Earthlings

[Open Int. Beta Kindergarten]

(Following the events in "Beta", Steven, Amethyst and Peridot hide behind a cliff to spy on Jasper.)

AMETHYST: Jasper!

PERIDOT: What is she doing?

STEVEN: She's been collecting monsters.

JASPER: Pipe down!

(Jasper kicks a growling Snow Monster in its cage, and the trio gasps in shock.)

JASPER: You take orders from me now! You used to be a Quartz too, didn't you? What happened to you?

(The Snow Monster growls and slams against the metal bars in fury.)

JASPER: Tch. Disgraceful. I can't believe I've resorted to recruiting you freaks! You're almost as bad as that Crystal runt. Just look at you. This planеt ruins everything! Well, haha, еxcept for me.

PERIDOT: We should go back to the Temple and grab reinforcements.

STEVEN: Yeah, that's a good idea. Amethyst?

(Steven turns his head and finds that Amethyst is gone, and he and Peridot silently scream in horror.)

STEVEN: Amethyst!

(Steven and Peridot look around, and spot Amethyst on a ledge above Jasper, shuffling along it towards her. Jasper continues to taunt the Snow Monster.)

JASPER: I'll never let this planet twist me like it twisted you. Your weakness embarrasses Homeworld. You suffer because it's what you deserve! We all only get what we deserve. Right, Amethyst?!

(Amethyst gasps, as she has been discovered, and falls off the ledge, landing behind Jasper.)

AMETHYST: Agh!

JASPER: What do you want, runt? You here for a rematch?

AMETHYST: I'm here to win!

JASPER: You were fated to lose, the moment you came out wrong!

STEVEN: runs to Amethyst's side That's not true!

JASPER: Rose. Of course. Your lackeys never stray far. And why would they? They have no place in this, or any world!

STEVEN: What do you mean?!

JASPER: Every Gem is made for a purpose: to serve the order of the Diamonds. Those who cannot fit inside this order must be purged!

(Numerous shapes appears behind Jasper as she explains, forming the image of The Great Diamond Authority symbol. After it is complete, many unfitting shapes approach the symbol, only to get blown away by a flash of light.)

JASPER: To come out misshapen, to reshape yourself outside your purpose, and to defend this ruined worthless planet, is a disgrace!

PERIDOT: timidly* This planet isn't all bad! *gasps and hides behind a rock

JASPER: What are you doing here?

PERIDOT: I... I'M A CRYSTAL GEM NOW!!

(Jasper instantly summons her crash helmet, and Steven summons his shield.)

PERIDOT: confidently I'm not afraid of you! I've got metal powers! I'll show you!

(Peridot begins to manipulate a metal rod stuck in the ground. Jasper, Amethyst and Steven watch as Peridot struggles to lift the metal rod.)

AMETHYST: Aw, jeez.

PERIDOT: In a moment!

JASPER: Anyone else got somethin' to say?

STEVEN: No! It's just us.

AMETHYST: UGHH!! YOU GUUUYS!!!! lifts up Steven* STAY OUT OF THIS! *throws Steven away

STEVEN: Amethyst!

AMETHYST: It's just you and me, Jasper. One on one!

(Amethysy lashes her flails and hits an unprepared Jasper in her face. She then summons a second flail and smacks Jasper into a wall.)

STEVEN: Go Amethyst!

AMETHYST: Who's the runt now?! You ready for more?

(Jasper quickly recovers and gets up from the wall. Amethyst whips Jasper in her face again, who quickly turns back at her, unfazed.)

AMETHYST: Uh! Th-there's more where that came from!

(Amethyst keeps whipping at Jasper, knocking her back with her last blow. Jasper then easily shrugs off that last blow and Amethyst gasps in shock.)

STEVEN: Uh-oh!

(Amethyst cracks both her flails, sending purple energy down them and activating the flail spikes, and begins charging a spin-dash attack. The energized flails surrounds her in purple flames and she charges into Jasper, causing an explosion. Amethyst coughs as the smokes from the explosion fade away. She looks up and gasps in horror, see Jasper standing in front of her, unaffected by her latest attack.)

JASPER: Is it sinking in yet? brushes off ashes on her chest

AMETHYST: Are you SERIOUS!?

(Jasper kicks Amethyst, sending her flying backwards.)

STEVEN: Amethyst!

JASPER: walking towards Amethyst You never had a chance.

(Steven looks up and notices an Injector hanging on the top of the cliff. He summons his shield and tosses it at the Injector, causing it to fall.)

STEVEN: Heads up!

JASPER & AMETHYST: Huh?

(Amethyst and Jasper quickly jump out of the way of the falling Injector, and Steven runs up to Amethyst's side.)

AMETHYST: Steven... I can't win. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I work, she came out right, and I came out... wrong...

STEVEN: That's just what Jasper thinks. She's the only one who thinks you should be like her!

AMETHYST: But-

STEVEN: Stop trying to be like Jasper. You're nothing like Jasper! You're like me! Because we're both not like anybody. And yeah, it sucks..

(Jasper lifts up the Injector, tosses it aside, and begins approaching the pair.)

STEVEN: But at least I've got you. And you've got me! tears up So stop leaving me out of this.

AMETHYST: tears up too* Us worse Gems stick together, right? *sniffles

STEVEN: That's why we're the best. holds out his hand

(Amethyst chuckles and takes Steven's hand. She then gets up and pulls Steven in for a hug, unintentionally causing an explosion of smoke and light. As the smoke clear away, Peridot and Jasper watch in horror and shock as a fusion Gem emerges from the smokes.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: What a beautiful day! stretches

JASPER: Huh? Who are you supposed to be?!

SMOKY QUARTZ: Oh yeah, who am I now? I feel like Amethyst knows this.

PERIDOT: Forget your name, you've got a fight to win!

SMOKY QUARTZ: I think a Rose Quartz, and an Amethyst... make a...

(Smoky Quartz summons Steven's shield and throws it up in the air. They then summons Amethyst's whip, jumps into the air and grabs the shield with their whip, combining the two weapons into a yo-yo.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: ...Smoky Quartz.

JASPER: Is fusion the only trick you Crystal Gems know?!

SMOKY QUARTZ: I've got plenty of tricks. Ever see "sink the dink"?

(Smoky hits Jasper in her face and stomach with the yo-yo, knocking her backwards to the ground. Peridot laughs joyfully at Jasper getting beaten up. Jasper growls loudly in fury and rage, and charges towards Smoky with a spin-dash.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: Woah-oh.

(Smoky grapples their yo-yo around a rock hanging above and uses it to swing out of the way of Jasper's attack. Jasper crashes in the cliff with all her monsters in it, causing the wall to crack and the metal rods to collapse. Once freed, the monsters jump out of their imprisonment.)

JASPER: stops spin-dashing and sees the monsters escaping No!

(The monsters, including one Cluster Gem mutant, flee from the scene.)

JASPER: My army!

PERIDOT: laughs loudly at Jasper* Take that! Then take this! *continues to struggle with manipulating the metal rod

(Jasper then notices the Snow Monster has not escaped yet and runs towards it.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: Huh?

(Smoky continues to skillfully attacks Jasper with their yo-yo multiple times, but misses with their last attack as Jasper runs towards the Snow Monster.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: Aw, leaving so soon?

JASPER: I... will not be beaten by another fusion!

(Jasper grabs onto the Snow Monster and begins to fuse with it.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: What the...?

(Jasper fuses into Zebra Jasper, laughs as she examines her new form, and begins to attack Smoky.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: Hold on, I've got a move that will really blow you away.

(Smoky starts twirling their yo-yo around like a fan, pushing Zebra Jasper back, but it is not strong enough as Zebra Jasper regains her footing and approaches Smoky again.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: It's cool if you don't like it, I've already got three huge fans.

(Smoky summons two more yo-yos out of their gems and twirls them around too, generating a tornado that engulfs Zebra Jasper and lifts her off the ground. Zebra Jasper begins to unfuse, as the Snow Monster tries to escape, but Jasper holds her back.)

JASPER: We could beat them! If we stay together!

(Jasper attempts to fuse with the Snow Monster again, but fails as the tornado subsides, and the two starts to fall towards the ground, while Smoky sits on a broken Injector and watches the two fall.)

SMOKY QUARTZ: Rreeeeeeeow... Kapow! Great job Smoky, oh, thank you, thank you Smoky. shakes their own hands

(The Snow Monster, landed on top of Jasper, quickly gets up and runs away.)

JASPER: Nobody I fuse with... ever wants to stay. starts laughing hysterically

(Just then, Jasper's left forearm begins to alter and she growls in pain. Smoky, still doing their victory dance, quickly notices Jasper's demise and stops to look at her in fear. Jasper's arm continues to worsen as it changes teal green and grows teal spikes.)

PERIDOT: Eww, that's disgusting!

SMOKY QUARTZ: It's... corruption...

(Smoky begins to deform out of fright and unfuses back into Amethyst and Steven. Steven gets up to approach Jasper, but Amethyst holds him back.)

AMETHYST: Steven, be careful.

STEVEN: But this just happened. Maybe I can do something! Jasper, it's okay. I'm here. slowly approaches Jasper

JASPER: in pain and anger Rose...

STEVEN: I'm not Rose, I'm Steven, I just wanna try and heal you.

(Steven licks his palm, covering in healing saliva, and moves in towards Jasper's arm, but she quickly swipes her claw at him.)

AMETHYST: shocked Steven!

(Steven jumps backwards and looks down his shirt, noticing a visible tear on it. Peridot gasps, seeing that Steven has been attacked, struggles harder to pull the metal rod out of the ground. She gives up, however, and runs off. Amethyst attempts to charge towards Jasper, but Steven halts her.)

STEVEN: Stop!

JASPER: chuckles I see how you do it now, Rose. You want Gems after they're worthless, you wait until after they've lost. Because when you're at the bottom, you'll follow anyone. That makes you feel like... less of a failure.

(Peridot eventually runs in and joins Steven's side.)

JASPER: Hah! Just look at this one! You've stripped her of everything! Her limb enhancers, her status, her dignity.

PERIDOT: I still have one of those things.

JASPER: How can you side with Rose Quartz?! Why? Why protect this useless shell of a planet?

PERIDOT: It's not a shell, there's so much life. Living here, that's what I'm doing! I'm living here! I've been learning new things about myself all the time! Like how I can make metal do my bidding!

(The metal rod Peridot has been trying to move suddenly falls behind her.)

PERIDOT: The point being, Earth can set you free.

(Steven smiles in joy at Peridot's revelation, when Jasper's corruption continues to worsen.)

JASPER: Earth... is a prison. I got out because I'm better than this place.

STEVEN: It's getting worse..

JASPER: I only came back to finish you off!

STEVEN: Try not to move!

JASPER: stands up and points an accusatory finger at Steven You can't manipulate me, Rose Quartz!

STEVEN: I-I'm not manipulating, I'm trying to help!

JASPER: Help...? Help?! I've been fighting from the second I broke free of the Earth's crust, because of what YOU did to my colony! Because of what YOU did to my planet! Because of what YOU did to my Diamond!

STEVEN: I... Yellow Diamond?

JASPER: Wha-Ah...! MY DIAMOND! YOUR DIAMOND! PINK DIAMOND!!!!!!

(Jasper's corruption reaches its final stage, transforming her completely into a Gem monster. The corrupted Jasper roars loudly and begins to charge towards the trio. Peridot quickly uses her metal abilities and thrusts the metal rod right through Jasper's chest, causing her to poof. The trio looks at Jasper's gemstone on the ground, and Steven and Amethyst turn to look at Peridot.)

PERIDOT: You're... welcome!

(Steven and Amethyst smile in relief at Peridot. Amethyst then walks up to Jasper's gem and falls to her knees in front of it.)

AMETHYST: sighs* Come here, sis. *bubbles Jasper's gem and sends it away

(Steven walks up to Amethyst and she leans against him in exhasution.)

[Trans. Ext. The Barn]

(The trio warps back to the Warp Pad near the barn and starts walking towards the barn.)

PERIDOT: excitedly When we get to the barn, I'm building a giant metal yo-yo! Amethyst, Steven, you'll have to catch and throw it for me.

AMETHYST: I don't wanna do anything for like a month.

STEVEN: stops walking Uh...

(The trio stops outside of the barn, only to find Garnet, Pearl, and Lapis, who is trapping five Rubies in water bubbles. The star iris then closes in on Amethyst, irritated by this latest commotion.)

AMETHYST: Ugh...

[END]