Beta

[Open Ext. The Barn]

(Steven and Amethyst are walking through a grassy field while Amethyst is cracking her newly-obtained flail.)

AMETHYST: Did you see that? Wa-poosh, just wa-poosh!

(The scene is set, showing Amethyst and Steven walking somewhere)

STEVEN: That's great, Amethyst. You're getting so fast.

AMETHYST: No! This is worse! This morning it was like wshh! Just wshh! Superfast, like wshh-wshh!

STEVEN: Uh-huh. I think this is why a day off would be good for you. You should take a break from obsessing over Jasper.

AMETHYST: begrudgingly dispels her flail and sighs Are you sure we have to do this now?

STEVEN: Yes! Visiting Pеridot and Lapis will be so much fun!

AMETHYST: Yeah, 'cause whеn I think "fun", I think "Lapis".

STEVEN: I wonder what they're up to.

AMETHYST: Maybe they drove each other crazy and burned the barn down.

STEVEN: Woah... They sure did something to the barn.

(Steven and Amethyst stop walking, having reached the barn, and stare at the now heavily-modified barn. Some modifications includes a truck placed into the ceiling, the silo moved to cover up the previously broken side of the barn, a small tent next to it with a green Canadian flag, and various ornaments hanging around. Peridot, wearing a bowtie, and Lapis are seen sitting on the back of the truck, watching "Camp Pining Hearts" on a TV.)

PERCY (TV): But Paulette, I need you!

PERIDOT: Oh, get over it, Percy. Go make another friendship bracelet.

LAPIS: Seriously.

STEVEN: calling out Lapis! Peridot! Hi!

(Peridot and Lapis look down and see Steven and Amethyst. They both smile ecstatically as Lapis floats down with her water wings and Peridot crawls into the truck to exit from inside the barn.)

LAPIS: Steven! It's so good to see you again!

STEVEN: You too, Lapis!

PERIDOT: Amethyst! Something looks different about you.

AMETHYST: shocked Like what?

PERIDOT: Have you grown taller since the last time I saw you?

AMETHYST: Nope, still short.

PERIDOT: laughs You're welcome! For the joke.

STEVEN: Wow, you guys are looking good! And I love what you did to the barn!

PERIDOT: Awh, I know. But wait, wait! You guys have to see the inside!

PERIDOT: Lapis, fly us in!

LAPIS: ... No.

[Trans. Int. the Barn]

(The four proceed to step into the barn.)

PERIDOT: Welcome to our home away from Homeworld!

STEVEN: runs to the previously broken wall Woah, you made the wall an aquarium!

(Steven stares at the aquarium, when the alien plushie that Peridot previously won, its neck slightly ripped, floats by inside, startling Steven. Meanwhile, Amethyst rolls a vacuum cleaner, filled with fish and water, back and forth casually with her foot.)

AMETHYST: You did all this stuff on purpose? Like, you didn't just knock over a bunch of paint cans and go, "Eh, just leave it."

PERIDOT: Oh no, this was all very intentional. You see, I have this idea: What if we made music, but instead of sounds, we use things?

AMETHYST: That's dumb.

STEVEN: walks in Guys, that's art!

PERIDOT: "Art"? That sounds ridiculous!

LAPIS: I've been calling it "meep-morp".

PERIDOT: Let us show you our... morps.

(Peridot snickers as she walks over to a table with several cassettes on top, along with her broken recorder with a blue ribbon placed on it.)

PERIDOT: This piece is called "Wow, thanks". It represents the struggles of intercommunication. The tape is the ribbon that binds our experience on Earth together. It has no functional purpose! It just makes me... feel bad!

(Peridot smiles uncannily after she has explained her meep-morp. Lapis then shows off a mobile, consisting of a baseball mitt, a baseball bat, and a baseball, all of which tethered by strings to a stick.)

LAPIS: Here's my meep-morp. This is a baseball bat. It reminds me of when I played baseball.

(Lapis steps backwards, now showing off a leaf sticking on top of a pile of mud.)

LAPIS: This is the leaf Steven gave me. It reminds me of the time... Steven gave me a leaf.

STEVEN: Hey, yeah! It reminds me of that too!

(Steven and an uncomfortable Amethyst glance towards a TV on a stand in the barn, with two mirrors sticking out of it and looping a scene from "Camp Pining Hearts".)

PERCY (TV): I just feel trapped- I just feel trapped-

STEVEN: worried Is this one about... the thousands of years you spent trapped in a mirror?

LAPIS: No, I just really like that show.

PERIDOT: Oh, Amethyst! You'll love this one!

(Peridot and Lapis walks up to three toilets crudely placed in a semicircle, with one more in the back facing forward and slightly lifted.)

PERIDOT: Check it out! points at the meep-morp

AMETHYST: They're... toilets?

PERIDOT: Right! starts laughing and speaking What will I think of next? This represents the time I spent imprisoned in your bathroom, Steven.

(Steven looks away awkwardly and Amethyst glances at him.)

PERIDOT: I call it "Occupied". It's a collaborative piece.

(Peridot gives Lapis a thumbs-up before she does the same, as Lapis proceeds to make water sprout from all four toilets, waving the sprouts back and forth in an artistic way.)

STEVEN: It's... amazing!

AMETHYST: I don't get it.

STEVEN: What's there to get? It's water! Shooting out of toilets!

AMETHYST: I can see that at home.

PERIDOT: Alright, I see you're not impressed. But this- hold on.

(Peridot begins to rummage through a corner of the barn and grab several musical instruments)

PERIDOT: This, this is what we've all been waiting for! With the power of my metal abilities, I will impress the shirts right off of you!

(Peridot stands at the barn doorway, levitating two drums, two cymbals, a saxophone, a recorder, a triangle, a tambourine and a harmonica in the air, while holding two drumsticks.)

PERIDOT: Ta-da! It's a one-Gem metal band! One, a two, a three and-

(Peridot inhales and blows into the harmonica, causing her to lose control of every other instruments, as they fly in various directions and crash onto the ground. Peridot then casually tosses the drumsticks onto the ground.)

PERIDOT: Welp, that's as far as I've practiced that!

(Lapis and Steven starts laughing as Steven nudges Amethyst, still unimpressed. Lapis walks up to Peridot and places a hand on her shoulder.)

LAPIS: Why don't you try one thing at a time?

PERIDOT: Because we have guests, Lapis! Guests who must be impressed!

LAPIS: Hmm... picks up the tambourine and begins playing it We can try it together!

PERIDOT: Yeah!

(Peridot levitates a triangle and dings it once. Steven and Amethyst sit down and watch Peridot and Lapis perform.)

STEVEN: Isn't this great?

AMETHYST: annoyed Pfft. No.

STEVEN: Look at all this cool stuff they're doing!

(Peridot and Lapis continue to perform together as they randomly hit the triangle and shake the tambourine, without any beat or reason.)

AMETHYST: This is all nothing! They've been out here playing with garbage!

STEVEN: But you love playing with garbage...

AMETHYST: Not anymore! Who has time for any of that when Jasper is out there!

(Peridot and Lapis freeze in place as Peridot drops the triangle on the floor.)

PERIDOT: Uh, Amethyst? I uh, try not to use the J-word so loosely around here.

AMETHYST: sighs I'm going to go do something useful.

(Amethyst gets up and walks out the barn)

PERIDOT: Wow, Amethyst doesn't seem to understand morps at all.

STEVEN: No, it's something else. Amethyst found out... she's supposed to be just like Jasper.

PERIDOT: Meh?

STEVEN: Jasper took her down in a fight and now she's obsessed with getting a rematch. To prove she's good enough.

PERIDOT: Hmph.

[Trans. Ext. the Barn]

(Amethyst is outside knocking over cans angrily with her flail, when Peridot suddenly pops in and grabs her arm.)

PERIDOT: Amethyst, Ams, Big A! You, are way better than Jasper!

AMETHYST: What? Oh... turns to Steven, walking in What did you tell her?

STEVEN: I uh...

PERIDOT: What are you even doing comparing yourself to her? begins to swivel a can nearby with her metal abilities* Oh Amethyst, that's ridiculous. I should call you "Ridiculous-thyst". *laughs

(Peridot grows slightly frustrated, unable to knock over the can with her metal abilities, and kicks a stone at it, knocking it over.)

PERIDOT: I mean, seriously. levitates another can Amethyst and Jasper are two completely different Quartzes. Sure, you're both from Earth, but your Kindergartens are radically different.

STEVEN: What? H-hold on, what?

AMETHYST: We're both... from Earth?

PERIDOT: Well sure! Amethyst, you're from the Prime Kindergarten in Facet Five. She's from the Beta Kindergarten in Facet Nine!

(In her trance of explaining, Peridot lets loose her control of the can she is levitating, and it drops on her head. She continues explaining, unfazed.)

PERIDOT: Have you seen that place?

AMETHYST: No!

PERIDOT: Oh, well maybe you should! So you can see how the other half was made: Poorly! laughs No, seriously, let's go. You'll get a kick out of this.

(TV static is heard, as Lapis returns back to watching "Camp Pining Hearts" on the back of the truck.)

PERCY (TV): That's your problem, Paulette. You let yourself become the kayak race.

LAPIS: Cold.

PERIDOT: Um, just one second. I wanna check and make sure Lapis is okay. starts yelling HEY, LAPIS, ARE YOU OKAY?

LAPIS: Yeah.

PERIDOT: ARE YOU SURE?

LAPIS: Yeah.

PERIDOT: I'M LEAVING, BUT I'LL BE BACK!

LAPIS: Okay.

PERIDOT: DO YOU NEED ANYTHING?

LAPIS: No!

PERIDOT: ... WHAT SEASON IS THAT?

LAPIS: Three.

STEVEN: Peridot, let's go.

PERIDOT: Okay, yeah, business time. takes off her bowtie YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS!

(Peridot hurls the bowtie at Lapis, who has her hand held up, and the bowtie flies over her head, overshooting past Lapis, who remains motionless.)

[Trans. Ext. Beta Kindergarten]

(Amethyst, Peridot, and Steven warp onto a Warp Pad stationed in a desert.)

PERIDOT: Here we are, Jasper's origin. The Beta Kindergarten.

(The trio looks forward at the Kindergarten before them, mostly similar to the Prime Kindergarten with inactive Injectors hanging around, except it is much smaller, much more narrow, and made out of red sandstone.)

STEVEN: Am I underwhelmed? It's pretty bright out here.

AMETHYST: It's red.

PERIDOT: No kidding. Heh. Red sandstone! Hah! This is what I'm talking about! We're lucky this place hasn't blown away. Beta, am I right?

STEVEN: laughs, and whispers to Amethyst That's a math joke, right?

PERIDOT: Heh, c'mon, it gets worse.

(Steven and Amethyst begin to follow Peridot into the Beta Kindergarten.)

PERIDOT: I mean, this place has got the right growing conditions in a pinch. I guess... picks up a rock, licks it, and tosses it aside But it's too small! It was obviously a total rush job.

STEVEN: Uh, rush job?

PERIDOT: Halfway through the rebellion, Homeworld scrambled to generate extra soldiers on the ground. Look at this! gestures to a bunch of exit holes* The holes don't even line up! *chuckles It's like they just threw Injectors down wherever! Oh, and that one?

(Peridot walks up to an exit hole half-way inside a small tunnel.)

PERIDOT: This Carnelian came out sideways! How could she not, the walls are curved! Haha, what a joke.

AMETHYST: Man, I-I had no idea.

PERIDOT: I tell you, it really makes you appreciate the Prime Kindergarten, Amethyst. Your Kindergarten was so thought through! Sure, you might have spent extra time in the ground, but everything else is stacked in your favor! Great location, great holes, even spacing, consistent depth, a real Kindergartener gets it right.

(Steven stops walking and notices a pair of broken Injectors, which are missing all of their legs.)

STEVEN: quietly What happened to this Injector?

PERIDOT: What you want to see is a vertical alignment; no angle in the exit, a clean, strong silhouette. ...None of these holes come close!

AMETHYST: What about that one?

(Amethyst points at an exit hole that is much larger than any other hole, with the arms in an upward pose instead of at the sides.)

PERIDOT: Jasper...

STEVEN: This is Jasper's hole?

AMETHYST: It's huge.

PERIDOT: Oh, come on, we already know she's tall. Let's take a closer look. approaches the hole and tries to climb into it A Kindergartener can tell a lot about a Gem's makeup and flaws by their exit marks.

(Peridot is unable to climb into the hole, and she turns to look at Steven.)

PERIDOT: Steven..?

STEVEN: Oh.

(Steven runs over and tosses Peridot high up into the air, and she catches onto the ledge of the hole on the fall down.)

PERIDOT: Thanks! climbs into the hole and begins inspecting it You see, the problem here- wait. Oh, wait, oh, no, umm... Now this part... hmm. There's this thing where if you count the steps to the back I can...

(Peridot paces backwards into the hole, and then shortly walks out and climbs down from the hole defeatedly. She then walks up to Steven and Amethyst without a word.)

AMETHYST: What is it?

PERIDOT: She's even got frictional rock melt. It's glass all the way to the back. Actually, I uh... I've never seen an exit hole this perfect.

AMETHYST: Ughh... So it is true.

STEVEN: Amethyst, that doesn't matter. Who you are isn't about where you came from! It's who you wanna be! It's what you worked hard for. It's what you care about! That's what really matters.

AMETHYST: Yeah! Yeah, you're right!

PERIDOT & STEVEN: Yeah!

AMETHYST: It's about who I wanna be!

PERIDOT & STEVEN: Yeah!

AMETHYST: And I wanna be the Gem that beats Jasper into the dirt!

PERIDOT: Yeah!

STEVEN: Huh?

PERIDOT: Wait, no! Don't fight her! Are you not seeing this? She's the ultimate Quartz!

AMETHYST: I'm doing it. Yeah, and not just for me, for all the weird holes out there! Like this guy! And "Skinny" up there! And, and, and this mess! gestures to a huge oddly-shaped hole on the ground

PERIDOT: Amethyst, that's...

AMETHYST: Yeah, ha! I bet she was great.

PERIDOT: No, no no no, hold on. runs up to the huge hole Something's really wrong here. These marks are new. This hole's been dug out. Recently.

STEVEN: Maybe it was a prairie dog? (Peridot glares at him, unamused.) A uh, really big one..?

PERIDOT: Hm.

(Peridot walks further down the Kindergarten, and Steven and Amethyst follow.)

PERIDOT: There's more!

(The trio sees dozens of holes dug into the cliff walls, all barred by metal poles.)

AMETHYST: Woah.

PERIDOT: These aren't exit holes anymore.

STEVEN: Then what are they?

(Steven approaches one and reaches for one of the bars, when a Corrupted Gem Monster attacks from inside and nearly hits him.)

PERIDOT & AMETHYST: Steven!

(Peridot and Amethyst both quickly grab Steven and pull him away. Yellow lights, presumingly the eyes of other monsters, begin glowing from the darkness of the barred holes and loud growling are heard everywhere.)

STEVEN: Corrupted Gems? In cages?

PERIDOT: Why? Who would do this?

(Amethyst gasps in surprise as she spots a silhouette behind a cloud of dust.)

AMETHYST: That's who.

(The cloud of dust clears away, revealing to be Jasper.)

STEVEN: Jasper.

(Amethyst angrily summons her flail, preparing to fight Jasper once more.)

[END]