Spinel's New Game: FUTURE

Chapter 11 - Garnet's Machine

Rhodolite and Pearl walked down the staircase to the dark basement of the beach house, the bubbled shards of Amethyst and Greg in Rhodolite's hand. Rhodolite shivered at the sight of the basement, remembering how she and Amethyst had been attacked by Garnet down here. She could tell Pearl was clearly uncomfortable here as well.

They made their way into the room that contained Garnet's machine. Peridot was sitting on the floor with a gear in her hand. Part of the machine was broken open. Lapis was looking through a hole near a section of the steel contraption. The two looked up as Rhodolite and Pearl entered.

"Any luck?" Rhodolite asked.

"Unfortunately not," Peridot murmured sadly, setting the gear on the floor. "I've taken multiple parts out, examined some odd thing in the back, but nothing seems to make sense. It's not a normally constructed object; there's gem powers involved."

"Well, tons of things on Homeworld use gem power," Pearl pointed out. "You're a certified technician, right? Shouldn't you know how it works even with gem powers involved?"

"That's correct," Peridot agreed with a grim expression on her face. "I know most gem powered devices on Homeworld. Stuff using Hübnerite light, electricity from Antigorites, all that jazz. This isn't normal gem powered equipment though."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rhodolite asked.

"Could mean multiple things," Peridot answered, not meeting Rhodolite's eyes. "Some bizarre mutated gem, maybe a corruption monster-"

"Or something powerful," Lapis butted in. "Like a Diamond."

"A Diamond!?" Pearl shrieked. Rhodolite took a step back.

"Okay, don't panic them, Lapis," Peridot murmured nervously. "Yes.. it does appear to be something created by the means of a... Diamond... but we can't be one-hundred percent sure and-"

"A Diamond?" Rhodolite shouted in fear. Pearl was shaking. "W- what do you mean? The Diamonds are good now! Was a Diamond involved in this?"

"Well, wasn't Garnet good too?" Lapis asked, crossing her arms.

"She... she is good," Rhodolite defended her friend. "We don't know the whole story yet." 

"Let's just hope it's not a Diamond," Pearl murmured grimly. "We're nothing against them. Do you know what it could mean if... White... turned against us?"

"Let's not think about that, there's other explanations... I hope," Peridot sighed, waving her hand dismissively. They all sat in silence for a good minute, staring at nothing. Suddenly, there was a loud whooshing sound. The warp pad had activated!

"Who's using the warp?" Rhodolite asked. The four gems looked at each other and then began to run upstairs. Once they had made it to the top of the stairs, they looked around. The warp pad was empty. Was someone in here with them?

"Did someone just warp in here?" Peridot asked nervously, echoing Rhodolite's thoughts. 

Just then, Rhodolite's heart sank. She stared at the empty table in the main room. The bubble containing Ruby's gemstone was gone. "Where's Ruby?" Rhodolite asked. The others looked at the table and gasped.

"Oh no," Pearl breathed out, her hands shaking. Then, Rhodolite had a terrible thought. Rhodolite immediately turned and rushed upstairs to the bedroom. Her worst fear was confirmed.

The bubble that contained Pink Diamond's shards was missing, aside from Amethyst's and Greg's which had been bubbled separately. "No," Rhodolite huffed. She ran back downstairs and informed everyone of the problem. 

"What are we going to do?" Pearl cried.

"Sapphire must have warped inside when we downstairs," Rhodolite said, "grabbed the bubbles, and ran outside. We had to have just missed her."

"She probably saw with her future vision when we were downstairs," Pearl thought aloud. "She got Ruby and the shards."

"This is bad," Peridot muttered, staring at the ground.

Rhodolite felt a sinking feeling in her heart. Garnet was back and had the shards. What was going to happen now? At least they had the shards containing Amethyst and Greg.