Chapter 17: Notes

3rd Person P.O.V.


1 year after Pink Diamond returned to Earth


The gem reformed after hours later. She looked different. Her bright colorful form was darker now.


Her gem placement changed. Her gem is shaped like a heart, on her chest. Now, it's turned upside down, just like her mentality.


Her Mickey Mouse-style shoes were replaced with pointy fronts like spikes. Her shoulder pads were replaced with sharper ends, just like her shoes. Her pigtails are even messier than before.


Her pupils are red and dilated. There's black marks under her eyes looking like tears. Only, it's not only suppose to represent her tears, it represents the scarring on her face when she clawed herself earlier.


She looks around, nothing has changed, other than herself. She can still remember the message like a video is playing in her head.


"Hello gems! I hope you all are handling Era-3 well. And congratulations to the first year anniversary when it started and upon my arrival. It's good to be back here with my friends and family. And the Diamond Authority is looking prouder than ever with our new addition to it. I'm sure there's some problems here and there, but me and the Diamonds will gladly resolve any issues with Era-3."


New addition to the Diamond Authority? Is there a fifth Diamond? Impossible, there can't be a fifth Diamond.


So who can possibly ever be in the Diamond Authority? The only gems that can be in there that isn't a Diamond are the pearls but they're just servants. What did they do to get in?


They must've done a great service to get all four Diamonds to agree. Pink and Blue are easily persuaded. Yellow and especially White are the most difficult to even impress.


But this new addition isn't her main concern as she wants to exact vengeance to Pink, her former playmate. How? She's protected by the Diamonds.


Perhaps assassinating her is out of the question. It's not like shattering her would hurt her enough. Mainly, because she was "shattered" before, at least, that's what she implied in the message.


Earth is her colony. That's it! She'll destroy Pink's first and only colony.


Homeworld has plenty of equipment that could destroy planets. Injectors, geo-weapons, bombs, etc. Now she just needs to get them.


Of course, she needs to steal what she would need for her plan to work because there's no way they would willingly give her the equipment. She's heard of the custom-made weapons gems create in the armory, too. She wonders what she would use.


She doesn't want to make it quick, she wants Pink to watch it die in front of her eyes. Injectors should do the trick. With what?


They're made to suck up the minerals from the planet to create gems and she has no idea how to create gems, nor does she want to. She would need at least 25 injectors to even make a dent out of the planet, and she can't steal that many and not get caught. Then she remembered injectors don't just suck up stuff in planets, it can also pump stuff into things.


They pump the minerals into the ground after they concentrate and gems burst from the ground. What can kill organic life? Doesn't Yellow Diamond have bio-poison in her lab?


Certainly, she wouldn't mind if she lost an entire injectors worth of bio-poison. She needs to get the stuff and plan it out. She runs to the Warp Pad and is off.


Homeworld:


She warped in the central area of Homeworld. There's many types of gems traveling around the place like it was some public venue. This is definitely a new era if they're doing that.


And it's all unorganized, not everyone is working. No gems are in a sort where the type of gems match (like a group of amethysts, except there's no groups of the same gem, it's all mixed). She feels like she'll stick out like a sore thumb.


She grabbed a nearby blank to cover herself so nobody would see how she really looks. She can hear gems talking about random things.


(Amethyst Guard) That was some speech.


(Ruby Guard) Yeah. It's feels odd that it's been a year. Time normally goes faster than this.


(Amethyst) Guard) Probably because of what happened that night. I mean, a lot happened. Yellow and Blue go to Earth, they come back with the Crystap Gems, they're invited to the Palace, the Batman goes into The Chamber and comes out untouched, Steven Universe throws a ball, White Diamond shuts it down quickly, Pink Diamond returns, and all those gems on Earth were healed. And it happened all in a single night.


(Ruby Guard) Some crazy night, huh?


(Amethyst Guard) You bet.


The Batman? Steven Universe? Who are those two?


And did all of that really happen in one night?


(Spinel) Excuse me...


She asked politely and a little quietly. She doesn't remove the hood she had around her head to reveal her face.


(Spinel) Who is the Batman and Steven Universe?


(Amethyst Guard) You don't know them?


(Ruby Guard) Have you been living under a rock? You haven't seen the news?


(Spinel) I just recently heard it... I would like to know.


(Amethyst Guard) The Batman and Steven Universe are both humans.


Humans? Those primitive creatures on Earth?


(Spinel) Humans?


(Amethyst Guard) Okay, let me explain real quick. I know what you're thinking; "There's no way a human could do all that." We thought the same but the Batman likes to exploit us underestimating humans.


(Ruby Guard) Anyway, the Batman and Steven Universe are the ones responsible for Era-3. The Batman fought Yellow Diamond and lived! And she had her sword and he broke it!


He broke her sword? That's... not possible, even for humans. Her sword has slain countless enemies of Yellow Diamond and he destroyed it! How?!


(Spinel) Not... possible...


(Ruby Guard) Apparently, it is.


(Amethyst Guard) He looks like that flying rodent on Earth. What's it call? A bird?


(Ruby Guard) A bat.


(Amethyst Guard) Bat! That's what it is. Oh, that's why he's called Batman! Because he's dresses like a bat!


She had forgotten amethysts aren't very smart. Even rubies are smarter than them and they're dumb, too.


(Ruby Guard) He has a cape, pointy ears.


(Amethyst Guard) The ears look awesome.


(Ruby Guard) And a belt that carries his equipment around his waist.


(Amethyst Guard) I heard he can fly.


(Ruby Guard) He can't fly.


(Amethyst Guard) Bats fly. He's a bat.


(Ruby Guard) No, he's not part bat. Lemme set this straight: Batman isn't related to a bat in anyway. And he has no special abilities. He's just a human in a costume.


(Amethyst Guard) If you want straight answers, ask Steven Universe. He knows Batman better than all of Homeworld. He's on Earth.


(Spinel) Earth?


(Ruby Guard) Yeah, Earth. The Warp Pad over there will take you to Little Homeworld. A society where Steven Universe built for gems who don't want to live on Homeworld anymore.


She needs to talk to this Steven Universe first. Both humans could be a threat to her plan, especially the Batman.


(Amethyst Guard) Oh, and the Batman is also part of the Diamond Authority.


That's the addition?! A human?! Especially one that dresses like a rodent.


(Amethyst Guard) Crazy huh?


(Ruby Guard) I heard the Diamonds wanted him to make them look good.


(Amethyst Guard) Not that I could blame 'em. Pink Diamond really embarrassed them all.


They both noticed the hooded gem was gone.


(Amethyst Guard) Where'd she go?


(Ruby Guard) I dunno.


Earth:


She mysterious gem warped to Earth, looking for Steven Universe. Wait, she never asked what he looked like! She only knows what the Batman looks like, kind of.


He's a human, that's a start, but Earth is full of humans. Hopefully, Steven Universe is the only human in Little Homeworld. If not, this will be difficult.


She looks around, but is immediately blinded by the bright light in the sky. She groaned in annoyance.


(Spinel) What is that bright orb in the sky?


(???) It's the sun.


She flinched and turned around to meet a human wearing a pink accessory around it's top half, these foot thong thingys on it's feet, and curly hair. Seeing as it's the first face she sees here and is a human, she'll take a wild guess that it's him.


(Spinel) Are you Steven Universe?


(Steven) Um, yeah.


(Spinel) Perfect...


She smiled underneath the hood.


(Steven) Um, who are you?


(Spinel) I'm... a gem...


(Steven) I can tell. I mean, what kind of gem are you?


(Spinel) I'm a... spinel...


She hopes he won't remember her. It would ruin what she has planned. Wait, he can't see her face, so she's good, for now.


Her voice might need to change.


(Steven) A spinel? Did you come from Homeworld?


(Spinel) Obviously. Where else I would come from?


(Steven) Earth? Lots of gems were made on Earth.


(Spinel) I was made on Homeworld.


(Steven) So, what're you doing here?


(Spinel) I'm a lost gem. I recently got released from a bubble and I have no idea what's going on.


She pretended she's a lost, scared gem who is oblivious to the new society. Only half of that is true.


(Steven) Oh, I know how to help with that. Follow me.


He gestured her to follow him. She kept the blanket wrapped around her like a hood.


(Steven) Can you... take that off? I would like to see what you look like?


(Spinel) No... I'm not worth looking at...


She states coldly. She actually believed what she said.


(Steven) O-Okay... You don't really have to hide who you are, just so you know. Nobody will judge you, not me anyway.


He's being nice, why? He had just met her for two minutes and he's being nice. Are all humans like this?


She followed him into a little shack and he grabbed something from a chest next to the door.


(Steven) Read this. This will help you catch up.


He hands her a notecard. It opened like a book and there was words written in English.


(Steven) Oh, right. You can read English. Here.


He took the card and replaced it with the exact same card, but wrote in the language she understands. This is what she reads:


"Hello Gem! You must recently heard the fortunate news of Era-3. If you happen to not have knowledge of what happened in the past, here's a quick rundown of the major events in the previous eras.


• Pink Diamond finally got her colony, Earth.
• A rebellion was formed, the Crystal Gems. A team meant to form against the colonization of Earth.
• Pink Diamond was "shattered," we'll explain that momentarily.
• The Diamonds struck the Earth with a blast in retaliation of Pink Diamond's demise.
• Thousands of years later, the Diamonds [Yellow Diamond, mostly] attempted to destroy the planet with a weapon called the Cluster.
• The Cluster was stopped.
• Rose Quartz, the shatterer of Pink Diamond, surrendered herself to Homeworld, only the Rose Quartz took the form of a human named Steven Universe.
• Steven Universe is the offspring of Rose Quartz.
• Steven fled Homeworld and escaped somehow.
• Yellow and Blue Diamond came to Earth and it was a night they'll never forget.
• They learned the truth that Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond, and they met the Batman.
• The Batman defeated Blue and Yellow Diamond within the same hour, and assisted in destroying their ships.
• The Diamonds, Crystal Gems, and Batman went to Homeworld to make a compromise with White Diamond.
• White Diamond murdered Steven Universe by removing his gem, and lets Pink Diamond out.
• Pink brought Steven back from the dead.


It was after that, they made the decision to change their ways to have Pink return to Homeworld. But after what White did, she never wanted to return with them. Steven made a compromise that everyone agreed with. The Diamonds can visit with Pink part time and Pink can be treated like a Diamond. And she spends most of her time on Earth. If there's any questions of the sudden change of rules, expectations, and events, please ask Steven Universe or the Diamonds and they'll answer any questions the best they can."


Pink spent most of the time when fighting a war and being trapped inside a human body. She can understand why she couldn't come back for at least the 6000 years since the war has ended recently. But she's been active for exactly a year and she didn't come to the Garden to check on her best friend, not to mention she had told her to wait for her as in it's a game.


(Spinel) Where is Pink Diamond?


She wonders if she's actually looking for her right now, which is not likely.


(Steven) She's on Homeworld, working with the Diamonds.


Of course.


(Spinel) Did she mention anybody there...?


A pathetic attempt to see if she has even mentioned her.


(Steven) Other than the Diamonds? No, I don't think so. Are you expecting her?


(Spinel) No.


She desperately wanted to scream yes.


(Steven) What happened there?


He caught a glimpse of the black lines under her eyes. The scars are noticeable.


(Steven) Did somebody attack you?


(Spinel) No...


(Steven) What--


(Spinel) I'm fine...


She dismissed the topic of her appearance.


(Steven) I'm sorry for whatever happened to you. And sorry for you not being comfortable with showing yourself.


(Spinel) Y-You don't have to apologize... It's not you I'm mad at...


She mumbled under her breath.


(Steven) What was that?


(Spinel) Nothing.


(Steven) Okay...


She decided to change the topic.


(Spinel) Can you explain to me what the Batman is?


(Steven) Oh, of course.


He became excited.


(Steven) I can call him over here if I wanted to because he gave me this.


He showed her the device that Batman contacts him with.


(Steven) I can talk to him on here. It's like a communicator for Earth except it doesn't have a screen.


(Spinel) I just need to ask some questions about him.


(Steven) Okay. Do you want to take notes?


(Spinel) Take notes?


(Steven) It's term for writing down things that are important.


(Spinel) Oh, yes, I would very much like to take notes.


(Steven) Use the back of the card to write down the things you wanna write. If you're out of space, then use the front side. Here's a pen.


She took the pen and flipped the card over to where she has plenty of space to write. She already wrote something down.


(Spinel) Can the Batman fly?


(Steven) Um, no, not really. He can glide which is like flying except his falling down slowly. It's his way of traveling sometimes. He uses his grapple to get up to high places. To answer it the question properly, it's a half no, half yes.


While it didn't make much sense to her, she still wrote down what he can do.


(Spinel) How does the Batman fight?


(Steven) That's a little bit of a question I can't answer exactly. He fights in multiple forms that gems are not taught. I've seen the training facilities for gems on Homeworld, they're nothing compared to Earth. Most gems aren't much of a challenge to him. With his strength and agility, he often doesn't need to fight professional against gems because he can hit harder and stronger than most. And he is occasionally brutal. Just a few weeks ago, a riot took place in Homeworld by a couple of quartz gems. Batman was already there for some meeting and when he heard the riot, he was there within a few seconds like that. I didn't get to see the fight because I was on Earth. But when I came to Homeworld to see where they are, I felt bad for them.


(Spinel) What did he do?


(Steven) One of them, he broke her arm by bending it three different ways. The next one was folded in half backwards. The third one had her arms and legs tied together like a knot, I don't even know how he did it. And the rest had bruises and scratches everywhere. He brutalized them.


She made note of that.


(Spinel) Does the Batman shatter?


(Steven) No, never! He wouldn't.


(Spinel) Really?


(Steven) Yes.


(Spinel) Interesting... why?


(Steven) I... I asked him not to.


(Spinel) You pleaded with him?


(Steven) I don't like seeing gems get shattered, and he doesn't like taking lives.


She made note of that as well. He noticed that the type of questions she's asking. They seemed related to each other a little, but what would she need that information for?


He can't read her writing because it's in gem. He does remember Bruce calibrating Detective Mode to translate gem writings to English.


(Steven) I wish I had Detective Mode.


(Spinel) Detective Mode?


She stopped writing.


(Spinel) What is that?


(Steven) It's a machine thingy built into Batman's cowl. It allows him to see things through solid walls and stuff. Like human skeletons, gems, and it can read a human and gems identity and condition.


(Spinel) R-Really?


(Steven) Yeah! It can also translate gem writing to English, which is an Earth writing language. I just wanted to read what you wrote.


(Spinel) It's nothing special...


She gets up.


(Spinel) I have to go now...


She starts to walk away.


(Steven) Come back soon!


She stopped in her tracks.


(Spinel) Did you just... invited me to come back?


(Steven) Yeah. If you want. Little Homeworld can be a perfect place for you to live in if you're tired of Homeworld.


Did he treated her like a friend?


(Spinel) Why are you so... nice?


(Steven) Why not? Everyone deserves kindness. Even strangers like you.


She blushed. Why is he so nice and understanding? So different than Pink.


He's the offspring of Pink Diamond and he's checking on her better than Pink ever did. It's a shame he has to die in order to punish Pink.


(Spinel) N-No!


(Steven) Huh?


(Spinel) Not you!


Why is she feeling bad for planning to kill him and his home?!


(Steven) Are you okay?


(Spinel) I'm fine! Stop asking me!


He held his hands up and backed away from her. She's puzzled. How can she punish Pink and keep him alive?


She can't kill him, she doesn't want to. But she wants Pink to suffer. She doesn't care about the Batman at all.


Mostly because she's never seen him in person. Then she realized that Steven had to go because he caught a glimpse of her. He'll ruin everything when she puts her plan into effect!


She tried brainstorming all the possible ways she can execute her plan and not kill him.


(Spinel) That's it!


She knew how. She giggled. Steven was a little creeped out by her silence.


(Spinel) I'll see you later, Steven Universe...


She said before she walked away, leaving Steven worried and confused about if he angered her or not.


End of Chapter 17


4/12/2021 (my Birthday!)

Comment