Malley Kite

Chapter 18 Pt.1

Part 1

Greg drove as fast as he could with all the gems in his van. Amethyst and Pearl in seats while Garnet and Malley were sitting in the back. It had been cleaned out since there was plenty of space in the storage house so the fusion and malachite could sit cross–legged comfortably. Eventually, they stopped and while Greg, Amethyst, and Pearl bolted, Garnet and Malley took their time. Garnet noticed Malley's shoulders were shaking so she wrapped an arm around them.

"I know you're nervous and it's okay to be," Garnet said in a near whisper. "But we all knew this day would come sooner or later."

"Yeah but now it's here," Malley whispered back.

"You'll be fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Future vision." Garnet's final words before she released Malley and walked ahead.

Malley stopped momentarily, looked up at the sky and said. "Stars, give me the strength to survive this." She took in some breaths, the anxiety in her muscles started to drop as she caught up with Garnet.

Steven was standing next to Peridot and Lapis when he spotted the other gems. "There they are!" he said pointing them out.

For Lapis, as with most terraforming gems, she required focus to control her element. Sure, she could talk to others while holding up a water tower but she still needed a steady hand. Hearing Steven talk and seeing the crystal gems didn't change anything but when she saw Malley's light–green eyes peering out from behind Garnet, Lapis' powers came to a halt. And the human screamed as he fell down when the water went back into the pool.

Lapis realized too late what happened. "Oops." She said.

The man in the aviator uniform grunted after he landed, he stood up again and dusted himself. "Not cool." He said in a gruff voice.

"Greg got your message and we came too," Pearl explained to Steven.

"Is that the guy giving you trouble?" Amethyst asked.

When Garnet caught up with them, she saw the barking pumpkin behind Lapis. "Hmmm... guard pumpkin needs training."

"As I was sayin'..." came the gruff voice of the aviator. "Who do you hippies think you are? Ruinin' private property!"

"Wait, that barn belongs to my family." Greg cried out as he made his way to the other man.

"Your family...?" The aviator trailed off when he saw Mr. Universe. "Greg?" he asked.

"Andy?" Greg wondered.

As the conversation went on between the humans, Lapis' eyes absentmindedly wondered towards Malley's form, who was at least three crystal gems distance away. 'She seems smaller now, somehow...' Lapis thought to herself. Malley seemed smaller because she was. Malley's attempt at shapeshifting earlier must have taken a great deal of power because she was now shorter than Lapis but taller than the shorty squad.

Meanwhile, Greg introduced his son Steven to his cousin Andy; the aviator. And of course, Steven was thrilled.

"Wow!" Steven exclaimed. "It's really nice to meet you! So are you my cousin too or... my first cousin, once removed?"

Andy's shocked expression melted away to a happier one as he bear–hugged Steven. "Forget that," Andy said.

Seeing Steven squeezed like that, the gems were ready to retaliate including Malley and she would have too if Garnet hadn't stopped her with her arm.

Andy loosened his grip over Steven. "You call me Uncle Andy. Hey, I'm an Uncle. Imagine that."

Malley could feel the tension building up inside her from both Malachite and her own trepidation. All of this negative energy wasn't helping keep Malachite calm and her negative–self made that clear with her talk against Lapis. Malley tried to reason with her internally but calling Lapis a sociopathic sea–witch seemed to be crossing a line.