Shattered Hearts (Steven Universe)

Chapter 10

Peridot was out of breath from running, and her right leg ached from an injury she had gained from her fall earlier. She panted and breathed in and out until she finally recovered. The sky was filled with dust, and the rock walls around her had holes in them that were big enough to fit gems in them. Yep, this was the Kindergarten, alright. The green gem changed into her old outfit, and tore off her headband, tossing it into the dirt. Her hair wasn't fixable, but the black dye would likely come out over time. She sighed and pulled out her new gem destabilizer. It was a cruel weapon, but she felt more safe with it in her hands, and if the gems found her here, she could just use it on them and escape again while they were regenerating. Peridot gazed up at the smoky sky. Her job here wasn't much, but it was important. She ran over to a nearby tunnel, her legs nearly giving out. The gem hadn't realized how late it was, and sleep was starting to make her vision blurry and her body weak. She didn't need to sleep, but perhaps now without her pursuers behind her, she could rest, even if it was only for a brief period of time. Peridot moved farther into the tunnel and sat down. She was supposed to check on the Cluster, but that could wait until morning. With a yawn, she laid down and closed her eyes, succumbing to the darkness of the hollow space all at once.

Sunlight flooded into the tunnel, and Peridot was awake again. She had spent a full week alone, hiding in the crevices of the Kindergarten. She wasn't too proud of this, but she had gotten some sleep, and her adversaries hadn't found her yet, so that was a victory of sorts. Peridot blinked sleepily and stretched, her fingers scraping against the rock walls around her. She sat up and reached for her destabilizer, but found that it wasn't where she had put it the day before. She stood up and frantically looked around, patting the floor and pacing back and forth. I must've kicked it in my sleep, she thought. Oh, where is it? Where is it? She soon gave up. The weapon wasn't that necessary. She'd just have to find it later. The barrels in her most recent hideout contained gem shards that had been forced together with technology from Home World. The successful experiments were now what she had been assigned to monitor here on Earth. The things hadn't done much lately, however. She poked a container with one of her green fingers, and at her touch, it trembled. Peridot immediately recoiled, but then mentally scolded herself. There was nothing to worry about. The demolished gems inside wouldn't come out of their cylinder until later today. Reinforced steel would have to be enough to hold them back until then. A voice that the gem hadn't heard in a while surprised her. "Sounds good to me!" The words rang out through the birthplace of many gem soldiers. Peridot narrowed her eyes. She remembered that voice, but who did it belong to? It certainly wasn't Ben that had spoken. She stepped outside timidly, but when she saw no one there, she relaxed. It must've been my imagination, she thought. Without any more hesitation, Peridot created a holographic screen with her hands to speak into, and started to send a quick message to home world. "This is Peridot," she murmured. "The fusion experiments are developing properly. Some of them have even emerged early-" She stopped talking abruptly when the life form that had compromised her mission before appeared out of nowhere. Steven! "Are the other ones with you?" she asked nervously, making sure to keep her voice down in case they were there. The strange boy with Rose Quartz's gem shook his head, but then nodded and shrugged his shoulders as if to apologize. Peridot gaped at him and then just scowled, her hologram vanishing. "Of course. Why not?" She put one hand up to her face and brought it down in an exasperated way. Garnet's cry made her stiffen. "Peridot!" This was followed by Amethyst yelling, "There she is!" Peridot gasped and ran off in the opposite direction, activating the tech that allowed her to defy the laws of physics and climb up walls. She continued to run, but still heard Steven say, "Hey! I can't do that!" Pearl's words filled her with more terror. "Neither can she!" Her white spear shot up towards her like a missile, but it didn't hit Peridot since she was near one of the ancient injectors. A smirk formed on her face. "Ha!" she shouted down at the other gems. "You missed!" The spear that hadn't hit Peridot though had hit the machine above her. The rumbling sound made her freeze. The injector fell, tumbling in her direction. Peridot screamed and tried to run, but the heavy injector was faster and hit her back. They both hit the ground at the same time with the resounding sound of the machine crashing and breaking apart. After a moment or two, Peridot burst out of the rubble and fled the gems that meant to hurt her. Her fall had aggravated her crack, but that didn't matter now. She just had to keep running. The purple gem from this very place ran after her, her whip held out in front of her. It wrapped around Peridot, but with a tap of the green gem's finger, the whip carried an electrical current straight towards Amethyst. This caused her to drop her weapon, and once she did, Peridot broke free of her grasp and ran off again. "You Crystal clods!" she yelled back at them as she went. "Go ahead! Wreck this place! See if I care! I already got what I needed!" Pearl and Amethyst were hot on her heels, but the gem had another idea. Raising her arm up, her fingers began to whirl around like helicopter blades, spinning and spinning. They lifted her up into the air, and Peridot couldn't help but laugh as the two rebel gems faded away into the distance. Her smile disappeared soon enough. She was weaponless, and alone. If those gems found her again, she would be done for. She had to come up with a plan. Oh, well. At least she was safe now. Another voice caught her attention then. It couldn't be...how could he be here? "Peri! Peridot, come down from there! What are you doing?" It was Ben! Great, just great...

Author's note: Hello, everyone! I just wanted to say that from now on, each chapter will probably incorporate the show's events into it, including the latest episode with Peridot in it. The way she's been acting now has forced me to change some things in this story, but they're all very minor things. Okay, that's about it for now! Keep reading, and be prepared for a possible hiatus in the near future!
~ awesomeri14