The Gems in Us All (HIATUS)

Betrayal...?

"Okay, so what am I thinking right now!?"

Silver crossed his arms. "I don't know. Just because I have powerful telekinesis does not mean that I have telepathy!"

"Oh come on!" Daylight flew about his head. "Just try!"

Silver's eyes narrowed, then pressed his fingers against his temples and attempted to read the bee's mind. Or so Daylight thought.

Suddenly he had a terrible headache, and Silver smirked. "See? That's the best I can do."

"As well as freeze yourself to the chair." Wind added.

"What!?" He looked down at the thin layer of ice holding him to the wood. "Ah great..."

Autumn giggled, looking up from his coloring page. "Hey, you think I should make the flowers red or purple?"

"I don't care...?" Daylight shook his head. "How can you still be this immature, and yet fully be a manifested Amethyst?"

Autumn shrugged, then picked up a purple crayon and continued to color the picture. "I never got to mature, I guess... stuff went bad before that."

"Yeah... bad." Wind mumbled. He was lying on the couch, his feet propped up on the back as his head hung off the cushions, upside down. "Nine identified, eleven to go. North, Harvest, Eclipse, Summer, Winter, Spring, Blizzard, Rose, Sapling, Storm and Heat."

"Power-wise, I think Blizzard and Storm are the easiest to identify." Tails replied. "Manifested, we have Wind, Thaw, Daylight, Autumn, Ice, Leaf, Charge, South and Stream."

"Actually..." They turned as Leaf and Charge stepped in, with an armadillo and a squirrel following. "We found at least one more." Leaf placed her hands on the armadillo. "This is Mighty, keeper of Summer Solstice."

"Whatever that means." Mighty replied.

"It means you're one of us!" Autumn announced. "You're gonna help us save the world...!"

Mighty smirked. "Better than being homeless, I guess."

Wind draped an arm over Mighty's shoulder. "Welcome to the club, Mighty..."
______________________________________

"This isn't working. They've gotten too smart."

Morganite clenched her scepter tightly. "Shut your mouth, Tourmaline! Destroying those Amethysts is our sole reason for existing. There has to be a way to take them down...divide them...!"

"Why not use the wee deserter?" Citrine asked. "Regardless of where his loyalties lie, he was still made like the rest of us."

"Yes... Excellent suggestion, Citrine...!" Morganite tapped her scepter onto the floor. "Ring of magic, I call upon you...bring me the mind of Nephrite...!"
______________________________________

"Autumn!" Wind bent down over the hedgehog, trying to hold him still so he wouldn't hurt himself. "Autumn, come on. Don't do this!"

"What's going on?"

Wind turned as Amy stepped in, then back to Autumn. "Autumn was fine just a second ago, then he just collapsed and started convulsing!"

Autumn's movement stopped and he was still again, then he gave a soft moan, his eyelids fluttering as he stirred.

"Autumn...Autumn, are you-Ah!" Wind yelped as Autumn's fist suddenly met his jaw, and he fell backward. "Ah geez...!"

They looked as Autumn sat up, his body taking on a crystalline form and the whites of his eyes turning a dark red.
"There you are...!" He hissed, though his voice sounded different.

"Autumn...!?" Wind scrambled to his feet, dodging a spike of crystal that was fired at him. "Whoa!"

"Autumn!" Silver grabbed the younger hedgehog's wrists, holding him against the wall. "What has gotten into you!?"

"I'm not Autumn anymore...!" The voice coming out of his mouth was definitely not his, and he was grinning rather creepily. "I never was...! I've always been Nephrite!"

"Nephrite!?" Daylight hissed. "That was his name before he turned! If he did turn...!"

Autumn grinned. "What can I say? I'm an excellent actor!"
He flung several more crystals at the Amethysts, and they dodged the best they could, ducking behind furniture and other objects. "Come on...play with me!" He giggled.

"There's no way he's doing this on purpose." Silver hissed. "One of the Obsidians must be controlling him."

"Do you have a plan on how to get him back?"

"Leave it to me."
Silver closed his eyes. Look, regardless of whether you like me or not, people are gonna get hurt if we don't cooperate, Ice!

Ice sighed. Fine...!

Silver nodded then stood up. "I think you could use a time out!" He shouted.

Autumn giggled, flipping up a few stairs. "Finally, someone to play with!"

"Autumn, you want a family, right? Not just to be somebody's puppet?"

Autumn's eyes cleared a little. "Family...!?" His true voice whimpered, then he reverted back, holding his head. "N-No! Stop trying to psyche me out!"

Silver dodged a bolt of dark energy. "Shadow and Rouge love you, Autumn! Do you think they'd want you to be doing this?"

"No! I-I mean yes! I don't like this game...!"

Silver flew over rapidly, wrapping his arm tightly around Autumn. "I don't like this game either..." He placed a hand on Autumn's forehead. "...so I'm going to help you."

Autumn yelped as energy flashed over him, then he gave a soft whimper as he collapsed into Silver's arms, his body turning back to flesh and blood.

"Is he okay now...?" Daylight asked.

"Yeah...I think so."

"What happened...?" Mighty asked, holding Ray close to him as he stood up from behind the television set.

"...Somebody tried to fool us...!"