"Or don't," Melon said. "You'd be better off joining us." She smiled at the Red Topaz. "I see my reputation has preceded me."
Lavender peers out into the hangar, spotting the other gems fighting. "U-uh you guys? I-i think someone followed us! M-melon just caught someone in a net!" And with that she runs outside, following a whim. Not that she has any idea if she can help, but she wants to at least try! "W-what's going on? I-if you hurt my friends -i-i'll fight you!" she shouts at Red Topaz and Black Opal, frowning and trying her best to look intimidating.
Black Opal would have sighed. She had heard of the Tourmaline, but bore her no ill will. If she had only decided to not interfere, she probably even could have escaped with the Pearls. It was no matter. She had commands to follow. Her sword lashed out, moving to slice the other Gem through her torso. If that succeeded, she would charge the Black Opal, and cut the net enough to allow Red Topaz escape.
"Hey!" Smoke yelled at the other gems, "Leave our friends alone, you-" She cut herself off before she said anything particularly nasty, and ran out with Lavender.
Melon turned the blow aside with her trident and advanced on the other Gem. "I don't want to hurt you, Opal. You deserve better than this!"
Black Opal did not even consider Tourmaline's words. The other Gem had never met her or Red Topaz; anything she said was therefore a stab in the dark to get through her guard. She didn't say anything to the other Gem, her blade flicking back and forth before her in a wary guard stance, looking for an opening.
Smoke made fists as best she could and looked around for something small to throw, maybe. Anything to distract attention away from her friends.
Red Topaz was astonished to see the Pearls coming in and forming fists. Even threatening them. "You stupid Pearls!" she exclaimed. "What on Homeworld do you think you're doing? You can't harm either of us! And even if you do get off-world, where are you going to go? This Tourmaline is a pirate and renegade - she'll just as soon sell you to some other pirate so you can hang on their wall! Do you know there are species who put gems into metal and wear them? That's where you'll end up, you useless, idiotic things! The pathetic excuse of a rebellion is going to be crushed, just like you all will be!" If she had to be completely honest, there was a flicker of fear deep in her gem. Between the large gray gem, the Tourmaline, and the Quartz ... she was nervous. "And you, Quartz!" She glared at the yellow Gem. "You are a disgrace to your commanders! How can you live with yourself, so easily duped by these stupid Pearls? They're things! You have a purpose! Don't throw that away!"
"Melon is a perfectly nice person, even if she denies it. Better than you, you screechy, obnoxious pebble! We're going to escape, and we're going to live our lives how we want! Not how Gems like you tell us to!" Smoke clapped her hands over her mouth. Maybe that was a bit too far. Just a little bit.
Lavender bristles and draws one of Amethyst's giant axes from her gem. She can't lift it exactly but she can drag it a few steps, over to the larger Gems. "We. Are not. THINGS!" she screams. "We can fight and fuse and shatter jsut as well as any Quartz! How dare you! Do you want to share Almandine's fate?" Frustrated she drops the axe, but keeps advancing on Red Topaz. Her gem glows and projects the image of the Renegade Pearl. "This is who we can all be. If we are things, then you are dirt!" She comes to a stop right next to Tourmaline, glaring.
"I don't buy and sell people," said Melon. "You've confused me with the Diamond Authority, Red. The other species Red is talking about so not use sapient Gems to make their adornments. They use tiny pieces of stones that were never big or pure enough to be people."
"We're leaving Homeworld. We're not coming back. We all deserve better than this." Carnelian stepped forward, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she gripped her flute. It was reassuringly solid, even if she couldn't do much damage with it.
"No!" Red Topaz screeched, infuriated, mostly at the Lavender Pearl. At least the Smoke Pearl had the sense to realize she was in the wrong - and the Tourmaline? A serial liar. She knew better than to trust any word out of her mouth. "You are a thing, and you will always be a thing! You are a tool, a slave, an object! You were created by our hands and given purpose by us! You will never be more than that!"
Okay, that was it. "No, we aren't. Lavender is right. We're Gems, just like you. Not objects, or slaves. Gems." She stood beside Lavender, and put a hand on her shoulder.
Lavender wants to scream, feral, and beat Red Topaz into itty bitty tiny sand. But Smoke's touch calms her. She draws herself up as tall as she can, cold fury in her eyes. "You are nothing but a broken record. And you know we are right. You've seen us." She turns to Black Opal. "You can't possibly share her views... Aren't you the same as us?"
"You're wrong. We come out of machines in the Kindergartens. We need nothing from you and you have nothing to give us but chains! Even you are a slave to the Diamonds, Red!"
"No! No, no, no! You will all fail, and be ground back into the dust from whence you came!" She is staring straight at the Lavender Pearl. I dare you, she thought. Come closer you little clod.
