Alone in the City (Paddy/Closed)

[Paddy]

The corners of her lips pulled down as her haggard eyes continued to glare toward the suspect and her hostage. The genuine anger she saw in the expression of this fusion caught her off-guard. She hadn't honestly expected her words to strike a nerve, but now that they had, her own nerves bristled in response-- especially at the assertion that she would be responsible for Hematite's actions, her fists curled. Though, she knew anything she could say right now would escalate the situation. For the time being, she would have to rely on her last hope, swift back-up, which couldn't entirely be counted on. She tried not to think of what consequences she would face once she had been associated with this whole mess, but she supposed she would deal with the fall-out when it came.

It became apparent that the proctor's hands were literally tied in this situation, but there remained the option of using her own copy of the documents she'd received earlier. Padparadscha pushed herself up to her feet, squeezing her eyelids shut and pressing her lips together until she stood with her back straight. She rolled her shoulders before the holoscreen materialized a comfortable length from her hand. Her thin finger flipped through, until she came to a file addressed, grid 001 activation protocol. Though she wasn't sure if this was the correct one, she selected it, and was given a prompt for a code. 

She stared at the prompt, thinking back to the boiling anger that had enveloped her mere minutes ago, that still coursed through her, if repressed due to the pressure of the circumstances. Why did she care if this peridot was in pain, if she were poofed even? She answered her own question immediately; this was a gem whose value was apparent from the moment Padparadscha had met her, a useful member of Homeworld's empire, by extension, a comrade. The peridot didn't deserve to be used as a pawn in the sapphire's plan to collect her bounty any more than she had already been. But in the back of her mind, she knew this disposition meant victory would be held just out of reach. 

Her eyes drifted up to meet Yelle's,"All I need is the activation code, Proctor," the sapphire remained standing in her spot, not wanting to further provoke the fusion. Still, she racked her mind for any way to get out of this, for any way that the fusion could be stalled. What would happen once the grid was activated? Without knowing, she couldn't make any last effort plans quite yet, but perhaps there could be some shred of hope depending on how things went from here. 

[Hematite]

The sapphire stood to her knees after what seemed like deep contemplation and then flipped through her panel. The fusion remained vigilant, she would have to keep control of the situation and that would mean keeping the peridot near agony’s end. She loosened her grip enough that the peridot would slip from her shock and tremble as the pain running through her nerves would catch fire, obviously damaged, “Speak,” Hematite would demand, though wasn’t aware the peridot was actually rolling back into catalepsy and couldn’t find a thought behind the alarming sensation of her body screaming at damage point. This fusion was meticulous, she knew just were to strain the wrist causing the muscles in the arm to spasm, and twist with increased pressure.

She manage to utter through stifled breaths, “OP_MAIN-ACCESS-OVERRIDE: FACILITY REBOOT__01” she manage to whimper out, as she realized this was her own fault, “I’m so sorry, Padparadscha.” She pleaded.

But her moment of repent was cut short as she felt the tendons in her arm be wrung to edge of their breaking point and she cried out in pain as the fusion constricted her, “Now, sapphire! Activate the facility and engage the silo!” Hematite would demand.

[Paddy]

Her hand tensed as she put in the code, and she grimaced as the peridot apologized. For what, the sapphire couldn't imagine, but she knew the two of them would have to retreat from the true criminal in this situation. Just before she put in the last digit of the code, she froze. Was this it? Would she give in to a rebel's demands, compromising everything she had worked for up to this point? The words Hematite had said before echoed through her mind; perhaps this endeavor would be long and arduous. But, one way or another, she would bring justice in the right opportunity. In the time being, there were rescued gems to get back to headquarters. 


"Activating the grid," She entered the code, and the compound came to life with a resounding whir; air blasting through the pipes, hydraulic systems engaging, old engines clattering into the space where silence had been a short time ago. She also noticed that she now received signal, though it was weak for now. As the facility took its first gasps back into its fully powered state, Padparadscha kept her eyes trained onto Hematite, analyzing her movements. Then her eyes flicked back down to her holoscreen, and she tapped along the floating surface in search of the file that would allow her access to the silo's elevator.

The sapphire's eyes flicked up again, a fiery glint in them. She'd managed to bring her rage under control, but the defeat coiled, a dark spiral plunging through her midriff that gave her more raw pain than the sharp aches that accompanied each movement. Her jaw clenched as she finally found the correct file, and she stared at it for a long moment, though her eyes traced the faint hint of her own reflection in the holoscreen's translucence. What a failure.

"Engaging the silo," She uttered, her voice strained. A slender finger tapped the string of commands that would set off a chain reaction of events; first, the walls rotated with a hydraulic burst, cutting off the exit completely. Then, the floor beneath the gems lurched, hydraulics steaming off in the walls nearby. "Tsh," Padparadscha stumbled a bit, but kept her footing. The cracking and bending of metal whipped off of the walls, echoing up the entire length of the silo-- until the floor lurched again, and it began its steady, measured ascent. 

She peered around, then her eyes widened as she realized it might take a while to actually reach the surface. Her eyes flicked back down to her holoscreen, and her fingers glided across it with precision as she opened her communicator, and sent an encrypted message in all directions-- primarily to her pearl, and any nearby Homeworld operatives. Perhaps there was still time. 

[Hematite]

Part of the fusion was somewhat surprised that the sapphire had actually opted to do as she said. Not long, the facility came to life in a whir of loud exhaust systems and a reactor generating energy through its deep humming throughout the fortress-like facility. It was odd to her, the sapphire was wielding her plasma ferociously beforehand, but now it was like a barely-contained brush fire, she could still sense the rage hiding behind some of the emotional content the sapphire was feeling. But she seemed complacent enough.

Hematite relaxed her grip only slightly, allowing the peridot to at least breathe without feeling like her nerves were catching fire. Then the facility silo activated, she declined to move her eyes from the sapphire, but the sudden activation caused her to straighten herself and her alertness seemed to jump.

For a moment, she wanted to relax, but then she registered odd emotions from the sapphire, who also seemed to be relieved she was finally leaving this place. Or she so assumed. The Peridot herself also seemed to grow quiet as she accepted the time it would take to leave. Hematite almost cursed under her breath, she couldn’t believe this was taking such a long time, the lift must have been slow due to having to transport heavy machinery-possibly?

Whatever it was, it drew a nervous anger from her. She couldn’t lower her guard, not now.

[Paddy]

As she finished sending out her messages, she grew more antsy; her foot tapped, her fingers drummed. The sapphire's natural state was kinetic, it didn't behoove her to be idle. Outwardly, she kept the enemy in her focus, tension in her muscles like tightly wound cords, unwilling to release. She bit the inside of her cheek, refocusing herself from the physical aches, and the bitter sting of defeat that still seeped over her like a thick venom.

She already knew where she had gone wrong, now could be the time to correct her mistake. The conflicted group of gems would, at this point, be miles under the surface. It could be quite some time; a test of perseverance would ensue, and Padparadscha knew well of her own natural tenacity. This would give pearl plenty of room to receive and respond to her encryption-- and she hoped other operatives would receive it as well, though there was no telling who was in the area. 

There was the matter of Yelle being held captive. At times, the sapphire had found it necessary for gems to release their forms, whether for their own good or for the good of her operation. She considered for a moment how quickly the other peridots had been put down by her ability. If the proctor was out of the way, the sapphire could move in, more clear minded, and take down her opponent once and for all without having to fear that this gem would be put through more excruciating pain. But then, how quickly could she move in to prevent the technician from being shattered; as quickly as Hematite had done away with the core of the Harvester? 

Being stunned had been something of a learning experience for her, she had realized something about herself. Again her eyes closed, and she felt for the buzzing din of electromagnetic energy. Much of the discharge had dissipated or been absorbed, but she wondered whether her technique could be expanded. Free particles zipping through space, ready to be harnessed and conducted into something useful. 

Then, eyes locked onto Hematite's, Padparadscha placed one small, slender foot in front of the other, her feet giving a light tip-tap as she began to pace in the radius that surrounded her enemy and the victim. Her hands clasped behind her back, held straight with her chin pulled up as she circled. Bands of light passed over the room as the floor beneath them elevated, alternations of light and dark following the empty space between steps. 

[Hematite]

It was a nerve-wracking wait, but eventually she swore the interior was growing lighter and saw the large horizontal silo doors above, the screech from them was loud enough as the facility silo doors opened to give room to the massive platform. This was it, she was finally out of this place, away from this gem, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she could find a way out of this nightmare. Her eyes shifted to the peridot who began to pace, she could sense the rising aggravation in the gem. By now she would have kicked the gem at the sapphire and flown away, but the condition of her hair would restrain her, she’d have to spend more hour ensuring each strange was near perfect before she could take advantage of its powerful escape capabilities.



She’d wait for a moment, watching the sapphire, even pulling the lulling peridot to face her every move, not a bit of relaxation in the fusion. The open air wasn’t long now, in face they be rearing their heads to the city looming over the. Where were they about to surface? Her question was answered when she saw a familiar sign, around them it seemed the silo doors had pushed and torn apart of a small park surrounding the area, being deep past midnight, it was empty except maybe a gawking crazed homeless man running for their lives after witnessing a complete upheaval of a central parks’ playground.



She still held her eyes on the sapphire, going defly still for a moment before breaking into action. She’d lift her foot to kick the peridot with enough force, sending her tumbling at the sapphire. Her spear would summon and she’d take choice steps away from the gem, still facing her, eyes burrowing into the sapphires’. “Retreat with your honor, Sapphire. Be a smart one.” She warned with a vicious eye.

[Paddy]

Even as the doors parted the Earth to allow the gems their release from the dark underground, Padparadscha's gaze pierced into her opponent's savage expression. Her eyes narrowed as the peridot was given her leave, stepping back so the gem wouldn't stumble over her. Then, Hematite made to intimidate in order to ensure her own clean getaway, but with the proctor now securely out of the way, the sapphire was close enough to strike. However, Hematite's words struck first, like a swift blade. "Tch," She sneered, anger flaring again,"You ask me to retreat from my honor," Her reason for existence, her servitude to Pink Diamond, it was something this rebel seemed to undermine. "Gem's like you may win small victories, but you'll do well to remember; this is not a free floating asteroid-- this is Pink Diamond's Earth,"

Constructs like the one that had trapped them, among others, showed the immense power of the grip Homeworld had over this planet. It was very much something that belonged to her Diamond. "Power, to create and destroy, belongs to the Authority. Keep fighting, keep running, but it wont do you much good when her grand luminosity completes her vision," Her voice became increasingly venomous as all of the dense malice she'd felt in the wake of her defeat came pouring out. She gestured around them as she spoke, to the moon that watched from above, the tower who dominated the glittering city skyline, and to the Homeworld technology that had now so easily disposed of the pointless Earthling constructions around it; all evidence of gemkind's superiority as a collective.

The fusion's spear had been drawn, and so too the sapphire drew her weapons. Despite the pain constricting her muscles, she lifted her arms and let her katar take shape in her hands. She squared up, drawing her bladed fists up in front of her. Just as it did, a blip from her communicator told her that pearl was on the way. Her fists tightened around the grips of her daggers, and she dove forward to close the distance between herself and Hematite. In the same moment, a bloom of light burst over the park as she attempted to ensnare the fusion with a rapid coil of plasma. 

 

[Hematite]

The sapphire had woken something up in the fusion, a usually quiet and timid part of her mind that when brought to light became a force of its own. A powerful force, intent with rage. More aptly the warrior in her, but even more-so the Spindle portion of her psyche. Like an untamed beast the furious gem exposed its will as she threw poisonous words back at the sapphire through her fusion body, “Fool! Revel in your so-called power—you may just own this world, but the universe is beyond your grasp. May you tremble knowing everyday your foolish empire will one day fall apart, naught will be heard but a whimper!” Spindle felt a sudden vengeful anger towards this gem, she wouldn’t allow the other two’s careless sense of pacifism to go, she would teach this gem a lesson. To take her form from her at least, it’d curl her violent appetite enough to see that look in her eyes when she feels her physical body leaving her, knowing she’s been defeated. She needed that right now, for her hair, for her dignity.

She wanted to leave knowing this gem would remember this blow from this moment on.

She watched as the gem went to advance and Hematite constricted her grip on her spear, she’d use her back to block the view as she rolled the second to last of her Torinoko into a bundle of hair held within and then suddenly the hair would lash together to collapse into the familiar bun. Plasma had suddenly made its way around her, but she realized she would have to stop fearing this ability if she was to defeat this gem. She would wait and then lunging into the air, she’d play the first of her cunning tactics as she springs above the coil of super-heated gas and lands only feet in front of the sapphire but just as she lands, her silver locks would release the Torinoko – a low profile method of dropping the fuseless bomb. It was just enough momentum to set it off and in a sudden explosion of smoke, she’d attempt her coup de grace.

She was aware that she could attack from the sides or from behind, but she knew this would be a choice too quick to settle on as the more milliseconds that passed, the less of an opening she had, so she went for the most risky, a direct, low poster strike to gut, she’d use the length of her spear to close in enough, bracing it for a strong thrust and hope the sudden cloud was enough to stun her.

[Paddy]

In the moments that followed her advance, Hematite's aspect seemed to shift-- a new kind of ferocity erupted from the fusion. Everything happened in a blur of action; The light and heat of the plasma reflected off of the explosion of billowing smoke and fire, but she'd completely lost sight of Hematite as her nostrils filled with burning, acrid fumes. Then, the surge of action came to a sudden, ultimate halt.

All focus fluttered away from her, the remainder of her plasma faded into the ether. This was, perhaps one of the only things that could stop Padparadscha's constant flow of movement and thought. A surreal, lightheaded nausea, unlike anything the aristocrat had ever experienced. It wasn't pain; the spear, the foreign object thrust through the core where the sapphire's ire had boiled, was the feeling of Hematite's own rage now coursing through her-- a searing, caustic ache. It was hatred between gems who couldn't align. Half-seconds passed, and the sapphire stared down along the spear, her mind fuddled with static and confusion as she tried to put together what had happened. Then, her form burst into a wispy puff of dust, glittering across a myriad of pink and orange hues that mingled with the torinoko smoke, evaporating into the night sky. The sleek gem-core that had shown proudly on the sapphire gem's throat now dropped through the thick plume, landing to the metal stage with a light tick. 

Overhead, the small pink shuttle had zipped into view, the light of the city glinting from its underbelly. Pearl circled above, scanning for the signature of her patron's holoscreen technology where she had last gotten a read on it. From her vantage point, the servant quickly made a realization; her hands on the central console began to shake. 

[Hematite]

She felt the normally sickening collision of flesh meeting steel, and even though gem flesh was something like a synthetic, the memories they insighted in the gem caused her victorious snarl to curl into sudden horror at what she had done. Was the monster in her coming out? Staring into the eyes of the sapphire who was all too new to having been injured in such a grim way, she shuttered some as the gem’s form released, her gemstone falling to the gunmetal flooring of the complex in utter silence.

The fusions’ spear diffused and her expression screamed with confusion as well, why wasn’t she happy? This should had felt so satisfying. Except it wasn’t. And it would never be. Years ago in the lands she hailed from, in the era of vagrants and the start of the fall of smaller houses of the various Shogun leaders led to great wars escalating across her land. It wasn’t long before the hatred spread to her own region and her people were subject to the hostility of a revolutionizing Japan.

The town of Oshirama was at the time barely established in its remote locations, many of the people felt that it was a strange place of ghosts and demons and stayed away. Until one day a group of brigands accosted the town. She cared for many of the people there. And luckily the majority were ready to flee to nearby allies. But some were left behind. Like, Ikami. Hematite was given a small shrine within the city, and the child Ikami would visit her every day. She could understand this sounded vain, they referred to her as a god-a kami or Yokai, and as such she, deeply misunderstanding what this meant, simply accepted it.

The child would ask her questions about how she created the town by aiding other humans, philosophy of life, magic, and more. Innocent beautiful creature. But now, Hematite had to cast her eye at the fires of war reaching her home and to see Ikari kneeling before captors, threatened with a spear to neck. The fusion couldn’t bare it, committed herself to defending the child. It was just like this, well placed tools, well placed technique. And she manage to land a decisive blow on one of the wandering solders. He would keel over and hit the ground motionless, in a way that … deeply irked the fusion.

The invading forces caught word of a demon in the land and abandoned the town out of fear of hexes and curses. Days would pass, and Hematite would return to the body of the solder she had struck down, awaiting him to … get back up. But he didn’t. She sat there … days, weeks. The body had changed, but there was no motion, nothing. She saw this in many of the people who lay motionless in the town. Nothing, except, decay. To her horror Hematite had realized a horrible truth of mankind, that their life was fragile, it was short, no it was ephemeral. A blink of an eye to a gem. They lived finite gambles and she had just ended someone’s stakes.

Back to reality, the fusion trembled as the guilt of her passed actions walked over her. She took steps back, but then the surge of Spindle spat out, “No! the peridot. She’s next!” the peridot, had just gathered enough of her concentration just to see the sapphire get taken out by the fusion. But then watched both confused and anxious as the fusion would grasps her head in a manic-like state, as if there was some kind of pain, “No, Spindle, this is enough! We need to leave! Let’s just leave!” Her eyes lifted to the peridot, who began charging her stun-cannon but was too far and shaky to get a clear shot.

But then suddenly, the proctors eyes caught sight of an impending shuttle! Was it Homeworld reinforcements? Were they saved, she had looked back, ready to fight her way to the sapphires’ gem, when she realized the fusion was gone. She had dashed off in what was like cat in the dark, almost in plain sight. Her eyes instantly went to the sapphire’s gemstone, she jogged over to carefully collect it in her hands. “It’s okay Padpara, I got you! We’re gonna get you somewhere safe.” Then her attention turned to the shuttle and …

Something else ...