Lavender stepped closer to Red Topaz. "Why do you hate us so much?" she asked, her voice hard with anger. "We did nothing to hurt you. How could we have. We're "just" Pearls." The quotation marks around the 'just' were audible. She leaned in a little even, trying to make Red Topaz back away. Her hands were twisted into angry little fists at her side.
Part of her wanted to try to explain that her neat little world was crumbling around her. Part of her wanted to break down and cry. But the biggest part of her wanted to scream in the Pearl's face and strangle the living crystals out of her. That part won. Red shoved her arms through the holes in the net and grabbed the little Pearl around the neck. She pulled her close, squeezing as hard as she could. It felt good. "You... dare... disobey... the world that created you," she breathed. "You disrespectful, stupid, organic." She squeezed harder. They might disincorporate her, but shards did this feel good.
"Lavender!" Smoke darted closer other gem, and frantically began throwing the best punches she could at Red Topaz. "Let her go!"
Lavender tried to gasp and choked. She tried to struggle but the hands around her neck hurt her and her weak hands pulling at Topaz's arms were ineffectual. There were tears in her eyes, but she sneared. "A-amethyst did w-worse!" she managed to force out.
Carnelian felt herself beginning to panic. She had to do something, but she didn't know if she was strong enough. Shard it. She moved forward as well and hit Topaz over the head with her flute as hard as she could.
Red could feel fury boiling in her gem. She hadn't felt like this since her earliest days, before she'd trained herself into the calm befitting a diplomat. But now, now she'd failed in what should have been a simple, simple mission, and she felt hot shame along with the irate anger. She shook the Pearl as hard as she could, still squeezing, and cursed the net that kept her from drawing her staff and beating this disobedient piece of dirt into dust. The Carnelian smacked her over the head with her flute, and Red just laughed. "You stupid clod," she said, "it's going to take a lot more than that to beat a Topaz. Shards, but you rebels are dumb as dirt." She punctuated this by swinging her arms and slamming the Lavender Pearl into the ground. It wasn't a great swing - she couldn't really get her legs into it - but it still made quite the satisfying thud.
The slam knocked the rest of the air out of Lavender, but after some struggling she managed to get her legs back under her. She was still staring at the Topaz defiantly. It hurt but it wasn't enough to poof her. Not quite.
Smoke let out a furious noise, and began to aim her punches at the Topaz's face, hoping it might startle her a bit more.
Melon shoved her trident into the net. "STOP that, or I swear to Light I'll crush you into sand when you discorporate!"
The sharp pains from the trident hurt, and she threw the Lavender Pearl as far as she could out of shock. Breathing hard, Red could feel a couple cracks in her physical form's integrity. The Tourmaline was not joking around. She cast about for an idea, and her eyes lit on Black Opal, who seemed stunned by the Pearls' audacity. "Black Opal," she said, getting her servant's attention, "come here and fuse with me. Together we are more than a match for these rebels."
Smoke ran to Lavender's side and wrapped her in a protective hug, before shooting a death glare at Red Topaz. "Lavender, are you okay?" she asked.
Lavender hit the floor a good ways away. She tried to get back up but she was coughing and everything hurt so it was a struggle. Smoke's hug definitly helped though. "I-i... I'm fine." She wiped her eyes with a wrist.
"Are you sure? I'm so sorry I couldn't be more helpful!" She clings to Lavender as tightly as she can without hurting her.
"I'm tough! Or at least my owner tried to make me. Her problem now." she tries to grin but her face hurts. Instead she hugs Smoke back.
"You sure you want to do that? You'll both find out how you really feel about each other." Melon grinned. "Opal will learn what contempt you hold her in."
Topaz scoffed. "My Opal? I hold her in no contempt. She is an elegant and deadly creation and she has performed exquisitely on all occasions. I am proud of my Opal."
Pinfire advanced. "You must think me very, very stupid. I have always known how she views me," she said, her tone very calm. She reached her hand out to her owner.
"As property, however proud she is of you," Melon replied, "but then she's property herself, whether or not she admits it."
Red took Black Opal's hand - fairly gently, but still somewhat forcefully - and pulled herself into as graceful a twirl as she could manage, hampered by the net. Her gem began to glow, her physical form turning to bright red-tinged light.
Black Opal smiled, and with one fluid motion pulled her sword from her Gem and swept it through Red Topaz's neck.
