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“Hey, Garnet. Don’t worry about what happened with you and that Topaz. I made sure to keep it between the two of us… well, the three of us.” Bismuth teased, nudging Garnet with her elbow.
Twoie couldn’t help but smile as he watched Garnet fist bump Bismuth, a rare grin on her face. Despite himself, he really was glad that he’d finally caved in to the guilt, and released Bismuth from her bubble. Sure, it was a little early, but all things considered since it was a complete accident the first time around, there was no real reason to not free her as soon as possible.
“If you’re done celebrating your reunion, can we please continue work on the drill?” Peridot asked sourly from the entrance to the Barn, a tool box gathered in her arms, “We have no idea when the Cluster will emerge, and I for one want to get this done before we have to find out.”
And that was the other reason it was a good idea to free Bismuth as soon as possible. While Twoie knew exactly when the Cluster would emerge, it had honestly been far too close for his liking, so any help on building the Drill would be fantastic, and since Bismuths had been created for construction, Twoie felt comfortable in considering her a tremendous asset for the team.
“And who’s this? Wow, I didn’t think we were ever going to be able to recruit a Peridot.” Bismuth asked raising an eyebrow, leaning in to get a closer look. “Homeworld usually runs them too ragged for them to even have a chance to think for themselves. And especially one so short.” She muttered under her breath.
“You still haven’t managed to recruit one. We are in the middle of a truce.” Peridot informed her, looking offended, “And for the record we can think for ourselves. We just choose not to.”
Oh right, Twoie winced, he’d forgotten that Peridot was still with Homeworld. This might not end well.
“We’re in a truce with Homeworld?!” Bismuth shouted in disbelief, “After everything that’s happened?!” She glared at Garnet and Pearl, who both stepped back in surprise at her outrage.
“It’s not Homeworld we’re in a truce with,” Steven piped up, causing Bismuth to turn to him in confusion. “It’s with Peri!”
Bismuth frowned for a moment, before bursting into a smile again, “Oh, so part of this truce means we give her nicknames? If so, I vote Tiny.”
Peridot stomped in embarrassment, her face blushing teal as she did so, “You will not! And for the record the Truce is to build a drill to destroy the Cluster!”
“The what now?” Bismuth raised an eyebrow in confusion, and Twoie saw his chance to step in before things could heat up.
“It’s a massive Geo-weapon buried deep within the Earth, Homeworld put it there to destroy the planet and it’s due to go off any time now.” Twoie explained, being careful to avoid mentioning that it was made of the shattered remains of their fallen comrades and enemies. Somehow, he didn’t Bismuth would take that well.
“Well, that just figures,” Bismuth folded her arms, “If Homeworld couldn’t keep Earth, of course they wouldn’t let us have it either. Typical of those Homeworld Upper Crust.” Bismuth’s frown returned, “Wait, if Homeworld made this thing, and you’re still loyal, why are you helping us?” She gave Peridot a suspicious look.
Peridot’s glared at her, “For your information, I’ve been stranded here for months, with no way to contact Homeworld thanks to them.” She jerked her head at Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet, who seemed more amused at her annoyance than offended, “So, if I don’t want to be shattered, it’s in my best interest to stop the Cluster.”
Bismuth began laughing, “So, basically, your choices are, help us and you’ll get shattered or don’t and still get shattered. You really think Homeworld’s going to take you messing with their plans well?”
Peridot huffed, her cheeks puffing out, “Yellow Diamond is sure to have mercy on me! I’m taking the most logical action available after all.”
Bismuth waved her off, wiping a tear from her eyes. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Tiny.”
Peridot frowned, “First off, stop it. Second, you’re a Bismuth correct? That should mean you work in construction, yes? That should come in handy building the Drill.”
“I’m a weaponsmith actually, though I do know my way around metal just the same. What are we using, Tiny?” Bismuth empathised the word, clearly wanting to rile up Peridot. “Titanium? Iron? Tell me we’re not working with bronze!” She began laughing to herself, before stopping and nervously looking around at the wooden barn, “We’re not actually working with bronze, are we?”
“Nothing so crude. We’re using the remains of my Escape Pod, as well as one of the Drill Heads from the Kindergarten.” Peridot rolled her eyes, “Naturally, they were both constructed from intensive heat resistant alloys designed to withstand the heat of re-entry and potential magma flows deep beneath the Earth’s surface.” Her eyes narrowed, “Also, don’t call me Tiny! It’s almost as bad as calling me cute!”
“Heh, I wouldn’t go that far.” Bismuth smirked.
Peridot’s eye twitched, “What’s that supposed to mean?! Am I not cute enough for you?!”
“Oh, no, no,” Bismuth placated, trying to calm Peridot down with a few hand gestures. “It’s just I’ve seen cuter.”
Before things could get side-tracked any further, Pearl took Peridot aside, “Let’s not get too distracted, I still haven’t finished looking over the blast cannon you included in the designs, you do realise that will extend the construction process by a few days?”
As Peridot and Pearl’s conversation continued outside the barn, Twoie turned to Bismuth, while the others were distracted. “You’re sure you’re okay with working with her?” He checked, “Unless you’re used to her, she can be a little… much.” He said diplomatically, though he did remember that Bismuth and Peridot had quickly bonded in his own timeline, due to the comradery that could only be struck by launching an angry slice of pie into the face of one of the Universe’s biggest tyrants.
“Hey, if she’s helping us screw over one of Homeworld’s plans, who am I to argue?” Bismuth grinned, though Twoie couldn’t help but notice how it seemed… forced.
Twoie had been having a dream about a Watermelon Steven asking Pumpkin to the Prom, when a small hand started to shake him awake.
“Let go, Pearl, I’ll be up in a minute.” He muttered, feeling exhausted.
“I’m not, Pearl!” Steven answered him, shaking him again, “Listen, I just woke up to get some water, and I can’t find Bismuth or Peridot.”
“Then get Lapis to go look for them,” Twoie told his little brother, still half asleep and not thinking clearly.
“Lapis? What’s Lapis got to do with Bismuth and Peridot?” Steven asked, “I mean, I know Peridot brought her back to Earth, but…”
That was what finally managed to snap Twoie out of his trance, “Absolutely nothing!” He shouted, releasing Bismuth early was one thing, but letting on to too much future knowledge was dangerous, especially when it came down to future relationships.
Twoie opened his eyes and found Steven’s face almost directly in his own, causing him to jerk back and bang his head on the ground. As he rubbed the back of his head, he realised he was still at the barn, lying in a sleeping bag, with Steven hovering over him as the sound of crickets filled the silence of the evening countryside.
“Sorry.” Steven whispered, as Twoie grumbled under his breath. Healing spit was all well and good when you weren’t trying to heal a part of your body covered completely by hair. Twoie was in no mood to have to walk around with his hair drenched in saliva. Healing or otherwise.
“It’s fine.” Twoie waved Steven off. “What were you saying about Bismuth and Peridot?” He’d been a little too out of it to be sure he’d heard correctly.
“They’re not here. Peridot said she’d continue working through the night and Bismuth said she’d join her.” Steven told him, making Twoie feel a little guilty he’d gone to bed early, he could have stayed up a little to help Bismuth acclimate to the drastically different situation they were now in.
“That’s all they said?” Twoie asked wanting to make sure before he made any snap decisions. He had a lot of experience with those going hideously wrong.
“Hmm.” Steven put his finger to his chin, deep in thought. “Wait!” He exclaimed, striking a fist into his open palm in understanding, “Bismuth said she might show Peridot some sights if they had enough time!”
Well, that certainly explained why they weren’t here. Though Twoie had a bit of a hard time believing that Peridot was willing to drop everything while the Cluster was still a threat. The only question was where would Bismuth take them?
Think Twoie. Which location would Bismuth feel relatively secure enough about to be able to show someone around, when she’d been trapped in a bubble for over five thousand years? Really, there was only one option.
But really, the Forge, why?
It had plenty of useful materials, but Twoie didn’t expect Bismuth to be so willing to trust a currently Homeworld-loyal Gem in what was basically her own Fortress of Solitude. And besides, while it did have plenty of metal, most of that metal was intended to be used to create weapons and with them already having the necessary drill head from the Kindergarten.
Really what was there, was basically molten lava, a ton of metal in bits and pieces, and Bismuth’s armour-
Oh no.
He’d made a horrible mistake.
Thinking quickly, he picked up Steven and started running for the Warp Pad. “Twoie, what’s wrong?” Steven asked, clearly frightened by the way he was acting.
“I might have done something really, really dumb.” Twoie admitted, “Who knows though? Maybe I’m completely wrong and when we get there, the Entrance to the Forge will still be blocked? Fingers crossed.”
The entrance to the Forge was already open. “Crud.” Twoie whispered as they peered down into the murky darkness of the stairway leading below. He hadn’t crossed his fingers soon enough.
“Twoie?” He felt his brother tug at his hand worriedly, “What’s going on? What is this place? Why did we come here?”
Taking a deep breath, Twoie turned to face Steven and got down to one knee so he could look his brother in the eye, “I know I’m pulling a Garnet here, but there simply isn’t time to explain. You’re going to have to stay here while I go inside.”
Steven looked at him blankly for a second, before his words fully sank in, “No, no! Why don’t we go in together?” He smiled hopefully at Twoie.
His brother could only shake his head, “I’m going in expecting a fight, you don’t know what’s down there, I do.” Plus, he mentally added, I have no intention of letting you get traumatised like I was, being forced to dissipate someone who the people you loved thought was their friend in self-defence.
Steven shook his head firmly, “Peridot and Bismuth are down there, right? We’ll have backup if Peridot’s doing anything mean again.”
Twoie bit his lip, “It’s not Peridot I’m worried about.” Well, it was, but not in the way Steven thought.
Steven tilted his head in confusion, “What do you mean? Bismuth’s a Crystal Gem. Why would she be mean?” Huh, he’d forgotten just how sharp he could be when he’d been younger.
Twoie opened his mouth to explain, but before he could, a loud familiar hammering sound filled the air; Twoie shuddered, he’d heard that sound way too often in his nightmares to mistake it for anything else. He didn’t have time for this, it could already be too late.
“Listen, Steven. I need to go down there, now.” He emphasised, taking Steven’s hand as he did so. “I won’t ask you not to go in after me – because you probably wouldn’t listen - but I will ask you to give me some time to sort things out first. Can you do that?”
Steeling himself, Steven nodded determinedly, saluting Twoie as he did so, “How long should I wait?”
For however long it takes, Twoie thought, but instead he replied with, “Give me twenty minutes.” No matter what the result was, it would all be over by then, Twoie was sure of that at least.
Steven looked him in the eye, “Good luck.” He whispered.
“Thanks.” Twoie nodded at him, “I’m probably going to need it, knowing our life.”
That got a smile out of Steven, and that was enough for Twoie. Taking one last look at the confused, yet worried face of his little brother, Twoie ran straight into the open maw of the abyss.
Twoie charged down the stairs at full speed, his skin turning bright pink as he ran. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! What had he been expecting? Of course, this was how it was going to turn out, keeping Steven away wouldn’t mean a thing. Not when there was a clear target to vent out on the frustration of someone who’d just lost almost every friend she’d ever had, someone who had just realised they’d lost thousands of years thanks to the person they idolised more than anyone else. Who wouldn’t want to vent after all that?
Especially when they had somebody to take it out on without a guilty conscience. After all, truce or no truce, to Bismuth an enemy was still an enemy.
When Twoie finally reached the actual Forge, the scene wasn’t exactly what he’d been expecting. It looked more like the underbelly of the Forge that Bismuth showed him on that faithful night than the actual Forge, the room lit with the dim red glow of molten lava.
There was one thing that unfortunately fit what Twoie had be expecting though; the huge hulking form of Bismuth wielding the Breaking Point advancing on the tiny terrified form of Peridot, frozen on the spot.
From the corner of his eye, Twoie noticed the shattered remains of an obsidian dummy and if he hadn’t been trying to keep his anger under enough control, he might have recoiled at the sight. It seemed Bismuth had been sadistic enough to give Peridot a little demonstration before starting the main event.
Bismuth didn’t seem to notice his arrival, as she continued to advance on Peridot, all the while ranting, “You Homeworld Elites, you couldn’t let us have anything. First it was Biggs, Crazy Lace, Snowflake, and now you want to take the planet they died for away from us too? You couldn’t even let us have that!”
Twoie closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while Peridot couldn’t exactly be described as an innocent, given how many times she’d tried to kill the Crystal Gems in the name of Homeworld, she definitely couldn’t held accountable for any action taken during the Rebellion, whether that be the Corruption or even the Cluster itself. She hadn’t even been made back then, but Bismuth who was still grappling with the idea that she’d lost over 5000 years, wouldn’t likely be able to understand that just yet. It was too fresh in her mind to come to grips with.
“Alright, first off, I don’t think anyone can describe a Peridot as an elite. They’re pretty much only above Pearls on Homeworld. Even Rubies get more respect.” Twoie’s correction caused both Bismuth and Peridot to immediately snap their heads to look at him, Bismuth with confusion mixed with anger, and Peridot with fear, silently begging for him to save her.
He must have looked strange to them, his skin and hair glowing pink; with any luck they’d pass it off as an ability he inherited from Rose Quartz. Still, there was no going back now.
Twoie smiled at the two Gems, more to comfort Peridot than anything else, though he kept his eyes locked onto Bismuth, “I’m going to have to ask you to let her go, Bismuth. We kind of have a truce going on.”
Bismuth shook her head, “From the sounds of it, we’ve already got all the information we need outta her, and me and Pearl are more than enough to complete the Drill. We don’t need her, and we have no use for her. She’ll betray us first chance she gets.”
While Twoie would normally have laughed at that idea, knowing exactly who Peridot would end up betraying, the situation made it difficult to find the humour. “Then bubble her if you’re so worried.”
Peridot’s eyes widened, “Wait, what?” She flinched, obviously not expecting him to actually suggest that.
Undeterred by her interruption, Twoie carried on, “But shatter her? That’s not exactly something you can take back.”
“It’s not like bubbling someone is any easier.” Bismuth took a step towards him, seemingly forgetting Peridot, causing Twoie’s guard to rise. “They’re still dead as far as the world’s concerned and things just carry on without them. And when they finally do get out, they find the whole world has changed without them noticing and no one even knew they were trapped at all!”
“I’m sorry about what Mom did to you.” Twoie quietly spoke, meaning every word, yet it sounded flat even to him.
Bismuth seemed to agree as she snorted, “You sound like you say that far too often.” She took another step forward.
“Don’t do this, Bismuth.” Twoie warned, though he knew it would be in vain, he hadn’t been able to stop from escalating when he’d been a kid, and he was far more obviously a threat now, “I don’t want to have to fight you.”
“Funny. I could say the SAME TO YOU!” Bismuth charged at him, the Breaking Point raised and ready to come crashing down onto him.
Before she could reach him, Twoie charged right back at her, catching the Breaking Point as it came crashing down, the Pink Light seeming to numb the pain of the impact, and with a roar, he ripped it off of Bismuth’s arm, and hurled it directly over her head.
Before Bismuth could disengage to retrieve it, Twoie grabbed hold of her arms, locking her into a grapple. With a start he realised that their strength was roughly equal, meaning that this wasn’t going to be as easy as having her charge directly into Mom’s sword.
“What are you doing, Twoie? She’s Homeworld. The Enemy!” Bismuth screamed as she applied more pressure to force Twoie to give in.
“And so were you!” Twoie roared at her, not letting her overpower him or get into his head, “Peridot’s different now! She’s changed!”
“Gems don’t change!” Bismuth answered back, finding herself in a stalemate.
Twoie gritted his teeth, even with all his strength this wasn’t easy. “Of course, they can change, that’s the whole point of being a Crystal Gem!” What did she think his mother’s manifesto had been all about? It was the one positive thing he was still sure he had about his mom.
Bismuth eyes went wild, her own fury overwhelming her, “Don’t you dare tell me what it means to be a Crystal Gem! No one’s more of a Crystal Gem than me, Rose!”
Oh no. It really was just like the last time.
Bismuth ended their grapple with a brutal headbutt, throwing Twoie back, and judging from the searing sensation in his mouth, also causing him to lose a tooth. Before he could recover, Bismuth grabbed him by the throat, and with a grunt, she slammed his body against the wall, the impact breaking his berserker rage, causing his skin colour to return to normal.
Bismuth looked at his struggling form for a moment, her own rage still dominating her, and raised her free arm, shapeshifting it into a hammer, causing something to tug at Twoie’s memory. Bismuth’s eyes flickered towards the stone pillar right beside them, and as understanding dawned, Twoie’s own eyes widened in horror.
Twoie desperately tried to pry Bismuth’s hand off his neck, well aware he was seconds away from death. He couldn’t bring himself to look upwards, knowing that the panel directly above their heads would open as soon as Bismuth brought the hammer down onto the pillar, releasing boiling lava directly on top of them. When Bismuth had used it in his memories, she’d emerged completely unscathed but something told Twoie that he couldn’t count on the same thing happening to him, even if he was half Gem. He was after all, also half-human.
Twoie’s struggle was all for nought however, as even with the adrenaline boost from his fight or flight instincts kicking in, he was unable to stir up the rage needed to trigger his pink berserker powers.
No. It couldn’t end here. Not in this way, not while Steven was just outside waiting for him. Twoie didn’t know what would be left of him once he took the lava bath, but he was sure that whatever it would be, he really didn’t want Steven to have to see it. And what about-
“Twoie, NO!”
A loud cracking sound bombarded Twoie’s ears, and Bismuth’s hammer froze in mid-air, just as it was about to come down upon the pillar and seal the time traveller’s fate. Slowly and together, Bismuth and Twoie looked down to see the Breaking Point protruding from the centre of Bismuth’s chest, right where her Gem was located.
Before their eyes, cracks began to form around the Breaking Point’s protruding form. And judging by the rate the Gem was cracking, Twoie wasn’t sure his healing spit would be enough to fix it.
But how? The Breaking Point had been thrown across the room, and there’d been no time for anyone to pick it up. So, how was it now breaking its creator apart? Twoie wondered for a moment, before the answer came to him and he almost lost his lunch.
The trauma and stress of the situation would have been more than enough to awaken her powers, she wouldn’t have even known what she was doing. How would she, when she and everyone else had always assumed she wasn’t a threat without her limb enhancers?
As fault lines began to spread rapidly across her form, Bismuth turned around to face the small figure of Peridot, the Technician gazing at the damage she’d done to Bismuth with undisguised horror, unable to pull her tear-filled eyes away.
It occurred to Twoie that for all Peridot’s attempts to kill the Crystal Gems, the closest she’d ever actually gotten to taking a life was crushing one of her own Robonoids. She wasn’t a soldier like Jasper or even a Terraformer like Lapis, she was a technician who’d barely understood the combat capabilities of her own limb enhancers, sent to oversee the results of millennia old experiments on a thought-to-be dead world.
She was in some respects still an innocent, one of the few Gems he knew whose hands weren’t stained with blood, and now that had been taken from her.
And it was all his fault.
Bismuth finally seemed to realise Peridot’s innocence herself, letting out a laugh that seemed awfully hollow, inadvertently causing her body to fracture even more, “Tears, huh? I guess Rose- Twoie,” She corrected herself, shaking her head, “was right. You really are different, Tiny. Man, we could have made a great team.” With that Bismuth’s broken form vanished into a puff of smoke, her gem landing with a very audible crack as it shattered into a thousand pieces, freeing the Breaking Point which clattered onto the floor.
Twoie let himself fall to his knees as he looked down at the broken Gem, bile quickly trying to escape his throat, as memories of Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot goofing off together filled his mind. What had he done? If he’d just waited or thought for even a second, he might have been able to stop this from happening. Now Bismuth was shattered and Peridot…
“They’ll shatter me for this. The Crystal Clods will really shatter me for this.” Peridot gazed blankly into the distance, tears filling her visor as her form began to tremble.
Hearing this managed to snap Twoie out of his trance, and he gazed down sadly at what remained of Bismuth’s Gem, before quickly bubbling it and sending it home. He crawled over to Peridot who’d already curled herself up into a ball, and looking down at her, he whispered two words, “Come here.”
He’d wanted to spare his brother the trauma of having to poof Bismuth, but instead, he’d forced Peridot to experience the horror of having to shatter her. He was such a screw up.
By the time Steven had mustered up enough courage to disobey his brother’s instructions, Twoie had wrapped up Peridot into a hug, with the two huddled up in a small corner of the Forge, the dim red lighting almost tricking Steven into thinking they were covered in blood.
“Are you guys okay?” Steven asked, looking around the forge, his eyes fixing on the shattered dummy for a moment, before quickly moving on. “Where’s Bismuth? Didn’t you say she’d be here?”
Twoie desperately tried not to look at the spot on the floor where Bismuth’s Gem had shattered into pieces. “We… won’t be seeing her again.” He told Steven quietly.
“How come?” Steven asked as he gazed up at his older brother. In Twoie’s arms, Peridot began shaking, her voice muffled by Twoie’s jacket, but clearly upset. Twoie just tightened his grip on her form, trying to reassure her.
Twoie averted his eyes from Steven, and looked down at the little Gem who saved his life, “Sometimes things change. Even when they shouldn’t.”