Shattered Hearts (Steven Universe)

Chapter 5

The voices grew steadily louder as Peridot hid yet again. A leaf somehow ended up underneath her visor, and she took off her gear to dislodge it and watch again. She recognized the smallest intruder first. "Steven," she whispered to herself. The one who had Rose's gem and had stopped her activation of the Kindergarten. Oh, he'd pay for what he'd done! Three others appeared in the field with him, three people that Peridot's visor told her were teenage humans. Oddly enough, they looked a lot like her gem enemies. The group fooled around for a bit, and then the white haired one noticed her escape pod. She hadn't had time to hide it well, so thevship was out in the open. Peridot cursed at her own stupidity and heard the girl tell Steven to get inside of it for a "picture". No! They can't touch that! she thought frantically. She wanted to stop them, but before she could, the boy with Rose's gem stepped inside of the pod. At the touch of another gem, the ship whirred to life, and Steven soon was playing with it, pressing random buttons. He's getting his dirty hands all over my tech! Peridot scowled and moved to stop him, but when the pod hit the ground after a chase and filled itself up with greenish fluid, she hid herself again. Steven had pressed the rehabilitation button on the ship, causing the pod to fill with liquid that was life sustaining to gems. The pod rose into the air, and the boy accidentally fired at the humans, causing them to scream and scatter. Peridot was amused by this. This is fine. They're destroying themselves so that I won't have to do it. There was the sound of approaching footsteps, and Peridot's green eyes widened. The Crystal Gems! They were there quickly, Garnet in the lead, then Pearl, and then Amethyst. When they saw the gem ship shooting at the group of humans, they looked up at it with hostility. "I knew it!" Pearl shouted. "That flare led us right to the escape pod!" "What's going on here?" Amethyst added. The people there called for help, and the group heard them. "We'll save you, humans!" Pearl declared. She threw her spear at the pod, and the weapon went right through it. "I can't believe it. Peridot's still inside," Pearl said to the other gems. "She's probably still weak from the landing!" Garnet told her two allies. "Don't hold back!" Pearl and Amethyst nodded. Amethyst aimed her whip at the pod, and held it still while Garnet pulled it down. Peridot watched nervously. Garnet's words were hard to hear from where she was, but she heard it nonetheless. Garnet summoned her gaunlets, and held one hand up to punch the ship. Peridot trembled. I built that ship! I built it with my own two hands without the help of anyone else, and now they're going to break it! They're still destroying my things... Before Garnet's fist could go through the pod, one of the humans went in front of the angry gem. "Wait!" she cried. Garnet's fist stopped moving before it could hit the girl. "Steven's in there," she gasped. Garnet's mouth fell open from realization, and she took the ship and cracked it open like an egg against her knee. Steven fell out, coated in green goop. No! My escape pod! My tech, entirely destroyed! Peridot wanted to run out and attack the Crystal Gems for ruining her equipment, but Garnet's words rang inside of her head. You've got a lot of nerve taking refuge here, of all places! I don't know what kind of tech you've got up in that deadbeat escape pod, but I've got news for you. You lost. Stay off of my planet! Garnet was right. They had lost in the end. Peridot was filled with sudden grief. They'd lost to a couple of useless rebels! With Jasper most likely taken hostage by the vengeful gems, she had no one to confide in, and no way to go back to Home World without the use of a warp pad, and the only ones around that functioned properly were in their hideout. Tears filled the green gem's eyes, and she fled the scene, going back to the forest where she'd hidden originally. A house appeared in the distance, the house of someone that she never thought she'd need-until now. Peridot knocked on the door rapidly. Please answer, please, please, please. The door opened, and Ben stood at the entrance. His dark hair was ruffled from sleep, and his eyes were half closed. When he noticed who was standing there, he seemed to wake up instantly. "Peridot?" he exclaimed. "You're back! I thought you weren't going to-" "Yeah, well, I changed my mind," she snapped. "Just let me in."