Templeschool

41. The Breaking Point

AN: Are you guys having fun? I'm on winter break now, and I hope to finish this story by the end of the week.

Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were all excited to test their new weapons, so the group had assembled on the beach to spar. Excited at seeing the gems try out their new weapons, Steven had brought out his folding chair and a soda to watch while Twoie observed with him. When Twoie moved Steven's chair further back, the kid thought his older brother was being overprotective. That was before the fighting started.

Steven flinched lightly as Bismuth cracked a rock apart with her hammer arms. Twoie sat beside him with a tenseness that hadn't left since the gems began sparring. The young kid winced again as Bismuth loudly yelled encouragement at the others. She seemed so nice, but all he could think of was how scary she looked when she charged at Twoie in the memory. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. This Bismuth never hurt his brother, so he needed to stop thinking about her as though she did.

"Steven! Come down and show me what you're made of!" Steven, caught off guard by her comment, choked on his soda. Pearl immediately stammered out some kind of excuse about why Steven couldn't spar to Bismuth, while Twoie patted the kid's back.

"Sorry, Bismuth. You guys are sparring pretty intensely for Steven. We're also half-human, you know?" Twoie chuckled nervously. Steven finally stopped coughing and looked up at Bismuth.

The blacksmith smiled as she dragged Garnet and Pearl into side hugs. "But it's a ritual for the Crystal Gems to spar before battle."

Pearl laughed nervously as she patted Bismuth's arm. "Well, that's true, but things have changed since then. Besides, nothing is going to happen for a while anyway, right, Twoie?" Twoie blinked at Pearl's question. He closed his eyes and thought about all the things that happened after Malachite was stopped.

"No, I don't think anything Homeworld related is going to happen for a long time. Not until Jasper comes back, but that won't be for a while, either." The gems nodded in relief at Twoie's statement. Bismuth frowned as she saw the others agree with him.

Steven hummed in thought. "Why don't we show you some of our rituals? It'll be fun!" He ran up to Pearl with an excited grin. "We could show her badminton! Please?" Pearl smiled and summoned the net and some tools from her gem. She turned to look at Bismuth with a smile.

Bismuth saw the hopeful look on everyone's faces and sighed with a smile. "Alright, then. Why don't you show me these new Crystal Gem rituals?"

For the next couple of hours of everyone had fun together playing activities. For the first activity, Twoie volunteered to referee the badminton game due to an odd amount of players. Afterward, everyone played several rounds of cards, and they made several pizzas in the kitchen. The group finally ended the day with a movie in Steven's bedroom.

Amethyst relaxed against Twoie as the movie reached its climax. Bismuth, Pearl, and Garnet were lounging on Steven's bed while Steven, Twoie, and Amethyst sat cross-legged on the floor. The samurai dude had obtained the ultimate weapon, and now his eyes were all glowy as he prepared to use it. "No, Lonely Blade! Don't use it!" Steven leaned in closer to the tv as Lonely Blade became consumed with power.

"What? If that thing has infinite power, then, of course, Lonely Blade should use it. It just makes sense." The purple gem froze when she felt Twoie tense at Bismuth's words. Amethyst was worried about how Twoie was dealing with everything, and it showed that the time traveler was still bothered by his past.

"Yo, Bismuth. It's because the sword is hella cursed. Even though it makes you super powerful, you end up becoming as bad as the villains by using it." Amethyst lazily glanced back at Bismuth as she explained. Bismuth was staring at her in confusion. Pearl leaned over and whispered something in her ear, and the multi-colored gem dropped the conversation.

When the movie was over, Twoie excused himself with a yawn and headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Steven helped Pearl and Bismuth clean up their dinner. "Hey, Bismuth. Did you have fun today?" The young kid asked as they headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Bismuth hummed in agreement while setting their plates into the sink. "Yeah. I really like these new Crystal Gem rituals." Steven laughed and threw a bunch of used napkins into the trash.

He paused and looked around. Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were all laughing together about something that happened in the movie. "I'm really glad you're here." Bismuth smiled fondly at the group.

"Me too." She put the dishes into the dishrack and watched Steven say goodnight to the other Crystal Gems. Twoie walked out of the bathroom in a hoodie and sweats, jacket slung around one shoulder, and also said goodnight as he headed up the stairs. He paused and looked back at Bismuth.

"Hey, Bismuth. Steven and I are going to bed. You're welcome to try sleeping! Amethyst can explain it to you, and you're also free to use the couch. Good night!" Bismuth smiled and said goodnight to Twoie. She turned to head to look for Amethyst when the purple gem stepped in her path.

"Hey, man. Can we talk to you about something?" Bismuth's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked around to see Garnet and Pearl gesturing for her to follow them. Hiding her concern, she followed the group into Pearl's room. The beautiful platforms with glistening waterfalls was a contrasting serenity to the anxiety that was starting to build up in the gems.

Pearl nervously wrung her ribbon as she stepped forward. "Bismuth, we wanted to talk with you about.... the Breaking Point." Bismuth smiled widely and clapped her hands together.

"So Rose did tell you about the Breaking Point? I had it stashed away before Rose bubbled me, but now that I'm back, not only can I get it for you guys, but I can make sure all of us are equipped with one. No way Homeworld will be able to beat us!" Bismuth grinned as she smacked her hands together.

Garnet stepped forward while adjusting her glasses. "The truth is, Bismuth, we want you to destroy the Breaking Point." The blacksmith's eyes widened in shock.

"Excuse me? The Breaking Point is our best chance of smashing those Upper Crusts into dust. I thought you guys would be with me on this?" She turned her questioning gaze to each of the gems, face falling as no one agreed with her.

Pearl sighed at the disappointment evident on her friend's face. "Bismuth, shattering gems is wrong."

Garnet nodded, "It would make us as bad as the Diamonds. Crystal Gems do not shatter."

Amethyst crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah. No one is using the Breaking Point. It's not right."

Bismuth's eyes were shadowed as she stared at the ground. Her fists clenched tightly. It was all Rose's fault. She had made sure that her friends would turn on her for wanting to use the Breaking Point. That was why she had released her now. Because now, no one would stand with her. But she had to try. "That's exactly what she said." She growled as furrowed her brows in anger. "Why do you agree with her? The Breaking Point is our best advantage. Look at how many of us are left!" The others winced at her implication. "Rose tried her way, and it failed. So let's try my way! We'd be shattering them to protect our home, our allies, to free all gems from Homeworld's tyranny!"

Garnet glared at her old friend. "But we wouldn't be! How many of the gems we shatter could be potential allies? Could be freed from Homeworld because we bubbled them instead of shattering them? How many of our allies were just like the other Homeworld gems before they joined our cause? You'd be as bad as Blue Diamond." Bismuth reared back as though she had been struck. Her friend's words had torn deeply into her.

The grief burned brightly, and Bismuth gritted her teeth together as she saw the slight fear in her friends' eyes. They didn't trust her anymore. "This is all her fault. I was beginning to doubt Rose because she was a leader who didn't want to give her team the best advantage. And now she's poisoned you all into agreeing with her. She's turned you all against me, and you don't even see it!"

"It wasn't her fault." All heads turned to the new voice that had interrupted their conversation. Twoie was standing behind the Crystal Gems, hands tucked into his hoodie pockets. "I told them about the Breaking Point."