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The ship doors were closing as Lars and the Off Colors were standing in the doorways. Steven and the Crystal gems were saying goodbye, Garnet and Pearl waving while Amethyst and Steven yelled “Goodbye!”. Sadie and Shep were also there too, saying goodbye. Lars would smile before saying “Bye Guys! Remember to visit us through Lion, but of course we will come back to visit often!”. Buck, Sour Cream and Jenny were also waving goodbye, smiling big and looking at everyone. Onion was also there, staring into Rutile’s soul. 

The ship doors finally closed, and Lars was staring at metal instead of all his friends from earth. He sighed, before turning around and putting on his cape, turning on central power to the ship. “Fluorite, just to make sure, all repairs to the Nova Thrusters have been made right? Along with energy core replacement and general repairs?” asked Lars, turning to Fluorite and Rhodonite. “Yesssssssss….. Allllll repairrrsssss haveeeeee beennnnn madeeee,” slurred Fluorite. Lars would press a button on the center chair, causing it to turn his direction and activate the lights on the ship. “Heh… Alright, looks like everything is functioning,” Lars would say, looking up and then sitting in that chair. “Rhodonite, get to your pilot station, Rutile, get to the charting mainframe, Fluorite, go down and look at the engine to make sure nothing goes wrong. Padpa, please start a log directory.” commanded Captain Lars. 

“Captain, we are charting a path to a space station where we can rest at,” informs Right Rutile, Left Rutile finishing the statement with “It’s in the next star system on the way to MG-21B,”. Left Rutile would punch in some numbers before adding on, saying “We will reach it in approximately 10 Earth Days,”. Lars would retrieve the data from the charting mainframe into the core system and onto his screen. “Alright then Rhodonite, is the coast clear?” asked Lars. “Yes! There is nothing in the way…!” shouts Rhodonite, kicking into gear, turning on the general thrusters. Lars would take a deep breath, before yelling to his crew. “Alright, It’s time to take off, whatever, now whatever happens to all of us just know, we will take it on, head first,”.

“For the OFF COLORS!” shouted all of the members.

The ship would lift and get into air flying up in a straight line out of the Earth’s atmosphere. “Padpa, please create a new log recording, date it Earth-06-20-19 at 21:34,” commands Lars. “I think Lars is going to ask me to start a log, and I will do that!” said Padparadscha, happily turning on the recording device. Lars would start talking into the mic.

“Earth Date June 20th, 2019. We graduated from Little Homeschool a few months ago and have been getting ready these past few months.”

“I’m nervous, but excited to be back in the vast expanse of space.”

“We have a new mission of sorts, at least one of our missions. This is to find old colony planets and help liberate those who didn’t get the message. Lazulis who still terraform, Agates who still manage, even Quartz soldiers who still train.” 

“Our first colony planet is one of White’s colonies, MG-21B, or Metal Gem Planet 21 B,” 

“I’m not sure what our future holds, I just hope we will all survive,” 

“Signing off,  Captain Lars Barriga,”

A click could be heard, as the recording ended and Lars sighed before smiling and looking out at Earth, the planet growing smaller and smaller. The ship had gotten out of the atmosphere, and Rhodonite had started flying the ship to the target. Lars and the Off Colors’ Journey had just begun.

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The mission had gone on for roughly 8 days, mostly nothing other than strange space oddities occasionally. However, on this day they had come across something very interesting.

“C- Captain Lars? There’s a ship- a- a huge one.” cried Rhodonite, looking upon a huge ship in the middle of space, seemingly not moving, apart from simply drifting. “I believe that ship is called the S.S. Tungsten,” explained Right Rutile. “It’s one of the biggest Metallic Gem ships, led by a Tungsten,” finished Left Rutile. Lars would look at the ship longingly for a second. “What is a ‘Metallic Gem’ ?” asked Lars, looking at his crew.

“Well, gems are of course minerals, which means we could also be metals. Although it requires… more time and resources. A metallic gem needs a lot of metal supplements, along with the nutrients a g- gem needs to form,” shared Rhodonite. “The Crystal Gem Bismuth is a metallic gem, actually one of the rarest metallic gems!” blurted Right Rutile.

“That’s… hmm. I always wondered why there was a metal gem, thank you. Now, I think we need to take a closer look, it looks damaged, maybe even abandoned,” says Lars, walking up to the window. Rhodonite would fly up to it, and Lars would confirm his suspicions, therefore they would dock onto the ship. Lars would open a containment area next to his chair, grabbing a huge tube and a gas mask. “If it’s abandoned, there's a good chance there isn’t any air, so I need Padpa to crawl into my head and connect this tube to the oxygen tank in there,” commands Lars. “I think I have to go into Lars’s head!” says Padparadscha excitedly.

He would kneel down and Padpa would jump in with the tube, connecting it to the tank in the pocket dimension. Padpa would jump out and get ready, grabbing a strange case and then joining the rest of them. Lars would put on a different pair of shoes, with a dial on them, allowing him to add weight to himself, so he would be able to not fall into the vast expanse of space.

The ship's doors opened, and sound left Lars’s ears, Lars quickly putting on earmuffs.

The crew, apart from Fluorite, walked onto the ship, seeing the sheer damage to the docking bay. Lars would sign to the crew to split up and try to explore the ship, to see if there was anyone here worth saving.
Lars would walk through the corridors before finding a door with flickering lights. He would try to open the door through a keypad on it, and it would surprisingly work. The room he entered had bright white lights, flickering. When he entered the room, the door closed, and he heard a relieving sound.

A sound of air, the room had an airlock. He took off his earmuffs and turned off the oxygen mask, taking it off.

“Where the hell am I?” he would ask, walking through lit up hallways, his footsteps echoing through the halls. He turned to a fork, with two pathways, looking into the one on his left he noticed a figure at the end of the hallway, shrouded in darkness, however when he looked away it was gone. “Who- Who’s there?” yelled Lars, to no avail. The left corridor was dark, and he decided to go that way, but he grabbed a flashlight from his hair. He walked down this hallway before hearing and feeling a crack. Pointing his flashlight down he noticed what looked like… gem shards.

“...What the hell happened here?!” yelled Lars, looking around and shaking his flashlight throughout the hallways. He took a closer look at the shards, noticing that they were red, seemingly a group of rubies. As he walked through the halls he noticed the feeling of less air, and lo’ and behold he would soon come across another door, leading to a non air-locked room. He put his stuff back on, and continued walking around, this is when he came across something huge.

A crash site, and a huge tear through the core of the ship. It was through the back of the ship, so they hadn’t seen it when they came in. “What in the-” stammered Rhodonite, coming from a door behind Lars, slightly startling him. Lars and Rhodonite would walk up to the ship, noticing a green hue at the crash site. “Lars- LARS- there’s- gem shards- this crash had to have shattered some gems- I- Oh god…” cried Rhodonite. “Right, I saw some ruby shards in the hallways… I think something really bad happened here- and not just a crash,” commented Lars, his voice being muffled by the oxygen mask. Just then, they heard a hulking sound behind them.

When they looked behind, they found a metallic gem.

This gem had a silvery body, with a huge body and a silvery-teal hue. She had four eyes, and hair shaped like a concave diamond, with a flat top, and the color dark gray. She had two gems, both being in the shape of an ingot–one having been in her top right eye, and the other in her chest, both gems being a light silvery-teal metal. “Are you with her?” she asked, with a stern look on her face, looming over the two.

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“With… who?” asked Lars, his voice muffled by the mask. Lars would take a step back, looking at the gem before him. She would grab lars by his shirt, holding his face to her level. Rhodonite would shiver before yelling “L- Let go of him! Now!”. She would yell this, and create her weapon, being a hammer with a long stick, with one side being sharp and spear-like. 

“Drawing such a weapon so soon, you MUST be with HER!” yelled the gem, dropping Lars and grabbing Rhodonite by her neck, throwing her across the room. “Do you know what that captain of yours has done? Because if you came to her aid you are MISTAKEN! She already stole one of our ships and left!”. The impact would shake Rhodonite, but she would quickly get back up, creating her weapon again and striking the gem. Lars would grab a pink sword, with a curve in it from his hair, getting it ready for battle.

“Who?!? Who are you talking about?” yelled Lars. “You know who I’m talking about, You came in her fastest ship after all!” yelled the gem, lunging at Lars and pummeling him into the ground. “Urgh- I- do you mean Emerald!?” asked Lars, trying to get up, but then being met by a grab and throw into the vastness of space. 

He would take a few seconds to realize what had just happened, as he was slowing down, floating in space, with some debris near him. Thinking fast he would quickly grab a pair of gloves, dropping them and picking them back up, then putting them on. They were gray with pink lines going through them and some mechanics on the top of the glove. He would then press a button on the palm to grapple to a nearby piece of debris, then grapple back to the ship, landing with a tumble and pulling out his sword. The gem was right there in front of him, grabbing him by his neck and throwing him over her, straight into the metal.

This would cause him to get some cuts on his head, and his mask to start leaking. After this, she would attempt to do that again, but Rhodonite would lunge at her with the hammer, spinning it and hitting the gem straight in the head.

She would then do the same thing but in the opposite direction, sending the gem to the ground. Lars would get up, holding his mask and grabbing his cape, wrapping it around his mask. “We aren’t with Emerald, We s-” would scream Rhodonite before being grabbed by the gem after she had gotten back up. “You came in on her ship, and well… I don’t think I CAN TAKE THAT CHANCE!” yelled the gem, before throwing Rhodonite across the room, slamming straight into the hard metal and poofing. “That Emerald… she crashed into our ship- we were on our way to Earth! We wanted to celebrate with our liberators- but- nearly everyone on this ship has been shattered by her… EXCEPT FOR US,”. Lars would walk up to her with his sword at the ready.

“We aren’t here to fight, We saw a destroyed ship and-” explained Lars, before being cut off. “SHUT UP! You came in Emerald’s fastest ship- You HAVE to be with her,” yelled the gem, while winding up a punch. However, after this, two fast footsteps would approach, getting faster before a familiar face appeared, the Rutile twins. They would both create red sparkling blades, both slashing at the gem. The gem would fall back, poofing into two new but smaller gems. The gem was a fusion.

The gems they had split into were recognized by the Rutiles. One, was a tungsten gem, seemingly being the captain of the ship. The other, recognized by both Lars and the Rutile Twins, was a Bismuth. Tungsten was dark gray, with a cyan tint. She had short hair, going down to her head. Her ingot/gem was in her chest, and she was bigger than the bismuth, with an even bulkier body. The bismuth looked almost identical to the Crystal Gem Bismuth, apart from the fact that her gem was in her right eye.

 “Dammit- We weren’t supposed to unfuse!” yelled Bismuth, creating a huge metal sword and running towards the Rutiles. She was intercepted by Lars, blocking the blade with some struggle. Using this opportunity, Rutile would grab her swords, getting in between Lars and Bismuth, slashing her twice in the chest. This would cause the Bismuth to fall back but then catch herself. “I WON’T LET EMERALD WIN-” screamed Bismuth, before being hit with another two slashes to the chest, then poofing. With quick thinking, the Left Rutile would grab the gem and bubble it, sending it to the ship.

“W- WHAT DID YOU DO WITH BISMUTH- DID YOU SHA- I- ,” yelled Tungsten, readying a hammer attack. “Relax, we didn’t shatter her!” explained Right Rutile, “We simply bubbled her and sent her to the ship,” finished Left Rutile. “... Alright then… SO… ARE YOU WITH EMERALD?” asked Tungsten, in slight fear of the Rutiles and Lars. “No- We stole her ship a while ago, she actually hates our guts…” stated Lars, lowering his blade. “... Fine. But if you attack me again, I will s- shatter all of you,” said Tungsten, lowering her hammer. 

“She shattered almost everyone on the ship- Bismuth is outraged and… so am I. Bismuth convinced me to form Mythril so we could be strong enough to shatter Emerald but- she escaped too soon.” said Tungsten. After this, a sound would be heard from behind them, and Rhodonite would reform. “W- Where is she- the… the big one… and who are you!” yelled Rhodonite pointing at Tungsten. “I’m sorry- that was Mythril, a fusion of mine- We thought you a part of Emerald’s crew. “oh… okay then…” mumbled Rhodonite. 

“I am sorry for all this… you came to help and we attacked you,” lamented Tungsten, sitting down on the floor. Lars would sit beside her, and start speaking. “We can help you get to earth, and-” consoled Lars, being cut off by Tungsten. “No, I’m going to gather the surviving crew and get on one of our other ships, and then head for earth,” said Tungsten coldly, getting up. “But, I need Bismuth,” The Rutiles would quickly run away to the ship, taking about 10 minutes to grab the bubble Bismuth was in and come back. “Here,” said Left Rutile, “We’re sorry about this,” finished Right Rutile. 

Tungsten would grab the bubble, and then walk away.  “I’m going to search the ship, goodbye,” She would walk away, however she would stop. “Actually… What are your names?” She would turn around and look at them. Lars would answer her question, by saying “I am Lars, and we are the Off Colors,”

Tungsten would, after this, leave and find any survivors. Lars and the crew would stand there, getting ready to leave. However, they realized something. “Hey… where is Padparadscha?” asked Rhodonite. All three of them would look into the space, hearing a strange yelling sound from space.

“I THINK I'M FLOATING!” yelled Padparadscha, very happily floating in the middle of space.

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“Wweee neeeed fueelll….” said Fluorite, softly. Lars would look into the vast space, noticing a small yellow-orange colored planet. “Hmm… I wonder if that planet has gem fuel?” asked Lars, looking at it. “I think we need fuel!” said Padparadscha. “That is Ekrith, a small planet in the Milky Way system. It used to be one of Yellow’s colonies, so there is a good chance that it has the fuel we need!” informed Left Rutile. 

After a little bit, they would land on the planet, its skies yellow and orange, yet breathable. The terrain was rocky and brown heavily. In the distance they saw a huge kindergarten, spanning miles in all directions, including high mountains filled with holes.

The ship’s doors would open, and Lars would step out accompanied by Rutile, having told Rhodonite and Padparadscha to stay inside the ship to help analyze the planet’s structure for databases. “I suppose we should head over to that kindergarten, that’s the best bet,” said Right Rutile, walking forward with Lars. 

It would take roughly 15 minutes to get to the kindergarten, having to slide down a mountain to safely make it to ground level. It seemed to be deserted just as the ones on earth were. However, a strange thing was that there were no injectors nearby, no signs of gem technology. Just then they heard footsteps behind them. 

Turning around, neither of them saw anything. But then they heard footsteps again, behind them. They kept turning yet no one was there until suddenly the Rutiles were kicked down in their faces, hard on the ground. Just then, a blur in front of Lars started to become visible. It was a yellow gem, with a big tear shaped gem in her abdomen. She had on goggles and she was tall, taller than Lars. Her hair was long and pale yellow. Her legs were seemingly more muscular than her arms and she had a huge grin on her face.

“NOW… WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE…? INTRUDERS ON THE GREAT, LUSTROUS, YELLOW DIAMOND’S COLONY?!” she yelled out to Lars and Rutile. Lars would somehow dodge a kick to the face, before backing up and grabbing a gun from his belt, holding it in front of him. 

“PUNY NON-GEM WEAPONS DON’T WORK ON US,” The gem would laugh with a very high pitch, very maniacally. “But… THIS WILL!” yelled Left Rutile, pulling her gem weapon, a red double barrel shotgun with two handles. She would go on to pull the trigger on both sides, launching two red bullets with a red trail straight for the gem, however the gem would dodge. “Dammit! Citrines and their speed- I can’t land a h-” she would say this, being cut off by Citrine disappearing and then a pounding kick to Rutiles head, poofing Rutile. Citrine would bend down and grab Rutile’s gem.

 “I ALMOST WONDER IF YOU COULD…” She would say this, trying to snap Rutile in half, however, being intercepted by Lars attacking her with the gun, knocking her down and the gem down too. “YOU-” she would yell, kicking Lars straight in the gut, knocking him to the ground. Then she would grab him by the neck, taking some strength to do so, then drop kicking him into a rock wall, knocking him out and causing him to bleed and get cut.

With both of them out, she would sigh. “First the faux Pink Diamond transmission, and now some random people showing up on her door. What would Yellow Diamond think about this…” She walked over and grabbed Rutiles’ gem, and grabbed Lars’ leg, dragging him across the dirt and stone to a small area she had fashioned herself at, with a yellow ship, some gem technology and some transmitter computer stations. However, the main part of this was a cage that sat in the wall. She would throw Lars inside the cage forcefully, and then sit Rutile down in it, locking it behind her.

“Era 2 is still, it must be.  I don’t believe a Steven Universe… whatever that is can just end our entire way of life, just because he is ‘Pink Diamond’,” said Citrine, sitting down on the ground. 

“I need to get this WORKING!” she would yell this, pounding on a console. She would enter in numbers to no avail. 

“Why did I do this?”

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It had been 6 hours with no contact from Lars or Rutile. The rest of the Off Colors were getting worried. Rightfully so, as Citrine had captured both of them. Rhodonite left the ship to go see where they were. 

Lars had finally woken up after being out for 6 hours. “Why did you- ugh… Why did you capture us?” asked Lars, grabbing the bars. The blood on his head dried up but his head and body were still in pain. He noticed his gun was over in a corner outside of his cell, out of his reach. He was in pain, but he still wanted to get out. Grabbing Rutiles’ gem he would quickly shift his hand to his hair, putting Rutile in his pocket dimension, out of Citrine’s sight. “I asked you a question, Citrine,” demanded Lars.

“I don’t have to answer to a lower life form,” responded Citrine, moving her hand through her hair as she continued to enter in numbers and combinations into her console. She had a computer, with a lot of error windows open. “DAMMIT!” screamed Citrine, opening a panel and fiddling with wires.

“MY DIAMOND MY DIAMOND MY DIAMOND! I MUST REACH YOU AGAIN!” yelled Citrine. She would continue to enter in things and fiddle with settings, wires, and transistors. “Maybe if one of those… FUCKING PERIDOTS WERE HERE… I would be able to fix the computer,” Citrine would turn the computer off and on again, but yet to no avail. 

“Y’know Rutile could probably fix that computer of yours…” mentioned Lars, looking smugly at Citrine. “I don’t want help from an abomination like that lousy excuse for a gem,” disputed Citrine.

“Why are you even fighting us? The Diamond Authority is over…” asked Lars, looking at Citrine. “It’s not over, and anyone who thinks it is isn’t truly loyal to the Great, Lustrous, Diamonds!” interjected Citrine, staring straight at Lars, eyes wide open.

“All those Jaspers, Peridots, and other Citrines that came from this planet and then just… LEFT… are stupid! My Diamond would never concede to a lower life form like a “Steven Universe”. It’s IMPOSSIBLE!” said Citrine, getting closer to the forcefield that Lars was trapped behind. 

“I just have to get this… STUPID COMPUTER TO WORK! So- So I can see that message again. I don’t think I can believe her,” growled Citrine. Lars would sigh, then look at Citrine. “Steven Universe IS Pink Diamond, and he liberated the gems!” yelled Lars.

“Did you forget who is behind bars? I can kill you if I wanted to. You do NOT get to yell at me,” demanded Citrine. She would then start laughing, and then look up. After this, she would put her hand on a button next to the forcefield, lifting it and opening Lars’ cage. Lars would see this and escape, grabbing a sword from his hair. However, as he did this, he dropped the sword and his hand was grabbed by Citrine.

She would slam him against the wall and grab his hand. She would then grab Lars’ pinky finger, then twist and break it. Lars would bleed from the finger, blood pouring out of the cracked finger. “AAHHH-” screamed Lars.

“THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR ACTING LIKE THIS YOU DAMN NON-GEM!” screamed Citrine. She would, after this, then throw him back in the cell, and almost click the button before being whacked in the head straight by Rhodonite and her hammer, jumping down from a mountain.

“A Fusion?!” hesitated Citrine, before being hit in the head again. “D- Don’t touch our captain!” yelled Rhodonite, swinging her hammer again. However this time Citrine would intercept with a kickback, then a kick to Rhodonite’s gut.

Lars would get back up, and with his still good hand he would grab his sword and attack Citrine. He would slash her in the back. She would fall down, but then get up and run around in a circle around Rhodonite and Lars, being incredibly fast. Then, Citrine would kick Both of them in the face at the same time. However, she would then be hit straight in the chest by a hammer and a sword, knocking her down.

“WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF YOU ABOMINATIONS!?” screamed Citrine. “We are NOT abominations,” answered Rhodonite coldly, hitting Citrine in the head again, causing Citrine to poof.

Lars would fall down and sit, putting his sword back and holding his pinky, trying to stop the bleeding with a handkerchief. “Dammit- she almost completely destroyed my- my- my pinky…” whined Lars.

Rhodonite would sigh. “Where is Rutile?” asked Rhodonite. “She- she’s in my head- she was poofed so I put her there for protection,” said Lars, grabbing her from his head. She was still in her gem form. “Well at least she’s safe…” sighed Rhodonite, looking at a decently sized ship, with a yellow hue.

“That ship probably has- I think it will have gem fuel, I’m gonna get some, Alright?” asked Rhodonite, looking at Lars. “Yeah, Yeah- but what do we do with Citrine,” questioned Lars. “... L- Leave her here?” answered Rhodonite, tilting her head.

“I- That’s probably a good idea…” sighed Lars. Rhodonite would get into the ship, going to the fuel sector, and grabbing about 10 canisters of gem fuel. “This ship has the jackpot!” called Rhodonite, coming out of the ship. Rhodonite would look at Lars, asking him a question. “Are you going to be alright? On the walk back?”

“Yeah- I’ll be good, let’s just get to the ship please.” said Lars, walking with Rhodonite back to the ship. Eventually they would make it back to the ship. Lars would put Rutile on a small pillow in the corner and would sit in his chair, having stopped the bleeding yet still being in severe pain.

“Yooooouuuur finnnngeerrrr?” asked Fluorite, looking worriedly at Lars. “There was some gem- a Citrine- and she did this to me… I’ll be fine though,” answered Lars.

Padparadscha would look at the pain, then grab his finger and his hand, holding his hand in both of her, much smaller hands. “Padspa- oww! That hurrr….” said Lars, slowly getting cut off, realizing the pain was going away, and the blood too. A strange orange glow permeated around the finger, and Padparadscha’s hands. “You- you can heal?” asked Lars.

“Did- I think I just healed you?!” yelled Padparadscha, jumping back, having realized she just did something she didn’t even know she could do. “I didn’t think I could heal- Sapphires are only supposed to be able to have sight powers and ice powers,” said Padparadscha, confused.

Lars would move his pinky in shock and happiness. “Padspa! THIS IS GREAT! You can heal!” yelled Lars, grabbing Padparadscha and hugging her.

Meanwhile…

Citrine had reformed, and she was upset. She decided to forget about what had happened. For now. She was still, however mad about the computer. She needed to fix it. She had broken it in a rage. When everyone left her because the empire was over. She wasn’t that gullible. The rest were probably… definitely dead by now. For treason.

She, somehow then, after combinations, wire shifts and repairs. She got into the computer. That's when, suddenly a new transmission came in.

On the screen, Emerald appeared, looking more disheveled than when Lars’ had seen her last. “Coming into Ekrith Beta Kindergarten, repeat Coming into Ekrith Beta Kindergarten,” said Emerald, her voice muffled by weak transmission. “My- My Emerald! What have you called our kindergarten for?” asked Citrine, surprised. “Our? A Citrine actually has jurisdiction? Where is the High Agate?” asked Emerald. 

“My Emerald, everyone left, after hearing that we had been liberated- Everyone except me- NOW! Now, while I don’t formally have jurisdiction over this kindergarten, due to that, and the fact that I am the star kindergartener for my speed and strength I have reign over this area for now… My.. Emerald,” answered Citrine, hastily and fearfully. 

“Hmmph, very well, Since nobody else is there, I suppose I can recruit you,” said Emerald. “Recruit…? so… is… is it true? Is the empire over? Did everyone commit- treason?” asked Citrine. “Unfortunately so,” answered Emerald. “Anywho, I am starting a new government, but I need enforcers… by the way it sounds… well it sounds like you will be perfect,”

Emerald grinned a toothy smile. Her eye stared into Citrine’s soul. Citrine was worried, but at the same time relieved. The empire was… over? She couldn’t believe it. But if everyone had wished to commit that much treason. Then well, she could join a new government. She could do anything now.

“Citrine… Answer me now! Do you accept? Do you wish to join the GRAND EMERALD DOMINION?”

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since they had landed on Ekrith, and Rutile was still in her gem form. Everyone was worried, but they figured it was okay. The original Off Colors had already experienced this before, and she always took quite a while to reform. 

“... I really hope she’ll reform soon.” said Lars, looking at Rutile. From his last battle, he had a few bandages on his arms, hands, and one on his head. Lars would sight before looking out the window then sitting down in his chair. “So… What is our next destination?” asked Lars, looking around.

“Rutile was on charting- so I’m not sure… maybe we can go to one of Blue’s colonies? A planet called ‘Nelemu’ is a few hours ahead,” guessed Rhodonite. “I suppose that will do for now,” conceded Lars, holding his head with his good hand.

During their travels however, they noticed a ship floating midair. It looked heavily damaged. It was smaller than the last abandoned ship they had come across.

“Is… that another abandoned ship?” asked Lars, looking out the window, walking towards it. “I think it’s another abandoned ship!” grinned Padparadscha. “Rhodonite, dock into the ship, I want to check it out- I want to help anybody I can,” decided Lars, looking at Rhodonite. 

Rhodonite would steer the ship into the dock of the other ship. “Padspa, stay here and guard Rutile,” said Lars, starting to open the ship’s doors. “Yes sir!” said Padparadscha. Fluorite would walk up the stairs from the tech room. This time she was much smaller than normal. “Cannn I commme tooo?” asked Fluorite. 

“She- You can shapeshift?!” questioned Lars, having been taken aback. “Offf cooouurrrseee iii cann!” said Fluorite. “I thought you were from Era 2…?” asked Lars, genuinely confused.

“Youuu… seeee… Sommme offf myy gemms are from Errra 1…!” answered Fluorite. “Well alright then! Feel free to come with us Fluorite!” responded Lars. Lars, Rhodonite and Fluorite would leave the ship, going onto the other ship. Thankfully this one didn’t have holes in it, so Lars didn’t need an oxygen mask.

The ship had many things in it, strewn across the walls. Hammers, wrenches, wires. Metal plates were taken from the walls and floors. It was a very strange spaceship. Lars then heard something from behind him. Like chattering…?

“Did you hear that?!” yelled Lars, looking behind him, to no avail. “No? I- I didn’t hear anything!” said Rhodonite looking around. “Maybe it was just me…” laughed Lars.

The atmosphere was very eerie. Everyone was at least a little scared. However, suddenly everyone heard a sound behind them. A sound like… the engine of their ship. When they looked out the window, they suddenly saw their ship fly past, leaving them stranded.

“WHAT THE HELL?!?” yelled Rhodonite. “Our ship- They- they STOLE PADSPA?!?” screamed Lars, holding his good hand to his head in panic. “Our ship is gone?!?” yelled Padparadscha, surprised.

“Yessss… aaanddd theyyyy stolllle padddpaarradddsccchaaa….” said Fluorite, also in shock. “They stole me!?” yelled Padparadscha, also in shock. “Wait.” doubted Rhodonite, looking at Padparadscha. “P- PADPARADSCHA?!? YOU LEFT THE SHIP?!” screamed Rhodonite, taking a few steps back. “I think it was kind of boring,” said Padparadscha plainly.

“Well they- they didn’t steal Padspa but- but- RUTILE?!” yelled Lars. Everyone was in shock and scared, worried Rutile would be shattered, or that they would be stranded. They all had many huge fears.

However, meanwhile… three rubies had stolen the ship.

“WOAH! One, this- this ship is so fast!” yelled Ruby 2, looking out the window of the Sun Incinerator. “Three, this was such a good idea!” screamed Ruby 1. “Your welcom’ I’m glad y’all’ like this here ship,” said Ruby 3, with a heavy country accent. All three rubies had their gem straight in their chest.

While this was happening, something else was happening behind them. Something they didn’t notice. Rutile was reforming. She reformed and looked around, noticing the 3 rubies had stolen the ship. She had seemingly heard snippets of conversations, and she had a good idea of what had happened. She would get up, and create her double barreled double handled shotgun.

“What are you doing here?” asked Left Rutile, looking straight at the rubies. “Huh, who are…. You..?” asked Ruby 2, looking at Rutile, then looking at the shotgun in fear. Rutile would cock the shotgun and everyone would jump in fear, causing the ship to suddenly break, making everyone slide a bit.

“Drive us back to your ship,” demanded Right Rutile. “...Nah, I- I don’t think we will.” said Ruby 3, creating a small red pistol. She would then spin her gun and shoot Right Rutile’s left eye. “Damn you little rubies-” yelled Right Rutile, shooting her shotgun at Ruby 3, not hitting her, but hitting Ruby 1 and poofing her.

“Oh my god you just poofed her!?” yelled Ruby 2, hiding in a corner. “STOP BEIN’ A DAMN BABY!” chastised Ruby 3. Rutile would then, while Ruby 3 wasn’t looking, hit her in the back of the head with her shotgun, poofing her.

Rutile would take a look at Ruby 2, crying. “Just drive the ship back please,” said Left Rutile. Rutile would take this time to sit in Lars’ chair. 

“So… are you guys space pirates too?” asked Right Rutile. “Uh… yeah- we are the Ruby Pirates!” stammered Ruby 2. “I didn’t really think there were that many others,” said Left Rutile. “Y-yeah there’s even a whole space pirate bar up ahead… we just wanted a ship that would be able to get there…” blurted Ruby 2. “Hmm… well maybe we will go there,” said Left Rutile.

After she said that, the ship docked back into the ship. Rutile would grab her weapon again, just in case. She would then get out of the chair and open the ship doors. Lars, Rhodonite, Fluorite, and Padparadscha would be waiting at the door, then running straight in. 

“I can’t believe we almost lost this!” yelled Rhodonite. “I’m so happy to be back here….” said Lars, slumping into his chair. “I think the ship is back guys!” exclaimed Padparadscha. 

Rutile would lower her weapon and start explaining. “These Rubies are pirates too, they stole our ship to get to a space pirate bar,” explained Right Rutile.

“Execution!” yelled Padparadscha, pointing at the Rubies. “NO?!?” said Lars.

“We can take you and the other 2 rubies to the place… just don’t steal our ship again. Alright?” asked Lars, looking at Ruby 2.

“Okay then…” said Ruby 2, looking at Lars, then out the window

Chapter Text

A few hours after Rutile had confronted the Rubies, they had arrived. They were approaching the Space Saloon. A bar made by space pirates, for other space pirates and other  spacefarers of the galaxy. The other 2 rubies had already reformed, and were being watched intently by Fluorite. 

“Is this the place?” asked Lars, looking at Ruby 2. “Yeah- yeah this is the place,” said Ruby 2, looking out the window. The place was big, it was a spaceship itself, having a huge neon sign saying “SPACE SALOON,”. There were various ships surrounding the main saloon. Rhodonite would park the ship a little bit from the entrance. Everyone would get out of the ship, including Fluorite and the Rubies. Lars would put on his oxygen mask too.

“Thank you Lars!” exclaimed Ruby 2, walking with the other rubies. Both of the others would stay silent, and just walk inside, taking Ruby 2 with them. “Well… That was that,” said Lars, looking at Rutile, shrugging. “I suppose we can also take a look inside,” suggested Left Rutile. “Oh boy! Alcohol! Haven’t had that since we left Earth!” cheered Lars, speed walking into the ship, walking first into a chamberlock, then into the bar. The rest followed suit. After getting into the bar, Lars would take off the oxygen mask.

The bar was quite big, and was filled with people. There were various different races, Humans, Gems, and many other kinds of Aliens and creatures. Lars would sit at the bar, next to an Amethyst. “One beer please!” asked Lars, to the bartender who was facing the shelfs, then turning to Lars. The bartender was a bug man, who had 6 eyes. The bartender would blink at Lars, before grabbing a beer off the shelf. “Thank you..” said Lars, giving him 10 dollars. The bug man would take it, and enter it into a machine with hundreds of buttons, with symbols of various currencies.

Rutile would go over to a dart board, joining in on a game. When it was her turn, she hit the bullseye, and in fact she would hit the bullseye every time. Left was calculating the trajectory and force needed to always hit the bullseye and Right was using what Left said and throwing the dart.

Rhodonite would simply sit at an empty table, looking around anxiously. Padparadscha would soon join Rhodonite at the table, sitting on top of the table. Padparadscha was just taking the atmosphere in while Rhodonite was very anxious from all of the people and yelling.

Fluorite was just watching Rutile, along with Rhodonite. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she simply watched. However, she had noticed a strange poster. It was almost all in a green hue. It read in huge, bold words “REJECT THE NEW” and “JOIN THE GRAND EMERALD DOMINION”.

“Rrruuuutillle! Rhhhodddonnite!” yelled Fluorite, looking for both of them. Both would notice her, and stop what they were doing, including Padparadscha. “Thhhee possstteerrr!” said Fluorite, pointing to it.

Rutile would take a look at it, before getting wide eyed. “The Grand Emerald Dominion… What the hell?!?” yelled Left Rutile, grabbing the poster off the wall. “Oh No… no no no no no!” yelled Rhodonite. “A grand thing will be revealed!” said Padparadscha. Left Rutile would crumple a part of the paper. “First those- all of those deaths on that ship- Now this?! Emerald is trying to create another Diamond Authority,” squeaked Rhodonite. “We have to show Captain Lars,” said Right Rutile, walking away towards Lars.

Lars was still drinking that first beer of his, when Rutile called out to him. “Lars! Lars! You have to see this!” yelled Right Rutile, touching Lars’ shoulder. “Hmm? What’s wrong-?” asked Lars, looking down at the paper that was now in front of him. It took him a second to realize what it said, and once he did, he grabbed the paper from Rutile’s hand.

“... we have to go.” said Lars, getting up, constantly rereading the paper. He would walk to the exit, his eyes glued to the paper, scouring for any more information on the paper to no avail. He would get into the chamberlock, put his mask on and get ready for space yet again. The others would follow him out. When he got outside, he finally looked up from his paper. He would walk over to the ship, hearing strange noises coming from it. He would walk up to it, and attempt to open it, while the others tried to keep up with him.

Then suddenly… the ship left, in quite a fast motion. Lars would instinctively drop the paper, floating midair. “Oh hell no! NOT AGAIN!” yelled Lars, grabbing a grappling hook from his hair and latching onto the ship, grabbing the stone cold metal with all his might, as to not fall off.

Once Lars got on it, he crawled on top of it, pounding at the roof of the ship. This would prove fruitless, however he soon came up with an idea. Finding a panel on the top, he would grab his sword from his hair and slowly try to unscrew the screws. After about 5 minutes, he did it, launching the panel into space and jumping into the ship.

When he jumped in, he was met with one gem. A Topaz. He had noticed, in addition to he had seen earlier, another similar poster next to her. Topaz would turn around, hands at the ready.

“What are those posters?” asked Lars, looking straight at her, pointing his sword at her. Topaz stayed silent. “Where are you going with my ship?” asked Lars. “Your ship?” asked Topaz, with a mad look on her face, staring at Lars. “You are NOT going to be taking this back to Emerald, especially not with whatever the hell that ‘Grand Emerald Dominion’ thing is,” demanded Lars.

“Funny… As the inferior species, You shouldn’t make that kind of THREAT!” stated Topaz, turning it into a yell and charging at Lars, to which he would dodge, and hit her with three slashes, weakening her severely. He would then kick her in the stomach, poofing her. He would pick her gem up off the ground and scoff.

“I don’t know if you can here me in there but… you are going to tell me where you were going to go,” said Lars, before turning the ship around back to the bar.

“Come on Off Colors, get on,” said Lars, coldly, grabbing the new poster. This one had coordinates. “Actually… maybe you WON’T have to tell me where you were going to go,” said Lars.

“I don’t know how good of an idea this is but- but… We need to confront anyone trying to reinstate the Diamond Authority,” stated Lars, continuing. 

“We shall set our course for the so-called ‘New Kindergarten’,”