A/N: Well, here we are again. This is the sequel to "the Crystal Gems and Onyx". To be honest, I felt like the first one ended too abruptly, but I didn't want the story to be as long as it already was.

Two years ago, I posted this first chapter of "the Crystal Gems and Onyx" as my first full project on this website. I was a complete nervous wreck about how it would turn out. My interest in Steven Universe was only beginning and I made the first few chapters just as an "experiment," but I'm very happy that a lot of you liked it.

Now, I can't promise that I will be able to update this story as often as the first one. I have classes, as well as other stories I'm currently working on, but I hope you won't mind too much.

Without further ado, please enjoy the story.

Hundreds of Gems were gathered in one spot. Murmuring could be heard in the crowd. Among them, was Emerald, awaiting for a certain Diamond to show to give his report. The other Homeworld Gems stared in admiration.

From a distance, in the shadows, stood a lone Gem. Her long, dark hair flowed in the breeze, her eyes were visible, even from the dark. Her overcoat beared an autumn leaf on the back, with small stars around the wrists of the sleeves.

The Gem began to walk out from the shadows, heading into the crowd. The Gems saw her approach and backed away in fear, clearing a path.

Up above, another Gem sees the commotion and pulls out a weapon. Then, before she could race into action, a shadow appears… and everything went dark for her.

A Quartz soldier ran up yelling at the dark Gem to stop. Before she could get close, she yelled out in pain and retreated to her gem. Another was hit before he could get close. The dark Gems captured the fallen in her hands, bubbling and teleporting them away.

The crowd continued to let her through. Two blades came out from her sleeves and she stabbed two guards who facing forward. She caught their gems and bubbled them, two more guards rushed forth. At that moment, the dark Gem flicked her wrists, throwing two blades through the air, hitting the two guards.

Finally, the mystery Gem reaches the front of the crowd, walking out into the open. She snapped her fingers and the fallen Gems were bubbled and warped away.

Six soldiers surrounded her, holding out their weapons. Across from her, Emerald came out to investigate the scene.

"Onyx…" Emerald said, chuckling slightly. "Or, Orchard, was it? Whatever foolish name you decided to call yourself… I find it brave that you chose to stand alone against me… but I also find it quite foolish, don't you think?"

The Gem gazed upward slightly, and gave a nod that was barely noticeable. The soldiers around her suddenly cried out in pain, losing their forms, their gems clattering on the floor.

The Quartz soldiers rushed at her, both performing a rolling attack and racing at her. She was not phased and cut through them with ease, with her regal sword. Their fallen gems joined their kin.

Emerald nodded and more skilled soldiers joined his side, pulling out their weapons and taking formation. The high ranking Gems pulled out his weapon, as well.

The Assassin said nothing, dark blade in hand as other Gems like her and some of the rebellion known as the Crystal Gems joined her side.

The two sides ran at each other as the crowd could only watch…

ElectricBlaster Presents…

Broken Worlds

A sequel to the Crystal Gems and Onyx

It hadn't been long since Steven was almost lost to space… since Onyx found out about his past… It had only been a little while since they learned of the deed committed by Rose Quartz.

Yet, now that everything was settling down, with Homeworld Gems at bay for now, and Steven wasn't floating in space anymore, the Crystal Gems took this time to relax, to reflect, and to get their thoughts together. Their break couldn't be long, however. They still had lots of work to do. And so, before they decided to get back to their duties of protecting the Earth, Onyx made his way to the Boiler Room.

"Um, hey, Bismuth," said Onyx. He gazed up at the colorful gem, bubbled slightly high in the room. "Things have been… pretty hectic, lately. Steven almost got lost in space thanks to some Homeworld Rubies. Oh! And Amethyst and Steven actually managed to fuse. They told me that they named their fusion Smoky Quartz. We've been taking a break for a bit to settle down… I think they miss you… I… do, too."

Onyx looked around the room, putting his hands behind his back. He let out a sigh, before finding the strength to speak again.

"So, uh… I've been looking at that book you gave me," he said. "It's strange, ever since my memories started coming back, I actually recall seeing my master write into this sometimes… Sometimes I wonder if I should stop digging… that maybe I shouldn't have tried to get my memories back and that forgetting was for the best… The more I look into it, thought, the more I want to know… well, more! I guess there's no going back now. I'll uncover everything whether I like it or not."

"Onyx! C'mon! Said a voice. "We've gotta get going!"

"Oh! That's Amethyst!" said Onyx. "We got to get to the Beta Kindergarten to retrieve those corrupted Gems Jasper imprisoned. It's probably going to get pretty scrappy. Peridot wants to come, too, but I'm not sure how useful she'll be without her limb enhancers. Oh! But she does have metal powers now, so maybe it won't be so bad."

"Onyx!" said the voice of Amethyst.

"I'm coming!" Onyx yelled back. "Well, I'd better get going." He began to to turn and head towards the door, but he stopped and and looked at his friend once more. "I… I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm glad we could talk…"

Carnelian remembered dodging Jasper's punches. She summoned some fire to her fists before Jasper pushed her back.

"Our Diamond should've shattered you!" said Jasper. "Just look at you. You would choose your Emerald over your own Diamond! Your misshaping form! No matter what you do, you're a disgrace!"

"You're the disgrace, Jasper!" said Carnelian. "Fusing with another type of Gem like Lapis is disgraceful enough!"

"If anyone, your Emerald is a disgrace!" Jasper yelled.

And with that, Carnelian's entire body ignited. She remembered flying through the air, screaming… followed by the pain in her chest, the endless fall… and the darkness…

"Alex! Wake up!"

Alex quickly scrambled to sit up on his bed, finding his father in the doorway. He had a shotgun so it had to mean danger.

"Dad, what is it?!" said Alex.

Monsters are invading the town!" his father yelled, urgently. "We have to defend it!"

"Okay!" Alex said, swinging his feet out of bed and rushing to get dressed. Too young to own a gun, he grabbed the sword from under the bed and followed his father into town.

Carnelian's eyes opened at the sound of thunder. She sat up, her vision hazy, and everything spinning. The wind blew through the thick field of trees she stood in. She fought through a coughing fit and stood onto her feet, trying to trace the source of the pain in her chest… and ran her fingers over the cracks in her gem.

"Aw, great…" Carnelian mumbled.

The fiery Gem could see some lights in the distance. She walked forward towards them, seeing figures that looked like buildings, not knowing that they were the houses and businesses of Skyfall Valley.

She walked on the stone paving making her way to the plaza. There, she could make out distinct figures darting around her and they had humanoid figures to them. Why were they so fast? She wondered.

She saw the colors. Various monsters of different shapes and sizes surrounded her. She grabbed the first one that came at her by the face, her hand bursting into flames and she threw into another monster, smacking them against a wall.

Alex came onto the scene with his father, only to witness a figure of pure fire, tossing monsters around, burning them, gems of the fallen clinking as they fell onto the ground.

Alex raised his sword, as soon as the only the flames remained, but his father, Richard, grabbed his wrist.

"Son, you can't slice fire!"

"Well, you can't shoot it, either!" Alex replied. "What are we gonna do?"

The fiery beast saw the two and began to walk towards them. Richard pulled his son behind him, pointing his gun at the fire, despite it being pointless.

There was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. Alex looked up and saw rain beginning to pour. The flaming figure let out a horrifying scream that filled the streets of the town. It changed form, the flames growing smaller, until they disappeared, revealing Carnelian who had fallen onto her knees.

"She's… not corrupted!" said Alex. He ran out from behind his father, towards the Gem.

"Alex, wait!" he yelled.

Alex got on his knees and caught Carnelian before she hit the ground. She winced at his grasp, but could barely build the strength to struggle to try and get away.

"Whoa, whoa! I've got you," Alex said, guiding her into his arms. Her cries grew softer, as he laid her still. Alex saw the gem on her chest and the cracks that went with it. He held back her hands that tried to reach for it when she coughed violently.

"Her gem's cracked," Richard said, who came up from behind him. "Quick! Bring her this way!"

Alex nodded and did as he was told, scooping up the Gem in his arms. They ran back to their house, where the kitchen table was cleared for Alex to set her on. Carnelian came around a bit, trying to get up, only to be guided back down.

"Be still," Alex said, only to be met with a harsh response. The Gem pushed back against him, making Alex having to force her down by grabbing her wrists. Her hair and clothes were still damp, but he could see smoke rising up, her body heating up.

"Stop! We're trying to help you!" Alex yelled.

"What's going on?!" Richard said, running back with a rose shaped pink jar in his arms.

"She's hot!" said Alex.

Richard raised a brow.

"You know what I mean, Dad!" Alex yelled.

"I know!" Richard said, chuckling.

"Just hurry before she burns the house down!"

Richard set the jar on a nearby counter and grabbed a small glass, filling it with sparkling water from the jar.

Carnelian's skin was beginning to burn Alex's hands, but he couldn't let her go. He'd rather have burnt hands than a burnt house.

"Stop! Stop!" Alex yelled, as she began to kick. "You'll make your damaged gem worse!"

Finally, Richard walked over and helped hold Carnelian down. He held the glass carefully and poured the water on her gem. Carnelian screamed in immense pain, arching slightly, but Richard set the glass down and held her still. Carnelian felt tears leave her eyes, but they immediately turned to steam.

Slowly, the pain all over her body began to ebb away, making her yells grow softer. Her gem began to shine and the cracks faded away.

"See?" Alex said, gently. "You're okay."

Exhaustion began to set in. Alex and Richard eased up on their grip. Carnelian's vision cleared long enough to see the faces of her rescuers before passing out.

"Wow, she really was hot, huh?" Richard said, waving his hands around.

"Dad!" Alex yelled.

"How is… the Earth?"

"It's… full of… life…"

Why did my alarms raise at that response? Oh, who am I kidding? I knew why… Emerald thought.

"You have failed at every stage of this mission! Your only chance to redeem yourself is to obey this simple order: You are to leave the Cluster to grow! It will tear apart the Earth, and I will take immense satisfaction in erasing that HIDEOUS rock off of our STAR MAPS! IS?! THAT?! CLEAR?!"

"Then I WON'T DO IT! I can tell you a certainty that there are things on this planet worth protecting!"

What made her do such a thing? What made her go against the teachings of Homeworld? Emerald thought.

Emerald sat beneath one of the ships. It was the wreck site of one of many. This was one of the first landing sites of when their colonization began. Unfortunately, the plants and fauna had pretty much taken it over, not to mention there was the occasional corrupted Gem here and there, but he stayed out of their way as long as they stayed out his.

And you… Emerald thought, holding Jasper's gem in his hand. His grip tightened on it, wanting to crack and break it, but he couldn't, which made him feel even worse.

"Emerald, fuse with me!"

"Wh… What?"

He knew he didn't go through with it, but he couldn't believe he doubted Carnelian about Jasper. Even though he said no, the memory still haunted him.

"Come one… Just say yes…"

Was Carnelian gone? He wasn't sure, but after the rage he let out at Jasper, he never felt more exhausted that day than other.

Jasper was right, though. This planet ruins everything: Friends, allies, even a super loyal Peridot… His Diamond… Pearl…

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

That was what he felt right now. At the bottom. All the odds were against him. But if Rose found him like this…

Emerald shook his head. He wasn't going to let Rose twist him like she did with Peridot… and so many others.

He had to find Carnelian. She was alive. She had to be.

Emerald looked up at the night sky, seeing all the twinkling stars. He saw what the humans called a "shooting star" for some reason felt compelled to wish for something. After everything that has happened, all he wanted was a way forward.

Suddenly, he wasn't so sure it was a shooting star anymore, especially when it got closer and he heard it screaming. He ran for cover behind a tree and what that shooting ball of fire was, crashed near where he was, behind some ships.

Emerald pulled out his weapon and ran towards the crash site, following the smoke that was coming up.

In clearing, he found a crater in the ground and climbing out of it, was a little Ruby.

"Ruby?" said Emerald.

The Ruby looked up.

"E-Emerald!" Ruby exclaimed. She quickly stood up and formed a salute. "Wh-What are you doing here?"

"I suppose I should be asking you the same question," said Emerald. "Where are the others? And why did you not descend from your ship?"

"Th-The, uh… The ship got taken," said Ruby.

"By?"

"Rebels, sir!" said Ruby. "The tricked us into some game and then knocked us all into space!"

"What?!" Emerald yelled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Emerald!" Ruby cried, falling onto her knees. "Don't shatter me for this!"

"For your incompetence, I should," said Emerald.

He took a minute to assess this. The Crystal Gems took the Rubies' ship, but it was still intact… hopefully.

"But, instead, I have a better idea," he said. "A chance for redemption, just this once. Succeed, and your incompetence shall be forgotten."

"O… Okay…" said Ruby.

"Good. Now listen up, because I'm only going to say this once."