Chapter 22: New Recruit, Old Friend
When Red finally made it back to the Kindergarten the sun was beginning to rise. She held the small piece of stone in her hand carefully. There was no telling what could happen if she dropped it. Red was happy to have gotten away without trouble, even if she did have to lie to Sapphire.
Red shook her head. "Stop feeling guilty. You don't owe her anything."
Red took the chance to examine the stone more closely. It was a smooth rectangle aside from the text written into it. The words were definitely written in an ancient form of gem dialect but she couldn't read it herself. Something about the tablet however was unmistakable. It was something to fear. Red understood this the second she picked it up.
No one else must of seen it. Red was sure of it. What no one knew was when she picked up the tablet, time seemed to slow down. In a matter of seconds, Red's memories had begun to resurface.
No...Red frowned at her own thoughts. Not my memories. They were, in fact, Ruby's memories. They were memories of missions. They were memories of forests. They were memories of Crystal Gems.
Red had never felt more disgusted. Fighting for the Earth? It just didn't make sense to her. Why would she have ever wanted to save something so...insignificant?
Regaining her memories meant nothing to her, Red decided. She was still Red and if she played her cards right, she could stay that way forever. Red smartly hid the tablet within her gem. She didn't want the others getting their hands on something so powerful.
Sighing with a saddened sense of determination, Red walked into their base. Jasper must have been in her chamber but Lapis was sitting in the break room reading a magazine.
"Red?" Lapis asked, lowering the reading material. "What were you doing out?"
The smaller gem narrowed her eyes skeptically.
"Is something wrong?" Lapis frowned.
"No." Red decided. "I just thought you'd be somewhere else."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lapis asked as she placed her magazine on the table.
"Still playing dumb?" Red pointed an accusing finger towards the blue gem. "Jasper doesn't see it but I do. Don't think I trust you for a second. I know how you are with those rebels so tell me, why are you even here?" She added that last sentence as more of an afterthought.
Lapis blinked a few times before answering confidently, "I'm here because I support Jasper. And for bringing down the Crystal Gems, of course. Isn't that why you're here?"
Red growled but didn't answer.
"Listen. I know what you are and what you're doing but I've been in a merciful mood lately."
"Because of Sapphire?" Lapis raised an eyebrow.
"I- what?" Red scoffed. "What does she have to do with anything?"
Lapis didn't answer in hopes that Red would continue but instead the blue gem only added to her frustration.
"Lapis. If you really want to prove that you're on our side, then I have a job for you." As Red walked closer, Lapis could feel the heat radiating off of her. "I'm going to call a meeting to talk about the new plan. Your job is to make sure everything goes exactly as we say and if even one thing goes wrong you can bet your life that you need to leave before I find you."
Lapis nodded begrudgingly.
"I'm done with letting them always have the upper hand. Today we turn the tables." Red glared down at her tattered glove. "Go get Jasper in here." Red ordered, turning on her heels and walking out of the room.
"We have work to do."
*****
Red and Lapis walked towards the temple in silence.
"Huh...this'll work." Red grabbed a nearby rock on the sand and chucked it at the window which effectively broke it. The two then stood their ground, watching as the Crystal Gems stormed out.
"Red?" Steven questioned. "What are you doing here?" He had returned to his normal state since his experience with the tablet and had just been listening to the gems explain what had happened. He didn't remember anything.
"Well, hello to you too. I see you're doing well." Red rolled her eyes. She glanced at the group. Pearl and Amethyst stood on the sides with their weapons drawn and Steven stood in front of the group with his shield. Red was irked to find her eyes trailing to Sapphire more than she cared for.
"You could've just knocked," Sapphire crossed her arms.
"I could've. It was urgent."
"Oh, urgent," Pearl said. "Because that fixes our window. What did I tell you Sapphire? We should've attacked her when we had the chance."
Red laughed. "Go ahead and try something. I'll guarantee you I'll shatter more than just a window." A certain glint in Red's eyes told the gems she meant it.
"Where's Jasper?" Amethyst asked.
"At the base," Red smiled. Lapis shot the others a look which no one bothered to notice. "After all, we couldn't keep the place defenseless. Someone could sneak in." The gems' narrowed their eyes. Something was off.
"I came to tell you that I'm done with...whatever we're doing." Red crossed her arms, keeping her eyes trained away from Sapphire. "Placing traps, sneaking around. Let's just get to the point, shall we?" She grinned into her words, "On the behalf of Homeworld, I am officially declaring war. The next time we meet will be the last. It'll be an all or nothing, winner takes all."
"W-war?" Steven's eyes widened. Lapis turned to Red, seeming surprised too. Had they not discussed this?
"We as our own faction had to pick up the pace for Homeworld." Red shrugged, "Once your small group is taken care of, nothing's gonna be around to stop Homeworld from reclaiming what was rightfully theirs."
"The Earth will never be Homeworld's!" Pearl snarled. "It never was!" At the speed of light Pearl charged Red but she was ready. With near to no effort she side-stepped the attack, grabbed Pear's arm and threw her back towards the gems. She landed with a thud at their feet. Amethyst rushed over to help her up while Sapphire and Steven took up their battle stances.
"You people don't listen. I didn't come for a fight," Red glared. "Not yet. I just felt it was fair to let you know to prepare." She grinned again at some unspoken joke. "Gather your forces."
"Red," Lapis cut in, her eyes following something in the distance.
Red looked up at her. "Time to leave already?" Red smiled like she had already won. She turned to look at the Crystal Gems and gave them her best 'good luck' grin before they left.
The Crystal Gems stayed outside for a moment, talking. They all seemed to agree on one thing. Red didn't come by to warn them about anything. They searched the house for anything that was wrong and they stayed wary all night.
And yet, none of them noticed the single gem that was missing from their bubbled collection.
Before Red and the others even got to the base they knew they had the advantage. Red's plan had worked. They had distracted the gems just long enough for Jasper to steal them their new recruit. Red held the bubble, careful not to pop it before they arrived home, feeling a familiar sense of victory.
"It's been too long," Red grinned, "Bismuth."