What is it?” Connie asked, grabbing her coat.

“Gem stuff, I’ll explain on the way.”

---

They warped outside the city limits on Lion, arriving at the crash site soon after.

“You guys okay?” Connie asked Peedee and Jeff as she stepped off the large feline.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Peedee said. “A little shaken by the crash, but fine.”

“Good,” Connie nodded, following Steven to the crashed ship. “Some Rubies who lost their way?” she suggested.

Before Steven could answer, the hatch of the ship was kicked open, Blue Zircon scrambling out. “Run for Prime Minister, they said. Make history, they said! It’s peacetime, they said!”

“Zircon?” Steven asked, running down to meet her. “It’s been a long time! What brings you to Earth?”

Blue Zircon fainted almost immediately afterwards, passing out on the ground from exhaustion. Spinel popped out of the hatch. 

“Hey, Steven! Ol’ Zircky here got kicked off Homeworld by some ‘coup’ thing, so she needs a place to stay. Oh, and the Diamonds got poofed and now the planet’s on lockdown!”

Steven and Connie looked at each other, then back at Spinel. “What?!”

---

“And then I threw these guys in the first ship I could find and made a break for here! But, well, we ran out of fuel right before entering the atmosphere, and we crashed, heh.” 

“Jeez, it was that easy?” Connie commented. “At least when they were a brutal dictatorship, it was hard to topple the government.”

“Heh, happened in an episode of Space Trips,” Jeff said from the edge of the crater. “The Evil Universe turned good after Ms. Speck took over, but then they went and got conquered ‘cause they dismantled their military! It was actually—”

Steven and Connie looked over at him, making him shut up. “I’ll just…be waiting by the car…” he said, disappearing.

“So are the Diamonds still alive?” Steven asked.

Spinel shrugged. “They got poofed and bubbled, but other than that I dunno.”

Connie spoke up. “Who’s on the other Zircon’s side?”

“A Holly Blue Agate, an Emerald, a Lapis Lazuli, a Ruby...” Spinel answered. “At least for the ones leading the fight. They got a bunch of soldiers who lost their jobs during the Dismantling on their side, too. In hindsight, maybe Zircon should have put in an employment plan...”

“Great, great,” Steven sighed, walking away. “Perfect. I spent four years saving the galaxy only for...” Steven remembered what his therapist taught him. He took some deep breaths. Connie placed her hand on his shoulder. 

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay,” Steven nodded. “Let’s get back to Beach City, bring the Gems up to speed.”

“Sounds like a plan, Jam!” Connie said as she hopped onto Lion’s back.

“Lead the way, Biscuit!” Steven smiled, gesturing to Spinel (carrying the limp body of Blue Zircon) to come along.

“Wait, what about us?” Peedee asked as the four of them were about to warp off.

Steven threw them his dorm keys. “It’s room 214! Have fun!”

Jeff and Peedee stood in silence after Lion disappeared into a portal. “...Wanna use Steven’s Gamesphere?”

“Heck yeah!”

---

Lion warped into Steven’s former house, sliding against the wall and throwing Steven, Connie, Spinel and Blue Zircon off. Which, incidentally, woke Blue Zircon up.

“No! Don’t shatter me!” the deposed politician exclaimed, breathing heavily. “Wait, where are we?”

Ignoring Blue Zircon’s question entirely, Steven called out for help. “Guys? I’m home! And, uh, we have a situation!”

“Steven?” Steven heard his father call out, followed by him running downstairs. “Please tell me you didn’t get kicked out of school.”

“No, no, school doesn’t start for another week. But, we have a visitor from Homeworld!” Steven gestured awkwardly towards Blue Zircon and Spinel. 

“Hi!” Spinel waved. “You may remember me from that time I reset your friends’ memories and tried to destroy the Earth! Anyway, Blue Zircon here was elected leader of Homeworld for three days and now she’s been kicked out!”

“Yeesh,” Greg shrugged. “I take it you’re looking for the Gems?” Steven and Connie nodded. “Well, they’re off on a mission in the Great North. They were supposed to get back a while ago, too.”

“Let’s go find them, then,” Steven nodded, heading over to the warp pad. He tried to warp off, but for some reason the warp pad refused to activate.

“Let me,” Spinel said, stepping onto the pad. She then shifted her hand into a hammer and hit the warp pad repeatedly. “WORK YOU STUPID WARP PAD! Welp, didn’t work, I got nothing.”

Connie sighed. “Let’s just take Lion.”

---

In the Great North, the Gems were figuring out how to get the warp pad to work.

“Jump on it again!” Amethyst called out as she laid in the bushes.

“I jumped on it, danced on it, did the hokey-pokey on it,” Pearl ranted. “It just won’t activate!”

“Garnet, smash it,” Amethyst suggested.

“That would just destroy the warp pad.”

“Well it’s not working anyway, might as well.”

“I don’t see you helping,” Pearl argued.

Before Amethyst could respond, Steven and Connie exited a portal on Lion.

“Guys, we have a problem,” Connie told them.

Chapter Text

“I’d say congratulations on the victory but I think that’d be salting the wound at this point,” Pearl told Blue Zircon after the situation was explained to them.

“I don’t know what that means, but thank you,” Blue Zircon sighed, laying down on the couch.

Steven came down the stairs. “Okay, the galaxy warps aren’t working either.”

“I could understand Homeworld cutting off their own warp pads,” Amethyst said, “But why aren’t ours working?”

“I can answer that!” Peridot said, popping up from under the floorboards. “With the help of Bismuth and Lapis, I’ve excavated directly underneath the warp pad, and I’ve found particles not too dissimilar from Spinel’s ‘Earth Poison’ from some years ago embedded in the pad itself.”

“Well I didn’t do it,” Spinel said, half-jokingly.

“...Meaning?” Pearl asked, ignoring Spinel.

“Meaning, the warp network itself has been contaminated, rendering every pad inactive. It’s not permanent, but it’ll require some intensive work to fix.”

“So every warp pad is down? Across the universe?” Amethyst asked. 

Peridot began pacing around the room. “See, that’s the weird part. Planetary warp networks are pretty self-sustaining. Galaxy warps can connect you offworld, but if you take them out, the warp network should go on fine. But since they rely on the domestic warps for power, well, if you take out the domestic warps, then so go the galaxy warps.”

“So whoever did this, did it specifically to Earth,” Connie mused. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it happened just as Homeworld fell.”

“And if the warp pads don’t work, then our saboteur is still here!” Bismuth said, popping up through the same floorboards Peridot did (and making a larger hole in the process). 

Lapis just walked in through the door. “They could still take a ship,” she suggested.

Bismuth shook her head. “I had the Nephrites lock down Earth’s airspace. Nothing gets in or out.”

“So what are we doing, again?” Blue Zircon groaned, still lying down on the couch.

“We fix the warp pads, warp back to Homeworld, and show those traitors who’s boss!” Bismuth exclaimed, punching the air.

Peridot raised her finger. “...I should note that when I said it would take ‘some intensive work’ to fix Earth’s warp pads, said work will probably require several weeks if not months to complete.”

“Okay, but what if you focused on reconnecting one Galaxy Warp instead of trying to fix all of them?” Pearl suggested.

“Still a couple days out, even if I had all my Robinoids working overtime.”

“There’s always Lars,” Steven finally said. He had been sitting at the counter for much of the conversation, just listening and not giving much input. “His ship could probably get us to Homeworld in minutes!”

“Sounds like a plan,” Garnet nodded. “Alright. Steven, Connie, Amethyst, Spinel and I will go to Homeworld.” She turned to Bismuth. “Bismuth, I want you, Peridot, Pearl and Lapis to find out who sabotaged the warp pads.”

“And which group am I going with?” Blue Zircon asked.

Garnet thought for a moment. “You’re staying here. As much as we’ll need you to restore the Homeworld government, we can’t risk anything happening to you when we encounter resistance. Greg!”

Greg emerged from the bathroom. “Yes? Did I miss anything?”

“You’ll be watching Zircon here while we’re gone.”

Blue Zircon meekly waved at Greg. Greg lit up. “I’ll go get my records!” he said, running up to Steven’s former room.

“Stars, what have I gotten myself into?” Blue Zircon muttered, laying back down.

---

“Captain’s log, stardate… Saturday? Not sure,” Lars said as the Sun Incinerator continued through space. “In hindsight, making Padparadscha my time-keeper might not have been the best idea.”

“Prediction: Lars will lose track of time!” Padparadscha proclaimed.

“...Thanks, Padparadscha. Anyway, we’re about to investigate—” Lars was cut off by a familiar sensation in his hair. “Oh no, there’s a lot of ‘em…”

Steven, Connie, Garnet, Amethyst and Spinel piled onto the bridge, giving Lars a splitting headache. 

“Hey, Lars!” Steven said as he got up. “Sorry we had to drop in like this but we’re in kind of a hurry.”

Lars sensed there was something up. “What do you need?”

“The new Homeworld government has been overthrown,” Garnet explained.

“And we’re gonna fix it!” Spinel said, popping out from behind Garnet.

“So...could you fly us to Homeworld?” Steven asked sheepishly.

Lars smirked. “You, me and a band of renegades warping headfirst into enemy space on a whirlwind adventure to save the universe from tyranny? Sign me up.”

“Captain, there’s a broadcast from Homeworld going out on all channels,” Rhodonite warned. “It’s from the new Prime Minister.”

“On screen.”

Yellow Zircon appeared on the viewscreen, sitting idly on White Diamond’s old throne. “Greetings, fellow members of Gemkind! It is I, Zircon, your new ruler! So much better than Zircon, that loser. ”

“Yeah but you lost the election,” Connie joked, rolling her eyes.

“From this moment on, the Gem Homeworld will no longer allow ourselves to be corrupted by ‘love’ and ‘friendship’ and ‘democracy’ and ‘independence.’ I’m ordering all ships to descend upon our former colonies and take back what was ours! Go, reclaim the empire! Do it! Mwahahahaha!” Yellow Zircon turned offscreen. “Was that too much?”

The transmission ended.

“Yeah, it was too much,” Garnet shrugged.

“Agreed,” Amethyst laughed.

“Steven?” Lars began. “I’m suddenly having some doubts about warping head-first into enemy space on a whirlwind adventure to save the universe from tyranny.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m all for a lost cause, but if we want a chance at this we’re gonna need more than, what, a dozen fighters?”

“Of all times for Lars to be rational,” Connie remarked.

Spinel spoke up. “Didn’t Pink have a big ol’ space station on the other side of the galaxy with a ton of guards?”

“The Zoo!” Steven exclaimed. “There’s a ton of Amethysts and Jaspers there who would probably join us!”

“Family reunion!” Amethyst cheered. “Woop-woop!”

“Alright, I’m convinced,” Lars nodded. “Rutiles! Set course for Pink Diamond’s Zoo!”

“Aye aye, Captain!/Course set, Captain!”

“And...engage.”

Chapter Text

Pearl, Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis rode Lion through a portal out to the Galaxy Warp, out in the Atlantic Ocean.

“This would have to be the source of the warp network’s sabotage,” Peridot told them as she approached the warp pad, connecting a diagnostic device and running some scans.

“And you’re certain?” Pearl asked.

“Completely. Earth’s warp grid is the last of its kind; most planets with one were upgraded sometime in Era 2. This left it with a very unique security flaw that, as I’m sure you’ll recall, the Rebellion abused on more than one occasion.”

“Heh, I remember that!” Bismuth remarked. “We had Earth warpless for a good decade or two.”

“And when Homeworld upgraded,” Peridot continued, “they naturally decentralized the warp networks so it could never happen again.”

“Wait,” Lapis interjected, “If you guys did this during the Rebellion, and someone did this now…”

“Then whoever did it must have been around during the Rebellion,” Pearl concluded.

“That doesn’t really narrow things down,” Lapis remarked. “Nearly all Gems on Earth were around for the Rebellion.”

“Not necessarily part of the Rebellion, though,” Peridot countered. “A good 63% of the Earth Gem population is former Homeworld soldiers who were corrupted. It’s a nice place to start.”

“We should also look into who would have known about the Rebellion’s attacks on the warp network,” Pearl added. “I’ll check the surviving records.”

“A-ha!” Peridot said, her diagnostic scan on the Galaxy Warp finishing. “The saboteur tried to wipe the warp system’s logs — basically, whoever came and went from where. They mostly succeeded, but there was one thing it missed: Where the saboteur arrived from.”

“And where was that?” Pearl asked.

“The warp pad in Little Homeworld,” Peridot nodded.

Bismuth’s brow furrowed in determination. “Lapis, get to Little Homeworld and seal the exits. Nobody gets in or out.”

“I’m on it!” Lapis said, flying off at supersonic speed.

Bismuth and Pearl hopped onto Lion. “Peridot,” Bismuth continued, “Get to work fixing the Galaxy Warp. They’re gonna need all the help they can get on Homeworld.”

“Have I ever told you that you’re cute when you take charge?” Pearl asked.

Bismuth blushed. “Oh, on occasion…”

Lion rolled his eyes, and they warped off.

---

Blue Zircon fidgeted around on the couch, hands to her face. Greg stood at the kitchen counter, fixing himself a sandwich.

“Where did I go wrong?” Blue Zircon sighed. “Did I have to disband the armies? Should I have kept some of the colonies? Was I out of touch with the common Gem?”

Greg shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I just work here.”

Blue Zircon looked at him, confused.

“That was a joke.”

“Zircons aren’t known for their senses of humor.”

“Fair,” Greg conceded. “How’d you get elected, then?”

“I blame my speech writers. They made my boring ideas exciting and bold! I’m not exciting or bold! All I did was steal ideas from Earth democracies and rearrange some words! I’m a failure!”

"Hey, that's how I got kicked out of Community College," Greg exclaimed. "And look at me now!"

Blue Zircon buried her face in her hands.

---

“Attention Zoo,” Lars said as the Sun Incinerator dropped out of lightspeed, “This is the pirate captain Lars Barriga requesting—” 

Lars was interrupted by Amethyst grabbing the microphone. “Yo guys! It’s 8XM! It me!” she hollered. 

Lars’ ears were blown out by the cheering on the other end. Steven and Connie giggled, while Garnet held back a smile. Spinel just stood by the viewscreen, looking out at the Zoo.

“I assume that’s a yes?” Lars said, cutting off the channel. “Rutiles, set course for the Hangar Bay.”

Once the Sun Incinerator set down inside the space station, they were greeted by the entire Famethyst, who dogpiled onto Amethyst in a hug.

“We missed ya!” Carnelian said.

“And it looks like you’ve moved up in the world,” Skinny snarked. “A Sun Incinerator? How Prime of you.”

“Nah, we’re just borrowing it from a friend,” Amethyst explained. “Anyway, how’d you guys like to help out with a lil’ counter-revolution against the new leaders of Homeworld?”

They were silent. Spinel stretched down and whispered something in Amethyst’s ear.

“Did I mention Holly Blue’s one of ‘em?”

They couldn’t agree fast enough.

---

As the Famethyst figured out their game plan with Amethyst and Garnet, Steven, Connie and Spinel roamed around the Zoo.

“Man, I don’t remember Pink having this place when I knew ‘er,” Spinel commented.

“It’s after your time,” Steven mused. Suddenly, he heard footsteps at the end of the hall.

“Steeee-VONNN!” Wy-Six called out, running up to them. “It’s so good to see you! Who are these new friends of yours?”

“Wy-Six, this is Con-Nie, my girlfriend…”

Wy-Six looked confused.

“I choosened her,” he explained. Wy-Six instantly understood, giving him a wink. “And this is Spin-El.”

“Hi!” Spinel waved.

“Wy-Six, do you know where the, uh, Rose Quartzes are?” Steven asked, somewhat sheepishly.

“Steven!” he heard ‘Superfan’ Rose squee, hugging him from behind. “How’ve you been? How’s Earth? Is it still around? Are you still half-human? Is that even possible?”

“Cool your jets, Supes,” ‘Hippie’ Rose said, walking up behind her. “How’s life treating ya, Steve?”

“Can’t complain,” Steven shrugged, “other than having to launch a counterrevolution before school starts.”

“I have no idea that means,” Superfan said, her smile unwavering.

Before the conversation could continue, the lights flashed red as an alarm blared.

“Yo, everyone to battle stations!” an Amethyst called out over the intercom.

In the Control Room, Steven, Spinel and Connie met up with the others. Skinny was in charge.

“We have three Roaming Eyes, two Hand Ships and a Destiny Destroyer off the port side!” Carnelian said from one of the stations.

“Hail the Destiny Destroyer,” Skinny ordered. 

Emerald appeared on screen. “Stand down in the name of the Republic of Homeworld Imperial Fleet!”

“You can’t be a republic and have an imperial fleet,” Connie snarked.

“Shut up!” Emerald barked. “Surrender or die!”

Skinny gestured to Carnelian, who nodded and cut off the transmission. The station was immediately hit by a torpedo blast.

“Charge up the Red Eye. Full spread.” Skinny turned to the Crystal Gems. “Get to the hangar and see what’s holding up your friend. We could really use the reinforcement.”

The Crystal Gems ran off towards the hangar bay, but found that part of the corridor had collapsed. The station shook even more as the fleet continued their attack. Garnet summoned her gauntlets and lifted up the collapsed beam.

“Move, move!” she called out. 

The others scrambled under the beam, but just as they reached the other side, the station was hit again and the corridor blew open, sucking the group into the vacuum of space. Steven grabbed hold of a hand railing at the last minute. Connie grabbed onto his leg. Amethyst grabbed onto her leg. Spinel grabbed onto Amethyst’s. Spinel tried to stretch out her arm to catch Garnet, but she wasn’t fast enough. 

“Garnet!” Spinel cried out as Garnet disappeared into the vastness of space.

Once the pressure equalized, Steven summoned a bubble for himself and Connie, with Amethyst and Spinel’s bodies immediately gravitating towards it.

“Garnet’s gone, Garnet’s gone, oh no, oh jeez,” Spinel panicked running around the semi-destroyed corridor.

“Relax Spinel,” Steven assured her. “Gems can survive in space. Let’s get to Lars.”

After passing through an airlock, Steven dissipated his bubble and the four of them continued on. Connie pulled him aside as Amethyst and Spinel went ahead.

“You okay?” Connie asked.

Steven sighed. “Not really, no.”

Connie gave him a hug. The station shook again. “Now’s probably not the best time, but if you want to talk later, I’ll be all ears.”

“Thanks.”

Chapter Text

"Captain, sublight engines are offline and we’re leaking Floatanium!” Rhodonite freaked out as the hangar bay’s ceiling caved in on them. The ship’s consoles sparked and flickered.

“Do we still have power to the weapons?” Lars asked.

“Juuuuuuuust baaaaaaarely,” Fluorite called out.

“Target the hangar doors and fire. The decompression should get us out of here.”

“Captain, Steven and his friends are off the starboard bow!”

They appeared on screen, waving their arms and shouting. Lars smiled.

---

“Oh, how I’ve longed for the days when I could just blast rebels to smithereens,” Emerald mused, spread out in her chair. “None of that ‘peace and understanding,’ gimme a good space battle.”

Emerald’s monologue was interrupted by a massive blast that hit her ship dead-on. Lars appeared on screen.

“Do you really think I’d let you get away that easily?” Lars said with a smirk. The transmission cut out. The Destiny Destroyer was hit again.

“Fire everything!” Emerald shouted.

---

“Fire everything!” Lars also shouted. “Steven, Connie!”

Steven and Connie were way ahead of him, disappearing into a bright, pink light. 

“I’m on it!” Stevonnie nodded, running off to the shuttle bay.

Spinel looked at Amethyst. “Did you know they could do that?”

---

Garnet floated in space, watching the battle unfold. It was like watching a movie, though Garnet rarely watched movies due to the whole “future vision thing.”

“Dark Zader is his father,” “Snipe kills Bumblebore” and “Steel Guy dies” were all sentences Garnet blurted out as they walked into the theater, half because Sapphire was a little shit and half because Ruby couldn’t contain herself.

But this was also very unlike watching a movie, since there were multiple ways this could turn out, and Garnet could see all of them. She could see the future where the Destiny Destroyer destroyed the Zoo and the Sun Incinerator, ruining any chance of peace being restored to Homeworld. She could see the future where the Sun Incinerator was destroyed and the Zoo remained, with Garnet herself being rescued. She could see the future where the Destiny Destroyer was destroyed, but the Hand Ships and Roaming Eyes still made easy work of the Zoo. She could see Yellow Zircon’s fleets descending onto Earth, slaughtering the Crystal Gems and enslaving all of humanity.

But, luckily for them, this wasn’t that timeline. Garnet saw Stevonnie shoot out of the Sun Incinerator in the Star Skipper Mk. II, quickly disabling the Roaming Eyes and Hand Ships. She then saw the Zoo and Sun Incinerator focus their attacks on the Destiny Destroyer, knocking out its weapons and propulsion. It was dead in space.

She then saw the Star Skipper pull up alongside her, Stevonnie giving Garnet a smile.

This was the good timeline, Garnet thought.

---

“Surrender and prepare to be boarded,” Emerald heard over the comms, as she regained consciousness. Her crew’s forms had all been destabilized by the explosions, leaving her alone. The door opened. Emerald was immediately hit in the jaw by Stevonnie’s shield. She fell to the floor.

“OW!” Emerald cried out, rubbing her chin. “That hurt!”

“Yeah, I don’t really care,” Stevonnie said, rolling their eyes. “Amethyst?”

Amethyst took out her whip and wrapped Emerald tight with it. “She ain’t getting away.”

“Now Emerald,” Lars began, marching around Emerald like he owned the place, “Where are Yellow Zircon’s fleet and armies, and what are their numbers?”

“I’ll never tell you that!” Emerald balked. “I refuse to talk!”

Stevonnie and Lars looked at each other, smiling smugly. “We figured you’d say that,” Lars said as Stevonnie reached into his hair, taking out some photographs.

“...What are those?” Emerald said, tensing up.

“We wouldn’t want these floating around the galaxy, now would we?” Stevonnie said, holding up the photos. 

They depicted Emerald, making out with Lars in what looked like a seedy starbase. Emerald blushed. Everyone in the room had a smug smile.

“Fine!” Emerald finally agreed. “But only if I get full immunity.”

“Done,” Stevonnie nodded. “Now tell us everything.”

---

“You can’t keep us in here!” Cherry Quartz cried out, just one of the many Gems being held in Little Homeworld. A crowd had gathered, surrounding Pearl and Bismuth.

“I’m sorry,” Bismuth said, standing in the town center, “but it’s the only way to find out who sabotaged the warp pad!”

“We didn’t fight for our freedom just to get locked up again!” a voice shouted.

“For stars’ sake, you’re not being locked up,” Pearl sighed. “If we don’t get to the bottom of this, it’s likely Homeworld will fall permanently, and Earth will no doubt be their first target! So please, just cooperate with us and this will be over soon.”

Lapis was hovering overhead, making sure none of the flying Gems tried to make it over the wall. She got a few Aquamarines at first, but so far no one else tried to get out. If they did...well, she had a column of water with their name on it.

---

Pearl and Bismuth set up shop in Bismuth’s forge.

“Why do I feel like we’re the bad guys?” Pearl sighed, rubbing her nose.

“Us rebels weren’t built for authority, heh,” Bismuth joked. “We’re doing the right thing, though. Don’t forget that.”

“I know,” Pearl nodded, a flirty undertone in her voice. “Now let’s find our saboteur.”

“When were the first reports of the warp pads not working?”

Pearl checked her notes. “We were in the Great North from 3:16pm to 6:37pm Eastern Time, and it was working when we left. Larimar and Obsidian said they tried to use the Little Homeworld warp at around 5:00pm but it didn’t work. That’s the earliest I got.”

“That’s about two hours,” Bismuth mused. “Who knows how many Gems passed through here in that time?”

“That’s not all,” Pearl continued. “While we don’t have our saboteur’s time-of-warp, Peridot did recover partial records of Gems using other warp pads as late as 4:34pm.”

“30 minutes?” Bismuth laughed. “I’ll take it. Let’s find out who was in the town center between 4:30 and 5:00.”

“I’ll be Bad Cop, you be Good Cop,” Pearl ordered, straightening her jacket as they marched out of the forge.

“Aw, you always got to be Bad Cop.”

“Fine, you can be Bad Cop,” Pearl conceded. “But don’t go overboard with it.”

“No promises,” Bismuth chuckled.

Chapter Text

“Peridot, how’s the Galaxy Warp coming along?’ Pearl asked over her phone.

Peridot’s connection was spotty. “I have Robonoids...still slow going…”

“Peridot, I can barely hear you.”

“Sorry...service...bad…”

Pearl sighed. “What’s your estimate, at least?”

The connection failed, and the call was dropped. Pearl groaned. “If I could find Lion, I could just warp over there and ask her, but noooo, he had to roam off wherever!”

Bismuth called over to her. “We’re ready.”

Pearl walked into their makeshift interrogation room — basically Bismuth’s forge but with her anvil acting as a table — where their first suspect was waiting: Volleyball, formerly known as White Pearl, formerly-formerly known as Pink Pearl.

“Hello there, Volley,” Pearl nodded, sitting down in front of her. “Thank you so much for coming in.”

“Anything I can do to help,” Volleyball said. “It’s terrible what’s happened.”

“And how much do you know about what’s happened?” Bismuth interjected, standing in the corner.

“Well, uh, just what you said in the town center earlier. Someone sabotaged the warp pads.”

“Any idea who did it?” Pearl asked, delicately.

Volleyball thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No, not really. I don’t know anyone who would even think of doing that!”

“Where were you between 4:30 and 5:00 the other day?” Bismuth asked, blunt as a hammer.

“Oh, uh… You don’t think I did it, do you?”

Pearl took Volleyball’s hand. “We didn’t say that. We’re just narrowing it down. I know you would never do such a thing, but we need to cross you off the list.”

“I was...at a hair salon in Beach City. With Blue and Yellow Pearl.” She blushed.

“Can’t you shapeshift your hair?” Bismuth questioned.

“Yes, but we like the experience of it. Actually, I still have the receipt,” Volleyball said as she took a slip of paper out from her gem. Upon inspection, it checked out, and she was free to go.

After Volleyball had left, Pearl let out a sigh of relief. “I can’t believe we had her as a suspect! After all she’s been through…”

“Look,” Bismuth said, kneeling down to her level, “our best bet is to go after Gems who recently defected from Homeworld. Volleyball was just the first one on the list. We can easily get through the rest.”

Pearl smiled. “You always know what to say, don’t you?”

Bismuth shrugged. “I try.”

---

“So how does Earth politics work?” Blue Zircon asked.

“Ah jeez, that’s not really my expertise,” Greg said, nervously. “Nowhere close, actually.”

“Then what do you...do?”

“Well I tried making music but I was trying to do ‘80s rock at the height of ‘90s grunge so it didn’t go anywhere.”

“I have no idea what most of those words mean.”

“You don’t have to,” Greg laughed. “But now I manage music!”

“So you’re...a manager?” Blue Zircon asked, still confused.

“Yeah! I schedule events, get the word out, handle the money…”

“Money?”

“Yeah, the dollars and cents. The moolah. The cash!” Greg said, slowly realizing that the confused look on Blue Zircon’s face hadn’t shifted in the slightest. “Gems don’t have money, do they?”

Blue Zircon shook her head.

Greg hit his head on the kitchen counter. “This is probably why Rose never told me anything about you guys...” he muttered.

---

“So the Nova Thrusters are shot, the Floatanium reserves are gone, and the backup batteries are nearly empty,” Lars said, pacing around the Sun Incinerator. A tractor beam had towed it back into the Zoo’s hangar bay, where it sat, as good as dead.

“I’m sorry Lars. I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Stevonnie sighed. “Can it be fixed?”

“Yes it can!” Carnelian shouted, running down the Sun Incinerator’s entry ramp. “I figure we can repair most of this junk using spare parts from around the station.”

“Sheeeeeeee’s…riiiiiiiiight…” Fluorite said, crawling down the ramp behind her.

“Junk?!” Lars questioned, defensive. Garnet stepped forward before he could go any further.

“How soon can it be fixed?”

Carnelian shrugged. “Depends on how much gempower we have, I guess. With the Off Colors and the Jaspers all working together, I’d give it a day or two.”

“Which means the Famethyst is comin’ with us!” Amethyst boasted.

“So, uh, how’re we getting to Homeworld, exactly?” Spinel asked, shrugging her shoulders.

“Emerald’s ship,” Stevonnie explained. “There’s more than enough room for all the Amethysts, and it can get into Homeworld space without triggering any alarms.”

“What do we do with Emerald?” Amethyst asked.

Stevonnie and Garnet looked at each other. They both had the same idea.

---

“Em-Rald, why don’t you come eat the Red Fruit with us?” Wy-Six asked as the doors to the enclosure slammed shut. Emerald clawed at the door, but to no avail.

“No, no, no! Don’t leave me here!” Emerald pleaded.

“We’ll be back to pick you up when we restore peace to Homeworld,” Stevonnie said over the intercom. “Until then, it’s like being on a cruise that never ends!”

“But I don’t know what that means!” Emerald screamed.

In the observation room, Amethyst muted the audio. “Jeez, does she ever shut up?”

Lars shook his head.

Chapter Text

“Wait, wait, so we’re just gonna ride up through Homeworld space,” Spinel asked as Amethysts piled aboard the Destiny Destroyer, “March into Yellow Z’s headquarters, take her out, and then everything will be fine?”

“That’s oversimplifying it a little, but that’s the gist of it, yeah,” Stevonnie said, walking onto the bridge.

“Amethyst, put the map Emerald gave us on screen,” Garnet ordered.

“Roger, dodger!” Amethyst said, hitting some buttons.

Stevonnie walked up to the main screen, pointing at the map. “Okay, this should be where Yellow Zircon’s troops are stationed in the Homeworld Capitol.” They gestured to White Diamond’s ship. “According to Emerald, Yellow Zircon barricaded herself inside White’s ship. Most of the troops are guarding it.”

“But she doesn’t have control of the ship yet,” Garnet added, “since it requires White Diamond herself for input.”

“Well that’s good,” Spinel laughed. “...That’s good, right?”

“I vote we bomb the troops around the ship from orbit, then send in the Fam, and then ourselves,” Amethyst suggested.

Garnet adjusted her visor. “That is the most sensible.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Stevonnie said, excitedly sitting in the Captain’s chair. “Amethyst, set course for Homeworld, maximum speed!”

Garnet placed a hand on Stevonnie’s shoulder, giving an approving smile as the ship warped off into lightspeed.

---

Jasper met in a dark alley on the outskirts of Little Homeworld, frantically twirling her hair. “Where is she, where is she,” Jasper grumbled, “She said she’d be here!”

Bluebird emerged from the shadows. “Hello there,” the fusion said, a devilish smile on her face. “How are things? Enjoying yourself? Any new hobbies?”

“Stars, are you stupid?” Jasper asked in a harsh whisper, looking over her shoulder. “I have every Crystal Gem in the city looking for me, and you don’t even care!”

“Now, now, Jasper,” Bluebird laughed, “They aren’t looking for you specifically. Yet. Rest assured, things are working out the way they’re supposed to.”

“Do you know what’ll happen if they figure out I did it? I’ll be as good as bubbled! Again!”

“Relax Jasper,” Bluebird said, hiding deeper in the shadows as Lapis flew by overhead. “You’ll be extracted when the time comes.”

“And how will I know when that is?” Jasper growled, increasingly frustrated with the blue-red Gem.

“You’ll know,” Bluebird said, before disappearing from sight altogether.

Jasper sighed.

----

“Centi, thank you for coming in. I know your flying schedule keeps you pretty busy,” Pearl said as Centipeetle, aka Nephrite, sat down in front of the anvil.

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Centi said, “Hopefully this all gets cleared up before this weekend, though. I promised Andy I’d fly him to the Great North. Which I assume is up ‘north.’”

“You fly with him a lot?” Bismuth asked, even further into the shadows than before. She was also making her voice sound gravelly, like a hard-boiled detective.

“Uh, I guess?” Centi shrugged. “He’s been giving me biplane lessons.”

Bismuth lunged forward and wagged her finger in Centi’s face. “Where were you yesterday between 4:30 and 5:00?!” 

“...Oh! I was flying with Andy.”

Pearl rolled her eyes. “You’re free to go,” she said, bluntly.

Bismuth sheepishly twiddled her fingers. “I went overboard with the whole Bad Cop thing, didn’t I?”

“I’ll be the Bad Cop this time,” Pearl said with a smile.

---

Freckles, aka Nice Lapis, was their next suspect. She was Little Homeworld’s newest addition, relatively speaking.

“How are you settling in?” Bismuth asked, now sitting at the anvil.

“Oh, can’t complain. Everyone’s so nice! Especially your Lapis.”

“She is indeed,” Bismuth nodded.

“There was another Lapis with you before you came to Earth,” Pearl began. “What was her name?”

“I liked to call her ‘Curly’ because of her hair, but she didn’t like it much,” Freckles answered.

“You still...talk?”

“No, not since I came here. Wait, what’s this about?”

“We’re just asking questions,” Bismuth assured her.

“Wait...you think I sabotaged the warp pads?!”

“Should we think that?” Pearl asked.

“No, no! Please, you gotta believe me, I—”

“We believe you,” Bismuth nodded. “Just tell us where you were between 4:30 and 5:00 the other day.”

Freckles froze.

“If you did nothing wrong, then you have nothing to fear,” Bismuth said, taking her hand. “Just be honest.”

“I...was hanging out near the warp pad. In the town center.”

“And what were you doing there?” Pearl asked.

“Just relaxing! It was a nice day!”

Bismuth leaned in close. “Did you see anyone else near the warp pad? Anyone using it?”

Freckles closed her eyes, thinking long and hard. “Yes!” she said, her eyes shooting open. “It was that Jasper! The big one nobody likes!”

Pearl immediately pulled out her phone and sent a mass text to everyone in Little Homeworld.

“Wanted for questioning: Jasper. Reward for information leading to capture.”

Chapter Text

“Approaching Homeworld space,” Amethyst said. “Hold on, we’re being hailed.”

“On screen,” Stevonnie ordered. “Don’t transmit anything from our end, though.”

Hessonite appeared on screen. “This is the Republic of Homeworld Imperial Blockade. State your business and security code. And we insist on face-to-face communications.”

Stevonnie’s eyes widened. They looked up at Garnet.

“Amethyst,” Garnet said, removing her visor. “Shapeshift. Now. Everyone else: Hide!”

Amethyst quickly shapeshifted into Emerald, jumping into the captain’s chair as everybody hid from sight. She hit the command console, opening a channel to Hessonite.

“Ah, helloooo Hessonite!” Amethyst said, trying to remember how Emerald talked. “Sorry about the purple filter, the comms system took a real beating when we attacked those Zoo Gems! Man, I hate those guys!”

“She didn’t talk like that,” Spinel whispered, hiding behind the captain’s chair. Stevonnie shushed her.

“I trust the mission was a success then,” Hessonite nodded. “Now, your security code?”

“Ah yes...my security code,” Amethyst stammered, looking at Garnet, who was hiding under the helm console. Garnet shrugged. “My security code...is...1...2...3...4...5?”

“Really?” Stevonnie whispered, stiffling a laugh. “That’s something some idiot puts on his luggage!”

“Code accepted. You are free to land,” Hessonite said, cutting off the transmission. 

Amethyst immediately reverted back to her normal form. “Please tell me we never have to do that again.”

---

“Here she is,” Obsidian said, throwing Jasper into the forge/interrogation room. “Found her trying to dig her way under the wall.”

“Where’s the reward?” Larimar asked.

“You’ll get the reward later,” Pearl said, heading to shut the door.

“We were promised a reward!” Larimar insisted as the door closed. “Preferably one of monetary value!”

Bismuth grabbed Jasper by the arm and dragged her into a chair. “So, eager to get out, huh?” Bismuth asked.

“I don’t have to listen to you,” Jasper growled.

“Digging under the wall,” Pearl commented. “Seems to me you’re running from something. Wouldn’t you agree, Bismuth?”

“This is your fault for keeping us here!”

“Don’t worry,” Bismuth said, pacing around Jasper. “We’ll have you out soon enough. Just answer some questions for us.”

“Eat shale,” Jasper spat.

“What were you doing on the warp pad the other day? Seeing the world? Going to the store?” Pearl asked, getting up in Jasper’s face.

“We know you sabotaged the warp system,” Bismuth said. “We know you’re working with Yellow Zircon’s cronies. So if you tell us what we want to know, then we’ll go easy on you.”

“Sure you will,” Jasper grumbled.

---

“We’re heading down to the capitol,” Amethyst said, back at the helm.

“Troops are right where Emmy said they’d be!” Spinel said, sitting by the weapons console.

“Lock targets and fire,” Stevonnie nodded.

The Destiny Destroyer fired on the troops, but when the smoke cleared, the troops were still there.

“Uh, guys?” Spinel said in disbelief. “Are they supposed to be still there?”

“Incoming!” Amethyst blurted out as the Destiny Destroyer took heavy fire, knocking everyone off their feet. “We’re losing engines!” The ship started falling out of the sky.

“Spinel, target whatever’s firing on us!” Garnet ordered.

“Weapons are gone!” Spinel shouted.

Stevonnie got on the intercom. “Everyone, brace for impact!”

---

“I told you, I’m not answering your questions!” Jasper shouted, getting up from her chair.

Bismuth grabbed Jasper’s shoulder and slammed her right back down. “You’re gonna stay right here until you start talking.”

“And if you try to leave, Lapis is ready to tsunami you if you take a single step out that door,” Pearl threatened.

“You can’t do this!” Jasper exclaimed. She was starting to lose it.

“We can and we will,” Bismuth said. “In fact, we can go out there and tell everyone that until you talk, they’re stuck here. How long do you think you’ll last?”

Jasper folded her arms. “Try me.”

---

The Destiny Destroyer crashed right onto Diamond Square, the main plaza in front of White Diamond’s ship. The troops that were “stationed” there disappeared, flickering away.

“They were holograms?” Stevonnie realized, seeing this on the damaged viewscreen. The ship was leaning on its side, with all decks tilted at an angle.

“I should have seen this,” Garnet sighed, helping Stevonnie up. “It was a trap so we’d give ourselves away.”

“We can still give that Yellow Zircon a whoopin!” Amethyst hollered. “I say we charge White’s ship and give her a piece of our mind!”

Stevonnie smiled. “Spinel, go check on the Famethyst. Tell them we’re still going through with the plan.”

“I’m on it!” Spinel said, hopping up the sloped deck.

---

“Look, I’m just as convinced she did it as you are,” Pearl said, pacing outside the forge. “But she’s not talking.”

“She’ll talk,” Bismuth countered. “Where’s she gonna go?”

“And that’s another thing: If she sabotaged the Galaxy Warp and shut down the warp system, how did she get away?”

Bismuth shrugged. “Maybe she swam.”

Pearl shook her head. “The Galaxy Warp is days away from Beach City that way. And I don’t see Jasper as the hitchhiking type.”

“So she had help,” Bismuth realized, snapping her fingers. “Get a list of every flying Gem in Little Homeworld. Lapises, Aquamarines, all of them.”

“Done,” Pearl said, running off.

---

The Famethyst fought their way through Yellow Zircon’s troops, clearing the way for the Crystal Gems to charge towards White’s ship. Spinel wrapped her left arm around Stevonnie, Garnet and Amethyst, stretching her right arm up to White’s “nose.”

“Hang on, guys!” Spinel said, flinging the three of them up into the ship.

Crawling through the ship’s eye cavity, Stevonnie felt the strangest sense of deja vu. Which was weird, since they knew Steven and Connie had done this before, but Stevonnie had not. Their thoughts were interrupted as they reached the entrance to White’s old chamber.

“Wait,” Garnet said, sensing danger. “Something’s off.”

The group peeked out into the chamber. A large, diamond-shaped structure sat in the center, with dozens of cables stretching out from it into where White Diamond used to stand. Peridots scrambled around it, as Yellow Zircon grew frustrated.

“I don’t care if it’s only theoretical,” Yellow Zircon barked. “I just want it to work!”

“It’ll work, I assure you,” Squaridot, in charge of the operation, stammered.

“What is that?” Spinel whispered.

“Looks like they’re trying to activate the ship,” Stevonnie realized.

“But don’t they need White Diamond for that?” Amethyst asked.

Garnet took off her visor, realizing what the device was for. “They don’t.”

---

“I went through every flying Gem living in Little Homeworld,” Pearl said, meeting Bismuth outside the forge. “None of them have any ties to Jasper or Homeworld.”

“Then maybe it wasn’t a resident! We get tons of visitors from the old colonies!”

“Maybe—” Pearl started to argue, before hearing a loud crashing noise up in the sky. She looked up, spotting a column of water shooting out from over the wall, hitting Lapis dead-on. The source of the water? Curly, aka Mean Lapis.

“Long time, no see,” Curly said as Lapis flew back up to meet her.

“It hasn’t been that long,” Lapis joked, summoning a large spear of water to counter.

Down below, Pearl and Bismuth went into panic mode.

“You get everyone to the emergency shelter,” Bismuth said, “I’ll guard Jasper.”

“Bismuth, are you—”

“Just do it! ...Please,” Bismuth pleaded, earning a determined nod from Pearl.

After Pearl ran off, Bismuth went inside for another “chat” with Jasper. By which she meant grabbing Jasper’s head and slamming it into the anvil.

“Ow!” Jasper exclaimed. “What was that for?!”

“Your blue friend is tearing up Little Homeworld! Is that reason enough?”

“For stars’ sake, Bluebird…” Jasper muttered.

“Wait,” Bismuth said, shaking her head. “Bluebird?”

As if summoned on cue, the door was torn off its hinges by Aquamarine’s suspension wand, carried by Bluebird Azurite.

“You rang?” Bluebird smiled, freezing Bismuth with the suspension ray and throwing her to the side. 

She then suspended Jasper in the beam and flew off with her, disappearing into the night sky. Lapis was so distracted with fighting off Curly that she completely missed the fusion and quartz’s escape. Curly soon halted her attack as well, flying off to join Bluebird and Jasper (but not before running a torrent of water over the ships landed near Little Homeworld, disabling them).

“What happened?” Pearl said, finding Bismuth lying on the ground in defeat. “Where’s Jasper?”

Bismuth sighed. “She escaped.”

---

“Lower the gemstone!” Squaridot ordered.

High above them, Peridots used their suspension beams to lower White Diamond’s dormant gem down into the device. It fit like a glove.

“Engage the harvester!” was the next command. The device flickered to life, glowing a bright white. Squaridot turned to Yellow Zircon. “It’s been linked with your monocle,” she said, making the tyrant smile.

“Excellent,” Yellow Zircon nodded. “First order of business: Neutralize the Amethyst insurgents.”

“We have to go. Now,” Garnet panicked, grabbing the three others and scurrying down the passageway.

Outside, a flash of blinding energy surged across Diamond Square, instantly poofing every Gem in sight. Over a hundred gems just sat dormant, ready for capture. Stevonnie put themself, Garnet, Spinel and Amethyst in a bubble and tumbled out of the ship, falling through the many levels of Homeworld.

They finally crashed onto a rusty platform several miles down, far from sunlight. Stevonnie dissipated their bubble, but nobody moved. Spinel was the first one to speak.

" What do we do now?"  she asked.

Chapter Text

“Where are we?” Spinel asked as the remaining Crystal Gems caught their bearings.

They had landed in what looked like an old processing facility, with conveyor belts lining the walls. A computer console flashed to life.

“Welcome new Peridots!” the console said, in a voice conspicuously familiar to Peridot herself. “Please remain still as we attach limb enhancers to your physical form!”

Garnet looked up at the hole in the ceiling they’d fallen through. “Peridots came through here after they emerged,” she observed, getting up off the floor.

“Remember, your suspension beam is not to be used on your fellow Peridots.” the computer system said.

“Guys, what’s the game plan? Like, what’s next?” Amethyst asked, worried.

“I don’t…” Garnet began, hugging herself for comfort. “I don’t know.”

“Using your touch stumps to fly is strictly prohibited by the Diamond Authority,” the computer spoke again.

“Stevonnie?” Spinel asked the half-Gem fusion. “It’s Stevonnie, right? Good. Uh, you got any ideas?”

Stevonnie looked the most shaken out of all of them, but after seeing the desperate looks on their fellow Gems’ faces, they put on a face of determination. “I think I know a place we can regroup.”

---

Somewhere, on the same level as the old Peridot processing plant, sat a small, nondescript, grey building. A flagpole, unusual for Homeworld, flew outside, flying the flag of Earth and the flag of Homeworld. Above the front door was a sign that read, in both Gem Glyph and English, “Embassy of Earth to Homeworld — Courtesy of Beach City, DV”

“Hold up,” Amethyst said as they approached the building. “When did this get built?”

“Right around when Connie started college,” Stevonnie explained. “She got to sit in on one of the meetings for her poli sci class.”

There was trash and other debris littered in front of the embassy. “Not exactly beach-front property, ain’t it?” Spinel commented.

Stevonnie pulled the door open, and they were met by a fake, green sword being thrown in their face. The fusion blocked it effortlessly with their shield.

“Stand back intruders!” Ronaldo cried out, cowering behind the front desk. “I have a sword! I have lots of swords!”

“Ronaldo, it’s us, the Crystal Gems,” Stevonnie said, a smile returning to their face.

“Stevonnie?!” Ronaldo shouted, running up and pulling the fusion into a hug. “I can’t believe it!”

“Yo, ‘Vonnie,” Amethyst began, confused, “Why is fryface here on Homeworld?”

“Ambassador Fryman?” Topaz asked, poking their head out from behind the counter. “Is it safe to come out now?”

“Ambassador?!” Amethyst exclaimed.

“Topaz?!” Stevonnie said, pushing Ronaldo aside and running up to the large fusion. “You were the one who helped kidnap Lars and me… Well, Lars and half of me.”

Topaz chuckled. “Don’t make me cry again, heh.”

Leggy, a Ruby, dropped down from the rafters, making several karate moves that utterly failed to hit anyone. “And take this! And this! And this!”

“Leggy, what did we talk about with basing your defensive strategy on Lonely Blade movies?” Topaz reprimanded. 

“But they’re the only movies Ronaldo brought from Earth!” Leggy complained.

Lemon Jade, the fusion Stevonnie had last seen at the big Era 3 Ball, came in behind the Crystal Gems, through the front door. “Sorry I’m late boss,” Lemon Jade said. “You wouldn’t believe what I saw at Diamond Square.” 

They looked up and saw Stevonnie, letting out a squee.

“Fusions never forget,” Garnet mused.

---

“So Yellow Zircon now has the fighting capabilities of the black tiger of Qoltron?” Ronaldo concluded. They’d all gathered in the Embassy’s conference room to hear each other out.

“I never made that comparison before with the Diamond ships, but yeah, I guess so,” Stevonnie shrugged.

“I’m sorry,” Amethyst said, after holding her tongue for the entire conversation, “How the heck did you become Ambassador, Ronaldo?”

“Because of my superior diplomatic skills!” Ronaldo boasted.

Stevonnie whispered in Amethyst’s ear. “Because it kept him as far away from Beach City as possible.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Spinel said, ignoring Ronaldo entirely, “But may I remind you guys that we have no battle plan, no reinforcements, and no way of contacting Earth?!”

“Actually,” Lemon Jade spoke up. “That’s not entirely accurate.”

---

In the Embassy’s basement, they found an old Wailing Stone, several feet high.

“Pearl donated it as a token of ‘Crystal Gem Heritage,’ back when we first opened,” Lemon Jade explained. “Said it was used to send messages way back in Era 1.”

“Does it still work?” Spinel asked.

“The real question is whether or not it can get a message all the way to Earth,” Garnet remarked.

Stevonnie snapped their fingers. “It doesn’t have to make it to Earth. The Zoo is what, half the distance between Earth and Homeworld?”

“It’d be difficult, but it’s possible,” Topaz said. “They can relay the message to Earth.”

“And send the Sun Incinerator to beat up those Famethyst-poofing bozos!” Amethyst exclaimed, fist high in the sky.

Everyone liked the sound of that.

Chapter Text

“Hey Rhodey,” Lars said as he crawled out from under the Gravity Engine. “You got that molecular wrench?”

“Oh yeah!” Rhodonite nodded, handing the tool over to Lars.

“How’re the weapons coming along, Carnie?” he called out.

Down in the weapons bay, Carnelian zapped her finger on some wiring, briefly destabilizing her arm. 

“Yow!” she shouted. “It’s coming along!”

“I predict Carnelian will zap her arm!” Padparadscha remarked.

Up on the bridge, the Rutiles were spinning around in Lars’ chair. “Rutile, do this/Rutile do that!” they imitated, laughing to each other. Suddenly, the center console flickered to life.

“Crystal Gems to the Sun Incinerator. Crystal Gems to Sun Incinerator. Come in, Sun Incinerator,” Stevonnie said, their voice garbled.

The Rutile Twins looked at each other, eyes widened.

“Lars! We’re getting a transmission!/We’re receiving a message, Captain,” the Rutiles said.

---

“All of our ships are knocked out?!” Pearl said, holding Centi by the collar. “I thought they were waterproof!”

“They weren’t tsunami-proof!” Centi defended. “But we can have them fixed in a week.”

Pearl let Centi go, pinching her nose. “Homeworld will be on our doorstep in a week...”

Lapis flew down to her. “I flew as fast as I could after them, but I lost ‘em around the asteroid belt.”

Pearl sighed. “Thanks, Lapis.”

Bismuth ran up to Pearl, out of breath. “No one’s been hurt, thank goodness. But how did we miss Bluebird?”

“She was never an official resident of Little Homeworld,” Pearl explained. “So she was never in the records, and we don’t track visitors from offworld.”

A lion’s roar cracked through the air as a portal formed in the town center. Lion, with Peridot on his back, lept out, sliding to a stop.

“Or Gems who squat on other Gems’ couches for a year,” Peridot added.

Pearl, Bismuth and Lapis ran up to Peridot. “Please tell me you have good news,” Pearl said, practically begging.

“The bad news is that the domestic warps are still down,” Peridot began. “But the good news is the Galaxy Warp is back up.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Lapis asked. “Let’s get to Homeworld already!”

A piercing wail broke out across the countryside, echoing towards Little Homeworld. Its origin?  

The Beach House.

---

“What the heck is that noise?!” Greg shouted, holding his ears.

Blue Zircon wasn’t bothered. “What noise?”

“You can’t hear it?!” Greg asked loudly.

“My hair shields my ears. Works wonders during court hearings!”

“What?!” Greg shouted again.

Pearl, Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot burst through the door. “That sounds like a Wailing Stone!” Bismuth yelled, holding her ears.

“It’s coming from Steven’s old room!” Pearl realized.

They all ran upstairs, finding an old Wailing Stone in Steven’s (now Greg’s) closet. Greg knew just what to do, digging his old audio equipment out from under the bed, connecting it to the Wailing Stone and plugging it into Steven’s old TV.

An image flickered onto the screen as the wailing stopped: It was Stevonnie, appearing in front of the flag of Earth. The signal was badly degraded.

“Guys? Guys, can you read me? It’s Stevonnie! I’m calling from the Earth Embassy on Homeworld.”

“Can we transmit back?” Pearl asked, frantically looking to Peridot. She shrugged.

Greg lit up, grabbing a microphone and plugging it into his soundboard. “You’re in!” he nodded.

“Stevonnie?” Pearl began, listening for an answer.

“Yes! Pearl! It’s good to hear your voice!”

“What happened? Is everything alright?”

“We got some Amethysts from the Zoo to come with us, but it was a trap!”

Amethyst popped up next to Stevonnie. “They did the Famethyst dirty! And they got White Diamond’s ship!”

“They did what?!” Bismuth asked, eyes bulging out.

“How’s that possible?” Peridot asked, grabbing the microphone.

“They put in her gem into some kind of ‘harvester’ thing. Yellow Zircon controls it now.”

“Welp, they’re doomed,” Peridot said, handing the microphone back to Pearl.

“What do you mean, they’re doomed?” Greg asked, sweating at the thought of explaining to the Maheswarans why their daughter was stuck on an alien planet.

“White Diamond’s ship is the peak of Homeworld’s defensive and offensive capabilities,” Peridot explained. “It can level cities, lay waste to armies, and creep the stars out of anyone looking it in the eye! Though that last part is merely cosmetic.”

“We actually have a plan on how to get around that,” Stevonnie nodded. “But we’re gonna need—”

“Peridot fixed the Galaxy Warp,” Pearl interrupted. “We can be on Homeworld whenever you need us.”

“Now take us through the plan,” Bismuth nodded, leaning towards the mic.

Stevonnie smiled. “Okay, Pink Diamond’s old ship is still on its docking pad, so if we can get to it, we can use it to distract Yellow Zircon.

“That’s where you guys come in. According to the Gems at the Embassy, the Famethyst should be held in the old prison down in the lower levels. It should be easy to get into, they couldn’t spare many guards.

“Then we’ll need you and the Famethyst to fight off any soldiers swarming Diamond Square. That’s when Lars should be warping in to give the knock-out. Then we all board White’s ship and overwhelm Zircon’s forces.”

“And then I get to be Prime Minister again?” Blue Zircon asked, timidly. Everyone looked at her awkwardly. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she shrugged.

Chapter Text

“So, what’d make you switch sides?” a Jasper asked an Amethyst as they stood guard outside Pink Diamond’s old ship.

“Yellow Zircon promised me my own command. Beats existentially pondering my purpose in life, heh,” the Amethyst answered.

“Wait, she promised me my own command, too,” the Jasper began to question. “Actually, now that you mention it, she promised a lot of us our own command…”

Spinel popped out of a hatch, grabbing them by the legs and flipping them on their backs. “Welp, looks like neither of you are gettin’ one.”

The rest of the team crawled up out of the hatch. Garnet pointed to Ronaldo and the rest of the embassy staff. “You stay here and make sure no one gets to the ship.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Ronaldo saluted. “You have my word as a duly-designated officer of the planet Earth diploma...aaaand you’re on the ship already.”

“Wait, what’s the plan again?” Leggy asked.

Topaz and Lemon Jade shrugged.

---

“Em-Rald! Do you want to play in the pool! It’s not a cruise without a pool, as Ste-von tells us!” Jay-Ten asked Emerald, who was still clawing at the door.

“No!” she barked. “I don’t want to swim, or eat your weird fruit, or do your weird dances or stupid songs or whatever the Choosening is! I just want out!”

“Oh that’s easy!” Jay-Ten smiled. “This isn’t a ‘zoo’ anymore, so we can just come and go as we please!” She walked up to the door and placed her hand on the security pad, opening it instantly.

Emerald felt like smashing something, since she could have gotten out at any time before this, but just smiled a big smile and ran out into the hallway.

“Come again, soon!” Jay-Ten waved.

---

Stevonnie, Amethyst, Spinel and Garnet arrived on the Leg Ship’s bridge, with Stevonnie stepping onto the central pad. Pink trousers formed around their legs.

“If it can work with Steven…” Stevonnie shrugged.

Garnet adjusted her visor. “We should all hold onto something.”

Before anyone could react, Stevonnie lifted their right foot up, with the ship’s right leg following, causing everyone on the bridge to fall over to one side.

“It’s like riding a bike!” Stevonnie said, sweat forming on their brow.

“What bikes are you riding?” Amethyst called out, Garnet and Spinel having fallen on top of her.

---

Meanwhile, in White Diamond’s Head Ship, Yellow Zircon was doing important Prime Minister business that absolutely took priority.

“Why the heck did they pair Pierre and Percy together?!” Yellow Zircon asked, watching the Homeworld-localized version of Camp Pining Hearts, re-edited for content and subtitled in Gem Glyph. “Squaridot, find me the Gems who adapted this program and have them executed.”

“That would be Peridot-5XG, Prime Minister. The one from Earth?”

“Eh, she’ll be shattered when we launch our attack.”

Alarm bells blared around them. A video feed of the outside appeared on the wall, showing Pink’s Leg Ship dancing around, shaking its rear end at them teasingly.

“Oh that’s it!” Yellow Zircon fumed, activating her monocle, which made the Harvester containing White Diamond’s Gem spark to life. “They want to play, well let’s play!”

---

“Alright, everyone’s aboard?” Lars asked as he sat himself down in the Captain’s chair.

“Everyone’s here!” Carnelian waved from the engine room steps, as it was crowded with Jaspers.

“Engines at the ready?”

“Eeeeeeeeengiiiiiiiines are oooooonnnnliiiiine,” Fluorite nodded.

“Course set for Homeworld?”

“At your command, sir/On your orders, Captain,” the Rutiles replied.

“Weapons on stand-by?”

“Yes! Let’s go already, the suspense is killing me!” Rhodonite said, still nervous.

Outside, Emerald snuck into the hangar bay, surprised that the whole station seemed to be empty. “It’s like taking human food from a human child,” Emerald mused, grabbing onto the Sun Incinerator’s landing gear as it lifted off the floor.

Crawling inside just before the gear retracted, Emerald smiled a devilish grin.

This wasn’t over, yet.

---

As White Diamond’s ship took off to fight the Leg Ship, Bismuth, Pearl, Lapis and Peridot materialized on the Galaxy Warp. Quartz guards immediately charged towards them.

“Oh for stars’ sake,” Pearl sighed, summoning her spear and poofing several of them.

“You’d think they’d have given up by now!” Lapis said, turning her wings into fists, punching as many Gems as she could.

“Where’d ‘Vonnie say they were keeping the Amethysts?” Bismuth asked.

Peridot pulled up a map of Homeworld on her tablet, scrolling down to the lower levels. “I know the way,” she nodded.

---

“Welcome, my friends,” Peridot said as the service elevator came to a stop. “To Level ZZ99. Everything below here sealed off. It’s not as low as it gets, but it’s as low as Homeworld still actively maintains.”

“How do you know about it?” Pearl said, taking in the dark, rock walls and dim lighting.

“I took a History of Kindergartening course when I was studying for my certification exam. It’s actually really fascinating—”

“And where’s the prison?” Bismuth asked, cutting Peridot off.

“Oh, just around this corner.”

Upon reaching the prison entrance, guarded by two Topazes, Lapis knew it looked familiar. “Hey, this is where I was imprisoned. After the mirror, I mean,” she whispered.

“When Yellow Zircon gives me my own ship, I’m gonna have so much fun,” one Topaz said.

“Wait, you’re getting a ship? I’m supposed to get a ship!” the other Topaz argued, confused.

“Guards!” Holly Blue Agate said, hitting the two Gems on the head. “No dilly-dallying on the job! Or I’ll report you to the Prime Minister herself.”

“Yes, Holly Blue Agate!” the Topazes said at the same time. The moment she walked away, the two Gems snickered.

They were then knocked out by a water-fist, courtesy of Lapis. Lapis stood over them and shook her head.

“If you’re gonna laugh at someone, do it to their face.”

Chapter Text

Inside White’s ship, Yellow Zircon frantically moved her hands around, trying to get the hang of the ship’s controls.

“How the heck does White Diamond do this?!” she said, sweating profusely.

Over by the Gem Harvester, Squaridot and her technicians scrambled to maintain its connection to the rest of the ship, frantically replacing cables as they short-circuited. White Diamond’s gem jiggled around inside, its glow flickering intermittently.

“Whoever’s in Pink Diamond’s ship,” Squaridot said, gasping for breath, “They must be one heck of a pilot!”

---

“Take it back now y'all! Two hops, two hops!” Connie’s phone played from Stevonnie’s pockets. They hopped in rhythm to the song. The ship followed suit.

“Right foot, let's stomp!” Stevonnie stomped their right foot. The ship’s right foot slammed down.

“Left foot, let's stomp!” Stevonnie did the same, with the ship’s left foot following.

“Charlie Brown!” 

Stevonnie looked to the Gems. They all shrugged.

“Who?” Spinel asked.

---

“Noooobody knooooows the trouble I’ve seen…” Amethyst-8XJ said, sitting behind a forcefield within a jail cell. “Nobody knows my sorroooooow…”

Suddenly, the forcefields went down. All the Amethysts summoned their weapons and stepped out of their cells. An explosion rocked the prison block, with four figures emerging from a hole in the wall.

“Felicitations, malefactors!” Peridot proclaimed. “We are endeavoring to foregather a counter-insurgency against the forces that seek to revolutionize your democratically elected society!”

The Amethysts collectively blinked in confusion.

“8XM sent us,” Bismuth added.

They erupted into excited cheers.

---

Deep in the bowels of the Sun Incinerator, Emerald crawled around, on her hands and knees, with only her Gem to light the way.

“Stupid off colors, rearranging my precious ship’s crucial systems,” Emerald grumbled, trying to find the right access tube. “Stupid Lars, blackmailing me with stupid sexy photos…” 

She found the right access tube, labeled in Gem Glyph as “Engineering” but hastily taped over with a sticky note as “Engine Junk.”

“Ah hah,” Emerald smirked. “I’ve got you now!”

Inside the access tube, several haphazardly-soldered wires lined the walls, labeled with a sticky note reading “DO NOT TOUCH — Lars.” Smiling with unadulterated glee, Emerald eagerly tore the wires off the walls, which let out such an electrical shock that her form dissipated instantly.

---

The lights on the bridge flickered off as the hum of the engines whirred to a stop.

“Captain!” Rhodonite gasped, turning to Lars.

Lars stood up. “Fluorite, I wanna know why we’re not moving!”

“Iiiiiii dooooooooon’t knoooooow…” Fluorite called out from the Engine Room.

“Well they’re gonna be expecting us at Homeworld any minute, get on it,” Lars said, flopping back down in his chair.

“I have a disturbing prediction!” Padparadscha exclaimed.

“Yes, we know, the ship’s engine broke,” Lars sighed.

“Emerald will sneak on board and sabotage the ship’s engines!”

Lars, Rhodonite, the Rutiles, Fluorite and the Betas all looked at Padparadscha and then at each other.

“Thanks, Padparadscha!” they all said simultaneously.

---

“Squaridot, I’d love it if White’s Gem wouldn’t shake around like that!” Yellow Zircon said, her control of White’s ship cutting in and out.

“We’re working on it!” Squaridot said, trying to secure it with her suspension beam. After a few tries, it worked. The gem glowed a bright white, as the ship surged with full power.

“Ramming speed!” Yellow Zircon shouted, putting White’s ship on a collision course with the Leg Ship.

---

“Uh-oh,” Stevonnie winced just before White’s ship smashed into them, sending the ship flying back towards Diamond Square.

Stevonnie managed to get the Gems in a bubble with them right before the impact, thankfully, but it hurt nevertheless, as they were all slammed into one side of the bridge.

“Is everyone okay?” Stevonnie asked as the bubbled dissipated.

“Yup, fine, never better,” Amethyst joked as she pushed Garnet off of her.

Stevonnie looked to the control pad where they once stood. It burst apart in a flurry of sparks, shorting out the ships’ lights. The room went dark.

“Well that ain’t good,” Spinel commented.

---

“Oh no, oh no, oh noooo,” Leggy worried, watching from the Leg Ship’s landing platform with the rest of the Embassy staff.

“They’re all gonna die, and we’re gonna be put right back under an oppressive regime and I’ll never get to fuse again!” Lemon Jade cried out.

“Ronaldo, what do we do?” Topaz asked, turning to the Ambassador.

Pushing his glasses up the brim of his nose, Ronaldo took a step forward, and spoke. “We… warp back to Earth!”

And so Ronaldo and his staff sprinted down from the landing platform and to the nearest Galaxy Warp, right next to the crashed ships. The area was eerily quiet, the only sound being the warp pad activating as Ronaldo and company were whisked across the galaxy, back home.

Immediately after they departed, the Crystal Gems and the Famethyst emerged from the lower levels of Homeworld and out onto the Diamond Square. Yellow Zircon’s troops came pouring out of White Diamond’s ship shortly thereafter, the two armies clashing in frenzied combat. Inside the Leg Ship, Stevonnie, Amethyst, Spinel and Garnet could hear the fighting.

“We gotta get out there!” Amethyst declared, summoning her whip. “We gotta support the Fam!”

“I agree,” Garnet said, nodding towards Stevonnie.

Stevonnie, their gem glowing, summoned a bubble that enveloped the four, transporting them out of the ship.

“Stevonnie!” Pearl called out, pushing a Quartz soldier to the floor with her spear. “You made it!”

“Haha!” Bismuth cheered, punching a Topaz in the jaw. “What’d I tell you? That bunch has spunk.”

---

Inside White Diamond’s ship, Yellow Zircon woke up to the sound of a gem reforming. Looking up, she saw all of her assistants and technicians’ gems laying on the floor, their forms dissipated from the impact. The only gem that was glowing was... White Diamond’s.

“Ohhhh no you don’t,” Yellow Zircon said, rushing to her feet and pushing White Diamond’s gem back into the Harvester. “I’m not finished with you yet.” She scanned the room for a communications device. Picking one up, she spoke into it. “Attention all troops, I repeat, all troops: Converge at Diamond Square at once! That’s all troops.”

---

“I think they have reinforcements coming in!” Peridot called out.

Up in the sky, a large, green Hand Ship descended, landing amongst the fighters. A bubble came down from its highest point, revealing Holly Blue and Hessonite.

“Long time, no see, Amethysts,” Holly Blue said, priming her whip.

“Prepare for trouble,” Hessonite remarked.

Navy popped out from behind them. “And make it—! Wait, how did that Earth cartoon go again?”

Stevonnie summoned their shield and drew their sword. This was going to be a long fight.

Chapter Text

Ronaldo and company arrived on the warp pad in Little Homeworld, immediately rejoicing in their return.

“We made it!” Ronaldo cried out, hugging Topaz. “No one’s dying here tonight!”

He stopped when Topaz tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the wrecked buildings around town because of Curly and Bluebird’s attack. Gems were still cleaning up the debris, from what used to be their homes and businesses.

“What happened here?” Leggy asked.

Before anyone could answer, the sound of honking echoed outside the walls of Little Homeworld, as Greg’s van sped down the country roads and smashed through the front gate.

“Are they back yet?” Blue Zircon asked, getting out the passenger side. “Holy stars,” she said as she finally got a look at the damage inflicted on the small city.

“Man, they really fought hard here,” Greg noted. Wait, Ronaldo?” he asked, running up to the warp pad. “What the heck are you doing here?”

Ronaldo began. “The battle was rough and long, but we made it back after our heroic—”

“And where’s Steven and the Gems?!”

“Oh they’re still fighting Homeworld, it’s getting pretty bad, I think.”

Greg’s eyes went wide, and the man frantically ran back to the van, breathing rapidly. “Relaxing music, relaxing music…” Heavy metal blared from the speakers. “Not again!”

Blue Zircon stepped forward. “The Crystal Gems… Are they doing, uh, well? In battle, I mean?”

“Oh no, they’re totally beat,” Leggy chimed in.

“Beat? But no, they can’t be beat!” Blue Zircon stammered. “They have to win! They have to! Or else…” She shuddered at the thought.

“Who are you again?” Ronaldo asked, already on his phone now that he had cell service again.

Blue Zircon thought for a moment, then stepped onto the warp pad and looked Ronaldo in the eyes. “I’m Prime Minister of Homeworld, you dolt! And I’m pretty sure we’ve met.”

“We have?”

“Aren’t you Earth Ambassador?”

“...To be honest, most of my day is spent playing Creature Crossing…”

Blue Zircon was already tuning him out. She looked out at the devastation the other Lapis had wrought on the city, and thought of what Yellow Zircon must have been doing back home. She saw Gems struggling to dig out belongings from the rubble, lost and confused by the destruction. Blue Zircon decided to take action.

“Uh, everyone!” she called out, getting the attention of the town square. “I know many of you might not think of Homeworld all that fondly, but… It’s where we come from. It’s where Gems started. And right now, it’s in danger. Should we just stand by while the Crystal Gems are wiped out and Gem Democracy is lost forever? No!”

Gems gradually entered the square, heeding Blue Zircon’s words. They nodded along, summoning their weapons and ready to fight.

“Yeah, let’s kick their butts!” Snowflake Obsidian bellowed.

“Make them wish they were worse than dead!” Larimar added.

“...A little farther than I would have gone, but you got the spirit,” Blue Zircon nodded. “Alright everyone! Let’s fight!”

Tons of enthusiastic Gems poured onto the warp pad while Blue Zircon went over to check on Greg. “Hey… Greg, was it?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Greg sighed. “It’s been a while since I’ve had my ‘Steven’s In Mortal Danger’ attacks, but it’s like riding a bike.”

Blue Zircon blinked.

“Earth thing, nevermind,” Greg shook his head. “By the way, great speech. No wonder you won.”

“I was always the better speaker between me and Yellow,” she mused. “Didn’t help me much when I was your son’s defense lawyer but eh, that’s in the past now.”

“Wait, you were what?”

“Sorry, can’t hear you!” Blue Zircon said as she joined the crowd on the warp pad, warping off with them.

Greg searched again for his relaxing music CD.

---

“So, when he shattered you, how did it feel?” Bluebird asked as they approached Homeworld space.

“Yeah, and what was it like being fused to that Lapis for so long?” Curly asked. “Must have been freaky.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jasper grumbled.

“Aw, did Big Ol’ Jasper’s feelings get hurt?” Bluebird laughed. “Besides, we’re here.”

Jasper, Bluebird and Curly joined their allies in battle, each of them fighting a Crystal Gem. And there were a lot of Crystal Gems.

“Just like old times, huh, Bis?” Crazy Lace said as she poofed a Quartz soldier.

“Haven’t felt a rush like this in a while!” Bismuth said, hammering a Ruby fusion into the ground. “I love it!”

More and more Crystal Gems appeared on the warp pad, all of them charging forward and challenging the Homeworld loyalists. The latter was steadily lowering in numbers, giving the Crystal Gems the advantage.

“Not too much longer now!” Garnet called out.

“You might wanna check twice on that,” Stevonnie gasped, turning their head towards White Diamond’s crashed ship. Its eyes began to glow, signaling that it was about to power up.

Stevonnie summoned their shield, making it as large as they could make it, and pushed through the fighters until they reached the front. “Everyone! Behind the shield, now!” they called out, straining to keep it summoned.

As Gems scrambled around for cover, a low whirring sound rippled through the air. The sound got louder and louder, culminating in a sonic boom as the Sun Incinerator dropped out of warp above the square. It immediately fired weapons on the Head Ship, putting it firmly out of commission. Stevonnie’s shield disappeared, the fusion looking up with a smile of joy.

Stevonnie’s phone rang. It was Lars. “Did anyone call for air support?” he asked. “You guys focus on fighting the ones in charge, I’ll take out the big armies.”

“Got it, thanks,” Stevonnie said, hanging up and unsheathing their sword. They looked up and saw Jasper, standing across from them.

“You,” Jasper said with a scowl.

Chapter Text

Jasper summoned her helmet and charged at Stevonnie, whose shield was already there to block it. Stevonnie was pushed back at the impact.

“Jasper, I don’t want to fight you!” Stevonnie pleaded.

“I don’t care!” Jasper shouted, charging up into a spin-dash and speeding towards Stevonnie again.

Stevonnie jumped into the air, dodging Jasper and sending her into Holly Blue Agate, who was busy fighting Amethyst.

“What are you doing, you clumsy Off Color—”

Amethyst captured Holly Blue in her whip, letting Jasper go. “Hey, no one makes fun of a member of the Famethyst except us.”

The Famethyst, some two dozen assorted Amethysts, charged at Holly and gave her a beating she’d never forget — punishment for all the beatings she’d given them.

---

Meanwhile, at the base of White Diamond’s wrecked ship, Squaridot sneakily crawled out of an eye, hoping to avoid battle and escape to some uncharted planet on the edges of the universe. It’d be quiet and peaceful, with no one to arrest her for crimes against Gemkind. Or so she hoped.

“Going somewhere?” Peridot said, floating by on a trashcan lid.

“Uh…” Squaridot began, before getting crushed by several pieces of metal.

“Sorry, wrong answer,” Peridot joked.

---

Back on the battlefield, Navy was surprisingly holding her own, becoming practically a one-Gem army against the Crystal Gems.

“Does anyone else want a piece of me???” she shouted to the sky after poofing a few Crystal Gems.

Spinel suddenly grabbed her, wrapping her noodle-like arms around Navy until the small Gem poofed into a cloud of dust.

“That wasn’t very nice of you, lil Ruby,” Spinel quipped.

---

“C’mon, I’m game for a rematch,” Lapis said, egging Curly on midair.

“I don’t know what that is!” Curly shouted, sucking the H2O molecules out of the air and forming a torrent of water. She threw the water at Lapis, who fought back by generating a wall of water to block it with.

“I don’t know what your problem is,” Lapis said. “But I know someone who does.”

Curly paused. “Wait, what?”

“Hey, Curly!” she heard a familiar voice call out. “You miss me?”

Curly was knocked out by a massive water-fist, thrown into the air by Freckles, who flew up to join Lapis.

“Beautiful day for a battle, huh?” Freckles asked.

“Yeah,” Lapis mused. “It is.”

---

“I remember you,” Hessonite said, pushing her sword against Pearl’s spear. “We fought like... Oh, what do the humans call it? Cat and mouse? It was such a shame when I had to leave.”

“Same here,” Pearl began, summoning all her strength. “Except now I get to finish the fight.”

Hessonite laughed. “You’re still just a pearl. You know you can’t beat me.”

“Maybe I can’t,” Pearl nodded. “But only without some help.”

Bismuth leapt out from behind Hessonite, forming her arm into an axe blade and slicing Hessonite in two, poofing her instantly.

“Nicely done,” Bismuth complimented.

“Same to you,” Pearl said with a blush.

---

“Ah, the fusion,” Bluebird said, smiling devilishly as she stood opposite Garnet. “We remember being disgusted with you once. Always being fused, always in each other’s company. Now? Now we know what we were missing out on.”

Bluebird summoned her sword, dashing at Garnet too fast for her to catch. Garnet summoned her gauntlets, frantically trying to smash Bluebird into the ground, but the small fusion couldn’t be caught.

“Fusion shouldn’t be made out of hate,” Garnet argued. “You joined together out of your hatred for Steven, but what else is there? What else is holding this fusion together?”

“None of your business,” Bluebird said, spotting an opening and stabbing Garnet straight through.

Garnet poofed in a cloud of dust, her gems falling to the ground.

“Ha-ha!” Bluebird proclaimed. “I did it! I defeated the mighty Garnet! Oh, what the other Rubies and Aquamarines will say now...”

Garnet’s gems began to light up, forming Ruby and Sapphire. The two Gems gave one look at each other, then at the gloating Bluebird, who had failed to notice them. Ruby and Sapphire ran up to Bluebird and punched her square in the jaw, knocking the fusion out.

“They are not good for each other,” Ruby commented.

“Agreed,” Sapphire said, shaking her head.

---

Jasper ran at Stevonnie once more, ramming her helmet into the fusion’s shield, pushing them towards the edge of Diamond Square.

“Jasper,” Stevonnie began, glancing down the dark chasm, “We can stop fighting now. Yellow Zircon’s armies are almost beat, and I don’t want to fight anymore...”

“I do!” Jasper screamed, jumping up into the air and tackling Stevonnie, pulling the fusion down into the chasm.

As they fell through the thousands of levels of Homeworld, Jasper refused to let go of Stevonnie, her hands trying to strangle them all the way down.

“Jasp… Jasper…” Stevonnie struggled to say. “You...have to...let... go!”

Stevonnie summoned their bubble, pushing Jasper away right before they hit the ground, both of them making a crater in the dark grey rock. They were surrounded by green columns and old, discarded statues. Stevonnie rubbed the back of their head as their bubble dissipated. They looked over at Jasper, lying motionless in her crater. Stevonnie got up and went to check on her.

“Jasper?” Stevonnie asked, concerned.

“Gah!” Jasper said, her helmet appearing again as she lunged out of the hole. Stevonnie pulled out their sword and Jasper clenched her fists. “You... you think you’ve won! Ha! Try unfusing and fight me like a real Gem!”

Stevonnie could hear in Jasper’s voice that she was in pain. They looked closer at Jasper’s gem. There was a chip on the side. Jasper’s form turned to static briefly, the normally-stoic soldier wincing in pain.

“Jasper, you’re hurt,” Stevonnie warned. “I won’t fight you. Not like this.”

“Oh, what’s a good way to fight me? Throw me into a warp core? Trap me under the ocean for six months? Beat me only because I fused with a monster? Shatter me after I let you get close? ”

“Jasper, I…”

“What about me, huh?” Jasper cried out, tears forming in her eyes. “How many times do I have to lose? How many times?!”

Stevonnie’s form turned into a white light, separating into Steven and Connie. They nodded at each other, Steven staying in place as Connie slowly moved behind Jasper.

“Jasper,” Steven began. “I can’t tell you enough how much I regret shattering you. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I want you to know that I’m sorry.”

“No, no, no! You don’t get it!” Jasper said, pounding at the ground in anger. “I don’t want your pity or your apologies!”

“Then what do you want, Jasper?!”

“I don’t know!” Jasper screamed, collapsing from her battle stance. Connie was standing behind her, sword at the ready. She looked at Steven, who shook his head. She put her sword away.

Steven walked up to Jasper and knelt down in front of her. “Maybe it’s time for you to figure that out.”

“H-how?” Jasper asked, her voice trembling.

“I can recommend a good therapist,” Steven said with a shrug.

---

Blue Zircon arrived on the Homeworld warp soon after the fighting had stopped. There were hundreds of dormant gemstones laying across the square, but she could also see the Crystal Gems (and sympathetic Homeworlders) collecting them. Up in the sky, Lapis and Freckles stood guard alongside the Sun Incinerator.

“Blue Zircon!” Pearl hollered. “Good news! The remainder of Yellow Zircon’s forces have surrendered!”

Amethyst popped out of a pile of rubble. “You're back in power now, BZ!”

“And where’s Yellow Zircon?” Blue Zircon asked, hoping there were no more surprises.

Spinel ran over to them. “Oh her? She has herself barricaded or something inside White’s ship. We’re trying to get through but its pretty tight in there!”

White Diamond’s ship was still laying on its side, crashed into the square. A ladder was placed against it, leading into the eye. Blue Zircon ran over to take a look

Inside the eye cavity, Garnet, Bismuth and some other large Gems were trying to shove past the barricade of junk Yellow Zircon had shoved inside.

“Push!” Garnet called out.

“I am pushing!” Bismuth said. “This stuff ain’t moving.”

“Allow me,” Peridot said, flying her way into the shaft.

Peridot effortlessly pushed the junk forward with her ferrokinesis, giving the other Gems present a smug smirk.

In White’s chambers, Yellow Zircon frantically tried to reconnect the Gem Harvester to the ship’s systems. “What do you mean, ‘connection failure, please try again?’ I’ve been ‘trying again’ for an hour now!” She ripped the wires out of their sockets in frustration.

“Yellow,” she heard a familiar voice call out. “It’s over.”

She turned to see Blue Zircon, armed with her Crystal Gem friends. “Blue!” Yellow Zircon said, hiding the disconnected wires behind her back. “Fancy seeing you here. I was just, uh, helping White Diamond out of her lil’ box here.”

“Your armies are surrendering, and your co-conspirators are probably going to take a plea in exchange for their testimony. Against you,” Blue Zircon said. “Now please, can we just end this?”

Yellow Zircon paused for a second, looking over at the Crystal Gems, whose weapons were already out and ready. She then felt the wires in her hands, coursing with White Diamond’s power. She had an idea.

“I think not,” Yellow Zircon said, plunging the wires into the area around her gem. Electricity zapped through her body, filling her with a sheer sense of power. Of strength.

“No!” Blue Zircon cried out, held back by Garnet.

Yellow Zircon let out a hearty, evil laugh as her gem turned light gray. The monochrome discoloration spread from there, until her whole body was white and gray. Yellow Zircon’s head suddenly went lifeless, drooping down.

“Uh, what just happened?” Peridot asked.

Yellow Zircon’s head shot back up, her arms stretching out in a T-pose. A different, yet oh-so-familiar voice came out of her mouth. 

“Oh, hello!” they heard White Diamond say. “I wasn’t expecting visitors. Where’s Spinel? She usually handles the meeting and greeting part. And why am I so small?”

The Crystal Gems just let out a sigh of relief.

Chapter Text

“In other news,” Red Pearl said over the Homeworld News Network, “Zircon-8DK was sentenced to a million years of hard labor today, toiling away in the asteroid mines! Her co-conspirators, in exchange for testimony, were given 1,000 years of community service...”

Spinel turned down the broadcast and turned her hand into a megaphone. “Alright, ya bozos!” Spinel said, standing amidst the wreckage in Diamond Square. “Time to get cleaning!”

Emerald, Holly Blue, Hessonite, Navy, Eyeball and Aquamarine were chained together, armed with garbage bags. They are also all wearing orange prison jumpsuits.

“Why do we have to wear these ridiculous Earth clothes?” Aquamarine asked.

“It was Steven’s idea,” Spinel shrugged.

“Gah, I hate Steven!” Eyeball grumbled.

“We all hate Steven!” Holly Blue exclaimed.

“In hindsight, maybe our disdain for a teenage human boy was misplaced,” Hessonite said. “And instead, it was the faults in our psychologically-engrained societal—”

“Oh shut up,” Emerald barked, picking up a piece of debris and throwing it at Hessonite.

“Hey, why isn’t Jasper here?” Navy asked. “I thought she got sentenced too?”

Spinel sat down in a plastic lawn chair. “She’s serving her sentence on Earth.”

“Lucky,” Curly laughed. 

---

“I have to replant all the grass?” Jasper asked, looking at what used to be her forest hideout.

“Yeah, that was the dealio,” Amethyst shrugged. She was holding a Slushie. “And you have to keep seeing Dr. Brooks.”

“But her door’s too small for me!” Jasper complained.

“Tough shale,” Amethyst said, louding sipping her drink. “Or else you gotta hang out with the Keystone Kops back on Homeworld.”

“Who?”

“Nevermind,” Amethyst chuckled. “Anyway, get planting.”

“Can’t you just have Steven kiss the ground or something?” Jasper sighed, grabbing the bag of seeds from Amethyst.

“Steven’s busy,” Amethyst said, sipping her drink again.

---

At the Beach House, Steven, Connie and the Gems all gathered around, celebrating the coup’s defeat. Blue Zircon called out to Steven, meeting over by the kitchen.

“Steven!” she began. “I can’t thank you enough for helping me get back in power. You might have been a lousy client, but you make one heck of a counterrevolutionary.” 

“Oh, it was nothing,” Steven said. “Couldn’t let all that hard work go to waste, right?”

“Right! And I reinstated the military, since all those Quartz soldiers kinda need something to do. But we’re only defensive now, not offensive.”

“Good idea,” Steven said with a chuckle.

“Say, how’d you like to have a seat on my board of advisors?” Blue Zircon asked.

Steven thought back to the couple years he spent helping spread democracy to other Gem planets. How much time he spent around Gems. How much he wanted to get back to just...being human.

“Thank you, but I got some stuff here on Earth I gotta sort out,” Steven declined.

“Understood,” Blue Zircon nodded. “But if there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”

Steven looked over at Connie, who was busy chatting it up with Pearl and Bismuth. He smiled.

“Well there is one thing…”

---

“You got me an internship with Prime Minister Zircon?!” Connie exclaimed as she and Steven climbed atop Lion, ready to warp back to school.

“I figured it was exactly what a budding political science major needed!” Steven explained. “You do need an internship, right?”

“Of course I do! I love it!” Connie gave Steven a hug and a kiss on the neck, making the young man blush slightly. “Thank you.”

“N-no problem,” Steven stammered.

Lion roared a warp portal into being and ran through it.

---

“C’mon, c’mon, you gotta hit the giant foot!” Peedee said, laying down on Steven’s couch and watching Jeff playing Ultra Bash Sisters. Jeff sat on the floor.

“I am hitting the giant foot!” Jeff said, gripping the Gamesphere controller and hopped up on gallons of soda. “He just has 900 billion hit points!”

“Then fight harder!”

Suddenly, the giant white foot collapsed on-screen, as the announcer declared that they had won.

“You did it?” Peedee said, sitting up. “You did it!”

“I won!” Jeff exclaimed.

“You won!”

Jeff heard Lion’s roar outside. “And Steven’s back!”

“And Steven’s back!” Peedee said, his eyes widening immediately after. “Steven’s back?!”

Jeff looked around at the piles of half-eaten snacks and empty soda bottles littering the dorm room. “We’re screwed!”

The door opened. Steven and Connie immediately got to talking, about how amazing their adventure was, about how cool the two of them were in battle, about how Connie could totally use this in her graduate school essay (she had to start that early, of course).

Jeff and Peedee rolled their eyes.

---

Army, a Ruby, was in charge of watching Yellow Zircon as she worked, deep inside an asteroid floating in space. She, too, wore an orange jumpsuit, holding an archaic pick-axe at hitting it against the rock. Army held a Gem destabilizer.

“Hey!” Army called out. “You’re slacking off!”

“I wasn’t designed for this manual labor! Don’t we have machines for this?”

Army primed her destabilizer. “You talk when I tell you to talk!”

“Ugh,” Yellow Zircon muttered. “Hey, this rock seems loose.” She hit the rock again, breaking it off. The whole wall of rock quickly collapsed, opening the asteroid interior out into space.

Army held onto the railing as Yellow Zircon got sucked out. The forcefields went up soon after, letting the pressure equalize. Army checked the time. It was time for her break.

“Eh, we can find her later,” she shrugged.

Out in space, Yellow Zircon folded her arms in disgrace.

“This sucks,” she grumbled.